In the past

It was cold. The smell of decay only made it worse. There wasn't any light, nor could I produce my own. All I could feel was the maggot crawling around me; hearing the insects buzz and crawl over everything but me. I thought they would get me next if I fell asleep. Staying still, breathing so slow that I would be mistaken for the deceased to be feasted upon from the inside out.

What little hair I have on my scalp is all that remains from scratching it off due to lice. I imagined a far worse fate in the darkness: lo have insect scavengers violate me and reuse my still-living husk to procreate and feast, feeling them surfacing in and out; watching them do so until they reach my eyes. To be blind as I am eaten alive.

Somehow I managed to stay awake - or maybe I am passing out in graceful moments to replenish enough stamina to swat the scavengers away.

I remember the screams down here - both young and old. I remember how those screams didn't belong to me, a few of them did, I admit it, but I gave up a long time ago. Their voices died out like the heartbeat of an abandoned newborn. But sometimes when its really quiet, I can still hear them down here, even though they're dead.

My mind is falling apart, and I am aware of it too.

I was in a hole so deep into the ground that when the sun shined down it looked like a dot. At least in the darkness, I could pretend I was in a trash pile, or a sewer - they were honestly better than where I am now. But when the sunlight reaches its peak, shining light directly down, and in that brief moment of cursed illumination, reminded me where I am.

The corpse pit.

Hundreds of individuals rotting into a fine pile of decay, all of them with their mouths frozen in terror - their dead eyes still carrying the fear and shock they had when they were alive and screaming; crying out in the darkness, realizing that this is what your life leads to; all your hopes, dreams, achievements - everything and anything you ever desired for - made meaningless by a deep hole in the ground!

But that only applies to those who survived the drop, being cushioned by the bodies of their dead predecessors.

Slaves. Waifs. Neglected. The homeless. Those who have no friends or family. Those who will not be noticed if they went missing. I was overqualified for the position.

I saw movement on the top of the hole, more griffons dragging another body. I wondered what species it would be this time?

Zebra? Those were very, very rare.

Diamond Dog? They were at the very bottom of the pit, the first ones to be thrown down here.

Dragon? There was one that got thrown down here after her scales and horns were harvested. I never saw anymore after that.

Minotaur? I've yet to see one.

Pony? They were common enough that if I guessed it, it would most likely come true. I had to change it up so that I would guess the type of pony.

Whoever they are, would they die from the impact, or would the decay soften their landing?

It was a cruel game, but I was desperate for a distraction. For when the light shined down, it revealed my previous game; one that I was too terrified to continue playing.

I used to scrape my finger horizontally across the solid walls of the pit, the line directly above the surface of corpses. But over time, when the next day came as the light shined down, I would see the line I carved once more.

It was much higher on the wall than it was before. I had to crane my neck to look at it. It was then I realized something: the pile of bodies is lowering. Fast enough for me to notice it, but efficiently smooth for it to go unnoticed.

Something is down here with me, and it has a deep hunger for flesh.

In the future

To say that Celestia was appalled by my tale would be an understatement. "W-When was this?" She looked queasy as she barely got her question out. I don't even think that is what she wanted to ask first. But how could she focus when her mind is overwhelmed by a description so carnivorous; what else would I expect from a herbivore?

Still, I found it odd that would be the first question she asked, maybe she isn't focused enough... or maybe I am just expecting too much. "This was back when Candace and Twilight were still young," I said. "But if you want a more accurate date? I was thrown down into that pit after you left the Griffon Empire; you originally came there to help them stop the Leviathan Cult as they abducted your subjects as well."

"H...How did you know I was in the Griffon Empire?" Celestia asked me, looking uneasy before shaking her head, trying to organize her thoughts. "No... I'm overthinking this. You probably heard about me going there... it wasn't exactly a secret... and I did bring others with me..." She said that more to herself than to me.

"No, I was personally there when you came to the Griffon Empire," I explained. "I remember how you had a look of wonder in your eyes as things were completely different over the centuries while you took your time making your way to the Emperor - you even sampled some of their sweets, eating two whole slices of their spice cake. After that, you offered the baker to come to Canterlot to work as your cake maker, and he still works in the kitchen to this day."

Celestia just stared at me with wide eyes, mouth open but struggling to form words.

I rolled my eyes. "Are you going to do that every time? There's a lot more that I know."

"B-But how do you know that?" Celestia asked in a raised voice. "I kept that offer to Heaven-feather a secret-!"

