Petals in the Wind

Going back to Ponyville was a strange feeling. Petal himself didn’t live near the town, but it was where Hatter lived. His heart was racing. How exactly did he go about fighting him?

Did he just walk up to them and then beat them? That seemed bad. Petal wasn’t a violent person, but Hatter had done a lot of bad things and had to be held accountable for them.

Petal wasn’t intending to kill him. He was going to beat him up and bring him into the local guard outpost. The damn guards were so corrupt that they’d never catch Hatter if he just called it in.

Necrosis had given him a bundle of food and a map through the Everfree forest, along with a lantern. The area around Necrosis’ home was incredibly light, but deeper into the forest it got dark.

He didn’t fully remember what he had been doing travelling with Hatter, but it had likely been at least partly illegal. He was no saint, but he had never killed anybody.

Making it out of the forest was uneventful, the smell of foliage was thick in the air and the pittering patter of rain against the leaves above told him that once he made it out of this forest, it was going to be unpleasant weather.

The ground beneath his hooves was soggy. The air was cold, and the burlap saddle bags with a rope strap between them were digging into his back.

He loved every second of it. Just a few weeks ago he had been dead, lying by the roadside. And now here he was, living once again.

It was frankly a miracle. He wanted to take a few moments to appreciate that, considering there was a very real chance that he could die once more in just a few hours.

His lantern clinked softly against his side. Just up ahead, he could see the exit to the forest. His heart was racing, but he pushed forward and stepped out of the forest.

The sunlight was bright, at least compared to what the light in the forest was like, dazing him for a few moments and forcing him to squint in an attempt to let his eyes adjust.

Fear was a natural response to what he was about to do. The rain was coming down hard in thick fat droplets that hammered against his flesh. He wasn't a killer, but he was about to face off against one.

His body was still covered in bandages and plasters from the final lesson he had undertaken and failed, but the wounds hadn't been all that bad and had mostly healed up. The rain still lashed against them like the tips of a cat-o-nine-tails whip however.

He would be glad to put this grim state of affairs behind him. His hooves dug into the moist earth as he tried to remember where the hut of his would be killer was.

But it wouldn't be all that difficult to find. He was on the right side of the Everfree forest and if he kept wandering in something close to the right direction he would end up finding his way.

The rain didn't make the task any easier and he was certain that once this was over he was going to get sick. Petal himself had been through a lot in his life, when your special talent was music and life didn't cut you a break, it was a hell of a way to live. He didn't even remember the last time he had touched an instrument.

But that adversity had given him a lot of grit in his gut. The kind of grit he called upon now to keep himself moving and drive away the fear. The jeering laughs, the hunger, being driven to crime... Hatter had been through the same and worse. The stallion was suffering from a prion infection that had twisted his mind. He had been forced to send his own daughter away.

This was no time for doubt. This was no time to go overthinking things. He had attempted to murder him, and in the past he had killed other ponies as well. Petal had always felt disgusted for working with him, but he had been too scared to do anything about it.

That had been before he had died however. Or, mostly died. Now that he had already faced the grim reaper once, he found himself filled with a new, nearly unbreakable brand of resolve. He was going to do this, and then with the reward for bringing Hatter in he was going to follow through on his dreams and finally make something respectable of himself.

Water dripped down into his eyes, off in the distance there was a small tin hut with no markers of any kind, bolted together with rivets and likely still insulated with old news papers.

This was it. He took a moment to unwrap the iron gauntlets from his saddlebag and pulled them on over his hooves. The weight was comforting and they made a nice sound as the rain fell against them. Hopefully they would. Be enough to drive the stallion to surrender.

He made it next to the hut without issue, the rain reducing the sound of his approach to a whisper. In this weather Hatter would be inside for sure. He liked the rain, but in a storm like this he'd be settled in by the fire. So, how did he go about entering the hut?

He could take the door right off the hinges if he so wished, it wouldn't take more then a swift hind kick to send it flying and buckle the hinges or he could knock, but Hatter would get his weapon ready for sure, getting visitors in this weather. There was also the third option of sneaking in, but getting the drop on a unicorn like Hatter was nearly impossible under normal circumstances, wearing iron gauntlets that chance may well have been zero.

