I got some severe inspiration to write a grim dark story after seeing a specific image of Spike. Be warned that this story contains violent and probably disturbing themes in it.

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Twisted Equestria Black.

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	Years had passed since the adventures we know of and Twilight excelled in her studies, becoming the alicorn she is. The six had grown apart in terms of physical distance, but never friendship. Spike matured as well, growing up into a slightly more filled out look of his teen growth spurt. But today was not one of happiness or adventure. It was a day of fear. A day where dark clouds dared to snuff out what took years to build. Not all horrible things make a grand entrance. You don’t always lose someone to the sands of time. Everyone remembers the black day of Equestria.

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	Princess Twilight Sparkle flew as fast as her wings could take her, speeding through the sky towards Canterlot Castle. The messages was simple from Celestia herself, stating that “he” had been found. Her breathing was ragged  as she closed in on the castle, focusing her magic before vanishing in a pop and re-appearing inside the throne room of the sisters, Luna absent at the moment as Celestia sat at her throne with a modest couple of guards around her and a sorrowful expression on her face. Twilight huffed hard before swallowing and tossing her mane slightly, trying to look presentable as she stepped closer to the throne. 

	“Celestia… You found him?” she asked, a tinge of hope but also worry in her tone. Celestia slowly nodded before she looked to her guards.

	“Leave us and seal the door. There are to be no interruptions unless they are of the utmost importance.” she said. The few guards saluted before they left the throne room and sealed the doors behind them. Celestia’s horn lit up as she pulled the curtains down, darkening the throne room.

	“Is it… as bad as last time?” Twilight asked, a sinking feeling in her chest. Celestia sighed.

	“I can’t be certain… He was soaked in blood, but he didn’t put up a fight… He willingly went into imprisonment, but he didn’t say a word… and he’s still wearing that grisly helmet.” Celestia said. “Incredibly curious especially after his… peculiar prison break.” she added, her eyes narrowing. “And Warhawk hasn’t returned either…”

	Twilight opened her mouth to speak when a loud knocking was upon the doors, making Celestia speak up.

	“I said no interruptions unless it is of the utmost importance!” she yelled before a guard replied.

	“The prisoner, he’s requesting writing supplies and royal scrolls. He said he’s willing to explain everything.” there was silence for a moment more as Celestia looked at Twilight before she turned her head, collecting several scrolls, a feather pen, and an inkwell before opening the doors, passing the magically lifted items to a unicorn guard.

	“See to it the pen and inkwell are removed from his cell as soon as he’s done, he might use them as weapons.” she warned as the guard nodded before he left and the doors were re-sealed.

	“Celestia… I don’t know if this is a good idea.” Twilight said before Celestia looked her in the eye and twilight continued. “I mean… I know that he did something horrible a year back… but… I’m not sure I want to know what happened to him to make him do such a thing.” she said. Celestia looked very forlorn and spoke with a well practiced yet still wavering professional voice.

	“I know… but we have to know. He did such horrible things, but if we know why he did them, then we can figure out how to prevent such terrible things from repeating…” she said as she tried to hide her eyes behind her mane. “I still remember the day he called me ‘Mommy’…” she said softly before the two of them remained in silence.

	A silence broken by the buzzing of magic as one of the scrolls sent down to his cell appeared before Celestia, the alicorn catching it with her magic. The two princesses looked at each other before Celestia took a visible breath, broke the seal on the scroll, and began to real aloud.

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	In here, you lose track of time; hours melt into days, days melt into years. Five years in my case. After so much time in solitary, I should have been getting better, but in my heart, I always knew there was no cure for what happened to me. But I kept on hoping, I knew if I waited long enough, I’d get revenge against the pony that destroyed my mind. 

	But I could only wait so long. Every day, the visions got worse. Soon I wouldn’t be able to tell reality from my nightmares.

	But then, my life changed.

	During the guard shift of my cell watch, something happened. The dark room grew even darker and a deathly silence filled the room until I could make out a form. The form of a tan pony with seemingly no mane and an odd black eye with cracks running along the side of his face. He opened the door to my cell and stood there.

	He called himself Calypso.

	He said he ran a contest, winner take all.

