Nightcore

Nightcore - Chapter 2: "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor"

The room was filled with the clinking of silverware on china as the three ate the delicious waffle muffins. Nightcore had just assumed Miss Hooves had been joking when she had said that she could make anything out of muffins. The delicacy before him was by far the most delicious, moist and perfect waffle he had ever eaten. Derpy just wrote off his compliments saying that muffins were her special talent. And looking at the bubbles on her flank, Nightcore thought maybe there was more than meets the eye to her cutie mark. Perhaps the bubbles represented how every muffin that came from the mailmare’s kitchen was as light and fluffy as a cloud, instead of a symbol marking her intellectual nature.

“Dinky, it’s almost time for school. Go get ready and we’ll leave soon,” instructed Derpy.  No matter where Nightcore went, foals always remained the same. Always happy to have fun but always sulked when they had to work. Dinky appeared to be one of the few who considered school “fun.” At the hint of school, the young unicorn burst out of the room with enough speed to humble the famed Rainbow Dash herself. Once the foal was gone, the kitchen soon filled with an awkward silence. It was almost choking – the tension was so thick.

“So… you have a lovely home,” said Nightcore breaking the silence.  He wasn’t a stallion that found himself in many social situations, so Nightcore found trying to start a conversation with this mare was far more challenging than some of his most taxing hits. Now that he got a good look at the place, he realized it was little more than a glorified dump. Cracks littered the walls, the roof was leaking despite the fact that there had been a drought for a good while, which might have explained why the water drops stank to high heavens.  In fact there were so many patches of discoloration, it clearly hinted at the presence of underlying mold. Here was a stallion that was able to fool even the best lie detectors and he was having trouble keeping a poker face to this simple mare. He obviously didn’t try hard enough by the way Derpy’s face fell.

Derpy sighed as she responded, “There’s no need to lie. This place is a dump. And what’s worse is that even though it is a dump that no pony would want, I’m still unable to afford the rent!” At this the poor thing broke down into tears. For the second time in his long life, Nightcore was at a loss on what to do, and the day had just barely begun.

As the day progressed, the mail house soon filled with patrons; either wanting to mail a package, or yell at the wall-eyed mare for some blunder that most of the time couldn’t have been remotely her fault. Ironically, it seemed more ponies stopped by to yell at the gray mare than those who wanted to get an item shipped. Derpy seemed to hold herself together for the most part, but everypony had their limits, granted she seemed to handle more nonsense than most. Still, it wasn’t long before one extremely rude orange stallion with an ebony black mane and tail, and the strangest cutie mark Nightcore had ever seen, reduced the pegasus to a sobbing wreck.

Nightcore was getting the awful feeling that being in uncomfortable situations was going to be a common occurrence here. He helped Derpy finish filing the day’s mail, close the shop, and brew some relaxing herbal tea.  The mare just sat at her kitchen table, sipping her tea as the aftermath of her sobs racked through her body. “Th-thank y-you…so much for-for y-y-your help. It means a-a lot to m-m-me,” sniffed Derpy, taking the opportunity to whip out a tissue Pinkie style and give it a thorough soaking.  “I-I really feel b-b-bad about this, but could y-y-you walk with m-m-me to pick up Dddddd-Dinky?”

Nightcore was a cold-blooded killer capable of slashing a foal’s throat for the right price, all be it a high one due to the involvement of a foal, and the outrage it incurred, but he doubted that even Discord himself would tell Derpy “No”. Nightcore it seemed was clearly no Discord, yet despite everything that happened to him, there was still a glimmer of compassion in his plagued heart.  “Sure, I’d be happy to go. After all, you did save my life,” he replied wondering why he offered to help her.

