The Rocking Horse

Chapters

Chapter 1: A Deal With the Devil.
Chapter 2: Darkness
Chapter 4: From Bits to Pieces
Intermission: Regret
Chapter 3: The Price of Happiness

Chapter 1: A Deal With the Devil.

“We are nothing but children, forced to play the games of wicked men and manipulated into repeating the vicious cycle” – Anonymous

There are tales of Comedy.

Love.

Tragedy.

There are tales of wanderers and heroes saving worlds and cities we have no knowledge of.

There are tales of the fallen, trying to crawl their way back to the top after being beaten to the ground, fighting against all odds the entire way.

Those are only tales though, meant to visualize the thoughts of those who fabricated them and are willing to tell them.

What of the true tales? The tales that consist of the true aspects of life – Pain, Loss, Gain, Envy, Betrayal and Love?

Are they simply casted into the darkness of one’s mind, only to be forgotten?

No.

For you see, these personal accounts of challenges are not called tales or stories. They are not some fabricated series of events, where the plot runs consistently in an orderly fashion.

No, these accounts are treacherous, for the protagonist is never prepared for the challenges that abruptly appear. They have no knowledge of their fate. Nor do they possess any knowledge of their destiny.

So, when I tell this account, I do not start with ‘Once upon a time’ and I do not dare start with ‘In a land far, far away’.

I will merely begin the journey as any other one starts…

***

As the lone figure trudged through the dreaded streets of Celestia knows where, he could do nothing but sob. His mind has been racing day and night, never allowing him the opportunity to rest.

So, with fatigue eating his way into his sanity, the only cure he saw fitting was a walk in the outskirts of the city he never knew. Strangely, he has lived here all his life, and yet he never knew the true name of the city. He has only referred to it as the name of a place a friend told him long ago.

Purgatory.

A fitting name for this place, he thought to himself, glancing around the gloomy streets, which showed nothing but dim lights, sinful ponies, and dreadful shops. The sight would have made him cringe - had he not been searching for one of these shops.

A hypocrite is what he called himself as rain began to fall heavily on the cloak that shielded him from the tears of the clouds. Rain was common here, and if the sun ever shown itself it was only shielded by the toxic fumes of industry.

Passing through ponies that lured mares into their forelegs, he could do nothing but sigh. He hadn’t a chance with a mare, for he was never eager to find lust, which was the only thing a mare ever wanted in this city. He was never fond of the mares that paraded themselves around stallions, basking in the smell of sweat and sex. He found it revolting. He was only eager to find one thing in this hellhole: Love.

The stallion shook his head as memories began to flood in his mind. The memories of a mare he used to care for and cherish, much as in the same way she did- her warm inviting smile bringing a gleam of hope to his soul when he returned each day. But fate decided to intrude with blood ridden dirty hooves, and took her away from him.

Things have never been the same for him since then. He never had much before, living in the confinements of an abandoned home that he altered to become manageable, making minimal wages that was barely enough to survive. With her though, those worries disappeared.

So, when Death came for her, he took more than his love. He took his will to live.

The stallion was a fighter though, willing to fight life to the very end, so he pushed on, trying to fend off the evil that tried to claim his heart. Darkness was in him though, and he could not deny that.

Hypocrite, he said to himself once again, scanning the shops with gloomy, light brown eyes. Finally, as all seemed to be lost, he made his way to a small shop, which looked worn down, but not closed. He looked up at the shop, reading the name with a lack of enthusiasm:

Corner Shop

And on the bottom it read:

Always willing to fit your needs…

The stallion took a deep sigh, finding the promise to be completely false. It would not be able to fill the void in his heart.

‘It would have to do though’ he told himself, shaking his head to rid of the drips of water that made his way to the top of his head. Then with a heavy cough, he made his way into the shop, without a second glance around his surroundings.

As he opened the door to the shop, a loud cheap bell rung through his ear. His ear flicked in the direction of the noise, but he quickly dismissed the noise, finding it of no importance. He then began to look around the forbidden shop, trying to see through the thickness of the darkness that shrouded the entire store.

“Hello?” the stallion said, wondering if the shop was closed. Suddenly, a small red light lit up in the center of the shop, temporarily scaring the stallion who was caught off guard.

The stallion, regaining his senses, tried to look in the direction of the light but his concentration was cut short as his eyes began to scan the items surrounding him.

Trinkets of all sorts stood on shelves and hanged on ceilings. Potions, cages, miscellaneous trinkets and inappropriate items not worth noting caught the attention of his eyes as he scanned the aisles up and down, letting his thoughts slowly fade away as he lifted his hoof to rummage through items he had no use for.

“Can I help you sir?” a voice greeted, causing the stallion’s concentration to break free from all the store items and pull his hoof away from a pair of clamps. As the stallion stared in the direction of the voice, his eyes went wide in shock.

A tall, well groomed stallion sat in the center of the room, wearing a business suit of some sort. His smile was cold, despite his effort to make it charismatic. His eyes were shielded behind a pair of glasses, which the smaller stallion found to be very unnecessary in a dark place such as this. In fact, he found it very uncomfortable that such a stallion was secluded in the dark, despite the shop being open.

‘Then again, a lot of things seem off about a stallion dressed like that in a place like this’ the stallion noted to himself.

Those thoughts quickly died in his mind though, for the stallion was only thinking about what he came into the shop for.

“Uhh, hey” the stallion said feebly, trying his best to look at the shop merchant, but he couldn’t help but gain this weird feeling from the tall stallion.

“Hello” the shop merchant returned, nodding his head. The stallion shook his head nervously in response, and remained silent for a short while.

For a second, he felt like he forgot what he came for. That wasn’t the case though for he has been pondering on this decision for countless days and nights, so it was almost impossible for the item to leave his mind.

“Is there anything I could help you with?” the merchant asked, trying to play off the helpful part. The stallion suddenly snapped from his thoughts, and shook his head nervously.

“Oh…yes” he replied shaking his head nervously.

“I’m…looking for…something…that can make me feel…” the stallion continued, trying to find a way to ask for what he truly wanted.

“….better?” he finished, almost as if the merchant could help specify for him. The merchant only nodded his head though, and pointed his hoof to the left side of the stallion.

When the stallion turned in the direction of the hoof though, he turned back nervously and quickly shook his head.

“No, no, no” he protested shaking his head. “Not that better”

The merchant put on a puzzled expression on his face, wondering if there was another way to express ‘better’.

The stallion took one long deep sigh, realizing the only way to explain what he needed was to say it bluntly.

“I’m looking…for…something to…love” he sighed, almost as if guilty of his feelings.

“Love?” the merchant said puzzled, looking around at all his items. “I’m sorry but I think you may have the wrong shop. You could try the strip bar down the street if you’d like…”

“No, it’s alright” the stallion sighed, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. He knew it was ridiculous to ask for such a thing in a shop. The stallion was pondering on the decision to leave, but he couldn’t find the urge to do so.

“Do you have…pets at least?” the stallion begged, almost on the verge of desperation. The merchant sighed and shook his head.

“You know the rules. City doesn’t approve of animals because they don’t want any diseases running around”.

The stallion hung his head, for he already knew that. He has seen incidents where pets have been ripped from the grasp of ponies that had nothing else to cherish for themselves, not even a place to call home.

He knew it was a bad idea to come into the store, yet he fought against himself, always remaining optimistic. Or desperate...

‘You stupid, stubborn idiot!’ he scolded himself, throwing his hoof over his face. He felt like he was on the verge of tears, letting this incident bring down the barrier shielding his emotions, but he held it at bay in fear of embarrassing himself.

The merchant watched only in silence, wondering what he could do for the hurt customer before him. He found it odd how somepony could ask for an item to love. If such a thing was possible.

With his hoof on his chin, he began to rummage through all the items within his stock, wondering if anything may provide this stallion what he wanted. The stallion was not willing to wait though, for he began to part from the store.

“Thank you very much” the stallion sighed, making his way to the exit of the door, but just as he took his first set of stops, he was immediately halted by the merchant’s shout.

“Hold on!”

The stallion froze, slowly turning around to the merchant. Did he possibly have what he was looking for?

The merchant, with a wide smile on his face, threw his hoof outwards, signaling the stallion to stay put. Then, without another word, he quickly made his way past countless items to the front of the store, besides the stallion.

He watched in confusion as the merchant fiddled through items, trying to make his way to a set of items that stood in the display window of the store. After countless seconds of swearing and scooting items to the side, the merchant finally retrieved the item of his interest.

The stallion watched in confusion as the merchant stood on his hind legs, giving him a large menacing look, as he carried in his forelegs a large white item, which looked small compared to his massive frame.

The stallion did not know what the large stallion pulled out until finally the merchant positioned the item directly in front of him, causing the stallion’s mind to freeze.

He was lost in thought, for the item he was looking at was a mare. She had a white milky coat, with a wavy flowing mane consisting of varying blue highlights and a tail with the same aspects. A horn was directly on her forehead along with a flirtatious smile plastered on her face, and her eyes seemed to be looking off into nothingness with a romantic aspect. Her cutie mark consisted of a black musical note, leaving the stallion to ponder why the doll would possess such a thing. She was shorter than the stallion, reaching up to the height of his mouth. The most intriguing aspect about the doll though, was how life like she looked.

“Well, here it is” the merchant informed, rubbing his hoof on the mare’s coat. “She’s a hand crafted doll, imported from Equestria”

The stallion could not hear what the merchant was saying though. He was entranced in the gaze of the doll, letting those glassy, red, inviting irises look back into his cold, lonely, dim brown eyes.

“Is…she real?” the stallion asked, still unsure if unicorn before him was in fact a doll. The merchant let out a light laugh.

“No, she isn’t real. But I thought the same thing the first time it came in. I swear they did quite a good job.”

The stallion continued to examine the frame of the statue, eyeing it up and down with mixed emotions. He knew it was nothing more than a doll though, so he couldn’t get ahead of himself. He began to examine the mare’s posture, seeing that one of her forelegs was bent inwards, as if she were holding it back in a playful manner.

“So what do you think?” the merchant asked the stallion who was still mesmerized by the doll. He was giving it some thought, deciding if it would be a great move to spend his bits on an inanimate object such as this.

The look in the doll’s eyes though. That was what kept the stallion interested. He could relate to that look, for it was a look he used to be given before his world came crumbling down before him. A look that he could stare at forever…

The stallion placed a hoof on his chin, trying to think if he was making a right call or not. Not only on the decision to buy this eloquent figure, but to heal the loss of his one and only with a doll. It has been so long though, and he began to grow hollow feeding off of memories that were slowly beginning to fade away from his mind.

“…How much?” the stallion sighed, turning his attention back to the merchant. The stallion thought that maybe, this would be enough to keep those memories fresh in his mind, allowing him the will to keep trudging through the realm of reality. The merchant’s grin grew wider, a sight that worried the stallion.

“Ten bits” the merchant smiled as he patted his suit with his hoof. The stallion’s eyes opened wide, finding the price to be beyond extraordinary.

“Ten bits?” the stallion repeated, stunned from the price tag. The merchant did not utter a word, but instead nodded his head in assurance.

The stallion could not believe the price tag, for he was expecting a triple digits, at the least. ‘But at ten bits, there had to be some catch…’

“If you’re wondering why so low of a price” the merchant remarked, reading the stallion’s thoughts, “I need to make space for a new set of these things”

‘More?’ the stallion thought to himself, wondering who were crafting these high quality dolls. That was not of his concern though. Once he turned back to the white coated mare, he could do nothing but let a smile form on his face.

It has been so long since a smile has formed on his face. It was apparent in the way his face quivered when the sides of his muzzle began to stretch. And although he knew it was but a doll, he felt those majestic eyes would be enough to keep him going.

“I’ll take it” the stallion said, a small hint of enthusiasm appearing in his face. The merchant nodded his head and pointed his hoof in the direction of the cashier. The stallion, taking one last look at the doll, followed after the merchant, ready to make his transaction.

As the stallion placed his bits onto the counter of the shop, the merchant pulled out a small clipboard, with a sheet attached to it. The stallion looked at the clipboard in confusion, but the merchant quickly explained.

“I’ll have the doll shipped to your house. It’s raining pretty hard out there, and the last thing I’d like to see is you coming back for a refund.”

The stallion, looking at the sheet, grew a bit nervous for he knew he would have to place his address and information down. The stallion was very embarrassed of where he lived, and he grew hesitant on purchasing the item. After looking back at the white mare behind though, he took one long sigh and mustered enough courage to put down the information on the sheet. Although he was eager to take the doll home, he knew the merchant had some truth to his word.

The merchant took back the paper clip once the stallion finished putting down his information and placed the bits into the cash register which rested on the left side.

“It was a pleasure doing business with you” the merchant remarked, reaching his hoof outward to the stallion across from him who looked at his hand as if it was contagious.

“Don’t worry, I don’t bite” the merchant assured, seeing the stallion’s lack of trust. The stallion, after a moment’s hesitation, finally reached his hoof out in return and shook it.

With that, the stallion let out a weak smile and made his way back to the entrance of the shop. As he pressed his hoof onto the door, he looked back at the doll one last time, trying to remember that gaze for as long as he could.

Eventually he knew he had to leave, for the merchant quickly assured the stallion’s product would be safe.

“I’ll keep an eye on it, don’t worry” the merchant informed, giving the stallion a wink. The charismatic trait gave the stallion shivers, but he couldn’t explain why. He did not wish to ponder on the feeling though, for he already had enough dark thoughts shrouding his mind.

Without uttering a word, he flicked the hood over his head once again, making his way back to the outside world, which was littered with the sound of false laughter, falling rain, and violent shouts. He began to glance around for a short while, eyeing all the ponies around him who pretended to have a good time when deep down they were hurting. He knew the feeling all too well.

Despite such thoughts though, the stallion managed to keep the memory of those eyes in his mind. The gaze gave him a happy, warm feeling, unlike that of other mares that merely ran rampant with ‘hungry eyes’.

Still, the stallion pushed through the streets once again, letting the rain pour onto his sheet which was now beyond soaked. He did not mind though, for despite the cold winds blowing with the rain, that warm feeling burned inside his gut, giving him enough strength to crawl back into the den he called his home.

***

Hours passed since the appearance of the stallion that searched for the jewel called love. The merchant, now moving the items behind the display window, trudged through items tirelessly, trying to put everything aside as he attempted to tidy up his shop. As he grabbed a box full of bottles and attempted to move them next to the entrance of his shop, he felt his hind leg knock against something, followed by the noise of a light thud.

The merchant, placing the items where he wished, looked in the direction of the noise only to find the doll toppled over to the side, her pose now slightly shifted from the fall.

The merchant let out a sigh as he moved towards the doll, grabbing a hold of it and trying to stand it upright but due to the fall, her pose was slightly different, so she merely toppled over with each attempt.

“Fuck me” the merchant grunted as he began to bend the dolls legs back into its previous position, giving her that same playful pose. He placed his hoof under her chin and turned it lightly to the side, allowing the luminous set of irises to look in the position they were previously locked in.

Once he finally grew satisfied with the dolls position, he lifted her up in his fore legs and began to walk over to the counter on his hind legs. Placing her on the counter, he waited to see if the doll would topple over, but when it did not, he gave a sigh of relief and returned to his cleaning duties.

Minutes flew by as the merchant continued to clean and the rain finally grew to a halt. Finally, as the merchant took a second to admire his work, he realized it was finally time to close up shop.

Returning back to the counter, he scooted the doll to the side to gain a set of keys in his mouth, not acknowledging the doll in any way. Once he achieved that task, he turned off the light in the middle of the shop, rendering the entire shop to become illuminated by the lamplights of the streets and the dim glow of the moon.

The merchant looked back to see if everything was in shape, but stopped once he looked at the doll perched on the counter. The merchant couldn’t help but shake his head at the remembrance of the stallion that grew eager over such a simple thing. He couldn’t believe that he came into his shop looking for love.

‘Who would want such a thing anyways’ the merchant snorted, shaking his head in disapproval of the thought. For you see, the merchant was no ordinary colt. He never admired the ideas of great morals or tended to the needs of others. All his life he only knew of loss, and because of that, he grew envious of the world, despising all living creatures and never allowing any creature to gain access to his sick thoughts. He was a pony who fed off of sin, and preyed on the weak and feeble. He was one of the many who gave into the wicked ways of those who’ve hurt him.

The merchant then chuckled to himself coldly at the thought of what he told the stallion.

‘The idiot thought it was hand crafted’ he mused, letting a wicked smile grow across his muzzle. ‘Well, at least I was honest on mentioning it was imported from Equestria’.

After looking back at the doll for one last time, he decided to amuse himself.

“So long Vinyl Scratch” the merchant waved at the unmoving figure, letting a dark chuckle escape his throat. “It was fun while it lasted, but I think it’s about time I move on”

And with that, the merchant left the shop, locking the door on his way out and laughing darkly as he flashed charismatic winks in the direction of stray mares wandering the streets for victims.

In the shop, the doll remained unmoving, staring straight ahead at the front entrance. Her gaze remained still, for she was a doll and she could do nothing else but remain a common plaything for all those who found her of interest.

But that would not be the way to describe this one specifically. She was no doll. She was just another victim, fooled into the hands of the devil who took her life, forging her into one of his sick devices.

And it would seem fate was not done with her.

As time progressed, her lifeless stare shifted into a set of blinks.

First once, then twice.

Her flirtatious smile soon began to diminish, forming into a defeated frown. She began to stir her legs, fighting the numbness eating its way into her muscles. If she had any that is.

Her eyes turned from a warm, greeting gaze to a pair of cold, sad, hollow eyes. She began to shake her head, trying to loosen her neck from the stiffness that came with her pose.

The mare remained still, glancing around the shop she grew all too familiar with over the years. Yes, years. For years this poor soul has been entrapped in this prison, forced to spend every day with the stallion who manipulated her to giving him her life.

She could only remember it all too well. She could remember the idea of traveling to a different country, trying to keep it a secret, in hopes of change. She could remember going to a bar after a great gig, and meeting a charming stallion who promised her the world. She could remember the lies that began to grow apparent, the abuse that began to follow. She could recall the day of her death - water filling her lungs, her life flashing before her eyes as she tried to claw her way out of destiny’s grasp. The lack of respect for her body after her physical death, leaving her subconscious to feel the alterations happening to her body…

Vinyl Scratch was caged and she could do nothing but accept her fate. She was broken, her once happy going personality buried with her innards in some unknown ditch. She was hollow – physically and emotionally. All that remained was her mind, memories and emotions.

The day she awakened from her short slumber she could not believe it. She was scared, worried, for she was still in the grasp of the devil. That did not stop her from fighting. The tall stallion never expected such a thing, but it never stopped him from amusing himself. He always admired a fighter, so when she attempted to free herself from his grasp, he would merely become satisfied. He always won in the end, leaving Vinyl’s lifeless shell to be posed and used without hesitation. She always came back though, for she was denied access from the afterlife. So she continued to fight, trying to achieve the goal of freedom. In the end though, she would only wish for the essence of death.

Soon, she grew tired of fighting, realizing she would never win. The first time she came into the shop, she trashed it. That resulted in another toll to the death marker and a spell from a unicorn that prevented anyone from breaking in and out of the shop. Vinyl Scratch had finally grown weary. Eventually, she gave up, accepting her cage and developing the ability to fixate herself as a doll. Since then, the merchant has left her be, believing he finally offed her for good.

Vinyl hung her head in the darkness, trying to hold back tears that have built up over the course of the day but she couldn’t. She always did this in the dead of night, allowing the darkness to shield her from everything.

She sobbed, clasping her hooves over her face as tears streamed down her cheek. Despite the mare’s state, her body enacted normally. It could breathe, yet it wasn’t necessary. She could eat, but it was not necessary. She could cry, but…it’s the least the mare deserved for such a fate.

Thoughts of her old friends and lifestyle began to race through her mind as it has done so many countless nights. She missed her old life, her friends and now, considering the time that has flown by, she always wondered why she was never found.

Did they forget about me? Do they miss me? Are they even searching for me?

She let these questions burn in her mind, letting them fuel her sobs in the process. It was a vicious cycle that occurred every night, rendering Vinyl’s soul to be bound down to the ground.

One other question burned in her mind as well, a question she never had until that today.

‘What is going to happen to me?’ she asked herself, letting tears stream down her face. She made no attempt to hide them anymore. ‘What is that stallion going to do to me?’

“Great” Vinyl sobbed, shaking her head. “I’m going to be someone’s damn toy now!”

Her sobs soon began to intensify, realizing this may have been her only known purpose in life. To satisfy others while she suffered…

Something in the stallion’s eyes said otherwise though she thought to herself momentarily. She gave the idea some thought but she quickly shrugged it off.

‘No he’s just like the rest’ she told herself, shaking her head. Vinyl has grown to hate all stallions since her demise, marking them all as hostiles out to get her. She believed they were all sick, twisted, vile…

Then a thought appeared in her head, a thought that made her go wide eyed.

‘I’m going to leave’ she thought to herself, feeling a strange feeling form in her gut as she began to realize the scenario. ‘I’m leaving!’

Vinyl’s hopes, for the first time in years, soon began to lift. Her face began to twitch at the realization she was finally leaving her wretched cage. For the first time in years, she finally put on a real smile.

It was surely a sign of her believing things may get better.

‘I’ll leave as fast as I can once he falls asleep and then I’ll run away and call someone!’ she began to squeal in her head, tears of joy beginning to stream down her face. After countless years of feeling forsaken by Celestia, she finally felt an ounce of hope creep back into the spot her heart should’ve been.

Letting her mind race with thoughts, she jumped off the counter and began to focus on the source of the light in the display window. Her hooves clicked softly on the floor board beneath her, letting a petite noise echo through the shop. The dim glow of the moon was enough to lure her close enough to watch the outside world she was all too familiar with already.

She was use to the sight of drunkards rambling through the street, harlots luring men to their demise, and playponies flashing their money to gain unattractive mares. In the dead of night it was different though.

The streets were quiet, excluding the sight of drunkards, who have actually caught Vinyl move at times, but considering their drunken state, no one ever believed them. It was the only time Vinyl was actually able to put up with the sight of the dirty streets.

With an unbreakable amount of confidence that she would be on her way, Vinyl took one long look at the city beyond the display window, and muttered the one thing she’s been begging to say for years.

“So long city, and fuck you!” she shouted, investing every ounce of hatred into to place she personally referred to as Purgatory. She did not care if anypony heard her or if anyone glanced into the large open window.

She truly believed she was going to return home and be greeted by countless friends who would become teary eyed at the sight of their long lost friend. She believed the nightmare was finally over.

But as mentioned before, life runs in a treacherous manner.

And the Devil is never too far behind to prey on those who’ve stumbled along the way…

Chapter 2: Darkness

Cold air swept under the stallion’s cloth, giving him a case of the shivers and forcing him to grip onto the sheets. It was a reflex though, for the stallion has long left the realm of reality. He was gone, thrown into the world of illusion which his mind has created for himself.

“I want you to promise me something” a sweet, succulent voice pleads, with a voice as soft as cotton.

The stallion smiles, letting his eyes cast a look over the mare before him. She has a gold, luscious mane that hangs down the sides of her head, with a light peach coat, and vibrant red eyes that flutter with affection, not lust. Her figure was laminated by a bright light from behind – a mirage, forged from his mind.

“For you” the stallion sighed, letting his hoof brush her silky hair, “anything.”

The stallion lets a smile slip from his muzzle- despite the temperature beginning to drop rapidly- for his dream has begun to elude him from the factors of reality.

The mare flashes a warm smile, ensuring that her feelings for the stallion were no illusion.

“Promise me, Dutch”, she began, holding onto the hoof that brushed her mane. “That someday we can…we can…”

Her voice begins to falter, bringing worry to the stallion.

“Is everything okay?” he asks quickly, hoping that nothing would try to taint his true jewel.

The mare nodded her head slowly, but her eyes were truly the window to her soul. He knew she was hurting inside and he would blame himself for it.

Dutch waited in silence, only momentarily though, because he soon came closer to the mare and wrapped her in his forelegs. He began to stroke her mane, as he began to feel her emotions pour into him, almost as if he was trying to purge her of contamination.

“We are going to leave this place” he assured, stroking her mane softly. She didn’t even have to say it for the stallion to feel her pain. This was the mare he loved, and he knew her more than any other pony.

The mare did not sob in return though. She was a strong soul, much like that stallion, which would explain their ability to stick with each other until the very end.

Instead she merely looked up at the stallion holding her with sad, fighting eyes. It was enough to sear pain into Dutch’s very core.

“You promise?” she pleaded, looking up Dutch with majestic eyes.

The stallion’s smile soon began to fade away. His eyes began to cringe as his mind began to place the pieces of his dream together.

Dutch remained in silence, finally realizing this was all but a dream and the mare before him was nothing more but a memory – a distant memory, still living within the confinements of his subconscious.

The mare continued to stare at him with patient eyes, personifying the figure that has been deceased for so long. Dutch could not decide where his mind was. He began to question what was the realm of reality and the realm of illusion…

“Dutch?” the mare called, breaking the stallion’s connection with his own mind. He looked down at her, finding her features to be so majestic and pure. He could not pass up the opportunity to indulge in a memory such as this, real or not.

With tears in his eyes, Dutch did not utter a word. Instead, he bent his head down towards the mare, bringing his lips close to hers, and began to lock himself in a compassionate kiss. It was a kiss that felt like no other. His mind went into a frenzy, processing every feel and emotion from the contact of the mare’s lips, rendering the stallion lost. He did not care where he was though. As long as he was with her, that was all that mattered.

His mind began to act on its own, letting tears slowly stream down as his face began to cringe with raw emotion.

Breaking the kiss, the stallion glanced down at the mare, which looked so innocent with her holy glow and closed eyes. Dutch could do nothing but smile, with tears streaming down his cheek.

At last, the mare’s eyes opened slowly, giving a gaze so tender it locked itself into the back of Dutch’s mind. Her eyes fluttered with assurance as she glanced upward at Dutch- her protector, her angel – with trust.

“I promise” Dutch choked, trying to fight back tears, but those final words met his breaking point. Sobbing furiously, he began to lose contact with the world of illusion, causing the bright light to slowly diminish. He began to feel a light twitch in his hooves, causing him to glance down at the mare before him.

She was now limp, unmoving. Her humble spirit departed from his mind, leaving nothing but a shell. Her innocent, petite, lifeless frame hung in Dutch’s hooves, driving the stallion to paranoia.

“No…” Dutch sobbed, trying to bring back the mare he cherished. He began to caress her cheek, hoping that would be enough to bring her back. Deep down though, he already knew she was gone. She knew she was no longer amongst the living.

Dutch would not give in to the truth, despite all evidence. He began to cry, cradling the mare’s lifeless frame in his forelegs, hoping to bring her back. He cried into her shoulder and gave her body tender kisses, hoping that would do the trick.

The smell of smoke began to sting his nostrils as he gripped tightly to the mare, not willing to let her go. He didn’t want her to go. Not yet…

The sound of sand slowly seeping began to crawl into the stallion’s ears and he began to feel the mare in his arm slowly fade away. He clenched his eyes shut and began to grip onto the mare tighter.

“I’m never letting go, I’m never letting go…” he began to chant as he felt the sound of sand intensify. He began to feel the mare fade away from his grasp, fueling his cries and pain.

“Damn it, I love you!” Dutch shouted, shaking feverishly as he gave his lover one last tight clench, hoping for nothing more but the chance to tell her that in person.

He would never get another chance.

With his final attempt to save his jewel, the mare vanished, leaving the stallion to grip onto nothing but the remains of ashes that now littered his entire body. The smell of smoke began to sting his nostrils and eyes, but he did not care. He did not dare open his eyes to see what became of his mare. His lover. His diamond. His everything…

With emotion burning inside, Dutch did not attempt to move away from the remains of his memories. He only began to rock back and forth, cradling his entire body as tears began to flow down his face. Darkness began to surround him, turning his eloquent, humble dream into a torturous nightmare.

This was no nightmare though. The stallion was only awake from his dream, rocking back and forth as tears began to stream down his face. He was now back in the realm of reality, left with the fresh memory of his sanctum becoming tarnished by the dark - the reality he referred to as a nightmare.

***

Dutch made no attempt to shield his mind from the incident that unfurled in the midst of the night. The memories of the dream – the mare, the darkness, the ash- already possessed his mind, rendering him to move about like a zombie. Not that he was ever living to begin with…

Lumbering about his home, Dutch made his way to his to the bathroom to prep himself for another day of misery. His first item on the agenda of another miserable day was work. The one thing he had no favor for, since it never brought him any other benefit, excluding the minimal wages he earned weekly.

“3 bits an hour” Dutch remarked coldly, looking into the worn down, scratch infested mirror. Despite the damage to the mirror, the stallion was able to see his red puffy eyes clearly, causing him to give a heavy sigh. He then looked down at the sink, which was not as damaged as the window, but it was far from perfect. Turning the knob, Dutch watched as cold water began to pour its way out the small pipe and into the sink. It did not matter which knob he turned – the water was, and always will be, cold. There was no complaint from the stallion though, for he was at least blessed to be given water, considering the houses’ abandoned state.

Placing his hooves under the sink, he began to let the water flourish over them and would then dab the cold droplets over his eyes and face. A shiver ran down his back side as the water seeped into his pores and a draft poured in from the cracks beneath the floorboards.

He glanced outside of the worn down restroom for a short while, trying to make out the time by looking at an old, abandoned clock, centered straight across from the restroom. He strained his eyes to make out the approximate time

6:25

‘That leaves me with twenty minutes to get ready’ Dutch noted to himself, looking back into the restroom and staring at the dirty bathtub (despite his best efforts to clean it). ‘Not that I’m going to take up a lot of time’ he continued, knowing that he would not stay in the tub for long taking a cold shower.

Stepping into the tub and turning on the cold water, Dutch spent the next two minutes swearing and dancing in the tub as he tried to rid his entire body of dirt with a soap bar he bought with his last paycheck. To top off his luck, he had no towel, excluding his bed sheets and worn down sweater which he would not use.

Simply lifting himself out of the cold, freezing water resting in the tub, he began to shake his entire body, letting physics determine where the droplets of water would scatter to. His teeth began to chatter and he could feel water drip down his beard. A shiver began to run up his spine and he began to feel his legs turn numb. It never bothered him though, for he was use to the freezing cold. Every so often he let out a harsh sneeze or a heavy cough, but other than that he tried real hard to put on a healthy image.

Dutch left the restroom once he finished drying himself off to get his work clothes from cabinets that stood by his worn down mattress. As he opened the cabinets to pull out and industrial hat and a yellow highlighted vest, he could do nothing but let out a sigh. Dutch did have a disliking to his current occupation, but what he disliked more than his job was the ponies he worked with; large massive ponies with bulky frames that worked exceptionally hard to make his job a living hell as well. Dutch knew he could handle the stallions with ease, but since these stallions had connections to the industrial owners, and this was the only steady job he could find, he could only stand back and cast hateful glares as they taunted him.

“Well, someone’s got to be at the bottom” Dutch laughed dryly, placing the hardhat over his head. He did not find the joke amusing in the slightest.

Throwing the vest over his dark grey coat, Dutch shut the cabinet drawer and turned back around to examine his household. He began to look to his right side where his bed lay, along with the sight of the grotesque wall infested with mildew and other unattractive bits. As he turned to his left side, he could make out the sight of a small round table, with two seats spread directly across from one another. Next to it, was a large, dusty piano, occupying a large portion of the room. Its once glimmering wooden frame was now beginning to deteriorate, leaving large scratches and open wounds to envelope the piano. Whether it worked or not, Dutch had no answer to that. He has never touched the piano, considering the weight of its value to him. After many nights of pressing on keys to flow with the essence of melodic notes, the stallion knew that playing would only result in the presence of keys being pressed, while the melodic notes would be absent.

Trying to evade more suffering, Dutch moved his eyes away from the table and piano. Bad enough he could rid his mind of the mare’s eloquent features that soon began to decompose, leaving nothing more but pain in his heart. The way those eyes looked up at him…they looked all too similar to the doll’s…before she departed from the world…before she drifted away…

Dutch began to wonder if buying the doll was a bad idea. His nerves began to give slight tremors here and there as he began to recall the doll’s eyes, giving such a live, warm feeling, yet she was a doll. A hollow, stuffed toy that was created to look like a pony as Dutch put it.

Glancing back at the clock once more to establish how much time he wasted fighting with himself, he realized he only had five minutes to get to work.

“Damn it” Dutch cursed, gritting his teeth. He began to grow frustrated with his thoughts but he did not say anything to himself. Knowing that would only lead to more thoughts, Dutch quickly made his way out of the front door of his house, locking it on his way out, and made his way down the street, passing under a dark blue pigmented sky that enveloped the city in shadow.

***

In the shop Vinyl rested comfortably for the first time in years. Never had she slept in her time of captivity, due to the risk of being caught by the merchant.

With high hopes though, Vinyl Scratch felt untouchable, and decided that her last act of rebellion would be a good night’s rest. She was curled up in a tight position, allowing her head to sit by her hind legs as she rested on the floor behind the counter, breathing calmly as she let her mind rest. Her wavy hair sat on the ground, lying directly next to her head which stretched out to her legs. Her blue tail wrapped around her body, protecting her frail stature from the surrounding world.

Before, Vinyl would’ve slept like an animal – snoring aloud and constantly fidgeting back and forth. Now, she rested soundly, not making the slightest stir or sound, possibly due to the absence of sleep for so long.

Although she was asleep, her mind was fully aware of her surrounding environment. So considering the shop was quiet around nighttime, her mind was able to copy the process of sleep. Vinyl, on the other hand, could not tell the difference, for her mind manipulated her into believing she was truly asleep.

