==Music for this scene if interested: Dishonored==
"All hail our wondrous Empress who protects! All hail our wondrous Empress who guides! From here to the ends of the world, all hail our Empress who saved us all!."
- Hymn of the Uplifted
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“*Gasp*”
“Empress?”
“Lady Sparkle?”
“~What will we do with a filthy traitor?~”
“~What will we do with a filthy traitor?~”
“~What will we do with a filthy traitor?~”
“Twi? Can you hear me?”
“~early in the morning…~”
“Twilight?”
“*Huff*”
“~Stand high and see how she rises…~”
“~Stand high and see how she rises…~”
“~Stand high and see how she rises…~”
“~early in the morning…~”
“Somepony…please…”
“She is hurt! Quick!”
“What Happened!”
“~Stuff him in a sack and throw him over…~”
“~Stuff him in a sack and throw him over…~”
“~Stuff him in a sack and throw him over…~”
“TWILIGHT!”
“~early in the morning…~”
“Find her and bring her to safety…”
“~Feed him to the hungry rats for dinner…~”
“*Gasp*”
“~Feed him to the hungry rats for dinner…~”
“~Feed him to the hungry rats for dinner…~”
“~early in the morning…~”
“Hang on Twi!”
“Lady Sparkle!”
“~Shoot him through the heart with a loaded pistol…~”
“Darling! We’re coming just hold on!”
“~Shoot him through the heart with a loaded pistol…~”
“~Shoot him through the heart with a loaded pistol…~”
“~early in the morning…~”
“*Sniff*”
“*Gasp*”
“The Empress is hurt! Find the perpetrator!”
“~Slice his throat with a rusty cleaver…~”
“~Slice his throat with a rusty cleaver…~”
“~Slice his throat with a rusty cleaver…~”
“~early in the morning…~”
“Twilight hold on…”
“We’re almost there…
"Twlight?”
“Empress?”
“~Stand high and see how she rises…~”
“~Stand high and see how she rises…~”
“~Stand high and see how she rises…~”
“~early in the morning…~”
“Twilight Sparkle?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dim red light began to flicker into her waking eyes. The mind ached, along with large swathes of her form. Twilight Sparkle, the sun's favoured foal, lifted her head slightly allowing her bleary eyes to take in her surroundings. She lay on polished black stone the red light swirling her reflection as a deathly chill wormed its way into her bones. The sides of her torso throbbed in pain closely in tune to her wildly beating heart. Despite the dark hallway Twilight could make out the pool of crimson blood and dark grimy hair that was made infinitely more hellish in appearance by the flickering lights.
Feeling too weak to panic the mare lifted her head further as she gingerly tested her strength. After successfully bringing herself up into a sitting position she brought a shaking hoof to her face, vigorously rubbed life back into the cold muscles.
"Mhm..." Twilight grunted her eyes blinking crimson fluid out of her sight.
Placing a hoof on the ground to steady herself Twilight started to look around the corridor. Black stone adorned every surface while a set of small candles whispered with harsh red light. Each end of the passage drifted off into to inky darkness leaving her trapped inside the bubble of red light.
"Where am I?" She pondered fearfully.
Twilight shifted her gaze around yet again this time seeking an answer to the reason for her being here. Finding none but the large pool of blood Twilight brought a hoof to her sore head finding a gash there.
Had she fell?
Had some pony attacked her?
Now desperate to remember what could of befallen her she cast the tethers of her memory back. Twilight blinked before finding she couldn't remember, the last thing she remembered up to was going to Rarity's for a dress. She had slipped on the floor and then she was here in this dark place of quiet candle light.
Seeing no reason to stay in this creepy place Twilight decided to move and find an exit. Hissing in pain Twilight pulled her body up one twitching muscle at a time. As she stood, her flesh shaking from blood loss and the cold, Twilight grabbed a candle with her magic.
Stumbling forward Twilight started down the corridor finding the inky darkness actually ended with a door. Pushing the black slates of stone apart she entered a second passage that seemed to stretch on for an age, red candles lighting the way.
"H-Hello?" Twilight called out meekly she inched forward past the door.
"Twilight?"
It was unintelligible yet totally comprehensible, a voice layered with silk and honey. Twilight nickered in panic as she flailed about looking for the source of the sound. She knew she had heard it yet she knew it was not really sound she had heard.
"Hello?" Twilight prompted her eyes scanning for any other pony that could be nearby.
Twilight are you OK?!
