The Artist Rifleman

The train from Canterlot ran down the tracks, taking the fasted track to Ponyville. Inside the rattling carriage sat everypony “David, who exactly is this Hyde, you seem to know him?” Celestia questioned.

David looked down to the revolver in his hands with a steely gaze, loading it as he speak in a distant voice “only by reputation. Hyde is the personification of a man’s worst self, my worse self. He is made up off all my worst qualities. He is capable of nothing but evil, because he is made up of nothing but evil”

Everypony stared at him in shock, only once before had they faced somepony’s evil side. And that’s why they brought the elements along with them, if Hyde was truly David’s dark half the elements could defeat him like they had nightmare moon.

“I take it another Hyde has existed?” Celestia asked.

“no, before today Hyde was nothing more than a made-up character in a book” David answered.

“couldn’t we use that to our advantage? If you know how that story ends then we know how to defeat him” Shining Armor added.

Shacking his head to the notion David answered “that wouldn’t work Jekyll and Hyde were the same man like”

“like nightmare moon and I” Luna added in a weak ashamed voice.

Wincing slightly Celestia pressed on “regardless of the differences how was Hyde defeated?”

David’s tone was low and quiet, he didn’t want to go down this road but he would if he had to “Jekyll killed himself, and he took Hyde with him”

Looking up to him with wide sad eyes Luna spoke “we won’t let that happen”

“SURE! WHEN WE FIND HIM WE’LL KICK HIS FLANK” Rainbow Dash spouted.

“but we’ll have to find him first” Shining added.

“he’s heading for Ponyville” David stated coldly.

“Ponyville?… how could you possible know that” Twilight asked in a worried voice.

“my rifle is back at the cabin, along with more than three hundred rounds of ammunition. With it he would be able to kill at three thousand yards. But it gets worse, hidden in my bags are two grenades” David stated coldly as he continued sliding bullets into the empty chambers of webley.

Seeing confused and worried looks from the ponies David knew they didn’t have them, they didn’t even have the word for them, so he explained “it’s an explosive, about the size of an apple, pull the pin and in five seconds it’ll explode”

David's hands stopped as the horror of the situation hit “he’ll use them as traps”

“How?” Twilight asked her voice clearly within fear's grasp.

“my brother tripped a wire when he went into a church, the wire was tied to the pin of a grenade. The explosion brought the roof down on him, he was lucky to get out of there alive, Hyde will make sure we aren’t” David answered.

“so what the plan Princess?” Applejack asked.

“yeah, I bet you’ve got a whole army of guards waiting for us in Ponyville” Rainbow spouted loudly.

“Unfortunately all our guards are back in Canterlot, dealing with the remaining changelings. As for Hyde, we are on our own” Celestia answered with a heavy heart.

“come on Princess, this should be a cakewalk. We have three alicorns, and the elements of harmony, how hard can this be” Rainbow boasted.

“it won’t be that easy my little ponies. Luna and I are still weak, and Cadence isn’t as well versed in magic as us” Celestia answered, her tone like herself becoming more scared with each passing second.

Looking over them Twilight saw what she was referring to, Celestia’s white horn was still chard black from Chrysalis’s magic. Luna just looked weak like she had all her strength drained from her, her eyes were on the verge of sleep like the rest of her weak body.

“so what is the plan Princess?” Twilight asked.

“We are going to find him, and once he has been subdued, we will use the elements against him” Celestia answered.

“and how will we...” Applejack asked before being cut off.

“it won’t work” David stated dismissively.

“I beg your pardon, but why don’t you think it will work?” Celestia asked not even attempting to hold back the fear in her voice.

“Hyde came from me, so like me, it is possible that he will be able to resist your magic” David stated with a hint of worry to his voice.

“I take it you’ve come up with a plan of your own then?” Celestia asked.

“I have, all we need to do is get me within fifty yards of Hyde and I’ll be able to kill him” David said in a low cold tone as he snapped his revolver shut.

“and if it doesn’t work?” Celestia warily asked.

“I’ll have five more shots” he answered plainly. Holding his revolver out he continued “it only takes one shot to kill a man, and this webly holds six” this earned horrified looks from all the ponies present.

1

A cruel smile crept onto Hyde’s face as he arrived at the edge of ponyville. Walking through the village of ponies Hyde headed straight for the cabin. No pony stopped him or even really noticed him until he started to whistle, this earned him a few passing glances as ponies miss took him for David.

Hyde began to kicking up water from the shallow puddles along the street “Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres she hasn’t been kissed in 40 years. Hinky dinky, parlez vous. Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres. Our top kick in Armentieres broke the spell of 40 years. Hinky dinky, parlez vous. Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres. You didn’t have to know her long to know the reason men go wrong. Hinky dinky, parlez vous. Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres. She’s the hardest working girl in town, she makes her living upside down. Hinky dinky, parlez vous. Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres. She sold her kisses for ten frances each, soft and juicy as sweet as a peach. Hinky dinky, parlez vous. Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres. Madame. you’ve got a daughter fair, to wash the soldiers underwear. Hinky dinky, parlez vous. I didn’t care what came of me, parlez vous. I didn’t care what came of me, parlez vous. I didn’t care what came of me, parlez vous. I didn’t care what came of me, so I went and joined the fucking infantry. Hinky dinky, parlez vous. Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres. Went in her bed, she sure was fun working her ass like a maxim gun. Hinky dinky, parlez vous. Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres. I had more fun than I could tell, beneath the sheets with Mademoiselle. Hinky dinky, parlez vous. They say they mechanised the war parlez vous, they say they mechanised the war parlez vous, they say they mechanised the war parlez vous. So what the fuck are we marching for? Hinky dinky, parlez vous. You might forget the gas and shells, parlez vous. You might forget the gas and shells, parlez vous. You might forget the groans and yells, but you’ll never forget the mademoiselles. Hinky dinky, parlez vous. Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous. Many and many a married man, wants to go back to France again. Hinky dinky, parlez vous. Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous, Mademoiselle from Armentieres Parlez vous. Just blow your nose and dry your tears, we’ll all be back in a few short years. Hinky dinky, parlez vous.”

After a few minutes of walking, he heard a loud squawk behind him “THAT’S HIM!”

Stopping Hyde turned around to the noise seeing two griffins. His cruel smile grew as he recognised one of them, Gilda.

“HE’S THE ONE THAT ATTACKED ME!” she yelled while pointing at him.

“right” the male one said as he marched over wearing nothing but an aggressive scowl, before yelling at the top of his lungs “You think you can hurt Gilda and nothing will happen!”

“will you shut your fucking trap” Hyde growled out.

“not after I break yours” the griffin shot back.

Hyde’s face dropped as this animal tied to stand up to the might of man “who the fuck do you think you are?” Hyde spat out with enough venom to kill.

“Gilda’s boyfriend that’s who” he shot back.

“Really? I thought you were her brother” looking over Gilda his hateful eyes boring into her “punching above your weight aren’t you love”

Gilda felt a deep dread weigh down upon her as his gaze cut through her “err thanks” she nervously replied.

Intently looking Gilda up and down Gilda’s boyfriend snapped “ou! Look at me when I'm talking to you!”

Casually rolling his gaze back to the loud griffin before him he replied in an equally casual voice “I’ll look at who I bloody well choose”

“you’ll be looking through black eyes in a minute” the griffin yelled as he approached Hyde staring him down in a vain attempt to intimidate him.

“you’ll be lucky to have eyes in a minute” Hyde threatened as casually as breathing.

Looking passed the griffin blocking his view, Hyde looked Gilda up and down again before returning his gaze to the other griffin with a mildly intrigued expression “say do you griffins give birth or lay eggs?”

The sheer obscenity of the question made the griffin’s mind stop for a moment as he tried to comprehend what Hyde had just asked, the griffin was lonely able to stammer out a quick “what?” in response.

Hyde’s cruel smile returned as he explained himself in a calm well thought out voice “well I’m rather famished and I want to know if I gut that little chicken of yours, will I be dining on eggs or plucking her feathered hide for dinner”

The male griffin somehow went a little pale at his words before spitting out a disgusted response “your sick”

Just passed the griffin Hyde saw Gilda’s recoil in disgust, shying away in fear for her body. Still, as calm as ever Hyde replied in a dismissive condescending tone like he was speaking to a child “no the word is hungry, can you say that?”

