I crouched in the closet listening to the fire ravage my bedroom. The door to my tiny closet was glowing cherry red, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before the fire granted my greatest wish. Death. Now that the fire had claimed those closest to my heart I no longer wished to endure.

But wait, why was the door opening? The last thing I saw before blackness engulfed my vision was a person wearing a helmet, mask, and heavyweight protective clothing; then my eyes drifted shut and I was floating.

I awoke lying on a bed in a white, sterile room with all sorts of machines attached to my body. For a second I had no idea who I was or why I was in such an immaculate room.

Suddenly it all came back to me; in my mind I relived that fateful evening when I lost everything. It was after dinner and the two humans, that were the parents of the teenage human girl, whom I was using as a host, were cleaning up the kitchen while I spent time alone with my real family. We had to be alone in order for us to interact with each other because they were invisible to all but me. They were all alicorns and I, when I was in my true form am also an alicorn.

All six of us crowded into the two rooms that were given to the teenage girl, whom I inhabited. We were in the middle of a heated discussion when we heard a crash downstairs in the kitchen. After a short silence one of the humans shouted, “Fire! Christina get out of the house! Fire!” Unfortunately the fire had already spread up to the rooms that we were in, and I had to watch as the fire swallowed all of my family in one fell swoop.

I stood motionless as my mind began to comprehend the fact that I was completely and utterly alone. Suddenly my mind began to function again, and I had only one thought, one wish, in my mind. That wish was for death. If the only family I had were dead then I would die as well, for life held no meaning for me if I was to endure all alone in a society full of humans. My heart longed for death so badly that I chose what I thought would be the quickest way to end this torture. I crawled into the tiny closet that belonged to the human I lived inside and pulled the door shut. Then I settled down to wait for death to embrace me. Though it felt like hours to me it was probably only thirty minutes or so until I was unnecessarily rescued by none other than a human. At that point I blacked out and remember nothing up until the time that I woke up.

Abruptly my thoughts are jolted back into the present by the sound of a door opening. I look up and I see a human woman walk through the door to this strange room. She smiles at me and says, “Well, good news, you’re going to live and so are your parents.”

I look up at her, my eyes full of sorrow as I say, “You don’t know anything. My family is dead, and I don’t want to live. The last thing I remember clearly was wishing for death.”

The woman says, “No sweetheart, I don’t think you remember clearly. Your parents got out of the house before you. They’re hardly injured at all.”

I pour all of my lamentations into my voice as I say, “I never had parents, only sisters. Five of them. The fire took them all. My sisters weren’t human and neither am I. Just go away and leave me alone.”

The woman left, a confused expression fixated on her face. Now that I was alone once more I let my thoughts drift. Who was I? What was I? What should I do, since I am still alive and my family is gone? I didn’t have any answers, so I turned over in the bed and tried to get some sleep.

I woke up sometime in the afternoon of the next day. There was food on the bedside table, which I ate, before returning to brooding my situation. I knew one thing though. I knew that I was an alicorn and no matter what I wasn’t going to go back to living with the parents of my host.

My mind was racing to come with a solution before it was too late. I could not think of anything though, so when night came around I was forced to go to sleep and hope for better luck in the morning. However, to my great dismay, I was shaken awake by the same woman that I had talked to two days ago. She said, “We’re releasing you from the hospital to go home with your parents right now.”

My eyes flash angrily and I yell, “How many times do I have to say it, I don’t have any parents! I am not human!”

She rushes over to a button on the wall, which she presses and says, “Emergency! Help needed in room fifteen!” I leap out of the bed as I see another ten humans rush into the room. They stop hesitantly as they do not see why they were needed. In an ominous tone I utter the oath that allows me to have full power while still inside my human host, “The despair that clouds the
Earth, turns the hearts of many black, and yet some still look upon it with mirth. While others see it as a treacherous track to take in life for it swallows your soul, beyond a point of no return.”

Silvery armor explodes all over my body, my eyes turn to an icy blue, and a greatsword appears at my hip. All eleven humans stare dumbfounded, clearly clueless as to what I was. Taking advantage of their hesitation I unsheathe my sword, swing it around for a minute, then bring it down and cut all eleven of their heads off in one stroke. I leap over their corpses and dash through the halls, thankfully meeting no one.

However, good fortune never lasts long and on the bottom floor I run into my host’s parents as well as a few other hospital workers. One of the parents peers at me and asks, “Is that you Christina? What happened to you?” in my singsong voice that comes with this transformation I say, “I am not Christina even though this is in fact her body. I am an alicorn and I have been living as Christina since she was six. Your daughter is dead. This body is merely a shell I have taken over.”

They both leap at me outraged looks plastered on their faces. Sighing I whip my sword up and cut both of them in half. The hospital workers quickly turn and run away from me. I don’t pursue them, for they did not challenge me and they are not worth my trouble. I exit the hospital and say in an undertone, “condeliquesco”.

My armor melts back into my skin and the sword disappears. Once more I look like a normal human. Now I am not sure what to do; I decide to find an alleyway to sleep in for the night. It takes me a while, but eventually I find a deserted alley where I can curl up on the ground and hopefully remain unnoticed.

I wake up in the morning to the sun shining brightly in my eyes. As I get up off the ground my stomach growls loudly. I stealthily creep through the alleys until I reach the back door of a grocery store. Lucky for me the door is not locked and I slip easily inside. Carefully I steal as much as I can carry, then sneak back out. I eat some of the food before I go out into the open and start walking through the streets like I am just another average teenage girl.

As I am walking, deep in thought, three police officers jump out of the shadows, gag and handcuff me, before dragging me to the back of a waiting police car. They take to me to a nearby jail and throw me into one of the cells meant for high security prisoners. A few hours later someone pulls me roughly out of the cell, tosses me into the back of another police car, and lets another duo of police officers drive me to our next destination.

We arrive at a large building in the center of the neighboring city, which I assumed was a court where they dealt with severe crimes. Turns out, I am right. They drag me into a large circular room with people lining the walls, and chain me to a chair in the center of the floor. The gag is removed and one person whose chair is bigger and slightly set apart from the rest rises and begins to speak. I gather that this is the judge. He says, “You are Christina Robinson, correct?”

He continues without waiting for a response. “You are hereby charged with the murder of eleven hospital employees and your parents. Do you deny these charges?”

