The Pandoran

Chapters

The Spark of Chaos
Your Personal Demon
Splatter? I Hardly Know Her!
Reflections of the Mad
Indestructable
I'm Alive

The Spark of Chaos

The Pandoran

Chapter 1: The Spark of Chaos

He didn’t remember his name, having forgotten it the day he had transformed. It had been a typical Pandora day, hot enough to burn a man in seconds. He had been chosen amongst the other convicts for something, he couldn’t quite recall. They chose him for his constitution, and his stamina. They chose him because he was loyal as a trained canine, and as determined as any hungry beast upon the planet’s surface. It changed him though, warping his mind in ways he would never have considered. He had spent years in that expansive wasteland, forsaken by god and every sane man with a clean record.

None of that mattered now; he wasn’t on Pandora anymore. The trees stretched high into the heavens, and the ground was covered with undergrowth, the likes of which he had never seen in his life. He took little notice, focusing instead on the blue equine creature before him. He had arrived on this surreal world at dawn, and after walking for the entirety of the day, he was famished. His eyes took in the creature through his full-face filtration mask, and subconsciously he began to laugh.

******

The Great and Powerful Trixie sat by her humble campfire, fighting back the tears. It had been years since the incident in Ponyville, and she had never truly recovered. She lost everything she owned when the Ursa Minor had trampled her wagon, and in every town she attempted to act in afterwards, Trixie had found herself penniless, living off of the kindness of strangers and whatever food she could scrounge up.

She was bitter and angry; upset about everything that had happened. She always knew that one day things would turn sour, and she would be found out, but for her to be left destitute as well was simply too much. She sniffed as she gazed into the warm glow of the campfire, cooking a simple stew of flowers and grass. She held no ill will towards the mare Twilight Sparkle; if she hadn’t acted when she did, the town could’ve wound up smashed to pieces.

No, the ones Trixie reserved her hate for where the town morons, Snips and Snails. She had to admit, the pair were admirable in their affection, but in their worship the imbeciles had gone and brought the star-pelted beast. For the first few months after her flight, she had thought up numerous ways to brutally pay the duo back for what they had done. However, time had cooled the flames to little more than bitter remorse. In some ways she regretted leading them on as she did.

As the tears began to fall from her eyes, she began to hear a harsh, evil chortling behind her, getting louder. A snapping twig caused her to turn abruptly, spotting the beast approaching. The first word that came to Trixie’s mind was “Monkey,” but this was no monkey she had ever heard of. He, at least she assumed it was a he, stood at least twice as tall as she did, hairless with dull orange pants. He lacked a muzzle, mane, or tail, and his face was obscured by a strange white mask with lines running in the shape of an upside-down V. He stood on his hind legs, his arms wrapped with crude gauze. In one of his gloved hands was a sinister weapon, some sort of axe with a circular-saw blade in the front that whirred softly as it spun.

His cover blown, the creature let out a manic cackle and shouted, “IT'S TIME,” he raised his sinister weapon above his head, “FOR MY POUND OF FLESH!” he screamed as he brought the weapon down. Trixie screamed from fear, dodging to the side, not even questioning how the creature spoke pony, as the spinning blade cut her mane slightly on the way down. The sick hatchet buried itself in the soft ground, and spat dirt towards the beast. She backed away, and the monster spun, lunging for her. She let out a burst of magic from her horn, a simple knockback spell mixed with a stun spell. It struck her assailant square in the chest, knocking him into a tree.

She panted, taking in the details of the creature now lying against a tree. Unsure of what it was, let alone how she had angered it, her fear began to slip away as she began to wonder what to do with it. It was violent, irrational, and completely insane. Her thoughts fell back to Ponyville, to the two who ruined her life. She could use this beast; Twilight could easily stop him after she had him do… whatever it was he did. It seemed a bit cruel, but they had indeed ruined her life. The only question was how to train it, or at least direct it…

Her thoughts stopped and her fear returned abruptly as the psycho let out his harsh, violent laugh once more. He leapt forward, axe at the ready, screaming, “TIME TO PLAY! TIME TO PLAY!” Trixie let out another scream and galloped as fast as her hooves could carry her. That spell had saved her life on occasions when the crowd turned against her, and in those cases it had been fired as a burst, while this had been a single concentrated blast. How had he recovered so quickly?

The monster pulled his arm back and flung his blade. It sliced into her hind legs, ripping the right off and leaving a gash in the left before embedding itself in the dirt. She screamed in pain as she collapsed, turning to see the monster standing over her, his eyes glowing an evil orange as he cackled. She subconsciously relieved herself on the grass, both legs feeling as though they were on fire, one numb below a certain point.

“Time,” he let out another menacing laugh as he picked up his grizzly tool, “FOR ANOTHER POUND OF FLESH!” He brought the blade down into the whimpering pony, laughing widely as the droplets struck him. Trixie was paralyzed; crying as the maniac carved into her, ripped her open and began to pull her organs out. He tore his mask off, revealing a surprisingly gentle face, contorted into a deranged grin, his green eyes wide, and his pupils the size of needles.

Trixie was completely numb, and the creature lifted her, stopping to grab her severed leg as he walked to the makeshift campsite. A horrid realization hit as she realized the lunatic was enjoying himself. He saw this as a kind of fun, a method of entertainment. She couldn’t move, couldn’t even scream anymore as the figure began to drag the opposite end of the blade across her skin. She blacked out, and the horrid laughter stayed with her until she left the world.

******

The Psycho sat by the blue equine creature’s campfire, his mask sitting by his side. He took another bite of the meat he had cooked, savoring the flavor. He had grown accustomed to the rotten taste of skag meat, and the flesh of the delicate creature, soft and tender, was the most delicious thing he had tasted in a long time. He was a bit surprised when it fought back in the way it did. The blow had knocked him back, let him gather his thoughts, thoughts he normally wouldn’t even have access to when he began to attack. It hit harder than a bullet, and yet it had only been meant to stun him. If he wasn’t accustomed to taking gunshot wounds, the blast very well may have knocked him out.

He grabbed a bit of the unicorn's stomach and took a bite, wiping the juices that flowed from his mouth with back of his arm. He admitted silently that he found this new world intriguing, and aside from the bruise on his chest, he found the new world pleasant, possibly even, dare he say it, good. Pandora was, in layman’s terms, a complete and utter hellhole. Living there had been horrible, and his partial insanity had made given it some semblance of being bearable.

He didn’t even know how he had arrived here; he had woken up atop a dirt path outside of the forest. Nevertheless, he felt no need to return to Pandora. This was a new world, full of opportunity and possibilities for a man such as him. This was a beautiful, new world, and he was just the demented bastard to seize it.

He turned his attention to the crudely peeled hides nearby him, mind full of ideas. He could make the start of a tent, or blankets, or clothing. After a minute, he tossed them into the fire and took another chomp of intestines. He had always enjoyed the romantic ideal of ‘roughing it’.

******

Fluttershy trotted through the Everfree on her way to Zecora’s hut, humming a joyful tune as she passed through the sunlit woods. She kept to the dirt path, partially from familiarity, and partially from fear for the beasties within the woods. Ever since she was a filly, she had fought bouts of uncontrollable and paralyzing fear, often losing. This had not changed with age, possibly getting worse. Like many ponies, she truly lived up to her name.

As she continued down the path, she began to notice a strange ominous air about the forest. The sounds of insects and birds, normally dismissed as white noise and ambiance were absent, and occasionally a small group of birds would fly panicking overhead. Halfway to her destination, she began to hear it. It was a harsh noise, and as she progressed it got louder and clearer, to the point where she could make out laughter. She slowed to a crawl, he body trembling nervously as she went farther. Less than twenty yards later, past a bend in the path, she saw it. A strange creature, like a monkey with no fur or tail, wearing orange pants and dull grey boots, was crouched over a dead elk, both of them covered in dripping dark crimson. Her fear turned to horror and revulsion as the creature ripped a chunk of meat from the carcass and dug his teeth into it. It was a carnivore. A brutal, violent, dangerous carnivore.

She took a few silent steps back, hoping to make it pass the bend when a small fox came onto the path. She watched as the creature sniffed the corpse, and turned to the monkey-like creature. He gazed down at the furry animal. Equestrian wildlife, with a select few exceptions, was generally friendly as a rule. Fluttershy watched as the blood soaked being extended a handful of bloody meat towards the fox, smiling slightly at his generosity, macabre as it was. The smile vanished as he brought a twisted looking hatchet down on the fox’s head, laughing as the spinning blade cleaved straight through, spattering blood, brains and skull about.

Her normally frightened demeanor turned to pure, unadulterated rage. She knew about the circle of life, about the necessity of carnivores and their kind, and how their diets worked, but this abomination killed for fun. Her timid voice rose to a shout as she took off, “How dare you!” The monster stood up, pulling his mask on as Fluttershy flipped in midair, delivering a kick to the creature’s ribs. She heard them snap, and as he fell, she wondered if she had kicked gone a bit overboard. Her worries were dismissed when he swung at her, missing the yellow mare by an inch.

Wings flapping, Fluttershy ducked and dove under each strike while continuing to strike at the monster. When she finally knocked the evil axe from his hand, she planted her forelegs into the ground and gave a final kick into the monster’s ribs. He groaned loudly as it flew back, blood from the various wounds on his body mixed with the blood that covered him already. The mare landed inches away from his head. She stared into the emotionless orange glow of his eyepieces, one of which was shattered and black.

The creature still laughed in between coughing fits, one arm and hand presumably broken, as well as his ribs and one of his legs. Fluttershy felt her rage subsiding as the creature struggled to take his feet again, only to fall flat on his back. She carefully leaned in, gripping the straps of the mask. She removed it, and her eyes went wide as she saw the face beneath.

Even if she had no knowledge of what he was, she could tell he was young. His face was soft, no wrinkles or marks save for the cuts she was responsible for. One eye was jammed shut, closed to keep blood out, the other, shining green, stared into her blue eyes with an expression off demented joy. Despite everything, she felt pity for the creature. She had seen his expression on her friends in several cases; it was a face of a crazy pony, and this poor creature was trapped in this state.

He let out another gagging cough, and blood spattered onto Fluttershy’s face, bringing the damage into perspective for her. She had seriously hurt it, possibly even killed it. She went pale at the thought of having murdered this creature, even if his mind was completely gone. Her eyes followed his arm as it rose from the ground. Even though it had been completely shattered, it seemed to have recovered enough to lift a strange rounded cylinder above his head. His thumb pushed a small button, and the rounded cylinder began to glow.

The maniac laughed wildly, and Fluttershy panicked. She had no idea what the thing was or what she should do to stop it. She spun and kicked out her hind legs, knocking the device into a hollow tree. She cowered away, watching the tree anxiously. A second passed, then two. An explosion erupted from the tree, rocking the forest and sending shards of wood and metal shrapnel flying. A few chucks embedded themselves in the creature’s legs, and a chunk of steel lodged itself in Fluttershy’s wing, close to the base.

She screamed louder than she had ever screamed before, the burning steel filling her with a pain unknown to any of ponykind. The creature made no noise, and lay silent, breathing harshly. She squealed and groaned, writhing in pain for what seemed like an eternity before she could stand and move around. She looked once more at the creature, and her heart ached for it.

There was no truer a saint in Equestria than the wounded mare who carried the blood-soaked beast to her cottage. Out of precaution, however, she strapped it to the cot she laid it on, with a bit of rope for good measure. Better safe than sorry, especially with more dangerous animals. Her newest patient fully restrained, she set out to Ponyville to pick up everything she would need for treatment.

******

That fucking bitch! The psycho awoke, the burning pain throughout him hitting instantly. He was in pain, and being in pain pissed him off, and he knew that the pink haired bitch was responsible. He screamed and shouted for her blood, thrashing about on the cot he was strapped to. He would break her wings first, snap the fucking bones into powder, rip off the feathers, and finally tear them from her back. He’d break her tiny legs one joint at a time, and then he’d…

His thoughts broke as the cot tipped over and he fell flat on his face. No words came to mind, simply rage; pure violent rage. He wasn’t even speaking English anymore, simply screaming and letting out his signature laugh. Angry or happy, he could not stop laughing. The fact pissed him off even more, adding fuel to his fire, and he continued to thrash about on the ground.

******

“Fluttershy!”

Twilight gasped in shock at the sight of a yellow pegasus covered head to hoof in blood. One wing was bandaged up at the base, and she winced in pain with every step. Twilight ran over, her mind running over every possible reason for Fluttershy’s appearance. Could she have been attacked? Her cottage was far enough away that nopony would have heard a struggle from there. She briefly wondered if it was related to the strange explosion she had heard earlier in the day, but dismissed it quickly. Whatever had happened, Fluttershy was hurt, and Twi needed to know what happened.

Fluttershy turned to face Twilight, wincing slightly. The purple unicorn circled around, looking for wounds while bombarding her friend with questions. “Good Celestia, what happened to you? Y-you’re covered in blood! Were you attacked? Did you see what did this? Have you gotten to the hospital yet?”

“Umm, Twilight?”

“I can’t believe there’s so much blood! What could possibly have this much blood anyways? Oh my god, did something happen to the animals at your cottage?” Twilight was openly ranting out of concern.

