Weep Not For Roads Untraveled
Author's Note
I haven't been active in the MLP FIM fandom in a long while. So what is the first thing I do when I come back? Obviously I write a grimdark story! Also I noticed that since I posted this, it's gotten two downvotes, and I wonder why. Is it cause the first chapter is too short? Because of Amethyst Azalea the oc? Or is it because it's a grimdark story? Or does one just read it a few sentences in and just dislike it because they didn't get hooked on it?
I'm not sure but if you don't like it, just leave. You don't have to downvote it, but if you DO can you atleast say WHY you downvoted it? Because that way I can learn from my mistakes and fix them. If you downvoted it because of the oc/ocs let me assure you thet are NOT playing a huge role in this story. They are only there as therapists to Fluttershy, aka they will only appear in a few scenes and the main focus is on Fluttershy and what happened in the Canterlot Caverns.
If it's because the the shortness of the chapter, it was intended to be short. Also sometimes chapters are short and that's something that just happens. Are you downvoting it just because it's Grimdark? If you are, quit it! If you don't like grimdark/horror just stay out of those tags. Don't go hunting down Grimdark stories just downvote, that's just not cool man.
Now three downvotes...sigh. This is what I was afraid of when I posted this story. Seriously, it's not that BAD is it?
I'm sorry if I sounded rude here, I just don't understand why there's like 3 downvotes in the short amount of time this has been up. It's a little ridiculous if you ask me.
Weep Not For Roads Untraveled
The trotting of hoof steps echoed through the chrome halls of the Psychiatric Ward. The culprit of the noise that cut through the otherwise silent halls, was none other than a psychiatric doctor by the name of Amethyst Azalea. She had just earned her degree and graduated with the highest of honors, the cream of the crop, as it were of the entire Senior Classes of her College.
Amethyst was a light lavender unicorn, with a curly blue and pink mane and tail. She had dark azure eyes, black rimmed glasses, she wore a bow in her mane. Her cutie mark was that of an azalea flower, with a heart that looked like a gemstone in the middle to signify the pistil. The unicorn had been scheduled for a very important session with a patient that has been here for a couple moons.
Thus far, the therapy sessions had been producing results rather gradually, Amethyst was assigned to this patient due to the timid and guarded behavior they displayed. The unicorn was passionate, and determined to bring to light the truth of what happened to the petrified Pegasus that wouldn't speak with anyone but her.
Something happened to her and her friends deep down within the Crystal Caverns of Canterlot, and Amethyst would not rest until she finally heard the tale.
One of the staff members, a sky-blue Pegasus with a white suit, dipped her head to Amethyst as she trotted up to her and the door. The door was connected to the room that housed her mentally compromised patient.
"Good day Ms. Azalea," The female Pegasus spoke in a deep but calm voice, "you're right on time with your evening constitutional with your patient! She just finished up her dinner and has taken her medication."
Amethyst dipped her head in a greeting to the Pegasus pony, "Ah, thank you for informing me Cloudy Comet, this will make it much easier to see if she and I can make more progress. Before I go, how are you and your family doing?" She asked in a hushed tone of voice. Wondering how the Pegasus was handling her part time job here.
"I hope you're meeting ends meet, I know that you're accustomed to handling natural disasters that rarely occur. So, being a staff member of the Psychiatric Ward must be a change of pace for you. How you holding up?"
"Oh, I'm doing as well as I can." Cloudy gave her a tired grin, letting out a dry and humorless chuckle. "Your patient has been proving rather difficult as of late, despite the medicine. Sorry, I forgot to mention that, afraid I'm rather frazzled at the moment. I'm not sure how much information you'll get out of her today, even though she did finally take her medication."
The sky-blue Pegasus let out a yawn and shook her head, trying to ward off the ever so tempting urge to sleep. It was a luxury she couldn't afford at the moment, despite the fact she desperately needed it. However, with her mother suffering from a terminal illness she needed all the money she could scrape by to fund her expensive treatment.