It seemed that fate had decided to take any choice out of it, as Petal found herself faxed with a gray unicorn stallion who had been out to the wood storage shed just within the boundaries of the Everfree, a few logs bundled in a sack tossed over his shoulder.

He was just as terrifying as Petal remembered, a battered black top hat that looked like it had been stolen from out of deep storage framing a pitch black mane. His emerald green eyes were a picture of shock, yet still gleamed with a terrible mix of intelligence and insanity.

A thickly padded red trench coat made out of red felt hugged tightly around his gray form and completed his terrifying visage. Beneath that padding the stallion was frail, his digestive system just as warped as his mind, yet that weakened state had only made him more ruthless and dangerous then before.

He was a stallion who didn't fear anything. The clock had already run out for him years ago, but the borrowed time kept on coming. Hatter had already accepted his fate, and was driven by a bitter hatred to drag as many of those that had wronged him down with him to the grave.

It didn't take long for him to brush the shock of this impossible situation off either, his horn glowing a sickly shade of green as he drew a wood handled straight razor, unfolding it in one swift motion in the short time it took the sack of logs to fall to the ground. It might have seemed like a strange weapon, but it wasn't one to be underestimated either, the cruel enchantments on the blade made wounds from it bleed heavily and heal slowly, something he had discovered when he had startled the stallion while he was shaving.

There weren't any words exchanged, questions asked or even signs of acknowledgement. They both knew that they were here to fight and that was all that mattered.

Hatter made the first move, the shimmering steel of his razor cleaving through the rain with the same ease it cleaved through flesh.

The sickly green glow that held it allowed him to move it from a distance, meaning that blocking it would be hard, although shattering the blade would end this fight quickly, but for now he stopped back.

Hatter was a unicorn. If Petal wanted to win he needed to get in close, that sickly frame wouldn't stand a chance against the strength of an earth pony.

His hooves found grip against the sodden ground as he lunged forward, aiming to close the gap quickly, charging through the rain like a possessed steam train. He got in range for a blow, and then the unicorn tipped himself over backwards. It might have seemed stupid, but he formed his body into an upside down U and then followed through in an incredibly acrobatic and flamboyant backflip.

His razor danced around of its own accord as if a separate entity from the stallion himself, diving in to attack him and then twirling away before he got chance to hit it.

This was how Hatter killed his victims, either getting the drop on them and cutting their throats before they had chance to react or toying with them like a cat would toy with a mouse.

Petal wasn't scared of him anymore. The damage that razor could do was an annoyance at best provided it didn't hit him in the neck or his leg tendons. Just like the hunky barbarian had taught him, he didn't need to overcomplicate things. Sometimes that was exactly what your enemy wanted.

Hatter seemed surprised when he simply ran through the first razor blow, cartwheeling and dancing about with the rain swirling around him as he carved through it. Even with all the fancy hoof work his hat stayed firmly atop his head as if it were glued there, and that confident madness painted across his face never wavered even as Petal closed in. His razor was getting more reckless however, the cut-throat razor trying to live up to its name.

The wounds burned, sending crimson fluid spilling forth to join the rain in pouring off his coat, but he never let up, charging forward and eventually forcing an opening, getting a grip on Hatter's leg.

The effeminate bastard couldn't hop around now, and he swung him forward towards the ground, before the razor went for his eye and forced him to release the stallion or lose an eyeball.

Hatter still got slammed into the ground faster then he was able to react, bouncing with all the grace of a sack of potatoes, hat flying off and horn sparking out, but not before his razor had buried itself about an inch into Petal's forehoof.

Tears stung at his eyes as he ripped the razor free, hot blood bubbling up from the wound as he tossed it to the floor and stamped on the flat of the blade, crushing it.

The wounds burned and screamed hatefully at him, blood mixing with rainwater and feeding the soil below. He didn't have time to rest. He needed to finish it now.

