Author's Note

I merged the short update I posted a few days ago with this longer continuation. The next chapter will be the last; for better or for worse, it's been fun.

Vaas Montenegro Slays a Dragon

When Vaas heard the screaming, he wasn't surprised.

Laying in his tent, idly polishing Arsewiper, he raised his head and tried to make out who it was that stumbled across the grizzly scene.
"Oh, sweet merciful heavens, no!" ... So, Rarity. Wonderful. It occurred to him that he should put away his blade before his tent was inevitably torn open by his ravenous, accusing companions. And so, he did, and just in time- as soon as the blade was fully in the scabbard, the flap-entrance to his tent was torn away, and there stood Rarity, eyes streaming and burning with hatred.

"What... Why... How could you?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"I didn't," he responded calmly. "Rainbow's been a psychopath this whole time and killed the fuck out of Fluttershy; Pipsqueak killed Rainbow, and here we are. Try not to take it all in at once."

"Bullshit!" Rarity screamed. By this time, everyone else was out of their respective tents, and were uttering various mournful noises of their own. All quickly turned to look at Vaas, some with shock, some with confusion, some with blind rage. Rarity was calling for blood.

Her horn charged, and at first, Vaas didn't know what to do. Last time, Applejack had stepped in to save his ass. But no one was stepping in now. He didn't know if they were paralyzed, or if they had finally realized that he needed to be killed.

Either way, it was up to him now. One way or another, he'd have to stop the raging unicorn, which was a thought that he never expected to have.

Pipsqueak leaped up, dagger drawn again, ready to save his master's life for the second time.

Rarity's magic blast took the colt between his two forelegs, sending him sprawling backwards, hitting the back of the tent and falling to the ground, immobile. In his brief glance behind him, Vaas saw a puddle of red growing beneath his ward's small, frail body.

Vaas didn't have time to think about whether Pip was alive or not. All he knew was that a similar fate awaited him. He had to act before Rarity let loose another burst of rage.

He formulated a plan quickly in his mind, going for the most simple approach with the greatest effect.

He let the unicorn charge her magic, sitting calmly in his sleeping bag just as he had before Rarity had entered. She grinned in triumph, sensing his apparent surrender, and fired.

Vaas leaned slightly to the left, and the bolt of white-hot lightning passed over his shoulder, harmless but for a few singed hairs. Rarity looked confused. Vaas put on an exasperated expression, continued to roll to the right, and drew his sword from its scabbard as he went to one knee. Rarity was beginning to comprehend what was happening, too late to do anything about it. Her expression said very clearly what she never had time to say herself: "Oh, damn."

The tip of Arsewiper entered into her jugular, passed through her spinal column, and entered out the back of her neck, just below the base of the skull. It was a clean thrust; for a few moments, the blade sealed the wound, to where it did not bleed. Rarity's eyes widened, and she made a sound akin to "... Eh."

They made eye contact, and Vaas raised one eyebrow, as if to say, "Hey, it happens."

He then pulled to the right, slicing cleanly through the side of Rarity's neck, spraying crimson over the olive drab of the tent walls. Her eyes lost focus.

Before her head could tilt or her body could fall, he swung the sword back to the left, putting as much momentum as he could into the cut. It passed through the muscle and sinew still connecting Rarity's head to the rest of her body as if it were a hot knife through butter. Rarity's decapitated head was lifted upward, spun one hundred and eighty degrees, and landed on its horn, which stuck through the tent floor and into the ground. Vaas appreciated the visceral humor for a moment, as the headless body collapsed to the ground.

Blood was everywhere. He looked behind him at his fallen ward, who still had not moved; then, at his three remaining companions: Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Spike, all of whom were staring at him blankly, their mouths slowly falling open.

"Okay, okay, before you say anything, I'll admit it..." he said. "That was probably a little bit too much."

Around the same time as a certain yellow Pegasus was getting her throat slit, Princess Celestia sat in her chambers, watching the events from afar with baited breath. She did not weep, she did not gasp, she did not cry out, even as Fluttershy's blood stained Rainbow Dash's cyan coat a shining crimson, nor did she react when Pipsqueak saved his master from a similar fate.

