Warm. That’s the only thought that went through Rainbow’s mind. The calming warmth that was the bed that surrounded her. Slowly, she opened her eyes and welcomed the soft vanilla light that greeted her gaze.

Rainbow realized that she was in a small bedroom. The blank walls were painted a calming yellow, reminding her of Fluttershy’s butter fur. She stepped off the bed and felt felt her hooves sink into the fluffy carpet underneath her. In one corner, she noticed an open chest filled to the brim with plushies and other stuffed animals.

Something seemed familiar about the plushies to Rainbow. Walking towards the toy box, she investigated. She snatched one of the toys from the pile and realized it was her friend Applejack.

‘Huh?’ She thought as she squinted down at the mini Applejack. ‘since when have there been Applejack plushies?’

Rainbow was surprised to find a string attached to the plushie’s back. Curious, she gave it a light tug.

“Howdy thar partner!...***” Applejack’s voice buzzed from the toy.

‘Huh.’ Rainbow brought the toy close to her ear. ‘I could have sworn I heard something else in there.’

Setting down Applejack, Rainbow looked back into the box, finding four plushies that replicated each of her other friends. With a small sense of excitement, she pulled them out and began to pull their cords.

“Oh, you look fabulous Darling…***”

“Aint no party like a Pinkie Pie party!...***”

“I’ll be your friend. I mean, if that’s okay with you…***”

Rainbow sighed. She was so happy to finally hear her friends voices once again, even if they were through stuffed dolls. A small smile now on her lips, Rainbow picked up the last plushie of her Alicorn friend, Twilight Sparkle. Before she could pull the cord, however, a loud wail startled her.

Snapping around, she realized the wail came from a foal crib she had failed to notice before.

“Mama!” The foal’s voice cried soon followed by a second.

“Mama!” They both cried in unison. An unfamiliar sense of dread coiled around Rainbow’s heart. Her babies were crying! They were hurt! She needed to get to them NOW!

Dropping the forgotten Twilight plushie, Rainbow ran to the crib. Inside she saw two squirming lumps underneath the pink covers. Without hesitation, the worried pegasus ripped off the blanket hoping to comfort her two foals. She was instead met with an inky blackness.

The black liquid sloshed and bubbled as the wails morphed into bellows of laughter.

“Oh, 1632,” A familiar voice echoed from the growing ooze. “You were too late to stop their cries.” The black sludge slipped through the bars of the crib, spilling onto the carpet. “So I put an end to them myself.”

“AHH!” Rainbow screamed when slimy tendrils shot at her from the ooze, causing her to stumble back. She was unaware that her back hoof had stepped on the soft Twilight plushie until it screamed out.

“Run Rainbow! Don’t let it catch you!!” Twilight’s hysterical screech was enough to convince Rainbow to fly out of there.

As soon as her wings snapped open they were immediately tugged back by the sticky tendrils.

“No!” She screamed, desperately trying to run towards the door that had somehow moved far away. Her attempts were in vain as she felt herself dragged back to the bulging black mass that had now consumed half of the once-calming room.

“Please please please,” She begged only for her words to be cut off by a thick oily branch of ooze as it forced itself down her throat. The last thing she saw before the blackness consumed her were the five plushies staring at her with tears leaking from their button eyes.

Suddenly, Rainbow’s vision went black. The suffocating sludge was all around her; sliding down her throat, burrowing deep into her nostrils, wedging itself beneath her eyelids.

It was strange. Although she knew that her wings had been snapped from her back, she felt no pain. Although she heard the sickening squelch of her eyes being scooped from their sockets, she did not writhe. Was this it? Was she just going to be forced to listen to her body being mutilated without feeling the pain it caused. Despite her situation, Rainbow felt relief that she wasn't going through the toll of agony that should have came when her pelt was ripped from her muscles. Her relief ended when the needle came.

Rainbow screamed when a large needle dug itself through her exposed side and her torn hide. It was stitching her body back together with carefully measured laces, tightening her flesh until it fit snug against her body once again. Although there was no pain, Rainbow could feel the icy tip of the needle as it continued to her wings then her mouth and finally her eyes. She tried to open her eyelids but found that she no longer had them. She couldn't move and everything was black. She just wished it would stop, and then it did.

Out in the blackness the terrifying voice spoke up.

“Well, 1632,” It chuckled. “You seem fit to join the rest of your friends now.”

The blackness around her shifted, causing Rainbow to shiver.

‘What did he do to me?’ she feared.

“Oh,” The voice rumbled as if reading Rainbow’s mind. “You should look at yourself 1632. A fine outcome from this little experiment if I do say so myself.”

The black ooze slid away from Rainbow’s form, revealing herself in front of a large mirror. She would have gasped if she could because staring back at her was her reflection.

Her reflection was a small Rainbow Dash plushie.

She wanted to scream but her mouth was stitched into an eternal smile. Although she couldn't scream she could still cry and tears began to leak from her button eyes.

Suddenly she was lifted into the air and stuffed into the toy box along with her other friends. With one last laugh the chest slammed shut leaving her and her fellow plushies in the dark.

Rainbow’s heart broke when she realized that her friends had tried to warn her the entire time. Every time she had pulled their cords they had told her in hushed voices but she was too deaf to listen.

They had warned her to run.

Author's Note

This Chapter was written by Thresha8 for WYON1, who won by default (BECAUSE NONE OF THE REST OF YOU DID ANYTHING)
The Image is was also created by Thresha for this contest.