To Feel Again

“Crazybloom, time to switch. It’s my shift now” Blood Seed said as she approached the filly that was beside a locked door. The door was bolted, chained, locked shut, even a spell was on it. There were struggles coming from inside. There were the sounds of one who wants to get out of the cell. They ignored everything as Blood Seed took watch and Crazybloom took a break.

Blood Seed didn’t look like herself that much. Her eyes were now permanently black on the iris with her pupil color bolder. She had a scar on her right foreleg, and her cutie mark was now a pair of red scissors dripping with blood.

Crazybloom was a lot more different. Her eyes were in the same state as Blood Seed’s. Her skin had turned a bit blackish. There was a scar that went over her eyelid. Her cutie mark was now an apple covered in blood on a blooming flower.

“Let me guess, more rage?” Nuttie Belle said sarcastically while reading a spell book. Her eyes were just like them; black irises and bolder green pupils, but she had scars that made it look like she was crying blood. Two other scars were on her mouth to make it look like a doll, and a slash cut on her chest. Her cutie mark was now a doll’s eye dripping with blood.

“Kind of, but at one point, I heard her stop a bit. She said something ‘siphon’ but I don’t know what” Crazybloom said as she lied down on the couch.

“Remind me again why do we have to keep her locked up in there?” Suicidaloo complained. Her eyes had the same effect: black irises and bolder pupil hue. Her coat color was now slightly bolder than her normal one. She had a scar on each of her hooves, and one on the right wing. Her cutie mark: a bleeding stitched-up heart.

“It’s for her own good! She’ll eventually get tired and call quits” Strike said while he was at his working desk. Eyes were also now black irises and emerald green pupils. His green scales were a bit bolder than normal. There was now also a broken neck chain on him. There were scars on his stomach, over his left eye, and one that went all the way up to his arm.

“But isn’t this just stressing her out more? I mean, she got upset when I confessed the truth because it’s mostly her natural instincts to go haywire. So, maybe it’s her instincts again to go Savage since we’re keeping her in a cell like an insane pony”

“Okay, first of all, we’re all insane in our own scales. Second, there’s no way for us to change the fact that your adopted elder sister, Rainbow Dash, killed her Mistress, Fluttershy”

“So it’s my fault that Brazy’s upset about Fluttershy to the point that she created that crazy blade meant to kill us?”

“Punish. She said that our punishment depends on what it tells her to” Nuttie Belle said before absorbing her spell book again. “I remember it all like it was yesterday”

________________________________________

Brazy walked along the streets as she searched for her next victim. She knew very well this was where they mostly walked whenever they go home from Training. She looked down to a small compass that she held in her paw. This compass looked very normal, but it had a red gemstone on the center. The arm meters on it were shaped like daggers. The North, South, West, and East directions on it looked like they were written from blood. The arm that was longer pointed North, meaning that her target was coming. Turning off her Apprentice form and going into her Normal form, she lied down on the ground and pretended to be unconscious.

A certain brown colt saw her on the ground and came running. “Oh my goodness!” he went over to the alien. “Was there an accident? Are you hurt? Are you in pain?”

Brazy opened one eye half-lidded. Her eyes saw past the disguise and she knew it was her next target. She replied in a weak voice, “I don’t feel anything”

“I have a blanket in my saddlebag. Try to not move. I’ll get help” the colt said before heading back to the saddlebag he dropped.

Brazy didn’t pay attention.

The colt reached into his bag for a sleeping drug as a grin spread across his face. But when he turned around, there Brazy was, standing up and in her Apprentice form. The colt was so frightened that he didn’t realize that she casted a spell that turned him into his own Apprentice form.

Brazy lifted up her compass, but it turned into a sword. It looked like it was made of bronze, but the gemstone was still there. The next thing was that the colt was turned into a cow. Brazy used her levitation to make the colt unable to move, and she whispered one thing into his ear, “Your Judgment’s been decided”

The next thing that happened was that she drove the sword right through his heart. He never felt so much pain his life. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as his soul was sucked into the gemstone. When the process was done, Brazy’s sword turned into a bowie knife, its standard form. She took the body and dragged it to her house. There, she emptied the body of its organs and used the rest of the body for a pelt.

