Victims, Aren't We All?

“Rise and shine, captain…”

Flash Sentry didn’t want to open his eyes again. His body ached like it was on fire, and he couldn’t move. He was sure that every bone in his body had been broken, but strangely enough there wasn’t any pain besides the numbing ache. A sombre, burning sensation that moved throughout him like waves over water, like wind blowing across deep grass in a Meadow somewhere far away. Somewhere safe.

He wished himself gone, wished to be within that Meadow, that tiny bastion of freedom. Instead of the hard rock beneath him, he envisioned himself resting on a thin layer of freshly fallen autumn leaves, slightly damp against his skin and crackling like paper as he moved. He wanted to be there again. Back in the Meadow, in those memories.

It had been a long time ago, longer than he was able to imagine as the rain poured down over him. In his mind, it became the dying grass of the meadow, sliding over his fur like sleek fingers.

As the morning sun rose on the horizon, shining through the windows of the room he’d called home during his childhood, the young Pegasus leaped out of bed as if he’d been sleeping on springs that rocketed him into the air as soon as he woke up. He always took his saddlebags and packed them with either toys or books, perhaps parchment and quills. It didn’t matter; in the Meadow he could do anything he wanted.

He rarely brought food to the Meadow, didn’t need to. Apples and other fruit grew some ways into the forest, as well as edible berries and plants. His grandfather had been very stern in learning young Flash to know what was safe to eat and what wasn’t.

Every morning, he opened his window and took a deep breath of the early, crisp air. The feel of it filling up his lungs and the cool breeze blowing into his face had been like a rush of adrenaline for the young colt, a signal to his wings to spread open and take him to the skies above. Soaring through the clouds, he sometimes closed his eyes as he came closer to the Meadow. Slowly, he would let his wings relax, and for just a few seconds, he fell like a rock towards earth beneath.

Never had he missed. He always spread his wings again just a few feet of the ground, slowing himself down before coming to a stop in the unhindered, wild grass. It was a rush unlike any other, one that would stay with him into his grown years and be the reason he rose in the ranks of the royal guard. Nopony else had those lightning reflexes that he honed as a child.

Suddenly, something sharp touched against his forehead, lightly tapping against it. Over and over, it tapped into his fur with random pauses, reminding him of the lessons of Morse code he’d been part of in his training. In his mind, it instead became drops of dew falling from the red and yellow leaves above his head.

“Lenore…”

The Meadow stayed with him for many years after his childhood. Even after he left home, he came back from time to time, just to walk the paths of the forest, to lie down in the grass and once again taste the apples of his childhood. He would sit down and rest his back against the oak growing on the eastern side of the Meadow; marvel over how much it had grown since he was a child. Much like himself, he thought.

“Lenore…”

On a spring evening so long ago, when the birds still chirped slightly around him and the setting sun coated the sky in a veil of orange light, he’d felt it. As the wind blew across the trees and their leaves whispered unknown words of ancient wisdom, he felt another living being next to him. A pair of lips against his own, slightly trembling as the warmth of day slowly faded.

“Lenore...”

His first kiss. Forever nestled deep within the Meadow, somewhere far away. He longed to be back there again.

Flash opened his eyes.

He instantly wished he’d kept them closed, stayed inside his mind, inside the Meadow. Instead, he was greeted by the sight of grey clouds in the sky, looming overhead like a monster, like something hiding under his childhood bed, threatening to strike him down any moment and pull him into oblivion. After a few seconds, he saw a black figure against the clouds. Straight above his head. Thin and black, with a head titled sideways as its tiny eyes looked into his.

A crow.

It brought down its head and once again buried its beak into the skin on his forehead. The moment he felt the pain, he felt the urge to hit the bird with his hooves, smash it out of his face, only to realize he couldn’t move.

“Awake, are we?”

A second figure entered his field of vision, this one bigger, clearly wearing a hood with the horn of a unicorn sticking out beneath it. Flash once again remembered what had happened as the memories of the fear he’d felt replaced those of the Meadow. The cloaked stallion. That face, covered in scars. Twilight calling for him as he flew off into the rain. No matter how badly he wanted to reject it, he couldn’t deny it any longer.

Shining Armor was standing over him. Despite being dead for half a year, the prince now had him in his cold grasp.

Up in the skies, a flash of lightning parted the clouds, illuminating the face of the dead stallion before him for just a second. Enough to make Flash tremble with fear.  Thin strands of dark blue hair hung over his face, unkempt and probably sticky from filth and grease. Beneath it, a pair of blue eyes that seemed more pale than he remembered them, partially closed, giving Shining a look of fatigue.

Deep scars ran down his face, both straight lines crossing over his eyes and down his cheeks. His mouth bore just a slither of a grin, a devilish smirk. That was a fitting word for it; a devil, returned from the dead, arisen from its grave.

The grin grew as the bird moved slightly, flapping its wings and coming to rest on the back of the undead pony. For a second, he tilted his head backwards towards the bird. Flash couldn’t help himself as a weak cry came out between his clenched teeth as his eyes found the deep cut crossing the throat of the prince. Sounding more like a silent squeak as it came out, Flash screamed in terror inside his head.