The griffin just stood there unable to find the words that he wanted to say. Hyde on the other hand had no trouble finding his vile tongue that spat out a patronising tone “what’s wrong? Can’t you say that? Does that little bird brain of yours not understand?”

“All I need to understand is I'm going to enjoy this” he squawked before raising a talon to Hyde. Slashing Hyde across the left side of his face, his head turned with the blow giving the griffin a full view of the damage he had done.

The cuts were deep, deep enough that any normal creature would be at least griminising in pain but Hyde didn’t. Not even when the wound began to bleed, but it didn’t bleed blood but a black smoke that hissed like a cattle brand, it came as quickly as it left, and when it did the wound was gone. This would have unsettled the griffin but what he saw next was even more disturbing, after being greeted with violence, Hyde let out a low controlled breath as reached back pulling off his black cap revealing a satisfied smile as the flat cap fell passed his face, speaking in a calm almost soothing voice “your right am going to enjoy this”

Before Gilda could utter a word Hyde lifted his cap striking her boyfriend with its beak, the simple blow brought the griffin to his knees. He couldn’t understand, the man’s fist never made contact with him, only the flimsy cloth of his hat touched his face. So why did it hurt so much?

Looking up he saw his answer as Hyde lifted his bloody hat up, along the cap’s edge was his blood and the faint flash of a silver edge sowed into its beck.

2

The train came to a screeching halt as it arrived in ponyville. Exiting the train the ponies quickly rushed out with David and Luna weakly following behind. The sharp sound of steel scraping against steel broke the silence of the world, and upon hearing the sound that rolled over the tops of the trenches David’s head snapped to his side. Staring down the sight of his revolver, he saw it was nothing more than the old sliding door a few cars down.

Upon seeing David like this Luna softly called out “David?”

He didn’t seem to respond, perhaps he didn’t hear her. Hesitantly Luna reached out to his shoulder, this prompted a reaction out of him. His tense stance seemed to relax to her touch making him lower his revolver “David are you alright?” Luna asked worriedly.

“yeah, just a bit on edge” David answered in a distant voice.

Beginning to walk out of the station David felt Luna’s hand slide down from his shoulder to his arm. Luna’s hand acted like an anchor to David’s body stopping him dead in his tracks, turning to her he saw the frail state she was in, not only did she look weak from what the Chrysalis had done to her, but she looked afraid more afraid than he had ever seen her or would even want to see her.

“Luna? What’s wrong?” David asked in a concerned voice.

Looking up to him with those wide blue eyes she answered in a low heartbroken tone “this… this won’t end like that story will it? I… I don’t want you to die”

Cupping her hand in his as he answered her plea in a reassuring voice “Luna, that’s not going to happen. Hyde is just a man like any other” his tone then became much emptier as he took no pleasure in his ending words “and he’ll die like any other”

Luna knew his comforting words were all for her benefit “just… just don’t die… I don’t want to lose you”

Pulling her hand off his shoulder he continued to hold it as continued to comfort her “don’t worry you won’t”

Marching down the streets of ponyville the group of alicorns, ponies and human made their way to David’s cabin. The group seemed to form some kind of order as they moved through the streets, with the men taking the lead. David knew what Hyde knew and what to look out for, while Shining Armor marched alongside him ready to perform his duty as a guard for the princesses, and as a husband for his wife.

The three princesses walked behind them, with Luna walking right behind David as Cadence walked right behind her finance, acting as her shield. The main six followed suit, each wearing their respective element in preparation of the fight ahead.

As they walked through the cobbled streets of ponyville they saw multiple ponies running towards them, at first they thought they were running towards their princesses like they have done every other time, but this time was different they just ran straight passed them. Some of them call out in panic hoping some pony would help “GUARDS! CALL THE GUARDS!”

Continuing against the rushing stream of ponies, they made it to its source. Upon finding it they saw Hyde towering over a griffin, along with another griffin too afraid to move. But to Applejack her eyes met a certain wagon, it was off to the side of the road nestled to market stalls. An eagerness to use the elements took over her, as she knew where that wagon was so was Big Mac, maybe even Applebloom as they picked up supplies for fixing up the farm.

As they drew close Rainbow Dash saw who it was cowering away “GILDA! GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

Still beating down the other griffin Hyde stopped upon hearing her name “DID I SAY YOU COULD FUCKING MOVE!?” Hyde yelled pointing his bloodied cap at her.

A moment later Hyde saw his lesser half, along with the rest of the ponies that accompanied him. Seeing the threat they posed Hyde lifted the battered griffin up, keeping him between Hyde and the ponies. Putting his cap on Hyde replaced his weapon of choice with a small knife.

“Twilight now!” Celestia called out.

Stepping forward the element bearer lined up, magic flowing through each gemstone around their necks joining into two streams of pure white, that flowed into the element of magic before shooting out. The magic that came forth from Twilight’s element was spun into a rainbow of magic, that passed seamlessly through the griffin.

Hyde felt the magic hit him like a wave, but it didn’t have the strength of one. It smashed against him with no more force than that of a steady stream.

The ponies saw Hyde fight against the magic like he was fighting the tide. With one swift step to his left, Hyde stepped out of the magic beam dragging the griffin out with him.

Everypony just stared in shock as they watched him not only resist the elements of harmony, but defy them. Giving a prideful smirk Hyde spoke in with an equally aragont tone “six elements of harmony. If only you had one more you might have stood a chance, as small as it may have been, but my seven beats your six”

Fearing for herself and her subjects Celestia hesitantly asked “seven? What seven?” fearing that he somehow possessed magic greater than the elements.

Still smiling over his superiority he answered “the seven sins of course”

In a somewhat state of panic, Celestia asked “seven sins? Seven sins of what?”

“the seven sins of man” Hyde replied just soaking up the state of panic he was inducing “how about I show you one” Hyde announced with glee before pulling the knife back stabbing its narrow blade through the griffin’s ear. The worst part for the ponies to see wasn’t the knife going through the griffin like butter, but the lack of a reaction from him. He was so bloodied, Hyde inflicted so much pain on the poor griffin that he only managed a muffled groan as they passed through him.

“David what does he mean? What are these sins?!” Celestia asked in a state verging on frenzied.

“their just words nothing more” David answered strategically.

“you know as well as I do that’s a lie. But you have gotten rather good at that haven’t you” Hyde shot back earning an officers revolver to be aimed squarely at his head.

The ponies watched as Hyde seemed to cower away slightly, using his griffin hostage as a shield. But still, Hyde pressed on taking delight in David’s willingness to violence“you see even with me out here he still as prideful as ever. They call that one the first sin, the one that drove the first man ever born from a woman’s womb, to kill his brother”

Eyeing up the gun in David’s hand Hyde spoke, hoping a deal would alleviate the situation “why don’t you step aside Captain?”

“and why would I do that?” David asked not caring for the answer.

Smiling Hyde gave David the proposal that could change history, and put his cruelty and lust for violence to use “because I could do what you won’t, and go back to the trenches. Imagine it, me in your place, killing those fucking boche. I could end the war, but not before killing the butcher of the Somme. I lived in your head for twenty-seven years, I know what you want to do to him, for all those he sent to their deaths, I could do it for you. I could drag Haig out of his office, nail him to a post, and make him stand watch over no man’s land like a fucking scarecrow. But he won’t scare no crows, he’ll be eaten by them”

David found his offer to be tempting, so tempting that David’s revolver baring hand began to falter. So many birds with a single stone. Hyde could take his place, he wouldn’t have to fight anymore, the war could be over for him. Hyde and his violence wouldn’t be noticed in such a bloody war, he might even be right, and he could possibly end the war. Even if he can’t end the war he would be gone, the war might even kill him like so many others. But what if he didn’t die, and the war did end, Hyde would be free to do as he wished.

