"The Other Side" Chapter 17- Prisoners

(Guys, resend in your OC's if you haven't already. I only have the Bearers and a few other characters; all of my OC messages got deleted. I made a blog post about it, so if you've sent in an OC, PM it to me again. CURSE YOU, INTERWEBS.)

Twilight stared at the four griffon corpses lying in the mud. She had never seen such violence in her life. Her breathing was rapid and shallow, and she shivered; not because of the cold rain, but because of the brutality that still played fresh in her mind. She hardly noticed as Fluttershy walked out of Dylan's house and stopped beside her.

"Twilight... Are you alr-"

She stopped when she saw the four bodies that Twilight had been staring at. She looked like she was about to faint. Fluttershy swallowed and looked at her friend, carefully choosing her next words.

"What... What happened?"

Twilight stared at the carnage that Dylan had left in his wake, then turned to Fluttershy as she finally noticed her.

"Fluttershy? What are you doing here?"

The shy mare's butter colored face flushed, its hue turning a deep rose.

"W-well, you see... I... I was visiting Dylan..." She went pale and began to shake when she saw the bodies lying in the mud.

Twilight was curious as to why Fluttershy had come all the way to Ponyville in the middle of the night; her house was very far from the town and Fluttershy was generally too timid to visit new friends.

"What? Why?"

Fluttershy blushed even deeper, shying away from Twilight and brushing the ground with a hoof.

"Uh... Um... I... Oh... I WAS LONELY, OKAY!"

Twilight stepped back slightly at her friend's outburst.

"Oh... Well... Everypony gets lonely sometimes... OH, BUCK! We need to get to Applejack's! She's in grave danger! If Dylan hadn't killed these griffons, I would be dead! They're at Sweet Apple Acres right now, and they have Applejack!"

Fluttershy gasped, but then took off as fast as she could in the direction of the apple farm. Twilight followed after Fluttershy, completely terrified of what might be happening at the farm.

The two mares stared in horror at the enormous cloud of black smoke rising from the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. The sky was clearing, but it remained dark and ominous. The smoke rose in front of the moon, making the strange light pouring from it dim and muted, as if it was a shadow of its former self. The source of the smoke became shockingly clear as they neared the farm; the entire farmhouse was ablaze. Flames rose out of every window, and smoke rolled off of the house in a billowing charcoal-black pillar. The walls of the house were beginning to buckle inwards, and the roof sagged ominously.
Two figures stood some fifty feet from the house. One was large and holding the other figure tightly, the other was small and seemed to be burying its face into the larger one's shoulder. As they neared, it was obvious that the two figures were Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom was bawling her eyes out, trying to stutter words.

"G-G-Granny! S-She w-was in th' h-house! I d-didn't see her g-get out! Why's this happenin', Mac? Why is this happening?!"

Big Mac simply hugged his sister tight and stroked her mane.

"I don't know, sis... I don't know... It's gonna be alright, don't you worry."

Fluttershy and Twilight arrived just as Apple Bloom began crying into Big Macintosh's shoulder again.

"What happened?!" Twilight asked frantically, watching as the farmhouse burned down in the distance. There was a resounding crack as one of the main support beams of the house broke, sending a storm of sparks and smoke gushing out the side of the burning building. Big Macintosh turned to the sound of Twilight's panic-stricken voice. His eyes were brimming with tears, but he had the resolve not to let them spill down his cheeks.

"They... they took Applejack... They took mah' sis..."

It was then that Twilight saw the pair of arrows sticking out of Big Mac's flesh.

"OH, BUCK!"

Big Macintosh hugged Apple Bloom closer, who was now sobbing mournfully; her young mind was completely innocent and had never experienced this kind of mental anguish. She stared at the two newcomers with a look of emptiness and loss that shook both Twilight and Fluttershy to the bone.

"Ah... Ah...-"

Apple Bloom's attempt at speech only ended in more tears. Big Macintosh looked down at his sister and pulled her closer into his embrace.

"S'okay, sis... S'okay."

Big Macintosh wept; it was a strange sight too see the massive and withdrawn work stallion crying like a young colt. At that moment, a bloodcurdling scream rent the air like a knife. All four of the ponies' ears twitched, their heads turning towards the sound in surprise.

