Nameless
It is almost impossible to explain the pain and trouble of having an ego. Especially if it is an evil one... For the young earth pony, Veggie Leaf, it is tougher than you can imagine. She has to suffer through the pain of staring at the innocent creatures she has brutally murdered for her own pleasure. By day, Nameless is an innocent, happy earth pony named Veggie Leaf. But by night, she is a monstrous killing machine...
Oh, why of course! Silly me, you probably are wondering who in the world Nameless is! Nameless is an alicorn princess from the dark, flaming world of Inferna. In the land of the humans, it would be known as "Hell". But to the ponies of Equestria, the land is called Inferna. Inferna is almost like Equestria. It is split up into little kingdoms, almost like how Equestria is split up.
Luckily for Nameless, her good friend, Spiderlock, is always there to help her through her troubles. When the moon rises, Spiderlock leads Nameless down to a dark cellar, and chains her up like she is a werewolf, but with cursed chains, so that only the unicorn that cast the cursed chains can unlock them, until that unicorn dies. The chains also weaken magic.
One day, in the land of Inferna, a creme colored alicorn was fiddling with her leafy green hair, sprawled out on her cushiony mattress. She was still sore from the beating her mother gave her the other day when Nameless refused to marry the prince of Flamma, another kingdom in Inferna. Nameless was never the romantic type. She liked to roam free, not having to care about another pony. She was almost heartless towards others.
Nameless poked her head up to the sound of a knocking on her door.
"Milady. A letter from the queen." a young unicorn's voice rang. Nameless swung open the door and glared at the maid.
"Couldn't you have addressed her as 'your mother'?" Nameless retorts.
"Well, it's what it says on the letter." the maid says. Nameless snatches the letter out of her hands and reads over it.
Dear Nameless, I expect you to be down in the dining room at six. We are having a very important dinner party with the king and queen of Kolasi, the Greek kingdom. You had better be down there on time.
The Queen
Nameless felt enraged at this letter. Her own mother, addressing herself to Nameless as 'The Queen'. It made Nameless even more angry that her mother had to send a letter to Nameless even though her bedroom was only a floor above. Nameless crumpled the parchment up, and threw it at the stone wall. She crossed her front legs, and just sat at the edge of her bed, the words 'The Queen' still burned inside of her eyes. Nameless glanced at her cuckoo clock that hung on the wall. The long hand hit the twelve and the short hand hit the five. Right at that moment, a sparrow on fire popped out of the little door. But instead of it making a sound like a bird, it was the sound of screams from the dead spirits that were killed for betraying the demons. Nameless honestly found it slightly disturbing... Even her mother, the queen, did not outrank the demons. They were the highest class in the pyramid.
Nameless decided to stare at the clock until six. She had nothing better to do, and watching the skinny little ticking hand amused her. She always admired clocks, and the way they worked.
By the time it was five-thirty, Nameless thought that she should probably get dressed for the dinner party. Nameless knew that she was probably going to be introduced to some prince, so she decides to wear something not too fancy. She finds an old dress that she wore to her father's funeral. It was dark, and honestly, very ugly. Nameless didn't pick it of course. Her mother did. The Queen's taste in clothing was very hideous, at least Nameless thought so. Nameless slips the dress on over her head. It squeezed her so tightly, her face almost turned purple. She uses an expanding spell on the dress which causes it to grow, finally being able to fit the alicorn. Nameless also finds some horseshoes that did not go with the black dress at all.
"Perfect..." Nameless mutters. These old kicks were actually given to her by the prince of Flamma. Nameless thought he was such a charmer, but he had a terrible temper when someone bothered him. Nameless thought of the time he smacked a kitchen mare for putting pepper on his vegetables. He was allergic to pepper, and almost choked to death when he swallowed a carrot. After that, the Queen immediately told the prince and his parents to leave.
Nameless opened the door and nearly tripped over her dress. Unfortunately, she expanded it too much, but she had no time to shrink it. Nameless had a wonderful idea to stuff herself like a pig during the dinner party... It would certainly turn him off.
