what happened to my friends? - chapter 1

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It had been about 5 years since Twilight was crowned as ruler of Canterlot. The throne room of Canterlot Castle being redone to accommodate herself and her dragon companion, Spike.
As per their agreement, the elements of harmony would also come to meet up in the throne room every now and then, to catch up, spend time together and continue with being the best friends they can be.

But something was beginning to feel strange.
Slowly, one by one, her friends began to not show up to their monthly canterlot meetings. It started with Applejack not being there. The others were not too sure where she went, or what to think of it. Rainbow Dash was the most worried about her farmer girlfriend.
But they eventually assumed that she had got caught up with farm work, seeing as Big Mac had informed them previously, that Applejack will be late, due to doing her chores. So the Elements of Harmony agreed that Applejack would simply miss that initial visit.

But soon after that, her friend group began to thin out, until only Pinkie and Fluttershy came to visit. But about 3 months after Rainbow Dash went missing, Pinkie and Fluttershy stopped coming too… And she hadn't heard from her friends since that day.

This made the purple Alicorn feelings worry stir, slowly growing in strength in her mind, to the point she was constantly pacing through the throne room, her ears folded flat against her head as she thought of where her friends might be.

“Spike, i'm going to Ponyville for a few days. If anyone asks for an audience with me, please tell them to come back at a later date. This is important, i need to find out what’s going on with my friends…”
Twilight mentioned to Spike, her tone riddled with worry and confusion.

The dragon gave a nod and, after a few days of preparing for Twilight’s trip, as well as doing simple things such as informing the royal guard where she was going and packing supplies for the trip.
The purple dragon saw Twilight off. Waving goodbye as she gracefully took flight, toward her old home of Ponyville.

The wind in Twilight’s mane, and the gusts of air flicking through the gaps of twilight’s wing feathers, was a welcomed feeling from the alicorn. It gave Twilight a sense of freedom. Now she knew how Rainbow Dash felt whenever she randomly went flying across town at high speeds.
It brought a smile to the alicorn’s face, and for a moment, her worries washed away, as she enjoyed the freedom of flying through the skies of Canterlot on the way to Ponyville.

Flying through clouds and around flocks of birds, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary so far.
The journey itself was rather uneventful, nothing interesting happened aside from seeing the odd Breezy fly by. But there wasn't anything that stood out to her.

The alicorn thought back on her friends and where they might have gone. Big Macintosh had already explained why Applejack was gone so much

Discord had informed them that fluttershy had got caught up with always trying to save animals, and could be seen wandering into the Everfree Forest.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle explained that they saw Rarity and Rainbow Dash leave ponyville on multiple occasions for business.

And Cheese Sandwich told her that Pinkie had become known all across equestria for her parties, and was now going out of town all the time to plan and host parties a lot.

Was twilight worrying over nothing again?

“Now come on Twilight you’re getting too worked up again. Maybe they just got caught up in their work and forgot to mention about skipping visits! I know I've done that before” Twilight said to herself in a hopeful tone. Trying to ease her growing nerves as got closer to her old town home.

But upon arriving she knew something was wrong.
The town looked like its usual self, the bakery had not changed, and neither had carousel boutique. Sweet Apple Acres still stood proud at the edge of town and even her old castle didn't seem to have anything wrong with it.
But it was quiet…
Too quiet.

Landing by the town hall, in the center of Ponyville, Twilight looked around for anyone who may be nearby. But no one was around. Had they gone back to their old ways of hiding from Zecora again?
With a soft sigh, she slowly made her way around town, looking through any windows with their curtains open, looking for any signs of life. But no pony could be seen.
It was almost like a massive evacuation had happened without her knowledge.

“What… Happened here?” Twilight asked out loud, to no one in particular, her head on a slow swivel as she tried to make sense of what was going on.

Twilight stood, stuck in her own growing thoughts of confusion, worry and a sense of being watched.
Continuing to look around, she laid her eyes on the clouds above her, where Rainbow Dash’s house resigned. Giving a soft gasp, a memory crossed her mind.
A memory of what Rainbow Dash said to her before she vanished.

“Yeah, everypony has been acting really off. Staying inside their homes and going radio silent for quite some time. Sometimes ponies will return to their old lives like nothing happened. Others will stay in their homes for good and we’ll never hear from them again. I thought it was some kind of town wide prank Pinkie was planning… But now I have no idea what to think…”

Could this be what Rainbow meant?
Did Rainbow Dash know about what was going on?
Well, it was too late to ask her now.

Looking through the houses she passed, she could see a heavy coating of dust on everything, almost like the town itself had become some kind of antique. The alicorn’s ears folded back flat as she looked around, before eventually coming up to the entrance steps of her old castle.

Her crystal palace she called home when she first became an Alicorn.
Tears began to well up in her eyes as more memories of her friends came to mind, making her way up the steps toward the castle doors.
She remembered how the castle came to be, and how they defeated their first foe without the elements of harmony attached to them.

As well as all the meetings and that odd feeling of their cutie marks pulsating if the map called them on a mission. That was a sensation she strangely missed. Now that she was no longer connected to the map or this castle.

Putting her front hoof to the door, she opened it slowly, it wasn't locked, and it slid open, quiet as a mouse.
Twilight slowly peered inside, lighting up her horn to create a light source to see through teh castle with. It had been a long time since she had been here, but she still remembered the layout like the back of her hoof. Making her way through the long, sparkling hallways, she came to the throne room, where the map was. As well as the chairs that had her friends cutie marks on them.

Hoofsteps echoing along the walls, she made her way into the room, looking at the centre table where the map would be. Laying on top seemed to be a frame, in said frame was a photo of her friends, all of their faces having a big red X drawn across their faces, all except for twilight.

“Is this some kind of sick joke…?” Twilight spoke aloud through gritted teeth. Her expression changed from worry to anger as she looked around the room again, noticing that each chair had an item on them.

Lifting them slowly with their magic, she saw that the items represented her friends in one way or another.
She found Applejack’s hat, Rarity’s head scarf, Fluttershy’s flower hair clip, Pinkie Pie’s hoof buzzer prank and Rainbow Dash’s flight goggles.
As the items floated in front of the alicorn with the use of her magic, along with the photo, twilight couldn't help but tear up again.
Where were her friends?
Would she ever find them?
And if she did, were they hurt?

All these questions circled through twilight’s mind, before a small glint caught her eye. Looking over at her own chair, a small golden shimmer could be seen. Walking over, she saw it was some kind of relic. In the shape of a Raven.
She also lifted that with her magic and raised an eyebrow.
A raven shaped relic? Where did this come from?

More questions were made before the previous questions could be answered.
The purple alicorn gave a soft sigh, taking the items with her as she continued to look around the castle. Looking for more clues on where her friends might be and what might have happened to them.

As Twilight left the room, the door slammed shut behind her…

WHTMF - Chapter 2

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After finding her friend’s items, and the vandalised photo. She continued to look around the castle that she once called her home.
The purple alicorn went to the far side of the room she was in, which led to a long, winding spiral staircase. Starting at her hooves and stretching up toward the top of the castle.

“Alright twilight… Let's try this strategy. Start from the top, and work our way down… There must be something that will explain where everyone has gone.”
Twilight spoke quietly to herself. Her soft voice echoing slightly in the staircase’s hollowed out pillar.

Slowly but surely, Twilight began making her way up the stairs, and past several doors that were the entrance to each floor. She noticed that each door had been blocked off by some kind of forcefield. The magic was a lighter pink than her own.

Twilight reached a hoof out to touch said forcefield. But a strong electrical current flowed to her hoof. Giving her a strong electric shock, almost as a warning. Twilight recoiled her hoof with a wince, looking at the spot the electric surge touched.
Her fur was slightly singed and darkened.

Looking down the middle of the spiralling staircase, she saw that the floor had been moving with her. Much to her shock and confusion.
“But… But that’s impossible!” Twilight exclaimed to herself.
Putting her hoof on the floor, quickly making contact and it took her weight like any normal floor would. This was no illusion. There was now no way out, as all the windows of the castle were on the ground floor. So there was no flying out of the castle.

The only way she could go was up to the top floor where there was a door with no barrier on it. It was almost like the castle was forcing her to take this path. Seeing no other option, the purple alicorn made her way up the stairs, the floor slowly following suit and meeting her at the top of the stairs. Once twilight was on the top step, the floor lined up with it, creating a flat platform for twilight to walk on.

