Silent Insanity

Chapter 2: Hush Please

I cannot express how much I despise sugary foods.

The whole concept of devouring masses of candy and rotting your teeth to the core never really caught on with me. Which is quite ironic if you think about it, considering that my cutie mark is a smiley face. I usually bunked Nightmare Night when I was small, even then I preferred to be on my own, I didn't really have any friends to go out with anyways. The one time I did actually go out on Nightmare Night I ended up running home because I was too frightened of the decorations which were on practically every lawn in my neighborhood.

Excepting my own of course.

Even now I don't decorate my lawn during Nightmare Night, I don't even lay out treats or anything of the sort. Yep, that's me, the neighborhood party-pooper. I don't really see much point in Nightmare Night anymore, especially considering that Nightmare Moon has returned to her goddess status, like what are we actually even celebrating? Well whatever, I do appreciate Nightmare Night for one reason nowadays. With all the young ones scampering around outside, it provides the perfect distraction while I sneak into their homes and kill their loving parents.

Well make them "disappear" is much more accurate.

Considering Nightmare Night is about a week from now, I believe its about the time for me to start checking the locks and routines of my neighbors for when I pay them a "visit". I do however have a slight problem which I have to deal with before I begin my Nightmare Night ritual.

Her name is Pinkie Pie.

She has been in my house for the past few hours chatting with Sunshine. She had originally come over to check if Sunshine had managed to find my home, I think she lost track of time about a hour and a half ago. Luckily for me, Sunshine has managed to keep quiet about last night's events thus far, even resorting to lying about her whereabouts yesterday.

"Soooooooo, what are ya gonna do on Nightmare Night?" asked the fluffy pink pony.

"Well I don't know yet, obviously I'm a little too old to go around asking for treats," Sunshine, turned to face me "what about you Snowhoof, do you usually do anything for Nightmare Night?" asked the yellow mare.

I most certainly do, I thought to myself.

"No, I'm not really big on celebrating holidays. I normally just watch scary movies and stuff like that." I lied.

Pinkie looked as if somebody had smacked her across the face with a rubber chicken.

"What do you mean, no?" she arose and began moving towards me "You can't simply not do anything on Nightmare Night. It's the most fun night of the entire year!" she growled, anger becoming clearly evident in her voice.

For the first time since I was born, I was actually scared of another pony.

"Well it's just that-"

"NO! The three of us WILL do something the Nightmare Night! I don't even care what it is!" she shouted cutting me off mid sentence.

"Okay..." I replied meekly.

There was absolutely no arguing with this mare. Sunshine began looking around awkwardly, probably trying to think of an excuse out of this.

"Pinkie promise me." the angry mare said.

"Pinkie Promise?" I replied, unsure of what exactly I was getting myself in to.

"Recite after me, I Pinkie Promise, I Cross My Heart, Hope to Fly, Stick a Cupcake in my Eye that I will go have fun with Pinkie and Sunshine on Nightmare Night." said Pinkie proudly.

"Uhh, I don't know about-"

"DO IT!" she screamed, cutting me off yet again.

"Okay, okay, I Pinkie Promise, I Cross My Heart, Hope to Fly, Stick a Cupcake in my Eye that I will go have fun with Pinkie and Sunshine on Nightmare Night." I recited hesitantly.

"Good, well I've gotta go. Cmon Sunshine, I'll get you some cupcakes back at the bakery. See ya Snowhoof, don't forget you Pinkie Promised me!" said Pinkie as she half dragged Sunshine out of my door.

"Bye." was all that Sunshine managed before she disappeared out my door courtesy of Pinkie Pie.

I was left in complete silence, I made my way over to the door and sighed, shutting it with magic. I returned to the living room and sat back down on my seat. The silence was very comforting. It always is. It's like entering my own universe where the only voice that matters is my own. I usually like to think about who my next victim is in my silent time. I still don't know what to do about Pinkie Pie, I'm still not entirely sure what a Pinkie Promise actually even is. What exactly are we going to be doing anyways? From what I can tell, I'll just have to show up and Sugarcube Corner and let the crazy one guide me onward. The silence really helps me think, I've been listening to Pinkie Pie ramble on for about four hours now, I think I deserve a short nap at the very least. Yes, a nap would be perfect for me, a short time in which I can just disconnect from the world and enter pure relaxation. I curled up in my seat and prepared to nod off to sleep.

