We were all a bit silent after that, none of us wanted to voice what was on the others minds. Rarity never went down to the basement, she never saw the horrible and visceral truth of what happened at Sugarcube Corner. If she heard Her then what did it mean? Was I really losing my mind or was there something more going on here. Whatever the case was it wasn't something anypony wanted to ponder on for too long.

"Ya'll, I don' preten' ta know wha' jus' happened with Rarity and Twiligh' bu' I reckon it don' change a darn thing except the questions we nee'ta ask, it's getting' on into nigh' now, we should talk ta Princess Luna afore she leaves with the mornin'."

As always Applejacks honest reason got through to the rest of us, Rarity just nodded, she was still a bit shocked and kept jumping at small noises, she didn't have the same strength of mind to deal with this, I had honed my will to a razor edge through my study of magic but Rarity had undergone no such training. I'll freely admit I was more worried for her now than I was for myself.

"You're right Applejack… we need to sort this out quickly, I don't even want to think about the consequences if we don't handle this…" I admitted, nodding a silent 'thank you' to the orange-cream colored mare. I stared out over the open plains and trees of the Sweet Apple Acres farm, I knew the answer was lurking somewhere close, the shadow that Pinkamena had cast over us with her death and Rainbow Dashs murder was like a curse…

A light clicked in my mind.

"Girls, I need to go and see Princess Luna right now, I need to ask her a question," I said adamantly. They all met my gaze, seeing the look in my eyes they each nodded, they didn't even need to know what I wanted to ask. All they needed to know was that I had an idea. I don't know what I did to deserve friends like these but I was suddenly very glad I did.

+=+

The trip down to Sugarcube corner didn't take long, it was only about a mile into town, I shivered, staring at the looming building, it was a reminder of something terrible where once it had been a place of such laughter. In a way it still was, but it was the laughter of an asylum mixed with screams of pain. I froze for a second staring at it, I could almost hear her again, smell the basement, feel the stained and tainted cement under my hooves, for a moment I could hear the sound of knives cutting, clinking against bone, all shadowed in the background by that laughter...

Teeheheeheehehehee

I shivered and tried to close my mind to the sound, I saw Rarity seize up at the same moment, we needed help, and quickly. As we approached I saw two heavy-set stallions standing in front of the cordoned off area, next to them was…

"Princess Luna! We were just coming down to see you" I called out to her as we approached, I shuddered again as we stepped into the shadow of Sugarcube Corner, the smell of baked goods was still present though I wasn't sure if it was real or… imagined.

Luna turned her graceful head towards us, smiling softly and moving to greet us.

"Good evening girls, you are in luck, I just finished raising the moon so I have a moment, what is it?"

Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack all looked to me for a moment and I nodded to them, "Princess… I want to know about curses."

Whatever Princess Luna had expected me to say it wasn't that, her jaw dropped open slightly before working for a moment before closing. She looked deep in thought as she composed herself again before answering.

"Twilight, curses are… no, I will not tell you they are simply old marestales because they are not, even though both I and my sister would prefer the rest of Equestria to go on believing that." Luna gestured for us to follow her into the store, I was reluctant but followed all the same. If anything Applejack seemed the least willing to enter but she did anyway, though she spit on the door frame before crossing it.

Once we were all inside Luna telekinetically closed the door before turning to us, "What I tell you shall stay in this building with all the other terrible secrets it holds do you understand girls?"

We all nodded a bit shakily, she looked at us sadly for a moment before beginning her explanation.

"A curse is the opposite of magic, it's evil, pure and simple. Well, that is not quite right is it? There's nothing simple about evil. A curse is malice incarnate, it's pure ill will directed at another pony." She gathered herself for a moment, looking pensive.

"Magic in and of itself can't intentionally harm another, yes you can levitate a pebble and launch it someones head but in the end magic is simply not effective as a weapon." She paused for moment, reluctant to continue. "Curses on the other hoof are perfect as weapons, they are intended to harm but… it is the side effects that are the worst of all. You see in order to curse somepony you must truly hate them, and letting yourself succumb to hate on that level… it twists who you are, in the past it could even cause ponies to… to lose their cutie marks."

