Waking up sucks...by Zachy_5436Chapters"Ugh, my head..."Tests.They changed my rating to mature, so this reflects it.Rock-a-bye Filly..."Ugh, my head...""Ugh, my head..." That was all she could think. What the hell had just happened? One minute, she was talking with her friends in Fluttershy's house, and now.... "Now" was a mystery. It was a joke, almost. Her senses seemed non-existent for the longest time, only seeming to sharpen when the sound of a pony pushing a heavy cart went by. "Where the hell am I..?" She struggled to move her body, but wasn't surprised to find that it wasn't very cooperative... This has to be a dream... a lie... Words that kept repeating themselves in her mind, struggling to find a place to settle. After a while, though, even those thoughts were gone. And so she lay... There it was again, that sound... The cart, the hooves... She struggled to open her eyes, and for the first time, succeeded. Though, what she found wasn't exactly what the lavender unicorn had expected. Mainly, because she wasn't "the lavender unicorn", anymore. Gone was her luscious lavender fur, replaced with a dull grey color. It was matted in some spots, and it looked like her fur hadn't seen water in months... But for all she knew... "So you're awake?" was the sound first audible to the rather confused pony. Hooves clopped next to her, and she could slightly make out the frame of a very familiar princess. "Well, 231, how was your sleep? You've been out for a while." A while? A while? Something was wrong here. The white alicorn chuckled, as if remembering a joke. Her wry grin the only distinguishing feature... other than her mane. That mane... The one that twilight had looked up to her entire life. That long, flowing, paled rainbow mane. "Pr-princess?", was all she was able to choke out. Her mouth felt dryer than the badlands, and the back of her throat felt raw. She held back the contents of her stomach, fighting with all of her might not to throw up. Now her senses were back, and things were certainly different than at first glance... Needles. Tubes. Wires. Stitches. Wounds. All of them decorated her soft grey hide; simultaneously mimicking a bad horror movie, and a decorated soldier. She could feel the contents of the tubes, rushing through the needles and flowing through her veins. While not an unpleasant feeling, it was certainly not one that the bound pony was fond of... Bound? She struggled against whatever was holding her down, though she saw no restraints. It didn't take long before she realized that whatever was in the tubes was somehow responsible for her inability to function. Noticing the small pony's realization, the alicorn spoke up: "Well 231, it looks like you're right on time. Today's tests are just about to begin." 231? Who was this "231", that the princess kept mentioning. She was Twilight Sparkle... At least, that's all she could remember herself as. The memories of her friends, the memories she had of ponyville... They seared her head like a red iron. While she tried her best to put them out of her head, they still disoriented her... "Wait... Tests? What tests?" she questioned. Looming like a shadow, the princess merely grinned and stood over her. Before long, a white unicorn in a lab coat knocked on the door. Celestia ushered the pony in through the door, welcoming him as "Dr. Standard". He ran his hoof through his greasy black and purple mane before starting to fiddle with the tubes and needles that riddled her dirty hide. Sliding out needles, and pulling off wires, the doctor seemed very gentle in his motions, even if his blood-stained clothing told a much different story... Tests.It was all she could do not to scream. Sensations came flowing back now that the needles keeping her content had been pulled. Blood ran down her filthy hide in small streaks, matching the dark lines that were already present. It felt like fire was flowing through the young mare's veins, converging at her heart. She coughed a few times, the pain seriously affecting all of her body functions. She vision went cloudy, before fading to black. Blinking rapidly, her vision slowly came back, blurred by the tears that hard started streaming down her face. The unicorn in the coat... Dr. Standard, she thought she remembered him being called... Slowly chuckled, using magic to hold the spasming test subject. He pulled out new needles, injecting them into the places that the old ones were, before he slowly slid her on to a heavy metal cart. The cold metal was an obvious shock to the shattered mare, her entire body shuttered as she was slowly lowered down onto it. Her hooves could be heard clicking against the metal, rapidly matching her shivering body, and chattering teeth. He slowly hooked her onto an IV, the cold fluid dripping into her veins at a wretchedly slow pace. Slowly but surely, the cold fluids overtook the blinding pain, cooling her entire body temperature in the process. He simply grinned as she slumped down and stopped moving, her body very much resembling a corpse. If it wasn't for the slight rise and fall of her stomach, he'd have sworn that he had just killed the mare. The doctor sighed, wheeling the cart past his glorious princess, purposely avoiding her icy gaze. She may have made herself look perfect in the hallucinations and dreams she and her sister fed this wretched excuse for a pony, but he knew far too well, just how cruel she could actually be. He hummed to himself slightly, a tune that carried into the young unicorn's dreams. One that she had heard every day since she was "born", not even realizing the true nature of the tune. It was an equestrian death dirge; Sang for the ponies who were brutally and ruthlessly murdered. He found it