"It's a darn shame too, she was so close to cracking but a week ago, I wonder what's given her cold hoofs all of a sudden. Though I can understand why, whatever did happen was likely somewhat of a traumatic experience seeing as she's so shaken." The Pegasus finished with a low huff, still trying to wrap her head around the whole subject of the matter they were discussing.
"Don't you worry none, Cloudy." Amethyst replied, sounding confident enough, "I'm certain I'll get some more intel today. She's bound to say something sooner or later, right?" And with that Amethyst bid Cloudy an adieu. She made her way to the room, using her Unicorn magic to unlock the door.
She could hear the cold and dull clang of metal as the lock turned in its tumbler, with a click, her magic pushed the door open and the Unicorn stepped inside.
Her patient turned to her, fear clouding her gaze for but a moment. "Oh..." The Pegasus whispered, calming down somewhat as she realized it was only her Psychologist.
The Pegasus let out a relieved sigh, while she ran a hoof through her unkempt mane. "Hello Doctor Azalea." She mumbled so softly, that her voice couldn't even be considered a whisper.
Amethyst shut the door behind her, locking it before she ventured into the room. She gave her patient an understanding gaze as she trotted over to her, she used her magic to turn on her recording device.
She sat down on the chair at the foot of the bed, right next to the Pegasus. She gave her patient a reassuring smile before she began their session.
"How are you today?" She asked, keeping her voice hushed, as always she was particularly careful.
Her job required that she always conducted herself with understanding and reassurance. She was more than eager to oblige, seeing as she genuinely cared for the wellbeing of her many patients.
She was always considerate, even more so to this patient, seeing as they had gone through something nopony should ever have to experience.
Her patient stared at her knowing that this question was coming, it was burned deep down into the depths of her memory.
Every session they had started with that question, and every time her answer would be the same.
"They're shrieking..." The Pegasus replied in a shaky and timid tone, seeming to be on the verge of tears.
"Can you tell me who's shrieking?" Amethyst prompted, making sure to keep a reassuring tone of voice as she questioned the Pegasus.
The Pegasus whimpered and curled up in a ball on her belly, staring up at Amethyst. "M-My....my friends."
Amethyst had already known that this would be the answer to her question. Yet, she asked it anyway, consistency was a must when talking to someone who had went through trauma. "Why are they shrieking?"
"It's.... d-dark...s-so dark...there's...th-there's....gr-growling and... and..." The Pegasus began to tremble as she let out a soft sob. "S-Something....g-getting cl-closer..."
She began to fidget, she shifted and frantically peered all around the room. Her blue eyes misting over with tears that were now rolling down her cheeks. "Howling....s-h-shrieking, horrible.... Horrible sounds!"
Amethyst reached over and gently placed a hoof on her patient's shoulder, and patted it softly. "Shhhhh, shhh it's okay, take your time. Breathe deeply with me now, come on. Inhale...exhale....inhale and exhale." She instructed to the emotionally compromised Pegasus. She knew that after a few more questions her patient might clam up, it had become routine.
She wondered if maybe there would be a breakthrough this time, she hoped there would be. There were families seeking answers, and only one pony was able to give it to them.
This trembling Pegasus was the last hope ponies had, in order to figure out what had happened to their loved ones. Something had to give, and it have to give soon.
The Pegasus took a deep breath and continued. "S-So—So....I'm...I'm s-sorry." She whimpered, wiping away her tears. "I... Just...I....I w-want... M-m-my fr-friends." The poor dear was so broken up about the ordeal.
It was clear that even if she improved, she would never overcome the horrors she had witnessed at least not completely. But who could blame her? If anypony had seen what she had witnessed, they too would never fully recover either.
"No, no, no it's quite alright dear, just let it all out. There's no shame in crying, you've been through so much." Amethyst replied sympathetically, knowing full well how difficult it must be for her patient to speak about this.
It took a few minutes for her patient to compose herself, her trembling had all but ceased save an occasional tremble or two. She took in more deep breaths and stared at Amethyst, "It was...terrible." She finally managed to say to the light lavender Unicorn.
"What was terrible?"
“Th-Th-The…” The Pegasus whimpered with a shaky gulp of air, “ the….the thing.”
