Deals of the Devil

Deals of the devil : Twisted Kindness

The dank and musty feel of the cave seemed to permeate the air itself. Small indents lined the walls of the cavern blocked by large iron bars glowing red in the meager torchlight. The air was thick with dust and damp making it hard to breathe.

... Wailing echoed through the makeshift prison. The sounds of tortured and unfortunate souls who had been imprisoned there writhed in pain and anguish. The cells, however, had no ponies or even other races of Equestria, but masses of black smoke which had a life of its own.

One cell however was devoid of the ghostly smoke which haunted the other cells. This cell was a small room off the side of the cave, blocked by a large wooden reinforced door which stood proud in the hellish depressing surroundings.

Rats and other such creatures skittered about the small chamber grabbing whatever they could find from the straw covered floor. Blood stained the stone walls and the bones of old inmates were an ever present reminder of the fate that would befall a new cell-mate.

This cell was not empty however, but its 'guest' was still very much asleep in the corner of the room. Two other creatures were huddled up to the yellow mass in the corner. They were rabbits and they were desperately trying to wake the third in the room. To their horror she would not wake no matter how much they tried. Just as they had begun to give up and resign themselves to their fate the yellow mass began to move.

It was a butter yellow pegasus with a bubblegum pink mane. She slowly began to rise, blinking in an attempt to get used to the darkness. Still being quite weak made attempts to stand futile and just ended in her falling into a heap back to the floor.

Confusion fogged her mind as she couldn’t recall anything that had happened after she had left her house to look after an injured animal the day before. "Hello?" she whispered towards the door, "is any pony there? Where am I?"

Just then she noticed the two shivering balls of fur at her hooves. Two small rabbits were cowering next to her legs trying to look as small as they possibly could. She didn’t recognise one of them but the other was unmistakable - her pet rabbit she loved and cared for at home; Angel.

The small white rabbit, seeing movement from the pegasus, jumped onto her neck in a steel grip and began to hug the pony as hard as his little bunny body would let him.

"Angel, do you have any idea where we might be?"

The small rabbit could only shake his head as he looked up at his master with worry in his eyes.

The quiet of the cell was disturbed by the distant sounds of hooves on stone. The pony began to panic, she had no idea if the pony coming towards the door would be friendly or not. Considering she was being held in a small locked room she thought it might be a good idea to try and hide.

However the room was scantily furnished, a small table no where near big enough to hide her sat in the corner with a small lantern adorning the top. A small pile of hay in the other corner, which could be used as a make shift bed, and a small foul smelling bucket which was just by the back of the room.

She had a feeling she knew what that was for but the idea quickly faded from her head as she embarrassed herself.

The hoof steps could be heard getting closer and closer now. She spun to look at the door, nowhere to hide and terrified at what might enter. As the rusty locks were moved and manipulated all the yellow mare could do was squeak a small noise which was meant to be a scream.

The door swung open, revealing a pure white unicorn, hair as red as fresh blood. Blood Red looked over his guest grinning to himself. Oh it was all to easy to get her to sign, just claim some animal was in trouble and she would do anything in order to help it. She was kind to a fault and Blood loved it.

"Fluttershy, oh how wonderful to see you are awake. I hope I didn’t disturb you, but I wouldn’t be a very good host if I didn’t greet my guests now would I?" At this Angel rushed to Fluttershy's side flinging his arms wide in an attempt to keep the monster in front of him from attacking his beloved owner.

Horn glowing, a red aura began to envelop the rabbit. With this he flew into the air and hard into the wall collapsing, alive but out cold. "Damn fur-ball, I don’t know how on earth you put up with these 'things' Fluttershy." He began to draw closer to the scared pegasus, staring her right in the eyes.

Fluttershy fainted there and then due to the stress of the whole situation, terror gripping her very being. Blood could only laugh at this, before rubbing his eye with his hoof. He guessed he would have to try again later after she had composed herself a bit more.

He didn’t mind waiting. Ideas of how much fun he was going to have with the timid mare made the time fly by to him. He sat by the small table conjuring a small list and began to write all his plans and ideas down while he waited.