Our mouths fell open at this last revelation, a cutie mark was a precious part of a pony, it was a signifier of who we were; it was the part of us that would always be. The idea of somepony losing their cutie mark because their hatred twisting them so badly was… vile.

"I'm only telling you this to give you an idea how horrible a curse truly is, to the one who calls it down as much as to the victim." She continued, "Now for a question of my own, why would you need to ask me such a question? I can only assume this has something to do with you Twilight?"

"…and me now, your highness," Rarity interjected.

Luna regarded both of us for a moment before saying, "Tell me everything."

So we did, it didn't take long, an hour or so, but I could feel the shame and the madness creeping up on me, I hated it; admitting what was happening, the voice, the laughter, the promise. The entire time I could smell baked goods cooking in the kitchen behind us, cakes, pies… cupcakes, it was distracting but I kept it off my face, Rarity wasn't doing quite so well, her eyes were wide and haunted the entire time. I wondered if she could hear the things I could at that moment, I pity her if she could.

Luna simply nodded as we explained what was happening, at the end she was quiet for a while, she looked deep in thought for almost a full five minutes before opening her eyes.

"This sounds… different from a curse, but I do not know much about them, no one does truly," She answered, it was a small mercy but not much of one. "I believe we should consult the tomes in the Canterlot library, it sounds like something magical but, in the end Pinkamena was not a unicorn, even had she known how to curse somepony… she couldn't have."

I nodded, I had thought of that but… Fluttershy piped up, she'd been very quiet since we had arrived, "Princess, uhm, Zecora once told me of her homeland, how no one amongst her people had horns but a few could use their own type of magic."

Luna shook her head, "The Zebra Tribes don't use magic, they use a highly ritualized for of science and alchemy, it's very esoteric in appearance but it's not truly magical in nature."

Fluttershy nodded looking a little defeated.

"Come girls we shall..." Luna's voice died as she telekinetically pulled the door open…

To reveal a long, dark, and foul-smelling hallway.

"Girls… stay close, there is something very wrong with this pla-" her words were cut off as the darkness within the hallway seemed to coil in on itself before launching into the room, blinding all of us, I heard Rarity screaming, but not at the darkness, she was screaming words, and worse yet, I heard a violently cheery voice answer her.

"SHUT UP SHUT UP PLEASE! YOU'RE DEAD! PLEASE SHUT UP!"

"But RARITY, we haven't had a PARTY yet! Come on Rarity I'll make you the most delicious cupcakes… hehheeheeheeheheee."

"NOOOOoooooooo…." Her voice trailed off, as though it was being dragged down an infinitely long hallway til it disappeared.

"RARITY!? FLUTTERSHY? APPLEJACK!!" I called into the tenebrous mists, the darkness was absolute, it was like a thick sheet of black paint was coating everything, shapes were distorted, faces loomed in and out of existence.

"TWILIGH'? Where are ye?" I heard Applejack for a moment before…

"Hey wha-? WHAT?! No… No… NO! AH'M SORRY, OH NO, AH'M SORRY… AH'M SO SOR-" a wet thump sound cut off Applejacks yells.

I heard an almost silent sobbing sound, like somepony breathing hard, almost hyperventilating.

"Fluttershy!? Are you there?!" I called out.

"I-I'm here t-t-twilight… please… make it stop… make it stop…"

I moved towards her, trying to discern her location by the sound of her voice, "I'm sorry Fluttershy… I can't do anything, I can't even make light, or… if I can it isn't enough to make a difference."

"P-please… it hurts Twilight… please make it stop… I just-" her voice vanished mid-word.

I made it to where I thought the sound had been coming from, nothing… there was no more sound, no more voices, I called for a while longer but no one answered.

I curled into a ball and started to cry, in that deep and endless darkness it was all I could really do.