"Wh-what was that?!" Fluttershy blurted, her gentle eyes filling with fear.

***

"I'm n-not telling y-you s-shit!" Devinn yelled at the human pinning him to the dirt with the force of a full-grown bear. He further emphasized his defiance by spitting in his captor's face. The scrawny griffon tried his best to look tough under the furious gaze of Dylan's cold blue eyes. They might has well have been blood red; the bloodlust pouring from the two portals to the human's soul was so thick it could be cut with a knife.

Dylan's mouth twisted into a sadistic grin, his teeth bared like those of a predator. A low, whispering growl was his response. "Wrong answer."

Before the griffon could finish looking terrified, Dylan grasped one of Devinn's taloned fingers in his hand and snapped it like a toothpick. Devinn's scream of agony seemed to fill the air itself with an aura of pain.

"N-ngh... You... B-bastar-"

Dylan interrupted him.

"Yeah. I am a bastard."

Another finger was nearly broken into two by Dylan. Devinn screeched again.

"Tanning, HELP ME!"

Dylan pulled the griffon's face up so he could look into his eyes. Devinn tried to look away, but Dylan grabbed his head and twisted it back.

"LOOK AT ME."

Devinn whimpered and moved his eyes away from the snarling visage of the human. Dylan's fist slammed into the griffon's face.

"LOOK. AT. ME!"

Devinn did; he looked right into Dylan's eyes. It was if he was looking at his own funeral pyre; Dylan's eyes were completely black, and fire seemed to rage inside the two void-colored orbs. He thought he saw himself in them, and Devinn's eyes opened wider than they should have ever been able to. Staring back at him, was himself. Devinn's reflection was burning, screaming, his face a twisted and mangled mess, and his feathers soaked in his own blood, his own dead eyes looking right at him. He could hear his own screaming in his head, shaking his skull like a drum. His fear bubbled up inside his soul like a poison, spreading through his mind and body as well. He was staring at hell itself.

His beak fell wide open to let forth another scream, this one louder than Devinn had ever screamed before in his life. He twitched and jerked on the ground, wailing and shrieking as he tried to pull himself away from the horror that lurked inside Dylan's burning eyes. They continued to stare at him; Devinn could not move an inch. Devinn screamed again, but was lifted into the air. Dylan stood and held him up by the front of his cloak.

"TELL... ME...EVERYTHING!"

Dylan's face elongated, new fangs and teeth sprouting from his jaws like knives. Devinn wailed again, looking right at the monster in front of him. He whimpered, curled in upon himself, and wept. Dylan heard the sound of dribbling and water splashing, along with a ghastly and putrid stench. He knew the griffon had just soiled himself. Dylan laughed quietly, watching as the griffon sobbed and writhed in his grip. He grew tired of this quickly, pulling Devinn to within inches of his face. His tongue -long and black now, and hot like molten steel- darted from between hiss teeth and licked his lips.

"You're running out of time. TELL ME."

Devinn cried his eyes out, stuttering as he tried to speak. "H-h-h-he's t-t-t-taking h-her to the d-d-diamond d-dogs! He t-t-thinks s-she knows s-something! H-h-his sister's g-g-gone m-missing!"

Dylan growled at the griffon, who was a full foot shorter than him, and considerably more scrawny.

"WHO'S. HIS. SISTER?!"

The money counter choked on his next single word, making a high-pitched squealing sound as he spoke. "G-Gilda!" Dylan stared at the griffon with an unchanged expression for a moment, then his face changed completely; his expression became a mask of horror and guilt. Dylan trembled as every hair on his body stood up on end.

/Oh... Oh God ... I... No... NO!

Dylan not only thought the last word, but screamed it, pouring forth his guilt and rage towards the heavens. The sky still rained, and droplets of rainwater fell against his face as he roared at the sky.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

At that moment Twilight arrived, followed by Apple Bloom. Fluttershy and Big Mac were the last to come upon the scene; The pegasus was treating Big Macintosh's wounds to the best of her ability. The look on Twilight's face was one of shock; Dylan looked like he was about to break down into tears, which was something she had never seen the human do before. Dylan's head slowly turned to look at Twilight, fixing his now-normal eyes on the unicorn. "It's all my fault..." Dylan's voice sounded as if he was drowning in guilt.

