//------------------------------// // Life in Hoofica Castle // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// Wish wandered the dark and claustrophobic halls of the castle. A torch every fifty feet was her only source of light. The walls seemed so long and the ceiling so high up that she couldn’t see the top. Alcoves around her were filled with suits of armor that looked down at her as she walked by them. She couldn’t remember why she was here or what she was doing. Why did she come here? In fact, where in the castle was this? Passing another torch she came to a set of stairs. Tall and narrow, each step was just slightly thinner and taller than a step should be, making them slightly dangerous to actually walk up or down if you weren’t being careful. Wish looked up them to see where they went but they just disappeared into darkness a short ways up. She opened her mouth to call out for her father but all that emerged was a long whimper. The words wouldn’t come, it was like she was being strangled. She brought her small hooves up to her throat… why did they feel smaller? Why did her whole body feel smaller? Wish coughed and pawed at her throat, wheezing the entire time as she fought to try and get some words out. A step behind her. A hoofstep that reverberated throughout the entire hall. Wish didn’t turn around to look. Even the wheezing in her throat stopped as she paled and the blood running through her veins turned to ice. She didn’t know when she started to run, but soon she was galloping up the stairs with wild abandon. The hoofsteps behind her came, slowly, but they came. The stairs she was running up seemed to stretch on for infinity. Help! She wanted to yell out. Would anypony even hear her? Would they come even if they did? Suddenly her hooves fell out beneath her as she shot up past the last step and came to a rolling stop along the floor. Torches lit up the room she was in and a tired and panting Wish pushed herself to stand up. Everything was quiet and still aside from the flickering torches. A large door was the only thing here. Wish futilely tried to shout again but only managed a cough and weak cry. When she took a step towards the door, the sound of her hoof striking the stone floor echoed across the entire room. She didn’t hear the hoofsteps coming from behind her anymore but the more she tried to get to the door the slower she felt. Sluggish. As if she was trying to run through molasses. When she finally made it and pressed her tiny hooves to the door she didn’t bother with another scream. First trying to push the door open and then repeatedly banging her hooves and body against it. Something cold was running past her back hooves. Wish looked down to see a black slime oozing out from underneath the door. She panicked in fright and accidentally put her front hooves down into it as well. So cold. It just kept coming out and out. As she backed away from the door she felt herself hit something. Wish looked up to see a white phantom standing over her. Its glowing red eyes and mouth smiling down at her. Wish tried to scream again but white tendrils lashed around her throat and body. She was caught. At the mercy of the phantom. Wish struggled and fought but the tendrils wouldn’t budge, a cruel laughter came from the white phantom as it looked up at the ceiling. Wish followed its gaze. Needles. Hundreds of needles were coming down from the ceiling. “Young lady? It’s time to wake up!” Wish curled up and groaned under the sheets, not ready to face the morning. She was so tired. Had she just had another nightmare? She probably did but she honestly couldn’t remember anything about it after just waking up. “Just five more minutes...” Wish muttered from under the covers. Truly a filly who didn’t feel like getting out of bed. “Now, now, we can’t be having that. You need to get up and take your bath, breakfast will be ready soon.” Wish grumbled some more but still threw the covers off of her head and sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning. At last she blinked a couple of times and looked over at her maid. “Fine. Just a second and I’ll—who are you?” An unfamiliar maid was smiling back at Wish. She was a cream colored pegasus with a salt and pepper mane done in pigtails and freckles on her face. She wore the usual maid attire with slits for her wings to peek out, but Wish couldn’t recall ever seeing this particular maid before. And Sweet Candy always woke her up. Always. Every. Single. Morning. The maid grinned wider and giggled. “My name’s Dotted Easel! Starting today I’m your new personal maid!” Wish stared at her dumbfounded. “B-But what about Sweet Candy?” Dotted Easel smiled sadly at Wish and let out an unsure chuckle. “Well… she was caught crying in one of the castle bathrooms last night. The Head Inquisitor felt that you didn’t need such a negative influence in your life, so I was moved into her position.” “But—huh?!” Wish couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She threw the rest of the covers off her and stood up on the bed. “Crying? And where’d she go if she’s not my maid anymore? I-I want to see her!” “I’m sorry, young lady, but I really don’t know. All I was told is she’s already been let go and isn’t in the castle anymore,” Dotted Easel shook her head. “The Head Inquisitor didn’t tell me anything else.” Wish’s lip quivered. What had happened last night after she went to bed? What had happened to Sweet Candy that had made her so upset? Crying? And this new maid was selected for her by the Head Inquisitor without Wish even knowing? Was Sweet Candy okay? “C-Can I talk to my father? I want to ask him about Sweet Candy. H-He always said she was doing a good job—and t-they should’ve talked just last night too!” Wish asked. Dotted Easel gave her that same sad—pitying—smile. “He already knows. He was the one who chose me to replace her after a recommendation from the Head Inquisitor. And then earlier the Head Inquisitor was just the one who informed me of it all.” Wish blinked. So it was her father who picked this maid for her? Not just the Head Inquisitor? “But… I don’t...” She held her head, a sudden headache overtaking her. “Mmm...” “Oh, you poor dear. I know this must be very upsetting for you,” Dotted Easel reached over and affectionately rubbed her head. A second later she happily giggled again and smiled. “But here, let me show you why your father chose me to be your new maid! I promise you’ll be happy to see it!” She pulled a folded up piece of paper out of her dress and quickly unfolded it, holding it out in front of her face for Wish to see. “Ta-da!” It was a beautiful painting of Hoofica Castle. All the details were just right, and it wasn’t with the sky being dark and dreary overhead either, but with the sun out and the sky a friendly blue. Wish didn’t like Hoofica Castle that much, but she had to admit it was a good painting. “You see, your father told me you loved to paint, and that’s what I got my Cutie Mark in!” Dotted Easel cheerfully said. “After class we can paint together if you want! I can even teach you, your father thought we would get along really well.” Wish looked from the painting into the bright eyes of Dotted Easel, then back to the painting. She wanted to scream. She wanted to yell and ask where Sweet Candy was and what was going on. She knew she couldn’t do any of those things. “Umm… okay,” Wish nodded. After all, if her father had been the one to decide this, it had to be alright. Didn’t it? “Great!” Dotted Easel folded up and put away the painting and then picked her up, carrying her off the bed and putting her on the floor. It actually made Wish more miffed than having to use the stepping stairs. “You just wait one second and I’ll have your bath ready in a jiffy! Leave it to Dotty!” A spark lit up Dotted Easel’s eyes. “I know—that’s what you should call me! A nice nickname to help break the ice between the two of us. We’ll be best friends really quick like that, hm?” “Okay… Dotty,” Wish smiled at her. It was an awkward, forced, smile more akin to a grimace and Dotted Easel had to know that but she just smiled back at Wish anyways. “Then it’s time to get your bath ready,” Dotty winked at her and started walking to the bathroom before she stopped herself. “Oh! Almost forgot!” She looked over her shoulder at Wish and smiled. “On a scale of one to ten, how happy are you today?” Wish stood up straight and tried to smile as naturally as possible. “Ten out of ten!” It became apparent very quickly that Dotty wasn’t going to be doing things the same way Sweet Candy did. Or more accurately, she couldn’t or didn’t know how to. The bath water wasn’t at the right temperature, she didn’t put in any powders at all, she used the shampoos and conditioner in the wrong order, and most of the time she just sat beside the tub humming to herself as Wish did everything on her own. Lastly, when Wish finally got out of the tub, she roughly scrubbed her down with a towel until Wish was totally dry, and then it was time for her mane and tail. “Ow!” Wish winced as Dotty accidentally tugged too hard on a knot in her mane. “Sorry! Still getting used to your mane, young lady,” Dotty giggled. So I don’t get a nickname? Wish frowned in the mirror. The styling of her mane and tail took way longer than it should have. Dotty didn’t seem to have experience or any practice with this sort of thing at all. Was she even actually a maid before she was chosen to replace Sweet Candy? If she wasn’t, then what was she? Who was she? Wish probably shouldn’t think about it. Like a lot of other things in Hoofica Castle. Eventually Dotty was able to get things right and Wish’s mane and tail finally looked okay. Decent, not perfect like if it was Sweet Candy. Which meant that breakfast had probably been sitting out there in the other room for longer than