The six friends stared at the courtyard beyond the castle walls. The black castle itself sat in the middle, surrounded by lava fountains which served as decoration. Around them, the black outer walls stood tall, reaching for the sky with pointed roofs.
Ahead of them, the doorway to the main castle shimmered, displaying six colours, white, yellow, pink, orange, cyan and purple. For a brief moment, Twilight thought she saw the face of Princess Celestia in with the colours, but shook her head.
“Twi,” Applejack spoke up, “what is this?” she asked.
“By the looks of things, its some sort of spell to keep us out.” Twilight replied.
‘How right you are,’ Ulysses spoke through magic from somewhere within the castle, ‘did you honestly think this would work? Bringing a fight to me, to distract me so you could get in and defeat me? I care not for my loyalists, they are power grabbing simpletons, unable to see the truth. Live or die, what becomes of them means nothing in the grand scheme of things.’ he said.
Twilight looked over her back and out past where the gate to the castle had once stood.
--
Soarin’ carefully looked at the loyalists around him. The resistance had long since defeated the enemy generals that had given orders, leaving Ulysses’ forces with no one in command. The remaining forces had surrendered, and were now being led back to various Resistance bases for questioning, trial and punishment.
He looked at the castle one last time, and left with his troops to the main headquarters, all the while, unable to shake the feeling that it had been far too easy a victory.
--
“So now what Ulysses?” Twilight asked, returning her attention to the main castle in front of her.
‘In the six years since I became Lord of Equestria, I have been fair to all who challenged me to a fight. We shall fight on equal terms. Around you, in all but one of the towers, are the elements of harmony I took from you six years ago. Each door to the tower bears the name of the element at the top. Sadly, you had to bring the Element of Loyalty today, so, for the one marked ‘loyalty’, simply do what the others must, and the way in shall open.’ Ulysses replied.
“Do what the other must?” Rainbow Dash questioned, her eyes narrowing in anger.
‘Oh, yes. Almost forgot. To gain the element, you must face a horror. A mind breaking, heart wrenching horror. Overcome it, and the element is yours once more. Fail and well... I’ve lived in here six years waiting to put this plan into action, it matters nothing to me if I must stay in here, isolated, while the world outside dies from the day-night. Good luck.’ Ulysses taunted.
The six friends looked at each other, and simply nodded their heads as they each took a tower, often running to a different one if it didn’t have the name of the element they usually bore. As they found their tower, they entered and begun to climb to the top.
--
Twilight climbed the tower slowly, checking ahead of her as she walked. The only light in the tower was purple, which hardly helped to brighten up the black stone of the walls and floor. Ulysses’ words played on her mind, and she begun to think of all the horrible things he could have prepared for her, in an effort to make whatever she faced less horrible than it otherwise would have been.
Finally, she came to a door where the stairs stopped. It was a very basic wooden door as she drew near, but soon, as it got nearer, it changed into a door that was usually found in the castle at Canterlot. She had expected he would use her home as the basis for the horror, and fully expecting what she assumed she would find, she opened the door.
The sight that met her made her instantly turn around and gag. It hadn’t been what she had expected. She had expected on opening the door to find a very angry Princess Celestia, and while Princess Celestia was there, she wasn’t angry. The best way to describe what she saw, was that the princess currently lay on the ground bleeding quite heavily from many stab wounds on her body.
“T-twilight S-sparkle,” Princess Celestia called out. Reluctantly, Twilight turned and walked slowly into the room, the smell of death thick in the air. She walked to where she recalled where the princess’s head would be, and looked down, “I’m glad, you... came. I-I never wished for... you to see me like this, but...”
Princess Celestia was clearly struggling to remain awake to talk to Twilight.
“Princess, please, save your strength, help will come soon.” Twilight pleaded.
“I-it is too late for me... just k-keep in mind, I-I will always be... proud of you.” Princess Celestia struggled for breath.
“No, please, Princess! Don’t die, not like this...” Twilight now begged, tears forming in her eyes.
“Y-you must find... Princess Luna. S-she must take my place...”
Twilight begun to cry and looked around, hoping there would be somepony who could help. The windows, as she noted, looked odd. There was no light coming through them, and actually looked like there were walls behind them. Twilight suddenly shook her head, and stopped crying, though her eyes remained red from what she had already done.
“This isn’t real.” She said flatly.
“W-what are... you talking about... my faithful student? I-it is sadly very... real.” Princess Celestia said, looking up weakly at Twilight.
“No, it isn’t. I was walking up a tower in Ulysses’ castle to get the Element of Magic back, there’s no way I would suddenly be at Canterlot! And further, there’s no way Ulysses has the power to even fight you for long, so he banished the real you. This is just an illusion!” she shouted.
