Prompt: Deep Castle

His laughter. His claws. His horns.
Twilight’s eyes snapped open.
It was still dark outside, a carpet of black stretching over the horizon. A few tiny rays of sunlight promised the breaking of dawn within the next hour.
She rubbed her hooves over her eyes, staring blankly at the darkness looming at the bottom of her bed.
It had been a matter of months now since Fluttershy had pleaded with the rest of her friends that Discord was worthy of being given another chance.
And Twilight had.
She chose to look her best friend in the eyes, and no matter how hard it was, no matter how vividly she could remember the sight of Ponyville being brought to complete ruins—
She chose to give him another chance.
But that didn’t mean that the nightmares had lessened any.
The bags under her eyes had never felt heavier. She didn’t think she had ever been this tired—not even during exam season when she was supposed to have her first proper assessment from Celestia herself.
She shivered, then got back onto her hooves and padded downstairs, attempting to keep her steps as light as possible.
The last thing she needed was Spike joining her in sleeplessness. If only because his tired whining would keep her up even longer.
A few minutes later, there was a mug of chamomile tea swinging languidly in the air in front of her, occasionally bumping against her lips as she took a sip.
She steeled her gaze at the shelves.
Her initial instinct had been to pick something up about insomnia or trauma.
However, there was nothing held in those pages that she didn’t already know. There wasn’t a sliver of her amygdala or hippocampus that she hadn’t indirectly dismantled the function of.
So, as much as it pained her to admit…
Perhaps this wasn’t an intellectual problem.
That in itself was an irritating prospect.
Her thoughts flickered towards a suggestion that Rarity had suggested a moon or so back.
Darling, have you considered raising these issues with a therapist? You know, mental wellness and self-care are currently very chic in Canterlot and—
Twilight frowned to herself as she paced in front of the shelves, her hooves tapping a rhythm against the floorboards, as if she was trying to knock the words out of her brain through the motion alone.
Her eyes focused on another shelf, somewhat out of the way of the desire path she’d been working into the ground.
Maybe… the solution wasn’t internal.
Nothing about nightmares and PTSD and whatnot—psychology was mostly a last resort science anyhow.
Twilight snickered to herself as she approached the shelves designated for mythological figures and their roles in history.
Social sciences. Psh.
Twilight respected any manner of researcher. However, she held certain opinions about the likes of psychodynamic guesswork that would surely start a beef or two within her academic circles back at Canterlot.
No.
What Twilight needed to settle her Discord-related phobia once and for all…
She raised a book to her face, levitating the title inches away from her muzzle.
The Age of Discord: A Historian’s Account of Disharmony.
…Was cold hard logic and research.
If Discord was less of an enigma to her, then there would be nothing to fear.
She just had to read.

There was a knock at Twilight’s door.
She snapped herself awake, the books piled around her clattering onto the ground. Their pages creased painfully, and Twilight winced, opting to right them before finally heading to the door.
Grumbling to herself about whether or not anypony knew what time it was, she was welcomed by Pinkie’s beaming face in her doorway, already prattling off about something or the other before Twilight even had a second to adjust to what was happening.
“Slow down, Pinkie,” Twilight said, rubbing at her eyes with a hoof. “What happened?”
Pinkie Pie took a deep breath, then restarted her entire spiel, all in one lungfull.
“SO. MrandMrsCaketoldmethattheywantedanewkindofcakeforthebakerybuttheydidn’tlikeanyoftherecipesIgavethembecausetheyweren’tnewenough—AND THEN—”
Twilight scowled, cutting Pinkie off. “Slower?”
Pinkie took another breath, then, as slowly as a pony could possibly move their lips, she said: ‘But…when I…made…pickle…charcoal dust…cupcakes…they…didn’t…like…those…either—”
“Not that slow,” Twilight snapped, then took a light breath of her own. You’re being rude, she chastised herself.
After all, it was about as much Pinkie’s fault that Pinkie was Pinkie as it was a bomb’s fault for going off.
“So… what did you want from me about this…issue?” Twilight asked, her teeth clenched.
“A cook book, silly!” Pinkie said, then bounced past Twilight into the library. “Where else do you find new recipes?”
“Right.”
“I’m just gonna—WOAH,” Pinkie Pie came to a sharp halt in front of the mess of books Twilight had left on the ground. There was a small, pony-shaped clearing in the middle where Twilight had fallen asleep. “Jeez, Twilight. Hasn’t anypony ever told you about cleaning up after yourself?”