When the blood had finished flowing, and Vaas the Human and Pipsqueak sat there staring at the fire, she finally let out a sigh. She'd hoped they would make it at least through the mountains before things started to go to hell, but as per usual, it was too much to ask for.

There was no use in watching the proceedings any further, at least for tonight; she decided that a bit of sleep would do her good. She called her sister over, and asked her to take up watch over the group while doing her nightly duties. Luna, who had also been surveying the events playing out on Celestia's interspacial window from across the room, agreed, bidding her sister goodnight as she took Celestia's place in front of the shimmering window of magic, which was morphing from its previous solar shape into that of a lunette.

She heard to door latch as Celestia exited the room, and began her watch.

The sun was rising. Luna knew that Celestia was on her balcony, raising the great star into the sky for the day. She would be down soon to resume her watch, just as she had each day since the company set out.

As she had this thought, she observed Rarity's head being detached from her shoulders, spin, and become stuck in the earth by her horn. She felt no sense of loss, just another twinge of loathing for the filthy ape.

The company was almost out of the mountains; once out, they'd have nothing but the Wastes before them, stretching for miles until they became the Shadow Lands: the one place on earth where Luna had complete sovereignty, and Celestia none at all. They would be there within twenty-four hours if they kept a steady pace, assuming they left soon and were not too long delayed by inevitable drama.

Somewhere above her, Luna could hear the door to the balcony closing. Celestia was on her way down now, ready to relieve her. Another day of waiting lay ahead of Luna. Perhaps she, too, could take some rest, although no rest had found her for quite some time.

Just another day, and then she'd take over Celestia's watch once more.

Then, it would finally be time.

Nobody spoke. Vaas looked each of them in the eyes; none of them held his gaze. But none of them attacked, either. Pinkie Pie was crying silently. Applejack was wide-eyed and breathing heavily; she looked almost suicidal. Spike's face was impassive, but his apparent stoicism was betrayed by the tears flowing from his eyes. Vaas knew now that the dragon had loved the white unicorn; it had been plain to see all this time, but it had never occurred to Vaas until now. That being said, the reptilian bastard was taking it well... and that worried the fuck out of Vaas. Spike would have to die soon, as well.

Vaas crossed the tent to where Pipsqueak lay. The ground was wet with quickly drying blood from a deep gash in the colt's chest. Not thinking about the gore, he put his ear to his ward's chest. There was nothing.

Nothing...

No, not nothing; from what seemed to be deep within the little colt, there was a rattle of breath, long and haggard, cold and distant as death itself. Then, nothing. Then, nearly a quarter of a minute later, a similar exhalation. He was alive; but, as was apparent, not for long.

Vaas suddenly felt a twinge of panic.

"Hey," he said, laying a hand on Pip's neck. "Hey, hey, kid, wake up, okay?"

He cupped Pipsqueak's head with one hand and raised it slightly.

"Pipsqueak," he said, louder. "Come on, just gimme something here, just wake the fuck up up, damn it."

Pipsqueak shuddered in response.

"Pip, you little shit, I'm ordering you to stay alive, okay? Do you fucking hear me? I need you here. I need someone on my side, kid."

And then, Pip opened his eyes. No other part of him moved, and Vaas could only see the one eye on the side of his head; he did not want to raise his head any more, as Pip was obviously in immense pain. His eyelid fluttered open, and his eye found Vaas. Pipsqueak worked his mouth, as if trying to speak. Nothing came out but a choked cough, and some blood and phlegm. The colt's eyes grew wide, as he realized what was happening, and his body gave forth spasms as he resisted the inevitable. His pupil darted from place to place, searching for what, Vaas did not know. Vaas could clearly hear his breathing now. It was rapid and shallow now, and increasingly thin. Finally, Pip's pupil locked on Vaas, staring him dead in the eye. A single tear trailed down Pipsqueak's face, and he shook violently. His eye lost focus, and he gave fort the loudest death-rattle of all. And then, he was gone.

"... Pip?" he pleaded, almost inaudible.

