I was led through what appeared to be the hallways of the Canterlot Castle, which were surprisingly empty. Celestia led at point, whilst a rather scary Solar Guard marched behind me, watching my every move. I couldn't blame him really, I was a prisoner being led to some unknown location by the Princess herself. I could practically feel his gaze burning into the back of my head, which was not a nice feeling. I trotted onward, our hoofsteps echoing throughout the empty corridors. The whole time I found myself trying desperately to keep as far away from the Princess as possible without seeming like I'm trying to slip away and make a hopeful escape, which wasn't an easy task considering that the guard would shove me forward every time I'd try to slow down. Mind you, I wasn't trying to slow down on purpose, it was all subconscious. I knew the Princess wanted answers, and I knew that she was going to resume questioning me when the time came, and that is what I was afraid of.
I glanced downwards, staring at the white marble tiles reflecting my image. I was not in the best shape I have to admit. My eyes were bloodshot, my navy blue mane in a mess... hey, I looked like some madpony. Which... was not a good thing. I wanted to be seen as innocent and trustworthy as possible, not like some somepony mentally ill. Changing my appearance wouldn't make much of a difference. After all, I did murder somepony, but it was all worth it. Right? Every second I spend in here. It's all worth it... all worth saving my friend's life...
...
I must've stopped walking; because a sudden jolt of pain erupted from my flank causing me to jump forward instinctively to escape what I presumed was the culprit of the pain I had just been presented to.
"Keep moving, prisoner," the guard commanded in that deeply intimidating voice of his, spitting out the word 'prisoner' with clear distaste.
I obliged without a word, but not before glancing behind at my flank which now had quite a large cut right above the blue shield that was my cutie mark. A thick, crimson liquid oozed out of the newly formed wound. It stung like Tartarus, but I wasn't going to complain, it could be a lot worse. I took one last, worried glance at the guard before continuing on my way. The wound wasn't deep, but it was large, and dangerously close to my cutie mark.
It took around ten minutes for us to reach our destination, which was the throne room. As Celestia approached the over sized double doors, the pair of unicorn guards stationed at the doors began to open the large doors with magic as their horns were engulfed in matching silver auras.
I took a single fearful look at the guard, who motioned with his hoof for me to follow Celestia in. And seeing that I had little choice, I reluctantly followed the Princess in; the large doors slamming shut behind us, sealing me in with the Solar Princess.
The fact that I was terrified would be an understatement. I had not a clue what was going to happen to me. I knew the punishment for murder was banishment to a non-Equine country, but Celestia knows what other punishments awaited me.
'Heh, now that I think about it; Celestia DOES know what other punishments await me...' At that somewhat dark thought, I chuckled nervously to myself, mentally facehoofing at my poor joke.
The chuckle obviously wasn't quiet enough, as the Princess turned around and glared at me...
"Uhm..." I started.
"Is something funny, Hollow?" The Princess questioned me, an eyebrow raised in obvious amusement.
"Uh... n-no, not at all." I stammered, unable to think up a decent excuse for laughing behind the Princess' back.
The Princess continued to stare at me with a somewhat unamused expression, causing me to shift my gaze to the ground, nervously tapping the marble floor with a hoof.
Moments passed before I finally worked the courage to glance up again, only to find that the Princess had continued walking, leaving me quite far behind.
In a panicked rush, I stumbled forward. Forgetting that this room was made of polished, shiny rock, and the fact that hoofsteps echo throughout the palace if loud enough. Unfortunately, I didn't take these facts into account and ended up causing quite a loud, dull screeching noise with every clumsy step I took, causing the Princess to yet again turn her head toward me... a somewhat less happy expression now plastered upon her muzzle.
"Please, try to keep up," she said, causing me to wince and drop my gaze in embarrassment. She didn't comment on the noise I made in my rush to keep up with her, of which I was grateful for.
The Princess stared at me for a few more moments before yet again turning back and continuing on her way towards the throne, with me now following close behind her making sure not to fall too far behind.
Less than a minute of walking later, we made it to the throne. The Princess then instructed me to stand at the foot of the throne, before walking up the steps and sitting down on the large seat.
I glanced nervously around the room, not willing myself to meet the gaze of the Princess that was currently staring at me with an unreadable expression.
It was clear what was going to happen next, I had no doubt in my mind that the Princess was going to order some form banishment sentence. What came next I could only describe as... I guess you could say it surprised me, caught me off guard. The Princess stood up from her throne, blasted me with a ray of golden light... my vision, it turned a reddish hue, only this time I didn't feel any anger... at all.
In fact, I couldn't feel anything, no heartbeat, nothing. I could see, but it seemed I had no control over anything else; it was unsettling to say the least.
The Princess' mouth moved, seemingly speaking to herself. I couldn't make out any words, which bugged me, I wanted to know what she was saying. After a few moments she began circling me, entering and leaving my view. I tried turning my head to face her, only to find my body still wouldn't respond to my wills.
A minute passed, and I began panicking. I desperately struggled against whatever force was preventing me access from my own body, doing what I thought was the equivalent of pounding on a wall, not that there was actually a wall in my body or that I was literally trapped in my own body. Pounding on a wall is just the best I could explain what it felt I was doing.
Whatever I was doing obviously had an effect on my body, as Celestia stopped circling me and stared at me in mild surprise, eyebrows raised and everything. It was actually rather amusing to see that expression on the Princess... not that I'd ever tell her that.
What happened next only led to more confusion. She summoned a rather large, expensive looking mirror, and levitated it so I could see my reflection. What I saw... it disturbed me.
I saw me... with a few changes. My usual navy blue mane was now a darker shade of blue and was slick with sweat, my horn had red magical sparks dancing around from the base before reaching the tip and discharging into the air, my coat was somewhat darker than its original grey… and my cutie mark… what used to be a blue shield, was now a sinister looking crimson shield, and it frightened me.
I don't know what happened... but after I noticed how I changed, something snapped. I heard a light fizzling sound, and I found myself back in control of my own body. Glancing wearily back at the mirror, I found that my coat was again its original colour, the same went for my mane… and cutie mark.
I tried to take a step forward, only for my legs to buckle underneath me. My head hit the hard surface of the marble, my vision began to dim...
'Not again, please not again, please not... buck'