To be honest, I'm not really sure how much time passed. In between the screams and the occasional bouts of merciful unconsciousness I had, it took a lot of time to formulate a plan. The constant jabs and stabbings didn't exactly help either. Pinkie Pie was almost equally distracting, bouncing between myself, Fluttershy, and eventually Applejack when she woke up. Luna was reserved wholly for Nightmare Moon to torment it seemed though that hardly stopped her from sparing us her less than tender attentions.

The thing that wasn't Dashie made Rarity take the first round on Applejack, out of pure spite I imagine, but it worked out, despite the pain it gave Rarity the opportunity to speak to both Fluttershy and Applejack since they were right next to each other. To this day I'll never know how she did it, hurting her friends while simultaneously giving them the slight glimmer of hope they needed to keep going. I think part of it was the need to make up for giving in to whatever tortures Pinkie had visited on her when we first arrived in this hell hole, she needed to redeem herself in her own eyes as well as ours. I don't think she ever fully recovered from some of the things she had to do to us that night, even at the very end…

Pinkie didn't really take much of a part in things, mostly bouncing around the room while singing or humming, sharpening tools and occasionally… baking… I didn't want to know what went into the cupcakes she was cooking but I had a fairly good idea, enough that I focused a good deal of effort on not thinking about it.

Rarity leaned in after a while, "I've told them all everything," she said as I gasped in pain, she was running a long thin-bladed knife along my ribs, the pain was sharp and intense. Dash looked on with an evil sneer as she turned back to AJ who was sobbing.

"Really 'jack, I'm starting to get kinda tired of your constant apologizing, I mean, it's not like I'm ever going to forgive you." Dash said cruelly as she took a pair of tongs to the spike she'd driven into Applejack's right foreleg and violently tore it out.

"Ah… Ah know… bu' ah'll say it all the same Dashie…" She huffed through what I knew must have been excruciating pain.

Dash glared for a moment before turning and bucking Applejack in the chest hard enough to splinter ribs.

*CRACK*

Applejack coughed up blood and struggled to get air into the ruin the blow had probably left of her lungs, as always though her breathing evened and she coughed out, "Heh… yer gettin' purdy good Dash, you'da made a right fine applebucker one day…"

Applejack had found a fragment of her former strength, even in the dismal condition she was in I felt some small relief, a darker part of me knew why though, Applejack was letting Rainbow Dash hurt her because she felt she deserved it. The pain the wraith of Dash was inflicting was payment, something Earth Ponies had a tendency to believe in whole-heartedly, that all debts must be repaid. Each blow, each red hot spike, each cut bled out some of the debt AJ felt she owed to Dash and, as sick as it was, it seemed to be helping.

I took whatever I could get at that point.

I turned back to Rarity as she finished, I had long since run out tears and my screams were born more of defiance than pain anymore. I knew they'd step up their infliction's soon, they couldn't remain amused by this forever; I had to act fast.

"Rarity, when I give the signal you do as I instructed, go get ready" I whispered to her. I had to time my speech carefully, Nightmare Moon was very keen-eared, but Fluttershy seemed to be playing her part as distraction well. I don't know if I'll ever feel forgiven for the horrors I knew Nightmare Moon must have visited on her but I trusted my friend, Fluttershy was stronger than AJ in her own way.

Rarity nodded almost invisibly; no eye contact, nothing perceptible, good girl. I silently gave thanks again for Rarity's knack for subtlety.

She turned and pulled a cart up next to the table; on it she methodically placed several of the thin blades, each of varying lengths, each in perfect order. She added a number of the smaller cleavers, spikes, a chisel, and a hammer.

"What the hay are you doing prissy-hooves?" Dash came over and watched her work.

Celestia bless her but she didn't bat an eyelash, "Getting ready for the next round," she answered, not pausing in her work.

"Heh… man, you're really getting into this."

Rarity looked up with ice in her eyes, "Something like that."

Dash narrowed her eyes at that.

Nightmare Moon's back was turned and Pinkie Pie was about to pass behind Rarity, I tapped my back hoof twice.

Dash's eyes went wide; she realized what was going on but too late, and for a brief moment Rarity glowed like a goddess. Every inch of her coat shone like opalescent fire, Rarity never had the power I did, or even the power that most unicorns would call their birthright, she had skill and finesse that suited her work, but raw strength was something she'd always lacked.

