Chapter 4

The silence was deafening as twilight lay nursing her wounds. The chess board was draped in shadow the lights dimming steadily. Standing she took a deep breath, stepped back, and sprinted to the edge of the board leaping for the closest piece. The moment she crossed the border the lights snapped on and she saw her mistake. The piece she aimed for was bigger than she had first thought. Slamming against it she slid to the edge of the square fear reflected in the steel sides of the blade between the squares. Grinding her hooves on the board she stopped inches from the blade. Leaning back she heaved a sigh of relief, and felt her hooves give way. The pain was excruciating. The blade slowly cutting away inches off the bottom of her hooves. Crying out her horn sputtered to life levitating her away from the dripping blades.

Giving in to the pain she levitated herself across the board and collapsed moaning in a heap on the far side. "Well done twilight!" the voice cheered "I knew you'd figure out the solution eventually."

Grinning to herself twilight lifted her head to look at the speaker. "Is it over? Can I go home now?" she asked weakly black spots creeping at the edges of her vision. "Yes twilight, it's over." Turner's voice drifted to her from down the hall. "Your exit is right over here, come on twilight you can make it!"

Smiling weakly she lifted herself on her intact front hooves and began slowly dragging herself down the hall, too exhausted to use magic. Light clicking sounds could be heard just ahead and one right beside her. Startled she whipped her head to the left collapsing from the motion. The small metal crab was back, this time though it seemed to want to help. The claws, though sharp and cold, where surprising gentle with her, lifting her onto its back it began clicking and whirring as it scurried down the hall and out into a large chamber. One wall was entirely overrun with gears and springs, among them was hazy shape twilight couldn't quite focus on, it spoke. "Hello twilight, and welcome to the end of this factory." The thing said in a voice that could only be turner. "Turner?" Twilight whispered fading. "Yes twilight, Sleep. It will be over soon." Hearing this twilight smiled and let go of her trembling hold on reality.

The darkness swirled with clicks and moans as twilight struggled back to consciousness. Her body seemed to be at war with itself, she felt her fur being twisted in several directions her left hind leg was strapped in place by cold metal clamps and she couldn't feel ether of her forelegs at all. Pushing open her eyes she screamed at the sight of her body, or what was left of it. Long metal rods had been inserted along her remaining legs and she could feel the separating the muscles as she struggled to get free. Fresh blood poured from the wounds on either side of her chest splattering on the ground and machines surrounding her. When she final stopped struggling she realized she was hanging in the middle of a room, suspended from large hooks driven into the joints of where her forelegs once resided. Looking across the room she spotted another pony, in worse shape than her. This pony was little more than scraps of flesh stretched over the gears as if to hide the lack of a skeleton, the head moved. Twilight couldn't hear what the pony had to say over her own screams, so it waited. "Is that really necessary twilight? After all, you already knew I was here." Time turner said coughing lightly as his head lolled to the side. "I'd prepare if I where you…the worst is yet to come…I'm sorry." With that the stallion closed his eyes and went to sleep. "What!?" twilight yelled as the gears began moving. The chains attached to her hooks began retracting pulling her higher and closer to the gears. The clamps on her hind legs strained stretching her legs straight, slowly the pressure built, she could feel the joints giving and final pull out of socket. For a moment the pain abated, then it was back, tearing at her legs and shoulders as the hooks dragged her up splitting the flesh around her knees. As the final peace of leg split she was thrown upward on the force of her own anguish, colliding with the gears above. Luckily one of the chains had looped around a pipe and was slowing her ascent. Her left side continued rising inching toward the gears, gripping the hook in her mouth twilight pulled and whimpered as it tore free of her shoulder releasing another shower of crimson rain. Swinging from the hook in her right shoulder she magiked herself to a stop and lifted herself off the other hook, but the pain and loss of blood had been too much for her to handle, she reflected, as she hurtled toward the metal grated floor. Landing she felt the cold steel biting into her chest and face was leaving a grid of bloody tares in them. Peeling herself off with the last of her strength she looked up in time to see one of the broken gears falling after her. She lay back and embraced the deadly bronze.

The morning dawned cold and beautiful in Ponyville the next day, with one less pony with which to play.

A/N: Hey everybody sorry for the long wait couldn't decide how to end her… anyway next chapter WILL be up in the next couple days (writing in school now :P) still waiting for ideas people! I only got so many of my own. So the next chapter will be about a young filly named sunshine drop, pics will be posted on my page and, ya hope you enjoyed da story 3