The Purifier

Chapter 3: Virtue in Voltage

A very far ways away from Manehattan, I tried to skid myself to a stop by digging the heels of my boots into the ground perpendicular to my running direction, but there was too much friction, making me immediately tumble forwards at still-incredible speeds, rolling for many seconds with the hard dirt grinding into my body from all sides. Eventually I did come to a stop, finishing on my back and looking up towards the night sky with my exhausted, worn eyes.

“Ow...” I groaned as I glanced towards the Moon, still as faithful as ever with its guiding light. I pushed myself up to a sitting position with a pained groan, turning my head towards where I just came from, faint tracks of my abrasive tumble visible in the moonlight. “Violet...” I mumbled, remembering the look of horror the kind nurse had on her face for the barest of moments before those Corrupt monsters took all emotions away from her.

“Every single time...” I muttered, but quickly shook my head. “I can’t dwell on the past; it’ll only drag me down. However, this,” I started as I lifted my left arm before my face, it feeling as though electricity was coursing through it, leading me to push it out through my hand as though it were magic for a spell, creating a web of orchid-tinted lightning that arced across my hand, between my palm and the tips of my fingers, “This may help me finally wrench this world free of the Corruption that suffocates it so.

“Unfortunately,” I said as I stopped the electricity flowing and let my arm fall back to my side, “I’d rather protect my name from a stigma of death and destruction, so...” I sucked in a breath and looked up in thought, pondering for a moment. I raised a hand to my relatively clean mane and ran over it back to front, lingering on the frost-coloured forelock hanging before my face.

I grinned and lit my horn, engaging my well-trained illusion magics to remove any saturation from my mane, tail, coat, horn, and eyes, the strange sensation wrapping across my body like an phantasmal second skin and fading from my cognizance just as quickly. There were still remnants of my real self on my visage, such as my mane and tail style along with my magic colour, but there were enough ponies in this world that few would quickly associate it with the real me, and even in the case of my cutie mark, it would still be hidden underneath my jean pants.

My grin faded as I thought on what I was going to do, but I wouldn’t waver now; there are too many innocent people suffering at the hands of those Corrupt monsters, and I will not let them do so any longer. I spun around in a circle slowly, observing the Moon-lit world around me and looking for any sign of civilization near, but found nothing. No matter, I’ve dealt with living on the road with nothing around me for many kilometers for years, so with these new abilities, it could never prove a hassle.

Turning away from where I remembered Manehattan being, I reared back onto one leg, prepared to throw myself forward, and then did so, nigh-instantly going at speeds enough to make most pegasi envious, leaving a trail of orchid lightning as I blazed out into the world.

I ran for what felt like several minutes before a city came into view, only a couple seconds passing before I arrived at its edge, digging the sides of my boots into the ground this time and with less force, making me almost trip over myself again as I ground to a stop. I rose from my awkward pose, standing up to look at the large metal sign that was just to the side of the path that told me where I was.

“Fillydelphia...” I spoke quietly, recalling the times I have been to the city before, back in my glory days where I performed my act with minimal Corrupt interference. “I am so sorry for what has happened to you...” I said to the city as I looked out towards its heart, “But I shall do everything I can to free you from this Plague.”

Large concrete skyscrapers slowly came and fled from my view as I slowly trotted through the city, the dark late night sky seeming to hide my entrance from the few ponies that were strolling about while the cool, dry air had only a faint stench of sex to it, though orders of magnitude less than I was use to in the daytime.

I wandered about the city with no real location in mind for hours, pondering the possibilities of my new powers and the philosophy of what I was soon to engage in until dawn broke, and many ponies woke up and headed outside. I got many glances from them, some confused, some lustful, and some downright withering... well, withering to most; in comparison to what I have endured, a wrathful glare is pathetic. I was soon advanced upon, many crude and snide remarks tossed my way in a truly pitiful attempt to get into my pants. All of them I ignored, at least until one brazen fool decided they weren’t going to let me go.

“Hey, don’t ignore me, you bitch!” She said as I passed her, setting her apart from everypony else enough for me to take notice of her. “Your silver ass is going to look perfect on my cock!” She added as she grabbed my left wrist from behind, making me quickly stop walking.

“Is that all you care about?” I replied, turning around with an apathetic look slightly tinted with irritation to view the offending masculine jet-black pegasus with a spiky crimson swoop of a mane. “Fornication? Forgoing any possible benefit the world at large merely so you can have some physical pleasure in one moment in time?” I asked of the mare before me with a somewhat accusatory tone, pulling my arm away from her. “It’s rather petty of you, and it causes others to suffer far, far more than I am ever willing to let go.”

