War of virtue and viceby bnk1029ChaptersPrologue: Torture and clarityDrink, die and damage.Bloodied, bruised and brokenQuestions and quarrelsPrologue: Torture and clarity For every age there is a time of trial. The rocks faced such a fire before they were the strength beneath our feet. The plants braved vast winds before their roots could give us life. As a sage of considerable years, I have known only one such great ordeal. Yet the hero it created was a champion of all time. ~ Samos "the Sage" Hagai, Jak II "Wake up. Hey, wakey wakey, hands off snakey. I said, WAKE UP!" My eyes quickly shot open, as I gave a primal scream, which was muffled out by a cloth gag covering my mouth, as I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I laid there for what felt like minutes turning into hours, hours into days, with my heart ready to burst out of its once safe and comfortable home of a rib-cage. After calming down, I moved my head down towards my chest, all I could see, three inches in front of me, was a syringe placed over my heart. I knew what it was, and all it meant was me living through this hellish nightmare that much longer. Beyond the syringe, all I could see were pink strands of... ribbon I believe? My mind was still blurry from the pain of escaping death. Shock had me in its grip, as my memories and senses were fading in and out. As they cleared up, I took in my surroundings, which was just a light above me, and one to my right, couldn't see what my current location was, hell could have been a cave for all I know. Suddenly, I heard laughter on my left, a laughter that wasn't for fun or merry making. No, a laughter that would have made the Joker's laugh give a run for its money. It sounded so familiar, I can't put my finger on... wait! Oh no! PLEASE NO! "Oh good, you're awake. I thought you were getting tired of playing this game with me. Looked like you were ready to take a nap. Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to fall asleep in your hosts home," said by a psychotic filled voice. I slowly turned my head towards this madman, with every inch giving a thousand aches and migraines throughout my head. As I finished my turn, resting on my left ear, all I could focus on was those... those dark eyes. Staring into them felt like you were staring into a void of anger and hatred. From where I was, my head was probably at his waist level.He was a tall Caucasian, roughly six foot four, medium-length brown hair, with a heavily, mostly muscular, midsection. Each limb bore scars all over showing tales of battles against either worthy opponents or being a victim of his own carelessness. As he spoke again, I could not escape my gaze from his eyes, slowly lowering his head to mine "And to make it worst, we have six other guest with us. Didn't we promise them a show? I know it's tough, but we can't let them down. We can't shrug off our responsibilities. You've got to pull yourself up and meet the challenges head on. That's the only way you’re going to get ahead in life." He said lifting his head, and facing towards my right, forming a sad expression on his face. "See what you did? They're crying now. You're disappointing them! You can't let them down like that," he said forcing my head the other way. From where I was, apparently lying on my back with my limbs restrained, I saw six Technicolor ponies, each with a different pony behind holding blades to their necks, and each of the original six with their own bruises and cuts, some appeared to be deeper than others. They were all crying their eyes out, as two little water falls and eight rivers formed around their eyes. Wait, eight? But there are six captured ponies in here? It appeared as though one was missing both eyes, all I could see was blood red where eyes were to be white, or at the very least pink from the blood vessels. I couldn't quite make out who it was, but they had flat pink hair that appeared to be cut off right above where both eyes should be. I looked lower to find what they called 'cutie marks' and when I realized who it was, my heart had literally stopped for a full minute, tears rolling down my eyes. On her 'flank' were three butterflies. Her name was Fluttershy and she was by far the very definition of kindness. This was the very last thing she deserved on a list that was not even hers. No! Why? Why her? She was so innocent! Slowly scanning the rest of them, I made out who they all were. On the very left was a white unicorn mare, with Blue hair, or 'mane' as they called it. Her name was Rarity. She, before all this, was to be called "the most beautiful mare in all of Ponyville", based on her ability to bend stallions to her will, but now her face was home to dozens of scars, all across her cheeks and forehead. Her body fared no better, as her legs were bruised and red, as though they were recently bound. Her flank was far more populated with scars, causing her cutie mark of three perfect diamonds into six broken diamonds. Also, not by really trying to look, she appeared to be bruised in a... 'Sensitive area'. The stallion behind her inhaled her neck deeply as she cringed to his act. To the right of her was, what appeared to be a Pegasus, but looking closer, I noticed blood seeping out between the pink strands in her dark purple mane. Said blood was covering her lavender fur on her face. Her name was Twilight Sparkle, and by looking into her violet eyes, it appeared that most of her pain was for herself, than for me, and I can see why. Before all this, she was, what you would call, a master in magic. Hell, even Houdini couldn't compete with her, because she would have to be in her own league. Now to see she had no ability to use or control magic, the one thing that her special talent was all about, was now gone with very little chance of it coming back. Next was Fluttershy, then it was... Rainbow Dash!? Oh My God! They were gone. Her soul reason for being on this planet, the one thing that allowed her to be who she was... were no longer there, literally, by her sides! I don't know how they captured her, but not only they did, they also had cut off her wings. I was staring at a cyan blue, once a Pegasus, with rainbow mane, with little nubs where the wings should be. Her expression was blank, with still a few tears running down her face, but still staring into those crimson eyes, she looked as though she was broken beyond all repair. As though her mind was on the verge of shutting down itself, which indicated that the trauma she suffered must have been recent. She never moved a muscle, even her guard didn't have to hold so tight onto her. Then it was a pink pony, with somehow a pinker mane. It didn't take a genius to know it was Pinkie Pie, but how did they catch, her super ability being able to bend physics and space to allow her to jump from point to point in the blink of an eye. Even if you didn't know better, you'd say that the flat deflated hair was an ominous sign of her mood. She was depressed. How depressed? Well... wait did her mane just turn a shade of grey-pink? Her head was hung low, so as to hide her sadness. Though something was off, even if she did get this depressed, she should have said something, knowing her. For a split second she raised her head showing me her light blue eyes, and opened her