Author's Note

(What you are about to read is the continuation of Act 1. To those who are new, I do consider that you read Act 1 first to clarify the current events. I know that I have written down a larger note in Act 1 but I am still going to repeat what I said because why not. I mean what is the point of a note if it doesn’t say the obvious. There is gore mentioned in this act and in the rest of the fanfiction. I did clarify that earlier in Act 1 but trust me, the more I repeat myself, the more this message is taken into account. I do hope that is how it works. Stuff like blood, organs, and violent imagery that only your minds can make up is in here. Anyway, you can read onwards and continue the story without reading more of this stupid note I made. Hope you enjoy it.

P.s. I hoped everyone had a Happy Nightmare Night and Halloween. I hope all of you had a safe night trick or treating or celebrating this spooky time of the year. – TheCreativeFormat)

Act 2: New Visitor/Place and Magic Intervention

Introduction – Bones. What a perfect and suitable name. As soon as I came up with the name, I backed away from the mirrored stone. I smiled unevenly at the reflection and said: “Bones… what a perfect name for me and my condition. I can’t think of any fitting word to my current situation” At that point, I let out a laugh; a laugh so loud that my head started to hurt. Wait, my head was starting to… Grasping my head, the pain slowly subsided and then I heard an all too familiar voice.

“So you finally adored your new look?”

“Who’s there?”

“Ah no-one, it’s just that, we might have met before” Slowly, I saw my reflection was starting to dissipate into an inverted version of myself, in terms of the colors, etc.

“You… YOU! You were the one that told me to kill them in the past”

“Ah so you have finally figured it all out”

“What, what are you?”

“You don’t need to know that. Just know that I will be watching you, in every place you go and that you will release me, with a pinch of magic” After saying that the reflection opened its mouth and I heard a menacing laugh… in my head. I screamed out in pain and suddenly I fell to the floor.

“Leave me alone! You… you weird copy of myself!” As soon as I said that, the laughter was gone and I slowly got up. I looked at the mirrored stone and saw that my reflection was back to normal.

Who was that? Was that me? No, it couldn’t be. Was it a clone or an alternate version of myself? Questions piled on in my mind but I grasped all my thoughts and decided to pick and put together the pieces. He said that he would be with me in every single place and that magic would release him? Did he mean my magic or did he mean that other ponies would release him? But that wouldn’t be possible. No pony had ever known of this place apart from me and my… parents. Oh, my parents. I trotted over to the stone replica of my room and picked up a picture. Those pictures. It reminded me of those times where I would be happy with others and that love plus compassion was the driving force of my life. My parents and I were smiling in the picture. I remembered that event. We were outside a bakery; ready to get some cakes and treats. I still remembered when my dad had to look down at the treats and inadvertently hit his head on the glass. I and my mom laughed at him and quickly picked him up. Reflecting on the memory, I quickly started to cry. All those happy times. All gone and taken away from me. And now, I had to residue in a cave. And now recently, I had to ponder on what that weird reflection creature was. I remember saying only one sentence before putting the picture away: “I miss you” I suddenly got up and noticed something. The wall was glowing. Something was emitting a strange blue glow and I couldn’t see it anywhere. I discovered that it was on me, as every time I turned, the light would follow in my direction. Quickly, I ran to the mirrored stone and screamed. My eye. One of my eyes. It was… glowing .

Magic Eyes And Growing Up – It never done that. No pony ever had that ability. I backed away in shock. I blinked several times. Big mistake. As soon as I blinked 5 times, my whole eye disappeared into a black void. And then suddenly, a small pupil and iris, completely emitting a dark blue appeared. I then saw that some tears were forming below the blackness. All in the same color of the pupil and iris. What was happening to me? I quickly screamed out in anger and tried to get rid of this weird occurrence. Every failed attempt angered me even more. And then to my horror, my other eye was starting to glow too. A dark orangey color. This time, I blinked once and the same treatment happened to the other eye. The same black void appeared and a dark orangey pupil/iris appeared. Before long, both eyes were glowing in a dark orange and blue color, to the point where the light that was emitted made the wall of the cave light up in orange and blue. Immediately, I was against the wall of the cave, near my stone replica room. I quickly calmed down and soon enough, both the orange and blue of each eye soon disappeared. Leaving behind a black void that I didn’t enjoy at all (mainly due to the platform game). I blinked and my eyes returned to normal.

I checked them again at the mirrored stone and saw that everything was fine now. It felt like nothing ever happened for the last 2 minutes. My eyes were back to normal. Apart from one thing. One of the pupils was a blue color; the other was an orange color. I didn’t scream or even cry that time. Enough tears were wasted in this cave and my voice was completely gone from earlier. That wasn’t a natural occurrence, was it? It was my… magic?! Realizing it quickly, “a pinch of magic”. That was what it said didn’t it? With this happening, it was my magic. Of course, why else would it choose an inverted clone of myself? My magic, but my parents told me I didn’t have any. No pony ever told me that. But it is confirmed now. I have magic through my veins and my “bones”. Smiling, I jumped up and down, this was both a surprise and a fascinating thing to happen to me.

But as soon as I jumped up one time, I didn’t land on the floor. I saw I was hovering in the air. “What the- AHHH” An immediate white flash blurred my vision and I landed on the floor softly. I got up, groaning in pain and awe. “What happened?” I heard a much deeper but soft-toned voice in the cave as soon as I said that. I looked down and realized that I had gotten taller. Not just that but my coat was longer and the patterns of it had extended. “What... What! WHAT?!” Did I … Did I just grow up? I couldn’t believe it. It was surprising. It was unfathomable. It was… extraordinarily. I looked at the mirrored stone. I looked… fantastic. I felt fantastic. I laughed out in happiness. 4 surprises in one day. First a new coat and mane; then I saw and spoke to an inverted creature of myself; next the first signs of my magic appeared and now I have grown up. In anticipation, I looked around in the cave, seeing all of the interiors. I could… leave it. Couldn’t I? But a nagging part of me told me to stay. My magic was starting to appear: Yes. But, how would I use it? And more importantly, what types of magic would I have. I then saw what seemed to be a small lump on the top of my deep red mane. I shook my head and saw a horn – around 4cm in length – on top of my head. That must be where my magic would spawn. I remembered that book my mum read to me. All about magic and how the horn was one of the most important parts of a pony. Shame that I didn’t have it with me in the cave. But still, a flurry of excitement was starting to build through my veins, and soon enough I was jumping and running around due to the large swathe of energy that I just had. Not bad. There was so much I could do now. I could run faster, I could move more efficiently. I could…

“So, your magic finally showed up … and also well done on growing up as well” I turned around and saw the inverted reflection of myself again; the same height and patterns of what I looked now were on it.

