Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1isLvYXho5N7deW7jj9TA5rFYalAI-gW8abTCxBOuT24/edit?usp=sharing

An hour had passed since Twilight woke up. Aside of their initial conversation, neither her nor the kidnapper were saying anything. But it seemed like this mysterious mare kept her word. So far, she hadn’t even come close to Twilight. But since she stood in the dark constantly, the purple mare couldn’t tell what her ‘host’ was doing. From time to time, she just heard stones rolling and leather rubbing against objects.

Twilight wasn’t sure if she felt tense, nervous, bored or all at the same time. Nothing was happening and her uncomfortable position started to wear on her joints. From time to time, she squirmed around in her bonds, trying to get more comfortable. But every time, she only ended up regretting it, as the knots only tightened more and started to slightly hurt now. Secretly, she was planning her escape, looking around for anything that could help her get free and overpower the mare. If only she could cast spells. What was that thing on her horn anyway? Well, it had been so boring this past hour, she might as well start talking to the one keeping her, if she really has no bad intentions as she claimed.

“What did you put on my horn?” Twilight wanted to know.

“A magic shackle I chiseled out of magnetite,” the kidnapper replied calmly.

That made sense to Twilight. Strong magnetic fields were known to cause unicorns significant problems to cast spells when up close to the source. Out of the many history books she had read, she knew that magnetite was often used to prohibit spell-casting in high security areas. This mare was well informed.

“How did you learn to do that?” the purple mare wondered.

“It’s a hobby,” the other mare replied shortly.

“Making magic shackles?” Twilight asked again.

“No…” was all she got as response.

The purple mare waited for a response, but the kidnapper did not speak anymore. She seemed to purposely avoid answering this question, possibly to prevent giving out any hints about her identity. Twilight’s eyes started wandering again for a moment before she continued speaking.

“So when do you intend to let me go again?” she wanted to know.

“When it’s safe. I don’t know myself when that will be. The cultists have been very active around here lately,” the mare in the dark answered.

That concerned Twilight. She feared that, somehow, informations of her plans had leaked through to the cult. If that was the case, her whole mission might be at stake. Twilight wanted to avoid this topic, because she couldn’t trust the mare. But now, she just needed to know.

“What about the others? I was with a group of ponies, griffons and minotaurs. Have you seen them?” she asked.

“They are out of danger and looking for you. But so are the cultists and demons. If I let you go now, you will all get caught,” the kidnapper spoke.

“We have killed plenty of cultists and demons,” Twilight stated.

“I have been hiding for long enough. I know what I am talking about. It is best for both you and your friends to be separated. Without you, they will be more cautious. I will lead them here when the time is right,” the mare explained.

“Well, if you intend to keep me here for a longer period of time, you eventually will have no choice but to free me. Like every pony, I need to eat, drink and use the bushes every once in a while,” Twilight argued.

“You can do all of that just where you are right now,” the mare in the dark denied.

For a moment, Twilight’s anger increased. Did she just expect of her to soil herself? But as her eyes wandered down, she could make out a deep hole below her, not wide enough for Twilight to fall into. The purple mare sighed. There was no way around it. This mare would not let her go under any given circumstance and calling for help probably wouldn’t help either. Twilight had been in this situation before and knew that such hideouts are usually so remote that shouting and yelling wouldn’t do a thing. Trying to distract herself from the thoughts of what she might need to do in a while, the purple mare resumed the conversation.

“Why is the BloodClaw Cult after you?” she asked.

The answer did not come immediate like with her previous questions. The mare stopped whatever she was doing for a moment, apparently thinking about if she should answer this or not.

“They want me to join them,” she eventually replied shortly.

“And why don’t you?” Twilight kept asking.

“Because I know what their goal is. Or rather, I know what their lords’ goal is. I have no interest in dying,” the mare explained.

“If that’s the case, why don’t you join us?” the purple mare continued.

“Because I can’t do that either. My name alone will be reason enough for all of you to kill me,” the kidnapper stated.

“What if I gave you my word that we won’t do anything to you?” Twilight offered.

