Recompense

RecompenseXXXXX

Pain. That was the first feeling my body registered. Pain all along my back and my wings. I was laying on my stomach, and was surprisingly warm for being on the forest floor. But then I opened my eyes and realized I wasn't on the forest floor! I was on a bed! Had guards found me and taken me to the hospital, only to be executed?

Then, I heard it. A beautiful, melodic voice, wafting through the air. I got out of the bed and onto my hooves and walked to the door. I reached out to open it, but Somepony beat me to it. It opened, revealing a dazzling mare. She had one visible teal eye, as her other was covered by her long flowing pink mane. Her coat was butter yellow, and she was... Beautiful. I tried opening my mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"Oh! You shouldn't be up out of the bed! You were really hurt!"

I nodded and went back to the bed. I didn't lay down, but rather sat there and just looked at her. She seemed a bit uncomfortable with my staring eyes.

"Ummm... What's your name?"

I managed to answer her with a little effort.

"Oh, that's nice name!"

I smiled, addmittedly, with a bit of a blush on my cheeks. I mustered up enough courage to ask her name. "So uhh, W-what's your name?"

"I'm Fluttershy, It's nice to meet you."

She held out her hoof and I bumped it. She smiled, and I swear, that smile itself could almost make me forget about what had happened. Almost. My face must have scowled, because Fluttershy asked "Oh i-is something w-wrong?"

"No. Nothing you need to worry yourself about."

She smiled and nodded. "Are you hungry? I have some soup going in the kitchen, If you want any."

"That sounds lovely Fluttershy."

She got up and walked out the door of the room, but when I made to follow her, she turned and said, "Now, you wait here, and i'll bring you a bowl. Don't want you to over work yourself."

I really didn't want to be treated like I couldn't take care of myself, but there was something in her tone that made me nod in agreement. She smiled and left the room, leaving me to my thoughts. I looked around the room, nothing really catching my interest. Then I noticed the dresser and the closet, realizing, that this must've been her room! This would not stand! I would not make her sleep on the couch while I take her bed, even if I am injured!

I got up and made for the door. I opened it which led down some stairs, and into a main room. I saw what looked like the front door, so I turned the other way. I ended up in the kitchen. Fluttershy was standing in front of a small stove humming contentedly to herself.

"Fluttershy?"

She turned and gasped. "What are you doing up? You need you rest!"

"I know that, but I will not take your room. I'll sleep on the couch."

"No, I couldn't let you! It would be uncaring of me to let you sleep on the couch!"

I looked at her with my best serious face and said "I will sleep on the couch, end of discussion."

She looked a bit upset at being told what to do by her guest, but she nodded and said "If thats what you really want..."

"It is."

She nodded and said "well since your down here, sit at the table and i'll give you your soup. If thats okay with you..."

I smiled and nodded. I moved to the table and sat down in one of the chairs, just in time to see Fluttershy set a bowl of delicious smelling soup in front of me. I used a spoon to get the liquid to my mouth. I blew on it to cool it down, and then I took a bite.

The delicious taste of sour cream and potatoes hit my taste buds in an explosion. Best soup ever! I quickly brought another spoonful to my mouth, not caring that it scorched the roof of my mouth. It only took me a minute or so to finish off the concoction, and my hunger was sated. I looked at Fluttershy, whose face was a mix of shock and respect.

"I-i've never seen anypony who could eat more than Applejack! Impressive!"

I smiled, and asked "Hey, do you know any strong unicorns who could heal my wings? I have something I need to do." Thoughts of revenge and burying my sister in my mind.

"Yes, there's Twilight in town, the personal student of Celestia."

I looked at her with shock. Personal student!? Score! I'd get her to heal me, then I'd be back on my hooves in no time, ready to kill. I smiled. "Do you think we could go there now? It's real important that I do this."

She smiled "Of course! just let me get my saddle bag and we'll go."

I nodded and waited for her to get her things from her room. It only took her a few seconds to get her things from her room, and then we left for this 'Twilight'. She'll see the twilight of Celestia's reign, thats for sure. We walked along a path towards the town, seeing ponies who eyed me, and my bandaged wings. It didn't fail, a few mares blushed when they saw me, and I caught a few following Fluttershy and I.

Soon, we found ourselves outside of a tree with a door on it. A plaque next to the door read 'Ponyville Library'. I entered the door, but Fluttershy said something about picking up mail from the post office, and left me to meet with Twilight.

I found her inside, sitting at a desk reading some tome or book. I coughed to get her attention and she turned in response. She saw me, smiled, and walked over to me. "Hi! My name is Twilight Sparkle, Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yeah, I heard you were a pretty strong unicorn, and I wondered if you could heal up my wings. Got some stuff to do."

She smiled sheepishly and replied "I could probably fix up your wings, but they'll hurt for awhile."

