Rising up out of the madness (Patreon)

As Celestia, Luna and Doctor Steady Pulse struggled to give Last Thing a fighting chance for survival Link, the mare was trapped in a nightmare realm in my Equestria dreamscape.

     Last Thing timidly snuck down an unlit hallway of the Royal Canterlot Palace. The mare shivered as she tried to stick to the shadows. Unfortunately she'd had this view of a possible future numerous times. It was always nighttime in this view of what might come. A disturbing aspect was the fact the shadows seemed too dark and opaque to be natural.

     The palace staff wasn't there. At least not in any recognizable form, but the palace wasn't abandoned either. Although Last Thing dearly wished it was. Stalking the hallways were numerous monstrosities, abominations, and horrors. Twisted, tortured creations who's moans, howls, cries, screams, and whimpers echoed throughout the hallways and chambers of the palace.  Mercifully the Scale Bearer had been able to avoid direct contact with these nightmares. She'd never encountered another pony in these visions. She'd met things that had once been ponies, but now. Now. Now they were things that filled her mind with madness and fear.

     The hallway was lit periodically by brilliant, strobing flashes of red lightning that could be seen through the palace windows. When Last Thing occasionally looked out she could catch glimpses of the wrecked, twisted remains of what had once been the city of Canterlot. Its ruins seemed to be infested with horrors similar to those in the palace.

     The mare had unfortunately returned to this nightmare over and over ever since she'd had that encounter with Applebloom in Palace Observatory. Last Thing had seen that filly die. She'd killed that filly with a knife she'd stolen. Driven it into that damn filly's heart. Then she'd watched that same dead filly berate her for apparently interfering in the filly's business. The same filly who would open the gate. The gate that would open to....

     A wave of intense nausea washed over the mare. She clenched her eyes closed and leaned against the wall in the hallway until it subsided. Eventually she moved on.

     Like all her previous visits Last Thing was attempting to reach the Throne Room. If there was any chance of survivors, resistance, or answers the Scale Bearer was certain they would be there. A constant nagging question in the unicorn was what had happened to Celestia and Luna.

     Another thing that filled the mare with dread was the fact that in these visions her portable time anchor and temporal throttle were not with her. This denied her of 2 of her most potent tools and left Last Thing very vulnerable and helpless. Still she pressed on in her attempt to reach her goal.

     Finally after several setbacks, encounters, and obstacles Last Thing succeeded in entering the Throne Room. The room was barely lit by several dim, crimson glow lamps. Like elsewhere in the Royal Palace the shadows here were unnaturally dark and dense. Still they gave the mare the only sense of protection she had in this nightmare world.

     The Throne Room was empty. Even in the very dim light Last Thing could see that the thrones of the Royal Sisters had been toppled from the dais. The fine upholstery on them had been slashed and soiled with some type of fluid. However the Scale Bearer was unable to approach the dais and examine them closer. Covering most of the Throne Room floor was a broad, raised pool that the mare was unfamiliar with. The surface of the pool were still. The fluid in the pool was of an unknown origin; however permeating the room was an odor that Last Thing felt was familiar but she couldn't put her hoof on. The aroma made the mare uneasy.

    From the shadows Last Thing further scanned the room the more she notice another feature that was different. Over where the dais was there was normally 2 large stained glass windows. One celebrated the sun and the other the moon. However during one flash of lightning the unicorn caught a glimpse of something new. The images of the sun and moon on the windows were gone. In brief moment Last Thing saw what appeared to be the same image of a constellation or astronomical object. Beneath these strange images was a description.

     The Griffin's Claw

     This caught the mare's attention. Cautiously she emerged from the shadows and moved toward to the dais which brought her closer to the alien pool. Last Thing was staring intently when she heard a sound distinctive from the other than sounds of the tormented beings or rumbling thunder. It was a quiet sound but the mare heard it clearly.

     Drip.

     Looking down Last Thing spied the vanishing ripples on the pool. Craning her head up the Mare-in-Waiting peered into the dense shadows trying to perceive the source of the drip. As she was staring there was a particularly bright, long flash of lightning. In that instant see saw something that made her scream. The bodies of hundreds and hundreds of ponies packed in tight up in the rafters of palace hanging from the hind legs with their throats slit. In amongst the earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns were the slashed, tortured and mutilated bodies of Celestia and Luna. Suddenly she recognized the smell and what the fluid in the pool was.

     It was blood.

     Trembling in horror the mare was still staring up into the rafters when the surface of the blood began to gently stir. Slowly rising up out of the madness was the head of a pony. A filly, who's mane and coat were drenched and saturated in the crimson red blood. Adorning her blood soaked mane was a bow also soggy with the same blood.

     A particularly violent flash of lightning caused Last Thing to lower her head. It was then the filly's eyes met her's. Sadistic glee and raw malevolence burned in this filly's caramel brown eyes. Instinctively the unicorn understood that somehow this filly was responsible for everything she'd seen in the palace. Then the filly smiled at her and Last Thing screamed.

To be continued.