In The Twilight of Harmony’s End

by Leonofsweden


Chapter 9 Games and Consequences

In the Twilight of Harmony’s End
Chapter 9
Games and Consequences

****

Slap!

Slap!

Slap!

Slap!

Slap!

Twilight groaned. Whatever that noise was, it was getting annoying.

Slap! “Ahhhh!” Twilight’s eyes opened with a start, the pain shooting through her cheeks suddenly registering in her brain.

“Wow. Can’t believe how long I could do that for,” Void’s gleeful voice said. “When that memory spell pulls you under, you really stay under.”

Twilight hissed through gritted teeth, the fire she felt burning on her cheeks only getting worse with every second. Through blurry eyes, Twilight took in her surroundings, noticing that things had changed since last she was awake.

“Why?” Twilight asked, tears streaming down her face no matter how much she fought against it. The position Twilight found herself and Rarity in now was even more humiliating than being shackled to the floor. Both of them were hanging suspended in the air by their front hooves, Twilight’s wings also firmly secured to her sides, leaving their bodies stretched out and exposed to any torment Void might want to inflict on them.

“Why?!” Twilight asked louder and more desperate.

Void looked at the purple alicorn like she was an idiot.

SLAP!

“Ahhhh! Stop that!” Twilight yelled, while the hardest blow she had received so far made her start spinning around in a lazy circle.

“You really haven’t grasped the concept here yet?” Void wondered. “Do you think anypony can go through a lifetime of what you haven’t even seen a week of without feeling a little bit of resentment? Especially towards those who could’ve done something about it, but never did?!”

“But we didn’t know!” Twilight stated frantically. “How could we have known? There was no evidence of what was going on! I didn’t even know you were at the orphanage until the day you ran into the Everfree!”

“No evidence?” Void scoffed. “There was plenty of evidence pointing to abuse: everypony just refused to see it!”

“I’m sorry for what happened to you, Void! But one isolated incident like this is more or less impossible to foresee or catch! I am truly sorry for what happened to you, but finding a single mad pony like Miss Bad Winnie would be like looking for a needle in a haystack that’s literally the size of Equestria!” Twilight shouted back at Void as she once again came into her view.

“Isolated incident?” Void started laughing harshly. “Don’t kid yourself Princess. While you’ve been sleeping for these two months, I’ve been doing what should have been done long ago. And do you know what I found without any real effort?” the black alicorn asked with a sneer. “I found a dozen Miss Bad Winnie’s throughout Equestria. Two of them made my caretaker look like Fluttershy in comparison!” Void screamed into the face of a startled Twilight.

“W… what?” Twilight stuttered out. “That’s not possible…”

“Oh… Then you try to find an explanation for all the skeletons of little colts and fillies I found in their orphanage gardens. Some of the bodies were so mutilated even I can barely comprehend it!” Void yelled angrily.

Twilight’s pupils had turned into pinpricks upon hearing what Void told her. Could there actually be ponies that had been worse than Miss Bad Winnie in charge of taking care of little foals?

“Oh yes…” Void answered Twilight’s silent question, as if she had spoken out loud. “Compared to much of the suffering I have found by only scratching the surface, mine seems insignificant. I am far from the only one who found themselves in a hopeless situation, but my case was far less severe than some of the most appalling ones.”

A very sinister smile spread on Void’s lips.

“I truly enjoyed testing some of the more painful procedures the Nightmare knew on them. To think that Celestia, who never would have found any of them, would merely have turned them into stone for all the suffering they caused.” The area around Void seemed to darken even further. “It would have been too lenient: even the suffering I managed to inflict before they died was nowhere near enough to atone for what they had done.”

A sudden groan from Rarity made the two alicorns turn their heads towards her. She blinked warily as she slowly woke up again.

“Excellent!” Void exclaimed gleefully. “Now we can finally have our little fun!”

Rarity winced and hissed as the joints in her front legs became aware of the strain placed on them by hanging suspended like she was.

“Oh dear heavens…” Rarity croaked in a whimper. “Have we not suffered enough?”