“Sounds like somepony tried to sneak up on me” Brazy mused when she heard Nuttie Belle coming behind her.

The filly was shocked when she saw the pelt. She was even more shocked when she saw the weapon Brazy held. It’s the Agony Blade, a weapon meant to punish Murderers, Murderesses, and Apprentices. This was only used by Servants, and she never really thought but she saw a real one with her own eyes. She looked at Brazy’s eyes; they had black irises, a bolder hue of blue, but the alarming part was the blood marks on them that resembled tears. If an Apprentice, Murderer, or Murderess turns off their sanity, they always had those markings on their eyes.

“Ever wondered why I had kept bodies or remains of two fillies and one colt that were Earth Pony, Pegasus, and Unicorn? I picked a bowie knife just in case because of a really needed purpose. Yes, it’s tiny, but that was because it was merely normal before. You see, when one creates a spell on a weapon like this, it acts as a magical conduit”

“Bunny…” Nuttie Belle began to back up.

“Once stabbed through the heart when it’s in this Sword form” she demonstrated by turning it into a sword. “This transfers your spirit into this nasty stone. The weapon’s purpose is to punish Murderers, Murderesses, and Apprentices. Every little kill you’ve done makes this weapon decide your punishment and judgment”

“Bunny…” Nuttie began to fear for her life.

“When in Sword form, it means that your spirit will be transferred into this stone to make your own personal hell. Those who made this before me had a lot to do. Then again, if it’s for avenging Fluttershy’s death, what do I care anymore?”

“Bunny, no!” Nuttie Belle tried to protest but the alien was quick and pinned her to the wall.

“If it’s for your sister, will you see her?” Brazy smirked as she prepared to stab Nuttie in the heart, but she herself was injected by a sleeping serum by Strike. Brazy tried to stay awake, but the serum was too strong and made her sleep.

“Right on time?” Strike asked as he helped Nuttie back up.

“Thank you”

“No need to; we still have to find a way to make her feel again” Strike looked at Brazy.

“How did you…?”

“This is her basement, so it wasn’t hard to find the serum from her planet to make her sleep”

________________________________________

Right after they caught Brazy, they had to try and convince her to turn her sanity back on. When she woke up, she was tied to a chair, but they forgot that she could shrink so she got out easily. They tried a lot of things to restrain her enough to get her to calm down and talk, but nothing seemed to work. She would easily escape and take another filly or colt as a Victim.

Then came the time for which Apprentices had to make their own groups to work in. Strike had to take Brazy with them since, despite her rage, she was still their friend and only they knew about her. Brazy only seemed to laugh when they thought they could get her under control, as she seemed to go more animal than normal.

As soon as groups were formed, Nightmare made them go through the next stage of being an Apprentice: the ability to switch from Normal to Apprentice form at will. Eventually, all Apprentices decided to stay in their Apprentice form when inside their houses. Eventually, Nightmare moved it to the stage where they would be able to survive fatal blows, but get scars in the process. It was also around this time did the Crusaders start to gain their cutie marks in Apprentice form.

Blood Seed earned her mark when she had to attack in Training, and she used a pair of scissors because her opponent snatched her knife too far. She gained a scar on her right foreleg from Brazy when she got scratched during the time they tried to get her to take a sedative pill. She was mostly the brawn of the group since she did most of the fighting.

Crazybloom earned hers when she had to kill a demented version of Tender Taps in a hallucination. Though it left her traumatized, she got out of it when she realized he was fine, sane, and alive. The scar on her eyes was a swipe from Brazy’s ordinary switch blade. The reason why her skin was now a bit blackish was because when they tried a restraint on her with pain involving fire so that they could make her feel again; she made a major twist that got stuck ash permanently stuck on the filly. She devised the plans and went to find the sedatives that keep Brazy easy to talk to.

