Buzzkill

"Hey Pinkie!"

"Hi guys, glad you could make it! Come in, come in," Pinkie screamed in delight as she ushered Alfred and Rainbow out of the dark and into Sugarcube Corner. The place was packed full of happy faces. Music was blaring loudly, ponies were laughing gleefully, and Pinkie was orchestrating it all proudly. The coloured lights almost blinded Alfred as he walked in, but after being blinded like this many times before, he quickly snapped out of it and was confronted with a sea of ponies. They all were wearing great smiles like masks, and they both loved it. Pinkie pulled them into the corner quickly, desperate to get them started.

"So, how are you guys doing?"

"We're good Pinkie. I can see that you've been pretty busy," Rainbow said, looking around the lively room.

"Yeah, I'm planning to do this kind of thing weekly."

"Weekly?" Alfred asked curiously.

"Yeah, I'm sure it's going to go great!"

"Well I'm pretty sure you're going to tire yourself out quite quickly doing that."

"Nah, I'm basically built for partying. Hey, you guys should keep your eyes out for Applejack and Fluttershy. I'm sure they're around here somewhere."

"What about Rarity or Spike?"

"Rarity couldn't make it because of business, and Spike was busy because he and Twilight were dusting books at the library or whatever, kinda of a lame excuse if you ask me." Rainbow and Alfred looked at each other silently before returning back to Pinkie.

"Yeah, Twilight said she had some errands to run. Although, I did see her today."

"Oh yeah, when?" Rainbow leant in quickly to respond.

"She came by this morning, to ask Alfred questions about, you know."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean," Pinkie said suspiciously.

"You know, about what happened in the Everfree Forest."

"Hmm?" Rainbow sighed angrily and went in closer to whisper in Pinkie's ear.

"...Discord."

"Oh, of course. Why didn't you just say that Alfred went to speak about Discord!"

"Pinkie!" A few ponies, suddenly turned their heads to Pinkie nervously, but luckily she didn't attract the attention of the whole party. Pinkie promptly shrunk back, just realising what she had said. Alfred and Rainbow only stared at her with a disappointed look on their faces.

"Hehehe...sorry. Well, you guys have fun, I'll just stay here for a minute and think about how much of an idiot I am." Rainbow and Alfred began to laugh shyly.

"Okay, you have fun with that," Alfred said slowly making his way through the horde of ponies with Rainbow Dash, until a familiar song started to play.

"Huh, oh my gosh, do you remember this Alfred?" Rainbow sweetly squealed as her face scrunched up into a ball of excitement

"Um, I don't think I do," Alfred said, teasingly.

"Oh come on, stop it."

"Of course I remember this sappy love song. It's so stupid."

"Yeah, it is, but it's also special." Alfred suddenly whipped Rainbow in closely.

"Reminds me of something else," Alfred said seductively, making Rainbow began to giggle.

"Oh, shut up," Rainbow gently whispered before jumping into a long kiss. Surrounding ponies began to notice Rainbow and Alfred going at it and started to cheer loudly, urging them on. Soon, they had a small crowd circling them while they kissed passionately. Once again, the crowd seemed invisible to both of them. Nothing was more important than each other in that one beautiful moment, so neither of them pulled away. They kept kissing for a solid two minutes before finally breaking apart just as their song finished.

"Alright, that's enough folks, get back to your night of partying," Applejack said, pushing away ponies that were begging for things to get a little more exciting. She then turned to Rainbow and Alfred, who were still recovering from that thrilling kiss.

"Hey, Applejack. How's it going?"

"It's great to see you two, but do ya mind keeping your little love sessions to yourselves, you're kinda cramping my style."

"Cramping your style?"

"Yeah, cramping my style, I've kinda got a thing going on here."

"Okay, alright, we'll try not to show off."

"Thanks, hon. You guys seem to be enjoying the party."

"It's pretty cool, I guess. Hey, have you seen Fluttershy anywhere? Pinkie told us that she was here."

"I saw her earlier, but she didn't look to hot. I have no idea where she is now."

"Oh no, do you think she's okay," Rainbow asked, a little concerned.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't tell ya."

"Right, Rainbow, I'm going to try and find her and see if she's okay."

"I'll come with you."

"Actually, Rainbow, do you mind helping me with something?" Applejack said sheepishly. "You know how I said that you were cramping my style, well there's this one stallion that I've had my eye on for quite a while now."

"Oohh, why do you need me?"

"It's just, I was wondering if you could help me out on this one, since you've obviously mastered the craft of pulling males in."

"Oh really, is that true?" Alfred said while turning to Rainbow with a smug look. Rainbow began to blush slightly and made her way towards Applejack.