“You can’t promise that. Even if you could push your will through with the others, there are many in your rebellion that will see me as a threat or will still want me to die for... events in the past. It would be too dangerous for me and it would distract your friends and allies too much,” the mare explained.

“You can’t join the cult, nor can you join the rebellion… I see. But if you are actually against Blueblood, the cult and the demons, you are a friend to us. We could still use your help in fighting them,” Twilight spoke.

“I guess I can help you,” the mare agreed shortly.

“Good. But without knowing who you are, how will I know it’s you?” Twilight needed to know.

Again, the mare keeping herself in the dark stopped her task to think. This time, it was significantly longer. After a while, she began to look around and seemed to pick up a hoof-size stone. Twilight couldn’t really tell what she was doing, but she heard cracking noises and pebbles falling to the ground. After about two minutes, the result of her work rolled over to Twilight in very irregular movements.

Obviously, it was a stone. A cut stone. But what surprised was the precision with which it had been cut. Significantly better than anything Twilight could do. It had a perfect diamond pattern.

“When you see this, you know it’s me,” the mare stated.

Good enough, Twilight figured. There were more things she wanted to talk about, but the mare now started walking away.

“I will be gone for a while. Don’t worry. Nothing will happen to you while I’m gone,” she explained, then just kept going.

The hoof clattering on the stone floor became more and more quiet. Eventually, Twilight couldn’t hear them anymore. This was her cue to try to escape. For over two hours, Twilight continuously fought against her binds, trying her best to free herself just a bit. But it was useless. No matter what she tried, they only ended up even tighter and gripping her even harder. She tried swaying her tail to move some stones on the ground, hoping she could somehow pick them up. But most just ended up falling into the hole below her. Eventually, she tired herself out. Getting sore wherever the binds rubbed against her skin and being held painfully tight, she eventually stopped struggling and fell asleep.

---

When Twilight woke up again, her kidnapper was back. The purple mare immediately noticed that she felt way more comfortable in her binds now. They weren’t rubbing or clenching her anymore, but still held her securely. Did the mare adjust the rack to make it more comfortable for Twilight?

These questions remained unanswered, as her growling stomach interrupted her before she could even begin to speak. The kidnapper noticed that she was awake and started moving. Soon, a hoof reached out in front of Twilight’s face, holding something that looked like mushrooms.

Twilight still wasn’t sure if she could actually trust this mare so far as to accept food from her. What if they were poisonous? She just kept her mouth shut and looked away in rejection. But then, she suddenly felt her mouth being opened by force and the mushrooms being shoved right into them. Twilight wanted to spit them out, but the hoof held her mouth closed. After struggling a while, she accidentally swallowed, nearly choking on the mushrooms because she hadn’t chewed them.

At first, the purple mare panicked a bit. What was going to happen to her now? But ten minutes passed, twenty, thirty without anything bad happening to her. It seemed like those mushrooms truly were edible after all.

“Thanks…” Twilight eventually spoke.

“I need you to stay strong,” the mare explained shortly.

“Can I… have some water, too?” Twilight asked carefully.

Mutely, the kidnapper started moving again. Taking a few steps to the left, Twilight could see her reaching up to something. The sound of flowing water filled the cave for a moment, then the mare climbed back down and returned to Twilight, placing a stone bowl against her lips.

Twilight hadn’t been drinking anything for a day. It didn’t even take her a minute to empty it, letting out a breathless gasp afterwards. Once the feeding was done, time seemed to move extremely slowly again. The mare just returned deeper into the dark, working on something again.

“Wait,” the purple mare requested, getting the attention of her kidnapper again. “My saddlebags. Do you have them?”

“Yes,” the kidnapper answered.

“There are pills in the left one. I need them,” Twilight explained.

Again, the mare got up and walked away, followed by rustling not much later.

“How many?” the mare asked.

“Just one,” Twilight replied.

The rattling of pills in a bottle could be heard. Moments later, the mysterious mare walked back to her water source and refilled the stone bowl. She then presented the pill to Twilight, who this time willingly opened her mouth and took the pill along with the water.

“Thank you again,” Twilight spoke afterwards.