normal. Not that Wish really minded, it was probably Dotty who had to worry more about the schedule slipping. The two of them left the bathroom together, and then Wish’s bedchamber, and emerged into the boudoir. Where everything looked just as it did on a normal day for Wish. It seems besides Sweet Candy’s replacement nothing else had changed and the other maids and butlers were just carrying on like normal. The sky outside was still dark, her stuff was still lying around, and she was willing to bet that as soon as breakfast finished she would be heading off to class. She didn’t have much of an appetite this morning. A bowl of oats with some milk was all she could stomach. As Dotty stood smiling beside her she couldn’t stop thinking of Sweet Candy. Wish didn’t even think she and Sweet Candy were that close, and some of the things Sweet Candy had said last night made her… uncomfortable. But the maid had always been with her and now she was just suddenly gone. Gone in a way that made Wish feel afraid for her. Wish didn’t know why things were suddenly building up like this but it was all becoming too much. And she just had to smile through it. The strangeness, the nightmares, and now the disappearances. She wanted to see her father so bad. Unless she was lucky though, this was just looking like one more day without him. So Wish would have to go through the motions once more, she hopped off her chair after finishing her breakfast and looked out one of the room’s windows as the maids and butlers cleaned up. In a second, Dotty would tell her that it was time to go to class but Wish for some reason wanted to take a look at the world outside the castle. Dreary as it was. There were still birds out there, she saw a few crows flying. And there were still some ponies below in the streets. As strange as things had gotten the kingdom was still here. Wish sighed inwardly, making sure Dotty couldn’t see, and turned around with a smile on her face. “I’m ready for class!” Wish beamed. Dotty clapped her hooves together. “You’re being a wonderful young lady today! I didn’t have to remind you or anything, your father did say you were such a good girl.” Wish awkwardly blushed at the words of praise, happy to hear that her father had said something like that about her. “Thank you.” “Shall we then?” Dotty said as she tilted her head towards the door. “Yes, coming,” Wish nodded and quickly trotted over to join her. As they made their way out of her personal chambers and towards the stairs that would take them down into the rest of the castle, Wish couldn’t help but again glance back in the direction the other stairs would be. The ones going up to the fourth and fifth tower. She just blankly stared at them—hoping to suddenly see a stallion walking down them at the last second—before looking away. Once she and Dotty passed through the threshold leading down the stairs, Wish thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. For a second she could’ve sworn that one of the stallions guarding the stairs was frowning at her. But as soon as she looked up all he seemed to be doing was staring dead ahead at nothing like normal. Dotty meanwhile was pleasantly humming to herself and hadn’t seemed to notice anything, so Wish brushed it off as well. Completely unlike the morning walks through the castle with Sweet Candy, Dotty was talkative as soon as they were alone. Asking Wish seemingly any question that came to mind. “What’s your favorite food?” “Umm… chocolate cake, maybe?” “What about your favorite drink?” “Apple juice.” “Where’d you live before coming here anyways?” “My father and I lived in Ashen Birch Thicket my whole life before we came to the castle.” “Ooh, from the sound of that name you lived real far to the northwest then?” “Yeah… all the towns there have tree names and stuff like that.” Wish wondered if Dotty actually didn’t know this stuff or if she was just trying to make Wish talk and warm up to her. She could try and be optimistic and think that Dotty was just talkative and there wasn’t any deeper meaning behind the questions. But her mind really kept going to the more pessimistic answer. “How long have you enjoyed painting?” “Since before I even started school.” Dotty hummed to herself and nodded a few times. “Well maybe one day we’ll both have Cutie Marks in painting!” Wish inwardly cringed. Inane chatter followed the rest of the way down the winding stairs, through the towers, and then into the lower section of the castle. All the way to the classroom itself. Wish couldn’t believe she missed the eerie and unnatural silence of the previous few months. Dotty had all by herself livened up Wish’s experience in Hoofica Castle, but she was just as unnerving in her own way. And furthermore annoying. At least once they got to the classroom Dotty let her go inside by herself and waved goodbye until class was over. “I’ll see you soon!” Dotty smiled. “Yeah,” Wish smiled