A Minion for the Night

Luna's gaze studied the creature before her, but because of the mask and the straitjacket encasing him there was not much to see. Except for his eye; unlike the ones they had met before, his wasn't bloodshot. It even looked calm to a certain extent. She took a careful step towards him. "Do you know who we are?"

Krieg slightly readjusted the angle of his head to observe her. "I do... though I still have to figure out what you are. You're Luna," he nodded behind her; where Celestia was trying to calm a panicking Twilight. "And they're called Celestia and Twilight Sparkle... and you're princesses."

"I don't want to stay here!" Twilight wailed. "I'll go insane!" she started to become desperate. "If I can find my spoon, everything will be alright. I just need my spoon..." her expression turned crazed. "IF ONLY I HAD MY SPOON!"

"TWILIGHT!" Celestia's voice thundered through the cell. "Control yourself! Don't become part of his mind!"

Twilight gasped and her eyes blinked as she looked around herself in confusion. "I... I... was that me? What happened?"

"You got scared, kid." She turned around to see Krieg give her a strange stare. "Good you're back though, there's already enough insanity here as it is."

"Who are you?" Luna asked while giving her sister another short glance to make sure she was taking care of Twilight Sparkle.

Krieg turned his head towards her and slightly shifted in his straitjacket. "Me? Or the guy swinging the buzz axe?"

"You have different names?"

"We had... at least I think I remember..." Krieg sighed. "Krieg."

"What?" Luna asked with surprise.

"My name is Krieg," he replied softly, almost as if the words caused him discomfort.

Behind Luna, Twilight Sparkle had regained enough of her composure to take interest in their conversation. "Krieg? That's a strange name..."

"So is Twilight Sparkle," Krieg chuckled.

Twilight tried to ignore his comment. "Does it mean anything?"

"It does..." Krieg's voice became quiet. "It means war." He picked his head up and looked Luna in the eyes. "You do know what war is, right?"

"We do," Luna replied feeling a slight passing of unease at his words. "Tell us, are you the original one?"

"The... original?" Krieg seemed surprised at the question.

"Before the insanity spread, before the ones born from it took over... the original personality of this soul. Are you it?" Luna repeated her question.

Krieg stared at her with a confused look to his eye, but then a snort of amusement escaped him.

"Why is that so amusing?" Celestia asked with an angered expression. "We are here to heal you."

"Heal me, they say..." Krieg's laughter died down and his voice became tired. "I remember back when we were sane... how we could go for days, weeks or even months without screaming about bicycles made of meat." Twilight made a disturbed face. "Then again... I guess none of us ever really was sane to begin with."

He let his gaze travel over the three alicorns. "I come from a place where there is madness everywhere... and insanity is simply a matter of time. We never split... it was always us from the very beginning... until we found ourselves in a place even madder... and I locked myself in here."

"You chose this place?" Luna carefully searched the walls of the rubber cell for any signs. "Why?"

"I wanted a quiet place... away from the screams. Somewhere I could think again..." he gave Luna a curious look. "Do you want to know how I am insane?"

Luna weighed his question carefully. "How?"

"I have a dream... a desire," he whispered. "To kill the deserving... every single, lying one of them. So that in the end, everyone could live in a beautiful paradise..." a soft laugh escaped him. "Of course that means, in the end... when all the deserving are gone..."

"There's just you left to disappear..." Luna finished his sentence with a sad expression. "You're suicidal... aren't you?"

"Amongst many other things, I guess..." Krieg chuckled. "Scared the strange guy that came along with you senseless when he saw it..." he sighed. "Sometimes, for a short while... I like to pretend that we can actually be a normal being one day. But then I realize... I don't want that, and neither does he."

Luna studied him for lingering moment. "How do we control him?"

"Huh?"

"How do we control him? The one swinging the axe?"

"You don't." Krieg's answer was short. "He's a weapon. He needs to fight, and he needs to kill. As long as he does what he was intended for, he'll be safe enough to be around the innocent... and I'll be able to hold him back."

"And if he doesn't have anyone to fight?"

"Then I won't be able to hold him anymore..." he studied her face. "He seems to respond to you, which is strange. But the way I see it, if there is no one for us to kill here... you should just kill us and save yourself the trouble."

"How could you say something like that?" Twilight asked with shock in her eyes. "Don't you want to live a normal, peaceful life? Don't you want to be normal?"

Krieg turned his head to her. "Ever heard; If it's white it ain't right?" he saw Twilight's confused expression. "Guess not..."

Under them, the floor of the cell started to shake.

"You should get your spoons and leave..." Krieg spoke with slight concern in his voice. "He's coming for you..."

"But I lost mine!" Twilight wailed.

"Then make one with your magic," Luna replied sternly. "Use your senses and let your will form what you need..."

Twilight concentrated, struggling at first but then, she managed to produce a small, purple spoon. "Alright, now I can..." she was cut off as the door to the rubber cell was violently ripped of its hinges.

"FEEDING TIME!" a huge and deformed Krieg screamed at them. The Alicorns tried to shrink back, but there was no room left in the small cell.

"No, stop!" the Krieg in the straitjacket shouted as the raging Krieg made a jump for Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight watched, frozen in terror as Krieg moved towards her. Suddenly, Celestia stood before her, trying to act as a shield for her student. "Twilight! Get behind-"

"TIME FOR A SLAUGHTER!" a savage backhand strike from Krieg flung her off her hooves and into one of the walls, a deep gash adorning the white coat on one of her legs.

Luna saw Celestia sink to the ground, but before she herself or Twilight could take any action a voice next to her spoke up and caused the rampaging Krieg to freeze. "I told you..."

Luna and Twilight turned their gaze away from the frozen Krieg towering above them and towards the bound Krieg on the floor... His head was hanging low, eye fixed on the floor and his whole body twitching. "I told you..." he continued to chant. "I told you what would happen..." the rampaging Krieg took a shaking step backwards.

"I told you... I told you..." the other Krieg started to shake violently. "I warned you! I told you..."

Before the Alicorns' terrified eyes, the walls of the rubber cell fell apart, leaving them on a small platform floating in an endless expanse of darkness. Slowly, as Krieg continued to chant the words he started to stand up; and started to grow. ...And grow.

With a shredding sound, the straight jacket fell apart as Krieg continued to grow while his voice became louder and louder. "I TOLD YOU WHAT WOULD HAPPEN! I TOLD YOU!" he continued to grow, until all of them were looking up at the giant form of the screaming and thundering Krieg... the rampaging Krieg had been reduced to a shaking heap by now.

Amidst his deafening screams, Luna saw Krieg pull back an enormous buzz axe. "I TOLD YOU I'D DO IT! I TOLD YOU!" the buzz axe came down with a roar and shot towards the shaking Krieg.

The world around them fell to pieces.

Twilight shot up from the ground with a scream and looked around herself in shock. They were back in Luna's chambers, the two Alicorn princesses slowly getting up from the ground as well while looking just as confused as herself. "What happened?" she whispered to herself. Everything felt like a bad dream at this point.

Next to her, Luna let out a gasp that made both Celestia and Twilight turn their heads.

In the center of the chamber, lying in a pool of his own blood lay Krieg... the buzz axe deeply embedded in his own chest with his fingers still locked around the handle.