King of Tyrants

by JeSuisLaPorte

5. Chained

Chains rustled, candles burned, and strange footsteps resonated in the distance. Twilight slowly awakened to these unfamiliar sounds. Her head was still hurting her greatly. The pain must have slowed down her mind as it took a while for her to realise where she was.

In her haze, she tried to move her hooves since she was in a rather uncomfortable position, but they struggled to even stretch outward. Surprised, she tried harder, but it was to no avail. They were chained to the wall. These chains were deathly cold, the same went for the wall she was practically glued to. The mare gasped; she remembered what happened before she woke up here. The apple cider cellar, the painting and lastly, the growl of the monster before it struck her down.

The unicorn tried to snap the chains off with her magic, but her horn wouldn’t charge up no matter how hard she tried. Moving her head around, she felt something wrapped around her horn. It didn’t take her long to realise it was a ring that inhibited unicorn magic. With this ring, she was powerless and worst of all, she couldn’t take it off no matter how hard she pushed on it. Twilight started to panic as the gravity of her current predicament started to sink in.

Looking around the cell was all she was allowed to do. There was a single candle lying on a wooden table nearby illuminating a small portion of her cell, just enough for the mare to see the bars on the other side. She had been captured and locked away inside the castle’s prison block.

With absolutely no way to break free from these bonds, Twilight had only one option left.

“Help me! Please, somepony help me!” she screamed. Her scream echoed throughout the dark prison she found herself in, but no response came.

That was, until a terrifying scream broke the quiet atmosphere. It was a scream of pure agony that belonged to a stallion in a cell close to hers. Twilight felt her heart pounding, there were other prisoners. What was happening to them? Calling for help was perhaps the worst thing to do. The last thing she’d want is to bring attention to herself.

She’d have to somehow find a way to free herself in silence. Perhaps pulling on the chains again? No, she’s no earth pony, brute strength isn’t her forte.

The scream intensified which only served to make Twilight panic more. Out of desperation, she focussed all her might into her horn in the foolish hope that the ring would somehow break but of course, it didn’t happen. These rings are designed to inhibit tremendous amount of magic to the point that only alicorns have ever been capable of breaking through them with magic alone.

The chains prevented her from reaching the table where many tools lied. As she reached the limit of the chains, the mare constated with horror that the tools were all made for torture. Sharp scalpels, saws and hammers were present alongside others she didn’t recognise.

Now, she had a better idea of what was going to happen to her. She shuddered as she imagined what the poor stallion was going through.

A monstrous growl accompanied the screams of the stallion. Then, she heard something smash into the wall on her right. Twilight instinctively moved as far away as possible from the wall. Bones cracked, flesh was being torn off and then the screams finally stopped but the monster was still wailing on the poor pony.

Despite not seeing the scene, Twilight was horrified. It was all happening right next to her; the monster was inevitably going to come for her after it was done tearing the corpse apart.

The lavender unicorn doubled her effort to reach the table. If she could just get a hold of the saw, she could cut the chains. Come on, just one more push...

She stopped. Just behind her bars, there was something in the darkness. Two bloodshot eyes met her. The figure was slightly taller than her but not by much. It’s... It’s a stallion. Twilight thought.

Something was wrong with his eyes; they were devoid of any emotion much less any intelligence. He wasn’t moving at all. Twilight was frozen in fear, this stallion didn’t give off the feeling of a serial killer. He felt more like a mindless animal with how motionless he was. His eyes weren’t blinking.

Seeing that she was already spotted, Twilight tried to talk to the pony. “Wh-Who are you? Why am I here?”

He didn’t respond, nor verbally, not even physically.

The monster on the other side of the wall whimpered; a strange sound that took Twilight aback. It walked away and as it did, the mare could hear metal scraping and grinding with each step it took. She heard the bars opening and the beast left the scene, leaving her alone with the stallion.

That stallion wasn’t being attacked once the beast left. It was at that moment that Twilight realised that the monster on the other side was most likely a pony too despite its monstrous voice. Sweet Celestia, she didn’t even want to see how this stallion looked in the light. His silhouette and his eyes alone send a shiver down her spine.

The pony growled in a deep and beastly voice before it trotted towards her cell. Twilight retreated, her sides now hugging the wall. The stallion was moving with a strange limp, balancing his entire body on his front left hoof which he struggled to lift.

