> Corruption > by Slingshot619 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: Twisted > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight Sparkle picked up a book and read it, the cover said "Portals 101: Beginner's handbook to Universal Travel". Twilight had been practicing this spell for nearly 5 months. She needed it to be perfect, but she couldn't practice now. She needed as much energy as possible for the spell. It required a ton of magic and Twilight needed to be at her best. Twilight Sparkle waited anxiously, her friends were going to meet her at the library this afternoon. She was supposed to show them a new spell, but it was dangerous. Twilight Sparkle wasn't sure if she could take on such a huge challenge, but she had to try. She didn't want to call them down for nothing. Fluttershy and Rarity were the first to arrive, they exchanged greetings and waited for the rest of the gang, Applejack arrived shortly afterwards. The three ponies waited for the other two. They chatted amongst themselves while awaiting the arrival of the other two mares. "So Twi......" Applejack said "What are y'all up to?" Twilight Sparkle had a spark of excitement in her eyes. She took a scroll from the table and opened it, revealing portals of all shapes and sizes, instructions on how to create one, instructions on how to close one, basically everything there was to know about portals. "Twilight, whatever are you planning? We know it's going to have something to do with portals but what do you want to do with portals? Send us back in time? Create another universe?" "Don't worry Rarity, it's just a simple teleportation spell. If I get it right I should be able to send us all to an alternate dimension." Panic and fear rose in the eyes of the mares, Twilight remained quite calm though. "Settle down. We'll be in and out in mere seconds." The mares breathed a sigh of relief and managed to settle down, but they were still a bit nervous, they were entering uncharted waters, anything could happen. Suddenly the door flung open and two mares entered. One of which was Pinkie Pie. The pink mare bounded in the room followed by a cyan blue pegasus with a gorgeous rainbow mane, she hovered into the library close behind Pinkie Pie. "What took you two so long?" Rainbow Dash simply gave Twilight a shrug. Twilight rolled her eyes in annoyance and opened the spell book. She flipped through the pages and found the spell. "Here it is! Universal Travel." Twilight read some lines and was ready. She closed the book and prepared to shoot a portal. "What're we doing again?" "Rainbow Dash, if you had simply come along earlier then you would've known." The cyan blue pegasus grumbled. The five mares continued watching as magic continued to slowly build up on Twilight's horn, forming a glowing purple ball. She finished and the ball floated off the horn, it glided it's way towards the wall. As soon as it made impact there was a portal on the wall. "Before we go, I have to do something to make sure we don't get hurt." Twilight cast another spell, it was like a little dome of purple, it washed over the five mares and Twilight then disappeared. "What was that?" Rainbow Dash asked "I cast a spell on you all. I'm not sure if the alternate dimension has clean air or not so your nostrils are not affected by the portal, they'll stay on your faces but technically speaking they will be breathing only air from the library." The mares stared at the portal for a while. All they could see was black. Nothing else, Twilight made her way to the portal, she put one hoof into the portal and looked back at her friends, beckoning them to follow her. "Well? What are you waiting for?" The ponies reluctantly followed, they stepped through the portal. They brace themselves for the worst as they stepped into the void of darkness. Unprepared for the horror that was about to fall upon them. On the other end was a city. It was completely black and gray, gray smoke hovered above the streets, buildings were torn down and turned to rubble. Twilight and the gang stared at the incredibly eerie scenery. They turned to face the portal but it was gone. "Uh oh." "What do we do?! WHAT DO WE DO!?" Pinkie grabbed Twilight by the shoulders and shook her "Calm down Pinkie. We'll get out of here." Twilight tried to cast another portal spell, but it failed miserably. The ball flew off the unicorn's horns and fell to the ground bouncing like a ball before melting into a puddle of light. "Maybe the locals can help?" "Are you crazy?! Who knows what could be lurking in that dark creepy city." "What choice do we have?" The mares grumbled and made their way into town. The place was definitely more gruesome up close, dead bodies and blood covered the town. The inhabitants were......interesting. One of the ponies had no legs, his eyes were decimated, with only a peice of his right eye still in the eye socket, his left eye socket held what looked like broken eye pieces. His coat was once a beautiful violet blue, but they were now almost covered in gashes and blood. His arms had chunks of flesh ripped out. The nerves pulsed and throbbed under all the blood. One of the gashes were so deep they could see the white bone underneath. He stared at them with his ruined eyes. Another pony had her body. Or most of it. Her arm was completely bone from the elbows down. Her eyes were black with two tiny blood red irises in the middle. Her legs were destroyed, they were twisted and mangled. Her left leg was simply hanging