“I was busy before you knocked,” Twilight said, dryly. “Doing research.”
Pinkie’s mouth formed an O, before she nodded sagely. “I seeeeeeeee…”
“Do you?”
Pinkie nodded again. “Yes! Do you need some help?”
Twilight blanched. “Thank you for the offer, Pinkie, that’s really nice of you and all but…this isn’t really something I think you’d be interested in.”
Pinkie blinked at her.
Twilight stared back.
“So…uhm…” Twilight continued. “I can help you find that new cookbook you were looking for and then you can—-”
“Nope!”
“No?”
“Nopedy-nope-nope!” Pinkie shook her head so hard that her mane turned into a pink blur around her ears. “My best friend Twilight needs me to help her do a research project, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do!”
“Oh, Pinkie, you really don’t have to—”
“Nope!” Pinkie plucked up a book in her mouth, then smacked it open on the ground, shoving her muzzle directly between the pages. “So—what are we researching?” she asked, voice muffled by the paper.
Twilight inhaled slowly. “Pinkie…you really don’t have to help. It’s nothing terribly important. It’s not an assignment from Celestia or anything… it was just personal research.”
Pinkie looked up. “Personal research?”
Twilight shifted her weight uncomfortably, staring up at the ceiling. “You know those nightmares I’ve been having? About… Discord?”
Pinkie’s expression turned concerned. “You’re still having those? I thought Rarity had hooked you up with her shrink!”
Twilight frowned. “For the last time, I’m not going to a—” she stopped herself, then sighed. “I’m not going to a counsellor. Certainly not one Rarity recommends.”
Pinkie thoughtfully raised a hoof to her chin. “You sure? I feel if a shrink’s dealt with Rarity they could deal with just about—”
“I’m sure,” Twilight scowled.
“So what are you trying to read about Discord?”
“I’m… not sure,” Twilight said quietly. “Anything, I suppose. Anything that could help me understand more about where he came from, about what he’s capable of… about if he has any weaknesses or—”
“What about his birthplace?” Pinkie asked, pointing a hoof at the book she’d been reading.
“What?” Twilight darted to Pinkie’s side, practically knocking her over as her shoulder crashed into the pink pony’s neck. She scanned the page.
“Where did you find this!?”
Pinkie recovered immediately, rolling around on the floor with a giggle.
“It was on the grouuuuuund!”
Twilight gaped at the hoof-drawn illustration on the page.
It was a depiction of a grey-brick castle. It looked far too uniform to look like it had anything to do with Discord, much less have anything to do with where he spawned from.
“Huh…” Twilight frowned. “This looks a little bit…”
She didn’t get to look at the page for much longer before a pink mane obscured her vision once more, face-planting into the book.
“It’s in the Everfree forest!”
“Can you stop that?” Twilight hissed, picking Pinkie up with her magic and lifting her upside down against the ceiling, where she would stay out of the way. “Where did you read that?”
“Second page… paragraph seven…” Pinkie said in a sing-song voice.
Twilight squinted at the sheet.
It didn’t appear to be terribly far from the Two Sisters’ castle.
She could be in and out before nightfall…
There could be a wealth of information in there. So many things she could learn about the deity that’s been bothering her and her friends for the past couple of years.
“Can I come with you?” Pinkie Pie piped up from the ceiling.
“What? How did you know I was thinking of going?” Twilight looked up at her.
Pinkie giggled. “I can see it in your face, silly!”
Twilight glared at her, but lowered her back down to the ground.
“As long as you don’t intend to wander off, and listen to me when I tell you to stick by me. This place could be just about anything and we need to be prepared for—”
Pinkie Pie shot back up to her feet, and zipped towards the door.
“I’ll meet you by the entrance to the forest!” she said on her way out. “Let me just grab my bags!”
“Pinkie, what are you planning on—”
But she was already gone.
Twilight just hoped she wasn’t planning on bringing the whole kitchen along with her.
The last thing they needed was to attract bears.

About two hours later, the two of them were walking side-by-side down a long, winding forest road.
Shadows clung to the thick trunks of the gnarled trees around them. Branches rattled like bones from even the slightest breeze.
Twilight swallowed hard while Pinkie bounced along beside her. The saddle bags draped across her body smelled like frosting, and made a suspiciously damp noise each time Pinkie’s hooves made impact with the ground.
