Chapter 14: Generous Despair
Twilight's eyes took a moment to adjust to the sudden darkness around them. It took her but a moment to realize that it was nighttime. The moon only just beginning it's trek through the sky. Luna must exist in this world, hopefully, as there was no Mare in the Moon. So that was a good sign, hopefully. Hard to tell with the whole 'alternate universes' thing.
Rainbow Dash lurched, groaning in discomfort. "That is so disorienting...." she complained, though she was already quickly recovering her posture.
"You'll get used to it," Twilight replied with a comforting smile.
Once they got their bearings, they took a look at their surroundings. There was a very grim if not depressing presence in the air. As a changeling, she could sense the heavy and negative emotions that seemed to fill the place. It took a moment before she recognized the place.
It was the Crystal Empire, of that she was sure of. Clouds drifted away, revealing more of the moonlight, allowing Twilight and the others to see a bit more.
She saw that not far away from them stood the Crystal Palace. However, Twilight paused when she saw it. Standing just outside the castle perimeter was a spike. And on that spike was the rotting, decapitated head of her brother, Shining Armor.
Her eyes widened and she felt bile start to build in her mouth, but she managed to stop herself. "S-Shining...." she said, her voice almost breaking at the horrid herself
"Where are we?" asked Rainbow Dash, before noticing what Twilight was staring at. The sight made her feel sick to her stomach as well, but she did not recognize whom the impaled head was. "W-Who is...was he?"
Twilight steeled herself before replying, "He's my brother...well, this world's version at least....the Shining Armor from my world is still alive."
"Indeed," spoke Verse, his tone as calm and emotionless as ever, "In this worldrepeatingmbra rules the Crystal Empire. This world's Twilight failed to stop him. During the battle, the tower you were in exploded, and you were captured by King Sombra. Your friends, thinking that you had died in the explosion, abandoned you as they returned home."
He paused for a moment, staring at the two girls for a moment before continuing, "Sombra began to torture you, and you resisted for a while, but eventually, his nightmares broke you. He altered your memories and corrupted you. You were confident that your friends would save you, but they never came."
Twilight frowned, "But...what does any of this have to do with Rarity?" she asked, trying to focus on their mission.
Verse turned and began walking toward the Crystal Palace. "You will see. Oh, and explain to your friend there that we are not currently in the Time stream. I hate having to repeat myself."
"Time stream?" asked Rainbow Dash.
Twilight sighed, "Basically what he means is that we are invisible to everypony around us. They cannot see, hear, or touch us. We, on the other hand, can see and hear everything, but it seems we can't touch or interact with anything until we enter the time stream."
"And how do we do that?" Rainbow Dash asked, still a bit confused.
"Hmmf, 'we' don't. 'I' do. You can only enter and leave the time stream because I allow it. Neither of you have time manipulation magic, so your only way to traverse time and space is through me," Verse said a very matter-of-factly tone. He sounded more annoyed than boastful.
As they walked through the halls, the many guards and servants paid them no heed, bone ever even aware they were there.
Verse walked as if he knew the whole place like the back of his hoof, but Twilight was starting to get the feeling he was like that every he went.
They passed through doors, not caring if they were opened or not. Rainbow Dash gave the same reaction Twilight did when she first discovered they could do that. However Rainbow Dash found it much more amusing than she did. Rainbow Dash began to run back and forth through several doors until Twilight reminded her that they were here for something important.
Rainbow Dash gave a sheepish smile before trotting back next to Twilight. Verse seemed to pay no mind to any of this.
Finally, they entered a doorway that led to a stairway that just led ever downwards.
"That is a lot of stairs...." Rainbow Dash commented. Twilight nodded in agreement, though long passageways like this didn't bother her as much, her hive had longer ones, after all. Though, there weren't any stairs in her hive.
Twilight felt a ping of loneliness. She missed her hive. And she also missed the chatter of the hive-mind. A queen with no hive-mind is a lonely existence.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they approached what could only be the castle dungeons. Verse led them towards a locked room, and entered. Twilight and Rainbow Dash slowly followed after.
What they saw before them was a dimly lit room, though not as dark as Pinkie Pie's secret room. A single torch lit the room.
It wasn't long until they noticed rarity chained to a chair. She seemed to be asleep, but whatever dream she was having wasn't pleasant. It was then that Twilight noticed the other pony in the room. It was her, yet different. This Twilight was an alicorn, just as the other version of herself that she had met, except...this one different...darker.
Her coat was a darker shade than normal. Her mouth smiled with fangs, and her horn curved like Sombra's. But that was not the only thing that resembled Sombra. Her eyes glowed with a green tint, with purple streams of magic flowing from the corner of her eyes. A wicked grin pierced her lips.
Before the changeling queen or Rainbow Dash could ask any questions, Rarity awoke.
The dark Twilight gave a mocking voice of concern, asking if Rarity had a bad dream as she cut her cheek with a scalpel. Rarity began to cry, but before she could react, the dark Twilight began to cut a heart shape around Rarity's cutie mark with scalpel, causing Rarity to scream once more.
"Rarity! We have to stop this!!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, as she began to run towards Rarity. Verse stopped her cold with an icy glare.