Not that you could tell in that instant.

It was a forced telekinesis spell that would've made Celestia proud, the blades didn't even need to rise, they fired out like shots from a cannon skewering Dash. Rarity's back legs kicked out and floored Pinkie as she passed, the cleavers flew out perfectly and cut the bonds restraining me, my magic flooded back to me and with it the familiar headache, but I knew what it was now, I knew that I could fight it.

"YOU STUPID LITTLE-" Dash barely had time to shout before another blade neatly severed her vocal chords.

Did I mention she had finesse?

A sudden storm of dark magic grew behind me, just as I expected, Nightmare Moon was joining the fray, I whipped around and poured all my magic into my horn and out into Nightmare Moon, suppressing her magic and immobilizing her, the effort made even the barest movement impossible.

"Owie ow… that hurt Rarity!" Pinkie got up only to receive another pair of hooves to the side of the head causing it to snap backward completely in a darkly comical way. Rarity was in a trance, she was hemorrhaging power, as she threw blade after blade, four of them striking with perfect precision, severing the Applejack's bonds who was dropped unceremoniously to the floor.

In a second she was up, I saw the grimace of pain on her face, her legs must've felt like they were on fire but she moved like they didn't matter. Two lightning swift kicks and Fluttershy's cage was open, she flew over us and landed in front of Luna's prison.

Applejack looked towards Nightmare Moon, preparing to jump her but a sudden look of fear crossed her face as she looked past me, I managed not to flinch as she leapt over me and collided with something, Dash probably. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Pinkie Pie get up, Rarity turn towards her but she was worn thin already. We were cutting it close, Rarity was nearly tapped out. A feeling of fear swept through my heart as I saw Pinkie Pie look around innocently before picking up one of the cleavers that had freed me and was now lying on the stained cobblestones of the floor. She grinned past the handle of the blade as she looked to me and Moon, then behind me to Rarity, then presumably to Applejack and Rainbow whom I could hear wrestling on the floor; apparently undecided as to who she would dismember first.

Pinkie looked incredibly pleased, like she was surrounded by sweets and didn't know which to sample first.

Rarity's knees were shaking from exhaustion, her eyes were barely staying focused, it was over… I turned back to Nightmare Moon, determined to push one last burst through when I heard the whisk of a well-sharpened blade being thrown, my hopes fell…

Then a cleaver lodged itself in Nightmare Moons skull with a sickening crunch.

Her eyes glazed over and the pent up force sent her rocketing back into the stone wall like a rag doll, I heard bones snap and crack, but even as she fell to the floor I saw the bones sliding back into place, pure hate bleeding through her gaze.

"Go on silly-filly, this party was getting boring anyway." Pinkie Pie said with a goofy smile. I could only blink in disbelief.

She whipped another blade down and it landed neatly between Rainbow's eyes, stopping her for the moment AJ needed to snatch a length of ragged rope from the counter top and secure her. Fluttershy staggered past carrying Luna out the door, as she did Pinkie Pie turn towards her.

"Luna, don't feel too bad 'kay? It's not like I really fought back," she said with one of those small, knowing, Pinkie Pie smiles. Luna only stared, her eyes wide and filled with tears, "I'm so sorry…" she whispered as she went past on Fluttershy's back as Pinkie grinned.

I just nodded and we raced out as fast as we could with Applejack carrying Rarity and Fluttershy carrying Luna, the last I saw of Pinkie Pie she was picking up another sharp blade and smiling maniacally as she kicked the door shut. The last thing I heard from that room was Nightmare Moon, roaring in rage. We made it up the stairs and staggered into the gray light of the hallway, I knew where we were now, I'd walked these halls a thousand times over for more than a decade. We ran like hell was on our hooves, it probably was now that I think about it. We made it to the throne room though and I could hear it, a soft humming in my mind.

"Girls, I need your help, just like before, when we used the Elements of Harmony, I need you all," I said, they all nodded, even Luna.

They closed their eyes and I reached out to them, our connection was as strong as ever, the Elements gave us power but it was our friendship that linked us together.