Raising his revolver back up he aimed straight at Hyde, who responded by tightening his hold on his living shield “you know that bullet will go through his head before it goes through me. How about we settle this like men? You hostler that gun of yours, and I’ll sheath my knife, and we’ll settle this as men should, with our hands”

After a few tense moments, David lowed his revolver, earning a pleased smile from Hyde. His eyes moved to the white furred princess as he spoke “and you princess, you best keep those fucking horses of yours out of this, or I’ll break them like those changelings”

Looking down at the griffin skewered on his knife “guess I’ll be needing this back” Hyde proclaimed before tightening his grip on his knife that’s blade still protruded from the griffin’s ear. Hyde pulled it back ripping through the bottom half of his ear.

The griffin cried in pain as he felt his ear nearly ripped from his head, clutching it in hopes to keep it from falling from his head, unlike his frail body which fell to the ground which Hyde happily stepped on as he sheathed his knife back into his coat.

The two men met in the middle of the cobbled street, surrounded by the empty market stalls not long abandoned. David took a crude stance that he had learned from the regimental boxing, his left arm was outstretched while his right dominant fist stayed back ready to strike.

Hyde just snorted dismissively in response, casually reaching back Hyde scratched the back of his head before taking hold of the back of his cap. With a quick flick of his wrist Hyde swung his cap out, the razored beak striking David across the face.

Flinching back the razors were just able to glazed David’s left cheek, pressing his advantage Hyde swung his cap back. Leaning back David dodged the bloodied cap, before stepping forward and striking Hyde across the face. Both men stumbled slightly, Hyde too weight behind David’s fist, David too his poor stance and the over swing of his punch.

Steadying themselves Hyde responded by tackling David, driving him back into the stall next to Big Mac’s wagon. David’s back crashed into the stall knocking almost everything off it, as his body arched back with the edge of the stall. Towering over him Hyde wrapped his left hand around David’s neck, he didn’t have the strength to chock him with a single hand, but it was enough to keep him in place. Lifting his right hand with his bloody flat cap wrapping around his fist, Hyde began beating his other half.

Raising his left arm David shielded his face from Hyde’s onslaught of blows, the sheer repeated force of them drove forearm into his face. Even cushioned by his arm he still felt the weight of each blow.

After a moment David began clawing at the hand around his neck with his free dominant hand, driving his nails into Hyde’s hand seem to do nothing, even pulling seemed to do little to nothing. But David’s continuous contact with Hyde seem to do more than strength, Hyde began to wince in pain, it wasn’t much nothing more than a pinprick but the longer their contact was maintained the worse it got.

Looking down Hyde saw the source of his pain, the hand he had wrapped around David’s neck was beginning to burn, deep black smoke was starting to come from his hand, the same smoke he became when he was pulled from David’s heart.

With Hyde’s grip loosening, David was able to pry Hyde’s hand off his neck. Raising his leg David placed a boot on Hyde’s abdomen pushing him off.

Stumbling back Hyde gripped his left hand looking at the burn that seemed to be carried away by the smoke that quickly dissipated. While Hyde nursed his wounds David lunged forward tackling him to the ground, colliding with the wet cobbled ground Hyde almost bounced back as David landed on him.

Squirming about on top of him David mounted Hyde, sitting on top of his abdomen David pinned Hyde beneath him. Each punch was wildly overswung, knocking David off balanced and nearly off Hyde with each hit. Holding him down with his left hand while steadying himself, David punched with his right driving Hyde’s head back to the cobbles below and off to the side with each punch.

After two punches Hyde punched back, knocking David off him. Falling off him David saw an upturned stone beside a flooded pothole, reaching for it David pulled it back its ruff surface being twice the size of his fist. Remounting Hyde David pinned him beneath him, as he raised the rock up above him.

The ponies just watched in horror as the well-spoken officer they knew, mercilessly beat his other half. All form and function was gone, there was no skill to this savage display of brutality.

Swinging the rock down David struck Hyde across the face, driving him to his right as he spat out blood. The heavy weight of the rock and the blow sent David to his left, reeling back for another blow David raised the rock above his head.

Swinging it back down David was ready to kill Hyde, but as he did Hyde reached out catching David by the wrist halting his blow mid-swing. Launching his free hand forward Hyde struck David in the throat making David clutch his neck as he gasped for breath. The heavy rock fell from his grasp as Hyde kicked David off him, falling back David fell to a knee.

Smiling through bloody teeth Hyde pushed himself up off the cobbles, grabbing David with both hands before throwing him to the right. David collided with the brick wall of a house behind the stall, landing just beneath a window.

Groaning David nursed his wounded left shoulder as Hyde approached, picking him up again Hyde struck him across the face. The heavy blow nearly knocking him off his feet, but Hyde held him upright. Reeling back David took Hyde’s head in both hands slamming him into the wall, pulling his arms back David pulled Hyde’s head from the brick wall before slamming it back into it.

Clenching his teeth Hyde let out a hissed of pain as he fought back, wrapping his own hands around David’s head he mirrored David slamming him into the house, but David’s head didn’t hit the stone cold brick but the brittle glass of the window.

With his head through the shattered window sharp shards all around him, Hyde got behind David at first pushing his head down and neck towards the sharp glass beneath him. When Hyde sent him through the window David had let go of Hyde, his hand now laid flat against the edge of the window frame pushing back against Hyde's force.

Hyde continued to push until his rage got the better of him, punching David in the back of the head over and over again, each punch sending David’s neck a little closer to the glass below. Seeing the glass slowly approach like the waves of the sea slowly swallowing the beach, each wave creeping a bit closer than the last. The moment Hyde’s fist left the back of David’s head, David grabbed a large shard snapping it from the frame, it’s edge cutting into his right hand as he swung it back into Hyde.

For a moment Hyde screamed out in pain before silencing himself. Letting go of David Hyde took a step back, breaking David’s hold on the bloody shard. Taking it into his own hand Hyde pulled it from his right arm, swinging it down like a dagger in his left hand making David back up.

Falling back David fell to the ground, with Hyde following landing on top of him. Swinging the glass spike down towards David's chest, David court Hyde by the wrist stopping the glass well above his chest. Within seconds it became a war of strength over skill, David had both hands on Hyde’s left arm desperately trying to keep the shard up high, while Hyde pushed down with both hands, but his pushing soon became beating as he beat down on his own hand like a hammer on a nail.

David pushed to the left driving them both off to his left, but the shard still went down as it when off to the left. The shard cut David straight across the chest, it wasn’t deep enough to draw blood but it scraped his jacket, tearing his left breast pocket and severing the cord that went down from his neck down to his holstered revolver.

The glass slipped from Hyde’s grasp as their hands went off to their left, clattering as it scrapped over the cobbled ground. Quickly recovering Hyde wrapped his bleeding hands around David’s neck, choking him Hyde moved himself up on top of David pinning him beneath him like David had before.

Struggling for breath David tossed and turned in an attempt to shack Hyde off him, but that didn’t work as Hyde pressed a knee into David’s chest squeezing what little breath he had out of his chest. Wrapping his own hands around Hyde's wrists, David tried to pry himself free but Hyde pulled him up by his neck slamming his head down in response.

Dazed and now gargling on his own breath, David was now kicking like a fish in some desperate attempt to escape. Taking a hand of Hyde’s wrist David push against Hyde face trying to push him off him, thrashing about like a wet dog Hyde made it hard for David to keep his grip for more than a second.

Now wheezing like an old man David was becoming more desperate, driving his thumb into Hyde’s eye as he tried to pry him free of him. Hyde winced in pain and for a second loosened his grip on David, releasing his grip on Hyde’s other wrist David wrapped it around Hyde’s head driving his other thumb into Hyde’s eye. With each moment that passed David grew weaker, while the pain in Hyde eyes grew greater.

It wasn’t long before Hyde squeezed tighter, trying to squeeze the last breath out of his better half before the pain got too great. But with each moment that passed Hyde’s groan of pain grew louder until he screamed, black smoke pouring from his eyes and the sides of his head where David’s hands were.

Releasing his other half Hyde back up breaking the connection between them, the moment they were parted the smoke began to dissipate. Rolling over onto his side David braced himself as he coughed into the ground, his coughs were so laboured it sounded like his lungs were about to give out.