fitting; He could at least give her the dirge she rightfully deserved, even if she wasn't dead yet, he didn't expect her to have the strength to carry out much longer... _ _ _ "I swear, I just had the craziest dream", Twilight said to herself, unaware of the odd stares she was getting from her friends. "Uhm... Twi? Is errythin' okay? Ahm startin' to get worried with ya noddin' off like that all the time", her friend applejack tried to ask her, only to be met with silence. The lavender unicorn was too busy staring around, seemingly amazed to be in her own home. "When did I get back", she asked, glaring at all of her friends, as if they'd know the answer to her crazy question... _ _ _ Her confusing return to her "normal world", was short lived. Snapping back to reality, she felt a very sharp pain in her side. The doctor was looming next to her, a pained expression on his face. She looked down at her side, horrified at what she found. Her cold blood was spilling down onto the table she now found herself on. A large cut had been made across her side, giving the world a full view to her insides. The doctor sighed slightly, his horn glowing a lavender, before she felt her body grow cold. The blood he had spilled was now moving its self into a pan, aided by the magic of the bored looking unicorn. She gasped, her head growing dizzy from lack of blood. As sharply as she had woken up, she fell back to sleep, the last thing to grace her ears was "I'm sorry Twilight... I never meant for this to happen..." They changed my rating to mature, so this reflects it.All of the chapters are going to be short, so I apologize if that's a turnoff to readers. I'm doing my best given the time that I have, and apologize to those that can't get into it. ________________________________________________________________________________ Twilight awoke in a dark, unfamiliar, room. Sitting up, she looked around, drawing in the scenery of the small cell she had been given. There was a window open to her right, letting in a breeze that smelled of flowers. The steady "Beep... Beep..." of the box next to her pounded in her skull, each monotone note sending another spike of pain through her already throbbing head. Something she had dreamed bothered her, but she couldn't quite recall what it was. Her thoughts were interrupted as a young white unicorn opened the door, slowly stepping in. He looked at her with slight surprise, grinning slightly when is eyes met hers. "So you're awake, are you? Good, Good. You gave your friends quite the scare, blacking out like that. When you wouldn't wake up, they brought you here to me. Good set you have there..." She had blacked out? She tried to remember what had happened before she had fallen asleep, but that was little more than a dark haze, clouding her mind beyond use. She sat up, shifting her weight forward to avoid falling back down. She was physically exhausted, feeling as if she hadn't slept in a lifetime. She tried to lean on one hoof, recoiling at back at the sharp pain that shot through her leg. She looked down, horrified at the tattered thing that hard replaced her leg. She looked herself over, nearly throwing up at the matted and bloody grey fur that had replaced her own. "Is everything all right Miss Sparkle", the unicorn asked, looking perplexed at the young unicorn. "My fur!" she nearly shrieked. "What happened to me?!". The young unicorn looked even more confused, blushing as he answered; "What are you talking about, Miss Sparkle? Your fur is as lovely as it always is...". He trotted to the end of the bed, checking the small clipboard. "We should be able to discharge you tomorrow morning, if that works for you...", not awaiting her response, the unicorn simply trotted out, muttering a quick "Goodnight, Miss Sparkle", as he shut the door. Twilight fell back, letting her head hit the pillow. Slowly, but surely, she slid back into sleep... And all the horrors that came with it... _ _ _ Her eyes slowly slid open, unfocused as she stared at the blurry ceiling. The steady "Beep... Beep..." was still present, carrying on into her dream, she thought. It wasn't until her eyes focused that she got a better look at things. A cold concrete ceiling lay above her, a single light bulb bathing the room in a pale white light. She tried to look around, but was only met with the usual inability. Hearing the telltale clip-clop of hooves against the concrete, she was greeted by an all-too-familiar voice, chilling her down to her very core. "Oh, hello there...", The tiny voice spat, almost in a mocking tone. The voice automatically registered as her close friend Fluttershy, but that couldn't be right... could it? She tried to strain her head, finding herself still unable to move. The hooves stopped somewhere to her right, shortly followed by the sound of a few metallic snapping noises. Her body started responding to her sometime shortly after, and she rose to meet her guest, horrified by what she was met with. It was Fluttershy. At least, a pony that closely represented her. Instead of the sweet demeanor, and caring attitude, she was met with a cold glare. "Get up" she barked in a voice that would've been cute, had the malice not been thick enough to cut with a knife. Twilight complied, slowly getting off the table. She found her legs in working order, much to the satisfaction of her friend. Friend? Not exactly. She felt a sharp pain in her side, she gasped inwards, feeling her ribs crack as her "friend" removed her hoof from her side. "Hm. Bone mass isn't increasing, but she seems to be healing at an astounding rate" Fluttershy said to herself. In a motion that was almost too fast for Twilight to catch, Fluttershy had knocked her feet out from under her, grabbing