Author's Note

FINALLY: I can give the brutal murder warning!

The News

I finished off my cigarette and pocketed the butt. My master would get mad at me if I tossed it on the ground. It trains its proxies to respect the forest and treat it as our home. It basically was our home, we went there when we needed to rest or when we needed sanctuary. We've always been safe in the forests. I was about to start making my way out of the forest when suddenly I was tackled and pinned by a large blue blur. At least that's what it looked like at first. the impact had dazed me a bit and after my vision cleared I saw a blue mare with a white mane holding me down with tears streaming down her face. She's likely the mother of the children I had just given to my master, but how did she find me?

"Where...are they?" I didn't bother replying. Instead I tried to break free from her grip, but to no avail. Like I said, these horses are strong. She didn't even budge a little bit.

"Tell me where it took them!" Eww, she spit on my mask.

"Calm down, I'll tell you. I just need to know how you found me?" Please answer, I need to know.

"I saw my kids walking in here from Ponyville, so I followed them. I didn't see you until you...you gave them to that THING!" Wait a minute. She didn't see me until that point? So no one else knows I'm here either, she's the only one.

"Now tell me where it took them!" This mare is six kinds of stupid if she thinks she'll get anything out of me. I laughed a bit before deciding to stop toying with her. It's gonna suck for her family when she doesn't come home though. She moved her face closer to mine, glaring daggers at me. I headbutt her in the muzzle and she put a hoof over her face. I tightened my now free hand into a fist and slammed it into the side of her head, knocking her off balance and allowing me to roll out from under her. I got up and pinned her in the same manner she did me. She was now bleeding from both her mouth and nose.

"Lady, do you know how brain-dead you sound? Trotting in here and trying to make me tell you where it took them, that nuts. Hey, did you even tell anyone you were coming in here?" She couldn't have been that stupid, at least one person is bound to...

"No, but..." Sometimes these ponies amaze me in more ways than one.

"You realize you've just signed your own death certificate, right?" She looked at me, her face was full of anger and hate.

"You know, you're actually pretty cute. It sucks that we had to meet this way." I can't help it, sometimes it's fun to mess around like this. Sadly it didn't last long, she managed to get me to let go of one of her hooves by biting my arm, giving her the chance to punch me. I've got to tell you, she has one hell of a hit. My vision went black as I fell face-first into the dirt and went limp. She came over and kicked me in the stomach, knocking the wind right out of me just before rolling me into my back. I laid on the ground trying to catch my breath as I looked up at her, my vision finally coming back, she was still bleeding pretty bad.

"Just wait until I tell the mayor about you. Soon the whole town will hunt you down and destroy you." She started to walk away and then it hit me. If she did that then the plan would be over. Everything that's happened will be blamed entirely on me. There would be no suspicions of the Slender Horse, of my master. His influence won't grow. I will have failed him...

"You're dead, bitch!" My adrenaline kicked in as I let my rage take control of me. I jumped back to my feet and charged her. She turned around to see what all of the noise was. Her jaw took a brief meeting with my knee, causing her to fall over and cough up small pools of blood. I quickly straddled her so she couldn't move.

"I think I saw some teeth fly from that one." I reached to my side and pulled out my knife, using it to pry her mouth open. I could see the blade digging into her gums as I did this, but then again it wasn't like there was much else for it to go against. I had knocked every tooth that rested in the front of her muzzle clean out. She was screaming and swinging frantically at me. I couldn't feel anything, the adrenaline had made my body go completely numb. Every hit was like having a sibling throw stuffed animals at you. And just like that it was starting to get annoying; So, I grabbed one of her hooves and punched her in the joint. There was a loud crack as the bones snapped. She cried in pain louder than anyone else I had ever heard. As much as I would love to sit here and torture her, I can't. Her screaming would eventually attract attention. I held my knife up high and brought down on her throat, waves of blood seeped out of her neck as she started choking. I pulled my knife out and stabbed her again, and again, and again. When I was finally tired of stabbing her I grabbed her mane with one my hands, wrapping my fingers around the thick strands of hair, and pressed my foot to her chest. With a few hard tugs the bone finally gave out. I held her now severed head to my face and cursed at it before I threw it against a nearby tree. I started taking deep breaths to calm myself down. After a few breaths I noticed a very familiar stench and smiled as I could finally formulate a decent plan for the body. I was jumping around, clapping my hands and whooping like an idiot until they were close enough for me to see the lights of their eyes. I ran to the nearest tree and climbed my way to the top in record time. Watching the beasts tear the body apart was actually kind of relaxing. It was funny how they would fight over the tiniest chunks of meat. It only took them a few minutes to finish their meal and move on. They didn't leave much behind, mostly just a few splashes of red here and there, but at least the ponies had something to blame other than me.

It was almost an hour later when I walked into the castle. My cloths were soaked and dripping all over the floor. Twilight saw me and worked her way over.

"James? What happened to you?" I could tell by the look on her face that she was doing her best not to laugh.

"Well, long story short, I fell...and landed in a lake." I pulled some seaweed off of my mask and twilight snorted, still trying not to laugh at me and my shame.

"I'll go get a towel. You just wait here." I watched her as she walked away and the second she turned the corner I heard her bust out laughing. Getting blood all over my cloths wasn't really a problem. Everything I wore was black, so it wouldn't stain. All it would take was a bit of water and thanks to a lake I found in the Everfree I was clean. She came back holding a towel with her magic with a big smile on her face.

"Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it." I'd laugh at you if you fell off of a cliff.

"Hey, were you in the Everfree at all?" Shit, come on, think. I can lie and say I wasn't, but there's a chance that one of her friends saw me and will call me out on it. Then I'll lose their trust and be right back to square one. If I tell them I was then they might connect me to the recent disappearances...I'm gonna have to take a chance. I have faith that I covered my tracks well enough, they won't find out.

"I was for a bit, why?" My mind is all over the place at this point, praying that I didn't leave something out of place.

"Some ponies saw a mare go in there and they haven't heard from her since. I was wondering if you had seen her?" If I play my cards right then everything should fall into place nicely.

"No. I saw a pack of giant wooden dogs, but that's about it."

"You saw timber wolves! Holy Celestia, are you okay!?" She looked like she just seen a ghost.

"Yeah, I could smell them coming from a mile way so I scaled the first tree I could find." When you mix a bit of truth with your lie, not only does it become easier to remember, it makes it harder for someone to tell that you are lying. Twilight sighed and calmed down, but had a downcast look about her now.

"I really hope that poor mare is safe." I really don't understand how she can care so much for other ponies, especially ones who she doesn't even know.

"You're worrying too much, I'm sure she's fine." Now that the timber wolves are in the playing field when ponies start assume the mare died in there Twilight will be the first to jump to the conclusion that it was the timber wolves. And with her being a pony of authority, they will all listen to her. I was snapped out of my little inner-monologue by Twilight violently rubbing me down with the towel she had.

"What the hell are you doing!?" I tried to escape the assault, but magic was not something I had a lot of experience with.

"You are absolutely soaked! Now hold still!"

"Stop!" Just kill me, it'll be easier!