//------------------------------//
// A Monster's Family 
// Story: Those Left Behind 
// by the7Saviors 
//------------------------------//

As I made my way back to Equestria I began to hear voices.

I didn't know what they were saying, but they would intermittently grow louder and quieter as I trotted along. Sometimes they were whispers, but other times they grew into loud shouts.

Sometimes they were just guttural noises and sometimes they were inequine shrieks of rage, pain, and despair. I could hear them everywhere i went, and I didn't know where they were coming from.

As confusing as it was, what was more confusing, was that these voices didn't bother me. In fact, it felt as though I should be hearing them—like it was my duty, my obligation to hear them.

It was difficult to put into words, really.

The trek back was surprisingly uneventful given how brutal my journey into Tartarus had been. With seemingly no threats to worry about for the moment, I took some time to try and parse what the voices were saying.

It sounded like they were coming from everywhere at once, and with them all speaking simultaneously, I couldn't make anything out. Even when I felt I was able to separate a voice, the meaning of the words escaped me.

With a small sigh, I shook my head and just let the incoherent babble wash over me. I figured if I was meant to understand the voices, then they'd make themselves clear.

With that thought in mind I continued on my way.

It wasn't until after another hour or so of trotting that I came across any of the creatures I had seen before. Even then it was only a fleeting glimpse of a massive black mantis-like creature that had fled into one of the many caves dotting the walls as soon as it saw me.

That was... interesting.

I recognized it as the same mantis that had sliced me open and left me for dead on my first trek through this place. Now that I wasn't being accosted by deadly Tartarus wildlife, I found myself wondering why the thing hadn't tried to eat me.

Whatever the case was, it seemed I was free to continue unhindered by the beasts of Tartarus. I wasn't about to complain, not that I would've if any had shown up at all.

It was just as I finished crossing the rocky bridge over the bottomless chasm that I felt something change. At first I wasn't sure what it was, but as I focused my senses, two things became apparent.

The first was that the voices as a whole seemed to be getting louder—more restless... agitated... angry. I felt their rising fury more than heard it, though it was clearly audible in my ears.

The second thing I had noticed was that I was getting hungry again. I had managed to suppress it for the last few hours or so, but it suddenly spiked to the point where it was almost unbearable.

The steamy wisps of light once again began to rise from beneath my fur and, this time I couldn't hold it back. I felt my alicorn form slipping away, and I heard the voices grow to an enraged cacophony.

Then I heard something else... something familiar. It cut through the voices and pierced right through me. The dam broke, and my alicorn body all but evaporated, replaced by the massive ethereal pony shaped silhouette of light.

All thought left me and my hunger overtook me at the sound of that wretched howl. I needed to feed, and the one thing that could sate my hunger was close.

So very close.

Up until now, I hadn't seen how Cadence was able to move around and find me no matter where I went, but now... now I was able to spot her almost as soon as she appeared.

One instant there was nothing.

The next, there was Cadence.

She stood a few yards away, her monstrous black form constantly twisting and writhing into impossible to understand shapes.

Rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth snapped and gnashed at me—her countless mouths vanishing and reappearing all over the nigh incomprehensible, yet sometimes vaguely pony shaped mass that was her body.

The voices cried out for her demise, and I was all too willing to comply.


I took a step forward.


Cadence didn't move.


I took another step.


Still no movement.


I let out a warbling, echoing screech and took a third step.


Cadence took a step back.


Somewhere beneath the mindless hunger this surprised me. Was this a case of the dark being afraid of the light? Either way I didn't stop, and I was getting impatient.

Before Cadence could make any other move, I lashed out with a tentacle, smashing it right into where her chest would've been and expanding the shining limb outwards until it completely enveloped her.

She screamed and began thrashing about as I dragged her towards my widening mouth. The voices were in a frenzy, eager to see the inevitable outcome.


"Twilight stop! Please!"


I froze.

The shock I felt was so great, it overrode the overpowering hunger. My mouth slowly closed, and almost unbidden, the tentacle wrapped around my would-be meal receded and reverted back to a wisp of light.

There, crumpled up pathetically on the ground right where the monster had been only seconds before, was Cadence.

Not the monster, but the pony.

With my tentacle no longer holding her, she had dropped to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath. After a few moments she unsteadily rose to her hooves and stumbled a bit before looking up at me.

"T-Twilight?" she asked, looking just as shocked as I felt, "w-what... what happened to you?"

I didn't answer.