Once it was locked into place, twilight took a moment to pace and think. Talking out loud to herself once more. Her voice bouncing off of the walls and back into her own ears.
“Ok, so far everypony has gone missing. I'm finding things that represent my friends, and I have a photo with everyone's faces crossed off except for mine. Whatever happened here must have been done on purpose…”

The silence was almost deafening as she slowly approached the door. It was a simple door, made of a polished stone, possibly Sapphire, with 3 red gems in a triangle formation. It looked like Applejack’s cutie mark was etched onto the door with these red gems.

Pressing her hoof to the door, it opened with ease, grinding against the crystal floor as it moved.
Twilight then poked her head through the door, scanning the hallway she was greeted with. It stretched as far as the eye could see, far beyond the boundaries of the castle walls.
On the wall, across from the door, was a glass box, with 2 small pins in it. The glass box also had a crude drawing of Applejack’s cutie mark on a piece of paper that was taped to the corner of the box.

Twilight stepped through the door, and it slammed shut behind her, plunging her into darkness for a moment, before flame torches that lined the walls at every 3 feet increments, lit up. Filling the hallway with a yellow and orange hue.

A heavy feeling washed over the alicorn, the same feeling she had in the throne room. The sense that she was being watched.
She quickly looked around, looking both ways repeatedly for a couple of minutes, before looking back at the box. Reflected in the glass box, was a set of grass green eyes, coming from behind twilight. The alicorn gave a sharp gasp and turned around, but no one was there. Looking back at the box, she could still see the set of green eyes. They blinked slowly as they watched over the purple pony.

Lighting Up her horn, twilight opened the glass box, making the reflection vanish for a moment, and she opened her bag, taking out applejack’s hat. Putting 2 and 2 together, she rested the farmer's hat on the 2 pins inside the box, closing the box. It was a display case.
But why would anyone want to display Applejack’s hat?

“Ok… This is getting stranger and stranger by the moment…”
Speaking out loud to herself once more, she looked at the paper taped to the box, seeing that the image had changed. Her eyes widening in confusion, she looked around again.
“How did that- But that was just- i- What is going on?!”
Twilight shouted into the vast emptiness, hearing her voice throw itself down the hallway and fade to nothing.

With hesitation, twilight leaned in close to the box, looking at the photo.
It was a child-like drawn picture of Twilight, with her horn lit, and an arrow pointing from her horn, to the bottom of the box. They were instructions.

Looking at the bottom of the box, she saw a hole that was wide enough for the alicorn to fit the tip of her horn into. Her horn had never gone out, as it was providing that bit of extra light, seeing as the fire torches could only do so much in this crystal lined hallway.

Leaning her head down, she pressed her horn into the hole, pushing it in until it stopped, her horn fitting snug with the edges.
There was a click, and the indents of her horn began to light up white, almost as if something was filling it with its own magic.

Grimacing at the strange sensation that flooded her mind. Her eyes suddenly glowed a bright green, matching Applejack’s eye colour.
And she began to see something.
It looked like memories, from Applejack’s point of view.

“See ya’ll later! Ah’m gonna go and visit Twilight again!”
Applejack’s voice echoed in Twilight’s head, as the memories played out before her very eyes.
It took twilight on Applejack’s usual route to her old castle, where the elements of harmony would meet up, before getting the train to Canterlot.
She was the first to arrive, followed by Pinkie then Rainbow, who kissed her cheek as they greeted each other.
Fluttershy and Rarity arrived together, with Discord who gave them all some snacks for the road before teleporting away.

As the group were about to set off, Applejack heard a strange voice that sounded a lot like Applebloom. Coming from the old castle. It sounded like her tone was a mix of excited and confused.
And it began to raise alarm bells for the farm pony.

“You coming AJ?” Rainbow Dash called, stopping in her flight path as she noticed Applejack was lagging behind.

“Uh… ya’ll go on ahead. Ah need to check on somethin’ ah’ll catch the next train and meet ya’ll in Canterlot.”
Applejack responded with her usual, honest demeanour. Rainbow dash tried to question the earth pony further, but fluttershy stopped her.

“C’mon Rainbow Dash. If Applejack has something she needs to do, we can go ahead. You know her, she’ll never go back on her word. She’ll meet up with us later, dont worry.”
This put Rainbow at ease and they left with the others, leaving Applejack at the castle’s entrance.
Walking slowly into the castle, Applejack listened out for the voice of her younger sister.
“Uh.. Applebloom? Ya in here? Ah could hear ya from outside!” Applejack called out, her voice flying and bouncing along the simmering walls, fading to silence the further it got.
The castle had been left empty for quite some time, though the diamonds and gems inside still held up their usual shine.

Applejack looked around as she ventured deeper into the castle’s depths, she couldnt help but notice that the walls didn't have a speck of dust, not even a single cobweb in the corners of the room. Nothing was there, it was as pristine as they had left it when Twilight moved to Canterlot permanently.

“Hm… Somethin’ aint right ‘bout that… This place should be dustier than a bookworm in a pile of sawdust..” Applejack mumbled to herself as she continued to venture through the castle. Checking each room for her little sister.

Eventually she came to the map room, where Applebloom stood upon the table, surrounded by the 6 thrones. She had her usual, innocent and sweet smile on her face. And a sense of comfort washed over the farm pony, as she saw that her sister was ok. But she still walked over at a brisk pace, making sure she was alright.

“Applebloom what in the hay is goin’ on? What are ya doin’ in Twilight’s castle? And why are ya standin’ on the map?”
The farm pony had so many questions, but Applebloom put her hoof up, cutting her sister off, before speaking up in her usual, cheerful and curious tone.

“Sis… Ya worry too much! C’mon! Ah found somethin’ that ah want to show ya! Ah think you’ll love it!”
Applebloom cried out with excitement, hopping down from the table and holding Applejack’s hoof, leading the orange earth pony deeper into the castle.

Applejack wanted to protest, but she couldn't ignore the excitement her sister was showing.
Applebloom led Applejack to the stairs Twilight had just found, going up them toward the top. The floor slowly follows them up just like with Twilight.

Applejack immediately took notice.
“Uh.. Applebloom? Ah dont trust all this… Why dont we come back another time? Ah have somewhere to be…”

Applebloom gave no reply. Instead, opening the door at the top of the staircase and taking Applejack through to the exact same door Twilight just came through.

As Applejack went through the door, she was greeted with a glass box, with a beetle relic inside, sitting upon 2 pegs.

Twilight gave a loud gasp, pulling her horn out of the box, her eyes returning to their usual colour and she stood there panting.

“S-so… Is applejack still here?”
Twilight asked aloud to herself. She looked back at the box, and the note said “Look behind you.” Slowly, twilight turned her head, looking over her shoulder. Only to be greeted with Applejack’s face staring back at her.

She turned around, backing away from the earth pony. It took all of her strength to not scream out in terror. The orange farm pony dropped what looked like a beetle relic, her ears folded back and she looked rather shocked to see anypony else in here. She looked normal, apart from one simple thing.
Her legs were full of holes. But these holes were not bleeding or showing any entrails. The insides of the holes were covered in skin, almost as if they were supposed to be there.

“Twilight?! What are ya doin’ here?!”

The farm pony was the first to speak, unable to comprehend what was going on here, the purple alicorn was dumbfounded. Her eyes wide and her mouth hung open. How was her friend still alive? How did those holes get there? What was that relic she was holding?!

She had far too many questions, before she heard,a deep rumbling in the hallway, and the ground began to shiver.
Applejack began to look nervous as she grabbed the relic she was carrying.

“RUN!”
Applejack yelled, and that was exactly what they did.
Taking off as far as their hooves could carry them. Applejack seemed to have gained a bit of speed with the holes in her hooves.
But Twilight didn't worry about that, as they ran down the hallway as fast as they could, before Applejack grabbed Twilight by her tail, pulling her into a nearby opening and hiding in the shadows.

The rumbling came to a halt, and a familiar voice called out.
“Applejack? Big sis? Where did ya go? Ah’m scared!”
It was applebloom!
Twilight went to call out to her, but the farm pony covered Twilight’s mouth before she could speak.
Soon Applebloom passed by, and Twilight saw her eyes. They were fully red, with slits for pupils.