Twilight tried to guide her mind away from the thoughts that seemed to be entertaining the notion of an irritation-induced meltdown, and back towards practical matters.
It was hard to think on no sleep.
Twilight held the open book in front of her, peering at it with a frown on her face.
“It’s supposed to be around here somewhere… I just don’t—”
“Is that it?” Pinkie chirped.
Twilight lowered the book and her eyes widened.
There, as if it had been there all along, was the castle, looming above them.
The faded tower tiles poked far above the forest canopy, and Twilight’s left eye started to twitch.
“Yes… that’s it.”
“Yippee!” Pinkie cheered, then hopped towards the front door.
“Hold on!” Twilight snapped. “It’s— you don’t know if it’s safe or not. We have to approach carefully!”
Pinkie Pie stopped, then slowly lifted a hoof to nudge open the door.
It creaked, opening out into the darkness below.
“Is it safe?” Pinkie asked, turning to Twilight expectantly.
Twilight rubbed her temples. “I… I suppose so.”
“YAY!” Pinkie said, then dove through the door, disappearing into the black in one smooth arc.
“I didn’t say go in without me!” Twilight yelped, scrambling to follow after her.
As she stepped over the threshold, she immediately had to flounder back.
Behind the door, there was a spiral staircase heading straight down.
The stairs were caked in grime and filth, and even the steps that were close enough to catch the light from the doorway looked black from years of built-up dirt.
“Pinkie?” Twilight called out.
“Twilight!” her friend called back, popping up from the darkness with a smile on her face. “Aren’tcha comin’?”
“I—I am,” Twilight said. “I just…I almost fell.”
Pinkie rubbed her chin, slipping deep into her thoughts. She closed her eyes for a moment. “Have you considered…” she pointed a hoof at Twilight. “Not falling?”
“Oh, gee,” Twilight deadpanned. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Teehee,” Pinkie giggled, bounding off down the stairs without waiting for Twilight to answer. Her laughter bounced off the stone walls. “What would you do without me?”
“Probably have a much quieter time…” Twilight grumbled, following after her.
“What was that?”
“Have quite a difficult time,” Twilight answered, her voice strained as she tried to push some lightness into her tone.
They walked for what felt like hours, before Pinkie tuned to Twilight.
The only light in the space came from Twilight’s horn, casting a magenta hue against the black stone walls.
“Why don’t you do that staircase-flippy spell you told us about back at the Crystal Kingdom?” Pinkie suggested.
Twilight frowned. “That was going up. I don’t know how deep this place goes. And if it’s Discord’s castle, then Celestia knows what’s lying at the bottom, it could be—”
Mid-lecture, Twilight had forgotten to look where she was going, and her hooves tangled around themselves.
She was sent flying straight down the stairs, a scream ripping from her throat as she was sent tumbling head over heels.
Her head thumped painfully against the ground, and she heard Pinkie shrieking behind her.
“I’m coming Twiiiiiiliiiiiiight!”
Twilight kept bumping against the stone castle staircase, before she realised that she wasn’t hitting the steps anymore.
She was just falling.
Falling down, down, down a never-ending pit.
She flailed her hooves out as hard as she could, attempting to grip onto the walls or catch a step or anything—
But she couldn’t even see anymore.
She was surrounded entirely by darkness.
She thought she was going to stay falling forever like that, forced to endure the never-ending vertigo thumping in her chest—
But then she was on her back.
On the ground.
Her ears were still ringing, as if the air was still whipping around her head.
Had she hit the ground? How far had she fallen? Were any of her legs broken? Was she dead?
She raised herself up, legs shaking, before opening her eyes blearily.
Pinkie was some distance away from her, bringing herself back up onto her hooves too.
“Twilight…?” she said, voice considerably softer than a few moments prior. She sounded a little hoarse. “Where are we?”
Twilight blinked, staring down at the iridescent white tiles under her hooves.
Whatever grogginess left rattling around her head from the impact dissipated immediately, replaced by a sense of raw horror.
Her head snapped up.
The dark grey bricks and sheets of moss and grime were gone, replaced instead by a domed ceiling lined with twisting staircases, off-centre walls haphazardly placed in locations they definitely did not belong—
And in front of them…
Labyrinthine teal pools. Brimming with chlorine-scented water, potent enough to make Twilight’s eyes water.