“What thing? What happened down there? Please, tell me as much as you can manage, dear.” Amethyst kept her voice gentle, but there was also a hint of urgency deep within the undertones.
She patted a hoof reassuringly against the Pegaus's shoulder. Attempting to soothe her, hoping that this would help the Pegasus to talk with her.
“…k-killed..m-my friends.” The Pegasus sobbed out, her entire body shaking and shivering as though she were out in a snowstorm. “..the…thing….it……I…I…” She began to hyperventilate now.
“Killed your friends….the thing?” Amethyst promoted firmly, yet still retaining her gentle demeanor. Not wanting to have the Pegasus clam up on her.
She was so close, she just had to press a little more to find out the truth. She went from patting the Pegasus on the back to rubbing her hoof in between her wings.
“It..it killed them…it showed me…” The Pegasus managed to choke out, the reassuring and comforting rubs on her back made it slightly easier for her to talk about the horrid event.
“It killed them? It showed you?” Amethyst questioned, still remaining calm and collective trying to coax the truth out of her, without frightening her.
The last thing she wanted to do was to scare her patient, and she knew she had to be careful with her words and actions. Otherwise, she could cause the Pegasus to go into a panic attack.
The Pegasus nodded with a frail whimper and a sniffle. “It.” She repeated in a voice that could hardly be classified as a whisper.
“It who? Who killed them? It showed you? What did it show you?” Amethyst pressed, albeit as gently as she could, knowing she was about to have a breakthrough.
The Pegasus only whimpered feebly and hid her face in her hoofs, the images of that night in the Canterlot Caverns playing over and over in her mind.
Those horrible and ghastly images, they would forever be burned into her memories until the day she died.
“Who killed them, and how did it show you? How did it kill your friends sweetie, how did it show you? What happened in those caverns, Fluttershy?” Amethyst’s voice rose slightly, but it wasn’t due to agitation. It was due to the fact that she was so close to the truth.
“I…I…I…” Fluttershy took in a deep breath, and let out one last choked up sob. Her defenses fell and she finally felt as though she could speak about her ordeal. “I…I…- it killed them…the…monster.”
“The…monster?” Amethyst was taken aback at this revaluation, this was something completely new. Of course monsters were not unheard of, but most monsters were from the badlands, far beyond the borders of Equestria.
It was only very rarely that a monster was discovered within the Kingdom. And just what in the royal names of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, was a monster doing underneath Canterlot? And, how had it remained undetected until now?
It had taken a long while to get this much information from Fluttershy. And the last thing Amethyst had expected her to say was that a monster was lurking underneath Canterlot, even at this very moment as they spoke it was a shock to take in.
Fluttershy nodded slowly, wiping her tears away from her eyes. “The m-monster…it…it killed them. It….it made me see through its eyes. I c-couldn’t do anything t-to help…” Her voice trembled with tremendous effort, it was obvious she was trying not to break down again.
“Fluttershy, listen to me very carefully dear, I need to know what happened. No…not just me but the families of the victims need to know. They need closure, Fluttershy and you’re the only pony who can give them that.” Amethyst let her words sink in, so that it would give the pink maned Pegasus a few moments to prepare herself.
“I know what happened was no doubt tragic and traumatic for you, but please try and tell me what happened.” Amethyst continued after a short pause, that only took up a few ticks of the clock in the room.
“You needn't tell me everything that happened all at once, I won’t force you to do that. But, if you can, please tell me a little at a time if it’s easier for you to do so. If you need some help getting started, why not start from the beginning?” She questioned, hoping that Fluttershy would comply with her request.
“O-Okay.” Fluttershy whispered in a near breathless manner. “It all started when Rarity learned about the C-Crystal C-Caverns beneath Canterlot…”
Author's Note
Here's the second chapter. I hope that it's much more satisfactory than the first. This is what I can really do with my writing and I hope this captures your interest! I want this story to be a slow burn horror.
Where it starts out with a little bit of creepyness. As shown through Spike who felt a chill in his spine. And through Fluttershy when she is hearing something mysterious and eerie.