Before he can continue I raise my voice and say, “You are wrong. My name is not Christina Robinson even though this is indeed her body. Seeing as I do not have parents, the people I murdered were the eleven hospital employees and Christina’s parents.”

The judge is speechless for a second before he shakes his head and says, “Explain yourself. If this is Christina Robinson’s body then how are you not Christina Robinson?”

I smile and state, “Well that’s an easy question. I am an alicorn using Christina’s body as a host, so that I can remain unnoticed.”

The judge stands up angrily and shouts “Don’t lie to me! Tell the truth!”

I shake my head in exasperation and say, “hoc est verum.”

The judge glares down at me and proclaims in a booming voice, “You are hereby charged with the murder of thirteen innocent people and lying to a court judge. You are denied a lawyer and the right to a fair trial and sentenced to death by beheading. Any last word for this court before your execution today at sundown?”

A broad grin spreads across my face as I proclaim, “Estis manu temptans leuis. Proin erit ratio. Hoc mundo, in tenebris mergunt.”

The judge snorts contemptuously and gestures at the police, who unchain me and dragged me unceremoniously to a cell adjacent to where they would carry out the beheading later. They chain me to the wall then leave. I lean against the wall and think about the surprise I’ve got in store for them later. I close my eyes and do my best to get some rest before what is sure to be an exciting evening.

My thoughts are jolted out of the world of dreams as the two police officers slam the cell door open, unchain me from the wall, and drag me bodily into the next room. The walls are once more lined with people and the judge from earlier stands on a podium in the center of the room with a man holding an axe standing next to him. The officers holding me stop about twenty feet in front of the judge. He raises his voice and proclaims loudly to the whole court, “Here standing before you is Christina Robinson. She is hereby charged with the murder thirteen innocents as well as lying to a court judge. Therefore she is sentenced to death through beheading. If you have an objection, speak now!”

The people lining the walls shifted nervously in their seats, but no one spoke up. The judge gestured to the officers holding me, so they dragged me to a cement block, shoved me down onto it, and pushed my head over the edge. Satisfied with the way I was laid out the judge nodded to the officers, causing them to tie me as tightly as they could to the cement. With their task complete they stepped back to the edge of the inner part of the room to ensure that I did not escape.

The judge steps up to the dais next to where I am bound and asks, “Well Christina, do you have any last words?”

I raise my voice as much as possible and say, “You people really are witless aren’t you? How many times do I have to say it? My name is not Christina. Vivat nocte.”

I pause to let those words sink in before I say in a booming voice, “The last star has faded. The light has gone. I walk alone in death's garden. Doomed I am to wander, the eternal dark.”

The court stares, dumbstruck, as black armor spreads across my body, my eyes turn golden, and two swords appear on my body. One is at my hip, and one across my back. I whip both swords out of their sheathes, one in each hand. Only the police officers and the judge come toward me as if they’re going to try to fight me. I easily kill all three of them with one stroke from each of my swords. The people lining the walls all jump up and push each other to try and escape the room before I kill them. I, however, decide that it is not worth the effort to kill all of them, so I dash to the exit and luckily I don’t have to kill anyone because they all leap out of my way. Once I am outside the courthouse I am mobbed by news reporters that were obviously trying to get a story about the execution. I kill sixteen of them before those who are left scatter in a desperate attempt to save their lives.

With that taken care of I ran through the streets until I reached a river where I could crawl underneath the bridge and take shelter for the night. Once I was as comfortable and out of sight as I could be I tapped the blinking eye on the chest plate of my armor which caused it to contract in to a pendant that hung around my neck. Now that I looked like an average, homeless human I squirmed on the ground for a minute before I was able to drift in to sleep.

I woke early the next morning and before I left my safe haven I lay still thinking about what I was going to do with my worthless life until I could end it. After an hour or so I had decided to go to the fire station that would have put out the house fire where I lost my family. I wanted to find the human that rescued me and give him a piece of my mind. With a goal cast firmly in iron in my mind I left my hideout and started the long trek back to the town where my host’s parents lived. A fair amount of hours later I found myself standing in front of the fire station that would have sent people to rescue us from the fire. Unsure of how to go about confronting the people at the fire station I walked up to the front and knocked sharply on it three times. After a moment a fireman opened the door and asked, “Who are you? Why are you here?”

“I do not have a name that can be spoken to humans, but as to why I’m here, well to put it nicely, I’m here to talk to some of you.” I said.

The man looked confused but he said, “Come on in, then.”

Satisfied with how he reacted is stepped into the firehouse whereupon the man said, “If you’ll follow me ma’am, most of us are gathered in the rec room. Oh, by the way, my name is Zachary, but most people just call me Zach.”

“Nice to meet you Zach,” I say with a smile.

Just then we enter the rec room and Zach begins to introduce the nine other men that are lounging on the couches. He points to each person in turn and says, “This is Robert, Evan, Michael, Matt, William, Nick Todd, James, and Spencer.”

I say, “It’s really nice to meet all of you, but unfortunately this is not merely a social visit. I need to speak to those of you who went to fight the fire that occurred at 385 Valley Grove Drive a few days back. Could those of you who went please raise your hands?”

All ten of them looked at each other uncertainly, but after a moment of hesitation Zach, Matt, James and Evan all raised their hands. I smiled, pleased that they were playing along and said, “Very good. Now which one of you rescued a teenage girl that was crouched in a closet?”

James hesitantly stepped forward and said, “That would be me.”

I said, “Zach, Matt, James, Evan, would you come into the kitchen please?”

They all followed me into the fire station’s eat-in kitchen and took a seat at the table. I chose to remain standing. Once all five of us were comfortable I said, “I’ve asked all of you in here for a reason that directly correlates to the fire at 385 Valley Grove Drive. However, I think I owe you a little bit of background information as to what I am before I get to the point as to why I’m here."

Evan spoke up in a confrontational tone, “What do you mean ‘what you are’? You’re a teenage girl, that’s obvious.”

