Corpse Ponyby DragonShadowChaptersPrologueBloodcoveredDecayPrologueEverypony knows the story of the dark king, Sombra. Raised under the care of Crystal Princess Amore, he eventually grew into a mighty stallion of shadows and took over the Crystal Empire for himself. The terror of his reign was unmatched in pony history. He didn’t take the world under his hoof like Discord, but some ponies say that the pure evil he brought to the land left a stain in the very atmosphere of the Crystal Empire, a stain that can never be wiped away. Everypony knows the story of the King Sombra… but there’s one thing nopony knows. The fate of Princess Amore. Some say she escaped the empire during his rise, while others claim she fell the same day her lands were conquered. She wasn’t murdered, oh no… that’s far too nice a fate to be given out by the dark king. The horrors that she was put through would make the worst acts of evil that we’ve seen in our lifetime look like wearing a blanket made of puppies. Her legs were broken at the joints, her eyes were pulled out of their sockets, and her horn was ripped right out of her skull. They say the sheer evil of what he did to her prevents her spirit from resting to this very day. They say that sometimes, deep in the night, right here in the hallways of the Crystal Palace, you can hear her moaning in pain, and in search of anything that can relieve her torment. And sometimes, just sometimes, she will open the door to your bedroom while you sleep, she will drag herself up to the side of your bed until she’s just inches away from you, and she will cry- “HELP MEEEEEE!” Rainbow Dash screeched at the top of her lungs. Her own cry was joined by several others as several tiny pony forms darted across the cozy living room in one of the rear corners of the Crystal Palace. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo each slammed into their respective sisters, while Spike just yelped in a gulp of bright emerald fire and tried to brush it off with a forcedly casual wave of his claw. “Haha! Man, I got you guys so good!” Rainbow Dash beamed proudly as her wing wrapped comfortingly around Scootaloo. “Way too good, Rainbow Dash!” Rarity glared at her friend. “They’re not going to be able to sleep for weeks!” “Rarityyyy!” Sweetie Belle whined through chattering teeth. “We’re fiiine! We’re old enough f-f-for more mature s-scary stories!” “Uh-huh…” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo moaned halfhearted agreement. Twilight Sparkle giggled and patted Spike’s back with a gentle touch. “Yeah, maybe scary stories were a mistake.” “I agree!” Rarity was still glaring death at Rainbow Dash. “Who tells such gruesome stories about ponies anyway? You should be ashamed!” “Chill, Rares.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “It’s all in good fun, and besides, it’s almost Nightmare Night. Who doesn’t like a good scary story this time of year? Plus the rain makes for the perfect atmosphere.” They could all hear the pitter-patter of raindrops on the outer wall of the Crystal Palace. It was rare for it to rain in the Crystal Empire, but they too had smoke to clear from the air and crops to water, so every now and again the Crystal Pegasii would get to work and make a lovely downpour. That it happened to happen during their trip to the Empire was simply a coincidence. Still, it left Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Starlight Glimmer, Spike, and their respective sisters sitting indoors for the day instead of being out having fun. A fact that was clearly not sitting well with Pinkie Pie. “Hey, so what do we wanna do next?” Pinkie Pie bounced up on the back of the lone sofa with a bright ear-to-ear grin. “Anypony wanna play hide and seek!? Tag? Tag and seek? Seeker Tag?” “I think I’d rather relax for the night.” Starlight Glimmer spoke through a slight blush as one hoof rubbed idly over her chest. “As fun as running around might sound…” Twilight Sparkle nodded. “The storm is going to be broken up tomorrow, so it really does make sense to get some sleep tonight. We can formally begin our vacation as soon as the sun is out.” “How can you possibly not want to run around like crazy after an energizing story like that!?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Oohh, pretty easily actually…” Fluttershy whimpered. “Hang on a second…” Applejack’s ear twitched. “Does anypony hear that?” The room fell silent aside from the gentle pitter pat against the outer wall. The sound was so soft at first that it could be mistaken for a gentle breeze, but soon it was unmistakable. A set of hooves scratched across the crystalline floors right on the other side of the door, growing closer and closer and closer. Rainbow Dash’s wing tightened around Scootaloo as the two of them moved away from the door. The sound was just outside now. They could see the shadows blocking the light in the thin gap between the door and the floor. Suddenly the door flew open hard enough to slam into the wall and a shrill voice shrieked “HELP MEEEEEEE!” Every pony in the room nearly leapt from their skin, but Princess Cadence just started laughing uproariously. “Oh my gosh you ponies should see yourselves right now!” “Cadence!” Twilight Sparkle blushed furiously. “I-you-I can’t believe you would do that to us!” “Hehehe…” Cadence giggled behind her hoof. “I’m sorry, but I heard you talking about one of those silly legends the townponies like to throw around this time of year.” “So it’s not true?” Sweetie Belle managed to avoid stuttering despite her wide eyes. “Not even a little bit. And I should know, I’ve lived here for years.” Cadence winked. “I have never seen a ghost princess running around. I promise. Though I have seen a different princess running around.” Cadence glanced behind her with a grin as a tiny form bounded into the room behind her. “One who has been eagerly awaiting your arrival.” “Auntie Twilight!” Princess Flurry Heart bounced off of the floor and slammed into Twilight’s chest, where she was immediately wrapped up in a pair of velvet hooves. “Flurry Heart! Oh my gosh, you’re getting so big!” Twilight gave the bouncing girl the biggest hug her hooves could manage. “I still remember when you were googooing and growling at me like a bear! It’s so good to see you!” “Heehee!” Flurry Heart beamed with happy pride. “Do you wanna play, Twilight!? I can get my bears!” “Maybe tomorrow, Flurry, it’s getting kind of late right now, and we really should get some sleep.” “Yeah, you… you do that.” Fluttershy was still rubbing her chest. “I think I might not be sleeping for a while.” “Psh, baby…” Scootaloo admonished her through chattering teeth. “Are you still scared?” Cadence cooed sympathetically and closed the door as she entered the room. “You know there are other legends about Princess Amore. Less awful ones.” She gave Rainbow Dash a playfully admonishing look. “In fact they say if you ask her for protection with a special ritual, she will shield you from all harm. Then no ghosts would ever be able to hurt you.” “Really? What kind of ritual?” Apple Bloom asked. “It’s simple.” Cadence walked across the room to a small desk with a stack of papers on it. “You cut up a doll into an image of a pony…” She magically lifted a sheet of paper and took to it with a pair of scissors. Soon she had an imperfect, but clearly recognizable image of a pony in paper form. “Then you all come together and each take a section of the doll. You chant a special phrase one time for each pony present, and rip the pony into equal chunks. And the paper chunk becomes your shield against dark forces.” She moved into the center of the room. “Each pony present?” Starlight looked around quickly. “That’s thirteen in total.” “Gonna be kind of a tight fit in there,” Applejack noted. “That’s why I