	In my case, winning first place meant getting even with the pony who stole my sanity.

	How could I refuse? I agreed to play.

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	Celestia and Twilight both frowned, their breathing obviously harder at the stress of those simple words. 

	“So… this… Calypso…” Twilight spoke slowly. “I’m not familiar with earth ponies who can use magic… much less one who could breech the Canterlot security.” she said.

	“Neither have I. The guards saw nothing when he vanished, it’s as if he was there one moment, then gone the next… This could even be part of his cracked sanity.” she said the last sentence rather begrudgingly.

	There was a hum and a crackling pop before another scroll popped into existence between the two of them, Celestia catching it as she set the first aside.

	Again, she broke the seal and began reading.

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	The contest was a combat tournament. Each contestant had their own twisted reason for revenge on someone or something that wronged them.

	Most of them were so badly cracked that they made me seem normal.

	My opponents were several manners of species. One was a unicorn mare in a wedding dress covered in blood. She screamed that she would win her true love after she won, but at every corner she tried to stab me with her horn. She shot spells around the trash heap cages that would warp right through objects and often stab sharply right into me. The longer I fought her, the more apparent it was that she would very easily kill anyone who she even slightly disliked, including a supposed lover. I felt no pity when I broke one of her legs to stop her, but the rules were not to disable your foe, you had to kill them. She got up and tried to run me through with her horn, hobbling on three legs. I didn’t hesitate to grab her by the horn and smash her face with a rock over and over again until she finally stopped moving and I was declared the victor.

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	Celestia had to stop a moment and Twilight swallowed hard.

	“He… did that?” Twilight said, but a glance from Celestia was all she needed to feel the pit in her stomach grow colder.

	“It’s not over either…” she said as she cleared her voice, took a breath to steady herself before continuing.

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	I was given a few hours to rest in a cell while the others fought each other. Being of a studious mind, I watched them carefully to see what I could learn of upcoming foes, but a lot of it blurs together…

	I saw a griffon who looked to be covered in tatoos… I saw a Pegasus with a dark coat and always seemed to be wearing sunglasses… I even saw a zebra with his rear hooves worn down to bloody stumps and a constant state of agony on his face, even as he mercilessly beat his opponent to death.

	Soon enough it was time for my next fight.

	I stepped into the cage to see my opponent; an earth pony mare with a porcelain  mask that looked to be about two sizes too small for her head. Her tone sounded sad all the time, like a child who had been scolded. She hit like a ton of bricks though as she continuously kept running through the cage and could charge at blinding speed. I’m certain one of her charges cracked a few ribs. She all the while kept crying about needing a key, and I couldn’t figure out what she meant. 

	I managed to dodge her a few times and noticed a keyhole of sorts on the back of her mask. Apparently she didn’t put that on and she wanted to get the person who did to give her the key.

	I honestly felt sorry for her, so I made her death quick as on one of her charges, I quickly jumped onto her back and twisted her head as hard as I could. Several loud crunching pops came out before her legs gave out and she came to a fumbling stop, making me roll off into a cloud of dust.

	I was declared the winner and set aside for another opponent.

---

	“This is sickening…” Twilight said as she looked pale. “and so far, it’s only describing what happened after the jail break…”

	There was another hum and a pop as another scroll showed up.

	“There must be a reason he’s saying all this… All we can do is keep reading and find out what he has to tell us.” Celestia said, popping the seal and beginning to read again.

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	My next opponent was one of the toughest, second only to one other. 

	A minotaur by the name of Minion. Apparently he was the champion of this tournament several years running, and for good reasons. His skin was tough like stone and of all things, he could breathe fire. That’s not even mentioning the grand strength and horns he boasted, yet scars still dotted his body from other would-be challengers.

	My first two foes allowed me to be the tough one who hardly moved, but this guy forced me to be as fast as possible. His fire didn’t hurt, but I couldn’t see through it, and any time I couldn’t see him was time he’d use to close in and start pummeling me. One such time he charged me and had I not stumbled to the side, he would have run me through with those horns

	It didn’t feel like any punch, kick, or slash hurt him in the least, regardless of the damage I would do. That is, until he charged a little too hard and got his horns stuck in the wall. I got a good look at his back and noticed a nasty raw patch in the middle of his back and when I happened to chuck a rock at it, he howled like I had broken his leg.