"Out of fear for his life, as you pitied him; thinking his talents were wasted there. I know." I already knew the details of her actions. "You kept it hidden because the Emperor thinks that if you were to visit, you would be spreading propaganda among his subjects to defect. With a ruler that paranoid, do you ever wonder why negotiating with him is so difficult? He's keeping a lot of secrets - all of them are harmful, like the pit I was thrown in after you left."

Celestia remember that argument, and it only made diplomacy much more difficult afterward. At least she tried to get the conversation on track again. "I saw that pit when I was there but-" She stopped herself, doubt creeping in. "He said it was a mass grave."

"You weren't down there like I was," I shook my head. "Of course it wasn't a mass grave, it was a feeding bowl - he lied to you. You're not the first he lied too about that pit either. It's simple as that."

"But that's what he told me!" Celestia protested, willing to give her ally the benefit of the doubt. "He said that his kingdom was too poor to give each griffon an individual funeral."

"Which is how he got that trade deal from you; they weaponized pity and sympathy to exploit kind-hearted individuals like you. It's why the zebras are always arguing with them every time you all gather for a diplomatic meeting: they're the only ones who can see right through them. Surely, this isn't the first time you've heard of this?"

"I thought they were rumors," Celestia admitted. "But you were there; you got out. Surely others escaped too?" There was desperation in her voice. Perhaps it was delayed disbelief that of all of those who were thrown down in the pit to die, I - the freak of this world, the one who doesn't fit - was the one to come out.

I could tell that in her eyes, she wished somepony - or any other species - was the one to survive, and instead, the world got me... or I could just be projecting; Celestia is a gentle being, so motherly and calm, and only breaking the trend when necessary.

"No one escapes that pit," I told her, much to her dismay. "It was so deep that the Emperor didn't worry about survivors. Even if they did survive the fall, the thing down there with me would eat them eventually. You couldn't even climb the walls, they were too smooth to grip. With the bugs and the smell from the decay, it would be impossible for a unicorn to channel magic. If by some chance that the wings of a pegasus wasn't amputated, and still had the strength to fly out to the top, they wouldn't be able to get past the guards. It's not like there was food or water down there either."

"Then how did you escape?"

"I ate one of the children down there."

In the past

The bodies kept coming down. I had to climb on them to stay on top. I could feel the vibrations from bellow, at the very bottom of the pit. I kept telling myself that it was something else, that it was my stomach growling from being denied food for so long.

I should have died from dehydration too, but here I am, still alive. I had conflicting feelings about that fact, originating from a cowardly aspect that wanted me to end it all, combined with the faint hope that Celestia would find me and get me out; that she would notice that I am missing.

('No, I'm not going to tell you why I hoped for your attention... because we agreed to keep my childhood out of it, that's why.... then stop interrupting me and let me continue.')
The body finally dropped down. It was another pony. I thought it was a wingless pegasus considering the wounds on her back, but after I saw the broken stub of a horn on her head - I realized she was a mutilated unicorn.

She was younger than me, but we were both children thrown in here to die. Except I fell here with only minor injuries, landing on the softest part of the pile. But her? I heard something snap like a twig, and then she started screaming.

And screamed she did, even as it went dark. I couldn't see her down here, but I know she is struggling in the blackness. She only stopped when a bug flew into her mouth, and after a fit of coughing, she started to cry. The realization that this is how she is going to die.

Sad.

Sick.

Forgotten.

Alone.

Well, maybe not alone. I'll be here. I could have reached out to comfort her, but what could I say to her? I don't lie. So, I did what I could. I reached out to her in the dark and grabbed her hand. When she tensed and let out a frightened whimper, I just whispered, as best as I could after being deprived of water for so long, "It's okay, I'm here."

There was nothing else I could say to stop her from crying, but I was able to lessen it. My whole life, from the moment of being born, I had done nothing worthy of it. I wasted it trying to get attention, ensnared by the promise of love and acknowledgment like a fish caught on a hook. After spending so long down here, I realized, just like the filly I am comforting, just like the hundreds who died before me, the world simply doesn't care... so maybe I should stop caring too.

It was frightening thought that I feverously countered with denial... but I later found it to be true when I realized that I just didn't care about the dying filly before me. To me, she wasn't a child with hopes and dreams, with a future denied by those she will never meet, for a reason she will never understand; I saw her as a quivering mess that would not shut up! Her screams and cries echoing around was like a nail being hammered into my skull over and over again, mixing and combining with the horrendous buzzing of insects that just irritated the thing at the very bottom of this pit!

