Chapter 5

--Nightmares--

A tenth birthday is usually quite the milestone in a young one’s life, feeling that much closer to being an adult. Old enough to take responsibilities, and begin your work in the stable. Unless, of course, you are one of the unlucky ten, chosen for a different fate, one that begins with pain. A pain that will haunt your very being all your life.

“NO! YOU CAN’T TAKE HIM!” Mother cried out as security ponies held her back while I was being levitated by a unicorn scientist because I refused to cooperate.

I didn’t understand what was going on, it was my tenth birthday, and right in the middle of the party, security came with Overmare Zira saying that I was chosen for something. Next thing I knew, I was being forced down the hall while they held back Mother. I was crying, and trying to break free of the spell to get to Mom, but the unicorn was too strong.

“Zephira, you know the rules, those who are chosen are to be taken for the Trial of the Stars. You cannot stop this, so please stop resisting,” the Overmare said, looking at mother. I could only see the back of her head, but with Mom’s expression turning dark and scary, I was pretty sure the Overmare was smirking. I never liked Overmare Zira, neither did Mom.

“This is bullshit Zira, and you know it, the last child was chosen yesterday, and it wasn’t Shadow. So please explain to me why you are taking an eleventh child for the trial,” Mother said in a really scary voice she only used when she was mad.

“Unfortunately, the mother of the tenth child killed herself and her child, most likely to avoid living with the horrors of losing her child or him becoming a Guardian. No matter the reason, we are now short one child, and your son was chosen.” Overmare Zira said again with a calm tone that still had a hint of something I could not place.

“You and I have always hated each other Zira, but I never thought you would stoop so low as to take my son just to get back at me,” Mom said with noticeable venom in her voice. I knew they didn’t like each other, but Mom never would tell me why.

“That is quite the accusation Zephira. I would be careful with your words, lest they get you into trouble,” Overmare Zira said, before she finally turned around, and ordered the unicorn to take me to the lab. I was trying my best to fight the spell, and only increased my efforts when I heard Mom crying. No one made my Mom cry!

I managed to get my hoof free and hit the unicorn on the horn, after remembering mom telling me how sensitive their horns were. The spell dropped, and I landed on the floor, turning towards Mom and was about to gallop as fast as I could to her. However, the next thing I knew was blackness, as something hit me in the back of my head.

I woke up in a white room where there were nine other colts and fillies my age, walking, sitting still, some crying, and some that seemed just out of it. I got up and started to look around the room looking for a way out. I had to get back to Mom, she needed me.

Before I could though, a colt came by and pushed me to the ground. Looking up, I saw a unicorn colt with a red coat and a yellow mane and tail. He looked at me with a wicked smile, and I had a feeling this encounter was not going to be a pleasant one.

“Well lookie what we got here, the hybrid freak that I’ve been hearing about. You’re probably not going to survive today, so I hope you said goodbye to your mommy. The name is Swift Saber by the way, not that it’ll matter.” The colt that I now knew as Swift Saber said with a grin that made me want to puke.

All of the sudden Swift Saber was pushed a few feet away from me, landing on his side as he and I looked to see who pushed him. It was a zebra filly, her mane was cut short, and she did not look happy. I knew this filly all too well, my best friend next to Silver and Grindstone.

“You leave him alone, he can’t help what he is, and he doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment, especially from you.” The zebra filly said with an audible snort to top it off. Saber quickly moved to another part of the room, and the filly walked over to help me up.

“Keira, am I glad to see you,” I said while wrapping my forelegs around her neck. Keira had always been there for me, and having her here would make this easier.

She returned my hug and spoke softly in my ear, “It’s nice to see you two Shadow, I’m glad my best friend is here with me.”

I let her go and looked around at the other fillies and colts again before looking back at her. “What is going on? Why are we here Keira?” I asked hoping my friend had the answer.

She looked around and spoke, “I’m not sure, but my parents weren’t happy about it. They were crying when they came for me.”

She then looked back at me, and smiled sadly, “And I was worried I’d miss your birthday party.”

I chuckled at that, Keira always thought of me before herself. It was one of the many things I liked about her. “You didn’t miss much, we were about to set up for the party before the Overmare came,” I said sitting down on my rump.

It was then that the doors to the room finally opened, and several doctors came in, followed by both Overmares. Overmare Zira immediately found me, and smiled wickedly, sending chills down my spine. Overmare Cherry Cobbler came forward, which immediately got the attention of everyone in the room.

“Greeting little ones, now I know you are probably wondering why you are here and not with your parents. Well, I am here to tell you that you have been chosen to be given a great honor, one given to us by the Goddess of the Moon herself.” Overmare Cherry said an excited voice. Hearing about the goddess made all of us look up at her with curiosity and interest.