Having recovered Hyde sneered as he approached his downed half, gritting his bloody teeth Hyde yelled “you little bastard!” before kicking David in the chin, even the ponies could hear David’s teeth snap together. Blood flew from his mouth before he collapsed to the ground, but David was too weak too beaten to move, he could barely even breathe.

Hyde didn’t continue his assault on David, instead looking back at the wagon behind them. Walking over to it Hyde spotted something that made him smile, Big Mac may have intended for the farm but Hyde had other plans.

Now on all fours, David slowly began to recover, but as he did he heard Hyde slowly approaching him, each step on the cobbles were like the echoing tick of a loud clock in an empty room. The moment David began to push himself up off the ground he saw something pass his eyes, it was as fin as a string but grey like stone.

It took a moment but when he realised what it was he reached up to defend himself, putting his left hand between his neck and the barbed wire below. Hyde pulled back on the wire dragging David up with it, wrapping its long length around his neck again. Pulling tighter barbs dug into David’s left palm, while many more barbs cut into the back and side of his neck. Reaching up with his other hand David tried to pry himself free, but all that did was pull the wire down more onto the back of his neck.

Spotting a flooded pothole a few feet away Hyde pulled on the wire, dragging David back to the ground. Pulling on the barbed wire like a dog's collar Hyde dragged David over the ruff road, the edges of each stone in the road adding yet another little cut to the side of his face.

Once they reached the edge of the hole, Hyde plunged David’s face into the shallow water, kneeling down on top of him, pressing his knee into the side of David’s head so he couldn’t come back up. His face was half submerged in the water, each breath taking in a mix of muddy water and air all while fighting back against the wire cutting into his neck.

Leaning down Hyde spoke his voice even more sadistic than before “just like Passchendaele isn’t it? How many men do think died like this? No guns, no shells, just consumed by the earth”

The ponies could see David as losing hope, his strength was obviously waning as he fought back less and less with each breath.

“that’s it, just let it take you, one breath at a time and it’ll soon be over” Hyde said like the devil whispering into David’s ear.

David’s movements became less, he was barely struggling under Hyde now. Focusing solely on David, Hyde never saw the pony charging right for him tackling him off David. As Hyde was ripped off David he felt Hyde pull on his left side.

Being tackled off David, Hyde was now standing arms locked with the pony that tackled him. Seeing who it was Hyde pushed back against Shining Armor, pushing Shining Armor off him Hyde swung something in his left hand down across Shining’s face. Shining may not have seen what it was but it was hard and heavy, and more than enough to knock him off his balance.

“stay out of this” Hyde sneered before swinging his right fist back into Shining’s face, the blow wasn’t just strong but powerful, powerful with magic. A black burst of magic exploded from Hyde’s fist the moment it made contact with Shining, sending him flying back a couple of feet to the ground.

Looking at his hand Hyde wiggled his fingers as dark magic swirled between them “now that’s new” Hyde said in an intrigued voice.

Gasping for air David pulled the wire out from around his neck, adding yet more cuts and scraps to his battered body. Pushing himself off the ground David reached for his holster, still on his knees David’s head fell in defeat as he felt his empty holster.

Hearing the click of his revolver’s hammer locking in place, David slowly got to his feet. Turning around David faced Hyde, his own gun staring back at him “do you really think I know you so little that I wouldn’t know you would go back on our little deal, and now you’ve lost” Hyde said smugly.

Still standing there defeated David said nothing just sighing heavily “What? Not going to run back to the trench, you still think you can win?” Hyde questioned.

“I’ve got to try at least try” David answered his voice low and beaten.

“you know bullets are faster than men” Hyde stated.

“I do, but I’ve faced the lead before and I don’t doubt I’ll face it again” David stated morbidly.

“just remember Captain, officers don’t duck, the men don’t like it and it doesn’t do any good” Hyde said quoting many officers before him, but Hyde’s redition was more sadistic like a cat toying with its prey.

“I know” David said with an empty hopeless voice.

Advancing on Hyde David took his first step forward, but before his boot could touched the ground, the hammer on his revolver slammed into the loaded cylinder. The loud bang was deafening, forcing all the ponies present to wince at the sharp sound. The ponies also saw something fly out of the gun, they may not have not known it was a bullet or what a bullet was, but they did know what they saw had just flown into David and out the other side.

Losing his balance David took a step back to brace himself, slowly his hands fell down to his abdomen. Pulling open his jacket he saw the expanding red stain on his shirt, the sight of it made him faint, not because it was blood but because it was his blood. Pressing his right hand into it David tried to stop the bleeding, but it did little to help as blood dripped through his fingers.

Feeling his strength leaving him David fell to his left, falling onto a market stall beside him. Leaning against it David tried to recover his strength, pushing himself off the stall David launched himself at Hyde. Hoping to grab the gun David dived for it, his bloody hand reaching for it.

But before he could even reach Hyde, Hyde shot him again. The moment the bullet entered David’s left shoulder he fell to the ground, his limp body collapsing on the wet cobbles.

Towering over his fallen half Hyde roughly picked David up, placing him back against the stall he had just collapsed on. David was now seated up with his back only being propped up by the stall behind him.

Crouching down Hyde grabbed David pulling on his hair like a puppet's string, bringing his limp head up to him “strong enough to rule, but too weak to lead. That’s always been your problem” Hyde mused to David.

“let's see how strong you truly are” Hyde pondered in a smugly amused voice.

Placing the revolver in David’s right hand, Hyde pointed its barrel towards himself aiming directly for his own heart. With his own hand interwind with David’s, Hyde placed his finger behind the trigger “all you’ve got to do is pull that trigger, and all this will be over” Hyde stated.

Weakly David tried to pull the trigger, but he wasn’t just pulling against the weight of the trigger but the strength of Hyde “come on your stronger than that, don’t you want to kill me?” Hyde taunted in a sickeningly soothing voice “come on kill me, KILL ME!” Hyde demanded with a fury only a wrathful beast could muster.

Pulling the revolver from David’s grasp Hyde yelled “PATHETIC!” before swinging it back across David’s pale face, knocking him back to the ground.

Catching the ponies in the corner of his eye Hyde pulled David back up, placing the revolver back in David’s hand. Hyde pointed it towards the gathering of ponies, this time Hyde’s finger on the trigger while David fought against it.

“maybe this will bring out that strength of yours” Hyde sneered.

David could feel Hyde pulling on the trigger as he waved it about wildly, moving its target from pony to pony “who shall you fail to save? Your blue winged angle?” Hyde stated pointing the revolver at Luna.

“her neglectful sister?” Hyde’s aim now squarely on Celestia.

“her niece, the pink whore” Cadence now staring down the barrel of the revolver.

The second Hyde pointed it at Cadence Shining Armor teleported in-between them, acting not as a husband but as a shield “or how about the boy playing soldier?”

David struggled against Hyde hoping to push off Hyde’s aim, but little came of it. Hyde was stronger than him and kept his aim steady regardless of David’s defiance, slowly David felt the stiff trigger push his finger aside.

Once again they heard the revolver fire, the bullet piercing Shining’s purple armour. For all the good steel was against sword and axe, it mattered not, for all its worth in gold it did not stop the bullet. Shining fell back into the arms of his beloved while clutching his armoured leg, the bullet pieced his armour twice as it cleanly cut through him. Shining Armor screamed out in pain as he felt the wound burn all the way through his leg, like someone poured boiling oil into the whole the bullet made.

Standing up Hyde snatched the gun from David, the moment Hyde’s hand left his it fell weakly to the ground. Looking up to him David spoke in a tired hopeless voice “I suppose you're going to kill me now?”

Smiling at his victory Hyde crouched down “I will but not in the way you think” Hyde said cryptically.

Raising the revolver in his hand Hyde swung it down on the defeated man, whipping David across the face with the butt of the gun. The ponies just watched him sit there, unable to fight back as he took his beating.

His limp head had rolled down to his right, blood drooling from the corner of his bloodied mouth. Pulling David’s head up by his hair like a rag doll, Hyde force David to look at him “by the time I’m done with you, you won’t be you. You’ll die in you and then you’ll be me” Hyde detailed.

