Dash woke up on a hard, grey surface. She rubbed the side of her head with one hoof and looked around groaning. Around her she saw three other mares and two fillies, slightly stirring in their sleep. One mare, who Rainbow realised was Rarity, lifted her snow white head slowly, fluttering her dark blue eyes open. She gasped and turned her head to Dash, looking confused.
"Rainbow dash," she whispered, afraid she would be over heard by an unknown danger. "W-where are we?"
"I don't know," Dash replied, also whispering, sharing her friends fear.
"It smells like Gummy's room in here," squeaked another voice, obviously unafraid of the dark unknown. Dash and Rarity hushed the cotton candy maned mare.
"Pinkie!" Hissed Dash quietly.
Slowly, the other ponies started to wake. There was Dash, Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie, Apple bloom and Scootaloo.
"Good, you're all awake!" Boomed a voice from above them. They all turned to see an intercom, like the ones in school, booming out a voice. Dash recognised the voice, but couldn't put her hoof on it. Twilight eyes widened in surprise, recognising the voice instantly.
"Princess Luna?" Yelled Twilight in disbelief. Even though she wasn't visible to the ponies, Dash knew Luna was smiling.
"Yes Twilight, it's us. We have brought you here as...as a little gift for Celestia."
"Oh! Is it her birthday?" Squeaked Pinkie in excitement.
"Nay filly," Luna boomed loudly. "It has been a year since Celestia has released us from that god-forsaken moon."
All the ponies looked confused. What did it have to do with them? Luna sighed, making the intercom release a long, static sound.
"When Discord came not long ago and you were trapped in his maze, we had the idea of our revenge. He was defeated, as you all know, but we remade his labyrinth, with some...new updates. We've always been a gifted builder," she explained, trailing off at the end.
"What do you mean 'updates'?" Demanded Twilight. Luna ignored her.
"As you can see, we have removed your wings and horns, we wouldn't want it to be to easy for you," Luna purred with a light laugh. In shock of what they heard, Twilight, Dash, Rarity and Scootaloo stared at each other. It was true, none of them had their horns or wings. There was panic briefly until Luna's voice made them all tear their attention away from each other and look up.
"Without further interruption," boomed out the princess' voice. "Please proceed into the labyrinth."
One of the walls suddenly started to split, blinding the ponies with light. Before them stood a maze all to familiar to the four mares. The walls were tall hedges, at least four meters high on each side. The hedges seemed to go on forever, fading into fog to shield the possible horrors ahead. Dash stood up and took a few steps toward the maze entrance.
"Well," she said to the other ponies, fear in her voice obvious. "Are we getting out of here or not?"
The other ponies looked at each other and followed Dash into the maze.
They had been walking for what seemed like a fortnight before something came into view. Despite the sore pain in her hooves, Dash ran forward but gasped in fear as a blade shot right past her neck, burying itself into the wall on her left. She breathed heavily, feeling the small, but painful, cut across her neck. The red line could have been drawn with a ruler.
"Dashie!" Yelled Pinkie, running up to her friend. Dash was in shock, staring forward at the horror in front of her. Blades poked out the wall either side, ready to be launched into un-expecting ponies who passed by. Luna's laughed boomed out of another hidden intercom.
"You need to more careful than that 'Dashie'!" Laughed Luna, mocking Pinkie. Dash glared at the sky.
"We just need to be careful," Scootaloo said, comforting Apple bloom who had started to cry tears of pure fear. "Here, watch me."
Scootaloo stepped forward, trying to stop shaking. She had to be brave...for Apple bloom.
She took a deep breath before bolting forward. She screamed the whole way, barely missing most of the blades. Eventually, the whooshing of blades stopped. She opened one eye, then the next, she was alive.
"S-see," she yelled back to Apple bloom in a shaky tone. "Perfectly safe."
Apple bloom wiped her tears and smiled at her friend.
"I guess yall right Scoots," she mumbled, bravely stepping in line with the other mares.
