My Little Pony: Friendship is Brutal

Nathan brought Twilight out to a balcony for lunch; it didn't take long for Toki to catch word of the magical unicorn that suddenly appeared, so he had joined them. Ofdensen was gone due to important work, and Murderface had simply bailed. Of course Skwisgaar was also present, physically; he'd become so bored that he was now taking a nap before lunch arrived.

Twilight was having some trouble with the scene before her. In her dreams all the death was blurred together, leaving a dark stain in her thoughts; in person, the death surrounding her was sharp, present, and far more powerful. There were bodies dotting the land around Mordhaus; most were those of people who'd visited and died in some horrid manner, but some were Klokateers fallen from towers that had inadequate safety rails. A great cloud of smoke stopped most of the sunlight from getting through, it also left a dirty unfamiliar taste on Twilight's tongue. The air itself was red; farther out was a red curtain that prevented sight beyond the confines of the property.

In short, Twilight was mortified.

"Why don't you bury the dead?" The purple filly asked, unhidden disgust in her voice.

"Because it makes the whole place more metal." Nathan stated matter-of-factly.

"More- Metal?" Twilight repeated in an unsure tone.

"Yeah, it's like more dark, and brutal, and stuff. You know you got your pointless death and shit, and those wolves that are out there somewhere.”

“But that’s horrible!” Twilight protested, feeling very confident of being in the right.

“No it’s not a horror movie, it’s metal.” Nathan tried to explain. He looked around the patio for a moment “Maybe I should just like fucking show you around or something.”

"I don't see how a tour is going to change my mind about what I can see from here; not to mention the corpses I found downstairs." The purple pony’s whole body shook from the memories of last night; yet it did not make her feel violently ill as it had last night.

“Yeah, we’re supposed to like, have a guy for that or something. He may have died.” Nathan shrugged.

“He is deads, I watched hims fall off those metal bridges; the catwalks I thinks they are calleds?” Skwisgaar put in.

“Dude that’s not a bad idea for a song.” Nathan produced a tape recorder seemingly from nowhere. “Idea for a song: Something about a dead body on the sidewalk, but it’s made of metal.” He hit stop then instantly glared at the tape recorder.

“That song has no reasonable premise whatsoever.” Twilight said flatly.

“You don’t even know about writing music.” Nathan retorted. He returned his gaze to the little black recorder; he pressed record. “Note to self: Ignore last song idea.”

Twilight smiled in satisfaction.

“God Skwisgaar, your song ideas suck.” Nathan “expertly” deflected the criticism on his uncaring band mate.

“Whatevers.” Skwisgaar was already back into a reclining position.

“What’s for lunch?” Twilight asked after a few minutes of absolute, and awkward silence.

“Fuck if I know, that dude just brings us stuff and we pick at it.” Nathan yawned, looking out over the Mordhause landscape.

“How can you not care about the loss of life that seems to be a daily thing around here?” Twilight resumed their previous conversation.

“Because it’s metal to not value life.”

Twilight noted, with some concern, that Nathan’s vocabulary expanded slightly whenever he explained something about “metal.” She guessed that it may be a word of power in this world.

“Okay, then what is metal?” Twilight persisted.

“It’s like, you know- The music and stuff.”

“How is it similar to the music?” While actually considering Nathan’s words, Twilight became hung up on his use of the word “like”.

“No it is the music, just you know- What the music is about I guess.” Nathan could smell the food on the way, and was almost thankful for the chance for these questions to end.

“What?” Twilight began condescendingly, “Songs about dead bodies on sidewalks is metal?”

“Yeah now you’re getting it!” Nathan patted Twilight on the back with an uncomfortable amount of force just as the food arrived.

While Twilight tried to piece together, how what she’d said made any sense, she came to a shocking realization.

“They... are!” She declared, correcting her improper use of subject verb agreement, solely for her own sake.

“What?” Nathan laughed at the sudden outburst.

“Umm... Nothing.” Twilight simply looked at the magnificent spread of platters that appeared without her noticing.

“This is lunch?!” She asked, mouth hanging open in obvious disbelief.

“Well yeah, but don’t hate it till you try it. Sometimes he actually makes something worth eating.”

“But it’s so much for just five of you.” Twilight recalled the banquettes she’d been allowed to attend whilst studying under the princess; the amount of food there was only a little more than this, and that was for several dozen guests.

Twilight watched as a man wearing a grey hat and apron lifted the lid of a chrome dish. When she saw the food and actually noticed the man, her appetite disappeared.

The first meal was an entire pig, roasted with a glaze of some kind, and an apple stuffed in its mouth. The man appeared to be the product of a quilting activity using scraps of skin. A misaligned jaw, mismatched eyes, stitches, and an all around mishapen face was worn by the man known as Jean-Pierre; he introduced himself as such after Nathan explained that he wasn’t planning on eating Twilight, and that she could talk.

Twilight found herself unable to ponder if his entire body was in similar condition. When she did, she immediately wanted to cry as mental images that would never go away crept into her head.

Several other kinds of animal, or just the flesh followed; Twilight, already finished watching, after the pig.

“Aren’t you gunna eat?” Nathan asked over a mouthful of steak.

Twilight feverishly shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”

“What do ponies eat anyways?” Nathan asked, this being the first time he’d even thought of it while waiting for lunch.

“Not pigs!” Twilight nearly shouted.

“Cows?” Nathan pointed at the steak.