made the doll extra large.” Cadence wiggled the paper doll in front of them. “Come on Flurry, you can join in too.” “Yay!” Flurry hovered up from the floor to lay her hoof against one of the doll’s legs. Soon each pony in the room had managed to move in to grab hold of their section of the doll, though Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had to come in from above to make enough room for them all. “Now chant this phrase thirteen times.” Cadence cleared her throat. “Princess Amore, we miss you. Princess Amore, we love you. Princess Amore, we need you.” She glanced around at the gathered crowd. “Does everypony have it? You need to say it exactly thirteen times.” “Got it.” Everypony else grumbled in their own way. “Okay then.” Cadence let her magic fade and placed her hoof on the paper doll, now. Slowly, and in synch, the ponies began to speak. “Princess Amore, we miss you. Princess Amore, we love you. Princess Amore, we need you.” One pass at a time the gathered crew spoke the words, with the momentary silences filled only by the rain outside. As they reached the eleventh pass, a soft but distinct jolt of thunder echoed through the room, but none of them would break their rhythm. “Princess Amore, we need you.” After the thirteenth pass, the room fell to silence once again, and each pony gave a swift tug on the paper doll. It split apart with surprising, almost magical ease, ending up in thirteen evenly sized chunks that rested easily in each of their hooves. “Huh, neat.” Twilight Sparkle brought her piece close to her face to examine it. “I didn’t expect paper to break apart so evenly and easily.” “It is a magic ritual.” Cadence giggled. “Now you all know for a fact that no scary dead princesses will come to scream at you in the night.” “Thanks, Princess Cadence! I really do feel a lot better now!” Sweetie Belle coughed into one hoof. “Not that I… felt bad about it before. You know.” “Naturally not.” Cadence gave her a knowing grin. “Now come, I’ll show each of you to your rooms and-“ suddenly she was cut off by a sharp rumbling that echoed throughout the room, as if the castle was fixing to lift itself from its very foundation.” “What in tarnation!?” Applejack shouted in shock as she tried to keep her hooves on the polished crystal floors. “Do earthquakes happen in the crystal empire!?” “No! They don’t!” Cadence immediately snapped Flurry Heart up in her hooves and wrapped her wings around her for good measure. “Everypony duck, it’s got to subside soon!” “Hnnngh!” Twilight lifted her head into the air, and her horn pulsed with magic, but as soon as she felt it gather, it dissipated into the air around her, affecting nothing. “My magic!” “Get down, Twilight!” Starlight tackled her roughly to the floor. “You may be a princess, but you’re not above being hurt by an earthquake!” “Why isn’t it ending!? I want it to end!” Fluttershy shouted over the deafening rumble. No sooner did she finish speaking than the candles that had been lighting the room tumbled to the floor, and flickered out, plunging the room into pitch blackness. “Everypony hold onto something!” Rainbow Dash’s last words echoed through the darkness, as if the room around them had begun to fade away altogether, leaving only the pitch black to engulf them all. Author's Note 1: This story is based on the video game "Corpse Party" created by Team GrisGris 2: I know the comics showed Princess Amore's ultimate fate during Sombra's takeover of the Crystal Empire. Not only are the comics loose canon, but this is kind of a different take on things. Bloodcovered“Oh… Twilight…? Fluttershy?” Rarity’s eyes fluttered open when she finally realized that the earthquake had subsided. A darkness blacker than night had engulfed the room, but her eyes had adjusted enough to see shadows and outlines, the window high up on the outer wall shed very little light into the room. She sat up and tried to peer through the shadows, but her breath grew heavy when nopony immediately answered. “Twilight? Rainbow Dash? Somepony answer me!” “Rarity?” Spike’s quaking voice came from nearby. “Is that you?” “Spike!” Rarity heaved a sigh of relief. “Spike, what in Equestria just happened?” “I don’t know! There was this earthquake, and then everything just went black!” “Are we the only ones here?” Rarity tried to focus her magic into her horn, but it faded away as quickly as she could gather it up. “My magic isn’t working, I can’t make light!” “I think I can still make light, just gimme a second.” There were several long moments of silence as Spike’s claws scratched at the floor. The sound moved across the room towards her. Rarity’s heart began to pump just slightly faster, but it wasn’t too much longer before Spike let out a yelp of triumph. “Found it!” The little dragon took a deep breath, then let out a gust of emerald green flame that lit up the room around them, and left a sickly black candle lit in the center of his palm. “Oh my…” Rarity’s already pounding heart leapt into her throat as the flickering candle lit the room around them. The dim orange light cast deep shadows across cracked and decaying walls that looked familiar, but so ancient and decrepit that this surely couldn’t have been the room they were in moments before. The furniture looked as if it had been thrown around haphazardly; much of it was lying on its side or smashed entirely while there were many holes gouged into the floor. “Rarity…?” Spike picked his way through the rubble towards her, with his limbs tucked gingerly into his body. “Wh-what’s going on? Where are we?” “I don’t know, Spike.” Rarity slipped a comforting hoof around his shoulders to pull him up against her chest. “But it looks like we’re alone here.” “The others have to be around somewhere, right?” Spike gulped despite his false bravado. “We just have to find them, and then we can figure out how to get out of… wherever this is.” “Yes of course.” Rarity cleared her throat and her head. Spike would need her to be strong. So she stood up on all four hooves and gestured for Spike to climb onto her back. “Come, Spike, I shall do the walking, and you provide the light.” Spike nodded and pulled his light body up onto her shoulders. Once he was secure, Rarity began to pick her way carefully through the room, around the many holes on the floor and the destroyed pieces of furniture until she neared the door. As she neared the exit the light from Spike’s candle shone on a piece of paper taped to the wall right beside the door. She paused curiously to let her eyes scan the paper for any clues to where they were. Notice: Curfew for servants has been pulled back to seven PM as of February second, SR15. Any ponies found to be violating curfew will be sentenced to death. Any guards allowing curfew to be violated will also be put to death. “Death? For leaving your room at night?” Spike shuddered. “Who would make a rule like that? That’s completely dumb. And what is SR15 anyway? I’ve never even heard of that.” “Perhaps some sort of Nightmare Night prank…” Rarity tried to assure the little dragon on her back. “Come, let’s begin our search for the others.” Trying to ignore the growing pangs of unease in her stomach, Rarity pushed the door open with one hoof and stepped out into the hallway. The hallways were just as cracked and decaying as the room they were just in, to the point where the entire floor had collapsed further down the path to their right. To their left it continued on into the darkness beyond the candle’s light, though in the shadow ahead of them a strange, pale blue light could be seen flickering in the hallway beyond the fire light. “What is that?” Spike squinted into the darkness. “Perhaps a Crystal Pony who can tell us where we are!” Rarity turned to trot quickly towards the flickering light. “Excuse me! We