As if on an invisible signal, the ponies launched forward, dodging blades. The mares crossed to the safe area, but froze as the whooshing of blades was replaced by a scream. They turned their heads in fear to see Apple bloom on the floor, a blade buried deep in her flank. Dash turned tail and ran to the filly, skilfully dodging blades that shot past her ears. She helped the foal climb onto her back and ran back, narrowly dodging blades that licked at her ankles.
"It hurts so bad, I want Applejack," whined Apple bloom as Rainbow put her on the floor.
"Can you walk?" Asked the cyan pegasus. Apple bloom shook her head and Twilight sighed.
"I'll carry her," offered the purple pony. Dash looked thankful. Twilight lifted the filly onto her back, she was pale and limp, but alive. Scootaloo talked to her friend until Dash made a noise of confusion. In front of them was a tall steel door. Pinkie pressed a hoof to it.
"Locked," she said simply.
"If you would turn you attention to the left," Spoke Luna in an annoyed tone. "You will see one of our ingenious devices." Sure enough, to their left was a small platform inside a glass container. At the bottom of the container was a small key, obviously for the door. A metal grate was welded half way up the container, stopping them from reaching for the key. Dash briefly wondered how they were meant to get the key, until she saw a device above the platform.
"One of you must sacrifice yourself to the machine. You must stand on the platform which will activate the machine, it will push down, releasing your fluid from your body to fill the container. The key is made of a floating material, so it will rise through the grating. Who completes the task is up to you, good luck."
The intercom clicked off and the ponies looked at each other in fear.
"I-I'll do it," said Apple bloom. Scootaloo was about to protest but Apple bloom pressed a hoof to her friends lips. "I'm half dead anyway." She smiled.
Apple bloom painfully limped to the machine and scrambled onto the platform, no one wanted to help her. When she had climbed onto the platform, the machine whirred into action. Apple bloom didn't resist, but still she screamed with pain as the steel sheet pushed down on her skull, pushing her legs down, revealing bone as it split through her knees. Eventually, her scream was silenced when her skull snapped, the broken bone pressed painfully into her brain. The ponies shielded their eyes as the fragile filly's limp body was squeezed dry.
The key floated through the bars of the grate. Dash opened one eye and felt sick to the stomach. She walked forward slowly, taking the key out the blood. What was she going to say to AJ? She turned the key in the door and it swung open. She looked ahead, it was safe.
"Come on!" Said Rarity, wanting to get away from that place. When Rarity stepped forward Dash heard the whistle of something falling.
"Rarity!" Yelled Dash, pulling her friend back before a giant metal block landed in front if her. Rarity let out a high pitched scream.
"I know how to pass this," squeaked Pinkie.
"How?" Said the other ponies together.
"My Pinkie sense!" Dash face hoofed, how could she forget? Of course the Pinkie sense!
They stepped forward and Pinkie's tail twitched.
"Dashie! Twelve a'clock!" She yelled. Rainbow dash leapt backward before the weight smashed in front of her.
"Rarity! Three a'clock, three a'clock!" Rarity violently turned before another metal block narrowly missed her flank.
"Twilight! Six a'clo-" She was to late. Twilight screamed as she was squashed like a grape. Blood splattered on Pinkie's face as she looked at her friend in horror.
"Twilight...." Mumbled Dash on the brink of tears.
They reached the end, all of they staring back in disbelief. Why was Luna doing this? They caught their breath and began walking again. Dash hit the floor as she heard more blades slicing air. No blades flew above her. She looked up and saw three metal pipes whipping round, blades stuck to the pipes, threatening to slice anything apart.
"Luna!" Yelled Dash. "What is this?"
"One if you need to make your way through, there is a button on the other side to stop the blades spinning to give safe passage." Said Luna, calm and amused by what she had seen.
Pinkie stepped forward. "I'll do it," she squeaked, showing no fear.
"But Pinkie, you might not make it!" Yelled Dash. Pinkie shrugged.
"If anyone else does it, they may not make it. It changes nothing," Pinkie retorted, stepping toward the blades.