“Umm, Twilight?”

“Okay, we need to gather the others. All together, we’ll take care of whatever did this! But first we need to get you to the hospital! Stay with me, alright!”

“Twilight I’ve taken care of everything already!” The words came out much louder than usual, and Twilight found herself taking a step back. It was suddenly obvious that Fluttershy only had the one wound, and was surprisingly calm despite the blood.

“But look at you.” She spoke softly, worried about her pink and yellow friend. “I mean, you’re covered in blood. It’s all over you. And your wing…” Fluttershy gave a soft smile to the unicorn, touched by her concern.

“I understand your concerns, but I’m really quite alright. I didn’t have time to wash up because my newest patient is really hurt…” She trailed off slightly, then gasped and turned face to face with Twi. “Wait! You know about strange creatures, right? Because I don’t know anything about this creature, but it was wearing clothes and had tools, so if you knew anything it would really help!” She paused, and retreated slightly, her nervousness returning. “I mean, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble.”

Twilight smiled slightly at the sight of Fluttershy acting normal. “Of course I’ll help Fluttershy. That’s what friends are for, remember?”

Fluttershy gave a small nod, and turned back towards the town. “First things first, we should pick up some bandages and medicine. If we run into Applejack or Rainbow Dash, that would definitely help.”

Twilight scrunched her face in confusion as she watched the familiar pegasus trotting down the road. She understood why Applejack, with her knowledge of farm animals, might be helpful, but why would Fluttershy need Rainbow Dash for something like this?

******

The psycho watched the rabbit carefully from his vantage point on the floor. He had long since cooled down; his fury had been dissuaded by his bindings, and the narrow field of vision available to him, and had decided to observe his environment. Chief among it was the bright white rabbit he gazed at. It glared back at him, obviously distrusting of him. It was understandable; here was a strange man in the creature’s home, lying on the floor with a cot strapped to his back, covered head to toe in blood. He didn’t care, being used to distrust.

A rumbling in his gut reminded the lone man that he had not eaten recently, and slowly the bloodlust began to return. The meat was merely inches from him, the perfect range for a lunge and a bite. He began to chuckle as a violent smile spread across his face. He dug his feet in, preparing to lunge and eat when the furry meat puppet rolled an apple to him. He looked cautiously at it as his subconscious laughter subsided. The rabbit had offered him food. Was it possible it was more intelligent than he gave it credit for? He knew that some creatures on Pandora had fairly advanced brains, including some of his former comrades.

Nevertheless, he was cautious with the fruit. Many of the plants on Pandora were poisonous, or simply dangerous to eat. He cautiously took a bite out of the apple, and immediately felt his hunger and bloodlust disappear. It made sense now why the creatures of this foreign land would taste the way they did; the apple was beyond anything he had ever tasted in terms of flavor. The sweet, sugary taste showed in the meat of the animals he had eaten, and now he could recognize the presence. He devoured the apple, even eating the core and stem. He licked the sweet juices off the floor, deriving a strange euphoria from it.

The sound of approaching hooves stopped him in his consumption, and his trained ears picked up voices, casually chatting as they approached.

“… Ahm saying is that if this critter’s as rowdy as y’all say, maybe it’d be better to put em down.” The psycho raised an eyebrow at the voice’s accent, being unfamiliar with such dialects.

“What? How could you even suggest something like that?” the voice was soft and tender, and oh so familiar to the man on the floor. He struggled to put a face to the voice.

“I dunno, I’m kinda siding with AJ on this one. From the sound of it, we’re dealing with a sick animal here.” The brashness of the third voices statement cut the man deeply. He would be the first to admit there was something wrong with him, but the bluntness with which the voice categorized him was still a bit hurtful.

“Look, we are not going to kill it. We’re ponies for Celestia’s sake! We’re better than that!” The fourth voice sounded stressed, as if the owner had been arguing the entire way there. The psycho stopped to consider the declaration that they were ponies, quickly dismissing it. He had once run into a gang who dubbed themselves the ‘Rosebud Girls’, despite the fact that there wasn’t a single woman amongst them. “Now, we’re going to go in there, and we’re going to fix it up, and if it seems dangerous, we’ll write to Celestia for help.”

The door opened, and light poured in from the entrance. On his belly beneath the cot, the psycho looked up to the view of four equine creatures, the pink and yellow one who had thrashed him, a cyan one with a prismatic mane and tail, an orange one with a Stetson, and a lavender one with a horn and a pink stripe in her hair. It was obvious he had no options; he was outnumbered and tied down, his buzz axe was missing, and he had lost his single grenade. The only option left was diplomacy.

Even if he was a fair bit insane, he knew there was an undeniable safety in numbers and pairing with whoever had the biggest gun. Given his experience in this world, both options seemed to point towards teaming up with the yellow one. He opened his mouth and calmly began to explain his condition, being that he would slip between completely coherent and crystal clear thoughts to demented and overly excited fits of violence and sadism, and that he hoped they could work together to overcome the barriers presented in order to facilitate good relations. At least he tried to explain. What actually came out was more along the lines of:

“Let me out! More meat puppets to play! WE CAN ALL PLAY!”

He screamed in his head and laughed out loud. The common inability to communicate had been hard on him back on Pandora, and it was obviously harder here since he was not on good terms with these creatures. His last sight before falling unconscious once more was the rainbow one spinning and kicking him in the face.

Your Personal Demon

The Pandoran

Chapter 2: Your Personal Demon

At the edge of Ponyville sat a small cottage, well known for the kindhearted owner and occupant, and the multitude of animals that were attended to there. Occasionally the house would be visited by various ponies, and every time they would be welcomed with a soft hello. Pinkie Pie had come to expect it, and today was no different in her mind. She bounced down the road towards Flutters’ house, giggling and singing happily, her pink mane bobbing happily with the rest of her.

She was super excited to have the time to drop by, and carried a box of cupcakes on her back. As the cottage came into view she smiled even wider as she saw Flutters, AJ, Twi and Dashie going in. Except for Rarity, the whole gang was there! She didn’t quite know why, and for a moment she considered going back to grab Rarity when it hit. A series of spasms rocked her entire body, causing her to bounce and jolt around. Her Pinkie sense was predicting a doozie. But this time something was different. Each spasm came with a sharp spike of pain, leaving her collapsed on the ground, whimpering.

Throughout the years, through trial and error, Pinkie had come to learn the meanings behind the various twitches and tweaks. She had even learned how to distinguish a doozie from a really long chain, though it had been a tricky process. But in all her years, her Pinkie sense had never caused her pain. She shuddered in fear for a moment. Whatever the sense had picked up, she knew it was going to be bad.

She put a hoof up to her mane to find it had deflated. The box of cupcakes lay just past her reach. She stood up tall, resolved not to worry. She jammed her hoof into her mouth and blew on it. Her mane poofed back up with the sounds of a balloon rapidly inflating and she skipped forwards to Fluttershy’s house. No reason to worry! Today was going to be a happy day!

******

The inside of Fluttershy’s cottage went wild with noise as cyan hooves struck a skull like a brick wall. Rainbow Dash felt the jolt of the blow travelling up her leg and a resounding crack that awoke every creature in the house. Fluttershy could only stare in abject horror as Rainbow spun once more and raised her hooves to strike again. The blow missed by an inch as Twilight levitated the violent Pegasus into the air, much to Fluttershy’s relief.

She rushed over with her newly purchased supplies and flipped the cot and creature over. “Umm, Twilight? Could you come over here? I mean, I don’t think we should ignore this…” she said softly and tentatively. Unfortunately, an argument had broken out behind her. The three mares she had brought to help her were screaming over the noise of the animals, with Applejack criticizing Dash for being so brash, Dash defending herself and attempting to justify her actions, and Twilight twitching and shouting to nopony in particular about the creature speaking Pony.

“Umm, could we please calm down? Not to be rude, but could we, please?” Fluttershy gently squeaked. The shouting continued, arguably getting louder. She cowered from the noise for a moment, and then turned on “The Stare”. The effect was immediate. Everypony in her line of sight felt the presence upon them like a ton of bricks, and they immediately fell silent. Her normally calm and peaceful expression had hardened, spreading an evil aura felt throughout Equestria.

As suddenly as it had come, The Stare vanished, replaced by a soft smile and kind eyes. “Now Twilight, I need your help. I think some of his bones are broken, and I’d very much appreciate it if you could help me set them so I can properly bandage him. I hope it’s not too much trouble.” Fluttershy’s words were soft and calm, and yet held an imposing weight from the aftermath of The Stare. Many miles away, in the city of Fillydelphia, a young stallion’s jaw suddenly broke from the weight of the words, in the form of a collision with a parking meter.

Twilight walked over to the motionless creature, reaching in with her magic to straighten the bones. Fluttershy pointed out where the wounds were, but when Twi reached in, she found nothing. The bones were slightly cracked, and a few were dislocated, but as far as she could tell were already beginning to reattach to the muscles, albeit slowly. “You’re sure his bones were broken, right? Not just dislocated?” she said, looking over the creature.

Most of the blood had dried, and as Fluttershy wiped it off, both the mares saw that the cuts and bruises had begun to heal. “This is so strange. I wonder how these wounds healed so very quickly.”

“Well, I don’t exactly have anything to compare it to, but if your descriptions of what happened are correct, it would seem that his wounds were more superficial than you believed. Presumably he’s stronger and more sturdily built than your average pony. Celestia will definitely want to hear about this.” Twilight’s pulled a piece of paper and a quill from a nearby desk and began to make studies and diagrams of the animal as Fluttershy went to work removing the shrapnel from his legs.

Rainbow and AJ stared at their friends and the mysterious creature. “Whadya reckon it is Dash?” Applejack nodded towards the figure strapped to the cot, and Dash gave a shrug in response.

“Omigoshahuman!” The sudden loud and excited voice drew the attention of everypony in the room to the pink earth pony now standing in the doorway, eyes locked on the “human”. She rushed over, bombarding everypony, especially poor Fluttershy, with questions. “Ohmygosh, howdidhegethere andwhy’sheallbloody andFluttershy’shurttoo? What’sgoingon comeontellmeplease!” The questions continued to pour from the pink mare’s mouth as Fluttershy cowered away, Twilight tried to calm Pinkie down, and Dash and AJ watched in confusion. None of them noticed as the human began to stir, and started laughing weakly.

Bad odds. Five voices now. Fucking hell, he was in trouble. Mind was scrambled, confused. More so than usual, couldn’t even think. His eyes peeled open, spotted a thatched roof. Looked to the side and saw the newcomer; a pink one, no horn or wings, ranting about something. Words blurred together, vision too. Saw a blob of cotton candy. Had never eaten cotton candy, but knew of it. He looked down; saw fresh bandages and small amounts of fresh blood on his pants. Recovery was faster for psychos, especially with wounds as small as these. Nothing deep, no broken bones. A few manageable cracks in the arms and ribs, and a throbbing headache.

He embraced the pain, let it clear his mind, let it sharpen him up. He was looking into the eyes of a pink pony just inches from his face now. It was staring at him. He could hear the purple one talking, telling the others to leave. The quiet one was asking the pink one to back away. His eyes locked with hers. On Pandora, he killed things that stared at him.

The pony bolted up, and the man started to pick out the words along with the meanings.

“Heeeey! There’s no need to be a meany mean pants!” Her response came as a shock to him. His mind clearing up, he wondered if this creature was in his head.

“Well of course not silly! I’m just speaking with your eyes!”

This was getting ridiculous. He stopped her from interrupting, and cast her a glare. He was getting pissed off, and if the bloodlust came back, then all hell would break loose, and nobody would be able to stop it.

“Hell? What’s that? Is there cake?”

His thoughts drifted to Pandora, and how he had never once eaten a cake on the planet.

“You’ve never had cake?” she exclaimed, her mind foreign to the concept of one never having tried such confections.

He had eaten things made to look like cake, like skag cake, spider-ant cake, and once a midget cake, but never the pastry itself. The pink equine gasped at the revelation.

“You eat meat!” She screamed.

******

For the past few minutes Twilight and Fluttershy had watched Pinkie Pie carry on a one-way conversation with the cackling creature, occasionally making a strange outburst. When she suddenly screamed “You eat meat!” they pulled her away. Pinkie’s mane had deflated, and she trembled more than Fluttershy had at the loud scream. The creature was still laughing, but now it began to toss and flex against his bonds. Fluttershy rushed over, worried that he would hurt himself.

“Wait!” she yelped, “Please wait! Don’t do that please! You might hurt yourself!” Her hooves hovered over the thrashing beast, his teeth clenched. He shot a glare at her that hit like boulder from the top of a mountain.

“Gotta move. Need to stand, rise, must rise!” He groaned as he pushed against his bonds. The creature seemed more in control, definitely much calmer. Fluttershy ran a hoof across the top of his head, causing him to pause at stare at her again.

“I need you to calm down now please. I’ll undo the straps, but you need to promise not to run away. You’re still hurt, okay?” Her voice was soft, and it miraculously managed to calm him down. After all, at heart he was an animal, driven by instincts and aggression. He lay still as Fluttershy began to loosen the straps, starting at the legs and working her way up.