	This didn’t bode well as it ticked him off, but that kinda made it easier for me as I kept baiting him into lunging at me, letting me get behind him. I only had to do it twice more before I lunged and sunk my teeth into that soft spot, feeling my teeth dig into bone before I ripped out a chunk and apparently part of his spine as his legs folded like paper and he fell onto his back.

	I thought I had won, but he could still use his arms and he grabbed me, squeezing me tightly in a deathgrip against his chest. I was holding my breath, but he was slowly forcing it out of my lungs. Apparently to try and further ob me of air, he sucked in another breath, ready to breathe fire at me. I took the moment to blow my fire with all my might, along with his squeezing, to blow my flame down his throat. There was a moment of shock on his face before there was a deafening sound.

	He must have exploded as the next thing I knew, I flew across the ring and was knocked out…

	I hadn’t though about the incident fully in the 5 years I was locked up; all the magic and therapy in the world could never get me to talk about what I went through. 

	But when I got knocked out, I couldn’t escape it.

---

	Celestia set that one aside, a cold sweat on her brow as Twilight shivered. They both knew the next one would tell everything that happened, the reason he did what he did 6 years ago.

	A hum and a pop in the air signaled the next segment and they both took a deep breath.

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	The past came rushing back…

	It was six years ago, and I was back in Canterlot. Rarity and I had been growing close and I was always happy to help her dig up gemstones, even in the more risky areas. We knew the dangers of diamond dog territory, but she had bested them herself, and now I was with her. What could go wrong?

	… It happened faster that I could see. Rarity spurted blood from several spots on her body and collapsed. It was just me, all alone, trying to revive her. I was shouting to Rarity, to try and see if she was okay. 

	But before I knew it, the dogs were on me and knocked me out cold.

	They put us in some stinking hole 30 feet below ground with a strong gate over the top of it. 

	Rarity was in bad shape. I didn’t know how long she was gonna hold out. Seems like forever I was screaming for someone to come and help her.

	Then one day, we had a visitor.

	An earth pony with a brown coat, short mane, and a golden tooth.

	The guy was a strategist for the diamond dogs, teaching them combat skills and in return, a share of the riches the dogs dug up.

	He had his own unique method of torture: Starvation.

	Rarity was on her last legs, and I wasn’t far behind. Five days without any food will bring anyone to the edge, and the strategist said the only way I was gonna survive was to eat.

	He then started laughing. He said if I wanted food, I’d have to make do with whatever I could find in the hole.

	I tried to block out what was happening, I knew what he wanted me to do.

---

	Celestia squinted for a moment and was quiet before twilight questioned her.

	“C-Celestia?”

	“It looks like he spilled tears on this scroll… it smudged the ink… hang on, I can make it out…” she said as she squinted a bit more before continuing.

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	But there was no way I was gonna give him the satisfaction…

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	Celestia barely put the last scroll down before the next one appeared and she opened it, pausing as she read ahead for a moment, her eyes widening as it looked like someone punched her in the gut. Twilight read that expression plainly. They hadn’t heard from Rarity in all those years, but they couldn’t find a trace of her. They had a bad feeling that she was tied to Spike’s incident, but now…

	She cleared her throat and began reading.

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	Rarity died two days later…

	I couldn’t look at her…

	I didn’t even wanna think about it…

	…

	It’s amazing the things you’ll do to survive…

	I think Rarity would have understood…

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	Celestia set the scroll down. The rest of it was just tear stains on it as the two of them sat in silence, tears and horror brimming up on their faces. What happened was plainly clear and they knew their friend died six years ago and was the only source of nourishment for the one currently locked up in the cell.

	Another hum and pop. Celestia let it fall to the ground, silent for a moment before she finally picked up the scroll and opened it, taking a moment to clear her broken voice.

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	I read a book that said the mind bends and twists to deal with the horror of life. I think my mind bent so much it snapped in two…

	After doing the unthinkable, I etched in markings on her skull of all the things I never told her… I think I might have accidentally touched some of her last reserves of magic… Sometimes I think I can hear her speaking to me, guiding me. She knows I didn’t disgrace her… And now I keep her with me all the time.

