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Chapter One4,433 words
Chapter Two3,294 words

Chapter Two

Ahead of me was a short hallway lit by a few faintly buzzing firefly lamps. I snuck down the hall.

"Look for a way downstairs. Lots of marks keep the good stuff downstairs," Hyrixx said.

"What if there's nothing there?" I had to ask.

"Well, little one, then we search upstairs," Hyrixx replied with a sneer.

I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it. Made me a bit angry. At the end of the hallway was an intersection, I chose the left one and was rewarded with a door that was slightly open.

Some pony was chanting downstairs. "Cruel and Merciless Shionar, grant me some of your powers."

I opened the door a bit more. There was a slight smell of rotten flesh wafting from below. Not for the first time, I would regret my decision to leave the park. Well, I just had to carefully go down the stairs. At every step, I expected the stairs to creak and expose me. Nothing happened, and I was at the bottom.

There was a door in front and one to the side. The rotting flesh smell came from the side door so that's the one I tried first."

Rarity grimaced. "I don't know if I could put up with such a stink."

Fluttershy nodded and continued. "Well, I just opened the door quickly and slipped in before anypony could see me. The smell was worse here. Not only was I smelling flesh, there were other things like a disgusting swampy smell and pony, um, droppings. I just stood for a second to let my eyes adjust. There was just one bright light ahead of me. I wished I just kept my eyes straight ahead, but I had to look to the side.

There were piles of bones to my left. The first pile was white and shiny. It didn't take me long to see what creature they belonged to. One look at the small colt skull and I knew. As I walked toward the greenish light, the piles of bone became more flesh and less bone. The last pile was just covered with water bugs. Across from them was a cage with a dead colt inside. Then it got up and looked at me.

"Wait! I know you! You're from Minimare! Please get me out of here! I don't want to end up like him." The colt looked at me then looked at the seething pile of insects."

Rarity looked at Fluttershy. "A dead colt talked to you?"

Fluttershy sighed. "I thought he was dead. I could see the poor thing's bones through its skin. It was just a poor starving colt from Sheltering Hooves. Even that terrible place was better than here. I looked at the cage, it didn't have a lock. I was about to say I couldn't open the door when it just opened. Hyrixx must have done something. For some reason, I was beginning to feel tired.

The colt looked at me. "How? How did you do that?"

I just shrugged. "Get out of here. Go up the stairs and head out. No delaying."

The colt ran past me with a clatter of hooves.

Only one more thing to do. For a moment, I thought about just getting out of here, but I had to know. I took a few unsteady steps to the pile of water bugs. Their bodies were brownish green under the lamp. I could just barely hear chewing noises. At first, I tried to brush them off so I could see the pony beneath.

The horrid creatures teased me with glimpses of orange fur in some places while others were just bone. I kept trying to push the things away so I could see more, but they began to crawl back like it was some sort of game. NO! It wasn't! SHOW ME MY BROTHER!

Foul things! I began to brush them off roughly then I moved to knocking them off and crushing the little horrors underhoof. The stink of fetid swamps arose as more and more of my brother was revealed. Well, I could see that these things had devoured most of my brother, and a great rage filled me.

I was going to make them pay! They must have known that playtime was over, and they began to bite. Then they swarmed me! The bites burned like they were putting some sort of venom in the wounds. More of the creatures covered me, and I started to worry for my life. I rolled around on the floor crushing hundreds, but more just flew on top of me with a whirr of brown wings. Just when I thought maybe it was over, they flew away from me.

"Well, it's the filly from the orphanage. How did you get in here?"

I looked up at Waterbug, it had a sour smell about him.

He stared down at me with his red eyes. "Well?"

I couldn't answer him.

He picked me up in a red telekinetic field and carried me into the other room. Then he tossed me on the floor like a bag of trash.

I tried to get up, but it seemed like my body was glued to the floor.

"Well, my little filly, tell me how you got here," Waterbug said.

No way was I going to talk about the voices. Then again, maybe if he thinks I'm crazy, he might give me a break. It was kinda weird that I haven't heard them in a while. I was truly alone. Well, I wanted to live so I begged for my life. "Please don't let those nasty bugs kill me. I-I won't say anything if you let me go."

The water bug chuckled. It was a mirthless sound. "Hmm, I could let you go. I have no interest in fillies, but you got through my magical wards. No normal pony could do that." He trotted up to me and did a deep sniff.

A chill raced down my back. Also, it was kinda gross. No pony does a deep sniff of strangers.

He stepped back, and his horn glowed like a small ember then it changed to a color like spilled blood. "I sense the influence of others on you. No matter. My master needs a sacrifice." Waterbug began to chant.

A cool breeze playfully touched the back of my neck. I really didn't want to turn around, but I had to. On my left and right were tables with things on them going back to a shadowy darkness. I guessed there was a wall, I didn't see it. The room seemed much larger than I expected.

