Kill the five

The late twilight sun was peaking over the mountain edge, spreading thin arrows of light across the valley bellow it. The air was cold and every breath that passed Cinder´s muzzle produced a small cloud of grey smoke. He stood leaning over the balcony, his furless skin pressing against the metal railing.

“I love this time of day.” He said inhaling the chilling air. “Just cold enough to be pleasantly chilling and allow me to walk around without my bandages but not enough to make me freeze.”

“Fuck you.” A voice said behind him.

“Oh, you’re still alive.” Cinder turned. “And better yet you can still talk. Means we have a long time left.”

The pony he was talking to laid on top of a table, all of his hooves pinned to the wood by thick iron nails. His left eye was missing, only a bloody, dark whole remained. Four pools of blood had formed underneath the table at each of it´s legs. Both Cinder and him expected that he would have bleed to death some time ago. Weather Cinder knew exactly where to place the nails or if he just gotten lucky, or unlucky from his victim´s perspective, isn´t certain.

“So what do you think, Mister Unlucky? What bit should I cut off next?”

“My name is Firefly. You ugly son of a bitch.”

Cinder picked up a hammer and hit the nail holding down Firefly´s fore hoof right on the head. Firefly screamed as the nail vibrated with the force of the impact.

“Let me remind you of something, you little snitch, betrayer, backstabber and…. who knows what else you have done; you’re gonna die in this room. And there´s not a thing on this planet that you can do to change that.”

“I didn´t betray our brother.” Firefly growled.

Cinder hit the nail again and Firefly screamed so loud that it echoed through the valley around them. “So now we can add liar to that little list of your doings.” He looked over the collection of tools he had for torture and cruelty.

“I didn´t betray you fucking brother!” Firefly shouted.

Cinder hit with the hammer again, not on one of the nails this time and not with the blunt side. He hit Firefly in the shoulder, the hammer´s claw dug into the flesh and Firefly shouted again.

“Damn.” Cinder said when he was trying to pull the hammer out. “It´s wedge into the bone. If I remove it now you´re gonna bleed to death really fucking fast.”

Firefly took a few ragged, pain breaths with a closed mouth. He glared into Cinder´s bright azure eyes.
Cinder wiggled the hammer a little in the wound.

Firefly grunted and released a muffled scream through his closed mouth.

“Though, stubborn and tolerable to pain, to say the least.” Cinder smirked and made a slight nod towards Firefly. “For all the flaws I listed before and I´m damn sure you have many more. You do have some redeeming qualities about you.” He studied the tools on the desk next to him, studying a stainless knife. “Shame that you never used them to get away from me. Not that they would help you escape me now anyway.” He turned and stared at Firefly. “Your curios what would help you, now aren’t you? What else could you be thinking about now? It´s starting to eat at you isn´t it?” Cinder laughed to himself. “We´ll I´d say that at this point there isn´t anything that would help you escape, so you can just drop that idea before you even think about it. There are however a few things that might make me kill you faster, shorten you suffering somewhat. Or maybe I´ll feel really good about you and just put a fast piece of hot lead right into your skull. Come on,” He tapped Firefly on the shoulder. “Aren´t you gonna ask what those qualities are?”

Firefly didn´t answer. He tried his best to avoid Cinder´s gaze.

“I haven´t cut your loose tongue, yet. And if you don´t answer me I might just do that. I´m really good at cutting tongues. It´ll come clean of and you won´t bleed to death.”

“What are they?” Firefly asked begrudgingly.

“Probably honesty. Or perhaps a sharper mind that would have kept you out of this situation to begin with.” He chuckled to himself. “But since you don´t have either it doesn´t really matter.”

“How do you know that? Maybe I can be honest.”

“Maybe you can. Answer me this question; where did you hide the money? We practically tore your house down and dug up half the yard around. So where did you hide the cash you stole from my brother?”

