No more tears... (Part 1)
I can't remember much before that day. I can't remember what my parents looked like, where I came from, or what my name even was. I was very young when I arrived at the mansion, but it was a day I could never, ever forget...
I was sitting in the back of a cart being pulled by a few strong ponies. The cart was covered by a thick tarp, but from what i could see through the cracks of the cart's wooden sides, it was a very cloudy day. And that made me sad for some reason. I don't know why. But when I saw the clouds, I started to cry. I wasn't alone that day that I arrived at the mansion. There were at least half a dozen or so on that cart. I remember because that was what the Lady who owned the mansion screamed. It was the fist thing I ever heard her say. I couldn't see her at first, but it would be hard to ignore the sound of her shouting voice as it rattled the cart.
"Only half a dozen?!" She shouted at the driver, sounding insulted by his answer. "Is this all?! I asked for at least, AT LEAST, another two, listen to me, TWO DOZEN!"
"I'm sorry ma'am" the driver appologized, his voice sounding very horse. "That's all I could gather. No pony else wanted-"
"I've had enough of your excuses!" She cut him off. "If you dare to return again with this few new arrivals, you'll be eating out of the trash! Is that clear?!"
The cart driver gritted his teeth as he bowed his head, and replied through his clenched teeth "Forgive me, ma'am. I'll bring you more next time."
"See that you do" the Lady snapped. "And for the trouble you've given me, the shipment to day will be free."
"Free?!" The driver was taken back by the Lady's order. "B-but ma'am, I have a family to feed-"
"And is that 'my' problem?!" The lady snapped again. "Maybe you should have though about that before you showed up with this pitiful lot! Be greatful that I don't find somepony else to collect these pitiful creatures."
I was so lost in their conversation, that it shocked me to see the curtains at the back of the cart fly open. As my eyes adjusted to the light, despite the cloud cover, I took my fist look at hell, and it's an image that would burn in my mind for years.
Standing there at the edge of the cart was a very overweight unicorn mare, dressed in what appeared to be some older Victorian style dress. Her coat was the color of milk gone sour, with a mane the color of old cheese, done up in a beehive on her head. Her violet colored eyes began looking over everypony in the cart, judging us like we were fruit at a market. The whole time she kept her nose to the air, disgusted with the very sight of us.
"I get a few to play with, right grandma?!" A whiny voice cried out, as an equally chubby unicorn colt no older then I was, appeared beside her. "You said I could pick some out to play with! You promised! I want one! I want one! I WANT ONE!!!"
"Yes, my precious. Granny will give you one. But only one, so try not to break it." The Lady unicorn looked over us once more, sneering again as she judged us mode critically. I didn't know why at the time, but something deep inside told me to hide and stay out of her sight. But despite my best efforts, her cold gaze still found and froze on me.
"How about that scrawny little one?" The Lady said. "He looks about your age. You shouldn't be able to break him as easily."
The chunky little unicorn colt narrowed his eyes at me. "Do I have to share my toys with him?"
"Oh, heavens, no!" The Lady said as she levitated a handkerchief to her muzzle, probably to block out the moist smell of the cart that was just hitting her. "Don't give him a thing! He's a servant. 'He' is your toy."
With that, the Lady wrapped her magical aura around the curtains of the cart and flung them shut, then signaled for the driver to take us around the back. I didn't know what she meant by all of that, but I would soon learn, and fear, what that meant.
After they unloaded us from the cart, we were hosed down in the back yard. The icy cold water made my body go numb. Soap and buckets of water were given to finish the job by other 'servants' of the Lady. It didn't help that the overcast blocked out the warmth of the sun. After losing all feeling in my hooves from the ice cold wash, we were dried off by a spell some of the unicorn servants cast. I just wished they could have cast a spell to dry us off with warm air. After we were dried off, the unicorn servants then brought us to what they called the 'servant's quarters'. Basically a small room with ten rickety mattresses laying on the ground without blankets or pillows, a closet full of fresh uniforms, and a single open toilet.
After one of the unicorns fitted me with one of the smaller uniforms, which consisted of a button up shirt, a vest, and a bow tie, they had me follow the other new servants up stairs to be presented to the Lady and her grandson. Following suit, I took in the sights of the mansion. The walls were painted red with gold outlining, but the paint was chipping and fading in parts. Decorating the halls were mainly pictures and busts of a young mare with her mane up in a beehive, and a sour scowl on her face. It didn't take me long to realize that it was the Lady of the mansion in her youth, and that she must have been very, very vane. Even though I was too young at the time to understand what vanity was, I could recognize it easily.
We were lead into a large room with a fire place directly across from the only entrance to the room. While most of the other 'servants' did their best to just look forward, my eyes wondered to the horrific pieces that decorated the room's walls. Covering almost every inch of the wall surrounding the fireplace were taxidermy heads of dragons, sea serpents, a few griffins and even a manticore! As I continued to look over the wall in awe, I felt something hard hit me on the back of the neck!