A snort was all the answer she got from Void, who stepped away from the two dangling ponies.

“Well I think it’s time to introduce tonight’s entertainment!” Void said happily, snapping her wings wide and making two pillars of light shine down upon a horrific scene.

Secured to the floor were two fillies, one orange and one pink.

“What the- WHOA NELLY!!” Applejack burst out in shock when she saw what was hanging above her and Pinkie.

“No! Void, I take it back! I call off the bet!” Twilight yelled in horror, when the thought of Applejack and Pinkie Pie actually being killed sank in with appalling clarity into Twilight’s mind.

“Oh, dear Celestia…” Rarity croaked. “What have we done? We should never have agreed to this madness...”

Suspended high up in the air was a huge block of obsidian, its jagged tips pointing straight down towards the trapped fillies. Also secured to the floor in exactly the same manner, no more than ten meters to the left of AJ and Pinkie, Angel Bunny lay struggling to get out of his bonds.

“That’s not fair, Void! Using Angel Bunny’s image like that!” Twilight yelled at Void in absolute fury.

“Oh really? I’m letting that wonderful, caring mare, choose between two children, with striking resemblance to two of her best friends, and a rabbit she already knows is dead,” Void answered mockingly. “If anything, I would say I’m making her choice quite obvious and straightforward.”

“You know it doesn’t work like that! Fluttershy is distraught about what she did to Angel! She could- hmmmf! Phuu? HUUUMPFF!!!” Twilight tried to scream through her now-gagged muzzle.

“Do be a dear and SHUT UP!” Void snarled. “Your bet was that Fluttershy wouldn’t sacrifice two fillies for an animal! This is the choice she has, now let’s see what happens.”

Following the statement, the whole room was plunged back into darkness except for the area around Void. Soon, sniffling could be heard, followed by a yelp before Fluttershy came floating out of the darkness.

Fluttershy looked at Void in absolute terror, shaking like a leaf and squeaking fearfully.

“I have some good news for you, dear Fluttershy,” Void said pleasantly, to which the shy mare only curled up even more into a ball as a response. “I’m going to let you go, and you can take some friends with you. All you have to do is choose which and you will be reunited with them,” Void stated pleasantly.

“Wh… What?” Fluttershy squeaked in bewilderment, not understanding what Void was getting at. She looked around, trying to understand what was wrong.

“Pay attention now, because I’m not joking Fluttershy: all you have to do is choose. After you have chosen you will be reunited with some of your friends,” Void stated again and gestured with her hoof behind Fluttershy where two pillars of lights now revealed the scene from earlier.

“All you-”

“Angel?” Fluttershy’s surprised voice cut off Void as her eyes zeroed in on her beloved pet before going wide at seeing his predicament. “ANGEL!!!”

In an absolute blur, Fluttershy was at Angel’s side, releasing the white bunny frantically before finally pressing him to her chest.

An absolutely horrific click sounded throughout the chamber. The sound of a screaming filly made Fluttershy spin around just in time to see the two little ponies she hadn’t even noticed be crushed beneath a giant block of obsidian. The sound of the impact was deafening and sent her pink mane twirling around her.

Back towards the black throne, two agonized, blood-curling screams where now ripping out of Twilight and Rarity as they frantically struggled against their chains trying to get over to the two crushed fillies.

In a muffled daze, Fluttershy sank to the floor, still clutching Angel Bunny, who had just gone limp. She looked from where the two fillies had been over to Twilight and Rarity: the two had both finally stopped struggling, but still wailed inconsolably. Her gaze finally settled on Void, who was rolling around on the floor in front of her throne, belly laughing.

“I… I… What just happened?” Fluttershy whimpered pathetically as she looked back towards where the fillies had been a few moments earlier. “That… They weren’t… They weren’t… real… They weren’t REAL! RIGHT!?!” Fluttershy screamed in soul wrenching agony.

Void righted herself and looked back at the desperate mare in absolute glee.

“Of course they were! It was Applejack and Pinkie Pie. I told you, you would be reunited with whoever you choose to go to. And you chose a shadow clone,” Void said coldly.