*******

Ponyville awoke that morning as if nothing had ever happened. Peaceful and serene as always, ponies began their day as they always did. Mothers sending their foals to school, ponies on their way to work or the market. Nothing out of the ordinary.

However a dark feeling was gripping two of the members of Ponyville, both suffering strange nightmares the past few nights and unable to figure out what they might mean.

Pinkie Pie bounced towards the tree that made the library, her normal self for the most part. However, if you looked close you could notice her smile was not as big as it normally was.

She opened the library door and stepped in to find a familiar figure. The librarian, hard at work as always, was one of her best friends. The unicorn - Twilight Sparkle. However, she was not alone as Pinkie had thought. Floating in the air just above her was Rainbow dash.

"How strange, are you sure you told me everything Rainbow?" Twilight quizzed her friend.

"Sorry Twi, that is all I remember, I wish I could tell you more but it's all still a bit fuzzy." remarked the cyan pegasus. Bags under her eyes, it was obvious to an onlooker she had not had a good few nights.

"Hey girls, what'cha talking about?" Pinkie chirped, teleporting next to the pair and almost giving them heart attacks (how she did that no living thing on Equestria knew, but Twilight was determined to one day find out).

"Oh, hello Pinkie. Didn’t see you there, though I never see you there. How do you do that anyway?" Twilight remarked, trying to catch her breath after the sudden shock to her system from the pink party pony. Pinkie just shrugged. Twilight wasn’t sure if she even knew how she did it.

"Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. I was just telling Twi here about some weird nightmares that I've been having the past few days. Really freaky ones too." Rainbow added before Twilight could totally change the subject to trying to figure out how Pinkie ticked. She shook her head. That would keep them here all day!

"Wow, you too? And here I thought I was the only one who was having nightmares right now! That’s why I'm here, I wanted to know if Twilight could give me any advice on how to stop them."

"Pinkie," Twilight chuckled, "with the amount of sugar you eat I would say it was that, but tell me what they were about first."

"Well, it normally starts with me having my normal dream about the river of chocolate milk in a sugar cane boat. When I dip my hooves into the river to taste it, it always tastes so good, just like the kind I used to have when I was young and I was visited by my granny pie. Did I ever tell you guys about her....."

"PINKIE!" screamed Twilight to get her to pay attention for a moment, " get on with the nightmares please!"

"Oh, sorry Twilight," giggled Pinkie Pie, "alright, well, after a while the whole place goes dark apart from a dark blue-black flame, which is weird because it's still giving off a lot light. Well anyway, after a while the flame grows bigger and bigger, then after it's got to about double the size it normally is a unicorn appears from within it." Pinkie started to look quite disturbed at this. "Well, he's got a white coat like Rarity but his mane is red and he's got an odd cuite mark, like someone threw red paint on his flank."

Pinkie was starting to look rather shaken even remembering the events of her dream world. "After that he stares at me for a while and then I see a small pink fire coming out of me and into him. Once it reaches him his sides erupt into large blood red wings. Then the dark fire starts to burn me and I wake up."

Pinkie looked up at her friends after staring at the floor for a while. She was surprised to see her friends eyes had grown wide, a look of confusion glued to each face.

"Odd - that was almost the same dream that Rainbow Dash said she had the night before last," mused Twilight. She began to scan over the books she had scattered on the desk in front of her. Levitating a small red bound book, she began to search the pages for the passage she wanted.

Pinkie, turning to Rainbow asked, "what is she looking for?" Rainbow could only shrug at the pink pony. To be honest she had no idea either, she had only just got through telling Twilight about her strange dream before Pinkie had come in anyway.

"Hah! Here it is!" the sudden sound from Twilight made both of the other ponies jump for a second before looking to their friend with expectant looks on their faces.

"I thought I had read about that figure in your dreams before! It says here that he goes by many names, but his true name is unknown. He is a harbinger of chaos and destruction and is only seen in dreams." Twilight slammed the book closed. "Just an old pony tale though I'm sure it isn’t anything to worry about."

"But didn’t you tell us that you didn’t believe Nightmare Moon was an old ponies tale? what makes you sure this is the same?"

"Pinkie, I did a lot of research into the mare in the moon event, however that had real facts behind it. This is just some tale to scare little ponies into eating their alfalfa and being good before bed. A boogie man. Nothing more."

