Take the Pain Away

Lightning Dust backed away slowly. She felt the eyes of the worried bypassers. Eyes. Digging into her back, like needles. Large, uncleansed needles. She wanted to get out of there as fast as she could before somebody who recognized her would speak up. Arkane Vander- the one who she met outside of the Seren- stood up slowly. He looked over her, dirt smothering his face. “You really need to stay away from trees.”

He walked closer to her for some reason, maybe to hold onto her because he was hurt or walking was difficult for him. Before he got a hold of her shoulder, she stepped back. He fell to the ground, groaning when he hit the ground. Lightning almost felt sorry for him.

"Well, that was rude." He started to stand.

Lightning looked up, seeing the other Arkane quickly sizing her up, with a face that was a mix of emotions. Happy, angry, distraught. His hands were clenched together like there was about to be a very big fight.

As he got closer and closer, Lightning felt as if he was going to strike her for some reason. She nearly stepped back, but then he suddenly calmed himself down. “I’m sorry about what you just saw,” he said with a straight face. “I have this... problem. I have some trouble controlling my emotions. So...”

Lightning cocked her head, still a little afraid that he was going to do something to her.

Lightning felt someone touching her shoulder. She turned around to see the Arkane that she met in the forest. “Hey, I’m-”

His mouth instantly snapped shut and his eyes went wide. Like an attacker was approaching his hiding place and he was holding in his breath. The earth pony stared strangely at... Lightning didn’t even know if either of them were telling the truth at this point.

The unicorn's surprised remained on his face.

"Something wrong?" the earth pony asked the unicorn.

The unicorn shook his head, clearing up any surprise that he still had on his face. "No... just... startled. That tree came out of nowhere." he softly chuckled to himself.

"Indeed it did, mr..."

The unicorn was caught off guard by the question. "...Word. Spoken Word."

The two bumped hooves. While the earth pony sported a calm, collected look, "Spoken Word" looked nervous. He looked like he was about to fall over and pass out.

"Well," Lightning interrupted the silence, "Word, thanks for saving me from that tree. And... Arkane. Nice meeting you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to leave."

She walked away, her pacing growing in speed the farther away she was from the two stallions. Her goal to find Rainbow Dash was replaced by a sense of dread.

I need to get away from those two.

What did she just say?

Arkane Vander, the real Arkane, stared at the earth pony who claimed that he was Arkane Vander. The earth pony was tall. A little taller than other earth ponies. His skin was a sickly yellow, his mane brown like the bark of an oak-tree. It was different than how the earh pony used to style. It had yellow streaks in it and looked like he had spent all morning getting it ready.

But... it was still him. It was Arkane Vander’s older brother. Gild Vander. After all these years, he didn’t look any different. Like he didn’t age at all.

Arkane wanted to strangle him. But he kept his calm. If he wanted to kill him, he would have, but this wasn't the time, nor place. But where is a good place and when is a good time to commit fratricide?

“Pleasure meeting you.” Arkane turned around and walked away. He knew not where he was going to go next, but it had to be somewhere other than Alcrep.

How could she get away just like that!?

Gild nearly screamed as he stormed away. He mumbled obscenities to himself as he bumped into pony after pony. In his anger, he found himself in the outskirts of town. There was a part of the Everfree Forest that was burnt to a crisp. People were looking over the remains of the forest, too busy to watch as ponies snuck off into the other part of the Everfree. Luckily for him, his cave wasn’t in that area. He made sure that he was free of gazing eyes and slinked into the forest.

Gild entered the cave, muttering to himself. He punched and kicked the rock walls and yelled.

As he began calming down, he heard a quiet buzzing in his ear. It was dark, so he couldn’t see the small fly land on his shoulder.

“Is this what you've been driven to? Throwing tantrums like a child?" the fly said.

"I found her. I found Lightning."

The fly didn't say anything more.

"And she got away! I could have taken her right then and right there, but she got away!"

"Well, why didn't you take her?"

"I can't just take somebody in broad daylight! I don't need people following me."

The fly sighed. It flew off of him and landed on a nearby wall. "Do you remember the first day we met each other?"

Gild grunted.

"You were much like you are now. A child at the ripe age of twenty-five, thrust into a world of pain and loss. You were lost. And then we met each other."

Gild let out several deep breaths to calm himself down.

"You were strong. You had so much potential. And now look at you."

Gild was suddenly thrown to the ground. He yelped in pain like a dog.

"Instead of fulfilling your promise to me, you spend your time... defiling mares."

"No need to slap such nice words onto the word 'rape.'" he suddenly screamed out in pain.

"Lucky for you, that's my breaking point for my powers. If I were stronger, you would be experiencing neverending pain."

"You have the power to kill me. Why don't you just use it, you coward!?"