The audacious twat scoffed and retorted with impudence, “Fancy words for a little fuck-stick like yourself.”

She reached for me again, but I interrupted with, “Touch me again and you’ll see just how much pain this ‘stick’ can wreak upon you.”

“Oh, really?” The mare asked mockingly, “Those are some tough words, comin’ from you.” Her hand quickly resumed its path towards me, but I didn’t let her grab me this time. Quickly whipping my hand up, I grabbed hold of the pegasus’s wrist, then immediately raised it and twisted it around, keeping her in her place while she yelped from pain. I gave her no time to get away, though, as I raised my left leg and charged the familiar magical electricity through it, making it begin to glow and arc with orchid lightning as my golden-booted foot became poised to kick into her abdomen.

I quickly then delivered that kick, my magically-electrically-charged boot shooting straight into her, creating an booming explosion of electricity at the impact point while the pony got blasted away at speed, lightning trailing her as her pained scream echoed around while she flew off into the distance.

‘That is... quite powerful...’ I said in my mind, squinting slightly at the fading spark of orchid thunder, but quickly shook my head to focus on the other ponies around me; all of them stared in differing mixes of shock and contempt, and I knew their still poses wouldn’t last for long.

“Anyone else wish to try to infect me with your Corruption?” I asked of them in a mocking tone, twirling around half-heartedly to see the nearly a hundred ponies that surrounded me.

As to be expected, some began to back away in terror while others ground their teeth in anger at my ‘audacity’, but one, a dark purple earth pony with an unruly green mane, ran at me and shouted in rage, “How dare you?!”

“Friends, I presume?” I asked while facing the mare and standing my ground between the several feet we were apart, “Far trickier a proposition than most think.” Only when she was rearing back a fist through her sprinting did I act, sticking my left leg out leftward followed by my body while using the opposite arm to keep myself up, then swinging my leg around clockwise to sweep the mare off her feet. I carried that momentum around while jumping up back to my feet, but still carried the force forward into my left leg, kicking the falling pony’s head as I twirled around again, this time grinding my boots into the ground so that I may stop.

The earth pony got her head slammed into the ground after my kick, making her take a moment before trying to stand up, but I wouldn’t bother giving her a chance; I took hold of the neck of her shirt with my left hand and quickly hoisted her up, then span myself clockwise while crouching slight and rearing up an magically-charged punch, then delivered it straight into the pony’s abdomen, another explosion taking place there and making her blast off into the distance, only this time she slammed into a building about a block away.

I stood back up and slowly looked around of the circle of ponies surrounding me, and said with confidence, “Any other takers?”

A couple of the ponies took a step forward with one replying brazenly, “You can’t do that to all of us.” Some others nodded and stepped forward as well, looking at me with disdain and anger that hid terror in some while others were too foolish to even feel fear.

“Can’t I?” I asked as even more ponies stepped forward to put their heads on the metaphorical chopping block. “I seriously doubt all of you combined have a willpower that matches mine,” I stated and shifted my feet to get me into more of a fighting stance while flared the magic in my hands, making it spark with dangerous power across them. “So, prove me wrong, if, you, dare.”

A pony sprinted towards me from my right, and I quickly turned and raised my right arm and shot a short bolt out of it and hit the pony in the chest, knocking her out. Another mare swiftly came from my left, and I did the same to her as well. Several more barreled down on me from all directions, so I lit my horn brighter and shot a beam of lightning into the pony directly ahead of me, then spun around while keeping my horn level with the ground, arcing the electricity from one pony to the next, all the way in a circle around me. They all stopped moving as soon as they were first hit, then their bodies spasmed violently from the lightning blazing through their muscles, but it shut off nigh-instantly for all of them after I stopped the flow from my horn.

I looked back around, I saw more ponies than were there previously, likely newcomers who saw the violence and wished to join the fray. I knew I needed something bigger to truly show what I was capable of, seeking to fuse the two main aspects of my powers; lightning and speed. That second facet though, it seemed to also be composed to two parts; body and mind, and while normally breaking out into a sprint would trigger both, I sought to activate that speed while not moving, thus slowing down my perception of the world around me.

I remember feeling something in my mind, like a sort of passive spell, being active while I was sprinting, and so I dug back into my mind and pulled that part out, activating it like I would a permanent illusion. With that, the sound of ponies snide remarks and groans of pain or anger slowed and lowered pitch, their movements slowing to a crawl. I turned my head, feeling it no different than it would at normal speed, seeming to be the implementation of the body aspect of this use of super-speed.