Nuttie Belle gained her mark when she disfigured a doll as though it were an alive pony. The scars on her face and chest were self-inflicted because she wanted to look more like a doll. She mostly now learned about more magic so she can cast spells to keep Brazy locked in a cell.

Suicidaloo got her mark in discectomy. Let’s just say they had to have atleast one in the group who could play doctor or nurse so that in case of injury, they have help right away. Nightmare needed one to make the injury, one to play the victim, and one to be the doctor. Nuttie Belle was the victim, Brazy had fun in being the one playing killer, and Suicidaloo had to save Nuttie Belle. As for the coat color and scars, both she and Brazy got into a fight that led to violence and blood. Suicidaloo began to regret their fight when she saw that though Brazy showed such anger and rage, it also showed deep pain.

Strike got the scars from a Training session meant for the ones who wish to be Alpha of the group. The neck chain was from an incident where Brazy decided to play torture chamber, medieval-style. The bolder-colored scales came as a result from dealing with both. He was now a somewhat leader to his group of fillies, dragon, and alien. But out of all the things he had put up with, it was the alien that was the main problem.

Brazy was downright insane. She now stalked fillies and colts at night, one by one, according to what her new knife tells her. Apart from getting some petite weapon of mass destruction, the spell made her a different type of Apprentice. She wasn’t just any Apprentice, she was the Huntress. A Huntress was a type that instead of hunting on Innocents, they hunt on other Apprentices, Murderers, and Murderesses. And that spell she casted on that little bowie knife?

It turns out that Brazy’s new knife wasn’t ordinary, atleast not anymore. It was a weapon called the Agony Blade, a weapon whose sole purpose is to punish sinners and a weapon that only aliens can use. Its standard form was an ordinary bowie knife with a red gemstone on the handle. The gemstone somehow speaks to Brazy, by Little Voice. It tells her who her next target is, what sin they’ve committed, and what their punishment is. Though it looks like an ordinary bowie knife, it has many different forms that depend on the punishment. Like, if it’s a sword, that means that the target’s soul is put into the gemstone, creating their own personal hell. And if it’s a meat cleaver, it forms a curse. If, in the event, that a target escaped, but got scratched by the blade, the scar serves as a type of signal, making it easier for Brazy to find them. All in all total, it was an ideal weapon of destruction.

The group had to make sure that Brazy didn’t get them by her Agony Blade or they will be her true next target. They had tried to keep her on a muzzle, but that had risks that included that once she got it off, she would almost bite their head off. They found a sedative pill, but it was always a pain to get it down her throat. Luckily, once inside her, it makes her easier to talk to, as she seems like a taunting type now.

Then came the time for which Nightmare decided that soon they would hold competitions for the groups so that they can have their own Alphas. Strike had been training, but he always feared that Brazy’s sedative pills wore off; she would seize full control of them and thus, never go back to normal. They also all started living in some mansion altogether, because Nightmare said it would be safe, considering the disappearance of many fillies and colts at night.

________________________________________

“And, Blood Seed, you stand watch over her at night!” Strike commanded as they went down to Brazy’s basement to see how much carnage was there.

They nearly threw up from the amount.

“Look, they’re being sewn up as dolls” Nuttie Belle said as she looked at one. “Why would she do that?”

“So that even if they are ever freed, they will never again roam Equestria” Strike realized. “It’s Brazy’s Revenge”

________________________________________

“So basically, we just gotta keep her on sedative pills even during the whole fight and after that, I’ll take position of Alpha and she will be easier to control” Strike said.

“Wait, why do you have to be Alpha?” Nuttie Belle asked, a little agitated.

“Um, ‘cause I mostly give the orders around here plus I kind of already lead the group”

“Why can’t I be Alpha?” Blood Seed whined. “I’m the strongest one!”

“Physically, but not really mentally” Strike said.