“What are you doing here?”

“Heh heh, didn’t you notice it was your birthday today” It grinned at me with a large toothy smile.

“Leave me alone, you, you abomination of terror”

“What’s wrong? Are you too scared of me? Even when you are fully grown Hahaha”

“I’m warning you, go away and leave me alone!” one of my eyes started to glow an orange color which soon became a dark red after saying that sentence.

“Don’t try it… you are going to hurt yourself”

“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” My horn started to glow dark red, along with my eye. I then saw that a small flame was emitting from my eye as well.

“Do it, I dare you to” With a shriek of anger, I wished the stone would be cut in two; the splitting point being the ponies’ chest. I then saw a cleaver, made out of red magic appear to the side of me and it swung right into the stone, chopping it into two pieces. I then heard a laugh echo through the cave and I heard the words:

“Fool, do you think you can kill me? As I said, I will always be with you, no matter where you go or where you hide. You should have put the puzzle pieces together when I was given life. What I am, is what you should have been after these years of torture. I am what your negativity looks upon. I am your Fears. I am your instinct of greed, lust, Power, and anguish. As soon as you go back to ponyville, tell yourself this. Who will be the proper villain? You or Me? HAHAHAHAHA” With the laughter booming from the cave’s walls,

I said, “Leave me alone!” With that, I heard a sharp crack and a lightning rod flew out of my red-covered horn and struck the two pieces of the mirrored stone, crumbling it all to dust. Glancing at what was left of the stone, I fell to my knees, and suddenly I was submerged in darkness. Before I could say anything, it felt like I was falling until…

The Spike Pit: Groggily, I woke up. My head… It hurts. Groaning out in pain, I put a hoove on my head and tried to clear up my vision. Looking around, I saw that I was in the BloodPony platform game, and by the looks of things, this was a new place. I was on the ground but it was split into 2 pieces by a large pit. Looking down It, I immediately noticed the spikes of wood and metal at the very end of it. Looking behind me, I saw that the world seemly ended in a black void like the rest of the world was cut off. So the only things there were both the field parts and that pit in this new area. Rubbing, the back of my head disappointedly; I let out a sarcastic “Impressive”. This wasn’t the only place that was new to me. Apart from those 4 places that usually appeared in my dreams, I would rarely get the chance to explore other places. Mainly, they were like placeholders for my dreams when something had to be done in them, i.e. cleaning up a rebellion in the factory or cleaning up the place itself. I still had flashbacks to that last rebellion. Didn’t know that the pony who was in the head of the de-winging surgery would have a heart at all. Still, it left the factory in a very trashed state, so it took almost 3 weeks for me to return there. During that time, new places would replace the usual visit to the factory itself. But I am getting off the point. In short, I would see different types of weird creatures. One of them was completely made in candy or something like that. Idk. On the bright side, I was getting used to that weird stuff anyway. Continuing, after my sarcastic comment, I said the basic question: “What am I doing here?” I then heard a faint shimmer behind me and I turned around. A portal. Huh, guess I have to explain that as well. In short, it was a new adaptation of my dreams. Sometimes, a portal would open up in a particular place and it would lead to another place that I would have gone to the next night or a couple of days. Even when I decided to do it, the places I went to by going through the portal would still be the same; even after I went into the portal. So essentially, nothing would change in the new place if I went into the portal or not and this also included the original place as well. So if I was in the gore party place and a portal opened up to the factory then both places wouldn’t change at all if I went into it or not.

Another thing is that there would be a sign at the top of it which would show the place that the portal would lead to. Pretty obvious what it would be for the places I went to. The last thing to say about these portals was that they were completely optional. So if I didn’t go into it at all, it would disappear in a couple of seconds. Glancing more closely, I also noted that more portals were starting to appear. I then saw a ponies face appear at the portal nearest to me. It was Rainbow Dash. Her face seemed to be covered in bruises and cuts. I also noticed some fractures of bone but they were very minor. Apart from that, she looked just like she did before; down to the rainbow mane and rose-colored eyes. I took one look at the portal’s sign and it had a syringe with a rainbow as the solution. Ah, the rainbow factory. That answered my question on what version of her she was but it gave me others. What is she doing here? I made a confused look and sure enough, more of the creatures from my dreams appeared through the portals. I looked in shock as all of the demonic and psychopathic ponies emerged from the portals. As soon as all have arrived, the portals closed off, leaving the creatures from their places with me. I backed off until I realize I was one hoove away from falling into the pit of spikes. Realizing that I was stuck between a rock and a hard place,

I said “So, this is why I am here. Because all of you have made a different method of torturing me. Heh, spare me any surprises, I presume that you want me to FLY across the pit to get to the other side?” All of them looked at me with blank faces, apart from one of the pink pony – the one with the creepy smile on her face. I looked downwards, realizing that it would take a couple of seconds until the spikes would impale me. As soon as I turned around to say something, a voice appeared from the crowd. A voice that had confidence but would usually contain a harsh tone throughout the dream.

“We are not here to torture you.” I turned around and saw that the factory version of Rainbow Dash had moved a couple of paces away from the main crowd of ponies. I let out a small sigh and I said:

“Well, you aren’t really showing it at all. Say, I’m surprised you didn’t do it immediately so tell me this, if you aren’t going to do that, then tell me, why the hell are all of you here then?” She let out a sigh, and I started to see that some of the faces of the crowd were starting to frown or become nervous. She said

“We want to… to…” She let out a sigh and said one sentence that made my blood run cold. “We want to help you”.