I fell to the ground, tears forming in my eyes from the stinging pain. As I whimpered on the ground I felt several more strikes come from nowhere. The strikes just continued to hit my body until I was too hurt to make a sound. Once the strikes stopped, I took a deep breath and looked up to see the Lady looking down at me, a cane wrapped in her magical aura.
"And 'that' is how you will be disciplined if you disobey me" she claimed, then struck me once more. "That includes if I have to repeat myself, correct you, or...." She struck me once more. "If I need to set an example. Now, GET. UP!"
After forcing myself up, and swallowing back the tears, I took a deep breath and looked to the Lady who was accompanied by her grandson.
"Now to go over a few rules" the Lady began as she suck her nose in the air and looked down upon us. "1) what I say goes. You listen to me and my dearest grandson. And only me and grandson. If I catch you disobeying either of us..." She whacked the cane against the ground "you get the rod!"
We all gulped at the notion, while her chubby little grandson chuckled.
"2) you are free to go anytime you like. But know this; anypony who has ever ventured out into the woods alone, or tried to fly over it, has ever been heard from again." The Lady smiled as she saw the fear in everypony's eyes. "Other then that, you have a loving home, luxurious living quitters, and an endless supply of the finest foods in all of Equestria presented before you...Such a shame you can't have any of it!"
Once she concluded her speech, she and her grandson chuckled together as the new servants gulped and contemplated escaping. But not I. As frightening as this place was becoming, it was all I knew. I couldn't remember my family, if I had a family, a home, or anything. For the moment, I was trapped....
As the days rolled by, I learned exactly what it meant to be a 'servant' in the Lady's mansion. I spent the night sleeping on a mattress with several other ponies, most of which kept to themselves. We were to wake up hours before dawn, get dressed and cleaned up, and begin our various chores. The newer servants were each trained under a different senior servant, one who had been at the mansion for some time and had experience. I was trained under an older pegasus stallion who had been at the mansion most of his entire life. I liked him. He was very patient with me as he taught me how to clean and keep the grounds around the mansion. As he taught me how to use the push mower, he saw my eyes drift off to the brick fence and the woods beyond it.
"I wouldn't think about them woods if I was you" he told me. "It may look better then when the Lady is a swingin' at ya, but there be timberwolves out there! And they love th' taste of pony flesh!!!"
Leaving the yard work behind, I found out that I was assigned to something special, if you can call being the plaything to the Lady's pudgy grandson special. I later found out that his name was Truffle, and supposedly, he was a few years older then me. Well at least, that's what he said. I think it might have made him feel superior for him to think he was older then me. He didn't need a few years on me to make me feel inferior to him, though. His playroom made me feel that way.
He had a large room, around nine hundred square feet he said, filled with toys and games of all shapes and sizes. He had 4 different train sets, a mountain of stuffed animals, a whole rack of wooden swords and shields, toys that transformed, toys that flew, toys that lit up, toys he claimed were really rare and worth a lot, and toys that used magic to operate like I couldn't believe! All of which I wasn't allowed to touch.
At the end of the day, I was allowed my daily helping of some old bread and some water before I was stopped down by the other senior servants, my uniform added to a pile of cloths to be washed, then told to go to bed. I can't remember how many nights I cried myself to sleep with several other ponies on the same mattress, but eventually I learned that crying didn't make the pain go away....
While I was under the roof of the Lady, I was given the name 'little servant' unless company came by, then she would make up a name for me, like 'Cloudy' or 'Forcast', each time a different name. But it didn't matter. No pony ever really noticed that any of the servants actually had names. Truffle took to calling me 'Dirt' which was short for 'Dirt under his hooves', something he considered to be a complement to me.
Most of the time I was Truffle's 'toy', in a way that my daily chores consisted of entertaining him. Some days I was ordered to pick up his toys after he was done making a giant mess, sometimes I would finish picking them up only for him to make the mess all over again. At first I would get angry and annoyed, but it only took two beating by him with a cane the Lady gave him, to straiten out my feelings about it. After the second time, I began picking them up with a smile. Truffle would see me smiling and laugh as he repeated "See! I'm so generous! I'm letting you touch my toys with your filthy hooves! Aren't I the nicest!" Followed quickly by "You are so lucky to have a friend like me!"
A few times, though, when Truffle would throw the toys directly at me, they would break. When they did, he would run and tell his grandmother, crying, saying through his tears that I broke his toys out of spite! She would then have me brought to the room with the fireplace to be disciplined, first by her with her own cane, then she's let Truffle take a few hits at me with his own cane. You know. To teach him how to properly discipline a servant. From what I've heard from the other servants, Truffle wasn't very smart when it came to his school work. But he was very creative when it came to ways in 'disciplining' the servants.
One time when his 'favorite' train broke and he was done giving me 10 strikes on top of his grandmother's 10 initial ones, he pulled out 10 feathers from my winds, and an additional one for every one I cried for. I learned then that if I bit my lip, I could numb the pain from my stinging wings. The time he tore the head off of his 'favorite' teddy bear, after 10 strikes from both Truffle and the Lady, Truffle then had two of the other servants hold me down while he hit me in my most sensitive parts.