“Long ago, Princess Luna gave us the key to unlocking a pony or zebra’s inner strength. A procedure that will change you all in ways none thought possible,” Overmare Cherry proclaimed, increasing our curiosity. It was then that Overmare Zira stepped up and demanded our attention.

“You ten children have been chosen as the next generation of Guardians, warriors under the guiding light of our goddess. You will all ascend to new heights of skill and power, so that we can protect our stable, and Equestria when the time comes,” Overmare Zira said with a similar voice, but with a hint of something that made my fur stand on end.

“Now who wants to be the first to become a Guardian?” Overmare Zira said with a gleeful smile. I backed away, not sure about this. I knew Master Cross was a Guardian, so it would be kind of cool to be more like him.

“I’ll go first!” Saber said while holding his hoof up, jumping up and down to get the Overmare’s attention.

The Overmare smiled at him, and he was escorted to another room where there was no window. Overmare Zira went inside while Overmare Cherry stayed outside with us. It was weird, Overmare Cherry looked like she was gonna be sick. She seemed fine when she was talking to us.

We all sat in silence, waiting for Saber to come back out for about ten minutes or so. It was hard to tell time, the plain white room had no clock or anything to help pass the time. I looked at Keira, and was about to ask her what she thought of this, when it started.

“AAAAAHHHHHHHH!” Saber’s scream could be heard through the walls and door. The screaming continued, and went on for what felt like hours. We all grew worried, and some of the others started crying, begging the Overmare to make it stop. But after a while, it did stop.

The door opened, and Saber was on a stretcher. He was breathing, but his eyes looked like he didn’t know where he was. He didn’t move as he was taken away by the doctors out of the other door. What did they do to him? I didn’t like him, but even he didn’t deserve that. Overmare Zira came out with a smile on her face, looking to all of us.

“That went smoothly, now who is going to be next?” Overmare Zira looked around, but no one was volunteering after hearing all that screaming.

Her smile faltered just a hair, and she looked to Overmare Cherry. The two Overmares simply picked out a hat with slips of paper inside. Pulling one out, they called out Candy Cane, a pink earth pony filly who started to cry, and was forcibly taken by Overmare Zira. After the door closed, we all waited, and sure enough, the screaming came again.

This time, it seemed like the screams went on longer than when Saber was taken inside. Candy Cane kept screaming longer than I had ever heard someone scream. But suddenly, the screaming stopped. Overmare Zira came out followed by another stretcher. But unlike Saber, Candy wasn’t breathing. Her eyes were lifeless and cold. She was dead.

All of us started screaming and crying for the Overmares to let us leave. But they did not listen as the continued to call out names. One after another, earth ponies, unicorns, and zebra foals were taken into the room. The screaming went on and on, one right after the other.

After what felt like days, I looked around to find that the only ones left were Keira and myself. I panicked, and grabbed my best friend hoping to find an exit from this nightmare. Out of the eight that had gone inside the room, only two including Saber had come out alive. The others were dead and lifeless, being carried off to who knows where.

“Alright next will be Keira,” Overmare Zira came over and pulled Keira out of my grasp as Overmare Cherry held me back from reaching out to my friend. Overmare Cherry sat me down and made me look her in the eye.

“I know this seems cruel little one, but it is for the good of the stable and Equestria. Do not fear, Luna will watch over those who could not pass the trial,” Overmare Cherry said in a soothing tone, no doubt trying to keep me calm.

The next thing I heard nearly made my heart stop. Keira was screaming, louder than most of the others, she was in pain, and I could almost feel her pain. I wanted nothing more than to go in and stop them. The screaming continued, and I just curled up in a ball in front of the Overmare. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get away from the screaming. Eventually, though, they did stop, and I bolted up to look for my friend.

They had Keira on a stretcher, and I could see her breathing. Thank the goddesses she made it through. But as my relief fell over me, Overmare Zira came up and looked down with a wicked grin. I was the last one, and to say that I was scared would have been an understatement.

Knowing that there was no escape for me, I just walked with my head hung low towards the room that scared me beyond imagination. As I walked inside, I could see all kinds of medical equipment, vials of potions, and a table with straps. Overmare Zira grabbed me and threw me onto the table. I grunted as I landed and the doctors quickly strapped me down, so tight that I couldn’t move.

I looked around the room once more to see that there were signs of the other participants before me. Bile and blood covered the floor around the table, and a smell of something horrid filled the air. The doctors moved all around the room, moving potions and setting up something with three different vials. I could smell someone brewing potions inside the room, the same type of smell I was used to when I was with Mom in her lab.