“Isn’t it fitting?” Shining Armor whispered, but Flash wasn’t sure if he talked to him or the bird, or perhaps himself. “Lenore.”

The prince turned his head and looked back down on the Pegasus. Flash was unable to answer.

“At first I thought she wanted to punish me…” The prince lowered his head towards Flash’s face. “But now I understand.” His face came even closer. “She brought me here. To you.”

Shining Armor raised his head back up, but Flash somehow felt like his own face was following him. It took him a few seconds to realize that he had been raised from the ground with magic, levitating on his back next to the face of the undead prince. The force of the magic pressed down on his body, a strange sensation he wasn’t quite used to.

“Now, I have some questions for you, Captain.”

The world spun around him, morphing into a grey mess of clouds and rain. Flash’s head began to hurt the more it moved, and as he finally came to a stop and saw the world upside-down, his eyes continued to roll slightly, refusing to stay still and making him even more dizzy. It felt as if his insides pushed up against his throat, wanted to escape out through his mouth. He kept it closed.

In the blink of an eye, the prince had pushed his head forward, pressing his face against Flash’s in height of his eyes. He stared straight into them without blinking. The fur of the prince was cold, colder than anything he’d ever felt.

“You’ll answer them to the best of your abilities, won’t you?” The prince asked, still not blinking. Flash felt a pair of hooves touch against the back of his head, moving back and forth and forced his neck to move, creating a nodding movement.

“Right!” Shining yelled, pulling away from Flash’s face. “First question; what do you want with my sister?”

Flash didn’t answer. He just stared at the prince, wishing he could fall dead right where he stood. The next second, pain coursed through his ribs as Shining slammed one of his fore hooves hard into his left side. The Pegasus grunted in pain.

“What was that?” Shining hissed in an almost jokingly tone, the same devilish grin building over his lips.  “I can’t hear you.”

Another hit, this time directed to his right side. Flash groaned sharper, more sound escaping his lips.

“Why did you do it?!” Shining once again yelled, still with an almost happy tone, as if everything was just a bad joke and he was about to crack. The prince reached up his hooves and slapped them across the face of Flash, slapping his cheeks back and forth between them. It wasn’t painful, but rather humiliating.

Flash finally gave up, and hissed between clenched teeth. “I…”

“Oh, here it comes!” The prince shouted, coming to a complete stop and just staring into his eyes. “Let’s hear it.”

“… I… I won’t tell you anything… demon…” Flash hissed.

Shining’s face changed from the evil smirk into a deep frown, and his voice was deep and brutal as he spoke.

“Wrong answer."

A loud scream echoed across the town, somewhat hidden behind the sounds of rolling thunder. Somepony probably heard it, but ignored it, believing it was just some drunk kids messing around as the early hours of morning slowly crept closer. Nopony really cared about them anyway, it had become a norm to see drunken kids roam the streets at night. All too often they left a trail of vandalism behind them.

Flash stopped screaming once the pain subsided, replaced by the feeling of something warm streaming down his chest. It flowed down his neck and finally over his face, and he could see the slow stream of red blood as it passed his eyes. A crooked line ran across his stomach, not deep enough to be dangerous, but enough to cause severe pain.

It burned his flesh like a thousand hot needles pushed into him all at once, and he couldn’t stop his limbs from shaking.

The knife that had been used floated in the air in front of his face, suspended in an aura of bright pink magic. Fresh blood ran down the slightly curved blade, joining the drops of blood beneath him.

“Talk.” Shining’s voice demanded.

Flash stuttered, trying to form words through the haze of pain that had taken hold of his senses. Before he managed to speak another word, the flash of steel filled his vision, and for a split second he heard the sound of something tearing. Then the pain assaulted his body yet again, and he tried his best to hold back a scream but failed. This time, the blade had cut further down his stomach, drawing near to his groin. Upon realizing this, Flash tried in vain to break free of the magic that held him. His eyes became wide from fear as the knife once again moved slowly, coming to a stop with the edge a few centimetres away from his most sensitive parts.

“Answer me.” Shining hissed. “Or I’ll cut it off right here, right now.” The knife inched closer. Flash’s body clenched up as he felt the tip of the blade touch him.

“Fine!” He yelled, unable to hold back his fear. “I’ll tell you whatever you want, just please don’t…!”

The knife instantly moved away from him.

“See, was that so hard?” The prince said. “Now, why did you do it?”

“I was just following orders!” Flash cried out. “I had no idea they would kill you!”

“Yet you didn’t stay your blade.” The prince whispered.

“I had no choice; I thought they would kill me!”

Shining Armor suddenly sighed deeply. His head slouched down, and for a moment, Flash almost thought he was crying, or praying. Once the head came back up, he understood how wrong he’d been. The prince had pulled a circle of rusted wire from underneath his cloak, a wire covered in thick spikes. Slowly, Shining approached the helpless Pegasus.

