Unbound

“Ugh…”

Twilight groaned as her senses finally found wherever she had fallen to. She almost wished they hadn’t.

A dull pain throbbed throughout her form. She was sturdier than she used to be now that she was an alicorn, but it didn’t seem to be helping much in this case.

Her eyes slowly creaked open, taking in a dimly lit view of cobweb-ridden wooden rafters and dangling pieces of rope. She blinked rapidly and produced another pained mumble, sitting up and bringing a hoof to the back of her head.

All at once, her mind clarified enough to remember what had just happened. Her eyes shot open and a gasp escaped her. “Girls!”

Darting her head around the room she now found herself in, she quickly found the five mares and her young assistant spread out in a loose pile. Some quiet groans and murmurs came as they started to stir one by one.

“Whozza..fh…mmph…” Rainbow Dash mumbled as her unfocused eyes fluttered open and then closed. She tried to reposition herself and snuggle against a non-existent pillow before clenching her lids and finally opening them. Once she realized she wasn't where she thought she was, she shot upwards and stammered. “W-What the?!”

“Ngh… Gummy, keep it down. I’ll get up in a minute…” Pinkie sluggishly waved a hoof and tried to pat it beside her, only to find dust and earthen floor where she was expecting soft and clean blankets. This disconnect was enough to get her to lift her head and open her eyes. “Huh…?”

“Uh… what in tarnation is goin’ on? Where are we?” Applejack asked as she stood up.

Rarity came to her senses and shot to her hooves. She looked around and scrunched her face up at the state of her surroundings, even lifting a dainty hoof like the floor was causing her physical distress. “Ulgh! It was bad enough to be walking through that grimy castle… I just got my coat conditioned!”

Meanwhile, as the unicorn was having a crisis of sanitation, Fluttershy was having a different sort of crisis. She slowly lifted her head, her eyes widening and starting to tremble as they darted around at the strange place she now found herself in.

“Oh no… oh, no, no, no! W-What happened?! Ohhh this is all my fault!” She curled up into a ball, clutching her hind legs with her fore and clenching her eyes shut. Shivering in place, she silently prayed for this all to be a dream.

Something touched her on the shoulder, causing the pegasus to squeak in fear and start to jerk back. However, she eased her reaction as she opened her eyes and saw that it was a hoof, belonging to none other than her alicorn friend.

“Calm down, Fluttershy. It’s okay,” Twilight said with a small but genuine smile.

“No! It’s not okay!” Fluttershy pulled away and hid her face in her hooves, but the tears starting to fall were clearly visible. “I should never have asked you to open that door. Now we’ve been taken Celestia knows where, a-and it’s all my fault! I’m sorry… I’m s-so sorry,” she quaked, on the verge of having a panic attack.

Twilight and the others frowned and shared worried glances. They didn’t often see their timid friend this frightened. The sight of the pegasus hugging herself and crying was enough to get even Rainbow Dash’s ears to wilt.

The cyan mare hovered over to her fellow pegasus and began the process of damage control. She sidled down beside Fluttershy and draped a wing around her friend, causing a slight decrease in shivering as a set of blue eyes peered out through a layer of tears.

“Hey… settle down, Flutters. It’s okay. This isn’t your fault, and nopony here blames you,” Rainbow said, pulling her friend a bit closer.

“She’s right, darling,” Rarity added.

“Yeah…” Spike chimed in softly, his eyes trailed down and his claws fidgeting together. The young dragon was perhaps struggling with his own regret of not doing as he was told and going for help, but even he knew that there was no point in dwelling on it now.

“B’sides that, you weren’t the only cat curiosity killed. I think we all wanted to know what was behind that door, ‘least a lil’ bit,” Applejack said. “Who would’a thunk it was a magic box that sucked us into… wherever we are.”

Twilight and the others took another look around. Other than the rafters above, they were in a barren room. Sprigs of plants sparsely poked up out of the earthen floor, and the only features to be seen on the dull brown walls were tiny cracks and inching shadows cast by bare bulbs dangling from the ceiling.

A sense of foreboding crept out of two doorways standing in front and behind them. The darkness within made it nigh impossible to tell what lay beyond, and offered the ponies’ imaginations a slew of nightmares that could have been waiting for them.