It was made clear when the pile started reducing faster, quicker than the previous day: it was eating its way towards the filly, to devour the annoyance disturbing what was supposed to be a peaceful and rotted meal. It only got worse when her voice finally went dry and scratchy, and full of pain.

Instead of a sobbing voice, it was now an annoying ambiance that was akin to sandpaper being used to scrape the flesh off of a dying puppy; whimpering and chocking on nothing but disgusting air, but trying to vomit as much as possible in the slowest manner there is. Repeatedly over and over again - I don't think she knew how to stop, her mind broken beyond repair. Even as I carried her on my back to move us as more bodies were being dropped, trying to keep us on top and away from the thing below as days went by - her dying, aggravating voice was in my ear!

Then I had clarity. Those brief illuminations from the sun above showed me that I had sunk farther and deeper than before. The marks I made on the walls could no longer be seen. The sunlight itself seemed to struggle to reach down here. But when it did, I bore witness to the waxy, flesh protrusions of the beast below; the sunlight revealing the disoriented and ever-shifting dark colors that danced upon its skin. I backed away to the wall as the center of the pile shifted and churned like sour milk. Bubbling and evaporating as a single eye emerged to the surface, spraying rotted gore and chunks to splatter onto the walls. The iris was an unfathomable shape, bloodshot and furious, splitting and reforming to adjust to the sunlight before glaring at me. Specifically, at the filly, I carried on my back.

All my work, to care for a dying life, had been for nothing. "Ah damn it..." I collapsed on my knees onto the thick and vile mucus that surfaced. I didn't care as it slowly ate into my flesh; I was so tired of caring. "So this is what my life amounted to..." I am no different than the others in this pit; my life made meaningless because of a hole in the ground. I tried - I really did despite my negative attitude. In the end, it wasn't enough: everything I did never was.

I put the filly down in front of me. If I'm going to die, then I don't want her scratchy, drying croaks to be the last thing I hear. On my knees, the acidic sludge slowly eating my flesh, I just let my head hang down as my arms were slack; I didn't have the strength to care about myself, the bugs, or the thing before me advancing closer than ever.

The odor it had was beyond words - piercing through my senses like a sewing needle being hammered into my nose. The delayed acknowledgment of it lasted for a moment before it exploded and dug into my body like tree roots. Tears of pain dripped down my face, my world was starting to tilt and blur before it was covered in a curtain of foggy nothingness.

"YOU WERE DOWN HERE WITH ME..."

A powerful voice boomed in my head. I let out a cry of agony as the pressure in my head reached its peak. I couldn't lift my arms to cover my ears; I don't think it would have done any good - it was beyond language, yet I understood it when I shouldn't.

"AND YOU DID NOT PERISH..."

I looked at the thing before me, its unnatural eye focusing intently at me. I could feel it violating my soul as my heart raced so hard it caused my body to tremble. It didn't have a mouth to speak; a wordless will forcefully making me embrace it.

"I CAN SENSE YOUR HIDDEN POTENTIAL..."

I was looking at something that should not be; my own body screamed at me to run away. I was too tired, and there was no means of escape. I dare not to meet the horrifying gaze before me, but I was unable to look away.

"IN THE HORROR OF YOUR SPECIES..."

I felt something stab into my brain, a method beyond physical force. It was like my sanity was being peeled ruthlessly as if it were a vegetable. I saw frozen faces of flesh surfacing in the air, where spires of parasitic blight floated without mercy or love; I saw it all, and they saw me!

"KILL HER..."

One of the flesh protrusions uncoiled before me - a knife made out of ebony bones, coated in symbols representing something foul; a language of the damnation of a being that should not be witnessed! Just looking at it caused my eyes to bleed!

"AND RECEIVE MY BLESSING..."

Then there was darkness, and it wasn't because of the sun's absence of light. It was as if reality itself wanted this to be a special, private occasion.

It was just me. The knife. The dying filly.

She cried.

My stomach growled.

I hungered.

Author's Note

There's a trope where a girl is saved and becomes the main character's loyal companion. When I read this in gamer fics, no matter what fandom, I would just be confused on why she is even in the story. Because the main character who has the Gamer power can easily do things on their own, while the girl just exists. Or she because a love-interest who fawns, or just does nothing. It's like seeing her training, her power growth, and never seeing it in action.

I honestly was considering a female companion, but I was afraid I would follow that trope and the dangers of writing it; I would rather put that effort somewhere else than possibly write about a side-character that contributes little-to-nothing for the story, other than her improved abilities and skills.

So yeah, eating children - this story is rate M for a reason, and its only going to get darker. You have been warned.