Twilight’s head pounded hard as consciousness slowly returned to her. Her mind felt heavy, weighed down by an unknown force as she tried to recall the last thing she remembered. Luna and her had just fended off a large pack of timberwolves that had been acting extremely odd, and Celestia had arrived moments after they’d finished fighting. She had called out to Twilight, but her mind failed to grasp what Celestia had said. The last thing she could remember was complete darkness, and a coldness that seeped all the way down to her bone.
The headache slowly subsided as Twilight pulled her attention from the past to the present. Her eyes still closed, she focused on the scents around her. A heavy, earthen musk filled her nostrils with each breath in, that combined with an almost imperceptible dripping noise of what Twilight presumed to be water meant that she was somewhere underground. Lingering on top of that was the faintest traces of burning wax and wick, telling her that candles were nearby.
As her eyes slowly opened, she let out a small groaned as she tensed her muscles, feeling restraints on each leg and her neck and barrel, severely limiting her mobility as she lay on a hard surface, belly down. Rather than panic, the rational side of her mind won out as she tried to examine her surroundings. Through her somewhat blurry vision she could make out a rough, natural stone ceiling which only reinforced her idea of being below ground. The faintest bit of light filled the cavern she was in, the candles only illuminating a few feet before fading into darkness.
Twilight tested her restraints as she blinked a few times to clear her vision, trying to pull on her magic, only for a cold sensation to wash over her horn, a sure sign of a magical inhibitor. She went still as her clearer vision revealed some finer details that she couldn’t see at first. Carved into the ceiling were a series of intricate runes in an unknown language. In the runes were what appeared to be five definite points that could only be magical receptacles, but she had no clue as to their purpose.
“Ah, good… You’re finally awake,” a male’s voice purred from the darkness, its direction indeterminable as it seemed to come from everyone at once. “Twilight Sparkle. Student of the oh-so illustrious Princess Celestia,” he spoke in a dark tone, sounding almost clinical if it weren’t for the mocking laughter that had preceded Celestia’s name.
Shivering as the voice seemed to penetrate her very being, Twilight frantically looked around, trying to find the speaker in the darkness. “H-hello? Who’s there? What’s going on?!” she frantically called out, not able to spot even the eyes of the creature who had spoken.
The shadows themselves seemed to coalesce into a figure just outside of the light, a pair of red, reptilian eyes leering at her as whatever he was stayed just out of range of the candles. They slowly circled Twilight as fear began to flood her system. Only after completing a full circle did they finally move into the light, revealing a crimson colored dragon just larger than Celestia. “Why, it’s me, of course!” he spoke, as if Twilight should be aware of him.
“We have a treaty with the dragons… You can’t do this, it’s a v-violation of it!” she sputtered out, her eyes noting how the candlelight danced off his scaled much like Spike’s did after a polishing. Twilight pushed against her restraints as he moved closer, eyeing her up as one would a potential meal.
A deep, rumbling laugh that chilled Twilight to her core emanated from his mouth. “You mean those weaklings of a once-proud race who now see ponies as equals? As if I stand with them anymore!” He reached out and traced a claw from the base of Twilight’s neck to her chin. “You see, I plan to have myself some fun... and it starts by having my way with you!”
Twilight began to struggle as much as she could against her bonds, her pupils heavily dilating as fear flooded her. She had never felt more defenseless in her entire life, at least when confronting Nightmare Moon she’d had friends around her. But now, she was alone, no magic at her disposal, and at the mercy of this dragon. “N-no, anything but that!” she stammered out.
He continued to critically examine her, tracing his claw from her chin down her body and over her flank, stopping at one of the wounds that had scabbed over from the fight with the timberwolves. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, savoring her fear as he opened them to look at her face. “And just exactly what is it that you think I plan to do?” he asked with a bit of disgust in his voice. Before she could even have a chance to answer him, he spoke back up, applying a bit of pressure to the wound, but not breaking it. “Certainly not sex, as your mind seems to have jumped to. After all, you’re just a pony,” he said the word with utter contempt, his lips curled in a sneer as he punctuated the word with a stab into her would, opening it back up.
As Twilight lightly screamed in pain, he brought the red-coated claw to his mouth and sucked on it, cleaning the blood off. “Mmmm… so delicious,” he remarked, going back for another taste as he dug into her side again. He moved to where she could see him, and he leered at Twilight. “You see, you’re so far beneath me, you truly have no idea… I’m a dragon, you’re a pony. Prey. Food,” he let the word linger in the air as he licked the blood off his claw again, bathing in Twilight’s fear and pain.