Thud thud thud

The silence has been broken, my one time of bliss in the day has been cut short. With a groan I pull myself off the chair and wandered to the door. Standing to the side to avoid potential hoof-to-face contact, I opened the door. I was greeted by a pony with a saddlebag. His mane was combed back with gel, complete with glasses and a runny nose. Before I could even open my mouth to tell him to leave, he had already begun digging in his saddle bag.

"Hello sir! My name is Gecko! I work with GelCo incorporated. Would you like to hear about our latest promotion?" said the pony with a smile possibly faker than my own.

I don't need this shit right now I thought to myself.

"No." I said bluntly, closing the door on Gecko.

Before I could completely shut the door, Gecko places his hoof between the door and the door frame.

"Sir, we are having a huge sale, fifty percent off all of our products!" he said, the smile never leaving his face.

He better leave, before I lose my temper.

"Listen kid, I don't want what your'e selling so if you could please leave that would be-" I

"Sir, if you buy a jar of premium GelCo gel, you get one jar free!" he interrupted.

A smile spread it's way across my face. He had his chance to leave. It's gone now. Before the nerdy pony could say another sentence, I struck him across the muzzle with my hoof, sending him sprawling onto the pathway which leads into my house. As he lay groaning on the ground, I trotted over to him and began pulling him into my home. Luckily for me, most people in my part of the neighborhood had gone out to get supplies for Nightmare Night, so its highly unlikely that anyone would have seen me kidnap him. I cast a paralysis spell on him, before grabbing one of my plastic bags out of my still open saddlebag. I closed the door and made my way to the backdoor. I opened the door, Gecko still floating behind me. I began dragging him to my forest. I usually take my victims about a three kilometers deep, to a small cave which I discovered a few years back. Along the way, I grabbed the mangled corpses of the three rapists who were still hidden behind the bush where I had placed them earlier. Carrying four bodies, three of which were large earth ponies takes a lot of effort. After about half a hour later I found myself at the cave entrance, my horn aching. I dropped the rapists and carried the still paralyzed salespony towards the entrance to the cave.

The wolves' den.

Sure it was dangerous at first, however the wolves' have kept to their side of the bargain thus far and I can only hope that it stays that way. I unwrapped the "presents" before pulling him to the table length boulder where I had ended the lives of as many as forty ponies in the past. Tying him to the the boulder with the thick leather straps that I've been using for  about a year now. I made sure to fasten and tighten him to the greatest extent possible. I reached under a nearby log and retrieved my favorite knife. I revoked my paralysis spell and immediately he began thrashing around, attempting to escape the binds.

"You should have just left." I said with my trademark smile.

"Buck you! Let me out of here right now!" he shouted, fear evident in his high pitched voice.

Chuckling, I moved towards him and tested the blade on his flank, drawing blood. The blade was still as sharp as always. My captive whimpered in pain.

"Just in case you had any doubts, you are going to die today." I whispered, completely ignoring his earlier demands.

He responded by thrashing even more, making the blood running down his flank fall on the forest floor. After a minute or so, he calmed down and stopped thrashing completely.

"Please let me go." he said meekly, turning his head to face me, without the magical prowess of a horn he was powerless to stop me, times like this brought to fruits the disadvantages of being a earth pony.

I merely moved towards him, smile growing as I crept closer.

"No." I replied dully.

I raised the knife and brought it down swiftly into the pony's foreleg, releasing a loud womanish scream which was answered by the howl of a wolf somewhere else in the forest.

"Y-you don't have to do this." he cried, blood dripping down the sides of the boulder.

I looked at him, a memory flooding my mind. I was only a young colt when I had witnessed death first hand for the first time and surprisingly it wasn't at my hands. It was a week before school started and I was making my way towards the local bakery. When I heard the sound of a mare crying in a nearby alley. I turned into it, eager to be a hero and save a mare in distress. I was about to turn a corner when I saw a rough looking pegasus walk towards me, panicking I ducked into a cardboard box as he turned to look at me. By the grace of Celestia, he hadn't seen me and continued on his way down towards the sound of the crying mare. Slipping out of the box I poked my head around the corner and saw the mare in distress. She was crying, blood running down her face. Her hooves were chipped and she was hiding away in the corner. The pegasus walked towards her.

"I see you guys had all the fun without me" he said, addressing the seven or so ponies surrounding the miserable mare.

The group burst into laughter, before being silenced by a large orange earth pony.