there thanks to a stray nerve chaining it to the main torso. She bared her razor-sharp teeth at them, further encouraging the six ponies to move along. The ponies moved quickly, they found the library. It looked like it was about to die. The tree was twisted and black, voices were clearly heard. "Okay everypony, in that library is our counter-parts. I'm not sure how bad it will be but, just brace yourselves." The mares shifted uncomfortably as they made their way to the library, they had already seen one of this universes' residents, they didn't want to see themselves.. They stood at the front door and waited anxiously, unsure of what kind of terrors waited behind the door. "Ready? Okay let's do this." Twilight opened the door and was greeted by a gruesome sight. There in the library were six mares, but they were far from normal. Even the shambling zombie of a pony outside didn't look so bad compared to them. "Oh my Celestia......" Twilight muttered > Chapter 2: Hiding > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. > Chapter 3: Taste the Rainbow > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight and her friends shivered and shook from the cold. They were helpless if anypony came in to attack. But they weren't worried about they're counter-parts, they were worried about something much more important. Food and water. Without food or water they would die for sure, the food on the streets were infected and eating them would be a high risk. The ponies didn't want to play russian roulette with their lives, so they tried to figure out which place would be the best to gather resources. Everypony was thinking, trying to brainstorm. Twilight tried to access her memory and tried to put all that knowledge to good use. "Oooohh! I know where we can get food!" Everypony turned and saw Pinkie sitting there with the largest grin on her face. "Think! Ponyville is nice and clean, but here it's yucky and disgusting. So, what is the darkest, scariest place you can think of?" Twilight thought about it and saw the logic in that statement. "Pinkie you're a genius!" Pinkie still had a large smile on her face as if she had just won a gameshow. "But we still need somepony to go out there right?" "I'll go!" Twilight turned around and saw Rainbow Dash hovering in the air, she had a annoyed look on her face as if she was being forced to do it instead of volunteering. "Rainbow, you don't have to-" "Yes I do Twilight. I'm the fastest one here, I'll be in and out in no time." Twilight couldn't argue, she did make sense. Nopony she knew could match her level of speed. "Fine, please stay safe." "Will do!" The cyan blue mare slung a saddle bag over her, flew out one of the windows and soared towards the Everfree forest. She kept an eye out for the insane yellow pegasus Dull Sloth. She was the only pony here that could fly, so that meant she would be the biggest threat to her if she was spotted. Rainbow landed in the forest, Pinkie was right. The place was neat and tidy, the grass was just right, not too tall. The trees were even healthier than Rainbow expected. She made her way through the woods and found a lush green area swarming with ripe fruits. There were apples so red that even Applejack would've been jealous. There were blood red cherries and yellow lemons just waiting to be picked. Rainbow got to work and got as much of the fruits as possible. She had also brought along a bucket to get some clean water. Rainbow spotted a clean stream of water nearby and filled the bucket. She stared into the river and saw her own reflection, she wondered what it would've been like to grow up, become a member of the Wonderbolts, settle down with a colt maybe. Have a foal or two. Rainbow closed her eyes as peaceful dreams and blessed memories came flooding back to her. She opened her eyes once again and saw her reflection in the river alongside Dull Sloth's. Rainbow turned around to see the crazed yellow pegasus with a huge insane grin on her face. Her eyes radiated malice, Rainbow stared into her eyes and saw poor souls and lives taken and destroyed thanks to this mad mare. "PEEKABOO!" Rainbow reared her hoof back and struck Dull Sloth in the face. She crumbled to the floor, clutching her snapped snout. Rainbow capitalized and flew out of there. She breathed a sigh of relief. Nopony could match her when it came to speed. Even though Rainbow had a bag of fruits and a bucket of water weighing her down, she was quite confident that she could out fly anypony. Just when it seemed like Rainbow was in the clear, Dull Sloth flew right beside her. Her rockets lighting up the dark sky. "Remember me?" Dull Sloth flew right above Rainbow and shut her rockets, she crashed into Dash and the two mares spiraled out of control heading straight for the ground. Rainbow crashed through the roof of a cottage and landed in a bedroom. She rubbed her head and tried to gain her bearings. Her saddlebag was still with her, good. And she lost Dull Sloth, even better. Rainbow Dash was about to leave when all of a sudden, there was a flash of yellow and Rainbow Dash found herself pinned to the floor with a insane Dull Sloth on top of her. "I know I'm not supposed to eat candy before dinner, but you just look so sweet." Rainbow gulped and waited for Dull Sloth to knock her out and maybe boil her, fry her, or cook her over an open fire. Instead, Dull Sloth had other plans. She leaned forward and chomped down hard on Rainbow Dash wing. Blood squirted out as Dull Sloth tugged at