Finally, I looked behind me. There were three ebony braziers where red flames grew and shrank almost randomly. I figured there would be some heat, but the flames were cold. Beyond them was a statue of a black male alicorn. Let's just say it was easy to see he was excited though his red eyes were colder than winter.

"Soon, soon, we shall have a playmate for you! Great and merciless Shionar, grant me the power of the dark alicorns of misery!" Waterbug cackled.

I wish that I could’ve taken a raincheck on this playdate. A blackness began to form in front of the braziers. It turned into a giant black shelled waterbug. Red flames danced around it. The foul creature was larger than Waterbug. How was I going to crush that with a forehoof?

I cringed and cursed myself for leaving the park again. I almost wanted to call some of the names of the voices to help me, but I managed to keep my mouth shut.

The bug whipped me with one of its antennae. There was a burning pain and oh Celestia! Was that burning fur and flesh I smell? My burning fur and flesh! I just ran to the right. The bug chased me. For some reason, it didn't climb on the tables and knock stuff off. It had to find the spaces between the tables just like I did. Some of the spaces were too small. I just galloped around and between tables.

After several minutes of galloping, I had to catch my breath. There was no sign of the bug or Waterbug. How big was this place? Was I in some sort of nightmare world? I just walked between some tables. My curiosity had been dampened a long time ago. The items on the tables ranged from things I didn't want to see to things I had no clue what I was looking at.

While I was walking down the aisles of the impossibly sized room, my nose caught the smell of pony mess. For some reason, I was compelled to find the source. “Gross."

Rarity picked up the empty water glass. "Do you want more water? I have to say, when I smell excrement, it's not going to end well."

Fluttershy nodded. "Um, yes, I want more water."

After a few moments, Rarity returned with the refilled glass.

Fluttershy took a few sips then she continued. "Well, I don't know what came over me. I just had to find out the source of the smell. I found it, somepony, probably Waterbug placed a golden statue of some pony that had ribbons for wings and a cloak for a face. I found that out after I pulled it out of the pit of crap."

Rarity exclaimed. "Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy smiled. "I don't know why I took some cloth off a table and tried to clean off the statue as best as I could. Then I left it on a table and trotted further down the aisle. So far, I saw no water bugs of any type. I was starting to think that maybe I could escape. Yeah, right.

The aisle ended at a strange machine that made my guts vibrate. You know like the bass speakers at one of Vinyl's parties?"

Rarity shook her head. "Not my type of music. I prefer something a bit more lyrical and less thumpy. Octavia's music is quite good."

Fluttershy nodded. "Well, this machine looked very strange. It had a flat area in the middle made of some sort of shiny reddish-brown metal. Around the edges were eight whitish columns.

Those grabbed my attention. You should've seen them Rarity. I said that they were whitish, but that wasn't the whole truth. I could see other colors mixed in with the white. Other colors I've never seen before. Colors I had no name for. Then I heard a whip crack and my plot burned!

The water bug had found me! I went inside the machine and hid behind the columns. The foul creature tried to whip me again, but it shattered one of the columns. Oh, the sound! It was so pretty, and somehow it was also sad like the death cry of some rare and beautiful animal.

Waterbug screamed. "What are you doing you stupid creature? It took me a lot of work to make those! Stop that at once!"

I smiled. Why? Well, even if Waterbug was going to do horrible unspeakable things to me, I had a way to hurt him. I took a breath to steady myself and then I turned and kicked one of the columns to pieces. Again, the pure sound happened. Also, the vibration in my stomach went to a lower key.

Waterbug screamed at me. "Stop that, filly, or you will regret it!"

I smashed another pillar. "You're going to feed me to your giant water bug, what do I care?" The next few minutes were a rage-filled blur as I smashed more of the strange pillars. The last one was the hardest because the vibration in my stomach was soooo painful. It was worse than any cramp I've ever had. Somehow, I managed to destroy the last one.

The pain was so bad I just lay on the floor of the machine. I looked up to see the demon water bug was also on the floor too. Its master also lay on the floor panting.

Strange colored sparks started flying from the top of the machine. One large one that smelled like cinnamon hit the water bug and the creature was gone. More sparks started spewing from the top of the machine.

I realized that I couldn't outrun them. Well, I couldn't even get up. The vibration was so bad I felt like somepony had driven a nail through my stomach into the bottom of the machine. I was going to die here. There was some comfort in that thought. I could be with my brother. Then again, I wanted to see the places that my books had shown me. Maybe there was a chance for me to get out of this alive?

Several sparks struck Waterbug and he screamed. For a moment, I felt sorry for him then I saw something strange. He changed from a pony to a strange creature with a pale skin and no hooves. I recognized what creature he was now. Human, he was a human. I found out about humans by reading Bulfinch's Mythology. To my surprise, he changed to another creature. I had no name for that one. More sparks hit him and he changed to other creatures. His last form was of some sort of creature with a lot of tentacles. Then he was gone.

The machine continued to spit out more sparks. I could see small multi-colored fires all over the place. If my life wasn't in danger, I would've called them pretty. It wouldn't take long for them to combine. For some reason, I hoped that the sparks would get me before I roasted or choked to death on smoke.

