Feral

"Each of us bears his or her own hell."
-Virgil

‘It’s been so long. So long…since I have bathed in the moonlight, or felt the chilling embrace of the wind. So long since I’ve started this sleep...’ he thought to himself. ‘I wonder what has happened to that plague of a race. I wonder if after this long they’ve finally become civil. This is highly doubtful, but at the same time probable. The humans...sickening and disgusting. Their entire existence is bent upon the destruction of themselves as well as everything around them. It is as if their creation was deemed to be a gigantic cosmic joke.’ If the creature could spit, he would have. He then remembered something that made his black heart swell with pride. A river of blood being soaked up by summer soil, screams of terror howling through the night sky, and even grown men and women offering their children’s lives just for a chance to keep theirs. Beings that deserved to be slaughtered. 'At least they have one good use.' he thought.

‘Prey.’

That’s all they were to him. All they ever were. Cattle, food for him to play with just before he got his fill. Some of them tasted better than others but that all really depended on what kind of person they were in their life. He had lived among them. They shunned him and called him a monster.

‘A monster that only deserved death.’

Ironic then, that it was death that he gave to them...

It was the hour of midnight. Luna’s moon held high above the night sky. Through the dense trees of the Everfree could be heard signs of struggle. The leaves were rustling as the sick laugh of the creatures holding an innocent captive echoed all the way through to the edge of the forest.

“Please, let me go. I’ll find you all the gems you want. Please just let me see my friends!” begged an alabaster unicorn covered from head to hooves in dirt and leaves. “If you do, I can even give you the rest of the gems in my shop and you can come with me when I look for more and AGH!” The disheveled unicorn found a clawed hand smacking her in the side of the face and quickly lifting her off the ground and onto her side with a yelp. Blood started to trickle down her face and stain her coat from where the crude claws made contact.

"Shaddup stupid pony! Diamond Dogs don't need help looking for gems. This is what pony gets for taking brothers' gems and humiliating them!" the gray and disgustingly skinny Diamond Dog announced with disdain.

She sniffled and had to try her hardest to hold back her tears. She was a proud and fabulous fashionista, and they would not get the better of her and see her cry. Even if she wanted to just sit down and let the tears flow freely and have her friends just hold her and tell her it was going to be alright. Why didn't she listen to her instincts? She knew that it was unsafe to be jewel hunting in the middle of the night, yet she went out regardless, by herself no less. What was supposed to be some last minute searching for baby blue sapphire's (which she needed to finish another project for Sapphire Shores by tomorrow) turned into a living nightmare as she was assaulted and beaten by six Diamond dogs, had her legs tied in a length of rope, had a horn inhibitor placed on her, and was now being drug across the horridly filthy ground of the Everfree Forest.

'This is not the proper way to treat a lady you...you..Ruffians!' was what she thought and dared not say aloud.

Her current situation came snapping back as the slack on the rope tightened, dragging her by the forelegs on the ground once more, leaving a small trail of blood on the ground from her scratch. She continued screaming for help as she had been.

"Someone please help me! If anyone can hear me please help me!..." she checked the side of her face with her shoulder, only to find something that horrified her.

She gasped.

"They're getting dirt in my MANE! HELP ME PLEEEAAASSEE!" She thought at first this would be a horrible idea since it could attract the attention of a manticore or something equally dangerous, but decided it would be best just try and get away while the Diamond Dogs contended with the beast.

"Pony never stops whining!! Shut up stupid pony! Grendel, are we getting close to castle yet?!" the skinny, gray-coated Diamond Dog with a red vest asked. One of the larger and more buff Diamond Dogs answered,

"Yes Rockjaw, castle is right past that clearing, so we can get rid of pony soon," he answered matter-of-factly. Rockjaw looked back and gave the pony a half smirk, bearing his canines and letting out a menacing chuckle.

"Hehehe, good. I'm sick of dragging pony around by myself."

Rarity felt her stomach tighten as she saw where they were taking her.

"Old Canterlot Castle?" she whispered. 'That's where we defeated Nightmare Moon. Why in Equestria would they be taking me there?' Whatever the answer was, Rarity was sure she wasn't going to like it.

Twilight had decided to stay up after midnight for a night of late reading, seeing as how Rainbow asked her if she could stay at the library for the night and they could read the new novel she received yesterday, Daring Doo and the Eternal Scroll. It was another great book for the Daring Doo section, and the story of this particular one they agreed was very cool. It was loosely based on a Neighponese legend about a scroll that could give the user incredible power. They say it could give you a magical font the size of an Alicorn!! As they closed the back of the book, the giddy pegasus almost shot through the ceiling and into the second floor.