Then as we go on the horror will up its ante. But with a few moments here and there to build suspense and doubt. Well I'm off to do dishes! Then after that I'll get right to work on the 3rd chapter! See ya~
And So It Begins
The gentle light of Celestia's elegant sun shined brilliantly within the sky above. The complexion of the sun had become a stunning and vivid amber.
The radiant circlet had long since begun its descent, painting the sky around it in lovely hues of red like different shades of roses, as well as pinks like the shade of the rose apples that bloomed in the east orchard of Sweet Apple Acres.
Hints of orange and yellow, much like that of the fallen leaves in fall, were sneaking into the mixture. It was a lovely and alluring sight to behold, most of the ponies in Equestria adored it when the sun started to set especially the artistic ponies. They were able to draw a vast amount of inspiration from the divine spectacle.
"I can't believe it took us THIS long just to get to the Canterlot Caverns! I mean, what the hay was up with that cave in at the train tunnel?" Rainbow huffed out, her ruby pink optics narrowed as she gazed upon her friends just below her, all of them trotting along the pathway that would lead them straight to the entrance of the Caverns.
Unfortunately, what should have been a brief trip to Canterlot developed into a much longer than anticipated venture. There had been a rather unexpected cave in at the train tunnel, that wound around the mountain, connecting Ponyville to Canterlot.
Twilight and Starlight had to step out of the train and dislodge the multiple boulders that impeded their travel.
The unsavory incident had caused them to be stationary for five long and mundane hours. Not to mention after the whole event, it had taken them almost another hour to arrive at Canterlot. So that meant they had been held up for almost six hours, just trying to get to their destination. If the event with the train was anything to go by, their undertaking of the Canterlot Caverns was sure to be quite arduous.
The reason behind the voyage was due to the request of their charitable friend, Rarity. The generous Unicorn was presented with the knowledge of the Caverns through Sassy Saddles. Sassy had stumbled upon and procured a precious gem unlike anything Rarity had ever seen, just inside the entrance of Canterlot Caverns. Desiring more, Rarity had decided to gather up her friends to explore the Caverns.
"I am so sorry, my darlings!" Rarity verbalized in an apologetic manner, while she let her gaze wander over her group of friends. Her stunning azure orbs shimmered with sympathy for them all. "I never predicted that my simple request to explore the Canterlot Caverns for rare and precious gems would take this long."
"Now, don't yah be frettin' now Sugarcube! Yah didn't know about the tunnel cave in! It ain't your fault." Applejack remarked, letting her fashionista friend know that nopony blamed her for delay.
"Exactly," Starlight piped up as she trotted in-between Twilight and Trixie, " there's no way you could have predicted this outcome, Rarity. After all, your talent isn't being a Psychic."
Rarity exhaled in defeat, shaking her head. Even though she still felt partially responsible for what happened, knowing her friends were there to reassure her lessened the feelings of guilt.
A smile formed on her muzzle and she spoke with new found spirit. "Oh, I suppose you are right. We should count our blessings, and be thankful that it didn't take us any longer to reach Canterlot. Otherwise, the trip might have been postponed to another date."
A groan came from the left side of Starlight, "The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't understand why you didn't let HER help you with the cave in!" The illusionist let out a huff, her electric lavender orbs glistened icily. Her expression was very sour, it was obvious she wasn't enjoying herself. "You didn't even let Trixie move at least one boulder!"
Starlight shook her head and rolled her azure oculars at Trixie's griping. "Now Trixie," she replied to the irritated Unicorn, "it isn't that we didn't want your help, or that we wouldn't have appreciated it. But, you are still getting used to using actual magic. You could have hurt yourself while trying to assist us, and the last thing I want is for my best friend to get injured when it could have been avoided entirely."
Trixie stared at her best friend, letting her words sink in before she rolled her eyes. She gave Starlight a sly grin and a wink, it was a code they had created between the two of them. It was a sign that all was forgiven if a transgression had occurred, and everything was as right as rain.