Letting go of David’s hair his head flopped back down to his chest, his eyes barely able to stay open. Raising his revolver again Hyde readied himself to continue David’s beating, but once his hand was raised he felt something hit him in the side, it was no stronger than a gust of win.

Turning Hyde saw the sauce of what had struck him, he turned so fast the magic around Luna’s blue horn hadn’t had the chance to dissipate. Pulling the revolver on Luna Hyde aimed straight at her still glowing horn “didn’t I tell you to stay out of this. Maybe taking that horn of yours will teach you to mind your own business”

With that Hyde took a shot at Luna, the bullet missing Luna’s head by a good foot to the right. Instinctively Luna ducked to the sound not the bullet, as the bullet had already passed her by the time she heard it.

Adjusting his aim Hyde prepared to take another shot at Luna’s horn, but another blast of magic struck him, throwing off his aim before he could fire. The magic exploded against his outstretched arm in a golden shower of sparkles.

Turning Hyde saw like before, that a princess was the cause. Turning to Celestia Hyde didn’t aim for her but her little ponies “you lot really are as dumb as horses, but even a horse can be broken in. I think I’ll just break you though” Hyde sneered.

Aiming at the ponies in front of Celestia, Hyde saw all their scared faces as they wondered who he would kill. When Hyde was about fire Luna charged forward both hands latching onto his right arm pushing it up, firing Hyde shot clear over the ponies heads.

Looking down at Luna Hyde spoke “eager to get your hands on a man aren’t you”

Struggling to keep his arm up Luna replied through gritted teeth “my only eagerness is protecting my subjects”

Pushing her off with ease Hyde aimed his revolver down at her weak form, aiming for her horn again “you should have focused on protecting yourself princess” Hyde proclaimed.

Looking down the sight of his revolver Hyde felt a heavy weight hit his back, but unlike all the blows before this one wasn’t magical it had weight behind it. A hand came from behind taking Hyde by the wrist, prying his aim away from Luna.

Looking down at the hand Hyde saw who it was, David was giving his last “defiant until the end” Hyde mused before elbowing back into David’s ribs.

The blow almost brought David to a knee, but he rooted himself to Hyde like roots in the earth. Swinging his other elbow back David grabbed Hyde’s forearm, restricting Hyde’s movements somewhat, but that was all he could do. Hyde’s response was to beat the man behind him in whatever way he could, delivering more elbows to the ribs, swinging kicks back into David’s legs, each one nearly knocking him off his feet.

Hyde started to become more enraged with each second, but Luna saw his face. The hiss of anger wasn’t one of anger but pain, his furious state was caused by the pain David was causing him “let go damn it! Let go!” Hyde hissed through clenched teeth.

But David didn’t let go, in fact he became bolder his right hand moved over Hyde’s overshadowing his control on the revolver. As David’s hand moved from Hyde’s wrist Luna saw the burn and black smoke, unlike the other times Hyde wasn’t able to break the connection.

This continued to get worse for Hyde, as the longer they stayed connected the more smoke seemed to bleed from between them. Now David was almost shadowing Hyde, smoke bellowing from every single part of them that touched.

Hyde was now pulling franticly away from his other half “No! Get away from me, I won’t go back! I won’t die in you! Not again!” Hyde yelled in a mix of fury and fear.

And with that Hyde disappeared into the black smoke from which he was born, the black mist seem to stick to David like a thin fog, but unlike fog it didn’t dissipate but was absorbed into David through his clothes and skin alike.

He just stood there weakly like he was about to fall, standing where Hyde stood even with his revolver back in his hand.

Getting to her feet Luna spoke softly afraid that a loud word would shatter him like glass “David? Are you alright?”

He didn’t respond his limp head hanging low as he fell forward into Luna, reaching out Luna court him, his head hanging over her right shoulder. Reaching up Luna took him by the face, gently holding him as she lifted him up to her as she called out in a worried voice “David? David? Are you alright?”

Regaining some focus he opened his eyes, letting out a sigh of relief Luna felt her heavy heart lighten. And for another brief moment she felt it sink again as David's eyes fell shut as he fell forward, but this time his lips fell upon her’s. Her eyes widened in shock at first but soon softened to him, his hands wrapping around her, one around her back and wings and the other around her waist.

Realising the others were present she pulled away from him, but he pulled her back. At first it was subtle but then it became forceful, holding her in place as he forced himself upon her. Opening his eyes she stared into them, they were his eyes but colder, like they had never felt warmth before, like they had never seen light, like a nightmare.

Breaking the kiss he span Luna around, his left arm around her chest pinning her to him. Standing behind her he pressed the barrel of his revolver against her horn “you won’t believe how much David has wanted to taste those lips again” he proclaimed in a cold tone that begged for warmth.

“DAVID WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?” Celestia yelled in her royal voice.

“god you are stupid, you’ve seen this all before and yet you don’t know what is happening” he mocked.

“Hyde” Celestia sneered.

“That's right. I didn’t die in him, but he’ll die in me” Hyde proclaimed through David’s mouth.

Leaning into Luna’s ear he spoke in a softer, more precise voice that cut her with every word “I can still hear him you know, he’s in so much pain right now. Two bullets and a beating will do that to a man, but he can still feel everything I feel. Why don’t you alleviate some of his suffering?”

With that Hyde loosened his hold on her pulling his left arm back just enough for his hand to reach her breast, groping her exposed chest he kept her pinned to him. Turning away from him in fear and disgust Luna closed her eyes trying to hold back a whimper, it felt so wrong, these hands were David’s hands, the hands that held her so gently before but now they belonged to another.

“remember what I said before? I won’t kill you, what I have planned will be much more pleasurable” he whispered into her ear, Luna’s fear lingering on each word.

“Such a pity I’m going to have to take that horn, you'd be stuck as a pony, unable to become something more, something human. Despite that, blue has always been my favourite colour, and David finds it very enticing as do I” Hyde said through David’s voice in an alluring voice that sounded more like the purr of a predator.

Looking down her smooth body Hyde slowly moved David’s hand down from her breast, gliding over her soft blue fur down towards her womanhood. His voice was slow and quiet like he was teasing a lover “why so shy? You want this, you want him. I’ve been watching you from behind his eyes, every chance you get you are all over him, and now he can be all over you. And you’ll love it, along with any bastards I put in you, but they won’t be mine they’ll be his”

She could feel his hand, David’s hand slowly creeping down her body, she knew where it was going and what he would make David do. She could feel his spread fingers ruffling her fur as it slid down her flat belly, his hand became level with her hips ready to go further but it didn’t, his hand just stayed in place like it was unwilling to go any further.

This didn’t go unnoticed, Hyde knew what was happening, he knew David was stopping him. But it matter not, stalling a single hand in a single moment wouldn’t stop him from breaking the blue princess.

The ponies just stared in horror at him, but after a moment he noticed something was off about their gaze “what?” Hyde sneered.

In the corner of his eye he saw it, what the ponies were staring at. The revolver he once held at Luna’s horn was now nearly pressed against his own head. In an instant he forced it away as the man within pulled the trigger, the bullet shot up into the air as the sound deafened him. Clutching his ear revolver still in hand, Luna broke free falling to the ground.

The ringing was deafening making Hyde yell out in pain “you stubborn bastard!”

Seeing Luna on the ground Hyde pointed his revolver at her, she looked so weak, so helpless. Easy prey for the hunter, he wanted to hurt her, to kill her. Pulling the trigger he found it stiff, too stiff to fire “come on! Come on damn it!” Hyde gritted through struggling breaths.

Hyde’s laboured breaths quickly grew more difficult, his wounds, David’s wounds that Hyde inflicted were now taking their toll on the inflicter. Luna had a full view of his deteriorating state, the two red stains on his front were expanding, they didn’t expand much or fast but it was seeping through multiple layers of thick clothes.

Falling to his knees Hyde continued to fight for dominance, the weakening body failing him. His once stay aim swaying to a breeze that wasn’t there, in an arm wrestling match against another arm that wasn’t there.