mouth as to show me her fate. She was now tongue-less, they took her away her ability to taste the sweetness in life and give life a verbal sweetness with her ability to cheer others up by just talking to them. She quickly lowered her head again, nothing else needed, or could, to be said. Lastly, but not least, Applejack, with her Orange coat, blonde hair, and green eyes. She was beyond sad, scratch that she was... there was no word to describe it, and I could tell why. These, monsters, decided to play a final piece in this sick game of theirs, by taking away what made her have a lively hood in the first place. Facing her in front, you would think she was just sitting down, but in reality she only had three legs, with the third just being two one-halves. They chopped her bucking legs off at the knee. To her, those gave her and her family everything they needed to just survive. Hell, Big Mac couldn't have supported the family alone, not without Applejack there to help (and Applebloom's debt raising escapades; seriously 300 bits for three fillies to go snorkeling for one afternoon. FUCK THAT!). Now with those gone her family won't be able to pay any debt without selling some parts of the farm to others. Having to sell part of what your deceased parents had given to you and your siblings... there's no words to describe what kind of heartbreak she's feeling right now. I quickly turned my head towards my tormentor, he was holding a smug grin on his face. "I know right, masterpieces of work. Though nothing compared to you." He said turning my head towards my torso. "Still I should be thanking you. Without you, or should I say us, learning enough of both good and evil I would probably would have been gone long ago. Nothing more but a mere bug that needed to be stepped on. However, we believed it was in our best interest to learn how to be bad, just as much as being good." he said with an ever growing smirk. "And to think that we believed that balance, and moderation would have been the key to our survival. Now, that thought has allowed me to win, and you to die!" After a second of focusing, I saw what the 'ribbons' were. They were my intestines. Hanging out from my body, above the hole in my abdomen were my innards. I would have puked, if it were not for the fact that my stomach was disconnected, dangling in front of my face. I was able to see over my chest and still see my liver, kidneys, gall-bladder, pancreas, and spleen where still in there. That only pointed out that he was only half-way done with me, and I already had passed out at least once from the pain. "But since you're still awake, we can finish this little re-enactment of CUPCAKES together!" he said as picked up a rusty scalpel covered with, mostly likely my blood, and moved over towards my exposed guts. "You ready to see the grand finale?" he asked to the six mares to my right. Soon my world had faded, not to blackness, but to a bright white, and there I saw where it all began. Over a year ago, in a low-end bar, rage was all I could feel... Drink, die and damage. Woe unto [them that are] mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink ~Isaiah 5:22 Rage was all I could feel. Not at anyone else, but at myself. I was on my fourth shot of whiskey when anger began to go from simmer to full on boil. For my entire life I had always believed in balance, and mainly in my case be good but know evil (hey, you never know when it will come in handy). Though I've accepted the demons that come with these ideas... Snap that bitch's arm... ...'Shut up!' I thought as I took another shot of whiskey. These voices, has been growing in the back of my head non-stop for a month. At first, I just simply shrugged it off as nothing as it was just a hum. For a while though, It's been getting more aggressive to a point where it's causing me to suffer... Break the bartender's head open... "Another shot, please!" I said flagging down the bartender. He came over to fill up my glass until I told him to just leave the rest of the bottle, which was only a quarter full. Now you're probably wondering 'why not go talk to someone?' There's only two possible endings with that, either that 'someone' will give me something or take me to the looney bin, and seeing as I couldn't afford a licensed therapist and most of my friends are a little naive about modern medicine, I wouldn't feel happy about spending my life in the padded hotel. Then again, that might be drink talking. I glanced over to the clock to saw through my blurred vision it was 1:17. So I paid my bill, walked out of the bar, and headed for the bus station, hey I may be a drunk but I'm a functional drunk. Your end is coming... 'shut up!' Death will be your only companion... 'SHUT UP!!' The time is nigh... "WOULD YOU SHUT UP!?!" I yelled out loud, thankfully no was there to hear me. Though during my out burst I lost what balance I had on my two feet that were loosely planted on the side walk and ended up falling on the road. In the corner of my eye I saw light coming straight towards me. Then it hit me, well two things, I was going to die, so I closed my eyes waiting for the end. ~ ~ ~ Huh? I thought death would be colder and more still. All I could feel was the warmth of the sun and a falling sensation. What no sudden pain, no shock, not even a note?! Then again I was drunk on twelve shots. At least it was pitch black, until I opened eyes. What I once saw was nighttime and asphalt, was now sunlight, clouds, green fields, and a 10,000 feet birds-eye-view from a lake. It seemed real peaceful like a dre... Wait a minute... 10,000 feet in the air. 'Well this is it.' I thought while screaming and flaring around letting natural instinct takeover. 9,000 feet. 'Time for me to die.' 8,000 feet. 'And by heights no less. Fuck I hate heig-... Wait what is that?' Suddenly I saw a blue fast blur coming towards me. I felt my decent slow down as this something grabbed on to one of my arms. 'Oh thank Christ!' Realizing I was slowing down I tried to grab on with my other arm but slipped out of its grasp and continued my normal decent. 4,500 feet. 'God dammit!' With my hope quickly washed away I decided to just close my eyes and wait for the end. They say my life will flash before my eyes, and let me say something, I'm bored. 500 feet. 'Well that was depressing!' Opening my eyes to see my death come, but instead saw more hope in the form a purple aurora around my body and a slow incoming lake. With as much control as I had I shifted my body to form a... "CAN OPENER!" *splash* 'bad idea' as I opened my eyes in this unbelievably clear water I noticed that my shin had been torn out of my leg with robes of crimson dancing around it. Being beyond shock, I had past out under water dropping to the bottom as darkness encompassed me. ~ ~ ~ "...at is it? Is it ali..?" "...lestia it's leg! Out of th...!" "...shy wait!" Unable to move from the pain, and talk, I waited, listened for these people to help. "Quick, I have a first aid kit at my home!" 'Oh bless your kind sou-' "Wait! What about his bone!?" "PINKIE NOOO!!!" *tap* "OWWWWWWWWWW!!!" 'Curse your soul!!!' ~ ~ ~ *inhale* 'Oh god.' *exhale* 'What happened?' *inhale. Exhale* 'Where am I?' *pant. Pant. Pant pant. Pantpantpant.