No More Tears

It was quiet all throughout the halls of the mansion, and the night working servants were just about to call in for the night. There was no real reason for security guards, not with the mansion being surrounded by a Timberwolf infested forest. As the last servant was about to put up his broom, he heard something. It came from down the halls towards the kitchen. Maybe it was one of the other servants trying to sneak some food. He sighed, he knew that the Lady never fed them enough. And part of him wanted to just leave them be. But if the Lady had seen that he was supposedly working on the night of the food hist, he would be blamed and disciplined. Reluctantly, the night servant pressed forward to the kitchen.

As he entered, he flipped the switch, but the lights didn't turn on. Maybe they cut the wire? No. They wouldn't do that. "Who's there? Come on out."

"Such wonderful toys..." I sharp voice answered, echoing slightly off of the chrome food prep tables.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" The night servant called out again, desperately trying to sound threatening. "Come on out!"

"Do you wanna play?" The sharp voice asked again, chuckling as he asked.

Something struck fear in the night servant's heart and told him to run away, but he couldn't find the strength to move his hooves. "E-enough games! Come on out!"

"Awww... You don't want to play?" The voice sounded disappointed. "Guess it's game over for you then!"

The night servant tried to take a step backwards and run far away from the kitchen, but as he turned, he was met by a glowing pair of yellow orbs surrounded by darkness. Before he could scream, the night servant felt something strike across him. Something warm began dripping down the front of him in large amounts. Raising his hoof to his throat, the night servant felt the warm liquid pour rapidly from a gash in his neck, right before his world went back, and he fell to the floor.

"You know, I read the moment before you die, your entire life flashed before your eyes" the cynical voice spoke as a grey Pegusus with a white mane emerged from the darkness. "Tell me, how shitty was your life?"

The last thing the servant heard in his life was a dark laughter that he would carry with his as he passed over. A sinister laugh that echoed through the kitchen like sirens and brazen bells.

Mystic knew he had heard something and hopped out of bed to check it out. His room was located right next to the Lady's, incase she needed him for anything in the night. And literally anything. He was her right hoof. He loved the Lady. He breathed for the Lady. She was his own sun and moon. He had been with her since he was a little colt, and looked at her both as a mother and a lover. Mystic would give anything to keep her safe. Not just his own life, but if he needed to, he would sacrifice the lives of every other servant in the mansion to keep the Lady happy and healthy.

As the unicorn servant cracked open his door, he carefully peered down the hall. Nothing. Just a dark hallway. The same as it had always been every night since the night he first arrived. As he opens the door, though, his hoof stepped in something. It was too dark to see, and Mystic didn't want to flicker on a lamp and risk waking the Lady. Quietly he bent down and sniffed his hoof, expecting it to be chocolate, possibly from one of Truffle's late night snack runs. The smell was odd... He couldn't quite place it, but the smell made him feel sick to his stomach.

With the help of the faint moon light that entered through the windows, Mystic was able to see a small trail of the liquid trailing down the hall and down the staircase. With a deep breath, he began to fallow the trail. He did his best to keep his steps quiet yet fast, just as he was taught every servant should step. The trail lead him all the way down the winding staircase and into the main hall. He continued to fallow it almost to the front door when he paused. He heard something. He knew he did. Like flapping. But that wasn't possible. All the Pegasus servants had their wings clipped to ensure they wouldn't fly away. They were told it was for presentation, the same thing being done with exotic pet birds. But the real reason was to prevent ponies from flying away rather then risking their lives by venturing into the forest. He clipped their wings himself to be sure the job was done right. Maybe it was a bird that had slipped in the mansion and couldn't find its way out. That seemed more logical.

Mystic looked around and figured that he was far enough away from the Lady's room to go ahead and cast an illumination spell without waking her. As he focused on shining a little light from his horn, he turned his head to come face to face with an upside down pony's muzzle. A face not inches from his own with a snow white mane and two black and yellow orbs for eyes!

"BOO!" It cried out, causing Mystic to fall over on his back, the spell dissipating, putting he loyal unicorn servant back in the dark.

Mystic had not been expecting somepony to be hanging upside down or that close to him. At first, he thought he might have imagined the pony, like a goal seeing monsters from the shadows at night. The unicorn quickly regained his composure and whispered into the darkness "who are you? Come one out."

"What's the matter?" It asked, the voice coming from one corner of the room, only to jump to another. "Why are you whispering? Afraid you'll wake the old Lady?"

