Twilight Sparkle, the purple unicorn protege of Princess Celestia, lay crying within the dark crystal caverns beneath Canterlot. Her tormentor, once babysitter and best friend, Princess Cadence having already gone hours ago, leaving her alone in the cold darkness. Her magic reserves were exhausted in her attempts at trying to strike out at the phantom images of her captor with concentrated blasts, all to no avail. It would be hours before she had the strength to attempt teleportation out of this place, far too late to stop the wedding.

"What am I supposed to do now... " Sobbing quietly, she lowered her face into her hooves. Her friends, her brother, even her own teacher and mentor had turned their backs on her in a time of need. They believed the lies of that... that... that bitch!

She growled lowly as she raised her head, tears staining her face as it scrunched into a snarl. Struggling to her hooves, she slowly walked forwards aimlessly, gaining speed with every step until she was at a full run. Screaming with all her might, she leaped at the nearest crystal outcropping, turning a full one-hundred and eighty degrees as she landed, Applejack and Rainbow Dash would have been proud.

With a mighty scream of rage and frustration, she slammed her back hooves hard into the crystal. The sound of both crystal and bone cracking in succession echoed around her.

Falling back, she screamed in agony as her right rear leg now bent back at an odd angle, a bony protrusion sticking out of the skin and fur. She dropped to the ground, clutching at her leg the best that she could and crying even harder.

"D-dammit... dammit... Dammit!!" She cursed repeatedly into her mane, blood pooling around her lower body from the grievous wound, but it didn't matter to her. If she was trapped down here anyways, dying through blood loss was better than starvation.

Unbeknownst to her, the crystal she had struck with the last of her strength now bore a large crack upon its surface. If one were to have cast light over it, they would have seen that it was different from its surrounding crystals. It was larger than normal for one, although that was relative in a cave literally made up of giant crystals, what stood out most was that instead of the light blue and shimmering coloration of its counterparts, this one was pitch black. It bore no reflection and instead of sharing a smooth surface with the other crystals, it was rough and seemed almost perforated.

Suddenly, from within the surface of the crystal, three bright red orbs sitting in a triangular pattern appeared and seemed to stare with a heavy gaze upon the pony that lay bleeding before it.

From deep within the shadows, a consciousness awoke within the confines of the crystal, snapping awake as a loud crack reverberated throughout its prison. Slowly opening its scarlet eyes, the being within took notice of its surroundings for the first time.

Gazing through the prism wall, what lay before it was a prone form of a creature that it had never seen, not that it had seen many others. The creature was small in stature and seemed to walk on four legs, though one was seriously injured and it now clung to it feverishly. Its eyes, though filled with tears, were a light purple, and a pink and lavender streak of color went through the hair on her head and tail. But none of this mattered to the Entity. The most important thing that this creature had provided was an opening. The smallest of cracks, barely the size of a splinter, had graced the surface of its prison. A splinter was all that it needed...

With a great deal of effort, the Entity began feeding itself through the crack, its form neither corporeal nor phantasmal as it sought to gain a physical presence on the outside of the crystal that had confined it. As it brought forth more and more of its essence, appearing as though a thick miasma that wafted through the air, the Entity angled itself to face the creature that had released it.

It felt no gratitude towards this thing for its freedom, only contempt. The Entity seethed with the desire to end this creature before it. It had known no other emotion in its existence other than the hate that had given birth to it so, so very long ago... Now that it was free, it could act on that hatred...

Twilight had long since stopped cursing and now lay curled in on herself, shivering in the cold darkness of the cave. She nursed her rear leg through her tears of pain and anguish, an occasional whimper echoing off the cavern walls around her.

"Wh-why... why m-me... I've been a g-good pony, right? I n-never hurt anypony else... I've nev-never broken a law, or even called somepony a bad name until t-today..." She sobbed as she curled her tail around her, her back to the crystal that she had tried to shatter in her blind anger.

"I... I h-have to save th-them... but what can I d-do... I'm just... o-one pony..." She cried silently for a few moments more, the faces of her friends and family who were in danger, flashing through her mind's eye. Then the face of the one who brought her current circumstance about... The pony whose smug smile she could still see when she closed her eyes. Her face twisted into an angry snarl once more, sobs morphing into growls of anger... and hatred... Her breathing began to quicken as she thought of what she would give to wipe that smile off of that mare's face... of what she would do to see that would-be princess in as much pain as she was in currently...

The Entity, now having fully escaped its quartz prison, began to descend upon the mare as she mulled over the many ways she would want revenge. It paid no heed to her emotional state at first, as many of the feelings she was giving off were foreign to it. It's only desire was to end this creature and proceed on its way out of this place. However, just as the Entity had begun to close in, there was a shift in the creature's emotional state and it felt something... resonate from within it...

The Entity could not understand, nor discern the emotions that this creature had been putting off moments before, but this one... this feeling that now began to rise from within it's very being, it knew that one all too well. If it was careful in its approach, the Entity could use this creature to its benefit...

With a new objective in mind, the Entity slowly began to blanket her in its essence.

Her quick breathing forced her to inhale the dark mist as it covered her in its embrace. Unable to fully see in the darkness of the cave, she was none the wiser to what was happening to her.

"I wa-want to see her face... Her eyes as she re-realizes that she's been ex-exposed... I-I want to see her in ch-chains... I want to see her... to see her..." Her mind grew foggy as the Entity slowly crept into her body through her skin and lungs.

Her thoughts turned from those of chains, dungeons, and other morally correct ways of judgment, to a more sinister and vile repertoire of methods...