The closer he came to her cell, the more his features became visible to the chained unicorn. Her jaw dropped when the pony was finally in the light of the candle.

Lifeless grey skin, dying white hair and almost reptilian eyes were the most striking feature. Then, it was the lower jaw. Broken, deformed and squished, it swung around with each step he took. Few teeth remained in his mouth. There were also many straps around his body and neck as well as stiches on his face indicating some sort of surgical operation took place. Its front left hoof suffered from a severe case of elephantiasis which is a considerable increase in the volume of a body part. It even had a strange metallic hand grafted onto it. The front right hoof, on the other hand, was severely maimed to the point that the bone underneath was exposed.

Could this pitiful looking stallion even be called a pony? Twilight wasn’t so sure as her mind unconsciously classified him as an it, a monster.

It moved closer and closer to the mare who pushed harder against the wall, somehow hoping that she could move away from the abomination. With nowhere to go, Twilight watched as the monster closed what little distance was left between the two. It was now right in her face, its emotionless eyes staring deeply into her soul.

The unicorn’s breath was now ragged and frantic. This monster was an earth pony from the looks of it. Without her magic, she was completely defenseless against the former stallion. Judging from the scuffle that took place in the other cell, these things were strong enough to tear a pony to shred. Twilight’s eyes teared up as she realised there was no way out this time.

She was doomed.

The monster growled, its lower jaw flapping around helplessly as it did. The unicorn closed her eyes, awaiting the inevitable. She clenched her teeth as time around her slowed down to a crawl. Seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like hours. The beast was still motionless before her until... it moved. Bones cracked but it wasn’t hers, it was the creature’s bones. The sound moved to her right, her flank to be precise.

Then, she heard its hooves move slightly to her right. Silence followed; Twilight didn’t know why it wasn’t doing anything. So, she hesitantly opened one of her eyes, her gaze moving towards her flank.

The former stallion was staring at her cutie mark. Its head was dangerously close to her and in a moment of panic, she backed away from the thing. It reacted surprisingly fast, grabbing her by the flank to pull her closer. The metal hand dug its claws into her, delivering a sharp pain to her lower body. Once she was near it, the monster pinned her to the ground.

There was an impossible amount of strength in its mangled leg, Twilight couldn’t even lift her body up an inch from the ground.

“P-P-Please don’t kill me...” she fumbled out of terror.

Once again, the beast looked at her cutie mark. It stared so intently that the mare believed it was trying to memorise the motif.

A few seconds passed and then, the abomination let go and shambled towards the wooden table. Shocked and confused, Twilight immediately stumbled back on her hooves and watched the thing grab a pencil with the metallic hand. That’s when she noticed there was something else on the table that was not a torture device, a sheet of paper.

From where she was standing, she couldn’t see what was written on it, but she was, however, able to see what the monster was doing. Based on the movement it was performing with its hoof, Twilight assumed it was drawing. Perhaps it was her cutie mark? That would certainly explain why it was so keen on seeing it earlier.

Afterward, it looked at a bunch of checkboxes before turning its attention to an orb lying next to the sheet. Twilight’s attention was also on the strange object. It was crimson red and glowing intently.

What was it going to do with this orb? Twilight asked herself this question but figured she would soon get her answer as it approached the mare.

This time, the unicorn didn’t try to fight back or even move away, figuring it would only make the creature aggressive. It lifted its overgrown hoof up to Twilight and moved the orb towards her.

The mare instinctively pulled back just a little bit; her eyes locked on the artefact. Her eyes widened with disgust as she was finally shown the orb’s effect. The light shined by it allowed Twilight to see the interior of her body, including both her skeleton and her organs.

She felt sick at this repulsive sight. It’s not every day you get to see your heart beating with your own eyes.

The thing moved the orb up to her face, causing Twilight to shut her eyes. Then, it moved the object to her flank before it deactivated the device.

Now, the lavender unicorn truly had no idea as to what the purpose behind this examination could be. Back to the table, the former stallion checked every single box on the sheet.

Maybe these checkboxes represented the health of her organs. She always took great care of herself, so her whole body should be healthy. The implications behind why it wanted to know if she was in good shape sent a shiver down her spine. It couldn’t be good, but thankfully, she hasn’t been mauled by the abomination.

The creature picked up the sheet and shambled out of the cellar, taking Twilight out of her thoughts. A few seconds later, it was gone for good.