could really use your assistance!” They bounded towards the light, but as they neared the light turned to move into an adjacent hallway. “Hey wait! Please don’t go! We just have a few questions we need answered!” They were quickly nearing where the blue light had been, and the closer they got, the louder they could hear a strangled, whispering voice. It was grunting in pain, barely-formed words that echoed down the crystalline hallways of the palace. It was an incoherent babbling from which Rarity could only pick out a few words. “Why… won’t it… end…” The muttering voice was right around the corner, from which Rarity could see the blue light shining against the wall before her. Slowly Rarity rounded the corner, and her blood went completely cold from the sight before her. The blue light was shimmering like a candleless flame above a broken, nearly unrecognizable pile of flesh and bones on the cold crystal floor. It had clearly been a pony, once, but it had sat on the floor, rotting and decaying so long that the only recognizable part of it was a thick skull that sat upside down alongside the rest of the remains. Still the voice rambled, coming from the blue flame that flickered above the body. “Why won’t it end… why can’t it end… death is supposed to release you… but there is no release…” The light began to flicker brighter, flecks of orange and red cutting into the blue as it began to burn in the middle of the air, shining crimson streaks across the bloodstained bones. “Why won’t the suffering end!? Why can’t I rest!? LET ME REST!” “Kyaaaahhhhhhh!” At last Rarity had had enough, and she broke out into a full gallop away from the body. Her hooves pounded across the crystal floors as she ran blindly into the darkness. She heard the candle drop to the floor and saw the light flicker out as she felt Spike’s claws wrap around her neck to keep him from sliding right off of her back. Her hooves beat down on the floor until suddenly her left forehoof came down into one of the many holes that had been born into the rotten ground, and she flipped end over to end to slide to a stop in the darkness. Her heart was pounding so hard that it hurt, and her acute pony ears turned this way and that, seeking any sign that they were being followed, but all she could hear was her own labored breathing, and the sound of Spike groaning. “Rarity…” Spike’s break came in a shaky rasp. “What was that? What did we just see?” “I don’t know, Spike…” Rarity was equally out of breath. She put one hoof over her heart in a vain attempt to calm herself down. “But… I feel like we should definitely seek a way out of this place.” “Yeah, good call…” Spike replied with a soft sigh. “We lost our candle, though…” “At least it looks like it’s getting a little bit brighter outside…” Rarity sat up herself. Indeed, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see just a sliver of light beaming in through the windows high up on the ceilings. It lost the war with the darkness overall, but it succeeded just enough to make the palace visible. “Come on… let’s get moving. We won’t find anything or anypony sitting here… and I’d like to put as much distance between us and… that as we can.” “I’m right behind you!” Spike’s claws scraped across the floor as he moved to join Rarity on her journey further down the hallway. The darkness that engulfed them seemed to lighten up just a little bit as they went, as a friend’s company was known to do. Decay“This place… it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” Starlight Glimmer poked her head out of the small living room in which she found herself. The light of the lone candle they’d found inside the living room shone down the length of each hallway, or at least, what should have been a hallway. The floor outside the door was little more than a black hole that dropped into the darkness far beyond the candle’s light could reach, as if their little room was a single section of safety they could hide upon from the gnawing abyss waiting for them outside. She would try to levitate them out of there, but her magic was not working. “Maybe it’s some kinda game!” Pinkie Pie’s jovial voice exclaimed behind her. “We’ve just gotta solve a riddle!” “This would be a really elaborate game, Pinkie Pie.” Starlight turned to face inside again. The room in which they found themselves was only barely holding itself together. The walls looked like they had begun to crumble long ago, and the floor was dotted with holes, though thankfully the floor that remained felt solid enough. Almost everypony who had been in the room with them was nowhere to be found. Starlight had opened her eyes to find herself alone with Pinkie Pie and Scootaloo, who was huddled in a feathery ball between two rotting chairs. “Hey, Scootaloo…” Starlight Glimmer approached the young Pegasus with an attempt at a caring smile. She really wasn’t good with kids. “You’re a Pegasus, right? Do you think you could fly out there and see what’s past that big hole?” “N-no…” Scootaloo shook her head slowly. “Even if I could fly, I don’t think I could…” Starlight cocked her head in confusion. “Huh? What do you mean?” “You don’t feel it? Something’s really different… like there’s something missing inside of me.” Starlight didn’t want to admit it, but she could feel it too. She had spent most of her life relying on her unicorn magic to see her through, not being able to use it left a hole deep inside of her soul. She had felt it even before she’d tried it, but only not that Scootaloo mentioned it did she recognize why. “We can’t get out…” Starlight opened her mouth to comfort the filly, but she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard what sounded like an explosion behind her. She whirled to see Pinkie Pie standing beside a brand new hole in the wall beside the door, with her party cannon clutched between two hooves. “Oops!” Pinkie giggled. “I was trying to cheer her up, but I guess I loaded the cheese instead of the confetti earlier. Sorry!” “Pinkie!” Starlight whirled on her in amazement. “You’re a genius!” “But I made a mistake…” “If we can’t get out through the door we’ll have to get out through a wall, then we can find the others and figure out how to get home!” Starlight turned to grin down at the cowering Pegasus. “See? Never give up hope, kid! That’s what Rainbow Dash would tell you right now!” Scootaloo looked down, then looked up at her with a ghost of a smile and climbed to her hooves. “Yeah… that’s exactly what Rainbow Dash would say!” Starlight whirled dramatically towards Pinkie. “Pinkie, load another cheese round! We’re busting out of here!” “Aye-aye!” Pinkie gave the two of them a grinning salute and turned to tend to her most prized possession. As the silence fell over them Starlight’s ear twitched and turned towards the other side of the room, where the candle’s light couldn’t reach. Starlight’s eyes followed suit, though she could barely even tell what was drawing her attention. It sounded like a high pitched squeaking noise, coming and then going, like a metallic heartbeat. It was so soft she thought she was imagining it, but she through that thought out the window as it grew louder still. “Starlight?” Scootaloo moved to stand beside her. “What’s that sound?” “Almost sounds like…” Starlight Glimmer scrunched her face as she searched her brain for the familiar sound. It dawned on her several moments later. “Scissors.” She gasped and took a hasty step towards Pinkie as a blue mist began to form in the darkness. It coalesced together into the shape of a mare as it lurched towards them, on legs that appeared to be broken in several places. One crooked and gnarled limb held a pair of scissors in one limp hoof, which were opening and closing in rhythm with the pony’s motions. Starlight could hear a gurgling