Shattered

I stare up at the ceiling in my room, as the ceiling fan slowly turned clockwise…

Woosh… Woosh… Woosh…

I’m still in your mind, Emily…

Woosh… Woosh… Woosh…

I killed that pony… I didn’t know him, but I stabbed him in the throat…

Woosh… Woosh… Woosh…

You’ve done very well slave…

I do not require you right now…

Woosh… Woosh… Woosh…

I wonder how long it will take them to find his body?

Maybe I should smoke a joint now?

Well, since Lorath isn’t gonna give me happy juice…

<*****>

I sprinkle some herb in a neat line on the rectangular paper on the table, and try to get it inside the notch…

I pick up the joint with my forehooves and begin rolling it from the bottom, before licking the sticky portion near the top to seal it…

No tip this time… I think to myself before licking the roll and sticking it in my mouth, and then I reach for the red hoof lighter on the table…

Well, even when they do find the body, they have no reason to suspect me… I think to myself while inhaling the flame towards the end of the cigarette…

I taste the earthy flavors on my tongue as warm smoke travels down my throat, when suddenly, there’s a knock on the door!

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

“Postal service!” Somepony from behind the door shouts.

I exhale smoke and snuff the joint out on the glass ashtray, “Hang on! I’ll be right there!”

Do I need to kill him too?

I get out of the chair to trot towards the front door, beyond the foyer, and see a tan pegasus with a blue cap on and a smile on his muzzle, “Hello there, Miss Emily! This is certified mail and I’m gonna need a signature!”

The knife is by my door, if I need it… I smile, “Oh, hiya Steve Clops! Didn’t know you were working today?” as I use my hoof to take the clipboard from him, and he places a blue pen in my mouth so I can sign…

Maybe I don’t have to kill this pony?

The pen makes a scribbling noise on the pad….

“Yeah well, Fred Fetlocks got sick, so what are you gonna do?”

He takes the pen from my mouth, and fetches a few letters from his bag…

I take them, “Thank you, Steve!”

I shut the door and put the letters on the bookcase to the left of the front door with narrow eyes, and begin slowly walking back to my joint…

I need something to take the edge off!

<*****>

I take a drag of the joint…

You have purpose now!

I exhale, “How do I have purpose? I killed that pony!” and bring the cigarette to my snout again.

Yes, and that’s good Emily!

I exhale quickly again, “How is that good?”

He was a cultist of another demon… With him out of the way, I’ll be able to seize Ponyville quite easily… But there are others to kill, soon!

I breathe heavily in and out of my mouth while the joint silently smokes in my right hoof, “I thought you said I wouldn’t need drugs anymore?” before bringing the joint to my mouth again…

You wish for me to make you feel good again, don’t you slave?

I exhale smoke… “I wouldn’t say no!”

Then how about another murder?

I exhale smoke again, and ash the joint, “I thought you said you didn’t need me?”

The voice chuckles in my mind… Technically no! I imagined that letting more enemy cultists in here because they feel safe would be a good way to eliminate all of them at once! That’s why I didn’t have you go after this one particular cult yet, but there is a straggler who would be good for testing you…

I slowly bring the stogie to my mouth for another long pull…

That’s right Emily… We’ll get you good and stoned first, so you can kill without remorse…

<*****>

I land on the rectangular balcony just beyond the railing, and feel my hooves make contact with the stone floor…

CLOP!

I trot towards the glass door, knowing I have everything I need in my saddlebags…

I turn my head to my left bag to retrieve the card, and slide it down in the door crack before feeling just a little resistance, and I maneuver the white plastic card further in to force the knob to turn and the door cracks open while I smile…

I move my neck back to my left bag to put away the card, and take out my steel butcher knife, as I slide the door open to the right with my hoof to begin slowly and stealthily trotting into the bedroom…

I’m going to kill again!

I don’t know how I feel about this anymore?

I take a few paces towards the bed, where a magenta unicorn stallion sleeps with his long purple mane thrown over the pillow…

I remove the knife with my right forehoof, and hold it as I stare at the sleeping pony…

I need to kill him…

He’s peacefully sleeping…

It’s what Lorath wants…

He opposes my master…

He must die!

I take a step towards him from the right side of the bed, and pull out the knife with my right hoof and stab into the covers, which causes his body to jerk, before laying there lifeless… A red patch soon begins to form underneath…

I liked that a lot…

I stab again…

I begin to smile…

Why does this feel good?