“I had originally planned on simply killing you, but I’ve since come up with a better idea… You’re going to make a lovely pawn, my prey. Why, I think I might even have you try to turn against your teacher and do your best to kill her… or perhaps one of your friends, hmm? So many choices, it’s so hard to make a decision!” he gloated over her, taunting and digging at her deepest fear.
Twilight found a bit of conviction as his words really dug into her. “You can’t turn me against any of them! I’d never harm any of them, never!” Thought filled with her newfound conviction, it was impossible to hide the uncertainty from her words, which caused the dragon to laugh.
“Oh, that’s only what you think, my pawn…” he trailed off as his taunting words were replaced with archaic mutterings, a language that was oddly melodic, yet just by hearing it she knew that it was wrong, an abomination to everything she knew.
The words continued to fill the air, the abominable melody starting off quiet, nothing more than a mere murmur, but quickly crescendoing as the cadance shifted, the words coming out quicker and quicker. Overhead, the five focal points in the runes began to glow, a black color that slowly faded towards a bright red in color.
Pain began to fill her, a trickle at first, but growing in intensity as the vile words continued. She lost all concept of time, only aware of the pain flooding her body and the evil melody that seemed to fill every pore of her being. Twilight was barely aware of the fact that he had grabbed her mouth, forcing a goblet filled with something into her mouth. She reflexively swallowed it all down in a single gulp as he held her mouth shut and pinched her nose, and then the pain erupted to heights she didn’t even existed.
Her body felt like it was warping, objects erupting from her back as everything within her seemed to shift, her screams filling the air as his twin pools of magma simply stared at her in sick pleasure. Eventually, the twisting sensation slowly dissipated, leaving Twilight on the verge of unconsciousness as the dark magic finished its work. She was barely aware of a few words, ones which seemed to echo inside her very mind before she passed out.
“You. Are. Mine.”
Twilight came to slowly, pain coming from every joint in her body, including quite a few she had never even been aware of. Her mind still seemed muddled, perhaps even moreso now than previously, as if somepony had drizzled a large amount of molasses on it. Slowly, she opened her eyes and groaned, trying to get her hooves under her as she looked around her.
She was in a cell of some sort, thick iron bars running from the ceiling to the ground, looking as if the bars had been present long before the small cell had been formed. Haphazardly, she managed to stand up, her entire body protesting her actions as Twilight groaned in pain, a gnawing feeling in her gut as something at her side shocked her.
Craning her head to look at her side, her eyes widened as she locked up, a wing at her side, one just like the Night Guards that Luna had. A thin, leathery-looking membrane ran between the primary support structure of the wing, the edge of which twitched in time with her heartbeat, which was rapidly increasing. “W-what the…” she squeaked, coughing a few moments later from an extremely dry throat.
Before she had a chance to further examine herself, that voice from before filled the air as he seemed to appear from the very shadows. Twilight also realized that even though there wasn’t any perceivable source of light, she was able to make out every detail around here, even if the colors seemed slightly muted. “Oh, my little pawn finally awakens. You’re quite the weak one, I must say, out for a full two days… why, you must be absolutely ravenous right now!” he leered at her, pacing in front of the bars.
“W-what did you do to me, and who are you?” Twilight asked, panic tinting every syllable as her stomach grumbled, a gnawing sensation that was only made worse by having attention drawn to it. She found herself feeling a bit weak, but still able to move, the lingering pain already fading. She tried to call upon her magic, nearly grinning as she felt it flood her horn with its familiar warmth. She tried to grab his head, but the magic failed to leave her.
His toothy maw grinned from ear to ear as he laughed. “Me? I’m Redamarc, but to you, Pawn, I’m simply Master. As for what I did, well, I had my fun, of course!” Redamarc waved a paw, and Twilight felt a barrier form between her magic and herself, causing what she’d managed to pool in her horn to harmlessly dissipate. “You see, when a superior vampire, such as myself, feels like having a bit of fun, he can take a weak, inferior race and easily turn and subjugate them to his will. You are a pony, so you are obviously inferior. Now, bite your leg for me.”
Redamarc enjoyed the surprise that crossed Twilight’s face as her body began to move, her head lowering slowly to her leg as she opened her mouth. “What… s-stop, stop it!” she cried out before she bit down on her leg, feeling two sharp points.
“And you can stop now, I just wanted to prove a point, pawn,” he casually remarked, grinning at her. “See? I also suggest you don’t try and use your magic on me again, I can make it quite painful… not that it really matters, you’re completely powerless before me, pony.” He opened the cell, waving with his hand, Twilight following him moments later. “Oh, did I also mention that I can assert my power from anywhere? You’re mine, and I cannot wait to see how your so-called princess reacts to her special little student trying to rip her throat out!”