Firefly felt infuriated and enraged beyond belief. He wanted to shout right into this burnt, pink pony´s face. There was no point in telling Cinder anything. “Up your ass.” He told Cinder. “That´s where I hid the money.”

Cinder withdrew to his desk. “You know, I´ve meet a lot of liars in my days. Some of them pretty good, others not so much. But during my time I´ve also managed to find a lot of the telltale signs of liars. The way they look you in the eye or how it can take them just a moment to think of an answer to a though question. And you…” He turned to Firefly. “Show enough signs of lying that I would have to be deaf and blind not to notice. Even then I could probably still smell your nervous sweat.”

“Do you have some point to make?”

“One.” Cinder turned back to his desk.

“Doesn´t fucking matter.” Firefly said before Cinder could go on or say anything. “Like you said before, I´m gonna die in this room regardless of what I do. So do whatever you want with me. I´ll make sure to die before you do even half of what you want to do.”

The corners of Cinder´s mouth climbed up his cheeks and formed a large, wide grin. He had to keep himself from laughing out loud. “You´re absolutely right. You are going to die in here but the point I had was that I have also become a pretty good liar over the years. It wouldn´t have mattered what you said or did. Your death will not be painless or simple. It will be long, drawn out to the point that the time before sunrise will feel like half a century for you.” He leaned over Firefly and stared deeply into his eyes. “I´m going to break you.”

“Do your worst.”

“I will make you regret that you said that.”

And Cinder did. Through that otherwise calm and still valley a series of screams and shrieks echoed between the hills and mountains. Whatever sounds may have been produced by the animals and creatures inhabiting the valley where drowned out by the pain fueled screams coming out from the lonely house.

***

On the top of the largest hill overlooking the valley stood a lonely mare. Her silhouette cast a blurred shadow over the ground before her. The air grew cold. The breaths that escaped her muzzle formed little grey pockets of smoke. Her golden brown eyes stared into the valley below her. She made adjustment to the position of her hat and gazed at the building at the center of the valley.

As the sun settled behind her and the last remnants of daylight disappeared, the light coming out of the house´s windows grew brighter and warmer. The screams coming out of it stopped. Not abruptly, but slowly with every yell growing more and more quiet. Just as the valley was returning to being silent as a grave, the screams were replaced with music. The tunes were clearly coming from some kind of record.

Apple Bloom brushed a small insect of her shoulder and started making her way down the hill. Her cloak brushed over the rough sand. Every steep she took sent rocks rolling down the hillside and clouds of dust rose around her hooves.

Most of the pebbles and rocks that crashed down the hill were drowned out by the music playing. But then one of the rocks she pushed down fell off an edge and smashed into an old dry log. The crack of the snapping wood echoed through the valley.

Apple Bloom felt her muscles tense up as the music stopped and a shadow moved past the window. Without much thinking she pressed herself to the ground and stared at the house.

The door opened and a pony shaped figure stood in the doorway. A long shadow was cast from the black silhouette of the pony. Two small stumps seemed to grow out of the pony´s back. The head turned, searching for around for the source of the sound.

The vengeful mare kept her gaze focused, sharply on the pony in the doorway. Her hoof moved slowly under her cloak, reaching for the revolver.

Cinder took a few steps out, the ground graveled as his hooves pushed the dirt aside.

Slowly and carefully Apple Bloom removed the gun from its holster. Her heart was beating like wild drum. Every little sound she made while moving her gun under the cloak sounded like a hundred boulders rolling down the hill.
The burned stallion was in the middle of taking a series of steps when he stopped himself. His eyes narrowed and searched the valley. The smoke passing his muzzle slowed down.

A small pebble, no bigger than a grain of sand, fell down from Apple Bloom´s hoof and rolled down the hill.
Cinder´s ear flicked.

Apple Bloom froze. Not just because Cinder reacted, she realized something. She wasn´t sure if she could manage to get him from this distance or in this light.

Cinder turned his head and raised a patch of skin were his brow would have been. He stared into the darkness, right towards Apple Bloom.