The mare did not respond. She just moved back into the dark and started working again.

“What are you doing there?” Twilight wanted to know.

“Too difficult to explain,” the kidnapper replied shortly.

“Hm… You are pretty good at stone cutting, though. Were you a jeweller before the war began?” Twilight kept asking.

“No,” was all she got as a reply.

The purple mare stopped asking. She should have known that this was too personal. But perhaps she could have slipped up and revealed something about her identity.

The following hours were quiet and boring. Both mares had not much to talk about and Twilight was not sure what she should say anyway. After all, she was helpless right now. The worst she could do was to upset the one who had power over her.

Sunlight couldn’t be seen anywhere. Twilight had no idea how much time had passed and if it was day or night right now. But the more time passed, the more restless the kidnapper became. She started walking around more and more, sometimes eating some berries. It didn’t seem to help, though, as the pacing only became worse. After a while, the mare started chewing on some leaves, apparently trying to take her time and eating them as slowly as she could. Twilight started to get worried now. Something was wrong with this mare. But what?

“Are you okay?” she asked carefully.

No response. The kidnapper just kept on pacing and after what felt like an eternity, she suddenly left without saying a word. This confused Twilight even more. Was this mare sick, maybe? If so, Twilight could only hope she wouldn’t die and leave her hanging on the rack. Nopony would be able to find her in time. Trying to stay focused, she considered the things she could do. Since the feeding, Twilight gained more trust towards the one who held her captive. But she still couldn’t be sure about her intentions. So she thought she would prefer to sleep while the kidnapper was away. Having come to that conclusion, she closed her eyes and took a nap.

---

It felt like no time at all had passed when Twilight suddenly woke up again, hearing the noises of something dragging across the stone floor. Did the mare get hurt? As the sound came closer, she could see a strange silhouette that was larger than the kidnapper who abducted her. As it came closer, it broke into two silhouettes. It was the mare, as well as another pony she had brought to the cave. She finally stopped with an unconscious stallion, whom she presented to Twilight.

“Do you know this one? Is he a friend?” she wanted to know.

Twilight had to focus and stare at the stallion for a while with narrowed eyes to make out his face. Then she slowly shook her head.

“No, I don’t think I have ever seen him. Why are you asking? Is he a cultist?” Twilight asked back.

“I don’t know and since he is not a friend, it doesn’t matter,” the kidnapper replied.

Twilight was confused. Where did she pick this guy up? What was she planning to do with him? Trying to follow what was going on, she could vaguely make out that the mare was tying him up to a rack similar to the one Twilight was on. Maybe he was another pony she wanted to ‘keep safe’?

The mare seemed to wait for something. She stood idly in front of the stallion, remaining motionless for nearly a minute. Eventually, a smack could be heard, indicating that she had slapped the stallion. He now finally started coming back to his senses.

“Ugh… Huh? Who are you?” the stallion wondered.

He got no instant reply. The mare just kept standing there, staring at him for a moment longer.

“Hi,” was all she said.

The silhouette of the mare covered the one of the stallion. First, they were silent. But then, a horrible scream of agony came from the stallion, startling Twilight heavily. Her eyes sprung wide open. The strange black mass these two formed in the dark made it impossible for her to identify what was going on. The stallion was still screaming when the mare took a step away from him, not breaking eye-contact with him. Twilight could see her licking one of her front legs slowly, then she returned back to her hostage.

“No! No! Please!” he pleaded.

Breaking and tearing sounds could be heard, as well as another soul-tearing scream. A part of their mixed silhouette flew away and landed in the dark, causing Twilight to gasp. She was killing him! She was ripping him apart with her bare hooves!

The screams this poor stallion gave off where unbearable for Twilight. She wished she could stop this somehow. She struggled with her bonds once again, but only came to the same results as before. She clenched her eyes shut and forced all of her willpower into bypassing the shackle on her horn, but to no result. The splashing of blood and breaking of bones echoed against the cave walls and soon, Twilight could see a stream of blood flowing into her direction and falling down into the hole below her.