The training: “Say that again!” I looked back at her and I saw that all of them had a concerned but scared look on their faces. She repeated the statement and I let out a laugh, purely out of my disbelief. I joked about what they said but it wasn’t until I saw that all of them were serious.

“This is a joke right… you’re not… you’re not just going to say that to put down any form of danger, right?” One by one, they all shook their heads. It was clear. They were serious about it. Immediately, my disbelief turned into anger, and said,

“If you are going to help me, then why did you put me here in a death-made scenario then?!” I could see the cogs turning in Rainbow Dash’s head, she was comprehending what she said and how it would affect me. I let out a shriek of anger and I was about to say that I would never trust anypony to help me, especially after the constant torture of every SINGLE night, until I was stopped by a cheery voice.

“We see what you have seen, and the truth is, the effects of what we did to you are clouding all of our thoughts but… To be honest we want to help you because all of us had noticed that your magic is starting to get out of hand and so have the years of being in the cave”. I saw that the gore party pony was the one who said that and I said:

“I’m fine. I don’t need all of you to fix what had happened recently, nor do you have to help me with my magic, it is normal. Lastly, how did you know what happened at all, as you weren’t even there?” The pink pony looked at me and said:

“We are all a part of your mind, everything you do, we see it. Y’know, because your dreams are based on what you see, etc. You could say we took it to new heights with the whole seeing everything thing Hehe.”

“Yeah, I know how dreams wor-”

“Patience you silly filly, anyway we couldn’t help but wonder if we can help you, with your magic problem as by the sounds and look of things, we all agree that your magic is starting to show its full potential. To that we all want to help you with it; that was what Dash meant when she said that we wanted to help you. “Lastly, that creature that you had seen, that isn’t from our worlds or yours. And we all feel like we may have created him by accident. Sorry I guess. But if your magic is more closed in or accurate it could not just help us but help you as well” She took a deep breath after her small speech and I followed up with the line:

“How do you know all this and more importantly, WHAT do you mean that the years of being in the cave are starting to get out of hand?” She said the first part of her miniature speech, this time it was summarised, and then she said something that made my heart skip a beat.

“You have been in that cave for 20 years” 20 YEARS! 20 years of this… this torture. I immediately went over to her, both in a shocked and angered mood, and I put both of my front hooves on her neck.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT IT HAS BEEN 2 DECADES ALREADY?!” She looked at me in horror and she let out a flurry of gasps. “Answer me… answer me… ANSWER ME!!!” I could tell that she was choking and in the end, I let go of her. She fell to the floor, trying to recover her breath, and I went near the pit. I yelled out in sheer pain and disbelief and fell to the ground; where (in so many years) I started to cry. I couldn’t stop crying. All of those years of torture and waiting came back to me. I could hear the sound of hooves moving across to where I was and I felt a hoove patting my back. I then heard the reassuring phrases that somepony would say when they see something hurt or saddened. All in different voices and tones. I got up and wept the tears from my face. I then said:

“You comforted me, even after what you did… You still did that? All of you?” They nodded their head. I then went past them to the pink pony and said:

“I’m sorry. It's just that it has been so long” She reassured me with a nod and I looked back at them; the demons of my dreams and I saw that the Rainbow Dash from earlier raised one hoove and she said:

“Do you want us to help you?” With a motion that would determine the fate of my dreams, I raised one of my hooves and shook hers.

The last thing I said before the training began was: “When do we start?”

The Changes: So many new features and changes. So many to count. I couldn’t describe the number of new things added to my arsenal, nor can I say about the changes in my view of the ponies in my dreams and the changes of the cave I residue in. Days after days, I would be learned something new from them, whether it was that I can teleport in other areas with a flash of red magic or that I could imagine different objects that would appear around me. However, the dream would usually fail to try to fly across the pit. It ended in impalement by the spikes but maybe one day, I would be able to fly. Yet, a couple of weeks later, all of us would celebrate my birthday. I guess this was the first party in years that wasn’t concentrated on my blood and organs and instead was centered on the fact that I was a fully grown pony. They said their wishes and they did even say happy birthday to me. You can probably guess how odd and completely terrible it was. In the end, I do believe I learned 80 different magical spells from them and learned a large pleather of objects that I could spawn in with my magic. One thing that I found brilliant, was that the magic spells I learned from them were implemented to me in reality as well. So I was able to use the magic that I learned from them in the cave and Equestria. After another couple of years, they said they wanted to see me use a new form of attack, where I would be able to use 2 or 3 different types of magic. The process was grueling but in the end, I was able to make different attacks out of my magic. I would then show them these attacks when they brought in a training dummy of a pony. Let’s just say, the stuffing was forced out of its body every time I used one of my attacks on it.

With the changes of my dreams done, I would then focus on the different changes of the cave. I had a theory that there must be a time-warping spell on the cave or something like that, to explain why I waited for seemingly 2 decades. I went near the entrances of the cave and saw that everything seemed to be normal. However, I picked up a rock and threw it into the opening of the cave and the rock hit the ground. I threw another rock in the cave on the other side of the entrance and this time, to my shock, the rock vanished. I walked into the entrance and I didn’t see it on the ground. Very, peculiar. No wonder there wasn’t any snow or different colored leaves. They would all vanish upon entering the cave. So, there were no clear signs that the seasons would have changed or that time was moving quickly. It has been like what, 10 years of being in this cave, and another 10 went by along with it. Hmmm, interesting. My horn lit up into red and I imagined that this magic spell of time would disappear. I then heard the sound of something dissipating and then the view of the world outside changed. It was no longer sunny. I then heard the sound of thunder and then it started to rain. Hearing the sound of the rain was like listening to a small lullaby, it quickly soothed my feelings down. I then heard a clap of thunder and I jumped up, out of this comforting state. I laughed a bit at how I let my senses down. But a question remained in my mind: Who put the spell on this cave? Was it my parents… or something else? I couldn’t understand it. Maybe my parents would want me to wait longer in this cave to then return here faster to pick me up from here. But I knew that wouldn’t be right. I knew that their journey wouldn’t last so long. But, could it? Hmmm. The only method to find out was to find them, which meant I had to go outside and go into ponyville. The main problem I discovered was that, how would anypony know me if I looked like this? More or less, know who I am at all, in terms of my personality or state? And what about my dreams? How would they know about what has happened in them and how would they react to it? I had to… wait a minute. Know? Know… my dreams? Luna. Of course, she was the one who was in control of every dream in Equestria, so wouldn’t she know I was here? The only reason she didn’t do anything was if she had forgotten me. Wouldn’t that mean Celestia would have forgotten me as well? No, that wasn’t right. How would they forget me? How would they…