Doctors came up to me and made incisions into my legs, placing tubes inside my veins, it hurt so badly. One of the doctors then brought three potions of different colors and attached them to the IV that fed into me. Once the potions were set, one of the doctors injected something into me, and some of the earlier pain went away.

“The subject is prepped, and the potions are ready, shall we begin the procedure Overmare Zira?” The head doctor I guessed from his attire said to Overmare Zira who simply smirked and nodded.

“Very well then, administering the first potion, Goddesses Tears,” The doctor said as he pulled a lever, and I watched in horror as the first potion came through the tube and into my body.

At first, it made my skin tingle and wasn’t that bad, but as I began to relax, the pain hit me like a door slamming down on my spine.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!” I screamed as it felt like molten liquid was in my veins, slowly spreading all throughout my body.

The only thing I could do was scream and endure the pain, knowing that if Keira had survived this torture, I could too. I wanted to return to Mom and see Keira again. It felt like hours before the potion finally seemed to die down a bit, but the pain was still excruciating.

“Subject’s vitals in the normal range, administering the second potion, Wildride Nectar,” The doctor said as he pulled the second lever. The next potion hit me with a chill to my spine, and the pain increased tenfold.

My screams intensified to the point that I thought my voice would give out, but it didn’t. In my mind, I was begging the Goddess Luna to make the pain stop. I began to shake violently and pulled at the straps with all my strength. But I could not break free, and the pain only intensified. I could feel my heartbeat in my chest, and it was beating so fast I couldn’t keep up. I felt like the potions were melting me from the inside out as it replaced my blood with lava.

I then felt bile reach my throat and puked all over one of the doctors who glared at me and moved to clean themselves up. Overmare Zira appeared to get an impatient look on her face as the time went by. It was hard to focus on anything other than the pain, but she seemed to be upset about something.

“Administer the last potion,” Overmare Zira said with a hint of impatience. The doctors all looked to her in shock, but a glare from her told them that they had better do as they were told.

“Very well, administering the last potion, Moonwillow Sap,” The doctor then pulled the last lever, and the potion went into my bloodstream. The pain had been bad before, but this potion made the earlier pain seem like a papercut.

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” I screamed with a new volume that I didn’t think I was capable of as the pain overtook my senses.

Pain was all I knew at that point, and all I thought about was how to make it stop. I could hear the monitor they had connected to my heart rate, it increased in tempo as time went by and my heart felt like it was close to bursting. My vision began to blur with red as I felt something wet run down my cheeks, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t tears.

Then everything went black, the pain was gone, and I felt like something was pulling me. I felt like sleeping and never wanting to wake up again. My mind began to blur, and everything seemed to fade out of existence. But then a certain thought came to mind as I drifted off. The look on Mom’s face when they took me and the cries she wailed. I never wanted her to feel that pain and more memories came into view.

Grind and Silver playing with me when the other kids all picked on me. Keira hugging me while I was in a corner of the lower levels, where she found me after I ran from class. Auntie Text showing me the library for the first time. Master Forge showing me the smiting level of the Stable and burning himself by accident when he was showing me his job. And Mom holding me as I cried, when I was picked on by adults for reasons I didn’t understand.

I had family, and I had a friend who would miss me if I didn’t come back. So I resisted this force that pulled me into the darkness and fought back.

“Wait look, his vitals are returning to normal!” I could hear one of the doctors yelling out as I slowly came back from the haze that clouded my mind. My vision slowly came back, and I saw doctors moving all around me, and the tubes that had been connected to me were removed.

Overmare Zira had a look that was a mix of frustration and annoyance when I looked her way. She then left the room without a word, which seemed to confuse the doctors as they unstrapped me and cleaned the incisions in my legs. I felt so weak and out of breath, but the pain had gone down to a dull throb. The doctors then bandaged my legs and began to take all kinds of notes if the scribbling on their notepads was any indication.

After they finished their notes and looking me over one last time, I was moved to a stretcher and taken out of the room. As I moved out of the door, Overmare Cherry came by and had a look of amazement when she saw that I was breathing. She smiled at me and moved ahead of the stretcher to open the doors.

As I was taken inside, I saw body bags on one side of the room and the other three survivors on the other. I was taken over to Keira, the other survivors, and laid onto a bed. I was right next to Keira, and I tried to lift a hoof to wave, but my body felt like it was made of lead. I still smiled at my best friend, and she smiled back, though she looked like she hadn’t recovered either. The blue unicorn filly who had also survived had a blank look on her face, and seemed distant, but she was breathing. Saber looked over to me and gave me a look of disgust.