“Wha-what are you doing?” Flash asked, stuttering in fear and pain.

“Keep talking.” Shining answered as he let go of the knife and instead grabbed the barbed wire with his magic. “Tell me about this Janus you mentioned before you cut my throat.” His voice was blunt, straight to the point.

“I don’t know who he is.” Flash said, feeling tears build up as the wire was wrapped around his hind legs. “I’ve never seen him.”

“Then why obey him?”

“Because he runs everything!” The Pegasus shouted. “He’s always been the true master of this kingdom, of all of you!” The wire wrapped tighter around his legs, its spikes bearing down on his skin without breaking it.

“You know, I found this in the alley.” Shining whispered behind his back. “Up until now I’d never realized just how… beautiful rust really is. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Flash yelped in pain as the rusted wire moved down his back, pressing against the skin over his spine, tearing through it slightly.

“I just followed orders!” Flash shouted once again. “I was supposed to infiltrate the royal family, gather information!”

“You just used my sister? Like a puppet?”

“No! Or at first maybe, but not… not now.” The Pegasus answered, spitting slightly as his own blood dripped into his mouth.

“Go on.” The wire suddenly wrapped itself around his neck slowly. “Why did you change your mind?”

Flash closed his eyes as he felt his tears mix with the blood. He didn’t want to answer, didn’t want to admit it. He’d never spoken about his feelings to anyone, especially not to an undead brother.

“I… Your sister is wonderful.” He began. “She truly is, and I…”

“You fell in love with her?” Shining answered. “I wish I could believe that.”

“It’s the truth. I would never hurt her.”

“But you didn’t hesitate to eradicate her family!” The prince shouted, and Flash suddenly felt his throat clench up as the barbed wire tightened around his neck.

The spikes tore through his skin, sinking slowly into his flesh. Their jagged edges cut their way in, burning his neck like coals. Flash couldn’t do anything but scream and hiss as his lungs was denied of air and his mind filled with pain and agony.

“Do you remember them?!” Shining yelled into the Pegasus’ left ear. “Mi Amore Cadenza!”

Shining quickly moved around Flash and began shouting in his right ear.

“Skyla, do you remember her? My Family, my wife and daughter!”

The wire around his throat loosened slightly, enough for Flash to talk, and he finally broke down into frantic tears, knowing his life was surely about to end.

“I’m so sorry!” Tears streamed down his face and snot had begun to build up in his nostrils, making his throat feel thicker. “Please, I’m sorry! I didn’t hurt them, it was Raven that killed your daughter, not me!”

“He didn’t kill her.” Shining whispered as he moved around, placing himself right on front of Flash Sentry’s face. “He crushed her head!”

“Please, don’t… don’t kill me…” Flash said, sobbing beyond control.

“Not yet. First I need you to tell me where I can find this little Raven.”

“Beloved Wings Hospital!” Flash yelled in response. “After they went out of business, he took it for himself. It’s where Janus keeps the girls before they enter the market, I don’t know anything else!”

Shining Armor tilted his head sideways; much like the bird did earlier. “Your friends make me sick.”

Without another word, he turned his back against the sobbing Pegasus and took a few steps away from him. Flash felt the panic inside of him build even more.

“Don’t leave me here!”

Shining stopped. The bird on his back turned to Flash and offered up a few quiet caws before the prince opened his mouth and spoke.

“My magic is the only thing holding you in place.” He began with a deep voice. “Once I’m too far away, it will let you go. You will then be suspended by nothing but the barbed wire, and the more you struggle the deeper it will cut. Eventually it will cut through your neck and kill you, unless the loss of blood doesn’t claim you first.”

Flash screamed in fear as Shining Armor turned away from him yet again.

“An eye for an eye. You cut my throat, now I cut yours.”

The screams of the Pegasus echoed loudly across the town as the prince slowly faded away in the rain and fog that had begun to build around them. After mere seconds, he was gone. The magic holding Flash instantly disappeared, and he felt his body fall a few inches before the barbed wire stopped him. It cut deep into his throat, slicing through his flesh, burning like fire.

After what felt like hours, the burning sensation felt cold like ice. Flash couldn’t scream anymore, couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t feel his body below his neck, and he let his head fall limp. Blood instantly gushed down his face, coating his eyes in a crimson curtain. It seeped into his wide open mouth, but he didn’t register the taste of iron as it touched his tongue.

The fog had grown thicker, rolling in around him like water unto the beach. He couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer, and let his eyelids fall shut.

Flash Sentry, newly appointed captain of the royal guard. Lover and companion of Princess Twilight Sparkle, sworn protector of the realm, passed into darkness.

The last thing he saw was Twilight, black as night but blindingly bright. Her eyes glowed in a bright blue light, and smoke seemed to rise out of them.

On her back, a pair of black wings unfurled, loose feathers scattering in the wind. They pulled him in closer into a final embrace, cradling him in the black wings of a bird. The wings of a crow.