“Well, that’s definitely something else,” I quietly said to myself, though the distinct lack of echoes or background noise made it all seem very eerie. “This power is clearly so incredibly dangerous,” I continued in mild awe and fear as I raised a hand to see the electricity sparking around my hand at an odd varying speed, about normal just above my hand and getting somewhat slower as it moved a few inches away. “I need to be careful.”

After that thought, I turned my attention to the glacially slow mob of ponies that should be barreling down on me and started to walk towards one of them. The low crackling sound made me turn my head back as I slowed down, finding the sound to be emanating from the orchid lightning following me in the same manner it did when I was sprinting previously. I switched my focus back to the mare I was walking towards, and ended up stopping right in front of her.

I was filled with a level of mirth at the image; a strong, brazen pony that looked to be trying her hardest, yet she was hardly moving at all. It seemed to be akin to my own scenario in life, though mine was far more subtle... at least until now. I shook my head and pulled my right hand into a fist, then placed it right under the chin of the pony before me, then pressed upward and lifting her with surprisingly little effort.

“Very careful,” I commented with more awe and fear as I moved to my left and slowly punched the pony there across the face, once again requiring minimal power. I took a quick hop further to the left and quickly struck the next pony, then the next and the next, slowly transforming my very slow perception of reality back into that sprinting mode, allowing me to hit the twenty or so ponies on the innermost ring of the mob surrounding me.

I went back to the center and returned to normal speed, and saw all of the ponies I hit quickly get thrust away, toppling many others in the process. They soon got back up and I realized that using pure speed wasn’t going to cut it. ‘Well,’ I thought as I looked down at my hand that I still had electricity sparking from, ‘Lightning seemed to be pretty damn effective before.’

I then sprinted back into the mob, hitting one and the next and the next in a ring, sending them upwards as I created a faint magic wire between them, basically turning into a pure sprint as I quickly moved to the next ring, and the next and the next, all the while keeping a connection between all of those involved. After I finally reached the outermost ring of the mass, I skidded to a stop as I pulled that magic connection to me, then pushed a surge of electricity through it that went through all of the ponies I just hit that were now flying through the air, adding a snap from a raised hand for panache. Their organs were likely shredded with some of their blood boiled as they fell back to the ground, but they were certainly all dead while I returned to my normal stance and took a glance back at those corrupt fools.

“That... was far too easy...” I muttered, but my thoughts soon turned to the future. “Even with this power, I still don’t think those Corrupt ‘gods’ will go down without a massive fight.” I sighed while looking down towards the ground, asking of myself, ‘That is what makes me who I am, though, isn’t it? The unwavering determination to help others no matter how much suffering I have to go through?’

Looking up towards the dawn sky that I henceforth haven’t acknowledged, I saw the sun just above the horizon, not doubt having been put there by the princess of the sun and her friends who were all so blinded by their light that they never saw the darkness lurking under them.

“No more,” I swore at them, then reared back into my starting stance while looking off out of the city, then sprinted off with a burst of lightning to find a new city to purify of its suffocating Corruption.

It wasn’t long before I found another city, skidding to a stop just outside its outskirts, right near a sign labeling the place as Baltimare, the stench of the inhabitants’ perversion found its way to me even all the way out there. I could easily see benches ponies were being rutted on and windows ponies were splayed against, all bereft of any real modesty. Sex was clearly the only thing on their mind, their parasitic existences destroying any hope of peace, but I would soon change that.

I started sprinting again into the city, slamming into any of the Corrupt in my way and firing bolts of magic with rage-fueled electricity powerful enough to kill them by itself, all hardly a hassle to my adrenaline-flooded mind. Orchid lightning trailed behind me as I kept running and hurdling through other groups of ponies, blasting them apart with powerful arcs of lightning while I continued blazing through the city.

Hundreds fell before my thunder; some strong, some seductive, some persistent, some endowed, some kinky, but all sexual in some manner, as they are those that needed to be cleansed from this world. I went through the streets, the parks, the houses, the complexes, and the establishments to find and destroy ponies, taking enough care to avoid hitting the occasional pure pony I found along the way.

I skidded to a stop in the middle of the central plaza, and looked upon what I had wrought: hundreds of ponies laid about everywhere, unmoving with a large scorched bruise signifying my ‘introduction’ to them.