“No!” She wailed, looking anywhere but the table.

“Chicken?” He pointed to a platter of turkey meat. Not that he cared to tell the difference, and Jean-Pierre was certainly not going to correct his master.

“No no no!” Twilight fought the urge to hide under the table.

“Nathan, I believes the ponies eats the fruit and vegetables maybes.” Skwisgaar offered, awoken from his nap by the disgusted pony’s cries.

“There’s mashed potatoes.” Nathan looked at his guest under the table. She’d failed to resist the desire to take cover from the sights above.

“Really?” Twilight asked hopefully. Now that she couldn’t see the appalling sights above, her hunger made itself known. Potatoes she at least considered to be food; not her favorite by far, but still eatable.

“Want some?” Nathan was already pouring gravy over a bowl of the mashed potatoes. Again, he didn’t care to know that it was a beef gravy; this was a fact Twilight, of course, wouldn’t even consider an issue as she didn’t know it existed.

“Want it? I need it.” Twilight muttered, the light pain in her stomach reminding her that she hadn’t eaten since leaving Princess Celestia’s company.

The bowl was placed next to her under the table, and Twilight greedily attacked it. She was compelled not only by her hunger, but the enticing, unfamiliar aroma of the gravy topping. Jean-Pierre would have said something, but held what was left of his tongue for fear of interrupting the meal.

“Hey you know,” Nathan laughed at the funny thought he intended to share, “it’s kinda like having a starving purple dog.”

“I’m not a dog.” Twilight stated indignantly.

“Well yeah, but it’s still kinda like it.” Nathan insisted.

“Sure, why not.” Twilight said dryly, “Can I get some more please?”

Nathan served her more mashed potatoes and gravy, which she again hungrily devoured. She felt the warm, slightly salty sensation all the way down to her stomach; where it sat and seemed to warm her entire body.

“That’s good stuff.” Twilight sighed contentedly, after a third bowl.

“So why don’t you just eat grass or something?” Nathan inquired, tossing half a turkey leg off the balcony at a wolf.

“Do you see any grass around here?” Twilight said sarcastically, motioning with a hoof at the dead land around them.

“No.” Nathan shrugged.

“Why doesn’t the unicorns ponies magics some grass for herself?” Skwisgaar criticized.

"I don't know, hey Twilight why don't you make some grass grow or some shit like that?"

"I- Well, I guess that could work." Twilight's horn began to glow as she formulated a spell from scratch. A sudden green and amber pulse exploded from the tip of her horn, dazing her and causing the spell to end.

"Wow, you know if we could get her to do that for concerts, that would save us some cash on lights and stuff." Nathan said, ignoring the groaning coming from the fallen mare.

"I thinks we alreadys makes too much of the monies Nathan." Skwissgaar reminded him.

"Oh yeah we do don't we?" Nathan sighed. "Toki what are you doing?" Nathan caught Toki, who'd been present but ignored through all of lunch thus far, leaning over Twilight.

"It's a really reals pony Nathans! Can we keep it?" Toki asked, not for the first time.

"She's staying as long as she wants to Toki, now quit trying to rape her or whatever you're doing." Nathan mumbled between mouthfuls of food.

"I'm not rapings her I'm making sure she is okay. Okay Nathans?"

"Yeah, whatever pony lover." Nathan chuckled at Toki's reaction.

"It is funnies because you called hims that this mornings, and you broughts it back up nows?" Skwisgaar inquired, taking up interest now that Toki was available to make fun of.

"I am nots a pony lovers, shuts up with that already!" Toki demanded.

"Yeah it's totally funny, see how pissed he's getting? Hilarious." Nathan started laughing again, Skwisgaar joined him with a dark chuckle.

"That is pretty funnies."

Twilight began to come to, and noticed the unfamiliar human crouching over her shouting.

"Umm... Can I help you?" Twilight said grogily, a new headache forming from the magical backlash.

"He's going to rape you be careful." Nathan cautioned jokingly.

"Rape!?" Twilight took the joke very seriously. She quickly scrambled back under the table like a frightened puppy, and stared daggers at an already very angry Toki.

"Nathan I said to shuts up, I want to talks with the talking ponys nots rape her!" Toki actually shouted at Nathan and Skwisgaar causing a silence to descend upon the balcony.

"God Toki, you dont have to fucking yell, it was a joke." Nathan said, instantly being backed up by Skwisgaar.

"Yeah Tokis, do you yells at everyones who says somethings funnies?"

Twilight caught on to the fact that the human, Toki, was being ganged up on; also he had no intention of raping her. Now that this fact was established, there was the issue of why her spell had failed so severely. That sort of backlash only happened when one failed at casting forbidden spells that Princess Celestia had “accidentally” left laying out to see if Twilight would be able to perform the magic properly. Twilight remembered trying more than once to cast the spell, on the third time she got it and half the library exploded around her.
Celestia, after laughing, had come in and undone the destruction with ancient magics that came simply to her.
Now here Twilight was again, trying to figure out what was forbidden about making vegetation appear. The truth found its way to her very quickly, and the realization horrified her; it also reminded her of why she didn’t like this world. Whatever sort of “power” metal had, it was enough to have its own set of magical laws. One of those laws was clearly that life could not be created in this place. Twilight wanted desperately to go home, not for the first time.
Toki was still incessantly asking Twilight questions, she curled up under the table and whimpered the same way she had in the bowels of Mordehaus still surrounded by death.