My thoughts stopped when I heard the sound of something humming, both loudly and quietly. I looked to my left and saw one of the boxes, glimmering faintly. Oh god no. It was my only source of survival. Technically, it provided me with food or drinks throughout the day. It wasn’t anything massive but it would use magic to “borrow” food from others for me to eat and drink. Thinking about the past, I remember that my dad said it was relatively silent upon borrowing the food so no pony would find out what had happened. I also remembered that I gave him the idea to make it so I could pull pranks on the nearby houses and neighbors. My dad told me that it would only work if the pony who used it had a firm connection to what type of food and drink with his magic. For example, if he decided to have an apple, an apple would appear in the box with the magic applied by the pony and the box itself. Very clever but also very magic-centered. After all those years, the box was starting to lose its magic. Glancing at the food and drinks provided, it wasn’t going to be enough. I knew that the only way to get more food or drinks was to head into ponyville and get it there, by myself. Knowing that was the only outcome, I groaned out in annoyance. How on Equestria would I be able to get to ponyville without anypony noticing me at all? I then had an idea. I could make a suit. A completely darkened suit that would cover my whole body to block my coat and mane from showing. I would then have small eye holes and two flaps on both sides for my wings, where the stubs would be. It was a perfect plan. An exquisite plan, with one problem. How would I make the suit if I had no fabric or material? An idea flashed in my mind, those ponies and creatures in my dreams. They could help me and what is better was that I could then make the suit and it would appear in the cave, I think? To be honest, I wasn’t sure but it could work. Whelp, the only way to know was to try it out. I went to the entrance and saw the grey clouds were starting to turn into a darkish black color. Perfect. With the rain hammering on the roof of the cave, I went to the stone bed and put my head on the pillow. This was certainly going to be a very interesting experience.

The Suit: Waking up by the sound of voices, I glanced around and saw several creatures around me. They all had pens and notepads, ready to start the training. I immediately disapproved of it by saying: “I want to make something today which doesn’t involve any form of training”. Upon saying that, they let go of their pens and notepads and I told them the deal.

“I am running out of any sources of food or drinks in the real Equestria and the only way to get more is by going into ponyville and essentially steal any source of food from there. However, I want to make a type of suit that blends in with the darkness or something like that so I don’t draw attention to myself from others. Can you help me with it?” They looked at each other and they then huddled together in a circle. After a couple of minutes, they deformed their circle and came back to me. All of them nodded their heads. A portal opened up behind me and I saw them pointing at it. Going into the portal, I saw that I was in a surgery-looking room. I heard somepony behind me and saw that it was Rainbow Dash. She said:

“So, you want us to make you a suit because you’re too scared to go out there with your natural coat” She makes an insolent smirk, and then she said: “Alright I see that you are serious with this. Let’s just get this started then” I then saw many different types of rulers and measuring tools, laid out around the surgery table. I ushered enough courage to lay on top of the smooth metal surface and then noticed some other ponies arrive, seemingly out of the darkness. They grabbed the tools and immediately started to measure every part of me. Even my so-called wings were measured by an estimated chalk outline on the surface of the table. After a couple of minutes, they put all of their measurements on a notepad and gave them to Rainbow Dash. “Please stay here while we do your suit,” she said to me as I was about to get off the table. I looked at the 3 po- no 4 ponies around me. One of them said something to another pony and I immediately turned around and looked at him. His coat was completely blue and his mane was all yellow. The pony he spoke to had a coat of light grey/green – similar to the color of clay - and had both a dark green and yellow mane. I then said:

“What was that?” He looked at me, surprised that I heard what he said but then followed up with:

“I said: what is the point of us being here? Oh, I know. Helping you of all things. We could do a lot of things in our spare time but NO, we have to help you instead of being in the factory.” I could tell that he seemed fanatic about the rainbow factory and I said:

“I guess you don’t have a soul then.” Before he could say anything about my remark, Rainbow Dash appeared and said: “It’s ready.”

I got up from the table and looked at the 4 ponies. All of them looked like they had some form of events in the factory. I then said “goodbye” and left to walk with Rainbow Dash. Walking along to the new tailored suit, I said a simple question to her:

“Who are those 4 then?”

She replied with: “Our oldest recruits in the factory. They seem to find it more amusing on coming up with events in the factory and make the factory an ideal place with their creativity.”

“So it is like using your factory as a basis of a joke or something?”

“Yeah, something like that” I could tell that they looked more energetic than the others present in the factory but at the same time, I could sense some idleness from all 4 of them, like they were brainstorming new ideas. Soon enough, both of us approached a door that Rainbow Dash opened with her hooves. The room was quite small and empty but the main centerpiece was a pillar, with spotlights at the bottom. On top of it, stood a near-like replica of myself where the only difference was the wings on both sides of the suit. Rainbow Dash flew up and picked up it. Gently, she put it to the ground. Before she said anything, I went over to the suit and tried it on. It fitted like a glove. “Pretty good fit. I can hear and see properly as well. All of you have done a pretty good job on it.” I took the suit off and started to fold it on one of my hooves. At that point, I steadily stood up on my back hooves and said:

“I guess I have to use my magic to make it appear in my reality then?” She nodded and before long my horn and my eyes lit up. Both eyes were tainted in orange and blue, and before long the suit was starting to glow. After a couple of seconds, the suit disappeared and I fell to my knees. I got up dizzily and then said: “It’s done” A portal then appeared over her and I looked up at the sign. The sign showed a pit full of spikes.