He then laughed at me when I cried in pain, saying something about having real blue balls afterwards. I didn't understand what he meant then, but now I do. But by far, the worst time I was punished was on his birthday.
I had always secretly prayed that somepony would come to the mansion and see us, or rather, see me, and do something to save us. Only, most of the few guests the Lady ever had over were rich ponies who possibly were just as cruel with their own servants as much as she was. During one of Truffle's 'play dates' though, I was proven wrong. They all decided to play with me. They dressed me up like a turkey, shoving an old smelly sock over my head, glueing feathers all over me, then they chased me around with sling shots, shooting rocks at me. They said it was to celebrate a holiday called 'thanks giving' that ponies celebrated with the Griffins, where they would capture and offer the Griffins a large turkey. After they cornered me, rather then just pretend to kill and cook me,they thought it would be fun to just unload all of their small metal balls on me. At first they really hurt. But after several moments, my body went numb. I could see them all laughing as they tried to shoot me in the eye, the face, or even my blank flank. Truffle got upset and said shoring me was no longer fun, so he and his other playmates went in to play with his new board game. I laid there for hours it seemed until the older servant came by and picked me up.
He was the only pony to show me the slightest bit of kindness. I could understand why the other servants kept to themselves if they were treated half as bad as I was. But not this old guy. He always smiled at me, tried his best to cheer me up, and always helped me with my chores whenever he could. I was grateful to have him in my life.
A few months rolled by, months worth of cruel games that Truffle enjoyed playing with me, more and more chores I had to learn to do on top of entertaining Truffle, and a somewhat familiar sight caught my eye. As I was learning to cut the hedges lining the mansion's outer walls, the wooden cart that had brought me to the mansion had returned. My attention was pulled back to the hedges by the senior servant who was teaching me. But while I listened to him about cutting the hedges properly, I occasionally glanced over at the cart, wondering how many more servants had been brought this time.
Later that day, I was introduced to the new arrivals. Mostly stallions. The Lady loved to have young, good looking, strong male servants surrounding her. I overheard her saying that it reminded her of when she was being courted in her earlier years. But there were a few mares amongst the group. And what was even more surprising, was the young filly that was with them.
Her name was Golden Grain. She was an earth pony with a bright yellow, almost golden, coat and a lush green mane. Her eyes were a beautiful sapphire blue, and her cutie mark appeared to be a few stocks of wheat with a sun behind them. I don't why, but I couldn't take my eyes off of her. There was just something about her that made me want to just sit and stare at her for hours and hours, even if we never said anything. And the weirdest part of it all, I think she felt the same way about me! Since the first time our eyes met, every time she looked at me, she would smile. Ohhhh.... Her smile melted my heart! Even if for the rest of my life I was forced to take beatings from Truffle or the Lady, it would be worth it if I could just see Golden Grain smile.
Another season passed, and winter came. Snow covered the ground, which meant shoveling out the snow, but it also meant no mowing the lawn or pruning the rose bushes. But it also meant that the servants quarters were freezing. There was no heater to keep the small room warm, unlike the rest of the mansion. And when we weren't working for the Lady or her grandson, we servants were huddled together in the poorly kept living Quarters. I didn't mind as much, especially because Golden always made her way over to me. I would unfold my wing and pull her closer to me. Even if I couldn't feel my hooves, the feeling of having her closer to me made me warm enough. Another magical thing about Golden was her smell. No matter what, she always smelled like a warm summer's day in a wide open field of grass. I bet if I could fly, she would even smell like the fresh air in my face. I never wanted to be away from her.
One day, as we were shoveling snow off of the main pathway, Truffle and a few of his friends decided it would be a fun idea to have a snowball fight. It was him and his friends against the servants. Only, he chose to play with the servants who were working, and couldn't fight back. If they stopped working and retaliated, even playfully, Truffle would make sure they got in trouble with the Lady. So they kept working, doing their best to ignore the oncoming snow balls. That is, until Truffle thought it would be fun to put a few rocks in one before he threw it. Lucky for me, Truffle hit somepony else. The stallion he hit with the rock filled snowball let out a grunt of pain and put his hoof up to his head where the snowball hit. There was some blood coming from his head in a slow but steady amount. I didn't know much about the stallion, other then he was one of the servants that came over in the same trip as me. But what I'll never forget about him is what made him different from the rest of us. The look in his eye when he lost it.
"You filthy little brat!" The stallion yelled out as he turned to Truffle and his friends who were still laughing. They were so busy laughing that they didn't see the stallion throw down his shovel and start charging at them.
When the angered stallion was about five feet from Truffle, he jumped into the air, ready to stomp down on the chubby unicorn with his front two hooves. But at the last moment, the angered stallion was caught mid air by a unicorn's magical aura. I began to breath again and realized I wasn't the only pony watch the situation. The whole courtyard was watching the events unfold. Before I could lean over and ask the senior servant who's magical aura it was, the Lady of the mansion stepped forward, her horn glowing the same color as the aura around the stallion servant.
