A Silver Sky: Four Little Ponies

---Chapter 7: Gallery---

“Ah, Twenty. How good of you to show up.”

“Forgive me. I did not mean to miss our last rendezvous. It is difficult to get away sometimes.”

“Save the excuses. Proceed with your report. Has she been harmed?”

“No. By all accounts she put up no struggle. She’s safe inside Ponyville prison.”

“Good. Then the spread of the Circle has been contained.”

“Your highness, if you’ll indulge me…why is her safety so important to you?”

“Generosity, Twenty. The Element Bearers are the six most important mortal ponies alive. You know this.”

“But after what she’s done, why would the Element remain with her?”

“The Elements are a troublesome thing. Once the spark has been activated, it stays linked to that pony for life. Eventually, the Element will choose a new host, but even then, she will bear a faint glimmer of that power. As much as I hate to admit it, we need her, at least for now. It will be three or four decades before the elements can be passed down to their next bearers.”

“And what happens when they are, highness?”

“Then I will quietly decree that Rarity be put to death for her crimes. Hers was a very public downfall. It reflects badly on me. The sooner she is gone, the better.”

“I can’t imagine that anyone would connect you with-“

“Rarity’s arrest was the top story in this morning’s Canterlot Courier, Twenty. The photo they chose was of her at Candence’s wedding reception. It shows me talking to her. This was the first thing my subjects saw when they woke up this morning, Twenty. A photo of their Princess chatting with an accused child killer.”

“The public is fickle. They’ll forget.”

“Yes, they will.”

Princess Celestia’s horn glowed for just an instant. It was the color of the sun.

“But I will not.”

*******

Time didn’t pass in the Gallery.

There were no windows to mark the passage of day into night, and no clocks or calendars. In theory, a foal’s only means of keeping track of how many days had passed was to count how many times the guards had called Lights Out and ordered them to go to sleep.

In practice, however, Lights Out did not necessarily coincide with nighttime. During busy times, the guards might not call Lights Out for hours and hours beyond the usual time. On these occasions, Lights Out did not occur until every Gallery patron was satisfied.

As a result, by the time the average foal had been in the Gallery for a month, she had lost track of time entirely. Twist was no exception.

She no longer counted how many days had passed. It was pointless. There was simply one long, unbroken string of time. Events blended into each other in her memory, with little deviation to distinguish them. She would sleep. Eventually, something would wake her: usually a guard, though sometimes a patron would decide to molest her sleeping form, and she would awaken to find herself in coitus with a stranger. Either way, she would wake, bathe, eat, and be prepared for the day’s patrons. Though some Circle members visited the Gallery every day, they were far from the only visitors. Each member was allowed to invite guests, and in some cases a single Circle member might bring scores of ponies into the Chamber. Sometimes, hundreds of patrons would pass through the Gallery in a single day.

Twist was one of the less popular foals. Her habit of slipping into fantasy when the patrons were using her had proven unpopular. The popular foals, Twist had noticed, were the ones who reacted the most. The ones who always cried, or screamed, or begged. The patrons seemed to love it when they begged.

But there were a few foals who had gone completely in the opposite direction, throwing themselves at patrons and openly asking to be abused. On her third day in the Gallery, Twist had observed a bright yellow Earth Pony who seemed to be about her age. She had some musical scales as her Cutie Mark. The filly always looked disheveled, her mane a chaotic mess, her body covered in bruises. Twist noticed that she had a strange, frantic way of speaking. She spoke far too fast, and just a bit too loud.

“That’s Happy Tune,” Aurora had told her. “She’s one of the Junkies.”

“Junkies?” Twist asked.

“There’s only a few of them here right now, but there used to be a lot more. I’ve seen quite a few in my time,” Aurora said.

“They’re the foals who go over the edge. They start to enjoy what the patrons do to them. A lot. Almost to the point of addiction. The rest of us tend to avoid them. It’s easier. All they ever talk about is sex, and if you get close to them after lights out, they’re liable to force themselves on you.”

Twist watched with confusion as Happy Tune jumped up and ran to greet a patron who had just entered the Gallery. When a patron entered, most foals instinctively tried to minimize their presence. They were forbidden from hiding, so they would try to avoid the patron’s gaze, or quietly walk to another area. Anything to avoid being chosen.

Happy Tune, however, was making her presence as obvious as possible. She smiled as she successfully intercepted the visitor, and began speaking to him in that same loud, frantic voice.

“Hello there!” she said. “Are you looking for a foal? Because I’ll do anything you want. Anything! I won’t fight you like the others. I’ll be your whore. Do you want me? I’ll bet you do.”