I released a surge of magical strength, feeling for the cracks in my own mind. Finding them in moments, I reached out and let the light in. It was like the first rays of dawn falling through an attic window after years of neglect, dust scattered at the sudden breeze, ancient books and chests were illuminated. I breathed in as the headache faded and a loving voice fell on my ears.

"Finally… my dearest Twilight… come, we're leaving." Celestia's voice carried us all away and blissful darkness swept over us.

+=+

I awoke a good while later in a bed made for a queen, or a princess in this case, I was in Celestia's private chambers, my friends all slept peacefully around me in what I imagined was likely a magic-induced and mercifully dreamless sleep. Celestia was lying down on the floor by the bed snoozing too, although that was probably just plain old exhaustion. I knew what she'd been doing and how difficult it must have been to get even those scant messages through to me in that place like she had done, waking the memories in my mind that would give us all a fighting chance.

She stirred quietly and looked up at me. "Ah, there you are, back at last," she said, genuinely pleased.

I nodded, "Teacher, I'm sorry, I was ashamed, if I had come to you earlier…" I said, unable to meet her gaze.

Celestia shook her head gracefully, "No Twilight, it is I that should have come to you, I knew something was wrong but in my desire to believe you were alright I blinded myself to what should have been obvious."

By now the others were waking, Applejack at first, then Fluttershy and Luna, Rarity was the last to come to but not by much.

I opened my mouth but Celestia interrupted me with a hoof, "No Twilight, this is my responsibility, you had no reason to think that what was going on was any more than nightmares and shock, had I been more attentive I would noticed the power you had begun to leak."

"L-leak?" I said hesitantly. I had guessed that whatever had happened was connected to me but I hadn't been able to figure out why.

"Please… Celestia, I need to know… what happened? Where were we… and… what did I do?" I asked hesitantly, I knew wasn't going to like the answer but I had to know, for my own peace of mind.

Celestia nodded, "First I should tell you Twilight, you have more power than you believe, in fact, in a contest of pure magical strength you probably outmatch me by a healthy stride," she said with a smile, my jaw dropped at this revelation, me? Stronger than the Princess?

"Of course what you lack… is control, and that is, in the end, what lead to this whole matter." I started felt my heart plummet but, seemingly hearing my thoughts Celestia shook her head.

"No Twilight, don't blame yourself, there was no way you could have been any more controlled than you are now, in fact you've far exceeded my expectations, I thought it would take another few years of training to bring you to where you are now. No, the fault lies with me, I am your teacher and it is my duty to know your limits better than you do, and in that I failed." With those words Celestia bowed her head in apology to each of us in turn.

After we'd gotten done assuring her that we forgave her and pleading with her to raise her head she looked up at us, her eyes filled with sadness.

"Luna told me that she explained curses to you, is that right?" We each nodded to this, "so you know, then, that curses require a great deal of hate, but you may not realize that hatred need not necessarily be directed outward."

I squinted my eyes at this trying to understand what she was getting at.

Rarity only took a moment before she gasped.

I followed on her hooves.

"You don't mean…" I started, horror dawning on my face.

"Yes, Twilight combine the trauma of losing two of your closest friends, the revelation that one of them was a murderer, with your over-developed responsibility complex and you have the ingredients you need for self-hatred." Her head fell as she continued, unable to meet our eyes, "You know that when a great trauma occurs in a unicorns life it can affect their magic, turning it wild or causing it to vanish entirely as they lose the will to use it correct?" I nodded to this, knowing where she was going.

"When you witnessed the horrible things Miss Pie had done it wrenched your mind; your entire world came down around your ears. In a sense your mind cracked and your power leaked through it. It reacted to your hatred, becoming a curse all its own. You felt that you needed to be punished for failing to see Pinkie Pie's descent into madness, so you unconsciously called up an apparition that would deliver the torment you were convinced you deserved. Once you were with your friends the curse became even stronger, feeding off of their own self-hatred, creating a world where their punishment awaited them. It wasn't until you went to see my sister however that things became truly terrible."

Luna bowed her own head at this, "I committed a terrible sin, not only using my magic to kill but using it to force her to do something so horrific, I couldn't handle it, I imagined myself no better than Nightmare Moon and it was killing me."