Hearing somepony call the Lady 'old' made Mystic's teeth cringe. "Who are you?!"

"You guys aren't really creative with your questions, are you?" The sharp voice asked playfully , then jumped form one corner of the room to another, flapping wings echoing in the silent mansion. "Seriously, you would think that after a couple dozen or so of you asking the same question, somepony would hear me answer!"

"What do you mean?" Mystic's horn began to glow with the illuminating light again, but he couldn't find the pony that belonged to the sharp voice.

"You really wanna know?" The voice sounded sly and playful, almost teasing the uptight unicorn. "Well if you insist... Take a look out the window."

Curious, Mystic cautiously walked over to the window that overlooked the courtyard, hoping his eyes would adjust to the darkness of the room. But even as they did, the mysterious pony could not be seen. Mystic took a quick glance out the window, not wanting to have his back turned to the sharp voice for too long. At first he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but then, after another glance, horror rattled his heart.

His magical aura around his horn began to disappear as he looked out into the courtyard. Sprinkled all over the ground were the bodies of the servants! Every single one of them! Some lay in one piece, almost as if they were sleeping. But others... Others looked as though they had been chopped into little pieces! Mystic's eyes continued to gaze upon the frightening image before him, his heart completely sank when he noticed the fence circling the rose bush that stood in front of the mansion. It had several of the Lady's decorative spears puncturing the rose bush itself, but even worse, atop of every spear was the head of one of the senior unicorn servants! Those who Mystic felt closest with and considered brothers! Those who the Lady treated well!

"Oh those roses will look just lovely when they come in, won't they?" The voice said with a chuckle, the flapping of wings soon fallowed as it bounced from wall to wall.

"Dirt!" Mystic called out, no longer afraid of waking the Lady. "I recognize you anywhere! You're alive!"

"Sorry Sprinkles" The voice called it before jumping around again. "But you're only half right! The name's Cynical now. Cynical Storm!"

"You are going to pay for this, you know that! You pathetic, little worm!" The unicorn servant began to yell. "YOU WILL PAY!"

But Cynical only chuckled as he bounces around, the flapping of his wings echoing through the empty hall mixed with his maniacal laughter. "Maybe some day, Sparkles! But right now, it's time to play a game!"

"How about the one where you lose?" Mystic cast a spell that lit all the touches in the mansion, hoping that would not only allow him too see his demented foe, but also warn the Lady and her grandson.

In front of him stood the grey pegusus, the same one he though disposed of. But something was off about him. His mane that was a light grey before had become bleach white, a deviant grin was spread all across his face, and his eyes... His eyes were black where white should be, and the yellow iris of his eyes... There was no mistaking it. They were glowing! The Pegasus stood perfectly still now, looking at Mystic with some odd joy. What was it? What did he seem to be so happy about? As Mystic heard a loud whooshing noise, he realized just what Cynical was smiling about. He just won. It was triumph painted all over his muzzle.

Cynical wasn't just jumping around aimlessly, trying to frighten Mystic while he hid in the dark. No. Cynical was setting up a trap. The grey Pegasus had maneuvered the three giant, cast iron, chandeliers around to where the rope that held them would be burned through if somepony were to cast the touch lighting spell. Two would swing from the sides, and one from above! Not only had Cynical lead Mystic into a trap, he had planned for Mystic to be the one to set it off! Even more ingenious, Cynical knew that the spell to light all the torches would require quite a bit of magic. Too much for anypony else but mystic and the Lady. But even for them, after casting the spell, Mystic didn't have the strength to cast any type of magical shield or even teleport himself! There was no time to react, only a. Money to realize that he had just killed himself. With a mighty crash, the three cast iron chandelier crushed the most loyal of the Lady's servants.

Mystic could feel his body skewered all over by the intricate works of the cast iron chandeliers. Blood began to trickle from his mouth as he felt his body beginning to grow colder and colder. His vision was blurred, but his mind refused to let him die. At least not before warning the Lady.

Cynical reappeared beside Mystic, holding in his win a very sharp bone saw, twirling it around with his wing. "Don't worry, you won't die yet. I still want you to catch part of the main show. But the show ain't free, so I'll take your fair now..."