Pinkie twitched nervously the entire time, and Twilight began to worry as well. Pinkie was normally the most receptive of the group, the most willing to open up. “Uh, Pinkie? Are you all right?” she said.

The response was immediate with Pinkie grabbing Twilight by the shoulders, a task most ponies would find difficult from a lack of fingers. Her mane poofed up and her eyes went wide. “Of course I’m not okay! That’s a human! And he eats meat! He’s probably gonna eat somepony! I even came up with a song!”

Twilight put a hoof over Pinkie’s mouth. “I’ve heard enough Pinkie. Where did you even come up with this? And how do you know this- this creature even is a ‘human’ as you call it?”

“Lyra told me!” The abrupt response prompted a facehoof and a groan from the unicorn. She knew the word human had sounded familiar; Lyra would often rant and rave about how they had existed long before ponykind. Most of the time Twilight dismissed it, but this creature’s appearance made her wonder if the mint green pony might have known what she was talking about.

Fluttershy undid the last rope and the creature sat up, stretching out widely. He sat up slowly and looked around. The three watched the human gazing over the room. He turned and stared intently at Pinkie. Their eyes met for a minute.

You’re like me, aren’t you?

I do not eat meat! Meat is super-duper nasty!

I meant bat-shit crazy. The only other time this happens is with the other Psychos.

Psychos? What’s a psycho? I’m Pinkie Pie!

…Never mind. Where’s the fucking toilet?

“Oh, the toilet?” Pinkie said loudly, causing the human to cringe slightly. “It’s up the stairs, second door on the right! Be sure to wash your hooves! Wait, you don’t have hooves. Wash whatever you use instead of hooves!” The human rolled his eyes and walked away, occasionally letting out an uncontrollable manic laugh. Once again all eyes were on the surprisingly happy Pinkie Pie.

“Umm, Pinkie, I hope I’m not intruding, but how are you able to talk to him like that?” Fluttershy whispered.

“Aww, its easy Flutters! You just look into his eyes and read what his he says!”

In the past the rest of the Elements of Harmony had thought of getting Pinkie professional help, but each time had decided against it. The memories of the discussions popped into the two other ponies minds as they tried to understand what Pinkie had said.

******

Aside from a minor pain in his legs, the psycho was more or less recovered. He had to admit, the new world was surprising in many ways. The colors were brighter, and for that matter there were plenty of colors. The animals were certainly friendlier, even the Pegasus that had for all intents and purposes made him her bitch. The fact that the ponies were talking wasn’t as confusing as the fact that the bathroom had a normal toilet, complete with toilet paper.

He had once seen a skag singing West Side Story, but had never even heard of anything but people using a toilet. There was definitely an issue of how they used toilet paper without hands, but he was willing to dismiss that for the time being.

Bathrooms and Ponies aside, he had to wonder how the Pink one, Pinkie Pie, had been able to communicate with him. He knew of telepathy and the like, and one of the little known effects of the mutations he had partaken in was the ability to communicate with others who had been… whatever had happened to him. He couldn’t remember, but he knew that all Psychos had an unspoken bond, one that allowed them to cooperate more than the other bandits.

Was it possible this pony had experienced a similar mutation? If so, what had changed about her? She seemed energetic, exceptionally happy, and most certainly insane, but he still couldn’t tell if she was indeed a mutant like him. One of the first things that had changed about him when he changed was a desire to eat, especially when it came to meat. Perhaps she had a carnivorous sweet tooth as well?

He pushed the thought from his head. He needed to focus on the important things, like securing a place in whatever society was established here. On Pandora, he had been known as a ruthless bandit, willing to charge whatever threat crossed his path and chop it to bits. Here however, his special brand of sadistic violence would most likely not be as accepted; assuming the yellow one’s reaction to feasting could be an acceptable basis for the inhabitant’s attitudes, it seemed he would need a new niche.

The waste in the toilet went down easily, not clogging or overflowing, and the sink cleansed his hands of germs. The stairs creaked with each booted footstep, and the ponies turned to face him as he arrived once more downstairs. The purple one stepped forward tentatively. He could see her fear; it hung around her, a thick aura that smelt slightly like onions and sugar. He tried hard but felt the laughter coming. Fear always stoked the bloodlust, fanned the flames, made him crazy. Right now he needed to be focused.

“Hey there crazy daisy! Feeling better now?” Pinkie’s exuberance provided a welcome stop to the insanity bubbling up from his gut. He grinned, trying to keep his face from going to its normal demented stare. He slowly opened his mouth, keeping his words as simple as clear as he could.

“So. You got me here. What ‘cha need?” He laughed softly the entire time, and the scent of fear grew stronger. His eye twitched, and the unicorn shuddered slightly. Pinkie was still jumping around, unable to sit still, and the Pegasus wrapped a wing around the shivering unicorn. She straightened out, raising her head high, which meant she was roughly eye level with his waist.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle.” Her voice trembled, but still held an air of authority. “And on behalf of the Princesses Celestia and Luna, I welcome you to Equestria, and warn you that we will not stand for any continued aggression against any of the citizens of Equestria.”

For the first time in years the man let out a whole hearted laugh. She was, to put it scientifically, full of skag shit. He had heard such authority speeches before, and in several cases the ones giving them had wound up dead. For a tiny creature to try and intimidate him like this? It was downright hilarious.

Unfortunately, she didn’t share his sense of humor, lashing out with a bolt of magic. He took the full brunt of it in his chest, and while it knocked the wind out of him, he was still ready for action. He leapt forward, tackling her and pinning her to the ground. Pinkie gasped and started chattering away, the words blurring together to the point of being completely unintelligible.

That was when he felt it. A presence on his side, a presence burning into him. He turned and came face to face with the yellow Pegasus, her eyes giving him a powerful glare. It burned into him, and if he had his mask on he was sure it would have burned through that too. He felt his arms begin to weaken, and his manic laughter began to die down.

“Stop that.” The Pegasus’s voice was as soft and smooth as ever, but now it carried a sternness that he couldn’t dismiss. He glared back, bracing his will against hers. “I want you to let Twilight go now. What you’re doing is very, very bad and I want you to stop right now.”

The purple unicorn slowly pulled herself out from underneath the man, still locked in a battle of wills with the Pegasus. He felt it coming; the bloodlust rose, his mind began to falter. Eyes locked, his laughing ended. The room was almost empty, two occupants; man versus mare, a battle of wits. Gentle but firm words came: “I want you to play nice, okay? Don’t hurt anypony.”

Beads of sweat, yet she still stood firm. On his hands and knees, but his will was as strong as ever. A drop of sweat fell from both faces. Silence, a drop of water echoed through the room. Miles away, a statue of the Princesses cracked under the redirected force. Nobody noticed. The eyes of a human and the eyes of a pony remained locked.

The connection suddenly crashed, and the man’s head smashed into the ground, cracking the floorboards and leaving a bloody splotch. The Pegasus jolted upright and shook her head, as the man’s mind became whole for a few glorious seconds. He remembered everything; his life before prison, before the Dahl corporation came, before Pandora, and before they stabbed him with that damn artifact. He remembered it all now. They stabbed him with the thing they found, the key to the vault. It twisted him up, changed him mind and body, and ripped his memories and most of his sanity from him.

For a few glorious moments, he remembered everything. And in the next, he was lying on the floor, blood pouring from his forehead and the yellow Pegasus flipping him over so she could apply another bandage.

******

“C’mon Twilight! I’m sure he won’t be a meany mean pants anymore! Fluttershy’s even using The Stare! The STARE!” Pinkie shouted in vain at the fleeing unicorn. She knew why Twi ran; being pinned by the human definitely seemed like a scary situation, even though he was laughing the entire time, even if it wasn’t exactly a happy laugh so much as a kookie lookie laugh. Under most circumstances Pinkie would be encouraging her to run, or skipping behind her. Today was different though; today she had brought cupcakes.

She bounced in, slowed a bit out of concern for both her friends, and spotted Fluttershy bandaging up the human again. Even given the seriousness of the situation, she found it funny how much blood the human had. Seriously, the blood was all over the ground floor of the cottage! She wasn’t even sure how it all fit in his body! Despite that, she giddily hopped over to the two with her box of cupcakes.

“Looks like he had one heck of a doozy! I didn’t know the stare could do that!” Pinkie wrapped a leg around Flutter’s neck, as relaxed as usual. Fluttershy remained quiet, finishing up the bandages. “I mean, look at all the blood! It’s cu-ray-zee!” Pinkie took note of how creepy she must have sounded, and silently promised herself not to do something that super creepy again.

Fluttershy began to tremble and sob, her eyes welling up as she finished the bandages. Pinkie pulled the yellow Pegasus into a warm hug. “C’mon, cheer up Fluttershy! There’s nothing to worry about! He’ll be fine!”

“… I saw everything.” The already soft voice came out as a whimper so quiet that Pinkie barely picked it up. Fluttershy lifted her head up, eyes full of tears. “I saw that horrible, horrible world he came from. I saw all the monsters, and vicious animals, and the other humans- oh Celestia the humans!”

She buried her head into Pinkies shoulder, crying wildly as she continued. “The things they did to the other creature, or to each other, or themselves, it was all so horrible! It’s no wonder he acted the way he did! It’s no wonder he acted like a monster!”

For a few minutes, she did nothing but cry while Pinkie Pie held her close, trying to get her to calm down. “There there, it’s all right. Your old Aunt Pinkie Pie’s here to cheer you up! Besides,” she opened the pink box at her side, removed one of the slightly battered cupcakes and passed it to Fluttershy, “I brought cupcakes! Nopony can be sad with cupcakes!”

Fluttershy seemed to pick up slightly, and started nibbling on the cupcake. Pinkie turned to the human, lying flat on the ground with his eyes wide and locked on the ceiling. His mouth was barely open, and he drooled slightly in his apparent daze. Pinkie’s energy returned, and she began to talk a mile a minute. “Hey, we should pick a name for him. Or ask him his name. Do you think he has a name? I mean, we can’t just call him ‘human’, though I ‘s’pose we could call him ‘Hugh Man’, but that seems kind of silly.”

“Call me Evets.” The human stirred and sat up slowly, his cackling returning and his eyes focusing. “Evets the Psycho.” He stood up to his full height, oblivious to his injuries. “Your personal psycho Fluttershy!” He bent over and grabbed one of Flutters’ forehooves and planted a big, loud kiss on it. Fluttershy turned pale, and Pinkie could only watch as Evets began to laugh and roar wildly.

“WE’RE GONNA HAVE ONE HELL OF A TIME!” He began to slap his head and throw his arms about, jumping madly all over the room, laughing loudly. “AWW YEAH!”

******

Evets smiled as he rested on his blood stained cot. When the night came she offered to get him a clean one, but he had assured her he would sleep more soundly on one covered in his very life essence. Back on Pandora he had grown accustomed to resting atop the bloody carcasses of his enemies. It was obvious now that this was a planet with minimal conflict, and that he would need to wean himself out of the habit.

Sleep was far from his mind, so his thoughts drifted to his new boss, the yellow Pegasus by the name of Fluttershy. Ah, such an enigma she was! He had met her that very morning, and she promptly and effectively beat him into a state of submission. And yet she stopped him from ending his own life and in fact set out to nurse him back to health.

He didn’t feel he owed her anything, as was normal for him, and yet he couldn’t help but desire to follow her. Perhaps it was her combat ability? He had to admit, the pony knew how to handle herself; taking on a psycho in close combat is a difficult task. More than that she seemed to be a master of psychological combat, proven by her ability to freeze and control him with a stare.

Perhaps it was simply the old instincts and reflexes from Pandora staying true; power allowed for survival, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that this pink-haired pony would definitely aid such an endeavor.

A tap on the head caused Evets to open his eyes, coming face to face with the white rabbit. This time it carried a small rat that it set on his forehead. Evets sat up and stared at the bunny. Their eyes met, and he could see its intentions.

You keep her safe and don’t upset her, I’ll find you meat. You like meat, don’t you? I can only do so much for her. You fuck up though? I swear to Luna herself I’ll beat your ass.

Evets began to laugh, focusing on keeping the volume low. The rabbit was crazy, definitely more violent than the average bunny. There were at least two people as crazy as he was in this world!

He chomped down on the rat, taking its head off and noting the coldness of the meat. This thing had been dead for a while, but food was food. The skull crunched as he leaned back, letting his thoughts drift to Pinkie Pie. She was definitely an interesting one, crazy, energetic, and one hell of a chef. If it was possible for him to make friends out here, he figured she would be a good candidate.

But that other one, the purple unicorn, seemed to be something of a danger. She had been completely convinced when she talked about representing the local authority, and had to wonder how they would react, especially if they learned about the blue unicorn he had eaten the day before. Would he be locked up? Experimented upon? Deported to an alien planet to mine for riches, or simply be left there to die?

Frankly, none of the possibilities worried him. The only thing to worry about would be execution, and he figured he could take a fair amount of them in a fight, assuming they didn’t all fight like Fluttershy. That gave him pause; he had a limited pool of intelligence about the ponies, meaning any generalizations he would make had the possibility of exploding in his face like a protean grenade.

