Tia looked through the photographs she had taken of Canterlot. She and her little sister spent the whole day on a tour of the city, seeing everything from famous landmarks, museums, art galleries, stopping for a snack at Joe’s Doughnut Shop.
She flipped through another photo and found some snapshots of the ruins of the Great Castle of Canterlot. Tia gazed at the photos with a sense of longing. It was a shame what happened to it. The tour guide explained it used to be the most beautiful castle in all Equestria until the King and Queen were usurped by General Sentarion, followed by a public execution. Sentarion ordered the destruction of the castle, so there can be no reminders of the previous rulers.
Tia imagined what the castle looked like before it was destroyed. She closed her eyes and pictured herself trotting through long halls with golden chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. She’d wear a dress straight from a fairy tale, all the castle servants and maidens happily bowing to her as she passed them, then she’d open the door to the most extravagant throne room anyone has ever seen, guests on both sides smiling at her.
The tour bus arrived at a new location, an isolated area of land miles away from the city. Everyone filed out of the bus, along with Tia and her little sister Lulu. They gathered at a grey brick wall that stretched for several yards, but that was not what caught their attention. Tia and Lulu stretched out their necks to get a look at the dark tower. It seemed to rise up toward the sky.
“That’s a really tall tower,” Lulu said timidly.
“Yeah, and creepy,” said Tia. “Maybe we’ll see a ghost!” she said excitedly.
Lulu’s throat tightened. She didn’t share her older sister’s enthusiasm about meeting spectres and phantoms.
“Alright everyone, attention please!” the tour guide announced. The stallion gave an impish smile to the tourists. He seemed like a pony who would be thrilled to tell a scary story around a campfire. Everyone listened to him attentively.
“Mares and gentlecolts, welcome to the legendary and terrifying Tower of Doom! A rather pleasant name, isn’t it? Centuries ago, when this tower was constructed, it served as General Sentarion’s base of military operations. After he proclaimed himself Ruler of Equestria after his deadly coup, the tower was used to hold captures and prisoners. At the time it was the tallest structure in ponydom, standing at 110 feet.
“General Sentarion promoted his most trusted confidant, Lord Thorbane, as overseer of the Tower of Doom. His duty was to round up anypony who was seen as a threat to General Sentarion, pony and nonpony alike, and transport them to the tower to either be imprisoned. . . or be tortured and executed.”
He said the last part in a low, ghastly tone. The tour could easily see this was a pony who really loves his job. Tia and Lulu had goosebumps just listening to him. Tia’s enthusiasm for the tour remained. She loved creepy and scary things, more than her little sister. Tia's favorite thing to do was to pull pranks on Lulu whenever it was bedtime, whether it was to make spooky noises or hide either under the bed or inside the closet to scare her when she least expected it. A devious smile grew on her face when she thought about how to scare Lulu in the Tower of Doom.
The tour guide reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a set of keys, and opened the rusty gate to the old courtyard. The gates screeched as it pushed open, striking the nerves of the tour group. The tour guide spoke again:
“Anyone accused of a crime by the newly-crowned General Sentarion was transported to the Tower by wagon. Several dozen ponies arrived at different intervals of the day. If there were too many ponies, half were forced to wait outside at the courtyard, exposed to the elements: heat, cold, rain and snow, they waited for days and weeks to be dragged in the Tower by Lord Thorbane’s stallions. Most folks died of starvation and illness before taking a single step inside. And those who haven’t. . . well, they’d wish they were dead.”
Tia and Lulu looked around the courtyard, and so did everyone else. Everything was still and quiet. It was hard to believe that centuries ago this courtyard was filled with dozens upon dozens of ponies waiting for their fate in the dark tower. The tour guide opened the door to the tower. The tour group peered into the blackness of the other side of the door.
“Watch your step,” he said as he led everyone inside.
Lulu stayed behind for a moment. She felt an unnatural chill crawl over her nerves. The air was a little cool, but that wasn’t why she felt cold. It was like an invisible someone or something wanted to get her attention. She looked around the courtyard. Nothing. Lulu quickly trotted beside her sister when she called her name.
“You’re not too scared to explore the Tower, are you?” Tia asked playfully.
Lulu didn’t answer. She heard her older sister chuckle. Lulu knew Tia was thinking of ways to scare her.
The tour guide led the group through a long spiral stairway. “As you can see, this stairway doesn’t seem to have an end in sight,” he explained. “But it does, at the very top. If you were a prisoner at the Tower of Doom, Lord Thorbane’s stallions, at any time of the day, will come outside and snatch you off the ground. Then you will walk, walk, walk up these stairs until you reach the top. It doesn’t matter if your little legs are tired or you’re out of breath. Lord Thorbane will bring down a thrashing of the whip on your back!”
“What’s at the top?” asked Tia.
“Oh. . . so many dreadful, nasty, horrible things.”
The tour guide answered in a hushed, grave voice. Tia let out a tiny, involuntary chuckle under her breath. She wasn’t quite sure whether to be excited or frightened.
Lulu, meanwhile, could not keep up with the group as they climbed farther up. The tour guide was not exaggerating when he said the spiral stairway appeared to be endless. She either trotted as quickly as she could or trotted slowly, stopping every now and then to catch her breath. The stairway did not have a railing, which complicated things even more. She feared she might slip and tumbled downward. Lulu only thought about one thing: this tour sucks.
Clop. Clop.
Lulu turned her head and gazed at the other side of the dark stairway. From the shadowy depths came the sound of hooves on the old stone steps.
Clop. Clop.
Was someone left behind? Whoever it was did not seem to be in a rush to catch up with the group. The sound grew deeper and louder. The little blue hairs on Lulu’s fur stood up on her back. She again felt that unnatural chill that made her blood cold. Could it be? She did not want to stick around to find out. She quickly trotted up the stairway, rushing to Tia’s side.