Mystic didn't have the strength to ask what Cynical had in mind before the demented pegusus began sawing off his own horn! Mystic cried out in pain as he felt the rigged blade of the saw slowly naw through his horn! After what seemed like hours of torture, Cynical finally got board of sawing at the horn, and used the base of the handle to snap off the rest! The horn hung by a small piece of Mystic's flesh for a moment before the grey pegusus slowly ripped it off!

"There, now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" He said with a smile as his black and glowing yellow eyes looked at Mystic. Cynical then paused for a moment as he tuned the separated horn around in his hoof before growing board with it and tossing it away like it was a wad of old gum.

Truffle was enjoying a nice dream
where he was in a giant version of his room, surrounded by all kinds of sugary treats and toy, and plenty of beautiful and lustful fillies, ready to do anything to please him. Yes, Truffle had a good feeling that this would be the life he lived once his grandmother kicked the bucket and he inherited the family fortune. That, and once he got rid of that annoying mare he was supposed to marry. All she ever talked about was herself. She hardly ever did anything for him! Truffle had to even lower himself as to use the servants for his sexual pleasures. They may be filthy slaves, but pussy is pussy. Truffle chuckled to himself while sleeping as he levitated another triple chocolate cupcake up to his lips and took a bite. But halfway through his bite he heard something. A voice. A voice that he didn't expect to hear ever again. The chubby brat looked around in his dream, wondering where the voice was coming from. It seemed to be growing louder and louder. Repeating the same thing over and over again.

"Wakie wakie, Tubby!" A sharper version of Dirt's voice kept saying. "Time to wake up and play!"

Just when Truffle thought he could ignore the ghost and get back to his naughty fillies with their chocolate cake, he felt something hit him hard across the face. That jolted the cubby little unicorn awake and tore him from his slumberland. Truffle had been forcefully awaken from his dream, to which he did not appreciate. And planned to let whoever had the nerve to do so that they were going to be in a world of hurt.

"Who dares wake me from my pl-pl-pl..." Truffle began to stutter when he saw the grey pegasus looming over him, starring down at him with black and glowing yellow eyes, a crooked smile flashing on his muzzle.

"Hello, Tubby! Are you happy to see your old pal?" Cynical asked, his crooked smile seeming to glow as brightly as his eyes.

"Dirt? B-b-but y-y-your dead!" Truffle began to stutter, unable to break away from the monstrous looking pegasus.

"The name's Cynical now!" The grey phantom corrected the chubby brat. "Cynical Storm! And I've come back to play some games with my dear old-"

"You will release me at once!" Truffle looked around Cynical to see his grandmother tied up in a rolling chair. It was at that moment that Truffle realized where exactly he was. Looking around he recognized the roof of the mansion, though he had only been up here once or twice. He also noticed that he and his grandmother had been strapped down in a pair of rolling chairs.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Old hag!" Cynical said as he seemed to half skip, half fly, over to the Lady. "Where are my manners. I used I be called Dirt by your Grandson, but now I'm called Cy-"

"YOU'LL BE CALLED MUD WHEN IM THROUGH WITH YOU!!!" The raging unicorn mare snapped, cuttings Cynical off. "Release me at once and I'll be sure your death will be quick and painless!"

Cynical began laughing maniacally while holding his sides, after a few moments, he stopped and wiped away a few tears of laughter. "You are sooooo funny, Old hag! I'm not going to let you go, at least not yet! I want us to have some fun! You know, play games, enjoy snacks, all the good stuff."

"You can burn in hell!" The lady snapped. "I'd rather dine with the servants and donate to the Royal guard's ball then to spend one minute with the likes of you!"

Cynical just started her right in the eye for a moment, the malicious joy in his face faded and gave way to an annoyed and disappointed scowl. He sighed before walking away from the Lady for a moment, and grabbed an item that was far too familiar to everypony in the mansion. It was her cane! "Now I wanted to, at least, play one game with you. This should be a familiar one to you. I like to call it 'crime and punishment'. Here, I'll show you how it works!"

Before anything else could be said, Cynical raised the cane up high, then slammed it down on the Lady's front right hoof. The old mare screamed in pain as tears began running down from her eyes. Truffle shook his mind clear and began to think about using magic to free him. He tried to concentrate on a teleportation spell, but nothing happened.

"Trying to run away, Tubby?" Cynical said, his deviant smile returned to his face as his glowing eyes locked onto Truffle. "You really shouldn't have have made me do your magical homework. I got to learn not only what spell's unicorns could do and how to cast them, but also how to stop the flow of magic entirely. And all it took was a concoction that could be cooked up in the kitchen."