Before the patron could respond, Tune reached down and ran her hoof over his cock.

“Oh, I like your cock. It feels violent. You know, how some cocks are long, but you can tell they won’t hurt? Yours isn’t like that. It feels nice and fat. The fat ones hurt the most. You like to hurt fillies, don’t you? I can tell. Do you want to hurt me? No one’s hurt me really bad in a while. But you look mean. Be mean to me, okay? Be merciless.”

The stallion stood speechless as the little foal reached out with both forelegs and placed her hooves on either side of his head, locking her eyes with his.

“Please let me bleed for you,” she said.

“I’ve already got someone in mind,” the stallion said. He pushed her aside and walked past.

“Who is it?” Tune shouted back. “I’ll bet she’s nowhere near as dirty as I can be! Please, let me feel you! I want to feel you! Come ba-“

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” a guard shouted from across the room. “The patron has made his choice.”

“Yes, sir,” Tune said, looking dejected. She returned to the couch she had been sitting on.

“Why would she…act that way?” Twist asked.

“I don’t know,” Aurora said. “The sad thing is, when she first came here, she was really quiet and shy. Most of the junkies start out like that. No one’s sure what makes them change. I have a theory, though.”

“You do?” said Twist, keeping her eye on Happy Tune. The filly was now openly masturbating.

“They do that pretty much constantly,” Aurora said. “But yeah, here’s my theory: I’ve seen foals in here who just shut down after a while. They stop feeling anything, just detach themselves. I think the Junkies are the opposite. They’re all about feeling things. You heard what she said. ‘I want to feel you.’ I don’t think she cared if what she felt was pain, pleasure, or whatever.”

Aurora sighed. “I think they’re scared of going numb,” she said.

“Yeah, but she was practically asking to be beaten up…” Twist said. “I’ve never theen anything like tha-“ Just then, a realization went off in Twist’s mind. She let out a small gasp.

“What is it?” Aurora said.

“She reminds me of someone,” Twist said. “Thomeone from back home…”

“Really? Aurora said. “There are ponies like that on the outside, too?”

“I’ve only met one,” Twist said.

“A friend of yours?”

“No…or maybe, I’m not sure,” Twist said. “I used to hate her, but the last time I saw her, she did thomething really brave…so now I’m not thure what I think of her. But before that, she was just like Happy Tune. She was at the Gathering, and I overheard her a couple of timeth. She kept asking them to hurt her and fuck her and…”

Twist shook her head.

“I just don’t understand…” she said. “I don’t understand any of this…”

“Well, she’s not in here, so there might be a chance for her. Maybe she can get help,” Aurora said.

“I don’t think she wants help,” Twist said. “But maybe…hey, you said there used to be a lot more Junkies, right? What happened to them? Did they get better?”

Aurora closed her eyes. “I didn’t sleep too well last night,” she said. “I think I’m going to take a nap…”

“No, wait, pleathe don’t shut me out like that,” Twist said. “Just tell me. What happened to the Junkies who used to be here?”
Aurora sighed again. Twist noticed that she did this a lot.

“Some of the Junkies just want sex, but most of them are into pain,” she said. “They find out who the most sadistic regulars are and throw themselves at them. And sometimes…sometimes things…go too far…”

“….oh.” Twist said.

“I’m sorry,” Aurora said. “I didn’t want to tell you. Not after you told me about your friend.”

Twist didn’t say anything. She looked back at Happy Tune. The filly seemed to have achieved orgasm and was now lying half-asleep on the couch.

Unsure of what else to do, Twist laid down next to Aurora, snuggling up next to her. The older filly smiled.

“You,” a rough voice said. “Come with me.”

Twist looked behind her. An older looking stallion looked back at her.

“Hurry up,” he said. “I’ve got some friends waiting for you in the other room.”

Twist got to her hooves. “Yes, sir…”

“Not you!” he said. “Your friend there. The older one. We’re bored with fumbling kids. Tonight we’re having us an experienced slut.”

Aurora stood up and walked toward the stallion.

“Wait!” Twist said. “Just…can I ask her something first?”

“Make it quick,” the stallion said.

“Aurora, you said that most of the foals here become empty and detached after a while, right? I don’t want to end up that way…”

“Twist…”

“So…can you tell me…how did you do it? How did you avoid going numb?”

Aurora turned her face away from Twist for just a moment. When she looked back, she was smiling gently.

“Oh, Twist,” she said. “You’re such a sweet little filly.”