a tight hold on her mane. She slowly started walk, dragging the still-breathless Twilight along the ground. Just when she swore that her mane was going to get ripped out, the tugging stopped. "Get up", her friend snapped at her, Kicking her side again. Twilight nearly puked blood as she rose, each breath eliciting a slight bubbling sound somewhere deep inside her chest. Fluttershy shoved her into a small room, slamming and locking the thick iron door behind her. This couldn't be her friend. She was mean, Loud, and brutal. And she was FAST. How in the world she moved like that was beyond what Twilight's throbbing head could handle. Any thoughts that she had were slowly overwhelmed by a chuckle erupting from the other side of the room. She heard a small voice from across the room, chilling her to the bone. "They tell me that they'll let me free if I can kill you.". What?! Kill her?! Twilight didn't even have time to brace herself as she was violently thrown against the concrete wall. Looking up, she saw her attacker; A small blue Pegasus, as tattered and torn as Twilight was. Twilight rose, fearing for her life. This mare wanted to kill her. Not hurt, not maim. Kill. She didn't have much time to think, as she found the Pegasus charging at her again. Twilight answered in a similar fashion, rocking the pegasus in the face, using her own momentum and speed against her. The mare flew across the room, slamming hard against the cold concrete floor. She was quick to rise to her hooves, bloodlust screaming in her eyes. Twilight was ready for her this time, shoulder checking the pegasus into the wall. The pegasus hit the wall with a sickening "crunch", screaming as her wing practically snapped in half from the impact. Twilight felt her chest throb, spitting out the small amount of blood that had collected in the back of her throat. "Why in Celestia's name are you doing this?!" She asked, hoping that the pegasus could give her some form of answer. The pegasus had other things in mind, though, rushing out at Twilight. "YOU JUST NEED TO DIE!" the blue pegasus shouted. Twilight dodged out of the way of the haphazard assault, bringing her hoof down on the back of the pegasus. Twilight loomed over her, disgusted when the mare simply spit into her face. This mare was practically asking Twilight to beat her senseless. And the scary thing, Twilight realized as she lifted her hoof one last time, is that she REALLY wanted to hurt her. She brought her hoof down with a sickening crunch, feeling the bones below her snap. She walked over to the corner, nearly collapsing. She had just killed a mare.... And loved it. That was the part that bothered her. When had she gotten like this? When did she learn to fight like that? When did she acquire a taste for beating weaker ponies to death? She didn't have much time to think, as the heavy door slowly opened, a white unicorn stepping inside. Rock-a-bye Filly...So, I've decided to make the dreams involving ponyville less frequent. This is going to play into later chapters, and I'm hoping I can use it to throw in a plot twist, or something. I dunno. And I promise the story isn't over, so don't ask. The unicorn merely chuckled as he walked over to collect the battered remains of the blue mare. A lavender aura emanated from his horn as he slowly lowered the gruesome carcass onto his cart. It was all she could do not to vomit as she watched blood drip from the mare's dirty white mane, obviously coming from the killing blow. Twilight looked at her hoof as she thought of the impact, the feeling of the mare's skull shattering under her hoof still fresh in her mind. She heard the doctor clear his throat, looking up to meet his piercing violet eyes. "You're coming with me" he said in a cold voice, devoid of any form of emotion or life. "We have a few more tests for you, but first, we've decided that a bath is in order". She looked at him with a bewildered expression, still clueless as to what exactly was going on. The doctor didn't seem to notice, slowly trotting out of the small room, his cart magically in tow behind him. Twilight counted four bodies on that cart. Four mares who all met with the same eternal fate. She tried not to think of it as she trotted behind the cart, only slightly attempting to keep up with the doctor. The cart was all she focused on, trying to drown out her bleak surroundings. The bodies only made her urge to vomit worse, and the mare that she had added to the cart herself was peeking out at her from behind it's mane, it's glassy eyes shining through the caked blood. If she didn't know any better, she'd have thought it was grinning at her. She quickly dismissed the thought, remembering the clear feeling of the mare's miserable life slipping out from under her hoof. She almost slammed into the cart as it came to an abrupt stop. She looked up over the bodies, meeting the doctor's cold gaze. "Inside this room, you'll find food, a bed, and a restroom. Get yourself cleaned up, rested up, and ready to go first thing in the morning". He didn't even wait for her response, quickly turning from her and continuing his routes. She watched in horror as she watched the blue mare slowly shift it's position, it's grin cutting through Twilight like a hot knife. She tried to shrug it off, watching the cart slowly fade into the gloom as the doctor walked away. There was no mistaking it; That mare had moved. Not in a "I'm falling" kind of way, but more of "Oh, let me get comfortable". The dead don't get up, the dead don't come back to life. Everything she had ever learned told her this, it slowly starting to bother her more and more with each passing second. She slowly felt the contents of her stomach start to creep up her