the wing and managed to pull it off. Rainbow Dash let out an ear-piercing scream of pain as her wing was torn off, Dull Sloth chewed on the wing, feathers, bones and all. Rainbow Dash could hear her wing go *Crunch* *Crunch* *Crunch* as Dull Sloth chewed down the severed limb. She swallowed and licked her lips. "You taste good! It's a shame there's only one of you." Rainbow watched as Dull Sloth leaned in once again and held her arms in her hoof. Ready to tear another chunk of meat off. Rainbow managed to gain control and slapped Dull Sloth across the face. She fell off Rainbow Dash, allowing her to escape. Rainbow Dash leaped out the window and ran for her life, she found another abandoned building and decided to hide in there. Rain was starting to fall and hit the ground. Rainbow's breathing was heavy as she hid in the shadows and saw Dull Sloth's shadow pass the window. Dull Sloth looked around for awhile, Rainbow was hiding directly underneath the window sill, she stayed still as beads of sweat began to form, Dull Sloth sniffed the air, in search of her meal, she approached the window and placed a hoof on it. Rainbow Dash panicked, but she remained still, Dull Sloth looked into the ruined home, then left. Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief and crawled out of her hiding place. She stood up and almost immediately, the shattering of glass was heard and a soaking wet Dull Sloth pinned Rainbow Dash's shoulders to the ground. "Don't worry. I don't always go through this much for dinner. You should be honored." Dull Sloth leaned in and bit Dash's left arm, blood splattered everywhere as Dull Sloth gnawed at the limb, after a couple of tugs, she managed to sever the cyan blue arm. Rainbow Dash let out a scream of pain that filled the evening sky, stray nerves and blood veins hung out the severed limb. Dull Sloth ate the arm like a dog eating a bone. Dull Sloth looked up from her meal and let out a "mmhhhh". Signaling that she was enjoying how Rainbow tasted. She licked her lips and and finished of the arm. When she was done it was nothing but a few bones. Dull Sloth tossed the arm aside and looked for her victim, Rainbow had used her remaining right arm to crawl into a corner, she was shivering and shaking all over, blood still gushed out from the spot where her left arm used to be. "G-g-go a-away." Rainbow tried her best to look fierce, but under these conditions, she looked sad, pathetic even. Dull Sloth slowly stalked the quivering Rainbow Dash. "D,awwww. Does tha wittle pony wanna go home?" Dull Sloth mockingly asked No response came, instead Rainbow Dash looked at her with her magenta eyes, both of them filled with hatred and fear. She was still curled up into a ball in a corner, Dull Sloth was slowly making her way towards the ruined Rainbow Dash. Dull Sloth charged forwards and bit Rainbow right in the chest, Rainbow Dash felt tears well up in her eyes and stream down her cheeks as she felt the pain shoot throughout her whole body. Dull Sloth ripped all the flesh and skin of Rainbow's front torso off and chewed them down. She proceeded to bury her face in the intestine and guts that took up Rainbow's body. She tore through Rainbow's insides like it was a giant bowl full of pudding. Rainbow Dash felt the pain leave her body, Dull Sloth was still tearing her insides to shreds, but for some reason, Rainbow Dash couldn't feel the pain anymore, instead, she felt incredibly comfortable, the rain stopped and a ray of sunshine shone down, forming a rainbow. Rainbow Dash stared at the band of colors, Dull Sloth hadn't noticed it yet. Rainbow stared at the bright vibrant colors and closed her beautiful magenta eyes. Forever. > Chapter 4: Red Lady > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The five mares were starting to get bored, Rainbow Dash had been gone for almost the whole day by now, night was starting to fall upon Equinox, and there was nothing they could do about it. Twilight could get another portal up, but the mutant smoke would seep in to Equestria, then their efforts would be for nothing, Equestria would be just as corrupted as Equinox. Twilight waited along the other four ponies, a sense of dread slowly built up in her as they waited for their cyan blue friend. They waited ever so anxiously for that rainbow mane and cyan blue fur to pop up, but it was no use. Twilight gulped down the fear that consumed her and faced her four friends. "G-girls, I think, Rainbow's-" "NO SHE AIN'T!" Twilight looked up to see AJ standing before her, her nostrils flared as and her heavy breathing was heard throughout the entire home. "I've known Rainbow since ah was just a little filly. She can't be dead, she just can't be." Tears were starting to well up in Applejack's eyes, she knew Rainbow was dead, that was the truth, but she didn't like the truth, she couldn't handle it. She didn't want to accept the fact that her friend was gone. "As a matter of fact, imma go find her!" Applejack burst through the doors without waiting for her friends, they simply watched as the orange mare galloped down the streets in search of her cyan blue friend. She felt tears stream down her cheeks as she remembered the times they had, The Running Of The Leaves, The Iron Pony competition, all those sweet memories will only remind her of this dark day. She found a home with a broken window, she must've crashed through that for some reason. Applejack entered the home and made her way upstairs to where the window was located, she