Applejack soon broke the tense silence with a hushed voice.
“That aint mah sister… Whatever it was used a fake version of her to lure me in here… Ah havent been able to leave…”

As she explained this, twilight and Applejack made their way back toward the door twilight came in, being as quiet as possible.
It was strange… The trip back to the door felt a lot longer than when they ran away from it.
After about 10 minutes of slow, quiet walking, they eventually made it to the door and Twilight opened it with her magic.

“Are you coing AJ?”
Twilight asked, noticing the farm pony hesitate as she made her way through the door.

”Ah can't… Not with that thing at large… Look…”
She raised her hoof to the door, showing a forcefield stopping her from leaving. This caused the alicorn’s breath to get caught in her throat, as she realised she had no choice but to leave her friend behind.

Soon the hallway rumbled again, whatever that thing was, was coming back and looking for Applejack.
The two ponies embraced tightly, Twilight fighting back tears.

“Ill try to come back for you. I promise.
Twilight said after a moment. The rumbling got louder.

Applejack gave a nod before backing away, bucking the door shut and running down the hall away from fake applebloom.

Twilight stood there for a moment, looking at the door. The red gems making a picture of Applejack’s cutie mark had turned grey. She looked in her bag at the other items she had collected to represent her friends, before looking back at the staircase. Only to see that the floor had moved while she was in that hallway. But why didn't she hear it?

She made her way down the stairs. Stopping at the 2nd door, which no longer had a forcefield on it. It was a dark oak wood door… With Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark on it.

WHTMF chapter 3

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After coming to the door, Twilight tried opening it, but this one was locked tight. She couldn't go further down, as the floor wouldn't allow her to. So she looked around, to see if she could find anything that would unlock the door.
It didn't take very long before twilight started to ramble to herself, trying to put together what she had seen so far, while trying to figure out how to open the door.

“Ok… So this is where all my friends have gone? They’ve been trapped in this castle and Applejack seems to have been lured here by a fake Applebloom. But what would cause Rainbow Dash to come here? She isn't one to fall for suspicious acts. She wouldn't be so easily lured into a place like this. But here we are…I guess inside that door will explain a few things… but HOW DO I GET IT OPEN!?”

Out of frustration, she gave a loud groan and ran at the door, attempting to headbutt it open. But the moment she came within inches of the door, it swung open, letting Twilight run through at top speed and collide with… a tree?
It took Twilight a second to recover as she pulled her horn free of the tree’s grip. But once she did, she saw that the door had closed itself, and the surrounding crystal wall looked to be overgrown with vines and foliage, such as Poison Ivy.

Slowly getting to her hooves, she looked around at the room she had just come into. But it wasn't a room, it was a forest. The dirt path stretched beyond the castle's walls, just like the last room. And each side was cloaked with trunk after trunk of different species of tree, aside from the bit of wall that surrounded the door, which seemed to fade into the greenery, the further it went.

Twilight spread her wings with a sigh, mentally preparing herself as she took that first step. Only to be thrown to the ground again by a strong gust of wind. Landing on her front, she groaned as she lifted her head, spotting a display box, similar to the one that was in Applejack’s room. It was bolted to a thick oak tree, and the tree itself seems to have grown around the box a bit, forming hand-like branches that clutched the box like its life depended on it.

“that will explain the items i have… They’re all for display boxes in my friends' respective rooms.”
Twilight said out loud to herself, managing to connect the dots while she got up, once more.
Making her way to the box, she saw that this one only had 1 pin, while the other had 2. She also noticed that it was also lacking the stuck on note that she saw before.

Taking out Rainbow Dash’s flight goggles, she opened the box and hung them on the pin. The door slammed shut and the slam echoed into the air, quickly fading into silence again.
It was now quiet. Too quiet.
The hair on the back of twilight’s neck stood up as she felt a pair of eyes on her again. Looking around, she saw no one around within her immediate vicinity.
Looking back at the box, she saw a small hole open up, just wide enough for the tip of twilight’s horn to fit into.
Just like last time, twilight put her horn into the hole until it clicked, and the same white magic began to fill the indents of her horn.
As soon as it got to her head, her eyes glowed a light magenta, matching Rainbow’s eye colour, and her memories began to play, just like before.

“Ill see you later Tank, i'm going to visit Twilight today! She said she’d help me with my new moves!! I just hope Applejack will be there this time…”
Rainbow’s voice echoed in Twilight’s ears as the memories played out, it took Twilight on a trip, Rainbow flew through the clouds, doing a quick rounds check of Ponyville, looking around with growing worry. She even stopped by Sweet Apple Acres to as if Applejack had come back.

[/color=#A4C040] “Oh.. Ah’m a might sorry darlin’ but Applejack hasn't come back since your last visit to Canterlot… Applebloom has been askin’ around her school, and Big Mac has been putin’ up them, there missin’ pony posters.. We haven't heard anythin’... How about you? Any luck on your end?” Granny Smith explained, looking a bit down, that she couldn't find her granddaughter.

Applejack had been missing for about 2 months now, with Rainbow Dash hunting all across equestria for her marefriend, while the rest of the apple family did what they could to help too. She wasnt about to give up on finding the one she loved. Giving a sigh, she shook her head and spoke to Granny Smith in a solemn tone.

”sadly nothing here either… Me and the others still havent found her… How does a pony just up and vanish? We even sent a scroll to Twilight and Celestia, but they havent seen or heard from her either! We even asked Cherry Jubilee, and contacted Braeburn, all the way in Appleloosa to see if they had seen her… Nothing…”
The Blue pegasus rambled to the elder pony, her ears folding back as she stopped flying for a moment, standing in front of Granny Smith.
Granny slowly walked forward, putting a gentle hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder, reassuringly.

[/color=#A4C040] “Ah understand you’re worried deary… We all are… But Ah'm sure Applejack would love to know that we’re trying our darndest to find her. Ah’m sure she’ll come around.”
Granny Smith gave Rainbow Dash a warm smile, who smiled back.
The 2 ponies quickly embraced before Rainbow backed away, waving goodbye to the elder pony and making her way to Twilight’s old castle.

Once she arrived, she saw that the others were waiting for her, and they waved Rainbow over as she came in for a smooth landing.

“Hey rainbow Dash. Any luck with finding any sign of AJ?”
Pinkie Pie greeted the blue Pegasus with a gentle hug, along with the rest of the group. Rainbow then shook her head at Pinkie’s question, hanging her head a bit as she tried to think harder on where Applejack might have gone.

“I'm sure she’ll come around… Now c’mon! Let's not let this get us down! We have a purple alicorn to visit!”
Pinkie piped up with a small hop, causing whatever was in her saddle bag to jingle a bit, causing the rest of the group to break into wide, excited smiles. They hadn't seen Twilight since their last visit, which felt like it was an eternity ago, since they skipped a visit to hunt for Applejack.

The group began to make their way to the train station, and Rainbow paused. Seeing a group of royal guards that were looking around for Applejack. Looks like Twilight sent yet another search party for her.
This gave Rainbow Dash comfort in the fact that everyone was doing their best to find her marefriend.

She then tilted her head as 2 of the guards broke off from the group, running straight for Rainbow Dash. Their eyes glowing a bright red. Just like the fake Applebloom from Applejack’s room.

Before Rainbow could react, the 2 guards tackled Rainbow into the castle, and she could hear Rarity, Pinkie and fluttershy let out a loud gasp as they saw the 2 guards drag her into the castle, followed by rapid hoofprints of the group giving chase.

As soon as the castle door closed, all sound from outside was cut off, leaving Rainbow Dash in pure silence. The blue Pegasus immediately got to her hooves, getting into a defencive stance, her head low, her wings spread as she waited for a moment, waiting for rarity, fluttershy and Pinkie to join her side in what could be a pretty rough fight.

But they never came.
This caused a spike of anxiety to rise in Rainbow Dash, and she looked around for the 2 guards.

“HEY! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?! YOU THINK YOU CAN DRAG ME IN HERE AND GET AWAY WITH IT?!”
Rainbow called out into the castle. This was followed by a voice echoing through the room around the rainbow.

“And what are you going to do little pony? Your friends arent coming to get you… Neither is that prissy Princess of yours…”
The voice sounded a lot like the shadow bolts she met back when they were looking for Nightmare Moon.
But it was distorted and echoey…

Her eyes widened as she saw the glint of the golden armour twilight’s guards wore, run into the pillar that homed the staircase. One way in, one way out, she had them cornered.

Rainbow sprinted after them, only to be greeted with the winding staircase.
She paused for a moment, watching the guards movement, seeing them run into one of the doors.
Spreading her wings, Rainbow shot up the centre of the winding staircase, coming to the door and barging through it.