The demented grey pegasus then motioned towards and bowl of a nasty green like paste before returning his attention back to the elderly mare before him.

"Now tell me, miss hag, you can take the next 5 hits or..." Cynical smiled over at Truffle who began to panic, beads of sweat rolling down the sides of his head. "You could give them to Tubby over there. What will it be?"

Truffle began to relax, knowing that his beloved grandmother would never do anything to-

"Yes, yes! The boy! Give them to him!" She cried out, tears still flowing from her eyes. "He's young, he can take it! Strike him! Leave me alone and hit him!"

Truffle's eyes widened when he heard his grandmother speak. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. She had always given him everything, everything he could ever hope for. She had kept him happy and well fed. And now. Now! Now she's sacrificing him because she doesn't want to feel a little pain! Cynical only laughed at the notion but nodded. "As you wish!"

Truffle begged and pleaded to the grey pegasus to not harm him, but the pleads all fell on deaf ears as Cynical raised the Cain again, this time striking Truffle on his shoulder, breaking a bone in the chubby pony's body. The next one he lashed out at Truffle's back, then at Truffle's left hind leg, then the right one, fracturing them both, then one last one across the side of Truffle's head. By he end of it, the chubby brat felt light headed and wanted to pass out. Only his former 'friend' wouldn't let him.

"Well, Tubby" Cynical began, chuckling. "What will it be? It's you're turn! You can either take the next couple of shots yourself-"

"Her!" Truffle said immediately, motioning over to his grandmother. "Give her the punishment!"

"You ignorant, spoiled brat!" The Lady called out, then was half stricken with fear, half outraged that her grandson would sell her out. "You spoiled little brat! You useless foal! After all I did for you!"

"Now now, let's not stoop to name calling, ok, old hag?" Cynical said as he casually walked over to the panicking mare.

"S-Stay away from me, y-y-you monster!" She cried out, but grew confused when he tossed the cane aside.

"Relax, you old bag" he said reassuringly as he then picked up a large jar of some odd and sweet smelling liquid. "I'm not gunna hurt you any more."

The Lady looked him over, priding herself as an excellent judge of character, and could see he was honest about not using the cane anymore. "W-well that's right! Do you know who I am?! I'm-"

The tormenting pegasus cut her off the same as she did to him earlier. Only when Cynical did it, he did so with a jar of barbecue sauce rather then with loud and obnoxious words. He poured it all over her, trying to give her a good even coating. "There now, you are ready for your dinner date! Come, come! They are waiting!"

Cynical then wheeled the Lady and Truffle over to the edge of the roof top. He positioned them so they had a very nice view of the front lawn below. Both of them froze when they saw the large amount of dead ponies sprinkled across the yard, as well as the rose bush and its new... Decorations. But something else stirred down below. From atop the mansion, they appeared to be nothing more then piles of logs and sticks. But once they began to stir, smelling the sweet and tangy barbecue sauce, it became clear what they really were.

"Timberwolves?!" The Lady sounded shaken. "B-But how?! The gate!"

The old mare and her grandson then looked to the front gate of the wall that surrounded the mansion. It was open! Not forced open or broken down, but unlocked. They were intentionally let in.

"Well ya see, Old hag!" Cynical stuck his head between the two unicorns, smiling as he looked down at the wolves as they continued to feast on the remains of the dead. "They don't like the fact that your mansion is here. And I told them I could help them to... Express their feelings. And since you don't want to play..."

Without any hesitation, Cynical pushed the Lady's chair over the roof's edge, skillfully cutting her ropes before she fell. As the older unicorn mare fell, the world seemed to slow down for her. She looked back up at the black and yellow eyes stallion who was smiling as he waved goodbye, her plump grandson who she had spoiled his whole life to make up for the lack of parents he never knew. She turned and looked into the mansion Windows and could see the ghosts of all the servants she's had over the years. They watched from every window of the mansion as she plummeted faster and faster to her gruesome fate. And little did she know, that Mystic, barley clinging to life, watched that before she even hit the ground, several large timber wolves jumped into the air, grabbing her, and began to rip her apart. The wolves did so in a more violent fashion, not because of hunger, but because they had been waiting years and years to rid their forest of the old mare and her kin.

Truffle watched as his grandmother, who had taken care of him and provided for him all his life, was ripped to pieces. The beasts of wood tore her to pieces to where there was nothing left of her but her night gown, and only a small, blood stained piece about the size of a handkerchief was left of that.