“Tia! I - I saw something! I - I,” she stammered.
“Shh! We’re almost at the top,” said Tia.
Lulu looked back at the other side of the stairs. She never heard the hooves again. Could it have been her imagination? Or the creepiness of the dark corridor playing tricks on her senses? Was it a ghost? No, not a ghost, she said to herself. Anything but that.
After what felt like an eternity, the group finally arrived at the top in front of a large wooden door with a latch across it. The tour guide waited patiently for his group to catch their breaths.
“A long way up, eh?” he said. “Well, you folks have it easy. This is nothing compared to the pain and suffering of Lord Thorbane’s prisoners - right behind this door.”
He pulled the latch back and pushed open the door. They entered a dark anteroom with barely any light except for a small bright beam from a square at the ceiling. Either side had displays of torture devices, and the tour guide pointed most of them out with creepy enthusiasm. The one that stood out the most was the Iron Mare, a large upright casket with spikes inside. Tia could not stop looking at it. A slick smile crossed her lips. She had an awful idea.
Lulu, meanwhile, followed the tour group through the torture room. She was not aware of her older sister’s disappearance. Her sole attention had been on the tour guide. He pointed out every torture device one after another, listing every unnerving fact in gruesome detail, leaving the group horrified and disgusted. Lulu thanked her lucky stars she was not alive during those times.
They stopped at the far end of the torture chamber, at an empty cell. The tour guide’s playful yet grim demeanor evaporated. “I understand you folks heard of what happened to the King and Queen,” he said, his tone flat. “Well, this is where the story continues with the Royal Sisters, the saddest part of that story.” His voice was low and heavy. It made everyone uneasy.
“The Royal Sisters were taken to the Tower and placed in this cell after the execution of their parents. They were held captive for what might have been several days, with little to eat or drink, with no light except for the torches hanging on the wall. With the Sisters being unicorns, General Sentarion ordered magic-resistant metal rings to be placed on their horns, so they wouldn’t use their magic to escape. Sadly they were still very young, and had not fully developed their abilities.
“After spending three days imprisoned in this cell, General Sentarion ordered a public execution of the young sisters at noon the next day. He wanted the citizens of Equestria to watch as the last remnants of the Old Kingdom had their severed heads in baskets. Strangely enough, on the night before their scheduled execution, the Sisters disappeared, vanishing without a trace. No one knows what has happened to them. There were no eyewitnesses. Many historians agree they might have died from illness or starvation. Others believed they took their own lives. Who knows. The Disappearance of the Royal Sisters remains a mystery to this day.”
Lulu gazed at the empty cell. She couldn’t imagine what it was like for fillies as young as her to be locked up in this dreadful tower. She wondered if any other children got tortured here. What sort of pony would do such a thing? It was too awful to think about.
“Well, that’s enough gloom and doom for today,” said the tour guide.
Everyone turned around and made their way out of the torture chamber. Lulu was relieved. She could not wait to get outside. She listened to the tour guide, who seemed to have his sense of humor back; he started making jokes again to lighten the mood. Lulu noticed Tia had been silent the whole time. Lulu asked about her thoughts about the Sisters, then waited for an answer.
“Tia?”
So that’s why she hadn’t said anything. Tia disappeared during the tour. “Tia! Tia, where are you?” she called out to the dark chamber. The last members of the tour group walked through the large wooden door. “Come on, Tia! We’re going to miss the group!” she cried. The door shut with a loud boom, then somebody pushed the latch forward to lock it. Lulu found herself surrounded by darkness, and started to breathe rapidly. She pleaded for Tia to come out.
“Tia, where are you?” she called out.
A low thump caught her attention. It came from that creepy Iron Mare. That horrible torture device stuck with her ever since the tour guide pointed it out. She did not like the way it was shaped, and she definitely did not like what was inside - sharp spikes. It was something she never wanted to experience. Despite having been pierced with all those spikes, the Iron Mare guarantees that you suffer a slow and painful death from bleeding. Lulu took cautious steps toward the Mare, at the top part in the shape of a pony head. There was something strange about it, but it was too dark to see. She leaned closer.
Eyes were staring at her.
Lulu stumbled backward, letting out a shriek of horror. The rusted metal of the Iron Mare creaked as it opened slowly. The little blue pony became too frightened to move, only turning her head away from the gruesome sight.
“Gotcha!”
It was only Tia. She stood in front of the open Iron Mare, having a good laugh. Lulu stood upright, frowning deeply, which made Tia even more.
“Why did you scare me like that? I thought something happened to you!” shouted Lulu.
“Relax, I’m fine,” replied Tia. She gestured toward the Iron Mare. “They removed the spikes, see? You’re such a ‘fraidy-cat.”
The fillies argued, which tends to happen a lot. Lulu blamed Tia for having them locked up in the Tower, which means they had to wait for the next tour, whenever that will be - which also means they have to wait in the dark. Tia accused Lulu for being such a baby, always scared of everything, never learning to take a joke. Besides, she wasn’t afraid of the dark.
“Easy for you to say,” Lulu retorted. “You tease me because I still sleep with a night light!”
The sisters jumped at a loud thump from the shadows. Once again the air became still. That unnerving feeling from earlier returned to Lulu. And then. . .
Clop. Clop. Clop.
That sound from the stairway, hooves on the cold, stone surface echoing throughout the dark chamber. It grew closer, louder, more dreadful than before. Lulu huddled close to Tia.
Heavy breathing accompanied the sound of hooves approaching them. The fillies could see a dark hulking outline slowly coming for them. The figure stepped forth underneath the beam of white light from the ceiling, revealing itself to the terrified little fillies.
“Your time has come,” it said with a deep, menacing voice.