The voices were quiet now. They sounded... confused. Unsure. The hunger had abated and with it gone, I once again reverted back to an alicorn—or the guise of one anyway. At this point I was fairly sure I wasn't a pony of any sort... not anymore.

"Cadence."

The pink alicorn winced at the monotonous and unnatural sound of my voice, but didn't shy away. Rather, she took a step closer, concern and bewilderment written all over her face.

"Twilight, what's going on? Why do you look like that?" she paused and looked around as if just now noticing her surroundings, "where are we?"

"This is Tartarus," I replied flatly, "I came here to find the power to destroy the monster that destroyed Equus. I believe I've found it, and I intend to finish what that monster started."

I tilted my head and stared at the shivering mare before me.

"You've been possessed by the monster, and I can no longer trust that you won't turn on me when my guard is down."

"What?!" Cadence cried taking a step back, "but, Twilight... I wouldn't—"

"I'm going to find and devour the monster," I interjected, taking a step forward, "you don't seem to have any memory of your time as its puppet, so I doubt you'll be able to tell me where it is or how it gets around."

"Twilight, please, listen to me!" Cadence pleaded, taking another step back, "I have no idea what's going on! What happened? Where's Auntie and Lu—"

"Like you, the other two Princess' have fallen to madness and corruption, becoming possessed by the monster. I am the only one left who has control over her own body and mind."

I paused a moment.

"I do need to get a handle on my... appetite," I amended, "but other than that, I'm the only one left with the power and mental clarity to oppose this monster, and I will see to its demise without fail." 

Cadence took one more step back and fell to her haunches in disbelief. For several moments she just sat there and stared at me.

"It's like you're a completely different pony," she whispered, tears streaming down her face. Her gaze traveled over my body and stopped on my flank, her eyes widening in horror, "you don't even have your cutie mark anymore..."

"I'm no longer a pony, Cadence," I replied dully, "why would I have a cutie mark?"

That just made the tears come faster.

"Oh, Twilight!" she sobbed, "I'm... I-I'm so sorry... if I was stronger, I could've—"

"There was nothing you could've done, Cadence," I said, moving closer until I was standing over the crying mare, "there was nothing any of us could've done. We were all up against an unstoppable force."

"But... b-but still!" Cadence cried, her teary eyes meeting my blank white orbs, "I should've held on! Tried harder! I should've realized you weren't... w-weren't..."

"We couldn't fight it," I continued as Cadence trailed off, "we couldn't run from it, we couldn't hide from it... its victory was inevitable," I looked away, staring down the path ahead, "in the end, I broke down... I gave up just like you, Celestia, and Luna... it really did win after all."

There was a long beat of silence, and then...

"There really isn't any other way... is there?" 

My ear twitched at the tone of Cadence's voice and I looked back to see her rise to her hooves. She wiped her tears away and stared back at me, a sudden spark of conviction burning in her eyes.

"It's already too late, isn't it?"

I blinked before giving a slow nod. She lowered her gaze a moment, her determined frown faltering briefly. She let out a shuddering breath before looking back to me.

"Then you need to eat me."

I tilted my head once more with a small frown and waited for an explanation.

"I may not remember what I did while I was... under that thing's control," she said, putting a hoof to her chest, "but I can still feel it. Its power is still inside me, and I can tell that it's scared... scared of whatever you are now."

I said nothing in response and she continued.

"Maybe that's why it let me go... I don't know," she said, shaking her head helplessly, "but what I do know, is that as long as the other Princesses and I are alive, you'll never be able to end it. So..."

She took another deep breath and stood as tall as she could, though I could see more tears building up in her eyes as she spoke.

"Please, Twilight," she pleaded, her voice wavering, "j-just... be quick, alright? I-I don't want Auntie and Luna to suffer anymore... I don't want to suffer anymore... and maybe... maybe you'll find a way too."

"I won't Cadence," I replied, turning to fully face my sister-in-law, "once the monster is dead, I'll remain here and alive until the very planet crumbles away, and even then I still might continue to exist."

She let out a choked sob, but quickly recovered and stepped towards me.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, before pulling me into a tight hug, "I'm... so sorry, Twilight."

I didn't say anything as she held me. The voices, which had been quiet up until now, suddenly grew louder, and my hunger began to return.

Wasting no more time, I slowly, reluctantly returned Cadence's hug as my body shifted once more. I may not have felt anything for what was to come, but I at least could've humored my sister and former foalsitter one last time.

She stepped back and watched me with a small smile, even as my open maw hovered over her.


"Sunshine... sunshine... ladybugs awa—"















Clap your hooves... and do a little shake...