Hyde wasn’t just failing to pull the trigger but also failing to hold his own, Hyde watched as the hand that was not his own slowly and shakily fell out of his control. It happened so slowly, bit by bit David’s hand turned against Hyde’s will, and on his own head.

The barrel of his revolver was slowly creeping towards his head, much to Hyde’s resistance. Looking down the barrel Hyde felt David’s finger struggling against the trigger, fighting against his other self with all he had, they both felt their strength failing on all fronts.

With their strength failing them they fell from their knees to the ground, landing on his right side the revolver slipped from their grasp. With the last of their strength they reached out for it, they weren’t sure who was in control for they both wanted it for two different reasons, but for the first time since their parting they were in sync.

Reaching out their fingers met the gun but they lacked the strength to pick it up, their fingers doing no more than brushing the cold steel. Their hand fell to the earth just before the revolver unable to move.

Hyde looked to the gun and then to the hand that he could no longer move, his voice was tired, defeated, almost excepting of what was happening “we both know how this story ends David, you’ll end up bluer than them” he said before his head fell like his eyelids.

Rushing over Luna knocked the revolver out of the way, its steel scrapping across the stone cobbles of the street. Yelling out his name Luna was about to grab him but stopped just shy of him afraid of who might answer “David!” but he never answered his body as still as the earth.

3

The sound of a continuous beep emanating from a heart monitor filled the sterile hospital room, its sound was the only indicator that David was alive. Outside the room the Princesses argued with the doctor “why hasn’t he awoken yet it’s been three days?” Luna demanded in a panicked voice.

“Please princess you must understand we know next to nothing about him” the white unicorn replied trying to hold her composure.

“but you healed Captain Armor in a matter of hours” Luna shot back.

“princess with all due respect this is far more complicated than a simple healing spell, even with Captain Armor we couldn’t just heal the wound with magic, we had to remove the projectile first be we couldn’t do it with magic. And their was something else, something worrying, the projectile was comprised of lead” the doctor said with an unnerved tone.

“lead? Isn’t that poisonous” Celestia asked.

“Sister what are thou talking about? Isn’t lead just a metal like any other?” Luna questioned.

“Unfortunately not dear sister, at some point in the past thousand years ponies discovered lead was poisonous” Celestia answered with a heavy voice.

“so they have been poisoned” Luna answered the worry in her voice becoming more dominant.

“yes and no princess. It would have poisoned them if they hadn’t been removed but we were able to, but something was different about them we couldn’t use magic to remove them. We had to go in surgically to remove them. After we did that we could close the wound with magic, but David was a different story” the doctor's voice dropped as she started to talk about David “He had lost a lot of blood and we had no way to replace it, we were able to stop the bleeding but with no way to replace it all we can do is wait for him to naturally make more”

“so once his body has made more he’ll wake up?” Luna questioned with a hopeful voice.

The doctor always hated this part of her job, telling the friends and family the odds weren’t the best and with a sombre voice she answered “Hopefully, but there was another thing. While looking for the projectiles one was missing, it looks to have gone straight through his body, but while looking for it we found trace amounts of lead in his back, less than a few grams each but it looks to have been there for a while. Normally lead poisoning takes months or even years of exposure, but these scars have faded so they are at least a year old”

The doctor forced on a more hopeful tone as she continued “the amount is small so I don’t believe he is expensing lead poisoning, but it could be a factor in his recovery. But the truth is this is all speculation, we don’t know how his body works. But to be safe we removed the lead from his back in hopes it will help his recovery”

“how long do you think it will take for him to wake up?” Celestia asked.

“Hopefully in the next few days but we have no way to know” the doctor replied.

“is there anything we can do?” Luna asked her voice still concerned for his well-being.

The doctor's voice was heavy as she gave them the answer they didn’t want “all we can do is wait, if you would like you can stay with him until he wakes”

“thank you Doctor, but have our royal duties to...” Celestia started before being cut off by her sister.

“I’ll stay with him, thank you doctor” Luna said in a low tone.

“Now if you’ll excuse me princesses, I have patients to see to” the doctor said before bowing to his monarchs.

Once the doctor had left them, Celestia turned to Luna wearing a bit of a scowl “Luna you can’t stay with that thing”

Within an instant Luna turned to her sister wearing a hurt expression “David is no thing!”

Reeling back Celestia’s expression and voice softened in response “Luna that is not what I meant, we don’t even know if it will be David when he wakes”

“it will be, he was taking back control” Luna answered back her voice almost pleading for him.

“regardless you won’t be staying with him” Celestia stated like a scowling mother.

“And why not? You already have him chained to the bed like this hospital is a dungeon” Luna shot back.

“well, it’s not like I can use my magic to find out who is in control” Celestia retorted.

“you could talk to him once he wakes up, I highly doubt he’ll be in any state able to fight us” Luna reasoned.

“yes but this is just a precaution, if it really is David then we shall release him, if not then he can’t hurt you. He really wanted to hurt you, I can’t risk that. My neglect created nightmare moon, I won’t neglect you again, I won’t allow you to be hurt again” Celestia pleaded with tears swelling in her eyes.

“and I can’t neglect him” Luna said pitifully.

4

For the next day and night Luna stayed by David, forgoing her royal duties for him. She sat beside his bedside waiting for him, her arms laid crossed on his chest while her head was slumped on his side as she slept.

Waking up David saw Luna resting by his side, reaching over David cupped Luna’s hand in his. Waking up Luna sat up pulling her hands away from him, David’s hand followed until it was brought to a sudden stop. Around his wrist were handcuffs chaining him to the metal frame of the bed.

David’s voice was dry and tired “morning Luna”

“Morning” was the only response she gave in a sombre voice as she kept her distance from him.

Letting out a deep sigh of self-loathing David spoke in a low slow voice “I’m sorry, I’m sorry for what he did. I’m sorry for what I put you through. I… I tried to stop him”

His words earned him no sympathy only a harsh smack across the face, scowling down at him Luna gave him her reply “do you have any idea what it was like?!”

“Luna I’m sorry” David tried to say before being cut off by yet another slap across the face.

“I had to watch! I had to watch you try and kill yourself! You promised you wouldn’t die and you tried to do it yourself!” Luna yelled in a tearful fury.

There was fear and guilt to David’s words as he replied “Luna, he wanted to hurt you, truly. I felt it, I could hear his thoughts. The things he wanted to do to you, I… I couldn’t let that happen”

“so you tried to kill yourself!” Luna yelled giving him a scorn only a woman could give.

“to save you, the things he wanted to do to you would have made you want to kill yourself” David said pleading with her hoping she would understand.

Feeling her anger starting to slip away Luna stood up, and with an irritated huff she spoke “I’m going to get the others”

Watching Luna leave David saw how tense her body was, she was shaking because she was so angry with him. Now being left alone David saw how restricted he was, he incredibly limited movement. His hands could barely make it across his chest before yanking on the chain.

After an hour of being alone, Luna returned with the rest of the ponies from the incident. Luna sat by his side again the anger still clear on her face, while Celestia stood by the foot of his bed. The rest of the main six, stood half to the left side of his bed and the other to the right side. Shining Armor and Cadence stood at the back of the room behind Celestia, Shining Armor still in his armour.

“David?” Celestia questioned.

“Hello princess” he replied.

“How are you feeling?” Celestia asked as she eyed him up questioning who she was talking to.

Letting out a heavy breath David spoke “tired”

Celestia gave Applejack a rehearsed look before turning back to the man confined to the bed “forgive me for asking this, but who are we talking to?”

With a low tone he gave her his answer “it’s me princess, it’s David. Hyde’s gone”

Turning back to Applejack Celestia didn’t need to ask, Applejack just gave her the answer she seeked “he’s telling the truth princess”

“I can vouch for that” Luna added in a lonely tone.

“How?” Celestia asked with a puzzled look.

“I slapped him” Luna stated casually.

“you what!?” Celestia nearly yelled as Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie struggled to hold in their laughter.

“Twice” David added.

The three ponies were now splitting at the seams, little chuckles and giggles slipping out from their sucked-in lips.