At first, hope burnt inside Dash as her friend skilfully snaked through the blades, but soon Pinkie squeaked with fear as one of the blades caught her hoof and shredded her legs. She grabbed the metal podium holding the button with both hooves. She climbed up the podium, in to much pain to cry out. The higher she climbed the more of herself she fed into the blades. Eventually she felt her intestines wrap around the blades, slicing them violently. She reached for the button, but just as she pressed it, the blades reached her rib cage, tearing the bones away from her organs.
"Pinkie!" Dash yelled when the blades stopped, a look of pure fear plastered to her face as she saw the organs flowing out the lower half of her friend's mangled body.
"She's gone Dash," mumbled Rarity, placing one hoof on her friends shoulder. Let's just get out of here while we can." Dash reluctantly followed Rarity a Scootaloo away from Pinkie's body.
Soon enough, they came upon the next 'ingenious device'. Steel plates were either side of them and what looked like a motion sensor was fixed to the floor. Where the corridor ended there was another button.
"We're surprised you got this far," boomed the royal canterlot voice. "When you pass the sensor, the Walls will close in on you. If you reach the button, the walls will open again to give safe passage."
Scootaloo stepped forward. "My time to shine," she said grimly.
"Woah there kid," said Dash. We already lost one filly. I'm going in."
"No Dash!" Yelled Scootaloo, holding the cyan pegasus back. "What will Equestria do without your skills? No one needs a blank flank, but everyone needs a weather pony."
Before Dash could object, Scootaloo passed the sensor and literally ran for her life. The walls closed in faster than she expected and were pressing against her shoulder blades before she got half way through.
"Dash! Help!" Yelled the filly as the pressure on her temples grew. Dash wanted to help, but her larger build wouldn't fit through the gap.
"Scoots!" Dash yelled, tears streaming down her cheeks as she watched the skull break, spilling her brain and blood all over the ground.
When the walls were fully pressed together, they heard Luna tut.
"I'm afraid you didn't pass this test," Dash turned her head as she saw a door open to her left. "Please proceed to the left."
When they had walked through the saw a large ramp. Cautiously, herself and Rarity tiptoed up, but nothing happened. The ramp wasn't that high, only about a meter or two.
When they got to the top Rainbow looked down onto a floor of spikes, slowly falling, then rising quickly, spearing the air. Rarity shook in fear as Dash counted to herself the amount of time it took for each spike to rise and fall. It took each spike ten seconds to fall, left a five second interval and sprang back up in a single second. She relayed to information to Rarity, but doubted if her friend was listening.
"Ok," she said confidently. "Three, two, now!" The ponies jumped off the ledge, landing where a spike had just fallen then onto the next free space, then the next one, and the next one until Dash reached the far side.
"We did it Rarity!" She yelled, raising her hoof for a high five. In reply, she heard a scream and turned to see Rarity laying behind her, a spike through her left. Dash sighed, so close. She picked up her friend and walked until a metal room came into to view.
"The exit!" She shrieked and with new found strength ran to the door. Rarity's eyes were closed, but she smiled weakly.
"We congratulate you," Said Luna as Dash burst in the room. The door closed behind her. "You made it alive, why don't we reward them Tia?"
On cue, another door opened to reveal Princess Celestia.
Her eyes had been gouged out, leaving trails of blood down her frail cheeks. Her ribcage was visible under the skin that had been burnt and torn multiple times. Her mouth shut tight, sown together with her own hair strands.
"Princess Celestia!" Yelled Dash, running over to her. That's when she smelt it, the smell of smoke.
"Oh Rainbow dash," called Luna in a sing-song tone. "Didn't thy mother ever tell you not to play with fire?"
Dash was confused, play with fire? Before she realised what was said and put together the smell and smoke, fire erupted around her, swallowing the two mares and princess in a great ball of flame.
Author's Note
Me and my friend wrote this, we both love grimdark but before now could never think up good ideas.
I got this idea watching the Return to harmony season starters.
Please enjoy (if you can) and review, but don't judge me for liking grimdark, they are some of the best written fan fictions out there.