"That was SO AWESOME! Can you believe how good that was Twilight? That had to be like the BEST in the series SO FAR!" she squee'd with delight.

"I completely agree Rainbow!! That was very good interpretation of Neighponese folklore, especially the highly detailed descriptions of the ruins they went to in order to track down the scroll," Twilight added happily.

Rainbow gave her a deadpan look.

"I meant the awesome action and cool stunts. *Pfft*...Twilight, you're such an egghead."

Twilight shot her a look of non-amusement.

She gulped.

"Hehehe. But the good kind of egghead," she spoke while smiling nervously.

As if on cue, there were three loud knocks that could have almost been interpreted as slams against the Library's front door. They jumped from where they were siting.

"Just a minute!" Twilight said with a tone of minor annoyance.

She scrambled to the front of the door, guiding her hooves through the mess of books that lay on the floor of the Library. 'I'll have to ask Spike to sort these new books among the shelves tomorrow. She finally got to the doorknob and with a faint glow from her horn, turned the handle and opened the door.

"Zecora!" Twilight said as she ushered the panting Zebra mare inside. "You look like you ran from your house all the way to Ponyville. What's going on?" Twilight asked with nervousness in her voice.

Taking a minute to catch her breath, Zecora finally spoke,

"Twilight...*huff*...I come...*huff*...with news of a dire emergency. I was asleep in my hut when I heard the screams of Ms. Rarity. I instantly awoke with a fright, and busted through my door and into the night. What I saw next made me mistrust my eyes, but surely they were not telling lies. I saw beyond leaves and trees, to what I cannot describe with ease. I saw Ms. Rarity bound, beaten, and being dragged, by a group of creatures that would make anypony surely gag. They were large deformed dogs that had collars of diamonds pure, and they were heading south through the trees of this I am sure."

Twilight and Rainbow sat there shocked. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. One of their own friends had been kidnapped and they didn't even know about it until now.

"Rainbow, gather the rest of the girls! Go tell them all to meet at Fluttershy's cottage! From there I'll cast a tracking spell and we'll go into the forest to get Rarity back. Any questions?" the lavender unicorn asked.

"Uh yeah, Twilight, isn't it kinda dangerous to go into the Everfree Forest at night? Not that I'm scared or anything, cuz I'm TOTALLY not, but like, isn't-"

"I know it's dangerous," Twilight cut her off, "but it's a chance we'll have to take because we have to get Rarity back...safe."

Rainbow stared at her.

"Ok Twilight, I'll meet you at Fluttershy's cottage," she told her. With that she flew out the window and into the night. Twilight turned to Zecora.

"Thank you so much Zecora. We need to get going if we're going to find her in time though."

Zecora nodded before replying,

"Indeed Twilight. You will have my help to keep your friend safe this night."

Twilight was glad her Zebra friend was willing to help. She smiled at her and replied,

"Let me just go get Spike and we'll be on our way."

Twilight knew that she couldn't leave Spike, knowing that he would want to make sure his Lady Rarity was ok. She went at practically a full gallop upstairs. She lightly shook Spike in his bed to wake him up.

"Uggghh, I don't want to wake up yet...huh? Twilight? What's wrong?" Spike asked as he cracked open his eyes. It was clear by the look she had on her face she was freaking out. Spike recognized that bug eyed expression instantly.

"Rarity's been kidnapped by Diamond Dogs. They were headed south in the Everfree Forest."

Twilight didn't have to say anymore, because an instant later, Spike shot down the stairs. Twilight following right behind him and Zecora right next to Twilight. She quickly scooped up the baby dragon and threw him onto her back as she and Zecora ran side by side out the door. The lavender unicorn didn't even bother to turn the lights off as they left.

'When I get my hooves on those Diamond Dogs, they're going to be sorry for tying Rarity up and hurting her like that. They'll get arrested or...or...SOMETHING! I don't know. But I'm going to make sure they get punished for hurting one of my best friends!' she thought as they ran into the night.

Little did Twilight know that there was not going to be a chance to punish them, because by the time she would get there, it would be far too late...

Rarity awoke with a start.

She realized she was laying down, legs splayed and tied down with leather straps. She felt cold stone against her back.They had her tied to a stone tablet. She began to panic when she realized she couldn't move. It was after that she started to hyperventilate. As she took each breath in faster and faster, her large teary blue eyes getting wider and wider, she tried to compose herself.

'Rarity, this is not the way a proper lady react. Correct yourself now. Handle yourself with grace and poise.