throat, the slightly acidic taste joining the already overwhelming taste of copper and bile. Opening the heavy metal door, she walked into her new room, sizing up the depressing space. Her first stop was the bathroom, slowly making her way to the toilet, emptying her non-existent stomach contents into the murky water. She wiped her mouth, looking in horror at the blood-filled water. Of course she had thrown up blood. With the brutal treatment Fluttershy had given her, it was only to be expected. Speaking of her brutal treatment, Twilight slowly started to realize what Fluttershy had meant when she mentioned something about healing at an astonishing rate. The ribs that were so clearly broken, were now in one piece, a little sore, but in considerably better condition. The few injuries she had sustained in her encounter with the blue mare had started to fade as well, leaving little more than slight discolorations on the skin under her nasty fur. Her second stop, was the shower. Lucky for her, she simply had to turn her body, quickly fiddling with the knobs of the shower. Hot water jetted out of the shower head, quickly fogging up the glass enclosure. She was pleased to find two bottles of shampoo at the bottom of the shower, sticking out against the drab surroundings. She quickly got to work, rubbing out the mats and tangles that riddled her fur and mane. The hot water seemed to melt her problems away, relaxing her aching muscles with the searingly high temperatures. It wasn't long after she had dried off that she decided to get some rest, her muscles heavy and tired. She slid under the hospital-grade sheets, wrapping up as tightly as she could. She didn't want to think about tomorrow, or even about today. She simply wanted to figure out what the hell was going on. She could start on that in the morning, she decided, her eyes slowly closing, bringing her into a deep dreamless sleep. _ _ _ Twilight awoke to an obscenely loud crash, shattering her slumber. She almost slapped herself, absolutely mortified at the sight before her. The blue mare (though much less "mare" than stitch-work) stood on it's hind legs in the doorway, a fire axe resting in her cracked hooves. She smiled a horrible grin of daggers, showing twilight teeth made of pointed metal. "Did you miss me?", the blue mare asked in a half-mechanical voice, slowly stepping forward into Twilight's room, the axe bouncing in her hoof with each step she took. Her fur was now riddled with patches, giving her a look that seamlessly combined a wax-dummy of the mare, with a patchwork quilt. It wasn't long before the mare charged at her, the axe narrowly missing twilight by a few centimeters. The head was buried in the wall, plaster dust swirling through the air. Twilight leaped off of the bed, rushing the blue mare with a precise hit. The blue mare coughed up blood as twilight slammed her through the shower door, impaling her on some of the larger pieces of glass. It wasn't long before the blue mare was up, though, grabbing a piece of the metal trim and rushing at Twilight. Twilight nearly screamed in pain as the sharp metal made contact with her side, cleaving into her flesh and snapping a rib. The blue mare chuckled with wicked glee, swinging again, taken by surprise when Twilight was able to counter. Yet again, the blue mare found herself body checked by Twilight, sending her into the wall. Twilight was fast enough to pick up the piece of metal, slashing at the blue mare as she rose. Twilight had good aim, though, and instead of contacting her ribcage, she slashed along the pony's softer underbelly, enticing a scream out of her foe. Twilight's eyes went wide with shock as she dropped her makeshift weapon. Innards spilled from the gnarly wound, rotting and vile as they hit the floor. This wasn't what bothered her though, not at all. The pony got up. The blue mare rose to the occasion, simply standing back on her hind legs as if nothing happened. According to everything she'd ever read, a blow like that should be incapacitating at the very least! The blue mare walked over to the shower slowly, picking up the other piece of metal trim from the shower. She gritted her teeth, a low scream heard in the back of her throat as she slashed at her rotting entrails, severing them completely. Twilight barely dodged as the Mare rushed at her, slicing off a part of her mane with her wild swings. Twilight dodged what felt like hundreds of swings, the room now covered in long slash marks. Twilight stopped the next swing with a hoof, wincing as the metal rebounded off of the hard surface. She drew back, clocking the mare in the jaw, sending her sprawling out of the room. Seizing this opportunity, she went to retrieve the axe from the wall, barely making it in time to parry the next slash from the blue mare. The two of them knew it was over the second Twilight had the axe out of the wall. The blue mares eyes went wide with shock, not even getting a word out as the heavy axe head came down on her. Twilight hacked and hacked, blood now coating portions of the walls in the room. The mare was dead, and Twilight made sure she stayed that way. She continued to hack until she was tired, reducing the once-blue mare into little more than rotting hamburger and basic mechanical parts. _ _ _ The doctor came in a short wile later, looking pleased as her surveyed the room. Twilight rushed him, axe still in hoof as she tried to take the unicorn's life. Tried. She was met with a small "tsk, tik" as she stopped mid air, her body being violently thrown into the shower. Glass stabbed into her flash areas, embedding itself in her flesh, as she slowly felt the blood start to drain from her body. The last thing she recalled, as the world started to grow black, was that horrid smile the doctor was wearing...