Twist and Aurora did not discuss the topic again. After a week in the Gallery, Twist had developed a system: at night, she would think up stories, sometimes with Aurora’s help. She would tell the beginning of the story, but intentionally leave the ending unresolved. She forced herself not to think of it, keeping the resolution a secret, even to herself.

Then when she was chosen by one of the patrons, she would go back to her story. Close her eyes, and imagine. Let the pain and humiliation wash away from her. It didn’t matter. She was someplace else.

This did not always work. Some patrons demanded her total attention. They would ask her to talk dirty to them, or perform a very specific set of tasks. Twist quickly learned that slipping into fantasy during these sessions could have painful consequences.

But there were other sessions, ones where all she had to do was lie on a bed with her legs spread while countless patrons had their way with her. And during those times, she was free. Most of the time, patrons didn’t even want her to talk or react. They just wanted a body to use.

Take it, then. Have my body, Twist thought. But you can never have my mind.

After Lights Out, Twist would usually return to Aurora’s side, to chat a bit before bed. Twist had quickly learned that the question “How was your day?” was verboten in the Gallery. It was pointless: the answer would always be the same.
Instead, Aurora would always greet Twist with her own question:

“Did you finish the story?”

When the answer was no, the two would think of new story ideas instead.

When the answer was yes, Twist would whisper the remainder of the tale to her friend. Aurora would drift off to sleep with images of heroic quests and far-off lands dancing through her mind.

Even though Aurora never stayed awake for the entire story, Twist always finished telling it. She wasn’t just telling them for Aurora.

A month passed this way, though Twist did not recognize it as one.

Aurora looked forward to Twist’s return each night. At first, Twist’s enthusiasm for storytelling was almost uncanny. She would gesture with her hooves, do character voices, and sometimes speak so loud that she accidentally woke other foals.

Aurora observed, over the course of time, as Twist’s storytelling style changed. How it went from enthusiastic, to subdued, to mechanical. Twist would gesture less. She made fewer jokes. She rushed endings.

Aurora knew what was happening.

One cold night in the Gallery, Twist returned to Aurora’s side with a strange awkwardness to her gait.

“Are you limping?” Aurora asked.

“It’s nothing,” she said. “I mean, it’s not broken or anything. It’ll heal.”

“Oh…” Aurora said. “So…did you finish the story?”

“What story?” Twist asked.

Aurora sighed again, but this sigh sounded different. It was almost as if she had been holding that sigh in for weeks. As if she knew she would need it someday.

“Oh!” Twist said. “Oh, the thtory…no, no, I didn’t. Um…I don’t think I want to think of any new ones today, okay? I’m…I’m just so tired…” There was a strange flatness to her voice.

Aurora closed her eyes. It seemed entirely too labored a gesture. Her face twitched ever so slightly, as if she were holding something back.

“It’s okay, Twist…” she said. “Just…come here and keep me warm, okay?”

“Okay…” Twist said.

The two fell into an embrace, and Twist was soon fast asleep.

Aurora waited until she was sure Twist was asleep before she spoke to her friend.

“I knew it would start happening sooner or later…” she said. “But don’t worry. I’ll remember you like this. Even after this place has taken everything out of you. When you’re empty, I’ll remember who you were. That’s what I do here. I remember those we’ve lost.”

Aurora scanned the room, looking at the sleeping forms of dozens of foals. She had once known many of them so well. Now she didn’t know any of them.

“I won’t forget…your stories, your kindness, your optimism…they won’t really be gone. I’ll keep them with me. I’ll keep them safe.” She gave Twist a kiss on the forehead. “I promise.”

*******

Silver Spoon materialized at the entrance to the Gallery. Around her neck, she wore a golden necklace with a key attached. Before he had transported her, Fancy had warned Silver not to take the necklace off under any circumstances.

“Foals don’t visit the Gallery very often, especially not accompanied by an adult,” Fancy had said. “The key is what tells the guards that you’re a patron and not a resident. Don’t worry, it’s enchanted so none of the other foals can wear it.

Otherwise, they might try to pass themselves off as patrons. We learned that lesson the hard way some years ago. Our first and only escape.”

“Someone escaped from the Gallery?” Silver had asked, perhaps a bit too excitedly.

“Oh, we tracked him down eventually,” Fancy had replied. “Naturally, he was made an example of. Would you like to know what we did to him?”

Silver had declined.

Now she stood at the Gallery entrance. A guard, noticing her necklace, smiled at her.

“Welcome to the Gallery, Madam,” he said. “What’s your pleasure?”

Silver felt monumentally awkward.

“Oh! Um, well, I’d like a…um…” Silver stammered. She didn’t like giving orders, especially not in a sexual context.