The room swirled around the fake Princess Celestia, as the fake changed into the crown which held the Element of Magic in it.
‘Oh well done Twilight Sparkle,’ Ulysses said, ‘quite fast for you to work out the truth. And more than just with the illusion, you worked out that I couldn’t fight your precious Princess, let alone her sister at the same time. So I did exactly what you just said. Now hurry, your friends are waiting.’
Twilight used her magic and placed the element of magic crown on her head, and ran out of the small room it and she had been in, back down the stairs.
--
Rarity had stopped before the door of the tower she had taken. She looked down the steps, and looked at the door before her. At some point in between, it had changed from a simple, rather boring wooden door, to the door in her shop, which led to her sewing machine. Carefully, she pushed it open.
The room beyond was a mess, with fabric, ribbons and various other fashion items scattered at random across the room. She smiled a little, relieved that all Ulysses could come up with to try and horrify her was a simple untidy work room.
Then she saw it. Or rather, her. By her sewing machine, crying, was Sweetie Belle. Rarity trotted over, and recoiled when she stood beside her sister. Sweetie Belle had become attached to the fabric she had been attempting to sew together, and the machine had now, somehow, sewn part of Sweetie Belle’s leg to the fabric, and she was bleeding heavily.
“I’m sorry big sis,” Sweetie Belle looked at Rarity, “I had an accident. Don’t be mad that I ruined your fabric.”
Rarity didn’t reply right away. She held Sweetie Belle’s hoof still and used her magic to reverse the progress that had been made by the machine.
“Sweetie Belle, if you think I’m going to get angry over the fabric, when you are hurt this badly, then I clearly don’t have my priorities straight! With this much blood, the fabric means nothing, but getting you help to stop the bleeding, that’s far more important right now.” Rarity replied, hoping the fabric would soon be free of the machine.
But the fabric seemed endless, and Rarity gritted her teeth together, while beside her Sweetie Belle became weaker and weaker. Rarity groaned in frustration.
“Sis, I don’t feel too good.” Sweetie Belle stated, her head dropping down.
“Stay awake Sweetie Belle, I’ll soon get you free.” Rarity replied.
Sweetie Belle collapsed, and stopped breathing as Rarity dropped her pointless effort to remove the fabric from the sewing machine. Rarity attempted to wake Sweetie Belle up and get her breathing again, but failed, and she burst into tears.
After three minutes, Rarity stopped, as a sudden realisation came to mind. How did Sweetie Belle get to Ulysses’ Castle, then stuck to the sewing machine, when she had left her back in Ponyville for her own safety?
“This was a very nasty trick Ulysses. But only that. I should have remembered sooner where Sweetie Belle was.” Rarity muttered to herself.
‘You should have yes,’ Ulysses had clearly been laughing, ‘but I can see why you bear the Element of Generosity. You selflessly worked to try and save your dear, little sister, despite her blood ruining a very nice piece of fabric. True, not the best example, but then, I don’t expect to find deep waters with you.’
“What? Are you saying I’m shallow?” Rarity shouted to the air, as the room swirled around the fake Sweetie Belle and became the choker with the Element of Generosity in it.
‘As shallow as a paddling pool.’ Ulysses replied.
Rarity huffed, and left carrying the Element of Generosity with her magic.
--
Applejack hadn’t been as bothered by the sudden change in the door as she got to it. She had actually expected something like it as she had walked up the tower. It had gone from a simple wood door, to the red painted door of the barn.
But what happened next surprised Ulysses more than Applejack. She had walked in, and was met right away with the sight of Big Macintosh, crushed in the apple press machine. She had at first stared in shock, before simply snorting, as if it were some sort of big joke.
‘Why are you laughing Applejack? Your brother is dead, right there, in front of you. Don’t you feel sad?’ Ulysses asked.
“Hehe, yes, Ah probably should be, its just,” she took her hat off and fanned herself, “did ya really expect me ta believe Big Macintosh SOMEHOW got from Ponyville, to yer castle, then up this tower and crushed himself dead? Pull the other one, Ah ain’t buying it.”
Ulysses growled. The room swirled around the fake dead Big Macintosh and turned into the Element of Honesty, which floated over to Applejack’s neck and attached itself around it.
‘At least your other friends are playing along.’ Ulysses snapped.
“Yeah well, ah don’t embody honesty fer nothin’.” Applejack replied, looking smug as she headed back down the tower.
--
It hadn’t taken Fluttershy long to get to the top of the tower she had entered. Having wings helped, and despite the fact she often liked to walk, she did use them when it saved time. Around her, the landscape she had become familiar with around her cottage burned. She wished she hadn’t flown so fast to get things over with, so she could just go home and tend to the animals and forget the horrible ordeal.