Now the cell was quiet again, no more screaming, no more growling, just an eerie silence filling the air. Completely exhausted by the stress she had just faced, Twilight dropped to the ground. It seems like she was going to live just a while longer, but something about that sheet of paper troubled her immensely.

What was the purpose behind it? Why was it examining my organs? Why did they attack the stallion but not me? Oh, theorising isn’t getting me anywhere!

Now that she was finally on her own without any distraction or horrible monstrosities right outside her cell, the unicorn got to ponder on the gravity of her situation as well as how her entourage would react to her sudden disappearance.

How long as she been here? It couldn’t have been more than an hour... spent awake. How long she has been unconscious remained a mystery for the mare, a troublesome mystery.

Oh no, how is Spike going to feel? He’s never spent a single day without me around to look out after him... Oh Spike, I’m so sorry. I never should have returned to this cursed castle.

Tears dropped on the floor of her cell as she imagined the devastated look Spike would have once he finds out she’ll be gone for good.

Then, she thought about her friends. They have accomplished so much together, spent so much time getting to know each other and forged many great memories. Twilight felt a crushing sadness in her heart once she realised that she’ll never get to see them again. At least, she knew Spike will have somepony to take care of him in her place. He’ll be in good hooves and hopefully, he’ll get to live out the life he always wanted.

Lastly, her mind turned to her mentor, Princess Celestia. Her biggest fear had unknowingly happened; she let the greatest pony in Equestria down. Worst of all, it seemed that the alicorn put much more faith in her than she did to anypony else. In the end, her curiosity yielded much more catastrophic consequences than she initially imagined.

I’m so sorry Celestia... I’m so sorry everypony. I failed all of you.

---

Time passed and nothing happened in the meantime. No sign of the King, not even of the abominations. Of course, Twilight didn’t fully give up her efforts to break out, but she knew subconsciously that there was no point in tugging and pulling on the chains. The same went for the magic inhibitor ring on her horn.

Eventually, she stopped trying, finally admitting that she’s completely powerless in here. She sat in the corner and got lost in her thoughts. It was all she could do, really.

How long as this castle existed? Maybe the strange books were written by the King which would mean... that this whole place existed right under everypony’s noses for thousands of years!

Her thoughts moved away from her friends and families and instead went on to theorise about the castle’s mysteries. The last thing Twilight needed was to fall into depression, keeping her mind busy with all sorts of theory did help to lessen her growing feeling of hopelessness.

Suddenly, a loud and otherwordly roar echoed throughout the entire castle followed by the sound of something big shuffling around. Twilight got back on her hooves, listening intently to the worrying sounds. Was it the King? Was it coming for her?

“You’re in luck, Twilight; the King is going out to hunt. Now’s the best time to plan a getaway.”

The mare jumped; her heart was pounding on her chest. The voice truly caught her by surprise and freaked her out badly. But once the initial shock faded, she felt relief. It was the same voice that guided her earlier. Perhaps, it was coming back to save her.

Just in the far end of the cell, she spotted a silhouette.

“It’s you again!” she said, unable to hold back a smile. In this nightmarish castle, this strange figure was the only friendly face, or voice, present.

“Seems like you need a helping hoof. Allow me to help, Twilight Sparkle.” The silhouette stepped out of the shadows, going into the candle’s faint light. It was a stallion, a unicorn to be precise, and he looked normal except for the fact that his eyes were covered in shadows no matter where the light reflected off his face. A singular crimson eye stood out, looking very tired but not entirely apathic to her predicament.

Then, Twilight realised something odd. Wait, how does he know my name?

The stallion noticed the look of confusion on the mare’s face. “Hmm, so you too have forgotten...”

Moving closer to the light, the stallion’s full appearance was revealed to Twilight. Her eyes widened as she recognised who it was. This pony was Stardust Radiant, the one on the picture Sketch showed to her yesterday.

“You’re Stardust Radiant!” she exclaimed in a hopeful tone.

The shadow around the stallion’s eyes faded away. “What? You... remember me?” the tone in his voice changed entirely, no longer sounding as hoarse as before.

“Uh... kinda, I think? I know your friend Sketch Pattern is looking for you. He’s been searching around in Ponyville as of late.” Twilight responded.

Stardust looked away, chuckling happily. “Of course he’d never forget me.” Right as he finished his sentence, his face shifted to sadness. The shadow around his eyes returned, completely obscuring them. “Hey, if you ever make it out; tell Sketch to drop his search and move on.” His voice turned hoarse once more.