“NOOOO!!!” Fluttershy screamed as she fell to the floor sobbing.

“Oh, it went exactly as I thought it would. The moment you saw that little monster, the only thing in the world you could see was Bunny! Bunny! Bunny! BUNNY!” Void shouted teasingly before she started laughing again.

“You monster!!! You evil, horrible monster!!!” Twilight screamed at Void.

“Don’t be a sore loser, Twilight!” Void shot back as she stood up and started walking towards Fluttershy. The pegasus was now lying on the floor, shaking in convolutions; what had happened was finally fully striking home.

Rarity had passed out sometime during the last few moments, while Twilight was once again struggling with all her might to break the chain so she could get her hooves on Void.

“I am at least a mare of my word,” Void said as she stopped beside the shivering form of Fluttershy.

A moment later, the obsidian block shimmered and disappeared, revealing a very heavily breathing Applejack and a very dazed-looking Pinkie Pie. The latter had been snapped out of whatever dream world she had created for herself by the traumatic experience.

“Applejack! Pinkie!” Twilight cried out in disbelief and relief at seeing them unharmed. “Oh thank Celestia! I thought she actually killed you!”

Twilight’s head sank down as tears started to flow down her cheeks when she couldn’t keep her feelings inside. She was just so relieved and happy at seeing her two friends safe. She looked over towards Void with gratitude shining in her eyes.

“Thank you, Void… Thank you…” Twilight managed to croak out as she tried to compose herself again. “You… you aren’t, a complete… monster after all.”

“I told you Twilight, I’m a mare of my word,” Void answered coldly, making a chill run down Twilight’s spine as she looked up in bewilderment. “I said I would not torture Fluttershy ever again, and I won’t. Nevertheless, the bet that you lost was for the life of a friend. I just never specified which friend you would lose.”

Twilight’s eyes became pinpricks when she realized the implications of Void’s words. At the same time, a black blade shot out from Void’s hoof: a blade which she immediately stabbed viciously into the back of the still-whimpering yellow Pegasus on the ground.

A screen of agony tore from Fluttershy while Void pressed down on the helpless mare.

“NO! NO! Please, Void! NO!” Twilight shrieked frantically as she, for the second time in a few minutes, watched some pony she loved die in front of her eyes.

The gurgling and rasping of dying breath emanating from where Fluttershy lay became fainter and fainter as she slowly passed away.

Tendrils of black ooze began emerging from Fluttershy’s mouth and back where the black shadow blade was piercing her. The slithering coils quickly began covering the yellow Pegasus’ form while she jerked back and forth as tremendous pain flooded her body. The black ooze filled her throat: it was all that kept her from screaming.

Twilight watched in absolute horror as Fluttershy was engulfed in a cocoon of darkness and shadow. Once she became motionless, Void extracted her blade, which disappeared back into her leg.

“Now then, where were we?” Void said, calmly walking back towards her throne, floating Applejack and Pinkie Pie behind her. Both of them stared with wide eyes at Fluttershy’s still form.

“What… What just happened? Who are you?” Pinkie Pie asked in a hollow voice.

“Don’t you worry your little head, Pinkie; you’ll be back in your own little la la land soon anyway, I’d wager,” Void answered dismissively.

“No… I… What do you mean?” Pinkie Pie sputtered, her eyes glued to the black-coated, unmoving form of Fluttershy lying behind them on the floor.

“Well, it’s how you’ve been coping so far. You get this vacant look in your eyes and then off you go, throwing parties and having fun, fun, fun in that cracked little mind of yours,” Void explained as she looked back at Pinkie. “And there we go: you’re already slipping away, aren’t you?”

“Naha… I’m just… oh, hi Twilight…” Pinkie waved at Twilight as she floated by. “Want to join the party? Do you? Because I think… Madam le Flour… Would love...”

Pinkie’s eyes became more and more vacant. When Void laid Pinkie back in her little circle on the floor, stoically reattaching the chain and collar, the mostly black Alicorn sighed.

“I don’t even know why I bother with the chain on you. You’re not going anywhere anytime soon, are you?” Void stated.