* "Oh god!" I opened my eyes and shot up on my feet only to fall on my side from immense pain. Remembering my broken leg I got up and hobbled over to the nearest door, and praise my luck when I saw my savior, the porcelain goddess, the Super Bowl, the TOILET! Without a second thought I slumped myself over it with my head on the seat. There I waited for the vile bile to lea- "Bluuh-huuh hhuuu HOLY HELL! Bluuh- hhuuu huuh." With those five seconds of pure torment out of the way, I slumped myself on the side trying to fight off the rest of the hangover with the bitter taste in my mouth, which oddly had a taste of cinnamon. After a whole day of pain and misery I finally had felt pea- "AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Quickly looking for the source of the sound on my right, I came across a shower with running water and steam with a shadowy figure trying hard to cover herself up. 2+2 "Oh fuck! Sorrysorrysorrysorry!" Without a moment of hesitation and ignoring the scorching pain in my leg, I, practically, jumped out of the bathroom and closed the door, as I tried to run the day's events in my head. 'Well let's see: got run over, broke a leg, received a hangover, and made a clean person feel dirty. Well at least it can't get any worst.' "Fluttershy, you okay!? Fluttershy!? Flut-!" As I saw the source of the voice come around the corner, my heart had exploded with both fear and joy, as I gazed at her. In my view was a pony, not just an ordinary pony, but a cyan blue PEGASUS WITH A RAINBOW MANE! As I sat there in front of the door with my own shocked expression, I couldn't believe I was seeing this beautiful creature, as she came closer to me with her shoulders down and her face...in...pure...furry. "Oh fuck me!" 'Dear universe and Murphy's law, I hate you both. Sincerely, Anon' Bloodied, bruised and broken "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." -School yard rhyme "YOU MOTHERBUCKER!" yelled the angry pegasus, as she, I assumed from the voice, lept towards me with full intent on ending my life. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO FLUTTERSHY?" "Wait!" I yelled in the hopes that she would stop and listen to me. As it turns out that was not the case, as she sent a right hook to my temple making me tumble down the stairs. Now that wouldn't have been so bad, if my broken right leg hadn't slammed itself three times on the stairs and the floor. "OW! YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Now i'll be honest, i'm pretty calm for the most part but starting fight with me is a sure fire way of getting your ass on my shit list pretty damn quick. With all my strength, and anger and adrenaline coursing through my veins I got to my feet and shouted, " You want to fight you bitch, then come get some!" I soon received my wish, as she flew towards me again charging a right hook to me, only for it be blocked by my left hand with her stopping almost immediately as my right hand held onto her neck. As she was in shock of how I stopped her, I brought her foreleg close to my head where I preceded to clamp my jaw hard on her. As her flesh gave way to my teeth, my mouth and nostrils where filled with the bitter and somewhat satisfying taste of iron. She screamed next my ear as I released my grasp on her, only to receive a kick to the gut almost stumbling back as I quickly grabbed her again by both her forelegs. While keeping my right foot stationary, I stepped my left leg back and threw at the door behind me. She crashed trough it leaving an opening to the outside to which I stumbled towards and looked down towards her back towards me. She turned over to look me in the eye, and from what I saw it looked like she had fear running through her mind, but tried to hide it behind a curtain of anger but there was still fear there. I looked to my now bloodied hand noticing how wet it was from her wounded leg I grabbed, in an instant I wiped the excess blood onto my face leaving a red hand print on my face. As I took my first step outside, towards her, I never strayed my gaze away from her. It looked as if she was deciding whether to fight or flee from me. As I neared, she took a defensive position choosing to fight me. In one long step I went to grab her again but she jumped right above me and slammed all of her hooves onto my back, sprawling me onto the broken door. Luckily I didn't feel any ribs break but it still hurt like fuck; thinking quickly I grabbed one of the broken boards with my right hand and swung it around only to hit nothing but air and falling on my ass. I swiveled my head everywhere I could to try to find her; not one second later I felt something hard hit the back of my head causing me to nearly pass out from the pain. I laid on my back trying to keep conscious when I saw get on top of me and lifting her hoof to strike my face. She had her left foreleg resting next to my head, to which I quickly grabbed and bit into to cause her to lose focus as punched her the face. She fell off of me giving me the chance to return her near favor; as I knelled over her I repeatedly to kept swinging fist on her till I saw her nose bleed and her face crack open in tears. As she fell into unconsciousness I stopped for a moment to catch my breath and was smacked in the back of the head with something giving my red world over to pure darkness. ~~~ I awoke in a daze, slumping over as though I were standing but at the same time going limp. I waited for my vision to clear before scanning my surroundings only to see a vast field of grass with a single oak tree which resembled a cottage, as though it were built into the tree itself in my opinion. As I looked to my right I saw a group colored shapes conversing with one another, I couldn't quite make them out in time as something hit me against my left cheek. I tried to recover but felt extremely weak as I couldn't even stand straight up. Looking to my left I saw the same pegasus I had been fighting with a pile of rocks beside her; she looked at me with pure hatred in her eyes as she was charging her foreleg to throw another rock at me landing it at my gut only for the blow to feel softer than it should have. I looked down to see a coil of rope surround my torso which also seemed to follow around a tree trunk giving me the idea that I won't be leaving anytime soon. I felt another rock hit me on my right thigh which signaled several alarms in my head giving me three ideas of where she was aiming, my leg being one of them. "Wait!" I shouted, as she was reading up another shot. This did not dissuade her as she launched her projectile landing it two inches away from my right gem. The pain did not register with me as fear of her increasing accuracy was filling my mind. As she picked up another rock I geared up for what was coming until I heard a voice coming from my right. "Rainbow! Stop that right now." the voice sounded as though it was with extra air as though sounding like a person of class. A white unicorn came into my field of view with disgust on her face. "Just because this monstrous brute had beaten you down, doesn't give you the right sink down to his level." "Oh come on Rarity, did you see what this thing did to me?" said the now annoyed pegasus. "It's nothing more than a mad animal that deserves what's coming to it." She then threw the rock towards me at such speed it found its target before I could blink. It took not even a split second for pain beyond imagination to fill my nether region to the point where my brain had told me to sleep this one off. Questions and quarrels One of the very important characteristics of a student is to question. Let the students ask questions. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam "Oh, what a horrible nightmare. Wait a minute, I CAN'T MOVE! AHHHHHHH!" I shouted as I felt my being restrained to what I think was a table in the middle of a dark room. The only light that filled the room was a lamp above the table where I was bound to. I tried the wriggle and writhe from my bonds only to come up with no sign of progress wondering if this might be it. As I calmed down I tried the remember the events that led me here and coming up with two possible conclusions: I was dead and in hell, or I was just brain dead and forever lost in a twisted fantasy, and even then I didn't think those answers were correct. After thought after thought raced through my mind of what these ponies were and what they would do to me, I heard a gentle tapping on wood from up above me followed by the creaking of a door. I tried to turn my head towards the sound and saw a figure coming down a set of stairs which appeared to be solid wood creating the clopping sounds that rang through my ears. As the figure left my field of view, I again heard a woman's voice as though is was filled with a mixture of annoyance, fascination, and caution. "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, can you understand me?" she said sounding as though she was a small distance away from me. "Uh hi, my name is anon, and yes I can understand you." I responded as casually as I could given the circumstance. "Good," she said "now I have several question to ask you, the first two being what are you and why did you attack me friend?" Still staring up at a wall of solid darkness I proceeded to answer her questions. "Okay first off, I am a human being, or homo sapien if you want to get scientific about it. Secondly, I didn't attack anybody I was defending myself. That bitch horse attacked me first." I responded with a hint of venom in my words. "Excuse me, but that 'bitch' horse is my friend and the only reason she attacked you was because she thought you harmed Fluttershy." She retorted with just anger, "And for your information her name is Rainbow Dash, and she's a pegasus pony not a horse." "I don't give a flying fuck if her name Mary Christ, next time I see her... I... I can't be held responsible for what i'm going to do to her next time I see her. I mean she fucking threw a rock at my junk." I said with discontent. As I finished my sentence, I felt a slow squeezing on my neck causing me to suffocate. Even fighting with all my might I couldn't get free enough to see what was choking me, all I could do was feel myself run out of life giving oxygen in my lungs. After a full minute of struggling Twilight had started speaking, "Don't you dare threaten my friends again, do you understand me?" The pressure around my neck soon died down giving me the chance to breath once again. "Yes, what she did was cruel, but you will do no more harm to her or anypony else. Are we clear?" "Crystal." I coughed out. "Now if your done, I got three questions: one, where am I? two, how long was I out? and three, can you please let me up?" I said in a calm tone. "Fine, you're in Equestria, Ponyville to be exact. You were out for roughly sixteen hours, we were getting a little worried actually. Lastly yes but by royal decree I ask that you wear these." She said as she brought over a full shackle set. It looked to be made of steel with cuffs for both my hands and ankles. Reluctantly I agreed, and as she released my binds I sat up and went to put on the left ankle restraint first "Now the other one." she said. I looked to my cast and said "Is that even necessary?" I turned to look at her, I noticed that she was what appeared to be lavender with a purple mane with a pink stripe. The last thing I noticed was her horn sticking out of her forehead, all in all she just barely reached my abdomen in height. Twilight went to put on the wrist cuffs on me until I stopped her. "Wait, hold on. I got to check on something." She raised an eyebrow to this and was about to ask until I cut her off. Reaching my hand down to my crotch I counted "Let's see one, and... two. Alright, whoo, we're good." I've got to say given everything that has transpired, the fucking look of embarrassment on her face was priceless. Truth be told I couldn't hold back a snicker. If looks could kill, I'd be a dead man. "Don't say another word." She said as she cuffed my wrist and handed me a crutch. "Yes mistress." I said with the hugest grin of my life. She immediately groaned to that, "Let's just get upstairs. You coming." She said turning her head towards me. "You mind turning the lights on first?" I replied. With a look of realization she agreed; closing her eyes her horn started to glow in a purple aura, 'wait purple aura', and with the sound of a switch flicking, the room was filled with light. I scanned the room and not only noticed the shelves of books and the scientific machines, but also noticed four armed and armored ponies, though these ones were different. Instead of just regular pupils, their eyes resembled to those of cats or lizards. Not to mention the leathery bat wings on their sides, instead of the the feathery ones I would assume all pegasi would have. Either way I thought they were pretty cool looking. With my curiosity fulfilled I followed Twilight up the stairs with the bat ponies following suit. As we neared the door a purple aura surrounded it and opened wide for us to pass through. During this I noticed Twilights horn with the same aura; I decided to stop her and ask. "Twilight," she stopped in her tracks and turned her head towards me acknowledging me to continue, "did you open the door? If so, how?" She looked as if I asked a stupid question "Well I would like to know sometime today?" "You really don't know?" I shook my head to confirm. "Well I used my magic, I thought that would have been obvious." "Yeah the glowing horn and door was a clear sign of some connection, but if it really is magic then show me where gumdrop forest is then." I said with an unnamed expression on my face. "Well if it wasn't magic, then what was it that opened the door?" "Wind?" "We're inside." "Telekinesis?" "Using magic!" She shouted at me. "Magic isn't real!" I shouted back. She stood there dumb founded as did the soldiers. "What do you mean, magic is what makes us all who we are, and it's the energy that allowed us to be here. How can you say magic isn't real?" She questioned as though I were an idiot. "Sorry but in my world magic is nothing more than smoking mirrors, sleight of hand, or unknown sciences. So excuse me if i'm a little reluctant to believe in fairy dust. Don't get me wrong I'll take evolutionary advantages like flight or telekinesis, but magic is fake to me." I explained in a calming manner, though the look on her face showed she did not want to believe a word I just said. "Look we'll continue this conversation later, can we please get a move on." With that Twilight turned back up the stairs and we all continued onward, couldn't wait to see some natural light again.