Evets dismissed all his thoughts as he sucked down the rat’s tail like a strand of spaghetti, vaguely remembering how the last meal he had on Pandora had been rat tail soup. Sleep began to take him, and as he lay down in the silent house he heard the soft snoring of the Pegasus upstairs. If any other person was to sleep so soundly with a psycho downstairs they would be written down as too stupid to live, but she slept soundly because…

Sleep finally pulled Evets down as he tried his hardest to understand why she trusted him. Just another mystery of this yellow winged pony. With the moon high in the sky and only the chirping of crickets and soft breathing of animals for ambiance, he slept sounder than he had slept in a great many years.

Splatter? I Hardly Know Her!

The Pandoran

Chapter 3: Splatter? I Hardly Know Her!

The town of Ponyville was, under most circumstances, a quiet and peaceful place. Ponies wandered the streets without any concerns or worries and tended to their businesses without much hustle or bustle. The town library in particular was known for generally being quiet and well tended, and its occupants, Twilight Sparkle, Spike and Owloysius being genuinely kind and friendly folk, under most circumstances.

The current situation was far from acceptable though, and as a result Twilight was going completely berserk, her magic tearing books from shelves and tossing them about the room as she tried to understand this new creature. She had started by consulting Lyra who gladly told Twilight everything she knew about humans, which did nothing to explain the beast’s violent behavior. She hadn’t slept that night, and with the sun high in the sky her mane was frizzy and she had developed a demented looking twitch, a common sign of stress for her.

The creature had attacked her; granted, she had let loose the first blow, but it had pinned her to the ground, and she was certain that if Fluttershy hadn’t used the stare on it, Spike would have become an orphan. Twilight pulled another book off the shelves, this one written by some crackpot who lived in a wine cask named Inkbottle Blues, and violently flipped through the pages. She stopped suddenly and dropped the book the ground in front of her. On the corner of the page was a crude sketch of a somewhat lanky creature that stood on two legs, wearing pants, boots and a strange mask. She looked at the text below, taking in every word.

Psycho

Though they were human at one point in their lives, psychos lose their humanity, as well as their minds, through a currently unknown process that causes them to mutate greatly. All experience extreme physical and mental changes, some even growing to immense sizes or shrinking to what are known as “Midgets”, but several constants are a sadistic and violent nature, an uncontrollable instinct to laugh wildly, and extreme cravings for meat.

Psychos should be avoided at all costs, and if they must be engaged, do so with extreme caution and from a great distance. Their bodies can absorb great amounts of physical trauma, and are willing to fight to their own death, occasionally showing distinctly suicidal tendencies such as charging an enemy while clutching an active explosive.

Twilight stared at the book, her twitch getting worse as she absorbed the information presented in the book. It sounded so crazy! The book had been written by some crackpot over a hundred years ago, and yet it matched the creature perfectly. She levitated some paper and a pen over, and began to write.

Dear Princess Celestia:

I’m afraid there is little time to explain the situation, but I have encountered a strange and violent creature. I’m fairly certain it has been detained for now, but I would greatly appreciate if you could send somepony to assist in dealing with the creature, in addition to a few royal guards. Attached are the information I have relating to the creature, as well as a book I found which seems to be related, entitled-

She double checked the cover of the book. Scrawled across the front in blood red letters were the words THE PANDORAN BEASTIARY; A REFERENCE GUIDE FOR THE BORDERLANDS. She quickly copied it into the letter.

I would greatly appreciate if we could quickly resolve this matter.

Sincerely,

Your prized student Twilight Sparkle

She sealed the letter, and dropped it into an envelope along with the notes she had taken about the creature and the book. “Spike! Spiiiike!” she called out. Slowly but surely the small dragon emerged, yawning and stretching as he descended the stairs. “Spike, I need you to send this letter to Princess Celestia at once! I can’t emphasize how urgent the situation is. I’ll be going out today, so tidy up the library a bit. If the princess replies, come find me, okay?” She tossed the package to Spike, who mumbled something, presumably some form of protest that Twilight missed as she ran out the door.

First things first, she needed to check on Fluttershy and make sure she was okay. If anything happened to her then it was very possible the situation would have escalated enough to warrant a full military operation, something she dreaded every time a catastrophe occurred. Assuming Fluttershy was safe she needed to gather the rest of the elements and alert the mayor. The town had its own guards, but most of them weren’t trained in combat, and she was fairly certain this danger would be more than a match for them.

If Twilight had been in her right mind, she would have noticed that it was quiet, even by the normal standards of the small town, or that all the windows were shut. She didn’t notice as she skidded as she turned a corner in Ponyville’s calm streets, stopping as she spotted a familiar pink pony skipping down the street with a yellow Pegasus and white rabbit in tow. Behind them however, was something far more sinister.

The human was standing with the sun at his back, and a strange and evil looking mask on his face. One of the lenses was cracked, and it was covered in dried blood. The man himself was covered in ragged scars and bandages, and his pants were caked with grime and guts. Twilight brought her gaze down and screamed. He was clutching a sinister looking axe with a circular saw for a head, the edge chipped and dirty, with only one apparent purpose; to chop through living creatures with ease.

She turned around, galloping at full speed. She heard the creature’s manic laughter behind her, and a quick glance backwards revealed it was following her, running at her with that sinister weapon. Pinkie and Fluttershy stood shocked for a moment before they took off after the creature and Twilight, Pinkie shouting for them to slow down and Fluttershy politely asking them to stop. Neither seemed willing to comply.

Twilight turned a corner and skidded to a stop. It was a dead end. She circled around, hoping she get out before she was cornered, and felt her heart fall into her feet as the creature turned the corner, one lens of his mask glowing an evil reddish orange. She stepped back slowly and cautiously and the creature approached, laughing evilly. Her hind hooves clicked against the wall behind her, and Twilight started to shiver uncontrollably. She couldn’t understand what was going on, or why Fluttershy and Pinkie hadn’t stopped the monster that now loomed over her.

Tears came to Twilight’s eyes; she slammed them shut as the creature reached out for her. This was it, the end of her life. The creature tore off his mask and leaned in uncomfortably close, laughing wildly.

“Names Evets, you crazy purple meat puppet! Guess what? Boss says I don’t get to hurt you! Happy fucking birthday!” Twilight opened her eyes as Evets tossed his head back and began to howl with insane laughter.

“Hey, you scared her! That’s not funny! You really need to learn to be nicer!” Pinkie and Fluttershy had finally caught up to the two. Twilight looked over to them, warm tears streaking down her face.

“Pinkie? Fluttershy? Help me, please?” She was still trembling as Evets flipped his evil tool and cackled. Fluttershy slowly trotted over and gave the unicorn a comforting hug, before stepping back with an embarrassed look on her face.

“I’m so sorry Twilight, I mean, well, I told him he wasn’t allowed to hurt anypony, but I guess I should have made him wait at home. It’s okay though, I mean, you shouldn’t worry. I’m fine, and he hasn’t been hurting anypony.” She gave a slightly weak smile, and Twilight noticed a strange dullness in Fluttershy’s eyes, as if somepony (or some human) had drained some of the life out of her.

“Fluttershy, are you alright?” Twilight said.

“Oh, uh, it’s nothing. He’s caused a bit of trouble this morning, and I had to use the stare again. It really takes it out of me to use it on him.” Fluttershy glanced back to Evets, who had inexplicably started to balance his axe on his chin, eyes wide as he maintained the precarious balence.

“Lemmie guess; he hurt himself?”

“Oh no, I told him he shouldn’t do anything like that. No, I had to stop him from trying to eat one of the chickens.” Fluttershy lowered her head as she spoke, and Twilight felt the blood leaving her face. It was becoming increasingly obvious that this creature was a danger to everyone in Ponyville, possibly Equestria. There was a bit of solstace in the fact that Fluttershy and Pinkie had been able to reason with it, but it was still a frightening entity.

A loud yelp and more manical laughter made Fluttershy and Twilight turn around. The axe had fallen off of Evets’ chin and in a sad twist of physics had landed in his foot. He laughed manically as he ripped it out and licked the blood off. Fluttershy let out an exhausted groan before trotting over to bandage the human, leaving Twilight to shake and shudder at the sight of this creature that ignored and possibly even revelled in pain. To a peaceful pony who knew almost nothing of violence and hatred, Evets seemed to be the most dangerous monster she had ever heard of.

******

The updraft from the Everfree hit the griffon’s wings as she climbed higher in the sky, eyes locked on the ground below, looking for some kind of meal. She was hungry as hell, and unfortunetly for her the last of her packed food had been eaten a while back. So now she hunted, eyes scanning the woods. Movement caused her reflexes to kick in, and she dove towards the ground, talons ready. As she approached her prey became clear; a small family of raccoons wandering about.

They came closer, closer, and then the kill seemed certain. Except that she missed. Her talons raked empty dirt as the family ran, scuttering under cover far away from the angry predator. The griffon roared and screamed, angry at herself, the raccoons, the trees, and everything else in the world. She was hungry and angry, a leathal combination in a griffon.

She tromped through the forest for a while, intent on eating whatever crossed her path, no matter what it was. She was a predator, mean and vicious, and no matter what crossed her path, she was confident she could handle it. There was nothing in these damn woods that stood a chance against her. She knew that. At least she thought she did. As she came across a simple dirt path, she smelled blood in the air. Blood and dead meat, a combination she recognized as something leaving leftovers.

Just down the path sat two carcasses, a fox and an elk, both mutilated. Fly buzzed around and scattered as the griffon approached and crouched over the two. The elk‘s torso had been ripped open and it guts had been pulled out and eaten. She looked carefully, taking in every detail of the corpse before turning to the second. The fox was small, and aside from a bisected skull was in one piece. She prodded and turned the animal. It seemed like it had been in good health, certainly like it would have been a good meal, but it had just been killed and left there.

It seemed like whatever had done this had a bit of a sadistic side, and as the griffon looked around she began to see signs of a battle. Extra blood and kicked up dirt, hoof prints and the prints of whatever the predator had been. She stopped near several small puddles of blood that trailed off, along with a grove in the dirt. The pony, or rather the Pegasus, had one the fight, and for some reason had decided to drag the loser away.

The griffon groaned and shook her head. The scene was confusing, and almost none of it made sense. She looked at the path, the hoof prints and the path from the dragged body, and began to walk. She was willing to bet she could get some food from the nearby ponies. Even if they didn’t like her she’d be able to find food. Frankly, them not liking her might make it easier, assuming she didn’t run into Rainbow Dash. The griffon shuddered at the thought, recalling her last meeting with the hotheaded flyer before setting off down the path. She’d cross that bridge when she came to it.

She paused for a second in front of what looked like the scorched remains of a tree. For a moment she wondered what had caused the explosion responsible for the mess. A moment later she had started walking again, this time intent on getting her food and getting some answers, and if she couldn’t find either…

She shook the thought from her head. She’d find what she was looking for, one way or another. The road passed beneath her feet. Gilda was coming back to Ponyville, and all kinds of shit were coming with her.

******

The yellow Pegasus and her involuntary bodyguard walked down the road back to the cottage, Fluttershy exhausted and Evets surprisingly enough being completely silent. She glanced up to see his mask rested atop his head, revealing his face. She had to admit that among others of his kind he was probably very handsome. At that moment he lacked the deranged smiles and laughter, instead possessing a strange calmness. The light from Celestia’s setting sun gave him a strange otherworldly glow, and his green eyes sparkled in the twilight.

“You look really nice.” She whispered. Evets stopped and stared at her. For a moment she shivered, wondering if she had inadvertently offended him before spotting the confused look on his face. He tilted his head, silently watching her. “I mean, you’re just so calm and peaceful, and you just seem nicer…” Her voice petered off near the end, and she hid behind her long bangs.

Evets started to laugh, but this time it was a soft laugh, a giggle as opposed to his usual cackling. “Yeah, real nice,” he said, “I’m a sadist with a blood obsession. Real model citizen.” There was a sorrow in his eyes, and for a moment she saw a kind and gentle soul. For that single moment she saw a reflection of herself in the man. He covered his face with a hand, his giggling getting louder until it changed back into his normal laughter. He uncovered his face, tears streaming down the sides and one eye twitching to match his insane demeanor.

“Guess that’s the way it goes! Fuck it! I’m looong gone, bitches! I’m a mean motherfucker now!” He threw a tightly clenched fist in the air, and Fluttershy felt her chest tighten. It was so sad, everything that had happened to Evets, the beast he had been turned into. He had no control left, and the rare moments he did it seemed like he was left to wonder why everything had gone wrong in his life. All in all, his entire existence seemed so sad, and Fluttershy could only feel sorry for the poor thing.

The rest of the walk back went relatively quiet, save for Evets’ constant guffawing. When the two finally arrived, however, they found the door to the cottage wide open. From inside came the noises of startled and frightened animals. Without a second thought Fluttershy charged in, gasping in shock at the sight of the intruder.