Nameless arrives down to the dining room. Nameless spots a family that she had never seen before, and studied how large they were compared to her and her mother. They must have been over fifty pounds!
"Ahem." a fancy pony with dark red hair and a shimmering emerald dress coughs from her chair. "You're late!" Nameless stares up at the clock hanging on the red walls.
"It is only five-forty!" Nameless declares.
"Well, it never hurts to arrive early!" the Queen retorts.
"I did arrive early!" Nameless shouts.
"Don't shout, child! We have guests!"
Nameless eyes a younger pony, also exceedingly chubby. He stares at the oat and berry mix, his eyes gleaming, even his mouth was gleaming from the drool. His mother turns his head to face her and she uses a napkin to wipe off the drool. Nameless takes a seat across from the colt. He glances up at her for a second and then continues to stare at the food. Nameless almost shouts "Hey! Maybe little porker over here should get married to the food!" But she holds it in.
"Shall we say our prayer?" Nameless's mother asks the other family.
"Yes, of course! Why would you even ask that? I-" the king starts. The queen sitting next to him nudges his shoulder.
"Prancer... Not now!" she whispers. The Queen of Inferna looks down.
"Right...Well. Would you like to say grace, Prancer?" the Queen asks.
"Very well..." he replies. "Dear demon lords, we thank you for this food, and ask that you harm our enemies in any way possible-- especially that cruel butcher from the market!"
Nameless nearly falls out of her chair, laughing. She quickly stables herself, and holds in her chuckle.
After the prayer, the fat prince digs his hoof into the oat and berry mix and his other hoof into the apple crisp.
"Oh, son, that is dessert..." his mother states. The prince glares at her and licks his hooves. The rest of the family and the Queen and Nameless all spoon some of the potato and celery stew onto their plates. Nameless also grabs a sandwich.
"So, where is your husband, Monarchy?" the queen of Kolasi asks. The Queen immediately stops eating, the same with Nameless.
"Dead." the Queen replies, coldly. The king, queen, and their son all laugh.
"What is so funny?" Nameless shouts.
"Why, he was a pretty awful king then, wasn't he?" chuckles the queen.
"Ha ha, indeed!" the king agrees. The Queen rises up out of her chair and shoots a ball of fire at the two rulers. They disappear as though they evaporated into thin air. The prince stares in horror at the place where his parents once sat, now instead of two fat ponies sat piles of dust. Monarchy prepares to shoot a fireball at the prince.
"Mother! STOP!" Nameless pounces on the Queen and the fireball goes straight into the curtain. The flames expand onto the red wallpaper, making it crumble and peel.
Nameless uses her magic to send water shooting at the fire to hose it out. The Queen does the same, while the fat colt watches intently, stuffing his face with desserts.
"HELP, YOU PORKER!" Nameless screams over the roaring of the flames. The colt looks taken aback, but joins in to stop the fire. Three seemed to work a lot better, for the flames died quicker.
When the fire was demolished, the prince of Kolasi (probably the king of Kolasi, now) stumbles to the ground and pants.
"I am truly sorry about your parents..." Nameless whispers to the prince. He looks down and shakes his head.
"It isn't your fault. It's your stupid hag mother that should be apologizing." he mumbles, making sure the Queen does not notice. Nameless giggles.
The Queen paces back and forth in the room.
"It is an outrage! How dare they make fun of the old king?" she mutters to herself.
***
Nameless throws the covers of her bed off of her and breathes in the new morning air. The prince of Kolasi was going to be crowned king that day. He had invited Nameless and the Queen to come and see the ceremony, but of course, the Queen refused.
"I will not watch some fat prince be crowned king! His parents raised him horribly! And so did their parents!" she said.
Nameless tried to catch the little dust specks that floated around her room. She had no luck, for they were too small, causing the wind of her hoof movements to draw the specks further away.
