Running from the Past

Lloyd was back in Ponyville. He touched down on a dirt road, and started to walk. He was whistling a tune. As he was walking, he saw a cyan streak fly through the air. Lloyd smirked. *I'm not gonna get beat so easily this time.* He flew up, and quickly flew up to Rainbow's side. She looked to her right to find a grinning Lloyd looking right back at her.

"Finish line?" Rainbow asked.

"That cloud." Lloyd said pointing towards a cloud in the distance. He quickly focused on his front, and flew faster. Rainbow caught up with him again within a few seconds. The same thing happened for the next 20 seconds. One of them would get ahead by inches, only to be caught up with by the other, all within the course of a few seconds. Lloyd inched ahead of Rainbow once again, although she was barely a few inches behind him. He quickly gained more speed and looked back. He smirked at Rainbow. It was short-lived, however, because she instantly flew at least 50% faster. She zoomed ahead of Lloyd. Lloyd grunted, and flew after her.

Rainbow won. Once she got ahead, it was over for Lloyd. Rainbow landed on the cloud, and cheered.

"Haha! I beat you again!" Ranibow said, opening her eyes. She quickly realized she was talking to nopony. She looked around, thinking that Lloyd must've fallen or something. *Uh oh...Where did he go? Oh Celestia, if he fell...* She looked up and down, and realized that he was probably on the ground somewhere. She flew down. She looked around again, but couldn't find him. He was nowhere to be found. *No, no, no! Where is he?!* Rainbow was very worried. The one person she really, really, loved was gone. She put her hooves to her face, and began to sob.

"He's gone, and it's all my fault!" Rainbow said to no one in particular. Suddenly, Lloyd landed onto the ground infront of her.

"Wha-" Rainbow said before she was quickly gripped by Lloyd. He pulled her close, and she instantly blushed. He kissed her on the forehead.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't think that would happen. Don't cry, please." Lloyd said in a hushed tone. He wrapped her in a hug, and it didn't seem like he was gonna let go. *Damnit! What the hell was I thinking?! Fuck, fuck, fuck! Don't cry, Dash, please.* They just stood there, hugging for a minute. Dash then broke the hug.

"I'm sorry, I really am. I didn't think you would react that way." Lloyd said. *Holy sh*t, she sure does care about me. Alright, I'm done with doing that.*

"Where were you, Lloyd?! I was worried." Rainbow asked.

"I don't know why, but my wings were starting to hurt. As a matter of fact, they hurt so bad that I had to land. I didn't think that you would cry. Please forgive me." Lloyd said imploringly. He walked behind her and wrapped his hands around her. He nuzzled her face with his nose gently.

She turned around, and before he could say anything more, Rainbow kissed Lloyd on the lips. Lloyd was suprised, but decided to just go with it. He was enjoying it aswell. After a few more seconds, Rainbow broke the kiss. Lloyd stood there dumbfounded, just like the first time.  Rainbow quickly blushed.

"Uhm...erm....uh..... " Lloyd couldn't say anything. He honestly thought that it was the best feeling he had ever felt. Lloyd was honestly shy towards intimacy. He had never really had a serious relationship before. Sure, maybe he had a crush or two in middle and high school, but he had never really decided to reveal his feelings to anybody, even his best friend, Phil. Lloyd then regained his senses.

"Uhm, let's get going, shall we?" Lloyd said jokingly, gesturing to the path ahead. The two walked to Ponyville.

Something, or someone, was stalking them. The targets were both walking through a place that nopony usually went through. The perfect oppritunity. One of them whistled the two of them over.

"What was that?" Lloyd asked, always the observant one. Lloyd began to walk towards what he believed to be the source of the sound. The only things that were there were trees and grass. It was utterly silent.

"I don't know." Rainbow said. Lloyd shrugged. Just as he turned around, he saw somepony behind Rainbow. Lloyd raised his hand, but before he could say anything, the black-hooded culprit put a rag over her mouth. Lloyd's eyes went wide.