“I guess I better get going now”

Rainbow Dash replied with “Good luck” and before long I went through the portal and started to fall into the pit. As soon as I was about to be impaled, I woke up and landed with a thud on the floor. Ow. Focusing my bearings, I saw what seemed to be the suit on the ground in front of me. I grinned. It worked. I put the suit on top of the stone bed and immediately went to the entrance of the cave. The sun was shining outside. Brilliant. I had to wait for a whole day until it was nighttime to do the first test run of my suit. I let out a grunt of frustration and I went over to the replica of my room. There I started to sort out the papers plus the bits and bobs of the stone replica. The last thing I found struck me. It was the letter… the one with my old name on it. Reminiscing on what had happened to me because of that letter, I was about to disintegrate it with my magic until I realized something. All of this wouldn’t happen without it. All of the discoveries of my magic, my fears, my new look. All of it wouldn’t happen if it wasn’t there. I took a pen from the pile of bits n bobs and I crossed out the old name. Then I wrote my name above it. It was only one word: Bones. I put the letter away and started to ponder on what I should do with the trash. I then decided to place all of the belongings I didn’t need anymore and started to ignite my horn. I then fired a small spark of lightning at the small collection and it immediately started to catch fire. Coughing through the smoke, the fire shortly started to go out. In its place was a black mark on the ground and the smell of burnt paper. So long, old memories, I shed a tear and I went to the still shimmering box of food and drinks. There I took out a bottle of water and a chocolate muffin. After eating and drinking the two, I put the bottle on the floor to see if the box did anything. I heard a glimmer and the bottle started to levitate but then it fell and the box’s magic completely disappeared in a sound of steam. Huh, I guess this is another thing to get rid of.

I moved the box to the black mark on the ground and moved it to the center. There I ignited it with my magic. I could smell the sweet aromas of burnt chocolate and cinnamon emitting from it. I heard a couple of pops and the box started to contract on itself. It shrank and shrank until I saw none of it at all. With a miniature pop, it was gone forever. My only source of food and drinks. Gone. Well not really gone but it did fill me with annoyance. I looked outside and saw the sun beginning to dip beneath the trees. Soon enough it would be nighttime. Whelp if that was going to happen, then it was time for me to start heading to ponyville. Although I do wonder if anything had changed. I picked my suit off the bed, put it on, and immediately started to walk out of the cave. I heard the lake and the birds chirping in the forest. I took one last glance at the cave; the place that I stayed in for 2 decades and I then started to head off. To a place that I knew would change, ever since I left it. A place I knew as home. A place called ponyville.

The Raid: It was quite a long walk to the center of ponyville. I couldn’t believe it, after all those years, I was heading back to my hometown. Reminiscing on the times I spent there, a smile formed over my face. Of course, everypony would be asleep but I’ll be in a place I knew for so long. One thought was dragging me back though. I remembered what the inverted version of myself said. That one of us would be a villain upon arrival in ponyville. Maybe he thought that being a thief would count as being villainous. Still, I did remember that theft was a major crime in Equestria and that it would be punished by exile. A shiver ran down my flank. Exile. What a horrible punishment for anypony. I remembered that if you were exiled, you will never be seen again by anypony you knew. With a steady breath, I walked on through the forest. It was alright. I wasn’t going to be exiled. I think. I heard the sound of leaves under my hooves and it brought me back to a distant memory. Of myself, playing with the leaves in the garden when the autumn season arrived. I heard the sound of my mum laughing and the sweet smell of cinnamon and honey. That memory was suddenly gone when I heard a large CRACK. Shaking myself out of the reflective memories, I looked around. That sounded like something was nearby. Something or somepony. Looking around, I saw nothing at all. No pony. No creature. It was like the forest was replaced by silence when the large sound happened. It was starting to creep me out and I suddenly started to run. I ran for as long as possible until my hunger got the better of me and I slowed down. Damn it. I should have eaten and drink more before this journey. Why was I so careless?

Shaking off my idiocy, I noticed what seemed to be a large castle in the distance, near the Cliffside. I was nearly approaching ponyville. Steadily, I caught my breath and started to head in the direction of the castle. Looking back, it looked like nothing chased me at all. I guess I was overreacting then. Easy. Easy does it. After a couple of minutes, I started to see that the forest ended and then I saw the town itself. My… god. It was massive compared to the last time I was there. Everything was bigger and better. I could even see some train stations and tracks that ran throughout the town itself. Glorious. Just glorious. I was lost in the glamour of the expanded town until I realized why I was here. I looked around, from where I was standing, and what seemed to be a bakery. That was where I needed to go. Carefully, I trotted down to the outskirts of the town and went in. Going through the town was easier than anything I’ve endured. I guess because everypony was asleep, I wasn’t going to draw attention to myself at all. It took a couple of minutes to reach the bakery itself. Impressive. I looked at the sign hanging above the ground; it had a cupcake on it. Huh, brings back memories. I also noticed the name of the bakery: SugarCube Corner. I got to the side window of the bakery and opened the lock with my magic. I heard a little click and then peeked inside. The place was relatively empty but I could see the delicate treats in their containers. Carefully, I put my hooves on the floor, dodging the tables and chairs, and went over to the containers. I noticed a basket, full of muffins and cakes, and picked it up. I then unlocked the cases and started to fill up the baskets with treats. After I was done, I locked the cases again and moved to the window. The basket was in my mouth and I could smell the aromas emitting from the cakes. I heard my stomach rumble and I immediately put my hoove over it. Quiet. Quiet, Bones. You don’t want anypony finding out that you are here. After I was out, I locked the window again and went to the side of a house. My heart was beating and my mouth was starting to dribble. I got a cupcake with green Icing on it and started to eat it. Oh, the taste. I couldn’t describe it but I can only say that I missed out on so much good and devious food.