I sigh in extreme exasperation and begin to explain, “You’re wrong Evan. I’m not human even though I am in the body of a human girl. The body you see is the body of Christina Robinson. I am an alicorn who has taken over Christina’s body and am now using it as my host body. I took over her body when she was six, so if I choose to vacate her body and live in my alicorn form then Christina would have the mind of a six year old girl and the body of a teenage girl. Unfortunately for her such circumstances would cause her an almost instantaneous death. Though I may be in a human body that does not mean I am totally helpless, so don’t’ think you can overpower me in a fight. If you would like me to demonstrate what I’m talking about, please, feel free to ask.”

Zach nervously spoke up, “If you don’t mind I would like a demonstration.” Sighing I say, “there are two transformations that I can be subject to, so do you want a demonstration of one or both?”

“Both, if you don’t mind.” Zach said shakily.

I raised my voice to a booming volume and said, “The despair that clouds the Earth turns the hearts of many black, and yet some still look upon it with mirth. While others see it as a treacherous track to take in life for it swallows your soul, beyond a point of no return.”

The armor with the silvery sheen exploded all over my body, my eyes turned icy blue, and a great sword appeared all over my body.

All four of the firemen’s jaws dropped in shock and Zach stuttered, “Y-y-y-you… what are you?”

I sighed dramatically and said, “As I told you I am an alicorn which means when I am in my true form I can use magic and I can fly. Since human bodies are extremely frail and vulnerable, I devised two oaths that are imbued with magical power, therefore enabling me to defend myself without exposing what I am.”

All four men said, “Oh we get it now,” in unison.

Relieved that I wouldn’t have to keep explaining I murmured gently, “condeliquesco”.

The armor and sword disappeared and my eyes returned to their usual color. I took a breath and once more raised my voice to a loud, booming, almost raucous volume as I said, “The last star has faded. The light has gone. I walk alone in death's garden. Doomed am i to wander, the eternal dark.”

The eye of the medallion around my neck blinked open, black armor spread over all of my body, two swords appeared on my body, one at my hip, one across my back, and my eyes turned golden. Once more all four firemen’s jaws dropped and Matt actually fell off of his chair. I reached my hand up to my neck, tapped the medallion’s eye, and let my appearance return to normal. “Now that you have seen what you will be up against if you decide to try to challenge me upon hearing what I am about to say, I suggest you think carefully before you act.” I said in a dark and ominous tone.

All four of them nodded and said, “We understand. Now, please tell us why you came here to talk to us specifically.”

I said, “Alright I warned you,” before I launched into my story. “Being that I am not human neither are my family. I do not have parents, but I do have five sisters. Like me they are all alicorns, but the fire claimed all five of them that night. I was crouched in the closet because without my sisters I no longer wanted to go on living. But then you came and FUCKING RESCUED ME!! And now I am alive and all ALONE!”

James spoke up in a viciously quavering voice, “O-o-oh I-I-I’m s-s-s-so-o-sor-sorry. If I h-had k-kn-kn-know t-t-then I-I w-w-would n-n-not ha-have r-r-r-rescued y-you. P-p-please f-f-forgive m-me.”

Then to my extreme astonishment James got off of his chair and bowed before me. Matt, Evan, and Zach quickly followed suit. I took a few deep breaths to calm down and said, “Because you have all shown me an extremely high level of respect and a genuine feeling of remorse for what you did I will grant each of you one wish.”

“But wouldn’t you have to be in your alicorn form to do so?” Evan asked.

“Yes,” I said, “I have decided to leave my life of disguise and let the world see what I truly am. I have always wished to live as what I really am and not in disguise. The only reason I ever began to use Christina as a host was because my sisters begged and pleaded for three days and nights until I relented. Now that they are dead I have no reason to continue living in a way I only did for their benefit.”

With that said I gathered every part of my very being from every nerve, bone, and muscle of Christina’s body and burst out of her in a cloud of black smoke. The black smoke which was me then condensed and rematerialized into a dark blue alicorn. All four of them dropped out of their newly reoccupied chairs and hit the floor with loud thumps. However, to my mind the loudest sound of all was when Christina Robinson’s body crumpled and struck the floor. Though I did not enjoy living as a human my heart grew heavy with indescribable guilt and sorrow.

I turn to Zach and asked, “Well Zach what is your wish?”

Zach said, “I wish I could fly."

Sighing internally at the gullibility of humans I charged my horn with magic, directed it at Zach, let my thoughts guide and shape the magic to my will, and watched as wings sprouted from his back. He immediately dashed outside to try them out. Chuckling to myself I turned to Evan who asked to be blessed with unprecedented intelligence. I granted his wish then turned to Matt after Evan left the room. Matt wished to be rich beyond his wildest dreams. I granted his wish and told him to go check his bank account to find his wish. He quickly rushed out of the room to go to the bank. I then turned to James and asked, “Well, James what is your wish? Please tell me it is something less frivolous than the previous three wishes I just had to grant.”

James looked up at me his eyes full to the brim with tears and said, “I’ll understand completely if you can’t do this after all even magic can only do so much, but can you save my son’s life? You see he’s only eight and he’s got cancer. The doctors said he had a twenty percent chance of living when we brought him to the hospital. He’s held on this long, but I just want my son to be able to lead a normal life.”

James is weeping uncontrollably by the time he had finished and he is crouched on the floor holding his knees tight to his chest. I drop to my knees beside him, extended a wing over him gently, and say softly, “If you can take me to the hospital to where your son is then I will do everything in my power to try and save him.”

James looks up, his face streaked with tears and whispers, “Do you really mean it?”

I nod slowly. James wipes his cheeks dry and inquires, “But how will we get there?”

I chuckle and say, “We’ll fly of course.”

I get back up and lead James outside and settle back onto my knees for a moment so he can get on. Once he is in place I rise up off the ground and say, “I’ll cast an invisibility spell on both of us until we get inside your son’s hospital room to avoid any awkward questions. All you have to do is tell me where to go, ok?”

James nods, and I spread my massive wings. With a last glance back at James, I lift off and let James guide me to the hospital. However, when we arrive a few hours later, we find the place in utter chaos. A message over the intercom says, “Emergency in room 878, patient entering ultimate critical condition.”

James gasps and shouts in my ear, “Hurry that’s my son’s room!”

In response I drop the invisibility spell not caring about secrecy anymore, and accelerate as fast as I can in the narrow hallways. People everywhere are forced to leap out of my way and there is soon a trail of dazed bodies in our wake, but I pay them no mind. They’ll live, James’s son was more important.