saw a trail of blood that came from the shadows. AJ followed the trail of blood to it's owner, the curtains of the home swished back and forth as the cold air blew in, Applejack stepped onto something, it didn't feel like blood, it felt much more solid. Applejack found nothing that could be used to illuminate the object, she looked around closely and saw an oil lamp. She turned it on and light flickered inside the glass casing, she held it close to her hooves and saw the remains of Rainbow Dash. Rainbow had an opening on her stomach, all her guts were gone, save for a half eaten heart, she was missing an eye, a left arm, and a right leg. Almost her whole body was bone, only her right arm, left leg and head wore skin and flesh. Her rainbow mane was now covered in blood, her remaining cyan blue skin was now a shade of blood red. Applejack backed up into a corner and collapsed, tears were pouring out of her eyes and forming a small puddle, She let out sobs and sniffles, she shook and quivered from the wave of emotions that consumed her, anger, sadness, and hatred. She was going to find whoever did this and make them pay. Applejack walked over to the body of Rainbow Dash, she got down on her knees and gave a kiss on the forehead before closing Rainbow's single magenta eye. "Goodbye Rainbow. Rest In Peace." Applejack got up, a certain fire blazing in her eyes as she stomped down the stairs and kicked the door down, she headed for the library when a figure lurking in the smoke caught her attention. She saw the pony just standing there, doing absolutely nothing. She gritted her teeth and walked up to the pony in the shadows. As Applejack got closer, she noticed that the pony was lime green, she had a gray mane and stitches that covered her whole body and she wore a black stetson hat. It was Rottenbunch, her counter-part. Applejack couldn't care less as she walked right up to the green mare and punched her right in the face with so much force it should've killed her. "THAT WAS FOR RAINBOW!" The mare simply stood and looked at her with those snake like eyes. They glowed with ferocity, Applejack gave a mighty kick to her face. Rottenbunch's head snapped back at a funny angle, instead of dropping to the floor dead, with a simple *snap* she had gotten her head back into place. Applejack's jaw dropped as she tried to comprehend what she just saw. "Y'all can't kill what's already dead." Applejack stared in horror as the green mare gave her a powerful uppercut, Applejack had no choice but to rear up onto her hooves from the sheer force. Rottenbunch seized this moment of opportunity and kicked Applejack's chest with her spiky legs. Applejack landed back down on her front two hooves and she felt her lungs go loose, she looked down to see that Rottenbunch had slice her chest open, her lungs dangled around aimlessly, her livers fell out and splattered on the cold stone floor. Applejack tried to breathe, but nothing went in, she looked in horror at Rottenbunch. "Don't worry, imma make this one quick." Rottenbunch spun around and in one swift move, decapitated Applejack. The sickening *Slice* echoed throughout the streets and the head rolled to the floor, Applejack's body went slack and fell to the cold stone floor., blood poured out of the neck. Rottenbunch walked over and picked up Applejack's severed head. She rolled it around the puddle of blood until it was completely blood red. Rottenbunch picked the head up and tossed it into a cart with various other rotting fruits. Rottenbunch took her place behind the cart and wheeled it down the empty streets as the blood dripped off the cart and made a trail. "We've got a fresh apple! Come get it now before it's too late!" Rottenbunch let out an insane laugh and continued pushing the cart down the streets while Applejack's lifeless eyes ushered forth one more last tear that welled up in the corner of her eye. > Chapter 5: Tarantula > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everypony in the mansion was really starting to get worried, Applejack was gone for almost an hour now. "O-oh dear. I hope she's-" "Don't worry Fluttershy. Applejack can take care of herself." From the sound of her voice, Twilight seemed to be reassuring herself, there was no denying it. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were dead. But the gang refused to believe that way. Twilight yawned and told everypony to get some sleep, Applejack would come back by tomorrow. There was no arguing, everypony was tired, they were scared, they needed rest. Twilight and the others fell asleep almost instantly. However, a certain yellow pegasus stayed up. Fluttershy was starting to get worried, neither Rainbow Dash nor Applejack would be gone for this long, unless something happened. Fluttershy tried to fall asleep. but she just tossed and tumbled trying to get some rest, eventually Fluttershy gave up and sat upright, watching the ponies sleep. She stared out into the night sky and wondered where her friends could be. Fluttershy took one last glance at her friends before opening a window and leaping out into the smoke filled streets below. Fluttershy roamed the abandoned roads for awhile, there was absolutely nopony there, but Fluttershy could feel somepony watching her, somepony was stalking her. Fluttershy turned around and saw nopony, by now her breathing was starting to get heavy. She continued walking down the streets and saw nothing. Suddenly, huge footsteps were heard. Fluttershy's heart pounded as she tried to find the source of the footsteps. Fluttershy turned once more and found herself right in front of six huge massive insect legs. Fluttershy looked up to see the owner of the enormous limbs, Spiderlock. "Umm, hi?" Fluttershy let out a high pitched *eep!