"Tisk tisk tisk" Cynical smiled as he tore Truffle's attention away from the bloody scene. "Well, that's what happens when you play games. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Right Tubby?"

Truffle couldn't speak, all he could do was watch as the grey pegasus picked up the cane and snapped it in half, tossing it off the roof, just like its previous owner.

"Well, now I have a few fun things for us to do" Cynical continued. "Do you wanna play? Or would you rather go see the old hag in hell?"

Truffle didn't hesitate. He forced a smile and agreed to play whatever Cynical wanted, so long as it kept him away from the wolves. With that, Cynical wheeled Truffle, who was still bound to the chair, back inside to begin their carnival of laughs.

The first thing Cynical suggested they do, is play farm! The demented Pegasus said he had never been on a farm, but from what he had heard it was a lot of fun! So after building a fort from the Lady's old bed, one to resemble a farm house, Cynical told Truffle that he was to be the pig. He had Truffle squeal and waddle around after cutting his ropes and kicking him to the floor. Truffle tried to wipe off some of the magical repressing paste off his horn with his free hoof, but Cynical knew better. He played the part of the farmer, who, when he came out to feed his pig, he acted surprised by what he saw.

He said that Truffle the pig was sick, and needed to be taken to the vet! Cynical then wheeled him out of the Lady's bedroom and down the stairs. The wheeled chair might make it down the stairs, but that was no fun for Cynical. So just short of hitting them, Cynical pushed Truffle the pig out of the chair, and watched the chubby pony roll down the stairs. Cynical fallowed behind Truffle, and whenever he stopped rolling, Cynical would give him a helping hoof and kick him with enough force to restart his rolling. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, one of Truffle's leg was now fully broken, and his body sustained major bruising and cuts. Nothing that would kill him, but defiantly slow him down if he tried to escape.

Cynical then dragged Truffle the pig across the ground, past a pile of the cast iron chandeliers, and into the kitchen. Before Truffle could put up a fight, Cynical grabbed more rope and tied him down to a table.

"Oh Doctor! Is there anything you can do?" Cynical asked himself as he put on a face mask, some rubber gloves, and picked up a bone saw.

"Well, good farmer" Cynical began to reply to himself. "We can save him, but we'll have to operate to remove that tumor. It could cause him some serious issues!"

Truffle was trying to figure out what Cynical was getting at, but didn't it didn't take long for him to guess once Cynical moved over to his head and began to position the saw at his horn! Truffle began to plead to the grey pegasus, begging him to stop. The spoiled pony even apologized for all he had done to his tormentor it the past. He apologized for hurting him, for casting spells to torture him, and for tossing him out like trash. Cynical paused for a moment, then disappeared out of Truffle's sight. When the pudgy unicorn began to relax, the 'doctor' returned with a large apple and shoved it in Truffle's mouth.

"There! That's better!" He said cheerfully. "I don't like to hear pigs squeal. Now let's begin!"

He began to saw through Truffle's horn, more slowly then he had with Mystic's, wanting Truffle to feel ever grind of the saw against the flesh and bone of his horn. Cynical learned from Truffle's books that the unicorn horn is the most sensitive part on a unicorn, secondary only to the loins. Tears ran like rivers down Truffle's puffy cheeks for what seemed like hours. Unlike the time with Mystic where Cynical got bored half way through, he was heavily enjoying every moment of this. Eventually, Cynical cut trough the entire horn. Blood was streaming from the young colt's head where his horn used to be, and to stop the bleeding, Cynical planned to plop some flour on it to help it coagulate. But first he had to sterilize it with some lemon salt and hot sauce! After applying the necessary sterilizing aid to the 'pig', Cynical went back and forth congratulating himself, speaking in several different tones of voices, but each time calling himself Doctor. Truffle could barley focus and passed out from the loss of blood as Cynical finished up the 'procedure' by finally applying the flour to coagulate the wound.

When the chubby unicorn woke again, he was in his bedroom, thinking it had all been a bad dream. But as he raised his hoof to his forehead, he was shocked to see his horn was gone! A poorly wrapped bandage circled his head. Then something caught his attention, the sweet aroma that he could easily identify as melted chocolate.

"Morning sleepy head!" Cynical called over to Truffle, standing by a small open fire, holding a long stick with a marshmallow at the end. "Hope you're hungry! I'm making s'mores! Never been camping before, but I heard these are delicious!"