“Luna, what would have compelled you to do such a thing?” Celestia asked still annoyed at her sister.

“I had to see if it was really him” Luna stated.

“and how would slapping him in any way help determine who he is?” Celestia asked in an astoundedly dump found voice.

“because Hyde would have retaliated, and David would not” Luna answered like it was obvious.

“but couldn’t he just act like he was David? He was part of him originally so wouldn’t he know how to act?” Twilight asked still keeping a distance away from the bed.

“It's easy for the civilised man to play the savage, but a savage like Hyde would never have the temperament for a simple slap go. He would have lashed out like the animal he was” David answered coldly.

“how can we believe that? For all we know this could all be one big act” Rainbow Dash spouted.

“Applejack said he was telling the truth, I think the element of honest can tell if somepony is being honest” Rarity added.

“but that’s the thing, the elements are magic and we all know David resists magic. So he could be negating her abilities” Twilight speculated with a hint of worry to her words.

“he’s not lying” Luna stated simply from the corner of the room.

“How could you know? If we act too fast we could let that monster loose again, you saw what that thing did!” Twilight nearly yelled, becoming somewhat timid after her little outburst.

Luna gave Celestia a knowing grieved look that Celestia returned, the memories they shared were less than pleasant “I know this because Nightmare Moon tried to once, she used magic to hide what I became. But it failed, Celestia saw through it the moment Nightmare Moon spoke. She couldn’t hide her true self nor would Hyde be able to” Luna said with a down-trodden tone.

“so Hyde is gone?” Celestia asked with a more hopeful voice.

“yeah, he’s gone. Back to being just a made up character, in a made up story” David said in a sombre voice.

“don’t suppose we can dispense with these” David asked raising his hands, halting to the restraints chaining him to the bed.

“I’m afraid we can’t do that yet. Theirs some things I’ve been meaning to ask you” Celestia stated, their meeting feeling more like an interrogation.

“Like what?” David asked hesitantly, his eyes glancing at Luna before returning to Celestia.

“like this war, your part of” Celestia stated bluntly.

“that’s none of your concern” he replied with equal bluntness.

“I’m afraid it is Corporal, if this war of yours spills over into Equestria then it is my concern” Celestia stated her concerned voice coming from the care she held for her subjects.

“it won’t. Even I don’t know how I got here, and don’t think they're looking for me because their not. With a war of this magnitude being fought, with how many men are dying do you really think they would spare anyone to look for me” David said in not a cold voice but a sure tone, like he knew they wouldn’t look for him and didn’t care if they did or didn’t.

“but what if the battles change the borders, they could end up stumbling in here like you did” Celestia speculated not even wanting to argue with him.

Letting out an amused snort David gave his reply “I’ve been in this war since the start, and in three years the trenches have barely moved an inch”

Celestia was taken aback by his words but didn’t let it faze her as she pressed him for information “but what if it does? I need to know what Equestria would be up against”

“how big is your army?” he asked almost like he was reversing the near interrogation.

Hoping that if she gave him this he would return the information in kind “at the moment, sixty thousand but in a time of war we could go up to two hundred thousand maybe more. Why?”

Nodding slightly David spoke in a low voice seeming impressed with her answer “sixty thousand, that’s a lot of men. The King wanted more, he wanted one hundred thousand in three mouths. We gave him half a million in two”

The ponies at first thought it was a bit much but not unreasonable for a leader to ask that much of his subjects, Celestia would ask as much of her ponies in a time of war especially if it was a bad one. But the sheer amount that answered the call shocked them, they couldn’t imagine what kind of war would need that many men.

In a slightly flustered voice, Celestia clarified “so there are half a million of your people fighting in this war”

“no. The British army currently holds over six million men” David said stated in a heavy voice.

“S… Six million?” Celestia choked out.

“yes. And that’s just the British” David added.

“that can’t be true, you want us to believe your people have an army of millions like it is nothing. Come on Applejack tell us he’s lying” Rainbow Dash spouted earning a glare from the princesses.

“Rainbow he is telling the truth” Applejack defended.

“so there are six million soldiers between us and this war?” Twilight asked.

“no. There are six million Brits, but there are a lot more in the trenches than just Brits. India sent over a million and a half men at the start of the war, probably more now. The colonies contributed another million. The French have probably sent the most men, it is their home after all” David stated his words clearly weighing heavily on him.

“how many have they sent?” Celestia asked hoping just to keep the conversation going more than the facts.

“I don’t know, some men say as much as eight million. Now you can see why Hun aren’t going to get here, they’ve got to get through a lot of men before they get their one in a million shot at finding this place” David answered.

“David this is not like looking for a needle in a hay stack, Equestria is an entire country” Celestiaour maps stated.

“with all due respect princess but it is, Equestria isn’t on any map. Equestria doesn’t exist, at least not on earth. Twilight said something about portals, so if this portal still exists it’s small and easily missed” David seemed almost saddened by this outcome, even though it was best for Equestria it wasn’t best for him.

“I see. With that out of the way, there are some other things I need to ask you, like how did this war start?” Celestia asked holding her composure.

“I don’t know” was his answer.

“then what do you know?” Celestia asked incredulously as she watched him intently.

“I know it started with the assassination of the Archduke of Austria. At that point everything started to fall apart, the alliances that stopped wars from breaking out were the reason they were being fought. Every country from every corner of the globe was being roped in because of an alliance they had too another. A lot of us thought it wouldn’t come to his, myself included. We thought King George would stop this before it happened, he was cousins with Kaiser Wilhelm” David stated his words becoming slower and heavier with each word before being interrupted.

“Who?” Twilight asked.

“Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia” he answered.

“so he is at war with his cousin” Luna stated.

Looking over to Luna David saw that fact was hitting her more than most, she looked hurt, the type of pain you can hide but can still be seen weighing on the eyes. Probably painful memories from her passed “he was fighting two cousins, King George had another cousin on his side, Nicholas the Tsar Emperor Russia”

Luna’s face dropped this man was fighting not just one but two of his family “David… W… why did you join the war? You don’t seem the type who goes looking for a fight” Luna asked trying to hold her shaky voice.

“duty” was his answer as it was simple.

After a moment he continued, his eyes looking off into nowhere as he spoke “they told us war would be over by Christmas, it would be a good chance to see the world. Their was a lot of men thinking the war would be over before we made it to the front, but Christmas came and went like many others. It was rather easy in the beginning, it was a lot like camping with boys. There was very little killing in the beginning, there was a very live-and-let-live attitude about it all. But then it got worse, it all got worse. Then they started splitting up the regiments”

“Why would they do that?” Celestia asked.

“regiments were regional by design, men would sign up together, train and then go to the front together. We would have entire regiments of men coming from one town, they would have all been fathers, sons, brothers, and neighbours. Everyone would know everyone, command thought it was a good idea for morale. But then there was a battle, a bad one not like that narrows it down but every man who was in that regiment died in that battle, not one of them survived. An entire town back home had to be told every man they waved goodbye to is never coming back”

They just stared at him in shock, many of which turned to Applejack for confirmation hoping this was some kind of sick joke but it wasn’t “after that they started splitting up the men, trying to spread the pain I guess. It’s been nearly two years since I’ve my brothers” David said in a hollow voice.

Celestia struggled to continue finding her mouth to be dry to the question she needed answering “h… how bad were these battles?”

The look he gave her wasn’t one that she would normally question, it was a look that would end a conversation. But still, she needed to continue, not for the ponies or Equestria but for Luna, she had to know who Luna was friends with “don’t make me answer that” he replied in a deadly serious voice.

“you will” Celestia demanded her tone still soft though.

“sister I don’t believe that is...” Luna started.

“it is” Celestia nearly snapped back.

“how many wars have you fought?” David asked reversing the situation.

Celestia deflated slightly to his question but that still didn’t stop her from answering it, hoping her method of give and take would hold out “two wars since Equestrias founding, the worst of which was against the Crystal empire and King Sombra”

“casualties?” he asked.

“forty-seven thousand over sixteen years” Celestia answered with grief in her tone, she still grieved for those that died in those years.