Gilda had grown since her departure from Ponyville, and standing upright seemed about as tall as Evets. Her talons were wrapped around a squirrel that wriggled in a desperate attempt to escape, up until the very last moment when its head disappeared inside the griffon’s beak. She swallowed the rest of it as Fluttershy watched, her body shacking violently from fear and horror. “G-Gilda!” Fluttershy stammered as the griffon fell to all fours and walked over to the pegasus, an angry look on her face.

“Well, Well, Well, if it isn’t Fluttercry herself! Why don’t you just turn around and leave you dork.” Gilda sneered at her, and shoved the trembling pony for emphasis. “I’m busy. Why don’t you go play with that flip-flop Rainbow Crash.”

Fluttershy stood tall, at least slightly taller than the floor, eyes locked on Gilda. “Um, well, I can’t leave because this is my house and…”

“I’m sorry, did I ask for your opinion? Get out of here pipsqueak, your bothering me!” Gilda waved off the pegasus before turning her attention to a small cage housing a wolverine with a broken leg, a predatory gleam in her eyes.

“…No.”

Gilda’s eyes went wide for a moment and then narrowed in anger at Fluttershy. The yellow mare stood her ground, now standing at her full height. “I’m not leaving. This is my house, and I’m taking care of these animals. I will not stand by and let you hurt them!” Any sense of nervousness was gone from Fluttershy’s voice, “I want you to leave, and if you plan on coming back I expect you to learn how to behave yourself! Do you under-”

Gilda grabbed Fluttershy’s head tightly and drove it muzzle first into her waiting knee. Caught off guard, her world went dark around her as a familiar laugh came from the doorway.

******

He had smelt it a few steps from the door. Fresh blood spilt by a wild animal. His boss had entered but hadn’t come out. He opened the door to see her on the ground, unconscious but alive. Standing over her was some weird thing, Eagle and lion all in one. An obvious predator, an obvious killer, and Evets’ next target. The buzz axe revved up as he stepped in, the laughter coming as a predecessor to the bloodshed. The rabbit kept him fed for protecting the Pegasus, and this was a clear and present threat to her.

It turned to him, wearing an expression he recognized as a mix of surprise and annoyance. “What do you want? You want some of this?” His laughter began to intensify as Angel hopped over to the boss. He looked to Evets, the message in his eyes clear as the sky. No mercy, not for this one. Kill her however you want. Evets pulled his mask down snug over his face and took another step towards the meat.

“I WANT TO EAT MEAT! YOUR MEAT!” he charged out swinging, barely missing the enemy. Here it was; bloodlust in full glory, the need to eat, to rend, to survive. Instinct of a wild animal in a body made for killing. To hell with his sanity! It had no place right now. All there was place for was the fight. He wouldn’t let the chance to have hot meat pass him by.

******

Gilda eyed her new opponent carefully, sizing him up. His attack had been obvious, a simple overhead swing that she had easily dodged. She couldn’t see his eyes, which would make his moves harder to read, but her pride and confidence screamed that it wouldn’t stand a chance, even with the small advantage it held. She pulled herself up and began to lash out with a flurry of claw swipes and pecks with her beak. The creature didn’t bother to dodge, instead taking the attacks and throwing out some of his own.

Within seconds it was bleeding from numerous cuts on his chest and arms, but didn’t seem to have lost any steam. Gilda on the other hand had taken a few scratches to the chest, as well as one missing talon on her right claw and felt herself slowing down a bit. She couldn’t understand how it was taking all the damage she inflicted without showing any signs of pain. It took another swing at her, this one cutting into her chest and leaving a long bloody gash that made her roar in pain.

She leapt back, putting distance between her and the enemy. The memory of the bodies in the woods came to her memory, and a quick glance at the wounds on her body confirmed that this was the creature involved. She jumped out of the way of another charge as she looked the attacker over once more. He was lean but made of nothing but muscle, and his hatchet was obviously a huge threat. He didn’t appear to have any other weapons, but the memory of a scorched tree kept Gilda wary.

He charged at her again, and this time she leapt over him and landed just inches from his back. She spun and dug her talons into his legs, right behind the knees. The creature hit the floor hard, one of the floorboards cracking beneath his knee, and he spun with another swing of his weapon, missing by an inch. Gilda gave a sinister smile at her helpless foe as she clawed his outstretched arm. The axe embedded itself in the ground, free from its owner’s hand, and Gilda walked leisurely around her opponent.

“You know, you put up a pretty awesome fight. Before I kill you, you mind telling me why you didn’t use whatever firepower you had?” She leaned in close, a foot from the creature’s face, her yellow eyes meeting the orange glow from its mask. Despite everything that had happened, the creature was still laughing. “C’mon, I saw the tree. How’d you do that?”

The creature just kept laughing, and Gilda stood up, raising her talons for a final blow. She saw that as she brought them down, the beast leapt forward, crashing into her and knocking her to the floor. He jammed his hand into her face, and pain ripped through her head as she went blind. She screamed as she felt the bastard’s fingers come out of her bleeding eye sockets. He moved, and she pulled herself up. She was completely blind, and the smell of blood caked up her nose.

All she had to go by way sound, and all she could hear was that horrid laughter. The creature was roaring with laughter now, and she lashed out with everything she could use in a panicked hope to survive. “Silly bird! I don’t have firepower, BUT I WILL WHEN I WEAR YOUR SKULL ON MY HEAD! I’LL HAVE A SHITLOAD OF FIREPOWER THEN!” He laughed loudly and Gilda felt the blade pass through her legs, cutting them off right at the ankle. She hit the ground and began to flap her wings to fly away until they two were removed. Blood began to pool around her, and she screamed desperately as she tried to crawl away.

Her talons dug into soft dirt, a sheer sign of getting outside the cottage. For a moment she dared to hope that there was an escape from this monster. Her hopes ended at her talons, which found themselves detached the very next moment. She screamed in a final desperate cry for help as something blunt shattered her neck. Blood pooled in her mouth before leaking out of her beak, and the already dark world turned quiet as the evil laughter of her murderer echoed through the cool twilight air.

Reflections of the Mad

The Pandoran

Chapter 4: Reflections of the Mad

Fan-fucking-tastic. Evets looked at the gashes in the back of his legs once more, taking in the severity of the damage. That griffon had done a number on him, and now that he had his mind back it was becoming obvious how badly he had actually been injured. After he had stomped on the meat’s throat he had dragged it back in and gotten to work chopping. The meat was now lying in a neat pile with the feathers, skin, and bones in another.

One of the talons he had chopped off early in the fight was now crunching in his mouth, distracting him just enough to ignore the fact that he was probably bleeding out as he worked. The entire time this had been going on Angel had been hard at work taking care of Fluttershy, but now that she was comfortably settled, though still unconscious, he had turned to the mess of blood and feathers that littered the room. Fluttershy can’t see this. The message came in clear to Evets, though he actually had no idea what to do. Psychos didn’t clean up the bodies of the dead, preferring to simply chop off or carve away what they needed and leave the rest to rot in the sun.

Take care of this. Now.

“I’m a chopping man, not a hiding man! I chop meat! Chop it, salt it, and turn it into jerky! I MAKE FUCKING FURNITURE FROM THE BONES!” He roared at the rabbit before realizing that he really did need to hide the chunks. And clean up the blood and feathers. And fix the broken floor boards. God help him if the Pegasus found out that he had killed the damn thing, even if it had attacked her.

The thoughts stopped him in his tracks. Here he was, pondering the disposal of a body so that he didn’t offend or upset the yellow pony he called boss. On Pandora he would have chopped up any boss with delicate sensibilities. What had changed? Was he going soft? Evets pulled his mask off, looking at the tarnished device. He had fixed it as best he could when he had gotten it back, and in the fight it had gotten scratched up even worse. For all of his time on Pandora this mask had been with him, covered in the same dirt and grime as he did. It had become a part of him. And yet looking at it now, all he could see was a filtration mask with an upside-down V on it. He felt no attachment to the thing.

He dropped it to the floor and prodded the pile of flesh and bone once more before his attention turned to a knocking at the door. Angel looked to the door, then to Evets. Slowly the man walked to the door, pausing to pull his mask on as he went. He opened it carefully, looking out with one eye before it burst open. A force like a rocket hit him in the chest, knocking him backwards into the pile of bloody feathered chunks. He opened his eyes slowly, glancing down to see colorful streamers and confetti covering his chest.

He looked up to the door and saw a pink pony with a now flat and droopy mane and a horrified expression on her face. In front of her was a pink cannon, smoke fresh from a barrel. Evets stood up gently, trying his hardest to keep the bloodlust that had begun to surface down, and began to move towards Pinkie Pie. “Hey there,” he said, punctuating with a bit of soft laughter, “You wanna move a body?”

******

Twilight paced on the ground floor of the library, her body still trembling from the incident that had started her day. She been waiting desperately for a response from Princess Celestia, any kind of response, and with the sun just past the horizon she began to wonder if she should write another letter. A belch and the sound of burning parchment echoed from upstairs, and the purple unicorn rushed up to see what had arrived.

Spike was sitting on the floor clutching his belly, a large brown package next to the baby dragon. Twilight ignored him completely and tore open the package, taking out the book she sent (which was now dog-eared and bookmarked in several places), another smaller book entitled Empathy for a Monster by somepony named Crowquill Symphony, her notes, and a letter bearing the royal seal. She tore open the letter as her assistant trudged downstairs while mumbling about his stomach.

My Dearest Twilight Sparkle,

I read your letter and the material you sent with it, and I must say that if what you’ve written is true, then we may very well be facing an undeniable crisis. Unfortunately, we do not possess the military means to combat such a creature, and as such I’m afraid that if an offence was necessary it would come down to using the Elements of Harmony or Luna and myself intervening. Before such drastic actions are taken, I would like to ask that you attempt diplomacy with this ‘psycho’ as the book so aptly names.

Twilight almost dropped the letter as she read the line. Diplomacy? She wasn’t one to question the Princess, but from what she had seen it would be almost impossible for anypony but Fluttershy to deal with Evets. If anything, the encounter in town had shown that even if it diplomacy was possible he would still cause plenty of trouble. Despite her concern, she read on.

In order to assist you in this endeavor I have enclosed a book by a Ponyville author, something of a one-trick pony mostly known for writing fairly cliché romance pieces and absurd fiction. Luna has also told me that he is apparently fat, but I don’t think that’s relevant. He is actually a descendent of the pony who wrote the book you sent me, and in his book he goes over the mindset of something like the creature you described, discussing the topic in great detail.

However, if this avenue does not yield promising results, I have bookmarked certain passages of your book that could be used to determine a strategy against the creature. I pray that it will not come down to violence, but if it does I would at least like for you to be ready.

Your caring teacher,

Princess Celestia.

Twilight looked over to the smaller book that came with the note, a simple green book with the title in bold and the name in small italics at the bottom of the cover. She set it aside, turning to one of the bookmarks the princess had left in the guide. Diplomacy would most likely be a dead end tactic for dealing with this new enemy. The first bookmark was on a page with a simple drawing of what the author dubbed “The Buzz Axe,” which she instantly recognized as the weapon Evets had been carrying when she saw him in town. She lay upon the floor and began to read the description of the weapon.

Just outside, a mother and her foal were passing by the library when the foal began to laugh rather loudly. Inside the library, Twilight found herself clinging desperately to the ceiling, her body trembling violently. The foal left and Twilight fell, hitting the floor hard just a few feet from the book. She groaned and pulled herself back towards the book. She couldn’t believe she had been so frightened by laughter. She reasoned that it was entirely the monster’s fault, and decided that the sooner the situation could be dealt with the better.

******

If there was one thing that Pinkie Pie prided herself on, it was her cakes. Next to that was her laughter, something that helped her deal with nearly every scary or spooky thing she had run into. As she stared into Fluttershy’s cottage, with the floor, walls, and human covered in blood, she couldn’t find anything to laugh about. Her little knees wobbled, and she felt her mane fall flat. Evets strode forward carefully, setting his axe on the floor as he moved. Pinkie’s body began to shake as the blood soaked giant advanced, and she started backing away.

“Hold on!” Evets shouted as he extended his open palms. “If you leave now, then I won’t be able to clean this up! I need a pair of hands! Hooves! HELP ME MOVE THIS DAMN MEAT!”

Pinkie was glued to her spot, body trembling like a rock during a landslide. Her mind drifted to the strange spasm she had had the day before just outside the cottage, and the scene that lay before her. Was this it? Was this what her Pinkie sense had warned her about? She wanted to run, even as Evets removed his frightening mask. She felt rough, calloused hands grip her under her forelegs and lift her up. She could see into Evets’ eyes now, green gems twitching slightly as he stared back at her.

I need your help. Fluttershy will go even crazier than me if we can’t move this griffon.

“Griffon!” Pinkie yelped and bounced out of the man’s grip. She landed in front of the bones. Sure enough, there was the skull and its beak, caked in drying blood. “Why? Why would you be such a meany mean pants?” She held the skull gingerly in her hooves and felt tears in her eyes.