Prologue: Torture and clarity For every age there is a time of trial. The rocks faced such a fire before they were the strength beneath our feet. The plants braved vast winds before their roots could give us life. As a sage of considerable years, I have known only one such great ordeal. Yet the hero it created was a champion of all time. ~ Samos "the Sage" Hagai, Jak II "Wake up. Hey, wakey wakey, hands off snakey. I said, WAKE UP!" My eyes quickly shot open, as I gave a primal scream, which was muffled out by a cloth gag covering my mouth, as I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I laid there for what felt like minutes turning into hours, hours into days, with my heart ready to burst out of its once safe and comfortable home of a rib-cage. After calming down, I moved my head down towards my chest, all I could see, three inches in front of me, was a syringe placed over my heart. I knew what it was, and all it meant was me living through this hellish nightmare that much longer. Beyond the syringe, all I could see were pink strands of... ribbon I believe? My mind was still blurry from the pain of escaping death. Shock had me in its grip, as my memories and senses were fading in and out. As they cleared up, I took in my surroundings, which was just a light above me, and one to my right, couldn't see what my current location was, hell could have been a cave for all I know. Suddenly, I heard laughter on my left, a laughter that wasn't for fun or merry making. No, a laughter that would have made the Joker's laugh give a run for its money. It sounded so familiar, I can't put my finger on... wait! Oh no! PLEASE NO! "Oh good, you're awake. I thought you were getting tired of playing this game with me. Looked like you were ready to take a nap. Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to fall asleep in your hosts home," said by a psychotic filled voice. I slowly turned my head towards this madman, with every inch giving a thousand aches and migraines throughout my head. As I finished my turn, resting on my left ear, all I could focus on was those... those dark eyes. Staring into them felt like you were staring into a void of anger and hatred. From where I was, my head was probably at his waist level.He was a tall Caucasian, roughly six foot four, medium-length brown hair, with a heavily, mostly muscular, midsection. Each limb bore scars all over showing tales of battles against either worthy opponents or being a victim of his own carelessness. As he spoke again, I could not escape my gaze from his eyes, slowly lowering his head to mine "And to make it worst, we have six other guest with us. Didn't we promise them a show? I know it's tough, but we can't let them down. We can't shrug off our responsibilities. You've got to pull yourself up and meet the challenges head on. That's the only way you’re going to get ahead in life." He said lifting his head, and facing towards my right, forming a sad expression on his face. "See what you did? They're crying now. You're disappointing them! You can't let them down like that," he said forcing my head the other way. From where I was, apparently lying on my back with my limbs restrained, I saw six Technicolor ponies, each with a different pony behind holding blades to their necks, and each of the original six with their own bruises and cuts, some appeared to be deeper than others. They were all crying their eyes out, as two little water falls and eight rivers formed around their eyes. Wait, eight? But there are six captured ponies in here? It appeared as though one was missing both eyes, all I could see was blood red where eyes were to be white, or at the very least pink from the blood vessels. I couldn't quite make out who it was, but they had flat pink hair that appeared to be cut off right above where both eyes should be. I looked lower to find what they called 'cutie marks' and when I realized who it was, my heart had literally stopped for a full minute, tears rolling down my eyes. On her 'flank' were three butterflies. Her name was Fluttershy and she was by far the very definition of kindness. This was the very last thing she deserved on a list that was not even hers. No! Why? Why her? She was so innocent! Slowly scanning the rest of them, I made out who they all were. On the very left was a white unicorn mare, with Blue hair, or 'mane' as they called it. Her name was Rarity. She, before all this, was to be called "the most beautiful mare in all of Ponyville", based on her ability to bend stallions to her will, but now her face was home to dozens of scars, all across her cheeks and forehead. Her body fared no better, as her legs were bruised and red, as though they were recently bound. Her flank was far more populated with scars, causing her cutie mark of three perfect diamonds into six broken diamonds. Also, not by really trying to look, she appeared to be bruised in a... 'Sensitive area'. The stallion behind her inhaled her neck deeply as she cringed to his act. To the right of her was, what appeared to be a Pegasus, but looking closer, I noticed blood seeping out between the pink strands in her dark purple mane. Said blood was covering her lavender fur on her face. Her name was Twilight Sparkle, and by looking into her violet eyes, it appeared that most of her pain was for herself, than for me, and I can see why. Before all this, she was, what you would call, a master in magic. Hell, even Houdini couldn't compete with her, because she would have to be in her own league. Now to see she had no ability to use or control magic, the one thing that her special talent was all about, was now gone with very little chance of it coming back. Next was Fluttershy, then it was... Rainbow Dash!? Oh My God! They were gone. Her soul reason for being on this planet, the one thing that allowed her to be who she was... were no longer there, literally, by her sides! I don't know how they captured her, but not only they did, they also had cut off her wings. I was staring at a cyan blue, once a Pegasus, with rainbow mane, with little nubs where the wings should be. Her expression was blank, with still a few tears running down her face, but still staring into those crimson eyes, she looked as though she was broken beyond all repair. As though her mind was on the verge of shutting down itself, which indicated that the trauma she suffered must have been recent. She never moved a muscle, even her guard didn't have to hold so tight onto her. Then it was a pink pony, with somehow a pinker mane. It didn't take a genius to know it was Pinkie Pie, but how did they catch, her super ability being able to bend physics and space to allow her to jump from point to point in the blink of an eye. Even if you didn't know better, you'd say that the flat deflated hair was an ominous sign of her mood. She was depressed. How depressed? Well... wait did her mane just turn a shade of grey-pink? Her head was hung low, so as to hide her sadness. Though something was off, even if she did get this depressed, she should have said something, knowing her. For a split second she raised her head showing me her light blue eyes, and opened her mouth as to show me her fate. She was now tongue-less, they took her