After I was done, I rolled up the disposable fabric into a ball and gently put it into the basket, dodging the cakes inside and headed along. After a while, I noticed what seemed to be a post office. Investigating further, I saw what seemed to be a brown bag, large and light enough for me to carry. I opened the door with my magic, took the bag, went back outside again, and locked the door (again). I put it over my side; the brown colors of it shimmering against the darkness of my suit. Hmmm, the colors could give me away. With a bit of my magic, the bag slowly started to disappear. Though it was deemed gone, I could feel it against my side. Moving onwards, I saw what seemed to be a pub. Good. The place would have plenty of drinks inside. Opening the lock of the door, I was about to go inside when I noticed the theft alarm. Ah, so the workers and owners here were smarter than the ones in that bakery. With a bit of magic, I disabled all of the alarms and security and proceeded in. Glancing at the different tables and chairs, I noticed a bar that contained different beers and wines. Slowly, I picked around 5 of these bottles and placed them into the mailing bag. Moving further along, I went into the kitchen and opened the fridges and freezers. I picked up a couple of apple and orange cartons until I was sure that was enough. Hang on, how would I drink from these bottles/cartons or open the bottles themselves? Well, I said I learned a lot of things to make out of my magic earlier, didn’t I? After I locked up the door and activated the security with my magic, I went to the outskirts of town and headed back to the forest.

Looking at all of what had changed, I shed a tear and continued. With the basket in my mouth and the mailing bag, filled with drinks, I headed back towards the cave. By the time I arrived there again, I was too tired to process anything and immediately went to my bed and slept. No dreams this time. It was just a large rest for the amount of energy I wasted on the raid. As soon as I woke up, I got a carton of apple juice and poured it into a cup that was completely made out of my magic. The taste was exceptional. I then picked up a lemon-flavored muffin and devoured it in a couple of chomps. I was filled up on energy and before long, I placed the basket and mailing bag to the side of my bed. It wouldn’t be long until I headed back there, where it was mainly due to how long the cakes would last in here, but for now, at least the first raid I took was a success. While I was gloating on my success and putting the cartons/bottles out of the bag, I had one thought on what the reactions of those ponies would be. Perhaps, they would think that the food and drinks there would already be taken during the work hours or if they had to be rearranged for obvious reasons. Either way, I was certain that they wouldn’t know my presence at all. But alas, a couple of months of successful raids and training later, something both wonderful and terrible happened. Something that would change my life forever. Something that started with a couple of voices and a dumb dare.

The Visitor: 3 months after the first raid, something very strange happened. I say strange but it was more of a major event in my life. After being stuck in the cave for years, I would finally see some actual ponies who weren’t in my dreams at all. I remembered it so well. A couple of hours after a food raid, I was playing around and sorting out some papers that I still had. It wasn’t until I heard voices from outside the entrance that I figuratively stopped. At first, I thought that it was in my head, I mean who else would be dumb enough to wander so far from ponyville to this place? But soon, I discovered that there were actual ponies outside of the cave. I quickly put down everything without making a noise and carefully peeked around the corner. I remember seeing 3 fillies and 2 fully grown ponies at the entrance. To my surprise, one of them was Rainbow Dash. Huh, her confident voice had no sinister tone added to it, and by the sound of things, it seemed that she was talking to one of the fillies. One of them also grabbed my attention, and an orange-coated filly with a purple mane and tail was near Rainbow Dash. I heard that its name was Scootaloo or something like that, mainly due to the events I heard of from the factory workers. I heard that she met a grisly fate by Rainbow Dash’s hooves as she forced her into the Pegasus device. Heh, I am surprised that she seemed to have a close relationship with each other. Even now, I wondered if they… No, this is the REAL Rainbow Dash. She doesn’t seem to know anything about the factory, nor did Scootaloo by the look of things. I guess it was an alternate reality or something. I am surprised I didn’t theorize that earlier or something.

Anyway, they were talking to another filly, this time with a white coat and a purple/light pink mane and tail. The other fully grown pony seemed to have a quite close connection to each other, just like Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. Hmmm, I didn’t know her name at all, plus she was a corpse or a non-present pony in most of my dreams anyway. I knew that it began with an R so at least there was some form of progress. I couldn’t see the last filly as I presumed she was playing or waiting outside. Despite this, I could hear her comments now and then. After listening in on the conversation, they seemed to be daring the purple and pink maned filly to stay a whole day in the cave until they came back to pick her up. Surprisingly, she seemed to agree with this dare and she even looked determined. I could see that both I and the rest of the ponies present showed cheekiness to that claim. Subtle. After a while, the other ponies flew or ran off and I was alone with the white-coated filly. I could tell that her bravery was starting to dissipate as she took one look at the cave. I could tell that her eyes were adjusting to the darkness, similar to what I did many years ago. By the time it took for me to adjust to the darkness, I saw her sit down on the stone floor and begin whimpering. I can tell her fears were starting to have a grip on her. I was about to go and comfort her but a part of me was thinking about what she would do. I put myself into her hooves, she would have of thought as me as nothing but a homeless creepy pony. What was worse is that she could tell anypony about who or what I was. Hmmm, but on the other hand, it was an opportunity to interact and become a part of the town again. Steadily, I released a deep breath and silently walked towards her. I can see that she was shaking from the sheer cold of the cave and that I could hear her little cries as I approached closer. As soon as I was about 3 hooves away from her, I said: “Hello. Are you alright?” Immediately, she got up off the floor and looked directly to where that voice came from. As soon as she saw me, she let out a silent gasp of shock and backed off to the wall. I could hear her pleas of mercy and the sounds of fear overwhelming her. I instantly felt bad for the filly. I didn’t think I was that scary, was I? I took another hoove towards her and I saw the panic in her eyes.

I immediately said: “I am not going to hurt you. I just want to know a couple of things and be… friends with you, alright?” She started to calm down, intrigued by the opportunity of having a new friend and she moved forward towards me.

I looked at her and I said: “there, no need to worry about anything. Oh yeah, that reminds me, my name is bones. Mr. Bones. Or bones for short, as that is what I prefer to be called all the time. And you are…”

She opened her mouth and uttered two words: “Sweetie Belle.”