That was until the sound of knobs turning began to ascend from the shop. Vinyl’s ear twitched and her eyes shot open, her mind taking notice of the noise and warning its host of the potential threat.

Vinyl quickly lifted her head as the noise of locks beginning to turn pierced her ears, realizing that there was no possibility of a threat anymore – there was a threat. Vinyl swore in her head, cursing herself for letting her mind sleep longer than expected. She began to panic now as the sounds of clicking turned into the sound of screeching, followed by a small bell ringing.

The merchant was present now and Vinyl Scratch clenched her eyes in fear, praying the serpent would not notice anything strange. Her luck seemed to be running thin real quickly though.

“Huh?” the merchant pony let out in confusion, causing Vinyl to bite her lower lip.

‘No, no, no, no…’ she began to chant in her mind as the sounds of hooves began to grow closer and closer. Vinyl was shielded behind the counter, but all tall stallion needed to do was poke his head over the counter to find his victim cowering in fear and she knew that.

So as quietly as she could, she began to lift herself up from the ground, trying to be as quiet as possible. The sounds of hooves were drawing nearer by the second, but it seemed as if the merchant was teasing the mare. Almost as if he knew she wasn’t gone for good.

Once Vinyl lifted herself to a crowded stance, she then proceeded to lie sideways, hoping to mimic the shape of a doll that would’ve appeared to have fallen off the counter. Vinyl hated the feeling of turning back into something none living. It made her feel worthless – nothing more than the item she was forged to portray as.

When the hooves came to a stop, Vinyl knew she had no time left to think about it, so she quickly fixed herself in the right position and froze, slanting her eyes slightly to mimic the same romantic gaze she was always fixed with.

As soon as Vinyl underwent her change, the merchant stooped his head over the counter, only to find his product lying down on the ground in a distorted heap. The merchant glanced down at the mare for a long while, giving it a quizzical look. He felt that her shape was not a result from a fall, for he was quite familiar with a mares shape after it fell off of something…

The merchant let out a small laugh.

“Really?” the merchant sighed shaking his head side to side as he glanced down at the small petite frame on the ground.

“And to think after all this time you were gone” he continued, moving away from counter, and making his way around the aisles of his shop. Vinyl’s mind began to race as the stallion’s hooves began to tap against the floor slowly, each step instilling fear into her mind. She couldn’t tell if he was playing with her mind or telling the truth.

The merchant was a master of manipulation, and because he was a sick heartless being, he would even talk to his victims even in their expired state.

“I mean, how many times did I really kill you?” the merchant remarked, letting a dry laugh leave the malicious grin on his face. “Was it five or six times?”

He then placed his hoof on his chin, as if actually thinking about the question he already knew the answer to. By now, the merchant was already near the edge of the counter, allowing him to peer around to see the mare lying down on the floor.

“Hmm…does it have to be seven times now?” the merchant shot, glancing at Vinyl with sinful eyes. The desire to exert pain was beginning to dwell in his gut, for it has been so long since his last victim.

“Or is it going to be six?”

A wheezing laugh suddenly erupted around the shop, giving Vinyl Scratch a burning sensation in her eyes. To be defiled in death was enough, but to be laughed at and ridiculed as well…it was just too much. Vinyl Scratch held strong though, not willing to give into the monster’s trick. He was playing mind games, and he knew all too well how to get to her very core.

The merchant began to walk in the direction of Vinyl Scratch, finally grabbing a hold of her in his hooves and lifting her off the ground. He then tossed her on the counter as he began to pace back and forth shaking his head. She bounced once, landing heavily back down on the counter as her body shifted once again.

“You know, you were always a fighter” the merchant mused glancing down at the mare. “I liked that you know. But when you stopped fighting, you began to bore me. The spark we had just…disappeared”

The merchant shook his hooves together violently to display the term spark.

“But it doesn’t matter.” the merchant mused, rearing closer to Vinyl Scratch’s frozen expression. “You’re beginning to bore me. It looks like I finally had you beat. I finally took your will to fight, the one thing I’ve wanted to get for so long”

Vinyl’s mind began to burn as mixed emotions began to cloud her thoughts. She wanted to thrash out at the stallion, buck him in the face, and give it all she had. That’s what he wanted though. He wanted her to fight, because he knew he would win. He only craved the desire to kill, and since he knew she could not die, he would be able to have a cure to his constant craving.

The merchant continued to ramble, finding this entire scenario to be one giant joke.

“I bet that friend you always use to talk about would’ve been a much better sport. Her name was Octavia I believe...”

Now he began to move to the sanctum of Vinyl’s heart, trying to push Vinyl to the edge; trying to make her reveal her disguise, so he could continue his same torturous routine as he done so many times before.

Vinyl Scratch was now hurting inside, but she could not let him have her. He may have possessed her memories, her spirit, and maybe even her, but she could not give him a reason to keep her any longer. Vinyl was no longer the ignorant, humble pony she was long ago. The merchant, in arrogance and self-appraisal, already revealed that he had no need of her if she did nothing but lay around like a plaything. She clamped down on her emotions, trying to blind them out with telling her the reward was greater than revenge. If she held on long enough, she would be free.

After minutes of bantering and taunting, the merchant looked back to find the doll had not moved. He was sure this would be enough to fuel the mare to madness, but when he found there was no sign of life in her he placed a hoof on his chin.

“Maybe you are dead” the merchant noted, examining the white pony for a long while. His voice carried no tone of disbelief, for as vile as he was, he was never willing to lie about his sport. It seemed he truly believed she was gone. And if that was the case, he knew he had no use for her.

“Well, you will sure make a good gift for that lonely bastard” the merchant chuckled, beginning to run his massive hooves over the mare’s wavy mane.

Before the merchant could do anything else to the doll, the store bell rung once again, causing him to look upward. At the entrance of the store, stood a stallion with a messy mane, dirty coat and frenzied eyes, twitching violently. The merchant could do nothing but smile at the sight of the colt, for he knew what he wanted without a second glance.

“What would it be my good fellow?” the merchant asked charismatically, a glint of excitement beaming in his eye. His greatest amount of funds came from junkies, which always poured bits over substances that provided only a fraction of the thrill the merchant got from his sins.

Meanwhile, Vinyl remained motionless on the counter, thanking Celestia for giving her the strength to survive the merchant’s trials. The emotional pain was beginning to grow unbearable though, for she wanted nothing more than to leave right away. She knew she could not fidget or move with the merchant around, so she fought back the pain, using every ounce of strength in her body. It was still not enough.

Despite her best efforts, a tear began to leave her eye, slowly descending down the mare’s cheek until it reached the surface of the counter beneath her.

She may have survived the trials, but over the years she has lost far more than she gained, and she knew there may be no way of ever getting it back.

***

“You looking for a good time?” a rather large mare asked seductively with a hoarse, raspy voice. It was enough to send Dutch a few paces back, trying to avoid the lustful stare of the harlot. The smell of cheap perfume stung his nose, but because Dutch still had a grasp of respect, he kept the fact to himself. The same could not be said for the mare.

“Your loss sugar!” she shouted, causing Dutch’s ear to twitch.

‘Keep telling yourself that’ Dutch remarked, rolling his eyes as he made a left turn down another dirty street. The city no longer began to have a dark blue hue. Instead it now had a lighter hue of blue, but the smog in the sky prohibited the city from having a welcoming glow. The streets still resumed to be gloomy, as did its citizens throughout the course of the morning.

Dutch, with his hardhat on his head and his bright vest wrapped around his frame, finally made his way to his work place; a large, industrial worksite, full of ponies who were working hard in the cold bitter temperature of the morning. They panted heavily from fatigue as the helped navigate large sums of iron rods, cement mix, and other industrial items. The smell of work and industry this early in the morning was enough to wake anypony.

“Hey Dutch!” a voice shouted from the stallion’s left, causing him to spin in that direction. Walking up to him was a dark blue pegasus, with a black hard hat resting on his head. He had a pair of golden eyes, but not the kind that were used to initiate a conversation.

“The fuck man, you’re late!” the pegasus shot, walking directly in front of the grey pony. Dutch shook his head and let a small smirk stretch across his face.

“Sorry Dieter, just ran into some sidewalk traffic” Dutch explained, throwing his hoof back towards the street from behind but Dieter quickly cut him off.

“Yeah, uh huh, whatever” the pegasus shot quickly, shaking his hoof in disapproval. “Just get to your damn post already and help the guys out with carrying the bricks up to the fourth level. They can use an extra man up there.”

Dutch nodded his head without hesitation. “Alright boss”

“Damn right I’m your boss, now get moving” Dieter quickly shot, making Dutch’s half formed smile falter.

‘Prick’ Dutch thought to himself as he walked away from the main head of the site, who was now yelling at some other pony for Celestia knows what. Passing through ponies that began to form the structure of the building, he quickly made his way to a lift which was bordered in by wooden planks, pushing the button on the lift four times, and each push bringing him to the next floor. Finally, he made it to the fourth floor and quickly unloaded himself off of the lift, allowing it to be available for the next worker who needed it.

“Well look whose here” a voice called from behind, causing Dutch to sigh. He knew the owner of that voice all too well. Sarcastic, heavy, arrogant toned voice that seemed to be said with a smirk.

“Alright, let’s just get these bricks moving” Dutch sighed, turning around as if he heard nothing. Three stallions stood before him, two of them with tired eyes and sarcastic smiles. Dutch has never seen the third one before in the construction site. They resided next to the large amount of bricks that sat on a small crane.

“You think you can help us?” a purple stallion cackled, looking at the two other ponies beside him as if to tell them to laugh. The green stallion in the middle clapped his hooves together while an orange unicorn on the left side simply shook his head with a straight face.

“C’mon guys, let’s just get this over with so we can move onto the next task” Dutch suggested, trying to flash a generous smile. The fact that he spoke through gritted teeth though was enough to show he was lying.

“Yeah, guys” the green horse mocked, trying to portray an illiterate pony, “let’s just do our work so we can start talking about things like music and love!”

The green stallion then fluttered his eyes, almost as if calling Dutch a feline. What ensued was more laughter from the two stallions, while the third one remained silent. Dutch’s patience with these snobs was typically high, but considering earlier events, his patience was beginning to grow thin.

“Look…” Dutch began but before he could say anything, the orange unicorn finally spoke.

“Alright idiots that’s enough!” he spat to the two horses sitting beside him, causing them to instantly fall silent. Dutch watched in confusion as this one colt who he did not know finally shut the stallions up.

“I think this guy has a point” he began, lifting himself off from the load of bricks he sat on. “I’m not in any mood to focus on these damn bricks the entire day, so how about we just move this fucking thing”

The two stallions now began to glance at one another wondering what to say.

“Err, okay Twin Twist” the green stallion assured, giving a puzzled look as well. The purple stallion began to look confused as well, but nodded his head without hesitation once the orange pony shot a glance in his direction.

Dutch could not believe the amount of respect this newcomer held. It was enough to both admire and fear this being. The unicorn turned to Dutch with a calm, patient smile though, making the grey stallion doubt himself.

“Sorry about that” the orange unicorn apologized, patting Dutch’s back softly. “As cool as these guys are, they don’t get a lot of work done…”

Dutch let a dry smile appear on his muzzle. ‘Yeah, cool’ he thought, giving him an urge to roll his eyes.

“Anyways, my name’s Twin Twist” the orange coated colt introduced himself, staring at Dutch with stern blue eyes. Dutch nodded his head once and introduced himself.

“Like the outlaw?” Twin Twist asked, showing some knowledge of the name. Dutch was always fond of his name, but considering its history he was never truly proud of it.

“Yeah, like the outlaw” Dutch chuckled, but he did not find it humorous. Twin Twist, who was now beginning to unhinge the crane from the flooring it rested on, trying to process the bricks as soon as possible, let out a small laugh. The two other stallions began to do the same as well, while Dutch made his way to ensure the straps around the bricks were secured tightly.

“Bet you’re a good shot eh?” Twin Twist said through gritted teeth, for he began to tighten a rope, ensuring that no bricks would fall on anypony below. The aura from his horn began to aid the unicorn in his labor. Dutch, pulling the rope as well, stood silent, not answering the stallion’s question.

After a short while of silence and a moment’s glance from Twin Twist, Dutch answered the question.

“Nah” Dutch said, shaking his head as he began to slowly began to loosen a rope that helped the bricks slowly descend downward to the floor beneath them. It was not difficult, but Dutch was not willing to risk an accident so he placed his core strength into holding the stack of bricks, rendering him silent momentarily. Once he brought the bricks up, with the aid of the crane, he let out a long sigh.

“I’m not very fond of weapons” Dutch continued, catching the attention of Twin Twist who finished performing the same process as Dutch.

“What do you mean?” Twin Twist asked, panting lightly. Dutch gave him a tired look, before turning back to the bricks to see if they were fine.

“Well…I find that to be a coward’s tool” Dutch explained, signaling to a unicorn directly across from him on a different platform. A large, yellow hue began to envelope the stack of bricks, and the crane slowly began to stir, moving the stack of bricks to the other side of the platform.

“A coward’s tool?” Twin Twist asked, stacking bundles of bricks together as he lamented small portions of cement in between each brick. Dutch continued the same process as well, this time alongside Twin Twist.

“I find any weapon other than one’s hooves cowardly” Dutch explained, stacking brick after brick to meet the standard of architectural rule. Not that safety was of any concern to the city; just as long as money seeped into the pockets of diplomats, politicians, and so forth.

“The need for a weapon shows that a stallion is not willing to fight his own battles” Dutch continued, grabbing more pieces of red blocks to place in an orderly fashion.

“What about for a mare?” Twin Twist shot, making Dutch look at the orange pony in discomfort.

Lost in thought, Dutch continued to do his job until he could find his answer, which came in a short time span. “…Same applies to them” he grunted, pressing down on a brick that seemed hesitant to stay in place. Twin Twist, who watched from the side, shook his head.

“What if it’s against a colt?”

Dutch’s face grew cold and his response was bitter.

“A colt is in no position to lay his hooves on a mare” he snapped, eyeing Twin Twist who returned a strange gaze in his direction. Despite being new, Twin Twist felt this unicorn was very different from others. Never had he seen such anger drawn from a colt due to the simple idea of a stallion harming a mare.

“No colt should ever be called a colt if he’s ever laid hooves on a mare” Dutch ranted, angrily stacking bricks on top of each other, without the slightest hint of an error.

“You have a marefriend Dutch?”

Silence.

The stallion stopped working and closed his eyes for a while. He was not willing to vent his past to a stallion he barely knew.

“No” Dutch answered, eyes still closed. Twin Twist nodded his head, finding it intriguing that he held such a great amount of respect for mares, when he in fact did not have one, so he thought.

Twin Twist was different from Dutch though, for he never endured the challenges the grey pony has faced. Still, they did show one common aspect.

“I want to show you something” Twin Twist informed, bring Dutch out of his secluded mind. Dutch looked in the direction of the orange pony that was now beginning to rummage his hooves through the bright vest’s pockets, searching for some unknown item.

Finally after second of rummaging through his pockets, Twin Twist finally pulled out a small black square item. Dutch watched silently as Twin Twist opened the item like a flip book, rummaging through sheets until he stumbled upon the page of his interest. Then the orange pony handed it to Dutch.

There on the page was an old vintage image of a mare, with a frail face, round eyes, sharp cheeks and curly mane. Dutch looked up from the image to Twin Twist, wondering what would be the reason for him showing him this.

“That’s my mare” Twin Twist explained, tapping his hoof on the image. “She’s a beaut’, ain’t she?”

Dutch nodded his head as he looked down at the picture once more, looking into the gaze of the mare which looked back into the lens with a warm cheery smile. Dutch felt an ounce of hatred reach into his mind, but he fought against it, not letting his misery infect another’s happiness.

“How long have you been together?” Dutch asked, trying to make usual conversation. Twin Twist let out a slight whistle.

“Known her ever since grade school” Twin Twist sighed, almost as if embarrassed. “Things got real after we left high school though”

Dutch did not mind though, for he began to believe this orange stallion was different from any others. He nodded his head in understanding, finding his story to be heartwarming. It’s not very often you get to stick with your soul mate…

“Where is she now?” Dutch asked, trying to keep the conversation going. Twin Twist remained quiet afterwards though, leaving Dutch to wait with the book in his hooves. It seems he may have not been the only stallion with secrets in this place…

“…She’s home” Twin Twist answered, not giving Dutch a look of any sort. Dutch lifted a brow as he watched the orange stallion stack bricks one by one.

“Where’s your home?”

Twin Twist stopped stacking bricks and took a sigh.

“Equestria…” Twin Twist informed, wiping sweat that began to perspire from his forehead. Dutch’s ear twitched at the name of that far away land. That’s where the doll he purchased was imported from, but not only that, he knew that such a place was very far from here.

“What are you doing here?” Dutch asked, but this time Twin Twist seemed to be hesitant.

“…I think we should focus on the wall” Twin Twist recommended, picking up more bricks and pointing back at Dutch’s wall which was shorter than his partners. Dutch looked at the orange unicorn work feverishly; sweat beginning to drip down his face as he stacked the bricks to the next level, leaving those above him to finish the rest of the wall for him. Dutch continued to work on his wall, making the same progress as his companion, but it took him longer for his mind was beginning to speculate how somepony from Equestria ends up in a place like this.

Dutch knew of the distant land far across the seas. It was a place of peace and prosperity, ruled by the goddess Celestia. It sounded too good to be true though, compared to a place like this.

Finally, Dutch finished his side of the wall, now waiting on the rest of his companions to finish the wall on the fourth floor. Twin Twist waited in patience, leaning on his side on the floor board beneath. Dutch did not utter a word to the stallion, knowing that he wished not be disturbed. The grey stallion has grown all too familiar with the feeling.

“Have you ever made bad decisions in your life, Dutch?” Twin Twist asked abruptly, seizing Dutch’s attention. Dutch was never beckoned with such a question, so it hit him at full force.

“Of course” he admitted, unable to deny his reckless nature. “We all make mistakes. Some more than others, but-”

“That’s not what I mean” Twin Twist elaborated, cutting Dutch short. He then let his horn glow, allowing his telekinesis to seize the book that once lay beside Dutch. The orange stallion then let out a deep sigh.

“Have you ever risked everything you love, in exchange for something so small, so worthless…?”

Dutch did not answer the stallion’s question, for it sounded almost rhetorical. He still held respect though, listening to the colt ramble as he began to open himself to a stallion he did not know.

“The reason I’m far from home, is because I got caught up with the wrong ponies. Made choices I’m not proud of, and gambled on some things I never should have. You have this feeling sometimes though, that just tells you, ‘go for it, why the hell not?’”

Twin Twist let out a dry laugh and looked directly at Dutch. “Then when the liquor runs out, you begin to realize what you’ve finally done.”

***

The shop remained dormant for a portion of the day, despite a few customers here and there, but the merchant decided to utilize the free time to deliver his product to the stallion that appeared only a day ago.

The merchant brought Vinyl Scratch to the back of the shop, prepping the box she would be delivered in, but he did not go alone, for one particular colt dropped by in such short notice.

And he was not happy with what he was seeing.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this” a black coated unicorn spat as the merchant placed the doll in a wooden crate, now back in her usual stance. The merchant, who was never expecting the unicorn to stop by, sighed.

“She is no use to me anymore” the merchant replied, turning away from the wooden crate to the unicorn, whose sleek green eyes bore into the merchant’s with strong disapproval. “Besides, she’s dead for good, and I’ve made sure of it”

The unicorn was not comfortable with the merchant’s response though. “You’re getting sloppy Lucius” he remarked, shaking his head as the merchant lifted a brow.

“Sloppy?” the merchant repeated, taking the aspect to his very core.

The tall stallion found the unicorn’s remark to be ridiculous. Lucius has carried on his sick pleasures for years and yet he has not once ever been close to getting caught.

“Yes, sloppy” the unicorn shot coldly, walking towards the stallion. “You’re actually willing to sell a dead mare to a resident-”

“She’s a doll!” the merchant chuckled, with a devious glint in his eyes waving his hoof upward. “And he’s a nobody!”

“It does not matter!” the unicorn hissed through gritted teeth. “If he finds out what the doll really is-”

“He won’t” Lucius countered, rearing closer to the unicorn. “When I found her she was nothing but a washed up lowlife. She’s been missing for years, and no one has found her. It’s only obvious no one knew about her or cared for her. That stallion will have no clue…”

“You’ve let your arrogance blind you!”

The merchant’s stern expression soon shifted to a sarcastic smirk. “Hey, it’s gotten me this far.”

The two colt’s eyes locked with each other, the unicorn giving a stern gaze while the stallion looked back with a treacherous glint in his eyes. The unicorn could see not believe that Lucius would be willing to ditch the body as if it would not catch up with him. He has grown accustomed to the disgusting ways of the stallion – that’s how the unicorn managed to rid of some pesky thorns in his side. But to take a risk like this without any collateral…

“Look” the unicorn shot, glancing down at the crate for a second. “You’ve helped me take care of some issues, so this is what I’m going to do…”

The merchant remained silently, lending his ear to the unicorn as he explained his favor.

“When we move this…” the unicorn paused for a short while. “…Doll, I’m going to cast the same spell on this colt’s house as I did to your shop. Just in case what you say turns out to be wrong”

The merchant put a hoof on his chin, considering the unicorn’s offer. Lucius truly believed Vinyl was done for, but the unicorn was beginning to make him doubt himself.

“How do you suppose we let this colt allow you to jinx his house?” Lucius shot, bringing a wicked smile across the unicorn’s muzzle.

“You already know the answer to that my friend.”

Lucius flashed a smile in return, now fully considering his acquaintances offer. After all, it couldn’t hurt to cast the spell over the house even when Vinyl was dead. And even if all else failed, Lucius was sure he would always be a few steps ahead.

“Alright then, Thanatos” Lucius said, bringing his hoof outward to pat the unicorn’s shoulder. “I’ll accept that offer”

The unicorn sighed and shook his head, causing his ill green mane to shake from side to side. “That’s the first smartest thing I’ve heard you utter today”

Thanatos never knew Lucius as a colt of smarts though. The light grey colt before him was a ruthless, treacherous murderer. The black unicorn always helped him on his hunt, scoping out victims for his companion to prey on, but the unicorn did not dare dirty his hooves any further. The unicorn already had enough on his hooves, and the last thing he needed was to be tied up in a homicide case – despite the probability of Lucius ever being caught.

The merchant did not utter a word in response to the unicorn’s remark. Instead he merely returned to the wooden box behind him, imprisoning Vinyl Scratch behind four thick wooden walls. He then turned to the table on the side and grabbed another wooden board, placing it over the wooden box and entrapping Vinyl in darkness.

The merchant then nailed the box shut, making sure it was secure. Turning back to Thanatos, he let out a tired sigh.

“Let’s start up the delivery carriage?” Lucius asked, pointing his hoof in the direction of the back door exit. Thanatos nodded his head, informing the merchant he would be willing to lend a helping hoof. Then with that final act, the two colts stepped out of the back room, leaving Vinyl Scratch entrapped in darkness.

And once the noise of a door shutting tight rang through the room, Vinyl’s frame entire frame withered as she slumped down onto the bottom of the box, her eyes wide in fear and her mouth slowly began to quiver.

She was completely aware of the two colt’s conversation and heard every last bit. Her heart felt heavy with emotion as she recalled Lucius taunting remarks echo through her head.

When I found her she was nothing but a washed up lowlife. She’s been missing for years, and no one has found her. It’s only obvious no one knew about her or cared for her …

Although she knew Lucius was cunning and conniving and despite her hatred for the stallion, she couldn’t help but believe he was right.

After years of beckoning the question, she began to realize he was right. She felt there was truth in the sick colt’s words, despite his treacherous ways, for she has been gone for so long and she still hasn’t been found. She’s been displayed in front of the public view for years, and yet not one pony has recognized her. Nopony.

Soon, she began to weep as silently as she could, her hopes quickly drowning in the darkness enveloping her.

She began to rethink about her dreams of a reunion with her friends as she returned home, but she began to realize they were only dreams, and they will be nothing more. She began to feel her dreams turn distorted, making her bitter as tears continued to stream down her face.

‘They don’t care about me. They never cared’ she began to think to herself as she began to bang her hooves against the wooden board in anger. She did not care if she could be heard. Her rage was blinding her.

‘Why should they care? I’m nopony to them. I was a shitty friend and I never cared about any of them…’

The darkness began to fuel her thoughts as she began to imagine ponies talk to one another and at the slightest mention of Vinyl’s name they would all become clueless, almost as if they never knew her at all. She began to feel that there would be no point in running back home. There would be nothing back there for her, and in rage, she began to feel ponies would become enraged at the fact she was still amongst the living.

She banged the box with her hind leg repeatedly, clasping her hooves over her head as she began to break down mentally and emotionally. She quickly caught onto what she was doing though and tried to stop herself from weeping and making noises. She did not want to attract the attention of Lucius.

It was all too difficult for her though. She fought herself, gripping onto her legs as she tried to stop herself from kicking the box, and pressed her hoof against her mouth as she tried to fight back a sob or scream.

Soon, after seconds of holding herself, she finally settled herself into a fetal position, cradling back and forth as her thoughts began to play tricks on her. The darkness was no help either, for it left the mare’s mind to question whether her eyes were opened or closed.

‘I’m nothing’ she began to think to herself, leaning her head onto the board in front of her. ‘Nopony cares where I’m at, so what’s even the point. I might as well just give up’

Her mind was clouding Vinyl’s spirit, rendering her motionless. It began to manipulate her into believing she had no purpose. That she was nothing. It began to trick her into believing that her purpose was what she was turned into. To be nothing more than a doll.

Vinyl could not sob or cry anymore. Her strength faded away from her body and her spirit was completely gone. Her thoughts of freedom were replaced with the lie that her freedom was to be enslaved yet again- by the hooves of the stallion that bought her, never recognizing her as a true mare. She had the chance to tell him who she was, to tell him that she was real. The merchant would’ve killed them both without hesitation though, discarding their bodies to rid of all evidence of his crime.

Soon, the sound of the door opening once again could be heard but Vinyl did not pay attention to it. She simply sat down in the crate, her hind legs stretched outwards as her forelegs stood beneath her, and her head hung low, staring down at the sight of nothingness with a tired, defeated gaze.

The sounds of hooves approaching did not make her stir in any way. Neither did the change in elevation. She just sat still in the crate, letting her captors speak and joke as if they have done no wrong once in their life time – as if their hooves were clean. After seconds of lifting the barrier spell, and the noise of a door opening, leaving the sound of the busy streets to fill her surroundings, she knew she was back in the outside world for the first time in years. She did not attempt to signal anypony though, knowing not one would care to do anything. They would simply walk by as if they heard nothing, leaving Lucius to deal with her.

After lifting the crate into the back of the carriage and shutting the door tight, Lucius gave a dry smile in the direction of Thanatos.

“I told you” the merchant snapped, pointing his hoof in the direction of the crate and glancing around to see if anypony was around. The unicorn knew what Lucius was referring to. The silence in the crate was enough to prove that Vinyl Scratch was truly dead, and that she would no longer be a burden to the two. The unicorn was not willing to leave his life in the hooves of chance though, and quickly made sure to tell Lucius he was not going to deter away from his decision.

The merchant let out a chuckle and decided to carry on his conversation with the unicorn as they attached the reigns of the carriages to their backs and began to make their way to the doll’s destined location.

It was now apparent that Lucius finally broke the mare who tried to hold on for so long. She no longer had the strength to forge liberal ideas. Now, she lay still, preferring the ways of the darkness; nothing.

***

After discussing a number of interesting topics with Twin Twist, and working off his entire shift, Dutch was now beginning to check out of work. Descending down the lift attached to the skeletal frame of the building, Dutch was greeted by a dirty ridden Twin Twist who decided to take his break later than the other stallions.

“Headin’ on out partner?” Twin Twist asked bringing a half form smile on the stallion’s face.

“Yeah, my shifts up” Dutch informed, making Twin Twist to nod his head in understanding. The orange unicorn glanced around his surroundings, inspecting all the other ponies that continued to work busily.

“You may be the luckiest one here” Twin Twist remarked, letting a smile form on his face, turning his head in the direction of ponies. Dutch was not entirely satisfied with the remark, but he let out a fake smile. If he had a choice, Dutch would not wish to leave his shift so early, only to return back to his den. His four hour shift was the only manageable schedule that his employers would be willing to offer him though, so despite his best efforts to earn additional bits, he was always forced to leave early.

“No, I very much doubt that” Dutch shot with a false chuckle. Deep down though, the stallion was serious as he could be. Twin Twist flashed another smile and patted his back on the grey colt before him.

“Always the worker I see” Twin Twist remarked.

“At times when I prefer to get my mind off things”

“I can’t argue on you with that” Twin Twist responded, raising an eyebrow in understanding. The unicorn spoke very little of his past with Dutch, only releasing small bits about how he gambled himself into debt, and to prevent any harm for his loved one, he escaped the country, fleeing into a region he felt he could make a substantial amount of cash until he could pay off the debt. He’s been here for close to ten years, and has managed to stay in touch with his marefriend. Dutch admired the stallion’s decision to sacrifice his independence in exchange for the well-being of somepony he cared for. Such attributes, he felt, were long gone in this city.

“Well, I better let you go on your way” Twin Twist continued, patting Dutch’s shoulder once again. “I’ll see you tomorrow right?”

Dutch was caught off guard by the last question, for it came out of the blue, and he slowly answered it.

“Uhhh...yeah, I am” he answered cautiously. Twin Twist let out a small chuckle and nodded his head.

“Alright then cool. I’ll see you tomorrow then,” the pony said, waving his hoof in dismissal as he began to walk off, letting Dutch walk ahead a few paces before he was stopped by the unicorn.

“Oh and Dutch” he called, causing the stallion to turn his head slightly. “Walk safely” he added, giving another smile. Then without giving Dutch the chance to utter a word in response, he walked off, trotting down the ditch underlying the bottom of the building and in the center of the surrounding walls.

Dutch remained speechless for a short while, but his trance was quickly broken as ponies passed through him, carrying a large steel rod and their bitter souls.

“Move out of the way asshole!” one of the ponies shouted bitterly, casting Dutch a cold glare. Dutch returned their stare with stern eyes, but decided the issues that would follow would not be worth losing his job over. So without acknowledging the stallion or glancing back, Dutch made his way out of the construction site and back into the cold streets of the city.

Trying to make his way back to his home, he retraced his original route, passing through more ponies which he did not care to acknowledge. Some ponies attempted to lure Dutch into their grasps once again, but he was not focusing on them. Instead he was beginning to think about the unicorn Twin Twist, wondering how he would be able to define him.

To say he was a friend would be a mistake, Dutch thought to himself, for the term friend is a very strong one. To reference Twin Twist as such a thing, he would need to harbor his trust. Same applies for Twin Twist, who still has no knowledge of Dutch’s past.

The colt was like no other though. Dutch has pondered on the possibility of a pony that would be able to hold true morals. Not like the kind ponies brag about, allowing others to admire them, but the kind that says a lot about a pony – such as Twin Twist who was willing to work hard to not only pay off the debt to keep his mare safe, but also to reunite with her.

“Hey buddy” a voice called, causing Dutch to tilt his head to the left side and stray him away from his mind. There he caught a sickly green unicorn with a broad frame guarding a large wooden door, lit up by neon lights, despite the sun’s orange glow over the city. The noise of loud, disturbing, noises playing in an awry rhythm seethed through the door and the beat of a loud, heavy drum boomed through as well.

“You feel like having a good time?” the unicorn continued, giving Dutch a wink and letting a grin stretch across his face, revealing a pair of crooked, disturbing teeth.

Dutch, completely disgusted with the sight of everything before him shook his head in disapproval. The unicorn was massive though, almost twice his side, so Dutch tried his best to shield a look of disgust from his face.

“I’m good” Dutch responded weakly, glancing at the strip bar with an uneasy look. Then, before the bouncer could protest, Dutch continued onwards, descending down to the end of the straight until the noise of the horrid music left his ears.

Once he realized he was out of the scenario, he finally returned to the topic stationed in his mind, all the while making his way back to the place he resided. Dutch began to think about Twin Twist more, taking his final words into consideration. Dutch was a bit stunned from the advice of the colt as well, for he would have never expected that from anypony in the city. He always had this cynism that nopony cared about another’s well-being.

Twin Twist was not from this city though. He was from a distant land – a safe haven. This type of behavior from a resident of Equestria gave Dutch this urge to learn more about this place.

The idea quickly died down though as he realized at minimal wage, and no strength to fulfill any goals, the knowledge of this heaven would only fuel his depression, leaving him with nothing more but more broken dreams.

And with the void in his heart, he felt that no matter where he left to in the world, he would always feel hollow, cold and alone.

Just as he did as he ventured through the streets that left nothing but cold, distant memories to recycle in his mind, without any particular purpose.

***

“How long have we been waiting here?” Thanatos shot, a very tired, bored tone characterizing his voice. Lucius glanced at the unicorn as if he was sane.

“You’ve been casting the barrier spell this entire time” he snapped, pointing his hoof to the back of the carriage. Beside Lucius stood the wooden crate, still filled with sound of silence. Lucius gave it no attention though, for its contents were becoming nothing more but a distant memory that he saw as expandable.

“Exactly” the black snake retorted. “A barrier spell ain’t exactly a walk in the joint you know? It takes a good amount of time, especially when you’re trying to invest it entirely into one specific-”

The unicorn’s voice soon began to trail off though as he began to glance around, seeing ponies begin to walk around the area, admiring the colt whom only some recognized. Most knew Lucius, but none knew of his companion. Such a thing was considered a good thing to a bat like Thanatos – the same could not be said for Lucius.