“Once again, they didn’t even stand a chance...” I said with a cold, hollow feeling seeping into my words, the power I now realized I had making me question if imposing such will onto them made me any better than them. The purpose I held onto was that of reacting against their grotesqueries, purifying this world of their Corruption and leaving everyone else in peace.

Nevertheless I reared back and shot off into the distance again, the next three cities I found and dealt with were no more match than the others, their populace never seeing my entrance and getting quickly destroyed, instilling in me again that dread and fear. “Five to naught...” I commented weakly before walking to and sitting down on a bench in the outskirts of Marechester, the city I most recently forcefully vacated of its corrupt residents.

“I truly do hope I am right here,” I said to myself, sighing raggedly as I laid down on my back, letting the adreneline flow out of me and leave fear and exhaustion, “Else...” I lifted my left hand into my view, seeing it shake in the warm, humid air as my tail fell off the side of the bench and limply hung there. My hand soon fell back onto my abdomen as my exhaustion fully caught up to me, thankfully giving me a time to catch some rest in this tempest of terror I now found myself in.

I abruptly awoke with a sharp inhale, consciousness coming to me in but an instant, pulling me from the absurd dream-scape within my mind to the horrid reality around me. I soon noticed the cold sweat dampening my fur, glimmering faintly in the dim purple light of the sky, as well as the ragged breaths of mine that left faint wisps of vapour in the air before me. Nightmares of Corruption have often plagued me, but this one... this one was different.

I recall my anger overflowing, pushing me to brutalize my enemies, melting their flesh with my electricity and shattering their bones with my magic, yet keeping them alive to suffer for what they have wrought upon this world. While I do very well know those monsters deserve punishment, years of entrapment within a burning, broken husk is far, far too much, and doing so would leave me no better than them, even despite doing so to protect the Pure.

Shaking my head, I restated my purpose of only killing out of necessity, then looked outside of the city, the Moon visibly raising above the east horizon. I knew the Sun was likely setting behind me as well, the concurring events reminding me of the Corrupt all the way at the top of this world, whom will allow everything to worsen unless they themselves are dead. Even with my newfound power, I knew they were far too strong for me to stop them right then, but dealing with these other cities would no doubt help me better understand what I can do and how I may stop them later.

I sat up and hopped off the bench, using a quick spell to dry the sweat from my body and clothing, then stretched a bit to better awaken myself. The longer I waited, the more ponies would suffer, so I did nothing more before rearing back and shooting off into the greater world where I would continue towards my goal.

The next city I found was still bristling with activity within the slowly dwindling light, though the entrance I stopped just inside of didn’t seem to have a sign delineating the place. It didn’t much matter when I noticed a newspaper flailing towards me in the light breeze, allowing me to use my magic to wrench it out of the air and pull it towards me so that I may use my horn’s orchid glow to read its headline: ‘The Purifier Kills Thousands!’

“That’s hardly descriptive...” I muttered, all too used to the judgmental words lobbied at me from all sides, but I did admit that name stood out to me, though not for the reasons it did for others. The headline was not the only thing on the paper that caught my attention however, as a translucent glimmering fluid stained the sides of the paper in the shape of a pair of hands that would have grabbed onto it. While a certain sexual liquid jumped to mind as the usual candidate, this didn’t seem like the work of lust--no, it was the work of fear.

I shook my head and tossed the paper to the wind, looking up at the city, now partially lit by luminescent crystals embedded at the top of poles littered along the roads, where some ponies could be seen off in the distance as they looked towards me. I begun walking towards them in a measured pace, and they seemed to slow to a stop as recognition and fear seeped into them. Soon enough, the lamps by the road lit me up with their light, and the ponies started in shock, then ran into an alley in the side of the road.

Being feared wasn’t something I was used to feeling. I remember being scorned by society, thrown about and... used by the Corrupt while the Pure often pitied me and abandoned me so they wouldn’t have to deal with any of the terrible fallout that would come from helping me. I remember being respected by those that teetered between Purity and Corruption, helping to swing them into a life of sanity and true happiness, as opposed to the burning-out sexual reprieve that exists out there in the effluvium. I remember being afraid of the dim world lit by distant stars and short-lived lightning bolts, with only my Mother giving me a candle to scare away the spectres. However, being feared was something new.

Having a power over that which has tortured me and all of my friends felt good, but inciting visceral terror--a feeling I knew all too well--into anyone made me feel like I was doing something horribly wrong. Of course, that wrongness wasn’t entirely new; killing ponies had a way of getting to one after all, but I knew that whatever pain I could inflict onto the Corrupt could never reach the heights that which they have wrought onto the rest of us.