“But you could barely make a ball of fire big enough to scare a dragon!” Suicidaloo pointed out.

“You could barely fly or even stay in the air for a second!”

“I cast spells to keep doors locked, why can’t I be Alpha?” Nuttie Belle complained.

“No, I’ll be Alpha!”

“No, me!”

“Me!”

“Me!”

“ME!”

They kept arguing about who it would have to be as Alpha, pointing out each other’s flaws and advantages. They kept on going back and forth. It was about to get a little ugly when…

“Wait, if Blood Seed’s here, then who’s watching Brazy?” Strike asked, voice rising.

“Meh, there’s a spell that should keep it sealed shut, remember?” Nuttie Belle laughed.

Right then, they heard a loud thump coming from the door. All eyes widened at the sound. They headed down to the basement to see that the door was being hit at, as though something was trying to break through it. They grabbed their approximate weapons as they readied for the outcome. Blood Seed had her spiked gloves on. Crazybloom had her daggers ready. Nuttie Belle readied her magic and had an axe. Suicidaloo got her various set of knives and sedatives. Strike brought along a mace.

“Um, Crazybloom…” Suicidaloo quivered. “What did you say she said a while back?”

“Something with the word siphon, why?” Crazybloom dreaded the answer.

The orange filly gulped. “‘Cause now I know why”

In a second later, the door busted open, making splinters of wood and metal fly all-round the place. A thick cloud of dust followed, casting the shadow of a silhouette of a certain alien.

“Should’ve considered that I would learn Siphon soon. And that magic spell was delish” Brazy smirked. She looked all the more demented from the months that had gone by. Her eyes were now black in the iris and solid blue in the pupils. She now donned on a black collar made of unicorn horns. She also now had scars on the stripes of her ears, stomach, tail, and even diamond stripe. Her fangs were sharp to a point that they would make you bleed at their touch. In her paw was an unmistakable bowie knife, the Agony Blade.

“Brazy, we can talk this out!” Suicidaloo pleaded, lowering her knives and sedatives at the same time.

“Talk it out?! That’s really the best that you can do?! Put me on sedatives, make me sit on a couch, that without a doubt has restraints, and make me talk about anger?! You’re all pathetic!” Brazy growled.

Right then, Nuttie Belle put both of them into the white room, mostly where they talk to Brazy when she’s on her sedatives. The alien went ballistic and headed straight for the door, trying to break it open, but it was sealed shut too. From a protective window panel on one of the walls, Nuttie Belle, Strike, Crazybloom, and Blood Seed were watching.

Suicidaloo watched Brazy trying to open the door. Behind all the anger, she saw that she was really stressed, scared, even relentless. The filly felt pity for the alien. This is merely a fit of fear. Brazy always hated the pills, so it would make sense that she was trying to say that she didn’t want the pills and she wanted out. Maybe if she got to calm down without the use of sedatives, then she may be able to talk it out.

“Brazy, please take a deep breath” Suicidaloo tried in calm tone.

The alien growled.

“I have no weapons or sedatives on me” she raised her hooves up to prove it.

“WHY DO I CARE?!” she yelled.

“I get it, you’re afraid I’ll force a sedative down your throat again. But trust me, I won’t and I don’t”

“Why would I trust an Apprentice, especially one good in discectomy?”

“Because I’m your friend, even before this whole thing happened” Brazy frowned. “Just, try not to focus on what I am, focus on WHO I am”

Don’t listen to her, Little Voice told Brazy.

The alien kept her angry face. She could try to, of course. But the anger and fixation of anger kept her from doing so. She only used to see Suicidaloo as a friend, but that was gone when she found out about her Mistress’ death. Now, she only sees her as the sister of her true friend’s Murderer.

“I can’t, Suicidaloo!” she snarled, baring her fangs.

“Brazy…” Suicidaloo tried.

