It had been an eternity, an eternity since she had witnessed the beauty of the sunrise through her own eyes. She would raise the sun and lower the moon with each passing night, but the experience of witnessing the rising dawn remained out of her grasp. Her reign lasted a full century, subjects bowing down to her as a Princess of Friendship. People used to bow down to her friends as well, the historical elements of harmony.
They'd fell to old age, one by one leaving her side, leaving a gaping hole in her overwhelmed heart. The hole in her heart was impossible to fill, despite her efforts to remain resilient and continue her duties as Princess, the pain of their absence was always there, reminding her of the tremendous loss that she had endured.
Twilight walked dejectedly down the gravel path, her once gleaming mane now shimmering with despair as it caught the weak rays of sunlight. The silence of the surroundings felt deafening, a stark contrast to the joy and camaraderie she once shared with her dearest friends. A statue was paid respect to their names, each of her friends final breath engraved in the stone. The statue had long been destroyed, yet the impact of it still held on strong like an ox.
For over a thousand years, she had endured the weight of their absence, each passing day feeling like an eternity without their presence. In her pain and solitude, she began to see glimpses of her departed friends in the faces of other ponies. Their laughter echoed in the whispers of the wind, and their shadows danced in the dim corners of her empty room.
Twilight's amethyst eyes darted to the side, locking onto the small, fragile figure of a pony in the distance. The resemblance was uncanny, the pink mane and yellow coat almost a carbon copy of her beloved Fluttershy, and yet there was a striking difference in the pony's orange eyes. It was as if the universe had presented her with a cruel, twisted imitation of her dearest friend, and the sight sent a chilling shiver down her spine. Despite the differences, there was a pang of hope in her heart that perhaps this pony could bring a glimmer of joy back into her life, like the others had lacked. With a sense of resignation, she spoke to the nearby guards, her voice a mixture of sadness and anticipation.
"Please bring that pony here," she said, her words laced with a subtle plea. "Make sure she arrives safely. After all, she is a friend." The guards nodded in acknowledgment and hurried off to fetch the other pony, their movements carrying a sense of urgency. Twilight watched as they disappeared into the distance, wings flapping in sync. Her thoughts swirled with a maelstrom of emotions – a mix of anticipation, grief, and a flicker of hope. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the quiet of the castle was shattered by the sound of approaching hoofsteps. The guards had returned, guiding the pony towards her.
A lump formed in her throat as she stepped forward to greet the pony. Stepping closer, she forced herself to speak, her voice trembling as she looked into the pony's orange eyes. "Welcome, Fluttershy," she said, the name slipping out before she could stop herself. "I'm so glad to see you, I thought I'd never see you again." The yellow pony, startled and confused by the unexpected greeting, shook her head vehemently, her eyes widening in disbelief.
"I-I'm not Fluttershy!" she protested, her voice quivering with a mix of fear and bewilderment.
"You might not be, at least not now." She gave her a small smile. The guards pushed against the yellow pony, forcing her to accompany the princess on a small walk throughout the castle. "I hope it's as you remember it to be, the castle has had quite a few changes." She cautiously glanced around at the grand halls and corridors of the castle, silently marveling at its opulence.
"I... I don't remember this place," she replied softly, her voice tinged with a hint of trepidation. "What changes have been made?" Twilight chuckled softly, a faint hint of nostalgia coloring her tone.
"Oh, this castle has had quite a few modifications over the years," she explained, her voice carrying a hint of wistfulness. "Every generation leaves its mark on this castle, each change a reflection of the time that has passed." She continued to lead the yellow pony down the grand halls, her stride smooth and confident. "But the heart of this castle remains the same, a symbol of its history and purpose. The symbol of us. You, me, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow.." She paused. "We were... we were like family. Bound together by friendship and love," she murmured, her voice tinged with bittersweet melancholy. "But, it's okay now. I finally found all of you."