	When a group of royal guards freed me a week later, they tried to take the helmet off.

	I killed four of them before they took me down.

	After that, they carted me to Canterlot and threw me into the darkest hole dungeon.

	But now I had the chance to get even with the pony who pushed me over the edge and made Rarity die.

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	Celestia’s wings went limp as she hung her head and dropped the scroll. 

	“Six years ago, a team of  royal guards were out doing a routine sweep.” she said. “Squad of ten. Mostly in training with only one or two professionals. One of the rookies spotted a metal grate on the ground and opened it to find Spike inside, stained with dried blood and wearing the skull of a pony. The higher ups said he had a distant look in his eyes, like his soul was shattered, like he was dead and just going with the motions. They didn’t find anything else in the hole. Then… one of the rookies…” Celestia closed her eyes as a few tears fell freely from her face onto the floor.

	Twilight knew this part. It was why they locked him up for 5 years and the beginning of him no longer speaking to anyone.

	“One of the guards said that the rookie grasped the helmet, and Spike’s eyes narrowed. That was all the time they had before he lashed out… Cutting… biting, burning… I have no doubt that every single one of the guards he attacked… he saw the face of that cruel one who did this in the first place…” she said, a wavering mourning in her voice. “But those poor soldiers… they had families… they would have helped him… I can’t let him wander free, for the sakes of their families…” Twilight watched as her mentor tried her hardest to hold back her tears. She was clearly caught fiercely in the roles of ruler and mother, knowing he was wronged, but that he also did something horrible.

	Twilight sniffed as images of the cute little Spike who fawned over Rarity flashed in her head as she imagined him being stuck in a hole as Rarity slowly died, then out of desperation, he had to eat her… his mind breaking as he wore her skull to apologize for surviving…

	A hum and a pop.

	There was a moment of silence before Celestia picked it up, clearing away her tears and again clearing her throat as she read.

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	When I woke, I found myself back in my between round cell. I could have sworn I heard Rarity’s voice gently singing in the back of my head. That is, until I woke up the rest of the way and could hear other contestants screaming and pounding on each other.

	I slowly stretched, everything ached, but I knew I had to be close to becoming the victor.

	Soon the door opened and I stepped out to see the strangest opponent I fought. This earth pony was partially dressed in a clown suit, but was rippling with muscle. He wore a mask that had a skull structure to it, curled into a grin that may at one time have been a party favor, now worn and nightmarish. 

	The most striking thing though was his mane. Where it normally was, was instead fire atop blistered skin. The way he twitched told that he was constantly in pain, but that a part of him seemed to enjoy it.

	He attacked like a brute, but he was quicker than he looked. He hopped around the obstacles in the arena and often tried to blindside me. He had this knife he seemed to favor and kept pulling it out and putting it away, enjoying the act of sinking it into the holster before pulling it back out. He was also quick with it as he clipped my arm with it, razor sharp enough to draw blood even from my hide. 

	I finally had my opening when he stabbed at me and got his knife caught in a wooden crate. I  took the moment to smash his elbow in the wrong direction, breaking his foreleg, but  other than letting go of his knife, he didn’t make a sound as he turned and clobbered my face with his hoof. He obviously loved the pain.

	I had to resort to hit an run tactics, cuts here, gouges there. I slowed him down when I broke his leg and that bought me time, time enough that on one charge, I slipped under him and sliced the tendons in his back legs. I still had to grab and break his flailing leg before I could slice his throat.

	Even with the gurgling of his last breaths, he was still laughing… I honestly don’t feel bad about ending his life.

	After that match, it was revealed that I was one fight away from getting the prize. Just one more foe and I would get what I came here for…

---

	Celestia set the scroll aside as Twilight spoke up.

	“Are there really ponies who are as messed up as these claims?” she asked.

	“Sadly, yes. Not all of them lived in a place of harmony with a just ruler. Not all of them had happy homes. Not all of them got through life without being fractured or otherwise unwell.” she said softly, lowering her head as the next scroll popped up.