Then twilight came back to reality, standing up straight with a small gasp.

“She wasnt lured in… She was forced in here… And she gave chase.. But why..?”
Twilight said quietly to herself, before slowly looking around at the forest, she looked up, the trunks stretched up far beyond what her eyes could see. Slowly fading into a dark void of shadow and mystery.

Well, the door hasn't opened, which means she can't leave yet. So she decided to walk a bit deeper into the woods. Looking around for either the 2 guards she saw in her vision, or Rainbow Dash.

As she was walking, she noticed that a 2nd set of hoofsteps were echoing around her. She paused for a moment, and the steps paused when she did. Thinking it was just her own steps echoing, she continued to walk. But as she walked, she noticed they were getting more and more out of sync with her own steps, and when she paused, the 2nd set of hoofprints didn't stop.

Twilight quickly whipped around, her horn lit as she realised the steps were coming from behind her, only to be greeted with the blue pegasus herself. Her eyes widened as she saw her friend, and then she was confused. Rainbow Dash looked normal. No holes to be seen, tilting her head, she scanned the pegasus with her eyes, only seeing that her pupils were a bit smaller.

“R-rainbow dash?” Twilight hesitantly spoke as she approached her friend, only for Rainbow to put a hoof to her chest, smirking.

“Theeee one and only!” Rainbow dash responded with a soft, sly giggle. Her ears twitched rapidly as she spoke and twilight immediately knew something was off.

The purple alicorn tilted her head as she noticed something sitting upon Rainbow’s back. It was a Katashiro doll of… Spike?
Looking back at her friend, she saw that Rainbow also had 3 nails sticking out from between her lips now. Pointed end out.

“What’s wrong twilight? Do you need someone cursed? Someone nailed to a wall? Maybe you need someone or something to disappear from your life?”

As she said this, she burst into maniacal laughter, her ears folding flat against her head as she took out the ragdoll of spike. Moving it so it sat on her head between her ears instead of on her back.
Twilight had no idea what to make of all of this, but she was definitely uncomfortable, so she began to walk, hoping she could find the fake guards that got Rainbow trapped here in the first place.

”Are you looking for the guards?”
Rainbow suddenly spoke up, almost as if she had just read twilight’s mind. The purple alicorn looked at her friend in shock before raising an eyebrow.

”You know where they are?” Twilight asked, her tone low and suspicious. She was already tense from seeing Rainbow Dash in this strange state, and this just made things a lot more uncomfortable. But she had no choice but to hunt for these guards.

”Well i dont know where they are, per say… But i can bring them to us~”
As Rainbow spoke, she couldn't help but giggle again, her ears twitching wildly once more as she reached behind her, pulling out 2 more dolls that look like Twilight's guards. Or in this case, the 2 fake guards.

Rainbow put the 2 dolls on the ground and sat down beside them, resting on her front as she moved the 2 dolls with her hooves, mincing them walking.
At this point twilight simply rolled his eyes, so rainbow hadn't turned into a hole filled pony like Applejack. But she had turned into a crazy pony that was obsessed with dolls?

She began to walk away, before she heard 2 sets of hoofsteps approaching them, rapidly. Twilight lit up her horn again and her ears folded back, ready for some kind of fight. Only to see the 2 fake guards coming to them, her eyes widened as she turned to look at Rainbow. Who gave her a wide, crooked smile, revealing many many more nails in her mouth.

Twilight looked back as they guards, and they stopped right in front of her.
Before she could respond, one of the guards was sent flying into one of the trees. She looked back at Rainbow to see that she had thrown one of the dolls at the tree beside her, forcing the fake guard to mimic her actions.

“Dark magic… Rainbow has been cursed… And blessed… with DARK MAGIC?!” Twilight shouted out, mostly to herself.
She then looked back at her friend, only to have her eyes widen in horror.
Rainbow had pulled out one final doll, a doll that looked like her.

“Yes I have heheheh, right on the money… Now i suggest you beat it twilight and dont ruin my fun here. I'm now capable of things you only DREAMED of. You never know… I could be more powerful than you! How about we find out?~”
Rainbow asked with a psychotic smile spreading across her face, as she aimed one of the nails at her, shooting it out of her mouth at a fast pace, it clipped Twilight’s ear and caused her to wince at the pain as a small bit of blood began to trickle down into her mane.

Twilight took off running, her head lowered and her wings clasped tightly to her sides as she galloped as fast as her hooves could carry her. Soon she saw the door.
It had opened! Thank celestia!

She bolted for the door, using her magic to shut it tightly behind her. As soon as she closed it, all the colour faded from the door, leaving it in the same grayscale tone that Applejack’s door had.

Her ears folded back and her eyes began to well up with tears. Her friend could use black magic, and just tried to hurt her by shooting nails at her?
She took a moment to piece herself back together before wiping her eyes, shaking her head and making her way down the stairs to the next door.

It was a dark purple door, with 3 light blue diamonds at the top in a triangle formation.
It was Rarity’s door…

WHTMF chapter 4

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As twilight approached the door, she went to open it, but it opened on its own, catching the alicorn off guard, and she instinctively spread her wings, ready to take flight. But the door slowly opened, to reveal…

“Carousel Boutique?” Twilight said aloud to herself. Tilting her head to the side as she peered inside of the room. It looked like the usual boutique, but what was it doing here? 3 stories off of the ground? She backed away a little and looked up at the doors she had finished so far. Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Her ears folding back.

“Well… I’m halfway through solving this mystery…” Twilight said to herself, almost as if reassuring herself that this nightmare was halfway done, and she would soon find a way to solve this, and hopefully get her friends back.

She thought back to Spike, giving a sigh as she realised she had left him alone in Canterlot castle to hold the pause button on her duties. She shook the thought out of her mind for now, making her way into the room, the door slamming behind her. Plunging her into darkness.
Twilight lit up her horn and looked around, not only for Rarity, but for the glass box she had seen in the previous 2 rooms.

Looking behind her at the door, the other side looked like the exit to Carousel Boutique. The alicorn then began to walk deeper into the fashion store, remembering where Rarity first started out. Her and Rarity had always been one of the closest out of their friend group since she first moved to Ponyville, especially since Rarity showed her great kindness on her first day, trying to help her look a bit better since Rainbow Dash soaked her with a raincloud.

Thinking back made her smile uncontrollably, and a small giggle left her lips, but the little burst of happiness was short lived, as she spotted the glass box, with a small, metal hook on the inside, instead of display pins. Opening her saddle bag, she saw that the item representing Rarity was a bandanna with her cutie mark on it. She found the label on the inside of the bandanna and hung it on the hook, closing the box and looking around.
She heard the sound of hoofsteps echoing throughout the Boutique, which caused Twilight’s ears to twitch in all directions, but she never picked up where it was coming from, as it felt like the sound was surrounding her. Slowly getting louder.

The sound soon became too loud to bear and Twilight ended up covering her ears with her front hooves, putting her chest to the floor, cowering.
The hoofsteps sounded like they were right in front of her, coming toward her at a brisk pace. But when Twilight moved her hooves from her face and ears, there was no one there, and the sound had suddenly stopped completely.

The fur on Twilight’s neck stood on end as she got back up, looking around again. She didn't call out to anyone, as she didnt want to disturb anything within the room. Before she put her horn into the box, she gathered more information on the room. She found a simple photo of herself and her friends, this one with no crosses over her friends faces.
As well as a potential weapon, but she left it on the table for now, not wanting to make it obvious to anyone that she was armed.

Taking a moment to collect herself, she then walked over to the box, spying the hole for her horn to go into. With a loud click, the tip of her horn hit the back of the hole in the box, and the magic aura began to fill her horn again. Soon the magic reached her head, and her eyes began to glow a dark blue, matching Rarities eye colour. As, just like the last 2 times, a flashback began to play, showing how Rarity ended up here.

It started as usual, a point of view through Rarity’s eyes as she did her job in Carousel Boutique. She was working on her latest line, using a lot of different shades of red and black, making intricate patterns, masquette style. Her work was quickly cut short as Sweetie Belle walked into the room, looking a bit confused. The fashion unicorn quickly took notice.

“SweetieBelle? Is everything alright?” Rarity’s voice rang in Twilight’s ears as she spoke. Her voice, as dainty and dignified as ever.