"Ugh, my head...""Ugh, my head..." That was all she could think. What the hell had just happened? One minute, she was talking with her friends in Fluttershy's house, and now.... "Now" was a mystery. It was a joke, almost. Her senses seemed non-existent for the longest time, only seeming to sharpen when the sound of a pony pushing a heavy cart went by. "Where the hell am I..?" She struggled to move her body, but wasn't surprised to find that it wasn't very cooperative... This has to be a dream... a lie... Words that kept repeating themselves in her mind, struggling to find a place to settle. After a while, though, even those thoughts were gone. And so she lay... There it was again, that sound... The cart, the hooves... She struggled to open her eyes, and for the first time, succeeded. Though, what she found wasn't exactly what the lavender unicorn had expected. Mainly, because she wasn't "the lavender unicorn", anymore. Gone was her luscious lavender fur, replaced with a dull grey color. It was matted in some spots, and it looked like her fur hadn't seen water in months... But for all she knew... "So you're awake?" was the sound first audible to the rather confused pony. Hooves clopped next to her, and she could slightly make out the frame of a very familiar princess. "Well, 231, how was your sleep? You've been out for a while." A while? A while? Something was wrong here. The white alicorn chuckled, as if remembering a joke. Her wry grin the only distinguishing feature... other than her mane. That mane... The one that twilight had looked up to her entire life. That long, flowing, paled rainbow mane. "Pr-princess?", was all she was able to choke out. Her mouth felt dryer than the badlands, and the back of her throat felt raw. She held back the contents of her stomach, fighting with all of her might not to throw up. Now her senses were back, and things were certainly different than at first glance... Needles. Tubes. Wires. Stitches. Wounds. All of them decorated her soft grey hide; simultaneously mimicking a bad horror movie, and a decorated soldier. She could feel the contents of the tubes, rushing through the needles and flowing through her veins. While not an unpleasant feeling, it was certainly not one that the bound pony was fond of... Bound? She struggled against whatever was holding her down, though she saw no restraints. It didn't take long before she realized that whatever was in the tubes was somehow responsible for her inability to function. Noticing the small pony's realization, the alicorn spoke up: "Well 231, it looks like you're right on time. Today's tests are just about to begin." 231? Who was this "231", that the princess kept mentioning. She was Twilight Sparkle... At least, that's all she could remember herself as. The memories of her friends, the memories she had of ponyville... They seared her head like a red iron. While she tried her best to put them out of her head, they still disoriented her... "Wait... Tests? What tests?" she questioned. Looming like a shadow, the princess merely grinned and stood over her. Before long, a white unicorn in a lab coat knocked on the door. Celestia ushered the pony in through the door, welcoming him as "Dr. Standard". He ran his hoof through his greasy black and purple mane before starting to fiddle with the tubes and needles that riddled her dirty hide. Sliding out needles, and pulling off wires, the doctor seemed very gentle in his motions, even if his blood-stained clothing told a much different story...
Tests.It was all she could do not to scream. Sensations came flowing back now that the needles keeping her content had been pulled. Blood ran down her filthy hide in small streaks, matching the dark lines that were already present. It felt like fire was flowing through the young mare's veins, converging at her heart. She coughed a few times, the pain seriously affecting all of her body functions. She vision went cloudy, before fading to black. Blinking rapidly, her vision slowly came back, blurred by the tears that hard started streaming down her face. The unicorn in the coat... Dr. Standard, she thought she remembered him being called... Slowly chuckled, using magic to hold the spasming test subject. He pulled out new needles, injecting them into the places that the old ones were, before he slowly slid her on to a heavy metal cart. The cold metal was an obvious shock to the shattered mare, her entire body shuttered as she was slowly lowered down onto it. Her hooves could be heard clicking against the metal, rapidly matching her shivering body, and chattering teeth. He slowly hooked her onto an IV, the cold fluid dripping into her veins at a wretchedly slow pace. Slowly but surely, the cold fluids overtook the blinding pain, cooling her entire body temperature in the process. He simply grinned as she slumped down and stopped moving, her body very much resembling a corpse. If it wasn't for the slight rise and fall of her stomach, he'd have sworn that he had just killed the mare. The doctor sighed, wheeling the cart past his glorious princess, purposely avoiding her icy gaze. She may have made herself look perfect in the hallucinations and dreams she and her sister fed this wretched excuse for a pony, but he knew far too well, just how cruel she could actually be. He hummed to himself slightly, a tune that carried into the young unicorn's dreams. One that she had heard every day since she was "born", not even realizing the true nature of the tune. It was an equestrian death dirge; Sang for the ponies who were brutally and ruthlessly murdered. He found it fitting; He could at least give her the dirge she rightfully deserved, even