Evets was silent for a moment, just staring at the pony sitting near the bones. Slowly he started to step forward, boots clicking against the floor. “I just chop what I need to. Choppity chop to make meat puppets. She lashed out first, drew first blood, sealed her fate.” His brow began to furrow, and his teeth clenched together as he stood over her. “She’s meat now! Help me get rid of it!” He picked up an armful of bloody bones, a few smaller ones clattering to the ground as he began to stride outside. “We’ll dump em in a barrel, hide em in the woods. No one will know! No one!”

Pinkie sat there, her mind more puzzled and mixed up than ever. She knew that whatever had happened here was bad, even if the victim had been Gilda. Cleaning the mess up and pretending that it never happened would be wrong, even if it was for Flutters’ sake. But on the other hoof, Flutters was delicate, calm and peaceful. If she knew of the bloodbath that had happened in her living room, who knew how she would take it?

Besides, it’s only Gilda. She was mean to everyone. Even Fluttershy! She probably had this coming.

The voice startled Pinkie, the same voice from when she was afraid her friends didn’t like her anymore. She couldn’t believe what it was saying, even if it was right about Gilda being mean. She shook it off, and turned her attention back to the piles. Evets had already picked up the rest of the bones, and had started on the skin and feathers.

Still shuddering, Pinkie picked up an empty bucket and began to drop the meat in. She cared for poor, innocent Fluttershy. There was no way that Pinkie would let her friend see this, even if everything about it was wrong.

******

There was no doubt left in Twilight’s mind that even the strongest Equestrian guard wouldn’t be able to fight Evets. The descriptions of the buzz axe had been terrifying, to say the least, and the description of the “Protean Grenade” was even more shocking, though given Fluttershy’s account of her initial meeting, it was safe to assume that he wouldn’t have access to that. After that was a detailed examination of the creature physical ability, from the fact that they could easily shatter bones with their bare fists, throw their axes with surprising accuracy and effectiveness.

The most frightening aspect of this creature was simply how durable it was. The book explained that the average Psycho was able to absorb amounts of damage to their body that would kill any pony, and on top of this they were able to recover incredibly fast. In the end, Twilight was starting to wonder if even the princesses could stop this thing. She groaned and tossed the bestiary away, turning her attention to the small green book. Despite everything she knew about Evets, she was starting to think that communicating with the maniac had a better chance than any combat encounter.

She opened the book, looking over the introduction and table of contents. As far as she could tell, the pony who had written it was completely insane, making absurd and macabre jokes and puns. She reluctantly turned to the first chapter, casually examining it with low expectations. By the time she finished the chapter she had begun to take notes.

Some of the writing was complete nonsense, and yet some of the points and example given were creative, insightful, and actually quite brilliant. She tore through the book, reading each chapter several times (with the forgivable exceptions of chapter 4 and 7, entitled “Drugs and Diplomacy” and “Engaging the Enemy- with Sex!”) and filling page after page with notes. In the end she passed out with her face in the book, still lying on the floor with piles of notes and strategies for dealing with Evets.

No matter what happens, she assured herself, I’m sure we’ll be able to handle this now.

******

It had been surprising enough when Evets had convinced Pinkie to help him clean up. When he convinced her to help him cook the meat to “stop predators from attacking the cottage from the scent of blood” he began to wonder if she had ever done this before. Given her unique mental state, it seemed more than likely that she would have hidden a body at least once in her life. The fire crackled in the night as Evets scooped another chunk of meat into his mouth, savoring the flavor. It wasn’t as sweet as that blue unicorn he had eaten, and the meat was much tougher, but compared to dead rats and skag meat it was delicious.

He looked over to Pinkie, her mane still drooping and a terrified look on her face. He assumed that since she hadn’t left she was paralyzed with fear, and took the opportunity to talk. “I guess you don’t want any?” His voice still sounded a bit insane, but at the very least he wasn’t laughing.

“Meat is icky.”

“Have YOU ever eaten meat?”

In the time it took Evets to blink Pinkie Pie was an inch from his unmasked face, her eyes wide and unmistakably angry. “Of course not! It’s wrong to hurt other creatures! Nopony should ever hurt anypony else!” The psycho was a bit taken aback. “And you! You’re a grumpy mean jerk pants for being so violent and rude to everypony! If you don’t stop doing that then I WON’T BE YOUR FRIEND ANYMORE!” She glared at him, panting heavily in the aftermath of her outburst.

The two of them stared at each other for a while, Pinky venting her rage and Evets both intrigued and annoyed. She had snapped. Gone berserk, insane, just like he was prone to do. She hadn’t turned violent, but perhaps that was a sign that she had some hold on her lunacy. A hold he didn’t have. A hold he couldn’t have.

“Where’s the bloodlust? You don’t chop, you don’t kill, HOW ARE YOU JUST AS MAD AS ME?” He screamed as he stood up, and began to clutch his face in a tight grip. “My mind is meat, useless meat. How are you sane?” He began to laugh, but it was twisted even more than usual. Everything became clear to him at the sight of her. He was long gone, but so was she. How could she control it? Why couldn’t he?

His sobs mixed with his laughter, tears flowed from wide crazy eyes. He stared into the stars, and then screamed. It was a beastly primal scream, and he felt the bloodlust rise within him. He drew his buzz axe and began to chop at a nearby tree, each swing leaving a deep gash. His laughter grew angry, and he swung again. This time the head of the axe embedded itself in the trunk of the tree, while the handle remained in his grip. He stared at it for a second, then screamed out “FUCK! FUCKING WORTHLESS!” He threw the handle into the woods, laughing angrily the entire time.

He sat down again, burying his face in his hands. He felt the rage growing, felt it preparing to consume him. And then it stopped. He felt his subconscious laughter slow and stop, and felt something warm wrapped around his waist, ending in a warm lump resting on his back. He turned, spotting the cotton candy mane of the pony who was embracing him. She had tears in her eyes as well.

“You’ve never had any friends have you?” She hugged him tighter as she spoke, “It’s no wonder you’re so mean. You’ve always been a grumpy monkey because no one wanted to be nice to you.” She began to sob softly, and Evets let her. He sat there and turned his attention to the fire.

The two of them sat there until the sun came up, with Pinkie eventually passing out with the man still in a tight hug. Evets ran a hand over his head in the morning light, and felt the stubble of hair growing. He looked around for his mask, picked it up and stared at it for a while. In a way, this mask had been an identity for him. Every Psycho decorated their masks in a similar fashion, with the upside down V motif. It was the symbol of the vault, but more than that, it was the symbol of Pandora itself.

Pandora. A place of violence and hatred. A place where friendship and love had no meaning. A place where trust was repaid with a knife to back. This place that he now resided in, this land of harmony and peace, was nothing like it. There was no place for a man like him here. He sighed and dropped his mask. It seems I’m going soft, he thought to himself.

The sunlight bathed the madman and the pink pony in a warm, loving light, Evets finally drifted off to sleep.

Indestructable

The Pandoran

Chapter 5: Indestructible

Twilight stirred from her slumber and wiped a strand of drool from her mouth as Celestia’s sun rose from behind the mountains. She smacked her lips a bit, and, still half-asleep, she began to walk downstairs. Spike was already up and about, and had left breakfast on the table for her. She began to nibble on it slowly, smiling at the flavor of dandelions. As she ate, she went over the events of the past few days. First and foremost, the monster by the name of Evets had appeared and wounded her friend Fluttershy.

Secondly, she had begun research on how to deal with the creature, peacefully and, if necessary, in combat. She shuddered at the thought of fighting Evets, wondering briefly if it was even possible to best him in combat. She took another bite, now slightly more awake and calm. The book about diplomacy had helped her come up with several plans for convincing the human to change his ways, or at the very least get him to leave peacefully.

A loud belch from the main room of the library snapped Twilight fully awake, and she turned to see Spike walking into the room, holding a sealed letter bearing a seal she wasn’t familiar with. She grasped it with her magic, opening it and setting it on the table next to her. Her eyes scanned the contents as she took a sip from a glass of apple juice.

Twilight Sparkle, time is short, and Ponyville is no type of fort. A great beast comes from the trees, a monster born within the Everfree. He’s out for blood and nothing more, beware the advances of the evil Manticore! I must flee now, or my life will end,

Signed Zecora, a worried friend.

Twilight stared at the letter for a moment, her eyes wide in panic. A manticore was coming to Ponyville. They were dangerous creatures, and in most cases could not be reasoned with. She downed the rest of her breakfast in seconds and dashed out the door. There was only one pony she knew who could deal with an angry manticore. Her only worry was the homicidally deranged guard dog that had taken to following her.

******

Fluttershy looked around her cottage, trying to make sense of her situation. She distinctly remembered Gilda appearing, and recalled the griffon kneeing her in the face. She guessed that she had been knocked unconscious, but as she looked around she saw no signs of a struggle, let alone of a griffon attacking her animals. The cottage looked as neat and tidy as always, possibly even cleaner.

She pulled herself off of the cot she had been laying on, taking note of the bandages applied to her head as she trotted over to the kitchen. Angel bunny was sitting on his usual stool, mixing up a beautiful looking salad with a focused look on his face. Fluttershy gently cleared her throat, the noise as soft as a mouse’s whisper. Despite that, Angel caught the noise and spun around, looking directly at the yellow mare.

“Um, hello Angel. I was wondering if maybe you knew what happened to Gilda. Um, I mean,” She paused, looking at her feet for a moment, “I know she hurt me a bit, but I’m still a bit worried about her.” She looked up at the white rabbit, who made a flapping motion with his arms.

“Oh, so she flew away?” She looked carefully at Angel. He nodded. “That’s a little strange. Did she do anything before she left?” Angel shook his head. Fluttershy let out a soft sigh. She knew Gilda had been rude, and had potentially left her with a concussion, but Fluttershy just couldn’t let any creature just leave when it may be hungry or hurt; be they big or small, kind or violent, she just couldn’t let them face the world alone.

She took a bowl of salad with her to the living room of her cottage, thanked Angel for making it and sat down to eat. Before she could, however, she spotted a crack in the floorboards. It was a sizable mark, and she briefly wondered how she had missed it before crossing over to examine it closer.

The board had splintered near the middle, and had several red blotches on the wood. She ran a hoof over it, wondering what had happened. Her memories of last evening became clearer, and she turned to rush outside. Evets had come in just as she fell unconscious. What if he had gotten into a fight with Gilda? What if he was hurt, or she was hurt, or they both were hurt? What if one of them had killed the other? What would she do?

Fluttershy flung the door open, wings spread and ready to fly, and came face to face with a panicked Twilight Sparkle. The two ponies stared at each other for a moment, completely silent. Just outside the cottage, a single leaf fell from the tree.

Dead silence.

And then they both began to talk. At the same time.

“Fluttershy! Zecora sent me a letter warning me about a manticore heading towards town and I know you’ve talked down a manticore before so I came here to warn you and get you to help!”

“Twilight! Oh dear, it’s simply awful! Gilda broke into my house yesterday, and I sort of wound up unconscious, and now Evets seems to be missing and I need to find him because I’m worried that they might have fought and gotten hurt!”

Another moment of silence. In the kitchen, Angel had started to wash the dishes with the help of an eagle.

“Wait, what happened?” The two of them both spoke at the same time, ending with yet another uncomfortable silence.

******

Big. Really big. Hairy too.

Evets stared at the creature as it helped itself to the meat resting nearby the ashes of the night’s fire. It ate quickly, devouring the meat in large gulps. The pile disappeared in seconds, and then the pile of bones, and then the pile of feathers and flesh. It turned to him. Its eyes were dark, staring at him. His eyes were hidden; his mask stared the creature down.

He felt the rage, the bloodlust growing. Felt it gnawing deep inside. Something different this time though. He felt something strange with the bloodlust; a type of focus that had been missing before.

It growled and stepped forward. He saw the tail, like a scorpion. Definitely dangerous. No weapons this time, just his hands, his feet. Nothing but his fists and nails. He stared at the creature. He was steady and silent, a side effect of this strange rage.

Behind him came a soft yawn. He felt his blood chill as Pinkie slowly rose as yawned. The beast growled, stretched its claws out wide, ready to attack the sleepy prey. Evets decided not to wait any longer.

He charged, lunging towards the creature with open arms. It leapt forward, hoping to pin him. The two charged forward in what seemed like an eminent collision. He heard Pinkie scream as he crashed into a creature just as tall and twice as wide as he was.

He had faced worse odds before.

******

Fluttershy flew through the woods as fast as she could. She heard Pinkie’s scream and pushed on even harder, straining her wings as she hit speeds she normally would be to afraid to reach. Behind her ran Twilight, but the distance between the two grew wider with each second. The Pegasus crashed through a clearing, and gasped at the sight that awaited her.

A manticore, larger than the one she had met before, was clawing and biting at Evets, who was circling, dodging the creature’s every blow as he lashed out with his fists and nails. He was covered in fresh wounds, but as far as Fluttershy could tell he hadn’t been injured by the manticore. Not yet anyways.

There were no signs of Gilda, but Pinkie Pie was there, now trying to laugh the manticore away. That, or she had been spending too much time with Evets and she had finally snapped irreversibly. Fluttershy flew over to Pinkie, spotting tears in the pink mare’s eyes as she approached. She cast a glance over to Evets, who seemed to be holding up well against the manticore, keeping out of its range and throwing punch after punch at it.