“…Maybe I should’ve asked him to put his schedule down…” Lucius remarked, trying to play off his charismatic persona. Thanatos rolled his eyes, and after glancing around a second time, he snorted.

“Let’s just leave the package here and go” Thanatos groaned, seeing that the region was now free from ponies. “The sight of this colt’s house is making me sick”

Lucius let out a slight chuckle, but did not utter a word in response. ‘You’re not the only one’ he thought to himself, looking at the place the stallion resided. ‘It was no wonder this stallion may have been desperate to find such pathetic items – this stallion was beyond miserable!’

“…Wait a second” Lucius snickered, unknowingly preventing the unicorn from slipping away. Toward the far end of the street, the merchant was able to make out the view of a very distinguishable stallion. He had a broad hardhat on his head, and his vest was a very bright color. Behind the shades though, his sleek eyes were like that of a dragon’s – he could scope out any particular item within a mile’s radius. It has helped him often in many occasions…and has led to the demise of many of his targets.

“What?” Thanatos shot, fearful that some ponies may have reported suspicious behavior. Lucius quickly elaborated though, feeling the unicorn’s concern.

“Nothing bad my comrade” Lucius grinned, finding the unicorn’s behavior foolish. Despite their dark pasts and their current ranks, Thanatos stood below Lucius, for the unicorn was not a ‘risk taker’ unlike Lucius. “Just follow everything I do, and from there, we’ll have a night of celebration…”

The merchant let a dark smile creep across his face, patting Thanatos on the shoulder, but the unicorn was not disturbed by such expression.

He has seen far worse in this city.

***

Dutch began to walk carefully in the direction of his house, taking notice of an extremely large stallion accompanied with a sleek unicorn. Although the dark suit should have been enough to draw out the assumption the stallion was the merchant, Dutch’s eyes were not as sharp as they use to be. So it was not until he wandered halfway down the street, he noticed who the stallion was – and saw the crate beside him.

Dutch’s ears lifted upward for he did not expect the doll to be sent to house so quickly. He began to feel his gut tighten as well for he felt uneasy about the colt’s sight of his current home. It was enough to bring a red blemish to his face, but not enough to keep him away from the colts and his package.

“Hello there my friend!” The merchant shouted with a generous tone, catching both Dutch and his companion off guard. The merchant began to slowly walk towards the grey colt, which gave him a slight stir in his stomach. Dutch was still not comfortable around the stallion due to his massive size but he could not be rude, as he put it.

“Came back from a hard day of work I see?” The merchant continued now meeting with the stallion a few paces away from his home. Dutch sighed and nodded his head.

“…Got to work…and all” Dutch responded nervously, not really knowing how to respond to a question such as that. Dutch could start conversations, but in the case of salesponies, he always had a habit of brushing off their charismatic methods.

“Ah, I see” The merchant remarked, patting Dutch’s shoulder. The merchant’s hoof was large, but not massive. It weighted heavily on Dutch’s shoulder though, giving the hoof a massive complexion. Afterwards was a strange, unsettling silence that carried on for a minute, all the while with the merchant’s large hoof on Dutch’s shoulder.

“Well how about we cut this chit-chat and get straight to what we came for?” The merchant began, finally taking his hoof off of Dutch who had an unreadable expression mounted on his face. This surprised the merchant for a while, for he was always able to read a pony’s face, but he quickly shrugged it off and marked it as a nervous expression.

Dutch, sensing his thoughts about the stallion before him were beginning to show on his face, quickly changed his expression into a false smile and nodded his head.

“Oh, yeah sure” he muttered, giving an assuring look in the direction of the merchant. The merchant flashed a quick smile and turned back towards the carriage, facially signaling the unicorn to shift into character. Dutch followed after him, glancing around to see if anypony was around, but to no surprise, the region seemed dead.

Approaching the small crate, the merchant began to introduce the black unicorn. “I’d like you to meet my acquaintance Top Spin” he introduced, flashing his hoof in the direction of the unicorn who gave a treacherous smile. Dutch saw it as a business smile though, and brushed it off without ease. What did seem odd about the unicorn were his physical aspects; dark green slanted eyes that looked like that of a snake, with a short, combed black and green mane. Dutch managed to catch a sight of his cutie mark as well – a dark red sickle with two bits centered in the arch of the blade.

‘Top Spin?’ Dutch thought to himself, finding the name to be very unfitting for a colt such as this. Before Dutch could analyze the unicorn any further, the merchant decided to carry on the introductions.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I ever properly introduced myself” he said, causing Dutch to turn away from the unicorn. “My name’s Red Ace” he lied, flashing a smile in order to verify his fake name. He then brought out his hoof to Dutch and shook it firmly.

Dutch gave the name some thought too, wondering what could have gave the stallion that name, but he quickly gave up, finding that would only waste time and leave the three in silence.

“Name’s Dutch” the grey stallion introduced, glancing at both the colts before him who looked at each other with mimed expressions. Deep down though, one of their minds was lost in thought at the name that felt so familiar…

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Dutch” the black unicorn complimented, nodding his head to show his assurance. Dutch nodded back and turned to ‘Red Ace’, waiting for what was next.

The merchant looked down at the pony before him, his eyes watching studiously behind a pair of dim shades, but Lucius decided it would be best to ponder on it later. For now, he was just eager to rid himself of evidence.

“…Here she is Dutch” ‘Red Ace’ presented, displaying the wooden case with his hoof to present his customers product. “All packed up and ready for you”

‘Top Spin’ tried his hardest to hold in a laugh that was forcing its way to come out of his mouth. He found it all too hilarious how Lucius was pulling off such a character without any troubles.

Dutch, oblivious to the lies occurring around him only listened and responded as him and the merchant began to discuss various details about his item, but as they began to reach the end of their deal, ‘Top Spin’ had one last thing that he wished to add on.

“Oh, Dutch” ‘Top Spin’ began, “If there’s anything wrong with the item, or you don’t feel comfortable with it, just be sure to drop by the shop and let Red Ace know”

The dark unicorn wanted let a smug grin spread across his face, but he knew that would blow the entire scam out from under. Dutch was a little lost by the unicorn’s words, wondering if anything happened to the doll along the way, but ‘Red Ace’ was never too far from clearing things up.

“Just in case you don’t like it or things just don’t feel right” he vaguely put it.

Dutch was now thinking about the tone of these two colts, wondering what problems he may have with just a doll, but then again, he could not deny his mind was already giving him troubles about the doll. After last night, he was not sure what he would feel after seeing the doll. Still, he paid his bits for the item before him and he was in a tired state, so he nodded his head in agreement, and shook both of the colts’ hooves, thanking them for delivering it to him.

“Oh, it was no trouble” ‘Red Ace countered, almost close to releasing a condescending tone. Then, after shaking hooves, ‘Red Ace’ signaled ‘Top Spin’ to lift the crate out of the street and onto the sidewalk, just to “help out our fine customer right here”, as he said it. The crate was enveloped in a dark green hue, and the sound of something tilting in the box caught the attention of Dutch but he did not think much of it, considering it was only the work of gravity. Once the box made its way gently onto the cold pavement, Dutch began to thank them once again and bid them farewell, which did the same in return. Moving back around to the front of the carriage, ‘Red Ace’ and ‘Top Spin’ hinge the reigns of the carriage onto their backs, said their goodbyes one last time, and began to trot off away from the broken home, leaving Dutch outside with the large wooden crate.

***

“Hahahahaha” Thanatos laughed heavily as they finally made their way down two blocks. It was the result of the desire to laugh throughout the entire act of playing the business figure.

Lucius did not laugh at all, nor did he care to acknowledge his friends reason for laughter. All he could think about was the name of that stallion, and why it sounded so familiar to him. Names never meant to him, for he never needed to know a name. It was always him that he cared for and the names that he did know where those of valuable assets as he saw as very reliable.

‘Dutch….Dutch…’ he repeated in his mind, trying to pull anything out of his mind that was relatable to his name. All he could pull out though was the file of a long deceased stallion from old times referred to as Dutch, an outlaw who killed for money and power. That description did not fit the stallion he met though, and quickly discarded the information for it was useless…

“HEY!” A voice shouted, catching the attention of Lucius who turned to his left side to see his black coated companion staring at him with a cold glare. “I asked if you know what Joint we were going to head to now?” the unicorn continued, who seemed to be having a conversation of his own the entire time Lucius was lost in thought. The large stallion was a figure who knew how to adjust quickly though, so he instantly carried on with the first thing that came to his mind.

“Pick anywhere you wish my friend” Lucius smiled, “It’s my treat”

The unicorn let a grin stretch across his face because he knew the one thing he loved more than money and alcohol were the mares. Lucius did not care about price as an obstacle. That never kept him happy. His happiness lied in the suffering of those lower than him – his thrill lied in the ability to possess the power of one’s life and destiny. It is one of his many reasons why his infatuation with power has led Vinyl Scratch to her fate. He loved the feel of possessing her, not only in body, but in mind and spirit. Once she finally departed though, the pleasure he gained from such power quickly departed with her, leaving him hollow.

He knew this left the opportunity to hunt for more sport though. Which is why Lucius let his companion picked their destined location. He knew Thanatos would lead him to a place where mares were abundant, giving him the option to scope out the one he saw as fitting for his cruel methods of torture. This is one of the many mutual benefits the merchant gained from the unicorn.

Wherever Thanatos went, death followed – and that was because Lucius was never too far behind.

***

Hours have passed since the departing of ‘Red Ace’ and his mysterious companion, leaving Dutch with the wooden crate on the dark streets. Hours have passed since Dutch has examined the item beside him, trying to devise a route to successfully carry his product up the small flights of stairs leading to the entrance of his house. Hours have passed since the stallion’s struggles and grunts of agony have shot through the silent streets, lifting the wooden crate that seemed to weigh heavier than the doll inside of it. Hours have passed since Dutch has placed the box in the center of the room, finally bringing it into his house, leaving him tired and breathless. Hours have passed since Dutch has regained his breath, finally managing the energy to examine the crate before him from afar, resting on the top of his mattress.

And nothing has changed since.

Perched upon the worn frame of his bed, Dutch watched the box in silence, letting an eerie silence take hold of the place. It would be enough to bring a chill upon Dutch’s back, but because he was completely lost within his thoughts, he gave into no factor in the world before him. Once Dutch managed to collect his thoughts and mind, placing his required uniform back in the cabinets he picked them from and taking moments to rest, he instantly felt the memories of his nightmare shift his mood.

The grey stallion began to feel a bitter emotion biting at the back of his head, telling him to return the doll, knowing its presence would only keep the dream fresh in his mind. At the same time, he could feel a humble, yet strong, emotion fighting its way into his cerebrum, trying to warn him that leaving the doll would only undo all the other internal battles he put himself through to make the decision on seeking out for this feeling of love.

But how could he replace such a strong feeling with a child’s toy. ‘On second thought…’ Dutch thought to himself, realizing the term child could not fit with an item in a store where repulsive items were abundant.

He then began to think about those eyes. Those eyes that would lure him away from the real world, allowing him to visualize a realm where all was not lost, bringing him back to a time when he had it all. Those extravagant eyes were now tainted by the nightmare though, so Dutch was locked in another internal conflict, his mind engaging in a bloody civil war to decide what next now that he has the white mare.

Finally, beginning to grow irritated with his own conscience, Dutch trotted off his bed, shaking his head furiously as he tried to move the emotions back into the core of his mind. His mane shook furiously as he began to finally feel lightheaded, assuring that all forms of emotions were gone from his head. He grew fed up with pondering and finally decided to act, letting a risk decide the fate of how he would truly react to the presence of the doll.

Quickly pacing himself towards the wooden box, Dutch began to feel his breathing intensify as he began to take notice of the ominous silence present in his home. He was determined to finally open the crate though, so despite the feel it gave him, the grey stallion continued on until he finally made his way to the box. He began to inspect it from top to bottom, examining it’s light brown pigmented boards and the wooden blotches that appeared every so often along each board. Across the crate read the warning Fragile, with the words, handle with care, underneath it. Judging by the look of the crate, it seemed to be nailed shut, and it would require the aid of an industrial tool to pry it open. Luckily considering Dutch’s occupation, such a tool was not far from his grasp.

“Now where did I leave it at?” Dutch grumbled as he turned away from the box to his room, eventually leaving the crate alone in the center of the room as he decided to actually look for the item.

***

Vinyl Scratch has remained in silence for the past few hours, but the darkness has helped her adjust to such an eerie feel. Her senses have become numb as well, and her ability to process movement has been snatched from her.

Once the sound of hoof steps could be heard though, her senses began to slightly revitalized. After that long period of silence, her broken mind began to process the ideal that her time had finally come and death would soon bring her the cold, beautiful essence of death with him.

More grumbling.

The noises were reestablishing the mare’s vitals though, so with each step, she began to feel herself slip farther away from her dormant conscience and deeper into the real prison she was encased in.

The sound of something creaking could be heard in the darkness surrounding her, instantly sending a chill down the back of the mare’s mind, but she did not dare mind. Her mind instantly began to recall events that have slipped past her, helping her realize the situation she was back into.

Reaching the home of her new owner.

The casting of the barrier spell once again.

The risk of being returned to Lucius if she dare budge once in front of the stallion.

Vinyl let out a silent scream in her mind, realizing she was back where she started. In a prison, this time broken and beat. With no way out…

The creaking noise began to grow louder, followed by the sound of struggling and grunting. Vinyl was enraged, furious, defeated, and she knew that she couldn’t allow herself to be thrown back into the grasps of Lucius.

Creak.

A hint of light gleamed into the box from a crack before her, illuminating the once domineering darkness that shrouded Vinyl. Her eyes winced slightly, but realizing there was the chance of being spotted, Vinyl froze, assuming her licensed stance as she felt an overbearing amount of sadness poor into her head. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck pick up slightly, but it was most likely a subconscious reflex, not a true one.

Crack.

The light appeared to grow brighter as the crack grew wider, searing it’s rays into the mare’s glassy eyes, but she held her position, the fear of returning back to the shop keeping her strength at bay. At the same time though, Vinyl began to wonder if any of it mattered. Either way, she was imprisoned, forced to reside under the rule of a stallion…

Finally, the sound of nails fully prying off and the loud crack of the entire wooden board brsting off its hinges shot throughout the room, leaving Vinyl Scratch to be out of the small claustrophobic torture device. The room was lit by a dim light (although to Vinyl it seemed to be surprisingly bright), and before her peering into the box was the same stallion that inspected her a day before.

Dutch looked at the mare, examining her features as he looked at her for only a few seconds, for he quickly began to toss the fragments of the crate to the side of the room, returning shortly after to retrieve the doll. Vinyl Scratch remained silent, not budging once as Dutch gained a hold of her waist and pulled her out of the wooden crate, standing her upright as he brought her out into the open world. Dutch surveyed the doll quietly, glancing around for anything that seemed to be out of the ordinary, which all seemed to be fine until he placed himself in front of the doll, noticing a strange error he could not mark out in the darkness of the crate.

As Dutch lifted an eyebrow upwards, approaching Vinyl Scratch, the mare felt tension build up in her mind. She immediately knew where this flaw could have come from – despite the rage that blinded her, she knew her mane was a mess from her breakdown.

The grey stallion never gained a thought of suspicion from the bedraggled mane though. Dutch thought it was his fault the mane was out of proportion since he was struggling to lift her into his home, and the path was bumpy, so he thought the flaw came from that. Still, the messy mane disturbed Dutch, so he propped himself closer to the doll, bringing his hoof out to comb the mare’s hoof with it. The grey stallion found it childish, but he did not wish to have an item as clean as they look like the rest of the house he resided in. Even then though, Dutch couldn’t help but feel there was more to that.

As Dutch ran his hoof through the doll’s hair, he could feel her silky hair run around his hoof and the vibrant colors of varying blue were enough to keep him entranced as he repeatedly combed the hair. Vinyl Scratch felt her gut tighten and an awkward feeling built up in her mind as she saw the bearded stallion before her groom her hair with such affection. It gave her this feeling of disturbance, a feeling similar to the presence of Lucius.

Dutch, beginning to see the hair was returning to its natural wavy form, slowly began to bring his hoof to a halt, letting it clink back down onto the ground. As the stallion began to scan over the bright hue of the doll’s hair though, a bright, mesmerizing round glow caught the attention of his eye, causing him to look into the eyes of the Vinyl. Her eyes were the same as they were the day before; warm, innocent, and pure.

Dutch’s stomach began to grow unnerving as he looked into the bright red eyes, which were perfectly mirrored by the mare in his dreams. It was enough to cause Dutch to turn away, but strangely enough, the feel of these unique irises felt different from those in the dream, and Dutch knew what this meant. Slowly bringing his hoof upwards, Dutch stretched out his hoof towards Vinyl, who was still disturbed by the strange behavior of the stallion, and gently placed his hoof against her cheek.

At first her fur was warm, adding into the inviting glow of Vinyl, but as Dutch pressed his hoof further against the mare’s skin he began to feel the warmth of the fur disappear as it was replaced by the feel of a cold, soft material. Dutch pulled his hoof back in confusion, wondering what sort of material could this doll was made from, but at the same time, the answer to his question was clear; unlike the eyes of the mare in that vivid illusion, these eyes were real. And despite any sort of memory they contained, those skillfully crafted eyes still gave Dutch that same warm feeling that kept him sane, giving him a reason to trudge through the world.

Vinyl returned her fixed gaze in the direction of Dutch, watching as the grey stallion stared into her eyes with a strange look. It was a look she never got before and neither was it a look she could remember, but it was a look that gave the mare more of a reason to be cautious with the stallion. After a few more seconds of staring into each other’s eyes, Dutch finally let out a smile.

“You are something” Dutch remarked, eyeing the doll up and down once again. The grey stallion couldn’t help but wonder how such a simple thing was able to give him this feeling that he only got from a certain mare. A feeling that told him ‘everything will be okay’. Vinyl, on the other hoof, did not take the stallion’s remark in that context.

‘Another sick bastard…’ she hissed angrily in her mind, feeling a swift pinch in the side of her head. She believed the stallion’s remark referred to her frame and nothing else.

That was always a sign of her emotions beginning to gain a hold of her actions, but Vinyl’s body felt unresponsive, almost as if it decided to leave her mind to enact on its own. Despite the emotional pain it brought to her, she was thankful that her body decided to abandon her mind for a short while, preventing her from attempting anything she would surely regret later.

As seconds flew by and eventually minutes, Dutch finally let out a sigh and began to shake his body. Glancing to his right side, he saw the clock hanging on the wall and the read the time silently to himself.

9:47

Dutch was expected to meet his shift by four a clock early the next morning, and he knew he could not stay up any longer, risking his job for showing up late on time. Dutch chuckled at the thought of how the scenario would’ve panned out.

‘I’m sorry Dieter, but I was up all night looking into a doll’s eyes’ Dutch mused to himself in his head as he began to scoot the wooden crate and all its bits to the nearest wall, trying to leave enough space in the center of his house. Finally after scooting all other items aside, Dutch finally made his way back to Vinyl Scratch.

“Sorry” Dutch apologized, lifting Vinyl up in his forelegs, not actually expecting her to talk back, “But I got work tomorrow and I can’t afford to get fired because of you”

Moving to the far end of the room, towards the wall where the crate stood, Dutch finally placed Vinyl down, letting out a light sigh as he began to pull out the broken wooden crate once again. Dutch decided it would be best to place the toy back in the crate, considering he had nowhere else to put it for now.

After minutes of shuffling items around and struggling to prevent any damage to the doll, the grey stallion finally managed to place the unicorn back into the crate which standing in the center with her playful pose. Dutch patted his hooves together and admired his work, before looking back at the clock and letting a message slip through his mind.

‘It’s not like it’s going anywhere’ Dutch thought, looking back at his mattress that seemed to be calling his name for quite some time. Despite such minimal labor, the colt felt a tightening feel clench over his backside, giving him a very tired feel. So, with everything seeming to be in order, and a final glance at Vinyl, Dutch headed to the center of his room, shut off the light, and quickly made his way to his mattress, where he would remain for a good long while, pondering on what his mind would have in store for him; another restless night, or maybe even a dreamless slumber. Dutch was unsure what his mind was thinking, for those two emotions within him seemed to still be fighting with one another, not entirely giving Dutch the satisfaction he wanted.

Dutch had no problem with the doll. Sure it was an inanimate object, but it made his home feel less hollow, and gave him this feel of company. His mind refused to accept this as sane though, which he knew was not. So he began to wonder if he already gave away his sanity, trying to fill an irreplaceable gap with an inanimate object.

“Maybe” Dutch sighed, accepting what may have been the truth to him. ‘But as long as it manages to keep me going, I’ll stick with it’ he thought to himself, possibly giving into madness. This was no madness that caused harm though. It was only madness that left the colt alive and going. It was the only option left in his mind, and the only way he saw this choice as fitting was to manipulate it to his will. He did not care for other’s concerns for no pony knew of the doll. Only Dutch knew, and that was a fact he had no problem with.

And with that, he began to feel the sandpony cast his spell over the colt, the last thing in his mind being a pair of bright gorgeous eyes, before drifting to sleep.

Time flew by as Vinyl remained still in the crate, hoping not to make the slightest stir. She did not wish to wake the stallion from his slumber, for his slumber meant her awakening. Finally after finding the stallion was now fast asleep, gone into the dream world, Vinyl abandoned her stance, slowly bringing all four of hooves down onto the crate and sitting down on her behind. She wished to wander around, enduring the freedom she had the night before, wondering the shop without the slightest disturbance. But as the mare glanced down at the floor boards (and judging by the house), her steps would evoke a squeaking noise, waking the stallion from his slumber.

Vinyl hung her head low to act out her mental sigh, feeling she was now truly caged, being under constant surveillance in the dead of now – the time where her mind and body used to purge itself of pain. Those times were now gone though, and she was now forced to adapt to this new facility if she wanted to get through.

“At least he works though” Vinyl whispered to herself ever so quietly it seemed like she was only mouthing the words. This brought a minor spark in Vinyl’s body, providing her with a brief benefit that she would surely have time to move about freely, before finally acknowledging the list of cons that were apparent.

Her eyes began to survey the region before her, noting to herself everything she saw. She saw a mattress with a worn down frame, expired furniture, a surprisingly large table, and lastly, a piano, which caused her ears to perk upwards slightly. She hadn’t noticed the strange item before, and this left Vinyl to recount what she knew about such an instrument. Her mind began to replay memories of younger years, a time where survival was never needed. She could remember playing random keys and notes with a young Octavia, both of whom did not know each other at the time. She could recall barging into a new school one particular day, not knowing one single pony. Yet, on accidental terms, she stumbled upon her best friend on that very day.

What was once her best friend, her mind reminded, crushing her memory instantly. The thoughts died down, evaporating from her mind like a puff of smoke, now being replaced with the lies and taunts of Lucius.

Vinyl could not hang her head any lower than she did, so she lay down on her belly, moving at an extremely slow pace that strained her entire body, in order to prevent the slightest noise and creak. Resting herself downward, the mare prodded her hooves in a crossed formation under her face, watching the prison before her on ground level. She began to take notice of the room’s glow dimming, now being substituted with darkness and the silhouettes of furniture and ghosts.

She breathed gently, trying to tame her breathing as she began to reflect on the lies implanted in her head.

She began to think what might have happened had she returned to her home land, if she successfully escaped. She wished to have imagined a ceremony, a great reunion where all her friends would attend to. But instead, she began to visualize a world where ponies slipped by her, as if she was nothing but a distant figure. She could see ponies carry on their lives without her, never acknowledging her absence, or even caring to pay their respects for her. To Vinyl, it seemed as if her disappearance was nothing more but yet another news article, praised and glorified by arrogant and ruthless reporters. And it was all because of Lucius…

‘..It’s all because of him’ she thought to herself, clenching her teeth tightly as she began to fidget in rage. Her mouth began to rumble, possessing an urge to snarl in anger and ferocity, but she placed her hooves over her mouth and shut her eyes, trying to expel the memory of the demon who took everything from her.

She fought her mind and emotions, trying to hold her rage at bay and prevent herself from entering another breakdown. It was difficult, for Vinyl held out for as long as she could, clamping her hoof over her mouth tightly and clenching her eyes as much as she could. She let out a very silent whine, but it was so low, it may have only been in the mare’s head. The entire time, she kept telling herself to expel the grey stallion from her mind.

‘He’s gone Vinyl. He’s gone. He can’t get you anymore. It’s over, it’s over…’

And the internal struggle ensued for minutes, all the while Dutch remained silent, breathing calmly as his mind began to slip into the third stage of his slumber.

Finally, Vinyl became victorious, but it was no battle to celebrate her victory upon. No battle she won with herself was ever great. She has grown accustom to pain and loss over the years, but deep down, she was still but a young mare, stuck in the frame of her younger self. Age has not taken a toll on her features, despite its bodily functions. It was possible the mare could live beyond the average lif expectancy – a thought that has crossed Vinyl’s mind before. She hated the feel of living for to long, already eager to accept the feel of nothingness. Her body may have never aged, but her spirit and mind were slowly beginning to fade away.

‘Stop Vinyl just stop!’ she mentally noted to herself, bucking herself on the head as silently as she could. She could not though, for she knew it was all true.

And despite her struggle to expel Lucius from her mind, Vinyl’s new owner was still burning in her mind. She began to recount his strange behavior towards her, the sort of behavior you would expect from a nutcase. From one psychopath to another, she put it quickly, not wishing to indulge in the figure she was comparing him too.

Vinyl spoke out of hindsight though, and knew nothing of the stallion’s past. She does not know of his reasons why he is how he is, just like the stallion has no knowledge to Vinyl’s conscious body.

Her body which was now beginning to succumb to the fatigue that overwhelmed her body as a result from the flood of emotional incidents, painful memories, and the countless dreams crushed in her mind. She wanted to rest, wishing it would be enough to heal her mind and emotions for some time, but in the events of last night where her mind wandered for too long, she knew she could not risk being caught once again.

Vinyl shunned her head realizing that the only route left to take was to endure the long cold night, forced to stay caged in the crate and wait until the stallion woke up. She hated the plan, realizing her freedom was now limited here compared to the shop, a fact she found terrifyingly ironic.

Anywhere was better than that place though, so as much as she despised her life, she chose not to complain.

Lying down in silence, she merely left her eyes open, looking off into the direction of the strange musical instrument that tried to fuel her mind. Vinyl fought off each memory, but she eventually grew tired of repeating the process.

Defeated, she tilted her head to the side, trying her best to adjust in the confinements of the tight box. The darkness was overbearing in this home, and Vinyl had no urge to let her mind visualize monsters lurking in the shadows. So she closed her eyes, not allowing her mind to drift off into sleep as she felt the cold, chilling winds of the night sweep into the box, giving her a lonely empty feel, despite actually being accompanied by another living being since her fate…

Chapter 4: From Bits to Pieces

“Please! I’ll give you the bits I swear just let me go!” a light green unicorn pleaded, shaking furiously from side to side. No matter how hard he moved though, he was unable to free himself from the ropes that were tightly knotted around him, suspending him a few meters above ground level. The stallion’s eyes were puffy and bruised, and his coat was rugged and dirty. A single bright light hung over head as well, granting the helpless stallion a spotlight within the center of the warehouse.

“I know a buyer” he continued, pleading to a group of ponies ahead, who surveyed him from ground level with a heartless gaze. “He’ll give you the money. I’m sure he will-”

Despite the desperation in his voice though, not one colt in the abandoned, worn down facility gave his words one thought. They only stared in silence, gaining no form of satisfaction as they watched the stallion cry and scream in frustration. After all, it was just business.

“You claim to have all these connections Frenzy…” a dark coated unicorn snapped, standing in between the group of colts all of whom contained neatly combed manes upon their head. The speaker then began to step forth, singling himself out of the group towards the bright light where the hanging stallion would be able to view him. “…yet here you are…”

The stallion, now crying as he glanced at the figure, locked his gaze with the dark green eyes of the unicorn, sending his mind into a state of fear. “…I…I…can…get the…bits just…please…”

“I’m afraid it’s far too late for that my friend” the unicorn sighed, trying to display an emotion of regret. He had no wish to play a part though, so he quickly let out a laugh afterwards, glancing back at his comrades who all forced a smug expression on their face. One of them, a lean built yellow pegasus with a grey fedora, let out a smug look, carrying over his shoulder a large rod with a stock and lever.

“No, please, I don’t want to die!” the stallion screamed from above, his cries echoing off the walls of the warehouse. The unicorn’s laugh quickly died down as the sentence pierced his skull. Slowly turning away from his group, he glanced upward at the stallion who’s tears began to fall beneath him – pouring into a large pit with wide metal gears and sprockets .

“You’re afraid to die?” the unicorn repeated with a sinister smile. The stallion from above could see that smile and a shiver ran up his spine. The unicorn watched the stallion in silence, waiting for a response.

“Well?!” the unicorn shouted, his voice roaring throughout the facility and causing every being in the room to jolt.

“…ye…yes…” the stallion admitted through muffled sobs, trying his best to bring out the slightest feel of humility to any of the ponies before him. His attempts were beyond futile.

Slicking his dark green mane back, the unicorn let out a heavy chuckle. “Why?” he asked the stallion, who’s mind was beginning to regret every decision he’s ever made.

“Wh-“

“WHY?!” the unicorn shouted again, this time sending the stallion into paranoia.

“I DON’T KNOW!” the stallion screamed on the top of his lungs. His throat was now beyond dry and he could feel himself growing light headed.

“You don’t know…” the unicorn repeated, shaking his head side to side. “You ask me to spare your life, and you respond to me with ‘I don’t know’…”

The dark figure began to pace himself back and forth in the glow of the light, almost as if thinking, but deep down, he gave his mind not one thought. He already had his goals set.

“Life, my friend, is a gift, given to us” the unicorn began, pacing himself back and forth repeatedly. “We are given the ability to choose our own path, the ability to govern our own actions. Yet, here you are, stuck in what many would call ‘a bad deal’.”

The term made the unicorn cringe, finding it offensive.

“Give me one reason I should let you live” the unicorn added, finally coming to a halt. The stallion perched above tried to process the question in his mind. He was scared and his mind would not enact right, but in an attempt to save his life, he began to dwell in his memories, trying to give the opportunist before him a good reason he should live.

But as time passed by, the stallion could not utter one thing. In his mind, he could not find a memory that would be able to redeem himself.

And this is exactly what the unicorn expected.

“You don’t have one memory?” the unicorn asked, lifting a brow in a rhetorical manner. The stallion did not utter a word, but instead stared at the monster with deep hollow eyes.

“…Please…have mercy…” he begged, his lip quivering with fear. That was all that the unicorn needed to hear. He knew the stallion had nothing to redeem himself with – as did all his other customers before him.

“I’m sorry my friend” the unicorn sighed, actually holding no regret for his next decision. “As I said, life is a gift…”

Then with a glare as cold as stone and a smile as cold as ice, the unicorn looked up at the stallion before finishing his sentence.

“…and it seems you don’t deserve such a thing…”

“Wait, no please-”

“I grow weary of hearing you” the unicorn spat, turning back to the group of mysterious colts, “Suck up your sorrows and die like a colt. Do not fear the inevitable. Death comes to everypony-”

“Please, you can’t do this!” the stallion sobbed, but this final protest finally broke the unicorn’s patience.

“Enough!” the unicorn hissed, growing tired of the stallion’s pleas and turning back around to glare up at the helpless victim. “I have all the power to do this. You’ve gave me your word, ensuring you would repay your debt. When you did not do what was asked, you knew the consequences, yet you still defied me!”

The unicorn then let out a snort as he shook his mane from side to side. “There is a reason they call me Thanatos, Frenzy. I control the balance of life and death, and choose when one’s time comes…”

Thanatos then spit in disgust at the gears below the stallion. “…and it seems your time is up…”

Without another word, Thanatos turned away from the stallion that was now hyperventilating, realizing there was going to be no way out of this situation. His screams grew louder and he began to thrash about wildly as his mind began to race, letting the events of his life unfurl before his mind.

Thanatos paid no heed to the cries though. It was all simply business and he could not let himself look like a fool because of some street junkie. Turning to the most distinct stallion of the group, Thanatos nodded his head to the yellow coated stallion.

“Take care of it Fulgore” Thanatos signaled, glaring at the built stallion with desolate eyes. The yellow stallion did not utter a word in return. Instead he simply tipped off his fedora and flashed a satisfactory smile, a glint of evil apparent in his light blue eyes, to the unicorn that continued to walk away from the group of stallions, making his way to the outskirts of the city. Despite the lack of sympathy he invested in a kill, the unicorn never enjoyed the sight of his customers dying – it only showed more bits going down the drain. The same could not be said for his associate.

As the unicorn disappeared behind a conveyer belt at the far end of the facility, Fulgore turned back to the stallion hanging above and let out a slight chuckle.

“What do you prefer” he asked, in a cold sinister tone. “Slow and painful, or quick and painless?” His voice was deep, yet it contained enough charisma to ensure he fit perfectly amongst his fellow con artist. Frenzy, shaking violently as his throat began to tighten, did not say anything in return. He knew he was going to die. He just wanted to get it over with…

“…Qu-quic-quickly” the stallion stammered, his glands finally dry of tears. He only shook nervously as he hung his head, fear consuming his mind as the essence of death began to vastly approach.

Fulgore let out a smile, finding the stallion’s paranoia to be humorous. He pointed his to one of the ponies beside him, signaling them with a loud shout, and once he caught his attention, pointed to a control panel next to the pit.