She walked out from her shaded spot on the porch where she had been relaxing while she watched the servants. She walked casually over to the enraged until she was inches from him. She narrowed her eyes at the stallion and said in a hushed tone "your services will no longer be required. You're fired."
There was a sea of grasps as the anger in the stallion's expression disappeared and a panicked one took its place as he began to beg. "P-p-please ma'am! I-I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! It's-its the cold! Makes ponies do crazy things!"
But the Lady wouldn't hear of it. She levitated the stallion up and over the mansion's 10 foot wall. The stallion continued to beg and plead, all of us watching him, his desperation was making me sick to my stomach. I didn't know why he was acting like that until I heard them.
A loud howling silenced all of us, including the begging stallion. In the mists of the silence, the Lady released the stallion from her magical aura, dropping him on the other side of the fence! Once he was free, the stallion beat his hooves on the wall as he begged for help from anypony. We couldn't hear them coming over the stallion's fearful voice, but we could smell their foul breath. No pony knows why their breath smells so terrible. But from what the older servant told me, it's the smell of rotting flesh. That the beasts are just wood moving on their own. And when they devour a pony, their flesh rots in their stomach and makes their foul breath. As the terrible stench began to fill the courtyard, we heard the stallion scream and run off, the sound of his hoof steps growing quieter and quieter. Everypony, the servants, the Lady, Truffle and his friends, all quietly listened as the world went mute. Then after several dragging moments, we heard his scream. The stallion screamed out several times before the silane returned.
"Back to work! All of you!" The Lady shouted not ten seconds after the stallion's screams stopped. "Or you're next!"
Truffle and his friends went inside to enjoy some hot chocolate with the Lady while the servants went back to work. Golden rushed over to me, tears rolling down her eyes as she ducked her head beneath my wing. I did my best to comfort her, to stay strong for her, but as much as I hated to admit it, I shook with fear too. I looked up to the brick wall fence and wondered if I would ever meet such a fate.
Hearths warming passed, and that meant spring was right around the corner. But it also meant that Truffle had a whole room full of new toys and games he wanted to play with. And guess who was his 'best friend' who he enjoyed always playing with. Luckily I didn't have to endure his 'games' for long. A week after Hearths warming, Truffle had to go back to school. Which not only meant less time for us to play, but also meant he had homework to do. So when he came home, it would have been right to the books. Only it wasn't.
Truffle did attend school, but thought himself too smart to do homework. Instead, he had me do it. I read his lessons, did his homework, then gave him the basic notes on everything. I didn't mind too much, I kinda enjoyed reading and writing, and when it came to the pony physical anatomy he had to learn, I was more then willing to read and do his homework. It bothered me when I did a paper and he got the good grade and credit for it. But that was as close to an education as I could get. Nopony sends a servant to school. And most of the other servants who have worked for the Lady since they were my age had no idea how to even read or write! In secret, I even began giving lessons to Golden. She loved it when I read to her from Truffle's old fairy tale books. She especially loved the stories of princesses being rescued by princes. And the way her face lit up when I said 'and they both lived happily ever after' it gave my heart wings!
It had been about a month since Truffle went back to school, and he had been moodier then normal. He even pressured me more to get his homework done sooner so we could play, claiming he really needed to play. Which meant he wanted to use me to relieve his stress. After rushing through his history homework, which might get him a C at best, he through a ball at my head, saying he wanted to play dodge ball. The next two hours before he was called to dinner, he spend throwing various balls at me. Truffle didn't know many spells, but he was able to control multiple balls at one time and have them all fly at me in so many directions that I couldn't dodge. Whatever happened at school, I hope it never happens again.
My wish didn't come true though. The next day was even worse. He decided he could relieve more stress by having me pull him around in his personal chariot (a child's chariot normally built for colts' half his size and age). I pulled it all around the mansion until the wheels broke off of it. He then proceeded to tell the Lady that I was too rough with it, was complaining the whole time, and laughed when it broke. I received 25 strikes from her cane, followed by 30 of truffle's own for my 'actions'. The older servant and Golden helped to clean my wounds up. If they hadn't, I probably would have gotten sick and been tossed to the timber wolves. The months to follow weren't easier. Whatever was bothering Truffle at school, was indirectly making my life even more hell then it already was. That was, until one day...
"I don't need to play with you today, Dirt" Truffle said as he stuffed several chocolate eclairs into his mouth, half of them falling right to the ground. "I've found a new toy to play with. Go see what Grandmummy wants with you..."