"You don't get in on the fun yet," he said as he walked over to the pegasus, a large knife in his mouth "you first have to prove to us that you aren't squeamish." he finished, handing the pegasus his wicked blade.

"Ha, just gimme a moment to gut the bitch." said the pegasus, taking the knife out of giant's mouth.

He made his way to the mare.

"Y-y-you don't have to this.." said the trembling mare.

The pegasus hesitated for a moment before leaning close to her.

"I'm sorry, I don't have any choice." he said, slitting her throat.

The crowd cheered as the mare fell limp and hit the ground with a loud thud.

I was limp with fear. Too scared to do anything to stop them, after a few moments of staring at the horrendous scene, I pulled out and ran home, completely forgetting about the bakery. A single thought kept repeating itself in my mind as I ran, tears flowing down the side of my face..

You do have a choice. You do have a choice. You do have a choice.

Reality flushed back and the salespony was still strapped to the boulder. The anger within me released itself.

"YOU DO HAVE A CHOICE!" I shouted as loudly as possible, before thrusting the knife into Gecko's heart.

He whimpered one more time before going limp.Then there was nothing. The silence had returned.

After releasing his straps, I made my way home, still furious at the salespony. It was his choice to continue pestering me. He's dead and its all his fault! He should have just left. He had a choice... But so did I, it was my choice to kill him, I could have just as easily released him. I made my choice and I simply have to push forward and stand by it. All the regret which I had never felt had finally found me.

"I'm a monster, a bucking monster!" I shouted to myself, snapping a nearby branch with magic.

Then, as quickly as the regret had come, it left. The anger flushed out of me. A new thought was flowing through my mind, a choice which I will never regret. A choice I will try my hardest to stand by.

Not even a day ago I saved some pony. Not even a day ago I made a crucial choice. I spared her.

As the regret and hatred left my body, my normal state of mind came flowing back in. As I approached my home, it was already getting dark. I entered my backdoor and with a sigh, shut the door. A orchestra of howls could be heard in the distance as I entered my living room. The wolves have found the bodies it seems. I turned on the lights and to my surprise saw that the entire house had been cleaned up. The dishes were washed, chairs all tucked in, even the floors had been washed. Someone had been inside my house. I prepared my paralysis spell and began checking all the rooms, all of which had been cleaned up as well. I slowly ascended the stairs, spell still at the ready. I checked the guest room and then made my way to the master room, the door was closed. I counted to three and pushed the door open. To my surprise, Sunshine was fast asleep on the bed. Why was she here? I lowered the paralysis spell and left the room as quietly as possible. I still had blood all over me, I need to get to a shower and get cleaned up before I even consider waking her up.

I made my way downstairs and entered the guest shower, locking the door behind me. The hot water quickly washed away all the blood and cleared off the dirt from the trek to and from the cave. A few minutes into the shower I heard a loud scream come from upstairs. I immediately hopped out of the shower and grabbed a towel , wrapping it around myself in an attempt to stop water dripping on the newly washed floors. I raced towards the master room and opened the door. Sunshine was sobbing and looked up in surprise when I entered the room.

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have fallen asleep. I came looking for you but you weren't here. I noticed that you weren't home and the house was a mess so I decided to clean it for you." she said, still crying.

"Uhh yeah, thanks I guess. Why were you looking for me?" I asked as awkward as ever, water still dripping besides me.

"I wanted to ask you where you wanted to go on Nightmare Night and the door was unlocked," she said, her tears beginning to dry up. "I came upstairs and after finishing up with the cleaning, I fell asleep on the bed from exhaustion. I had a nightmare, that you didn't help me and they-" she said, cutting herself off with a sob.

"Hey listen it was just a dream okay?" I said, making my way towards her."Nothing is going to happen to you. I'm going to make sure of that." I said, trying to be as supportive as possible.

"I'm so sorry, I soaked your bed with my tears! I-I'll change the sheets and clean it again and-"

'No, don't worry about that, it's really quite okay. It will dry up in about a hour anyways. Out of curiosity, why exactly did you clean up the house anyways?" I asked.

"I owe you my life, the least I could do is clean your house." she said, cheering up slightly.

"You most certainly don't owe me anything at all. Now as for Nightmare Night I have no idea what Pinkie has in store for us. So why don't we head over to Sugarcube Corner and ask her?" I said, taking off the towel and giving myself a quick shake.

Sunshine nodded and smiled. We descended down the stairs and departed for Sugar Cube corner, the moon rising behind us.

A howl from far behind us declared that night had officially fallen.