I ignored him, and laid my head down on the pillow that was given to me. I sighed and felt like I had made an accomplishment. It was then that both Overmares came over and stood in front of us. Overmare Cherry addressed us first.

“Congratulations children, you have passed the Trial of the Stars and are on your way to becoming Guardians. I understand that you may feel resentment towards us and the doctors who put you through that horrible ordeal, but please understand that this task was given to us by the Goddess Luna herself in order to create protectors that will one day save Equestria from the hardships that have plagued it,” Overmare Cherry said with a proud and kind smile. I didn’t really resent her as she had been nothing but kind to us throughout this ordeal. It was then that Overmare Zira addressed us.

“Do not think that you are Guardians now. You have many years of training ahead of you. This training will help you to adjust to your new bodies, and the changes that you have undergone. You will be trained in several different aspects of combat including unarmed, weapon handling, firearms, combat magic for unicorns, and other skills that will be useful in battle. The training will be hard, but you will become a force that no evil can stand against. All in the name of our Goddess Luna,” Overmare Zira said with a practiced tone. I sensed that she was still disappointed about something.

“Now, you will be given two weeks to recover and adjust to your new senses, and of course we shall return you to your families in a moment. Your parents are waiting right outside the door to take you home. Rest little ones, for you will need every bit of it for the training to come.” Overmare Cherry said, then she made her way to the door, which she opened.

Immediately after she opened it, adults came rushing inside. Most went towards the body bags and cried so loud that I didn’t know how the Overmares could take it without covering their ears. I almost felt like it was louder than the crying I heard before the trial. It was strange. But I didn’t have time to think about it before I was scooped up into a familiar pair of forelegs and hugged with the strength of a snake.

“Shadow! My sweet baby, you’re alive!” Mother said as she held me so tight it was hard to breathe. But I didn’t care as I simply rested my head on her chest. If I could move at all, I would have wrapped my hooves around her and never let go. She held me there for what seemed like days. But eventually, she let me go and put me on her back. I saw Keira with her family and smiled at her, which she returned.

Mom saw this and moved towards the family of zebras. Our parents talked while Keira and I spoke to each other.

“We made it, how are you feeling Keira?” I said with a chuckle and a bit of concern for my friend.

“It hurts so much, and everything feels different. But I know that we are alive, and we will get through this, right Shadow?” Keira asked me with a smile that seemed to radiate warmth.

I smiled and tried to reach out to her, but my body ached too much.

Then something changed in the atmosphere of the room we were in. The lights went out, and I could not see anything in front of me. I noticed that I was not sitting on Mom’s back anymore, rather, I was on the floor, unable to move. I looked around, and searched for Mom and Keira to help me, but neither appeared. It was then that I heard a shuffling over in the part of the room that held the body bags if I was still in the room at all.

Unzipping could be heard, and wet steps were moving towards me. I looked in the direction of the sounds and nearly threw up right there. It was Candy Cane, her eyes nothing but black holes with blood dripping out of them. And she wasn’t alone, others came and moved around me with those same eyes. I could smell blood and decaying flesh in the air, and it burned my nose.

Candy then did something that scared me to my core, she started to speak.

“You were lucky to have survived, why couldn’t we have survived like you did?” Candy said in a tone that did not seem natural. She and the others moved closer. “Why did we have to die while you live?” Candy said as the group advanced even closer.

I could not understand what was happening, all I could feel at that moment was fear and sadness.

“I don’t know why, I’m sorry, but I don’t know why, please leave me be,” I said crying now as I could not move away from the group of dead fillies and colts. I began to panic as they moved even closer, and blood oozed from their eyes and mouths.

One of the colts spoke next, “Why should the hybrid live while we all die? It isn’t fair.”

They all came closer, and the smell only intensified, making me almost puke again.

I couldn’t take it anymore and just closed my eyes as they came upon me. I heard them all scream and lunge for me.

“NOOO!” I bolted awake screaming from the images that I had seen. I hadn’t had that nightmare in years, but it was one that had plagued me for a long time. Keira had similar nightmares from what she had told me. I could almost feel the pain of that day. The day my life changed forever. I felt so cold as the sweat rolled down my brow. I knew that it must have been late in the night so I moved to rest my head and try to return to slee--

BOOM!

Footnote: No status changes

Author's Note

Hey guys, Hades here with another chapter.

Now this one is a bit dark but it does give you an idea of what the Trial of the Stars is like.
Also what was that explosion at the end?

Feel free to comment and I'll have another chapter out for you guys as soon as I can.