David seemed to acknowledge her answer but didn’t hold much weight to her words “forty-seven thousand, that’s a lot of men. At the Somme, we lost twenty thousand”

“Twenty thousand in three years, I know that is a lot but I’m struggling to understand why you haven’t told us” Celestia said regaining some of her composure.

David shock his head slightly at her naivety of her statement “it wasn’t twenty thousand in three years, it was twenty thousand in a single day”

For how quiet the room was before it seemed to get even quieter, even Celestia voice seemed to be a shadow of what it was “that’s not possible”

“Unfortunately it is. The worst bit is it hasn’t made a bloody dent in the war, in fact it has become the standard. Each battle now cost hundreds of thousands of men, at Passchendaele we won six miles of land but it wasn’t worth the cost” David said with an empty voice, he wasn’t sad or depressed it was more just in shock that it was true.

“w… what did it cost?” Celestia asked afraid of the answer.

“half a million men” his answer didn’t hold any emotion treating it more like a bitter fact than peoples lives “their was a maths teacher in my regiment, it didn’t take him long before he worked out how much a single life is worth in this war. He told me, and I told him to keep it to himself, or he’ll end up on the wrong side of a firing squad”

They didn’t know what a firing squad was but they could read between the lines. The main thing that got them worried was not knowing if David was warning or threatening.

“David. What was the number?” Luna asked with a hesitant voice.

“half an inch” his answer plan and simple “that’s what I’m worth in this war, half an inch of land. It doesn’t what my rank is, what I did before the war, or what I could make after. It doesn’t change the fact that all I am worth is half an inch of land”

His words seemed to drain all the warmth and life out of the room, leaving everypony in the silent void left behind. They just stood there in silent contemplation, barely able to process the idea of being worth so little.

From within the silences came a sound they all focused on, it wasn’t hard for them, it was the only sound they heard. It was light but sharp, a continuous clinking of steel against steel. It took them a moment to find the source, it was David, a tremor had entered his right hand making the handcuff bounded to his wrist, sending waves of tremors down the chain causing them to jingle like chimes in the wind.

“David, is there something wrong with your hand?” Celestia asked with a hint of hesitation.

Looking down at his open hand, he slowly closed it into a fist in some hope to squeeze the shaking out “just another cost of the war, it’ll pass. It always does”

“After we are done here I’ll get the doctor to have a look at it” Celestia stated in a caring voice hoping to help.

“that’s quite alright, a doctor already told me that it’s shell shock” David stated in a distant voice as he focused more on his hand than on her.

“but what if it gets worse?” Celestia asked her voice being slightly worried.

Shacking his head dismissively he answered her in an equally dismissive voice “that’s not how it works, the doctor told me it’s caused by shell impacts and the longer you're around them the worse it gets. I don’t know if it’ll get better but it won’t be getting worse”

“David? How much worse can it get?” Luna asked in a hesitant but thoughtful voice.

David’s voice was low and distant like the distant call of a ghost “a lot worse, some men have the shacks more than not. The worst I saw was Jim, it just kept getting worse with him. He was shaking more each day and it lasted longer each time, at night he would scream like he had gone mad. For a while we thought he was getting better, he stopped screaming at night, but he started spacing out during the day. He had the thousand-yard stare, nothing would break him out of that stare, men would shout right next to him and he wouldn’t hear it. He was like that for days, until he stepped on that ladder. I remember he looked so sure when he did it, like it was easy to step out into no man’s land. By the time we got to the ladder, the Germans had already shot him”

And yet again the ponies were in shock, they could see the sorrow behind his eyes and the tears he refused to shed. A pair of yellow furred hands gently rested on the frame of the bed, her soft touch matched by her softer voice “David it’s okay to cry”

Looking at Fluttershy David replied “no it’s not, men don’t cry and any man that does is no man, they are no better than a boy”

“David that is a terrible attitude to have” Celestia stated with a disapproving voice.

“I must concur” Luna added.

“well it’s the attitude all men have, we are this way not by choice but by necessity. It is the duty we are born with as men to be the protectors in war and at home. The man of the house needs to be the one pillar that supports the family, we need to be the one thing the family can be sure of. We are relied upon and if we can not be relied upon we are worthless” David answered his voice sounding like a meditated mantra he had repeated over and over again.

Getting a better insight into the man Celestia pressed another question hoping it would grant her more knowledge of the war and David as well as lighten the mood in some regard “David you keep saying the word men when referring to the war. Are mares banded from service?”

“it’s the man’s burden to fight the wars, so the women can be spared the horrors of it” He answered.

“but the woman can still fight in it?” Celestia asked.

He gave a sombre nob “some have been able to lye their way in, the signing office is getting desperate. They're doing less checks each year, even Tom was able to lye his way in, he was only a boy sixteen not even a man, he didn’t even look that old”

“they would let teenagers into this war?” Celestia asked.

“We wanted to be part of this war, they sold us on the idea of war. They told us it would only be six months, and we would all be home by Christmas. This would be our war, our mark on history, we would see parts of the world we would never otherwise have seen. Even the women fell for it, there was this one girl she wanted to do her bit like her brothers, I wasn’t having it I had seen too much death that day I feel bad for what I did but I got her out of the war” David said in a disheartened voice.

“What did you do?” Celestia asked worried about the answer she would give.

“I dragged her out of the trench by her hair, I didn’t care how much it hurt her just that it got her out. I showed her what this war was, I showed her what men did every day and it scarred her. I showed her blinded, the crippled and the dead. But what broke her was the man loading the bodies, it was one of her brothers, I didn’t realise who they were until later but just seeing him do that broke her” David said his voice clearly shameful.

“David from what you’ve said couldn’t she have just left?” Celestia asked.

Dismissing the idea David shook his head “no, she wanted to be part of this war. I had to take that want away from her, I just wish I hadn’t been so forceful”

“you were only trying to help” Luna consoled.

“and in doing so I hurt her, that two I’ve hurt now. There won’t be a third” his voice was that of a broken spirit, it’s not that he didn’t want to help but that he had lost hope for it.

“why not third times the charm” Pinkie chimed in.

“Pinkie perhaps this is not the best time” Fluttershy added in a hushed voice.

“David you spoke of a second time. What happened?” Celestia asked.

“it was Tom, good old Tommy Tom. He had the shacks but it was getting worse, he started screaming in the night. We feared he was going the same way as Jim, before that we went over the top. We made it out of the battle but afterwards he broke down, he was only seventeen, another year he would be a man, another one after that and he would have been old enough to join. But he was young and eager joining at sixteen, seventeen years old and one of them wasted in this bloody war. I knew of a way to get him out of the war, I gave him all the money I had and told him to go to the closest town, he would find a brothel there and he would find a woman there, and she would give him a disease that would get him sent home” He answered with a heavy heart.

“wait your people partake in that vile act? That is disgusting!” Rarity said nearly gagging on her words.

“Rarity could you please let him finish” Luna ordered nearly in the way she would address her guards.

His words were slow like he was describing a horror that was right before him “he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t move he was that scared. It was like he was standing on a mine that would go off if he moved an inch, but I had to get him out of there. I put his hand on the ladder we came down, and with the butt of my bayonet, I broke his hand. It wasn’t quick and it wasn’t painless, I had to hit him at least five times. I had to make sure he wouldn’t be able to pull the trigger again, if he couldn’t fight they would send him home. But I had to be sure they wouldn’t want him back, I’ve been wounded but all they did for me was put me in a bed for a week and then send me back. So I had to make sure he was worst than I had been, so I stabbed him”

Everypony in the room gasped at this revelation, it was clear as day why had done it but still the act horrified them.

“he was my friend and I stabbed him, I told him to tell an officer he had been wounded in the battle. That would spare him the cowards feather” David continued.

“The coward's feather? What is that?” Celestia asked a little worried about the answer she might get.

“a badge of shame, that will be with you until you die” he answered with an empty voice.

“David how much longer do you think this war will last?” Celestia asked, hoping for some shred of hope for his people.

David’s breaths had become tired and laboured as he answered “I don’t know, they said six months and it's been three years. I don’t know if it will ever end, some men call it the war to end all wars. Others call it the war to end it all”