* and threw her hooves over her head. She cowered and waited for Spiderlock to bring down on her the cruel fate that had fallen upon her friends. Instead, the mutant pony willed the spider legs to bring her to the ground. "Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you." Fluttershy looked up and stared into the remaining unmorphed eye of Spiderlock. It was filled with true sincerity and kindness. Fluttershy got up and calmed her self down. "Aren't you going to *gulp* kill me?" Spiderlock got a look of alarm on her face. "Oh nonononononononono! Um, unless the parasprite gets hungry of course." Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. She managed to get her heart beating at normal pace again. She was starting to get uncomfortable standing so close to Spiderlock. All she had to do was bring her huge mutant legs down on her and she was doomed. Fluttershy was about to leave when all of a sudden Spiderlock doubled over. She clutched her stomach and let out a scream of pain. Fluttershy watched in horror as the scene unfolded right in front of her. Spiderlock rolled around clutching her belly while constantly yelling. Eventually Spiderlock got up. The kindness that occupied her eyes were now gone. Replaced by a kind of cruel fire that blazed. "Say, you feeling a bit hungry?" Spiderlock used her tongue to clean her insect jaws. She slowly approached Fluttershy, an evil grin forming on her face. Fluttershy backed up and raised her hooves in defense. But it was futile. Spiderlock thrust a huge leg forward, kicking the living daylight out of the little yellow pony. Fluttershy rolled backwards and landed on her belly. She was seeing doubles, Fluttershy got up and tried to run, but two of Spiderlock's legs picked her up. Spiderlock licked her lips and sank her insect mandibles into Fluttershy. The bug jaws dug through the skin and flesh and injected acid into the body of Fluttershy. The corrosive liquid ran through her veins, turning her guts to mush. Fluttershy was starting to get dizzy, the world was spinning while the acid slowly turned her into a bag of soup. Fluttershy eventually passed out. Spiderlock seized this opportunity and sucked the melted intestines alongside the corrosive acid. Fluttershy's body was slowly getting thinner and thinner. Her cheeks were getting sunken. Her eyes were starting to fall inside her eye sockets. Eventually, Spider lock finished her beverage and tossed the empty bag of flesh and skin known as Fluttershy onto the ground. Spiderlock raised her spider legs and stomped on the carcass of Fluttershy, turning it into a carpet. Spiderlock grinned at her handiwork and left. The lifeless body of Fluttershy was motionless. Save for her eye lids closing, and the uttering of one more last whimper as she left the world to join Rainbow Dash and Applejack. > Chapter 6: Dark Pink > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pinkie Pie was the first to wake up. Rarity and Twilight were still asleep, and Fluttershy was...... gone. Pinkie looked around for her timid friend. She looked in every crook and cranny, hoping to find any signs of her. The only thing she got was a single pink hair on the windowsill. Pinkie Pie picked the strand of hair up and panicked, she took one more glance at Twilight and Rarity. She figured that she would be back before sundown anyways. Pinkie silently climbed out the window and leaped down to the ground below. She looked around for awhile before making her way towards the Everfree forest. It was noon, Pinkie could tell, but the mutant-genic smoke was so thick that it looked like it was about to rain instead. Pinkie was making her way towards the outskirts when all of a sudden she heard a voice call out. "Looking for somepony?" Pinkie turned around and saw Zalgy Cake leaning against a wall, she had a saddlebag with her and a necklace made out of bones and half a heart. She had a smug look on her face as she made her way towards Pinkie Pie. "Have you seen my friends by any chance?" "Oh you mean this?" Zalgy placed a hoof on her bone necklace. "No silly. My friends don't look like that!" "Well they do now." Pinkie was confused by her comment. What did she mean? Pinkie struggled to figure it out, and when she did she wasn't happy. Pinkie looked up at her counter-part. She was standing there with a evil kind of grin on her face. She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a crumpled up pile of what looked to be yellow fabric. She tossed it to the ground revealing the familiar butterflies, all three of them pink. Pinkie Pie backed up, eyes wide with fear, she was staring at what was supposed to be Fluttershy, but the horror didn't stop there. Zalgy reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a head, at first it was unrecognizable, it was coated entirely with blood. But Zalgy spat on the head, washing away a small bit of the blood, revealing an orange coat, and a yellow mane. Pinkie stared at Zalgy Cake, tears welling up in her eyes. "It sucks to lose your friends doesn't it?" "AT LEAST I HAD FRIENDS! AT LEAST I'M NOT A LONELY MONSTER LIKE YOU!" By now, Pinkie's hair had gone straight, her pink mane was now less vibrant, her look of shock and sadness was now replaced by a ferocious look