Dismissing the pink pony, she turned her attention back towards the two still-conscious playthings she had left. Void could see that both Twilight and Applejack were staring back at her through gritted teeth, tears flowing freely down their faces.

“You… You just killed her… Why? WHY!!!” Applejack screamed desperately. “Ah could understand ya wantin’ ta get rid of me! But Fluttershy never did nuthin’ ta hurt ya one bit! SO WHY!?! ”

“Because it would hurt the rest of you girls to think she was dead of course,” Void answered matter-of-factly.

“Dagnabbit! Curse you!” Applejack roared and started fighting against her restraints, putting some real strain on the chains.

“Wait…” Twilight suddenly whispered, before her eyes went wide with shock. “What?”

“You’re supposed to be the smart one Princess. I’ve even told you this before,” Void said with a chuckle, “if my plan was only to kill any of you, I would have done it long ago.”

With that, Void looked back over towards where Fluttershy lay and smiled.

“Wouldn’t you agree?” Void rotated Twilight and Applejack so they could see their friend sitting up with her back towards them, staring out into the darkness.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight said, her breath caught in her throat. “Is that really you?”

Applejack now only hung limp in her restraints. Next to her, a sharp intake of breath announced that Rarity was once again conscious.

Fluttershy carefully stretched her wings experimentally, not really trusting what she was feeling, before turning around to face her friends and captor. Her serpentine eyes narrowed at the sight of them. Even more astonishing, Fluttershy noticed her eyes were now able to pierce through the darkness surrounding them. They had also changed color: their glacier-blue hue almost seemed to glow in the dark.

The shy Pegasus’ once pristine yellow coat was now completely black. The only thing left of her seemed to be her signature pink mane, which was now even more voluminous and made her look completely stunning as she stood up on her hooves.

“So, how are you feeling Fluttershy?” Void asked expectantly. “It’s been more than a thousand years since a Dread last walked upon the soil of Equestria.”

“Wait!” Twilight shouted with wide eyes as something sparked in her memories. “Dread? Wasn’t that what your… I mean… Nightmare Moon’s closest confidants were called in the Luna rebellion against Celestia?”

“Astute as always, my dear Princess,” Void answered. “And it is the end that awaits all of you. From this point on, you need only ask to join me at my side to be released from this place.”

The absolute horror and defeat that now radiated off the three captive mares almost made Void burst out laughing. Nonetheless she kept it in while she watched how Fluttershy slowly but surely made her way over to her new master.

“So?” Void asked again.

Fluttershy slowly cracked her neck, still not really used to being out of the cramped compartment of the animal carriage. With a sigh of relief, she once again stretched each of her wings, after which she smiled, showing off her now razor-sharp teeth.

“I feel…” Her face contorted a bit as she realized how she truly felt. “Horrible…”

“Well… give that a day or two and you’ll feel better than you ever did before,” Void stated while she looked the transformed Pegasus over. “The experience of becoming a Dread is hardly pleasant: not that I tried to make it so in the slightest.”

The statement made Fluttershy nod before she looked up at her three friends, seemingly only now registering their presence. They on the other hoof, one and all, had looks of complete disbelief plastered across their faces as they took in the new appearance of their friend.

“Oh, hi girls…” Fluttershy greeted in almost a normal speaking voice, but with the very Fluttershy manner of hiding behind her pink mane.

“D… Da… Darling… are you… alright?” Rarity stammered out as she met the piercing gaze of her best friend.

“Oh… Yes, I’m okay. It hurts a lot right now but… I think Void is right, it will be fine in a day or so when the process is complete,” Fluttershy answered and looked up at Rarity, smiling.

“What in Celestia’s name didya ta her, Void?” Applejack said sternly, making Fluttershy snap her eyes upon the apple farmer. Her powerful gaze cut off anything else the orange pony might have wanted to say.

“Nothing much, really. I flipped a few switches in her head, made Fluttershy’s self-prohibitions much less intrusive in her psyche, and also made it so that she will not hide away from the truth just because she doesn’t like it,” Void said with a smirk. “Oh! And I more or less stopped her aging, so she will be sticking around for quite a while now. Isn’t that nice, Twilight? You won’t have to worry about your friends dying off too soon: something Celestia could have done, but never would have.”