“Sweetie Belle hey, what a nice name for a new visitor. Anyway, what are you doing in here?” I knew the answer but she muttered exactly what I wanted to hear anyway:

“The other crusaders wanted me to spend the night here to prove myself as a leader for our team”

“Did they now? Speaking of which, how did they discover this place anyway.”

“Rainbow Dash discovered the place while she was speeding along Equestria, so she told me and the other crusaders about it. We didn’t know what to do but I said that I would spend a whole day proving my courage. AppleBloom and Scootaloo agreed on that idea and soon enough, it leads to now.”

“And it all brings us back to me meeting you then huh” She nodded her head but then she replied with:

“How did you get here and why do you look like that? No offense”

I said “none taken” and then went on about my past and the changes of what I looked like. I didn’t say anything about my dreams or the inverted version of myself. Largely because I didn’t want to scare her anymore.

She was bewildered by what I said but she then said: “will your parents return one day?” I looked at her with sadness and then I answered with:

“I hope so. Now enough with the talking, I presume you are pretty hungry, why don’t I get some food and drinks for us both to have?” I wondered other to the mailbag and the basket of newly raided treats and went over to her.

She looked surprised and said: “where did you get these from?” I replied with a lie and told her that I bought them. Before long, we were snacking on the treats. As soon as I took the cartons out of the bag, she said:

“How are we going to drink if we don’t have any cups” My horn lit up red and suddenly two magic-made cups appeared in front of me and her. She looked in amazement and before long, we were drinking the fine taste of apple and orange juice. After that, I took the rubbish into a pile and started to ignite it with my magic. All of it burned immediately, and we then sat down. She got near me and rubbed her head against my flank. She took one look at my tiny stubs and I said:

“I’ll have them eventually.” She then looked at where my cutie mark would be and she gasped.

She said: “you don’t have a cutie mark!?”

“No, I don’t. I think it doesn’t matter if I had one or what type of mark I’d get anyway.” She looked at me and then said:

“The Mane 6 needs to hear about this then. I have never seen anypony who has fully grown up with no cutie mark at all!” She was panicking around, muttering different phrases. I put a hoove on top of her head and said:

“Calm down, it isn’t a big deal” She argued with that statement and rambled on.

I then said: “Enough! Why don’t you tell me what has happened in exchange for the knowledge that I don’t have a cutie mark at all” She nodded and she talked about everything that had happened. And oh, all of those stories. They sounded so wonderful and magnificent. In the end, I understood what happened after discord’s defeat by Queen Celestia and Princess Luna. After a long while, I could tell that she was exhausted. She yawned massively and I picked her up with two of my hooves and headed towards my bed.

I rubbed her head and then said: “Poor butterfly. You lost all your energy for the day. Why don’t you rest and you can tell me more tomorrow. How does that sound?” She nodded her head and buried it into the pillow. I could hear the sound of her sleeping and I knelt my head at the bottom of the bed. Before long, I too fell asleep. The only thing I hated was the cold. God, I should’ve been used to this by now. It was a couple of hours later where I woke up to the sound of screaming. I got up and saw that Sweetie Belle was moving around in pain and she was screaming. Dumbly, enough I put a hoove on her head, and then I started to blackout. I fell on my own two hooves and before long, I was transported to her dream. A dream that I had plentiful of times before; but was new to her now.

The Fury and The Wings: I could tell it was the gore party dream, down to the particular stone floor and the sound of laughter. I wasn’t chained to the concrete slab so at least I didn’t have to worry about being unable to move. I then noticed a small filly was tied up to a part of the wall and I saw the pink pony bring out the tray. That small filly was Sweetie Belle and the pink pony was called Pinkie Pie, thanks to Sweetie Belle. It was weird that I never knew her name; I guess I didn’t hear that at all. As soon as pinkie got one of the scalpels, I trotted over to them and said: “So, what the hell are you doing?” Both Sweetie Belle and Pinkie Pie looked surprised and turned in my general direction. I could see a look of wonder and shock on Sweetie Belle’s face but a look of hatred on Pinkie’s face.

“Aren’t you suppose to help me in any way, and not torture the first actual pony I have met in years!?” Pinkie let out a laugh of complete insanity and said:

“Did you think all of us would agree to that promise? Also thanks for choking me and all back there, I appreciated the fact I had to have the taste of my blood in my mouth. We saw her presence here and I thought of it as the perfect way to mock you, as I did so long ago!” Her face slowly contorted into a hateful look and she then took another tool from the tray.

“What about the time I apologized or hell, even the time when you taught me how to-” My sentence was cut off as she flung the tool directly at me and I felt a searing pain under one of my eyes. I heard an all too familiar sound of dripping and I looked down. A cleaver. She threw a cleaver at my face. That heartless psychopathic demon. I grasped the handle that I could barely see and I felt a horrible pain emit from under my eye. I tried to pull it out until I heard another thud. I looked down and saw a steel knife, protruding from my chest. I suddenly started to feel dizzy and before long I fell over. I heard Pinkie’s laughter and Sweetie Belle’s pleas of mercy and help before blacking out. I then heard the sound of Sweetie Belle’s screams when I regained my vision and I got up. She was starting to cut away her cutie mark. That pink-colored creature. I looked down at the knife in my chest and grasped a hoove over the handle. In pure anger, I tore the knife out of my chest. Blood gouged out and soon it suddenly started to drip faster from the opening made by the blade. I then put my hoove over the cleaver and pulled it out, ignoring the almost unbearable pain in my face. I could hear some small snaps and then I felt my hoove give way. With both metallic objects out, my horn started to glow and my eyes started to emit a red color. In the place where my eyes used to be was a complete red pupil and iris, emitting a red flame. I could hear the sound of dripping below me and the feeling of blood dripping down my chin. I grabbed the bloodied cleaver with one of my hooves and I threw it at Pinkie Pie.

I heard a scream and she flew across the floor and into the wall. Sweetie Belle steadily moved her head to me and she looked in disbelief. Around me, several more cleavers and knives appeared on all sides of me.