The light from outside was blinding. Never had the sun shone so bright in Inferna before.
Suddenly a banging on Nameless's bedroom door sounded.
"NAMELESS! GET DOWNSTAIRS NOW!" the voice of her mother shouted.
Nameless groans. "ALRIGHT!" When Nameless hears her mother's hooves trot away, she curses at her mother. She gets up out of bed and levitates her hairbrush towards her bed-head. She smoothes it out and uses her special potion that she got from a merchant to make it shiny. It was kind of a waste, but she was carrying lots of stuff she didn't ever need again that day.
Nameless trots down the stone stairs and into the dining room where her mother was.
"What is it?" Nameless asks.
"We have a guest that will be arriving soon." The Queen states. Nameless groans.
"Another guest? Jeesh. We're popular."
The Queen does not laugh at this. Suddenly, a knock at the door makes the Queen grin. She rushes to the front door and swings it open. A tall, pompous looking gentlecolt stands in the doorway. His sleek hair was dark brown and he had rectangular glasses balanced on his muzzle and his ears.
"Ah, yes. Is this the residence of Ms. Monarchy, queen of Inferna?" he says, in a very ignorant voice.
"Yes, dear. In fact, I am the queen! I am surprised you didn't guess!"
"Oh, really? I thought you were a servant..." says the pompous unicorn, and slides past Nameless's mother. The Queen becomes furious by his comment, but simply exhales, and follows the skinny colt. Normally the Queen would shout in somepony's face and turn them into dust and ashes if somepony said that. This must be an important pony.
He took a seat in one of the dining chairs and took a clipboard out of his shiny briefcase. Nameless and her mother both take their seats.
"So, Nameless. How was your day?" he asks, his quill ready to scribble all over the parchment attached to the clipboard. Nameless had no idea what to say.
"Um... Normal." she answered.
"Did you do anything interesting?
"No." Nameless says. The Queen gets up out of her chair and goes into the kitchen for a moment.
"Being the daughter of her isn't very exciting..." Nameless mumbles to the unicorn.
He starts to scribble the things that Nameless says.
After a few moments, the Queen walks back into the room.
"So, what have you been talking about in here?" she asks.
"Oh, nothing you need to know." says the colt, winking at Nameless. Nameless felt grateful that he did not share what she had said about being Monarchy's daughter.
"Now... Nameless, I have a letter for you." and the pompous unicorn withdraws a piece of parchment from the inside pocket of his coat. He hands it to Nameless who eagerly reads it.
Dear Nameless,
It is very important that this letter gets into your hooves. I trust that Pompkin Pie got this to you safely. Do not share any of this information with anypony except your mother.
Now, read this carefully... The land of Inferna is under attack. There is an outside force that is ready, and will, attack your land. It is written in the depths of the universe that you become the runner up for the queen of Inferna. To keep you safe from any harm, The Association of Magical Rule is planning to send you to a safe world. Almost like an asylum. Not for crazies of course. Just to keep you safe. We will also be sending a guardian to look after you, and make sure you don't get into any trouble on your journey. In this new land, you will not be a princess. You will be a simple earth pony. We cannot, unfortunately, keep you an alicorn while you live in this new land, because it would be very bad if other ponies found out that you are a princess. And it would be even worse if they found out you were a princess of a demonic world. They would burn you at the stake. You and you alone will go to this new land. We are very sorry that this has to happen.
Good Luck,
The Association of Magical Rule
Nameless reads through the letter a few times, sinking in every detail. But still, she could not make sense of it.
"What does it mean that Inferna is under attack?" she asks.
"It means that Inferna is under attack." Pompkin answers. Nameless glares at him.
"Well, luckily for us, we will be safe!" Monarchy chimes in. Nameless shakes her head, slowly, and looks at the letter.
"Actually... Only Nameless goes." Pompkin declares. Monarchy's creme face goes completely crimson.