Not even a minute later, the stallion stopped screaming. Yet, the tearing and splashing sounds continued. By now, Twilight was shaking in fear. This really was like the last time she got abducted. Her old trauma returned and she begged for her life, hoping she wouldn’t wind up next.

The kidnapper kept on working on the lifeless body for nearly half an hour, letting random pieces fly around. But eventually, she stopped and climbed back down from the rack. She was breathing audibly and shaking so much, Twilight could see it even in the dark. She then turned around to the purple mare, seemingly staring at her.

Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. Her pupils shrunk to tiny black dots in fear as the mare approached her slowly, dripping noises accompanying her steps. As she arrived just inches in front of Twilight, the purple mare herself was shaking just as heavily as the kidnapper.

Eyes wide open and blood-shot. Enormous unnatural grin. Shaking and twitching randomly. Her mouth, teeth and front legs were completely soaked in blood. Now she understood why the BloodClaw Cult wanted her. She was a cannibal. A very strong one at that for being able to shred a stallion like paper.

The crazy mare kept staring Twilight deep into the eyes. Cold sweat ran down the purple mare’s forehead. She was going to break her promise. She was going to kill her. Slowly, a front leg rose into the air, approaching Twilight. The purple mare clenched her eyes and put tension on her whole body, trying to prepare herself for unimaginable pain.

The hoof gently touched Twilight’s lips and slid down to just before her chin. Twilight’s eyes opened again, looking at the hoof first and then back at the mare. She still had the same insane expression on her face, but didn’t move. She just stood there, staring with wide open eyes and huge grin. Several seconds passed before she placed her hoof back to the ground, turned around and left again. Twilight, though, could not stop shaking. The faint taste of blood crept from her lips into her mouth, instantly causing her to spit it back out and trying to clean her lips with the little movement she had in her face. While at first warm, the blood soon became cold and there was nothing she could do about it. Just what exactly had just happened? What was this gesture about? Was she trying to tell Twilight to calm down? Or was she teasing her by covering her mouth with the blood of her victim? Maybe it was both.

---

For an hour after this incident, it was silent in the cave again. All that could be heard was breathing from both mares and the occasional blood dripping from the stallion’s remains. The purple mare tried her best to keep her mouth tightly shut to not let any more blood find its way inside. Then, the kidnapper started moving again. Twilight could only hear her somewhere in the dark, but she now realized that she had laid down after finishing. She was coming back to Twilight, who twitched heavily as she once again felt something on her lips. But she quickly came to realize that it was a piece of cloth, wiping the blood away.

“I’m sorry about that,” she spoke calmly.

Twilight was still very scared and shaking. The mare noticed and stepped into the dark again after she finished cleaning Twilight’s mouth.

“You don’t have to worry. I have it under control,” she explained.

“Didn’t seem like it to me,” Twilight commented.

“I admit I went a bit far. It is hard to stop yourself when you are on a blood frenzy. I guess I let my sadism out a bit too much. But still, I would never hurt you,” the kidnapper assured.

“If you really are just half as reasonable as you claim yourself to be, you should know that I now can’t trust anything you say anymore,” Twilight stated.

“I never asked of you to trust me in the first place and I myself still don’t trust you,” the mare replied, then went over to her water source. “But think about it: I could have killed you at any point and I didn’t. My regular food supplies are extremely scarce, yet I shared with you. I even gave you your pills. If I wanted you to die, you would be dead by now.”

“That is not very reassuring,” the purple mare commented.

“It doesn’t matter. Believe me or not, but you are going to get out of here unscathed. To me, this is about survival,” the cannibal mare argued.

“Killing and eating ponies, too?” Twilight wondered.

“You are not one of us. You don’t understand what it is like,” the kidnapper spoke.

“No. No I don’t,” the purple mare replied.

Once more, it became silent for a while. The mare resumed to her regular unknown work while she every once in a while picked up a piece of the corpse, cleaned it with some water and then ate it. During this time, Twilight kept on thinking what to do now and how this knowledge… this act performed before her very eyes affected her. It didn’t take her long to start thinking of Fluttershy and Derpy when it came to eating ponies. After all, Twilight knew that they were both doing this. She even offered her blood to Fluttershy once because she saw how starved her friend was.