With that in mind, I quickly darted after those ponies that had ran away, reaching them in moments and killing them in less, leading into an angry race through the city, destroying any of that horrible taint that has ruined so many. Pained screams echoing in my ears as lightning blasted out of me and into my foes, time blurring into a mess of death and carnage with the knowledge of my power truly searing into me.

After the multiple minutes it seemed to have lasted, I skidding to a stop just in front of a dark alleyway, what little light that had entered from above showing something I could scarcely imagine; a Corrupt unicorn with a crimson coat and ruffled white mane had her light red magic enveloping her wide-open maw, the head of a Pure pegasus with a red coat and ebony tail stuffed inside. I could hear the sounds of the Corrupt’s throat attempting to swallow the Pure deeper inside of her, pleasure clearly visible across the former pony’s entire body while the other’s only showed pain and terror.

A quick blast of speed landed me behind the unicorn, my hands reaching around to grasp and pull apart the edges of the mare’s maw while my magic engulfed the pegasus’s head, trying to wrench it free of its horrible captivity. Soon enough, the dark-maned mare’s head emerged with a wet *pop*, and I let up my magic on her, but wasted no time in grabbing the other pony by the waist and throwing her against the alley wall behind me.

I used my magic to throw myself forward to deliver a powerful punch into the Corrupt mare’s abdomen, an brilliant explosion of electrical magic overlaying the gut-wrenching sounds of cracking ribs and the pained scream of their owner. Not letting up, I threw another jab at her ribs, breaking a few more ribs before crouching slightly, then launching a magic-enhanced uppercut to the pony’s jaw, sending her twirling up into the air with no level of grace, only for me to then finish off the combo with a roundhouse-jab-kick that slammed her into the wall once again.

Blood spurted from the mare’s mouth as she landed onto the dark stone ground harshly, her eyes filled with immense terror as she stared at my looming form while I looked down at her with rage billowing out of me. I slowly lit up my horn, dragging out the process that would kill this perverted monster before me, but she managed to speak up in a broken, faint whimper, “Wait...”

The gall of that took me off-guard, but I recovered with a scoff and responded, “Why? It’s not like you gave any of your victims a chance to be spared.” I resumed charging power into my horn as I lowered it so that pointed towards the pony, but again she stubbornly refused to be quiet.

“Please!” She cried in desperation, but then devolved into a coughing fit, blood flowing from her maw.

“Begging? Really?” I asked in irate disbelief. “I can hear the cries and screams of your victims as they begged you and yours for mercy, something which was never given to them. They were innocent. You aren’t,” I said, and was just about to finish her off.

However, the dirty mare laying in a puddle of glimmering blood still managed to mutter, “I’m sorry...”

I paused, those words striking deep within me, making my crimson anger turn into a cold, black rage. “No you’re not.” I crouched down with my feet not moving, giving her a better look into my furious eyes as I continued, “After all the pain you’ve wrought upon others, all the light you’ve ripped out of their souls, all of the happiness you’ve so uncaringly taken from their lives, you still take more and more, like we’re just a bunch of plants for you to harvest. Well, guess what,” I grasped her throat with my left hand, pulling her up off of her side so that she sat up and struggled to breathe while my own voice grew quieter and colder, “That shit has consequences. You’ve ignored yours for far too long, and it’s time they all come due, right now.”

My magic finally let loose, powerful and loud arcs of lightning blasting into the unicorn’s face, tearing at it with red miasmas of blood that were barely visible in the dim moonlight pouring out, voiceless sputters of pain peaking through the crackling of thunder for several seconds, my rage being taken out on this horrid beast that used ponies and tossed them away when they no longer served a purpose.

The noise eventually cut out, my magic fading as my anger calmed into apathy, the thunder finishing its arcs to leave a disfigured face with boiled fluids and melted bones as a remnant of my catharsis. Quiet, laboured breaths then took my attention to the other mare that was sitting down on the ground behind me, her darker mane that was still slick with saliva allowed her to blend in a bit better than the Corrupt pony I just killed.

I could quickly tell the pegasus was terrified of me, her breaths seeming as silent as she was able, though faint wisps of vapour spouted from her muzzle. Her eyes, wide with shrunken pupils in terror, also had glimmering tears showing in their corners, no doubt from the despair she felt in that horrid maw I just evacuated her from.