Well, I got my morbid wish. A greenish-red spark hit me and …."

Fluttershy stopped and looked at Rarity.

Rarity frowned. "So you're one of the trotting dead?"

Fluttershy smiled again. "Um, brains?"

Rarity looked at the clock.

Fluttershy nodded. "Sweetie Belle is going to be home soon. I better wrap this up." She looked around then continued. "I woke up in a white place. It wasn't like being in clouds, it was just a pure white. Maybe these are the Elysium Fields? Then I saw a bunch of silvery-white beings. The tallest one was some sort of creature with a lot of tentacles. It nodded at me and I just knew; that was Fx'a. A raccoon looking creature was next to Fx'a, that was Hyrixx. Behind them were more. These beings didn't say anything, but somehow, I knew they were grateful for my help. There was just one thing I needed to know.

"Um, Fx'a, why did you guys abandon me? I had to handle Waterbug all by myself."

Fx'a actually seemed to bow, I don't know how I knew. It faced me. "I am sorry but we couldn't help you, the magic from the dark horse statue with the wings and horn prevented us from helping you."

Hyrixx grimaced. "We thought that git has got you for sure, but then you found his machine and sorted it out. Without that machine, he can't escape."

Fx'a nodded. "When I finally stood face to face with Water Bug, he had a different name back then. Anyway, he summoned demons and commanded them to ignore me and ravage the surrounding city. I had to choose between my duty to the city and the children. I had to chase down all of the foul ones and when I was weak from exertion and blood loss, Waterbug slew me. Then he laughed and left my world."

Hyrixx grimaced. "I had snuck into his kip, um, home to free a friend's son. I was too late and wanted to sort im out. Well, he made me cut me own throat." He smiled. "Now, he's going to get his! Little one, I can tell you're not for the thieving life. No big deal. I can say you're the proper sort that many would be honored to call friend. I'd stay and jaw with you some more, but I want to move on."

I nodded. "Thanks, all of you."
Then they faded away.

After that, I heard the joyous voices of colts and children at play. Silvery children and colts ran past me. As they passed, I had a feeling who they were. One hung back and looked at me. At that moment, I knew who that was. My brother smiled and I felt his love and reassurance that everything would be alright then he faded away. I called out to him, but there was no reply.

Something tugged me gently into darkness. No, Rarity, it wasn't a fear-filled dark. It was what you see behind your eyes before you go to sleep after a day well done.

Then I woke up in a bed with a too soft mattress in a hospital in Coltentry. A nurse told me about what happened. Totterdark was consumed in a huge fire. Surprisingly, there were no casualties. I asked if there were any burn marks on me. The pain from the demon water bug's attacks was still very fresh. The nurse said she didn't see any burns. Of course, I asked about how I got to the hospital. She replied that a pensioner found me.

He had left a strange message for me. "The path of Kindness can be hard, but there are rewards for those that trot upon it."

Rarity peered at Fluttershy. "The path of Kindness? Well, I do have to say sometimes being an element of harmony is not all blue skies and sunshine."

Fluttershy nodded. "Yes. When I was older, I did a search for the pensioner. You know, that's what they call a retired pony in Great Braytain. He said that a strange pony with a cowl over its face and wings like glowing ribbons gave my unconscious body to him. The pony also passed on the saying about kindness."

Rarity looked at the clock and then back at Fluttershy. "Who was that pony or pony being?"

"I don't know. I planned to research it later, but I never got around to doing it. They moved me to another orphanage, but this was a good one and I was adopted within a few days. My new parents moved to Cloudsdale. You know the rest. Again, thank you Rarity for listening to my sad tale," Fluttershy said.

Rarity gazed at Fluttershy. "Do you miss your brother now?"

Fluttershy sighed. "Sometimes, but I know someday I’ll be with him."

"So are you planning to exterminate more of the foul creatures?" Rarity said.

Fluttershy shook her head. "After telling you this story, I realized where my hatred came from. No, I plan to turn them into bits."

Rarity peered at Fluttershy. "Foul roaches turned into bits? That would be an interesting spell to learn. I could go by that horrid Hayburger's and be the richest pony in town!"

Fluttershy and Rarity laughed.

Fluttershy giggled for a few more moments. "Um, no, it won't involve magic. That scruffy unicorn that was at the restaurant today has been saying he would pay bits for healthy water bugs. Also, the Boarkin company might want a few to study too."

Rarity waved her right forehoof around. "Waterbuggious Bittos." A golden glow covered her hoof.

That caused another round of laughs and giggles. "Well, Fluttershy darling, I wish you well."

Rarity smiled then the door banged open.

Sweetie Belle burst in with a hundred watt smile and a gallon jug filled with water bugs and some leaves. "Rarity and Fluttershy, look, we found these big bugs on the way home! Can I keep them?"

Rarity looked inside the bottle and saw water bugs crawling around in it.

Her eyes narrowed.

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