Just before Rainbow went unconscious, she heard Lloyd shout.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!" He screamed, charging directly at whatever was attacking. Lloyd saw that the criminal wasn't alone. There were at least 5 others alongside him. Lloyd ran at them. Just as he jumped infront of the head pony and raised a fist, something happened. He tried to move his hand, but couldn't. He pushed and pushed, trying to deliver the hardest punch he ever could directly to the bastard's face. His hand wouldn't even budge. He was paralyzed. The head pony walked up to him, looking directly at his face. Lloyd then began to feel woozy. His vision became very blurry, as if he were drunk. He dropped to the ground, unconscious.

"Carry them. We need them alive." The head pony said, turning around to address his comrades. The foremost ponies nodded, and proceeded.

Lloyd woke up to complete pitch darkness and a horrible smell. He looked around and tried to move, but his hands were binded to the back of a chair. The only sound he heard was water droplets falling to the ground from the ceilings. He just sat there, in grim, dark, silence for another minute or so. Suddenly, an old wooden door creaked open, letting in a slight bit of light. Lloyd's eyes readjusted quickly, and he looked to the entrance to see three hooded ponies walking towards him. Their faces were hidden, their expressions unseeable. *Good, let them hide their faces in shame.* Lloyd thought as he spit on the ground. As they got closer, Lloyd could see them in better detail. The foremost cultist wore what appeared to be a red robe, with odd runic markings on the outline of it. The other two cultists at his side wore completely black hoods, and had what appeared to be slight blood stains on their hoods. The three of them were very tall, especially for ponies. Lloyd found it unnerving and disturbing. They slowly walked up to him, although they looked like they hadn't moved a muscle. The foremost one spoke up. The other two walked to the sides of the room.

"Do you know why you are here?" He bellowed, cleary a male due to his deep voice.

"No, but I guess I'm about to find out..." Lloyd said in an annoyed tone. The cultist quickly lowered his face to Lloyd's. Lloyd still couldn't see the pony's face, and suspected it was magic at work. Lloyd then decided to do something brash. Lloyd quickly spit at the pony, although somehow he weaved to the side. *What the hell? How can he do that?*

"Persistent, are we?" The pony said. Lloyd could tell he had a grin on his face. *I'll gladly wipe that grin off of your face, pal.* The cultist then tilted his head to the side a little bit.

"Really? How? You're in a chair, with your hands binded." The cultist asked. *What the hell? He can read my thoughts?*

"To answer your question, yes I can." The cultist said, walking towards what appeared to be a surgical table. *Oh shit...What does he have in his hand?*

"Oh shit indeed. Oh, and this?" The cultist said, holding a bladed pole up.

"This is my best friend, Mr.ripyourfaceinhalf." *That sounds pleasant.*

"Charming..." Lloyd said, clearly not amused. He spoke up again.

"You seem to have quite the talent for dark humor, asshole. Tell me, why is that so?" Lloyd asked, with a smug expression.

"Well, I should the one be asking the questions, but I'll give you an answer, just this once. Years of experience in...dark situations can cause a trait like that to...develop." The cultist said, raising the blade up. He stood there for a few more seconds, before speaking up.

"Before I dissect you, I presume you want to see your...beloved friend before you die?" The cultist asked, looking to his right. Lloyd instantly was on alert and jerked the chair forward due to his anger.

"I swear, if you did anything to her, I will rip your throat out and feed it to a pack of dogs."

"A threat, hm? Well, I'll take that as a yes." The cultist quickly gestured to some unseen thing, and another chamber suddenly appeared through the wall. The chamber contained Rainbow, aswell as two other cultists standing beside her. She didn't appear hurt, although Lloyd knew that such a thing was probably gonna change.

"And before you die, I want you to see her die, right infront of you. Front row seats." The leader gestured to the two cultists in the chamber, and one of them quickly handed the other one a shorter version of the leader's torture tool. Clearly, inflicting pain with cruel instruments was their speciality. The cultist wielding the weapon raised his arm, and just as he was about to strike, Lloyd interrupted.