“Are... you alright?” I asked her, not knowing what else to say.

“S-Sis,” She mumbled out, her eyes growing in sadness as they locked onto the dead pony.

Realization struck me with that one word, and I inhaled sharply through my nostrils as I understood her sorrow, though it was still somewhat confusing. “I...” I said to the pegasus, pausing for a moment to think about what to say, landing on, “She was eating you...”

She sniffled and slowly stood up, having to use her hands to push herself up while her eyes remained focused on the crimson unicorn. “It’s not her fault...” She responded somberly, shuffling her feet so that she could move forward towards her kin.

I sighed solemnly as I remembered how Violet became Corrupt. “I know,” I stated, stepping a short ways to the side to allow the pegasus by me, “It’s just... I don’t see any other option.” She didn’t reply, only moving forward a bit more before kneeling before her sister, tears starting to flow down her cheeks. “I couldn’t let them be free...” I continued, slightly quieter to allow the mare some more peace, “They’d only make people like us suffer... and, I couldn’t capture or try to make them Pure; not enough time or space...”

“I know...” She finally said in response, though still wasn’t looking at me, “I don’t blame you...” She leaned forward and gingerly wrapped her arms around her lifeless sister, putting her muzzle into the crook of the body’s neck and crying, quiet sobs of grief and mourning echoing out into the dark alleyway. I moved back a few paces, softly and quietly so that I didn’t disturb her, allowing the mare the minutes on end that she needed.

Eventually, her sobs quieted into silence, only the occasional hiccup and rivers of dried tear tracks down her face left in its place. “I remember t-the times where we played together... a-as fillies,” She said in a broken, parched voice, still hugging her kin’s body, “J-jumping on the bed... climbing around in t-the park... rolling a-around in the garden...” She sniffled, strands of snot glimmering in the dim light as they painted her snout. She smiled somberly and gave a small laugh, continuing in clear reminiscence, “Dad would get so mad at us when we crushed her flowers... I... I...” She moved her mouth as if to keep talking, but she couldn’t find any words, and merely hung her head in silence.

I stood in silence as well, still a few paces away from the grieving pony; depression was so clear in her features, and I knew she deserved better than the cold logic I’ve been justifying my purification with thus far. Shedding my silver illusionary disguise, I spoke quietly to her, “I wish we could go back to that too,” I sighed in sympathy, and noticed the faint tears welling in my own eyes, then used my left hand to wipe them. “I really want to go back to my past life too, but...” I sucked in a breath through gritted teeth, “That’s not how the world works. Just gotta... keep on going, I guess...” I said, as much realization for myself as it was advice for her.

She nodded slightly, her face moving against her sister’s and remaining there for another minute or so before slowly and hesitantly pulling away, like she was scared the body was going to disappear. She stared into the lifeless pits where eyes playful eyes no doubt once stood, her expression showing the cold, hollow feeling inside her. Eventually, she managed to shiver faintly and shake her head quickly, then turn it to face me, where some recognition sparked in her eyes. “You’re... Trixie, right?”

I smiled faintly at the question; it feels like forever since somepony called me my name, even despite how it that happened just a couple days ago. “Yeah,” I replied, my longing for my magic show clear in my tone.

The pegasus smiled a bit brighter at that. “I... remember you. The Red Cross Red Shield Hospital here in Manechester... Your performance raised some money for my father...”

“Oh?” I replied, the somberness fading from voice, being replaced by the happiness I felt for helping those in need.

“Yeah!” She mildly jovially exclaimed and nodded her head, making her dark mane flap up and down, but it all soon faded a bit and she added tentatively, “I mean... s-she didn’t make it, but... thank you.”

I nodded wordlessly, somewhat surprised by the happiness of the pony despite everything that she had dealt with. “I, uh...” I started to continue the conversation, but paused with clearing my throat so I could recall something I didn’t know about this pegasus, something that would help me remember her and my goals; “What’s your name?”

“Oh! Um...” She started, seeming to not expect the question, “I-I’m Cardinal Feather. I’m sort of a teacher here at the elementary school, helping filly pegasi to fly,” She answered, but her kind demeanor turned a bit dour as she looked down to the ground and grimaced, correcting herself, “Well, was a teacher...”