Twilight’s jaw was hanging open. The amount of things that could go wrong in a transformation like this, both physically and mentally, was just staggering. There was, after all, a reason why Celestia never tried anything like that on her little ponies. At least as far as she had explained why she would not do something similar.

“Now then, Fluttershy,” Void said and started moving away from Twilight, Rarity and Applejack. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. If my hunch is correct, there are still quite a few bad ponies out there to find and punish accordingly.”

“Oh? Really?” Fluttershy answered thoughtfully before looking back towards the other girls. “Then shouldn’t we bring Pinkie along?”

Void scowled down at the young Dread, causing her to immediately hide behind her pink bangs. But then, to all the ponies’ surprise, she looked up again at Void expectantly.

“Hmm…” Void murmured thoughtfully. “Why do you say that?”

“Well… you see… Pinkie is really good at finding things. And from what I’ve seen so far, Pinkie Pie hasn’t really done anything bad to you… Except, you know, your birthdays. So, anyway… I think she has been here long enough, and I would really enjoy her company while we look for the little colts and fillies,” Fluttershy said in a soft but still firm voice. “And if we are going to punish ponies… I’m just not… any good at that yet. It might change when I see the poor little dears that have been hurt, but the thought still troubles me a bit… Sorry.”

Void took a long hard look at Fluttershy, before finally smiling pleasantly back at her.

“Element of Kindness indeed…” Void said thoughtfully. “Very well, Fluttershy; for you my dear, I will oblige your request.”

“Oh! Thank you!” Fluttershy exclaimed giddily, her whole form exuding happiness and contentment.

With a nod, Void turned back towards the pink mare lying motionless in her chains.

“Wait! No! You can’t!” Twilight exclaimed in horror “I will not allow you to do this!”

“Really Princess? We’ve been here before: just how will you stop me?” Void wondered derisively, just walking past the dangling alicorn with not so much as a look towards her.

“Ponyfeathers!” Applejack cursed while fighting against her chains once again. Rarity just hung where she was, her tear-filled gaze fixed on Fluttershy, who simply smiled back pleasantly at her friend.

“Thought so…” Void retorted at the same time as the black blade once again shot out from her hoof. With a vicious thrust, Void stabbed it into the defenseless pony’s side, aiming straight for Pinkie’s heart.

A bloodcurdling scream emitted from Pinkie Pie as she was abruptly brought back to reality when the black ooze started to flow out over her body and rip through her innards. Just as Fluttershy had been earlier, Pinkie was engulfed in a cocoon of darkness and shadow.

Void extracted her blade, which immediately disappeared from sight. It didn’t take more than a few minutes for whatever magic was in effect to finally finish the first stage of the Dread transformation.

All five mares looked on; two in anticipation, three with cold terror, as Pinkie Pie stood up.

Pinkie now had the same black coat and glacier-blue glowing eyes that Fluttershy had. Her mane and tail had remained their trademark poufy bright pink. However there were now also black and very dark pink streaks running through her mane. As her serpentine eyes locked onto Void, Pinkie burst out into a wide grin, showing her newly-pointed teeth.

“HI! I’m Pinkie Pie! Do you want to be friends? I don’t know why, but I really like you a lot!” Pinkie said and giggled while her eyes focused on her three restrained friends.

“Oh! Hi girls! Are you all hanging out?” she said and laughed. “That’s a really weird game you’re playing.” Pinkie’s eyes widened as an idea struck her. “Oh, oh! I just had the most superrific idea! Let’s have a party for our new friend!”

With that, she bounced over to sit in front of Void, who only smiled down at her newest Dread.

“Yes Pinkie, that’s a very good idea,” sounded the timid voice of Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie looked over towards her friend and grinned widely.

“Wow! Did you do something to your mane? You look different… Super nice, but definitely different.” The puffy-pink-maned Dread thoughtfully tapped her own chin, trying to figure out what was so different about Fluttershy.