As she closed her eyes, her breath started to slow, as well as her her heart rate. She finally opened her eyes. She turned her head to the left, only to wince in pain as the bruises and cuts from the Diamond Dogs on her neck ached. She saw stone, old grey decrepit stone everywhere and noticed the pillars of stone and the slab she was sitting on and the thrones and...

For the second time that night, she gasped very audibly.

'I'm in Old Canterlot Castle. We're in the throne room. Yes I remember, they said they were taking me here...but why?'

She remembered how she had got beaten and clawed by Rockjaw, who she assumed was the grey Diamond Dog with the red shirt.

'For that matter, why are they being so violent? Not even Dragons are this violent. Why, in the name of Celestia, would they hurt me this much? I didn't do anything to deserve this...' she thought sorrowfully.

Then the tears started to flow freely.

'I miss the girls, and I miss my darling little sister, and my cute little Spikey-Wikey. I hope I get to see him again. The darling acts so cute and generous with that little crush he has on me. It's so adorable, and Fluttershy. My dear Fluttershy, I want to go to the spa and clean this disgusting dirt out of my mane and coat, and...'

She began realize that she could no longer feel a horn inhibitor strapped to her head.

'I can use my magic!' a ray of hope shined through as she told herself.

Carefully, without drawing to much attention she began to ever so lightly dip into her magical font and use the most inconspicuous amount of magic she could muster. Slowly but surely the leather strap around her left foreleg came loose.

'Almost there'...

She felt something sharp against her neck.

"Does pony think she's going somewhere?"

She starred in horror as she noticed the jagged knife Rockjaw had at her throat.

"I told you we were going to make you pay, and now pony, you pay."

Twilight looked at the building in disbelief.

"Um...Twilight...why would they take her to the Princesses' old castle, that is um...if you don't mind me asking?" Fluttershy asked just slightly louder than a whisper.

"I'm not quite sure Fluttershy, but whatever they're doing, it's bad. That much I'm sure of," Twilight said as she led them with her tracking spell into the drawbridge of the old castle.

"Hey girls, we'll have have to throw Rarity a super-duper totally funtabulous 'We're Glad You're Safe and Sound Party' when we get her back. What do you say girls? Do ya like that idea? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?" Pinkie quickly found a hoof shoved onto her mouth.

"Ah reckon we can Pinkie, but that means we gotta stay quiet and be real sneaky like, that way we can get the drop on them varmints that done kidnapped her, deal?" said the ever sharp Element of Honesty.

"Opphhku Dpphhku Lpphhku!" Applejack swiftly removed her hoof, which now had accumulated Pinkie drool.

"Okie Dokie Lokie!" she said in rather loud whisper.

"This is true Pinkie Pie. Being absolutely quiet we must try," the Zebra explained to her.

"They better not have done anything to Rarity," said the purple dragon riding on Twilight's back

Rainbow flew just over the head of her best friends.

"Just wait 'till I get ahold of them," the cyan pegasus added with determination.

They all slowly walked into the dark hallways of the castle.

All six of the dogs were gathered around her, laughing and poking her small body with their claws. After retying the leather strap around her foreleg, Rockjaw had already started to cut lightly into her legs and sides. Just enough to have her bleed lightly. She was a mess. Her coat was stained everywhere with blood and dirt. He looked to his other dogs. They all silently nodded. It was time to get nasty.

As he was getting ready to make the fifth cut along her belly, she shuddered. At this point, Rarity was absolutely horrified, because she knew if she tried to use her magic, they would have just killed her, or worse, tried to break her horn. She felt the blade of the knife across her belly. Then, it pierced an inch into her skin.

"AAAAAAGGH!"

She screamed as loudly as her lungs would let her at the sensation of the knife driving itself ever so slowly through her soft white coated skin and into her belly. The dogs simply laughed at the pain she was receiving.

"P...*sniff*...please, I know your not violent creatures! W..*sniff*...what would make you do this?!" she asked between sobs. Rockjaw withdrew the tip of the blade that came ever so close to piercing her stomach lining as they taunted her.

"Pony screams very loudly and we like that. It helps pay back for the trouble of moving that stupid stone to tie you onto. It almost looks like it was made to hold pony!" Grendel spoke.

Rockjaw laughed darkly.

"Good thing we found this place. None even come around castle anymore, so castle make for perfect den. Pony should never have took brother's gems." He moved his muzzle inches from her face and narrowed his eyes."Also, just so pony knows, all dogs are going to have a little fun with pony before we kill her."

Rarity's eyes opened wider than they ever have.

'Th...they're going to violate me...and they're going to kill me....I'm never going to see my friends, Sweetie, or my parents again.'