'I want to see her bleed and scream...' Her eyes, wide and bloodshot, stared viciously into the darkness. Black veins began spider-webbing across her body, pulsing in time with her breaths. The pain in her leg was now only a dull throb, in fact, her whole body felt almost numb, but she didn't care. All she wanted, no... what she needed, was to see that wretched pony torn to pieces before her very eyes. She wanted to rend the flesh from her bones and devour her very being. She wanted to drink deep the blood from her veins and bathe in the remnants of whatever would be left.

Her face split into a manic grin as she slowly began to giggle at such grim and perverse ideas. Her small bout of joy grew louder with each passing second, before exploding into a peal of crazed laughter as her fur began to sizzle and melt off of her body. She took no notice as her mane and tail slowly followed suit, leaving her stark naked on the ground. As her skin began to turn black in patches, the darkest parts would begin to boil before falling off and splashing into a dark puddle of melted flesh and fur beneath her, a sickening squelch would accompany the larger pieces. She paid no heed to sounds of her collapsing body as she continued to laugh even as her eyes began to melt from within her skull, her voice beginning to sound wet and sickening as her throat was filled with liquidated tissue. Her mind was nothing more than a scrambled mess as her bones, now stained black from the dead and dying flesh that dripped from them, slowly began to warp and fall away.

The sickening sound of her bones splashing into the seemingly bottomless black sludge of her melted remains filled the air around her. Her gurgled, choking laughter finally subsided as her throat finally melted away, the flesh on her skull splitting and sliding off into the sludge. Finally, with the sound of a silent hiss, all that remained was the silent and still organ that once pumped life through her veins and a single large skull, the lower jaw still gaping open in a mockery of laughter.

A foul odor filled the cave, it reeking of burnt flesh and hair, of Death.

Her skull finally began to cave and melted into the puddle below, leaving just the lump of meat to be spared. The veins of the lone organ slowly began to darken, followed quickly by the rest of the muscle as the last of the mist infused itself, and then all was still.

A tall, almost blindingly white alicorn stood smiling at the back of the ballroom in her castle. Her mane and tail were an aurora of colors as they shifted softly in an invisible wind. She wore a golden crown and chest piece that bore a magnificent purple gem, along with golden shoes that adorned her hooves. A brilliant yellow sun marked either side of her flanks, proclaiming her destiny and duty to all who looked upon it.

Decorations were being put in place and the room had been thoroughly cleaned once more in last-minute preparations for the wedding. Princess Celestia wanted to oversee the arrangements herself, along with her assistant. She turned to her left to a small pink unicorn mare with a blonde mane and tail. She was currently looking over a clipboard with a pair of glasses.

"How is everything progressing on your end, Lemon Daisy?" Celestia asked sweetly as the pony looked up at her.

"Everything is going great your Majesty! Though, I do have a question?" Lemon raised her clipboard a bit, shielding half her face as she looked slightly away from the Princess.

Celestia for her part only raised an eyebrow at her strange behavior.

"Yes? What is it?" It took her a few moments to say anything, but when she did, her nervousness was obvious.

"U-um, the Maid of Honor, ma'am. Why has she been marked off the guest list?" Celestia reared back in surprise, her eyes wide. Taking the clipboard in her golden aura, she looked upon the guest list and saw that Twilight's name was indeed marked out, the telltale signature of Shining Armor beside it in the same red ink.

'I know we were all upset with her accusations, but to actually cut her from the wedding entirely? That seems a bit harsh, Shining...' With a sigh, she returned the clipboard to the nervous pony and gave her a reassuring smile.

"No worries my little pony. The groom and his sister are not agreeing at the moment, I'm sure things will come around soon as the-" Celestia's eyes widened and she felt her veins turn to ice within her. Her whole world fell away and only the cold remained for a moment as she gasped, trying to breathe but nothing would come.

It lasted for only half a second, but to her, it felt like an eternity. Feeling crept back into her as she looked around the ballroom quickly, everything was as it was before. Nothing had changed. She gasped as she felt a cold sweat on her brow.

'Wh-what was that!?' She thought to herself.

"Princess?" Her eyes snapped to her left where Lemon Daisy stood, looking over her with a worried gaze. Standing a little taller, Celestia's eyes hardened as she took a step forward, intent on seeking out the source of that cold chill. She made it two hoofsteps before the ballroom began to fill with nobles, each coming up and bowing to her, barring her way. She tried to politely go around them, but they would not have it, and soon she was back on the dais, the nobles all taking their seats in preparation for the no doubt beautiful wedding to come.

Celestia grimaced at her timing, it would have to wait until after the wedding.

Silence reigned for nearly an hour within the darkness of the caves. Not a sound, whether large or small could be heard...

But if one were to wait a little longer and strain their ears... the faintest echo of something could be gleaned through the empty air... a single, hard, throb...

Author's Notes:

Shaded: "SO before you all go on an all out murder spree for this, I deleted the previous chapters that I posted so that I could post the new ones! I Promise that you guys are gonna LOVE the rewrite. I have a good friend who is helping me with proof reading as well."

Dimmed Star/ Twilight: "WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN!?"

Shaded: shrinks down to ant size "I-I got locked out of my account! It wasn't my fault!"

Twilight: "I DON'T GIVE A FUCK! YOU NEGLECTED US FOR NEARLY FIVE FUCKING YEARS!"

Dimmed Star: "Give me ONE good reason not to Skin you and drop you in vat of Salty Lemon juice and razor wire!"

Shaded: "... I'm back?"

Sounds of screaming and pain echo in the background.

Princess Celestia: raises an eyebrow at the scene before her "Well, nothing much seems to have changed here other than the writing style, which seems to have improved. I guess I'll give the disclaimer this time around. Shaded Blood does not own any rights to MLP: FIM or the Equinox Ponies."

Screams of pain intensify

Princess Celestia: sighing deeply "I'm gonna need something stronger than coffee for this..."