Twilight found herself unable to speak as her body followed behind Redamarc, the steps clumsy, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t resist his mental commands to follow. It was as if she were simply watching a film, unable to control the outcome of what was shown on the screen. “Now, we need to take care of that gnawing hunger of yours, the first feed is always the most important, and I’ve got food already prepared for you! Of course, you’ll still have to work a bit in order to capture it, lest you go hungry, but the instincts should take care of that little issue for you!”
Not even able to speak, Twilight found her body following him through a wide tunnel under the ground for a short time before coming out into a large, open cavern. Way up at the top was a large crack, the moon barely visible through the dense foliage of the Everfree Forest. Her gaze was brought to still form on the ground as Redamarc finally relinquished his control over her. She noticed the pale yellow wings at the mare’s side, and the teal mane, the pony somewhat familiar to her, although at the moment she couldn’t place just how she knew her, or her name.
“Now, here is your meal, Pawn,” he began speaking, that manic grin still plastered on his face. “I’m going to wake her in a minute or two, and you’ll have to catch her. If she manages to escape, well, I’ll just have to go and kill her myself, won’t I?” He began to fade into the shadows, laughing once more. “I truly doubt that will be a problem, however… bon appetit!” his taunting voice lingered in the air for a few seconds, even after he’d disappeared.
Raindrops! The mare’s name came to Twilight’s mind as she remembered where she’d seen this pony before. The mare who helped work the weather underneath Rainbow, even though Twilight had never talked to her, she remembered her now. She tried to move closer to the downed mare, but found her body not responding as that laugh echoed, this time solely in her mind.
“Now now, I can’t let you at her when she’s down, there’d be absolutely no sport or fun in that! Why, I think I’ll go on ahead and let her wake up now and then give her oh, let’s go with a fifteen second headstart!” True to his word, as his voice left her mind, Raindrops moaned.
“Oh, what’d Derpy hit me with this time…” she muttered before jumping to her hooves in alarm. “What the heck, where am I?! Twilight, is that you?!” she cried out, spotting Twilight standing a few feet away from her. “The entire town has bee— what the, are those wings?!”
Twilight’s eyes were as wide as saucers as the gnawing in her gut only intensified as Raindrop’s panic caused the mare’s heartbeat to rapidly increase, the faint sound of the pumping blood reaching Twilight’s ears. “G-go, just go! Trust me, leave and bring back the Princesses!” she frantically called out as Redamarc’s voice popped into her mind, counting down the seconds.
“Wha—”
“Just GO!” Twilight immediately cut Raindrops off, the panic in her voice causing Raindrops to jump back, her wings flaring out. “Get help, but leave now!” Raindrops nodded her head and immediately took flight, filled with fear. She had gotten a good look at Twilight, even in the dim moonlight, and she was scared from that alone.
“Three,” his voice counted down, Raindrops now only a few feet into the air, the hole in the top of the cavern easily two hundred feet above them. Each beat of wings took her further away, and Twilight tightly closed her eyes, shaking her head as she tried to fight him off.
“Two…” Twilight kept pushing against him, the sound of Raindrop’s heart slowly fading as she continued to move further away, She kept pushing, but it seemed that the more she fought, the stronger his presence in her mind became, no matter what she tried.
“One~” he taunted her, and she could just picture that damned grin on his face as she locked her muscles, head bowed towards the ground as she fought with all of her strength, refusing to attack Raindrops. The only thing she could hear were the wingbeats now, but it wasn’t enough time, she needed more time for—
“Go.” Twilight’s eyes snapped open as her conscious mind was roughly shoved aside, her legs bracing against the ground for a mere moment before pushing off with all of her might, wings outstretched as instincts took ahold. Taking to the air, Twilight looked at Raindrops, who was at most thirty feet ahead of her.
Although she flew clumsily, those thirty feet quickly closed, and as Raindrops turned her head to look at what was coming from behind, Twilight barreled into her, knocking her. Raindrops let out a yelp. “What the hell, Twilight?!” she called out, straightening herself as Twilight fell a few feet before turning to face her. The color drained from her face as she saw Twilight’s eyes, there was absolutely nothing there of the pony she knew as the town’s librarian; they were those of a predator, and there was no other way to put it.
With fear and adrenaline fueling her, Raindrops pushed with all of her might towards the rent in the ceiling, trying her best to escape. Her ears flickered around, listening for the telltale signs of another pony flying so that she could react better the next time Twilight attacked.
Twilight came directly from below her, barely missing Raindrops as she barely shifted in time to avoid Twilight’s body. A wingtip clipped her head, causing her vision to swim for a moment as Twilight circled back for another strike, her mouth bared and twin fangs exposed, the moonlight glinting off the teeth.