“So… uh…” Spike chuckled nervously, backing closer to his alicorn caregiver and even bumping into her legs as he stared into one of the doorways. He was half convinced that he could see movement in the swirling dust and darkness. “Are you going to tell us about whatever spell you’re going to use to get us out of here, Twilight? You can get us out of here… r-right?”

Twilight fought off her growing unease to cast a reassuring glance to her friends and her petrified assistant as she lit her horn. However, as she started scanning the area for any magical information on where they were in relation to the rest of Equestria, her heart sank as she found no traces of anything she could use.

There was no sign of the sun or moon above, and the network of magical energies that criss-crossed the land was strangely absent. They didn’t seem to be in Equestria. Worse still, they didn’t seem to be anywhere.

“I…” She swallowed once before taking a calming breath and facing the others. “I don’t think I can, Spike.”

Naturally, this response wasn't as comforting as any of them wanted, least of all Spike. “W-WHAT?! What do you mean?!”

“Are we s-stuck here forever?” Fluttershy’s pupils shrank and her voice gave out on her at the mere possibility.

“Not necessarily,” Twilight clarified more confidently. “We must be in some kind of magically created space. I can’t feel any entrance or exit right now, but there must be one. If we came in, we can get out somehow… we just need to find a way.” She shifted her attention to the doorways around them, her expression growing serious.

Applejack sighed tensely. “Let me guess… that means we need to explore, don’t we?”

Twilight nodded once and cast a light spell over her horn, cutting back the dim shadows. “I’m afraid so. Stay close and keep your eyes open, everypony. We have to assume that this place could be dangerous.”

With that reminder of their potentially grave situation, the Elements of Harmony and their dragon friend rallied behind their lavender leader as she approached one of the doorways. Applejack and Rainbow Dash remained near the front, ready to protect their friends from whatever dangers might have revealed themselves. Fluttershy stayed near the back, with Rarity and Pinkie somewhere in the middle, and Spike huddling close to her hind legs.

Keeping a steady pace, Twilight hesitated before the opening. Her light illuminated more earthen floor ahead, seemingly indicating another room. However, her light wasn't providing as much illumination as she would have liked.

Slowly, carefully, they all stepped forward into darkness. Then, the moment the last of them crossed the threshold, lightbulbs flickered to life above, bathing the whole area in the same dim light from the room behind them.

The ponies all darted their heads around the newly revealed open space. Immediately, they could see a few differing features from the barren room behind them; a few large rocks to one side, some fire burning away from wooden sticks in the corners, even some more doorways.

But the thing that quickly drew their attention was not a feature of the room. Rather, it was an inhabitant of the room.

A small, hairless and tailless creature stood around twice Spike’s height on two legs. Its pinkish skin was smooth, to the point of almost looking uniform. Judging from the lack of any features on its rounded and slightly oversized head, it seemed to be facing away from them.

Twilight and the others were at a loss for words as they all stared at the thing. They had never seen anything like it before. The closest thing the alicorn could even equate it to would be some kind of ape or chimp, but it didn’t look anything like one of those either.

“What is that…?” Rarity asked in a hushed voice on the off-chance that the thing could hear them.

“Maybe it’s that crying child we heard earlier?” Pinkie mused curiously. “It does look kinda small and cute.”

“Speak for yourself,” Spike noted. Of course, he was used to most things being larger than him, but usually children were around his size.

Seeing that nopony else was stepping up, Twilight took it upon herself to make the first move. She inched forward, keeping a non-threatening posture and making sure not to make any sudden movements. If this was their mysterious crying child, she didn’t want to scare them.

“Hello…?” Twilight spoke up tentatively. “Can you understand me?”

The hairless creature remained still and silent even as she approached. This lack of response was a bit disconcerting, but she kept inching forward anyway. Her friends remained close behind, though most of them were keeping a good distance away.

“We’re n-not going to hurt you,” Fluttershy said, though by the tremor in her voice, she seemed like she expected it to hurt them.

Still no response. The ponies were beginning to wonder if this being could even hear them. That is, until it suddenly stiffened up and lifted its head.

Twilight paused and held a disarming hoof out as the thing started to move. She wore a gentle smile, ready to do whatever it took to bridge the gap of diplomacy with whatever this strange creature was.

That smile all but vanished as the thing turned with a jerk.

A wide, gaping mouth produced a deep groan as it reached toward her with grasping hands. Two streams of what could only be blood fell from empty pits where its eyes should have been, holding the ponies’ petrified gaze like an all-consuming abyss.