There was a pain in Vaas's chest, one that he had not felt in many, many years. It tore through him, but he showed no external sign of remorse.

After minutes that seemed like hours, Vaas forced the ache to depart. He was suddenly reminded of how he had been before, when he initially showed up to this godforsaken land. He had allowed himself to become soft, allowed this... creature... to make him feel again. He would not make this mistake again. Never again.

But, he had promised himself that before.

He stood. Now all of their eyes were on him.

Pinkie had stopped crying, and now sported the vacant look of the permanently scarred. Applejack no longer looked ready to pitch herself off the nearby ledge; now she was visibly livid, shaking from head to hoof, but she had enough common sense not to attack him. She knew now that Vaas would not hesitate. Spike, too, had stopped his flow of tears. But in his face, Vaas saw a bit of himself. The same feverish, cold, gleeful, nothing-to-lose mentality that signified permanent mental unhinging, or forewarned imminent drastic action. Vaas guessed it was the latter. He wasn't in the mood for that shit.

He stepped toward Spike, covering the distance between them in two strides. Spike visibly tensed, ready to spring in a desperate attempt to avenge his love. Before he could, however, Vaas kicked him. Not hard enough to send him flying; a quick stomp, right between his eyes. It was enough to stun him, to make him forget whatever rash course of action he had been preparing for.

Then, Vaas gripped him by his scaly head. He was almost painfully hot to the touch; whether it was his constant body temperature, or literally hot, boiling rage, Vaas wasn't sure and really didn't care. Vaas lifted him, turning him to face to opposite direction. Spike was a dragon, after all, and the last thing Vaas wanted was a face full of dragonfire. The reptile barely even struggled, merely kicking his legs a bit, still recovering from his experience with Vaas's boot.

Locking eyes with Applejack, he saw that she knew exactly what he was about to do. He shook his head at her, warning her against trying anything. Still looking her dead in the eyes, he twisted his hands as far as they would allow. Spike's head twisted faster and farther than the rest of his body, and there was an audible crack! as his spinal column snapped; then, another, as Vaas did the same in the opposite direction. Spike's lifeless body twitched horribly as his nervous system was destroyed, legs jutting out in odd directions, arms flailing wildly. After a moment, they slowed, and then stopped completely, all while his body continued to slowly rotate back and forth. The heat that had previously radiated from his skin was gone; his scales were cold. Walking to the edge of the cliff, some ten feet away, he unceremoniously pitched the lifeless purple corpse off the edge. It fell, how far Vaas didn't know, until it was lost in the mist.

He sensed her coming more than he heard her.

As soon as the first hoof-beat registered, Vaas spun around in a defensive stance. Applejack had already covered three-quarters of the distance between them, and appeared to have no intentions of stopping. Her head was lowered, and Vaas was genuinely impressed by the raw display of power before him. He had the feeling that if this mare hit him head-on, it might not be the fall off the cliff that killed him. Unfortunately, he couldn't allow that hypothesis to be tested.

And so, he sidestepped, and was reminded of his duel in the arena, what seemed like ages ago.

Applejack didn't even slow. Vaas wasn't sure if she'd even meant to remain on the cliff when she knocked him off; as far as suicide goes, that's about as honorable as it gets. But even when Vaas was visibly out of the way, Applejack made no indication of stopping. She was practically airborne. Her head turned, and she looked Vaas in the eye one last time. He wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he head a muttered "Fuck you," from the now obviously suicidal mare. And then, she truly was airborne. For a hysterical moment, it just looked as if she would keep on going, carried on by momentum and possibly sheer newfound willpower. But then, as all things must eventually, Applejack fell. She did not scream; she merely dropped, keeping her dignity even in her last moments. And then, in the blink of an eye, she'd followed Pipsqueak into the mist.

Vaas stared after her for a moment, before turning back to look at Pinkie, who looked... well, she looked as though she'd just seen two of her best friends murdered in front of her, and then another commit suicide.

"You're not gonna try anything, are you, Pinkie?" he asked jovially.

She flinched at the sound of her name, but shook her head, no.

"Good," Vaas said. "Now, I'd really like to fucking end this thing, wouldn't you?"