Truffle was very hesitant. Cynical was clearly insane, he could have poisoned the food. But as Truffle thought more on that and made his way steadily over to the fire, Cynical pulled a marshmallow out of the fire and smashed it on two half of a chocolate bar and gram cracker. After watching The grey pegusus take a bite and swallow part of the sweet treat, Truffle thought it would be safe. And he was very hungry. The two sat in silence for a moment, then after Truffle made and ate the second s'more Cynical made. It tasted like the most delicious thing the hornless unicorn had ever eaten.

"Fire's getting kinda low" Cynical said matter of factly. "Better throw more wood on it!"

Truffle kept an eye on the deranged pony as he stuck another s'more in his mouth, chocolate smearing all across his face as he did so. But when Truffle saw what Cynical meant by 'wood' he felt his heart join the s'mores in his stomach. The grey pegusus tossed a few of Truffle's toys into the fire, knowing exactly with ones were the fat unicorn's favorites. Cynical watched as Truffle eyed his childhood treasures now burning away in a blaze while he stuffed his face. Truffle wanted to say something, but was too scared and shaken to speak.

"Well, I'm board with this game" Cynical said. "Oh! I know what I want to play next!"

Cynical then pulled a saddle out of Truffle's closet and threw it at the chubby pony, knocking Truffle off of his seat. Zooming to his side, Cynical then strapped Truffle in and mounted him. Only, with one broken leg and one fractured one, there was now way Truffle could hold the demented pegasus. But still, Cynical pretended he was ridding a horse, and was kicking the sides of the tubby unicorn, violently, and yelling at him to get up and go. After several minutes of getting nowhere, Cynical sighed and got off.

"Well now you are being just boring...." Triffle's tormentor sounded disappointed. "Oh! I know how about a game of hide and seek!"

Truffle was about to sigh when he realized that this would be a great time for him to get to the panic room his grandmother set up! It's in the basement, but Truffle knew a shortcut. And he was sure Cynical had no idea about it. It was Truffle's best shot of survival, and he was willing to risk it. But he'd have to play along for a while.

"O-ok, ugh, Cynical" Truffle said. "Do you want to be it, or should I?"

"I'll start us off!" Cynical said with glee. "You go and hide, and I'll come and find you!"

"Ok, buddy!" Truffle smiled, glad that the maniac was falling for it. "Could you give me a little more time then normal? Since, you know, my legs..."

"Oh sure! Take all the time you need!" Cynical said then turned around and put his hooves over his eyes and began to count down from 300. As he did, Truffle hastily dragged himself out and across the ground. And out of the room.

To get to the panic room, Truffle had to get to the main hall, pull out the biggest portrait of his grandmother, then press a certain brick to open a passageway. But as he dragged himself, something cut his hoof! When Truffle pulled it up to kiss it, he found a broken piece of metal was lodged into it. Part of a kitchen knife! He looked all up and down the hallway before him that he needed to cross. All across the carpet, sticking right up, were shards of broken metal, sharp and jagged.

"H-he planned this!" Truffle whispered to himself.

"189!... 188!... 187!..." Cynical's voice carried as he continued counting from Truffle's bedroom.

The chubby pony had no choice, and forced himself to walk through the knife infested carpet! They stung as he stepped on them, but it hurt worse when he had to drag his broken leg across them, cutting in deeper then when he just grazed them. After what seemed like hours, Truffle finally reached the edge of the hall and out of the sea of broken knives. He knew he had to make up for lost times, so he took a deep breath and started to roll down the stairs, hitting his head and broken leg along the way. Once at the bottom, he had to pause and take a few breaths before continuing to the portrait. As he did, Cynical came into view, hovering above him like a fallen angel.

"You didn't get very far, did you, Tubby?" Cynical smiled as he looked down upon the beaten and bused pony before him.

"P-please! Please give me more time to hide!" Truffle begged him.

"Oh I will!" Cynical announced as he landed. "But hide and seek isn't as fun as I thought it would be... I know! A new game! It's called survival! I'm going to light the mansion on fire and help it spread, you have about 3 minutes to get to the panic room before I'm done. If I catch you, I get to play doctor again! If you get away, I guess you win and our playtime is over!"