Sweetie Belle looked at Rarity, something was off, but Rarity couldnt place her hoof on it.
“Uh… Yeah, though I think I spotted something near Twilight’s old castle. Do you mind coming to have a look with me? I'm not sure of what it was that I saw.” The mare explained. SweetieBelle was all grown up in this flashback, which must mean this happened more recently to the others.

After a bit of pondering, and looking between her work and her younger sister, the unicorn gave a sigh, a smile spreading over her face.
“Alright, let's go and have a look. Good to know your curiosity hasn't faded.” Rarity responded with a playful jab at Sweetie Belle’s side, causing the younger pony to chuckle a bit.

As the 2 of them made the way to the castle, they continued to chat and joke amongst themselves. Sweetie was still working as a teacher in the school of friendship alongside Scootaloo and Applebloom. While Rarity was beginning to expand her business once more, having a shop open in YakYakistan of all places.

The laughter and chatter continued to flow smoothly until they reached the stairs leading up to the castle’s entrance, where they both fell silent. Looking at each other with concern, before Sweetie went ahead, much to Rarity’s disliking. She followed her younger sister into the castle, and the 2 of them looked around for a moment, rarity looking rather shocked at the interior.

”SweetieBelle? I don't think something is right here. The inside is still perfectly fine, but it hasn't been touched for years. Surely there should be dust, or a few cobwebs. As much as I dread to think…” Rarity shuddered at the thought of such a stunning castle potentially being covered in dust and grit, and SweetieBelle stayed silent, and nodded in agreement

The castle remains untouched by dust or brine or even insect life. Just like in Applejack’s flashback.
It was almost like the castle had a protective border, so that the passage of time wouldn't affect it.

Sweetie Belle then walked further ahead, making an almost perfect beeline toward the pillar, and opening the door, seeing the set of upward spiralling stairs inside, still not saying a word. Rarity spotted her sister walking into the pillar’s door and followed close behind, her worry turning into annoyance.

”Sweetie Belle where do you think you’re going? This place could be dangerous, especially if you said you saw something in here!”

Rarity demanded that her sister listen to her, trying to catch her attention. But was given the silent treatment as Sweetie simply continued to walk up the stairs, ending up at the door, with Rarity’s cutie mark edged into the top of the door with diamonds.

Sweetie Belle looked back at Rarity… her eyes emotionless, a sinister smirk on her face… The door opened, revealing… Twilight standing there, with her horn in the box?

Twilight pulled her horn out of the box with a sharp gasp, quickly coming back to reality as the coloured glow faded from her eyes, soon returning to their normal state.

”T-that was me… But how can that be? Rarity went missing long before I arrived here! Why was I in the flashback?! ” Twilight said aloud to herself, her mind racing, her eyes wide, her pupils the size of pinpricks…

She thought about what she saw, and looked toward the door… Only to be greeted with Rarity's face being inches away from her own. She let out a scream, backing away quickly, and falling into her back, panting a bit.

”RARITY?!” Twilight shouted out in shock, causing the unicorn to giggle a bit, putting her hoof to her mouth.

”Twilight, darling, you really need to be more aware of things around you, ive been here this whole time, did you not hear me walking up to you?” Rarity asked, tilting her head to the side with mild confusion lining her face.

Come to think of it. No. Twilight hadn’t heard Rarity walking over to her. Did the flashback completely block out Twilight’s attention to reality, while watching back the events that just happened?
This made the alicorn worry. If watching the flashbacks caused reality to be completely blocked out, then why didn't any of her friends take that as a chance to attack her? Especially Rainbow Dash in her current state…
Twilight didn't want to think of it as being just pure luck, because if that was the case, then her luck would surely run out, as she continued to test each box to find what happened to her friends.

Twilight looked back at Rarity. She looked… fine?
There was nothing that immediately jumped out at her as to what the problem could be.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash had been affected physically, with Applejack having many different holes in her body, and Rainbow Dash having the ability to possess dark magic, and possibly a psychotic mindset…

But rarity? She looked like her normal self.
Twilight walked around Rarity a few times, eyeing her up and down to see what the problem might be. Something felt off about her, but she couldn't see it.

”Are… you alright darling? Has something been bothering you? Is there something wrong? I dont have any loose hairs do i?!” Rarity asked in her usual dramatic way, running over to a mirror and checking her mane and tail. As well as her coat, before she eventually ended up just admiring herself in the mirror.

”I dont understand…” Twilight said to herself, growing a bit frustrated.
She began to pace as Rarity continued to look at herself in the mirror. Her hoofsteps echoing in the lobby of the boutique.

“Applejack was changed physically, Rainbow Dash was changed Mentally. But you haven't changed at all, but were still lured here by what must have been a fake version of Sweetie Belle. So what are you doing here? What has changed about you!? Why can't I figure this o- MMPH!??” Twilight's spiralling thoughts were cut short by Rarity putting her hoof over the Alicorn’s mouth.

The unicorn gave a soft, reassuring smile, attempting to calm Twilight down before her thoughts got too out of control.

“Twilight. If I know you at all, then I know you’ll find a way to fix whatever's going on. I'll admit it was very strange when Sweetie Belle led me in here. Celestia knows where she is now…”
Rarity said softly, trailing off as she tried to remember where her sister went. Slowly looking around, before spotting a camera on a nearby table, tilting her head in thought.

She slowly walked over to the camera, her aqua blue magic picking up the device and walking over to Twilight, tapping her shoulder to get her attention.
“Just in case… Can we take a photo together? Who knows when this will end, this may be the last time we see each other for a long time.”

Rarity explained with a sniffle, tears filling her eyes as she smiled softly. She wanted to capture a memory of the 2 of them once more before Twilight left to investigate the rest of the castle.
Twilight slowly nodded with a smile, hugging Rarity tightly as the 2 of them then stood, shoulder to shoulder, and Rarity used her magic to angle the camera toward them.

The 2 of them embraced each other as the camera clicked, and the photo slowly printed out. It started out as a plain black photo, but it slowly developed in the natural lighting of the room.Twilight took the photo with her own magic, shaking it a little in the air to speed the process along.

Once the photo was developed, she took a quick peek.
But what she saw was not what she was expecting at all.
It made Twilight’s skin run cold, and her breath caught in her throat. Her heart pounded in her chest as her brain tried to process what she saw.

Rarity’s face in the photo, looks like it has been split in 2. With one side of her looking like it was trying to escape, stretching the original side because of it.
Her mouth was being pulled to the side, her eyelids were being pulled too. Her entire head was stretching and warping along with the side that looked like it was trying to escape from Rarity’s body.

Twilight dropped the photo in shock, her eyes wide and her ears folded flat against her head. Her breathing was heavy and shaky, and it took all of her strength to not shout out in horror.

Rarity looked at Twilight in confusion before reaching for the photo, to see what the problem was. But before the white unicorn could pick up the photo, Twilight swiped it from the floor, putting it into her saddle bag. It was probably for the best that Rarity didn't see what the problem was.

”Well its been very nice to see you again, rarity, and i'm glad you’re alright. But I really should be going to find the others and see if they’re ok.”
Twilight spoke at a rapid pace as she slowly backed away from rarity, toward the door. Looking to the left, she saw SweetieBelle standing on the stairs, looking at Twilight with a sinister smirk.

The alicorn quickly opened the door and stepped out, closing it behind her. Her eyes wide and her breathing heavy still.

”But how is that… i… She changed in an impossible way! That isn't.. How is that.. WHAT?!”
Twilight shouted out to herself into the pillar. Her voice echoed through the crystal walls, as the floor lowered to reveal the next door.

It was a dark brown, wooden door, covered in foliage, similar to ivy vines. With 3 pink, wooden butterflies nailed to the upper side of the door…
Fluttershy.

WHTMF chapter 5 - part 1

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This chapter is a lot longer than I would have liked.
So I am releasing it in parts. This is part 1, the rest will be in part 2.

Twilight took a moment to look at the door. It was different from the others. The others she had encountered so far were made of crystal. Or something shimmering. This door was made of wood. With dyed wood nailed into it to make Fluttershy’s cutie mark.

The alicorn wasn't sure why. But seeing such a huge difference, before even entering the next room, made her feel uneasy. Her wings ruffled softly and her legs wobbled a bit below her, as she pressed her hoof against the door, attempting to open it. The wood was damp and swollen, and it creaked loudly as Twilight tried to pry the door from the frame, but the swollen wood had forced the door shut.