noise from the pony’s twisted throat, as its still, dead eyes somehow latched onto Starlight’s and refused to move away. “Starlight, what is that?” Scootaloo scrambled to get away from the creature, though there was not much space to retreat. “H-hello…” Starlight gulped. “C-can we… help you? Are you… lost?” Starlight backed away from the gurgling apparition. It became quickly clear that conversation would be futile as it continued its labored approach. The scissors bobbed up and down in its hoof, opening and closing, snipping at the air as it made a straight line towards Starlight. “Pinkie, load the cannon, load the Celestia-damned cannon!” “And it’s done!” Pinkie Pie whirled the cannon around with a dramatic flourish. “Where are we firing it?” “At the wall, we have to get to the next room!” Starlight insisted. “But is there a room over there?” Scootaloo asked. “I don’t know the palace very well! This is my first time here!” Starlight swore under her breath. She didn’t know the palace very well either. The few times she had come to visit Sunburst she had stayed at his place. And even if there was another room, who knew if there was a way out of that either? “Oh! Maybe she can help us!” Pinkie leapt in front of the cannon to wave to the approaching apparition. “Hello ma’am! We’re a little lost and need to get to-whoa!” Starlight yanked Pinkie back to the cannon by her tail. “I don’t think she’s in a friendly mood! Quick, fire at the outer wall! We can be sure to get out of the room that way!” Starlight whirled the cannon around to aim the barrel straight at the wall opposite the door. “Cheese’s away, captain!” Pinkie yanked the chord on her party cannon, and the cheese exploded from its barrel. Smoke billowed from the barrel’s end with a thunderous crash, and less than a second later a massive chunk of stone vanished from the wall, flapping out into the open air beyond in several large chunks. “Launch successful!” Starlight ran to stick her head out the somewhat small hole. Strangely, while it was still raining outside, none of the water managed to hit the side of the crystal palace around them. This was because there were several landings and balconies on the wall above them, blocking the rain from hitting the window or the balconies below. For a brief moment she wondered how this was physically possible… but then she realized what it was. Even outdoors, and this high up, there was no wind at all. The rain was just falling straight down without deviation, as if the atmosphere itself was decayed. “Starlight, she’s closing in on us!” Scootaloo backed into Starlight’s flank with a nervous squeak. “It’s fine, we’re leaving!” Starlight yanked her head back inside. “You go first, Scootaloo. You’re the smallest. It looks like there a balcony right below us, climb down to it. Pinkie and I will be right behind you!” “O-okay!” Starlight helped Scootaloo climb up the side of the wall and slip her smaller body through the hole, where she grunted and turned to face the wall as she made her way down out of sight. Starlight’s eyes slowly lost focus when she heard the shuddering hoofsteps behind her cease, and the sound of a wet, gurgling grunt coming from inches behind her head. Slowly Starlight looked back over her shoulder, as the mangled foreleg raised the scissors up high before her. Starlight barely had time to takes in a deep breath before the scissors came down in a silvery arc through the light let in by the hole in the wall. Just barely did Starlight’s central barrel manage to clear the weapon, though it did still cut cleanly through the flesh on her left side. Starlight stumbled through the room away from her assailant, leaving behind a small trickle of blood on the once-pristine crystal floor. “Starlight Glimmer!” Pinkie exclaimed worriedly. “Are you okay!?” “Go, Pinkie! Follow Scootaloo! I’ll come once you’re clear.” Starlight backed away from the spirit, staring into its eyes to make sure it would follow her. “But I… mmnh… okay…” Pinkie gave her friend one more panicked glance then dove for the window herself. Her much more plump body wedged into the hole with a heavy thwuk sound, and she began wiggling her butt back and forth to inch herself outside. Starlight backed away from the spirit before her, gritting her teeth. “Who are you? What do you want?” The creature just gurgled back and continued its single-minded pursuit. Realizing communicating was futile, Starlight slowly circled with her eyes locked on the now blood-tipped pair of scissors in the broken hoof. At last, she saw Pinkie’s butt vanish out the hole in the wall, and her fluffy mane vanished from sight. “I don’t know who you are… but stay away from me and my friends!” Starlight suddenly broke off to the right and whipped around the apparition. She galloped as fast as she could towards the hole, and flung herself into it. Like Pinkie her body plugged the hole neatly, sending a piercing shot of pain rising through her body as the gash on her flank rubbed into the stone wall. She began to wiggle her way through as fast as she could, ignoring the pain, but she could hear the scissors once again snapping open and closed inside, growing closer by the moment. Snip. Snip. Snip. She couldn’t see the apparition approaching, but in her mind it was already almost to her legs. “Come oonnnn!” Starlight shoved at the wall with her forelegs and kicked with her hindlegs as fast as she could. She could feel her body moving, inch by painstaking inch. The scissors were getting so loud she felt like they were pressed against her ear, but even more terrifying was when she heard the scissors stop snipping. “Rrraaaaaaahhhhh!” With a howl of pain and frustration, Starlight managed to yank her hind legs free from the hole, but she was so eager to get out that she didn’t grab the wall. Her body plummeted downward without warning. She didn’t even have time to yell before her body met Pinkie’s halfway down, and they both tumbled the rest of the way to the balcony below, where they landed in a tangle of limbs and hair with a sharp, pained grunt. “Holy crap!” Scootaloo trotted to their side with a panicked look on her face. “Are you okay!? Please tell me you’re okay!” “I’m fine…” Starlight shook her head slowly. “Pinkie?” “I’m gooooood.” Pinkie waved her hoof in the air from below Starlight weakly before letting it fall to the floor again. “Just a little pain, I can walk it off…” “Whew…” Scootaloo heaved a deep sigh of relief. “I was so afraid you two were gonna…” “Hey.” Starlight reached up from the floor to pat Scootaloo’s head. “We’re not leaving you alone here, kiddo.” “Heh…” Scootaloo smiled. Starlight sat up, lifting herself from Pinkie’s body and resting her forehooves on the ground. She blinked when she saw her tail spring up behind her, a tiny stub of hair only a few inches long. She shook off the implications of this and tried to stand, but the pain that went racing through her body drove her to the floor again. “Aaaugh!” “Starlight Glimmer, you’re hurt!” Pinkie sprang to her feet and knelt down beside her. “We need to find the doctor’s office.” “Is there a doctor’s office in the palace?” Scootaloo asked. “Yeah, there is.” Starlight nodded, speaking through gritted teeth. “The royal family uses it for their routine checkups.” “There must be bandages there. Come on.” Pinkie helped lift Starlight to her hooves, letting the wounded pony lean against her for support. Even Scootaloo moved underneath Starlight Glimmer to lift her torso from below. “Heh… thanks, you guys…” Starlight couldn’t help but smile as, with the help of her friends, the three of them made their way back inside the palace. There had to be some kind of bandages around here they could use to stop the bleeding, at the very least, and she knew with her friends at her side they would be able to find them.