if she wasn't dead yet, he didn't expect her to have the strength to carry out much longer... _ _ _ "I swear, I just had the craziest dream", Twilight said to herself, unaware of the odd stares she was getting from her friends. "Uhm... Twi? Is errythin' okay? Ahm startin' to get worried with ya noddin' off like that all the time", her friend applejack tried to ask her, only to be met with silence. The lavender unicorn was too busy staring around, seemingly amazed to be in her own home. "When did I get back", she asked, glaring at all of her friends, as if they'd know the answer to her crazy question... _ _ _ Her confusing return to her "normal world", was short lived. Snapping back to reality, she felt a very sharp pain in her side. The doctor was looming next to her, a pained expression on his face. She looked down at her side, horrified at what she found. Her cold blood was spilling down onto the table she now found herself on. A large cut had been made across her side, giving the world a full view to her insides. The doctor sighed slightly, his horn glowing a lavender, before she felt her body grow cold. The blood he had spilled was now moving its self into a pan, aided by the magic of the bored looking unicorn. She gasped, her head growing dizzy from lack of blood. As sharply as she had woken up, she fell back to sleep, the last thing to grace her ears was "I'm sorry Twilight... I never meant for this to happen..."
They changed my rating to mature, so this reflects it.All of the chapters are going to be short, so I apologize if that's a turnoff to readers. I'm doing my best given the time that I have, and apologize to those that can't get into it. ________________________________________________________________________________ Twilight awoke in a dark, unfamiliar, room. Sitting up, she looked around, drawing in the scenery of the small cell she had been given. There was a window open to her right, letting in a breeze that smelled of flowers. The steady "Beep... Beep..." of the box next to her pounded in her skull, each monotone note sending another spike of pain through her already throbbing head. Something she had dreamed bothered her, but she couldn't quite recall what it was. Her thoughts were interrupted as a young white unicorn opened the door, slowly stepping in. He looked at her with slight surprise, grinning slightly when is eyes met hers. "So you're awake, are you? Good, Good. You gave your friends quite the scare, blacking out like that. When you wouldn't wake up, they brought you here to me. Good set you have there..." She had blacked out? She tried to remember what had happened before she had fallen asleep, but that was little more than a dark haze, clouding her mind beyond use. She sat up, shifting her weight forward to avoid falling back down. She was physically exhausted, feeling as if she hadn't slept in a lifetime. She tried to lean on one hoof, recoiling at back at the sharp pain that shot through her leg. She looked down, horrified at the tattered thing that hard replaced her leg. She looked herself over, nearly throwing up at the matted and bloody grey fur that had replaced her own. "Is everything all right Miss Sparkle", the unicorn asked, looking perplexed at the young unicorn. "My fur!" she nearly shrieked. "What happened to me?!". The young unicorn looked even more confused, blushing as he answered; "What are you talking about, Miss Sparkle? Your fur is as lovely as it always is...". He trotted to the end of the bed, checking the small clipboard. "We should be able to discharge you tomorrow morning, if that works for you...", not awaiting her response, the unicorn simply trotted out, muttering a quick "Goodnight, Miss Sparkle", as he shut the door. Twilight fell back, letting her head hit the pillow. Slowly, but surely, she slid back into sleep... And all the horrors that came with it... _ _ _ Her eyes slowly slid open, unfocused as she stared at the blurry ceiling. The steady "Beep... Beep..." was still present, carrying on into her dream, she thought. It wasn't until her eyes focused that she got a better look at things. A cold concrete ceiling lay above her, a single light bulb bathing the room in a pale white light. She tried to look around, but was only met with the usual inability. Hearing the telltale clip-clop of hooves against the concrete, she was greeted by an all-too-familiar voice, chilling her down to her very core. "Oh, hello there...", The tiny voice spat, almost in a mocking tone. The voice automatically registered as her close friend Fluttershy, but that couldn't be right... could it? She tried to strain her head, finding herself still unable to move. The hooves stopped somewhere to her right, shortly followed by the sound of a few metallic snapping noises. Her body started responding to her sometime shortly after, and she rose to meet her guest, horrified by what she was met with. It was Fluttershy. At least, a pony that closely represented her. Instead of the sweet demeanor, and caring attitude, she was met with a cold glare. "Get up" she barked in a voice that would've been cute, had the malice not been thick enough to cut with a knife. Twilight complied, slowly getting off the table. She found her legs in working order, much to the satisfaction of her friend. Friend? Not exactly. She felt a sharp pain in her side, she gasped inwards, feeling her ribs crack as her "friend" removed her hoof from her side. "Hm. Bone mass isn't increasing, but she seems to be healing at an astounding rate" Fluttershy said to herself. In a motion that was almost too fast for Twilight to catch, Fluttershy had knocked her feet out from under her, grabbing a tight hold on her mane. She slowly started walk, dragging