I remove the blade to plunge it into the sheets again, as they turn more red! And again and again, with a cruel smile on my face as I think about how this putrid waste of equine life dares to oppose my master!

Why does this feel so wonderful?

I love killing!

I see more red patches grow on the blue sheets, before removing the knife from his lifeless body, wiping the blade on one of the few clean places left, putting it in my mouth, and turning to quietly trot away…

I taste the coppery flavor of residual blood on the cold steel blade…

Killing is fun!

I hope I get to do that again soon…

I trot outside into the cool night air, before turning my head to the back left, to put away my weapon, before staring up at the twinkling stars, staring down at what I just did…

<*****>

I feel freedom and euphoria wash over my body as the cool night air breezes past my body, as I fly towards the Everfree Forest…

I can feel the demon in my mind again, making me feel good and smile when I realize that’s really the bad medicine I need…

I see the treeline approaching…

Where are you going, slave?

I say out loud, “I’m flying to the forest… So I can collect my thoughts…“

As you wish! I will keep you safe…

Keep killing for me, and you’ll have my blessings and all the good feelings you like…

I feel more euphoria wash over my body and I can barely think anymore, when I notice that I’m now slowly flapping over a forest trail…

I decide to slow my flapping to land there in the forest…

The moon is already high in the sky and I turn my gaze skyward, to seeclouds floating past the bright circle in the sky, as a gentle breeze blows cool air to my left and ethereal light bathes the dirty forest floor over the shadowy canopy. There doesn’t seem to be any other ponies around and the forest is quiet…

I breathe out the cold air in a misty puff as I stare into the darkness of the forest, beyond the trees, unsure of what’s out there…

I don’t think I need to smoke now? I loosen my shoulders and raise my muzzle to the sky again to breathe in my muzzle sharplyto fill my lungs and breathe out the cool air while feeling the wind pass through my body…

What is happening to me?

Don’t you love killing for me Emily?

I lower my view back down to the ground and wordlessly take in my surroundings while breathing in and out and feeling the wind pass through my equine body…

I hear the crickets and cicadas chirping in the ground, but nothing else as I gaze around the darkened forest floor…

Why did I go to the forest in the middle of the night?

Well, I slept all day and am wide awake now!

I gaze around the leafy dirty ground, with various small plants and grass leaves as my vision focuses on the woods, and things become clearer to me…

I killed again…

Why did I like doing that, though?

I feel the wind pass through my body once more…

And I’d do it again, and again, and again…

I begin to smile, but halt when I hear rustling noise coming from the dense foliage around me…

I raise my head to speak, “Is anypony there? Lorath?”

I hear a melodic voice suddenly say, “While a gray pegasus mare wasn’t what I expected, it’s not so far disconnected, that I cannot deal with it! But tell me young pony, why are you this far into the woods, and not home, where you should, be?”

I stare blankly with a wide gaze, “Troubling? Oh, no troubling here! Not me! Just uh, taking a nice night stroll through the forest, because I can! Yup! Completely normal and nothing unusual here! Yes!”

The voice continues… “You should turn around to face me, so we may know more about your problem, and see!”

I smile as I feel more waves of euphoria overtake me… “I’m fine! Yes!”

<*****>

I stare at the masks behind the zebra, as she stared at me intently with her azure gaze, “I live on the North side of Ponyville, really close to the forest!” I say robotically, as she keeps her frown…

“While that maybe true, you live beyond the tower, but that doesn’t explain why you were out here at this hour!”

I affix my gaze on the zebra, and see her neck rings barely glimmer in the dark, as I focus on her curious blue eyes, “I already told you, I was taking a night stroll!”

Her eyes narrow, “Still, you shouldn’t be out here at night! You shall stay with me in this hut, until morning light!”

I stare down at the little wooden cup full of a strange red liquid exuding steam from the top… “Uh, that’s fine! I’m not really tired, though… “

I see her begin to grin in my periphery, “Very well then, my dear pegasus mare! I have to ask though, what is your name so fair? And why are you here in the forest, amidst danger, instead of in town, where you are no stranger?”

I look up at this curious zebra with an enormous smile on my face, that may or may not look goofy…

I’m going to die here! She’s going to eat me!

I gulp…

(To be continued… )