PrologueEverypony knows the story of the dark king, Sombra. Raised under the care of Crystal Princess Amore, he eventually grew into a mighty stallion of shadows and took over the Crystal Empire for himself. The terror of his reign was unmatched in pony history. He didn’t take the world under his hoof like Discord, but some ponies say that the pure evil he brought to the land left a stain in the very atmosphere of the Crystal Empire, a stain that can never be wiped away. Everypony knows the story of the King Sombra… but there’s one thing nopony knows. The fate of Princess Amore. Some say she escaped the empire during his rise, while others claim she fell the same day her lands were conquered. She wasn’t murdered, oh no… that’s far too nice a fate to be given out by the dark king. The horrors that she was put through would make the worst acts of evil that we’ve seen in our lifetime look like wearing a blanket made of puppies. Her legs were broken at the joints, her eyes were pulled out of their sockets, and her horn was ripped right out of her skull. They say the sheer evil of what he did to her prevents her spirit from resting to this very day. They say that sometimes, deep in the night, right here in the hallways of the Crystal Palace, you can hear her moaning in pain, and in search of anything that can relieve her torment. And sometimes, just sometimes, she will open the door to your bedroom while you sleep, she will drag herself up to the side of your bed until she’s just inches away from you, and she will cry- “HELP MEEEEEE!” Rainbow Dash screeched at the top of her lungs. Her own cry was joined by several others as several tiny pony forms darted across the cozy living room in one of the rear corners of the Crystal Palace. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo each slammed into their respective sisters, while Spike just yelped in a gulp of bright emerald fire and tried to brush it off with a forcedly casual wave of his claw. “Haha! Man, I got you guys so good!” Rainbow Dash beamed proudly as her wing wrapped comfortingly around Scootaloo. “Way too good, Rainbow Dash!” Rarity glared at her friend. “They’re not going to be able to sleep for weeks!” “Rarityyyy!” Sweetie Belle whined through chattering teeth. “We’re fiiine! We’re old enough f-f-for more mature s-scary stories!” “Uh-huh…” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo moaned halfhearted agreement. Twilight Sparkle giggled and patted Spike’s back with a gentle touch. “Yeah, maybe scary stories were a mistake.” “I agree!” Rarity was still glaring death at Rainbow Dash. “Who tells such gruesome stories about ponies anyway? You should be ashamed!” “Chill, Rares.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “It’s all in good fun, and besides, it’s almost Nightmare Night. Who doesn’t like a good scary story this time of year? Plus the rain makes for the perfect atmosphere.” They could all hear the pitter-patter of raindrops on the outer wall of the Crystal Palace. It was rare for it to rain in the Crystal Empire, but they too had smoke to clear from the air and crops to water, so every now and again the Crystal Pegasii would get to work and make a lovely downpour. That it happened to happen during their trip to the Empire was simply a coincidence. Still, it left Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Starlight Glimmer, Spike, and their respective sisters sitting indoors for the day instead of being out having fun. A fact that was clearly not sitting well with Pinkie Pie. “Hey, so what do we wanna do next?” Pinkie Pie bounced up on the back of the lone sofa with a bright ear-to-ear grin. “Anypony wanna play hide and seek!? Tag? Tag and seek? Seeker Tag?” “I think I’d rather relax for the night.” Starlight Glimmer spoke through a slight blush as one hoof rubbed idly over her chest. “As fun as running around might sound…” Twilight Sparkle nodded. “The storm is going to be broken up tomorrow, so it really does make sense to get some sleep tonight. We can formally begin our vacation as soon as the sun is out.” “How can you possibly not want to run around like crazy after an energizing story like that!?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Oohh, pretty easily actually…” Fluttershy whimpered. “Hang on a second…” Applejack’s ear twitched. “Does anypony hear that?” The room fell silent aside from the gentle pitter pat against the outer wall. The sound was so soft at first that it could be mistaken for a gentle breeze, but soon it was unmistakable. A set of hooves scratched across the crystalline floors right on the other side of the door, growing closer and closer and closer. Rainbow Dash’s wing tightened around Scootaloo as the two of them moved away from the door. The sound was just outside now. They could see the shadows blocking the light in the thin gap between the door and the floor. Suddenly the door flew open hard enough to slam into the wall and a shrill voice shrieked “HELP MEEEEEEE!” Every pony in the room nearly leapt from their skin, but Princess Cadence just started laughing uproariously. “Oh my gosh you ponies should see yourselves right now!” “Cadence!” Twilight Sparkle blushed furiously. “I-you-I can’t believe you would do that to us!” “Hehehe…” Cadence giggled behind her hoof. “I’m sorry, but I heard you talking about one of those silly legends the townponies like to throw around this time of year.” “So it’s not true?” Sweetie Belle managed to avoid stuttering despite her wide eyes. “Not even a little bit. And I should know, I’ve lived here for years.” Cadence winked. “I have never seen a ghost princess running around. I promise. Though I have seen a different princess running around.” Cadence glanced behind her with a grin as a tiny form bounded into the room behind her. “One who has been eagerly awaiting your arrival.” “Auntie Twilight!” Princess Flurry Heart bounced off of the floor and slammed into Twilight’s chest, where she was immediately wrapped up in a pair of velvet hooves. “Flurry Heart! Oh my gosh, you’re getting so big!” Twilight gave the bouncing girl the biggest hug her hooves could manage. “I still remember when you were googooing and growling at me like a bear! It’s so good to see you!” “Heehee!” Flurry Heart beamed with happy pride. “Do you wanna play, Twilight!? I can get my bears!” “Maybe tomorrow, Flurry, it’s getting kind of late right now, and we really should get some sleep.” “Yeah, you… you do that.” Fluttershy was still rubbing her chest. “I think I might not be sleeping for a while.” “Psh, baby…” Scootaloo admonished her through chattering teeth. “Are you still scared?” Cadence cooed sympathetically and closed the door as she entered the room. “You know there are other legends about Princess Amore. Less awful ones.” She gave Rainbow Dash a playfully admonishing look. “In fact they say if you ask her for protection with a special ritual, she will shield you from all harm. Then no ghosts would ever be able to hurt you.” “Really? What kind of ritual?” Apple Bloom asked. “It’s simple.” Cadence walked across the room to a small desk with a stack of papers on it. “You cut up a doll into an image of a pony…” She magically lifted a sheet of paper and took to it with a pair of scissors. Soon she had an imperfect, but clearly recognizable image of a pony in paper form. “Then you all come together and each take a section of the doll. You chant a special phrase one time for each pony present, and rip the pony into equal chunks. And the paper chunk becomes your shield against dark forces.” She moved into the center of the room. “Each pony present?” Starlight looked around quickly. “That’s thirteen in total.” “Gonna be kind of a tight fit in there,” Applejack noted. “That’s why I made the doll extra large.” Cadence