Pinkie wasn’t sure though. The dreams seemed so real she couldn’t believe that it was all in her head, even more so since Dashie had the same dream as her. Twilight saw the concern in her friends face, rare for the pink pony, and sighed, "fine, alright. I will do some more research into it."

"Oh, thank you so much Twilight! I'm sure you are right but I cant shake a bad feeli....." Just then a look of shock and horror sprang to Pinkie's face. Her knee was pinchy and she knew what that meant - something scary was about to happen.

She ran out of the library screaming, "There is something wrong with Fluttershy! Hurry!"

Before the two other ponies in the room could react, Pinkie was gone. Rising from their seats they began to follow the pink blur. They knew better then to ignore Pinkie's Pinkie sense.

******

The dark figures in Fluttershy's vision began to come into focus, becoming more and more pony-like. She had finally started to awaken and could swear she saw a unicorn hovering above her, but as the room came into total focus she was alone.

"Hello, is anypony there?" she cried into the dark room, as loud as she could, which was just above a whisper. This noise, however, was enough to gain the attention of the two other inhabitants of the room.

The two small rabbits came from the dark corner of the room and one jumped to the neck of the pony who had just yet again awakened. "Angel! Oh I'm so glad to see you! And who is your little friend?"

At this question the other small bunny almost jumped out of her skin. She was a small brown little thing about half the size of Angel, and from the look on her face, terrified beyond all reason.

Just seeing a small creature like this broke Fluttershy's heart as she took the small bunny into an embrace and began to hug and coo at the small one in order to calm it down. It didn’t take long for everyone in the room to calm themselves as Fluttershy had a way with animals like this.

"So little one, what is your name?" The rabbit began to try and pantomime out her name to no avail and a small snicker from the older rabbit in the room. Frustrated, she began to look around the room for any way to give her name to the yellow pony. After a few minutes she found what she was looking for.

Since the room that they were locked in was built directly into a cave wall, strange rocks and stones adorned the wall trapped within the coarse cut walls. Every so often there was a small shard of something a little more valuable then the normal rocks and stone that made up the cavern.

The rabbit returned a short while later with a small clear gem in her hand. Fluttershy was careful to take the stone from the rabbit since it had not been ground or polished leaving the gem rather sharp on one end.

"Your name is Gem?" Fluttershy asked trying to guess the name with the new clue in hoof. This was responded by a quick shake of the head as Fluttershy guessed again. "Crystal?" With this the female rabbit jumped for joy and began to hug one of Fluttershy's hooves.

"Aright Crystal, Angel, I don’t know where we are but stay close. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you two." The new silence of the room began to break as hooves approached the room once more, however this time the door didn’t open but instead a voice could be heard from the other side.

"Awake at last I see! After the last time you fainted I was so bored I had to have a little fun with you since you wouldn't play with me."

"Who are you?" cried Fluttershy, able to keep a bit more bravery this time as the figure was behind a solid door that could protect her.

"Why do they always ask me that?" quizzed the voice from beyond the door. "Ah well, it doesn’t matter. I just came to tell you of my little joke to pass the time. You have been infected with a certain kind of poison! Now now, before you freak out, the cure is in the room so you don’t need to worry about death."

Fluttershy now looked rather shaken by the thought of being infected with a dangerous poison. "Where is the cure and why did you do this to me?"

She could hear laughing now. It was wrong, sick laughter. Like a child who was having just a bit too much fun stomping on ants.

"The reason? I felt like it! The cure? Well, that’s where the fun begins! For this poison the only cure is adrenalin. Now now, before you think - Alright! All I have to do is get scared! -  No. It has to be a certain kind of rush. You can only get this rush when you take the life of another!" The assailant behind the door could then be heard walking away.

All three members in the room looked horrified at the new turn of events. Fluttershy, sensing Crystal's fear of being killed, began to hug both of the rabbits. "I would never hurt either of you so don’t worry," she cooed, " we will be saved soon, I'm sure of it."

******

Sleep was hard to get in the small cavern jail and even harder to keep once it had been obtained, but at last all three members were fast asleep. That was until Fluttershy swore she heard something. A wet noise she had never heard before. It was almost like a knife cutting a rotten apple, but no, that couldn’t be right. There was nothing in the room that could make that noise.

