//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Hiding // Story: Corruption // by Slingshot619 //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle stared at the six mares that occupied the room. They were definitely gruesome, some of them looked hostile, all of them looked terrifying. The first one was a lilac unicorn, she looked like Twilight, that is if Twilight had been rolling around in filth and had razor sharp teeth. Her hooves were black from filth, a puddle of pure darkness seemed to follow her every movement. It wasn't a shadow, it looked more like liquid darkness. Tendrils occasionally rose out of this pool of black, her eyes were pure black, no irises or pupils. Her mane was ruffled and messy, her tail was in similar condition, her cutie mark was the same as Twilight's however. Another mare was seemingly taller than the rest of them. She was basically a Fluttershy with spiderlegs sprouting out her mid-section, carrying her above the ground. Her left eye was that of a bug's. Her right eye was black with a blood red iris. She had insect jaws at her mouth, she had antennas sprouting out the top of her head, her cutie mark was a bug, she had a pale green coat of fur, her pink mane was messy and had split ends everywhere. The next mare was lime green, she had a gray mane and a matte black cowboy hat. She had black eyes with a bright green slit in each eyeball. Spikes sprouted from the back of her legs, her torso had a stitch keeping it together, her mouth was in stitches too, her ears seemed to be attached to her head with the help of stitches. Basically speaking she was a zombified Applejack. Her cutie mark was that of a tree growing out of a pile of sand. The next mare was stone gray, she was a unicorn. She had a band of cloth around her eyes that bore the artwork of a single eye. Her mane was made out of green vipers, and her tail was a single green serpent. Her cutie mark was a skull with three rubies, one on each eye and another in the middle of the other two. The next mare was a yellow pegasus, her mane was a mixture of blood red and orange, it was spiky like Rainbow Dash's mane, she had blood around her lips, her eyes were jet black with black irises, her wings seemed to be artificial, on her back were two rockets. Her cutie mark was covered by her fake wings, her teeth were sharp and deadly, made to tear through flesh. Last but not least was a blood red mare. There wasn't much, her eyes were similar with the other's, jet black, but her iris was much smaller, it looked more like a drop of blood than an actual iris. But her mouth was terribly deformed. It looked like she had simply ripped open her mouth instead of being born with one. Her cutie mark was a black cross, her mane was fluffy and curly like Pinkie Pie's. She seemed to be in a cheerful state of mind. Twilight froze in terror upon seeing the six misfits. She gulped and looked behind. Her five friends were pale with fear, shaking in terror at the horribly deformed ponies. They slowly entered the library and found a place to sit down. "H-Hi there." Twilight nervously said The lilac mare that had a puddle of darkness surrounding her stepped forward and looked at them suspiciously. "Hi." She stared at the six ponies, studying them as if they were test subjects. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. And these are my friends, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie." The unicorn that stood before Twilight continued keeping her deadly gaze on them. "My name is Dimmed Star. These are my friends, Spiderlock, Dull Sloth, Rottenbunch, Stone, and Zalgy Cake." The five menacing ponies simply stared at their visitors. They didn't look very friendly, nor were they in a good mood. "What happened to you guys? Where are we?" A curious Twilight asked There was a moment of tense silence, before Dimmed Star answered. "You are in the smoke filled world of Equinox. It's ruler and my teacher, Queen Blackhole who covered all of Equinox in a mutant-genic smoke. While it's effects are nonlethal, it corrupts anypony who breathes it, and triggers it with an extreme motion." Dimmed Star answered The six colorful mares shifted uncomfortably as Dimmed Star continued her story. "I am a user of black and white magic. My only desire is to serve Queen Blackhole, I do various experiments, like reviving dead ponies, giving another artificial rockets and wings, and I did a favor for one. But we'll talk about that later." Twilight and her friends were really starting to get paranoid. "Rottenbunch." Dimmed Star pointed to the zombified AJ.. "She likes to be alone, she often visits the village to see what's going on, she's really dead, died a few years ago. But I revived her in one of my experiments to give life to dead ponies. However Rottenbunch was too smart to be a quote on quote zombie. So I stopped my living experiments, and Rottenbunch lives alone, on a dead farm." Rottenbunch nodded at them, not very reassuring. "Dull Sloth." Dimmed Star motioned her head towards the yellow pegasus. "She lost her wings in a catastrophic incident. So I gave her rockets and artificial wings. She's a cannibal, so she eats other ponies." Dull Sloth licked her already blood stained lips and bared her sharp teeth. "Stone." Dimmed Star pointed at the gray mare with snake hair. "She turns whoever her three eyes sees into stone. Which is why sometimes she'd be seen wearing a cloth around those three eyes." Stone let out a smile. But Twilight was sure it wasn't from friendliness. "Spiderlock." Dimmed Star pointed at the mutant Fluttershy. "She loves animals, but at the point of the obsession, she wanted to BECOME an animal. She asked me for a transformation spell. But instead, I gave her a infected parasprite. One night this parasprite began to grow quickly, it's legs tearing through her skin and flesh, and growing out antenna, jaws, and even morphing one eye. But since this parasprite needs an alive host to survive, those two made a symbiosis with the unlucky pony." Spiderlock gave them a shy smile, it was truly filled with kindness, but her looks convinced them otherwise. "And finally, Zalgy Cake." Dimmed Star put her hoof around the blood red mare. "She's a pony of jokes, but she makes jokes that hurt other ponies, and she doesn't care about it. In fact, she thinks that them getting hurt makes those jokes even funnier." "It's only funny until someone gets hurt. Then, it's HILARIOUS!" Zalgy Cake said "But when she's depressed, she turns into Zalgressa, where her corruption takes her mind completely over and makes her very dangerous. Disturb her depression, that's a deathwish. The best thing to do when such a thing happens, is to lock her in a house until she becomes her normal self." Twilight and the gang were covered in sweat, their minds filled with horror and panic, they needed to leave. NOW. "It's been great seeing you all, but I think me and my friends have to go now." "Leaving so soon?" Dimmed Star cooed. The corrupted unicorn was stalking them, Twilight was really starting to feel the panic. She kicked the unicorn back and ran out, her five friends in tow. They shut the door behind them and ran, looking for the nearest building to hide. They found a creepy home to hide in. They got in, and calmed themselves down. They saw the shadow of a pegasus wash over them, they looked out the window and saw Dull Sloth, her rocket ablaze, she was looking for Twilight and her friends. They held their breath as the orange pegasus hovered in the air. She eventually left, relieving the six colorful ponies. "Okay girls, time to think. What are we going to do? How are we going to get out of here?" The five mares looked at her, sadness in their eyes, they knew it was over. They were stuck here forever.