"I need somebody to get me the Didec. I can't do it on my own."

"We've searched for years, and we have found nothing. Do you even know if the Didec exists. You're just like my brother, obsessing over that stupid myth!"

"It's much, much more than just a petty bedtime story. I've seen it for myself. And it's much more real than you can ever hope to imagine."

"I'll believe it when I see it! Now let me go!"

The pain alleviated from Gild. He stood up and brushed himself off. "I can kill, you know."

"That may be true, but I can keep coming back. You couldn't get away from me if you tried."

Gild growled. He was almost tempted to kill him without a moments notice just so that he could get a few days without him. He would be able to get some time to himself for a while. Find some girls, have his... fun time with them.

"Sickening." The fly commented.

"Stop doing that." Gild had fogotten that the fly could read his mind.

"...We can't keep doing nothing. We have to get the Didec!"

"If we haven't found it by now, what makes you think that we can ever find it?"

"I can feel it-"

"Oh, you can feel it? That feeling of yours has been about as effective as an axe without its blade!"

Gild felt that pain again. Only this time it was within his head. The pain grew larger and larger until it felt like somebody was cutting through it. He cluthced his head and screamed. Falling to the ground, he cradled his head. Among his screams and cries, he managed to croak out barely comprehensible words. "W-when did y-y-you learn how to do t-that?"

"All of these powers I have in my possession, and they're all useless. I will be killed again and again, and I'll never fulfill my plans. My plan will never work."

Gild, still huddled up in a ball, had no other choice than to listen to the fly.

"It's near. And-" the fly moaned with pleasure, laughing all the while, "You're going to like this."

"What?"

"Your brother bears it."

Gild raised an eyebrow. "You can't be serious. I haven't seen that bastard in years." Gild almost smiled. Oh the things he was going to do to him when he saw him. He still fantasized about the slow and painful torture he had in mind for him.

"On the contrary, Gild, I have never been more serious in my entire life. And trust me, I've lived a long life."

Disbelief flashed across Gild's face. He almost scoffed. It explained the brute force and anger Arkane had shown all of those years ago. It explained how he burned down his old house with just a single step, how he brought his parents to their knees. How he killed them without showing a single emotion.

He should have made the connection long ago, but when you have a fly making most of the decisions for you for a good portion of your life, most of what you think of is how many different ways you can kill him.

"Then we should get a move on."

"Good."

Before Gild could leave the cave, the fly called out to him once again.

"Go ahead and bring a girl home with you."

Gild flashed a smile. "Thank you, Ortiz."

At last, it was found. Ilidan's house loomed over Lightning like an abusive father. The house cast a large shadow over her, encasing her in an invisible cage of fear and insecurity.

Lighting had trouble letting her wings out. She was afraid the house would shoot her down the moment she lifted herself off of the ground. They quivered along with the rest of her body. It took a little while, but they were extended, but not prepped for flight. They were as stiff as a board.

Their weight became almost unbearable to carry as she got in her pre-flight stance. Her legs refused to jump into the air.

Come on, Lightning. You have to do this, Lightning thought. If you don't do it now, when will you?

A small feeling of courage came upon her. She jumped in the air, flapping her wings.

Once she flapped. Then twice. Then three times.

She was high enough to see Ilidan's front door. Despite the look of the house on the ground, the front door looked inviting. Like it was begging for people to come knocking.

It looked so inviting, that the door seemed to possess a type of magic that attracted her to the door.

Lightning's hoof landed on Rainbow's front porch. She examined the cloud floor beneath her foot. Even when she was but a little girl, the fact that Pegasi could walk on the clouds and look down upon the earth was magical to her. She felt it was something that most Pegasi took for granted. It was something unique about their race, it was something special. She took the time to appreciate the magic that was standing on a cloud.

Putting one hoof in front of the other, she walked to Rainbow's front door. Without so much as thinking of what she was going to say, Lightning knocked on the door.

Lightning froze. She was as cold as freshly fallen snow, as stiff as a bone, and as scared as a child of what unholy creature might lurk within its closet.

Seconds passed. No answer.

More seconds passed. Still no answer.

Lightning tried to convinced herself that Ilidan wasn't home. But her body wouldn't move. Her muscles were locked in that position, not able to move until the lock is removed by somebody.

The door opened slowly.

Rainbow Dash stood at the door, drying her wet body with a towel. Lightning stepped back slightly.

"What, do you have a problem with a mare dryin' herself after a shower?"

Lightning blushed a little. "I'll come back later. I can see that you're busy."

"Oh no, it's perfectly fine. Come on in, make yourself at home!"