Except, they weren’t normal pools.
Normal pools didn’t form interconnecting networks that stretched into dark tunnels.
“Twilight?” Pinkie asked again, her voice small. “Where are we?”
“I don’t…know,” Twilight said softly. “It’s like we’re in some kind of… surrealist painting.”
“We fell all the way down a tunnel,” Pinkie said, looking up. “From the staircase.”
“You fell too?” Twilight asked.
Pinkie looked suddenly sheepish. “Well, you fell.”
“So how did you get here?”
Pinkie giggled awkwardly. “I jumped after you?”
Twilight opened her mouth to chastise Pinkie for what could possibly have been the daftest thing she could have done in their situation, but she didn’t get a chance.
She was cut off by the sound of something stirring in the water.
Pinkie and Twilight turned to gape at the water, the surface rippling.
There was a beat.
And then, something blue burst from the surface, clapping its soaked shape down onto the tiles in front of them.
Twilight and Pinkie screamed.
Twilight’s horn flared to life as she catapulted a fireball at the amorphous mass ambling towards them, but it dodged out of the way.
It gargled—a sickly, horrifying noise like a pony speaking with a punctured lung.
The create was a mess of dripping purple and blue. It was disgusting; tinged green from the water and the—
Twilight’s eyes narrowed at the shape.
Or, more specifically, at the blue and gold stars embroidered on its back.
“T—Trixie?”
The shape wheezed and fell onto its back.
“YOU!”
The sodden cape fell back and, from her position on the floor, Trixie Lulamoon flung out a shaky hoof in Twilight’s direction.
“I bet you had something to do with this!”
“To do with what?” Twilight demanded. “I haven’t seen you since—since—” she paused. “Have you been here since the last time we saw you?”
“If you mean Tartarus, then yes!” Trixie shrieked. “I’ve been drowning here for days and days! Do you degenerates have any idea how much I’ve suffered? What happened to everypony’s right to a fair trial?”
“You just ran away!” Twilight screamed back. Pinkie clapped a hoof onto her back to hold her back from pummeled Trixie. “You think I tricked you into—how did you even get here?”
Trixie sniffled, looking pathetic from her puddle on the ground.
“Trixie sought shelter after you banished her—it was rainy and cold and Trixie couldn’t find her caravan…”
“So… you parked yourself in an abandoned castle?” The vein on Twilight’s forehead bulged.
“The GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie deserves nothing less than a castle!” Trixie protested. The effect of the ‘great and powerful’ part was somewhat lost considering her general state. “But then I wound up here—and I can only assume that this was caused by the likes of you trapping me here!”
Twilight glared at her, but Trixie’s words did make her think.
“How long have you been here?”
“Forever.”
“How long have you actually been here?”
“Trixie is unsure. A matter of days, weeks…”
“And you’re yet to find a way out?”
Trixie groaned. “Whenever Trixie thinks she has found a doorway, then the pools just repeat in on themselves and Trixie is right back where she started! Trixie has drunk so much chlorinated water she is sure her insides are sterile!”
“Oh, ew,” Pinkie’s nose wrinkled. “You drank the pool water? Don’t you know that ponies—”
Twilight clamped a hoof over Pinkie’s mouth.
“It appears we are in some kind of void,” Twilight said. “Which would track if this is something of Discord’s domain…”
“So we’re trapped here forever?” Pinkie gasped. “Forever and EVER?”
Twilight covered her ear, flinching back as Pinkie screamed in her ear.
“Not necessarily. But… we should perhaps try to explore somewhat. We won’t find a way out unless we look first.”
Twilight and Pinkie nodded at each other, and then started to head off down the hallway.
Their hoofsteps were joined by another set, squelching along behind them.
“Uh… can we help you?” Twilight glared at Trixie.
“You intend to leave Trixie behind to die?” Trixie’s eyes turned wide and shiny, her pupils trembling as she stared at Twilight with her lower lip out.
“You’re not going to—”
“Oh, noble Twilight, noble elements of harmony—” Trixie wailed. She threw her cape out behind herself, but the added weight from the pool water almost sent her toppling back down to the ground. “You will really leave a poor, sad soul alone to die in the endless domain? When you intend to find freedom yoursel—”
“Oh my Celestia,” Twilight cut her off. “Fine! You can come! But I don’t want to hear even a peep out of you back there!” Her voice lowered. “Especially when I already have one thing that doesn't shut up…”
“What was that?” Pinkie asked innocently, bouncing beside Twilight.