We arrive outside room 878 I land and let James off, but we are too late. When we burst in all the machines that show heartbeat and signs of life are dead, motionless, just like the frail little boy lying in the bed. The doctors in the room all look stunned by our appearance, but oblivious to everyone else James runs over to his son and begins to break down until he is reduced to a weeping wreck.

As I look on at this heartbreaking scene I am struck by an idea. I tentatively reach my soul out of life and into death. My surroundings turn black for a moment, but when I next open my eyes I am standing in a rushing river of grey water before one of the nine gates of death. I can tell by the intensity of the water flow that I am in the precint of the first gate of death. Just ahead of me I see a small spirit of a human boy fighting against the current of the river. I wade over to the boy and ask, “Are you James’s son?”

The boy nods and says, “Who are you? What do you want with me?”

I say gently, “If you come with me you will learn who I am. As to what I want with you, well, how would you like to see you father again and live a normal life free of cancer?”

“I would love that but… it can’t happen ‘cause I’m dead, right?” the boy said on the verge of tears.

I smile mercifully down at him and ask, “Do you trust me?”

He nods and says, “Yeah, even though I hardly know you.”

I gently nudge the boy until he climbs onto my back and say, “Hold on tight.” I charge my horn with power to ensure that I don’t lost the boy and once again let my soul slip between the worlds of life and death. When we near the boy’s body I let him off my back and say, “Here is where I leave you. Behind you is death, and here, lying before you is your body, the gateway to lead the life you always dreamed of having. The choice is yours.”

A knowing smile graces my lips as I return to my own body. Just as I come out of my stupor the machines hooked up to the boy’s body begin to beep and flash wildly. The doctors stare in awe as he sits up and says, “Oh, Daddy please don’t cry.”

James jumps as if waking from a dream, throws his arms around his son, and whispers incredulously, “Oh Walker, how?”

Walker wordlessly points at me. James turns to me and asks, “What did you do?”

I project my words into his mind alone and say, “I crossed the border between life and death and brought his spirit back. He will never have cancer threaten his life again.”

In a tone so quiet only I can hear James whispers, “Why?”

“Because of your love for him. Just because my sisters are gone does not mean I can’t save lives of other families.” I say struggling to hold back tears. Suddenly I hear a voice in my head say, “Let your tears flow freely sister; it is time you softened your heart of steel don’t you?”

That sounded like, no it couldn’t be, it was, Ebony Shadow! In a burst of magic all five of my sisters materialized in the sky outside the window. I stared awestruck as Ebony Shadow, Electra, Serenity, Crystal, and Celestia all hung suspended by their massive wings in the midst of the sky.

Suddenly with a whoop of pure joy and exhilaration I spread my own wings and flew through the open window to join them. Ebony Shadow was a black alicorn with a black mane; Electra was all dark grey. Serenity was mostly white except her mane had cerulean highlights, Celestia was white with a mane of pale green, blue, and pink, and Crystal was grey with some smoky blue mixed in all over her body.

As I gazed upon my five sisters, I was struck by a sudden inspiration. I said loudly, “How you treat your patients and their families here is absolutely despicable. I have seen the intent of those who in charge of taking care of Walker, who died in their care and whom I brought back to life just a few minutes ago. They were never going to tell you that your son was dead James; they were going to leave you to draw your own conclusions. This hospital was recognized as the best hospital in all the state. That, however, is a false title because this place does not care for the well-being of its patients, they only care about getting money unlike all the other hospitals in this state. Today I, along with my sister will combine our power to heal all patients who are housed here and put this hospital out of business forever to ensure they do not continue to practice greed.”

With that proclamation made, together my sisters and I joined our voices as we said, “The last star has faded. The light has gone. We walk alone in death's garden. Doomed we are to wander, the eternal dark.”

Suddenly pure, undiluted power raged throughout all of our bodies as the ancestors joined their voices in song. It is only possible for the ancestors to be heard when we, the remnants of a dying race, join our power through the invocation of the sacred oath that was created by the very first alicorns who ever existed. They were the very essence of life itself. One was Dusque; he was black and had a mane the colors of the sky at dusk. The other was Dawn; she was a pearly white with a mane the color of the sky at dawn. Dusque was a magnificent warrior; therefore his only way of solving problems was to fight, to start a war. Dawn, on the other hand, stood for peace. She was always trying to stop the wars that would break out all across the land. Both Dusque and Dawn worried about the chaos unfolding everywhere, but it was not until their daughter, Ice, was killed in a war caused by a failed attempt to make peace that they felt it necessary to take action. Together they created the oath that gives us power which back then gave the most powerful alicorns living at the time power over every single aspect of life. The oath was considered sacred and meant to be used sparingly. In addition to the oath Dusque and Dawn appointed their four remaining children regents of the newly created four seasons. Vernia was the alicorn of spring. She was the color of new grass and buds with a mane decorated with spring blossoms. Their only son, Agni was the alicorn of summer. His coat was a burnt, reddish color, and his mane was actual flames to represent the heat of the sun. The alicorn of fall was Autumnia, who had a coat of pale auburn, with a light blonde, constantly shifting mane which moved liked the wind. Her wings were also large and powerful, perfect for blowing the leaves off trees so that winter could take ho9ld of the realm. Glacia was the alicorn of winter, regent of the last, bitterest season. Glacia had a coat the color of freshly fallen snow and a cool blue mane that was swirling with snowflakes. Her personality was aloof and cold in contrast to her siblings’ kinder and more inviting personalities. For many millennia the regents of the seasons kept peace in the realm until the fateful day when humans arrived in the world. A great war raged for a century until the humans succeeded in defeating the alicorns. Vernia, Agni, Autumnia, and Glacia became the seasons themselves whilst many other alicorns were killed by the humans. Those that fled and hid are our great-great-great-grandparents. If it weren’t for humans the alicorns would be a strong, thriving race, but instead my sisters and I are the remnants of the alicorn legacy which is destined to end with us as we are all female.

Suddenly I am jolted out of my revelations as Ebony Shadow says, “Well sisters, shall we begin?”

I shake my head to clear our depressing history from my thoughts and say in unison with my sisters, “Ready!”