Slowly, tears ran down her face, as she sat among the fires, and watched the part of the Everfree forest that was near her home burn.
‘Ah, just wanted to check on you. Normally, I wouldn’t pay any attention to pegasi, but well,’ Ulysses let loose a single laugh, and quickly caught himself, ‘if my memory is right, you are easily scared or saddened. So? Have I broke you yet? Don’t you just want to curl up into a ball and die?’
“No.” Fluttershy said firmly.
‘Ah ha... wait, what?’
“I said no. You haven’t broken me.” Fluttershy replied.
‘Huh? But... your home, the homes of all those sickeningly and disgustingly cute animals are burning all around you. You should be a gibbering wreck!’ Ulysses shouted.
“This horror you picked for me, it looks like the land around my home anyway. You're showing me what you already did.” Fluttershy stated, wiping the tears off her cheeks.
‘So what? That still should make you sad, want to give up and just die for being a pegasus.’ Ulysses replied.
“If you wanted that, you should have picked something else. I already cried over this sight yesterday, and I know the animals are fine. This means nothing to me since I saw what you did back at Ponyville. There’s a time to cry, and for me, that time has been and gone.” Fluttershy said.
Ulysses groaned. The sight of the burning land around Fluttershy disappeared, and the Element of Kindness appeared, and floated to her neck. With a weak smile, Fluttershy begun the walk back down the tower.
--
Pinkie Pie was currently crying at the sight before her. The door had been normal, even as she opened it. But then she saw her friends, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity. They were all laying dead before her, not a single mark on them. Standing among the bodies was a brown alicorn, staring down at her.
“This isn’t real, this isn’t real, this isn’t real...” Pinkie Pie repeated softly to herself, closing her eyes tight.
“Oh but it is it Pinkamena. And you know what? You did this! You killed your friends! Endless parties, their energy drained, and they died.” the alicorn taunted, stepping on Rainbow Dash’s chest, which crunched underneath from the alicorn’s weight.
“It’s not real, my friends are in other parts of the castle, I didn’t kill them. You're some kind of horror sent by Ulysses.” Pinkie Pie said, her eyes still closed.
“Hardly. I am here to make you face the truth. You killed your friends.” the alicorn taunted.
“W-when I was a l-little filly a-and the sun was going d-down...” she begun to sing through her tears.
“Now do you like parties? Your parties kill ponies!” the alicorn continued, unaware of Pinkie singing.
“T-the darkness a-and the shadows, they w-would always make me frown...”
“Stand and face the truth!” it shouted.
“I-I’d hide under m-my pillow, f-from what I t-thought I saw...”
The alicorn stopped its advance on Pinkie, and looked at her sadly. A second later, it placed a hoof on her, and comforted her.
“That song.” it said.
“Huh?” Pinkie asked, looked up.
“I remember hearing it... so long ago... I was just a spirit, wandering the Everfree forest. I hated the living for being alive, but then... that song... all my anger washed away. It was you, wasn’t it? You were there and sung it.” the brown alicorn said.
“Yes, my friends were scared, but I sung the song because I wasn’t scared, and I knew they shouldn’t be either.” Pinkie said, smiling despite the tears rolling down her face.
“This unicorn appeared some time later and captured me, it focused my anger towards the living, and not even remembering the song could free me. Could,” the alicorn looked stupid for a moment, before shaking its head, “could you sing it for me? Give me the peace that I seek, that there is no reason to hate the living.” it said, smiling down at Pinkie.
Pinkie cleared her throat, and continued to sing.
“But Granny Pie said that wasn’t the way, to deal with fears at all.
She said: Pinkie, you got to stand up tall,
Learn to face your fears,
You’ll see, that they can’t hurt you,
Just laugh and make them disappear.
Ha, ha, ha!”
As she sung, the horn disappeared off the alicorn, and he shrunk down to normal pony size. Right away, one of his wings turned into a torn and broken wreck, covered with bite marks. But he stood there, smiling, as his once solid appearance became transparent. As Pinkie finished her song, the pegasus had almost completely vanished, and around where he had been, the fake bodies of her friends swirled and became the Element of Laughter, which placed itself around Pinkie’s neck. She remained there for a moment, smiling as the last traces of the spirit vanished.
‘Thank you... for freeing me...’
--
Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie breathed a sigh of relief when they saw each other in the courtyard once more. Each took it in turns to tell the others what they had faced, and had laughed at how cool and calm Applejack had been, despite Ulysses’ best efforts to shake her with the image of her older brother being crushed dead. They looked around, and noted that, despite her usual speed, Rainbow Dash had still yet to turn up.