"STOP!" The weapon-wielding cultist stopped, the weapon just centimeters from Rainbow's forehead. One more second, and the weapon would've made impact. The cultist gestured to the two cultists, and they stood still. He turned around.

"Yes?"

"I'll tell you everything, if you let her go. You can kill me or whatever, but as long as you let her go, I'll gladly do whatever you want."  The cultist tilted his head to the side, and smirked behind his hood.

"Ha, how noble. You're a fool. Okay. I accept." He gestured to the cultists, and they stood beside Rainbow. The head cultist brought up the blade again.

"Are you sure about such a stupid bargain? She means nothing to anyone. But then again, I suspect you would do something stupid like this." Lloyd instantly struggled against his restraints, and would've gotten out, if it wasn't for the two cultists restraining him again. The lead cultist sighed.

"What a shame, too. You really could've helped us remake this world in His image." The cultist filth lowered his face down to Lloyd's again.

"Any last words, hero?" He asked. Lloyd's eyes instantly widened. He recalled the criminal scum that killed him in the park on Earth. A flood of emotions then went through Lloyd's brain, like water through a breached dam. Above all of them, rage was the strongest, and anger took over Lloyd's mind. Lloyd shouted, and broke out of his restraints with ease. He instantly gripped the black-hooded cultist to his right, and snapped his neck with a satisfying CRACK! He was the angriest he had ever been. He was gonna kill each and every one of them. No survivors. Instantly, the ground began to shake. It seemed the cave was going to collapse in on itself. The other pony to his left lost his footing and was on his knees. Lloyd walked up to him, and kicked him in the face, shattering his bone structure. The cultist fell over, unconscious and sure to die from blood loss. Lloyd looked to the entrance to see the red cultist escaping. Lloyd started to give chase, and then remembered Rainbow. He looked to the other chamber to see nopony inside. He realized that she was gone. More anger flooded into Lloyd's brain. He ran towards the red cultist.

The two guards stood infront of Lloyd, spears at the ready. Lloyd quickly grabbed one by the shoulders, twirled him around and threw him into the other guard. With the two guards incapacitated, Lloyd ran towards the entrance. He saw the red cultist standing right at the entrance. He turned around, and had no hood on. What Lloyd saw was horrifying. It was the face of the creature in the nightmares, blood staining its visage. The creature smirked at him, and teleported outside with a whoosh of black smoke. Lloyd gave chase, and jumped outside just as the cave collapsed. Lloyd looked around, a flood of light invading his senses. He didn't see anypony for miles. He instantly crashed to the ground, chest heaving. He thought about a song he used to listen a lot. Lloyd didn't care if he heard it or not in his head. He let it be.

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(Listen to while reading, but read slowly. Adds effect.)

Lloyd layed there, looking to the sky. He didn't give a care in the world anymore. He wanted to die. He just lost the one person he loved dearly, and that was enough to set him off. Lloyd just gazed up into the cloudless, blue sky. He could barely comprehend what had just happened within the course of the past few days. He was killed in one selfless act, brought to a new world he knew nothing of, made many friends, had nightmares, found the one person he could really love in his life, and was hurt in the extreme. It seemed like an entire lifetime had just went by his head. Lloyd laughed up at the sky, realizing how ridiculous his situation was. His laughing soon turned into crying. He couldn't stop weeping. The song just made his sobbing worse. Lloyd layed there.

He cried for a few more minutes, thinking of how he had just let down Rainbow and all of her friends. Now these cultists are no doubt gonna hurt everypony else, and there was nothing Lloyd could do to stop it. His life was so insignificant, compared to everything else. What could one life mean? He felt as useless as a bird without wings, and he just wanted to erase all of the pain until it was gone. He thought of how many people would miss him, and laughed to himself. A few days ago, practically nobody would care whether he was alive or dead. Now, he had many friends, but did it matter anymore? They were all destined to die in some kind of coming attack by these cultist freaks. He eventually stopped crying, his eyes were red. Lloyd closed his eyes, not wanting to see anything more for the rest of his life.