The darkness felt right... like touched by a whole that was perfect. There was no need to run anymore, everything made sense. Floating in the blackest pool, ripples of void spreading soundlessly as nothing but the soft whisper of breath filled the air. She opened a single eye, seeing nothing and closed it again. No point, no light, no reason to try.
A voice called out, far in the distance. The sound was foreign, alien. It made no sense, and was ignored. What reason was there to leave the pool, floating endlessly in the perfection of utter emptiness. The voice called out again, whether it was deafening or too quiet to make out made little difference. Everything was perfect, no point in trying. The pool was the most inviting thing, the place she had always meant to be.
The voice send ripples spreading across the pool with such force it brought her eye to open if only so slightly. A purple light, a flicker shamed by even the smallest of fireflies, floated there in the pitch. "Cadence!" That voice... "Wake up! You can't stay here! It's coming for you!"
"Twilight?" She felt so tired, the strength it took to muster the name send shudders through her whole body, muscles screaming for her to stop and return to bliss just floating in the pool. "My failsafe spell won't last in here! You have to escape!" The light bounced up and down then moved away, practically disappearing almost immediately. Cadence tried to lift her head to see where it went, but fatigue was all her spent body knew. It felt as if what little strength she had left was draining away just from raising her neck.
Looking down into the pool, Cadence's eyes shot open as she saw the black viscous ooze she had been lying in. It stained her coat like tar, and dripping from her mane like muck. The moment she saw what she was in, the pull it had on her became even stronger, threatening to drag her into its depths. Deep down, far below the surface of the black bog Cadence could see faces and teeth and grasping claws. A din of voices calling her name rose up, waving for her to join them deep in the mire.
Drawing up all she could, Cadence flung herself from the pool with a scream. She tried to run, but the muck staining her legs made them feel so heavy. She tripped, landing hard on her face, sticking fast to whatever the ground was outside the pool. She pushed again, but the muck held to the ground like glue, growing stronger and stronger until she was held fast. "No... please..." Her heart beat in her ears, she couldn't move a muscle as she felt that same horrific presence rising behind her.
The drumming beats filled the emptiness, the void echoing their approach. The presence had finally reached its prize, the last of the runners. Hooves and claws set down on the ground as rivulets of the ooze dripped and plopped onto the ground. Dozens of heads moved about through it as they all stared at the final prey. The bodies within it all cackled and giggled as they watched the princess try to fight, to escape. Even trapped she fought, it made the end all the sweeter.
A claw landed beside Cadence's head as the presence drew over her. Her eyes were glossy from terrified tears yet again, waiting for the abomination to finally take her. She couldn't watch, turning her only working eye forward. There, right before her, was the tiny light. It drew to the very tip of her horn, and touched against it. She heard Twilight's voice again as it spoke a single word, "failsafe."
When she came to there was a warmth on her face as Cadence pushed open an eye. Light burst into her gaze, blinding her as she squinted. The sun? No, this was not sunshine. The deep bluish green hue of the light her eyes were adjusting to was far different than sunlight. The warmth she felt wasn't from the light, but from the air itself. She was in a cave, and at the center of the ceiling a great sphere of blue-green glow illuminated the massive opening.
Drawing to her feet, the exhausted princess pushed her head up to get a better look, and saw a sight that twisted her stomach. Creatures like insects flitting this way and that through what looked like the most enormous beehive. A tiny prick of different glow drew Cadence's eye from the spectacle as Twilight's spell dropped away from her horn. "Failsafe! Won't fail to take you someplace safe!" And it was gone.
Cadence just stared at the air where the spell had vanished. The pain in her wings started to seep back into her nerves, the burning fire in her muscles, and the black muck that now stained her once shimmering coat and matted her mane in its oily grime. Each of them already a reminder of a horror she'd endured in only the past few hours. For all this, she now stared at the last place in all the world she would rather be. The Changeling Hive.
A deep, black fog seeped over the remains of two great doors. Broken glass and tattered cloth littered the ground, cast in shadow by the great emptiness. It made no sound, giving the clinking of chains within the ruined throne room a hollow echo against the stone walls. It stopped at the base of the stairs, floating up slightly as an unconscious form was left below.
A white figure stared from the throne's pedestal, watching in silence as the fog moved aside to reveal Twilight's still-breathing body. Icy eyes moved from her to the formless creature, and a scowl followed. "Where is she? I sent you after two, and yet I only see one." A venomous hiss filled the air, which only elicited a grin from the colorless figure. "And even after the magic, you still couldn't catch her? I made it so easy, and you still failed me. Leave... now... before I find a more capable hunter."
The fog vanished with a shriek, though one of fear more than the angry snarl it had given before. The colorless being uncoiled and rose up, as if stretching its unnaturally long, snake-like form. "Do you see what I have been forced to work with, my friends? Trapped for so long, enlisting scum and useless spell-beasts that can barely understand a word I say. It's truly sad."
One of the clawed hands rose and extended out to land beside one of the masses of chains, scratching the stone floor. Like a ghost, the body followed the stretched arm and came to stand beside the enchained prisoner. "I hope you like what I've worked so hard for. It isn't like I could do this on a whim." The faceless head drew closer and its neck extended and bent to look the prisoner right in the eyes. "I've given you such a wonderful gift. Look, all the things you love... I will make their dreams come true. I will give them their every desire. And the two of you... I will let you watch, let you see my gifts."
The white shape retracted, looming over Twilight as she began to stir. "First things first... wake up little girl. Wake up... open your eyes and let me see you." Her eyes did open, and the moment they fell on the faceless, formless thing above her she froze. "Oh... no, no... there is no need to fear. I will not harm you, pretty one. I only want to give you a gift. What is your fondest dream? I can make it come true." Only a whimper answered. "Poor, frightened... hopeless. You must have hope, it's so important." The sickly sweet voice, a woman's like a mother to her child.
Twilight shuddered, fighting back a scream as she stared at this almost formless terror that floated above her. "Who... who, are, you?" She whispered. The faceless head turned up, as if pondering the thought.
"It's been so long... perhaps I have forgotten. Or I haven't and simply like surprises. But a surprise is a gift, and I am giving them freely." A white claw lowered and tenderly settled on Twilight's head, causing her to go rigid. "You may call me... Despair."