Hatter was still down on the ground, and Petal rushed to end it before he had chance to climb back to his hooves, but bringing him down wasn't going to be that simple, Petal knew it, but Hatter turning and throwing an entire draw worth of kitchen utensils at him was not what he expected, bringing up his good hoof to block, but running with a bad leg had slowed him down and he only managed to dodge half of the volley.

Thankfully Hatter's magic was a far cry from being strong enough to replicate the full force of a stab, but he still got a kitchen knife in his good leg and a fancy griffon made carving fork buried an inch into his chest.

It hurt. But not as much as it hurt when Petal finally got his hooves locked firmly around their neck, cutting off their oxygen and blood supply with a shocked gag. Normally the pain would slow someone down, but he didn't care.

Blood leaked from his wounded leg and dribbled over the unicorn stallion as he writhed against the mud, splattering some of it across his cheek as he tightened the choke hold. Hatter's hooves went to his own and desperately tried to pry them off by digging into the gash on his leg, sending waves of pain tearing through him as he hissed down at them, splattering their muddy face with spittle.

Hatter didn't look the slightest bit scared throughout all of this, that endless hatred burning as bright as ever even as he fought for his life, striking out against her in a desperate final struggle, before one of his hooves gripped her wound and squeezed it like he was trying to juice an orange. Blood leaked out and for a single moment the choking loosened, Petal finding her focus again a moment later but at this point he had folded himself up enough to kick his hind legs straight into the underside of Petal's jaw. The blow wasn't all that hard, but it rattled his brain around like a marble in a tin can, making him drop the hold and driving him back as Hatter slipped free.

He couldn't give up. He couldn't let it end here, but as he tried to force his body to take another step forward the whole world span around him, stars dancing before his vision as the black void of space closed in from the edges of his vision.

Desperately he tried to push his body forward one final time, but the darkness was closing in, and the strength had faded from out of his body.

He tried to take a step forward, but his hoof wobbled about, threatening to give out at a moments notice, but he didn’t listen, he was strong, he could do this. He pressed his body weight down onto his hoof.

Unfortunately, heroism and strength could only get you so far, and his body had been pushed well beyond its limits. Petal crumpled down onto his knees, her vision fading slowly as he drifted off into that final sleep once again.

Petal couldn’t. He couldn’t give in. He couldn’t let this be the end. Visions of all the training that Lavender had given him filled his head, the happy times that they had enjoyed together, the time that he had almost had his head crushed by the giant, the time he had thrown up on their hooves, along with that feeling of his heart being filled with butterflies.

He had fallen for Lavender. It wasn’t just a horny feeling by the fact the barbarian had saved him, it was a deep feeling of respect for his strength and his kindness…

And he would never get to see Lavender again.

Hatter strolled forward towards him, laughing at his desperate attempts to drag his weakened form back to standing.

“Blood is the currency of life. No matter how fancy you are, how big you are or how tough your body is, your brain runs out of enough blood and you can’t fight any more. I’ve seen it happen dozens of times before, they’re always so confident, and then it all drains out of them…”

He took a deep sniff of the air and pulled out a knife, pressing it against Petal’s neck firmly. “I don’t know how you came back to life, but I’m going to kill you again old friend.”

He drew the knife back, and for the briefest moment Petal’s life flashed before his eyes as he prepared to meet his end once again, before images of that hulking barbarian flashed before his eyes, and then settled on the moment where he had first begin training Petal, when he had shattered a boulder with his bare hooves.

He found a final burst of strength, pulling his hoof back and swinging it forward in almost the exact same motion that Lavender had made. With their guard down, his hoof smacked straight into their throat.

It didn’t collapse, so much as explode or rupture within their throat. It didn’t even hurt Petal’s hoof, he was far too numb to feel anything, he collapsed onto his back.

All his strength was spent. Hatter’s eyes widened with shock as blood bubbled from out of his mouth, a strange rasping, gargling sound rolling from his lips as both his hooves went up to his neck.

He crumpled, writhing around on his back as he dug about in his jacket for something to save himself. His entire windpipe had been ruptured however, and there was nothing that he could do to fix that.

It didn’t stop him from trying however, writhing about on his back as blood bubbled from his lips, spilling various objects and weapons on the ground around him.