That was what sent Brazy off. She used her Teleport abilities to teleport the rest of the group inside the room with her and Suicidaloo. Nuttie Belle had already begun to freak out and ran to the door, but to no avail. She tried to undo the spell, but Brazy used her own to keep them from going out. Blood Seed tried to attack, but Brazy used a Freeze spell on her. Strike and Crazybloom couldn’t do a thing since the alien made sure their weapons weren’t with them.

Brazy smirked. She could just end them all, right here and now, but then she thought of something else, something that should make the pain last a little longer.

She levitated all of them in the air. They panicked as she raised her Agony Blade and began to twirl it. They knew that any moment now, and she would turn it into one of its forms and use it on them, or even keep it in standard form and make a scar on each of them to make sure they’re her next target. But that never happened. Instead, she breathed and whispered a chant that was barely audible. Then, she opened her eyes and smirked.

“Let the battle begin”

In a second, an earthquake started and it knocked them all out unconscious. The last thing they was the grin of an orange alien.

________________________________________

Later…

Strike opened his eyes after passing out from the shock a while back. His vision was blurry at first, but then it cleared up. He had some effort in trying to get up, but he finally did. He looked around for his group, and they were all around him, unconscious. He went over to Nuttie Belle and began to shake her on the shoulder.

“Nuttie? Nuttie Belle, wake up” he whispered to her, but also half-screamed.

Nuttie let out a groan. “Strike? Where are we? Where are the others?”

“Start waking them up” he said.

“Ugh, no need to” Suicidaloo held her head as though it was pounding.

“I felt like I took a twirl in a tornado” Crazybloom chimed in.

“Atleast she didn’t take away my strength” Blood Seed tested out her hooves to make sure she was still strong.

“Where are we?” Crazybloom looked around.

The place they were in looked more like some twisted and demented version of a mansion, like a haunted house. It was dark and eerie. The place looked rather vintage. There was a chandelier at the ceiling, but it was very high up. A staircase was infront. And there were cobwebs on the broken lamp and drawers.

“I don’t know. Brazy…she sent us…” Strike tried to put the pieces together.

“To your battle field!” Brazy’s voice rang out. A second later, she appeared from a flash of light, floating in mid-air.

“Brazy, what is this place?”

“Ooh, like it? Made the place myself. It’s some sort of mansion filled with truths and memories that were all cobbled together into one haunted house, call it Insanity Mansion. Made the décor myself, but no time to fix up the place”

“Why are we here?”

“This is where we decide our new Alpha, and what better way than a haunted house? Now, let’s go over the rules of the game”

“GAME?!”

“Separate and only meet up once you meet up. Please be aware that you may defeat the one who you meet to get closer to the end. I am aware of the Healing Tea you sneaked form my basement, take it as a time-out. After the battle is over completely, all who have been defeated will be revived. And guess what? In this house, I call the shots! So, winner has to beat me in Single Combat. You win; I’ll let us out and probably even listen. You lose; well…I wouldn’t wanna spoil the surprise”

Everypony gasped.

“Brazy, this is madness!” Crazybloom cried.

“We’re all mad here” was Brazy’s last word before making them all separate into different rooms. But, Blood Seed shot a sedative pill into her mouth before she was teleported away. Brazy herself teleported away after that.

________________________________________

The young alien teleported to one of the rooms in the mansion. This looked like it could be her own room. It had a vintage mirror at the side, allowing Brazy to see Little Voice. There was also a small bed, and different dolls of her previous Victims sat on the drawers.

Brazy spit the sedative pill out of her mouth with disgust. “I can’t take it anymore! If I gotta choke down on one more of those moldy, dry, disgusting sedative pills…” she clutched her paw into a fist and drew out her Agony Blade, pretending to stab somepony with it while she was stabbing one of her practice dolls.

“Calm yourself, Brazy. Soon, you will be Alpha, not that puny-excuse-for-a-dragon” Little Voice said from the mirror.

“And then, I stuff the sedative pills down THEIR throats!” Brazy laughed with Little Voice.