"I...I don't understand..." she says through gritted teeth. Pompkin Pie smiles,
"Oh, I think you do..." he says. The Queen's face goes red with anger, but her facial expression goes dark with sadness.
"I didn't mean to do it..." The Queen says, quietly.
"You acted of your own accord, Monarchy." Pompkin says.
"NO! THOSE RUDE PONIES PROVOKED ME AND MY HUSBAND!" Monarchy shouts, rising from her chair.
"He is not your husband anymore!" Pompkin yells back, also rising from his own chair. The Queen slowly sits back down in her chair, her hooves covering her face. Nameless says nothing, just staring at her sobbing mother to Pompkin who had his back turned. Nameless had no idea what was going on. Why wasn't her mother allowed to come? Not that it bothered her, really, but she still wondered.
“The demons will be here to take you any moment. Nameless and I must go.” Pompkin states, trotting over to Nameless's side.
“NO! CAN'T YOU PLEASE DO SOMETHING? I DON'T WANT TO GO WITH THEM!” The Queen screams.
“I am sorry, Monarchy. I cannot do anything. You betrayed the demon lords.” Pompkin says. The Queen drops to her knees.
“I...I can't go with them...” she says, and falls to the floor, wrapping her wings around herself. Pompkin kneels beside her.
“I am truly sorry...” he says, and lifts off of the ground. He goes back beside Nameless, who does actually feel sorry for her mother. Now, her cuckoo clock of dead spirits screams will have a new scream of pain... Her own mother's. Pompkin Pie shines a bright blue aura around his horn.
“NO! NO, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME HERE! NAMELESS, PLEASE!” The Queen shouts, stretching her forelegs out as if a zombie reaching for flesh. Nameless felt a tear drip down her crème colored cheeks. The light blue aura duplicated around the princess.
“Nameless...” Monarchy mutters. The aura grows brighter and brighter around Nameless.
“Goodbye, mother.” she says. A flash of white light fills the room.
“NO!” The Queen yelps. She blinks as her pupils adjust. Nameless was gone... And Pompkin Pie was nowhere to be seen.
“No.... I...” Monarchy mumbles. She groans and thrashes on the floor.
“NO! IT IS NOT REAL. IT'S NOT REAL. GIVE HER BACK TO ME! I DON'T WANT TO GO! NO!!!” she cradles her head in her forehooves and wraps her wings tightly around her. She sobs loudly, and moans.
A dark cloud circles around her as she cries. Quiet whispers echo in the dining room.
“We expected more of you, Monarchy...” a female voice says. The Queen opens one of her red and puffy eyes to find a tall, ginger haired alicorn standing over her. Her green eyes and pale coat were blurry in Monarchy's teary eyes.
“M-mother?” she says. A stallion with a scruffy beard and brown hair with grey bits in it also stands above her. His eyes are blue, and he has a yellow coat.
“You disappointed us, child... We thought we trained you to be a good mare...” he speaks.
“Father, no, I-” Monarchy starts.
“No more will be said from you. You deserve to go with the demons...” The Queen's mother says. The Queen knew what was happening... Before any soul goes to the demons, they are reunited with ones they lost and loved. But most of the time, it was never a happy greeting.
“You are a disappointment.” says Monarchy's mother. And the stallion and mare disappear into fog.
The Queen sniffles. “I am sorry...” Before she goes, she catches a glimpse of the king and queen of Kolasi.
“Apology not accepted.” the queen says. And blackness falls over Monarchy.
***
Nameless pops into a muddy and rainy apple orchard. She lifts herself off of the ground, and takes in her surroundings. She stares around, and all she sees at first are apple trees, swirling in the wind. Nameless turns around and sees a light. She covers her eyes with her hooves as if she had just seen light for the first time. Silhouettes of earth ponies could be seen within the windows of a red barn. Nameless stumbled forward, calling out.
“H-hello? I need help! Where....where...” Nameless falls over and stretches her weak limbs. “I...I...”