and nodded back at her. Wish stepped inside the usual classroom as the door closed shut behind her. She looked to the front of the room and saw that like usual, her classmates were already there. Except for Little Note. His desk was empty. “Good morning, Wish!” Star Eyes called out and waved from the front of the class, a bright smile on her face. If she was bothered by the empty desk in front of her she didn’t let it show on her face. “Take your seat whenever you’re ready!” She opened her mouth but not a single syllable popped out before she closed it again. Asking about Little Note wasn’t going to help anything. What would happen if she accidentally made the other three get upset and cry? Instead Wish just silently took her seat. When she looked to her right and left, her classmates appeared even stiffer than normal. Big smiles were etched onto their faces as they stared ahead. It was bad enough before and now it had gotten even worse. And she had to sit here with Little Note’s empty desk next to her the whole time. Wish wanted to trust the Inquisitors and also think that he would be back tomorrow, or soon at least, but she found that she couldn’t. She just couldn’t at all. Like so much of her life, she simply ended up zoning out of class today. Unable to focus on anything being said or what Star Eyes was trying to teach. She usually didn’t do that for class, often instead finding herself blankly staring out the windows of her boudoir in the evening, but today she didn’t have the energy to care. Sheer muscle memory and habits forced into her allowed her to keep smiling and at least give a yes or no answer when Star Eyes called on her. Otherwise she felt like she was in some sort of fugue. Nothing sounded right. Nothing looked right. Nothing felt right. She couldn’t even remember when class ended and Dotty had arrived to pick her up. “Goodbye,” Wish said to Comet Burst, Bright Dawn, and Aqua Jewel. “Goodbye!” The three kids all said in unison. Smiling. As the door to the classroom closed shut behind her, Wish looked up into the happy face of Dotty. “How was class?” Wish’s smile stretched wider, straining her muscles. “It was great!” And there was still so much of the day left. Walking back up to her chambers. Lunch. Painting with Dotty. Dinner. Bathing. And then finally sleep. She wanted the day to end. Why had the last two days been like this? She had never felt so drained before. So many questions were rolling around in her head. So many concerns. She didn’t even care that going to sleep meant another nightmare, she just wanted the day to be over. A flash of lightning occurred as she and Dotty passed a window, and looking outside she knew the day was still far from over. The royal kitchens of Hoofica Castle were busy. Not because of the amount of ponies that needed to be fed—in fact that number was far smaller in recent months—but because of the removal of so many ponies who had previously been working in them and the certain extravagant meals prepared three times a day. Not even counting what the King and Queen were served. It was a madhouse in here, three separate areas were used for the young lady’s daily meals, the King and Queen’s, and then the food for every other pony in the castle. One of those groups didn’t get a fair share. The castle was hardly short on food or needed to ration, but with the lower staff and the very important orders to focus on the young lady, everypony else had to make do with the most simple of meals. A teenage colt by the name of Fresh Delivery was currently ferrying plates, utensils, ingredients, and so forth from oven to oven and chef to chef. Tirelessly working in the young lady’s section of the large kitchens to help make everything run smoothly. He had grown up in the castle and been working in the kitchens all his life as a helper, hoping one day to learn the trade and become a real chef. The past few months had made that dream a bit more difficult to see. Currently dinner was being prepared, with about half the dishes ready and waiting on a large table. Fresh Delivery frowned as he set down a freshly baked tray of biscuits on the table, his eyes roaming over the delicious food. So, so much of it. It was already a feast for an entire family. “All this for one pony every single day. It’s such a waste… no single pony could eat all of this,” he muttered. A chef placed a finished pie right on the table beside him and looked over with a frown. “I’d keep thoughts like that to yourself if I was you.” “But sir-” Fresh Delivery said. “But nothing,” the chef shushed him. “Just make the food for the young lady and get it ready.” Fresh Delivery bit his lip to keep himself from talking back. It disgusted him to see food be treated so disrespectfully, to see all their hard work be taken so lightly. The King and Queen didn’t used to let things be like this. It was only when that pony and her father arrived at the castle and the entire kingdom changed. The sky went dark, the black band appeared around his neck, and now these glorious meals were being made and wasted for no reason. His own stomach grumbled slightly. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. He quickly had to go back to working, checking the timers on the ovens, taking trays out, keeping things going. Nopony wanted to be seen as responsible for slowing the young lady’s meal down. A short while later some ponies came to deliver fresh batches of fruits and vegetables from the orchards and gardens. A couple of other helpers washed them and put them in the right bowls after preparation was done. Fresh Delivery spotted a bowl of perfectly red strawberries. His favorite food. His heartbeat quickened in his chest. “Here, take this to the table,” a chef said, handing him a large bowl of pasta. “Yes sir,” Fresh Delivery replied and swiftly walked over. His eyes were on the bowl of strawberries the entire time. They were so tasty and juicy looking. His mouth almost started to water. When he reached the table he acted as naturally as possible and placed the bowl of pasta down—then as quickly and discreetly as possible he swiped a strawberry from the bowl. He didn’t look around suspiciously, instead walking over to an alcove beside one of the large ovens as if it was exactly what he was supposed to do. The big red strawberry was in his hoof and he brought it up to his mouth, sniffing it first and taking in its delicious smell. He opened his mouth to bite into it- “Child.” Fresh Delivery stopped in mid-bite, his eyes turned in their sockets and he looked over to see a unicorn stallion wearing a white suit standing over him. The stallion’s eyes were cold as he stared at the red strawberry. “Did you steal that from the young lady’s meal?” Fresh Delivery paled and his lip quivered, he tried shaking his head. “N-No, I...” “Come with me,” the Inquisitor said and lit up his horn, an aura of magic appearing around Fresh Delivery and dragging him through the kitchen. “No! Please! Somepony help!” Fresh Delivery yelled out to the rest of the kitchen, his tear-stained eyes pleading to the other helpers and chefs in the kitchens. They just ignored him, continuing on with their work and trying to not even look in his direction. Wide eyes and frightened grimaces were carved onto their faces as they silently worked through Fresh Delivery being dragged off. The uneaten strawberry dropped from his hoof and fell to the floor. Hefty Hoof sighed as he finally got back to his small personal quarters around midnight after a long shift of guard duty. It was just the pits, he was so tired of standing around for no reason. Watching the stairs pointlessly even when that filly wasn’t even around. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be in Hoofica Castle. Or the entire kingdom. This wasn’t why he became a Royal Guard. It was all so wrong and yet most of his fellow guards were too afraid to speak up or even act like there was a problem. After Captain Red Wing disappeared and that psychopath took over and made the Inquisitors… “Tch,” he clicked his tongue and pulled open the door to his room. He still wondered what happened to the old Captain. He put his spear up on a rack along the wall and took off his helmet, wiping his sweat away and looking forward to finally getting some sleep. The bed wasn’t much but he never had trouble with conking out on it. As soon as he put his helmet down, a hoof came from behind his head and pressed a wet rag against his muzzle. “Mmph?!” Hefty Hoof let out a muffled cry but before he could even fight back the smell of what was on the rag invaded his brain and sent him into a deep sleep. Dotted Easel the maid closed the door to her room behind her. A wide smile on her face—quickly fell down into a depressed frown, lines appearing all over her face that made her look twenty years older than she actually was. She brought up a cream colored hoof to her face and took a deep, shuddering, breath. “Okay, Dotty. You did a good job today. You did a very good job. There’s no reason for anypony to be upset,” she told herself. The maid walked over to her closet after calming herself down and took off her uniform. On her flank was the Cutie Mark of a palette marked with red, yellow, green, blue, and orange dots of paint. She had loved her Cutie Mark before today. No, before the kingdom had changed and she got dragged into this mess because she had been restoring a painting in the castle at the time. The King had hired her for the job and right in the middle of it the sky went dark and the band on her neck appeared… If it only wasn’t for her Cutie Mark she could’ve avoided all of this horror. Opening up the closet, Dotty hung up the uniform on one of the coat hangers. Right next to it hung the pure white Inquisitor uniform she had been wearing right up until last night. She paused as she stared at it. Her