Slowly, the purple mare calmed down. She remembered how the kidnapper had been acting before she went out to catch this stallion. She remembered how worried she was and that she asked herself if this mare was sick. Maybe it was time for her to learn more about these things.

“But that doesn’t mean I am rejecting an attempt to explain it to me,” she stated.

The kidnapper stopped and turned her head back around to her hostage. This seemed to surprise her. Slowly, the mare got up and came back to her.

“It is an addiction, Twilight Sparkle. Worse than anything you can imagine. Once you grow a liking to the taste of flesh, your body will want more and more. This is what is known among us as ‘the hunger’. You stop seeing other ponies as friends and family. You stare at foals and your mouth begins to water, your stomach growls and your hooves shake from craving. I can hear a voice in my head, getting louder and louder. ‘Eat. Eat. Eat.’ it says,” she spoke.

“I am friends with former cannibals. If you have the willpower to keep yourself together, I don’t see any reason why you are not using it for a withdrawal instead,” Twilight argued.

“You can never stop being a cannibal. If you want a comparison, then try imagining it with alcohol. Once you get addicted to it, you become an alcoholic. Even if you stop drinking, you will never return to the way you were before. You can only be a dry alcoholic. It is the same with cannibalism. Even when you decide to stop eating other ponies, you can only ever become a ‘dry cannibal’. There is no way to go back. You may have the willpower to defeat the hunger inside you, but it will never go away. It stays in your mind, screaming at you to eat flesh. And just like with alcoholics, there is a risk of relapse. If you watch your friends closely while they are near a corpse or even just a pony with a small bleeding wound, you will see them staring, swallowing and getting uncomfortable. I can’t get away from it, Twilight Sparkle. I already tried countless times. My existence was supposed to remain a secret. Not having to go out to hunt anymore would have helped me enormously in trying to stay hidden, and still would,” the kidnapper explained.

“Maybe we can help you with that, then,” Twilight offered.

“That doesn’t work either,” the cannibal mare declined while slowly shaking her head. “There are more like me out there. Cannibals that avoid the cult, trying to survive in a world torn apart by war. I once had a friend who offered me exactly what you just did. I made him force a withdrawal on me, made him tie me up. Just days after we began, I lost control over myself. I managed to free myself and ate him alive. These are particularly dark times, Twilight Sparkle, where even cannibals break their code and eat other cannibals. Hate me for it if you need to, but my decision to keep eating ponies is conscious. I rather go out and hunt instead of losing control over myself.”

“I… guess I’m starting to understand,” Twilight commented.

The cannibal mare turned back around, hiding in the darkness once more. Twilight needed some time to swallow what she just learned, forced to rethink her opinion about cannibalism. Or at least that of this particular mare.

“You know,” the kidnapper suddenly started again. “It is actually a huge disadvantage to be a pony.”

“And why is that?” Twilight wanted to know.

“We are soft and tender creatures. Not only from the way we are, but also from our bodies. Our flesh tastes very good. It is soft, succulent and tender,” the mare stated.

“Too much information…” Twilight replied with a slightly repulsed tone.

“Maybe so, but have you ever wondered why, of the many species in this world, ponies have by far the highest number of cannibals? I am talking about times before the cult here. In the darkest chapters of pony history, even before the founding of Equestria, there already were stories of ponies eating other ponies to survive from the long lasting blizzard. Why do you think demons prefer eating ponies over any other species?” the kidnapper asked.

“That has different reasons and if I could trust you more, I would tell you what I know,” Twilight stated.

“I won’t give you my name and I won’t tell you about my past. If this comes out, I am dead. I will keep an eye on you and your friends, trying to help where I can without risking myself. But you can’t expect of me to reveal myself. All I will tell you is that I am more important than you can imagine,” the cannibal mare explained.

“What do you mean? Are you royal?” Twilight wondered.

“No,” the kidnapper replied shortly.

With that, Twilight asked one wrong question too many. The mare just became silent now, ignoring any question about her that would yet still come from Twilight.