“Pinkie! Are you alright?” Fluttershy said.

Pinkie grabbed onto Fluttershy’s shoulders and began to babble incoherently, but Fluttershy was able to make out the words, “Help,” “danger,” “manticore,” and “acidophilus,” the last one seeming completely random but the first three seeming to insist that Fluttershy intervene in the fight.

She turned towards the battle in progress and advanced slowly. She felt her knees quaking at the sight of these monstrous titans clashing, and she let out a nervous gulp as the manticore roared from another punch to the ribs. She held her ground several yards from the fight, and shut her eyes tight. She was worried, more worried than usual. As far as she could tell, there was no reason for the manticore to be so grumpy and mean, so it seemed unlikely that a peaceful solution could be found.

The only option left was The Stare, but she when she had used it on Evets it had frozen both of them in place until the stare had broken. She could use it on the Manticore, but there was no guarantee it would work, especially since it was completely enraged.

She stood silent for a moment, and then she furrowed her brow and opened her eyes, unleashing the full power of the stare towards the beast. It stopped and turned to face her, and once more Fluttershy’s eyes met with those of a violent animal’s. She held it and felt the creatures resolve begin to wane slightly. Evets stopped with the creature, looking at her and then back to the monster. He recognized The Stare, and didn’t seem willing to get locked into a battle with it now.

The manticore was beginning to tremble, its resolve nearly broken when a scream pierced the air and broke Fluttershy’s concentration. Twilight was staring wide-eyed at Evets, covered head to toe in wounds, and the giant manticore. It let out a roar, it’s fury fully returned, and charged towards Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus could only tremble at the sight of the gnashing violent teeth approaching her. She shut her eyes and braced herself as the manticore leapt.

******

It was charging. She didn’t succeed. Twilight had accidentally doomed everyone. No time to save Fluttershy, or Twilight, or even Pinkie. No chance of fighting it off, at least not without a weapon.

And yet Evets found himself charging as well. He leapt at the same moment as the monster, crashing into his boss and knocking both of them out of the beast’s lethal path. He spun about, coming face to face with it. He attacked once again, his hand open and raking across the beast’s eyes. It responded with a large paw to his ribs, sending him flying. His chest impacted a tree, and something left a gash along his side on the way down. Evets looked up to see the broken head of his axe, still embedded in the tree trunk. He grasped at it, the edge digging into his hand as the creature roared behind him. With a final pull, it came out, and turned around to face his enemy.

It had cornered Twilight, and Pinkie was shouting, either to distract it or simply out of panic and fear; He wasn’t quite sure, but he could see Fluttershy, launching kick after kick into the beast. It ignored the pain, advancing towards the purple unicorn who lashed out wildly with her magic, thought the effects were lost on the beast.

Evets ran, his legs carrying him quickly. The rage was pounding throughout his body, pushing his muscles harder than ever before. He swung the blade at the creature, gouging a chunk from the base of its tail. It roared, this time in pain as Evets continued to strike, each blow spilling blood and sending chunks of the carapace flying. It spun, bringing its claws around in a haymaker that Evets ducked under.

He brought the wedge into the creatures gut, tearing it across and ramming a fist into the open wound. Warm crimson wetness splashed upon him, and he ripped out an armful of guts as he jumped away from another strike. The creature was on all fours now, its tail useless and it’s stomach opened. Evets stood above his conquered foe, his mind blank save for thoughts of brutal violence. The creature stared up at him, as if expecting the final blow.

A final blow that never came. The world returned around the man; the ground covered in blood, the trees of the forest, and the trio that stood behind the monster. They were trembling in fear, fear of the brutal violence they had witnessed, and fear of what the psycho would do next. He looked into their eyes, and that strange feeling within him returned. That feeling that had risen with the rage and had seemingly vanished in the heat of battle had returned.

That focus; he realized it wasn’t on the enemy. It was on them. Pinkie at first, and when the stare failed it had been all three of them. He had been protecting them. He looked down at the creature, spotted it growling and crawling away. He watched it for a moment as it left a trail of blood on the grass behind it.

Evets turned away from it once again, his hand still gripping the blood-stained chunk of metal in his hand. Twilight was still trembling, and there was a thin streak of blood across her face, but Fluttershy and Pinkie seemed to have completely calmed down. The trotted over slowly towards Evets with sympathy in their eyes, and Pinkie even had a slight grin.

He went down to his knees and let the axe head fall to the ground. Fluttershy started to pat him on the back gently, whispering “Thank you for letting it go.” Pinkie simply hugged the man, her forelegs warm and fuzzy against his skin. Twilight slowly approached, still nervous and apprehensive.

“I’d like to thank you,” she said, “For helping to deal with the manticore, and I’m sorry that I endangered everyone. I must say that I am a little surprised you just let it go.” She stopped, and a panicked look crossed her face. “In a good way! I was surprised in a good way!”

Evets stayed dead silent. He wasn’t sure what was happening to him, or how or why, but at the very least he was dead certain of a few facts.

Fluttershy gave a damn good pat on the back, and Pinkie gave great hugs.

******

Deep within a cave in the Everfree forest, the beast sat. The cave she called home was still and quiet, save for the gentle stirrings of her child sleeping on the stone floor. She stared out the entrance to the cave, looking out into the sun, fighting off sleep. She had smelled it three moons ago, the scent of roasting meat on the wind. It reminded her of when she was young, long before she had grown to tower over all in her domain.

She had peeked out of her cave, and saw the smoke in the distance. In her mind, she had gone over the creatures she had seen that were capable of making fires and cooking meat, but of all the creatures she knew, none of them were known to live so close to her den.

The next night was quiet, peaceful, but the scent lingered. And then, in the moonlight of the next day, it had come again, the scent of burnt meat. She could smell that it was a different animal this time, a griffon as opposed to the unicorn that had been roasted before. It came from the woods, so close to her home.

Now she stood awake, staring into the sunlight, waiting for a sign of the predator moving. As she sat, a smell hit her nostrils. Fresh blood, with a very pungent odor. Something had killed a Manticore, or at least mortally wounded it. And it was close.

The creature within the cave let out a growl and lay on her belly, eyes locked on the solitary entrance to the cave. She would wait until nightfall. If this new foe came to her cave, she would end it then and there. If not, then she would depart with the moonlight, the first hunt in a long while.

Despite everything, the corners of her fanged mouth curled up in a wicked looking smile. She simply couldn’t wait for sundown.

I'm Alive

The Pandoran

Chapter 6: I’m Alive

Fluttershy watched Evets as he lay on his cot, flipping his newly repaired buzz-axe above him. He wasn’t laughing, and his gaze seemed distant, as if he was in an entirely different world. He had been like that since the battle that morning, and she was beginning to worry for him. She trotted across the floor, sitting a few feet from the bed.

“Are you okay?”

Evets remained silent.

“Do you want something to eat?”

A mime in Canterlot had a sudden feeling he was being outdone.

“I’m glad you didn’t kill that manticore.”

“I should’ve.”

Fluttershy’s ears perked up at Evets finally speaking. The man turned and set his feet on the wooden floor. “I should have killed it. Felt the bloodlust.” His eye twitched slightly, and the hints of an insane smile began to creep across his face. “The fucker should’ve died! I should’ve carved him up, eaten his guts, WORN HIS HEAD LIKE A HAT!” The psycho’s face suddenly returned to a calm scowl, and his voice lowered in volume and pitch. “But I couldn’t. He started crawling away and I couldn’t.”

The yellow mare trotted over to Evets, resting a hoof on his knee. “You showed him mercy. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Evets brushed her hoof off and walked to the window, starring out angrily. “You’ve changed Evets. Oh, in a good way, I mean.” She went to his side, giving a supportive smile.

“Do you remember when I, um, used the stare on you?” The man nodded slightly, and Fluttershy continued. “Well, um, I kind of saw, um, your memories.” She winced slightly as she spoke, expecting some reaction from the man that towered over her. He simply turned to her, and deep in his eyes was a kind of sorrow, a kind of empathy.

“Then you know why I should have killed him.” He sat on the floor cross-legged, looking straight at the yellow mare. “Pandora didn’t give second chances. Life didn’t give second chances. I wound up in jail, wound up in Pandora, wound up the mutant I am.” He looked out through the window again, the distance returning to his expression. “Hatred had a hand in it, but more than that was the simple fact that there are no second chances. Not really. Even if it seems like one, there’s always at least one string attached. One god-damn string.”

He stood up again, this time lifting Fluttershy off the ground. She let out a squeak of surprise, but calmed down as he stood still, eyes gazing out the window. The way he held her was almost caring, protective in nature. “This place is fucking weird. It’s been changing me, I think. Ever since I set foot out here I’ve been,” He paused, struggling for the right word before continuing. “Feeling. I’ve been feeling. It’s not normal. Not for me, at least. I was a creature of impulse, no thoughts but survival, living with an obsession for death. I sought it, to create and embrace it. I feared nothing. I still don’t fear anything. But I don’t feel right. I don’t feel. I shouldn’t feel anything but the rage, the primal spirit and desires.”

For a moment, Evets was silent again, and then he looked deep into Fluttershy’s eyes. “I feel concern. I feel like giving mercy. I feel like comforting things. I feel like a goddamn pushover.” His expression slowly began to soften, and he held her closer. “I’m not as crazy as I should be, and the strangest thing is,” he paused, as if the words were caught in his throat. “I think I’m okay with that. I know that my insanity is all I really have going for me, but I’m okay with losing it. Soon I’ll just be another civilian, another face in the crowds.”

He set her on the ground and let out a soft chuckle, a genuine laugh from his heart. “Just remember this. I said I’d work for you, and I intend to do so. You need some muscle, I’ll be there. You need to dump a body, well,” He let out another laugh, this one with a slight hint of his usual madness, “I know a few tricks.”

Despite the macabre nature of his statement, Fluttershy felt herself smile. He was definitely changing, and in such a short amount of time he had gone from wild animal to being…

Her thoughts hit a wall. What had Evets become? Fluttershy didn’t know anything about humans, with the man sitting on his bloody cot being the only example she personally knew. The visions she had received when she had used the stare on him were vague in their depictions of the other humans, but they all seemed like dangerous violent thugs. What if she was ruining his life? Could he have a life here?

He was still violent, even if he was getting better, and he certainly stood out from other ponies. On top of that, there weren’t any other humans in Equestria. He wouldn’t be able to have any friends of his own kind, so what would he do? Would he be able to have children? What would he do with his life.

She stared back to him, specifically at his face. He stared into the distance silently, a small smile on his face, an odd peace to his appearance. Seeing him so calm and happy, she couldn’t help but let her worries slip away. He’d find his way, she was sure of it.

With that done, she went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for herself and her animals. The sun began to set in the distance, and she smiled. It was bound to be a beautiful evening.

~*~*~*~

She awoke deep within her cave and check to make sure her child slept. Assured that the young one would not awaken, she began to crawl out from her den. The moon sat high in the sky, and the stars sparkled brightly above her. Of course, they were nothing compared to the stars which adorned her own body, shining brilliantly across her clear purple pelt, a thing of true beauty. Her nose raised to the air, she sniffed to find the predator that dared to encroach upon her territory.

The smell came quickly, an unnatural smell of cooked meat and splattered guts. She turned into the direction of the smell, finding it in the direction of the pony land. She frowned slightly; the last time she had pushed towards their land she had been driven off by the spirits of the night and day, and her own child had been banished from their lands when he sought revenge. Nevertheless, she began to walk to the village, each step shaking the very land beneath her.

The hunt had begun, and before the night was done blood would be spilt.

~*~*~*~

Shining Armor stared at his stallions, trying his hardest to keep as calm and reassuring as was physically possible. “Guardsmen, in the years you’ve served me and the Princess Celestia, you’ve faced dangers that no sane pony would dare face, and you’ve survived each and every time. Undeniably there have been moments where we’ve taken a beating, and sometimes even been forced into a brief retreat, but no matter what we’ve always overcome.” He paused and looked over them, at the stoic expressions on their faces.

He sighed. “Which is why I bring you no joy with our newest orders; a threat has come to Equestria; my si… the princess’s student Twilight Sparkle,” he said, catching himself before making the situation personal, “was instructed to attempt to reason with the creature, but according to our intelligence on the subject, that may very well be impossible. As a result, we’re being assigned to Ponyville in case this creature is a true threat.” His soldiers were silent, staring straight ahead at him as he continued.

“If this creature is truly as deadly and violent as we believe, these could be our last days. If the situation turns violent, our job will be to contain the threat no matter the cost. I don’t want anypony harmed under our watch.” He brought his legs together and stood at attention. “Do I make myself clear!” he shouted. Every guardspony assembled snapped a salute at him.

At first he found himself drifting back to Celestia’s briefing in preparation of the mission.

“We don’t have a military strong enough to destroy such a monster, but if this creature is indeed such a horrible monster then I’m afraid I’ll have to ask a terrible thing of you.” She had said.

“I will serve faithfully until the end, your majesty.” He had replied, and she solemnly continued.