Rainbow Dash grabbed Lightning by the hoof, dragging her inside her abode. She could feel her wings beginning grow. Her heart was beating faster than a hummingbird's wings. Her wings haven't done that in some time. Lightning thought that those feelings were pushed away a long time ago. And for the first time since the training camp, she felt those feelings creep across her like a shiver in her back. And she didn't know if she should push them away like she did whenever those feelings showed up, or if she should let it control her.

No! she screamed at herself. I am not that pony anymore. I am straight, straight as a board!

Rainbow Dash threw Lightning onto a couch. As Lightning sat herself up, Rainbow Dash began unwrapping her towel. "I'm going to put this away, then we'll talk." Rainbow left the room.

Lightning could feel her face changing color from its usual green, to red hot. As she stared at Rainbow's wet body, she tried not to show signs of arrousel on her face.

No no no no no no!

With a war of emotions happening inside of Lightning's head, she managed to keep herself level-headed and as tranquil as a lake at night. She breathed in, holding it in for two seconds, then let it out.

She repeated this process for several minutes until Rainbow Dash finally appeared. And she wasn’t helping.

Rainbow's rainbow mane was wet, and it made her look even better than she normally did.

Lighting felt her eyes start to fly south from her head. Her hooves started shaking, her heart was racing faster than she could comprehend. Lust was becoming her only priority.

Stop! Stop it, that's not who you are anymore!

"So, what's up?"

Lightning shook her head. She had to get this over with, and she had to do it now.

"I came by because I... I-"

"You want to apologize."

Lightning looked up. "How did you-"

"It doesn't take a detective to find out that wings are used for flying. I mean, come on, we've only met each other twice, including now, and on that day you happened to screw up and nearly hurt my friends. We never saw each other after that. Until today."

Lightning smiled slightly. "Does that mean I can skip all the "I'm sorry" junk?"

Rainbow Dash only smiled.

In an instant, Lightning felt like tearing up. The weight that had been pressed onto her shoulders was finally alleviated. Lightning felt alive again. She felt that she could fly forever. Lightning threw her hooves around Rainbow Dash, giving Rainbow a very tight hug. Ranbow returned the hug, but struggled in doing so.

"Thank you." Lightning said, tears streaming down her face.

"No. It should be me thanking you."

Lyra and Bon-Bon walked into the night, laughing. They could be heard from all of the corners of Equestria with their noise.

"No, the funniest thing was when Derpy accidentily shouted that she had a huge crush on Time Turner. And then everything just went quiet, Time Turner started turning red, and then she just took the muffin she was eating and straight up walked out!" Bon-Bon said loudly.

"Or what about when Octavia started laughing like a maniac when Vinyl had to fold. Vinyl and Octavia take that game too seriously!" Lyra said.

"I guess we can just agree that it was a hilarious night altogether."

Lyra and Bon-Bon sighed as they left the apartment of Octavia and Vinyl, going back to their own.

It was only a couple blocks away, not more than ten minutes away. Too Bon-Bon it felt too long. To Lyra, it felt too short.

"So... Do you think Time Turner and Derpy will start going steady?" Lyra asked.

"I don't know. It could happen."

"I think they should, they'd make a great couple. Kind of like... we were."

"Would you stop bringing that up!" Bon-Bon shouted.

Lyra backed away, shocked by her sudden expression of rage. "Bo-"

"Quit acting like we're going to get back together, like it was just a fight! There's more to it than that!"

Lyra, feeling her tears beginning to surface, said nothing as Bon-Bon calmed herself down. "I'm sorry."

Lyra dashed off into the night, leaving behind the mare that broke her heart.

She suddenly stopped, finding herself in a spot of town that she didn't go to as often. The more shady part of Alcrep. While the town had almost no crime at all, this part looked like where crime would happen if it was to take place. Lyra put a little more caution into each of her steps from then on.

Every strange noise not coming from her made her jump. The shadows coming from the streetlights surrounded her like a cobra, preparing to strike her at a moments notice, without hesitation. Lyra illuminated the path before her with her magic, still being cautious to every nook and cranny that she happened upon.

Then from out of nowhere, a loud crash erupted from an alley-way, making Lyra scream. She looked into the alley-way, expecting a cat coming out of a trash can. But instead, she saw a stallion on the ground clutching his hoof and letting out groans of pain.

"Oh my Celestia, are you okay?"

"Get me to a hospital! Somebody stabbed me!"

Lyra rushed to the downed stallion. "Let me see where you're hurt."

The stallion stood up, letting her see his chest. She saw no sign of injury, not even a scar. "You're not hurt."

"But you will be."

In a split second, the stallion hit Lyra on the head with a trash lid. She fell to the ground, unconcious before she even hit the ground. That's what the man thought of her as a doll. A doll he'll play with until she breaks.

"Time to take you home and show you to Ortiz! He'll love you!"