that would give even Celestia nightmares. Pinkie Pie had evolved into Pinkamena Diane Pie. Zalgy Cake had changed too. Her ruined mouth was now closed shut. No sign of it at all. Her eyes were now completely black with black tears streaming out of it. Zalgy's blood red coat was now blue. Her mane was also jet black. Zalgy Cake had evolved into Zalgressa. It was quite surprising that the very fabric of time and space did not tear apart, here were two of the most powerful beings in the universe, their powers much more stronger than Celestia or Queen Blackhole. The two locked eyes, then Pinkamena charged. Zalgressa raised her hooves in defence, Pinkamena charged through it anyway, she crashed into the demon mare and grabbed her by the neck, Pinkamena summoned all the strength she had and slammed Zalgressa into the cold stone road. The demon pony had no reaction whatsoever. Instead, she used all her might and forced her mouth open, ripping a hole. Blood dripped out as she let out a ferocious roar. Pinkamena was unfazed, she responded by picking her up again and slamming her into the ground. Zalgressa got up almost instantly and gave a mighty punch forward, the force should've been enough to destroy a planet, but Pinkamena simply stumbled backwards. She looked more annoyed than pained. Pinkamena charged forward tackling the the blue pony. She raised her hooves and brought them down on the demon known as Zalgressa. The blue pony simply used all her might and ripped her mouth open. She let out a roar that would scare even lions. But Pinkamena ignored it and continued hammering away. Zalgressa's face was ruined by now, her skull was caved in, her eyes looked like deflated balloons. Pinkamena raised her hoof once more and, with all her might, she thrust it through Zalgressa's head, causing it to explode like a watermelon. Pinkamena got up and looked around, there was nopony there. Suddenly there was the sound of snakes hissing. Pinkamena turned around to see that Rarity's counterpart, Stone, was right behind her. She wore no cloth on her three eyes, thus causing Pinkie to slowly turn to stone. > Chapter 7: Sight For Sore Eyes > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rarity was the first to awake, which surprised even her because Twilight was known for waking up in ludicrous times. But apparently she decided to sleep in. Rarity looked around the mansion looking for her other two friends, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. They were missing. "Oh dear......" Rarity was unsure of what to do, she didn't want to go out, she wasn't much of a fighter like Applejack or Rainbow Dash was. Nor did she have the controlled frenzy that Pinkie Pie possessed. The one thing she did have however, was magic. "I simply can't go out there, I'd be destroyed!" Rarity glanced once more at Twilight to make sure she was asleep. "I know this is mental, but for my friends I'll do anything." Rarity slowly used her magic to levitate herself down to the ground. Her breathing was rather heavy as she walked along the smoke filled streets of Equinox. It was downright unnerving to know that she was walking down the same street where her friends had met their horrible fates. Rarity tried to calm herself down but it was futile. Her heavy breathing echoed throughout the empty streets, Rarity felt beads of sweat start to spawn, she was starting to get really scared. She saw blood stains everywhere accompanied by corpses to back up the dark gory image. Suddenly the sound of snakes hissing was heard, it was most likely her counter-part Stone, Rarity panicked and turned around, trying to face her stalker, but there was nopony there. The snake hissing gradually increased in volume and so did Rarity's anxiety, she tried to find the cold vicious murderer but the sounds were clearly audible. Suddenly a grey pony stepped out of the shadows, she had three yellow eyes with blood red irises, Rarity felt her legs turning to stone as soon as she looked at Stone. She closed her eyes shut and waited. Hoping that Stone would go away. "You know you're luck to have run into me instead of Dull Sloth or Dimmed Star. I can only imagine the pain they would bring. but I'm far more sophisticated than that. Why go through so much mess just for one kill?" Rarity kept her eyes clamped shut the whole time, but she could tell that Stone was circling her, like a shark circles it's prey, like a cat playing with it's dinner. Stone went right up to Rarity and stroked her mane. "Sneak a peek." Stone whispered into Rarity's ear The marshmallow mare gulped down the ice cold fear that engulfed her throat. She Kept her eyes shut, but she couldn't keep this up forever. "Am I really that ugly? You know you want to look." Rarity fought the urge to open her eyes, and she did. Her eyes remained sealed for the next hour or two. Stone grew more and more impatient by the minute. "Just hurry up and open your eyes so I can end your pathetic life!" Rarity kept her eyes closed, ignoring Stone's commands. "If you're not going to do it then I will!" Rarity heard one of the snakes hiss and all of a sudden, her eyes were open, an intense pain was burning where her eyelids were supposed to be. Blood trickled out and fell into the eyes of Rarity. The alabaster unicorn tried to close er eyes but it was useless, her eyelids were now in the mouths of Stone's snakes. Rarity avoided eye contact with the monstrous mare and used her magic to fling her into a wall. Rarity capitalized and ran for her