A scream split the air. Twilight would have thought it came from herself if she wasn't caught between breaths. Soon, more terrified shrieks joined the first as her friends recoiled.

Finally, Twilight produced a yell of her own and jerked away. She lit her horn instinctively and wrapped her magic around the creature. It flailed wildly, fighting against her hold with ravenous energy.

In her fearful panic, Twilight tossed the hairless thing away, where it sailed into the nearby wall and collapsed with a thud.

The six ponies and their dragon companion stared at the motionless monster with quivering eyes and racing hearts.

“That… w-wasn't cute at all!” Pinkie stammered.

Fluttershy slowly peaked out from behind Pinkie's stiff form and lifted a hoof to point. "Wh… w-what is that thing?!"

"I don't… I-I don't know!" Twilight answered. The others weren't used to seeing her this freaked out since she became a princess.

Rainbow Dash swallowed her nerves and forced herself to take a step forward. "Is it dead…?"

"I don't know," Twilight said, taking a calming breath and trying to get control of the situation again. "I… I didn't mean to throw it so hard."

"Don't feel too bad. I don't think it was tryin' to say hi," Applejack reasoned.

Taking it upon herself to investigate further, Twilight cautiously approached the prone figure. Applejack and Rarity followed behind, while the others stayed back a healthy distance.

Rarity suppressed a shudder as she stared down into the bloody cavity that was its eyes. "Sweet Celestia… what kind of dreadful place is this?"

“Celestia really did have a good reason for locking that box away if it leads here,” Twilight noted.

Just then, another groan split the air, causing everyone’s tails to bristle. Only this time, it wasn't coming from the creature before them.

Turning at once to the side, Twilight and her friends widened their eyes as they saw another exact version of the eyeless monster crawling out from behind a rock, and it wasn't alone. Five, six, eight, maybe a dozen of the hairless beings were quite literally coming out of the woodwork, dropping from the rafters, crawling out from under or behind rocks, wherever they could find to slither into the light and join the horde now surrounding the ponies on near all sides.

“Holy cow! They’re everywhere!” Rainbow shouted as she backed into a circle with Pinkie, Spike, and Fluttershy.

“Girls!” Applejack reached for her friends, but she couldn’t get to them without getting dangerously close to some of the monsters going for both of their groups.

Thinking fast, Twilight raced into action and cast her magical influence out. She wrapped a cluster of magenta energy around each of the advancing creatures. Already she could feel her magic being strained from holding so many different sentient beings in place, and their struggles were only making things worse.

“I… c-can’t hold them for long! Everypony run back to the— AGH!!”

An abrupt pain came from her hind leg, causing the alicorn to yelp and lose her magical hold. The others felt their hearts drop along with the hairless shapes.

Turning back, Twilight found the source of her sudden assault. The original creature had woken up, and was now latching onto her hind leg with its teeth. A trickle of her own blood was running down her pristine fur.

"Gah! Get off me!" Twilight kicked her other leg out, catching the thing in the head and ripping it off her. A spray of blood signaled one final jolt of pain.

While that creature smacked into the wall and settled on the floor once more, it didn’t remain there long as it got back up and joined its brothers in going after the ponies.

"AHH!!" Fluttershy screamed and fell back, her body failing her in her attempt at escape as three of the monsters closed in on her.

Seeing her friend in distress, Rainbow Dash gasped and flew forward, getting in front of the timid mare. "Leave her alone, you freaks!" she shouted as she kicked down into one of the creatures' bulbous heads, sending it flopping back with a disturbing crack.

While that monster fell still on the cold earthen floor, its companions were quick to deal retribution to the brave pegasus. Two of them jumped up, catching Rainbow's tail and one of her legs and pulling. She started to protest and pull back, but more of them were quick to join in and jump on her, yanking her to the ground with a startled yelp. That yell only grew louder and more desperate as one of them bit down into her wing.

Fluttershy’s heart leaped into her throat as her friend screamed in a mixture of fear and pain. “No! Dashie!” She reached out, but was helpless to stop the hairless creatures from overwhelming the cyan mare.

Then, her already trembling pupils shrank as she noticed one of the things moving past the pile of squirming flesh where her friend was and heading straight for her, arms reaching out to find its next victim. She stumbled back, falling and holding a hoof out in denial. It loomed over her, ever-bleeding pits swallowing her up long before its gaping maw could try.