Together all six of us charge our horns with not only our power but the power of the ancestors. One by one we touched our horns to each other’s and let our power flow freely. A beam of white light shot from the place where our horn tips met and shot down towards the hospital. Light poured out of the hospital’s windows as the spell worked to heal all of the patients. The light died as soon as all the patients were healed and we all let the power dissipate out of our horns. All six of us flared our wings and gently landed on the front lawn of the hospital. As soon as our hooves touched the grass, we were mobbed by an influx of patients who wished to thank us for what we did for them.

After all the patients had left, all the doctors came out of the hospital and began to yell at us. We waited patiently for them to calm down, but after twenty minutes the intensity of their anger had only gotten stronger. Before my head exploded I raised my voice and shouted, “ENOUGH! BE SILENT!”

All of the doctors and nurses fell silent except for the doctor that had been in charge of taking care of Walker. He marched up to me, jabbed me in the chest, and said, “You think you can just march in here, freak of nature that you are, use your weirdo powers to destroy all we’ve worked for, and you expect us to bow down to you and thank you! Well think again!”

I draw myself up to my full height and exclaim thunderously, “You are wrong we do not expect you to bow down or thank us, and we most certainly did not do this for you. We did it for the patients that you didn’t give a damn about. So if I were you I’d SHUT YOUR FAT MOUTH YOU FUCKING DICKHEAD!”

He wisely shut up and backed away from me, trembling from the force of my exclamation. Celestia stepped up beside me and said, “Those of you that actually cared about the patients and not just getting money will be pardoned and given jobs at other reputable hospitals in the area. This hospital will be shut down and those who were only here for the money shall be executed. Any questions?”

One of the nurses stepped forward and said, “I’ve got one. How do you plan to determine which group we belong to?”

Celestia smiled and said, “We will use magic to examine your mind.”

“But couldn’t we just hide our thoughts from you?” the same nurse asked.

“You could try,” Ebony Shadow stepped forward, “but we would break you eventually.”

“And besides,” Celestia added, “if you weren’t in this for the money then what do you have to hide?”

Cowed, the nurse shrank back into the crowd. With all the questions finally dispelled I stamped my hoof and barked, “Separate yourselves into six groups, male doctors, male nurses, female doctors, female nurses, males with other jobs, and females with other jobs! Now!”

They hustled to obey. While they were frantically rushing around my five sisters and I huddled together to decide who would examine which group. Serenity immediately said, “I’ll do the females with other jobs.”

Electra claimed the male nurses, and Celestia took the female nurses. I said, “I want the male doctors just so I can show up that bitch.” Ebony Shadow took the female doctors which left Crystal with the males with the males with other jobs.

By the time we had finished making our selections, the hospital employees had gotten into their respective groups. Each of us went to the head of our chosen group and began the long tedious practice of separating the greedy from the sincere. Three hours later all the hospital employees have been separated into two groups.

There are only seven people in the sincere group, one female doctor, one nurse of each gender, a female secretary, one male cafeteria cook, one male doctor, and a female janitor. Serenity, Electra, Crystal, and Celestia took the seven sincere employees off to the side while Ebony Shadow and I went to deal with the executions of the remaining employees. We each took half of the group but before we began I pulled the bitchy male doctor to the front of the crowd. I projected my voice so everyone could hear me and said, “This waste of oxygen is by far the worst of all of you so I have decided to use him to make an example of what we will do to those who resist. If you cooperate we will quickly, and as painlessly as possible, behead you. Otherwise…”

I turn toward the now cowering doctor and use my magic to create a sharp knife. Even in the back row of the assembled humans they can clearly see the glint of the razor sharp steel. I slowly advance upon the doctor with a menacing smirk on my face. Forcefully I use my magic to strip him of all his clothes, and then say, “Any last words before I begin?”

He raises his head and shouts for all to hear, “Damn you to the blackest pit of the seven hells bitch!”

Completely unfazed by his insult I pick up the knife and him in my magic and walk over to the wall of the hospital. I chain him up high enough for everyone to see before I begin his torturous death. As I set the blade to his smallest toe I say, “I want to hear you scream.”

Once the yard was silent once more I began to pull the skin off of his body slowly and thoroughly. Almost immediately I could sense every muscle in his body tense up from the agonizing pain, and I could hear his teeth grinding in an effort to stop himself from screaming.

When I got up to his ankle, the knife went a little too deep and pierced a vein. Blood squirted everywhere, even spraying some of the employees in the front row which was quite a few yards back from the wall. After I finished that foot I repeated the process on his other foot sans the pierced vein. This time when I finish the foot I go on to flay the skin from his entire leg. Just as I am about to finish flaying his thigh his muscles twitch causing the knife to slip and puncture one of his blood vessels At this he screams, as blood is once again spraying everywhere. Unfazed, I finish his one thigh, then move on to his other leg which by the time I finish it has four broken veins due to his endless convulsions.

Now I shift the knife away from his body as I flip him over and re-chain him so I can get the skin on the back of his body. Once more I start at his feet and slowly work my way up to his legs. As soon as all the skin is off of his feet and legs I place the knife against the lower curve of his left buttock. I pause to make sure that the knife is in the optimal position for causing pain. Slowly I work the knife under the flap of skin and pull upwards. He lets out a high-pitched, bloodcurdling shriek as the skin detaches from his body. I continue to flay his buttocks laughing maniacally all the while. Once both of his buttocks were completely devoid of skin I lifted the knife to give myself a chance to rein in my laughter so that his wails could be heard loud and clear.

As soon as he fell silent I took the knife to the base of his spine and began to slowly continue his torture. When the knife reached a dip between two of the vertebrae in his spine it cut deep into his flesh, exposing a vein. Out of desire to hear him scream I sliced the vein in half causing thick streams of blood to explode outwards from his back. He let loose and ear-splitting screech from the intense surge of agony he now felt coursing through his body. As soon as the onslaught of blood calmed to a trickle, I began to flay the rest of his back, neck, and tops of his shoulders.

Briefly, I paused to wait for his screams to die down before I flipped him back over to face front. Now was the time for me to take the most time and care in the flaying process, for I have reached the body part that shall by my greatest source of pleasure to flay. His cock. With a malicious grin of joy I laid the knife at the tip of his penis and looked up. The look of terror on his face was absolutely priceless. Keeping my eyes locked on his, I used my magic to pull the knife towards his body. The scream that burst out of his mouth could have been heard across the world. Not pausing in my relentless torture of him I began to laugh loudly and uncontrollably as his wailing and screaming continued.

