Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and I felt myself get invaded for lack of a better term. My mind was wrenched from my body, and I felt the mental roulette wheel of persona's begin its spin. A battle of voices in my head before one broke through and sidelined rational thought. My face split into a feral grin, and I crouched low. Without a worry in the world, I began looking at the red outlines visible through the trees and small buildings that littered my hunting ground, pausing at each one. I knew what would happen, as soon as two of them got on a single generator I would know, and once one was in my sight I would string them up like a deer carcass and let the entity feast on their souls as their bodies were left as rotting husks. The mental image that came with that ratcheted my smile even wider, and I began slinking through the underbrush.

Ponies were so easy to hunt, and I shivered in anticipation as I heard the clunk of one of them flubbing with some of the arcanotech in the wheels. I turned to the noise, and it was lit up yellow. With joy in my heart, I let out a primal scream promising blood and violence before tearing up turf in a mad dash to my newest prey. I reached the generator in a flash and found the lone stallion frantically on the machine. He was so focused on the wheel he didn't hear my mad approach. More fool him. I jumped forward, slashing across his wing and leaving a deep red gouge on his wing that spurted blood with beautiful frequency. I leaned in close as he screamed. "Might wanna patch that up, pretty boy..." Before he could respond I was gone, following the beautiful red lines to another victim that had decided to hide behind a tree. I ran forward, grabbing the tree's trunk and using my speed spin me into them, plunging the knife into a pink fetlock.

I let it out with a sick laugh. There was a pause as Cadence stared at me with a fearful look, and I leaned in. "I'm giving you a chance. Run, run far and fast little princess. Your blood is tempting I'm not sure how much of a head start I can give you."

That was all the prompting she needed. With a cry she began limping off, making good speed despite the obvious handicap of a knife severing an artery in her leg. I watched with a smile before charging after her, only to feel the energy seem to sap from my body. I let out a frustrated groan as I took a moment to catch my breath. By the time I looked up she was already gone. I kicked a rock in frustration, growling at the sky. "Damnit! I just wanted one more, c'mon!"

With manic energy I began looking around, I grinned at a trail of wet blood. "Oh, you folks are screwed now! I got a trail to follow!" I began to follow the trail and stopped as my senses went wild. I felt a pull behind me that led me to a cloud of fog that seemed to swirl beside me, giving the impression of one of those lockers that swarmed my little haunting ground. I began to stalk towards the locker, finding Twilight Sparkle, the first one on my list peeking out of the locker. As she stepped out my knife darted at her, grazing her side with a solid slash. She was smarter than the others, running as soon as I began cleaning off my knife. "GO AHEAD AND RUN PRINCESS, YOU KNOW I'LL GET YOU IN THE END!"

I didn't bother chasing her, with how quick she took those corners I probably wouldn't catch up, but that toolbox in her grip told me unless one of the others had a medkit she wouldn't be patching herself up anytime soon. I instead focused on the area. "If three of them were here, then the fourth was somewhere around here unless she-" I was cut off by a sudden flash of energy as a wheel powered up. I let out a frustrated yell. "NO, YOU HAVE TO GET CUT BEFORE I LET YOU PLAY WITH MY TOYS!"

I moved towards the generator with murder on my mind. Well, more on my mind. And more specific murder too, with a sun-shaped cutie mark slowly being stripped from raw flesh while screams sounded in beautiful stereo. I smiled at the thought, my previous rage already forgotten as I turned the corner to see the spinning wheel sending pulses of light with every rotation. I sadly didn't see Sunset waiting for me, but I did hear something better. A pained groan coming from a nearby rock. I let out a happy whoop, charging across the rock and saw a veritable bounty in front of me. Sunset was there, patching up Flash with her bare hands as best she could while her flashlight hung in her little telekinetic grip. I tore into them, my knife making solid contact with Sunset's barrel. "NOW YOU CAN FIX A WHEEL YOU LITTLE SUNSPOT!! PAY THE TAXMAN!" I let out a demented giggle as Flash ran off, I held a finger to my mask as Sunset was frozen in place. "Shush little one, death comes later, for now, just suffer." I slunk back, catching my breath before picking up Flash's trail. Nobody gets to run from me without at least taking another slice.

I let out a cackle as the blood told me where he had scampered off to. "KEEP RUNNING LITTLE PONY, NOTHING ESCAPES DEATH! IT'S IN MY OWN THRICE-CURSED NAME!" I began stalking the path the blood gave me, following as I counted the bits of white bone mixed with red blood. It was almost artistic, and I could feel a beat beginning to form as a song already formed in my head. A song of death and violence that could only be furthered if fed. As I heard hushed groans of pain and a small metallic click I knew I could feed it soon. I turned into a small building, with a single locker inside. I already knew what would happen, and walked up, slamming the door open with one hand. The bleeding stallion stared at me in fear as I stabbed the wood beside his head, eliciting a beautiful scream that I cut off with a strangling hand closing around his throat.