But she couldn’t stop when she’d gotten this far. She took a deep breath, and spoke.

“I’d like a private room,” she said.

“The private rooms are in the back. Right this way,” the guard said, as Silver was led into the Gallery.

The scent of sex hit her immediately. Then the sounds. As she walked in the door, she saw, just to her left on a large bed, a young colt being sodomized by a stallion. The colt was making a sound that sounded halfway between a moan and a sob.

“You like it, don’t you?” the stallion said. “You like being my little pansy. Say it.”

“Aaaah….I…yes. Yes, I love it…” The colt’s response did not sound very convincing

That one encounter couldn’t be why the room smelled the way it did, however. It was because open sex was a constant here. Silver realized it immediately: this place was permeated in the scent of arousal. The residents were probably used to it, but Silver was not.

She looked around. There were foals chained to walls being violated by adult ponies. A little further down, she saw a bright yellow filly with a musical scale cutie mark, being fucked by a massively endowed stallion. Only about a third of his member was inside her, but she seemed to be egging him on.

“More! Please! Give me all of it!” she cried.

“You sure?” he asked. “I’ve been with grown mares who couldn’t handle the whole thing.”

“Do it,” she said. “Rip me apart.”

The stallion thrust himself fully inside her. She screamed.

Silver stood enraptured at the filly’s willful suffering.

A part of her felt jealous.

“It’s been so long,” she whispered. “It’s been so long since someone really made me hurt…”

Silver’s hoof began to drift toward her cunt…

You don’t have time for this. Remember the plan.

Silver shook her head violently. “You’re right,” she whispered. “Have to stay focused.”

“Yeah, that one’s a glutton for punishment, ain’t she?” the guard said. “If you want her, he’ll probably let you join in. Or you can wait til he’s done, though she’ll probably be a hell of a mess by then.”

The filly’s screams had devolved into incoherent, animalistic moans. In the midst of it, Silver made out one word:
“Harder.”

“No, um…let’s keep going,” Silver said. “There’s already a certain filly I want.”

The two walked on, but after a moment, Silver could not help but turn and look back at the spectacle one last time.

The filly appeared to have passed out. Her partner did not seem to care. In fact, his pace was increasing.

Silver turned back to the guard and realized he was almost out of sight. She ran after him.

As they turned into the next room, Silver heard the voice of a mare, who was counting backwards.
She looked and saw a nearby bed, where a pink Unicorn mare was being eaten out by a small filly. A colt, who looked to be about the same age and was the same color as the filly, sat off to the side, with a worried expression on his face. Despite herself, Silver stopped to observe.

“Oh, that’s nice. Right on the button. Not too fast, now. That’s it. Oooh! That’s it!” the mare said. “You just might make it, you little slut. Eight…seven…six…”

The filly reached out with a hoof and began rubbing the mare’s clit, but she pushed it away.

“Remember the rules,” the mare said. “No hooves. Just that lovely little tongue of yours. Five…four…”

“Maybe I could help?” the colt offered, sounding a little desperate.

“You shut up,” said the mare. “Three…two...oooh! One….aaaaaaaaaand…time’s up!”

The filly lifted her head up from the mare’s cunt. “But…you were really close, weren’t you? Just a little longer, I’m sure I can make you come! Please…”

“Oh, you were very close indeed,” the mare said. “But that wasn’t our agreement, was it? You had until I counted down from one hundred to get me off. And you didn’t get me off. So now…you have to be punished.”

Silver’s attention was now locked on the mare.

“She’s beautiful…” Silver said.

“No, please!” the filly said. “My brother…he’s all I have…”

“Is that a fact?” the mare said. “You two are twins, I take it?”

“Yes…” the filly said. “We were put in here together. He looks after me. Takes care of me when I get hurt. I feel safe around him…please, don’t take that away from me…”

“There must be something else we can do!” the colt offered. “I’m sure we can agree on something. I could-“

“Hold her down,” the mare told the colt.

“Don’t make me do this...”

“Hold her down. Now.”

The colt looked at his sister.

“I love you,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

He did as he was told.

The mare, laughing, lit up her horn, and a magical field appeared around the colt’s flaccid penis. In an instant, he was fully erect.

“It won’t go down until you come,” she said. “You know what to do.”

“She’s my sister! Don’t make me-“

“Now,” the mare said.

The colt shut his eyes as he penetrated his sister. The filly began to cry softly.

Silver Spoon was barely aware of their coupling. Her eyes were fixated on the mare, who sat back and masturbated at the sight before her.

