Dead Loop

"Sir?" One of the stallions said, I recognized him, knew him by name, he knew mine as well but most, if not all Lunar Guard knew at least that much about me. I considered us somewhat friends, we went way back; We had even been on several nocturnal missions together. "Sir" was just a matter of respectfulness that I can't lie, I rather enjoyed.

"Oh no need for such formalities Shatter, how are the mare and foals?" I eased him with light conversation, it was not often visitors came this far back into the castle other than myself and a few select Lunar Guard officers.

He chuckled at the question deflecting with his own witty answer as always.

"Why don't you get busy with that new mare we have all heard so much about? Then you would know.... No, But seriously, having foals home waiting for you is like the greatest thing in all Equestria! Don't put something so magical off for long, you never know when.... Well... My wife's dad... He... He died last week... Something about his brain man... He was fine, then poof, he was gone."

"Wow, yeah I will have to keep that in mind. By the way, don't forget about the full moon party later this weekend, I want to see both of you there, they are great." I ordered in a mockingly official tone. "This means you too Sliver. Hey, that reminds me, I heard you were asking questions about my squad, are you interested? I have seen your night flying runs before, you are pretty damn good!"

"Damn, I never know when I am being watched by the best I guess." His S's whistled through a slight grin.

"Oh please, I am nowhere near the best... I have been out of practice and missed a few missions... Hope to get back out there soon, I feel... Something strange."

The two guards' curiosity peaked at the response.

"Something strange?" They rang out in almost exact harmony.

"Oh nothing... Nevermind, Just a few nightmares I had recently." I responded.

The immense feeling of Déjà vu seeped into my senses, I couldn't actually remember any nightmares other than the one the night before but it all seemed similar somehow.

Thinking for a moment, I quickly questioned them. "Hmm, didn't I already tell you two this?"

Looking at each other for a moment then back at me they both shook their heads. "No, I don't think so sir." Shatter eventually said.

"Well, as much as I love to chat I really need to get this report to Luna. Have a good day gentlecolts."

With that final gesture, the two stallions tapped a secret code on the door; Moments later the giant slabs were highlighted in magical aura. The massive doors groaned as they swung open to reveal vast quantities of elegant fabric and jewels masterfully positioned inside Luna's throne room. The ceiling was dark and high, but looking at it was perplexing, it seemed as endless as the black reaches of space; The illusion of magical starlight speckled the ceiling. It was impossible to count the individual dots, there must have been billions. Silver lamps gleamed out over the interior of the beautiful enclosure, their faint shimmer was designed to imitate the cool-soothing light of the moon over Equestria, it made me feel at ease. I slowly cantered deeper into the room toward the long staircase at the end of the foyer, a long dark-blue carpet stretched down the stairs up to the edge of the door I had just walked through. Several Lunar guard unicorns saluted as I cantered past, I made the mental connection that they had been the ones who had opened the doors. Gently nodding my head at them I continued trotting down the long-carpet toward the enormous throne resting on the other side.

As I drew closer, I could see a dark-alicorn sitting majestically upon the throne, her starry-mane flowed even in the absence of wind. Bowing my head in respect as I waited, thoughts raced through my mind, I could feel my heart beating within my chest, I was incredibly nervous.

"Captain Quicksilver, we had not expected you to join us. Has something happened?" Luna calmly questioned, her practiced tone was gentle and soothing.

She tried to hide it, and I must say did a very good job of it but I could sense the worry in her voice. I felt like my nerves getting tense but it was too late to turn back now.

"Princess, No nothing like that. There have been some strange things that have happened recently... I can't explain it I have a bad feeling." I said trying to judge her reaction to what I was about to say.

"Pardon? What do you mean strange things?" Luna had a worried look on her face, perhaps I was more shaken by the experience than I realized.

"Dreams..." I paused for a moment. "I had a strange dream I can't explain it.... There were symbols and........"

"What do you mean symbols?. We need you to show us." Luna's voice changed from calm to slightly more stern as she waved a pair of unicorns toward me. I could tell she was obviously more worried now. Maybe this was more serious than I thought.

I was at a pause for a moment. I hardly remembered what the symbol even looked like, only one image burned into my mind; Twilight Sparkle's decayed corpse staring at me with bloodied blank sockets, I felt sick again but the unicorns quickly stepped before me with a scroll and notepad leaving little time to think.

"I think I can do that." I said as I took the quill in my hoof.

I started to give my best sketch of the symbol. As I drew, more of the the twisting shapes started to form in my mind quickly transferring to the page, The symbol was intricate, I needed to duplicate it as best as possible. It took several minutes to finish, the room seemed to hold it's breath as my quiet quill sketches radiated their noise alone. I started to feel dizzy, the final lines of the symbol connected, it seemed to be alive on the scroll, far more complex than I remember drawing. Before I had time to think the symbol flashed red, I felt a sharp pain in my chest. Hearing the two unicorns' gasping voices behind me, the room started to fade, the last thing I saw before the darkness swirled around me was the princess of the night leaping up from her throne, the terror on her face drilled the seriousness further into my mind.