As Derpy locked the door, Nightcore secretly cursed his still compassionate heart for betraying his common sense. It was bad enough they had to walk clear across town in broad daylight, but to make matters worse, he had to deal with the worst creatures known to equines… foals! He hated foals. They were like tiny alcoholics except he couldn’t hit them when they got rude or annoying. And dear Celestia, were they good at hide and seek. During one of his hits, he was almost found by a little filly. Luckily for him no pony believed her and he was able to escape with no pony the wiser.

As the two walked the streets, it didn’t take Derpy long before she thought of a brilliant idea.  Turning to Nightcore she suggested, “How about instead of walking through town, we take the scenic way around the outskirts of town?”  The mare looked at him thoughtfully.  He thought her idea had merit.  By taking her suggested route, they would attract less attention.  Derpy continued looking at him, and added, “I mean as long as that’s okay with you, Nightcore.”

He nodded to her and replied, “That would be fine.”

When Derpy had said they were going to take the scenic route, she really meant the scenic route. Upon reaching the point farthest form the center of town – the two walked into a gorgeous little field filled with all sorts of little flowers and multi-colored plants. Birds sang in the trees and bugs circled the perfect circles of the trees outlining the area. The last time Nightcore had seen something this beautiful was when the Dawn guard tried to capture him with an illusion spell. Realization quickly struck Nightcore like a sledgehammer being thrust into his gut. He turned towards Derpy to see she was sobbing again with tears rolling down her face.  Looking around he noticed the lovely field was an illusion.  The beauty faded and was replaced by the Everfree Forest, whose twisted trees made a natural barrier that hindered flight.  He felt a rush of panic strike, as he looked at her again, failing to keep the sense of betrayal from leaving his eyes.

“I’m so, so sorry, but your bounty was enough to pay a decade’s worth of rent and still leave enough to pay for repairs,” whimpered Derpy as more tears fell from her eyes.  Nightcore activated his life detection spell and found the odds were in his favor 100 to 1 with the twenty members of the Dawn guard located. It would have been like shooting apples off a tree. But there was no way he could do anything to retaliate and be sure Derpy wouldn’t get hurt or die in the crossfire. While he might not enjoy shedding innocent blood, these guys could care less as long as there was a target that could get the blame. There was only one option.

Nightcore hung his head dejectedly and announced, “I surrender! I won’t fight! Just don’t hurt the mare.”

The Dawn guards emerged from their hiding places, each wearing a superior grin.  “Wow, it seems Equestria’s “bloodiest shadow” has a soft spot after all. But do not worry; with all the blood you’ve shed, another casualty won’t do much,” declared one of the guardsman, who was obviously the one in charge. Nightcore sighed with relief, there were two things he loved more than money, when a plan came together, and when he relieved a debt. The stallion in front of him just sneered at him. “There’s just one problem, you see, I won’t get a promotion if you surrender. So, I’m going to have to kill you and the mare. We can’t have witnesses now, can we?”

Nightcore’s weapon of choice was world renown as the sharpest, most-deadly blade ever to be forged. The sword was black as night, forged from dragon’s blood and fire, and made from an unknown metal that was rumored to repair itself from the blood of its victims.  The seven-foot long Executioner Blade could give Death a reason to pause.

Derpy could only sand there in fear as Night exploded with rage.  He hefted the Executioner Blade at the ready as he charged the Dawn guards with unimaginable speed.  His blade cleaved into their necks seemingly instantaneously.  To Derpy’s horror the guards’ heads seemed to explode off their necks in carnage the likes this innocent mare had never seen before.  Just before she began passing out from shock, she felt something dripping on her shoulder. The mare managed to turn and see Nightcore with his hoof shoved clear through the chest of the last guardsman behind her. The Stallion had an axe raised above his head, which had been waiting to strike her down.  Derpy wasn’t stupid, even as unconsciousness reached to claim her; she knew that Nightcore had just saved her life

-------------------------------------------------- author's note ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special thanks to  JaydexTheShadowKnight for editing. I don't own MLP;FiM but I do own the copyrights to Nightcore and the picture. Best $50 I've ever spent.