life, but she was stopped dead in her tracks by a yellow pegasus. "Dinner is served." She said while licking her lips Rarity was about to turn around when she heard the familiar raspy voice of Stone. "Now now, you know better than to run away." The yellow pegasus known as Dull Sloth lookde behind Rarity and a look of shock spread on her face. She quickly backed up. "Buck me! it's Stone!" Dull Sloth took off, leaving Stone and Rarity alone. "just turn around and I can end your misery dear." Rarity gave up, fighting would only prolong her eventual death. She stared into the three deadly eyes of Stone and felt the rest of her legs turn to stone. It moved quite rapidly, it got up to her mid-section in no time. She felt the cold stone slowly spread into her heart. Rarity ushered forth one more last bloody tear before the stone engulfed her. Yea, I was hoping to get at least up to 1,000 for this one, but I realized that Stone was more of the clean kind of killers. Less torture, so less to write about. The next three chapters should be just as short as this one. > Chapter 8: When Darkness Turns To Light > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight woke up, her eyes fluttered open as she slowly rose off the ground and stood up. She stretched and yawned for a while, she hadn't noticed the absence of her friends yet. Twilight slowly approached the window and stared out into the dark skies of Equinox. It was morning by now, but the smoke and smog blocked out the ball of light known as the sun. Everything was supposed to feel dark and cold, but Twilight felt...... colder. She looked around to find out that she was alone, all alone in the house that she had been hiding in for days. Her eyes were filled with anxiety, her worry was gradually growing. She saw no signs of her friends. They were gone, all in one night. Twilight collapsed, she felt tears well up in her eyes, the ponies that had been so close to her, were now gone. So many memories...... Twilight managed to pull herself together. She got up, her heart and mind weighing her down. Why continue fighting? Why not just give up, die and join your friends." Twilight managed to ignore the suicidal thoughts that flooded her brain and forge on. "It's time to go home." Twilight knew that the mutant smoke would flood Equestria if she opened up a portal here, thus causing all her efforts to waste away. She needed to go to the fresh un-corrupted Everfree forest. But how was she going to get there? Simple, she was going to gun it. Just run, don't look back. Twilight calmed herself down, she needed full focus for her mad dash back to civilization. It wouldn't take long for the Equinox girls to zero in on her. Twilight calmed herself once more. She exhaled an unusually large amount of air and dashed out the door. Twilight ran for her life, there was a road that went straight to the forest, it would definitely work to her advantage. She ran as fast as her hooves could carry her, she eventually made her way to Willshire Road. From here onwards it would be a straight dash to her goal. Oh but the Equinox girls were far more intelligent than that. They'd set up a trap you could say. But it was designed to hurt not physically, but mentally. Twilight ran into Willshire Road and almost immediately she saw a corpse, it was part rainbow and cyan blue with most of it being white. Twilight felt intrigued and walked right up to the dead body. She instantly regretted her decision. She was staring at the corpse, of Rainbow Dash. Her flesh and skin had been mostly stripped off, with only a single arm and a portion of her had bearing any meat at all, the remaining cyan blue fur had was almost red from all the blood. Half her head was just a blood stained skull, her torso was just bones, nothing else. Stripped clean of her flesh. It truly was a horrifying sight to behold. Twilight backed up and bumped into another corpse, this one was Applejack's. Her body had a ripped chest where her livers and lungs dangled out. Her heart was still inside her rib cage, giving out the faintest of heartbeats. In between her legs was her completely blood red decapitated head, she wore a look of shock on her face. Twilight closed her eyes, feeling a tear start to well up in the corner of her eye. She didn't want to see more. She walked away and continued her walk, soon enough she stepped onto something, it didn't feel like the cold stone cold floor she had been walking on, it felt softer, smoother, Twilight looked down to see the deflated body of Fluttershy. Fluttershy's body was completely flat, like a deflated balloon. Her intestines, bones and even flesh had been melted and consumed by the venomous Spiderlock. Her eyes were now ruined, crushed to pieces with stray tendons and nerves amongst the assortment of destroyed eye pieces. Twilight stared in horror at the devastation that was brought down upon her friends. She closed her eyes and forged on, only to bump into two stone statues. The first was obviously Pinkie, but her hair was flat, and her expression was ferocious. Filled with rage rather than horror. She looked rather mad about dying. A certain ferocious fire blazed, even though Pinkie was stone, Twilight could still sense the anger that flowed through her. The second statue was Rarity. She had what looked to be blood coming out from her stone eyes. She had a look of sadness on her face. Twilight was devastated to see her friend in such a state of dismay. The lilac unicorn ignored the remains of her