I then said in a growl: “20 years. IT HAD BEEN 20 YEARS SINCE I SAW ANYPONY APART FROM YOU AND THE OTHER DEMONS THAT HAUNTED MY DREAMS. AND YOU DARE TRY TO TORTURE THE FIRST ACTUAL PONY I MET!!!! YOU… YOU… I WILL HAVE SO MUCH FUN TEARING YOUR ORGANS OUT OF YOUR OWN BODY!!!!” Immediately, both the cleavers and knives formed out of my magic appeared around Pinkie Pie. Without warning, they cut into her coat and I heard her screams. I endured every single one of them with a sharp smile. I went to approach her, but as soon as I was a couple of hooves away from Sweetie Belle, I used my magic to tear the straps on her hooves and she fell to the floor. She looked at me in fear but I continued approaching Pinkie Pie. I can’t imagine what I did to her. Nor can I stop thinking about the screams from both Sweetie Belle and Pinkie Pie as I tore her body into pieces. What was worse was that at some point, a portal appeared and I incidentally threw Pinkie Pie into it. I grabbed Sweetie Belle by the hoove and we went in. I let go of her and immediately started to approach Pinkie Pie again. But I saw that she had collided with another Pinkie Pie. That Pinkie Pie had a permanent smile on her face. Out of complete anger, I let out a shriek of pure hatred towards both versions of Pinkie Pie and I started to torture both of them. What else can I say? In the end, what remained of both ponies was blood and two torsos.

I then used my magic to spawn in 2 buzz saws and immediately, they started to move towards their faces. I could see one of them attempting to get away while the other stood still. As soon as it was about to cut them into two, I heard a loud: “STOP!” I turned around and saw Sweetie Belle run into me. I could hear her pleading and it started to calm me down. The flame on both eyes started to disappear and my magic started to subside. I got up and looked in horror at what I have done.

I repeatedly said: “I’m sorry” while putting my head in my hooves. Sweetie Belle looked at me and hugged me.

She then said: “It’s alright. It’s okay. I… forgive you” Feeling a hint of remorse from her, I got up and looked at her. I removed the tears from my eyes and at that point, they returned to the casual blue and orange. I looked at the other members of the mane 6 and the bodies of Pinkie Pie.

I then said: “Let’s go” She nodded and suddenly a portal in front of us. It had a spike pit on the sign and we went into it. I then heard several portals open and close behind me and I heard a gasp of shock from Sweetie Belle. I turned around and saw all of the creatures from my dreams… apart from two of them. They looked at Sweetie Belle and they looked at me. One of them approached us and I saw that it was one of the blood ponies from the platform game. It opened its mouth and I started to hear words in my head.

It said: “Very impressive. We have never seen you act like this before. I guess we have to be more careful with your guests. We have seen that you care about her so much, so why don’t we see if it changes anything at all” I saw a smirk appear on her face.

I began to say: “DON’T YOU DA!-” until I heard a yell of surprise from Sweetie Belle. I saw that the Rainbow Dash from the factory had her in her hooves and she was above the pit. Without warning, she dropped her in.

I yelled out in frustration and shock; “NO!!!” I jumped and caught her in the air. I could hear her cries and her heartbeat. I knew that our deaths would happen in a couple of seconds. I could feel a heavyweight on my heart, realizing that I would die alongside her but suddenly it turned into anger. No. I won’t die because of them again. And I won’t let them torture Sweetie Belle any longer. Without warning, I heard two large cracks on both sides of my coat, and then without any further warning, we were hovering mere centimeters away from the spikes. I looked at both sides of my coat and saw two wings on either side of me. My god. They had the same pattern of my coat and before long, I flew out of the pit, with Sweetie Belle in my hooves. I flew to the other side and landed there. I heard a collective gasp from the crowd on the other side of the pit but then it suddenly turned into applause. I then saw another portal appear which said exit on the sign and I went in. I could feel a tingly feeling over me and I dropped Sweetie Belle on the ground. But then, I felt like my soul was leaving my body and soon enough I woke up. Well, both of us woke up.

She groggily got up from the bed and she looked at me in horror but it was quickly overtaken in astonishment.

“Your wings!”

“What… Oh my… god!” The same wings from my dreams were on either side of me. I couldn’t believe it. I had my wings. I HAD MY WINGS! I screamed out in happiness and started to fly over the cave. I looked at her in happiness and said:

“You are very small down there. I can’t believe it, I just can’t believe it” I landed on the floor and jumped around in pure excitement. After a while, I calmed down and both me and sweetie belle sat down. She then wanted to know the truth about what those places were. I hold back my happiness for a moment and told her. About everything in my dreams. Her awe and horror then turned to sorrow and before long she holds one of my hooves and told me that it was alright. I then reminisced on the fact that she was the main reason why I had my wings and the reason for discovering what type of tactics I would use in battle. I thanked her for being with me and calming me down back there.

After doing so, I remembered what the inverted version of myself said. My magic was extraordinary, yes but it was also dangerous. It took a full minute for both versions of Pinkie Pie to fall defeated to the floor in their blood. I would have to be warier about what I did next time. After a couple of minutes, I heard voices from outside and I whispered to her: “Your friends are here”. She got up and nodded in agreement. Before she went, I whispered to her: “Don’t tell anypony I’m here. I don’t want any more company, for now at least. If you ever return, can you bring your friends or somepony scientific to help me with these new changes? Thank you. Oh, you have to go now. Bye.” With that noted down in her mind, she trotted off to the entrance and I heard the snarky remarks from the others I saw from the other days. Before long, they wandered off with Sweetie Belle and before long, I was alone again in the darkness. I went to the side of the cave and noticed the 4 pieces of paper on the wall. At this point, they were all covered in soot and grime so it looked like it was a part of the wall. Trotting over the remains of the mirrored stone, I picked all 4 of them and started to burn them with my magic. I then went over to the stone replica of my room and tidied up all of the messes from yesterday. I then saw a book on the floor and after blowing the dirt off it, I realized it was a journal. Hmmm. I could keep a record of what had happened recently. I mean maybe some when anypony would want to know what has happened to me. I opened the journal on the first page and wrote the following phrase: I was never a fan of the dark.

Act 2 End