Twilight tried using her magic to open it. She tried bucking, headbutting, ramming it. But nothing made the door open. With a loud groan, Twilight opened her wings in frustration and a loud, intercom-like voice, suddenly echoed from somewhere inside the pillar.
It spoke in a low, grumbly voice: “Alicorn… confirmed…”
And the door slowly opened with a systematic hiss.

Slowly closing her wings, twilight hesitantly walked through the door, looking around at the room. The door opened inward as Twilight stepped in, and she checked the other side. Only to find a complete lack of mechanics, pipes or cogs to get the door to work as intended.

This only added to Twilight’s confusion, before she saw the room she had stepped into. It was the upper floor of the apple family barn. But something felt off….
The colours of the walls and support beams were not right, the floorboards were a different type of wood to Applejack’s home. It almost felt like some kind of mirror dimension.

As she explored the upper floor of this barn, she went to where the stairs WOULD be, only to be greeted with a flat wooden floor.
“Right, well it looks like I'm limited to upstairs…” Twilight mumbled to herself. Slowly turning around and taking in her surroundings. There were 3 doors in this hallway. Most Likely the bedrooms of Applejack, Big Mac and Applebloom.

She decided to slowly make her way toward Applejack’s bedroom door, turning the handle with a soft click, and the door opened, without making a single sound. But then she realised this room was slightly wrong too. Looking around the room, she noticed a window, looking out to… Applejack’s barn?

She then looked closer at the decorations on the walls and support beams.
“Pears?!” Twilight exclaimed, her eyes widening. She was in the barn of the neighbouring farm, the Pear family!
But why? She barely knew the pears aside from their rivalry with Applejack’s family.
She spun around in small circles, looking around the room as she tried to figure out what was going on.
Why would she be here of all places? Why wouldn't she be in an area connected to her friends? And where was the glass box?!

But then a small glimmer caught her eye, from outside of the window.
She walked over slowly, and looked over at the Apple Farm once more, something was shimmering against one of the trees. As if the moon itself was trying to guide her along the path of discovery.

Twilight squinted her eyes a bit, trying to make out what the gleaming item was, but it proved to be fruitless, and Twilight attempted to climb out of the window.
Given how there were no stairs, what other choice did she have?

Climbing onto the windowsill, she spread her wings and took flight briefly. Twilight moved slowly through the air, unsure if this was the right direction to go in. Nothing tried to stop her flight, nothing tried to pull her back to the Pear barn. She made a rather smooth trip from the Pear Barn to the Apple Farm’s archway entrance.

Looking at the trees on the way to the barn, she spied the glass box, bolted to one of the trees. It glistened in the moonlight, almost as if it had been freshly polished. Looking into her saddle bag, she saw that the item she had to represent Fluttershy, was a pastel pink hair clip with a light blue flower on the end. She laid it on the bottom of the box, closing the front, and saw the hole for her horn open up.

Remembering what Rarity said to her, she couldn't help but nervously look around at her surroundings. She’s fully out in the open as she sees this flashback, and now she knew she could be open for any kind of attack, and not realise until it was too late…

Giving a small sigh, calming her nerves, Twilight slowly lowered her horn into the hole of the box, letting the white magic flow into her head. Her eyes slowly glowing a bright blue.

She soon saw the point of view, of Fluttershy. But her vision was blurry. She was crying. Tears dripped down Flutterhy’s face as she looked at Pinkie Pie who was sat in front of her, a concerned look on her face.

“P-Pinkie what do we do? Everypony has gone missing! We’re the last ones left! Twilight has sent her entire royal guard to look for us! Celestia and Luna have come out of retirement to help find them, and even Discord has been dimension jumping to find our friends… Noone has found them!”

Fluttershy spoke in a panicked tone, shaking and her voice wavering as she tried to get her words out to her Pink party pony friend.
Fluttershy’s ears were folded flat against her head, her mane was a mess and she had rather big bags under her eyes from lack of sleep, each night was spent wide awake, worrying that she might be next.

Pinkie Pie tried to reassure Fluttershy that she would be ok,and that everyone is doing everything they can to help.

“How can you be so sure Pinkie!? Even trixie and Starlight Glimmer have gone missing! And so many strange things have been happening since our friends began vanishing! The mirror to other worlds has been open for the last few months. Changelings have been flickering between reformed and evil, The yaks in YakYakistan have suddenly migrated to somewhere we can't find them! It's all just so much chaos!”
Fluttershy was shouting at this point, her body shaking, and more tears flowed down her face.

“Fluttershy… I know you’re scared… And i agree, a lot of strange things have been happening. But there isn't much else we can do aside from wait for results. Listen.. Spike gave me a scroll from Princess Cadance the other day, telling us that SHE and Shining armour will be sending guards from their army to help look for them, as well as the… Many other ponies that have gone missing. Everyone in Equestria is trying to help. The best we can do is just try to keep our chins up and hope they’re at least ok.”

Pinkie Pie explained all of this to fluttershy, but she too was nervous. She was trying her hardest to keep a smile on her face with everything going on, but was struggling to keep herself together, and her mane was visibly shuddering as she tried to stop it from deflating.

The yellow Pegasus took a deep breath to try and piece herself together. Looking up at Pinkie and giving a soft smile. Pinkie was right, they couldn't do much else aside from double check places where guards have searched. But then Fluttershy looked up at Twilight’s crystal castle.

Fluttershy then furrowed her brow and slowly turned to Pinkie
“Now that i think about it… When Rainbow went missing, we saw somepony or… something pull her into Twilight’s old castle! Maybe the castle has something to do with it.”
Fluttershy suggested, slowly getting up and looking at Pinkie, who had the same curious look on her face.

”How about we go and see what’s going on in the castle? Maybe it can give a few answers to where everypony is vanishing to.”

“You know, there's no harm in trying! I mean, none of the guards have done it, unless the castle has become super super sacred, and they can't walk on it.”

Pinkie responded, her face contorting in confusion as to why none of the guards that were littering Ponyville, have gone into Twilight’s old castle to investigate the disappearances.

Fluttershy and Pinkie gave each other a determined nod, before making their way up the castle’s stairs, and toward the entrance. Just like every other time, the doors opened with ease, to show the inside being pristine, untouched by time.

“You know, it feels pretty strange how the castle is still super sparkly after all this time.” Pinkie commented as they walked deeper into the castle’s main hallway.

Fluttershy nodded in agreement as they looked around. They took their time investigating each room. Starting at the front of the castle, where the kitchen and library was, and slowly making their way back into the map room.

It took a good few hours of searching for answers before they reached the map room, and when they entered, they both got a similar feeling that something was…

”odd…” Pinkie started, mumbling to herself as the 2 walked into the room. Chills ran up their spines and their fur stood on end, as they had a strange feeling that they were being watched. The 2 ponies constantly checked over their shoulders

After a beat of silence, Fluttershy drew her attention to the map on the table. Noticing something in the middle of the table, where the map of Equestria once stood proud.
“Pinkie? Isnt this a photo of us?” Fluttershy commented, with a curious but nervous tone.

The item in the middle of the table was in fact the framed photo of their friends. The exact same one Twilight found when she first arrived here. Only difference is; Fluttershy and PinkiePie hadnt been crossed out yet…

The 2 ponies exchanged a worried look, and took a mental note to return here, before leaving the room to continue their search, only to find the door to the pillar being wide open.

“Was that always open?”

“Iiiii’m not sure Fluttershy, do you still want to check it out?”
Pinkie responded with a cautious tone, doubled with a worried look in her eye.
The yellow pegasus thought it over for a moment, before giving a nod.

“We haven't found very much here aside from that photo. THeres no harm checking here as well. I want to check this castle top to bottom for our friends. If the guards aren't coming. We need to be as thorough as possible!” Fluttershy stated. Her voice slowly became more confident and determined as she spoke. Before trotting forward into the pillar's entrance, swiftly followed by a still worried Pinkie.

Though when they entered, there were no stairs, and the roof was very low down, and they were greeted with the wooden door Twilight struggled to open before. For them, it opened with ease, and the 2 of them went inside.

Before the flashback came to a close, Twilight’s vision suddenly left Fluttershy’s point of view, and rushed back to the map room, focusing in on the photo. As 2 big red cross marks appeared over Fluttershy and Pinkie’s faces.