Another voice seeped into her head, it's tone harsher but urgent. "That's not a sound!" Twilight thought in a panic twisting around to find anything to help stop the rising panic. It was unnatural, like something echoing through murky water, and that frightened her.
"Who's there!" Twilight shouted fear blossoming in her chest. "C-Come out! I know defence magic!"
Straining her ears for any sign of movement or breathing in the passage, Twilight began to whimper her sobs gently sifting out into the dark. The terrifying sound of silence was smashing into her in waves as she swung her damaged head left and right. After a time her ears flickered as she heard it again, slowly the voices of thousands began to gently but firmly crawl up her spine.
"Lady Sparkle!"
"Twilight!"
"Twi!"
"Little sister..."
"Empress I will do everything..."
"When I find the one who did this..."
"S-Stop please!" Twilight yelled as the voices cascaded over her. The magic holding the candle sputtered out dropping the hot wax all over her fore-hooves, Twilight yelped patting down the burning pain as her mind continued to reel from the multitude of ponies speaking at once. Still even with the noise her flesh could not detect anything but silence, it was maddening.
"Sugarcube ya'll hafta calm down."
"Yes darling you are just going to hurt yourself more."
"We'll be there soon my lady."
She shuddered despite the assurances of the voices. The silky fragments were familiar, they almost sounded like her friends. Twilight shook her head to rid these thoughts, she could feel that this was wrong, that ponies who weren't here could still talk to her.
Wrong.
All wrong.
She had to run.
She had to flee these terrible voices.
Turning around, she began to sprint down the corridor in the direction she had faced upon awakening. Running so fast it caused the candle light to flicker as she sped past, she ran down the seemly endless corridor for what could only have been a few minutes but felt like an age.
Seeing a pair of lights on the left side, Twilight fumbled to a stop in front of another doorway. The black stone was so polished it shimmered like a mirror, sparing no time to view her reflection Twilight placed both her forelegs on each side of the door and gave an almighty shove pushing both sides out. A great burst of sunlight streamed onto her face momentarily blinding her. The warmth of the sun brought her sundering heart down to a murmur as the feeling of light washed over her muzzle.
Blinking Twilight found herself in a small room with only a set of pillars. The black stone still permeated everything but it was blessed with a gently orange glaze. Seeing a path out to a balcony with more light and a brief glimpse of the sky Twilight rushed forward.
Eager to be away from that scary corridor Twilight burst forth onto the balcony. The sight that greeted her was one endless buildings and dark funnels spewing smoke and fire into a blood red sky. Looking down she saw a city of black towers and sharp spires, banners of lavender and red adorned most buildings.
Her breath hitched, her mind stopped and all manner of warmth drained away. The sight was beautiful, harsh and utterly terrifying. Still all she could really see was the banners, all contained her cutie mark.
"What is this...?" She whispered fearfully. So lost in the moment Twilight didn't feel the crescendo of distressed voices build up behind her ears. It was to much, the pain in her body, the pressure in her mind and the final sight of her beloved world changed in an industrial masterpiece.
Twilight Sparkle screamed in agony as she cast her most powerful protection spells over her body. The magic blast silence all the voices in one fell swoop. In that one moment of silence Twilight sobbed before she collapsed back onto the black stone, sinking into blissful unconsciousness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Her mind shimmered awake for a brief moment. A feeling of floating swept over her as she blinked her eyes once before giving up and sinking back down. The snippets of a heated conversation were the only thing she was aware of.
"Our Empress is bleeding and unconsciousness. You tell me how that is Ok?" A male voice spoke with fierce tone.
"Pfft, this is only a minor wound to her holy person." Another male voice echoed with a dangerous glimmer. "Or are you telling me that our beloved Empress isn't capable of surviving something like this?"
"Mind yourself Doctor." The first voice growled. "You're not to important to be sent to the halls yet..."
"Don't threaten me, Armour." The Doctor growled back. "I am not scared of you, I am the personal doctor of our holy maiden for a damn good reason. So have a little faith, hmm?."
"I have faith in her, not you."
Both voices flared up into another series of bickering, now become unintelligable. As Twilight began to slip back into the void she felt the distinct feeling of something nuzzling her neck through the dim haze.
"Please be OK Twiliy." A sorrowful female voice whispered gently. "I need you with us. We all need you."
She knew the voice but could not place a face or name to it. As she felt herself falling and floating again she found the last of her thoughts lingering on what the female had said.
"Who needs me?"
Author's Note
Yoski,
So this is an oldie of mine that's being rebooted. This will be very long time between updates I feel as I want to focus more on my other stories.
Still enjoy and remember to fav and like.