Upon seeing the stallion walk over to the control panel, Frenzy began to grow paranoid. “Wha- what is…he doing?” he stammered in fear, glancing frantically back and forth at Fulgore and the pony at the panel.

“He’s just doing what you asked” Fulgore cooed, giving the victim a sarcastic assuring gaze. Suddenly the sound of gears turning and winding amongst one another began to flood the entire facility, causing the stallion to glance beneath him. There, he could see large gears intertwining with one another, their jagged ends twisting aside other gears and sprockets. Frenzy began to shake his head from side to side, growing frantic at the realization his death would be long, painful and horrendous.

“No! What are you doing?!” Frenzy shrieked, trying to be heard over the sound of the mechanisms beneath him. Fulgore, hearing his screams, let out a loud laugh.

“We are staying true to our word!” the stallion retorted walking past the group of ponies as he approached the colt by the control panel. The stallion at the control panel seemed to be monitoring a level, but Fulgore pushed the colt out of the way and pulled it. The colt that was once at the control panel watched Fulgore with a hateful gaze, but he knew he would have no way of enacting his hatred upon him; after all, he was the successor to Thanatos.

The result was Frenzy’s rope slowly descending down to the bottom of the pit, rearing him closer to the moving gears by each second. To the stallion though, time seemed to have slowed down, so each second that passed felt like a minute of excruciating emotions and sorrow.

“PLEASE JUST STOP THIS!” Frenzy shrieked, moving himself as frantically as he could, swaying the rope that held him from side to side.

Fulgore, now beginning to move away from the control panel, looked up at the stallion that swung helplessly, screaming at the top of his lungs as he approached his inevitable end. These screams proved to be annoying and tiring to the rest of the stallions in the room, all of whom felt the stallion should just give up and realize his end was going to come. Fulgore on the other hoof, found his screams to be something much more extravagant. He found the pitch of his shrieks to be poetic, talented. Frenzy’s screams were nothing more than music to Fulgore’s ears.

The sounds of the gears began to grow louder, as Frenzy could now see that the large gears he seen from above were only the tip of the iceberg. Deep within the pit he could see tinier, jagged gears twisting and spinning in different directions, instilling more paranoia into his mind. He knew his death would be beyond painful, and he wanted nothing more but to die.

“JUST KILL ME!” he began to plead, wishing for the feeling he feared not long ago. Frenzy knew his death was inevitable now though…and he did not wish to be alive to feel his body began to tear and dismember before his very eyes.

Fulgore raised a brow upon hearing the stallion’s wish, a sinister grin stretching across his face. “What was that?” the yellow coated stallion asked, lifting off his fedora and tilting his ear to the direction of the screams.

“KILL ME! JUST DO IT ALREADY! FOR FUCK’S SAKE PLEASE!”

Fulgore placed a hoof on his chin, pretending to consider his offer while the stallion began to grow closer to the gears. “I’m sorry, I can’t hear you” the stallion mouthed, shaking his head to simulate he could not hear Frenzy. The stallion was growing desperate.

“DO IT YOU MOTHER BUCKING SON OF A BITCH!” the stallion spat, his hooves nearing closer to the gears. Fulgore’s humor quickly faded with that curse and with and angry glare, he had enough.

Grabbing the rifle from around his back, Fulgore quickly whipped it around stood on his hind legs, and glancing down the back of the rifle, he let his tongue wrap around the trigger and fire.

BOOM

The sound of the rifle discharging rang throughout the entire facility, followed by the sound of rifle being cocked, a bullet flying out of the chamber to descend down to the ground.

The screams that were once present in the warehouse were now gone, replaced with the sound of silence. Fulgore, panting heavily with a stern expression glanced ahead, staring at the stallion that was now inches away from the pit.

Frenzy was now limp, and unmoving. His eyes were wide open and in between the center of his skull, droplets of blood began to drip downwards, indicating Fulgore’s single shot proved to be fatal.

The yellow stallion, holstering his weapon, returned back to his four legged stance and watched in silence as the sound of the stallion’s lifeless frame began to get caught in the gears – a sick, crunching noise echoing throughout the warehouse. The sound of something gurgling soon followed, making most of the ponies’ cringe in disgust. All except Fulgore.

Fulgore watched as the stallion’s body began to disappear from view, all evidence of his existence getting mashed and grinded into bits. He did not care though, for he did not view him as a living being. He only saw Frenzy as another junkie. A nobody.

He was just another loose end in his books, and that is what left Thanatos to favor this stallion. The dark unicorn saw potential in this stallion, seeing not only the aspects of sadistic murderer, but a cold calculative opportunist as well.

This was enough to tell the unicorn Fulgore may soon overtake the business someday…

***

With a loud groan, Dutch’s eyes began to slowly crack open, his mind finally awakening from its dormant stage. He felt a cold wind sweep over his face, causing him to shiver slightly as a bitter cold emotion swept over his shaven muzzle.

Once his eyes were fully open, the colt was able to make out the purple hue of the sunrise shine in from his window – a sight that he deemed extravagant this early in the morning. In a way, he saw it as a sign of a good day. Stretching out his arms slowly, letting a sigh escape his throat, Dutch slowly turned to the left side of his bed, tilting his body in the direction of the table and the piano. With his mind still trying to reach full efficiency, the stallion groggily scooted his body off the side. As Dutch ascended off the bed on his hind legs though, he caught the sight of his blankets slowly slipping off his bed in the corner of his eye. Before Dutch could see the reason for the odd occurrence, the sound of a light thud rang in his ears and he felt the force of something falling onto the ground with his hind legs.

Glancing over to the source of the noise, Dutch looked down at the ground with sleepy eyes as he found half of his bed sheet scattered on the ground – and beside it laid Vinyl, carrying a set of gentle eyes and a warm smile. Dutch, finally growing awake as he ran his hoof through his head, began to remember the events of last night as he glanced down at the doll.

‘Well, it seems like I did sleep with a doll…’ Dutch mused to himself, not exactly displaying any humor. The stallion, remaining on his hind legs, glanced down at the sheet covering Vinyl and with a sigh, knelt down and took the sheets off. Focusing on his sheets, the colt began to fold his white clear thin blanket in folds, then in halves and then in fourths, until it was finally a small tidy square. Turning back, Dutch placed the sheet on the edge of the bed and without turning back to Vinyl, the colt began to shake of his bed, removing all remains of hair and skin his body left over night.

Finally finishing his bed, Dutch turned back around and focused on the toy on the ground who was now exposed on the floor. She was positioned on her side and her legs were stretched outwards, while her tail and mane seemed to be caught underneath her body. Her facial expression has not shifted since last night either. The sight of the mare made Dutch smile, finding this position to be very petite and innocent. The stallion felt it would be wrong to leave the toy lying on the ground any longer though.

Bending down, he grabbed Vinyl by her side, lifting her up from the ground. Tilting her in his direction, Dutch looked at the doll with a sheepish smile and shook his head.

“Did you sleep well?” the stallion asked, letting out a smile in a joking manner. Dutch knew the answer to his question though. Last night he swore he was sleeping on a clear, cumulus cloud, without the cold harsh winds blowing at him. Never had he felt so warm in his sleep, utilizing the doll’s extra fur as a heater.

Suddenly, Dutch’s mind flipped into full alert, realizing he had a job to attend to. “Shit” Dutch muttered to himself, turning to the direction of the clock. Upon glancing at it he saw the approximate time

8:35

“Damn, only twenty five minutes left” Dutch continued, letting a sigh out a she turned away from the clock back to the doll in his forelegs. She was a large doll and it looked sort of ridiculous in Dutch’s hooves. Still, she was light, so there wasn’t much of a hassle when carrying her around.

Dutch was focusing on work though, and he knew he would need to be there on time if he wanted to get there in time. Shaking his head, Dutch placed Vinyl on the head of the bed, posing her in a sitting stance in front of his pillow – much like a young foal would do with their plush dolls. Vinyl’s head hung low, despite her generous expression fixated on her face and her mane hung neatly to once side of her head.

The stallion seemed to be getting a kick of posing the doll now, finding it fun and interesting to move her around. It was no wonder foals loved to play with these things, he thought to himself.

Seeing that the colt was wasting his time ’playing with his toy’ though, Dutch turned away from the unicorn on his bed towards the bathroom. The stallion was not going to take another shower, seeing he took it twice yesterday. Instead he would merely do a quick wash up – clean his face, brush his gums and teeth, and other various hygienic activities.

During the stallion’s morning rinse, Vinyl lifted her head up and twirled her hooves in front of her around in a circular motion, glancing at the violet hue ascending from the window. She has never seen such a thing like that before in her life, so within those seconds, she could do nothing but just marvel at the beauty of its color. She never expected to see something so rare in a city where everypony was cruel and heartless.

‘…I don’t know…’ Vinyl thought to herself, catching that thought and inspecting it in her mind. The unicorn was considering the stallion that kept her warm throughout the night, making him a legitimate example. The problem with that though was Vinyl still could not find herself to trust him. Despite her best efforts to do so and the signs of his good nature, her mind held strong, denying her the possibility to admit he was like no other.

Vinyl let out a breathless sigh, knowing her mind was only thinking the best for her. She did not want to go against it, feeling it has kept her alive for this long. Still, she knew if these signs of the stallion’s integrity prolonged longer than she would have expected, her mind would be able to accept him for something he may not truly be. As of now though, to Vinyl, he was just another pony trying to get by in this place.

The unicorn’s thoughts stopped as the sound of running water died down, meaning that Dutch finished his quick rinse. Shifting her body back to its previous stance, Vinyl froze just as Dutch walked out of the bathroom, his once tired expression gone from his face. The cold morning water seemed to have awakened him from his dormant state, for his eyes seemed to be more alive and refreshed. His coat did not look rugged either, and his mane seemed to be back at its average ragged state.

“Brrr, that’s cold” Dutch remarked, letting a shiver pass over his body as he ascended close to the wardrobe next to the bed. He then repeated the same process he has done on these days – pulling out the hardhat and the brightly lit vest.

Putting them on, Dutch shook his body, showing he was now wide awake.

“Okay” he said to himself, “Today is going to be a good day. I can just feel it”

And he truly felt it would be. Glancing around at the clock, Dutch saw he had twenty minutes to attend work. If he left now, he would be able to catch his shift five minutes early – and if Dieter was around to see this drastic change, Dutch’s luck may soon change.

Making his way past the bedframe and table, Dutch stopped in his tracks as he looked back at the doll one last time. He knew that to ensure full entitlement to his luck, he needed to get a look at those fiery, warm irises.

Upon seeing them with the greeting smile, Dutch let out a smile in return and felt this shield overcome his entire body, almost as if it provided him with a new state of mind. Although hesitant at first, his excitement seemed to have driven him to be more optimistic and light hearted, so he went back a few paces to say one last thing to the doll.

“Goodbye” he waved with a generous smile towards Vinyl who was still stuck in her position. Dutch shook his head and looked up at the roof, talking to some unknown deity as he let this happiness overtake him.

Dutch decided to continue his conversation with this god on his way to work though, so with his new, lively feeling inside him, Dutch left his house, locked the door, and noticed the true beauty of the purple glow that lit up the dirt ridden streets that carried toxic carriages.

Inside Dutch’s house, still stuck in her pose, Vinyl blinked her eyes and let a true smile grow across her face as her cheeks blushed red.

It has been a long time since she could recall being told ‘goodbye’ by anypony. It has been even longer since she could remember anypony telling her that as if they truly meant it.

***

A few hours have passed since Dutch’s early arrival that scared the senses out of the blue pegasus who was quietly enjoying a smoke. Being surprised by the stallion’s early arrival once again, he merely let out a sigh and informed the colt what to do. And with a light spirit, he worked hard, occasionally rushing past workers that have appeared for their shifts early in the morning.

He has been doing the same task since then, occasionally aiding with the lift of bricks or metal rods. As Dutch finished tightening a rope around a stack of wooden boards, he began to run back across the other end of the site. Upon reaching halfway through the site though, Dutch saw a familiar looking unicorn who seemed to have walked in just in time to attend work. Halting midway through his route, the colt flashed a smile in the direction of the orange pony, who glanced back at him in a quizzical way. It took a matter of seconds to finally realize who he was.

“And the surprises just keep racking up” Twin Twist remarked as he was greeted by a clean, broad stallion that referred to himself as Dutch.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Dutch asked, raising a brow as he lifted his hoof outwards to the orange unicorn. Twin Twist gave a sly look and sighed. The question has been burning in the colt’s mind for quite some time and he needed to let it leave his system, in hopes of finding the truth.

It did not seem like drugs were the reason behind Dutch’s sudden mood shift anymore, according to Twin Twist. Dutch seemed to have a calmer, more collective attitude, but at the same time, he was surely in a good mood. This only pushed the unicorn to know what was this stallion’s ‘anchor’.

Although what the unicorn saw, to him, seemed to be pretty strange.

“Well…” the colt began, hesitantly shaking the hoof of the grey stallion who found the notion strange. “…I could see you no longer have your beard…” he informed, trying to find a pathway to discussing about what was supplying this stallion with such happiness.

“Oh yeah” Dutch assured, letting his hoof run underneath the bottom of his face. “Wanted to try a different look, that’s all.”

Dutch then flashed a smile as Twin Twist glared at him with suspicion; all the while ponies around the worksite began to set up large boards, carry bricks and mix the new batch of cement.

“You do realize its freezing around this time of the season right?” the unicorn retorted, causing Dutch’s ears to redden. He began to lightly stomp one of his hooves on the ground, trying to forge an answer to explain his act.

“Well, yeah but…I felt it would be…good to try something…a bit different…” Dutch grumbled, his mind piecing together an excuse as he continued to speak. Twin Twist knew he had him by the reigns by then.

“So who’s the lucky mare?” the unicorn asked, flashing a smile to the now dumbfounded colt.

“Uhh, I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Dutch responded, laughing nervously. To the unicorn though, that seemed to be a blunt lie.

“Oh c’mon now, don’t think I can’t recognize when a stallion’s falling for somepony” Twin Twist chuckled, flashing a wink and pointing his hoof at Dutch. The colt smiled weakly but in his mind, he was feeling his thoughts clashed as Twi n Twist began to get at something Dutch was not comfortable with.

“It’s almost obvious. You’re so happy, don’t even give a damn about anything, as if nothing can hurt you” Twin Twist continued, kneeling down to pick up a tool that slipped out of a ponies mouth not too long ago. “You shaved your beard too, and I’m sure that’s just the start. Face it Dutch, you’re in love.”

Dutch listened in silence, his thoughts actually taking the unicorn’s words into consideration. It disturbed him deeply though to realize there was indeed a connection between the colt’s happiness and the doll. But Dutch found this ironic. He could recall actually yearning to regain love from the doll; it was the reason he bought it in the first place. Why did it disturb him to realize he was actually gaining his sense of happiness back?

“There’s no one in my life” Dutch responded, trying to deter away from the conversation. The colt’s happiness was not gone, but he felt that he did not want to discuss the topic any further. Deep down though, he knew the reason. He did not want to accept it, fearing for his sanity, but he knew why. He may have truly been falling in love with the doll.

And he began to feel this pain build inside him as well, realizing he may have been replacing the mare he once cherished with a lifeless figure. Subconsciously, it was as if he knew what he was doing, finally beginning to see most of his actions piece together. It was almost as if it was trying to make him move on…

“That seems unlikely to believe” Twin Twist smirked, shaking his head lightly in disapproval. “I mean there is no problem with it. It’s just good to know you found that other half that keeps you happy”

Dutch’s mood shifted slightly but it did not falter. Although the mare he once cherished long ago burned in his mind constantly, memories of her were always distant and painful. As for the doll, he had memories that were of happier times with his mare – despite it being nonexistent. The colt knew he would never forsake his soul mate for some toy, but to keep Twin Twist from opening Dutch’s emotion’s, he had to give in to the unicorn’s taunts.

“…Okay you’re right” Dutch sighed, more so from the brain activity in his mind then from defeat. Twin Twist let out a snicker, considering this as a victory.

“I just knew it” Twin Twist smiled, shaking his head from side to side. “Where’d you meet her?”

Dutch, taking another sigh, knew the unicorn would ask these questions if he said he had a mare. Luckily for Dutch, he could bend the truth to his will.

“Well, I’ve known her since I was a young foal, but I met up with her again” Dutch replied, glancing at ponies who grumbled and whined as they carried buckets in their mouth, through gritted teeth.

“Wow” Twin Twist said, nodding his head. “That means something…”

Dutch nodded his head, tapping his hooves as he began to grow a bit agitated. ‘Walk away before he asks another question, walk away…’

“What’s her name?”

‘Buck’ the colt snapped in his mind. Dutch was going to answer the question right away, but then realized something strange. Did the doll even have a name? Was it ever given one?

‘I guess it must be my responsibility to name her’ the colt thought to himself as he scratched the back of his head, tilting his hardhat forward.

“Well…” Dutch responded, placing his hoof back down. “Her name is odd…”

Twin Twist seemed eager to know though and quickly insisted. “It can’t be that bad. Now c’mon what is it?”

Before Dutch can respond though, the sound of a familiar voice shouting caused Dutch and Twin Twist to jolt in alarm.

“Dutch!” Dieter shouted, slowly walking up to the two colts from the office. “The ponies on the fourth floor need your help to lift the rods on the other end of the sight” he informed, pointing his hoof to the right end of the site where the other lift was located. “I asked you to help them not to long ago!”

“Sorry Dieter” Dutch shot, standing sternly. “I was just telling Twin Twist I may require his assistance”

Twin Twist was about to add his say, but before he could say anything, Dieter cut him off.

“You don’t need help. Twin Twist has his own post to cover” Dieter snapped, glancing at the orange unicorn who gave a fixated glare to the pegasus.

Dutch closed his eyes and sighed. “Okay then…”

Dieter, seeming to be frustrated at the moment, was in no mood for an apology. “Just don’t say anything and get to your posts…”

Dieter then reared closer and glanced at both colts with unnerving eyes. “…now!”

The two workers, glancing at each other slowly, knew they would have to carry on their conversation later. Without another word, Dutch took off across the other side of the site to take his nomadic post while Twin Twist went the other direction, trotting past common laborers to reach his post.

As Dutch ran to the lift on the other side of the region, he could not help but utter a silent prayer for Dieter interrupting the discussion. If the blue coated pegasus never interrupted the conversation, Dutch had a feeling things would have not gone down well, and his calm, focused attitude would have went down with it.

***

“Ahhhh” the white unicorn sighed as she began to shift her back from side to side comfortably on the mattress of the bed. Her eyes were closed and a smile of satisfaction spread on her face as her head rested comfortably on the pillow. She let all four of her legs stretch outwards and her torso was now vulnerable, but she did not care.

Realizing she was finally alone, she decided to do what she did on the floorboards yesterday…except this time she had a chance to truly do it on a bed. It wasn’t soft like a cloud and it seemed to be a bit dirty, but the mare did not complain, preferring it over the wooden worn down floor.

The unicorn’s eyes grew heavy but she was far from sleepy. She just felt so calm and peaceful – almost as if she hadn’t a care in the world. She knew the reason behind this strange feeling in her gut, and as much as she wished to rid of it from her mind she couldn’t. She could feel herself slowly accepting the stallion’s presence.

She knew she had to be cautious still, but she could not help but feel this stallion she barely knew was unlike no other. She could see it in his behavior from the night before, dancing with her with such passion and generosity. It was almost as if she wished for her to be alive.

‘Maybe…maybe I could…’ Vinyl thought, actually giving the idea some thought but she quickly changed her mind, clasping her hooves over her closed eyes.

“No, what are you thinking Vinyl?” she muttered to herself, her body slightly jolting on the bed. ‘You can’t do that! If he even knew you were alive, who knows how he would react. He might run out and get…him. And I don’t want to go back…’ she continued to think to herself, shaking her head on the surprisingly cozy pillow.

With each twitch of her body, Vinyl realized the bed would shake, moving in a wave pattern that carried her body. Her mind began to take notice of this, and slowly leaving the ridiculous antic of revealing herself, began to test it herself.

Removing her hooves from her face, the mare slowly looked down at her body and to the side of the body. Moving her body upwards and letting herself back down gently, she felt the rest of the bed move her body. As if testing an experiment, Vinyl tested it once again. After proving it successful again, she repeated the process a second time. Followed by a third time, then a fourth time…

A smile grew across the unicorn’s muzzle as an ancient thought slipped past her mind. A thought that she thought was long forgotten…

Getting on all four of her hooves on top of the bed, Vinyl began to lightly pounce up and down gently, testing the springs of the bed. To her surprise, they were actually sturdy. And this caused the mare’s eyes to sparkle with excitement. With a broad smile, Vinyl began to pounce up and down on the mattress of the bed, the sound of springs following every landing. Her smile was wide though as she looked down at her hooves ascend up from the ground, her imagination allowing her the opportunity to soar out of the roof. Her hair flopped up and down as well, gravity dragging it down as physics helped lift it up.

The unicorn began to spin every so often, a light hearted giggle leaving her chest as she felt her youth crawl out from the void within her. She grew playful, letting out yips of glee and laughing as she would allow her body to move freely on the creaking bedframe.

The activity brought back memories into the unicorn’s mind – memories of her youth where she would stay up in the early morning or in the eve of night, jumping on her bed as she began to let her body follow the beat of music that echoed on her room, just as it did in her mind. She could see herself, a young ecstatic filly, moving as long and far as her spirit would allow her to. That spirit she once had, she believed to be dead.

But Vinyl could feel that spirit once again, giving her body the energy to jump on the bedframe, the ability to laugh, and the will to smile. It was almost alien to her, but it felt so rejuvenating as well – almost as if it was making her feel whole.

The creaking of the bed soon grew louder, catching the attention of the mare that began to let her mind accept one factor of reality: if she kept jumping, she would most likely damage the bedframe or worse. She did not want to stop hopping though; this feel of happiness was like morphine. She loved the feeling of the emotion and did not want it to go away. Still, she knew she had to come to a halt.

Hesitantly, Vinyl stopped hopping, her body jolting up and down lazily as she stuck her final landing. She was breathing heavily, not out of oxygen deprivation though, but because she loved the feeling of being alive. Her ears wilted as the jumping came to a halt, but her mood was not damaged for a smile was still on her face.

Slowly, the unicorn began to crouch low, moving into a laying position in the middle of the bed as she let her body race with this wonderful feeling inside of her. The problem with that though was this feeling could not be contained. It needed to be used, invested.

And that’s when the idea entered the mare’s mind.

With her head raised, Vinyl glanced around the room, looking for the most interesting item within the entire place. As the mare turned her head to the left side, she saw it. The worn down piano…

Hopping off the bed with an excited attitude, the mare trotted carefully over to the piano, passing by the table she sat in not long ago. As she crept closer to the piano though, she began to slow her pace, her youthful, rebellious attitude leaving her body. She found it strange as she could feel this calm, respectful persona slip into her mind, which began to enhance her senses on the piano before her. It did not damaging her current mood.

Approaching the large, ancient instrument, Vinyl began to make out every detail on the grand piano – marking every scratch, tracking every chip, noticing each error in the wood. It seemed to be beyond ancient – it was as if it may have been one of the very first pianos ever designed, giving it this fragile (yet holy) feel. The top portion of the piano was closed, sealing off the innards of the relic that consisted of dampers, hitch pins and other various organs that helped it perform its assigned function.

To her though, it was extravagant. Yes, to Vinyl, this old, dull, historical instrument was marvelous. The mare had her reasons surely. For you see, the unicorn has fed off the passion of music. Although she did prefer her rebellious, heavy genre, she never had an issue with a more harmonized symphony of notes. An old friend of her taught her the true values of music – its true meaning. Although back then, the pony would have dismissed the grey, eloquent mare’s words, finding them as bland and ‘boring’. But now, she could not deny she was right. Her thirst for music proved it to be true.

As Vinyl came closer to the seat of the piano, she could see the leather was beginning to wear out, containing rips and tears that revealed the yellow foam underneath it. She paid it no heed though as she slowly pulled out the seat and carefully sat her rump on top of it, carefully shifting her body to the side as she gazed down at the pattern of black and white keys integrated into the dashboard of the piano. The sight was enough to confuse the mare, who has not laid eyes on an instrument in over a decade. It was as if she was looking at it for the first time, admiring the framework as she slowly brought her hoof over the piano despite its run down state.

The feeling of degraded, old wood passing under her hoof made her grit her teeth for she did not like the feel of the wood at all. As Vinyl continued to run her foreleg down the rest of the piano though, she began to notice the entire piano was not destroyed. She could feel smooth wood pass under her sense of touch, giving her mind a much more positive outlook of the instrument. It was smooth, much like velvet sheets.

She was not concerned about the looks of the piano. Although the features were intriguing, the unicorn never cared for its condition. As long as it was able to display any form of rhythm, she would have no problem with it.

Judging from its condition though, it looked like it was in no position to be used, making Vinyl hesitant to press her hooves over one of the keys. Every fiber in her body was burning to push the key, allowing a note to be chorused within the house, but she did not know if it actually worked.

So, wishing to fulfill her needs, the mare got up from the small seat and standing on her hind legs, made her way to the right side of the piano and glanced down at the large top that hid its insides. She glanced down at the top portion, her thoughts slowly pacing as she let her breathing enact her nervous state. It seemed so delicate and fragile, she did not want to touch it.

Her body seemed to be thinking on its own though, for her hooves already began to carefully grab hold of the lid, bent slightly to cater to the tender skin of the piano. With every ounce of strength, Vinyl slowly began to lift the lid of the piano, closing her eyes as if to expect a fume of dust to shoot out from under, built up from over the years since its productions.

As she raised it higher though, she felt no form of dust or dirt shoot out from the opening. No, instead the smell of crisp, antique wood seeped into her nostrils, causing her ears to twitch in curiosity. It was not a smell she would not expect.

Opening her eyes, Vinyl glanced downward into the piano. Her eyes grew wide and she could feel her mouth slowly opening as she stared into the organs of the piano, stunned from the sheer sight of their state.

The entire internal frame of the piano was pure – no scratches, dents, or any signs of disturbance were apparent. The sight of the components seemed to be entirely foreign as well. Each item and component within the frame was clean, polished and undamaged. It was almost as if the piano has never been touched in ages…or as if she was looking at an entirely new piano.

Vinyl was completely dumbfounded. She could not help but peak her head a little underneath the lid to admire the components much closer. To avoid dropping the lid on herself she carefully prodded the stand upwards, allowing the weight of the lid to depend on the sturdy black crimson peg. It was unusual for Vinyl to ever be interested in an item like this, but she did not care. As she stared down at the strings and pins of the piano, she knew that the instrument was in great condition. Which meant she could fiddle with the notes on the console.

The unicorn pulled her head out of the piano and returned back to the seat, a huge smile on her face. Her eyes fluttered with delight as she scooted herself carefully to the piano, her hooves clanking against one another in excitement. Just as Vinyl brought her hoof out to press a note on the piano, she instantly retracted it as her smile began to fade.

“I…don’t remember…how to play piano…” she informed herself, bringing her hooves back down to her sides. It struck her dead center in the chest, instantly killing her mood as her hopes of playing music died down. She could bash the notes in confusion, but that would only leave a ruckus and possibly break the strange piano.

The true issue though, was the fact that Vinyl once knew how to play the piano. She never admitted it to anypony, nor has she ever displayed her skills in public, but before, every so often, she would tend to relieve her urge for a set of slower, fluent notes.

After years of being deprived her passion though, she lost the skill she knew long ago. It was a skill she cherished, for Octavia taught her the methods of learning to play such a beautiful instrument, despite her minimal patience and lack of enthusiasm. Negating all of her personal thoughts though, Vinyl cherished the ability to play for she felt it was the closest thing to the best friend she once had.

She could remember the private lessons the two use to attend every day after school, her memory of their once strong friendship flashing before her eyes as she began to shut the world off from around her.

“Vinyl, what are you doing?”

The ecstatic white coated unicorn was shaking her head back and forth as she began to bash her hooves on the keyboards of a brown, elegant piano, making Octavia cringe in the process. Vinyl was now younger –her blue hair bundled up into a bun as she flashed a smile with braces over her teeth. Her eyes were covered by thin, visor looking purple glasses that only covered half of her large irises.

“I’m just making it fun!” the mare shouted over the sounds of the mixed notes that echoed throughout the room, a wide smile on her face. Her friend would hear none of it though.

“Fun?” the grey pony repeated, almost as if the phrase was a joke. Her friend, still bashing her hooves on the panel of the keyboard, did not seem to acknowledge her words. So in order to make herself heard, Octavia leaned to the side next to Vinyl and clamped down on her hooves, stopping the ruckus of noise and attracting her friend’s attention.

The grey pony let out a light sigh, enjoying the sound of this newborn silence. Taking a few seconds to collect herself, Octavia eventually let go of the unicorn’s hooves, leaving her friend to be free from her grasp.

“I understand that your style is a bit more…extreme” Octavia said, giving Vinyl a tired look with her sleek purple irises. “But with a piano, you mustn’t be so rough”

Vinyl’s ears wilted and she felt her eager, enthusiastic mood disappear. “Well that isn’t any fun” she pouted, bowing her head and crossing her arms. Octavia rolled her eyes in response to her friend’s childish behavior – despite the fact they were both fillies.

“It isn’t always about fun you know” Octavia informed, turning her attention back to the piano as she began to lightly pass her hoof over the notes. “To play an instrument it requires patience, discipline-“

“Lies!” Vinyl shot, cutting off her friend. “I learned to play a guitar without breaking a sweat. It was a piece of cake” The unicorn than puffed her chest outward to show she was proud of her statement. Octavia, who gave her companion a stern look, let out a deep sigh.

“You were born with a guitar in your hooves” she retorted, waving her mane back as she turned back to the piano. “Not to say it isn’t a difficult instrument, but in your case, you could always improve the way you play”

Vinyl raised a brow in confusion. “What are you trying to say Octavia?”

Octavia, knowing she finally had her attention, let a smile grow across her face.

“As I was saying,” Octavia emphasized, raising a brow in the unicorn’s direction, “Learning an instrument is not something simplistic. If it was, it would not be considered a talent.”

Octavia then began to run her hooves over a few notes, letting out a simple melody of chords quickly batched together to create a simplistic symphony. It was the theme given to Vinyl, but apparently it proved to be too much for the young filly.

“Anypony can play an instrument, just like anypony can play guitar” Octavia continued, intriguing Vinyl’s attention by the second. “But…”

Suddenly, Octavia began to play the same rhythmic melody as she did before, except this time, it did not seem so bland. Instead it seemed to be heavily modified, each note carrying a harmonic melody as the grey mare’s hooves passed over one another majestically, pressing down on the next key in the sequence. Her hind leg was extended outward, pressing down on the petals located on the bottom of the piano, emphasizing the weight of the notes as it chorused throughout Octavia’s eloquent living room.

“…With discipline, everything sounds better” she cooed, her eyes flashing a haughty attitude as she glanced at a stunned Vinyl Scratch. She continued to let her hooves trot over the keyboard evoking a wonderful coordination of notes, until she let her hoof run off the keyboard, finally putting an end to the wonderful noise.

Vinyl Scratch, automatically comparing the two versions in unison, began to actually think about the weight of Octavia’s words.

“…That’s all because of rules?” Vinyl asked hesitantly, pointing her hoof in the direction of the piano as if to show evidence of the wonderful noise that was once there. Octavia, now flashing a proud smile, nodded her head.

“With discipline you learn how to pace yourself” Octavia said, staring at Vinyl Scratch who was now interested in the way this piano sounded. “And by pacing yourself, you’re able to have…fun”

Vinyl looked back at Octavia and let a sarcastic smile grow across her face, rolling her eyes in the process. “You make it sound like it’s a bad thing” the unicorn remarked, bringing a smile to the earth pony.

“It’s not like I’m always serious. It’s just that there are times when you should enjoy yourself, and there are times when you shouldn’t” Octavia explained, rolling her hoof as she began to act in a despotic manner. Vinyl, bringing her hoof up to her chin as she leaned on a set of notes on the right side of the piano, releasing a mess of heavy chords, gave her a friend a disapproving look as if she just slapped her across the face. She must have taken it as an indirect insult.

“…Anyways” Octavia continued, possibly seeing Vinyl’s thoughts in her eyes, “Why don’t we just start out with the basics again…”

Vinyl, taking that as her queue, moved closer to her friend, giving her friend a nervous smile as she decided to take another shot at the piano. Her being in her rebellious nature, she felt she was not prepared to undertake this form of discipline to learn a new instrument. Her friend Octavia was there for every step of the way though.

“Don’t worry Vinyl” her friend assured, patting the back of the nervous mare. “It’s okay if you don’t get it the first time. I sure didn’t when I started.”

“Really?” Vinyl asked shocked. After seeing her friend display her skills on the piano, she believed Octavia was born with a piano by her side.

Octavia bobbed her head up and down slowly. “Of course. Like I said, I just gave myself some discipline and paced myself. Just like you do with the guitar” She flashed a warm smile that lifted her companion’s hopes up.

So Vinyl slowly began to press the notes on the piano, trying to follow the melody of the theme her friend gave her. She would reach a certain portion, but eventually stumble, giving her a slight feel of frustration. Octavia continued to urge her on though, assuring mistakes were always bound to happen. Once again she tried, trying to pace herself as her hooves slowly passed over the keyboard, but she failed yet again.

Try after try, attempt after attempt, Vinyl continued to falter, not exactly grasping a hold of this new instrument. She was surely pushing herself, but despite Octavia’s help, she could not help but feel as if it was all fake – as if she was pushing for this dry, useless rhythm. It soon began to grow apparent to Octavia as well, who began to see the frustration build up in the little filly.