Twilight yanked her horn out of the box with a gasp. Her breathing heavy and her wings spread in a defensive position.
“That… They… They came here on their own… Nothing drew them here or dragged them here. They willingly came to the castle?! But how could they?! This is all so confusing…”
Twilight said to herself with a strained voice. Holding her head with a wince.
All of these strange happenings all at once were giving her a headache.

Normally in a situation like this, she would know what to do… But she didnt… She was struggling to come up with a solution. She couldnt turn to her friends, as they had all been turned into monstrosities that couldn’t leave the rooms they were trapped in.

She couldnt ask the other princesses for further help, as they have sent their entire guards to Ponyville on multiple search parties.
For the first time in a very very long time… Twilight didnt know what to do…
The alicorn slowly sat under one of the apple trees, putting her front hooves over her face and silently wept.
She missed her friends, she never wanted anything bad to happen to them.
And now they were trapped in this maze of mind games.

Twilight was stuck…

WHTMF chapter 5 - part 2

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After a long while of twilight laying there, the feeling of hope fizzled out of her.
Twilight slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. She then opened her saddle bag and looked at the photo of her friends she had found in the map room. Their faces were all still crossed out. With a snarl, Twilight threw the photo to the ground, causing the glass on the front to smash, and the paper photo to fall out.

Wiping her ears, the purple alicorn then saw a small glimmer in the now empty frame, along the wooden backing Picking up the frame, she saw that the frame had a hidden key inside.

Confused, she took the key and inspected it, it was the key to her castle in Canterlot. But how did it get here?

Her mind began to fill with questions, before she heard a loud screech, that caused Twilight to pale in fear and freeze in place for a moment. Peeking around the tree, she saw a figure, hovering in the moonlight, the only thing moving was their wings, as they flapped at a rapid pace, keeping the figure afloat.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight asked aloud, her ears folding back and her eyes squinting in the moonlight, trying to make sense of who or what she was seeing.

Before Twilight could make sense of what was going on, the figure swooped down, gripping twilight by her front hooves and flying into teh sky, twilight screaming the entire way. She looked up at whoever was carrying her. It was fluttershy, but something was wrong. Her hair was a mess, her wings were bat-like, her eyes were deep red. She was a bat?!

The alicorn reacted quickly, using a simple teleportation spell to get out of Fluttershy’s grip, and spreading her wings to catch herself from falling. She looked back, and saw Fluttershy flying after her with a snarl.
With a frightened yelp, Twilight flew as fast as her wings could carry her, swerving through clouds and over the treeline. She eventually managed to lose the bat-pony by diving into the trees and flying between the trunks for a while.

Once the cost was clear, she landed gently on all 4 hooves, beginning to walk back to the glass box, where she had left the broken picture. Only to round a corner and be greeted with a bright pink face.

“WAH–! Pinkie what are you doing h–?!” Her sentence was cut off as she backed up, away fromPinkie and saw the full picture.
Pinkie’s mane was flat, shimmering in the moonlight. Her face was paler than the rest of her body, and her eyes were void of colour, being completely white.

A small streak of blood ran from her nose and down her chin, which had dried and crusted against her fur. And a thick, rope noose held tightly to the earth ponies neck, the rope extending up through the treeline.

“P-pink… pinkie…” Twilight tried to speak. But her breath got caught in her throat. Forcing her into stunned silence. Her eyes began to fill with tears and her ears folded flat against her head. Her front hooves quivering as she reaches out, gently touching Pinkie’s stone cold face.

Tears began to quickly streak down her face, she couldn't believe what she was seeing, and she wasn't sure if she could look away.
Eventually, she tried to chuckle, wiping her tears and calling out into the distance.

“o-ok pinkie! You got me! Is this a prank? Y-you can come out now!”

Twilight was greeted with the silence of Sweet Apple Acres.

“Pinkie! Come on! T-This isnt funny! You can come out! Please?”

Silence again…

“PINKIE PIE! PLEASE!”
Twilight yelled out into the ghostly silent sky, her voice breaking and soon she burst into tears, her head slowly turning to look at Pinkie’s hanging corpse. But… It was gone.

Twilight’s eyes widened and she quickly dried her face, looking around, before shaking her head.
“Great… Now I'm seeing things…. I think i've been here too… long?”

Twilight’s sentence slowly trailed off as she saw Pinkie’s body hanging in the middle of the dirt path, leading toward the barn, but she was hanging in the air, with the rope attached to nothing in particular. Looking up, Twilight was greeted with something she wishes she had never seen.

It was a giant balloon, that was an exact replica of Pinkie Pie’s face, if she was still alive. Bright pink fur, big, poofy mane, and those sky blue eyes that everyone loved.

The alicorn was frozen in place, looking terrified, and she soon saw another balloon fly toward them. But it wasn’t pinkie’s head again. It was her own. Putting 2 and 2 together. Twilight took off running, using her wings to give more of a boost. She looked back as she ran,seeing that the Pinkie and Twilight balloons were pursuing her, and Fluttershy had found them too, and had also joined in the chase.

All twilight could do was scream until she reached the pear barn, slamming the door behind her. She held the door shut with her front hooves for a moment, panting heavily and shaking. As she turned, she paused, she was.. Upstairs?

Looking back at the door she came in from, it was gone, replaced with the wooden wall that would be where the stairs would be for the barn’s layout.

Twilight’s seen enough, holding her head, she checked her saddle bag. There was the golden key from the photo frame. She had to get out of here.

She left the barn, only to be greeted with the spiral staircase she had grown to hate. And the stairs were allowing her to descend back down to the ground floor.
Opening the door, she was back in the main lobby of the castle, just like she had left it.

It was quiet. Too quiet. Twilight slowly walked away from the pillar, toward the entrance, her hoof steps echoing through the crystal walls as she walked. She was tense, and was unsure of what was and wasn't real now.
Twilight soon reached the door and tried to open it, it was locked tight. Looking into her bag, she took out the golden key, but it had changed.

In the barn, it looked brand new and shiny, now it looked dulled down and slightly rusty, like it had suddenly succumbed to the passage of time.

Looking back at the castle, she saw that the interior had suddenly done the same. The once pristine walls were now covered in cobwebs, the shine of the crystals dulled down due to a thick coat of dust and some of the walls and pillars had large cracks in them, due to the passage of time causing plenty of wear and tear.

This didnt stop Twilight through, she quickly turned the key int eh door and was greeted with a rather interesting looking pony.

It was a bright green pony, with stitching going along the middle of each leg, as well as through the middle of her torso, like she had been cut in half and put back together.
Her mane and tail were in messy curls, and were a much lighter green. This pony also had 3 unicorn horns that bent in the middle, pointing toward the centre of themselves, and she had 4 tendrils that slipped through her back.

The whites of her eyes were fully black, and the iris was fully green, with slightly darker cross stitches in the middle for pupils, almost like buttons.
“K-key-Lime Pie? What are you doing here? You moved out of Ponyville years ago!”

Key-Lime simply smirked, Her stitches bursting open in a large tendril mass.

WHTMF chapter 6 - bad ending

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Key-Lime Pie stood there, standing over Twilight.
The stitches over her joints now burst open, revealing the tendril mass that holds her together.

The eldritch unicorn seemed to double, maybe even triple in size, until she matched the size of Tirek, back when they had their grand battle together. Before Twilight could react, Key-Lime spoke up.

“Poor little Twilight Sparkle… All alone, nopony to turn to… Your friends… Turned to monstrosities. Your fellow Princesses, out of reach… You’re in MY domain now Princess… And in my domain, there are no rules…~”

Before Twilight could respond,the sky around the castle began to change. Slowly changing into a blood red colour, the shadows became an overwhelming pit of red, and everything around them had turned red…

It was almost like Twilight had walked into a giant photo development room. She couldn't see very well through the tampered light. She looked around, trying to see Key-Lime, but she seemed to have vanished into the red horizon.

Before Twilight could react, she was whacked from behind by a tendril. A dark, green tendril. The impact from behind her, left her dizzy, her ears ringing and her vision blurred.

Once the clouds in her vision cleared, she was greeted with Discord’s face inches away from hers. But something was off… His eyes were green. Lime green. With what looked like darker thread going through the middle of his eyes in a cross shape. Almost as if they looked like buttons.

“Discord?! What’s going on? What happened to you?!” Twilight asked frantically, putting her hooves on Discord’s cheeks, making him look at her.
But the draconequus simply remained quiet, before slowly standing up straight, pointing his clawed hand at her.