Then, before she could go back to sleep thinking it her imagination, she felt a warm wet feeling coming from where Angel had been asleep. Snapping open her eyes she began to look at the terror occurring before her. Crystal had taken the gem she had used to prove her name and was thrusting it into the now limp body of Angel over and over as blood pooled bellow his body.

"Stop," Fluttershy whimpered, "please stop," she said again a little louder, "STOP IT!" she screamed. Only once had she been this angry, this enraged. That fateful night at the gala. But Crystal would not stop. In some twisted blood lust she kept stabbing again and again, making sure no life could be held in Angel's body ever again.

Fluttershy didn’t know what to do! She wanted Crystal to stop, but she wouldn’t! Perhaps if she did something she could save Angel. Something. Anything! Her mind went blank. Rearing up on her back legs she slammed her hooves into Crystal's head.

With a wet crunch the small female rabbit was no more, but it was too late for Angel as well. He had been dead long before she had even woken up. Fluttershy broke into tears about the loss of her faithful pet and her new friend she had only made the day before.

What had made Crystal do it? What had made her kill Crystal? Fluttershy couldn’t make sense of the whole event.

With this, the big reinforced wooden door swung open, revealing a very pleased Blood Red.

"I see she took me up on my offer then. Shame she didn’t live long enough to learn the truth of the matter." he chuckled at the mare sobbing on the floor.

"So, murderer, how does it feel to take a life - the ultimate act of cruelty? Invigorating is it not?" Fluttershy just sat there in silence, unable to refute what she had done. "And even worse, she was just trying to help you." That now trademarked grin began to adorn Blood's face.

"I had told her that if she killed the other rabbit I would give you the real cure to the poison. Oh, she liked you so much! almost like a mother!" The yellow mares eyes were now as big as dinner plates staring into hell itself. "Oh, but don’t worry about that poison!" He couldn’t stop laughing now. Slowly he began to walk closer to the mare, placing his muzzle right next to the sobbing pony’s ear, whispering ,"There never was any poison!"

With this Fluttershy screamed, screamed louder then ever before. She began to glow with a bright yellow light .

"At last, the power to restore myself will soon be mine," Blood thought to himself. The glow began to grow into a small orb above Fluttershy, connected to her body by white light. He was so close now he could taste it.

Then it happened, the glowing orb retreated back into the body of Fluttershy, turning her into pure gemstone. However, a small glowing shard lay in front of her now petrified body. The small yellow gem glowed brightly with a small flame nestled in its core. Just then the body of Fluttershy shattered into dust which blew around Blood Red before vanishing into thin air.

"NO!! I was so close to getting the damn element! My brother always was overprotective when it came to his little toys. Damn protection spell sent her back to the surface before I could finish the job." Blood scoffed.

It was then he noticed the shard. "Oh, what is this?" his grin returned.

Back in his throne room he admired the new stone he had obtained. "Do you see this, sister?" he yelled into the darkness.

The mysterious voice returned once again "Yes brother, I do, and it worries me greatly."

"With this and a change of plans, not you, not my brother, not even your bastard spawn daughters that the surface so kindly name princesses can stop me!"

******

Back on the surface Pinkie Pie could be seen rushing to Fluttershy's house with everypony (and spike) in hot pursuit. As they arrived, Pinkie noticed the front door was open. Scared for the well being of her friend she rushed in.

When everyone was in Fluttershy's bedroom their fears were confirmed. Fluttershy lay in the bed with a look of pain on her face. But no matter what was tried she would not awaken.

"Well at least she's still alive." Said Rainbow Dash, trying to be ever optimistic about the whole situation.

"Twi, what the hay is going on?" asked Applejack from the back of the room.

"I have no idea, but it cant be good." With this a familiar sound of a letter could be heard from the small dragon in the room. Quickly opening it, he began to scan the paper.

"Twilight, the princess wants to see us all right away. She says it's urgent." said Spike, jumping onto Twilight's back and handing her the letter, which she promptly grabbed with her magic.

"Girls, I think this is about to get worse."