"There will be no interference. This is as it should be." He paused for a moment, then began to explain. "This version of Twilight is known as Twilight Terror, the Queen of Nightmares, the Bride of King Sombra. Rarity and Trixie were sent as spies to figure out what Sombra was up to. However, Sombra's own spy tipped him off on who they were and thus, they were captured. Prior to this moment, Rarity and the others had thought Twilight dead. Trixie and the others do not yet know the truth."
"And where is Trixie?" the changeling queen asked. Verse only blinked, she is else where, being tortured by King Sombra himself."
Before they could exchange anymore words, the scene before them continued. Twilight Terror began to lick the blood off the scalpel. She carved another, deeper heart around the cutie mark on Rarity's other flank.
As Rarity screamed, Rainbow Dash began to whimper, old memories beginning to flash in her mind. Twilight pulled her to the side, giving a concerned look. She, too, did not enjoy what was occurring, but she knew Rainbow Dash would be more sensitive to this considering what had happened to her.
"If you need to step outside and get away from this, I completely understand...." the changeling queen said in a gentle voice.
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes for a moment, before a look of determination appeared on her face, "N-No, I made you a promise to stick by your side, no matter what! And a friend keeps her promises, no matter what!"
Verse stared at the two as they had this conversation. A curious expression on his face that disappeared as soon as the two turned back to continue watching the scene before them.
Twilight Terror walked towards her tray of tools and put the scalpel down, grabbing a large knife instead.
Twilight Terror began to talk about how Rarity and everypony else had lied to her, and that she was going to get her revenge.
Then, to everyone's horror, Twilight Terror put the knife onto the the cut on Rarity's cheek that she made earlier, and pulled down, turning cut into a horrifying gash. Verse was the only pony other than Twilight Terror who seemed unfazed by this.
Rarity screamed in agony, her tears dripping into her wound, making her cry even more. Twilight Terror gave a sadistic laugh before taking the knife and doing the same to both of Rarity's cutie marks. The dark Twilight moaned in sadistic pleasure as Rarity screamed. Both the changeling queen and Rainbow Dash wanted to kill this twisted version of Twilight right then and there, but did nothing, knowing there was naught that they could do. Verse would not let them interfere.
Twilight Terror licked the knife clean of blood before putting the knife down and grabbed the hacksaw.
Rarity began to beg, but her torturer only slapped her across her wounded cheek, threatening to saw off one of her limbs if she kept talking. She then grabbed Rarity's horn. Rarity began to beg again, shaking her head, pleading for friend not to do this. She received yet another slap as Twilight began to saw it off.
When she finished, she showed Rarity the horn, and smiled. She told her that she would keep it as a trophy, then finally, she left.
Rarity sobbed in blood and tears. Verse once again stopped Twilight and rainbow Dash from approaching their friend. "Luckily for this one, there is a happy ending..." He explained.
Before they could ask what he meant, Trixie suddenly appeared, teleporting into the cell. Trixie looked beaten, but in better shape than Rarity, however, the expression on her face revealed she had endured severe psychological torture. She undid Rarity's bindings and grabbed Rarity's removed cutie marks before grabbing Rarity herself and teleporting them both out of there.
Verse then turned to the others, "Now we need to be elsewhere, and at a different point in time as well." He raised his hoof and the terrain around them began to move as if they were on a globe. Within but a second they were suddenly in a hospital, far from the Crystal Empire.
Time accelerated briefly, moving about a day and a half into the future. They were in Ponyville Hospital, Rarity's room. She had just had surgery. Her cheek was stitched up, though it would definitely scar. Her cutie marks had been sewn back on. Spike, AppleJack, Sweetie Belle, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash came in. They hugged Rarity and asked her what had happened. When they asked who did it, she claimed not to remember, but Twilight knew she was lying. "Why doesn't she tell them? Why doesn't she tell them that the other me is still alive and has been corrupted by Sombra? It's the right thing to do..." she asked.
Verse was quiet for a moment before replying, "To spare them the horror of what she had seen. To keep the memory they have if you as it is. As the Element of Generosity, this is the most merciful thing she can give to her friends."
"That still doesn't make it right!" she protested.
Verse merely shrugged, "Doesn't it, oh Princess of Friendship?"
The others finally left, leaving only Rarity, Verse, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash in the room. Verse waited a few more minutes before entering them into the Time stream.
Trixie walked towards the door to Rarity's room. There were a few things she wanted to talk to her about. She needed that comfort. She opened the door and hesitated upon what she saw. A dark grey stallion sttod in the room along side a changeling and a wounded Rainbow Dash, who seemed to have lost her wings. None of them seemed to have noticed her yet. She turned and looked down the hall, she saw another Rainbow Dash walking away with her friends. Her mind jumped to conclusions, the other Rainbow Dash must be a fake. The mysterious stallion must also be a changeling, it was the only thing that made sense.
She overheard them as they spoke. "Do not be alarmed. You are needed for an important task. We mean you no harm," spoke the stallion.
"What is going on, who are you?" replied Rarity in a terrified voice.
"Don't worry, it's going to be okay," said the false Rainbow Dash.
The stallion then spoke once again, "The Multiverse has need of you. We will explain later."
The stallion then stomped his hoof and reality seemed to warp around them. Trixie had to save Rarity from these strangers, so without thinking, she lunged and jumped forward, desperately trying to safe her friend. There was a loud pop, and suddenly, Trixie wasn't in the hospital anymore....