I began to feel a since of relief as I walked out of Truffle's room, only to see Golden walk in behind me. I paused and looked at her, her face hanging low as she refused to meet my gaze. She shut and locked Truffle's door behind her. I would never wish Truffle's 'play time' on anypony else, and wanted to break down the door and save her from such a terrible fate. But one of the Lady's most loyal unicorn servants grabbed my by my wing and tugged me down the hall. Reluctantly, I followed his orders. All the Lady wanted to tell me was that Truffle's last History paper barley scored a C, and that if I didn't want to end up over the fence, I would work harder to he could pass his classes. From there I was ordered to aid the chefs in the kitchen for the rest of the night. Once I was done, I returned to the servants quarters to find a small group of the mare servants huddled over a bed in the corner. My heart sank.
I started to dash over, knowing, just some how knowing it was Golden who they were huddled over. A fury like no other fueled me, but the older servant stallion stopped me dead in my tracks before j could get to Golden.
"Now's not a good time, lad" he said, a grim expression on his face. "If you really want to help her, give her space. Out of anypony, you are the last one she needs to see right now." I didn't know what he meant by that, but I trusted him. And with a heavy heart, I slept in the farthest bed from her, wishing I could make her pain go away.
Two more months had passed since the first time Truffle told me my services were no longer required as his 'play mate' and yet i still end up with his homework! I shouldn't really complain too much. Since I was working in his homework, and he was busy playing with Golden, life had become much, much easier. But the thought of what horrible things he could be doing to poor, poor Golden made my blood boil! After that day, Golden avoided me for several weeks, and still could barley look me in the eye. I tried to read to her her favorite stories, but the smile that she once had was gone. None of the other servants would tell me exactly what had gone on, but if it was half as bad as how he was with me, I could only imagine.
Time passed by, and soon Golden was able to come out of her shell a bit. For some odd reason Truffle didn't want to play with her as much as he used to, and I soon found out why. It was fairly early in the morning when a fancy new carriage arrived at the mansion, one that I had never seen before. The pony who emerged was one I did not recognizes. She looked to be a mare around Truffle's age, but she was his exact opposite in every way. She was a tall, thin mare with little greasy locks of mane, her eyes looked lifeless and dull, and the only thing that she shared with truffle was the fact that they both were unicorns. I found out later that they both met at school. They both came from wealthy families. Wealthy families who would both benefit from their marriage. I personally didn't care much for her. But as rude and as insulting as she was to the other servants, she still never raised a hoof or cane on me or Golden, so that was a plus side. I hoped some of that lack of brutality would run off on Truffle and that she would stay around for a long, long time...
On that dark day I was reminded of where I stood. Where we servants stood in this life, in this mansion. On that dark day I lost somepony very precious to me.... I... I should start back at the beginning...
It happened early one morning, it was supposed to be a routine morning. I went down to the kitchen to get Truffle's breakfast for him, take it up to him, and while he ate, set out and prepare his cloths for the day. It was a day off of school, and I expected he would either be courted by his special somepony, or he would go off to see her at her estate. As I assessed the staircase, I heard the sound of plates crashing and the outraged scream of the Lady. My heart sank when I thought back to the elderly servant. I knew he had been suffering with his arthritis, and had dropped several plates and items in the last few weeks. Most of the servants just let him pick it up and pretended they didn't see anything. But I doubted the Lady would be as forgiving!
I rushed up as fast as I could, past Truffle's room, and up to the highest bedroom in the entire mansion. The room that belonged to the Lady. Climbing the staircase I heard the sound of the Lady's cane on pony flesh, beating it hard and with. No remorse. I paused outside the door, peeking in through the key hole. I could barley hear what was going on. But I knew what I saw. The elderly servant was on the ground, with several bleeding wounds covering his body. He could hardly hold himself up with his two front hooves, his breathing was heavy and.... And fading. The Lady stood over him, her cold glare shooting down at the beaten old stallion, her cane still covered in her magical aura. As the old servant took one last look at the master that he served for countless years, his legs gave in and he fell to the floor. My heart stopped as I watched him, tears falling from my eyes. I watched as the only stallion who was kind to me in my terrable life, took his final breaths... And then... Stopped breathing all together....
I didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be true! It wasn't true!!!... But it was. I forced myself to watch as the Lady hit the old stallion's lifeless body with her cane a few times, huffed, then stomped her hooves. Several of her unicorn servants rushed to her side. "Take this trash out. Toss it over the fence and a bit a ways from the wall. I don't want those infernal beasts closer to my home any more then they already are."
I was in shock, but forced my hooves to move as the four unicorn servants levitating the old stallion's body, now wrapped up in some old cloth, up and out of the Lady's bed room. I stood out of sight and watched in horror as they carried him out of the house, knowing what they planned to do with him made me sick! It's not fair! How could such a kind pony deserve such a cruel end?!
As I tried to wipe away my tears, I heard Truffle call out my name. Ordering me to his bedside to begin his day. Not wanting to seem suspicious, I quickly walked down the stairs and back to Truffle's room. As I was about to open the door Golden opened it for me, her eyes were blood shot and her mane was a mess. She hesitated when she saw me, then ran off after whispering me to excuse her. I didn't want to think what horrible things Truffle was making her do. But my mind was in pieces already and unable to put two and two together. To keep myself from falling apart, or from thinking about the Timberwolves feasting on the old stallion's body, I began the morning routine. But half way through setting up the fat colt's cloths, something hard and hot hit me in the back of my head. I cried out in pain as something wet and warm soaked my unicorn and mane.