“Do you think she’s ok? I mean, Ulysses did give her a hard time six years ago.” Fluttershy said.
“I have a bad feeling girls, we’d better go check on her.” Twilight replied, galloping at full speed towards the tower Rainbow Dash had gone in.
--
The door at the top was open slightly, and from it came a sound that made the five friends feel very nervous. It was Rainbow Dash crying, combined with the sound of a hoof stomping against something. With caution, Twilight pushed open the door, and looked inside.
The room was small and dimly lit. In the middle of the black stone floor stood Rainbow Dash, dully stamping on some bundle beneath her that was a muted pink. The five friends walked into the room, unsure of what to do next. They hadn’t ever heard Rainbow crying before, it wasn’t something she was prone to.
“Dashie?” Pinkie called out.
Rainbow Dash stopped her repetitive stamping on the pink bundle before her and looked around. Her eyes were red, and the tears flowed freely down her face. She moved fast, literally flying across the room and grabbed Pinkie tightly.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Rainbow Dash cried, resting her head against Pinkie.
“Sorry for what?” Rarity asked.
Twilight looked at the bundle still laying on the floor. She narrowed her eyes slightly and walked towards it. She paused half way there, spotting blood.
“Someone check Rainbow’s hooves for any cuts.” Twilight called out.
Behind her, Applejack checked Rainbow’s front hooves, and saw a small cut by her cutie mark.
“Nothin’ on her front hooves, but she has a cut by her cutie mark.” Applejack replied.
Twilight examined the pink bundle, and screamed at the sight. Looking back up at her was Pinkie Pie, who had clearly been alive and well some time prior to their arrival to check on Rainbow. But her mane was flat and her colours muted. A short distance away was a butchers knife, which shone dully in the dim light of the room.
“Rainbow, what happened here?” Twilight asked, looking back at Rainbow Dash.
“W-when I arrived, Ulysses was here. H-he laughed, cast magic, a-and suddenly, there was Pinkie. She t-tried to murder me.” Rainbow replied, crying. As she finished, she collapsed to the floor.
Twilight looked at each of her friends in turn, lingering at Pinkie Pie, who had gone pale at the sight of an identical copy of her body just across from her. It didn’t take any imagination to work out what had happened next. Faced with a Pinkie Pie, hellbent on killing her, Rainbow had fought for her life, and won. Her resulting sorrow was clearly because she felt she had been disloyal to a friend.
What didn’t make sense to Twilight was one simple fact. Ulysses had been there in the room. He had the chance to take the Element of Loyalty from Rainbow Dash and leave her alone. Why had he left it behind, and make her choose between living and dying in the face of a twisted version of Pinkie Pie?
With no purpose to remaining in the tower, the six begun to head back to the courtyard. Applejack waited with Rainbow Dash before walking away, while Fluttershy hurried up and left with Pinkie Pie, who had been all too eager to leave the sight of her doppelganger's dead body. Twilight let Rarity go ahead, while she took up the rear of the group, ready to protect them all should Ulysses spring one last trap.
--
As the six friends crossed the courtyard once more to the now open door to the main castle, Twilight listened. Rainbow Dash had insisted she walked by herself the rest of the way down the tower, and Applejack was still telling her that it had been a trick by Ulysses, to break her and make her give up so they would be unable to do anything to him.
Similarly, Fluttershy was attempting to cheer Pinkie Pie up, who had become depressed after seeing the body of herself in the same tower Rainbow had been in. Fluttershy was telling Pinkie what she could do for a party after everything was over, and while she didn’t respond as she normally did, Pinkie Pie was at least replying with questions, or comments about what Fluttershy had just said.
And in her own way, Pinkie Pie was helping Fluttershy, who had become very scared of the situation they were all in.
In the main castle, Twilight noted that the black stone of the floor and walls had decoration. A carpet ran in the middle of the floor, and split to follow each different route the hallway led to. On the walls, coat of arms were present every so often, a grey shield with a unicorn horn, and the words of a long dead language underneath which read ‘For the glory of the unicorns’.
The six friends climbed the staircase that had been at the far end of the hall, and the black familiarity of the towers returned. It spiraled high, and not much changed as they all climbed, save for a torch every so often.
At the top, the stairs opened up to a large landing, which itself was black like everything else. Before them stood two huge black doors.
“Alright girls, I have no idea if this is the right place, but we’re about to find out. Everypony ready?” Twilight asked.
This was met with nervous responses of yes by the other ponies.
“Ok, let’s go.” Twilight replied, pushing the doors open.