The Day Of Red Sky

by Spell Bound

Mind Games Begin

Rarity trotted down the path that was open to her. She tried to keep her eyes in front of her but to no avail. She could still see the devastation around her, and seeing vines lift up the burnt corpse of a pony made her throw up. Twice. She realized now just how fortunate they were with Discord. She had no idea chaos could be so devastating.

Something exploded to the building to her right and woodwork fell around her, along with the body of a poor stallion who had been next to the cause of the blast. He was singed and still burning. Rarity ran away trying her best to hold in her stomach. She kept running and ran into a dead end. She cursed herself for not paying attention, and turned around to go back the way she came, only to find a stallion that resembled Fancy Pants, except his hair was green instead of blue and he wore a fedora.

"Well well well, what have we here? If it isn't Rarity, Bearer of Generosity and 'Fashion Designer'. Bah! What a joke." The stallion walked towards Rarity with a malicious grin on his face. Rarity backed up till her flank was pressed up against the wall. "You clothes are a disgrace. A disgraceful joke! You think your designs are any good? They are third rate at best. Nopony in their right mind would wear them."

"You....you're lying. You're just one of those tricks Twilight warned us about!"

"Am I? Yes, I am a trick, but I am created from within you. I am your fears made manifest. Like how you've failed you family." The stallion grinned even more as Rarity gasped. "You promised them you'd make the family name famous, but you haven't. You've even forsaken your last name. How must your parents feel? They didn't even give Sweetie Bell the family last name, in case she forsakes it like you did. You have hurt your family. You always hurt those around you. You are not worthy to bear the element of generosity. And you know this to be true, otherwise I wouldn't be here." The stallion started chuckling then laughing before dissipating into green fog.

Rarity stood staring at the spot where he was, then slowly sunk to the floor, brought her hooves to her eyes and began sobbing.

Far above her the fog reassembled itself into the stallion, before a flash of green fire surrounded him and the Draconequus floated where the stallion used to be. "One mind and heart broken. Four to go." With a chuckle he looked over at the four other paths. "Hmm, which one is next?" His gaze settled on Twilight path. "Yes....Twily. Let the games continue." With a click of his fingers he was gone.

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Twilight walked down her path. She had been luckier than Rarity and there weren’t any dead bodies lying about. Instead building lay in ruins and purple corrupted vines criss-crossed her path.

She didn't need to pay attention to where she was going, she grew up in this city and knew several paths to get to Canterlot Castle, and she could tell this one was leading her in the right direction. She absent-mindedly walked through a ruin building and walked straight into a wall that had suddenly appeared. She rubbed her nose and looked around. The room was very familiar but she couldn't place where. She had only just figured it out has the green fog and manifested into another pony. This time it was a mare.

"Twilight Sparkle! I knew it was only a matter of time!"

"What?" Twilight turned round to look at the mare.

"Celestia owes me 100 bits. I told her that you'd fail, and have to be sent back to magic kindergarten." The mare smiled as Twilight tensed up and school fillies appeared in the seats around the class room Twilight had walked into. "You failed Twilight. You insult the previous bearer of magic. You are a disappointment to Celestia. You have continuously failed her, and now you can't even stop the chaos rising again. You thought you had banished chaos when you 'defeated' Discord. If Celestia hadn't intervened you wouldn't have won at all. You'd have run away with your tail tucked between your legs like a dog!"

"No! No I haven't failed Celestia! Please ! Please don't make me sit magic kindergarten." Twilight cringed as the fillies around the class room pointed at her and began laughing and calling her names. She covered her head with her hoofs and began crying. The mare continued on with the verbal assault.

"You shame your family’s name. Your brother is captain of the Royal guard and married to a Princess, and what are you? A failure of an apprentice to the princess of the sun and a lowly librarian in a backwards town. You're lucky you don't get sent back to magic Pre-school you pathetic excuse of a mare!" As Twilight continued to sob her heart out the fillies and mare disappeared and reappeared in the sky, where they joined up to form the Draconequus.

Once more he chuckled at his work. "Two broken mares cry away their pain. Now who is next to cry for my personal gain?" He chuckled at his rhyme and looked at the three remaining paths for him to torment.

"Fluttershy so darling sweet, perhaps she shall be my next treat? Or perhaps the next shall be pinkie pie, her mood shall surely die. Then again there is my sweet Applejack, shall her tears be the next trophy upon my rack." His gaze settled on Pinkie who popped out from under some rubble. "Pinkie it is."

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Pinkie hopped along the path. She was humming a happy tune. It wasn't because she was happy, but because it distracted her from all the misery around her. She could hear the cries of pain around her, but couldn't find the sources.

So she hummed the tune to drone out the screams. She couldn't bear to her the screams of ponies she couldn't cheer up. She kept hopping until she bounced straight into another pony.

She looked up and saw a big stallion Pegasus. He wore a frown upon his face, "Pinkamena Pinkie Diane Pie." Pinkie flinched at the name. She hadn't been called her full name in years. The only ones who used it was her parent when they were angry with her.

"y...yes?"

"Shame on you. Look around you. Look at the devastation. Look at the pain. And what have you done to ease their pain? Nothing! What kind of bearer of laughter are you?!"

"But...I can't find them....I tried..."

"And you failed! You shame your element. You have let down your friends. You disappoint your parents." Pinkies hair started to lose is energetic state and started to straighten slowly. "You have let them down horribly. Sure you are a famous savour of Equestria, but when was the last time you 'graced' them with a visit. You have hurt them deeply. And as for the cakes....."

"No...please...stop" The stallion smirked, drinking in the emotional turmoil he was causing.

"If they saw how pathetic you are they wouldn't let you near their children. You don't deserve to look after them. You don't deserve to spend time with them. You don't deserve their care. You don't deserve anything. You should just give up now. Even if you do make it to the castle, you will just let down your friends. And after all, all you are to them, is a source of amusement." Memories of laughing balloons entered pinkies mind, and her hair deflated instantly and her head dropped, tears gently cascading down her face and falling to the ground. The stallion walked behind her and away from her, before changing back into the Draconequus and with a click of his fingers he teleported to the air once more.

"I think Fluttershy time, will be simply divine. Oh that wasn't very good. Rhyming is harder than it looks." The creature shook his head, and descended onto Fluttershy's path. "A pity I won't be able to mess with Rainbow. That would have been most enjoyable."

Comments

[Lolsternater]

It's the same trick for all three. Maybe something other than verbal abuse?

[Spell Bound]

1644804 The point is that Spell Bound is speaking to them, bringing forward their fears. He uses words like discord to corrupt them except he's better at hiding his form

[Lolsternater]

1644816
Yes, I get that point. But I can't help but feel it's the same thing repeated. I might just be being fussy so do as you please.