"ITS COLD!!!" Tricycle screamed as he jumped out of bed and levitated his cane high in the air after tossing his breakfast at me. "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO? GET ME SICK?! YOU USELESS PIECE OF-"
As Truffle was a it to strike me, I whimpered out "m-m-maybe you c-could use a re-heat spell?"
Truffle paused, allowing me to clean the mess out of my eyes. When they were clear of his breakfast, I looked over at the teenaged colt, my heart beat growing more and more rapid as his twisted looking smile sent a chill down my back.
"You think I'd use a commoner's spell to fix 'your' mistakes?!" He chuckled. "I won't do that, but you did remind me, I need your help. See I got a test coming up, and I need to practice a few spells...."
I knew what he was getting at. I knew what he meant by 'help', and I knew I wasn't going to like it. Suddenly my mind jumped to the stallion that was tossed over the wall months and months ago, as well as that poor elderly servant... My fear of death froze me in place as Truffle got dressed and ready. When he was
ready, Truffle turned and faced me, a sickening grin on his chubby face as his horn began to glow!
As he cast his first spell, I cringed at what he planned to do. A moment later I opened my eyes and Truffle's horn was no longer glowing. I didn't know if his spell had actually worked or not until he punched me as hard as he could. The force sent me flying threw the room! It was like I was a balloon, filled with nothing but air! I may have felt like a ballon, but when my back hit the wall, I felt the full effect of the impact. With the wind knocked out of me, I tried to collapse to the ground, but I remained hovering just above it for a moment. When I finally caught my breath, I saw his hooves as he stood over me, chuckling. His horn began to flow again as I felt my weight return to normal. But things went from bad to worse. Looking up, I saw the feathers in my wings had begun to fall out! Panicking, my wings began to flap harder and harder! That made it worse.
It made a thick cloud of grey feathers that filled the room, obscuring my vision. After a few moments of me and Truffle pushing my feathers out of the way, I found my wings had lost every one of their feathers! They looked like wings that belonged on a plucked chicken! Like the ones I've helped to prepare for the Lady's Griffen guests!
"Well doesn't that look funny!" Truffle said as he held his sides, laughing at my ridicule. I felt something beginning was beginning to boil deep inside of me. But I struggled to keep it down, afraid of what might happen to me. "Now let me see... What should I try next?... Ah! I know!"
Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, the world began to grow all round me. No. As I looked to Truffle and his glowing horn, I realized that I was actually shrinking! But not correctly! Parts of my body were disproportional, making the transformation very, very painful. It felt like some of my bones were being pressed against my skin and it was waiting to tear! To make things worse, it was getting harder and harder to breath! I think only one of my lungs had shrunk properly, while the other was having issues! But way was worse was my heart pounding, trying to still function with my misshapen and disproportional body! Every heart beat shot through my body like my veins were filled with a swarm of angry hornets!
'Is this it? Is this how I die?... But... But wasn't i a good servant...Wasn't I? Why should it end like this?!' I asked myself as I became very light headed. The room felt like it was spinning, and just when I thought maybe my torture was coming to an end with my death, fate gives me another chance at my miserable existence.
In a flash, I was returned to normal size, everything back in proportion and back to normal. Well, except my wings which were still stripped of any and all feathers. As my breathing began to return to normal, and I was able to look up, I began to wish I was dead. Surely death would be a sweet release from this.
"Well that was disappointing" Truffle said as he looked down at me, his nose in the air, looking just like his grandmother. "I suppose I'll have to practice that one more. Maybe with a better servant. Now... One last one, to really make you squirm... Oh yes! I was waiting to use this one!"
Before I could react, the last thing I saw, or rather, the last thing I could see, was a flash of Truffle's horn, then everything went black. I... I couldn't feel anything. My body was numb and unable to move. I couldn't see anything, nothing except black. But there was one thing I could do. I could hear still.
"Well that was a bust" Truffle said, sounding disappointed. "guess I'll just reverse it..."
I waited several moments, but nothing happened! "That's weird, that was supposed to fix him. Eh, he must be broken. Charmer!"
I heard another pony enter the room. I recognized the name. It belonged to one of the Lady's favor it unicorn servants. "What may I do for you, young master?"
"This one is broken! Toss it over the fence then get me a new one! Oh! Make it a mare! A really pretty one! The other one I've been using is boring me." Truffle snorted.
"As you wish, sir" Charmer said as the sound of magic being cast rang in my ears. I never noticed how it had a faint chiming sound before just now.