As soon as his cock was nice and thoroughly flayed, I moved upwards and began to work on his stomach. To my delight he did not stop his protests and cries of pain until I lifted the knife away from his body when I reached the base of his neck. Before I continued I asked, “Enjoying this doctor?”

He raised his head to look me in the eye as he rasped, “I was wrong about you; you’re not a freak. You’re a bitchy jackass of a freak! Curse you and all your fucking sisters!”

I smiled, for I knew I had won. I had managed to break his will. Without saying a word I set the knife against the base of his neck. As I looked into his eyes, I could see him wordlessly pleading for me to stop causing him such severe agony. I, however, gave a tiny shake of my head and pulled upward with the knife, once again beginning to flay the skin from a part of his body. This time, to my extreme delight, just that one pull with the knife peeled off all of the skin on his neck at once, popping many blood vessels in the process. I began to laugh wildly once again as I stood there with his neck skin dangling from my knife.

Most of the other hospital employees stood transfixed and gaping in wordless horror whereas my sisters were cheering animatedly. I used my magic to fling the skin off of my knife before I reset the knife at the base of his chin. Tears were flowing freely down his cheeks in endless streams now, but, unswayed, I yanked the knife upwards mercilessly. He let loose his most nightmare-inducing scream yet which was made all the more horrifying by the blood spilling out of his chin like a fountain.

I began to cackle insanely because of how much I was loving this; without halting my laughter, I moved the knife up to his lips and pulled. Now even though he was in immense pain his screams became more like gargling because of all the blood pouring out of his lips and into his mouth. I watched, my laughs having subsided into an expression of malicious glee, as he retched continuously to try to clear his mouth of the blood.

Not wanting him to die, yet not wanting to lessen his suffering I cast a spell that would keep him alive while letting him feel the full benefit of his torture. With full assurance that he would not die until I was ready for him to do so, I continued to flay his face until there was no skin left anywhere on his body. Stepping back from him, I started cackling uproariously, for the first step in his torturing process was complete.

Now that the yard has fallen silent once again, I used my magic to fashion a pair of tongs which I set against the edge of his mouth while simultaneously setting my knife against his cock. With just a nudge of my magic I clamped the tongs around one of his teeth. However, an idea sparked in my mind of how to cause him even more agony, so I created enough tongs for each of his teeth and attached a pair to each tooth.

Now satisfied with my torture methods, I simultaneously yanked on the tongs and knife. All of his teeth along with his cock detached from their respective locations. Blood spurted from the holes where his teeth were at the same time as he tried to scream, causing blood to explode violently out from his mouth, accompanied by a rasping, high-pitched wail.

As soon as he had fallen silent once more I moved the knife up to his eyes and began to wiggle it in at the edge. After a few moments I heard a squelching pop which was accompanied by his eye dropping out of its socket. While he screamed incoherently I repeated the process with his other eye this time releasing a stream of blood that trickled down his skinless cheek. Without pausing, I swiftly move the knife up to his nose and slice downwards. As the blood cascades out of the hole in his face, I chuckle savagely for the second step is now consummated.

Stepping back I wait for the noise to die down before I begin phase three of torture. While I wait I use my magic to cause the knife and all the pairs of tongs to vanish. By now the cheering from my sisters and the seven sincere employees has died out as well as the doctor’s wails and the horrified gasps from all the hospital employees waiting to be executed, so I plant my front hooves into the ground and say, “This is the part I’ve been waiting for.”

Now that everyone is waiting with bated breath to see what I am going to do to him, I coil up my back legs, pause, then strike out toward the doctor with all my strength. After a quick scan with magic I discover that I have broken both of his legs and hips. Since he is still screaming, I quickly get set once again and strike. This time I completely shattered his ribcage; I know this without using magic because of the way three of his ribs have snapped and are jutting out of his chest, covered in blood, at awkward angles. I repeated the same process two more times until both his arms and his back were broken. Now I am satisfied that he has suffered enough agony to pay for his crimes so I use my magic to stop his hear at the same time as I release the spell keeping him alive.

His body crumples limply in the chains, still oozing blood everywhere. By now the patch of grass below him has been stained a bright red. Swiftly I make the chains vanish, hold his body up high so everyone can see, and shout, “Now you have seen what will happen to you if you do not cooperate! You have been warned! Let the executions begin!”

With that I let go of the magic holding up the doctor’s body so that it falls roughly through the air to land on the ground in a heap, and step forward to the head of my half of soon-to-be deceased hospital employees. Ebony Shadow and I nod to each other before each using our magic to create a sword. Now we clink out swords together as is the proper historical ritual, then motion in unison to our first victim, telling them to come forward. With a quick glance at each other we swing our swords down to slash off their heads. Both the head and body of each victim crumple to the ground at which time we each motion for our next victim to step forth. For the next two hours we repeat this process, thankfully with no one who did not cooperate.

However, we are not quite finished yet; together, Ebony Shadow and I get rid of our swords and levitate the mass of heads and bodies along with the corpse of that one particular doctor into the hospital. With a quick flick of magic Ebony Shadow sets the building ablaze leaving the fire to banish all the evidence of the terrible taint to the world’s peace. Now that we are all satisfied with the punishment that all those guilty of greed had received Ebony Shadow and I both turn away from the burning hospital and walk over to the seven employees waiting to be relocated. As Ebony Shadow and I approach them, all seven drop to the ground and bow respectfully. We come to a halt just in front of them and Ebony Shadow says, “Rise, we have not come to harm you.”

Serenity steps forward and says, “Instead we wish to reward you for your good services to this hospital and for you attempts to resist the group of fucking greedy bastards.”

Electra used her magic to create summaries of how the other two hospitals in the area functioned. Each of the seven was given a copy of said summaries which they are now looking over. After a few minutes Celestia asks, “Have you decided?”

All seven of them nod an affirmative. Crystal steps forward and lets each of them tell her where they would like to go. The female doctor, male nurse, male cook, and female secretary all chose to work at the hospital that is farthest away from this despicable place while the female nurse, male doctor, and female janitor all chose to work at the hospital that was just a few miles down the road. Now that they are separated into their respective hospital workplace groups I step forward and say, “We have also have one last gift for each of you.”