In an apple tree in front of Nameless, an apple falls to the ground and starts to shine a deep red.
“What?”
The apple glows brighter, and it splits into two, revealing the seeds. A dark cloud bursts from the core of the apple. Quiet voices can be heard from inside of the cloud. Nameless recognizes a stern voice coming from the cloud.
“Nameless.... I'm so sorry...” the voice of Nameless's mother says. Nameless infers that the voices that could be heard from the cloud were the voices of the dead spirits that were taken by the demons.
Suddenly, a dark figure emerges from the darkness. Bright green eyes could be seen in the darkness, along with a light green unicorn horn aura, shining brightly. A unicorn mare with long, straight hair proceeds from the dark fog. Her cutiemark resembles a spider with a green key on its abdomen.
“Nameless...” she says. Nameless stares at the mare who had just appeared out of fog that came out of a glowing apple. Was she going mad?
“Wh-who are you? How do you know my name?” Nameless asks, shocked.
“I am the guardian that must protect you through your journey in this new land. Surely, you read about there being a guardian in the letter?” the mare asks.
“Y-yes... What is your name?”
“I am Spiderlock...” she says, extending a hoof. Nameless takes it, and shakes it firmly.
“So, where do we begin on this... journey?” Nameless wonders.
“Not here... There are earth ponies that work this orchard. I will take you to a cave not too far from here where you can rest up for tomorrow.”
“'Tomorrow'? What is tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow you will start your journey as a new pony.” Spiderlock explains.
“A new pony.... I don't know if I can cope with this...”
“Well, get used to it, princess.” Spiderlock trots away. She turns her head to face Nameless. “Well come on, then!”
Nameless follows the unicorn, glaring at her for the attitude...
“How long will it take?” Nameless asks.
“I'm not sure... Hopefully not too long.”
***
It felt like it had been days for Nameless when it had really only been a few hours until they finally reached the cave that they would be renting for the night. They had to climb the whole entire mountain just to get to the cave.
“Well, it's better than nothing, I guess...” Nameless says.
“You'll have to get used to it for now. It's all we've got.”
Nameless nods and wanders around the cave, it wasn't very large, but large enough for them to feel comfortable. Spiderlock curls up in a cave corner, wrapping her hooves around her head. Nameless decides that maybe some shut-eye would be a good idea.
“You will need strength for the morning...” Spiderlock states. Nameless finds a corner filled with crushed, powdery rock. She lies on top of it and blankets herself in her tail.
Nameless always was able to fall asleep easily... But tonight was more difficult for her. She wasn't used to sleeping in a pile of powder in a cave. It was especially difficult with all the thoughts racing through her crowded mind. She wondered what this new journey would be like. Would she enjoy it? Nameless punched the pile of powder, trying to fluff it like a pillow. It didn't do much, unfortunately...
Nameless stared into the other corner at her new acquaintance. Spiderlock seemed to be fast asleep. Nameless guessed that she was used to sleeping in uncomfortable places. The alicorn stares out of the cave entrance, the moonlight spilling into the dark cavern. Stars twinkled in the navy blue sky. For Nameless, this was the most fascinating sight she could ever have seen. In Inferna, the night sky was just black. Nothing but darkness swallowing up the entire realm, giving it the more eery appearance. Nameless of course had heard about stars before. Her nanny, when she was a young filly, would read her her favorite bedtime story Pokery Pony and the Starry Sky about a unicorn who traveled to the stars to try and discover his destiny. It always made Nameless wonder what her destiny in life would be...
Nameless's mother, of course, did not approve of the story that Nameless's nanny, Butter Cream, read to her. So, soon after she found out, she sent the nanny away, and hired a new babysitter, who was male, named Vincent Van Gore who thought “fun” was painting gory paintings of ponies being killed. Nameless remembers painting a picture of a pegasus stabbing a unicorn in the chest... Surprisingly, it was actually a pretty good painting.
Nameless readjusts herself on her dirt pile, and slowly drifts off into dream land.