“Couldnt even save your little group of friends… And here i thought the Princess of Friendship was more capable than sending her guards to do her dirty work.”
Discord's tone was cold, heartless. His voice was echoed and distorted, and didnt sound like it was coming from him.

Twilight’s eyes began to fill with tears. She didn't want to believe it, but he was right.
She didn't come when she needed to, instead sending more guards and making bigger search parties. Even asking princesses Celestia and Luna and Cadance to send in reinforcements.

She did everything she could when it came to trying to find her friends, except go to THEM when they needed her most.

“T-that’s not true! I was helping them i–!”

“But you didnt go to them! You didnt leave your throne room until things got too far. Only when ALL of your friends were gone, did you decide to leave your castle, and find out for YOURSELF, what was going on.”

“So i didnt respond appropriately! I was doing everything I could without putting anypony else at risk!”

“But it clearly wasn't enough… was it… PRINCESS?”
Discord’s voice morphed and changed, until it matched Key-Lime Pie’s voice.

Then, Discord’s green button eyes began to glow, and the draconequus quickly evaporated into nothing, leaving Key-Lime Pie there instead, standing over the now crying alicorn.

“I suggest you look at all the mistakes you made Twilight… Sending your entire royal guard… Asking your fellow princesses for help… All the “efforts'' you put into the search for your friends… While you didnt even leave your little throne in Canterlot… But it seems like you’ve managed to piece the puzzle together a little too late…”

“You… You did all of this! But your own mother! She-!

Twilight’s sentence was cut off by the sound of loud ripping, Key-Lime’s body breaking into pieces, and her entire form growing to ungodly sizes. Her eyes going completely green and many tendrils came out of the new splits in her body. As well as her mouth.

With a loud roar, the tendrils all shot forward toward Twilight.
With a few pink flashes, Twilight managed to cast a few teleportation spells. Dodging the first onslaught, before the rest rapidly followed after her.

But the alicorn looked at Key-Lime. Her face didnt look angry or upset… She was scared. She had always been capable of such strong magic due to inheriting a lot of eldritch-like abilities from down her family tree.

“wait a second… Her magic… She can't control it!”
Twilight shouted out to herself. EVerything that was going on. Key-Lime Pie couldn't control.

All the strange happenings, the reality warping, even everything she is saying. Everything is the magic being too strong, leaving Key-Lime herself in the passenger seat of her own mind.

Twilight shot forward. Her horn lit up, ready to attack.
There was nothing she could do but fight back, if she didn't stop key-lime soon, then there would be no reversing this spell!!

Twilight flew toward Key-Lime Pie, she could hear her friends voices in the back of her mind, cheering her on for her victory, as she flew at the green eldritch horror that was Key-Lime Pie.

But before the first attack could even land, Twilight’s flight path was cut short, by an especially sharp tendril shooting out of the ground. Slicing its way through Twilight’s torso like a hot knife through butter…

Blood flowed down the tendrils and stained the skin. Key-Lime’s eyes leaked with tears, but her face looked like one of victory, as her loud laughter echoed through the sky.

“Hahahahaha!! Couldnt even save Key-Lime…”

Twilight’s body slumped to the ground, all life drained from her body, as the giant green eldritch unicorn slowly walked away toward Twilight’s castle. All while, a small scream echoed from the giant entity, the screams of the real Key-Lime. Forever trapped in her own mind.

WHTMF chapter 6 - good ending

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Key-Lime Pie stood there, standing over Twilight.
The stitches over her joints now burst open, revealing the tendril mass that holds her together.

The eldritch unicorn seemed to double, maybe even triple in size, until she matched the size of Tirek, back when they had their grand battle together. Before Twilight could react, Key-Lime spoke up.

Before Twilight could react, she was whacked from behind by a tendril. A dark, green tendril. The impact from behind her, left her dizzy, her ears ringing and her vision blurred.

She did everything she could when it came to trying to find her friends, except go to THEM when they needed her most.

“T-that’s not true! I was helping them i–!”

“So i didnt respond appropriately! I was doing everything I could without putting anypony else at risk!”

“But it clearly wasn't enough… was it… PRINCESS?”
Discord’s voice morphed and changed, until it matched Key-Lime Pie’s voice.

Then, Discord’s green button eyes began to glow, and the draconequus quickly evaporated into nothing, leaving Key-Lime Pie there instead, standing over the now crying alicorn.

“You… You did all of this! But your own mother! She-!

“wait a second… Her magic… She can't control it!”
Twilight shouted out to herself. EVerything that was going on. Key-Lime Pie couldn't control.

All the strange happenings, the reality warping, even everything she is saying. Everything is the magic being too strong, leaving Key-Lime herself in the passenger seat of her own mind.

Twilight shot forward. Her horn lit up, ready to attack.
There was nothing she could do but fight back, if she didn't stop key-lime soon, then there would be no reversing this spell!!

Twilight flew toward Key-Lime Pie, she could hear her friends voices in the back of her mind, cheering her on for her victory, as she flew at the green eldritch horror that was Key-Lime Pie.

Dodging sharp tendrils as they burst from the ground, flying high above the ground, coming toward eye-level with Key-Lime’s giant form.
Her magic aura quickly transformed into a scythe, that she could easily wield in her teeth.

Which Twilight held tightly within her jaws, swinging the sharp blade, cleanly through the splits between Key-Lime’s limbs.
With many flashes of green and Pink magic, Twilight made quick work of slicing Key-Lime into many pieces. Before flying up high, the scythe soon vanishing from her maw, as she managed to align herself with the eldritch horror from above.

Her horn lit up once more, surrounding the alicorn in what looked like a shield, but it was pointed at one side. That point followed her front hooves.
Twilight flew down, diving toward the eldritch horror’s head, her hooves outstretched, aiming the point directly in front of her.

The spike of the shield soon pierced through the side of Key-Lime’s dismembered head, loud cracking and squelching sounds echoed into the blood red sky, as parts of key-lime’s giant form began to fly off, sparkling in the sunlight.

With one last battle cry, twilight drove the spike through key-lime’s head, embedding it into the ground, and key-lime’s head soon exploded in what seemed to be, sparkling green dust.

When the smoke cleared, all that was left was Key-Lime’s original form. Laying there amongst the smashed pieces of her giant form. She still had her stitches pattern on her limbs and torso, and her 3 horns remained.
But she was back to her normal self. And with a gasp, Key-Lime opened her eyes, looking around at the destruction and carnage that had gone on.

Seeing the blood red sky, the dusted up castle, and an angry Twilight Sparkle standing over her.

“I understand you couldnt control yourself. But that doesnt mean you wont be going without punishment.
Twilight explained coldly to the eldritch unicorn. Who remained silent and simply nodded.

Twilight then summoned 3 rings that slotted onto Key-Lime’s horns, cutting off her magic. The moment those rings cut off Key-Lime’s magic, the sky slowly faded back to the natural blue, and the surrounding area soon turned back to its true self again.

Ponies began to emerge from their homes, almost as if nothing had happened.
Twilight couldnt believe it. Everyone was back! It was just like a normal morning in Ponyville.

Realizing this, she looked over her shoulder, back at her castle. She then saw her friends emerge from the castled entrance, holding their heads, and looking a bit confused as to why they were in the old castle.

Twilight’s eyes filled with tears and she smiled wide. She then galloped toward her friends, throwing her front hooves and wings around them.
She caught her friends rather off guard, and tackle hugged them back into the castle’s entrance. But instead of anything unsettling or unnatural happening. The 6 friends just laughed, embracing their friend tightly.

The purple alicorn soon turned back to Key-Lime Pie after recomposing herself, and pulled her in close with her magic.
“I think its about time you come back to Canterlot with me…”

“Wait… Twilight, why is my daughter going to canterlot?” Pinkie questioned.
And Twilight looked over her shoulder with a serious look on her face.
“Ill explain everything soon, i promise, but for now, i need to take your daughter somewhere, where she can learn to control her magic.” Twilight then turned to Key-Lime, looking at her for a moment, before walking away, leading the green unicorn back toward the train station, where Twilight would personally escort her back to Canterlot.

What happened to my friends

by bryonyTheWolf

what happened to my friends? - chapter 1

WHTMF - Chapter 2

WHTMF chapter 3

WHTMF chapter 4

WHTMF chapter 5 - part 1

WHTMF chapter 5 - part 2

WHTMF chapter 6 - bad ending

WHTMF chapter 6 - good ending