away her ability to taste the sweetness in life and give life a verbal sweetness with her ability to cheer others up by just talking to them. She quickly lowered her head again, nothing else needed, or could, to be said. Lastly, but not least, Applejack, with her Orange coat, blonde hair, and green eyes. She was beyond sad, scratch that she was... there was no word to describe it, and I could tell why. These, monsters, decided to play a final piece in this sick game of theirs, by taking away what made her have a lively hood in the first place. Facing her in front, you would think she was just sitting down, but in reality she only had three legs, with the third just being two one-halves. They chopped her bucking legs off at the knee. To her, those gave her and her family everything they needed to just survive. Hell, Big Mac couldn't have supported the family alone, not without Applejack there to help (and Applebloom's debt raising escapades; seriously 300 bits for three fillies to go snorkeling for one afternoon. FUCK THAT!). Now with those gone her family won't be able to pay any debt without selling some parts of the farm to others. Having to sell part of what your deceased parents had given to you and your siblings... there's no words to describe what kind of heartbreak she's feeling right now. I quickly turned my head towards my tormentor, he was holding a smug grin on his face. "I know right, masterpieces of work. Though nothing compared to you." He said turning my head towards my torso. "Still I should be thanking you. Without you, or should I say us, learning enough of both good and evil I would probably would have been gone long ago. Nothing more but a mere bug that needed to be stepped on. However, we believed it was in our best interest to learn how to be bad, just as much as being good." he said with an ever growing smirk. "And to think that we believed that balance, and moderation would have been the key to our survival. Now, that thought has allowed me to win, and you to die!" After a second of focusing, I saw what the 'ribbons' were. They were my intestines. Hanging out from my body, above the hole in my abdomen were my innards. I would have puked, if it were not for the fact that my stomach was disconnected, dangling in front of my face. I was able to see over my chest and still see my liver, kidneys, gall-bladder, pancreas, and spleen where still in there. That only pointed out that he was only half-way done with me, and I already had passed out at least once from the pain. "But since you're still awake, we can finish this little re-enactment of CUPCAKES together!" he said as picked up a rusty scalpel covered with, mostly likely my blood, and moved over towards my exposed guts. "You ready to see the grand finale?" he asked to the six mares to my right. Soon my world had faded, not to blackness, but to a bright white, and there I saw where it all began. Over a year ago, in a low-end bar, rage was all I could feel...
Drink, die and damage. Woe unto [them that are] mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink ~Isaiah 5:22 Rage was all I could feel. Not at anyone else, but at myself. I was on my fourth shot of whiskey when anger began to go from simmer to full on boil. For my entire life I had always believed in balance, and mainly in my case be good but know evil (hey, you never know when it will come in handy). Though I've accepted the demons that come with these ideas... Snap that bitch's arm... ...'Shut up!' I thought as I took another shot of whiskey. These voices, has been growing in the back of my head non-stop for a month. At first, I just simply shrugged it off as nothing as it was just a hum. For a while though, It's been getting more aggressive to a point where it's causing me to suffer... Break the bartender's head open... "Another shot, please!" I said flagging down the bartender. He came over to fill up my glass until I told him to just leave the rest of the bottle, which was only a quarter full. Now you're probably wondering 'why not go talk to someone?' There's only two possible endings with that, either that 'someone' will give me something or take me to the looney bin, and seeing as I couldn't afford a licensed therapist and most of my friends are a little naive about modern medicine, I wouldn't feel happy about spending my life in the padded hotel. Then again, that might be drink talking. I glanced over to the clock to saw through my blurred vision it was 1:17. So I paid my bill, walked out of the bar, and headed for the bus station, hey I may be a drunk but I'm a functional drunk. Your end is coming... 'shut up!' Death will be your only companion... 'SHUT UP!!' The time is nigh... "WOULD YOU SHUT UP!?!" I yelled out loud, thankfully no was there to hear me. Though during my out burst I lost what balance I had on my two feet that were loosely planted on the side walk and ended up falling on the road. In the corner of my eye I saw light coming straight towards me. Then it hit me, well two things, I was going to die, so I closed my eyes waiting for the end. ~ ~ ~ Huh? I thought death would be colder and more still. All I could feel was the warmth of the sun and a falling sensation. What no sudden pain, no shock, not even a note?! Then again I was drunk on twelve shots. At least it was pitch black, until I opened eyes. What I once saw was nighttime and asphalt, was now sunlight, clouds, green fields, and a 10,000 feet birds-eye-view from a lake. It seemed real peaceful like a dre... Wait a minute... 10,000 feet in the air. 'Well this is it.' I thought while screaming and flaring around letting natural instinct takeover. 9,000 feet. 'Time for me to die.' 8,000 feet. 'And by heights no less. Fuck I hate heig-... Wait what is that?' Suddenly I saw a blue fast blur coming towards me. I felt my decent slow down as this something grabbed on to one of my arms. 'Oh thank Christ!' Realizing I was slowing down I tried to grab on with my other arm but slipped out of its grasp and continued my normal decent. 4,500 feet. 'God dammit!' With my hope quickly washed away I decided to just close my eyes and wait for the end. They say my life will flash before my eyes, and let me say something, I'm bored. 500 feet. 'Well that was depressing!' Opening my eyes to see my death come, but instead saw more hope in the form a purple aurora around my body and a slow incoming lake. With as much control as I had I shifted my body to form a... "CAN OPENER!" *splash* 'bad idea' as I opened my eyes in this unbelievably clear water I noticed that my shin had been torn out of my leg with robes of crimson dancing around it. Being beyond shock, I had past out under water dropping to the bottom as darkness encompassed me. ~ ~ ~ "...at is it? Is it ali..?" "...lestia it's leg! Out of th...!" "...shy wait!" Unable to move from the pain, and talk, I waited, listened for these people to help. "Quick, I have a first aid kit at my home!" 'Oh bless your kind sou-' "Wait! What about his bone!?" "PINKIE NOOO!!!" *tap* "OWWWWWWWWWW!!!" 'Curse your soul!!!' ~ ~ ~ *inhale* 'Oh god.' *exhale* 'What happened?' *inhale. Exhale* 'Where am I?' *pant. Pant. Pant pant. Pantpantpant.