“W-What?! Why would you want me to tell him that? He’s been looking for you for who knows how long!”

The stallion shook his head. “The further he stays away from this mess, the better. If he continues to look for me, he’ll end up dead just like those poor victims. You’re on borrowed time, Twilight and I want you to make the most of it. You don’t want the King to take interest in your entourage.”

Twilight was feeling extremely nervous, the stallion worded it like she was going to die even though he’s here to help her break free. Did he know something she didn’t?

“Well, if the King truly is gone for the moment; help me out. But first, I just want to know why you want me to tell Sketch to move on instead of you. Can’t you just say it to him or even write a message once we’ll be out of there?”

Stardust Radiant frowned. “I can’t exist outside of this living Tartarus. Twilight, I am dead, and I have been for a while.”

The mare’s eyes widened in denial. The stallion had no injuries on him, nor did he look transparent as ghosts are often described. “Y... You’re joking, right?” Her voice didn’t sound quite convinced, almost as if she knew what she was saying was stupid.

“If only... I’m just a spectre, unable to exist beyond this world. I can, however, still use my magic to some extent but apart from that, there isn’t much I can do to help. You’ll have to do the heavy lifting on your own.”

His horn charged up and he levitated a saw towards the chains restraining Twilight. A few arduous minutes later, she was freed from her restraints. The only thing that was left was the ring on her horn.

Stardust simply pointed to a key on the table. “These rings can be removed fairly easily if you have the key.” With his magic, he inserted the item in the keyhole and unlocked it.

Twilight felt pure ecstasy as magic coursed through her veins. Since magic was her special talent, it felt like she regained a part of her identity once the ring was taken off. “Thanks, Stardust. I owe you one.”

The stallion smiled. “No need for that. You should hurry though; the King’s absences are rather inconsistent. Sometimes, he leaves for days but he can also go away for mere minutes. I suggest you go as fast as possible but don’t ever forget this; the prison is crawling with servants.”

“Servants? So that’s how you named these creatures?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, their sole purpose is to do the King’s work so he can focus on snatching more victims.” The stallion hurried towards the bars of the cell and bent them with his magic, creating an opening.

“I don’t know how powerful the King is but if he’s capable of creating a whole new world with his twisted imagination, I believe he should be on Discord’s level. And to think that such a monster exists under our noses... You gotta spread the message, you hear me?”

Twilight nodded, she too, shared that sentiment. This King truly was unlike every other foe she had encountered. The one and only difference was that he didn’t announce his presence to the entirety of Equestria and that already made him a bigger threat. How can you fight a foe you didn’t even know existed? She absolutely had to tell the three princesses; it would be the only way to put an end to this dreary world.

The prison outside the cell was still dark, but there were a few torches hung on the walls. It was going to be easier to navigate in there compared to the dark hall.

“Let’s get out of here as fast as possible, the servants aren’t all that strong compared to our magic. It should be easy to blast them out of the wa-” Stardust’s plan was cut short by an awful otherworldly roar, though it sounded a little different in tone.

“Ah! Bogus! The King’s returned. Change of plan, sneaking around is your best bet. Don’t let any of the servants hear you, ‘cause the commotion will catch HIS attention, you don’t want that. I’ll try to keep him distracted for as long as I can, but I can’t guarantee much; he’s extremely smart and perceptive.”

Stardust trotted towards the wall in front of him, but Twilight stopped him for a brief moment. “Hey, thanks for the help. I swear I’ll tell Sketch to move on.”

The stallion let out a brief smile before he phased through the wall, leaving the mare on her own.

Ok Twilight, you can do this. Avoid the servants, make as little noise as possible and find the painting. You can handle it.

She wasn’t alone in this nightmare, a mysterious stallion that knows her was giving it his all to ensure that she would escape. Maybe she’ll get to return to Ponyville alive, and hopefully tell everypony about this monster that kidnaps and murders ponies in secret. For now, there’s no use in thinking about what she’ll do next, Twilight must focus on sneaking out. And so, she walked into the abyssal darkness of the prison in search of an exit.

Author's Note:

...
Oh, hey! Nothing. Guess I can finally give my two cents without any interruption...

Well, that is if I have any.

"Hey, I went to get some milk. What did I miss?"