Starlight chuckled and returned the sly smirk and wink, letting Trixie know that she was also forgiven for her complaining. After that exchange had taken place they finally reached the entrance of the Caverns only to find it blocked by rubble and a large boulder.
"Oh, for Celestia's sake, not again!" Rainbow cried out in dismay, glaring at the scene before them. She dropped down from the air and stamped a hoof on the dusty trail they had taken to get here.
The others groaned while they stared at the debris.
Twilight's violet gaze fixated on the rubble and the large boulder that blocked the entrance. She scowled at the sight of it, great another cave in to clean up. Her bottom left eyelid twitched as she illuminated her horn with her magic.
The glowing magenta aura shimmered and danced, sparking as she concentrated on lifting the obstructions.
The magical aura shimmered while it surrounded the entirety of the rubble, its color being slightly altered into a darker shade of purple due to the glowing of the setting sun.
The Alicorn's mane and tail began to flow, this was caused by the powerful surge of magic being emanated from Twilight's horn as it displaced the oxygen molecules around her. With a low grunt, the bearer of the Element of Magic forced the rubble to elevate into the air.
Wasting no time, she relocated the rubble away from the entrance without breaking a sweat. Gently she lowered the rubble down onto the earth. The aura around her horn sparked a few more times before it fizzled and faded, no longer needed as the task at hoof was complete.
"Uhm...girls?" Fluttershy voice out in a cautious manner as she peered into the entrance of the Caverns. All she could see was a gloomy dark abyss staring back at her, as though it were the maw of a predator about to devour her for a meal. "It's awfully dark in there, shouldn't we get some torches to light our way?"
"I agree with Fluttershy, it is rather dark in there." Spike remarked as he stepped up to the entrance, he cautiously reached a hand into the murkiness. His hand was quickly swallowed up by the thick shadows within the Cavern.
An icy chill slithered up his spine as soon as he reached his hand in, with a small whine he hastily pulled his hand away from the darkness.
"I dunno you guys, maybe we shouldn't go in?" He turned to the others, giving them a pleading look. "I mean, I know you want to look for gems inside of the Caverns Rarity, but this place gives me the dragon bumps!"
"Aweeee, it's okay Spike!" Pinkie blabbed out in her bubbly and cheerful attitude, seemingly not at all phased by the fact it was pitch-black in there.
"There's no need to worry when we're all together! As Granny Pie says: 'You gotta stand up tall, learn to face your fears! You'll see that they can't hurt you, just laugh to make them disa-'"
"Okay, okay!" Rainbow interjected as she placed a hoof over Pinkie's mouth. "I think he gets it Pinkie. I know you love to sing, but now's not the time. I thought we all learned when not to sing while we were in that escape room."
Pinkie let out a muffled giggle as she gently pushed Rainbow's hoof away. "Oh yeah we did, sorry I forgot about that! Right, no singing for now! We gotta go into the Caverns before it gets any darker!"
"Don't worry about the darkness, I've got a solution for it!" Starlight's horn began to glow with an icy blue aura. Nine small orbs of light appeared before them all, all of the orbs different colors.
Before Starlight was an icy blue orb, the other orbs were as follows a pink and blue orb for Trixie, a magenta orb for Twilight, a pink and yellow orb for Fluttershy, a rainbow orb for Rainbow Dash, an orange orb for Applejack, a blue and purple orb for Rarity, a pink, blue and yellow orb for Pinkie and a green and purple orb for Spike.
The orbs shimmered and flickered, their colors dancing and mixing. The colors began to shift and change and soon they took the form of necklaces with pendants in the shapes of everypony's cutiemark. Except for Spike, he had a pendant in the shape of dragon wings.
The lights turned into necklaces that gave off a vivid glow, it would be enough to cast light off of the group within the Caverns. "There we go! A simple spell to make glowing necklace charms, this should illuminate the Caverns just enough so we can see. Oh, and if I'm correct, the glow from our necklaces should reflect off the precious gems! Making it easier to find them, and not only that it will light up the caverns even more."