Raindrops cried out in pain as Twilight connected with her, this time managing to hit her outstretched wing. Momentarily losing control over it, Raindrops plunged twenty feet before catching herself, only to have Twilight land on top of her shortly after recovering from the blow. She was forced the remainder of the way down and forcibly pushed into the hard rock at a speed that would have even left Rainbow Dash dazed.
Twilight hissed at her before closing her mouth on Raindrop’s neck, sinking her fangs in and starting to greedily gulp the resulting blood. Raindrops moaned and tried to flap her wings to move, but Twilight simply struck at one of the struts with a hoof. The snapping sound from the strike caused Raindrops’ screams to fill the air as she continued to struggle, but to no avail.
Redamarc watched from the shadows with satisfaction as Raindrop’s struggles slowed, eventually ceasing altogether as the light in her eyes dimmed before being entirely snuffed out as Twilight continued to drink the blood from her neck, not even letting go when there was simply nothing left to get.
“Well done, Pawn!” he cried out in glee as he forced her to look at him, her blood soaked muzzle causing him to clap his hands in delight. “Now, one lesson down, let’s move on to the next…”
“M-monster!” Twilight sobbed out, restrained once again. Redamarc laughed and didn’t bother to silence her, he’d come to quite thoroughly enjoy everything she had to say since killing a few ponies. It’s not like they mattered any to him, for they were just walking blood banks, a bug beneath his foot on his quest to achieve his true goal. “H-how can you even live with yourself? You’re n-nothing but a monster!”
“Of course I am!” he gleefully replied, looking over a spread of obsidian objects on a small tray. “As for how I live with myself, well, that should be easy enough for an egghead like yourself to figure out, shouldn’t it?” he asked, jabbing at her once more.
Twilight’s mind was a mess, her emotions all over the place, when she actually had control over them, that is. Redamarc seemed to delight in tormenting her, letting them all build up without her being able to do anything but stew in them inside her mind, which only made things worse. Even now, she wasn’t entirely certain how she was still functioning, but she was, somehow, after nearly a week under his claws.
“Now, as I’m sure that uppity little whore has no doubt taught you, every creature has an internal magic flow inside their body. Any disruption to this flow usually tends to have rather drastic, and often fatal, side-effects,” Redamarc lectured her, ensuring she couldn’t talk while he did so. “These fun little things here are made from obsidian, and when infused with my magic, have a fun little effect!” he explained, revealing a large variety of piercings for nearly every spot of the body.
He hummed a bit as he picked through a few of them, letting Twilight see what he was doing the entire time. “You see, I can actually make them a part of your magic, so that should the whore manage to free you when I send you out to cause some fun, you and her both will always think of me! Now, where can I put these at that’ll make them nice and visible to everyone, hmm…” he trailed off, grinning as his eyes settled on her head.
Without saying another word, he reached out, jamming a claw through the outside base of her right ear. He replaced the claw with an obsidian earring, pausing and examining his work. “You know, during my observations, I saw how she looked at you… almost as if you were her daughter! How absurd!
“Now, every time she looks at you, she can see just how badly she failed!” he exclaimed, puncturing her ear again, just a bit above the first hole as he placed another earring in it. “Not even telling you about her past, or the potential threats still out there!” He jabbed her a third time, leering at her. “She can see how she is the one who failed again!” he taunted, loudly laughing as he put a fourth earring into her ear.
Looking her over intently for a short time without saying a word, he pulled back, nodding. “Perfect, just enough to remind both of you of her failing, should she even manage to save you, that is,” he grimly spoke, putting the tray aside as he looked at her. “Of course, that wasn’t even the fun part, that happens now!”
Twilight’s screams filled the air as he began to chant that damned language again, forcibly twisting the magic that ran through her body to include her four new piercings. The words continued for just a few, short moments, until he finished with a smug look on his face. “And done, now should anyone try to remove those earrings, well… you might just have one of those nasty little fatal side-effects!
“I think we’re all good now, at least to the point where you can have some fun of your own! Now, do I send you directly after your idol, or do I send you off to ‘visit’ with one of your precious friends, hmm… decisions, decisions…”
Celestia was unable to even consider sleeping as she lay on the bed with Twilight, who was doing her best to break free from Celestia’s grasp. They had dropped the barrier around her mind hours ago, and if it weren’t for the sound barrier Luna was currently powering around the room, no doubt guards would have stormed the room almost immediately after the barrier was dropped.
She could do no more than sit here and wait, holding Twilight tightly to her as she did her best to provide comfort as the nightmares continued to roll forth, memories that she would never even wish on her worst foe running through Twilight’s mind. Her ears splayed against the back of her head as another soul-shattering screamed rent itself from Twilight’s mouth, and she could only close her eyes and silently cry as the struggling picked back up once more.
Tonight would be one without sleep.