Just before she could accept her doom, the thing was sent sailing away as an orange set of hind legs kicked out with great force.

Fluttershy blinked, looking up to find her sudden savior in a stetson hat. “Applejack?”

The farmer barely offered the pegasus a reassuring look before shifting her attention to their friend. Applejack planted her forehooves and bucked as fast as she could. One. Two. Four. Soon, all of the creatures were ripped free and sent hurtling away from her powerful kicks, the last one taking a gush of blood and a chunk of fur and flesh with it as it went.

Fearful of what she might see, Applejack turned to find what had become of the bold pegasus. Thankfully, she was mostly intact, though not for lack of trying. Rainbow had three bleeding bite marks, one on her wing, side, and shoulder.

“Mercy sakes, you okay, Rainbow?” Applejack asked as she held a hoof out.

Rainbow grunted past clenched teeth and squinted an eye open to see her friend. Still clutching her shoulder with one hoof, she used the other to reach out and accept the farmer’s help back up. “Ngh… Forget about that, we need to get out of—”

An abrupt zap cut Rainbow off, followed sharply by a familiarly haunting groan. Both mares turned to see a gaping maw and bloodstained hands reaching for them, only for a magenta bolt of magic to strike the lunging monster and blow it back.

The trio looked over and spotted Twilight and the others on the other side of the room by one of the doors. Pinkie and Rarity were shoving or kicking any of the creatures that got too close, and Spike was clinging to the alicorn as she wildly fired at the horde surrounding them.

“This way!” Twilight shouted before darting her head to the side and shooting one of the things as it got too close for comfort.

Seeing their opportunity for escape closing up around them, Applejack nudged Rainbow Dash forward and went back to grab Fluttershy’s hoof so she could pull the pegasus along. “Shy, Dash, let’s hussle! The train’s ‘a leavin’!”

“You don’t need to tell me twice!” Rainbow retorted, ignoring her stinging wounds to rush ahead with her friends.

Rarity stepped forward and used her magic to shove some of the creatures away as they reached for the three mares. The unicorn herself was forced to backpedal nervously, joining a wildly gesturing Pinkie Pie and a terrified Spike by Twilight’s side as they all waited for their friends to make it safely across the sea of murderous shapes.

Applejack ducked and weaved around grasping hands and lunging faces with Fluttershy in tow. Rainbow did her best to rush alongside the pair and punch or kick anything that got too close, but her shaking limbs coursing with adrenaline couldn’t make much of an impact.

At last, the three mares got past the majority of the beasts. Their friends and the doorway to freedom were just ahead. They couldn’t see where the opening led from how dark it was, but anywhere was better than where they currently were.

Twilight ushered Spike and Rarity behind her as she backed into the doorway. She fired one last bolt of magic at one of the closer creatures and motioned for the trio to hurry up. Pinkie Pie rushed forward and assisted an exhausted and hurting Rainbow Dash with walking, while Applejack let Fluttershy go and joined the others inside the door.

However, just as she and Fluttershy were about to head inside after the group, Rainbow Dash paused as she felt the hoof on her back getting pulled away, followed by a shrill cry of terror.

Both pegasi looked back, only to find one of the creatures holding Pinkie Pie down by a hind leg. The pink mare was squealing and kicking at it to no avail, and the rest of the horde was quickly closing ground between them.

Fluttershy gasped, and Rainbow’s face paled. Without wasting a moment, they both rushed forward.
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Twilight panted heavily as she stepped out of the darkness into another room. Rarity and Applejack were already ahead, comforting Spike and looking back to the alicorn for any sign they were being followed respectively.

“Ngh…” Twilight glanced down to her hind leg, where a bite-shaped piece of her was missing and blood was steadily leaking out. Thankfully, the bleeding wasn't too bad, all things considered. In any case, it was the least of her worries. “Is everyone okay?”

“I think so,” Spike replied, taking a moment to calm his racing heart.

Applejack shifted her attention behind the alicorn, remembering that Rainbow Dash was wounded even worse than Twilight was. However, as she looked to the shadows of the room beyond, she found no sign of the cyan mare, or of Pinkie and Fluttershy.

“Hey… where are the others?” Applejack took a few steps forward, face growing more concerned by the minute.

Twilight turned her head behind her, where she expected their three friends to be close by as they were when she passed the threshold. Her eyes flashed with worry as she found only empty space. “Girls…?”