She couldn't hold back anymore. She sobbed uncontrollably. The beautiful and ever caring Element of Generosity was going to die at the hands of some horribly sick Diamond Dogs, and all she could do was cry for the memories she was going to loose. She finally opened her eyes to their loud laughing. All of them were so busy laughing, no one noticed the blood that had slid down the Element of Generosity's body was being sucked through the cracks in the long and thick stone tablet they had laid her on...

"Are ya sure we're going the right way Twilight?" Rainbow asked unsure

"I'm positive the tracking spell has never fa-"

"AAAAAAGGH!"

They all froze in their tracks as they heard Rarity's scream echo through the halls.

"EVERYPONY FOLLOW ME!" Twilight screamed as she bolted down the hallway while Spike tried his hardest to stay on.

'One thing I really hate about this sleep is the boredom. Utter.....total...and complete.......boredom. Ugghh, this is horrible,' the creature thought to himself. Suddenly a peculiar sensation hit him. One that brought warmth to his long cold body, accompanied with a bitter taste in his mouth that he had not tasted in a long time. His mind snapped to attention, his body flinched, and at the realization of what this delicious nectar running along his tongue was, his eyes shot open open.

"Blood."

"P-p-lease stop. I'm begging you." Rarity pleaded. Rockjaw only scoffed as he prepared to straddle the sobbing little unicorn. He got on top of her and was merely seconds away from forcing himself inside of her.

"Now Poni, you become Rockjaw's property and-"

At this moment all of them became silent, including Rarity's sobbing, when they noticed the temperature in the room had suddenly dropped at least fifty degrees. Then, the moonlight shining through the stained glass window slowly faded away, leaving the room much darker. They could see their breath as it instantly frosted when it left their mouth

"What-", was all that Rockjaw got in before the coffin they had strapped Rarity to, exploded.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Rarity found herself screaming for her life while she traveled through the air, when it felt like something cradled her and she instantly found herself back on the ground, sitting with her side against a hard surface. After coughing the stray dust out of her throat and mouth for a couple of minutes, she looked around the room since the dust had settled. The white unicorn saw the disoriented Diamond Dogs begin to stand. She tried to get up but after the beating and cuts she had received, Rarity found she had no energy left. She knew she was done for. One by one, the dogs got up, and one by one they stared horrifically at her, until all six of them looked absolutely terrified.

'Wait they aren't looking at me. They're looking above me, what could...'

She found her question quickly answered as she felt the surface her side was laying on begin to shift. She slowly turned her head and looked up, and her jaw dropped. She sat there unmoving for several minutes, as time seemed to slow down when the fashionista stared at the most horrible thing that had ever seen in her life.

The creature stood not quite as tall as a Manticore, but it was standing straight on two legs. It was slender yet quite buff. The horrible thing about this creature was the plain as day reason that laid bare for anyone who saw it: It was dead. The creature's skin was dark gray and had several spots of what looked to be rot and fungus developing on it. It had a gaping hole in its chest, which you could see into and tell nothing was inside said chest. At the end of its higher appendages, which connected to what Rarity could only guess was its shoulders, were five longer rounded claws with what looked like bone protruding from them. It also had wings. The wings of what looked like a bat. As Rarity scanned the creature's face, she saw its incredibly elongated sharp teeth, and blood red eyes that seemed like they seethed with pure hatred, which could have been be due to the fact that half of its head was gone.

They all stood there mouth agape at the creature for a while. Rarity would have let out the most blood curdling scream she had ever used in her entire life if she wasn't in shock. Then it opened its hideous mouth.

"RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

It's roar was loud enough to shatter the stained glass windows, which promptly did shatter into several hundred pieces.

"ALL DOGS RUN! GET OU-GCHK!" Was all that escaped Grendel's mouth as the creature instantly appeared in front of him, took its right clawed appendage and drove it through the large dog's mouth and out the back of his head with a thick *pop*.

Panic ensued between the dogs. They all rushed for the the exit. A giant swarm of bats came in from the busted window and enveloped the doorway, blocking the dogs from exiting. Rarity saw all of this, including what happened to Grendel.

"No escape..." the creature spoke in a harsh and chilling tone.

What happened next was a blur. From what Rarity could make out of it the creature withdrew its claw and its arm from the now dead Grendel as the dog's body dropped to the ground with a *thud*. It then unfolded its large wings and from what looked like ten to twelve ponystrides, sliced cleanly through the necks of all four dogs except Rockjaw, who was now in the fetal position. The four dogs' heads casually rolled off and dropped onto the ground, followed by a fountain of blood from each body before they too fell. Casually striding, the creature folded it's wings and walked over to the fetal dog, grabbed him by his head, and started dragging him over to Rarity. Rarity realized this but couldn't move or even think out of pure horrific shock and fear.