friends, she ran towards the Everfree Forest with tears streaming down her cheeks. Knowing that her loved ones were gone. Here you go. Another chapter, early in the morning. I'll be releasing both endings by tomorrow. Why two endings? Because both of them are too good to be left out. > Ending 1: Whispers In The Dark > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight ran forward, unsure of the monstrous act that she had just witnessed. It was nerve racking seeing her friends like that, just mangled and mutilated. It was too much. Twilight eventually arrived at the Everfree Forest, it truly was beautiful. Twilight would've taken the time to appreciate the scenery but her mind was still shrouded with a dark cloud. Twilight lit her horn and a ball of magic was created. It floated off Twilight's horn like a feather, and slowly drifted towards a stone wall. As soon as it made impact, a portal was made. Twilight saw the familiar book shelf and the table with the flower vase. But before she could move, she felt intense pain shoot up her hind leg. Twilight looked back to see a black tendril clamping down on her leg, it's teeth digging through her flesh, Twilight Sparkle watched as it's owner appeared out of the shadows. It was Dimmed Star. "Awww, your homesick?" Twilight tried to escape the tendril's hold, but it was futile. Pain shot through Twilight's leg as blood poured out of the wound. Twilight knew she was running out of time, the portal could close any minute. With all the strength she could muster she used her magic to levitate a nearby rock. She flung it towards Dimmed Star with such velocity that it busted her head open. The tendril let go and Twilight made a mad dash towards the portal and managed to leap into it. She turned around just in time to see a blood stained Dimmed Star growling at her. She lunged at Twilight, but the portal closed before she could reach her. Twilight simply stared at where the portal once was. Then she collapsed on her knees. And sobbed. Tears fell as she thought about her lost friends. All dead, thanks to her and her little project. Her assistant, Spike the dragon clambered down the stairs and immediately froze upon seeing his master in such condition. Her friends were nowhere to be found. "Where are the others?" Twilight simply stared at him with her tear filled eyes, Spike immediately understood. He felt teary eyed himself. The little dragon tried to comfort his master. "At least you got out alive. You still got your whole life left to live." Spike said "How can I live without the ones I love? Time still turns the pages of the book it's burned, place and time always on my mind. I have so much to say but they're so far away." She would never be able to sleep again, hearing her friends screams of agony, their cries for help, dominating her nightmares for years to come. To hear their whispers in the dark. Her body made it in the end, but the soul and fire within her had died back in Equinox along with her friends. > Ending 2: So Far Away > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight ran forward, unsure of the monstrous act that she had just witnessed. It was nerve racking seeing her friends like that, just mangled and mutilated. It was too much. Twilight eventually arrived at the Everfree Forest, it truly was beautiful. Twilight would've taken the time to appreciate the scenery but her mind was still shrouded with a dark cloud. Twilight lit her horn and a ball of magic was created. It floated off Twilight's horn like a feather, and slowly drifted towards a stone wall. As soon as it made impact, a portal was made. Twilight saw the familiar book shelf and the table with the flower vase. Twilight charged forwards, finally, freedom from the cold dark hell known as Equinox. Twilight charged forwards, she felt her hoof touch fresh air for the first time since she left Equestria, She could already feel the warm atmosphere of the library, the familiar clean air. But before she could fully go through, there was a flash of black, she heard the sound of something being smashed into a tree. Twilight opened her eyes, her back in massive pain, she was in a state of shock and confusion. The portal was right there, all she had to do was escape her restraints. Her restraints however were black tendrils, a jaw on the end of each one. All of them biting down on her limbs, from the arms to her legs. They held her down, not allowing even the slightest bit of movement. Twilight watched as a lavender unicorn stepped out of the shadows. Her pure black eyes gleaming with excitement, it was Dimmed Star. She had a sly grin on her face, as if she was saying: "I told you so!" Twilight tried to use her magic to free herself, but Dimmed Star thrust out another tendril that struck Twilight right in the horn. There was so much force that it knocked off Twilight's horn together with a chunk of her head. Dimmed Star approached the ruined unicorn and let out a small chuckle. "Any last words?" Twilight's head had a chunk of flesh and skin missing as a result of Dimmed Star's tendril attack. Her brain was seen throbbing and pulsing underneath. Blood still poured out of the opening and trickled down Twilight's face. With all the strength she could muster, she raised her head to look at Dimmed Star right in the eye. A ferocious fire rarely ever seen in anypony blazed in Twilight's eyes. She was angry, sad, yet somewhere inside, she was happy that she was going to be joining her friends. "Thank you." Twilight said