With a wave of my horn each of them now holds one million dollars in their hands. As one they sink to the ground in a deep bow and a murmur a thanks in unison. Aloofly, Ebony Shadow says, “Rise, and do not thank us. We have done nothing to warrant a thanks from you; you are receiving our thanks for trying to stand strong against the wrongdoers.”

Crystal, Electra, and Serenity step over to the group of employees who are relocating to the hospital that if farther away while Celestia, Ebony Shadow, and I step over to the group who are going to work closer to this abominable taint on the tranquility of the world. After a short discussion, we each go our separate ways with our group to ensure that they are welcomed with open arms. All six of us had made an agreement to meet back at this place after each group of employees had been successfully relocated to their new workplaces.

The whole trip to the hospital none of us said a word. Just before we reached the main door Ebony Shadow asks, “Do you think we should disguise ourselves?”

Celestia and I both shake our heads and Celestia says, “No, we need to stay visible because we are the ones who have chosen to relocate these people and wipe their previous workplace out of existence. They need to see us from the start so we can explain why we did what we did.”

Seeing the reason in what Celestia says Ebony Shadow strides up to the door and uses her magic to open it. All six of us stride inwards until we reach the desk where a secretary sat turned away from us. With a mischievous look plastered upon my face I clear my throat and say, “Excuse me, miss, but could you help us?”

She swivels around in her chair and upon seeing me, Ebony Shadow, and Celestia faints dead away. With a flick of my horn I toss cold water on her face which causes her to awaken abruptly. This time, upon seeing three full grown alicorns looming over her, she vaults over her desk, rushes over to a button on the wall, presses it, and screams, “Help! Alien creatures in the lobby! Help!”

Ebony Shadow, Celestia, and I all roll our eyes as dozens of humans burst into the room and surround us. The one closest to me shouts, “Who are you? What are you? What is you purpose here? Be warned that you are totally surrounded by competent officials in the art of defense, so you shall not win any fights.”

I chuckle and say, “Oh, I doubt that you could best us in a fight. No matter how outnumbered we may seem to be, I assure you that we are not. However, to answer your questions, we are immortal alicorns who have come to ensure that these three hospital employees, whom we have relocated, are welcomed courteously to this establishment. As to our names, it would be safer for all involved if they were not divulged.”

The only response I receive is blank stares throughout the entire room. Now after we have stood here for quite a few minutes the secretary who called for help asks, “Um, excuse me, but if you don’t mind my asking, what is an alicorn?”

Celestia says in a gentle tone, “Alicorns are creatures of magic. As you can see we possess both wings and a horn, which makes us the most magically powerful beings in the world. We are immortal. There are only six alicorns left in the world.”

At the end of Celestia’s explanation most of the people who were frozen in shock are beginning to come back to reality however it is the secretary who speaks up first. She says, “If there are only six alicorns left in the world, then why are only three of you here?”

Celestia smiles and says, “Our other three sisters are at another hospital in the area relocating the other four employees that we deemed sincere.”

The secretary asks, “What do you mean ‘sincere’?”

With a sigh I step forward and say, “Listen closely everyone for what I am about to tell you is a grave event which is not meant to be taken lightly. No matter what you may think, I assure you that every bit of this is true.”

Now with their rapt attention, I take a deep breath and begin to recount the events of earlier today. “Earlier this afternoon I along with all five of my sisters used our magic to heal all of the patients at the Woodrove Hospital which is just a few miles away from here. We did so because almost all of the employees who worked there were in on a scheme to kill off patients so that they could make more money faster. At the heart of this scheme was a particularly bitchy jackass who dared to give himself the title of doctor. I, however, think his proper title would be a butcher. I say this because he was poisoning the patients so that he would get more money faster. Due to the severity of his crimes I tortured him. Brutally. First I flayed all of his skin off of his entire body after I had stripped him of all of his clothes. At a point near the end of the flaying process I cast a spell that would keep alive until it was released all the while letting him feel pain. Once every single body part of his was devoid of skin I cut off his cock, pulled out all of his teeth, cut off his nose, and extracted his eyeballs. After that I bucked his body as hard as I could until every single one he had was broken. Only then did I relent and use my magic to stop his heart at the same time as I released my spell. With my fun over I along with one of my sisters began the ritual of beheading all of the other employees who were in on his plan. The only people we did not behead were the seven employees we had deemed sincere. By sincere I mean those who actually cared about keeping the patients alive and tried to resist the fucking butcher’s extermination plan. As soon as all of those involved in that terrible scheme were dead, we put their corpses into the Woodrove Hospital and set the building on fire. At that point all six of us split up into the groups that we already mentioned. Three of us came here and the other three went to the Trinity Heart Hospital. All we wish to do is ensure that these three employees are given a good job and a warm welcome.”

With the story complete I take a step back and survey the expressions of my audience. Every single one of them has his or her mouth agape in horror. Out of the corner of my mouth I whisper, “What do you think? Too graphic?”

Both Ebony Shadow and Celestia stifle chuckles as they shake their heads. Stifling laughter myself I turn back to my shell-shocked audience and patiently await their return to reality. Slowly they come out of their stupor and after a minute or two the secretary says, “Wait here. I’ll go get those who are in charge of admitting new employees.”

Celestia, Ebony Shadow, and I all nod pleasantly and try to make ourselves appear less threatening. Unfortunately we do not succeed, for as the secretary reenters the room after a few minutes, the man following behind her staggers sideways and collapses against the reception desk. Through his gasps he says, “Just…give me… a…moment.”

Patiently I, Ebony Shadow, and Celestia wait without making a sound or doing anything to appear more threatening then we already are for the full half hour that it took for him to recover. When he is finally standing upright on his own he says, “I do apologize for that. It’s just that your appearance caught me off guard. My name is Jacob. Would you mind telling me what you are?”

As I let a gentle smile grace my lips I say, “It is very nice to meet you Jacob. And, please, do not apologize. Your reaction was not your fault. As to you question, we are three of the only six immortal alicorns left in the world. All six of us are sisters. Though you would probably like to know our names I regret to inform you that for all of our safety I cannot divulge such information to you. I hope you understand.”

Jacob nods pleasantly and says, “Though I cannot comprehend the reasons as to why telling me your names would endanger anyone’s safety I completely respect that you are trying your best to keep everyone safe. Now if you wouldn’t mind telling me, I would like to know why you are here.”