"S-sure! Ok!" Truffle agreed, knowing he would be safe in the panic room. It was built to withstand fires, tornados, and angry mobs. There was food, water, and a barroom. It was made to keep him and his grandmother safe for months. All Truffle would need to get to that room and he could hold up there until help arrived! Cynical would think that he burned down with the mansion by then!

"Ok! Here I go!" And with that, the demented grey pegusus zoomed away and out of Truffle's sight.

Truffle did his best to ignore the pain in his legs and cutes and pushed forward to the portray. He was starting to feel lightheaded from the blood loss, but was too afraid to stop. Half way to his grandmother's portrait he felt something painful in his legs. As he looked down, the chubby unicorn saw what was hurting him. Cynical sprinkled more lemon salt and pepper on the carpet! The fibers were pushing the stinging seasonings right into Truffle's cuts! It kept Truffle from passing out, but also stung more and more with every inch he slid across!

Truffle began to smell the smoke and feel the heat of the room increase right as he reached the portrait then something hit him. "Wait.... How did Cynical know about..."

Panic struck the chubby unicorn as he used every last bit of his strength to pull his grandmother's portrait off the wall, only to find a thick chain and a combination lock had sealed the revealed door that was supposed to be hidden!

"Shame about that" Cynical said with a toothy grin as he appeared behind Truffle, hovering just above the ground. "You could try every possible combination, but that could take a while. You could force yourself back over the lemon salt and pepper carpet, oh! That just sounds painful! Or you could wait here for the entire place to burn down! But guess what!" Cynical said as he jumped up and began to flutter in the air. "There's more! I just let the Timberwolves in and gave them the scent of your blood! Shouldn't have bleed all I've the carpets, Tubby! Cuz ya know, I think they love a well seasoned pork dinner!"

"Why!" Truffle cried out, tears running down his chubby cheeks. "Why are you doing this?!"

Cynical paused, shock spread all across his face. He remained just floating in the air for a moment completely dumbfounded. After a moment, he floated over to the distorted Truffle, leaned in and whispered "I did all of this because you and I are friends. Friends play with each other. And from what you've shown me over the years, this is how you like to play. Right?"

Truffle tried to hit Cynical with a right hook, but the grey pegasus caught it mid swing, then countered with a side kick to the chubby unicorn's ribs, breaking a few that had been weakened by the fall down the stairs. Truffle doubled over in pain.

"See! You like playing like this!" Cynical jumped up and flew down the hall and landed just above the front door. "So just to thank you for being such a good friend, I have one last parting gift. Enjoy these puppies!"

Truffle's blood went cold as he looked up and watched as Cynical undid the locks to the front door, then flipped the doors open slowly. At first, all that could be seen beyond the door was darkness. But then in pairs, green lights began to flicker to life they began to slowly get bigger and bigger until they reached the front door. The light from the lanterns revealed the beasts that waited in the darkness. The Timberwolves snarled and flashed their wooden teeth. Truffle was too scared to move. He had a moment of panic where he hoped they just wouldn't see him. But the one out ahead of the ever growing group kneeled down at the edge of the hallway, sniffed a small puddle of Truffle's blood, then looked directly down the hallway right at Truffle!

The beasts then began to charge at him! The young unicorn began to panic and looked all around. He couldn't go down the hallway, where the wolves were coming from was the only exit. Truffle moved to the lock and chains and immediately began rustling thou the numbers. But his hooves were hardly cooperating. He began fiddling around with the lock, desperate and hoping to guess the right combination to unlock the chains! Cynical watched as the Timberwolves caught the scent of his chubby and well seasoned 'friend' and dashed down the hallway to him. The wonderful sight of watching Truffle fumble around, trying desperately to save his own life. Cynical chuckled at a thought as the Timber wolves closed in.

"To think, not that long ago, I was his 'toy'. Now I'm done playing with him, and I get to throw 'him' away" The grey pegasus sat and watched as the wolves pounced on top of Truffle.

"Looks like 'game over'" Cynical said through a toothy grin as he hopped down from his spot atop the doorway and began to walk away from the only place he's ever known.

It didn't take long for the fires to really get going and begin leveling the once prestigious mansion. It began to crumble as Cynical casually walked around the newly redecorated rose garden. He paused briefly to look at the heads that were empaled on the spears and began to chuckle, thinking they went down way easier then Mystic. Continuing his pleasant and disturbed stroll through the field of corpses, Cynical looked at every face of every servant who he passes by and thinks to himself 'to think, I was once as Pathetic as you...'