“If the situation turns violent, your sole duty is to protect the citizens of Ponyville, especially the Elements of Harmony. The Elements should be able to seal away this monster, and therefore I must ask that you keep them safe,” she said, pausing briefly to gather herself before muttering, “No matter the consequences.”

With that he had left, and pondered on the matter until he gave his speech. As he neared the golden chariots he began to feel tension in his chest. He prayed that he’d live, that they wouldn’t be needed, that this monster would simply leave or disappear, but deep down he knew there was a very real possibility that he would die. Two mares flashed through his mind as he boarded with the other guards, the first his young sister, Twilight Sparkle. Dying to keep her safe wouldn’t be something he minded very much, but was also something he’d prefer to avoid.

The other, however, was a certain Pink Alicorn. He shut his eyes tight as he left the ground, his mind stuck firmly on her. Cadence, he thought, when I come back I’m going to propose to you.

The chariots climbed high into the night, the mood solemn and intense. Dark clouds waited in the distance, storm clouds drifting in fast from the Everfree. Deep within each stallion’s heart, there was intense feeling. There would be blood tonight.

~*~*~*~

The pounding had been faint, but consistent and powerful enough to keep Evets awake long after Fluttershy and her animals had fallen asleep. He had lain on his cot for half an hour trying to drift off, but the pounding kept him on edge, with the bloodlust nipping at his mind, as well as the strange, protective urges. He finally pulled himself from the cot and climbed atop the cottage, trying his hardest to find the source of the stomping.

When he finally spotted it though, he regretted his decision to search. A huge beast, like some kind of monstrous bear was walking tall above the trees, its pelt shining like the night sky, enormous fangs adorning its gruesome muzzle, and claws that seemed large even from a distance. The longer the former psycho stared at it, the more it became obvious it was looking for something, something in the direction of the pony village.

The protective urges swelled within him and he found himself tightening his grip on the buzz-axe. This thing was easily ten, twenty, maybe thirty times his height. If those claws even nicked him it would inevitably cost him his life, and as far as crushing was concerned he doubted even his inhuman endurance could withstand it. He would likely die fighting this thing.

If he went. He glanced down to the thatched roof beneath him, as though trying to look through it to the yellow pegasus sleeping in her bed below. If he went, would she ever forgive him? Would she feel despair? Would she find him broken and beaten in the aftermath, and would she cry?

Why do I care, he wondered. Why do I want to stay, no matter the consequences? Why am I so worried?

It finally hit him, and he fell to his knees with a thump.

“Why am I afraid?” his voice was soft, practically a whisper, but it carried with it an astonishing weight; a vial in Twilight’s basement shattered from the energy of the universe righting itself. He felt something in his eyes, and wiped away a few small drops. Tears. He didn’t want to go. He wanted to stay, and be normal, and have friends.

The creature in the distance continued to advance towards him, and he slowly lifted himself from his knees. His hand went to his back pocket, drawing the mask, and he looked at the face of it. White, with splotches of dirt, mud, and blood on it, and glowing orange lenses. The lines of the symbol almost cried out to him, to the deranged monster within him that had begun to disappear and die with every day.

His feet had begun to move, already in a loping run as he whizzed through the trees, the entire time wishing himself not to do this, praying that the monster would pass him by or simply be gone by the time he arrived. But despite his wishing his body moved, his vow to protect them rising to the fore of his mind. He pulled the mask on, the leather straps sliding across the stubble that had begun to grow on his head, and he took the buzz-axe in hand as he began to laugh.

The tears had not stopped as he arrived at the creature. It stared down at him, its nostrils flaring and the breath wooshing past Evets like a wind storm. His vision was blurred, with fine details nearly impossible to distinguish through his tears, but the creature was still clear. The loud growl confirmed that he was the one it was looking for, and it raised its paw to bring down on him.

His laughter took all sound from the world around him, and his thinking mind finally broke, the beast coming out once more. “You want a piece of me? I’LL CHOP OFF YOUR HEAD, AND MAKE IT MY PUPPET!” Screaming, he launched himself at the creature. His trusty weapon proved once again to be an efficient tool, cutting through the creature’s pelt within a few swipes, but the skin and muscle beneath proved harder to slice. The creature roared, the cry deafening him and causing him to stumble before he continued his relentless assault.

The axe hacked at muscle, and blood began to splatter on Evets. He continued to laugh and scream, his mind completely given over to the bloodlust, but there was a conviction to his words that had never been before. He finally managed to hit a vein, and blood began to spray out, coating him in warm, sticky crimson and blinding the goggles of his mask. His arms were just barely able to move much less swing the axe, so instead he pressed it against the beast’s exposed flesh and turned it on.

There was unfortunately one thing the beast had failed to consider: size. With the creature’s annoyance and irritation hitting the highest levels, she finally brought her paw to Evets and tossed him away from her bleeding arm. He smacked hard into a tree, the impact shattering bones throughout his body and leaving him with a long fall to the ground. He hit and groaned, blood filling his mouth and pain that not even the rage could deal with coursing through him.

He tried to stand, pushing his arms up beneath him, but no matter what he tried his legs refused to respond. He looked up helpless at the monster, which growled menacingly at him. The psycho never once stopped laughing, even as the creature’s paw came down, smashing him between the dirt, silencing him at last.

Two words passed through Evets’ mind before darkness overtook him, just two simple words.

I’m sorry.

~*~*~*~

Disappointed. She lifted her mighty paw from the broken body of the creature below her and growled. She was so disappointed, so angry and unfulfilled. She had expected a creature at least as deadly and dangerous as herself, not some bothersome little gnat. She lifted the from the paw print she had left and threw it over her shoulder.

Still hungry, she turned her sights to the pony land. She had come for a fight, and by the stars on her pelt she would have one. She began to stomp slowly towards them, the desire of the hunt growing within her as she approached. Even before she arrived there were signs of ponies preparing; some had begun to flee, others were simply moving their tiny belongings around, trying to hide them from her gaze.

Only a few dared to prepare for combat; she could smell them, their anticipation and fear. She stumbled slightly as she passed a small river and glanced down at her paw. The cut seemed to have been deeper than she had given the prey credit for, making her woozy. She scooped up a pawful of dirt and slathered it over the bleeding wound, staunching the flow for the moment. She had more important things to deal with at the moment.

She gave a wicked smile as she finally came to the open field the pony land resided upon. She was hungry for flesh, and it was an all you can eat down there.

~*~*~*~

“Ma’am, we need to evacuate you! The shops owners have already left!” The guardsman extended a hoof towards the pink mare beneath the table, trying to coax her from her hiding place. “There is an Ursa Major on its way to this town, and we need to evacuate the entire town, especially you! Equestria cannot lose an Element of Harmony!”

Pinkie didn’t hear him. She couldn’t at the moment, as she was locked in a battle of her own. A monster’s coming. What are you gonna do about it?

Stop it, stop it! Pinkie cried in her mind. Why are you so mean? Who are you? What do you want from me!

Years smashing rocks in silence can drive a mare to madness, but you… you were special. Your parents loved you and cared for you, but everyone else simply mocked you. Don’t you remember? The colts? The fillies? Who helped you endure them?

Who are you? What do you expect me to do?

The voice stopped for a moment, then began to sing.

When all is lost and when all is dark, and when it seems like you’ve lost your spark,

When you’re down, at the lowest low…

And when it seems like there is no, nooooooo tomorrow, reach in your heart…

Reach! She seemed to exclaim, For the swooooord!

Both inner voices fell silent, before Pinkie finally thought again. That doesn’t sound like anything I’d sing…

Yeah, well, I’m not exactly you, now am I? The guard suddenly yelped in pain and Pinkie glanced around. Just above the hoof guard there was a small cut on the stallions foreleg, and Pinkie stared in horror at the knife in her hoof. Fighting monsters, bearing your torments for you… that’s my job, just like the beast inside Evets, though I consider myself waaay more refined.

No! No, I don’t want anyone hurt!

Too bad. Pinkie’s mane fell and she calmly trotted past, a grim determination on her face as she passed the shocked and confused guards. The new Pinkie only stopped when she reached the door, pulling an empty pie tin off the table and pushing it hard against her face. It molded around it, and after the shape was taken Pinkie cut out a pair of eye holes in it. This is my part. Take a nap, I’ll call you when I’m done.

Wait! Are you me? Are you some sort of evil Pinkie Pie?

The voice hesitated, and with it the body. After a moment of pondering, she finally responded. Guerra. Call me Guerra. With that Guerra set off through the town, practically warping through the streets as she headed for the monster, knife held tight in her hooves. And I’ll be a donkey’s uncle before I let ponies die. She stopped a few feet from Matilda and Crankey Doodle, and glanced over. “No offence,” she said before charging, leaving the two of them confused as to why Pinkie was charging towards the monster with a knife, and more importantly while she was wearing a pie tin as a crude mask.

She finally reached the Ursa Major as it swatted another guardsman into the distance, and she ground her teeth together with a brutal smile hidden just behind her teeth. “When I’m done with you,” she began, her voice suddenly picking up to a roaring shout. “RARITY’S GONNA MAKE A COAT FROM YOUR DAMN HIDE!

Pinkie was now thoroughly convinced her other side was completely and totally mad, and with that said, she did find herself wondering what an Ursa Major dress would look like. The mad mare charged, flinging herself towards the giant. It absentmindedly swatted at her, but a second before it struck her she flinched. Her entire body moved, twisting through the air and then bouncing off the approaching paw, propelling her towards the great beasts face. Pinkie began to grow worried. You’re not…

“I AM!” Guerra screamed, and she landed atop its nose. She broke into a quick gallop and plunged the knife deep into the Ursa’s eye.

Yeah, you did. That so icky! Eeeewww! Guerra ignored Pinkie and began to force the blade across and into the eye. The Ursa suddenly let out a roar as it found itself somewhat blinded, and a second before it struck Guerra bolted towards the other eye. “PINKIE SENSE! GOTTA LOVE IT!” She shouted as the blade set to work on the other eye, slicing through it before the mare found herself brushed off the now furious Ursa’s face.

“NOW IT’S A FAIR FIGHT! I’MA CARVE YOU INTO CHUNKS HAIRY!”

~*~*~*~

Lightning strikes.

Evets felt life return to his body, slowly warming from an unnatural coldness.

Thunder rumbles

Memories flashed through his mind, memories of run down homes and close knit families, and of him standing alone.

Rain falls

He saw himself draw a pistol and shoot a man for threatening the families, threatening the run down homes.

A fire starts burning

He received no letters after he reached Pandora. He didn’t care. The hatred within him grew by the day, until it reached its boiling point.

A fire not even the falling rains can extinguish

The artifact made him stronger than before, and stripped his soul bare.

Nor the wicked winds

He dared to open his eyes and looked up, finding a small stone monument before him, some kind of stone fountain. He could hear Fluttershy’s soothing voice in his head as he rose to his feet, each muscle screaming in agonizing pain. He had a new life, a new existence. He had hope for the future.

The fire burns transforming the matter into something new.

The monument shattered, revealing a helmet and a sword, black as a moonless night with dark sapphires adorning both pieces. He advanced and took the sword and helmet in hand.

Something Stronger

The straps on his shattered mask finally tore and released him. He covered his head with the dark metal covering, which fit well enough despite being made for a pony. Next he unsheathed and swung the sword a few times, getting a feel for the weight of it. “My name,” he said, “My name is Evets Marshall. I am thirty one years old.” He returned the blade to its sheath and turned in the direction he felt Ponyville was in. “I am a killer, a monster, and a murderer.” He fastened the sword onto his belt and began to run.

“I’ve taken hundreds of lives and never felt a second of regret.” He hit top speed and the trees turned to a blur around him, the noble spirit growing as bright and strong as the bloodlust and rage. “But this is not a world for killers and monsters.” He broke through the trees and came to Ponyville, spotting the rampaging Ursa as it thrashed blindly, and gold clad figures fired bursts of magic at it. Evets took the hilt of the sword in hand and drew forth the black blade.

“If I cannot be the villain,” he said, “Then I must be the hero.”

He charged forward for his final battle, sword in hand, and an errant giggle escaped his lips, evolving into a full blown laugh. “Oh, YEAH!” he screamed, and the sword swung at the beasts leg.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Heya folks. I hope I didn’t keep you all waiting to long.
*Shot in the leg*
AHH! OH GOD! THAT’S MY LEG! I’M SO SORRY! I’M SORRY!
*Shot in the other leg*
AAAAAAAAAGH… Huh. That didn’t hurt as bad. Alrighty, after a stupidly long hiatus of almost a year, the sixth chapter of the Pandoran is here. I’ll be honest, I have no good reason for this chapter being delayed. If I must make excuses, it goes writer’s block, laziness, schoolwork, more laziness, dealing with some very minor depression and dark thoughts, and then more schoolwork. Not good excuses, but I never said they were. Moving on, whatever eventual goal I had held with this story is most likely gone in my mind, but I will do my best to keep it coherent. Thank you for your patience, and I hope this most recent chapter is satisfactory.
I remain your obedient servant,
O.G. Crowquill Symphony
P.S: What do you want to see in the conclusion? Just post as a comment or a personal message if you have a thought, mainly as to what happens to Evets. I may or may not incorporate suggestions, but I make no promises.