* "Oh god!" I opened my eyes and shot up on my feet only to fall on my side from immense pain. Remembering my broken leg I got up and hobbled over to the nearest door, and praise my luck when I saw my savior, the porcelain goddess, the Super Bowl, the TOILET! Without a second thought I slumped myself over it with my head on the seat. There I waited for the vile bile to lea- "Bluuh-huuh hhuuu HOLY HELL! Bluuh- hhuuu huuh." With those five seconds of pure torment out of the way, I slumped myself on the side trying to fight off the rest of the hangover with the bitter taste in my mouth, which oddly had a taste of cinnamon. After a whole day of pain and misery I finally had felt pea- "AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Quickly looking for the source of the sound on my right, I came across a shower with running water and steam with a shadowy figure trying hard to cover herself up. 2+2 "Oh fuck! Sorrysorrysorrysorry!" Without a moment of hesitation and ignoring the scorching pain in my leg, I, practically, jumped out of the bathroom and closed the door, as I tried to run the day's events in my head. 'Well let's see: got run over, broke a leg, received a hangover, and made a clean person feel dirty. Well at least it can't get any worst.' "Fluttershy, you okay!? Fluttershy!? Flut-!" As I saw the source of the voice come around the corner, my heart had exploded with both fear and joy, as I gazed at her. In my view was a pony, not just an ordinary pony, but a cyan blue PEGASUS WITH A RAINBOW MANE! As I sat there in front of the door with my own shocked expression, I couldn't believe I was seeing this beautiful creature, as she came closer to me with her shoulders down and her face...in...pure...furry. "Oh fuck me!" 'Dear universe and Murphy's law, I hate you both. Sincerely, Anon'
Bloodied, bruised and broken "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." -School yard rhyme "YOU MOTHERBUCKER!" yelled the angry pegasus, as she, I assumed from the voice, lept towards me with full intent on ending my life. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO FLUTTERSHY?" "Wait!" I yelled in the hopes that she would stop and listen to me. As it turns out that was not the case, as she sent a right hook to my temple making me tumble down the stairs. Now that wouldn't have been so bad, if my broken right leg hadn't slammed itself three times on the stairs and the floor. "OW! YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Now i'll be honest, i'm pretty calm for the most part but starting fight with me is a sure fire way of getting your ass on my shit list pretty damn quick. With all my strength, and anger and adrenaline coursing through my veins I got to my feet and shouted, " You want to fight you bitch, then come get some!" I soon received my wish, as she flew towards me again charging a right hook to me, only for it be blocked by my left hand with her stopping almost immediately as my right hand held onto her neck. As she was in shock of how I stopped her, I brought her foreleg close to my head where I preceded to clamp my jaw hard on her. As her flesh gave way to my teeth, my mouth and nostrils where filled with the bitter and somewhat satisfying taste of iron. She screamed next my ear as I released my grasp on her, only to receive a kick to the gut almost stumbling back as I quickly grabbed her again by both her forelegs. While keeping my right foot stationary, I stepped my left leg back and threw at the door behind me. She crashed trough it leaving an opening to the outside to which I stumbled towards and looked down towards her back towards me. She turned over to look me in the eye, and from what I saw it looked like she had fear running through her mind, but tried to hide it behind a curtain of anger but there was still fear there. I looked to my now bloodied hand noticing how wet it was from her wounded leg I grabbed, in an instant I wiped the excess blood onto my face leaving a red hand print on my face. As I took my first step outside, towards her, I never strayed my gaze away from her. It looked as if she was deciding whether to fight or flee from me. As I neared, she took a defensive position choosing to fight me. In one long step I went to grab her again but she jumped right above me and slammed all of her hooves onto my back, sprawling me onto the broken door. Luckily I didn't feel any ribs break but it still hurt like fuck; thinking quickly I grabbed one of the broken boards with my right hand and swung it around only to hit nothing but air and falling on my ass. I swiveled my head everywhere I could to try to find her; not one second later I felt something hard hit the back of my head causing me to nearly pass out from the pain. I laid on my back trying to keep conscious when I saw get on top of me and lifting her hoof to strike my face. She had her left foreleg resting next to my head, to which I quickly grabbed and bit into to cause her to lose focus as punched her the face. She fell off of me giving me the chance to return her near favor; as I knelled over her I repeatedly to kept swinging fist on her till I saw her nose bleed and her face crack open in tears. As she fell into unconsciousness I stopped for a moment to catch my breath and was smacked in the back of the head with something giving my red world over to pure darkness. ~~~ I awoke in a daze, slumping over as though I were standing but at the same time going limp. I waited for my vision to clear before scanning my surroundings only to see a vast field of grass with a single oak tree which resembled a cottage, as though it were built into the tree itself in my opinion. As I looked to my right I saw a group colored shapes conversing with one another, I couldn't quite make them out in time as something hit me against my left cheek. I tried to recover but felt extremely weak as I couldn't even stand straight up. Looking to my left I saw the same pegasus I had been fighting with a pile of rocks beside her; she looked at me with pure hatred in her eyes as she was charging her foreleg to throw another rock at me landing it at my gut only for the blow to feel softer than it should have. I looked down to see a coil of rope surround my torso which also seemed to follow around a tree trunk giving me the idea that I won't be leaving anytime soon. I felt another rock hit me on my right thigh which signaled several alarms in my head giving me three ideas of where she was aiming, my leg being one of them. "Wait!" I shouted, as she was reading up another shot. This did not dissuade her as she launched her projectile landing it two inches away from my right gem. The pain did not register with me as fear of her increasing accuracy was filling my mind. As she picked up another rock I geared up for what was coming until I heard a voice coming from my right. "Rainbow! Stop that right now." the voice sounded as though it was with extra air as though sounding like a person of class. A white unicorn came into my field of view with disgust on her face. "Just because this monstrous brute had beaten you down, doesn't give you the right sink down to his level." "Oh come on Rarity, did you see what this thing did to me?" said the now annoyed pegasus. "It's nothing more than a mad animal that deserves what's coming to it." She then threw the rock towards me at such speed it found its target before I could blink. It took not even a split second for pain beyond imagination to fill my nether region to the point where my brain had told me to sleep this one off.