With a nod of pleasure that he chose not to pressure us for our names I say, “Thank you for understanding. We are here because we have three employees who need to be relocated. There is a very long backstory that explains the reasons as to why they are needing to come here, but seeing as I had just finished telling that exhausting tale a few minutes before you arrived you will have to ask someone who was here because I do not feel up to relating it again. All my sisters and I wish is that you will accept these three fine people into your hospital and treat them well.”

Jacob says, “I would be pleased to welcome all three of them into our family. I only need to know what their previous job was.”

I smile give a pleasant nod, and say, “Of course.” I point to each person respectively as I announce their profession.

Jacob shakes each of their hands and says, “It’s nice to meet all of you and we will all be pleased to have you join our modest family.”

Ebony Shadow steps forward and says, “Though we would love to stay and get to know all of you a bit better we must go and meet with our sisters. Have a good afternoon.”

“Thank you for bringing these people here. I promise that they will be treated well. Have a good rest of your day.”

Celestia, Ebony Shadow, and I all give a last nod of acknowledgment as we walk out the front doors of the hospital. As we are walking back to the Woodrove Hospital Celestia turns to me and asks, “How did you know that they were deliberately killing those patients through poisoning?”

With a chuckle I say, “Before I began his torture I read the bitchy butcher’s mind without his knowledge. At the time he was thinking ‘Why did I poison those patients?”

Ebony Shadow gasps and exclaims, “He was really doing that! That’s despicable! Mille autem maledictiones!”

I give a grave nod and say, “Yes, unfortunately he did not choose painless forms of death.”

By now we have arrived back at the now empty location of what used to be the Woodrove Hospital. Crystal, Serenity, and Electra are not yet back from their relocations, so while Ebony Shadow and Celestia sit down on the grass I wander over to the pile of ash that used to be a murder factory. With a shake of my head I say, “How can humans be so selfishly destructive? I just don’t understand it.”

Ebony Shadow and Celestia look over at me and shrug. Before we can get deeper into the topic, Crystal, Serenity, and Electra stride across the lawn and over to me. Ebony Shadow and Celestia get up and join us. “Well, how did it go?” I ask.

“Quite well actually,” Crystal answers, “They accepted all four of them easily.”

Ebony Shadow steps forward and says, “That’s good, but I believe we have some more pressing matters to discuss right now.”

“What might those be?” Celestia asks with an expression of befuddlement on her face.

Ebony Shadow frowns and states matter of factly, “I would’ve thought that would be obvious. We all owe our sister an explanation of how we survived the fire and why we didn’t come find her sooner.”

Celestia nods and says, “Well, who do you think should tell the story?”

Serenity turns to look at Electra and says, “Electra should explain since it was her idea.”

I see nods of agreement come from Celestia, Crystal, and Ebony Shadow so I say, “Well, go on, I’m listening.”

Sighing deeply Electra begins her story, “When I saw the fire I knew that there was only one way we could live through it so I did what had to be done. I summoned every bit of magical power I had and teleported the five of us a couple hundred miles away while I simultaneously cast a spell that would keep the fire from killing you. I would’ve taken you as well, but there wasn’t time to let you leave your human host and I couldn’t take you while you were inside your host. By casting the shield spell I guaranteed that we would be able to return to you and find you alive. However, I did not anticipate that you would do everything you could to try to end your life over thinking we were dead. If I had known I would’ve left you some sort of explanation or sent you one once the five of us were safely away.”

I interrupt her to ask, “Ok, I get why you had to leave and why you couldn’t tell me or bring me with you, but that still doesn’t explain why it took you a couple days to come back to me if you were only a few hundred miles away.”

“I was just getting to that, if only you would be patient,” Electra says with a roll of her eyes.

With a sheepish look on my face I motion for her to continue. She takes a deep breath and launches back into her tale, “Now, as I was about to say, there were two reasons why we didn’t return immediately. The first was that from performing such strenuous spells so close together I was very weak. We waited for a day until I was able to travel; however, when we did begin to make our way back to find you we encountered some trouble. Trouble in the form of humans destroying things for personal gain. I’m not even exactly sure what they were doing, so I won’t try to explain it to you. All you need to know is that we stopped and did what our race was meant to do. We tried to restore the peace as Dawn would have done. It took a couple days but we managed it. As soon as we finished our work, we left and came to find you. You know the rest.”

I nod solemnly and say, “I understand now and I have a proposition.”

When no one objects I continue, “You remember how, just before the fire, we were talking about how we wished we could reveal ourselves to keep the peace in the world just as Dawn and Dusque wished?”

They all nod and Ebony Shadow muses, “I think I see where you’re going with this.”

I smile and say, “Well, now that I’ve left my host and we have revealed our true selves I think, that, as the last six alicorns in existence and probably the last six to ever exist, we need to devote ourselves to keeping the peace and order of the world until the day we die. What do you think?”

Ebony Shadow says, “This is definitely something worthy of the last six alicorns to ever live. We must fulfill the meaning of our very race. I agree and propose that we make a binding oath to do this.”

Crystal, Celestia, Serenity, and Electra all nod. I raise my voice and proclaim a newly created invocation, “Praesens et futurum ad tranquillum nos mori in hereditatem reliquis sex uoueo usque ad primam speciem pervenire omnes tum inter æquali tempore.”

All five of my sisters repeat the oath after me so I now say, “Factum est.”

With that, we stride off, shoulder to shoulder, into the blood red sunset.

Author's Note

This was a random idea that I've had for years. Got a bit long and I'm waiting to see if i feel like adding another part. Hope you like it!

Translations:

condeliquesco - dissipate

vivat nocte - long live the night

hoc est verum - this is the truth

Estis manu temptans leuis - you are short-sighted and shallow

Proin erit ratio hoc mundo, in tenebris mergunt - we will be the reason this world is plunged into dakrness

Mille autem maledictions! - A thousand curses!

Praesens et futurum ad tranquillum nos mori in hereditatem reliquis sex uoueo usque ad primam speciem pervenire omnes tum inter æquali tempore - to the tranquility of the present and future world, we, the six remnants of a dying legacy, vow to first achieve then preserve equanimity between all species until our time comes.

Factum est - It is done