---

	After my brief break and a good amount of stretching to prep for the final bout, I stepped into the arena and at first, I thought I was looking at a bad joke.

	Standing before me was a Pegasus. Not just any Pegasus, but a member of the royal guard. I didn’t know his name, but I recognized his golden armor as one of Celestia’s own. With a dark black coat and a grey scar over his left eye, he was battle hardened.

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	Celestia’s eyes widened as she read that description.

	“no no no no no…” she muttered again and again. Before Twilight could ask, Celestia answered. “That’s Warhawk! He has been a member of the guard for over twenty years and he was the one I charged with finding Spike over a year ago!” she said as deep dread filled both of their hearts.

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	He stomped the ground imposingly before he said that he was there to take me back to Canterlot and if I didn’t comply, he’d beat me and take me back.

	Considering the loonies I had been facing up to this point, I honestly didn’t put any authority to his words and readied for a fight.

	He took to the air right away and only then did I realize our battlefield suddenly had an opening in the top that opened up into the sky. The Pegasus only circled slightly before he dashed at me, his speed was incredible and he evidently had combat experience. Perhaps he even was a member of the guard, but I was so close to getting the one who had ruined my mind and taken Rarity…

	He hammered me with whirlwind blows and smashed into me so hard I spun in place. Had it not been for the close walls, he probably would have taken my head off. Though he nearly did anyway as he extended his wings and sheered a pillar and several of my spikes off my back with a single pass of his wings. 

	I soon found that dead or alive didn’t matter to him, and on another pass, I hooked his armor with my claws and managed to get onto his back.

	I dug my claws into the meat of his shoulders, at first to hurt him, but he suddenly twisted and went straight up through the hole in the roof. He spun, twisted and rocked every which way as I dug my claws deeper and deeper. I knew that if he threw me off, I’d probably be a smear on the ground. Still, I also knew I had to bring him down if I hoped to get out of this alive. The only way I could do that, was to clip his wings.

	My hands were so firmly dug into his shoulders that I was starting to press into the bones of his wing joints. I thought of Rarity. I thought of what I needed to do and that I needed to win.

	With a firm grip on the bones and a mighty heave, I ripped both of his wings free of his body.

	We instantly started to freefall, his wings now useless tatters that I dropped. He rolled over in midair, bleeding profusely, but with an expression of incredible rage. I then noticed I was close enough that he could grab me with his hooves, and grab me he did.

	He started pummeling whatever he could hit, and each blow felt like it broke something. On one of his strikes, he hit the helmet and I heard a crack and a glint of white.

	He broke her horn off…

	As we fell, I reached for it, catching it, but at that moment, I also felt an intense rage.

	With a roaring swing, I slammed the edge of her horn into his eye, making it burst into a gooey mess before I let go and slammed my palm against the base, jamming it in further and finally making him stop moving.

	Well, for the most part as we still fell. I clenched tightly to his body as the ground rushed up to meet us shortly afterwards.

	The impact was softened by his armored body, but it still hurt everything.

	I crawled to my feet and retrieved Rarity’s horn from his body and faced Calypso, who was applauding my skills…

	I‘d done it. The battle was over. I won the contest.

---

	Celestia felt ill as she read the description of the young dragonling having to butcher the esteemed flight guard in this twisted tournament. She wanted to say something. Twilight wanted to say something, but what could they say?

	A hum and a pop. They knew this was the final one.

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	I went to up Calypso and turns out he’s a pony of his word. He told me it was time for a “reunion”

	He brought me to an underground room where the tactician sat, bound and gagged. After these years, he still looked the same. He didn’t recall who I was, but I recognized him.

	I’d been seeing his face in my nightmares for 5 years.

	Calypso had one more special prize for me: Dinner for one.

	He had a massive platter on a nearby desk filled with semi rare gemstones.

	Five years is a long time to be locked away. You get kinda tired of prison food.

	But after all this time, something new was on the menu…

	As much as I hated to admit it, over the years, I developed a… “special” craving…

	For Pony flesh.

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	Celestia crushed the scroll with her magic as Twilight turned her head and heaved out the contents of her stomach.

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A monster is not a horrid creature. It’s a person who looks just like you or me.