Petal was the first one to fall still, there was no way for her body to keep going with everything that had happened to it.

Darkness closed in, his head felt light and then begin to slowly spin away. His head lulled forward as if he was dozing off, and then blackness took him.

Drifting away, he found himself once again in that clearing, trees crowding around him as the path guided him along to that great gate. This time there was a bench, and he felt that same feeling of lightness that he had felt before, like all his worries and troubles had melted away.

It had been a good life. He hadn’t done everything he had wanted, but he had killed Hatter. There was no way that the stallion could worm his way out of a completely destroyed wind pipe.

The gate, his gate, stood as tall as the first time he had seen it. It hadn’t opened just yet, and he sat down on the bench, staring around at all the trees.

A soft whimper sounded from the forest behind him, breaking apart the peace and slightly startling him. Last time he had been here, there hadn’t been anything else here.

He drifted up to his hooves and moved to investigate the sound, the grass was warm, the air was light. Another whimper sounded from up ahead and he moved deeper into the forest to investigate.

The sun pierced easily through the leaves up above, brightly lighting up the forest.

Set into a clearing was what appeared to be a bundle of chains to begin with, but as Petal stepped closer, she recognised the form of Hatter, crushed underneath the weight of double irons affixed with massive locks, oversized to the point that they would have almost been comical, and the poor stallion couldn’t hope to move from beneath them, sitting in the middle of the grass with glassy unfocused eyes that peered straight ahead.

Petal stepped closer and poked the bundle of chains with her hoof. A dreadful, mournful wail sounded from the stallion. A sound that should have been impossible for any normal pony to make, and it startled him into stepping backwards. The chains rattled and tightened, biting into his flesh and leaving red marks as those locks clattered. It was like the chains were alive!

They coiled protectively around him like snakes, and Petal was even more startled when a voice spoke from behind him. “Weighed down by the pains of those he hurt in life. He won’t be able to move on until they come to terms with what they did to him. It’s poetic, in a tragic way.”

Necrosis had once again made it into his head. “Can we help him?” Petal asked.
“No, he made his mistakes in life and now it is time for him to pay for them. Just the way it is.”
“Are you here to drag me back into my body again?”

The brown mare scoffed, “No. I bring people back and give them a second chance at life. If they throw that second chance away on violence, I don’t own them a third chance. I abhor war and bloodshed, but so many ponies seem so very desperate to waste their one chance at life in a vain attempt to obtain what they call glory!” The mare slammed her hoof into the ground “And if I give one of them a third chance at life, then I’d have to give them all a third chance to get killed! I’m not a judge, I’m a Doctor! I can’t do that!”

Petal blinked at her softly, taken aback by the outburst.
“So why are you here?”
“Because a certain Barbarian is quite taken with you. You wormed your way into his heart and he gave me the whole ‘if you don’t help them then I will never forgive you. What he’s doing is right and you’re so scared of making the wrong choices you refuse to make any choices when they matter’ speech,” She ground her hoof into the ground, “But no, I’m still not going to drag you back, he is.”

A hulking figure he recognised all too well stepped up next to him. Lavender the Barbarian, in the spirit. Here his body still had those scars, unlike every other pony he had seen in the spirit realm. His mane was a brighter shade of purple and his off white body seemed to glow softly.
“I’ve never done this before, but if you would like to come back with me, we still have a lot of things to be doing.”

His deep purple eyes seemed to be filled with a strange feeling he couldn’t fully identify.
“Of course. Let’s get going.”

Lavender pulled him in close and gave a nod to the Doctor known as Necrosis. The brown mare simply stared at him. “Oh no, you’re on your own. Why don’t you see how hard it is to get someone’s soul into their body if you think it’s so easy.”

Hatter let out another soft mewl, but didn’t move.

After a few moments of just standing there with nothing happening, Lavender let out a scoff.
“Look Necrosis, if you’re not going to help them, then help me out”

Necrosis sighed, then gave a slow nod. “You tell anyone about this Barbarian, I’ll see you pay for it.”

And then once again, Petal’s world tumbled apart.