“Thank you, Pinkie… You look very nice, too,” Fluttershy answered.

“I do?” Pinkie said looking down at herself, with a gasp she took in her own changes. “Neato! I look super-duper-terrific-spookalicious!”

With that she bounced up, twirling about in place, making sure everypony could take in her appearance, before bouncing up to stand in front of Rarity, spread wide in a “ta-da” position.

“What do you say, Rarity? Isn’t it nice?” Pinkie said gleefully.

“Yes…” Rarity said with a strained smile. “You look very… lovely.”

A moment later, Pinkie had disappeared, leaving Rarity looking quite relieved.

“Where did-”

Two hooves hugged Twilight around her midsection before Pinkie’s ice blue eyes came into Twilight’s peripheral vision on her right.

“You know that looks really uncomfortable, hanging like that. You should think about getting down from there,” Pinkie said while she smiled up at her somewhat uneasy looking friend.

“We ain’t hangin’ here cuz’ we wanna, sugarcube. Void trapped us!” Applejack barked out in annoyance.

“Really? Why? Wait… I should know this!” Pinkie exclaimed and sat down, tapping the side of her head. It didn’t take long before Pinkie apparently came to a conclusion. She sat up straight and somehow managed to make a snapping sound with one of her front hooves.

“Oh right! We were all being inconsiderate meanie-pants to Scootaloo - not believing anything she said about Miss Bad Winnie. That forced her to seek the help of the Nightmare, who turned her into Void so that they could work together and try to fix it so that no bad meanie pants could ever harm a filly or colt ever again.” She smiled up at Void, who simply nodded back.

“That’s right, Pinke. So now, you and Fluttershy need to find more of the bad ponies. When you do find them, you will make sure whatever town or city that orphanage is closest to will be made aware just how thoroughly they failed to protect those colts and fillies,” Void stated firmly.

Fluttershy nodded once in understanding while Pinkie Pie’s head bobbed up and down so fast it was nothing but a blur.

“Okay so first off, find bad ponies, then make sure everypony knows what the bad pony did…” Pinkie’s faced scrunched up. “Then what?”

“Retribution, Pinkie. Retribution. You will take that bad pony somewhere out of sight, and then you will play with the bad pony until they can’t play any longer,” Void said with a very terrifying grin.

Pinkie only giggled and nodded in understanding.

“Don’t you worry, Void!” Pinkie said, smiling the most disturbing smile Twilight, Rarity or Applejack had ever seen. “I’ll play with them so they will never forget what bad ponies they were in life, no matter how little of that life may be left.”

“Very good.” Void patted Pinkie on the head. “Now, you two get going; you have a lot of work to do.”

“Okey-dokey-loki!” Pinkie said gleefully and bounced away. “Come on, Fluttershy! We got bad ponies to play with!”

“Oh, okay…” Fluttershy said quietly and hurried after her happily bouncing friend. “Bye girls, hope you join us soon. There are a lot of things we need to make right.”

With a final wave, Fluttershy disappeared into the darkness after Pinkie Pie.

“I almost forgot!” Pinkie’s loud voice suddenly yelled from behind Twilight, Applejack and Rarity. Not a moment later, the three mares found themselves in a giant bear hug, courtesy of Pinkie Pie.

“As soon as we’re all together again, I’ll throw us a humongous party!” Pinkie declared before giving her three friends a final squeeze and almost breaking each of their ribcages in the process.

Then Pinkie was gone again, without leaving so much as a clue as to how she had come and gone without being noticed by any pony.

Void gave a short laugh while she looked at the three gasping mares who were swinging back and forth in their chains.

“I guess Pinkie will always be Pinkie…” Void said and giggled demurely. “Now, where were we… Oh yes,” the dark alicorn raised an eyebrow and looked at Twilight. “How did you find yourself in the last memory, dear Princess?”

“I… I… I just can’t.” Twilight’s thoughts were very muffled and strained.

Too much had happened; too many strong emotions had torn through her psyche. The memories she had just woken up from felt like they had been days if not weeks ago. This made it difficult for her to grasp onto what she had been feeling while it played out.