the still-breathless Twilight along the ground. Just when she swore that her mane was going to get ripped out, the tugging stopped. "Get up", her friend snapped at her, Kicking her side again. Twilight nearly puked blood as she rose, each breath eliciting a slight bubbling sound somewhere deep inside her chest. Fluttershy shoved her into a small room, slamming and locking the thick iron door behind her. This couldn't be her friend. She was mean, Loud, and brutal. And she was FAST. How in the world she moved like that was beyond what Twilight's throbbing head could handle. Any thoughts that she had were slowly overwhelmed by a chuckle erupting from the other side of the room. She heard a small voice from across the room, chilling her to the bone. "They tell me that they'll let me free if I can kill you.". What?! Kill her?! Twilight didn't even have time to brace herself as she was violently thrown against the concrete wall. Looking up, she saw her attacker; A small blue Pegasus, as tattered and torn as Twilight was. Twilight rose, fearing for her life. This mare wanted to kill her. Not hurt, not maim. Kill. She didn't have much time to think, as she found the Pegasus charging at her again. Twilight answered in a similar fashion, rocking the pegasus in the face, using her own momentum and speed against her. The mare flew across the room, slamming hard against the cold concrete floor. She was quick to rise to her hooves, bloodlust screaming in her eyes. Twilight was ready for her this time, shoulder checking the pegasus into the wall. The pegasus hit the wall with a sickening "crunch", screaming as her wing practically snapped in half from the impact. Twilight felt her chest throb, spitting out the small amount of blood that had collected in the back of her throat. "Why in Celestia's name are you doing this?!" She asked, hoping that the pegasus could give her some form of answer. The pegasus had other things in mind, though, rushing out at Twilight. "YOU JUST NEED TO DIE!" the blue pegasus shouted. Twilight dodged out of the way of the haphazard assault, bringing her hoof down on the back of the pegasus. Twilight loomed over her, disgusted when the mare simply spit into her face. This mare was practically asking Twilight to beat her senseless. And the scary thing, Twilight realized as she lifted her hoof one last time, is that she REALLY wanted to hurt her. She brought her hoof down with a sickening crunch, feeling the bones below her snap. She walked over to the corner, nearly collapsing. She had just killed a mare.... And loved it. That was the part that bothered her. When had she gotten like this? When did she learn to fight like that? When did she acquire a taste for beating weaker ponies to death? She didn't have much time to think, as the heavy door slowly opened, a white unicorn stepping inside.
Rock-a-bye Filly...So, I've decided to make the dreams involving ponyville less frequent. This is going to play into later chapters, and I'm hoping I can use it to throw in a plot twist, or something. I dunno. And I promise the story isn't over, so don't ask. The unicorn merely chuckled as he walked over to collect the battered remains of the blue mare. A lavender aura emanated from his horn as he slowly lowered the gruesome carcass onto his cart. It was all she could do not to vomit as she watched blood drip from the mare's dirty white mane, obviously coming from the killing blow. Twilight looked at her hoof as she thought of the impact, the feeling of the mare's skull shattering under her hoof still fresh in her mind. She heard the doctor clear his throat, looking up to meet his piercing violet eyes. "You're coming with me" he said in a cold voice, devoid of any form of emotion or life. "We have a few more tests for you, but first, we've decided that a bath is in order". She looked at him with a bewildered expression, still clueless as to what exactly was going on. The doctor didn't seem to notice, slowly trotting out of the small room, his cart magically in tow behind him. Twilight counted four bodies on that cart. Four mares who all met with the same eternal fate. She tried not to think of it as she trotted behind the cart, only slightly attempting to keep up with the doctor. The cart was all she focused on, trying to drown out her bleak surroundings. The bodies only made her urge to vomit worse, and the mare that she had added to the cart herself was peeking out at her from behind it's mane, it's glassy eyes shining through the caked blood. If she didn't know any better, she'd have thought it was grinning at her. She quickly dismissed the thought, remembering the clear feeling of the mare's miserable life slipping out from under her hoof. She almost slammed into the cart as it came to an abrupt stop. She looked up over the bodies, meeting the doctor's cold gaze. "Inside this room, you'll find food, a bed, and a restroom. Get yourself cleaned up, rested up, and ready to go first thing in the morning". He didn't even wait for her response, quickly turning from her and continuing his routes. She watched in horror as she watched the blue mare slowly shift it's position, it's grin cutting through Twilight like a hot knife. She tried to shrug it off, watching the cart slowly fade into the gloom as the doctor walked away. There was no mistaking it; That mare had moved. Not in a "I'm falling" kind of way, but more of "Oh, let me get comfortable". The dead don't get up, the dead don't come back to life. Everything she had ever learned told her this, it slowly starting to bother her more and more with each passing second. She slowly felt the contents of her stomach start to creep up her throat, the slightly acidic taste joining the already overwhelming taste