"Hehe...maybe, but hey it worked on you, didn't it?"

"Yeah, alright, I'll let you off."

"Go on and find Fluttershy, I'll be waiting." Rainbow quickly began to make her way through the crowd with Applejack, leaving Alfred alone searching for Fluttershy. He was constantly moving his head to see above the crowd and hopefully spot Fluttershy, but unfortunately she was nowhere to be seen. He tried to make his way to the back of Sugarcube Corner, occasionally bumping into friends and known faces. After repeatedly asking where Fluttershy was, a couple of ponies mentioned something about her being in the bathroom, which worried Alfred slightly. It took him a while to politely push his way to the back, but when he finally did he stood outside the door to the bathroom, waiting for Fluttershy to leave. Now that he was at the back of the building and away from all the deafening music, he could finally hear himself think clearly.

He also began to hear what sounded like sobbing coming from the restroom. It was very faint, but real. Alfred was compelled to swing the door down and check on Fluttershy, but he tried to keep his composure and opened the door slightly.

"Fluttershy! Are you in there?" The sobs were much clearer now, and Alfred was almost positive they belonged to Fluttershy. There was a short pause before a small, scared voice could be heard.

"Yes."

"Would you like me to come in?"

"Yeah, o-okay." Alfred opened the door, making sure to close it securely, and began to walk into the bathroom slowly. Thankfully, there wasn't anypony else inside. He could hear Fluttershy whimpering from behind one of the stalls. He stood on the outside trying to talk to Fluttershy calmly.

"Hey, how are you doing?"

"Bad," Fluttershy blubbered quietly.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, I never should've come here. I knew I couldn't handle it."

"It's okay, Fluttershy. Just breathe in deeply and remember what I told you. If you knew you couldn't handle it, why did you come?""

"I came here thinking that I could cope, but this was way too big of a leap. I should've kept it simple. I should've worked my way up."

"Oh, I see. You bit off a little more than you could chew. Fluttershy, it's alright, you can do this."

"I don't know, I was panicking pretty badly back there."

"I'll be there right with you, trust me, you'll feel great. You've done this kind of thing before, right?"

"Not like this. Everything is so tight and squashed. I can't move anywhere, and there's no room to breathe. I can't handle this, I really can't."

"Do you want to give it another try?"

"No, no, no! I'm sorry, but I can't."

"It's okay, do you want me to take you home?"

"Yes please," Fluttershy whispered quietly. Alfred sighed, feeling a little sorry for Fluttershy. He didn't want her to act like this, it was too depressing. Alfred knew full well that it was a terrible feeling, and he wanted nothing more than Fluttershy to overcome her fears. Alfred wished that she could just push through it all and become something stronger, but unfortunately, she needed a little more work. Alfred would've have to spend more time with her and run her through the different stages of...

"HEY!!!"

Alfred snapped his head to the doorway and found a particularly muscular stallion who had a blue mane and a white coat of fur. He looked pretty angry with Alfred, although he had no idea why.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!? What, wasn't that make out session enough, so now you're snooping around the restroom!?"

"I'm sorry, I was just..."

"You were just what, spying on innocent little fillies? You make me fucking sick!"

"Actually, I was..."

"Shut the fuck up! I've had enough of you, I think we've all had enough of you. First, your stupid ass ended up in our little town, next, you stole one of our finest gals and turned her into some whore, and now, you've put us all in danger because you just happened to piss off Discord."

Alfred could hear Fluttershy begin to cry again from behind the stall.

"Excuse me, Fluttershy," Alfred said as he rose up slowly to face the now furious pony. "How did you know about that?"

"Are you serious? Everypony does. You think we haven't noticed the extra protection that Celestia's been dishing out. It's all your fault."

"Stop talking."

"Do you even know what happened last time? My kids were traumatised by what Discord did, and now you've brought him back to finish what he started."

"This was not my fault."

"Then who's fault was it? It certainly wasn't me, it certainly wasn't you're slutty wife, Rainbow..."

Alfred walked right up to the pony's face and towered over him.

"You leave her out of this."

"What, like you left your family. Yeah, I know all about your dead family. I can't believe that you're trying to start a new one when you couldn't even look after the first. You know what, they're probably doing better without you, I know we would."

"What do you want?"

"I want you to be dead, but I suppose we can't all have what we want. Leave."

Alfred was now almost standing directly on top of him, breathing heavily. The pony refused to move, and Alfred was growing more and more impatient, but his natural instincts began to kick in and he left the restroom, leaving Fluttershy trapped inside. He was planning to wait outside the door, but the pony was keeping a close eye on him as he left, which Alfred noticed. He moved a little further into the crowd, only to come to a grinding halt.