Slightly groaning, I awoke to a vast barren landscape. I was dazed, my mind slowly started to recompose it's self. Sharp rocks jabbed into my side causing me to regain consciousness fully, Crumbled buildings extended for miles, the sky was darkly red tinted and nopony was around. I nervously scanned the horizon, a towering building stood in the distance, as I allowed more of the scenery to enter my mind, a grim fact became more apparent, I was standing in the ruins of Canterlot. The towering building in the distance was the twisted remains of the palace, morphed by dark magic. A tall red spire penetrated the center of the once exquisite building, extending into the sky. I quickly burst into flight over the crumpled city. Rushing toward the castle, I saw nopony, dead or alive, the bodies had seemingly vanished leaving only this unnerving ruin behind. Upon landing, a sinking feeling rose in my gut. The doors had been ripped off their hinges. I saw the first sign of ponies in this nightmare, skeletons of long dead guard ponies still wore their armor, their deaths had been brutal and I hoped quick; Limbs were scattered everywhere, old blood stains caked the walls. I heard a shuffling noise behind me, quickly pivoting my head in the direction of the sound I started taking a battle stance, I thought I saw a dark figure seem to fade from view, there would be nowhere to hide, I passed it off to my imagination.

Turning back toward the door, I ran through, nothing looked the same, I was very anxious, the walls held deep gashes and memories of a war. The magic had morphed the structures themselves to be dark and wild, arches on doorways twisting with red thorns that seemed to pulse with the rhythm of a heartbeat. Each stone held glowing red symbols that mimicked the one that landed me in this nightmare. I felt my gut churning as adrenaline pumped through my veins pushing me faster down the seemingly endless hallway. Dark shapes often appeared in the corners of my vision but I ignored them delving further into the twisted ruin of the old castle. After what seemed like eternity I finally reached the familiar doors deep within the keep.

I dropped at the horrific sight feeling my heart skip a beat, twisted corpses lie dead at the entrance, their bones seemed to be melted fusing with their armor, flesh was long gone, they were only identifiable by the deep-blue armor that wrapped their skeletal remains. Lunar guards, probably Shatter and Sliver. A gaping hole had been torn in the center of the giant slabs. Several thoughts raced through my mind, I had to go inside, it was my duty. The hole was enormous, slipping through was easy. Luna's throne room had changed entirely, the spire ripped through the ceiling pouring sunlight into the room. I saw a strange sight, a lunar guard slumped in the middle of the carpet surrounded by a dark aura. Cantering closer my heart skipped a beat, I was staring at a reflection of myself, the doppelganger took slight breaths, he seemed strained, as I drew closer I could tell why. The skin of my clone had been removed, his body trembled, he was in shock. I extended a hoof to touch him and his face quickly turned to stare at me, he had the same blank eye sockets, the bloody holes stared into me. My attention was drawn to his teeth; Sharp rows of needles filled his mouth, he seemed to grin at me before pouncing in my direction. Shocked, I backed away tripping over some crumbled stone scattered across the floor. I quickly stood back up and the figure had vanished.

"What have you done?" A raspy-terrifying voice seemed to emanate from all directions.

I nervously pivoted my head, nopony was in the room but I could feel the cold eyes watching me.

"Sh-Show yourself!" I commanded the unknown presence, it was difficult to hide the fear in my voice.

An eerie scream fractured the silence, it quickly filled the room around me reverberating from the long crumbled walls. With only a moment to think, I slightly lowered my head and stiffened my stance ready for battle. A black mist began to swirl around creating a dark figure in the center of the room, shadowy shapes entered through the broken windows and crumbled ceiling as soul piercing shrieks tore into my ears shattering the few remaining windows in the abandoned tower. The deafening sound radiated through my bones feeling as if needles were scraping off my flesh; The unbearable pain forced me to collapse to the ground, I struggled to keep my eyes on the dark figure manifesting in the center of the room, As I stared the feeling of sickness started to overcome me, The figure was little more than a decayed stallion; Bits of gore and blood spattered the bleach white bone, he peered through the shadows as the figure slumped in the middle of the room absorbing the darkness and enveloping himself in it. The screams from the figure sounded pained and tormented; The feeling of fear and disgust quickly subsided leaving room for pity to overcome my thoughts. I struggled to stand up, the figure glared at me with black sockets. The final bits of shadow swirled around the room wrapping his body in a twisting-dark cloak that seemed to have a life of it's own.