Celestia placed a hoof gently on her sister's shoulder. "When you went to see Luna the curse discovered yet another source of hatred, only this one had the power of a goddess." Luna flinched. "It's ok dear, you couldn't have known," she turned back to us and continued. "When the curse moved to Luna it found a source of divine power, combined with your own it was enough to rip a hole in the fabric of what was real, it briefly connected Sugarcube Corner; where the source of all the hatred had laid dormant until then, to that place the curse had slowly opened up to. It used Twilight's mind and memories as a template to craft a gate to a place where all the torments you felt you deserved would be ready and waiting for you, and the apparitions that dwelt there were only too happy to come and retrieve you."

"Celestia… when we finally did escape… Pinkie Pie… she helped us, she even forgave Luna in that weird Pinkie Pie way for killing her… does that mean she was… real?" I asked, I had dreaded asking this questing, remembering what I had done to her in the hallway.

Celestia looked pensive for a moment before answering, "I don't know for sure Twilight, given the staggering amount of power you hold and the fact that you were the progenitor of the curse, it's possible that something more than a mere apparition came from that phantasmal realm."

"But the rest of them?" I asked hesitantly.

"Luna told me of the Rainbow Dash and Nightmare Moon, and while my sisters power being near my own gives me suspicions about Moon, Rainbow Dash was most likely just a shadow, all the hatred and blame you imagined her spirit must hold over you given flesh."

I breathed a sigh of relief, out of all of them she had been the hardest to see, really it was everything I imagined her as in my worst nightmares after what happened at Sugarcube Corner.

'So… those headaches?" I asked softly, already suspecting the answer.

"Were the side-effect from the power leaking through the walls of your mind, I believe that the ruined Canterlot Castle represented the decay that the curse was inflicting on your sanity."

I nodded, I had been right then, the whole time it had been my own power sustaining that place, which lead me to my final question, one I needed to know.

"Princess? I need to ask… where were we?"

At this Celestia sighed as though she had known the question was coming. "To be honest Twilight, I don't truly know. There are a number of places outside this world and few of them are known to me, that place you were in was a real place though, perhaps created by your power, but where it was I truly do not know."

"So… so it wasn't all in my head?" which had been the answer I was expecting.

Celestia smiled sadly and shook her head.

"No, my dear, it wasn't, when you five vanished all of Sugarcube Corner and much of the surrounding block was caught in a slipstream of magical energy, it took all of my strength and skill to penetrate even the small amount that I managed, the stream lead… somewhere… but I don't know where. It was all I could do to cast you my thoughts out and try to reach out to you across that illimitable distance. You're very fortunate that Spike had the presence of mind to send for me, the slipstream had little to no presence, it was a sinkhole rather than having an energy all its own, I may not have noticed until the morning when I rose with the sun."

I mentally thanked Spike and reminded myself to bring him a huge bushel of gemstones.

"Princess…am I still…" I started, this was the question I was truly dreading the answer to, above all others.

"Cursed?" she guessed, "No, not as far as I can tell, I used my own magics to cleanse the curse from you and, if I had to venture a guess, I'd say that when you were in there you not only found it in your hearts to forgive each other, but on some degree to forgive yourselves, and without that self-hatred that birthed it the curse was starved of the power that gave it life, preventing it from resuming its former strength."

I released a breath I hadn't even realized I'd been holding in.

I wasn't crazy.

I wasn't cursed.

And we had all made it out.

Tears started falling again, tears of relief and happiness this time, my friends joined in and slowly but surely we let it out, all the pain, all the grief, all the sadness and sorrow that had been visited on us the last few days that now felt more like years. They all started to fall away, the sadness remained, a reminder of all we had lost and all we had experienced, but something else stayed with it, a strength of a sort, a reminder that as dark as the world became, we rose above it.

"Uhm, yer highness, er majesty… uh… Princess Celestia?" Applejack said softly.

"What is it Applejack?" she answered with a soft smile.

"Ah was just wonderin'… D'ya think… mebbe we coul' make a memorial sorta thing fer Dashie?"

I smiled at the idea, remembering the statue in the garden, I realized it must have been closer to the real Rainbow Dash than anything, it was the Rainbow my mind wanted to remember.

"That sounds lovely Applejack, what do you think it should?" she asked.

"Well… ah got'a few ah'deas…" she answered quietly.