The alicorn stepped forward and lit her horn as she poked her head through the doorway, expecting to have to fight to rescue the trio from the approaching monsters. Strangely, the air was still and silent, and the room beyond was empty. Not only were there no groans or marching feet, but there were no shapes in the darkness either.

“Fluttershy? Rainbow Dash? Pinkie Pie…?!” Twilight’s voice raised as she darted her head side to side.

“Where are they?” Spike asked.

Rarity got to her hooves and inched forward. “I thought they were right behind us?”

Applejack walked up beside Twilight in the doorway and joined the search. Like the alicorn, she found only a dim picture of the room beyond, with no sign of their friends or the monsters that had chased them anywhere.

Then, the orange mare’s pupils shrank as something dawned on her.

“Twi…”

“What is it?” Twilight asked, turning to see the earth pony staring stiffly ahead.

Applejack merely lifted a hoof and pointed. “That ain’t the same room we were in,” she muttered.

Squinting in denial, Twilight returned her gaze to the room and inspected it closer, only to inch back in shock. Applejack was right. While it looked similar, the room ahead was indeed different. It was completely empty, with no rocks or other obstacles. There was no blood or scorch marks from their battle. And, most concerningly, no Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, or Rainbow Dash.

“Oh no…” Twilight’s heart sank. It was as if they had been teleported somewhere else. Somewhere away from the three mares and the danger they were in.

Hoofsteps and the tiny pitter-patter of dragon claws approaching from behind drew the princess’ attention back to her remaining friends. They were all looking to her as they always did in times of crisis. She had always been the closest thing they had to a leader, doubly so now that she had ascended to royalty.

“Twilight, what do we do?” Spike asked, fidgeting the tips of his claws together as he peered out into the unknown rooms around them.

“We go find ‘em, that’s what!” Applejack reasoned before her energy diminished. “We have to…”

Feeling a hoof on her shoulder, Applejack looked up to see the purple alicorn offering her and the others a reassuring look. Twilight suppressed whatever doubt or unease she was feeling and focused on what was most important to her. Keeping her friends safe.

“You’re right, we have to find them. And I know we will. In the meantime, we just have to trust that they’ll keep each other safe.” Twilight pursed her lips for a moment before steeling her resolve once more.

“But how are we going to find them if we don’t know where we are?” Rarity gestured around them. “This place seems to be a maze… a filthy maze full of Celestia knows how many kinds of horrible creatures!” She shuddered at the mere thought of those eyeless beasts. She could only hope that their missing friends got away from them.

Twilight walked toward the middle of the room, shifting her head to look at the options available to them. Three more doors were on each wall, each leading somewhere new. “Well, I think we’re just going to have to keep exploring. Either we find the others, or we find a way out of here and we can send somepony out to get help. All I know is that we’re not helping anyone by standing here.”

“You got that right,” Applejack stated, settling her hat on her head as she followed the alicorn toward the left door. Spike slowly joined them, leaving Rarity behind for a moment.

The unicorn peered back toward where they left their friends, or rather, where their friends should have been. Whatever place they now roamed apparently operated on its own rules. Their situation was bad enough before, but it was only getting worse.

“I knew we shouldn’t have been messing around in that old castle, but nopony listens to me!” Rarity huffed to herself.

“Hurry up, Rares! We need to stick together before more of us go missin’!” Applejack called, causing the white mare to look up and notice her friends waiting for her by the next threshold.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Rarity droned, “but I don’t have to be happy about it.”
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Light filtered down from the hole above, overpowering any illumination from the buzzing bulbs and burning a spot into the ground. The distant creak of wood framed the unforgiving silence that clung to these vast chambers.

Silent, just like always, until echoes of the past roared to life and danced with him this endless game of escape.

The earthen floor beneath was painfully familiar. He had been here many times, and would be many more. Still, he cried. His stinging tears falling down his face and watering the dirt he curled against.

Already the memories were coming back. Every time, no matter how long he had been here, the boy still remembered all that came before, and all that he had left. This grave full of all he was, and all she had made him to be.

And even through it all, it still hurt. The shame, the anger, the despair. And so he cried. Isaac cried even as he stood, facing the empty doorways leading further in. The basement waited for its one lonely ghost to go once more into its depths, unaware that perhaps this time, something was different.

This time, he wasn't alone.