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…”