In his mind, he counted all the things he had caused by killing Gilda: Twilight was almost killed along with Big Macintosh, Granny Smith was Slaughtered, Apple Bloom almost raped and was surely scarred for life, the farmhouse was burning down and Applejack was just abducted.

It was all because of him, he thought.

I did this... Me... There's no telling what he must be doing to Applejack... And what he'll do when he finds out that his sister is dead... He killed someone, burned down a house, and abducted somebody... And all before he even knows his sister is dead...

Twilight spoke up,

"What's your fault?"

Dylan roused himself from his contemplation and breathed heavily.

"That."

He pointed a finger towards the burning house and then lowered his head. Twilight shook her head vigorously.

"It's not your fault, you're just feeling guilty... Anypony would logically feel this way in this kind of situ-"

Dylan raised a hand to silence her, his heart growing heavy in his chest as he looked into her eyes. It was his turn to shake his head.

"No. It is my fault. I can't tell you why... Just that... It's because of me."

Fluttershy spoke up now, looking at Dylan with concern and sadness in her gaze.

"Dylan, what did you do?"

Dylan couldn't look at his love, so he simply muttered at the ground.

"Something you can't just wash away..."

Dylan had put Devinn down and turned away from him. The griffon took this opportunity to leap into the air and start to fly away. Dylan noticed this immediately. He spun around to face him, growling with feral menace at the fleeing griffon. He bent his knees and hunched, then launched himself into the air. He tackled Devinn mid-flight, slamming him down to the ground with a snarl of anger. The griffon grunted when he struck the earth, then he exhaled sharply when the more than two-hundred pound human landed on his chest. Dylan flipped the griffon over onto his front. He proceeded to take both of the griffon's wings in his hands and snap their bones mercilessly. Devinn screamed whilst everyone else except Big Macintosh gasped; he simply nodded, looking at the scene with a dark approval in his eyes. Dylan released Devinn's ruined wings and raised a foot. He brought it down on the back of the prone griffon's knee with a stomach-lurching cracking noise. Devinn screamed again, his screeching agonizingly painful to all who heard it. Dylan growled and slammed his other foot on Devinn's opposite knee, shattering it as well. He unceremoniously picked up the griffon and punched him in the face. The sick sound of his broken jaw being slammed brutally by the human's clenched fist was the last thing he heard before he fell unconscious. Dylan hefted the griffon's broken body over his shoulder and turned to the ponies. The tone of his voice was one of determination and dark ruthlessness.

"We're getting Applejack back. They'll be here again soon... And they'll be coming for me."

***

The pony in Tanning's arms had long since been knocked unconscious when he and Bregan arrived back at the diamond dog fortress. The two of them landed in front of the main gate just as a group of guards came out to meet them. Rex was among them, and he did not look happy to see the griffons returning. There was fear in his expression, but that was quickly replaced with confusion.

"What happened? Where is every-"

Bregan answered him as he took Applejack from his captain's arms. "Dead. All of them."

The diamond dog shot him an incredulous look, staring in awestruck confusion with his mouth wide open. "Dead?! How the fuck are they all dead?!"

Tanning hissed, simply shouldering past the large diamond dog impatiently. Tanning's anger seemed to hang over his face like a veil, making the already intimidating griffon seem even more menacing than he normally appeared.

"Sssome fucking thing killed them... Sssome of my bessst warriorsss... CUT DOWN LIKE THEY WERE NOTHING!"

Rex growled slightly as Tanning pushed past, but he whimpered when he saw the look that the griffon shot him.

"What thing?"

Bregan walked up beside Rex, who was now walking after Tanning. The giant warrior spoke in a sort of low, gravelly tone, his beak twitching slightly with each word. "Walked on two legs... Had two arms, like a griffon or diamond dog... Head was round... Mostly hairless... About six and a half feet tall... Muscular... Leaped thirty feet through the air... Took an arrow to the heart and kept coming... Butchered at least a dozen of us... Kicked one of us through a fucking wall..."

Rex's eyes widened slightly, but he tried to hide it.

"That's it? We've fought worse."