life was so much simpler before she was forced into this for the Head Inquisitor’s own amusement. And while it might not have been much better, her life was probably simpler still before she was chosen to be the young lady’s new maid. The Head Inquisitor and Wish’s father decided she needed somepony that could be trusted more and could be more fun for her. It didn’t matter apparently that Dotty didn’t know how to be a maid. She closed the closet and walked over to her dresser beside the bed. Dotty opened up the top drawer of it and pulled out something that was resting on top of her spare clothes. A glass bottle full of a murky brown liquid. She pulled out the cork and was assaulted by the sharp stench of the liquid. Without hesitation she brought the bottle to her lips and drank deeply, ignoring the burn of the liquid inside. “Haaah...” Dotty sighed as she stopped drinking and wiped away a bit of the brown liquid on her lips. She corked the bottle back up and put it away. “Just keep smiling. Just keep smiling, stay happy, make friends with the kid. That’s all you need to do, Dotty. She’s a sweet little kid, just try and be honest friends with her.” Dotty repeated to herself. She brought up her hooves and rubbed her tired eyes before sinking down to her bed. “Just keep smiling, just keep smiling, just keep smiling.” She had to be awake very early tomorrow morning. Every morning from now on. Her hoof wormed over to the small stool beside her bed, reaching for the alarm clock sitting on it. If she had forgotten to set it—if heaven forbid that she was late one morning—she didn’t want to think about what would happen. The Head Inquisitor was scary enough even when there wasn’t a reason for her to be angry with Dotty. “Just keep smiling...” Dotty muttered and closed her eyes. She drifted off into a quiet, nightmare-free, sleep. Hefty Hoof felt strange. There was something wrong, he could tell even before he managed to open up his eyes. When he did, black stone met his vision, moving back and forth in front of him. No—he was the one moving. Swinging. His legs were hanging down in front of his face as he was suspended upside down in the air. Fighting gravity, he managed to bend and lift his head up to look at what he was hanging from. A chain came down from the dark ceiling that was attached to shackles around his back hooves. “W-Wha-?” Hefty Hoof groaned, his memory still spotty. “Good, you’re awake,” a voice from in front of him said. Hefty Hoof looked forward as best he could—at what must be the front of the room—and saw a pair of white-suited ponies looking at him. From behind bars. Hefty’s eyes widened as he fully realized his situation. This was no room, but a cell. “Y-You!” He yelled at them, far more angry than scared. “What do you think you’re doing?! I’m a Royal Guard of Hoofica Castle!” “We saw you. You frowned at the young lady,” one of the Inquisitors said. Hefty gawked at them in disbelief. “You saw that? What are you doing, spying on me all day or something?” “We’re always watching when it comes to things that concern her,” the other Inquisitor said. “And a Royal Guard you say? What would the Queen think if she knew you did something like that? Frowning at an esteemed guest of hers,” the first said. Hefty Hoof grit his teeth, his eyes red with anger. “T-The Queen?! The Queen’s lost her mind! What about the King? What about him, huh? I don’t know who you two were before all of this happened but you can’t think any of this is right! You can’t! Where are your families? Where are your friends? You think the sky should look like that?! You think it’s okay that these black… things! Whatever they are, are around our necks?!” He struggled against the chains, wildly flailing around. “Why are you listening to them?! This isn’t how Hoofica is supposed to be!” The two Inquisitors quietly stared back at him before sharing a glance with each other. A look of resignation and… disgust? Pity? At themselves briefly flashed across their features. The first Inquisitor sighed. “Even if you say such things-” Suddenly, the sound of a door being opened interrupted them. Hefty Hoof couldn’t see the door or who had opened it up from inside his cell, but the two Inquisitors both looked to their left and immediately snapped to attention. “H-Head Inquisitor!” They said, saluting. And Hefty Hoof’s breath caught in his throat. “I had heard that somepony did something very, very, bad~” A cheerful, mocking, mare’s voice came from down the hallway. “Would you mind if I take charge of this inquisition?” “Not at all,” the second Inquisitor immediately said, fear was screaming forth from his eyes and the eyes of the other Inquisitor. “No...” Hefty Hoof whispered. Light hoofsteps came closer and closer to his cell. “No… please. Keep her away from me!” Hefty Hoof cried as he struggled harder against the chains. She was right there, only a few steps away. “Stay away from me!”