"I'll deal with it. So, ya think you could get to it? I really need to go."

She nodded and walked over to me placing her horn on my left wing, sending a pulse through it. She repeated the process on my right wing, and then she took off the bandages for me. I unfurled them, and they sholt a jolt of pain through me. It was bearable, but it was going to suck to fly back home.

"Oh wait!" I looked at Twilight. "I just remembered, you could go talk to Zecora! She's a zebra that lives in the Everfree, and she probabbly has something to dull the pain!"

I nodded and thanked her for her help. As I started to walk out the door, I heard her call out a warning to me. "Be careful, Some changelings wiped out a town on the other side of the Everfree, and might be hiding there!"

I whipped around to face her my eyes cold and hard. "Changelings? Is that what your 'Celestia' told you?!" I used a lot of contempt in my voice when I said Celestia. Twilight looked surprised at my outburst, her mouth hanging open.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I snarled at her. "It means that Celestia, and everything she tells you is a lie! It wasn't changelings that attacked that town, It was her royal guards! I saw them do it! They murdered everypony they found! One of them raped my sister, then murdered her! Then to top it off, their captain tried to pin it on me!"

I stalked towards her. She had been backing up, but when I mentioned the captain, she stopped. "Captain? Now I know you're lying! My brother would never do something like that, and he'd never allow something like that!"

I stopped, and threw her a surprised smile. "'Brother'? This gets better and better. You should probably know, I made him a promise. I told him I would kill everything he loved for the destruction. I would bring down Celestia. Seeing as you're his sister, I'm assuming he loves you, very much so. I guess he'll learn what losing a sister is like, now..."

I rushed her, and put my hoof into her mouth, keeping her from screaming. I dragged her into the kitchen area, and grabbed a knife from a cutting block. It was long and slender, perfect for cutting. I put it to her throat adn whispered in her ear "Don't think for a second I enjoy this. In fact, I despise it. I only do this to show your brother that I meant what I said. It will be over quickly, I promise."

With that, I slit her throat deeply. I felt her tears run down my arm, along with a tremendous amount of blood. She stopped breathing, and I let her slide to the floor. If you asked me, 'What was it like to take the life of that mare, simply because of her blood relation?' I would respond with 'Keeping a promise.'.

I wrote on a peice of paper 'You started this. I am only glad to end it, which I will.', and left it on the mares lifeless corpse. I walked out of her library, after checking her room for bits, which she had plenty of. Apparently being the student of Celestia gave you some perks. I had nearly five thousand bits in my possesion now, bits that would go to good use.

XXXXX

I walked through the forest, in search of this 'Zecora', so I could get something for my pain. Eventually, I found her hut, and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, A zebra opened the door, and said "And who might you be, one looking for me?"

"Ryhmes, really?"

"Yes."

I sighed and asked to come in. She obliged and I found myself facing a boiling cauldron, and a few shelves loaded with potions and other things of that nature. She asked "What can I do for you, oh stallion with eyes of blue?"

"I need something for wing pain."

She nodded and looked for it on the shelves. I couldn't help but notice that she had many masks lining the wall closest to me. She had a wide assortment of them, ranging from amazingly intracate, to fairly simple, and it was a simple one that caught my eye.

It, unlike the rest of the masks, was made of metal, and had three colors. Red, white, and black, and it looked like it was meant to be fit to a pony's face. The top half of it was red, with a white line beginning at the bottom, and making a cresendo to the nostril holes. The lower half was black.

"I see you are admiring the mask of The Hunter."

I looked at her, and asked "What, no rhyming?"

"It gets tiring even to me after a time."

"I nodded and continued "Yes, It's a really cool mask. Who was The Hunter?"

She got the look of recolection on her face, and said "The Hunter was said to be a zebra unparalleled in fighting prowess. One day, his family was killed, and he hunted down those responsible and all of their descendants. I found that mask in a burned down village some years ago, and thought it wrong to leave there, so I brought it with me."

My eyebrows lifted in amazement of the likeness of mine and The Hunters tale. "How much would you you be willing to part with it for?"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "What would you want with it?"

I shrugged. "Not sure but I have the urge to buy it from you."

She rubbed her chin with her hoof and said "two hundred and five bits. The five is for the potion."

I nodded and pulled out the specified amount, gave it to her, and took the potion and mask. I took the potion, which was rather bitter, and put the mask on. My wings already fealt better, and I pumped them a few times to test them. No pain! Impressive.

XXXXX

I flew to the decaying ruins of my home, and picked a shovel out of a burned down store. I dug a grave in the middle of a the park that my sister loved, and made a coffin out of the finest wood I could find. Afte placing her corpse in it, I lowered her in to the ground. I then made a gravestone, and on it, chiseled out her obituary.

'Here lies Eva, a beautiful mare whose life was taken in her prime, and in a most violent manner, by those meant to protect''May Faust watch over her'