War of virtue and vice

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...