I don't know what happened, but I could give a good guess. I heard the Window to Truffle's bedroom open, then the sound of wind blowing though my ears. I had just been thrown out of the mansion! Before I could panic, I heard the ruffling of leaves, had I landed in one of the bushes along the walls? No. It was a tree I hit. I heard the ruffling of the leaves and the snapping of the branches as I fell through it and hit the ground. Hard. I lay there on the ground for several moments, trying to process what just happened. But something else caught my attention. Something that gave me nightmares since in saw that stallion be grown over the fence that one winter. I could never forget that horrible stench.
The foul breath of the timber wolves filled the air, making it hard to breath. The sound of their wood like bodies cracking as they moved closer and closer to me. I couldn't feel my pulse, but I could hear my heart beat kicking up speed as the sound of their wooden steps grew closer and closer. I was going to be eaten alive! I couldn't even more! I was a sitting duck! A free chicken dinner all wrapped up for them! This was it!
I could feel the stench grow as they must now be breathing directly on me. I could hear them sniffing me up and down. I wish it would just end. I was grateful that I couldn't see or feel anything. Maybe that was life's little sense of mercy. If I were to die, at least I could have the privilege not to see or feel anything as they rip me to shreds.
Several of them snarled and grunted, then one let out an ear piercing howl, one that just happened to be standing right above me. Soon the others began to howl as well. Once the ringing in my ears stopped, I listened carefully, wondering if they began eating me yet. But I heard nothing. No chomping, no growling, no bone breaking or flesh tearing sounds. Just... Nothing. As I continued to lay there, the sounds of the forest returned. I could hear the wind blow through the trees, birds chirping, and a faint sound of running water. But no timberwolves!
Was... Was I not worthy of being eaten? Was I so worthless that I wasn't even good enough for wolf food?! I sighed heavily half disappointed that I was still alive. Had I secretly been hoping to die? ... I knew the answer... Yes.... What a horrible life the others and I had been living at the mansion. A horrible life I had been given... I wish I could change it. If give anything to have the power to change my life...
I laid there for what must have been days before I could move and feel things again. But even then, I felt the cold chill on my wings, letting me know my feathers had not yet grown back. My vision was still gone, I was still only looking into a world of darkness. But that wasn't anything I hadn't dealt with already. I got myself up and began to wonder, not even knowing the direction I was going in. I was just fumbling around in the dark, not even any real reason. I was growing board just laying there waiting to die but I had no where else to go. That horrible mansion was my whole world... And to be honest, I didn't have enough hope to search for a world beyond the forest.
I suddenly tripped over something and fell! I tumbled down, down, down into a deep pit, landing in a pile of hard branches. I lay there for a moment, pain shooting through my body once again. After a moment, I tried to get myself up, only for my hoof to find some odd shaped rock. I don't know what compelled me to, but I felt the rock over in my hooves. There was something odd about it. It wasn't until I found two large holes in its side did I realize just what it was! It was a skull! But not just any skull! A pony skull! The twigs around me weren't twigs! They were bones! I had fallen into a pony grave yard! Panicked, I began to try and climb out of the ditch, but it was useless. The walls were too steep. And after falling back into the piles of pony remains eight or nine times, I gave up.
Maybe a day or so had passed since I fell in, and hunger was begining to set in. Even the crumbs they gave us at the end of the day back at the mansion sounded like a gift from heaven. I was still blind, but I think my feathers were beginning to grow back. Just not enough to fly me out of the ditch. My stomach growled, and with that, a since of determination was found! I grabbed two sturdy rib bones, using them like hooks, I dug them into the sides of the ditch, and used them to pull myself up! Slowly but surely, I got myself out of the ditch, then through the bones I had used back inside of it before venturing out for food. I had found some patches of grass and a few dandelions, which tasted way better then anything I had eaten at the mansion!
Days passed and I still was just blindly wandering around the forest. I had run into the timberwolves a few times, only for them to sniff me down once more, then leave. Part of me still hoped that they would just eat me. End my suffering. This life wasn't worth living...
It felt like it had been a few weeks since I was thrown out of the mansion. A few weeks since I lost my sight, had been tortured, having my feathers plucked from me, and had been thrown out like a sack of old oats. I felt like with nopony else to talk to, I was my own company. What made matters worse, I not only started talking back, but started talking back in a different tone of voice. I was sounding harder, sharper, more like I knew what I wanted to do, but for some reason, I wouldn't tell me what that was. Like I was waiting for something....
Days after I started talking with myself, I ran into something hard as I mumbled to myself. I occasionally ran into trees or large rocks while blindly wondering through the forest. But something about this was different. I ran my hooves along the hard surface and froze. My heart stopped when I realized what it was I was touching. It was the wall. The wall of the mansion! By some sick twist of fate, I had been brought back to the place I considered hell! I fell to my knees and began asking myself 'why... Why couldn't I just stumble off a cliff and die...'
'Shhhh!' The sharper voice answered. 'Listen! There are ponies talking on the other side! Listen!'
I took a deep breath and listened. The wall may have been high and thick, but since I had first been flung into the forest, my sense of hearing had improved beyond compare to compensate for my blindness.
" ... So the wedding is still on?" A mare whispered.
"That's what i hear" a second mare answered.