“…What motivates you to play the guitar?” Octavia asked, causing Vinyl to swerve her head around in confusion.

“Huh?” she asked, her mind growing a little tired from failing continuously with the piano.

“What makes you play the guitar so good?”

Vinyl was confused, for she did not know why the question would mean anything at the moment.

“Umm…I guess since I know how to play it that’s why I play…” Vinyl answered, but Octavia shook her head and waved her hoof.

“No, what I mean is when you play guitar, what do you think about?” her friend rephrased. As Vinyl opened her mouth though, Octavia quickly added, “…besides the strings”

Seeing that her response was ripped out of her mouth before she could even say it, Vinyl remained silent, lost in thought to the earth pony’s question. She decided the best answer would be to shrug and give up, but her friend would not accept it.

“Come now” she pleaded, shaking her head. “What makes you love playing music so much?”

“I was just born with it I guess…” Vinyl remarked, but Octavia quickly added on.

“If that was the case, you would have already got a hang of the piano” she said with a sarcastic smile, patting the frame of the piano. Vinyl’s cheeks grew hot with embarrassment.

“…I honestly don’t know Octavia” she sighed, throwing her hooves up in the air again. “I mean, when I play I don’t think. I just do it because it lets me…I don’t know…express myself or something like that…”

“Exactly” Octavia shot, clapping her hooves together. Vinyl, raised a brow, thinking about everything she just said. Before the unicorn could think though, her friend elaborated for her.

“Playing music is all about expressing yourself. Investing all of your emotions into the music you play. When I play music, I tend to let my emotions pour out but at the same time, I try to keep calm and pace myself. That way, my notes don’t ever get messy.”

The unicorn always was intrigued by the earth pony’s mind. At such a young age, she seemed to be so old and wise, almost as if she could solve any problem headed her way. This was one of the many reasons Vinyl always liked hanging around with her, despite her being so different from herself. It was because she felt comfortable around the elegant mare.

“…So…” Vinyl sighed, “I have to follow rules while not following rules?” the mare asked, actually grasping onto the concept Octavia was trying to say. Octavia bit her lip, realizing what Vinyl said actually sounded more difficult than she intended it to be.

“…Yes” Octavia sighed, flashing a weak smile towards Vinyl who gave her friend a tired look. She was beginning to grow frustrated and didn’t want to learn how to play anymore. But her friend insisted, seeing her patience was quickly withering away.

“Let’s do this again” Octavia insisted patting the keys on the piano. “You can’t just give up. I know you can do it. All you need is time…”

Her friend flashed another smile, trying to urge Vinyl to stay. The unicorn grumbled loudly and then let out a groan, but she gave into her friends pleas.

“Alright then” she sighed, bowing her head as she turned back to the piano once again to endure more moments of failure. Once again, her friend forced her to play the same chords she played before, except this time with this new mindset of being both free and caged. It was a confusing concept that distracted the unicorn many times, causing her to stumble over notes or slowly pace herself to the point where the melody was lost.

Octavia saw there was improvement though. She could see that despite the trouble Vinyl seemed to be undergoing, it was as if she was beginning to grasp a hold onto the concept of multitasking. Vinyl was an impatient kind of pony though, so whenever she didn’t reach perfection, she never acknowledged her progress.

“You’re doing good” the grey pony complimented, watching as her ecstatic friend continued to repeat the same number of melodies over and over again, determined to achieve greatness. Despite her mindset though, Octavia always assured her friend that she did not need to rush. Progress was all she needed.

And over time, progress began to show. As time flew by, despite her frustrated moments, Vinyl’s skills in the piano began to increase, her mind processing her frustration into the piano (as Octavia informed her to). Basically her friend told her to invest her feelings, mood, and emotion into the instrument she played, for it would help improve the feel and thrill of playing drastically.

Soon, Vinyl was able to perform the song Octavia gave her (although not perfectly). Her hooves began to move in a consistent matter and she managed to quickly move them around, grasping the concept of how her movement of the guitar resembled the movement on keyboards. Her hoof pressed down on the levers beneath her at perfect timing, evoking a loud heavy bass as she let it sink it with the sound of light melodic notes. It was all enough progress to shock Octavia who did not think it would have taken this quick to learn.

“Wow” she said, staring at the young white filly to her right. “That is…really great!”

Vinyl, finally putting the notes to a rest, let out a light sigh and looked at Octavia with heavy eyes. “Really?”

“Yes” Octavia responded, wondering if her advice had anything to do with this vast improvement. “It sounds as if you’ve been playing for years”

Vinyl found the words to be comforting, realizing she finally managed to learn something she has always wanted to try. Although it was excruciating at first, she felt she could have not done it without the help of her friend.

“Thanks” Vinyl responded with a smile. Then, before Octavia could respond, Vinyl clasped her hands around the grey pony, thankful to have a friend as kind, wise, and patient as her.

Vinyl opened her eyes once the memory faded from her mind, glancing down at the piano which looked so lifeless compared to the one she just saw in her mind. She slowly brought a hoof up to her face, feeling her old youthful features gone, free of braces, spectacles and a bundled mane.

Glancing down at the components of the piano, she no longer felt nervous, nor did she no longer see it as nerve wrecking. It looked just as it did long ago – a black and white gateway to a world full of a variety of symphonies. Her hoof slowly swept over the notes, simply passing over each black and white key without pressing down on any of them. She was simply rerunning the feel of the notes back into her mind, trying to set the mindset she held once before.

Vinyl began to truly take Octavia’s words into her heart now, remembering the only true rule she has ever followed. Do what your heart tells you, and let your emotion fuel your music. It was a moral that was dusty and old…and Vinyl wished to bring it back.

As the unicorn glanced down at the piano, she let out a light sigh, pressing her hoof over a set of keys, from the left side, and then slowly making her way down to the right, trying to grow familiar with the notes. She noticed a strange bland sound come from each note though, which caused the mare to grow confused until she remembered one of the movements she performed in her memory.

Extending out her hind leg, Vinyl let her hoof reach out for the pedal underlying the bottom of the piano and pressed down on it. Knowing the bass of the notes would increase, she began to test out a few more keys, all of which let out a long, condescending note. Vinyl let a quick smile spread across her face, the sound of the noise assuring she was quickly grasping onto the concept of playing once again

“Just let the emotions guide you” Vinyl muttered to herself quietly as she scanned the keys on the left and right side of the piano. She was trying to ponder what note she should start off with and allow her the option to let her emotions carry off from there.

Vinyl knew there was only one true emotion inside of her though. Despite today and yesterday’s wonderful course of events, they were all not enough to undo a decade of torture and abuse. Her heart was hurting, as were her mind and spirit. And Octavia made it clear, that the feelings in one’s heart would guide their melodies and notes in the music, providing them this subconscious list of notes that they can use to create music.

As the thoughts in her mind began to mellow down, Vinyl could begin to feel the mood of her true self start to shift into place. She could feel her body grow tense as this overwhelming sense of fatigue and sorrow began to overwhelm her. It tried to weigh her down, push her to the point where she would not gain the urge to play. The unicorn would not let anything shield her from her goal though.

Taking a deep sigh, Vinyl shut her eyes and let the dam around her emotions collapse, weighing heavily against her heart. As soon as she did this, through heavy eyes, Vinyl pressed her hoof softly against a key, allowing its note to eerily echo throughout across the room.

The emotion inside of her was pouring out all too quickly, causing the mare to let out another sigh. She felt her eyes clench momentarily as she let her hoof press down on another note, evoking another long note throughout the room.

‘You can do this Vinyl’ she thought to herself, holding herself back from pressing another key as she hung her head low. ‘Remember what Octavia told you. Just remember what she told you…’

In Vinyl’s head, the grey pony’s words continued to repeat themselves, eventually turning into a chorus of some sort

When I play music, I tend to let my emotions pour out but at the same time, I try to keep calm and pace myself….

The unicorn soon began to mouth the words in her head, setting her mind to achieve this task her friend has told her so long ago. And eventually, it finally came to her.

“Keep calm, and let your emotions do the work…” Vinyl muttered, paraphrasing the rule she imbedded into her skull with her chant.

Lifting up her hooves back to the black and white keys of the piano and bringing her hoof down on the panel beneath the piano, Vinyl opened her eyes and began to strum her hooves over the dashboard of the ancient relic in a slow, dramatic manner. The act was not intentional though nor was it done on purpose.

Vinyl was simply transmitting her heart and soul into the piano, all of which resulted in the loud, slow ring of heavy notes, followed by the pressing of smaller keys in between each intermission of the loud bass. Her breathing grew steady as she tried to interchange her thoughts, forming them into symbols she could use for the song unraveling before her.

Soon, she began to abandon the simple tapping of the loud notes, pressing them constantly under her hooves as she began to feel her emotion transmit underneath her hooves – the feeling of pain, sorrow, and loss. It did not damage the unicorn’s pace though. It simply pushed her to continue, motivating her to vent out all the toxins held within her spirit.

The feelings of abuse, love, and betrayal clouded her heart, but it never stayed long for Vinyl’s hooves began to move quicker over the keys, pressing down on each note harder and faster than she had before. Memories began to flash before her eyes like flickering lights – memories of her youth, passions, hobbies, friends. All of which she took for granted. She had it all and even then she felt like it was never enough. Had she known before how well she had it, she would have never left it.

This thought fueled the mare’s sorrow and anger, causing her to play faster and press her keys quickly over the keys as she swiveled on the seat beneath her, trying to reach the right notes as her mind began to grow fuzzy. This caused her to shortly falter and Vinyl caught herself, finally bringing herself down to a slower tempo. As she done that though, her emotions began to slow down as well, displaying only memories of her true friend.

Her moments with Octavia began to shroud her mind, bringing her this sense of happiness and peace. The smile of the grey earth pony was clearly visible in her mind – the smile that assured her ‘no matter what happened, it would be alright’. The times of their ridiculous adventures brought a smile to her face as Vinyl began to take the song into a lighter approach, pressing her hooves lightly over the soft notes. The memories of the two running after one another, tackling each other and embracing in an unbreakable bond of friendship.

She knew those memories were gone though. Her mind instantly reminded her she was no longer wanted back home. It told her she was nothing. All those moments of what she had once were now nothing but memories. Her majestic hooves began to slowly bring the light notes to a halt.

She paused for a quick second, shutting her eyes as she felt her life just flashed before her eyes – a life she never got to fulfill. Taking another sigh, Vinyl switched the mood of the song, bringing her hooves to the left side, pressing down on the keys as her eyes winced with each sound of the note.

All that remained in her mind now was herself, alone and broken. Her body leaned forward as she pressed the keys with a strong gesture, temporarily lifting herself up on the seat. Her mind was pacing back and forth between emotions, changing the beat and tempo of the entire song. Vinyl began to feel her self-control slowly falling apart.

When all seemed lost though, she let one last memory slip into her mind. The stallion that catered to her, despite her state. The stallion that tended to her, despite her flaws. It was enough to show the mare there was still hope. It was enough to bring her mind back into a more positive state, making her realize it was not over. That It was far from over.

This positive feel caused the more to bring the tempo of the song to a lighter tone, until finally she began to come to the end of the song, slowly strumming her hoof off the last couple of keys on the right side of the piano. He eyes closed as she lifted her hooves upward and a smile slowly began to spread across her face.

After years of being confined to nothingness, she was glad to know that she still had it in her to play piano.

“You still got it Vinyl” she remarked to herself as she slowly opened her eyes and let a smile grow across her muzzle.

***

“Don’t think you’re off the hook just yet” Twin Twist remarked, speaking to Dutch who was finishing his task of putting away most of the open tools that were left out in the worksite. The morning and afternoon glow of the sun was now beginning to fade away as a mysterious dark cloud seemed to have grown comfortable positioning itself in front of the work of Celestia, giving the city a darker outlook.

“Off the hook?” Dutch repeated, as if to play off this confused feel, but he knew what the unicorn was getting out. And it was a topic that was making him eager to leave.

“Yes, I still want to know more about this mystery mare” the orange unicorn replied, flashing his trademark smile. Dutch, who was moving a box of mechanical tools on his backside, let out a groan, knowing the colt would refuse to leave him alone about the topic.

“There’s not much to her” Dutch shot, slowly walking away from the unicorn to transport the items back to the large bin on the left side of the worksite – which was a long way down. Twin Twist quickly followed after though, letting his telekinetic abilities aid the stallion as it let a purple hue grow around the large box. Dutch, turning back to see magic was responsible for the sudden loss of weight let out a small ‘thanks’ in which Twin Twist responded with-

“You can repay me by telling me more about this mare” he shot raising a brow as the two continued to pass by abandoned post. Ponies already completed their shifts and the only one’s remaining were Dutch, Twin Twist, and Dieter – all of whom were fixing up the site. The last thing they needed were bums stealing their equipment.

Dutch rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay” he sighed, shaking his mane in frustration. ‘Just play it cool. Just keep calm…’

Twin Twist, seeing he finally convinced the stallion let out a chuckle.

“You enjoy bothering me huh?” Dutch snapped, lifting a brow upwards and causing Twin Twist to chuckle a little harder.

‘Wow’ Dutch thought, finally nearing the large red bin resting against the wall. ‘I think he’s a narcissist…’

“No, I don’t” Twin Twist finally responded, with his usual expression. “But in all seriousness, tell me about her”

“Well…she’s a unicorn” Dutch began, noting the features of the mare that sat motionless on his bed. Twin Twist’s eyes widened upon hearing this.

“Wow, she’s a unicorn?” Twin Twist asked shocked as Dutch opened the door to the bin. The unicorn, seeing the door open, concentrated his energy into the large box within his grasp and slowly moved it in there.

“…Yeah” Dutch responded, glancing around the bin before he closed the doors and sealed it with a lock.

Twin Twist let out a slight whistle and turned his head to the side. “Quite the charmer aren’t you Dutch?” he snickered, bucking the stallion’s shoulder lightly as he passed by him, trying to make his way to one last item left out.

“No” Dutch responded plainly, trying to think what else he could add to that response. “…I just got lucky is all…”

Twin Twist let out a ‘pfft’ and shook his head. “If she was a result of luck, I’m betting she’s lucky. I say that because I know you aren’t exactly lucky”

Dutch, finding the words to be dangerously true, looked at Twin Twist with a stern glare, but the unicorn simply let his smile fall and apologized quickly.

“…It’s alright” the colt sighed, approaching another large toolbox found on the right side of the work site.

“…What I was trying to get at was how does she look like?” the orange pony continued, catching up with his grey coated companion. “You got a picture or anything?”

Bending down to place the box on his back, Dutch shook his head slowly. “No picture” he admitted, thinking it would be entirely strange to have a picture of a doll. “…I’ll just describe her to you.” He grunted shortly after, looking at Twin Twist to see if he could help him once again, which he did.

“So…she has a pure white coat” Dutch sighed, lifting the next item onto his backside. “And…she has a long blue mane…and…”

Dutch’s voice trailed off as he began to move onto the most eccentric features of the doll. He could see her staring at him with those red eyes, those eyes that meant almost everything to him. Twin Twist, aiding Dutch once again, was curious about the mare’s features, but he still listened, finding it all coincidental.

“…and her eyes” Dutch muttered, almost as if he was lost. “Her eyes are…a crimson red….the kind that just tell you, that it will all be good…”

As Dutch was entranced in his own words, the unicorn halted for a short while, widening his eyes as far as he could. It finally came to him why the features sounded so unique and familiar.

“Dutch” Twin Twist said, quickly catching up with the grey stallion that was close to the bin once again. The grey stallion snapped out of his stupor at the sound of his name, shaking his head as he looked at his approaching companion.

“What is this mare’s name?” the unicorn asked, causing a long stare to occur between the two. In the stallion’s mind, he tried to process a clever name while in the unicorn’s head he was waiting to hear one particular name.

“…Her name is…” Dutch began, muttering some inaudible words under his breath that the unicorn found strange. Dutch kept rummaging through words he could conjoin, words that flowed in and out of his head constantly. Finally one unforgettable name came to the stallion and he quickly blurted it out to make up for wasted time. “…Free Star” he finished, flashing a smile shortly after. His smile slowly faded though as he realized the name he just referred the doll to.

“Her name is…Free Star?” Twin Twist repeated, not truly expecting that name. The stallion was lost for a while, feeling an ounce of regret growing inside of him, but he slowly snapped out of it, trying not to seem odd in any way. Slowly opening the door to the bin, he nodded.

The unicorn gave Dutch a suspicious look, trying to run this mysterious mare’s features in his head once again. He could have sworn there was only one mare with such features. In a large world though, it seemed as there may have been more unicorns with features similar to that.

“So…are you going to help me put the box in the bin?” Dutch grunted, seeing the unicorn was lost in his thoughts. ‘Is he alright?’ he thought to himself as the unicorn slowly nodded his head.

“Oh, yeah” Twin Twist responded, levitating the box into the red bin. Dutch, closing the doors to the bin one final time, was wondering what was going on in the colt’s head, finding his behavior to be a tad bit odd. It crossed Dutch’s mind that he may have known he was talking about the doll, seeing that she was displayed in a window case, but Twin Twist thought he was talking about a living creature so he dismissed the thought.

“She sounds really unique though” Twin Twist continued as Dutch walked alongside the unicorn. The stallion surveyed the entire worksite, trying to see if there were any items left that he needed to put away. Seeing that there weren’t any more though, he let out a sigh and finally responded to the unicorn’s remark.

“Yeah, that she is…”

The stallion let out a sigh, trying to play off this romantic gesture. Deep in his mind though, he felt that sigh was far from fake.

Twin Twist, seeing the stallion’s feelings for ‘Free Star’, gradually began to abandon his idea of this mare. He could see that he had true feelings for her and that she made him happy.

“So that was your anchor?” Twin Twist said, patting Dutch’s back as the two began to make their way to the exit of the worksite.

The stallion was almost in deep thought, trying to decide if he was going to say yes to stave off Twin Twist, or because he truly felt she was his anchor. After yesterday’s turn of events, Dutch saw she was a gateway to another realm – a place he could dream without actually closing his eyes.

“…Yes, she is” Dutch sighed, slowly bringing a smile to his face. Twin Twist felt his heart slowly expand, for as he saw Dutch’s happiness, he began to feel slightly disheartened to know his over was far from his reach. The unicorn had no wish to damage his companion’s mood with his sorrows though.

Eventually the two finally reached the exit of the worksite, glancing at the outer world where the street lights hung over the street, bearing its dim glow over citizens and pedestrians.

“I would like to meet Free Star one day” Twin Twist informed, flashing a warm smile. Dutch grew slightly tense and let out a nervous laugh. He was not exactly with the name being uttered by others.

“She’s a bit shy at times…” he informed, scratching the back of his mane with his hoof. Twin Twist laughed and shook his head.

“Just want to keep her all to yourself, don’t you?” the unicorn asked winking. The stallion did not utter anything in response, instead giving a weak smile and letting out a shrug. Twin Twist saw the stallion was eager to go home and attend to his new mare, so he decided to quickly wrap up the conversation.

“Alright Dutch I won’t keep you from her any longer” he said, kicking the dirt underneath him to the side. “I’ll let you be on your way. See you tomorrow I reckon?”

Dutch, seeing that he had a gateway to leave the discussion, quickly brought out his hoof towards Twin Twist.

“Yeah I’ll see you tomorrow” he smiled, catching the unicorn off guard who slowly grabbed his hoof and shook it. Before Twin Twist could say anything else, Dutch quickly made his way out of the worksite, leaving the unicorn at the exit of the worksite alone and dumbfounded.

“…Wow” the unicorn muttered to himself as he saw the grey earth pony descend down the street. “He must really want to be with her…”

All the while though, Dutch could not help but think Free Star looked similar to a mare he once knew growing up as a foal. She was big in Equestria around the time, but soon she just vanished. It was big in the news too, but not one pony knew where she went.

‘It can’t be her’ he thought, glancing around the outskirts of the site as he began to walk outside. ‘If it’s been that long she is definitely old by now. It’s been sixteen years…’ he thought to himself, assuring that unicorn mare was not who he thought it was. Still, it did not matter for Twin Twist had his own matters and issues to deal with. And he was never fond of thinking about Equestria. It always left him home sick.

Meanwhile as Dutch followed his usual routine around this time, he could not stop pondering on what Twin Twist was saying. He was grateful he managed to leave as quickly as possible, but the unicorn left him with thoughts to ponder on. He knew she was just a doll…she could not be real. Yet, he felt like he was treating her real. As if she was living and breathing.

Almost as if she truly was Free Star – the mare he fell for long ago.

***

Vinyl took notice of the sudden darkness that has blocked the sun. It was apparent in the absence of the light that shone through the small window from above. She gave it no thought though for she remained posted on the seat of the piano, strumming her hooves peacefully over the keys of the piano, her mind and spirit fully entranced in the art of music – her true love.

She beckoned back and forth, strumming light notes as she decided to peace her mind through a symphony of light majestic notes. Her forelegs have not grown tired, for her body was in no need of such fibers. Her mind though, was another story.

Still, she continued onward, staring down at the keys with a peaceful essence in her eyes as she continued to move back and forth, pressing on key after key after key…

Her mind was practically functioning as another being, granting her this peace to strum her hooves over the piano, pulling each string that then moved the damper to bring a note ringing through the house. The piano was loud, consisting of a heavy bass, but in the case of light notes, it carried this soft, eloquent noise.

“...I wish Octavia was around to hear this…” She told herself as she continued to play, her voice being drowned out by the song. She knew her companion’s favorite song, and she did well to remember it – A Melody of Tears by one ancient being she knew nothing of. Yet she demonstrated his work, and she did so with passion.

As the notes continued to ring throughout the house though, Vinyl’s earlobes were too clouded to note any other noise from the outside world. Her mind was shielded from anything that factored her music as well, much to her dismay.

That is because Dutch has waited behind the door of his house for some time, listening to the strange noise flowing from the piano in his household. Upon reaching the street to his house, the stallion’s thoughts of today were cut short as he heard the majestic noise of notes come from afar, though he thought nothing of it at first. As he ascended closer to his home though, he began to realize it was coming from his house. He did not know how anypony got into his house, nor did he know why anypony would want to break in, simply to play piano. It left him confused, yet furious.

And it is here where fate has a tendency to provoke treacherous paths.

In fear of this mystery intruder, Dutch quickly opened the door and swung it outwards to show himself to the being playing the music. The loud noise of the door creaking caused Vinyl to flinch upwards in fear and fall off the seat of the chair, bringing the chorus of notes to a halt. In fear she quickly glanced in the direction of the door but she already knew who was there. Her eyes grew weary and her mouth began to tremble as she stared at a grey broad stallion who stared back at her with wide brown eyes...

Dutch could not believe what he was seeing. Upon opening the door he expected to see a skilled thief of some sort trying to run out the way he came – or try to attack him. Instead, he found himself glancing downward at the doll – alive and moving. He felt every muscle in his body tense up and his expression froze, leaving him to be wide eyed and beyond petrified. His heart began to race as he tried to process what was occurring.

‘No, this can’t be real. What the buck is going on…she…it…’ he thought, even stammering in his thoughts from the sheer sight of the moving mare. He could not find words to explain how he felt.

Vinyl remained on the ground, trembling in fear as her mind began to race of what awaited her. She was now caught, her only route to freedom now blown – all because she embraced in her own passion.

‘Damn it, damn it, damn it!’ she screamed in her mind, shaking unbearably. ‘Why me Celestia, why, why, why?!’

There was a horrible silence in the household as the two ponies looked at one another, both petrified and terrified. Dutch could not move and he felt this strong desire to slip into unconsciousness but he couldn’t. Not while he believed it was all a dream.

The unicorn could see Dutch’s expression, which began to make her teary eyed. She knew all he saw now was an utter abomination – a work of dark magic. Her lip quivered as she pressed her hooves against her face, shielding herself away from the stallion. She knew she was going to go back to hell, left to be tormented by Lucius.

Her sobs intensified, shocking Dutch even more now. She saw she was crying, like a living being. ‘That’s not possible…it can’t be…’

He could not make out what was going on with the doll. She was alive – and yet she remained still the entire time she was here, not even moving once. He could not understand what was going on. Nothing made sense to him.

The mare’s sobs grew stronger though, slowly bringing Dutch out of his stupor. He did not know what to do. He was now fearful, knowing she had to go. He could not keep a living being in his home like a prisoner.

Suddenly Dutch remembered the warning given to him by the dark coated unicorn:

If there’s anything wrong with the item, or you don’t feel comfortable with it, just be sure to drop by the shop and let Red Ace know

And to Dutch, there was something surely wrong with this…

The word item could not come to Dutch anymore as he saw the unicorn crying, who now lifted her hooves off her eyes and glared at him with pleading eyes. Her red irises were now glassy, and the once romantic, happy gaze he always saw was now cold and afraid.

He had to do something. ‘I need to tell Red Ace and Top Spin what’s going on. They have to know what is happening…’

Glancing at the mare petrified, he turned to the side, slowly making his way back outside. Vinyl, seeing he would do what she feared, shouted.

“No, please!” she screamed, her body tensing as she reached her hoof outward. Dutch flinched as her words pierced his heart, causing him to jolt in fear. She was now talking, he realized – and her voice…it sounded strong, yet it was broken.

He turned back to the mare and saw she was crying once again, beyond terrified. He knew he had to do something and he couldn’t let her be left like this.

“Ho-hold on….I’ll…get so-some help…” he stammered, nervously bringing his hoof up to assure the mare it was going to be alright. He did not know what else to do though. He felt that his mind was playing tricks o him, fooling him into believing the doll was alive and moving after what he thought today. The issue with that theory though, would be that Dutch would never personify the doll crying in fear.

“No, don’t go please!!!” she cried, slowly standing up from the ground in a weak feeble manner. Her body was now heavy with fatigue and her fears began to crawl into the back of her mind as she felt the feelings of death cloud her soul.

Dutch was now worried, for he could not understand what was scaring her. It seemed almost as if she was afraid of him – which he felt was tremendously ironic.

“I’m...going to get the merchant, don’t-” he began, trying to bring comfort to the mare, but instead he only instilled more fear into her heart. Vinyl grew desperate.

“NO!” she shouted with intense fear welling in her mind. In desperation she quickly ran to the stallion, which was beginning to take a few paces back as the unicorn charged him. At first he believed she was going to make a run for it, which he would have not prevented, but instead he was struck with the full force of her weight. She held onto him tightly, sobbing and pleading as Dutch remained speechless.

Taking a deep sigh, Dutch glanced at the mare whose previous image was beginning to fall apart. The sight of her in pain and tears began to replace his memory of the romantic and comforting doll he once had. Her eyes brought him a great amount of pain and he felt he could not hurt her more than she was hurting herself.

Carefully, he slowly stepped into his house and shut the door, sealing in the sobs of the mare inside the large room. He stood at the entrance of the house, watching as the mare buried her head into his chest, begging and crying continuously. Vinyl knew what she was doing. She knew she was being weak and vulnerable. She did not care though – she would have done anything to remain safe in the stallion’s household and away from the shop.

Dutch felt his throat tighten and his lungs began to grow stiff as he tried to glance away from the mare. He could not though. She looked lost, afraid and alone. The stallion felt powerless as she cried, her mind burning with her fears.

“Please, I don’t want to go back with him” she sobbed, rocking back and forth as she gripped tightly around Dutch’s forelegs, “I don’t want to see him again. I don’t want to die. I don’t want this anymore…I just want to go home already…I just want to go home…”

The words struck Dutch hard as he began to process the weight of her words. He could not explain it and he most certainly did not understand it, but he could not leave her like this. His throat was dry and he could do nothing bit feel a shiver run down his back.

“…It’s okay…” Dutch muttered, slowly stooping down to comfort Vinyl. The unicorn, seeing he was now closer, instantly curled up tighter, as if trying to protect herself from him, despite holding onto his legs. It caused him to carefully rear back from her, a feeling of loss and sorrow burning in his mind now. “I…I’m not going to hurt you…” he promised, trying to move his foreleg to comfort her but Vinyl held on, not allowing him to move.

“Don’t go…” she sniffed, fearing he would turn and run away. “…I promise I’ll stay still. I won’t move. It would be like it was…just…don’t tell him….”

Vinyl glanced up at Dutch, hoping he heard her pleas and would actually listen. She was willing to do everything to remain here. She wanted to go home, and be free from all this pain and suffering, but she was stuck here. Magic kept her bound to this house and she would have no chance of ever leaving.

Dutch, upon hearing the mare’s words, felt his heart grow heavy and his mind flood with pain. He could feel her sorrows flow into his body, giving him the urge to cry with her. He could not cry in front of this mare though. She did not need to see such a thing in a state like this.

“Everything will be okay…” Dutch said, hoping to ease her mind but it did not work.

“No, you’ll tell him and he’ll take me away” she snapped, constantly referring to her murderer, “I won’t move I swear. I’ll be like a doll, just-“

“Stop” Dutch sighed, clenching his eyes as her pain was beginning to weaken his mental barrier. Her sorrows were bearing into his soul, and it did not help that she begged to be his play thing in order to remain safe. Vinyl kept going though.

“ –I’ll be good. I won’t breath in front of you, move, or talk. You can play with me, pose me –“

“Stop it” Dutch snapped, bending down to the trembling mare. She was fidgeting, her mind growing haywire as she broke down mentally and emotionally once again. Dutch was close to entering the same state, which is why he had to silence her.

“Look” he said as sternly as he could. “I am not going to hurt you. I don’t want you to do anything for me either. I’m just going to tell the merchant what’s-“

“Please, I don’t want to go with him…” she sniffled, bending her head low and allowing her mane to shield her face. Dutch now began to notice this male figure the unicorn kept noting and felt a sharp pain in the back of his head.

“…Who’s him?” Dutch asked, looking at the unicorn with worried eyes. Vinyl did not respond immediately for her mind was beginning to grow fuzzy. She could feel her mind slowly eroding, almost as if her will to live was finally leaving her body once again. Dutch did not give up though.

“Who is this colt?” he asked again, finally attracting the attention of the unicorn. Slowly, she lifted her head, staring at the stallion with young petrified eyes. It looked too wrong to Dutch – her eyes were like a filly’s and yet they showed so much pain and loss.

“…The…merchant…he…he…”

The white coated mare bit her lip, trying to stop it from trembling once again. She has never told anyone what has happened to her, only herself. And now that she had the chance, she could not do it. She never knew it would be so difficult.

“What about him?” Dutch asked, going off of what Vinyl said. His voice shifted to a sterner tone, knowing he was responsible for this mare’s fears. With a sigh, the unicorn winced as she finally made the decision to finish.

“…he…killed….me…”

Time instantly came to a halt as the words struck Dutch’s conscious, instantly setting his mind into a state of reset.

Killed

Everything around him came to a halt as the word continued to chant in his mind, almost as if setting off a cycle.

Killed

The term gave him chills, yet he did not react to it. His body grew rigid and his eyes widened as he came to the realization the mare before him was not amongst the living. She was dead, yet alive.

Killed

She defied the very rules of mortality and all Dutch could do was think. He could not even process such a thing in his mind though, no matter how hard he tried.

And the merchant was to blame. He was the reason for this mare’s sorrows. For her pain. For her demise.

Dutch’s mood shifted, feeling time quickly pace up again as his mind shifted into anger, flexing every muscle in his body in anger.

Vinyl, watching the stallion grow enraged grasped onto his legs tighter, trying to prevent him from moving. She knew telling him was a mistake, and now she had to hold him back. Or else…

“Stop!” she shouted, seeing that Dutch was now beginning to ready himself to storm out of the house. Dutch, having some sense left in his body, was caught off guard by the mare’s words.

“What do you mean stop?” he shouted enraged. His face twitched in rage and frustration as Vinyl remained silent. She did not know how to respond to a statement like that.

“He…he…killed you and you want to protect him?” Dutch continued, glaring down at the mare that was now beginning to loosen her grip around his legs. The stallion’s anger began to slowly redirect towards the mare, feeling she was working in favor of her own murderer.

She did not utter a word though, so Dutch reckoned to act on his own accord. When Vinyl saw he was turning away to the door, she tried to keep him still, hoping he won’t go.

“You can’t go. He’ll kill you too!” she blurted, causing the stallion to stop in his tracks. Vinyl knew that Lucius would not hesitate to kill the stallion before her, and with ease. Lucius was larger than this colt and she knew there would only be one true victor.

Dutch did not care though. “I can care less what he does to me” he remarked, giving a cold stare that would have proved his words right, “I’m going to make sure he never harms another soul again.”

And Dutch meant it. The colt knew the feeling of loss. He knew the feel of being tormented, defeated and watching those he cared for crushed under the heel of heartless beast. He was once a stallion of morals and values – until his reason to maintain such integrity disappeared. Now though, he had another reason to uphold those values yet again.

Vinyl would not allow him to go though. She was now growing fearful for she knew the colt would not survive the encounter with Lucius.

“If you try to kill him though, he’ll realize I’m alive!” she begged, nearing closer to the stallion that was standing tall with anger built inside him. Dutch’s anger deprived him of the ability to reason though.

“Then leave” he shot, pointing his hoof to the door and clearing out of the way. Vinyl glanced ahead as the colt’s anger began to take a hold of him. “Get as far away from here as possible!”

To the unicorn, it almost sounded like he was taunting her, teasing her with an option she had no access to. She closed her eyes and began to shake her head.

“I can’t do that! If I could I would have already!” Vinyl snapped, shaking her mane from side to side. Dutch, seeing the mare was not moving raised a brow

“Why not?” Dutch asked, confused. She had the option to leave and yet she denied it. ‘Why was it that she did not want to leave?’