Tanning hissed and kept on walking.

The three of them arrived at the fortress' holding cells, accompanied by a few diamond dog guards. The cells were filthy and the whole of this part of the fortress smelled like rancid piss and shit. Withered and malnourished forms sat behind the thick iron bars of the cells, sleeping on nothing but the rough stone floor with a single ragged blanket and a straw-filled burlap sack for a pillow. They sat up and watched as the griffons and diamond dogs walked past the cells, heading straight for the interrogation chamber.

Along with ponies, mules and even a diamond dog or two, there was one prisoner that stood out: The same giant troll that had been in Rover's meeting room. His cell was completely reinforced; there were no bars for walls, only a thick stone wall and a heavy iron door. Through the doors small, barred window, it could be seen that the troll was chained to the wall by his wrists and ankles. The chains' links were at least an inch thick, and with good reason; Trolls were very strong. Had he been held in one of the other cells, he could have easily broken the bars out of the wall. The troll just silently watched Tanning, Bregan and Rex as they proceeded past his cell and into a windowless room.

The room's floor was stained red from the many 'interrogations' that had taken place here. There was almost no furniture in the room except for a crude wooden chair and a heavy iron box. The room was lit by dim lantern light, which was barely enough to completely see by; The griffons' and diamond dogs' night vision more than made up for this, however.

"Put her on the chair." Tanning growled, wringing his hands and smiling as Applejack was placed roughly in the chair.

A pair of the diamond dog guards opened the iron box and withdrew a coil of rope. They proceeded to tie the unconscious farm pony to the chair, then backed away slowly to make room.

"I'll summon the interrogator."

Tanning replied to Rex's previous statement with cruelty and anger in his voice. "That won't be necessssssary Taskmaster... I can handle this myssself. Now if you'll excuse ussss..."

Rex looked at Tanning with an expression of wary disdain. "As you wish... Captain..." The large Rottweiler bowed somewhat mockingly and left the room with the other diamond dogs. After Rex was gone, Tanning hissed and clenched his claws into fists.

"I ssshould have drowned that mongrel cur when I had the chance! Did you sssee what he jussst fucking- Never mind... We've got work to do." Bregan nodded and walked over to the tied up pony. The sound of slapping flesh echoed through the room as Bregan backhanded Applejack across her face. Applejack awoke with a start, gasping and trying to stop the pain in her head. She growled when she saw Tanning and immediately tried to lunge toward him. She couldn't move; she was tied to the chair, and the chair was further still bolted to the floor. "Good. You're awake." Applejack bared her teeth and spat at the griffon. "Buck you, ya' sunnavabitch!" Tanning moved out of the way of the liquid projectile and frowned. "I wouldn't do that again." Applejack scoffed at Tanning's words. "Why, 'm I s'posed t' be scared a' you?" Tanning's grin of malice seemed to communicate his answer perfectly, but he spoke nonetheless. "Yesss." Applejack didn't have time to respond as Tanning reached down to a holster at his belt, pulled out his whip, flicked his wrist back above his head and then twitched it forwards. The whip lashed mercilessly against the side of Applejack's face with a sound like the crack of thunder. To her credit, she didn't scream; she simply grunted and gritted her teeth. There was now a large crimson gash along the side of Applejack's cheek which began to pour forth its red liquid down the side of her face. "Hng... Was... That... Th' best ya' can do?" Applejack chuckled mockingly. Tanning laughed back at her. "Not even close. Where is my sssissster?" Applejack shot the griffon and angry look. "Do you buckin' think Ah know where your cudstain of a sister is?! Ya' buckin' idjit'... Ah don't even know her name, ya' damn fool." Tanning's eyes smiled while his beak opened into an angry snarl.

"I think you do, my young pony friend. I think you do."

"Izzat' so? Ya' think Ah know some flyin' whore, do ya'?"

"What did you jussst call her?"

"A whore. Are ya' deaf and stupid?"

Tanning's fist slammed into Applejack's jaw with a sickening cracking noise.

"Oh, I am going to enjoy this. You can count on that, my dear."