The vengeful mare met his eyes with her own. Her golden browns met his azure. Her hoof struggled not to tremble or move. Two questions raced through her mind; could she manage to hit from here and what would happen is she missed? Cinder had no weapons on him that Apple Bloom could see. Though the light provided from the house only showed her a black outline of the burned stallion´s figure. The gun felt heavy in one moment and light another.
The burned stallion sighed, smacked his lips. He turned and walked back into the house.

She holstered her revolver and got up on all fours. A small pebble or two rolled of the edge of her cloak and a fine layer of dust had attached itself to her hooves. The rest of her way down the hill was quiet and the only things moving besides Apple Bloom were puffs of smoke coming off from every steep she took.

Apple Bloom stood at the door. She was about to fling the door open and charge in with her sword held high, but stopped herself just before touching the handle. Instead she pressed herself against the wall and gently pressed the door´s handle down.

The hinges didn´t creak or screech as the door opened. A bright, yellow light spread from the doorway. A scent of blood and burned flesh spread and filled the air. The stench was harsh enough that it would have made any other pony jump or shriek at the sting of it. But Apple Bloom kept stoic and the smell was barely enough for her to register. She took a quick glance into the room before her. It was empty and she saw a staircase leading to a second floor.

Inside the house the smell got worse. Enough for the vengeful mare to flinch for moment. The stench came from the second floor. She put on hoof down and one on the sword´s kashari. A slow breath moved over her muzzle. The sword made a small click before the blade started exiting the scabbard. The edge reflected the yellow light as Apple Bloom put the blade in front of her. She walked up to the stair and took the first steep.

The steeps were made of wood but kept silent when Apple Bloom´s hoof pressed down on them. Nevertheless, she took every steep carefully and until she was up the stair and the air filled with the biting stench of blood and crisply burned meat.

On the right side of the wall she saw a door, and given how thick the air was with it, probably the origin of the stench.

This time, Apple Bloom decided to ignore the instincts she obeyed before. She kicked the door open and galloped in with her sword.

She was meet by a bloody corps lying on a table and black frying pan smacking the back of her head.

The strike threw Apple Bloom to the ground. Everything became a blur and the world started swirling around her.
A voice chuckled with a gargling tone. “You sure took your time didn´t you.”

Apple Bloom tried to get up but her body seemed to have been replaced with a barrel full of lead. Her hooves just scrambled on the floor, trying desperately to get the sword lying before her.

A hoof pinned Apple Bloom to the floor. “Now, now. No funny business.” Cinder said while giving the vengeful mare an injection of sedatives into her side of her flank, right next to the base of her tail.

The world moved a lot slower around her. She didn´t fell sleepy or tired, but her body started to relax and her eyelids became increasingly heavy by the moment. Soon enough Apple Bloom´s forehead slammed into the floor and the world grew black around her.

Cinder stared down over his prize. He chuckled and turned her over. He took a gander at her weapon. He picked up the weapon and admired the edge reflecting the light coming of the lamp in the roof. “A fine sword.” He said, put the katana and her hat to the side before picking up the phone.

“Hello?” A snarky, mare´s voice asked on the other end.

“Heartbreaker, my old friend.”

“Cinder.”

“Right on.”

“How come you´re granting me the honor of you calling in the middle of the night?”

“Something peculiar just happened.”

“What?” She asked with a dry tone.

“I just caught me the cunt who killed Noose and Slit-Throat, and you´re never gonna guess who she is.”

“Who?”

“The lost filly from Sweet-Apples-Acres.”

“I´ll be fucking damned. Still alive and kicking?”

“Kicking, no. Alive, yes.”

“What are planning to do with her?”

Cinder sat down in his armchair and rubbed his chin for a moment before answering. “I´m gonna make sure that she dies, cold, alone and terrified.”

“And you´re not gonna wait for me or Hammerhead to make it over?”