“The door is right there” Dutch continued, trying to persuade her to leave. “Just go –“

“They put a spell around your house” Vinyl shot, looking up at Dutch who remained quiet. ‘A spell?’ he thought to himself, glancing around at the walls of his home.

“What kind of spell?” Dutch asked, confused as to what kind of spell it was. Vinyl nodded her head silently.

“A barrier spell…which means I can’t leave…” she continued, turning her head to the side as she began to walk away from the entrance of the house. Her hooves clanked softly against the floor board beneath her as she moved past the dinner table. “I’m stuck here….and if I try to leave…they’ll come for me”

She looked up at Dutch with defeated eyes that showed she had no other option but to remain isolated in his home. It was enough to bring guilt to his heart, feeling responsible for putting this mare in this position. The stallion, realizing any attempt to help the mare would result in her capture, let out a long tired sigh.

“…What happens” Dutch began, slowly trotting over to the unicorn who wandered away, “if they come for you?”

The stallion stopped a few paces away from the doll that was now looking inside the damaged crate she was shipped in two days ago. Her mind flushed with pain as she heard the question. She did not want to tell the stallion what would become of her if she were to return to Lucius. But she needed to tell him the truth to convince him to not do anything. It pained her she was in a position like this. It only proved how helpless she truly was, for despite finally revealing herself to somepony, she was no closer to freedom than before.

With a sigh, Vinyl turned to Dutch who was now beside the table, watching the unicorn struggle to say the words in her head. Finally, she muttered the answer, clenching her eyes tightly as she began to feel the pain in her heart grow stronger.

“…He’ll…use me…” she stammered, choking on the words that began to fall out of her mouth, “…kill me…over…and over…and over…”

She muttered the words a few more times, her mind becoming lost as she could visualize it happening again and again, with no chance of ever leaving. She would be used until she was ripped to shreds, broken down into nothing but a heap of limbs.

Dutch, upon hearing those words, closed his eyes and brought his hoof over his face. His desire to kill the merchant grew stronger while at the same time, he was stunned. It seemed apparent to him that the mare could be killed repeatedly – and he could do nothing but feel envy and hate towards the deity that allowed such a thing to occur to such a young mare. He knew he could do nothing now, for the safety of the mare. And that only frustrated him more.

“…Fuck!” Dutch shouted, throwing his hoof off his face and stomping on the ground beneath him. Vinyl clenched her eyes as Dutch began to thrash around in anger, stomping on the floor beneath him that caused the house to shake. The unicorn could do nothing but watch as the stallion who was so happy the day before become enraged. She felt she just threw her problems onto the stallion that had no clue what he got himself into.

“I’m…sorry…I…” she began to plead but Dutch quickly raised a hoof upward, his breathing growing heavy as his chest puffed in and out. His nostrils were flaring and his eyes were shut tight.

“Don’t apologize.” Dutch snapped, shaking his head. “You have done nothing wrong. It’s just…fuck me…”

The stallion remained silent after that swear, pacing back and forth as an eerie silence began to overtake the entire room. Dutch was in deep thought, trying to find a way to help the mare out without bringing harm to her.

Dutch considered the police force, but in this city they would not help. They only helped those with a hefty amount of bits –something Dutch was short on. He tried to pull out ideas, but all seemed to prove futile.

“…So what now?” the unicorn asked, cutting off Dutch’s connection with his thoughts. Opening his eyes, he let out a tired sigh and pulled out the seat of his table, where he then sat on to lay ease to his tense nerves.

“…You can’t leave…” he said, placing a hoof on his head to display how tired he was, “so you stay here for now…until I can figure something out…”

Vinyl, seeing the stallion was now full of negativity, bowed her head in shame. ‘All because you had to play piano’ she thought to herself, letting out a defeated sigh which caused Dutch to look at her for a short while. She could not help but curse herself, feeling that her happiness brought trouble and suffering. It was all enough to prove she was bad luck to everypony around her…

The unicorn wished to find a way to break the silence between them, hoping she could find a way to bring his lively spirit up once again. Vinyl did not know the stallion, but she felt that when he was happy he set the mood of this place. And the mare wished to be nothing more but happy at the moment.

“What’s your name?” Vinyl asked, approaching the stallion who still sat quietly in the seat. His hoof was still over his face as she positioned herself in front of him, sitting on her flank as she looked up at Dutch with desolate eyes that struggled to display a warm greeting.

The stallion, not understanding the mare’s sudden hospitality looked down at the unicorn who was fiddling with her hooves on the ground like a little foal. “…Dutch…” the grey stallion sighed, his mind pulsing with rage and anger. Vinyl, hearing a name that was not common to her, gave a somewhat puzzled look but did not ask of its origin. Instead she nodded and her head and looked to the side for a short while before saying something.

“…that’s cool…”

Dutch raised a brow in confusion. ‘Cool?’

The stallion looked at the mare, seeing she was indeed a young mare. As he tried to make out her origins though, he began to think who she was, where she was from and how long she was gone. These questions began to burn in his mind, but he did not dare ask these questions to the unicorn who has been hurt far enough,

Seeing the stallion was quiet yet again, Vinyl decided to introduce herself, hoping this would keep him from attempting anything that would get them both killed.

“My names Vinyl Scratch” she introduced, placing a hoof on her chest and brining her other hoof out to Dutch. The stallion glanced down at her hoof for a short while, not actually considering to shake it. He was enraged, and the fact this mare was not taking this matter serious seemed to turn Dutch bitter – especially when she was the one behind this.

Dutch simply looked at the mare and turned away, staring off into the dark window space. The stallion was now tired, his once great mood shifted into a state of anger and turning his heart back into a void. Despite the mare beside him, he felt alone again, tossed into the real world with the cruelties of reality slowly surrounding him. He no longer saw the doll as his source of happiness – she was another soul lost and broken just like him. And now it was his responsibility to cater to her.

Vinyl’s ears wilted as she saw Dutch turn away from her greeting. She knew this would happen if he ever caught her alive. She knew he would never look at her the same. Before she saw her as a living being, and now she saw her as nothing. There was a word to the feeling, but Vinyl forgot the term long ago.

“…It’s getting late” Dutch remarked, catching the attention of Vinyl who lifted her head in his direction. “You should get some rest-”

“I’m not sleeping” she snapped, causing Dutch to swivel his head in her direction. She gazed at him with a stern hollow look, which showed she did not trust him.

Dutch shook his head. “Look, get you’re rest. Tomorrow I’ll see what I can do after I come back from work. I have too much on my mind to rest-”

“If you’re staying awake then so am I.” She retorted, standing up from the floor as she began to display her lack of fatigue. Deep down though her body was craving rest. Her entire body was defeated, releasing every single emotion out of her system earlier in the day.

Dutch stared at Vinyl for a long while, knowing this unicorn would not leave him be. As he looked at her he could see her reason for her decision in her eyes. He did not blame her for being on the defensive end – had he been in the same position he would’ve acted the same way. The stallion decided he would need to break the tension with her if he wanted to help her in her time of need.

Getting out of the chair, Dutch grew closer to Vinyl who looked up at the approaching stallion with a stern glare. She may have been tired, but if he tried anything, she would be ready for it. To her surprise though, he stopped a few paces away and let out a deep sigh.

“I may not know what you’re going through” he began, shaking his head gently, “But I know what you’re thinking. You don’t trust me because you believe I’m going to leave. You think I’m going to abandon you. Well, I’ll tell you now I will not do that. I will not sell you out and let you get hurt. I’ve seen enough ponies get hurt in my lifetime to let another one slip by me. I know you don’t like me and most certainly wish to leave. I want to help you though. I want you to get out of this miserable hell hole. But if you don’t trust me, I can’t help you.”

Vinyl listened silently as she stood tall with her defenses raised high. But as she began to process the stallion’s words, she could slowly feel herself letting down her guard. She knew he had a point.

“Vinyl Scratch” Dutch said, catching the unicorn off guard. Seeing the stallion had her attention, he flashed a weak smile and brought his hoof out to the mare, which looked down at it with suspicion. “Do you trust me?”

The white mare could do nothing but stare at Dutch, trying to find his true antics within his brown irises. As she gazed into his eyes though, she could not find any emotion she knew of. She tried to put a name to it, but it was this strong feeling – this feeling that offered comfort, yet provided protection. It was a look that assured Vinyl Dutch could be trusted.

She took a sigh and slowly grabbed a hold of the colt’s hoof, gently shaking it as she nodded her head.

“…I trust you” she muttered, trying to give him a smile in return but her mind was too clouded with negativity she couldn’t. She wished to actually hug this stallion, but she saw he was in no mood to be bothered with such things. Dutch did not mind though. As far as he knew, she was one of the strongest mares he knew. And the mare trusted him, which was a start. But to this challenge, it seemed like there was no end in sight.

“…I guess this means you still want me to sleep don’t you?” Vinyl sighed, glancing down at the floor as she finally broke the shake. Dutch, not even uttering a word, closed his eyes, sighed, and nodded his head. He needed time for himself, seeing that he would not be able to garner rest after today’s series of unfortunate events.

Vinyl, seeing the stallion’s head bob up and down, turned to her right side and slowly began to make her way to the end of the room where the box was located. Before she took four steps though she felt something lightly touch her backside. She turned around slowly only to see Dutch shaking his head with a stern look.

“You aren’t sleeping in that” he shot, pointing over at the box. Vinyl, seeing that was the only place she rested, lifted a brow in confusion. Dutch was not far from elaborating though. Moving back a few paces, Dutch brought his hoof out to the bed frame and began to tap it twice.

“Sleep here tonight” he suggested, giving a tired look to the mare.

“Then where would you sleep?” she remarked, staring at Dutch as if he was insane. The colt, moving away from the bed frame, let out a shrug.

“Don’t worry. Just sleep on the bed. I’ll find somewhere”

“Are you sure?” Vinyl continued, finding the offer too great to be true. She wished for nothing more but to finally lay on a bed once again, this time with the aspects of a true living being and not a toy.

Dutch shook his head as he muttered something under his breath. “If you do not wish to sleep on the bed and would rather prefer the box-”

The colt did not finish his sentence though for his voice was drowned out from the scurrying of hooves across the floorboard, causing him to follow the white blur that sped to the other side of the bed. As Dutch turned to see Vinyl he could see she was already on top of the bed, sprawled outwards as if she just fell from a four story building.

“I’ll take it you prefer the bed” Dutch muttered as he watched the white coated mare turn from side to side on the bed, much like a pet would with their small bed. She did not mutter anything in return though.

Vinyl’s body felt like it was on a cloud and she could feel her tense back unwind as a strong comfort began to take a hold of her body. She was far from peaceful, but the mattress was allowing her the ability to ease her nerves.

The colt shook his head as he watched the mare act in such a young humble manner – which brought more pain into his heart. She was a child at heart, but it was buried beneath her misery and fears. Dutch, seeing the mare was now going to slip into dormancy any moment, slowly began to walk away. But Vinyl, hearing the steps of the colt, quickly called after him.

“Dutch…” she muttered quietly.

“…Yes?” Dutch responded, looking back at the mare that no longer looked comfortable. Her face grew serious and it was apparent something painful was on her mind.

“…I…I just want you to know…” she stammered, patting her hooves on the blanket of the bed, “…thanks…for actually wanting to…help me…”

She looked down at the hooves in front of her but there was more on her mind and Dutch could see it. “…Don’t thank me…” he sighed, feeling he was in no position to be complimented. He did not know what to tell the mare after that though, for he felt anything else would be false. He was a stallion of true words, so he made sure to choose his words carefully.

“...I just want you to know that though…” Vinyl responded, turning her head to the side. Dutch did not respond though and continued to make his way down to the end of the living room.

Vinyl, hearing no response, knew that the colt was in deep thought now and he would not acknowledge her any further. She wanted to tell him something else – to tell him he didn’t have to save her. But she only wanted to ask that to prove to herself the stallion would be willing to keep his word. After seeing his reaction to her meltdown though, and hearing his promise, the mare believed he was telling the truth. Although she did remain suspicious of the colt’s promise, Vinyl felt her mind going numb and her eyes grew heavy. She wanted to remain awake, hoping to stave off the darkness surrounding her mind. It was no use though, for she eventually fell asleep, her body falling back as her mind went blank. It was a strange act considering Vinyl never required sleep.

Nevertheless, Dutch was now posted at the end of the room staring around at a dimly lit house. The colt was aware of the time, but lied to the mare in order to put her to rest. He knew it was around six in the afternoon, but he did not wish to tell her the time. He wanted time to think to himself – he needed time to think for himself. And it was something he could not do with the mare around him. Her presence brought a feeling of overwhelming dread to his heart, but it wasn’t because of her. It was him.

Dutch felt sick with himself, treating a living being like a lifeless object. Posing her, tossing her, playing with her – it was all enough to make him disgusted with himself. He also could not understand why she hadn’t told him this earlier. Why wait until now, when he finally managed to gain comfort from what he believed was just a doll?

Dutch sighed and stooped down to the ground, resting his belly on the floor beneath him. The mare’s cries and sobs echoed in his head as well – all of which scarred his mind with images of pain and suffering.

I’ll be good. I won’t breath in front of you, move, or talk. You can play with me, pose me

The begging, the pleading…all of it to avoid a second confrontation with the merchant.

Please, I don’t want to go back with him. I don’t want to see him again. I don’t want to die. I don’t want this anymore…I just want to go home already…I just want to go home…

Dutch knew there was something wrong about that colt…something sinister.

And now he knew he was a sick, twisted bastard who tricked him into buying one of his victims. What did that colt do to Vinyl Scratch? Where did he find her? How long did he have her displayed in the window like a prop?

Dutch’s teeth clenched tightly as he brought his hoof up, preparing to punch the nearest item he could find. It was all too painful for him to process. He could not understand who would want to harm such a defenseless, young creature. Who would be willing to take a life away from somepony who has not even lived it to the fullest?

He wished he could simply avenge Vinyl Scratch, but if he did manage to take him down, the merchant was not alone. That unicorn was most likely a part of it, and he knew nothing of his origins...or what he was capable of. The more Dutch pondered on plans and possibilities, the more helpless he felt

‘I don’t know what to do’ Dutch admitted in his mind, his foreleg still twitching in rage. ‘I can’t tell anypony, for they won’t be able to help. They would most likely try to take her away or worse. There has to be something I could do. I can’t just leave her like this’

The colt stared at the far end of the room, taking notice of the figure lying on his bed that rested quietly. Dutch could not stop but ponder on the mare for a short while. While the burdens of her past beckoned in his mind, he could not forget the majestic noted of the piano that echoed throughout the household. ‘Where did she learn to play like that?’ he thought to himself, ‘Her pace is unbelievably perfect…she can’t be from this place…’

Dutch stopped right there though, seeing that if he indulged in her past any further, his pity for the mare would only increase and break him down from the inside out.

With the thousandth sigh today, the colt slowly lifted himself off the ground as he began to make his way back to the bedframe. Although he was tired, he was not going to rest just yet.

As he approached the bed, the stallion was able to note the features of the sleeping unicorn, which left a scar in his soul. She shifted her position while Dutch was gone for she was now wrapped underneath the sheet, her entire body hurdled up together like a scared filly. Her wavy mane lay underneath her head and her eyes were clenched shut, shielding her gifted eyes away from the rest of the world. It was a sign of broken beauty and torn innocence.

The unicorn suddenly let out a light shiver, showing that she was cold. Dutch, instantly taking note of that, brought his hoof out to the blanket and pulled it closer to Vinyl, shielding her entire coat. Vinyl then grabbed the sheet that approached her and began to shake her head around it, snuggling with it tightly as if it was her only friend.

“…I’m going to get you out of here Vinyl” Dutch whispered, glancing up and down at the sleeping mare. Her complexion was frail and fragile, yet she has endured more suffering than Dutch. “You don’t deserve to be here. You…you don’t belong in this city…”

The challenges awaiting the stallion were now apparent to him. He was now truly alone – one pony against the entire city. He could not trust anypony…not even Twin Twist. They were all hostiles, out to claim the majestic unicorn sleeping soundly in his bed. He would have wondered why she was so special, but he already knew why. Her innocence in this city was so unique, every creature aimed to destroy it. And it seemed one already accomplished that task…and even then, it was not enough.

Dutch did not know what awaited him. He knew nothing of the challenges he would inevitably encounter. Still, he remained strong, willing to risk it all to help this mare out. He could not just leave her out in the cold.

So, sitting on his flank, Dutch remained beside Vinyl, silent and vigilante until fatigue took a hold of him. If the colt could not find a way to pull her out of the city, he would do well to keep her safe for as long as possible. He glanced back at the window frame, remembering a violet hue that assured him the day was going to go perfect. That nothing would dare ruin his new found peace.

Fate had other plans it seemed.

Still, he tried to remain strong, guarding the mare who already suggested the idea long ago. As long as he was around, she was safe. He would do all in his power to protect her.

Just as he did for Free Star.

Intermission: Regret

In the outskirts of Ponyville sits a grey mare, resting on a small seat underneath the dim glow of the moon. Her eyes are closed, concealing a pair of elegant purple irises that lavish with pride and beauty. Her dark, ebony mane is nothing more but a silhouette, fixed to the color of the darkness around her. Her features were sharp which showed she was far from young – yet, she was not old enough to be considered an elder. In her hooves rests a large instrument, commonly mistaken for an inflated violin. In a sense it is true. But to a musician – to a skilled artist – it is referred to as a cello, and it is wise that nopony tell them otherwise.

She sits in silence, the sound of nothingness shrouding her environment while the sounds of voices whisper in her earlobes. She lets her eyes flinch every so often as a certain voice speaks to her with a tone of stubbornness, immaturity, and pride. Despite these negative attributes though, the mare finds passion in its tone – a passion that could not be taken from anypony.

It was Stubborn, yes, but that was because the voice was that of a fighter’s, who never let her dreams waver or hinder.

It was Immature, yes, but that was because the voice was that of a liberal, who loved life and all those in it.

It was Prideful, yes, but that was because it was the voice of a survivor, who accomplished her dreams despite her somber past.

It was a voice that held true character and the musician respected it.

The voice continued to speak to the mare, throwing taunts, tossing remarks, and laughing full heartedly. To somepony it would have brought frustration. To others it would have brought happiness. But to her, it brought sorrow. It brought her pain and grievance. It loosened the wall she encased herself in within a day – the wall she always tore down in the dead of night. Everypony was asleep and not a single living being stirred in the presence of the moon.

It was here, at this place and time, that Octavia relieved the pain that dwelled within her every day and every night.

A light breeze rolls in from the left side of the mare, brushing her mane and fragments of leaves in its direction but she pays it no heed. Her mind is trapped in her memories, replaying the fragments of her life she would give anything to live once again.

The image of a white coated unicorn flashes before her mind, displaying a charismatic smile and swaying her large jagged mane. The unicorn continues to run back in forth before the eyes of the mare, who has now placed herself into the seat of that memory. She shows signs of happiness and joy – a notion no other pony could have done the same.

To Octavia, no pony could replace the bond she held with Vinyl Scratch, the mare who disappeared so long ago, leaving not a single trace in her absence.

And to pay her respects for the dear friend she lost – the friend she loved – she isolated herself in the presence of darkness every night, gripping onto her cello tightly. She has done so for every moon, resting in silence while ponies slept comfortably, free from pain and suffering. She has done so ever since the proclamation that her friend was truly gone, taken from the realm of the living.

Octavia did not believe such things though. There was never evidence of murder. There was never a sign of violence. There was never a body. So as long as those three remained unresolved, she held hope, believing her friend was indeed alive.

As comforting as the fact was though, it pained the mare to believe Vinyl was alive. Doubt ensued from the pain because Octavia knew Vinyl would not abandon her friends without uttering a word. She would not run away from her issues for she was a fighter.

But Vinyl, Octavia knew, changed. The mare she once knew soon began to shift her image when fame struck her life. When the infamous DJ soon grew bright in the starlight, the aspects of nobility and liveliness soon began to hinder away from the overbearing feelings of pride and arrogance. She became another victim of unavoidable pony antics – she became the very thing she despised.

Octavia stood by the mare every single step of the way, despite the horrible alterations occurring to her friend. She stood by her side, ignoring the signs of drug abuse, ignoring the presence of devious colts, and ignoring the evils slowly consuming her friend piece by piece. She only believed she was allowing her friend to live her life, to enjoy the good things in life.

She knew she was lying to herself. In truth, she wished she could go back and pull Vinyl away from every single sin that wished to submit her to her knees. But it was too late.

Now, because Octavia knew she failed her friend, Vinyl was gone. Whether in death or name, she was gone from the cellist’s life, never to return again.

In nights like these, Octavia always condemned herself for her failures – the moments where she failed to save her friend from damnation. She would remain silent, gripping her instrument tightly as tears streamed down her cheeks, each drop sparkling in the glow of the moon as they descended to the fragments of the earth beneath her.

Due to her failures as a friend, she wept. Because she failed to stop the world from hurting her friend, she wept. In memory of her friend, she wept.

Tonight, with her head hung low, she wept.

“Vinyl” she muttered softly, with tears descending out of her closed eyes, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I never wanted any of this to happen…I just wanted to keep you happy. That’s all I ever wanted…I just wanted you to have the life you always wanted….but I never knew it would end like this…I never knew it would be so…so…”

By then Octavia’s voice began to crack and she could no longer refrain from concealing her emotions. Her sobs turned into cries as she leaned her head against her instrument, turning slowly from side to side as if to shake off this horrible feeling of loss –as if to awake from a long terrifying nightmare.

Her cries were loud, fueled by a broken spirit. Had she been any closer to Ponyville she may have woken its inhabitants. But Octavia did not care. She did not care whether they heard her shouts of remorse or her cries of agony. She only wanted to see her friend Vinyl again. That’s all she ever wanted and she would give anything to see her once again.

Many would question the mare’s love for the unicorn. Some have even mistaken it for filly-fooling, which nopony ever argued against, but Octavia always found such theories repulsive. The love she had for Vinyl was not an act of lust nor was it of impulse. It was the kind of love conceived from family – the love of a being who has been there for you in your deepest times and vice versa. Vinyl was like a sister to the mare, despite their genetic barrier. She was the mare she grew up with and the mare she would depart with. Sadly, Vinyl left Octavia before she even got to say a proper farewell.

Sniffling, Octavia soon regained her posture, taking in deep breaths as she began to finally align the cello in her hooves. She slowly moved it into a linear manner, sticking it upwards as she examined the strings of the large instrument which reached to the top of her head. Each string glimmered in the bright glow, reflecting a metallic rainbow amongst the bridge of the cello.

It was time to enact a ritual devised by Octavia. A ritual used to honor her friend who she still believed was out there, lost, afraid, and alone. It worried Octavia, leaving her hollow and afraid as well, but for some reason, she believed if she played her music in dedication of the unicorn it will grant her the strength to move on – both Octavia and Vinyl Scratch.

Octavia was not a mare of superstition but she was a mare of faith so she believed playing would grant some sort of peace to both her and her companion.

Taking one long sigh, Octavia finally opened her eyes, revealing a pair of bright purple eyes that glared with pride and eloquence. The angle in her eyes made her a first pick of most stallions but she was never willing to allow such things into her mind or heart. She wished for only peace and serenity and nothing else. Something she only gained from playing the cello, her one true love.

Glaring upward at the moon, Octavia’s mouth quivered slightly as she let words slip out of her throat.

“By the goddesses” she prayed, glaring up at the large moon up above in the horizon that overwhelmed the night, “Please bring Vinyl back safe and sound. Please make sure she is alive somewhere, safe and sound. Give her the strength to keep going, to come back home”

Octavia’s lip began to quiver a little more violently as her eyes began to water up. She always prayed to the goddesses, hoping they’d hear her pleas but to no avail, she has not had a single one answered. To keep her faith though, Octavia continued to pray, hoping for the best – no matter how desperate it seemed.

“Please watch over her and provide her with a guardian, a knight. Give her an angel to protect her and keep her safe. One that would keep her warm, one that would keep her full, one that would keep her happy…”

Octavia knew that angels and such things were enigmas of the mind but she did not care. She decided to allow such things slip into her mind, hoping that if they are truly real, they would help aid her in her prayers.

“Please Luna…Please Celestia…” she continued, glancing down at her cello, “Bless Vinyl Scratch with an angel…and bring her back home…please…”

With her final wish, the mare ended her prayer, kissing the bottom of her hoof and holding it up to the sky as an offer. Hoping the rulers of light and night heed her pleas, she turned away from the sky glancing down at the instrument that would demonstrate the combination of pain and love within a poor soul.

Without another word, Octavia closed her eyes and let her emotions instruct her hooves, causing them to majestically move around the cello in a slow rhythmic manner that evoked a beautiful essence of noise throughout the night.

Octavia allows her mind to slip into serenity, trying to cope with the emotion fueling her talent as it creates melodic notes throughout the air – much similar to another musician.

You see, there was once a legend told by musicians, one said to be from around the creation of music.

It was a tale told from the perspective of life from before; from a time when war and chaos ravaged the lands of Equestria; from the time before the rule of Princess Celestia and the tyranny of Nightmare Moon.

It was a tale that spoke of a musician, one that mastered in the cello. He demonstrated a kind heart to all ponies despite the madness occurring around him. His warm smile always kept ponies happy and retained the innocence in foals.

One day, when instructing his companions to fetch food for their starving bodies he stood perched upon a tall building, waiting for their return. It never happened.

Upon reaching the bakery a devastating magical spell decimated the entire region around the building. The musician was tossed aside from the explosion, dazing him momentarily and overall preventing him from seeing the destruction below. As time passed his vision soon began to return, allowing him to intake the horrifying scene before him. The remains of each and every single one of his friends scattered about, each limb scorched from the bright hued flames released from the magic.

It tore the musician in two, rendering him lost and alone. He blamed himself for their deaths and that only tore him in two. It left him to question who was responsible for his deaths and what he had done.

In the days that followed, more magical spells began to set off around him, decimating streets and houses. But the musician’s world was already destroyed. Everything he ever cared about and loved was gone. Now he was but a hollow shell, lacking the will to live. The only thing keeping him alive, was the urge to avenge his friends’ deaths – all 22 of them. Not through violence though. No, he wished to avenge them through the only way he possibly could.

Exiting the structure he isolated himself in, the musician went into the outside world, which was still being decimated by fear and terror. Carrying with him only his cello, the stallion played in the middle of the street – in the exact same spot the bomb went off. Ash littered the streets and fragments of dust enveloped the region, leaving nothing but a smoke created fog to envelop the city.

But legend tells of the musician’s silhouette standing out amongst the ash as a beautiful emission of chords ascended from his cello. Ponies were shocked as the stallion played on around the destruction as if he was living in tranquility. That was not the case.

The musician played a song for each of his companions. Each song was dedicated to the deceased, to mourn their deaths and in hopes to rest their souls that have been tarnished by the destructive antics of a pony. The musician played one song each day, dedicating that song to each member of the deceased.

With no food or water, the stallion continued to play throughout the bloody feud, having close encounters with death due to debris and explosions. Still, he would not bow. He gave it all he got, playing each song for the ones he loved and cherished until the final day, the 22nd victim.

Upon that day, with no sleep, no food, and no energy, the musician was dying. His body was physically giving way, breaking down slowly as it failed to keep up with his spirit. Even then, he failed to give up.

With the last of his energy, the musician played the cello as best he could, dedicating that final song to the youngest filly of the group that was killed in the blast. It was said that he struggled to breath and move, but even then the noise conveyed from the cello was still as extravagant as the first day. When he finished his song, it is said that he let out a loud painful cry, as tears poured out of his eyes before he finally fell limp, crashing down to the scorched floor beneath him. To this day, nopony knows why he let out that cry. Some believe it was because he was dying and he knew his end was coming; others say it was because of the violence and horror occurring around him.

Octavia, the mare who grew inspired by the pony’s motives, believed he cried because he lost those he truly loved. She believed that the world from then was not so different from her world now; she believed that he cried because he lost ponies who were dear to him – ponies that were true in heart. And Octavia felt no different from that.

She felt like that musician. She felt lost and alone, forced to live with the guilt of her long lost friend.

So to mourn her absence, Octavia did what the musician did long ago: she played a song to mourn for the loss of her companion. Although the two pony’s stories differ in comparison, Octavia felt it would be honorable to dedicate a song that gave the feeling of hope and tranquility, despite the darkness around her.

And she has done that every single night for sixteen years – ever since Vinyl Scratch disappeared.

Chapter 3: The Price of Happiness

Despite the work of Luna laminating the sky, the day was far from over for some ponies. Mares stumbled among drunkards on the street, laughing deviously as they let alcohol consume them. Stallions watched from the corners of streets and the darkness of the alleys. Some enjoyed the sight of freedom in the dead of night, but deep inside they were caged, bounded down by their physical needs.

Excluding one particular stallion, who sought to seek rest in the confinements of his home. His eyes were bloodshot from fatigue and his mane was in a jumbled heap. His grey coat was ragged, due to the act of physical activity late at night. He seemed to be deprived of oxygen, breathing heavily in and out slowly as he stared down at the ground before him, examining the region from his bed. The ticking noise of a small clock from afar rang in his ear, giving it an echoing feel as it bounced around in his skull. Despite all these traits though, he was perfectly calm. The only thing wrong with the current scene was the colt, who was actually indulging in his thoughts.

His mind was elsewhere not long ago. Coming from a wonderful gig with a gorgeous mare, as his companion left him to enjoy time with his new find, he decided to indulge in a night where he would be able to become satisfied with himself. The entire night though, his mind burned furiously with questions, a feeling the colt was not exactly familiar with. The stallion pondered in silence, leaving his mind to process on the events of the day that passed not long ago, trying to recall the origins of a name who knew nothing of. Yet, according to the colt, it was enough to drive him into madness, causing him to literally tear at the walls of his mind to find an answer.

‘Dutch….Dutch…’ the colt thought to himself as he finally began to clink his hooves together in front of his face, both of which were tainted with a vibrant red stain that glinted in the darkness.

Lucius could not understand why the name had such psychological value to him. As he stated to himself before, the stallion was nobody, a disdain figure not even worth noting. The fact Lucius could recount the name though, brought a strange feeling into his mind. And the fact that this stallion owned one of his many sins…

Lucius was an analytical being though, and had a tendency to read ponies. He saw the look in the stallion’s eyes when he saw Vinyl – it was a look of shock, yet, it was not the suspicious kind that came from one who would have noticed her.

The merchant felt that was no longer his problem and in the case of the mysterious stallion, he only reckoned it would be wise to be precautious.

“Sloppy…” Lucius muttered to himself, repeating the words of the treacherous unicorn that accompanied him long ago. And as he looked down at his hooves, he could do nothing but grin.

“I don’t know, do you think I’m sloppy?” Lucius asked as he turned back around to the mare lying on his bed with wide dull eyes and an open mouth. Her butterscotch coat was tainted with blotches of red, and a large gash could be found underneath the side of her heart. Her dark black mane was messy and clumped, the pigments of blood reaching to the tips of her mane. The entire scene was beyond horrid, but to Lucius it was a work of art. To the colt, he found the sight of dark red appealing on the white pure sheets he slept on. As for the mare, he was only getting started.

“It’s rude to ignore somepony you know?” Lucius continued, tilting the mare’s head in his direction to gain a better look into her dilated pupils. His twisted expression began to grow, his needs finally being fulfilled. The feel was all too great. It was almost erotic, but this lust was not sexual. It was a lust for control, power.

With a grin of satisfaction, Lucius slid himself off his bed, glancing down at the deceased mare that was sprawled out upon tainted sheets. The stallion snickered and shook his head.

“I tell mares all the time to never trust strangers” he sighed shaking his head as he began to walk around to the other side of the bed, passing through old, gothic furniture. His hooves left a trace of blood on the floor, a notion Lucius hated dearly.

“But to be honest,” Lucius continued, finally among the side of the mare, glancing down at her nimble frame, “It’s a good thing you came with me”

Lucius then grabbed the white sheets from one end and began to turn it in a circular motion, slowly wrapping the mare within the roll of sheets.

“I mean, just imagine” the merchant began, a gleam of excitement ascending from his sickly yellow irises as he tossed the encased mare over his backside, “If you actually left with a psychopath. I don’t think I would have been able to live with myself after that”

And with that, he began to walk out of the room he resided in, entering a door in which a long, narrow hallway ran in a straight path towards another door at the far end. The hall was lit by a dim, disgusting light that illuminated the walls with a deteriorating white pigment. As Lucius walked down the hall with his prize, the colt whistled an uplifting tone. The stallion was not one for music, but in times of celebration, he could sing as far as his sick pleasures would lead him to.

Lucius’ whistling came to a quick halt as he finally reached the end of the hall, now extremely close to the door before him. A spark of dark interest burst in his mind, bringing him to let out a sigh in satisfaction.

It was always this process he enjoyed the most in his hunt. Beyond the doors before him stood the sanctum of his pleasures, but it was a place where the key was never physical. It was psychological, and the only way to gain access to the room behind the door was to gain a kill.

After all, this is the place where Lucius forges his victims into his repulsive devices.