"Pleeease! Please let me go! I don't want to die! Kill pony instead!" Rockjaw pleaded.

The creature stopped in front of Rarity, who was sitting on the stone floor with her mouth agape. The bats then decided to dissipate from the exit as the creature brought Rockjaw's face to Rarity's, with his claws remained clutched around the top of the Diamond Dog's head.

"As you said to her, now...dog, you become MY property." he spoke to Rockjaw with utter finality in his words.

"NO PLEEAA-" but it was too late.

The creature took Rockjaw's head, tilted it to the side, and as if the Element of Generosity couldn't be more shocked, plunged its long fangs into her kidnapper's neck. She could visibly see the blood being drained through his veins, out of his wound, and into the creature's mouth. It didn't spill a drop. It seemed like an hour but was more along the lines of 10 seconds until Rockjaw's body was nothing more than a lifeless husk and crumbled into dust.

As it stood there, it turned its eyes to Rarity's. Its skin started to change color, gradually going from greyish black to a pale whitish pink. Its wounds quickly healed as the rotten organs in its chest started to grow back as well. The creature's wings also turned from grey into a think shade of black. It also started to grow the right half of its head back, and with that, a short length of brown hair on top of it. As its body healed itself, one thing remained the same: its glowing, blood red eyes. Rarity sat, scared out of her mind as she looked at the large, intimidating (and as she glanced down at her eye level she noticed; male) fully healed monster before her. She returned her gaze upward and they just stared into each others eyes. Rarity thought she was going to die, but it was then that she realized the temperature of the room had returned to normal.

"RARITY?!?!"

'Is that Twilight's voice?' she thought to herself.

"RARITY?!" ARE YOU IN HERE?!" Twilight shouted.

None of them could have expected to find what they found. Rounding the corner, they stood there not believing what they saw. In the large empty throne room, there was more blood than any of them have ever seen in their lives. There were also chunks of gore and concrete lying on the floor along with some severed heads, and on the steps what looked to be the thousand year old body of a Diamond Dog, crumbled into dust. What they saw by the far edge of the room shocked them the most. There was their best friend, covered in bruises and cuts, fur and mane caked with blood and dirt. She sat in front of a huge creature that had no hair except a short disheveled amount on the top of its head, stood upright, and had bat wings.

"GIRLS!" Rarity screamed and ran around the creature, crying the whole way until she finally reached the warm embrace of her friends. All of them promptly squeezed her and it felt like they would never let go.

'My friends came for me...and they actually found me.' She closed her eyes and wept like a newborn foal as did many of her friends.They didn't say anything because nothing needed to be said. Zecora's eyes were still trained on the creature. Not for long though, because faster than she could blink her eyes, the creature was right in front of them. They all jumped back.

"STAY BACK!" Twilight screamed and charged a spell with all her might, releasing it promptly after.

It caught the destructive spell in its claws like a softball, squeezed it, and it exploded leaving a large cloud of dust behind.

"Pheww, I'm glad that...worked?" It came out like a question as her and the rest of her friends watched in disbelief as the creature stood there, with part of its arm missing. It grew back instantly. The being then started walking to the huddled crowd of ponies. All of them tried to get away but found they couldn't as they stared into its eyes, almost as if they were paralyzed. Except for one.

The yellow pegasus promptly flew up to his face.

"I don't know who or what you are, but let's get something straight mister, YOU DO NOT! I REPEAT! YOU DO NOT HURT MY FRIENDS!" Fluttershy was actually taken aback that the being's face didn't even flinch. She still continued to glare. It slowly raised its claw and pressed it lightly to her lips, which she and her friends were completely shocked by. It was as cold as an icicle. Then it spoke,

"Shhhhh...child, you have nothing to fear. I wish not to harm you or your friends," he spoke warmly and smiled at her. Eight jaws simultaneously hit the floor, along with red cheeks as all of them could see his 'male assets' clear as day since he was standing up and had no fur. He then removed his claw and walked over to the rest of the ponies and kneeled down only inches from the whole group and looked into the eyes of the once hostage unicorn.

"Name?" he asked.

She sat there for awhile in all her friends' embrace until she answered him.

"R...Rarity," she spoke softly.

He smiled largely, which bore his fangs.

"Well Rarity, my name is Marius," he crossed his right arm over his chest and bowed. "Now...how may I serve you, my Master?"

She instantly fainted.