wiggled the paper doll in front of them. “Come on Flurry, you can join in too.” “Yay!” Flurry hovered up from the floor to lay her hoof against one of the doll’s legs. Soon each pony in the room had managed to move in to grab hold of their section of the doll, though Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had to come in from above to make enough room for them all. “Now chant this phrase thirteen times.” Cadence cleared her throat. “Princess Amore, we miss you. Princess Amore, we love you. Princess Amore, we need you.” She glanced around at the gathered crowd. “Does everypony have it? You need to say it exactly thirteen times.” “Got it.” Everypony else grumbled in their own way. “Okay then.” Cadence let her magic fade and placed her hoof on the paper doll, now. Slowly, and in synch, the ponies began to speak. “Princess Amore, we miss you. Princess Amore, we love you. Princess Amore, we need you.” One pass at a time the gathered crew spoke the words, with the momentary silences filled only by the rain outside. As they reached the eleventh pass, a soft but distinct jolt of thunder echoed through the room, but none of them would break their rhythm. “Princess Amore, we need you.” After the thirteenth pass, the room fell to silence once again, and each pony gave a swift tug on the paper doll. It split apart with surprising, almost magical ease, ending up in thirteen evenly sized chunks that rested easily in each of their hooves. “Huh, neat.” Twilight Sparkle brought her piece close to her face to examine it. “I didn’t expect paper to break apart so evenly and easily.” “It is a magic ritual.” Cadence giggled. “Now you all know for a fact that no scary dead princesses will come to scream at you in the night.” “Thanks, Princess Cadence! I really do feel a lot better now!” Sweetie Belle coughed into one hoof. “Not that I… felt bad about it before. You know.” “Naturally not.” Cadence gave her a knowing grin. “Now come, I’ll show each of you to your rooms and-“ suddenly she was cut off by a sharp rumbling that echoed throughout the room, as if the castle was fixing to lift itself from its very foundation.” “What in tarnation!?” Applejack shouted in shock as she tried to keep her hooves on the polished crystal floors. “Do earthquakes happen in the crystal empire!?” “No! They don’t!” Cadence immediately snapped Flurry Heart up in her hooves and wrapped her wings around her for good measure. “Everypony duck, it’s got to subside soon!” “Hnnngh!” Twilight lifted her head into the air, and her horn pulsed with magic, but as soon as she felt it gather, it dissipated into the air around her, affecting nothing. “My magic!” “Get down, Twilight!” Starlight tackled her roughly to the floor. “You may be a princess, but you’re not above being hurt by an earthquake!” “Why isn’t it ending!? I want it to end!” Fluttershy shouted over the deafening rumble. No sooner did she finish speaking than the candles that had been lighting the room tumbled to the floor, and flickered out, plunging the room into pitch blackness. “Everypony hold onto something!” Rainbow Dash’s last words echoed through the darkness, as if the room around them had begun to fade away altogether, leaving only the pitch black to engulf them all. Author's Note 1: This story is based on the video game "Corpse Party" created by Team GrisGris 2: I know the comics showed Princess Amore's ultimate fate during Sombra's takeover of the Crystal Empire. Not only are the comics loose canon, but this is kind of a different take on things.
Bloodcovered“Oh… Twilight…? Fluttershy?” Rarity’s eyes fluttered open when she finally realized that the earthquake had subsided. A darkness blacker than night had engulfed the room, but her eyes had adjusted enough to see shadows and outlines, the window high up on the outer wall shed very little light into the room. She sat up and tried to peer through the shadows, but her breath grew heavy when nopony immediately answered. “Twilight? Rainbow Dash? Somepony answer me!” “Rarity?” Spike’s quaking voice came from nearby. “Is that you?” “Spike!” Rarity heaved a sigh of relief. “Spike, what in Equestria just happened?” “I don’t know! There was this earthquake, and then everything just went black!” “Are we the only ones here?” Rarity tried to focus her magic into her horn, but it faded away as quickly as she could gather it up. “My magic isn’t working, I can’t make light!” “I think I can still make light, just gimme a second.” There were several long moments of silence as Spike’s claws scratched at the floor. The sound moved across the room towards her. Rarity’s heart began to pump just slightly faster, but it wasn’t too much longer before Spike let out a yelp of triumph. “Found it!” The little dragon took a deep breath, then let out a gust of emerald green flame that lit up the room around them, and left a sickly black candle lit in the center of his palm. “Oh my…” Rarity’s already pounding heart leapt into her throat as the flickering candle lit the room around them. The dim orange light cast deep shadows across cracked and decaying walls that looked familiar, but so ancient and decrepit that this surely couldn’t have been the room they were in moments before. The furniture looked as if it had been thrown around haphazardly; much of it was lying on its side or smashed entirely while there were many holes gouged into the floor. “Rarity…?” Spike picked his way through the rubble towards her, with his limbs tucked gingerly into his body. “Wh-what’s going on? Where are we?” “I don’t know, Spike.” Rarity slipped a comforting hoof around his shoulders to pull him up against her chest. “But it looks like we’re alone here.” “The others have to be around somewhere, right?” Spike gulped despite his false bravado. “We just have to find them, and then we can figure out how to get out of… wherever this is.” “Yes of course.” Rarity cleared her throat and her head. Spike would need her to be strong. So she stood up on all four hooves and gestured for Spike to climb onto her back. “Come, Spike, I shall do the walking, and you provide the light.” Spike nodded and pulled his light body up onto her shoulders. Once he was secure, Rarity began to pick her way carefully through the room, around the many holes on the floor and the destroyed pieces of furniture until she neared the door. As she neared the exit the light from Spike’s candle shone on a piece of paper taped to the wall right beside the door. She paused curiously to let her eyes scan the paper for any clues to where they were. Notice: Curfew for servants has been pulled back to seven PM as of February second, SR15. Any ponies found to be violating curfew will be sentenced to death. Any guards allowing curfew to be violated will also be put to death. “Death? For leaving your room at night?” Spike shuddered. “Who would make a rule like that? That’s completely dumb. And what is SR15 anyway? I’ve never even heard of that.” “Perhaps some sort of Nightmare Night prank…” Rarity tried to assure the little dragon on her back. “Come, let’s begin our search for the others.” Trying to ignore the growing pangs of unease in her stomach, Rarity pushed the door open with one hoof and stepped out into the hallway. The hallways were just as cracked and decaying as the room they were just in, to the point where the entire floor had collapsed further down the path to their right. To their left it continued on into the darkness beyond the candle’s light, though in the shadow ahead of them a strange, pale blue light could be seen flickering in the hallway beyond the fire light. “What is that?” Spike squinted into the darkness. “Perhaps a Crystal Pony who can tell us where we are!” Rarity turned to trot quickly towards the flickering light. “Excuse me! We could really use your