He stood completely still, processing what had just happened. He had let that arrogant pony walk all over him. He insulted his family, his wife, and worst of all, himself. He could feel his hands crumpling into fists as he turned his head back to the door. He had spent all of this time trying to build his confidence and become a stronger person, mentally and physically. He wasn't just going to stand there and watch it all burn to the ground.

Suddenly, a flood of feelings rushed through his body. He was reminded of his previous life, and how he was treated. He was constantly put down, constantly ignored and hated. The only feeling of pride that he ever had was when he stole that gun. It was the wrong thing to do, but it felt so good to finally be on top for once. It was like all the negativity and sadness of his old life balled up into a frenzy of rage. He stood among the crowd, grinding his teeth as he stared at the open doorway. He raised his hands to his glasses, folded them neatly, placed them into his jacket's pocket and began to walk towards the door.

He opened the door to find the pony still in the room.

"Do you even understand what the word 'leave' means?"

Alfred walked right up to his face again, secretly begging for things to get out of hand. His hands were now sweating from the force of his fists. He kept them by his side as he breathed down the pony's neck angrily.

"Out."

"Excuse me?"

"Get. Out."

"Is that a threat?"

"Yeah...I guess it is," Alfred whispered menacingly.

"Alright, cowboy, I'll give you one shot, but it better be your best because if I get up, I eat you."

"I hope you do," Alfred whispered as he grabbed the back of the stallion's head, bringing him closer as he unleashed a set of strong punches. The pony wasn't expecting him to fight this strong, so he struggled to pull himself away, but Alfred yanked him up and dragged him by his mane out of the restroom. The pony tried to thrust and wriggle his way out of Alfred's hold, but it was too strong. He could feel the hair almost being ripped as Alfred pulled him out towards the crowd. Everypony suddenly stopped whatever they were doing and turned to the deafening screams. The pony's attempts to break free were even louder than the music, but it didn't bother Alfred. He only had one thing on his mind, and that was sweet revenge.

He pushed himself through the crowd towards the front door, dragging the now terrified pony along with him. He could see Applejack and Rainbow in the corner of his eye. They were frozen in what looked like fear, but he couldn't tell. His mind was in flames as he stormed out of the building, throwing the pony towards the cold street below. The dark outside consumed the frightened pony, but Alfred's fire was so bright he knew exactly where to look. He spotted the pony trying to stand and he unleashed another bunch of punches to his muzzle. He could feel the bones crunch as he repeatedly bashed his face in. He grabbed the back of his head again as he attacked him. The pony had now fallen to his knees, but Alfred wasn't planning to stop. He could feel the blood splashing onto the pavement beneath them like liquid gold. Alfred was lost in pure hatred and continued to unload punch after punch after punch.

Soon, the arrogant pony was reduced to a blubbering and bloody mess. His face was now horribly disfigured, and he could barely open his mouth to scream. The blood covered him all over, turning his once white coat pink, and flowing through the wet and cold streets. The members of the party just stared from the door, mortified. They couldn't take their eyes away from the savage beating that Alfred was delivering. Some of them tried to run and get help, but the rest just stood and watched. None of them dared to stop him. He was way too out of it. Alfred could feel that small fire grow and grow as he carried on. The flames began to possess Alfred, giving him the strength to push through the pain of his bleeding knuckles.

Rainbow and Applejack had just managed to push their way to the front, only to stop again in horror for a few seconds. They quickly leapt from the doorway and tried to pull Alfred away from the pony. Alfred did not stop however, he continued to practically murder this stallion. Rainbow and Applejack yanked and heaved trying to desperately break it apart. Alfred could soon feel his strength fading, and eventually gave in. Now that the fire was extinguished, Alfred took a look upon his fine work.

The pony laid in a large puddle of his own blood, trembling with pain and fear. His was breathing heavily and he gave a disturbing rattling sound, like an empty spray can. His face was twisted, contorted by the brutal onslaught. Alfred could see that the blood had soaked through his face, and into his eyes. The back of his mane was ripped by Alfred's brute force, leaving small, empty patches. Alfred sat back in a cold sweat, beginning to panic as he saw the blood run down from the body and towards his feet. Upon glancing at his now blood covered shoes, he gazed at himself and found he was also splattered with red. He raised his hand in the air and was terrified. His knuckles were now coated in a dark liquid, hiding the serious damage beneath.

Alfred began to hyperventilate again, realising what he had just done. He sat in the darkness, staring at the unfortunate creature he had created. He slowly pulled his glasses out of his jacket and placed them on his drenched face, feeling his heart beat crazily in his chest.

He rose to his feet, looking down upon the bloody mess, and then walked into the darkness.