Applejack spat a glob of bloody saliva right at Tanning's face. The red liquid splattered against the griffon's cheek."Go buck yourself." Tanning wiped the spit off of his face and looked at the hand he had just used to clean himself; it was a real hand, unlike his giant stone claw, which tensed eagerly. He clenched his fleshy hand into a fist and slammed it into Applejack's gut. She wheezed as all the air left her lungs.

"Hm... I have pony ssssluts like you to do that for me. I think I can manage. Now... Where'sss my ssssissster?"

Applejack coughed and turned her head down towards the floor; she still stated at Tanning from under her brows.

"Ungh... Ya' punch pretty soft, ya' know that? Well... Fer' a weak little thing like ya'self, Ah can't say I expected much."

Tanning smirked, then faster than even Bregan had expected, Tanning's expression turned to one of rage. He hissed and practically put his face centimeters from Applejack's own green eyes. He whispered menacingly to her, his eyes boring into her flesh like knives.

"We'll ssssee who isss weak sssoon enough, bitch... Now answer my question. Where... Is... My... SSSSSISSSSTER?!" Tanning roared the last word into Applejack's face so loudly that her ears started to bleed. She winced but still defiantly kept her stern face. She hadn't shed a single tear, which was starting to wear down on Tanning's nerves; she was tougher than he thought, but not tough enough.

"Ah don't even know yer' sister's name,' shit-fer'-brains. How th' buck'm Ah s'posed to tell ya where she is? You're definitely some kinda genius, mister."

Tanning scowled and narrowed his eyes, become increasingly annoyed with the stubborn pony. "I'll tell you her name, you filthy dirtssscratcher. Her name isss Gilda. "

Applejack's eyes shot wide open; the dreadful realization of who the griffon really was had just been revealed to her. She was terrified not for herself, but her family, and most of all, Dylan. He had been the one to stand up to Gilda, and she hadn't been in the best shape when Applejack saw her leave. This griffon would wan't him.

To Tanning, Applejack's fear was as clear as cool spring water glistening in the sun. He was certain she was hiding something just by the way she looked at him.

"Ah. Know her now?" Applejack swallowed, sucking back a large amount of the blood pouring into her mouth. She chewed at her lip and tried to look at the floor, but Tanning gripped her face in his hand and turned it to look at his own. "You do. Tell me where ssshe isss... Or I will make sssure that you wish you were dead. I assure you that I keep my word."

Tanning was a cruel and twisted sadist at heart, but when he said something, he meant it. He was not a liar, but he was a monster nonetheless.

"Ah... Ah don't know."

Tanning blinked and Applejack watched as the griffon's face writhed into a mask of dark anger.

"YOU LIE! TELL ME WHERE YOU HAVE GILDA OR I WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE A LIVING HELL!!! DO YOU UNDERSSSTAND ME, WHORE?!"

Saliva sprayed across Applejack's face, caused by the griffon captain's wild barrage of furious words. The griffon's feathers raised, the plumes atop his head stiffening to stand straight upwards; it was amongst one of the most intimidating gestures in griffon culture.

Applejack held her ground, refusing to tell Tanning anything about Dylan and what he had done for her; she loved him too much to betray him, even if she was the Element of Honesty and it could cost her the very thing he had saved... Her life. Gilda would have surely killed Applejack that night; Gilda had come to collect a protection payment that Applejack couldn't pay. Dylan had saved her life... and given her something more... something she had never experienced before...

She shook herself from her thoughts and returned her focus to the massive cutthroat standing in front of her. She gritted her teeth, narrowed her eyes and growled her response.

"NO."

The next thing Applejack saw was Tanning's fist slamming into her face even harder than the last time; She fell unconscious instantly.

Tanning roared in anger, holding his head in his hands and screaming at the top of his lungs. Bregan watched his commander with a familiar understanding, then walked a few steps closer.

"Should I wake her up, captain?"

Tanning stopped his bellowing to look at his only friend. He knew that Bregan would be by his side no matter what they went through. He nodded and shot him an evil smile. "Yesss. After you've done that... Have the dogsss sssend their 'interrogator' over. If he doesssn't work out asss planned... I have... /other ideas/..."

Bregan nodded and began fetching a bag of smelling salts from the iron box. Tanning looked back at his prisoner and snarled.

"We'll make this bitch sssscream, one way or another!"