"THAT WAS SO AWESOME!" Rainbow cried out in excitement as she swiped up her necklace. "This necklace is so cool! Like me! It doesn't even need to be twenty percent cooler, it's just that cool!" She didn't waste any time in placing it around her neck.
"Now wait an apple pickin' minute!" Applejack blurted out as she turned to Starlight giving her a gaze of disbelief. "If y'all can make such beautiful doohickies, why do we even need tah go into this here Caverns in the first place? If yah can just magically make them appear outta thin air?"
"Because they're not real precious gems, honestly Applejack." Rarity glanced over at the farmer, giving her a look that she would do best to keep her mouth shut. "Gems manifested of magic are worthless compared to the real deal."
Applejack let out a small strained chuckle, rubbing her left leg with her right hoof, gulping as she did so. She grinned, but her face was contorted, as if to convey she was uneasy and who wouldn't be, given her current situation. "My sincere apologies, Rarity. I'm sorry for assumin' I guess I just don't know much about the art of gems."
Rarity's gaze softened and she smiled, "That's quite alright Applejack...now..." She turned her attention to her glowing necklace.
"This is so divine, Starlight! Wherever did you learn such a spell? This may not be made of real precious minerals or gems, but it is simply stunning!" She used her magic to levitate the necklace against her neck and snapped the clasps into place.
Everypony else and Spike also commented on how stunning or wonderful the necklaces were as they placed them around their necks.
"It's actually a simple spell, even Unicorns with basic magic can do it. I read about it in a book in Twilight's library, I'll show you sometime." Starlight replied, a sparkling grin settled itself onto her face and her eyes shimmered brightly.
Rarity let her gaze wander over her friends before she spoke in a clear and determined voice. "That sounds lovely Starlight. Now, that's that I suppose, shall we be off into the Caverns? The sun is setting and Luna's divine and absolutely radiant moon will soon be climbing into the sky; with stars that sparkle like a thousand diamonds joining it. We need to go in and be hasty but efficient about our work!"
Everypony and Spike nodded, as they all cast their attention to the Cavern entrance. Everypony looked back and forth from the entrance to each other, as if contemplating whom they should send in first. Fluttershy however was the only pony not partaking in the shenigans of staring back and forth.
Instead she was poking at the ground with a hoof, flittering her wings and staring anywhere but at the faces of her friends.
For some peculiar deduction, she felt as if she were being beckoned by something within the Caverns. She strained her ears, trying to pinpoint what exactly was trying to summon her attention.
It wasn't specifically a voice that demanded her to hone onto it, but rather a melodious harmony of baritone noises.
The babble coming from within the murk of the Cavern was all so enigmatic, and yet vaguely ominous all at once. Could there perhaps be some sort of beast within that was creating this alluring pandemonium?
This piqued the animal lover's ever inquisitive passion to learn all she could about the various fauna living around the world. If there was a new creature just waiting to be exposed to all equine kind, then she wanted to be the pony to seek it out and record the finding.
Her aquamarine circlets shimmered and gleamed, she straightened up and held her head up high.
She stared deeply into the cave, the expression on her face beamed with concentration and tenacity. Her newly acquired intrigue was what spurred her on as she made her split-second decision.
She chose her course and carried it out, she trotted through the cluster that was her friends. Fluttershy closed her eyes, she took in a deep intake of air and exhaled in a drawn-out manner.
She stepped a hoof into the entrance, ever so warily as she perked her ears up, listening once more for the vibrant aria she heard previously.
The instant she set a hoof in the entrance is when the baritone symphony once more seized her auditory senses. She trotted into the Caverns with no regard to wait for the others.
Her heart rate increased at the very thought she could uncover an unknown entity, her thoughts buzzed in her head like a swarm of angry flash bees. Every inch of her body was tingling, and she could scarcely contain herself.
"Fluttershy!"
The Pegasus did not heed as her appellation was bellowed out, causing a reverberation to travel ahead of her, it bounced of the walls, then it bounced back at her and then faded away into quiescence.
The bellowing from her friends was all for naught, the pink maned equine was on her own self-assigned mission and no matter what came her way, nothing could stop her.