"Even after that poor filly hung herself? Right in front of them!?" The first mare gasped.
"Master Truffle told her that the filly was deeply disturbed and they had taken her in 'out of the goodness of their hearts'" the second mare sighed.
"Did you hear why she did it?" The first mare asked, toning down her voice as he continued to work.
"Well... You didn't hear it from me" the second mare continued. "But while Master Truffle was courting that rich filly, he also was using that poor servant girl for his..." The cleared her throat. "Male needs."
"No!" The first mare sounded half shocked.
"Yes!" The second continued to gossip. "To make matters worse, she found out a week before she hung herself, that she was pregnant! With his child!"
"Oh my! The poor dear!" The first mare commented. "I'm surprised the Lady didn't have her thrown over the wall!"
"If the Lady had know, she would have" the second mare replied. "But the filly kept it to herself. Probably planned to run away the next chance she got."
"But why kill herself then?" The first mare whispered again
"Well... You didn't hear it from me..." The second mare started again. "But I hear she had the hots for one of the other servants. They had kinda grown up together."
"No! Here?" The first mare asked.
"Yes! They had known each other for years! Cutest couple" the second mare sighed. "I think she even kept him in the dark about what Truffle was doing to her... Poor girl. Not like she could refuse."
"Otherwise it would have been over the wall and to the wolves, right?" The first mare added.
"Sadly yes..." The second mare sighed. "I think they both could have run away and lived happily ever after..."
"What happened to him?" The first mare asked again.
"Truffle practiced his magic on him, only he went too far. Don't know quite what he did. But he had the poor colt's body tossed right out of his window and into the forest. When the filly heard of that, she died inside, I'm sure of it" the second mare commented.
"Did they have names?" The first mare asked.
"Well the colt didn't, but master Truffle always called him 'Dirt'" the second mare chuckled bitterly.
"That's nice" the first mare commented.
"I know" the second one agreed. "But the filly had a name... It was Golden. That's right! Golden Harvest!"
"Hey, you two!" A hard sounding stallion's voice rang. "Get back to work! No more talking or no dinner tonight!"
The mares gulped and went right back to work. I sat there, fallen to my knees as I took in everything the mares had said. Their whole conversation ringing in my ears, shaking me at my very core! 'No!.... No! It can't be true!... She can't be...'
I laid there until nightfall, just numb and dead to the world. I had lost the only two ponies who had meant anything to me in the world... Was this a world even with living in?! What was the point?! I had no reason to live! What was the point in me surviving?! I began to cry as I heard thunder crack in the sky. There was heavy moisture in the air. It was going to rain. I hate the rain.
'To take revenge...' The sharp voice answered.
"What?" I asked out loud.
'You survived... To take revenge!' There was a harsher element to the voice now.
I sighed. "Take revenge... What? You want me to spit in their cereal? Throw a few rocks through some Windows?"
'No you idiot!' The sound of thunder split the voice. 'They've tortured you your entire life! Don't tell me some childish pranks are all you can come up with?! You can get more creative then that!'
"What's the point..." I sighed and slumped back against the wall. "Revenge won't bring the old stallion back... Or... Or Golden back..."
'So you want them to die in vane?' The voice struck a nerve, my ears perked up. 'They died because of those sick fucks in there! They died because they were nothing but trash to those pampered bitches! And all you're gunna do is sit there and let their memories rot! You're as bad as they are!'
"Shut up..." I snarled.
'Or what? You gunna let my lunch get cold?' The voice spat.
"Shut. Up." I told it again, a raindrop hitting my muzzle.
'Why shouldn't I?' It continued. 'You aren't going to do anything. You just let them all die because you're a coward!'
"SHUT. UP!" My voice was backed up by thunder.
'You're just some little pussy that was house broken by those bastards in there! They killed your friends and now you're going to just let them get away with it!' It was yelling in my ears.
"I SAID SHUT UP!" I got to my hooves and slammed them down, hard.
'Oh! The bitch has a little bite... Such a shame it wasn't enough to same them...' The voice commented.
"You know what..." I said, a smile cracking on my face as the run began to pour down. "I think I want to go and play with my oldest, bestest friend."
'Oh?' The sharp voice said, sounding slightly pleased and intrigued. 'Got a few games in mind?'
"Oh, most defiantly" I answered. The rain began to fall harder now. The black world around began to dissipate and give way to the real dark world. The one I had lived in, was tortured and broken in, the one that took my friends away from me, and the one I was going to make my bitch. I could see the forest and everything in it, including a sea of glowing green eyes. The timberwolves sat hidden in the forest, waiting. But for what? I felt it then. I looked to my side and saw that after years of the Lady and Truffle telling me how useless I was, and how I would never amount to anything because I had nothing that made me special, I finally got my cutie mark. A dark raincloud with two green eyes, and bolts of lighting being shot at the world below! And I finally had a name to call myself.
I looked to the sky and chuckled "Dirt is dead! I am now Cynical Storm!!!"
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...'