***

Dutch woke up in the eve of the morning, his mental clock quickly going off in his mind. The grey stallion was tired, his eyes heavy with fatigue, but once he managed to carry himself off the mattress and rub his eyes, he could finally muster up the courage to get up. Standing on all fours, Dutch leaned outwards, his back letting an excruciating cracking noise echo throughout the house. Afterwards he shook his mane and began to smack his lips, all the while lazily scouting around the house. Nothing interesting to see in particular, but the stallion felt refreshed. It was an alien feel, a thing Dutch was not used to, but he couldn’t help but let a sigh of relief leave his throat this early in the morning. Dutch had no vivid dream or nightmare, given the gift of a dreamless sleep instead. It was enough to give his mind time to rest, leaving it to ponder on nothing in particular. When the colt turned his head to the right side though, he instantly caught a glimpse of the wooden crate and the mare inside, still perched in her pose. Dutch did not walk over to the doll instantly though. No, he still had his usual job to attend to, and he knew he would have no time to pay attention to anything other.

The stallion finally began to take steps, walking in the direction of the bathroom to attend his usual morning routine as quickly as he could. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, took his cold bath and dried himself off all under a ten minute mark. Even Dutch was surprised, for it usually took him longer to attend each task. This refreshed feeling rejuvenated the stallion though, and it was feeling he has not felt in a long while.

Looking at the clock to keep track of time, he noted he only had fifteen minutes to attend his morning shift. Bolting out of the restroom, he trotted over to his cabinet and quickly put on his uniform, not taking any chances with time against him. Once he finished that task, Dutch moved to the center of his house so he could make out the approximate time left to attend work. The colt found it strange how he actually felt so energetic this early in the morning, but he didn’t feel like losing his job over it. Dieter was not forgiving for slackers, especially in the case of Dutch.

Fourteen minutes left.

Dutch muttered a silent prayer, hoping that he would be able to make it on time. Jogging over to the entrance of his house, Dutch quickly looked back into the house one more time to catch a glimpse of the mare in the crate. Despite his aging eyes, Dutch could not miss the gaze that kept him warm.

‘Calm down’ Dutch noted to himself, trying to tame his mind and not let his sanity reach its breaking point. The last thing he needed was to let his mind drift into the other direction of insanity.

So, shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Dutch closed the door to his home, locking it on his way out. Taking a deep breath to inhale the cool air, Dutch turned away from the door and began to descend down his staircase. Once he was on the sidewalk, he began to repeat the same route he has done every day on his way to work, except this time, he had a strong feeling that this day would not be like the others. With this thought in mind, Dutch managed to put on half a smile as began to descend down the dark city streets that were illuminated by the lamplights hanging on the side of each curb.

Seconds after hearing the noise of the satisfying click, and waiting a full minute to hear anything suspicious, the figure in the wooden crate finally dropped her pose and took one long heavy sigh in relief. Her mind was heavy with fatigue, and she felt stiff, and the only thing she sought for at the moment was sleep. So without uttering a word, Vinyl dropped to the bottom of the box and closed her eyes, engaging into a deep slumber she has been craving for hours.

***

The sight of ponies wandering aimlessly in the morning was never new to Dutch. Over the years he has grown accustom to the same sight of defeated, empty souls seeking comfort in all the wrong places.

Today was different.

As Dutch passed through a group of junkies, he felt no disgust or showed no sign of cynism. Instead he merely passed through, not even taking notice of their presence as he continued onwards. Dutch took notice of this behavior, but surprisingly he gave it no thought. His mind seemed to be clearer, despite the signs of hopelessness around him.

The only fact that disturbed Dutch was why he felt so…alive. It was not a feeling he was comfortable with, but at the same time it was a feeling he missed. Dutch reckoned it could have been the dreamless sleep, but he felt there was more to it than that.

Still, this happy persona gave Dutch the ability to walk all the way to work, without one negative thought entering his mind the entire way. Usually Dutch could not stand such long routes, for although it was enough to clear his head momentarily, it usually left him with more questions than answers and the ponies never helped. Not to mention a headache.

Finally, after a few minutes of walking through the streets as if it were nothing but a breeze, the colt finally made his way to the worksite, which was empty and hollow. The only thing that kept the worksite alive was the dim, small glow of a light hanging over a small office, to the left side of the entrance. Beside the glow stood a dark blue pegasus, wearing a black hardhat who surveyed the worksite ahead, noting the presence of the buildings skeletal frame and the ditch underlying the bottom of it all. Soon, Dieter began to take notice of another’s presence, but was not truly expecting anyone around at the moment.

“Dutch?” the blue pegasus said confused, bewildered to see the stallion here before him. “You’re early…”

Dutch, who began to feel the cold temperature of the morning from the dirt beneath him, nodded his head in a nonchalant manner.

“Yeah, I’m here” Dutch informed, flashing a smile to Dieter – something he has never done before. Dieter lifted a brow in suspicion, finding the stallion’s behavior to be beyond strange now. Dutch was not a pony of perfect attendance, an aspect that gave Dieter a good reason to replace him, but here he was on time. Not only that though, the colt was actually smiling – a trait the pegasus thought he never had.

Dieter thought Dutch must have took a shot of Dash before he made his way here, but the look in the stallion’s eyes was different from the junkies he saw on the street. This just didn’t add up for the overseer…

“Well, what now?” Dutch asked, cutting off the thoughts of the pegasus who jolted slightly, breaking the connection with his mind.

“Oh” Dieter asked, trying to snap back into his work mind set. “Well…” Dieter was not entirely prepared for Dutch to ask him what he would have him do. Usually it was Dieter who had to inform the colt what to do. Glancing back at the vacated work area though, Dieter was able to identify Dutch’s assigned task.

“…I need you to help me set up the site” Dieter informed, pointing his hoof over at the building that was still a work in progress. “I’m going to need you to pull out the metal rods, load up the bricks, check the lifts and supports, prepare the cement mix…”

Dutch listened to Dieter as he listed the various tasks he needed to do early in the morning. And the whole time, the colt nodded his head, all with an understanding expression plastered on his face. Dutch was not comfortable with the amount of work present on his hooves, but it was not like he was doing it all on his own for Dieter was going to aid him.

In the end of Dieter’s rant, it seemed like the pegasus was out of breath. Almost as if he was trying to overtask the stallion…

But Dutch did not let it affect his mood. Instead after all that he heard he merely nodded his head, muttered okay, and began to walk over to the metal rods, leaving Dieter wide eyed. ‘There had to be something wrong with this stallion’, he noted to himself.

“Dutch” Dieter called after him, flapping his wings for a short while to catch up with the stallion. A small cumulus cloud fluttered around the colt as the pegasus appeared by his left side. Dutch looked at the pegasus in confusion before having his eyes lock into place with Dieter’s.

“Are you…okay?” he asked, examining the colt that was slowly pulling his head back.

“Err…yeah?” Dutch answered, as if there was a right or wrong answer to it. There was no question to answer though. Dutch was fine – in fact he felt beyond that. Had he been in his usual mood he would’ve whined and groped about the number of tasks before him.

“You sure?” Dieter insisted, pulling his head back with the same expression on his face.

Dutch, possibly taking notice of what was bothering the pegasus, nodded his head. “I’m fine Dieter. I just feel…better” he smiled, causing the pegasus to think.

‘Better?’ Dieter thought as Dutch watched him analyze the words in silence. The stallion was too hyped on energy though, and walked off away from the pegasus who began to notice his leave.

“Hey where are you going?”

“I’m going to get the metal rods” Dutch shot, finally making his way to a large wide metal bin, “I just want to get this over with”

The surprises kept racking up for the pegasus, who could not stop thinking about the colt.

‘Wow’ he noted to himself, ‘whatever Dutch is taking, I want some of that. May be able to take off a shitload of stress…”

Meanwhile Dutch was opening the metal doors of the large bin, which now revealed the long thin cylinder frames of the metal rods. Each one stacked on top of another, all of them shaped in the formation of a pyramid. Dutch did not grumble or whine. Instead he took one long sigh, hoping to intake as much oxygen as possible, before he prodded his hoof out to grab a hold of one of the rods. With a large heave, the colt pulled out the rod, trying to balance out its long frame as he prodded it over his shoulder and backside. Now all he needed to know was where to put it…

“Dieter!” he shouted, causing the pegasus to turn his head and see the working stallion. The sight was all that was needed to wake up Dieter from his thoughts. Without uttering a word, the pegasus instantly began to flap his wings, going to some unknown location only to come back with a large wooden plate held by the thick wires of a crate, which he placed in front of Dutch.

Dutch nodded his head in thanks, and with another large heave, he threw the rod onto the platform, relieving his body of the large heavy item. Dieter always saw how Dutch worked, but today he could see something was different. Still, he gave the idea no thought and instead began to help Dutch, carrying rods and aiding him in lifting larger rods.

***

Within the box, Vinyl remained to sleep comfortably, her eyes closed shut while her head rested over her hooves. Her breathing remained timid, and the sight of her slumber was enough to invoke a sufficient amount of innocence into anypony’s heart.

Deep within her mind though, her thoughts began to solidify, forming themselves into a realm the mare was not familiar with. She was casted into the dream world, abiding by the world of her own illusion. All of which, was fueled by the pain and sorrow that’s burned inside her for so long.

Vinyl is lost. Afraid. Alone. Her body is shrouded by darkness, her eyes forced to look upon nothingness. As she glances down at her body though, she is able to make out her own legs and chest as if illuminated by some foreign light. Her breathing is tense and her legs began to tremble as she glances around, not knowing how she entered this void. Despite the presence of shadows though, she feel she is not alone. She feels she is being watched from afar – almost as if being surveyed.

“Hello?” she calls out in exchange for the sound of silence…a cold, lifeless silence that begins to send the mare into a feel of slight paranoia. Her heart begins to beat faster, and she could feel her nerves begin to tremble.

The unicorn begins to slowly walk ahead, hoping she would be able to make out an exit, but as soon as she makes her first steps, her eyes are blinded by a bright white glow. She jumps back and gives a terrified squeal, her breathing now heavy as this unknown glow continues to shine from far ahead.

Soon, the shine of the glow begins to dim, but it does not disappear. Vinyl, slowly bringing her forelegs away from her face, looks ahead, only to see a white glow shaped in the appearance of a door. The mare watches the exhilarating glow, a glow that brings an overwhelming sense of warmth to her body. A feeling she craves.

With a new burst of energy, and her fear not too far behind, Vinyl quickly dashes towards the light, her breathing growing frenzied as her hooves clicked against the illusive floor below her. The light began to grow brighter as she began to grow closer and the warm feeling within her began to grow along with it.

‘I’m free’ she thought to herself, allowing this warm feel to fuel her thoughts for a short while as she entered the door shaped glow. As soon as her entire body entered the glow, her eyes were instantly shrouded by a bright glow and her body felt a warm tingling sensation cover her entire body. A smile grew across her face as she began to embrace the absence of the darkness she was once in. She began to feel alive now, a feeling she wished for so long. And now, its finally happened. Vinyl began to giggle, her mind replaying an old, dusty emotion of joy and purity.

The beautiful essence does not last long though.

The glow of the light soon began to dim, and the once warm inviting feel began to depart with it. Vinyl’s smile begins to falter, taking notice of the strange occurrence happening to her surroundings. The glow is not gone though, and after a while, she realizes her eyes were closed all along.

Upon opening her eyes, she immediately notices the presence of various items and trinkets that would be found in any commonly owned room; a bed, cabinet, drawers and other various items. This room though, was far from common. As Vinyl glanced around her surroundings, she could do nothing but become mesmerized on how every item within her sight was white. Every single thing. The room had no windows either, leaving the room to feel like a bright, cozy prison.

This presence of pure white disturbs Vinyl though, for she feels that this ghastly glow is all too familiar. Never has she seen a room look so bright, so clean – yet so eerie and wrong. She could not place her hoof on the feeling, but she began to feel her nerves tense up slightly and her mind began to shift back into its cautious state. She could feel her ears willow and she lowered her head, for this feel of being watched returned to her, giving her gut a tightening knot.

Vinyl began to slowly walk around the room, passing through cabinets, drawers and a bed frame. As the mare passed the bed frame though, she caught a glimpse of something bright and blue in the corner of her eye. Catching her curiosity, Vinyl turns back to the previous region, only to freeze in place and stare wide-eyed at what she saw before her.

The image that reflected the vibrant blue glow was her, copied by a mirror that was hidden by the glow of the never ending white. This reflection before her though, was not her. Vinyl’s mouth trembled and her nerves began to give slight shakes as she began to ascend closer to the mirror, which reflected her. But it was not her.

No, the mare within the mirror was not Vinyl Scratch. It was a duplicate, holding the old characteristics of Vinyl Scratch – a varying blue, spiky edged mane with an exhilarating glow and a pair of light purple shades prodded on her face. Her coat seemed rugged though and she seemed to be trembling feverishly.

Vinyl could not stop thinking about the image of the mare before her. She could not help but notice that mare in the mirror was once her. It was once who she was – in mind, body, and spirit. But now, she was nothing like that. Her spiky mane was replaced with a wavy flowing mane and her shades were gone, her eyes now vulnerable to the world. It was enough to make the mare question who was truly the false duplicate of herself.

Vinyl, taking her question into thought, began to place her hoof over her head, trying to feel the spiky mane reflected in the mirror, but all she could truly feel was the silky smooth strands flow down amongst the sides of her scalp. She then attempted to feel a pair of shades on her eyes, but she did not need to do such a thing for she would have seen everything as a purple hue if she had them on. The entire time, her reflection did exactly what she did.

Glancing downward, she tried to see the other attributes her reflection gave. As she glanced down at her coat though, she did not see not a single hair on her body look rugged, nor did she see her body shake tirelessly.

This dream was beginning to worry the mare, seeing that her reflection gave her a subconscious shiver up her spine.

This so called dream would not last long.

As Vinyl glanced upward to examine her mirrored self-one last time, she lets out a loud gasp and jolts back, as her eyes lock with yellow, bloodshot irises, accompanied by a wide, blood ridden grin. The frame of the creature is massive and it is apparent its skin is deteriorated, showing clumps of meat and flesh. She cowers back quickly, her hooves clasping over her face as if to shield herself from the sight before her. Her body began to tremble in fear and the nerves on her fence grew tense, the feel of paranoia overwhelming her mind. A ringing noise screamed through her head, causing the mare to cringe as her mind continued to lock the image of the horrendous sight.

And just as she did in the dream world, Vinyl’s eyes quickly shot open as she lifted her head up in fear, a breathless gasp escaping her lungs. Her heart raced quickly and her breathing grew heavy. Vinyl began to look around her surroundings in fear, cautiously surveying the area around her as she hid in the wooden box she rested in. Her body was trembling and it caused the box to shake slightly as the friction from her body passed onto it.

Her mind was heavy with fear and her eyes were wide open. The image of the creature was fresh in her mind, and she could find no way to rid of it. Its features, its grin…its eyes. Vinyl could not stop trembling as she thought about those eyes, which she tried so hard to rid of. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t purge her mind of the demonic eyes she has been forced to stare at for years…

Soon her trembling turned into whimpering, trying to shield her eyes with her hooves but it was no use. The images of the merchant were too young in her mind. She was helpless now, forced to gaze into the eyes of the creature that gazed at her with sick pleasure. Her whimpering grew louder and her eyes began to twitch as tears began to stream outward, her mouth quivering feverishly.

Whimpers eventually turned into sobs. Vinyl began to let her emotions pour out of her once again, her eyes jetting tears down her face like a running faucet. She buried her head in her forelegs to hide the sobs, but it was no use. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, her muffled sobs could not shield her from the pain inflicted by the nightmare. Her body continued to fidget as her paranoia began to grab a hold of her, inflicting this idea that creature was no illusion.

The mare remained in the crate, crying and sobbing as she felt this overbearing tension shroud over her. Her fear began to fuel her emotions as well, yearning for the presence of anypony. But nopony would come for her. No pony.

So Vinyl remained in the box, alone, sobbing and trembling as she began to curse the very day she was born.

***

A funnel of dust circles around Dutch as he runs off across the worksite, carrying with him a tool box in his mouth. Ponies surround him, performing their assigned tasks in silence and with bitter antics. Some seem inadequate to work, considering the second life they attended to only hours ago.

Despite their presence though, Dutch is too caught up in the work mind set, and has been running back and forth aiding his fellow coworkers who have glanced at him with strange suspicious glances. His ecstatic energy was unbelievable to many, finding this feel to be alien – it was a feel some workers knew only came from a great dealer – or possibly from a special somepony.

A theory that crossed the mind of Twin Twist, who requested the toolbox to chisel the shape of drying cement mix.

“Wow, that was quick” Twin Twist shot as Dutch placed the toolbox in front of him, panting slightly as sweat beaded down his forehead. Dutch, tired but not finished, nodded his head as he tried to catch his breath.

“No…problem…” Dutch panted, closing his eyes as he allowed air to sweep into his lungs. Twin Twist shook his head and chuckled in response.

“Thanks” he responded, patting the shoulder of the colt that was now beginning to catch his breath. Despite his tired state though, Twin Twist was beyond surprised of the energy this stallion possessed. He knew of Dutch’s early shift, which began six hours ago. Twin Twist knew something was pushing the stallion forward – something that was absent yesterday for the colt seemed to be a totally different pony today.

“Hey, is everything good?” Twin Twist asked quizzedly as Dutch began to walk away, trying to see if any other ponies would require his assistance. Upon hearing the question he has been asked repeatedly in the time span of that morning though, Dutch turned around with a tired expression.

“Yes, Twin Twist” the stallion sighed walking closer to unicorn. He said it almost as if it was rehearsed. “Everything is good”

Dutch could not stop but wonder why his behavior was so strange to everypony around him. Was his swift mood change so noticeable it was appearing on his face every second of the morning? Even then though, was that a bad thing?

‘So what if I’m like this? I feel really good’ Dutch thought to himself, watching as Twin Twist put on a smile.

“It’s not a bad thing” the unicorn assured, raising his hoof to subconsciously tame the stallion. It was almost as if he could read his attitude in his tone. “This just happened so suddenly though so I wanted to know how everything was going for you.”

Dutch took a sigh, remembering that Twin Twist was not like the other stallions. The unicorn came from a place where this feeling was more common and the stallion felt ridiculous for getting a bit defensive.

“Yeah, everything’s fine” Dutch answered, opening himself partly to the unicorn who smiled. “Just woke up in a good mood, that’s all…”

“You sure?” Twin Twist asked raising a brow. “You seem pretty ecstatic about something…you come across anything that’s making you feel…good?”

Dutch then began to realize what the unicorn was finally getting at. And Twin Twist believed he finally knew what the reason was for his happiness, who gave him a playful smile.

‘Did he really find a mare?’ the unicorn thought to himself, eyeing the stallion with a proud gaze. At the same time, Dutch’s mind began to think on its own. ‘….Does he believe I found a mare?’

“Whole?” Dutch asked unsurely, already knowing what Twin Twist was getting at. “uh…nothing like that…I guess…”

Twin Twist lifted a brow, surely expecting a mare would behind such happiness – or if not that at least a pony of some gender. Even then though, if it was not that, the unicorn pondered ‘then what?’ The unicorn was familiar with this feel. This feel came from a source of invulnerability – something gained from being loved by another.

‘Was it drugs?’ Twin Twist thought to himself, but found that Dutch would not be the kind of pony to do such a thing. As he noted before he was different from the others, but at the same time, it seems there was more to the stallion than he realized.

“Hey Dutch” a voice called from afar, catching the attention of both colts who seemed to be lost in their thoughts. Dutch, turning to the source of his called name, caught the sight of a blue pigmented figure flying in his direction, with a satisfied grin on his face. Upon noticing his presence, the figure came to a halt before Dutch, patting the shoulder of the stallion before him.

“My friend” Dieter began to shaking his head, “I never expected this type of behavior from you, I’d give you that.”

Dutch was a bit shocked from the pegasus behavior. He could not believe his boss was actually admiring his work habits. Before Dutch could continue though, Dieter continued on.

“Well, it looks like your shift is up, and lucky for you, it’s your payday” the pegasus informed, motioning his hoof over at his office. Dutch knew about payment, but he never cared for the bits. He only found the cash useful for it was the only way to make a living.

“Alright Dieter, I’ll be there shortly” Dutch informed, leaving the pegasus to nod his head and fly back to the office from which he came from. Once the colt departed, Dutch turned back to Twin Twist who had a pompous grin in his face.

“I don’t suppose the extra labor was for a raise was it?” the unicorn asked, lifting a brow. Dutch never thought about receiving a raise, for at minimal wage it was unlikely he would earn anything higher. Still, if that was the case, he would have no problem with it.

“No” Dutch responded, but flashed a smile afterward. “But it wouldn’t hurt to have one” he chuckled, shrugging slightly. Twin Twist could not argue with that reason.

“Maybe I’ll work with you a little more” Twin Twist informed, pointing his hoof at Dutch. “That way I’ll be able to get things done around here faster”

Dutch took it as a compliment, but he felt the act of working alongside another pony was worth noting. It would be grand to work alongside the unicorn, chatting while working. Unluckily, Dutch had no time to converse with Twin Twist, but he felt there was always going to be time for that. For now, he was beginning to focus on some other tasks he may have needed to attend to.

“I won’t mind having an extra hoof to help” Dutch remarked, bringing his hoof outwards toward Twin Twist. The unicorn let out a warm smile as he looked down at the hoof, and without a second thought he shook it with a strong grip.

“Well, it’s best if you head on out and pick up your paycheck” Twin Twist suggested, pointing his hoof over at the office. “We’ll take it from here. You’ve already done enough for today”

“I feel like I could have done more” Dutch retorted flashing a meek smile.

Twin Twist shook his head, somehow expecting that answer despite the colt’s behavior from the day before. “Seriously, what has gotten into you?” the unicorn asked, literally giving up on trying to find an answer to the question.

Dutch sighed and let out a meek smile. “Well, let’s just say I found my anchor” he answered, leaving Twin Twist more puzzled. The unicorn reckoned he shouldn’t hold the stallion back any longer though, and decided he could discuss the reason with him another time.

“Alright, I give” Twin Twist sighed, defeated, patting Dutch’s shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

Dutch nodded his head, chuckling at the unicorn’s previous remark. “Yes, I’ll see you tomorrow”

Twin Twist then nodded his head and bid his farewells to Dutch, who returned the notion shortly after. Then, without another word, they both continued on with their assigned tasks.

As Dutch ascended away from Twin Twist and into the office of their boss, the unicorn glanced back and shook his head.

“That stallion must be hyped on some drug or something” he sighed, feeling an ounce of respect disappearing for the colt who he thought may have been different from the rest.

***

“Here’s your payment” Dieter informed, handing out a small saddle bag that was meant to hang over the side of its patrons. Something did not add up with this item though. Dutch eyed the bag with curiosity, noticing something strange.

“That bag seems a tad bit bigger than usual” Dutch noted, pointing his hoof at the bag that was now lying in the center of the table. The office they both resided in was small, containing not a single item worth noting.

“Well after today, I felt a little bonus would seem…fair” Dieter sighed, finding a hard time trying to utter the last word of the sentence. Dutch would have not blamed him for such difficulty.

“Really?” he asked in disbelief, wondering if there was a catch.

Dieter showed no sign of regret though, nor did he pull off the image of a treacherous pony.

“It’s not much, but it’s a little more than the usual, so don’t try to get too hyped up on it” Dieter replied, his bitter personality returning back to him.

Dutch ignored his tone though, for he felt like he just accomplished something today. It was not a great amount of money, and he was not a stallion who let bits consume him, but it felt like a small victory he was willing to take.

With a nod of his head, he grabbed his payment and walked away from Dieter, a feeling of luck beginning to grow in his mind. He felt that maybe this positive feel in his body gave him the potential to open new doors and gain new things.

And as Dutch walked out of the door, he craved nothing more than a nice, warm meal.

‘Speaking of which, I need to go out and get supplies’ he thought as he stepped out of the worksite, slowly passing through ponies. ‘I’m going to need food, some soap…a towel will do fine too’. He continued to list other items, mentally noting how he was going to need to spend his bits.

So instead of taking the usual route back home, making the usual left turn once he made his way up the street, he decided to turn right, making his way to the market square that was only a few blocks away.

***

Walking to the market was always a hassle, for it was by the worst slum of the city, harboring the homeless, waste, and despair. Even in Dutch’s calm collective state, it was enough to bring negativity to his thoughts as ponies watched him with defeated eyes, all of whom have known the feeling of loss.

As he continued to progress though, he saw something he never thought he would have seen in his entire life. Leaving his bubble, Dutch stopped dead in his tracks as he saw beside him three young foals, all of which were accompanied by one dirty mare. Their coats were rugged and their bright, lively manes were filled with specks of dirt and waste. They all looked up at him with tired, saddening expressions – a look one would not expect from foals. Looking away, his eyes locked with the mother of the foal, which had a gaze that begged for help. The sight was enough to make his heart ache with pain.

Looking at his bag, the stallion let out a sigh, knowing he could not allow these young ones to go on like this. The sight of these kids brought memories back into his mind, clouding his mind with dark shadows.

Moving his bag around his back and opening it, he pulled out six bits in the palm of his hoof. The young foals- two colts and one mare- all looked at the bits as if it was the key to their freedom. The mother, harboring her kids with whatever she could provide, looked at the stallion in disbelief.

Dutch’s face grew stern and his once positive energy shifted into a cold desolate feel. It was not cynism though, nor was it bitter. It was an emotion that showed pain, yet it tried its best to show comfort.

“Here” he said, reaching the bits out to the mother, whose eyes locked with his. Her dark purple irises looked tired, beaten. It was enough to make Dutch give them the entire bag of bits, but Dutch could not do such a thing. In this world, he needed a way to survive, and that could not be possible if he was back to where he started.

The mother, glancing away from Dutch to the bits in his palm, opened her mouth in disbelief. It seemed as if she tried to utter something, but her mind could not process what to say. All she could do was slowly lift her hoof upwards to the bits in Dutch’s hoof, her foreleg twitching feverishly. Grabbing the bits from the stallion’s hoof, the mare looked back at her kids, each of them calling to their mother.

The mother, upon looking at her kids with the bits in the hand, grew teary eyed, finally ensuring that she would finally feed her kin who have scavenged for food all their lives.

“Thank you” the mare said sweetly, her mouth quivering as a weak smile spread across her face. The sight of the mare’s happiness began to bring pain into Dutch’s heart, and he knew if he stood any longer, he would be forced to take her sorrows with him. Without uttering another word, he continued onwards, leaving the mare to finally acknowledge her children who all gazed at her with young eyes.

“Mama, who was that?” the little mare asked, her light pink eyes burning into her mother’s soul. The mare, with the bits in her grasp, bent low and grabbed all her children within her forelegs and clung onto them tightly.

“An answer to our prayers sweetie” she sighed, holding and kissing each and every one of her children, who returned the love back to their mother.

***

The market was empty on this particular day. The place never gave an inviting essence, having extremely dim lights and a bitter worker or two. Still, this place usually had more than one customer.

Inside the market, Dutch’s mind was lost. He tried to gather a list of all the items he needed, but his mind would only recount the image of the mother and her foals.

‘Don’t think about it’ he kept telling himself, as he scrounged around aisles of items, searching for the cheapest possible items. Deep down though, he knew that image would never leave his mind. It scarred him, searing a mark into his mind and emotions. His positive mood was now gone, replaced with his usual mindset.

Finally casting an eye over the cheapest batch of soap, he grabbed it and placed it into the cheaply built carts of the market. In it he had all that he needed – food, water, and now soap. His desire for a towel faded from his mind, realizing it was only a necessity and he would not have enough to afford it.

Making his way past aisles, Dutch let out a sigh, pushing the cart along with him as negativity began to block up in his mind. The stallion tried not to let it get to him.

‘I can’t be depressed’ Dutch thought to himself, as he passed through various fruits and produce, ‘I should be happy. I helped that mare and her children. They should be fine…’

But Dutch was a soul like no other. Despite all efforts, he could feel the pain of others – their broken dreams and sorrows transitioning into his mind and heart. It was the price he paid for having a humble spirit…

“Okay, that’s enough” Dutch spoke silently, bringing the cart to a halt. “I think it’s about time I have a day dedicated to me.”

It was not a selfish notion. After all, Dutch never had much for himself. The question was how was he able to invest time for himself when he had nothing to do. In all honesty, all he really craved was sleep, for he was tired from all the work he put out at the work site. But ever since what he saw, he knew his mind would not be able to rest. And if it did, he knew his mind would try to play tricks on him…

Letting out a sigh, Dutch felt this day was beginning to head downwards real quickly. As he hung his head low though, he caught a glimpse of a cheap, bright red sign in the corner of his left eye.

Turning to the left, Dutch caught the sight of small, wax coated candles, all of which were accompanied by a large red sign that read SALE. The stallion found the advertisement to be pathetic and let out half a snort before a quick thought crossed his mind. A thought he was not comfortable with at first.

But as he began to ponder on the thought, he eventually gave in, realizing it may not hurt to try it. It did leave him to question his sanity surely, but in the end, he knew his sanity would go downhill by pondering on the thoughts of the homeless foals, imagining their lives as they grew older and their inevitable fates…

Ascending closer to the cheap sign, Dutch took two of the candles from the stand and placed them into the cart. They both fell in with a heavy rattling noise as they hit the frame of the cart. Dutch, returning to his cart, felt a strange itching feeling come from his face, causing his hoof to scratch his chin. As he did that though, the sound of his beard shifting rung through his ears causing him to go wide eyed.

‘When was the last time I shaved?’ he thought to himself, continuously scratching his hoof. Despite the answer not coming to him, the stallion decided it would be at least nice to be presentable for his plan. So, he made his way back into the aisle looking up and down until he could find the cheapest shaving blade.

Throwing that item into the cart as well, Dutch realized he may indeed have enough bits to get himself a towel. This caused the colt to make his way around the aisles once again and find himself the cheapest towel he could find. It felt rough and thin, but it was useable so he did not complain.

Finally, once everything he needed was in his cart, the stallion let out a sigh in relief, realizing he could now return home and carry on with his day. His thoughts were still negative, but Dutch chose not to acknowledge it for a portion of his mind was now bright with an idea he was eager to perform.

Making his way to the cash register, Dutch did not have to put up with the sounds of grumbling ponies for there was not one pony around – excluding the cashier who was a young mare unicorn. She had a light blue short mane that was frenzied and her coat was a light purple.

Dutch greeted the mare with a smile, which raised a brow as she began to manually charge the stallion for all the items he placed on the counter.

“I’m too young for you dude” she spat as the pen held in her telekinetic grasp moved on a sheet of paper feverishly. Dutch raised a brow, confused by her words, but once he realized why the thought crossed her mind he rolled his eyes.

‘Can’t do anything good around here without on damn pony thinking you want something from them’ he whined in his mind.

“Please, don’t think I don’t know” she continued seeing the stallion’s eyes roll. Dutch let out a grunt and was beginning to grow tired of the pony’s rude behavior.

“How about you just tell me the price?” he asked, lifting a brow with a fake grin. He wanted to say more, but he didn’t want to grow bitter. And luckily, it was enough to shut the mare up.

The mare took a sigh and began to calculate the price, her eyes flashing up momentarily and realizing she missed two items – the candles. The mare looked at the stallion and back at the candles before saying another thing.

“…So you expecting a good time tonight?” the mare asked, drawing out that assumption from her experience with other customers. Dutch glanced at the candles for a short while, actually thinking about her question.

“…I’m counting on it” Dutch sighed, glancing down at the ground beneath him before looking back up at the mare. The mare, once bitter, gave the stallion a quizzical look. Whenever she asked that questions to others, they had a huge amount of confidence and always stormed off shortly after. This stallion seemed different though, and this gave the mare a second opinion on Dutch.

As she grabbed the candles and placed it into a bag along with the rest of the items, she held the entire bag within a light purple aura and handed it over to the stallion. Finding the bag a bit too large to carry on his own, he decided to pay the approximate amount of bits before altering the bag he held the bits in into a device that would allow him to carry the sealed bag on his back without trouble.

Although Dutch was now low on bits, he knew he would have no need of them until next week – even then though, it was hardly enough for him to get by.

As Dutch began to walk out of the market, he was stopped by the sound of the mare calling him.

“Sir!” she shouted, causing him to turn with a puzzled look. She seemed to be a bit embarrassed for some reason. “I hope you have a good time tonight…” she said, the words coming out of her forcefully. It was her own way of apologizing for her parents have never known how to teach their young mare how to be respectful. Still, Dutch was far from judgmental and was willing to accept it.

“Thank you” he responded, waving his hoof upwards to bid her farewell. She raised her hoof to say goodbye in return, flashing a meek smile that did not seem to be forged. Dutch found her behavior to be strange, but he decided to leave it how it was and walked out of the market.

Stepping back out into the city, Dutch took one long sigh, preparing himself for what may be the strangest plan he has ever conducted. The stallion felt tired though, and he wished to feel that warmth he felt early in the morning. The warmth of another’s presence…

Dutch let out a slight sneeze, as he glanced down the street from which he came, the memory of the mare and her children flooding back into his mind. The stallion had no urge to relive the scene, so in an attempt to shield his newly formed bubble, Dutch continued onward up the street, improvising his route back to his home.

Inside the market the mare stood in silence glancing around the market which was now empty and desolate. After a few seconds of thinking she let out a loud sigh and shook her head.

“I should’ve gave that stallion my address” she sighed. She could not help but realize he was different from other stallions in this city. ‘He seems to be the only normal pony in this place!’

***

Hours have passed since Vinyl has awakened from her nightmare that has contaminated her thoughts and mind. She could do nothing but recount the events of the dream in her head, trying to find the purpose in all of it. She could remember talking to a purple unicorn long ago, who told her dreams were a gateway into the subconscious – a way of warning the soul of things to come or it wasn’t aware of.

With a dream such as that though, Vinyl hoped the unicorn was lying. As she lay on her owner’s bed, she could do nothing but stare ahead, her mind lost in hopelessness. She has spent hours telling herself it was nothing but a dream and that everything would be okay, but she knew nothing was okay.