“The staff and children getting Corrupted I assume?” I asked, and received a nod. “I...” I begun, looking up into the early night sky and the Moon in particular, it reminding me of how far the Corruption has spread, “These... monsters, who make demons of everypony else, are who I’m really after here. My main goal is to kill them.” I looked back down to Cardinal, pensiveness clear on her face, and continued, “Maybe then, everything can go back to normal. Maybe then... there can finally be peace. Maybe... maybe...” I trailed off the words being said like questions, but when Cardinal began to open her mouth to respond, I remembered by resolve, and finished, “But, whatever happens, it’ll be better than it is now. And whatever happens, I’m going to see it through.”

The mare remained silent for a short while, mouth partially agape and eyes slightly widened in a mix of awe, fear, and hope. “I...” She begun raspily, but cleared her throat and responded in an almost defeated tone, “I see your point. I don’t... like what you’re doing, but...” She turned away from me to look at her fallen sister with a pained expression, and shivered slightly as she continued, “I-I don’t know what else to do.” She stared at the corpse of the unicorn for a few more seconds, then turned back to look at me, tears flowing from her eyes as she cried, “I j-just want this t-to end...”

I hesitated a bit at the quick emotional shift, but soon stepped over to Cardinal and wrapped by arms around her waist, hugging her tightly and let her pour out her emotions on me. I knew full well the feeling of the overwhelming dread and hopelessness crushing me, always trying to get me to quit and hide away from the horrible monsters that controlled the world, but it was something I always pushed back against, never letting anypony else suffer as long as I could help it. “I’ll end it,” I said softly to her, feeling the dampness of her tears run through my shirt, the unbridled grief she felt strengthening my resolve to continue. “Whatever it takes.”

After Cardinal had finished crying her eyes out, I let her go back to her home while I reinstated my silver illusion and ran out of Manechester, continuing my cleansing of the world. I found many other towns, purifying them as well, though going out of my way to help any of the particularly damaged Pure ponies as well as I could, while also taking enough time to answer to all of my necessary bodily functions. The magical power I held had far more complexity than I first thought, as city by city, day by day, I learned new ways to manifest it, and trained myself in them so that I would be ready by the time I challenged the Corrupt tyrants of Equestria.

During that time, though, my mind went back to Violet Gauze. She was hardly unique in her Purity and kindness, but what she represented to me was something more; my past, now trapped because of the Corruption, leaving me unable to go back to it. Perhaps it was that nopony in particular had held that much significance and hope within them, but she soon gained a rose tint in my mind, a feeling so bright and pure in me that I’ve hardly felt it for anypony bar my Mother started to grow within me, and with it, an terrifying and inescapable dread.

I stood a short ways out from the outskirts of Manehattan, the grey cityscape tinted in the cool hues of dusk, whispers of wind passing me by as I grappled with my thoughts. While in other cities I may have slaughtered by the hundreds with little reason to care much for any pony in particular, this place would be far different, and would be my final challenge before I deemed myself ready to take on the true source of Corruption in this world. And all because of one pony...

“Violet...” I muttered, looking down towards the ground in that cold dread that had only grown stronger as I came closer to this point, my eyes subconsciously examining the golden boots that I have worn for several years, through the best and worst parts of my life. Despite that mare’s timid mannerisms, it was clear that she held such a strong love for me, and if it weren’t for the horrible situation we find ourselves in, I wouldn’t know what to think when I started to reciprocate it. However, as it stands, I can only see one solution to free her from the Corruption that has taken hold of her.

Soon I looked up and dashed forward into the city, starting to destroy the monsters that have been made of the good ponies that have lived there before, every mare I murdered I knew would be in a better place when all was said and done, and I tried to keep my mind on them to draw my thoughts away from what I knew I was really there for, but the dread still lingered deep within me.

Eventually, it all came to an end, and I arrived back at the small house I remembered she lived at, staring up at the second-story window with as distinctly a neutral expression I could manage with my inner turmoil. The coral-coated and purple-maned unicorn peered out of the window after a moment with an inquisitive look that reminded me of how she was before, but that soon ended when she saw me, first bearing an expression of shock and fear before it quickly turned into a smoldering, half-lidded stare.

Violet left my line of sight through the window after a short moment, taking several longs seconds before the door on the first floor opened and she stepped out, a level of care and caution still seeming to be part of her as she closed the door behind her quietly, then looked back at me with that same abhorrent lustful expression.

“I didn’t know you were looking for me, silver,” She said, her voice now containing a level of confidence that separated her even further from her past self. “I didn’t know that little old Violet tickled your fancy~”

“Well, she did,” I replied swiftly, not wishing that corruption of a voice I loved to continue any more than necessary. “You don’t,” I added coldly. “You’re not Violet. Your body may be the same as hers, but your mind has been rent asunder by the goddesses of this land, replaced by something far from hers... something far more horrid.”