I hauled him over my shoulder, relishing in his struggles as I scanned the horizon. I saw the beautiful red outline of a hook right outside the door. I walked slowly, letting the useless struggles of the dead prey over my shoulders give him a false sense of hope. As soon as the hook was in front of me I slung his body forward like a sack of potatoes, letting the momentum cut through flesh and muscle. I stared as he screamed, imagining what words could adequately describe it. As soon as he went limp I raised a hand to his face, making his terrorized eyes meet the empty visage of my mask. "Don't worry friend, I'll send you some company soon. Okay?"

He gargled something through the blood in his throat, but I turned and left. The beat was still there, giving me motivation as the song formed in my head. I wanted to shout out and sing, but that would spoil the fun. No songs should stain the hunt. Songs are inspirations for the others, and the only thing that could really inspire them to the hights of fear I wanted would be me crashing through their hopes while I hung them up one by one. It was the natural order, and I was the Apex freaking predator. Another flash of light sends a flash of rage through me, and in a split-second, I was running towards the light.

I jumped a small ledge, only to feel a heavy impact smash into my side, sending me backward with a grunt. I stared at the pallet in front of me as a dash of purple darted across my vision, causing me to scream in frustration. "GET BACK HERE AND STAY STILL, I JUST WANT TO CUT YOU UP A LITTLE!" I began sending my foot into the small pallet that had fallen on me, cracking it with each stomp until nothing was left but splinters. I ran through the detritus and scrap chasing the hint of purple that had graced my vision barely a moment ago. "COME ON, I"M JUST MAKING SURE YOU DON'T HURT ANYONE! I'M DOING A GOOD DEED IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT!"

I spent longer than necessary chasing my own tail, the hunt for the princess I had only marked, sparing her the gouts of beautiful blood the others had been forced to mend. Or in the stallions case fearfully stare at while hanging from a hook. I smiled at the thought until a small peal of thunder gave me a warning that my little bird had flown his coop. I snarled as another light flashed, and I was caught directly in between the two. I charged the generator without much thought. If one of them was stupid enough to help then I could catch them when the next little fish was strung up by their guts. With a snarl, a charged, leaping through windows and low walls with ease and rushing the now fixed light. I found it almost barren, if not for the soft sliver of pink that was barely visible behind a tree. I let my instinct overpower thought, feeling bloodlust and wild fury guide my body as I turned the corner and blindly slashed the air. I was rewarded with the tearing of flesh that provided the chorus to my beautiful song of misery.

As soon as my knife finished its strike more lines appeared, but I disregarded them. There was no need for others right now, this little pony thought she was good enough to fix MY stuff. I broke them for a REASON! I dashed forward again, marking another gash across Cadence's wing. Feathers, bone, and blood all flew in every direction, and I paused to catch my breath. I saw the fool running as I took a moment, and when I stood tall she was still easily in my vision. I didn't run, choosing to go for the finishing blow in a way to make the anticipation so much more worth it. I stomped forward, my walking pace faster than Cadence's gimpy run. I would lose sight of her for a moment with annoying frequency, only to follow the ruby-red blood until I was right on her tail. The gap began closing, the game of inches showing its victor in clear paces and I raised my knife in anticipation. It all ended with one mistake. Cadence tried to jump through a destroyed window, and at the same time, I charged. My knife sunk deep into her back, and she fell with a thump.

I listened to her pain-filled sobs, deciding if this song had a hook, then the tears of anguish I was currently hearing were definitely fitting. I peeked through the window, the scratched out walls and half-spinning wheel seeming all to familiar. I looked to the corner and smiled at the stairwell leading down to the closest thing to a home I had. I watched as Cadence tried to crawl away for a moment, before hauling her over my shoulder. I don't know why I didn't taunt or belittle her, but the red glow emanating from my mask lessened, allowing me to have some semblance of self-control. I silently walked to the basement, the music that had been forming and shifting in my mind silenced by the bootsteps I made with every somber step. As soon as I cleared the stairs the whispers started. The entity feeding ideas and horrors into my head in this place where it held the most power. A shrine to its demented glory.

My heart dropped slightly as I placed Cadence on the hook, her own scream seeming to momentarily sever my connection to the entity fully. I stared at her for a moment, before backing away. "For what its worth princess, I am sorry." I turned about and felt a snap as the beat resurfaced in my head. My vision tinted red again, and the hunt redoubled. My mind warped and twisted back into the hunting mindset that cursed me whenever work called. I shook my head, trying to cast off whatever trite trickery forced my regression from hunter to weakling. I pushed forward, boxing a few beats from around my mask to focus myself on the task at hand. I heard a shuffle nearby, followed by a scream. I smiled and began running, some people just couldn't be trusted to patch you up.