“She’s so cruel…” Silver whispered. “So vicious and perverse…”

This time, Silver couldn’t help herself. She began to touch herself at the sight of the pink unicorn. The mare, noticing this, looked at Silver and gave her a wink. Silver blushed.

“Enjoying the show?” the mare asked.

“Oh, um…I suppose…” Silver said.

“You don’t sound too sure of that,” the mare replied.

“I’m sorry…” Silver said. She wondered for a moment why she was apologizing. “You just…remind me of someone very special to me.”

“Oh?” the mare said. “You’ve got good taste, kid.”

The mare turned her attention back to the coupling twins. “Faster,” she said to the colt. “Make her feel it.”

She smiled at the filly. “That’s what you want, isn’t it, slut? Wanna feel big brother’s prick inside you, don’t you?”

The filly did not answer. She just sobbed.

This is sick. We need to get moving.

“Shut up,” Silver whispered.

Silver stayed and watched the entire display, rubbing herself openly while the guard stood to the side.

It took an unusually long time for the colt to finish, but he finally did, coming inside his sister as the mare egged him on.

“There, wasn’t that fun?” the mare said to the two humiliated siblings. “You two are what, about thirteen? Maybe I’ll come back in a few months, see if sis has got a little inbred brat growing inside her. Wouldn’t that be something?”

With a laugh, the mare jumped off the bed and strolled away.

The colt spoke to his sister, without looking at her.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go to the baths. I’ll get you cleaned up.”

The filly didn’t respond.

“Or, if you want, we could go find someplace to lie down…I could use a nap…”

“….please go away,” the filly said.

“What? But…”

“Just go,” she said. “Leave me alone…”

“You know I didn’t want to do that!” the colt said. “I hated it! You know I did!”

“I know you did,” said the filly. “But I can’t…please. Please, just go away.”

The colt began to shake as he slowly got off the bed. Silver decided she’d seen enough.

“Let’s keep going,” she said to the guard.

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied. “Private rooms are just up ahead.”

As they walked, Silver hung back slightly.

“The way she ruined those foals,” Silver said. “So beautiful. So much like her…”

I thought you were trying to be better.

Silver stopped for a moment to consider the voice’s accusation.

“….I am,” Silver said. “I swear, I am. I just…I miss her.”

How can you be better if you go back to her? If you still get off on watching her torture other foals? You really think what you’re about to do will make up for that?

“When I see her again, I’ll figure it out,” Silver said. “Right now, I just have to stick to the plan.”

“We’re here,” the guard said.

Before Silver stood a row of ornate doors. The guard unlocked a door, which opened to a beautiful room with a large bed, a mirror, and a dresser containing various outfits. There was also a chest of drawers, filled with whips, restraints, dildos, and other toys.

“There you are,” said the guard. “Total privacy in here. No taboos, no restrictions.”

“Just what I wanted,” Silver said.

“Now, then, do you want me to send for a foal? You said you had one in mind, right?”

“Yes,” Silver said. “Her name is Twist.”

*******

“Twenty? Are you here?”

“I am here.”

“Ah! You startled me.”

“I apologize.”

“Think nothing of it. I do not have long before I am missed. What of the Circle?”

“I’m afraid the news is not good. There have been…further rumblings. I’m afraid your suspicions have been confirmed. The four of them will make their move soon.”

“Four? I thought there were three.”

“So did I, until one of my colleagues informed of me a letter he had intercepted. From Ponyville.”

“…no.”

“I’m afraid so. The content was extremely vague, far too much to be incriminating. But what matters is who sent it. It was Rari-”

“Do not say her name. I am already sick of hearing about that vermin.”

“As you wish.”

“As long as we are on the subject of Ponyville…have you had a chance to look into that…other matter?”

“Yes. I communicated with a contact in Ponyville just this morning.”

“And…?”

“The colt is…not well. I fear for his mental state if things continue as they are.”

“….I see. Then perhaps it is finally time for me to act.”

“As you wish. But please, be careful. You can’t afford to arouse suspicion, your highness.”

“Do not worry, Twenty. As far as I can discern, Celestia has no idea I have been meeting with you.”

“Good. Then I wish you good luck on your journey, Great Princess of the Night.”

“Thank you, Twenty. You are dismissed.”

Princess Luna stood alone in the castle courtyard. She looked up at the highest tower of the castle, where her sister slept.

“Even if the balance must be kept,” she said. “That doesn’t mean I can just stand by and let them suffer.”

Luna spread her wings and began her ascent into the night sky.

“Your princess failed you once, little one,” she said. “Never again.”

[NEXT: Rest]