“Horrid?” She said, sounding offended. “This is normal; how could it be horrid?”

I gave a small scoff at this mental abomination’s logic before responding, “Normal in a statistical sense perhaps, but the takeover out your body was certainly not natural. Furthermore,” I added with some light rage tinting my voice, “Just because it is what everypony else does does not mean it is good. I have read of the days of public execution and ‘advanced interrogation’... Those that lived then saw those acts as normal and justified, yet currently we see them as cruel and unwarranted.”

“Oh, come on,” The corrupted Violet started with dismissal and disgust, “It can’t be that bad.”

“It is,” I tersely replied before thinking for a moment, quickly getting an idea that will test this abomination’s resolve. “Tell me,” I begun as I lit up my horn. “Do you remember me?” I finished while dispelling the illusion that I had on me, allowing the other pony to see my true self.

She let out a gasp as she saw the sapphire and frost of my body and mane and tail, concern and love flashed across her face so evanescently that it may have only been at trick of the light, quickly being replaced by an intense lust. “Oh, yes I do~” She said, making my dissonance for her only strengthen. “You’re that cute showmare that thinks she can do anything by cheating... how naughty~” She said with no chastity whatsoever as she her hands to the top button of her lab coat and undoing it.

‘“Cheating”...’ I thought, quickly growing angry and disgusted by that utter reversal of the truth. I quickly shook my head to clear that rage from blinding my decision here, and responded, “The real Violet thought that honourable.” The other mare stopped and gained a apathetic, yet inquisitive look as I continued with my voice now beginning to be tinted by sorrow as I prepared to do what was needed, “The real Violet truly liked my tricks and my skill. The real Violet was, above all else, kind and compassionate, not this fool you make of her.”

Corrupt Violet put her arms at her side and looked at me with a very conflicted expression as I stepped towards her, stopping right in front of her. “So, Violet- the real Violet,” I started as I placed my hands on her shoulders, tortured grief seeping into my voice while my eyes beginning to grow wet as they stared into her’s, “If you’re in there somewhere, know that...

“Know that I love you.”

The other mare’s expression became one of confusion, shock, slight disgust, and an almost imperceptible tint of what I believe was adoration under it all. “And... I’m sorry...” I said sorrowfully while sliding my hands up her shoulders and onto the sides of her head, then leaned forward and kissed her. Her lips were so soft and giving, just like the mare that once owned them, and it only fueled the remorse I had for what I know I had to do. I saw her expression remain in bewilderment with the disgusted tint become slightly stronger before I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around her and kept kissing her passionately, wanting to keep the true Violet alive in my heart forever.

However, I knew I had to fulfill my duty no matter what. And, so I found the thunder in my body, and forced it out through me like I have done so many times before, but it was far more difficult this time around. It eventually came out, and violently blazed through Violet’s body, making her spasm in my grasp with the electricity flowing through her lips enough to make me feel the tingling in mine.

I stopped after several seconds and pulled my muzzle away from my newly-deceased friend’s and watched her fall back as far as she was able while I still held her, the lights behind her eyes having gone out, leaving her head to fall backwards. The immense anguish I felt, not just from having to kill her, but being forced to kill her by the monsters that rule this world; it made me bury my face into her chest, hot tears stinging as they poured out from my eyes and across my cheeks, deep, wracking breaths coming from my mouth with faint sobs and sniffles occasionally coming from me as I let everything out. I knew this would be painful even before I did it, and I could never have been prepared for just how much it hurt.

I kept myself like that, letting out all the pain and sorrow I have built up over years, taking many minutes before I finally pulled away. I crouched down while holding onto the other mare, then pulled away while remaining next to her after she touched the ground, letting her rest on it while I looked on, the tears in my eyes hardly letting me see her at all.

I placed a hand on her abdomen in a mourning fashion, and said quietly, “Goodbye, Violet.” Standing up, I still stared at her for several seconds, hardly able to take my gaze away from her, not wanting to let the horrible world take her back, but I knew I had done enough grieving; there were still other ponies suffering out there, and I couldn’t let that go on for any longer.

Quickly shaking my head to help take my eyes away from her, I managed to look out of the city at the horizon, the crystal, fluid-coated castle that was the home of the Elements appearing in my mind’s eye. “It’s time,” I said curtly, my mind still working to calm itself. “No more Corruption,” I stated, then sprinted out to finally kill of the tyrants plaguing this world.