“Nothing.”

Hours passed.
Hours turned into… however long.
Twilight quickly realised that Trixie had been right.
It was impossible to tell time down there.
They walked through the depths of the castle, walking past identical pools and pink-tinted tiles until their eyes blurred from the sameness.
Eventually, they found a door.
Unfortunately for them, the door shared as much of Discord’s character as the rest of the place.
It was not an exit.
Instead, it led them through an endless expanse of a wallpapered yellow hallway, grime concentrated at the corners.
Twilight kept looking over her shoulder as Trixie complained about something or the other, convinced that she saw something from the corner of her eye.
They found more doors on occasion, leaving to pink bedrooms with stuffed animals, empty aquariums with hollow tanks, and abandoned zoos with the cage doors still left open.
Trixie’s eyes widened when they opened the door that led out into the strange zoo-scape.
The entire place was obscured in a thick smoke-like fog, building made from murky red brick.
“NO!”
Twilight flinched, whirling around to glare at her.
“What? What’s the issue?”
“You intend to leave Trixie in prison!”
“We intend to do no such thing!”
“You—”
Trixie was cut off by the sound of the zoo speakers blasting to life.
They crackled, warbling as a high-pitched, tinny noise echoed throughout the space.
The voice didn’t speak, it only hummed.
A dull noise that seemed to rattle the very teeth in her skull.
“Girls, I think we might have to—”
“Attention all zoo-goers,” the voice said.
The three ponies froze.
“We thank you for your visit today, and the zoo is now closed.”
Twilight looked up to see a shape slowly ambling towards them at the end of of the zoo walkway, barely visible through the thick dog that pervaded.
“Any ponies still on the premises will be…”
The shape emerged.
It was a rhino the size of a house, beady eyes gleaming.
“Executed.”
“RUN!” Twilight screamed, and the three of them immediately broke into a sprint.
Their hoofsteps were heavy against the brick walkway, but still not faster than the thunderous noise of the rhino.
There was a gust of hot air against Twilight’s back, like the rush of humidity from opening an oven. The rhino was right at her heels.
She was so dead.
She was going to be eaten here.
“Are you a unicorn or not!?” Trixie screamed from her side. “KILL IT! KILL IT!”
Twilight strained, her horn gleaming to life as she charged up the first defensive spell that came to mind.
She craned her neck and aimed for the rhino, but before she could fire at it—
There was another scream.
“DISCORD!”
The rhino immediately skidded to a halt.
Twilight slowed down, Pinkie and Trixie doing the same by her sides.
They stared at the beast confusedly.
From behind the rhino, a much smaller shape emerged, her long pink mane trailing behind her.
The rhino looked down at her, then rolled its eyes.
It stomped a foot on the ground, and immediately turned back into—
“Discord?” Twilight reeled back. “It was—” she started to say, before her eyes immediately turned into a glare. “You trapped us in here?!”
“Not exactly—” Discord said with an exasperated sigh. “It’s not my fault you wandered into my old castle without permission.” He folded his arms.
Fluttershy glared at him, then turned to her friends.
“Are you girls okay?” She immediately ran over to them, checking them over frantically. “You girls have been missing for three days!”
“Three days?” Twilight and Pinkie chorused.
Fluttershy nodded. “The only reason I knew where you were was because during our…” she said, nodding at Discord, who was now kicking a pebble at the wall. “Tea party… I mentioned that nopony had heard from you two for a while. And then he said—”
Discord threw his claws up defensively. “It’s my castle! Of course I know when someone comes in! And for the record, nobody every asked me if they were—”
“This is information we volunteer!” Fluttershy snapped.
“So this is just Discord’s… what exactly?” Twilight asked. “I came here looking for answers or—or some kind of history or—”
Discord shrugged. “It’s just my back room, of sorts. I just keep extra… bits here.”
“Your… back rooms…” Twilight echoed.
“Yes,” Discord said.
“So… do you mind?” Fluttershy asked.
He scowled.
Then, he clicked his fingers, and they were back in Fluttershy’s cottage.
"So... what did we learn?" Discord asked, a condecending grin appearing on his features. "Don't go nosing about someone you could never hope to comprehend."
Trixie kissed the ground, while Twilight glared at him harder than she'd ever glared before.