of copper and bile. Opening the heavy metal door, she walked into her new room, sizing up the depressing space. Her first stop was the bathroom, slowly making her way to the toilet, emptying her non-existent stomach contents into the murky water. She wiped her mouth, looking in horror at the blood-filled water. Of course she had thrown up blood. With the brutal treatment Fluttershy had given her, it was only to be expected. Speaking of her brutal treatment, Twilight slowly started to realize what Fluttershy had meant when she mentioned something about healing at an astonishing rate. The ribs that were so clearly broken, were now in one piece, a little sore, but in considerably better condition. The few injuries she had sustained in her encounter with the blue mare had started to fade as well, leaving little more than slight discolorations on the skin under her nasty fur. Her second stop, was the shower. Lucky for her, she simply had to turn her body, quickly fiddling with the knobs of the shower. Hot water jetted out of the shower head, quickly fogging up the glass enclosure. She was pleased to find two bottles of shampoo at the bottom of the shower, sticking out against the drab surroundings. She quickly got to work, rubbing out the mats and tangles that riddled her fur and mane. The hot water seemed to melt her problems away, relaxing her aching muscles with the searingly high temperatures. It wasn't long after she had dried off that she decided to get some rest, her muscles heavy and tired. She slid under the hospital-grade sheets, wrapping up as tightly as she could. She didn't want to think about tomorrow, or even about today. She simply wanted to figure out what the hell was going on. She could start on that in the morning, she decided, her eyes slowly closing, bringing her into a deep dreamless sleep. _ _ _ Twilight awoke to an obscenely loud crash, shattering her slumber. She almost slapped herself, absolutely mortified at the sight before her. The blue mare (though much less "mare" than stitch-work) stood on it's hind legs in the doorway, a fire axe resting in her cracked hooves. She smiled a horrible grin of daggers, showing twilight teeth made of pointed metal. "Did you miss me?", the blue mare asked in a half-mechanical voice, slowly stepping forward into Twilight's room, the axe bouncing in her hoof with each step she took. Her fur was now riddled with patches, giving her a look that seamlessly combined a wax-dummy of the mare, with a patchwork quilt. It wasn't long before the mare charged at her, the axe narrowly missing twilight by a few centimeters. The head was buried in the wall, plaster dust swirling through the air. Twilight leaped off of the bed, rushing the blue mare with a precise hit. The blue mare coughed up blood as twilight slammed her through the shower door, impaling her on some of the larger pieces of glass. It wasn't long before the blue mare was up, though, grabbing a piece of the metal trim and rushing at Twilight. Twilight nearly screamed in pain as the sharp metal made contact with her side, cleaving into her flesh and snapping a rib. The blue mare chuckled with wicked glee, swinging again, taken by surprise when Twilight was able to counter. Yet again, the blue mare found herself body checked by Twilight, sending her into the wall. Twilight was fast enough to pick up the piece of metal, slashing at the blue mare as she rose. Twilight had good aim, though, and instead of contacting her ribcage, she slashed along the pony's softer underbelly, enticing a scream out of her foe. Twilight's eyes went wide with shock as she dropped her makeshift weapon. Innards spilled from the gnarly wound, rotting and vile as they hit the floor. This wasn't what bothered her though, not at all. The pony got up. The blue mare rose to the occasion, simply standing back on her hind legs as if nothing happened. According to everything she'd ever read, a blow like that should be incapacitating at the very least! The blue mare walked over to the shower slowly, picking up the other piece of metal trim from the shower. She gritted her teeth, a low scream heard in the back of her throat as she slashed at her rotting entrails, severing them completely. Twilight barely dodged as the Mare rushed at her, slicing off a part of her mane with her wild swings. Twilight dodged what felt like hundreds of swings, the room now covered in long slash marks. Twilight stopped the next swing with a hoof, wincing as the metal rebounded off of the hard surface. She drew back, clocking the mare in the jaw, sending her sprawling out of the room. Seizing this opportunity, she went to retrieve the axe from the wall, barely making it in time to parry the next slash from the blue mare. The two of them knew it was over the second Twilight had the axe out of the wall. The blue mares eyes went wide with shock, not even getting a word out as the heavy axe head came down on her. Twilight hacked and hacked, blood now coating portions of the walls in the room. The mare was dead, and Twilight made sure she stayed that way. She continued to hack until she was tired, reducing the once-blue mare into little more than rotting hamburger and basic mechanical parts. _ _ _ The doctor came in a short wile later, looking pleased as her surveyed the room. Twilight rushed him, axe still in hoof as she tried to take the unicorn's life. Tried. She was met with a small "tsk, tik" as she stopped mid air, her body being violently thrown into the shower. Glass stabbed into her flash areas, embedding itself in her flesh, as she slowly felt the blood start to drain from her body. The last thing she recalled, as the world started to grow black, was that horrid smile the doctor was wearing...