“What… What do you want me to say?!” Twilight yelled. “I was wrong! I was so terribly wrong! And I’m sorry, Scootaloo!” she screamed, her voice breaking towards the end. “I’m… I’m so… I’m so sorry… Scootaloo…”

Next thing she knew, her whole body was catapulted away as Void bucked her viciously, snapping the chain she was suspended in. She shattered through the obsidian throne, only stopping when she smashed into the cavern wall behind the former seat of Void’s audience chamber.

As the purple alicorn slumped down on the floor, she groaned pitifully.

“TWILIGHT!!!” both Rarity and Applejack yelled in shock, thinking Twilight was surely dead.

“You’re sorry?” Void said with a snort. “Well, I guess it’s a start…”

Void slowly made her way over to Twilight, who was crawling along the wall trying to escape her tormentor. Applejack and Rarity were shouting frantically for Void to leave their friend alone: even going so far as trying to draw Void’s considerable anger towards them.

“SHUT UP!” Void bellowed in the Royal Canterlot voice, silencing the two ponies immediately. “You each had your turn: now it is little Miss Pretty Princess’ time!”

With that, Void stomped her hoof down in front of Twilight’s snout, shattering the stone floor. Twilight stared at the black, silver-clad appendage in fear of what was to come: her frantic mind working overtime coming up with all the things that Void could do to her in her defenseless state.

“Now then… Let’s start the trial of your willful ignorance, Twilight,” Void stated coldly.

“What? What do you mean?” Twilight answered looking up at the balefully glaring black alicorn.

“Come now, you’re supposed to be intelligent - work it out,” Void encouraged.

When Twilight did nothing but continue to stare up at Void, the black alicorn proceeded to viciously kick the purple Princess in the gut, making Twilight violently cough, trying to catch her breath.

“I said, work it OUT!!!” Void screamed down at Twilight.

*cough*
“Ook-”
*cough*
“okay…”
*cough*

Apparently satisfied by that answer, Void walked away while the purple alicorn continued her coughing fit. When it finally ended, and Twilight managed to take a deep breath, Void looked back expectantly.

“So…” Twilight began while breathing heavily. “You… You feel that I should somehow have known what was happening to you even though there were no signs of what was going on.”

“No signs?” Void snorted. “Let’s try this theory shall we...”

With that, Void started to advance on Twilight again.

“Tell me, Princess, how many times have I been limping through town with unexplained injuries?” Void asked.

“But you’re a tomcolt! Everypony knows that. You fall off your scooter all the time. You’re also a much more risk-taking filly than any other foal I know,” Twilight defended.

“Hmm… tomcolt?” Void said thoughtfully while nodding. “And yet Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, who I often pull behind me in their little red wagon when we crash, never seem to suffer the same injuries…” The dark alicorn tilted her head, looking thoughtful. “How peculiar... For one filly to suffer so many injuries when the other two do not.”

“Well… yes but… Still you are said to be a bit clumsy…” Twilight countered rather pathetically.

“I’m clumsy?” Void raised an eyebrow, “are we talking about the same filly? The filly who can blast through town on her scooter without hitting a single object when she’s not pulling her friends around; the one who does daredevil tricks that only a certain rainbow colored Pegasus could match; the one who’s without a doubt the best dancer in all of Ponyville, seeing as she’s able to do twirls and pirouettes that would leave a ballet dancer dizzy - are we talking about THAT CLUMSY FILLY!?” Void screamed down at Twilight who was cowering at the onslaught.

“Yes…” Twilight answered in near whisper once Void’s shout had stopped echoing around the chamber.

“I see…” Void conceded with a huff. “But you still haven’t answered the question, Princess: how many times have you seen or heard of me taking a tumble on my scooter that would coalesce with how often I was bruised, beaten and injured?”

“I… That’s a bit hard to remember…” Twilight croaked.

“Try…” Void said coldly, “or do I need to jog your memory a bit?”