Glancing outside a small window that hanged up on the wall ahead of her, she began to see the dim, red hue of the sun beginning to set. That was a sign the stallion could be home any second now. Vinyl closed her eyes for a second, trying to intake as much rest as she can, before she let out a loud grunt. Trotting off the bed and falling on all fours, Vinyl slowly made her way back to the box, moving at an extremely hesitant pace.

“What a way to live” she sighed, lowering her head as she finally began to place her body back into the crate, turning herself around until she could face the direction she did in the early morning. She was not going to enter her stance just yet though. She wanted to endure this freedom for as long as she could, staring ahead at the piano which was stationed in the end of the room. Vinyl swore she could feel her chest beat every time she saw the piano before her. She could not explain the reason for it, but all she could say was that in her mind, there was this burning sensation to run her hooves over the keys of the large instrument. She was not a mare who was not familiar with what she used to call ‘dinosaur instruments’. In fact, compared to her home, this country seemed to be different. It seemed to be more…older, almost a century younger. Then again, it was far from her home country in every possible way. But the mare always had a passion for music – a treasure she has been denied for so long. She felt this urge to relive her old hobby.

No, she felt urgent to relive her reason for living. Music was her life, as were her friends. But with all that gone, her reason for living faded with it.

Just as the decision to run her hooves over the frame of the piano began to cross her mind, the sound of a clicking noise from ahead broke Vinyl’s thoughts.

“Shit” she whispered, letting out a defeated sigh. After hours of recollecting her thoughts and piecing together back her mind, she was now forced to resume the stance of her double persona.

As the clicking noises finally turned into the noise of creaking Vinyl assumed her stance quickly, positioning herself just in time as Dutch came into his home, a tired yet humble expression on his face. With the bag still on his back, the colt turned back around and closed the door to his home, locking it at the same time, in hope of preventing the cold winds from entering inside.

Dutch let a shiver leave his body, causing him to shudder as he began to glance around his home, thankful to be back in his house – in the case of today, that is. Walking into the center of his house and turning on the light, he let out a satisfied sigh as he looked in the direction of the doll. As his eyes locked with Vinyl, he let a smile form across his face as he moved away from the center of the room, turning to his left side into his old worn down kitchen. Dutch made many attempts to repair the area where he cooked his food (took even more attempts in attempting to repair the gas pipes), but in the end, the walls seemed to be continuously degrading, almost as if it was crumbling by the second. The kitchen was small, so small that it only provided enough space to cook in it and harbor a small counter where Dutch decided to place the bag of purchased items on.

Vinyl watched from afar as Dutch began to pull out various items out of the bag. Dutch decided it was about time to enact the plan he had in his mind ever since he left the market. Before he finally decided to try it out though, he began to wonder was it something he should really do.

‘It’s not like it’s going to mean anything’ Dutch thought to himself, trying to make up an excuse. But somehow he felt that it could lead to his mind betraying him later.

‘There is not much else to do though’ he continued, trying to provide himself with reasons, ‘I mean, I don’t drink…anymore…but that’s not the point. The point is it’s just something to keep me entertained. Yeah, that’s it. It’s just a way to get my mind off everything’

Vinyl was completely unaware of the stallion’s plans, so as Dutch took various items from the bag – soap, a razor and a towel – and walked right past her into the restroom door directly across from her, she let out a confused emotion act out in her mind.

‘What’s he doing?’ she thought to herself as the stallion closed the door to the bathroom, granting Vinyl the ability to move around freely. She did not want to risk it though, for she was aware of the creaky floorboards around her. What she did allow herself to do though was let her pose falter, allowing her to drop on her bottom and mover her body around as the sound of running water entered her ears.

‘Oh, he’s taking a bath’ she thought to herself, raising her ears upward. This was a good sign that she was able to leave the crate – until she remembered the time span of Dutch’s baths.

“Oh, c’mon can’t I have just one break?” she whined, falling back into the box as she raised her arms upward as if to curse some nonexistent deity. She already knew the answer to her own question, but despite the answer, she decided to take the risk.

Crawling out of the box, she stretched out her back, at least providing her frame with some space, unlike inside the box where her entire body was crammed inside. Her back let out a frail cracking noise, relieving the unicorn of a great amount of stress that built up in her body. She wished she could just lay sprawled out on the floor, allowing every single one of her bones to stretch out – or at least on the bedframe. The idea sounded too great for Vinyl though, so she decided to give it a go.

Lying on her back, Vinyl closed her eyes as she began to stretch out her arms and legs, letting her belly face upwards. The unicorn felt the feel of her body stretching out to be better than she imagined. ‘If only it was on a cozy mattress’ she thought to herself as a tired smile spread across her face.

***

As Dutch finally began to grow tired of the cold water running down his backside he turned the knob to the tub, allowing the cold water around him to escape to the pipes underlying the house. With teeth chattering, Dutch grabbed his new towel and looked at it with a satisfied grin.

‘Let’s see how these things work’ he thought to himself. As water dripped down from his short mane, the stallion threw the towel over his head, shaking it furiously to rid itself of all the water present. As Dutch rubbed the towel furiously, he could feel his hair drying off quickly, which assured him that buying the towel was actually a good idea.

‘Wow, this thing can save me some time’ he thought to himself as he began to bring the towel to the rest of his body, allowing its drying abilities to take its toll over his entire body- all except his face. Dutch still had some business to attend to with his facial features.

Stepping out of the tub, Dutch felt refreshed and satisfied all the fatigue from today washing off with the rest of his filth. As he took only one step ahead he already found himself positioned in front of the mirror in his restroom, allowing him to take a view of his bewildered hair and unattended beard. The light in the bathroom may have been dim, but it was enough for him to view himself.

‘Wow’ Dutch thought to himself, stroking his beard as he began to imagine how he would look without it. Despite how attached he was to his beard, he was curious as to how he would look without it. So without another thought, the stallion grabbed the blade he left in the sink and began to wash it off, scrubbing it with the remnants of the previous bar of soap he had. He didn’t want risk catching anything from an unwashed item if he cut himself. After all, it has been a long time since Dutch has decided to shave his face.

With a sigh, the colt rubbed the remnants of the soap on his hooves and began to fling it over his face. It was the cheapest alternative to shaving cream, and it provided the same effect so he did not mind it. The only thing he did mind was if he was going to cut himself.

***

After hearing the stallion shout ‘ow’ once, Vinyl gave up resting on her back. The scream instilled fear in her head, giving her the idea she would be caught and she did not want to risk it. So she got up (after a long battle with her comfortable mind) and returned to the box, waiting for the stallion to ascend out of the door.

‘What the heck was this colt doing?’ she thought to herself as she shook her head, glancing in the direction of the door. She could not find one good reason why he would be shouting in pain.

Suddenly the door swung open, causing Vinyl to flinch and freeze back in her position, quickly changing any nitpick that would make the stallion suspicious.

The sound of a running faucet could be heard clearly now, no longer being shielded by the door. Vinyl, not seeing anything stirring, moved only her eyes as she looked into the bathroom, only being able to make out half of Dutch’s frame. The sound of water splashing along with the running faucet could be heard until the faucet finally shut off.

A few seconds passed before Vinyl was able to see the stallion slowly move out of the restroom, causing her to move her eyes back into its usual position. The noise of hoof steps could be heard throughout the house along with the sound of the floorboards squeaking.

As Dutch continued his way into the kitchen of his house though, Vinyl noticed something strange about the stallion. She could not see it clearly from the corner of her eye, but she saw something about him that made him look…different.

***

“Alright, now time to batch up a nice fettuccini salad” Dutch noted to himself, his taste buds watering at the sight of a nice steamed succulent plate of garlic covered, steamed pasta. He could already smell it.

Taking the required ingredients for his meal out of the bag – pasta, garlic powder and anything else he could substitute for a cheap dish – he placed each one on the counter, fiddling around with the items as he began to wash away the bundle of lettuce, heat up the oven, boil some of the pots, and prepping the seasoning.

A breeze rolled into the house, passing over the stallion’s face who felt the cool fresh air against his face. His once bushy beard was now gone, replaced with the sight of a clean face which felt completely vulnerable in the cold temperature of the city.

‘I still look rather dashing though’ Dutch mused as he placed the pot of water of the heated stove, allowing it to boil the water in it for the bits of pasta. It was going to be a small proportional meal though, for he needed to make the food last him the entire week. Still, the colt actually considered making two dishes, but found that to be too far. That would only leave one of the plates to be eaten while the other remained in the cold.

***

As Dutch left the kitchen, Vinyl was surprised to see the stallion before her. She was frozen (mentally) as she saw the new visitor she has never seen before.

The stallion she saw had a clean shaven face that brought out his dull features. His eyes were a brighter hue of brown, and she felt like she could notice him as a reasonable looking stallion. Still, Vinyl was not giving anything else to the stallion which she still held no respect for. He was her captor, so the most she would be willing to give is that.

Dutch, upon walking out of the kitchen glanced in the direction of the doll and let out a light smile. When Vinyl caught the smile, she noticed it was a totally different expression when he did not have his beard. It seemed more…humble.

The stallion looked at the doll for a short while and shook his head lightly from side to side. “I hope you’re ready for tonight” he informed, letting out a warm chuckle.

Upon hearing those words, despite Vinyl’s frozen state, she instantly felt her thoughts crash together. ‘That’s why he’s getting fixed up! He’s going to use me damn it!’

She was now enraged, but her anger grew even more furious as she realized she would not be able to do anything about it. She would have no choice but to accept it, forced to be used without her say. It was beyond degrading for her…

In Dutch’s mind though, no such thing ever crossed his mind. The stallion may have been alone, but he was surely not desperate for lust. He made sure to cover that idea in his mind many times, chanting the same idea in his head. ‘You aren’t doing a doll…you’re not doing a doll….’

This entire night was just a night to relieve stress through some mischievous humor, he put it. In short though, he knew a better way to describe it. Glancing away from Vinyl Scratch, the colt made his way into the restroom, his mind still processing the act in his head.

‘Face it Dutch,’ his subconscious told him, ‘you’re playing with your toy like a little foal’

Dutch could not deny that. He was going to play with the doll, just not in a way any other might. Instead, he would choose a more different approach, much similar to that of a foal. It did not help to realize his toy was indeed a doll, which made it a filly’s toy…

Walking into the bathroom once again, Dutch let the sink run once again and placed his hoof in the water. As the water poured over his hoof, he began to dab the droplets of water over his head, trying to fix his dark, thick mane into a clean, fresh style. Slicking his hair to one side, he gave himself what some up north would call ‘a cow lick’. It fitted the stallion’s persona perfectly though, despite his built frame. Whether it may have been his bloodline or not, the clean look seemed to fit best with the stallion who began to admire his reflection in the mirror.

Dutch was never a pony to indulge in himself, nor did he ever care about his looks. After admiring his new look though, he couldn’t help but at least give it a good thought.

‘Maybe I should stick with this look’ he thought to himself, flashing a smile that seemed to be more uplifting than his previous ones. ‘While I’m at it, I should get a fedora…’

Dutch shook his head lightly, realizing that he may start getting carried away with himself. ‘No, you’re good for now’ he told himself as he sighed heavily, glancing at the mirror one last time before the smell of boiling vegetables filled his nostrils, giving him a wonderful essence.

Quickly, he made his way out of the restroom, passing by Vinyl Scratch who noted yet another change in the stallion, but she gave him no thought. She was far too infuriated by the lies building in her head. She had her reasons though – legitimate reasons.

When Dutch entered the kitchen, the heat of the steam from the pot gave the stallion a warm, comforting feeling, but he would need to discard the boiling water if he wanted to have a perfect meal. So, grabbing the pot, he steadily began to tilt the hot liquid into the sink next to the stove, which hit the metal rim with a sizzling noise as it began to pour down the drain. Once he finished that, Dutch grabbed a lid for the pot and using his mouth, placed it over the pot. The food was half way prepared, but the colt wanted to cover other things first before enjoying a delicious meal.

Walking out of the kitchen once again, Dutch began to approach the crate in which Vinyl stood, still staring ahead with her plastered gaze. The stallion stopped a few paces before the doll and knelt down slightly, examining its features as he began to let out a slight chuckle.

‘Okay Dutch’ his mind told him, ‘I give you permission to be insane’

And with that, the stallion decided to amuse himself with playful humor.

“Ma’am” Dutch began, instilling fear into a frozen Vinyl. Her mind began to race as her paranoia of being returned slip back into place, but Dutch was quick to continue onward. “Would you like to have dinner with me?”

Vinyl Scratch was shocked and she was going to let her mouth drop but she caught the act before she could even let it occur. ‘Was the stallion serious? How did he even know I was alive in the first place? Is he really asking me out to dinner?’ these thoughts burned in the unicorn’s head, almost giving her a good reason to drop her stance and actually reveal herself to the stallion.

Timing is everything though.

Before Vinyl let herself budge, Dutch chuckled and nodded his head. “What’s that? You would be honored to?” the colt continued, letting another smile appear on her face.

Vinyl, confused on the colt’s behavior, quickly found out what was going on. He was playing with her. Just as Lucius use to do before…

Vinyl’s anger began to intensify, her ability to keep her emotions concealed slowly beginning to fade away. But before she would allow herself to lose it, a question asked her mind.

‘Is it worth it?’

She began to question was it worth fighting the stallion, possibly beating him with all the rage she held in? Or would it be all for nothing, the stallion winning in the end and returning her back to Lucius, which her dream seemed to be hinting at. What if this is what her dream was warning her of…

All the while Vinyl remained fighting with her thoughts and harboring her emotions, Dutch continued on with his plan. Unfortunately, he knew nothing of Vinyl’s conscious state so he could not see the damage he was doing to her. Even in humor though, Dutch had a way of displaying respect.

“Let me help you out of the there ma’am” he laughed, ducking low and grabbing a hold of Vinyl’s waist, slowly pulling her out of the box. As Dutch placed her out of the wooden crate, the stallion let out a sigh and patted his hooves on his coat. Without uttering anything to the mare, he continued to move the doll away from the box, placing her beside the worn down table he had by the piano.

“Here we are dear” he informed, waving his hoof outward to display the table that was old and rugged looking. Dutch taking note of its appearance, decided to use that in his little fantasy.

“Yes I know it isn’t the best table…” Dutch began, almost as if the doll was complaining. “…Really, you wish to go there…ugh, fine, I’ll just get a new one” Dutch sighed, walking away tiredly, leaving the doll frozen by the side of the table.

The colt seemed to be having fun with his minor role-play, finding his bit about arguing with the mare humorous. Walking over to his mattress, he glanced down at his bed sheets and took one long sigh. ‘Well I guess this’ll have to do’ he thought to himself, pulling off the clear sheets from his bed and folding them in four halves. Once he finished that, Dutch made his way back to the table, pretending he was out of breath.

“Sorry…it was just…too many…” he fake-panted, holding out his hoof as if to catch his breath. Throughout the entire time, Vinyl did not budge. Not that Dutch ever expected her to.

“Well, I got the sheets” he informed, holding the sheets up high, but as he glanced at the table, he knew he was going to need to move things out of the way before he could put on the cloth. With a shrug, Dutch began to pull off the two plates that have sat on the table for so long.

Strangely enough, despite the history of the table, not one memory has crossed Dutch’s mind. It was possible that he was caught up in his own ‘humor’.

Once the plates were moved aside (specifically of the back of Vinyl Scratch, which Dutch protested with ‘can you hold these for me please?’) Dutch laid out the thin white sheet, covering the disgusting hue of the table and giving it a new refined glow. Once Dutch grew satisfied, he took the plates off of Vinyl’s back and placed it back on the table.

“Thank you” Dutch said, nodding his head towards the doll. Taking a step back, Dutch admired the new look of the table, finding it appealing now. It finally looked like something he actually wanted to eat on. Before Dutch moved onto his next task though, he refused to let down his joke.

Moving past the doll, Dutch pulled out a seat from the table, displaying it with a broad hoof. “Here is your chair” he informed, looking at the toy with a pair of kind eyes. To Vinyl, she saw a pair of sick, twisted irises that she wished to gouge out with her hooves. Still, while the unicorn found the colt’s behavior eerie and repulsive, she couldn’t help but feel this strange feeling come from the stallion. It wasn’t entirely happiness, but it was a playful feeling… as if the stallion was truly playing around.

Holding out the seat wouldn’t just make the doll walk right onto the seat though, Dutch knew, so he began to walk to the mare. Once he reached where she was, he grabbed her in his forelegs and, lifting her up, placed her flank on the seat of the chair, while still in her playful stance. Dutch knew he would have to pose the doll to fit the act of sitting, so Dutch began to tinker with Vinyl’s joints, bending her hind legs downward in a crossing fashion as if wrapping her hooves with one another. Once Dutch finished aligning the legs, he pushed in the seat, causing Vinyl’s torso to rear closer to the table, her upper portion of her body still in its previous pose. Dutch let out a sigh, finding the doll almost impossible to pose. Still, he continued on, pressing his hoof against her back to align her vertebrae, making her head look across at the seat in front of her. Her forelegs, spread out before her like a zombie, were now being crossed and bent, now lying directly over one another on the table in front of the mare. Dutch went back a few paces to admire his work, but he felt like something was missing.

Returning back to Vinyl, Dutch tilted the mare’s head turning it to where the stallion would be able to view both of her eyes. The problem with that though was her eyes turned to the far right as her head turned, due to the way her eyes were fixated. Dutch placed a hoof on his chin, and decided if this doll was really flexible, he may be able to fix that problem. Cautiously, Dutch raised his hoof out towards the mare’s eyes and gently began to move them to the left side, trying to realign them in the direction of her head. Her eyes were glassy, an aspect that made Dutch truly admire the work of this doll.

Soon, Dutch was able to fix the gaze of the doll, giving her this affectionate, humble look. The colt, believing one final thing would make this image perfect, moved closer to the mare one last time and tilted her head to the left slightly, giving her this romantic aspect. Finally backing away from his scene for good, Dutch let a smile appear on his face, admiring his work. He was able to pull off this scene perfectly, not only through dialogue but in scenery.

‘Dutch, you got talent’ he informed himself jokingly. Just as the stallion began to get lost in the image of his work, he immediately remembered what this entire night was about – thanks to the help of his stomach which let out a loud growl. Glancing down at his gut, Dutch immediately went back into the kitchen, finally preparing himself a meal, and leaving Vinyl on the table in that fixed pose.

Vinyl, upon seeing the stallion gone, began to blink slightly and breathe but she did not do much more than that. She was not truly familiar with this position, so if she drastically moved her body, she would return to her previous stance out of instinct if Dutch returned.

Still, she found the stallion’s behavior to be beyond strange now. This was something Vinyl did not expect. She was not expecting the stallion to actually…play, with her, in the true context. Although she did find his behavior beyond eerie, she could not help but give a puzzled look as she began to ponder on the stallion’s behavior. ‘What is he really doing?’ she thought to herself, feeling that the colt still had a lot more in store for the night.

As her thoughts began to grow, she caught a glimpse of grey stick out of the door, causing Vinyl to tilt her head and freeze. Dutch appeared shortly after, walking over to the table carrying a strange small plate with two glowing items resting next to one another. Approaching the table, Dutch carefully placed the glowing tray in the middle of the table, leaving a wonderfully glowing essence to overcome the table. After leaving the tray in the center, Dutch took a plate from the table in his mouth.

“Excoo me” Dutch apologized with the plate in his mouth and began to walk back to the kitchen, not before passing to the center of the room and turning off the bright light that lit the entire room. Once the light seized to function, the entire room was lit with the glow of the two candles in the center of the table, lighting up Vinyl’s features from afar. Dutch, seeing the effect truly helped, walked back into the kitchen, granting Vinyl another chance to blink freely.

‘That’s what I mean though’ she thought to herself as she looked down at the flames on the candle flicker from side to side, almost as if alive. ‘The way he plays with me. It’s almost as if he…he sort of…’

The unicorn had no way of actually finishing her sentence. She had a way to finish it, but she did not know if it was the right term to use. It was almost as if she was hesitant to admit this to herself.

The smell of food began to fill Vinyl’s nostrils and although her stomach could not rumble, she felt her mind grow eager to harbor a taste of this extravagant meal. ‘Hopefully he’s insane enough to try to feed me’ she thought, trying to give this humorous feel a shot of her own.

Once again though, the sight of something sticking out of the kitchen door caused the unicorn to freeze back into her newly forged position. Dutch approached the table, with a steaming plate of fresh brewed food prepared on top of it. Its excellent aroma was covered with steam, giving the meal a holy presence. Placing the plate on the table, Dutch pulled out his own seat and prodded himself on it, glancing ahead at the mare before taking one bite of his meal.

Instead he seemed to be more interested in the newly formed expression of the mare, whose eyes seemed to look more inviting and characterized with her current position.

The colt flashed a warm smile, and placed his forelegs on the table as well, glancing at the eyes for a few seconds longer before uttering a word.

“I would have given you a meal, but you seem to be all filled up from this morning’s breakfast” Dutch explained, creating an excuse for the mare that has actually had not one meal in years. Vinyl let her mind sting with bitterness, but she reckoned she could always pick scraps when he was asleep.

Dutch, grabbing a fork that was placed on the plate, grabbed a portion of the fettuccini with it and brought it into his mouth. He began to savor the mixed flavors of the meal, all of which left him satisfied.

“I don’t think you would have enjoyed it anyways” Dutch lied, taking another mouthful of the delicious meal. ‘Damn this is too good’ he thought to himself, allowing the flavored pasta to mix so greatly with the seasoned salad. It was possibly one of the best meals he created.

His sentences were only responded with the noise of silence though, so soon, after a few more bites, Dutch began to feel the humor of his fantasy slowly fading away. Soon he began to see that he was only talking to himself, staring at a doll while he enjoyed his meal. The colt did not see this as depressing at all though. Not in the slightest.

As the colt glanced upward at the doll though, he felt his mind shift away from the food for a while. He was always intrigued by the doll, but never contemplated on it. Now that he had time to spend on the doll, he decided to ask his questions aloud.

“…Whoever crafted you must be an artist” Dutch sighed, finally giving into the truth. “I mean really, it’s almost as if you’re real…”

‘You have no idea…’ Vinyl thought to herself, an urge in her mind begging her to scream out and admit the truth. She knew the stallion was only speaking to a doll though, not her. He did not truly believe he was talking to a real spirit.

“…And those eyes” Dutch continued, throwing his hoof out to point at the doll’s romantic gaze. “I mean… those eyes are just…”

Dutch let out another sigh and shook his head. “Wow, all this time I’ve been talking to a doll…”

Vinyl watched as the stallion began to roll his hooves in front of him, trying to process what to say next. But instead of saying anything, the stallion only scooted his seat closer, and placing his forelegs on the table, he began to look straight into her eyes, which seemed to be frail and petite within the glow of the candle flames.

Her eyes locked with his as the two stared into one another, one of them having no clue about the other’s existence. Vinyl looked into the stallion’s brown eyes, which showed something she has never seen. She could see this caring, humble look, the kind that was eager to make a friend. At the same time though, she could see there was pain behind those eyes – a pain she was familiar with. His eyes showed he was hurt, lost, and alone. Very much similar to herself…

As Dutch stared into the eyes of the doll before him, he could do nothing but let a smile stretch across his face. Those eyes were enough to make Dutch feel whole, almost invulnerable. Despite the pain his mind could recount from the memories of those eyes, this warm inviting glow overpowered it all. It almost gave him enough strength to believe that in the end, everything he has been through – every challenge, obstacle, and battle – will all be worth it in the end. It was an embodiment of the mare he once loved – and that was enough of a reason for the stallion to keep the doll.

In the span of their connection, the two souls’ minds enacted on their own, forging their own thoughts from their own experiences. Such a thing is not unusual, for one’s experience fuels their behavior and choices.

But the connection was bound to break, for Dutch eventually turned back to his food, leaving Vinyl to stare at him enjoy his meal. It did not take him long to finish his meal though, as he finally came to a satisfied sigh. His appetite was now full and his desire to clear his mind was nearly finished. Glancing around back to the small window on the wall, he could see the presence of nothingness, showing that it was evidently time to rest.

Dutch turned back around and let a sigh escape his lungs. He did not wish to rest though. Despite his mind being satisfied, he felt there was still something missing. Something he wished to accomplish tonight…

Sliding himself off the chair, Dutch began to walk closer to Vinyl whose gaze was still fixed straight ahead. The stallion truly thought he was going insane, for he wished to perform this task with a doll. In his mind though, she was no doll. Her eyes were enough to make him believe it was his old love.

So, with a sigh he came up on his hind legs and stretched out his hoof to the doll, who he knew he would have to forge to grasp his own.

“Would…you care to dance?” he asked, not truly expecting an answer in return. He felt his mind play a trick on him, panning out a scene where the mare came alive and responded to his question, embracing in his hold as the two danced he night away. But that was his mind only playing tricks on him.

Vinyl, hearing the stallion’s question, could not believe what this stallion. Her mind was truly beginning to race, for she was now eager to know what was running through this stallion’s mind. She was beginning to believe this stallion was actually…caring for her. Despite this idea though, she did not dare move, and she continued to tell that to herself as Dutch grabbed hold of her frozen frame and began to mover her limbs around, trying to place her in a moveable position. As Dutch stretched the mare’s forelegs outwards and placing her legs straight, he began to move her to the center of the room, in which he held her by the waist.

The dolls vibrant red eyes stared at her dance partner with enthusiasm, who responded with a warm smile. Despite the silence around him, Dutch could feel this warm feeling in his heart guide his choice to move. His hesitation prevented him from moving at first, but soon, he could hear this music play from the bottom of his heart. This noise that echoed in his head, despite the silence around him, caused him to close his eyes and move around slowly with the doll, guiding his hooves and body movement as he slowly but majestically turned and pivoted with the doll in his arms. Unfortunately, the toy’s frame was rigid and stiff, but this did not stop Dutch. He knew the doll could not move, but the catch is, he was never visualizing the doll.

No in his mind, Dutch replaced the doll with his mare – his true love. He imagined her light holy glow moving around him majestically, giving him warm, lively signals that forced him to work harder, making sure that image of the mare would forever stay pure. He began to visualize the two ascending close to each other with every move of this slow dance, their love for one another growing stronger as their bond strengthened.

As Dutch swung the doll around slowly, her mind began to guide her imaginations, for she visualized a scene she thought she never would have. She could see herself, alive and glowing, her hair back into its previous shape, and her happy ecstatic behavior flowing back into her heart. Within her grasp was the stallion she danced with, who gave her this feel of affection she garnered from no other for so long. The way he looked upon the mare with truth behind his eyes – actually recognizing her as a living soul unlike so many others.

Soon, Dutch laid a halt to the dance, swinging the toy into his chest as he opened his eyes, finally breaking the connection with his mind. Upon looking at the doll, he realized his mare was absent, the only trace of her left in the toy’s eyes. Dutch was not hurt nor was he disappointed. He knew it was nothing but a memory. He finally came to accept that she was gone, and there was no way of her coming back. With the doll though, Dutch was able to harbor the great memories he once held with his soul mate, so he would not mind to treat the item in the same manner.

Leaving Vinyl in the center of the room, Dutch walked away to prepare himself for rest. The night was beginning to age, and he knew he had work to attend tomorrow. He had his fun for today, and knew it was time to confront reality once again. Approaching the table, Dutch blew out the candles, leaving the house to become lit up by the moon which seemed to shine through the smog in the air. The colt began to take off the various items on the table - placing the used dishes in the sink, removing the white sheet from the table, shaking it off and returning it to his bed. In the end of it all, Dutch decided to place the two fresh candles back onto the center of the table. The twin duo seemed to match the features of the table, so he did not mind its presence.

Once all seemed back in place, the colt let out a tired yawn, stretching out his back to show that he was now truly tired. With a few hesitant strides, Dutch began to move around to his side of the bed, the floorboards squeaking beneath him. Once he finally reached the left side of the frame, the stallion crawled onto his bed, his mind beginning to weave out the feeling of fatigue, while at the same time, the events that occurred not too long ago-

“Oh wait…” Dutch groaned as he lifted his head up from his bed and looked straight ahead, noticing a figure standing upright in the center of the room. The stallion got up from his bed, sighing for he knew he would have to leave the comfort of his sheets to put the doll away.

As Dutch ascended closer to the figure, he began to pose her once again, this time bringing her back down to a normal stance but not exactly fixing her features. Dutch seemed to have let his mind fuel his fatigue quicker than usual, but he felt like simply leaving the doll in the crate.

When Vinyl was back down on all fours though, a breeze rolled in causing Dutch to shiver. He knew the nights were always cold, but his body grew accustomed to such cold temperature. Still, it would not pain Dutch if he had anything he could use to help him out.

Suddenly, as Dutch glanced down at the doll, an idea grew in his head, but he quickly turned it down. ‘No, there is no way. I’ve handled the cold before, so I’ll just do what I’ve always done before’

As Dutch told himself that though, another breeze rolled in, this time stronger and more aggressive than the first. It seemed as if these winds were rolling in as if timed, according to Dutch.

Glancing down at the mare, Dutch sighed, finally giving into the thought. Grabbing Vinyl in his forelegs, he lifted her up and took her over to his bedframe tossing her on the bed as he passed by, making his way to crawl onto the mattress as well.

Vinyl Scratch, who was completely caught off guard by this notion, let her dreams falter at the realization that the stallion wasn’t who she believed he was. As she lay on the bed, she felt a bitter emotion bite at her mind as she began to realize he may actually use her tonight…a fact that caused the mare to mentally sigh.

The stallion had no other idea on his mind though, other than needing something to give him additional warmth. On the bed, Dutch looked down at the mare whose legs seemed to be scrambled, each of them intertwining with the other as she looked ahead with slim red eyes. Dutch, growing curious of the doll’s ability to display expression, decided to take a different approach. Bringing his hoof closer to the mare’s eyelids, he began to lift them slowly, shifting her romantic gaze into a happy, heartwarming look. Her eyelashes which only added to her eyes, gave a more adorable aspect to the unicorn. The smile of the doll shifted with the alterations of the eyes, changing from flirtatious to innocent and it was enough to bring a smile onto Dutch’s face.

Gathering the sheets around him as the feel of another breeze rolling in pierced his skin, Dutch grabbed Vinyl by the waist, softly squeezing onto her as he covered both their bodies with the sheets. At first, the doll’s cold plastic skin gave him shivers, his body temperature soon began to heat up the doll- much like body temperature heats up a blanket or sheet. Dutch found the feel of the mare’s soft coat against him and the smell of her hair nerve wrecking, but Dutch was not giving into such thoughts. She was a doll that supplied him with memories of the mare he truly loved, and that was t.

His tired mind began to slip into an unconscious state, his entire day- the work, the mother, the cashier, the doll, and the dance- draining him entirely of energy. With one last final act in the conscious realm, Dutch squeezed Vinyl’s waist tightly, before finally falling fast asleep.

And as Dutch rested, letting his mind weave dreams, Vinyl remained still, afraid to breathe for the stallion’s hooves were tightly wrapped around her. She was stunned as well, finding what she planned out to be far from what she expected. She expected to be used and manipulated in an attempt to satisfy a colt’s sick needs. Instead though, she found herself in the grasp of the stallion, but with no form of sin apparent.

‘Is he playing tricks on me?’ Vinyl questioned, wondering if he was just as insane as her previous captor she did not wish to note. He was definitely different from the rest – she realized that today during her physical bond with the colt. She still could not allow her mind to trust him though. She was not willing to risk her life to reveal herself to a stallion who she does not know at all.

‘The way he looked at me though’ she tried to counter with herself, as if trying to trick herself. Her mind would not allow it though. Her defenses were so high, and she has been in pain for so long, she could not allow her defenses to falter for some stallion who tried to sweet talk to her. That’s how she fell into the grasp of Lucius…

Even then though, she would not stop. ‘He does not know I’m alive though and he looks at me as if I am…’

Whether the statement was supposed to support her or confuse her, Vinyl could not decide. She was just confused now, her mind contradicting with her thoughts as she tried to figure this stallion out, but she just couldn’t. He was just too much of a mystery.

The feel of hooves tightening around her waist put her thoughts to a stop, finally taking the presence of Dutch into consideration. His body was warm, and it has been so long since she’s felt this kind of warmth reflected on her body. For so long, she could remember being forced to stand rigid, the cold gnawing at her nonexistent nerves. This warm, comforting essence though brought a true smile onto Vinyl’s face. Although it made her feel cold inside, knowing she could never enjoy the feel of this warmth personally ever again, she could not help but feel safe in the presence of the stallion. After her previous nightmare, the cold, eerie silence did not aid her mind. With the presence of Dutch though, she felt his presence would be enough to stave off the freezing winds that continuously passed over her skin and the monsters of her subconscious.

Vinyl felt she was no longer alone. With Dutch around, she felt that his warm, inviting spirit would provide her body with enough strength to keep her mind clear. And she seemed to have no problem with that, for it seemed the stallion actually saw her as a living being, despite her current state. It may have shown the stallion was just as insane, but it was far from the insanity she knew of.

Still, she could not afford to risk revealing herself with Lucius not too far behind. The image of the demonic merchant flashed in her mind, accompanied with the sound of a screeching noise that caused her to wince slightly, but the memory soon died down once she heard the sound of Dutch shifting his body slightly.

She wished to close her eyes, and embrace this comfort of the stallion, but she knew her mind would place her into a state of comatose.

Despite all the benefits she garnered from the colt, in the end she knew they would only remain true if Dutch had no knowledge of her true existence, for she felt Lucius was not too far behind, watching her with a sinister grin…