“Well, if it was anypony else I would chain the fucker down in basement and lock the door to make sure that the pony would stay alive for enough for you to get here. Thing is that this mare isn´t just anypony. This is the bitch that got both Slit-Throat and Noose, I´d rather not take my chances with her. I will make sure she gets a grave that you can easily find and disrupt. That good enough for you?”

“I´ll come over with Hammerhead tomorrow. If that cunt is, by some miracle, still alive, I´ll cut her skin off and watch her stumble about the desert.”

“Almost makes me want to the risk and keep her alive. See you in the morning.” Cinder put the phone down and rose to walk back to Apple Bloom. “Thank your lucky star that I don´t know how to pull of skin.”

The phone rang again.

“Hammerhead?” Cinder asked.

“Wrong, brother.” The voice on the other end said.

“What are you calling for?”

“One of my stallions have gone missing. Wouldn´t happened to have seen him?”

“What did he look like?”

“Brown coat, grey eyes, a Pegasus.”

Cinder stared down at Apple Bloom. “Well I have come across a pony today, but I doubt she´s the one you’re looking for.”

“Who is she?”

“A mare with an old grudge to settle.”

“That doesn´t narrow it down.”

“It´s the long lost sister from Sweet-Apple-Acres. I think her name´s Apple Bloom.”

“She´s still alive?”

“Not for much longer. I´m gonna throw her into the abyss, you know that old hole from where we used to play as colts.”

Only a mute sigh came from the phone´s speaker.

“You still there?”

“Yes, I remember.” The voice took one a cold, angry tone.

“By the way, what was the name of that missing stallion?”

“Firefly.”

“I´ll let you know if I find him.” Cinder put the phone down.

***

Apple Bloom woke by her head crashing into rough gravel. Her eyelids were still heavy and her body felt numb.

“Good night.” Cinder said while staring down at her.

The vengeful mare felt a second wave of energy coming through her. She tried to make a move for him but felt ropes holding her hooves together behind her back.

“Nice try.” Cinder said with a smug grin.

Apple Bloom squirmed around and struggled to get the ropes to loosen. But the knots held on to her firmly and Cinder pushed Apple Bloom to the ground. He held the point of a knife to her eyes.

“Stop fighting.” He said with cold, angry tone. “I´m gonna through you into that hole over there.” He pointed towards a massive, black maw in the ground. “You´re gonna spend the rest of your life down there. And that will be the end of your little story. But if you keep fighting like this, I´ll poke both your eyes out. Now…” He put the knife away. “If you get your shit together and stop acting like a fucking cunt, I´ll give you this.” He held a burning lantern next to her head. The knife came in at corner of her sight. “So which one is it going to be?”

“Lantern.” Apple Bloom said, sneering and voice graveling.

Cinder´s smug grin returned. “Good choice.”

Next thing that Apple Bloom knew she standing at the edge of black pit that she couldn´t see the bottom of. Her breath was almost gasping and her heart made frantic beats.

“This is for Noose and Slit-throat.” Cinder said before pushing her.

The darkness consumed her and the wind started shrieking her ears. Whatever light remained on the walls quickly disappeared. The ground gave her back legs a hard strike when she landed. With no control over her body or knowledge of her surroundings, Apple Bloom crashed forward and her face smacked into the wall in front of her. The jagged rocks cut her cheek open. She fell to the ground and the grains of sand pressed into the wound, burning and coarse.

With her hooves still tied behind her back she managed to squirm onto her back and looked back up at Cinder, standing on the edge. The fall couldn´t have been more than a few meters but to Apple Bloom it felt like a lot more.

“What about my lantern!?” She shouted and heard her voice echoing between the walls.

“Right. Fair is fair.” He threw the lantern down the hole. The glass cracked but the flame stayed alive. “Have fun down there!” Apple Bloom could see a massive boulder rolling over the maw and closing it up.

Alone in the cold, silent, hole, with only the flickering, yellow light coming of the lantern to keep her company Apple Bloom started crying. Her cries jumped around the walls and tears started rolling down her cheeks.