"Found... all of us?" the yellow pony whispered, her voice trembling slightly with confusion. The guards nod at the princess and step back, leaving the two ponies alone. With a weary glance, Twilight reaches out and pushes open a door hidden deep within the castle's labyrinthine corridors.
As the door creaks open, the yellow pony is greeted by a sight that both fascinates and terrifies her – a room filled with ponies, their forms twisted and modified to bear a striking resemblance to Twilight's dearly departed friends. One of them, huddled in a corner, was as silent as a mouse. The others groaned, cried out, pleaded in fear.
In the far corner of the room, a grotesque parody of Pinkie Pie lay huddled on the cold floor, a horrific shadow of her formerly bubbly and energetic self. Metal screws brutally wrenched her mouth into a ghastly, unending grin, the edges of her lips split and oozing, while coarse rope cruelly yanked her ears upwards, straining her face into a nightmarish caricature of joy. Dark, crusted blood smeared the floor around her, pooling in gruesome puddles that reflected the dim light and highlighted the decay. Her teeth, once bright and cheerful, now lay rotting and broken, some dangling like forgotten carcasses, while her tongue, dry and cracked, clung desperately to the roof of her mouth, a pale reminder of the laughter that once flowed from 'her'.
The stench of festering wounds hung thick in the air, mingling with the metallic tang of blood, creating a sickening atmosphere that enveloped the room in a grotesque sense of despair. The yellow pony's eyes widened in horror as they landed on the third pony in the room, a stunning mare with purple hair curled in an artistic fashion, yet her beauty was horrifyingly marred by the grotesque modifications that twisted her form. Blood dripped from severed wings, bone protruding from her spine, the velvet liquid pooling beneath her, a macabre canvas of gore that surrounded her.
A wave of nausea washed over the yellow pony as her heart ached at the sight of the mare’s eyes forced open, stretching her eyelids to the breaking point. They were wide as saucers, but the whites were a sickly crimson, veins bursting beneath the surface, a testament to the agonizing torture inflicted upon her. Rusty iron nails protruded from the corners of her eyes, grotesque relics meant to keep her gaze fixed in eternal terror, while the space where her eyelids should have been dripped with viscous tears tinged pink from the blood.
Bright red lipstick smeared across her lips contrasted starkly with her pallid skin, a slap of color against the misery, as if someone sought to mask the horror with a false veneer of beauty. Her body, unnaturally slim and molded into a perfect, disturbing form, stood in stark contrast to the other broken ponies in the room.
"mmh, mmph.." a pony lay curled in a corner, her once vibrant coat dulled by a layer of grime, the bright colors of her former self reduced to a haunting shade of bluish-grey. You could tell who she was without even giving a name to it. Her mouth had been sewn shut, the crude stitches pulling at the delicate skin. Each desperate attempt to cry out for help from the unknown pony, had ended in pain, the thread cutting deeper with every struggling movement. Strapped onto her back were blue wings - not just any wings, but the very likeness of Rainbow Dash's glorious appendages. They were grotesquely affixed, metal staples digging cruelly into her flesh, blood seeping through the jagged edges. The skin was rotting away, yet in such mint condition after years - had the princess kept them?
Her hind legs were a cacophony of broken bones, a testament to her futile attempts to escape the confines of her hell. The walls bore the marks of her desperation—deep scratches and remnants of blood smeared across the surface as she bucked against them, driven by an instinctual need for freedom. She would never get that freedom, not until they were all perfect.
The yellow pony stood still, legs glued to the floor in horror. The princess, standing beside her, stood silent, her gaze fixed on the twisted form before them. "I did this, Fluttershy. I did this for us, all of us, we can be together again." Closing her eyes for a moment, the yellow pony swallowed hard before speaking in a soft, trembling voice.
"But... this isn't right.. I'm not Fluttershy and they aren't.. these aren't the elements of harmony.." The princess, her expression hardened and heart heavy, roughly pushed the yellow pony into the room before her.
"You will be." The door slammed shut behind her with a shuddering thud.
Author's Note
I dunno what I was doing when I wrote this but I wrote it !!