Questions and quarrels One of the very important characteristics of a student is to question. Let the students ask questions. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam "Oh, what a horrible nightmare. Wait a minute, I CAN'T MOVE! AHHHHHHH!" I shouted as I felt my being restrained to what I think was a table in the middle of a dark room. The only light that filled the room was a lamp above the table where I was bound to. I tried the wriggle and writhe from my bonds only to come up with no sign of progress wondering if this might be it. As I calmed down I tried the remember the events that led me here and coming up with two possible conclusions: I was dead and in hell, or I was just brain dead and forever lost in a twisted fantasy, and even then I didn't think those answers were correct. After thought after thought raced through my mind of what these ponies were and what they would do to me, I heard a gentle tapping on wood from up above me followed by the creaking of a door. I tried to turn my head towards the sound and saw a figure coming down a set of stairs which appeared to be solid wood creating the clopping sounds that rang through my ears. As the figure left my field of view, I again heard a woman's voice as though is was filled with a mixture of annoyance, fascination, and caution. "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, can you understand me?" she said sounding as though she was a small distance away from me. "Uh hi, my name is anon, and yes I can understand you." I responded as casually as I could given the circumstance. "Good," she said "now I have several question to ask you, the first two being what are you and why did you attack me friend?" Still staring up at a wall of solid darkness I proceeded to answer her questions. "Okay first off, I am a human being, or homo sapien if you want to get scientific about it. Secondly, I didn't attack anybody I was defending myself. That bitch horse attacked me first." I responded with a hint of venom in my words. "Excuse me, but that 'bitch' horse is my friend and the only reason she attacked you was because she thought you harmed Fluttershy." She retorted with just anger, "And for your information her name is Rainbow Dash, and she's a pegasus pony not a horse." "I don't give a flying fuck if her name Mary Christ, next time I see her... I... I can't be held responsible for what i'm going to do to her next time I see her. I mean she fucking threw a rock at my junk." I said with discontent. As I finished my sentence, I felt a slow squeezing on my neck causing me to suffocate. Even fighting with all my might I couldn't get free enough to see what was choking me, all I could do was feel myself run out of life giving oxygen in my lungs. After a full minute of struggling Twilight had started speaking, "Don't you dare threaten my friends again, do you understand me?" The pressure around my neck soon died down giving me the chance to breath once again. "Yes, what she did was cruel, but you will do no more harm to her or anypony else. Are we clear?" "Crystal." I coughed out. "Now if your done, I got three questions: one, where am I? two, how long was I out? and three, can you please let me up?" I said in a calm tone. "Fine, you're in Equestria, Ponyville to be exact. You were out for roughly sixteen hours, we were getting a little worried actually. Lastly yes but by royal decree I ask that you wear these." She said as she brought over a full shackle set. It looked to be made of steel with cuffs for both my hands and ankles. Reluctantly I agreed, and as she released my binds I sat up and went to put on the left ankle restraint first "Now the other one." she said. I looked to my cast and said "Is that even necessary?" I turned to look at her, I noticed that she was what appeared to be lavender with a purple mane with a pink stripe. The last thing I noticed was her horn sticking out of her forehead, all in all she just barely reached my abdomen in height. Twilight went to put on the wrist cuffs on me until I stopped her. "Wait, hold on. I got to check on something." She raised an eyebrow to this and was about to ask until I cut her off. Reaching my hand down to my crotch I counted "Let's see one, and... two. Alright, whoo, we're good." I've got to say given everything that has transpired, the fucking look of embarrassment on her face was priceless. Truth be told I couldn't hold back a snicker. If looks could kill, I'd be a dead man. "Don't say another word." She said as she cuffed my wrist and handed me a crutch. "Yes mistress." I said with the hugest grin of my life. She immediately groaned to that, "Let's just get upstairs. You coming." She said turning her head towards me. "You mind turning the lights on first?" I replied. With a look of realization she agreed; closing her eyes her horn started to glow in a purple aura, 'wait purple aura', and with the sound of a switch flicking, the room was filled with light. I scanned the room and not only noticed the shelves of books and the scientific machines, but also noticed four armed and armored ponies, though these ones were different. Instead of just regular pupils, their eyes resembled to those of cats or lizards. Not to mention the leathery bat wings on their sides, instead of the the feathery ones I would assume all pegasi would have. Either way I thought they were pretty cool looking. With my curiosity fulfilled I followed Twilight up the stairs with the bat ponies following suit. As we neared the door a purple aura surrounded it and opened wide for us to pass through. During this I noticed Twilights horn with the same aura; I decided to stop her and ask. "Twilight," she stopped in her tracks and turned her head towards me acknowledging me to continue, "did you open the door? If so, how?" She looked as if I asked a stupid question "Well I would like to know sometime today?" "You really don't know?" I shook my head to confirm. "Well I used my magic, I thought that would have been obvious." "Yeah the glowing horn and door was a clear sign of some connection, but if it really is magic then show me where gumdrop forest is then." I said with an unnamed expression on my face. "Well if it wasn't magic, then what was it that opened the door?" "Wind?" "We're inside." "Telekinesis?" "Using magic!" She shouted at me. "Magic isn't real!" I shouted back. She stood there dumb founded as did the soldiers. "What do you mean, magic is what makes us all who we are, and it's the energy that allowed us to be here. How can you say magic isn't real?" She questioned as though I were an idiot. "Sorry but in my world magic is nothing more than smoking mirrors, sleight of hand, or unknown sciences. So excuse me if i'm a little reluctant to believe in fairy dust. Don't get me wrong I'll take evolutionary advantages like flight or telekinesis, but magic is fake to me." I explained in a calming manner, though the look on her face showed she did not want to believe a word I just said. "Look we'll continue this conversation later, can we please get a move on." With that Twilight turned back up the stairs and we all continued onward, couldn't wait to see some natural light again.