Ponies trot around the colorful little town. The moon shines brightly in the purple sky. Crickets around the town can be heard chirping loudly. Nameless trots down the dirt path to a bakery with a creaky sign with the illustration of a yummy looking cupcake on it. Nameless enters the bakery, a little bell chimes on the door.
“Oh! Veggie Leaf? Is that you? What are you doing here so late?” asks a light blue pony with swirly, hot pink hair.
“Oh, why I just wanted to... have a word.” Nameless replies. The pony smiles, and listens intently.
“Anything, dear!” she says.
“Well... I wanted to tell you something of great importance, that may... disturb you...” Nameless says, seriously.
“W-what ever do you mean?” the mare asks.
“It's about your friend Pinkie Pie.” Nameless starts. “...and her um... baking...”
“Oh? Is that so? Well, I'm sure this mustn't be too bad! Pinkie is a great baker!”
“Heh, yes... Well...”
“What's wrong, Veggie Leaf?” the mare wonders.
Nameless starts to sniffle and wipe her eyes of her tears. “Mrs. Cake... Pinkie has been using ponies to make her cupcakes!”
Mrs. Cake stares at Nameless in shock. “Oh! Haha! That's very funny, Veggie Leaf! Is this some kind of prank?”
“No! Please! Mrs. Cake, you have to listen to me! I've seen her do it!” Nameless cries, on her knees at this point. Now, Mrs. Cake is very concerned.
“Okay, Veggie, I think you're just tired! Maybe you should get some rest!” Mrs. Cake says, shooing Veggie Leaf away.
“SHE MADE ME WATCH!” Nameless starts screaming.
Mrs. Cake's eyes shrink in horror. “Veggie Leaf! Stop this! You're scaring me!” Mrs. Cake was beginning to feel uncomfortable.
“Please!” Nameless chokes out. “I have proof...”
Mrs. Cake wipes a tear from her cheek. “What kind of proof?”
Nameless leads Mrs. Cake into the storage room of the bakery and tries pushing over the large shelf. Mrs. Cake offers Nameless a hoof. They finally push it all the way over, a small door is now revealed. Nameless swings open the door.
“I-I didn't even know that was there!” Mrs. Cake admits. Nameless sighs, and climbs down a small flight of stairs.
“I know there's a switch somewhere...” Nameless says, feeling around for some kind of light switch. Her hoof lands on a bump on the wall and she flicks it up. Lights flicker on, a buzzing noise triggers as they turn on, one by one. Mrs. Cake tries to swallow her puke.
Inside the room were different ponies heads on plaques hanging on the walls. Skulls and horns decorate the shelves.
“I told you...” Nameless says. Mrs. Cake walks around the room, examining the work of her friend. Mrs. Cake felt ashamed... Pinkie was always like a daughter to her.
Nameless cracks a grin behind Mrs. Cake. “Isn't it just horrible.”
“I can't believe it... My own little baker...” Mrs. Cake breaks out into a fit of sobs. Nameless rolls her eyes. She turns her head in the direction of a cart filled with different bloody objects. Nameless grins, and trots over to it. She picks up an instrument and examines it. It's a small scalpel, not covered in much but a few drops of crimson colored pony fluid. She walks back over to the sobbing baker.
“I am so very sorry, Mrs. Cake...” she says, holding the scalpel above the shaking mare. Mrs. Cake stares up at Nameless, a confused expression on her face.
“Veggie Leaf what are you-?” Mrs. Cake's question gets cut off by Nameless stabbing her right in the back. Blood drips from the wound, a little stream painting a line of red down Mrs. Cake's back. The stream curves and drips down Mrs. Cake's trio of cupcakes cutiemark.
Nameless gasps as she sits up in her bed of dirt. She has had plenty of nightmares before, but nothing like this... Who was that mysterious mare? Where was that town that she was in? Nameless had many questions running through her mind, but she stuck to one of them the most... Why was she a murderer?