I couldn't believe my luck as three terrified faces stared back at me from a small free-standing wall near my basement. I let out a peal of laughter that could crack glass and send skin shivering as my knife descended on the first pony. Poor Twilight didn't know what hit her as my knife cleaved through skin and muscle without catching on anything. A clean slice that sent her running through the woods. I watched Flash duck towards my basement as Sunset readied her flashlight. I moved forward, and the light hit me. My skin erupted into pain, my body of fog and long-dead flesh seeming to ignite under the false sunlight.

I threw a blind slice and heard a cry as it hit something. I didn't know what though, as my painful flailing was disorienting me. A few moments of curses and shouts later I was able to see, and already knew my mission. I moved towards my basement, already hearing the sound of thunder as one of them freed Cadence from her trap. I didn't run, running was tiring, I just stood at the top of the stairwell. Waiting. My patience was rewarded instantly as two ponies broke around the corner in a sprint, only to stop as they caught sight of me.

We were caught in a standstill. Flash sat there with a toolbox clenched in his small grip, blood dripping from his collar bone, with Cadence hardly looking any better. I took a single step forward. They took one back. I smiled. "So, how are we gonna do this? Is there a noble sacrifice coming? Oh, or is one of you going to push the other into me? I do so love the anticipation of how someone chooses to die!"

They both stared, and Flash did something that always infuriates me. He smiled. He pushed Cadence forward, and when I lunged forward he snaked around her. His scream was delicious as Cadence bolted off, shouting his name. I didn't bother stopping to see if she was stopping to see what happens next. Another flash of light poured from somewhere. Four out of five done. I grimaced in annoyance at that, if they got this many done already at least one would probably escape. I shook it out of my head as I threw Flash onto the rear-most hook in my demented shrine, and waited to see the show.

A circle of thorny claws erupted from the hook, one darting towards the barrel of the unfortunate stallion. His eyes widened as his hooves went out, fighting the entity with every scrap of strength he could muster. I heard a scream from the stairwell. "WHAT THE BUCK IS THAT?!"

I tilted half my head to see the unfortunate pony. Cadence had come back to save Flash. The final flash of light powered through my haunting grounds, the buzzer to find the exits marking the time. I let out a manic laugh. "IT'S MY BOSS! WANNA MEET HIM?" I began rushing her, opening a new artery as she sat staring at the entity. She let out another scream as blood poured like water. I knew for a fact there was an exit gate outside my little home, and I didn't have time to waste. I slashed again, winding myself. But it did it's job, sending her into a stumble that I could easily trace.

My guess was right, as the exit gate was opening as soon as Cadence made it out of the room, Sunset pulling the lever while looking around like a trapped rat. As much as I would love to kill Celestia's little tyke I knew when to be greedy. I lunged at Cadence, knocking her down again. Twilight ducked forward, placing herself between me and Cadence. Then the entity was cut away from me again. I could make my own decisions. I swept her aside. "RUN YOU FOOLS! I have already claimed one, and no more blood has to be spilled here today."

Sunset looked hesitant, staring between the exit and Cadence, while Twilight looked scared, though whether from me or the fact I had reduced Cadence to a bloody mess I couldn't be sure. "YOU DON"T UNDERSTAND!" I was having to fight the urge to gut Cadence here and now, the entity desperate for an immortal meal. "IM TRYING TO FUCKING HELP YOU! RUN!!"

Sunset leaned in. "Uh, Twi, you notice his eyes?" I noticed my own eyes, the red stain appearing and disappearing at random as the entity desperately pulled me to its goal. I didn't want them to watch, but I only had one option in my pool to get them out of here. I screamed and charged at them from their position in front of the exit. In their blind sprint from me, Twilight crossed the threshold. Sunset wasn't so lucky, a solid stab slitting open her stomach her intestines rolling out like a sheaf of papers. She crawled past the threshold as I readied another strike, causing Twilight to stop in confusion as Sunset burst into light but she quickly turned to look at me.

A gate of thorns and the voices of past victims separated us, and with a snap, I dismissed her from my hunting grounds. I collapsed, looking at Cadence. "You're going to die, you know that right?"

She let a raspy breath but nodded. I sighed. "I can do a little bit to make it better, I'm not sure why I can even think right now, let alone talk to you."

Cadence let out a laugh that sounded far to wet to be healthy. "That'd be me. It was feeding off you, and it couldn't stop all my magic. It let me keep what it thought would help in the trial I guess." I quirked my head. "Every time you got near me I was cutting it away from you, and without you, it's dying."

I froze, I hadn't known he could die, but if he was feeding off me then... "Damnit, I bet that thing's been doing this for a while." Cadence gave a wet cough before I saw another flash of red, and the urge within me rose to greater heights. "NO! If I kill this one, you don't get a sip you BROKEN DOWN IDOL!" I rose on shaky knee's, raising my knife to Cadence's throat. "I'm so sorry Cadence, I wish I could save you, but this is the best I can do." With a single slash, the red faded from my vision. The fog faded, and for a moment I thought I heard a pained growl. But the forest fell quiet, and I was left as I always was. Alone.

Author's Note

Yep, the epilogue will come.