assistance!” They bounded towards the light, but as they neared the light turned to move into an adjacent hallway. “Hey wait! Please don’t go! We just have a few questions we need answered!” They were quickly nearing where the blue light had been, and the closer they got, the louder they could hear a strangled, whispering voice. It was grunting in pain, barely-formed words that echoed down the crystalline hallways of the palace. It was an incoherent babbling from which Rarity could only pick out a few words. “Why… won’t it… end…” The muttering voice was right around the corner, from which Rarity could see the blue light shining against the wall before her. Slowly Rarity rounded the corner, and her blood went completely cold from the sight before her. The blue light was shimmering like a candleless flame above a broken, nearly unrecognizable pile of flesh and bones on the cold crystal floor. It had clearly been a pony, once, but it had sat on the floor, rotting and decaying so long that the only recognizable part of it was a thick skull that sat upside down alongside the rest of the remains. Still the voice rambled, coming from the blue flame that flickered above the body. “Why won’t it end… why can’t it end… death is supposed to release you… but there is no release…” The light began to flicker brighter, flecks of orange and red cutting into the blue as it began to burn in the middle of the air, shining crimson streaks across the bloodstained bones. “Why won’t the suffering end!? Why can’t I rest!? LET ME REST!” “Kyaaaahhhhhhh!” At last Rarity had had enough, and she broke out into a full gallop away from the body. Her hooves pounded across the crystal floors as she ran blindly into the darkness. She heard the candle drop to the floor and saw the light flicker out as she felt Spike’s claws wrap around her neck to keep him from sliding right off of her back. Her hooves beat down on the floor until suddenly her left forehoof came down into one of the many holes that had been born into the rotten ground, and she flipped end over to end to slide to a stop in the darkness. Her heart was pounding so hard that it hurt, and her acute pony ears turned this way and that, seeking any sign that they were being followed, but all she could hear was her own labored breathing, and the sound of Spike groaning. “Rarity…” Spike’s break came in a shaky rasp. “What was that? What did we just see?” “I don’t know, Spike…” Rarity was equally out of breath. She put one hoof over her heart in a vain attempt to calm herself down. “But… I feel like we should definitely seek a way out of this place.” “Yeah, good call…” Spike replied with a soft sigh. “We lost our candle, though…” “At least it looks like it’s getting a little bit brighter outside…” Rarity sat up herself. Indeed, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see just a sliver of light beaming in through the windows high up on the ceilings. It lost the war with the darkness overall, but it succeeded just enough to make the palace visible. “Come on… let’s get moving. We won’t find anything or anypony sitting here… and I’d like to put as much distance between us and… that as we can.” “I’m right behind you!” Spike’s claws scraped across the floor as he moved to join Rarity on her journey further down the hallway. The darkness that engulfed them seemed to lighten up just a little bit as they went, as a friend’s company was known to do.
Decay“This place… it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” Starlight Glimmer poked her head out of the small living room in which she found herself. The light of the lone candle they’d found inside the living room shone down the length of each hallway, or at least, what should have been a hallway. The floor outside the door was little more than a black hole that dropped into the darkness far beyond the candle’s light could reach, as if their little room was a single section of safety they could hide upon from the gnawing abyss waiting for them outside. She would try to levitate them out of there, but her magic was not working. “Maybe it’s some kinda game!” Pinkie Pie’s jovial voice exclaimed behind her. “We’ve just gotta solve a riddle!” “This would be a really elaborate game, Pinkie Pie.” Starlight turned to face inside again. The room in which they found themselves was only barely holding itself together. The walls looked like they had begun to crumble long ago, and the floor was dotted with holes, though thankfully the floor that remained felt solid enough. Almost everypony who had been in the room with them was nowhere to be found. Starlight had opened her eyes to find herself alone with Pinkie Pie and Scootaloo, who was huddled in a feathery ball between two rotting chairs. “Hey, Scootaloo…” Starlight Glimmer approached the young Pegasus with an attempt at a caring smile. She really wasn’t good with kids. “You’re a Pegasus, right? Do you think you could fly out there and see what’s past that big hole?” “N-no…” Scootaloo shook her head slowly. “Even if I could fly, I don’t think I could…” Starlight cocked her head in confusion. “Huh? What do you mean?” “You don’t feel it? Something’s really different… like there’s something missing inside of me.” Starlight didn’t want to admit it, but she could feel it too. She had spent most of her life relying on her unicorn magic to see her through, not being able to use it left a hole deep inside of her soul. She had felt it even before she’d tried it, but only not that Scootaloo mentioned it did she recognize why. “We can’t get out…” Starlight opened her mouth to comfort the filly, but she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard what sounded like an explosion behind her. She whirled to see Pinkie Pie standing beside a brand new hole in the wall beside the door, with her party cannon clutched between two hooves. “Oops!” Pinkie giggled. “I was trying to cheer her up, but I guess I loaded the cheese instead of the confetti earlier. Sorry!” “Pinkie!” Starlight whirled on her in amazement. “You’re a genius!” “But I made a mistake…” “If we can’t get out through the door we’ll have to get out through a wall, then we can find the others and figure out how to get home!” Starlight turned to grin down at the cowering Pegasus. “See? Never give up hope, kid! That’s what Rainbow Dash would tell you right now!” Scootaloo looked down, then looked up at her with a ghost of a smile and climbed to her hooves. “Yeah… that’s exactly what Rainbow Dash would say!” Starlight whirled dramatically towards Pinkie. “Pinkie, load another cheese round! We’re busting out of here!” “Aye-aye!” Pinkie gave the two of them a grinning salute and turned to tend to her most prized possession. As the silence fell over them Starlight’s ear twitched and turned towards the other side of the room, where the candle’s light couldn’t reach. Starlight’s eyes followed suit, though she could barely even tell what was drawing her attention. It sounded like a high pitched squeaking noise, coming and then going, like a metallic heartbeat. It was so soft she thought she was imagining it, but she through that thought out the window as it grew louder still. “Starlight?” Scootaloo moved to stand beside her. “What’s that sound?” “Almost sounds like…” Starlight Glimmer scrunched her face as she searched her brain for the familiar sound. It dawned on her several moments later. “Scissors.” She gasped and took a hasty step towards Pinkie as a blue mist began to form in the darkness. It coalesced together into the shape of a mare as it lurched towards them, on legs that appeared to be broken in several places. One crooked and gnarled limb held a pair of scissors in one limp hoof, which were opening and closing in rhythm with the pony’s motions. Starlight could hear a gurgling noise from the pony’s twisted