“No!” Twilight answered immediately. “Okay, okay, just give me a minute… let’s see…” With that, the purple alicorn shut her eyes, trying desperately to remember hearing of, or seeing, Scootaloo take a tumble that would leave her as bruised and battered as she always seemed to be. After a few moments, she reached a total which, upon closer inspection, seemed impossible.

“Twenty-seven…” Twilight murmured in disbelief. “In the over one-thousand days I spent in Ponyville so far, I’ve seen or heard of you getting injured like that on your scooter twenty-seven times…”

“Well that’s twenty-seven days accounted for: that only leaves over nine-hundred and seventy-three days… Funny how I seem to be just as bruised and injured during those days as well, isn’t it?” Void said in a very condescending tone. “But I suppose that could be overlooked, especially since I was a tomcolt and all…”

Twilight had no answer for that. Now that she truly looked at the numbers, it was astonishing how anypony could have missed it during these last three years.

“But enough of that, let’s try your knowledge in cause and effect,” Void continued, “Tell me, off the top of your head, Twilight, what is the leading cause for late wing development in underage Pegasus foals born to non-Pegasus parents?”

“Oh… Let’s see.” With that Twilight entered her lecture mode: “The lead cause for late wing-development in underage Pegasus foals born to non-Pegasus parents are, according to statistics, malnourishment due to the lack of information given to unicorn and earth pony parents, especially in regard to the energy needed to develop proper wings. From the period of time when the Pegasus foals start developing their wings up until their adult size, their food consumption often triples or quadruples. This lasts until their wings are fully developed. Failure in meeting the nutritional demands of the foal leads to… under… developed… wings…”

As Twilight came to her stuttering halt in her lecture, Void burst out in a very toothy and evil grin.

“So tell me again how there were no signs of me being mistreated, Princess,” Void stated and slowly walked away from the stumped purple alicorn.

“I… I…” Twilight tried to speak, but any words she wanted to say just fled her paralyzed thoughts.

“Don’t…” the dark alicorn warned. “Somepony should have looked into why my wings weren’t developing long before you even came to Ponyville. But nopony did. Not even Nurse Redheart reacted because of how things are run. The orphanage was, after all, not within her jurisdiction. Miss Bad Winnie only filled out a form, saying everything was fine and every foal under her care was healthy, and that no foals needed medical attention. She sent that off to the main orphanage bureau In Canterlot and everypony believed her reports, of course. Since she’s an official caretaker, she would never tell a lie about something so serious; it’s her job and destiny to take care of fillies and colts, after all.”

Chuckling darkly, Void turned back to Twilight.

“You see how easy Celestia made it for anypony who wanted to be cruel, malevolent and downright evil to go unnoticed? As long as it didn’t threaten the perfect painting she had made of the world, it didn’t matter to her how many suffered behind the paper-thin veneer. Your perfect world is built on the suffering of its unknown victims. Now, tell me Princess, I am wrong to want to tear that world down!?” Void screamed at Twilight, once again standing over the trembling purple alicorn.

When no answer was forthcoming, Void grabbed hold of Twilight’s mane with her telekinesis, and started dragging the whimpering purple alicorn back towards her friends.

Both Applejack and Rarity were hanging speechless, having heard everything said between the two. Neither could comprehend just how they had missed so much; it seemed so obvious when they put everything together.

Could they all truly have been so caught up in their own lives, their own little bubble of happiness, so as not to notice any of this? The answer, unfortunately, was standing before them.

With a final jerk, Void threw Twilight so she ended up at the hooves of her two friends. Before she could even think about getting up, shadow chains shot out of the ground; crisscrossing over her torso and legs; binding her violently to the ground.

Grunting in pain as the bonds tightened more and more, Twilight once again noticed how the world started falling away. The memory spell was reasserting itself, inexorably dragging her down into the hell that had been Scootaloo’s life.

With a final shriek of pain, caused by Void’s hoof stomping down on her neck, Twilight started to fade from consciousness.

“When you wake up next, your fate will be decided,” Twilight heard Void’s malicious voice say just as everything turned black.

****

Thanks to Mikemeiers - pre-reader/editor
Thanks to Evanescyan - pre-reader/editor
Thanks to Syvvak - pre-reader/editor