Thinking about it, this was an extremely strange situation Twilight found herself in. A strong, skilled cannibal mare that refuses to follow the BloodClaw Cult keeping her safe. She imagined something like this was impossible to ever happen. It was also very surprising how much self-control she still had, despite being heavily afflicted by Maledictum Insania. This threw Twilight for a loop. If there was one thing she had learned from this strange time with her abductor, it was that this whole war was far more complicated than she thought. Things definitely weren’t just black and white, right or wrong, good or bad. There were so many shades of gray in between and as leader of the rebellion, it was up to her to decide which still could be considered good and which was already bad. She was the one deciding the morals of the rebellion. Should she win this war against Blueblood, it would be her decisions which would become the standard for whatever came afterwards. It was up to her if Equestria became a paradise again or would once more fall to corruption. She had to be weary not to win this war at the cost of her morals.

---

Once again, Twilight fell asleep. Once again, she woke up with the feeling she hadn’t even slept for one second. But what surprised her was the feeling of gravity affecting her differently than usual. Then she noticed that she felt no pressure around her head, chest and limbs. As she tried to move, she realized she was unbound, laying on a few sheets of cloth. Instantly, she jumped up and reached up to her horn. The shackle was gone as well. She cast a light spell to illuminate the cave. Nothing indicated that anything bad had been happening around here at all. There was no corpse, no blood, no racks and even the hole was gone. Only her and her saddlebags remained. No signs were left behind that this cave had ever been used by anypony other than her.

After turning her head, Twilight realized that her last thought was not true. There was a stone cut in diamond pattern laying on the floor not far from her, holding a piece of paper beneath it. She lifted both up with magic, letting out a happy sigh.

“Feels good to be able to use magic again,” she whispered to herself.

After giving herself a few good stretches, she analyzed the stone. It was not the same the mysterious mare had showed to her. It had a few slight differences in the stone structure, but was the same exact precisely cut pattern. She then levitated the piece of paper in front of her eyes.

“Wait here. Your friends will come soon,” she read out.

The purple mare placed both back to the ground and turned to her saddlebag in order to take another pill. As she opened it, she realized that her inventory had grown. There were a few more edible plants in it than before. No, Twilight hadn’t just been imagining all this. It really happened.

At this point, she figured she would be well able to defend herself again. So even if the kidnapper ultimately would end up trying to attack her, she was sure she would win. With this thought, Twilight decided to follow the advice on the paper and sat back down, creating a force field around herself.

---

The purple mare had spent a while analyzing more herbs and even the new plants in her bags, as well as brewing new potions for Rarity when she suddenly heard hoof clattering approaching her from the distance. Unable to be sure who it would be, she readied herself for a possible fight. But as the group arrived, she happily let down her force field. It were her friends, just like the kidnapper promised.

“Twily!” Shining Armor shouted, instantly running to the purple mare and embracing her. “Oh my gosh, it’s really you! How are you? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. What about you guys?” Twilight asked back.

“All of us are doing well,” Luna replied. “Fluttershy got injured during our battle against Slendermane, but she has fully recovered by now, as you can see.”

“What happened to you?” Fluttershy wanted to know.

“That’s… well, I don’t really know what to think of it. Let’s just say somepony took care of me and kept me safe. How much time has passed?” Twilight wanted to know.

“Four days,” Celestia replied.

“Really? That much? Well, I guess you can’t really keep track of time in total darkness,” the purple mare stated.

“We were really worried… Can you tell us what was going on?” Rarity requested weakly.

“I’ll tell you everything on the go. We already wasted enough time. After all, we still have a ship to catch,” Twilight reminded.

At last, she could escape from this cave that had her trapped with a cannibal mare for such a long time. Until the end, she couldn’t figure out who this mare was. But at least the symbol, the stone in diamond pattern, she could keep in mind. It was a strange thought to be supported by the type of pony she was usually fighting. Only time would tell if they would ever see each other again face to face or if this stone would be all Twilight would ever see of this mare again. All in all, she still would prefer the latter option to come true.