throat, as its still, dead eyes somehow latched onto Starlight’s and refused to move away. “Starlight, what is that?” Scootaloo scrambled to get away from the creature, though there was not much space to retreat. “H-hello…” Starlight gulped. “C-can we… help you? Are you… lost?” Starlight backed away from the gurgling apparition. It became quickly clear that conversation would be futile as it continued its labored approach. The scissors bobbed up and down in its hoof, opening and closing, snipping at the air as it made a straight line towards Starlight. “Pinkie, load the cannon, load the Celestia-damned cannon!” “And it’s done!” Pinkie Pie whirled the cannon around with a dramatic flourish. “Where are we firing it?” “At the wall, we have to get to the next room!” Starlight insisted. “But is there a room over there?” Scootaloo asked. “I don’t know the palace very well! This is my first time here!” Starlight swore under her breath. She didn’t know the palace very well either. The few times she had come to visit Sunburst she had stayed at his place. And even if there was another room, who knew if there was a way out of that either? “Oh! Maybe she can help us!” Pinkie leapt in front of the cannon to wave to the approaching apparition. “Hello ma’am! We’re a little lost and need to get to-whoa!” Starlight yanked Pinkie back to the cannon by her tail. “I don’t think she’s in a friendly mood! Quick, fire at the outer wall! We can be sure to get out of the room that way!” Starlight whirled the cannon around to aim the barrel straight at the wall opposite the door. “Cheese’s away, captain!” Pinkie yanked the chord on her party cannon, and the cheese exploded from its barrel. Smoke billowed from the barrel’s end with a thunderous crash, and less than a second later a massive chunk of stone vanished from the wall, flapping out into the open air beyond in several large chunks. “Launch successful!” Starlight ran to stick her head out the somewhat small hole. Strangely, while it was still raining outside, none of the water managed to hit the side of the crystal palace around them. This was because there were several landings and balconies on the wall above them, blocking the rain from hitting the window or the balconies below. For a brief moment she wondered how this was physically possible… but then she realized what it was. Even outdoors, and this high up, there was no wind at all. The rain was just falling straight down without deviation, as if the atmosphere itself was decayed. “Starlight, she’s closing in on us!” Scootaloo backed into Starlight’s flank with a nervous squeak. “It’s fine, we’re leaving!” Starlight yanked her head back inside. “You go first, Scootaloo. You’re the smallest. It looks like there a balcony right below us, climb down to it. Pinkie and I will be right behind you!” “O-okay!” Starlight helped Scootaloo climb up the side of the wall and slip her smaller body through the hole, where she grunted and turned to face the wall as she made her way down out of sight. Starlight’s eyes slowly lost focus when she heard the shuddering hoofsteps behind her cease, and the sound of a wet, gurgling grunt coming from inches behind her head. Slowly Starlight looked back over her shoulder, as the mangled foreleg raised the scissors up high before her. Starlight barely had time to takes in a deep breath before the scissors came down in a silvery arc through the light let in by the hole in the wall. Just barely did Starlight’s central barrel manage to clear the weapon, though it did still cut cleanly through the flesh on her left side. Starlight stumbled through the room away from her assailant, leaving behind a small trickle of blood on the once-pristine crystal floor. “Starlight Glimmer!” Pinkie exclaimed worriedly. “Are you okay!?” “Go, Pinkie! Follow Scootaloo! I’ll come once you’re clear.” Starlight backed away from the spirit, staring into its eyes to make sure it would follow her. “But I… mmnh… okay…” Pinkie gave her friend one more panicked glance then dove for the window herself. Her much more plump body wedged into the hole with a heavy thwuk sound, and she began wiggling her butt back and forth to inch herself outside. Starlight backed away from the spirit before her, gritting her teeth. “Who are you? What do you want?” The creature just gurgled back and continued its single-minded pursuit. Realizing communicating was futile, Starlight slowly circled with her eyes locked on the now blood-tipped pair of scissors in the broken hoof. At last, she saw Pinkie’s butt vanish out the hole in the wall, and her fluffy mane vanished from sight. “I don’t know who you are… but stay away from me and my friends!” Starlight suddenly broke off to the right and whipped around the apparition. She galloped as fast as she could towards the hole, and flung herself into it. Like Pinkie her body plugged the hole neatly, sending a piercing shot of pain rising through her body as the gash on her flank rubbed into the stone wall. She began to wiggle her way through as fast as she could, ignoring the pain, but she could hear the scissors once again snapping open and closed inside, growing closer by the moment. Snip. Snip. Snip. She couldn’t see the apparition approaching, but in her mind it was already almost to her legs. “Come oonnnn!” Starlight shoved at the wall with her forelegs and kicked with her hindlegs as fast as she could. She could feel her body moving, inch by painstaking inch. The scissors were getting so loud she felt like they were pressed against her ear, but even more terrifying was when she heard the scissors stop snipping. “Rrraaaaaaahhhhh!” With a howl of pain and frustration, Starlight managed to yank her hind legs free from the hole, but she was so eager to get out that she didn’t grab the wall. Her body plummeted downward without warning. She didn’t even have time to yell before her body met Pinkie’s halfway down, and they both tumbled the rest of the way to the balcony below, where they landed in a tangle of limbs and hair with a sharp, pained grunt. “Holy crap!” Scootaloo trotted to their side with a panicked look on her face. “Are you okay!? Please tell me you’re okay!” “I’m fine…” Starlight shook her head slowly. “Pinkie?” “I’m gooooood.” Pinkie waved her hoof in the air from below Starlight weakly before letting it fall to the floor again. “Just a little pain, I can walk it off…” “Whew…” Scootaloo heaved a deep sigh of relief. “I was so afraid you two were gonna…” “Hey.” Starlight reached up from the floor to pat Scootaloo’s head. “We’re not leaving you alone here, kiddo.” “Heh…” Scootaloo smiled. Starlight sat up, lifting herself from Pinkie’s body and resting her forehooves on the ground. She blinked when she saw her tail spring up behind her, a tiny stub of hair only a few inches long. She shook off the implications of this and tried to stand, but the pain that went racing through her body drove her to the floor again. “Aaaugh!” “Starlight Glimmer, you’re hurt!” Pinkie sprang to her feet and knelt down beside her. “We need to find the doctor’s office.” “Is there a doctor’s office in the palace?” Scootaloo asked. “Yeah, there is.” Starlight nodded, speaking through gritted teeth. “The royal family uses it for their routine checkups.” “There must be bandages there. Come on.” Pinkie helped lift Starlight to her hooves, letting the wounded pony lean against her for support. Even Scootaloo moved underneath Starlight Glimmer to lift her torso from below. “Heh… thanks, you guys…” Starlight couldn’t help but smile as, with the help of her friends, the three of them made their way back inside the palace. There had to be some kind of bandages around here they could use to stop the bleeding, at the very least, and she knew with her friends at her side they would be able to find them.
