Pain. Pain is what brought me back into the waking world from the darkness. It wasn't the first time that I had woken up in this state and I honestly doubted it would be the last time.

As I “opened” my eyes I was greeted by the strange, almost black and white, fuzz that I view the world in while it's dark. From what I can see, I’m currently inside of a small stone room with the wall in front of being made of a series of iron bars. From this I deduce that I'm currently locked in the dungeons, most likely those in Canterlot. Great, the last place in Equestria that I want to be and those damn Demon Hunters just had to take me there.

I guessed that if I was locked up then Celestia must not truly trust them with her collection of divine weaponry... or she ordered them to bring me in so that she could do this herself. Either way, I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction if I could help it, it was time for another wild escape. Or, at least I thought it would be before I reached out with my hellfire to take command of the chains that held me to the wall and make them vanish only for nothing to happen.

'That's weird,' I thought to myself as I looked up to see what the problem was. When I saw my binding I could feel the floor fall out from under me. I wasn't bound with chains; my hands were tied up with a single length of silk rope that was locked into space about an inch from the wall. To make matters worse the binding carried an all too familiar aura, one that was laced with the same hellish energy that made up my body. Trixie had done this and the fact that she was able to pull off several high level enchantments at the same time while her magic was influenced by a force that causes Equestrian magic to go crazy just went to show how grossly I had under estimated her and her team.

“Fuck me,” I mumbled to myself as the realization that this was really it for me settled in.

“Hello? Who's there?” I hear a familiar voice come from the wall to my right, along with the sound of rattling chains.

“Perfect? Is that you?”

“Yeah. How do you... Rider?”

“Yeah. What the fuck are you doing down here?”

“I don't know. I was just working the counter at the store when this group of ponies come in and the next thing I know they're shoving a bag over my head and putting me in hoofcuffs. Rider, I was so scared. I thought that it was more of those ponies that you saved me from until they started talking about the Princesses removing mind control and how I may be involved in demon worship. I don't know why they would think that,” she said. I could hear her voice trying to crack while she was talking, I could tell she wasn't holding up well.

“I know why.”

“What?” she started but I wasn't going to let her mind wander to any place dark if I could help it.

“They're called the Demon Hunters. From what little information I've got they're apparently Celestia's pet commando unit created with the sole purpose of hunting down and destroying any and all unholy threat to the ponies of Equestria. I guess I can add cultists to the list of things that they get sent in to deal with. Which is the category that they think you might fall into.”

“But... that doesn't explain how they knew that we're friends.” That was new. Outside of Luna I had never had a pony refer to me as a friend before. It felt weird, but in a good way. Which didn't make what I was about to tell her any easier.

“Because I'm a complete fucking idiot. I knew they were hunting me and at the time I just believed them to be no threat. So after a week of roaming around the Everfree I had written them off and right before they hit me I... mentioned to myself that I should come see how you were doing out loud. It was stupid to say your name out loud when I knew I had them on my tail but I got complacent and slipped up.”

“Is that really what happened?” I can almost feel the betrayal in her voice as she speaks.

“I am so sorry, Perfect. I should have known better than to say your name out loud like that. If you hate me for getting you caught up in this I...”

“I don't,” she cuts me off, “what kind of friend would I be if I let something like this come between us.”

“This is kind of a big something.”

“I know, all I'm doing is following the example of Princess Twilight. Nothing can come between good friends.”

“I don't think she had this kind of situation in mind,” we have a good laugh at how she was able to twist Twilight's teaching to suit her needs before falling into an awkward silence.

“So what's going to happen to us now?” I hear her ask accompanied by the slight jingle of her chains.

“I'm not going to sugar coat this,” I say, “when they take us out of these cells it will most likely be to take us to the chopping block for our executions.” I hear her give a slight whimper and I know she's crying even without seeing it. I can't think of anything that I can say that will give her the comfort that she needs. That's when I realize that she mentioned something that I may be able to use to get her out of this.

“Hey Perfect, what did you mean when you said they brought up mind control earlier?”

“They said that,” she sniffles before continuing, “it was way too early for anypony to actually start a cult dedicated to you so you must have me under some sort of mind control so that I'll set one up.” That's fairly sound logic on their part, it's wrong since I can't use mind control, but sound none the less. It was also the perfect thing to help me get Perfect out of here.

“Perfect, I need you to do me a favor.”

“What?”

“After I'm,” I hesitate to say it, but I press on, “executed, I want you to put on the greatest performance that Equestria has ever seen. I want you to make them believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that my death has freed you of any mind control that I had you under. I want you to tell them how desperate you were to be free and how horrible a monster I was for keeping you a prisoner in your own mind. I want you to spit on me, curse my name, and call me the greatest evil you've ever heard of. Then I want you to go home and forget that you ever knew me. Live your life as if I didn't exist and whenever you need to, raise a glass to my demise. Can you do that for me?”

“I can't do that Rider, it's not right.”

“It doesn't matter. It's the only way that I can see you getting out of this alive and I don't think I can rest easy knowing that I got another friend killed.”

“But-”

“No “buts.” Just, do this for me... consider it a last request.”

“Fine. I'll do it. Until then, I guess I'll just have to suffer in good company.”

“Where did you hear that?” I ask. That was a weird turn of phrase for an Equestrian.

“From my... Dad, it's still odd calling him that. It's something he said anytime things got rough.”

“Smart stallion.”

“Yeah. I'm sure he'll be glad that you got me out of this when you see him on the other side.”

“I hope he's just as forgiving as you are,” I tell her. It's a lie, but one I have to tell. I know that when this is over I'm going to be some place that isn't full of rainbows and sunshine. “Get some sleep Perfect we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

“You're right.” she says as I hear her restraints striking stone as she gets comfortable, “Goodnight Rider.”

“Goodnight Perfect.”

-----

Time seemed to crawl by as I stood there, staring off into space and listening to Perfect’s quiet snores, as I waited for the door leading into our cell area to open and for us to be lead out to meet our maker. I’ve been in more than one life or death fight in my life and I have never been this scared before, I guess there’s a difference between knowing that you are going to die and there just being a possibility. And unlike every other time the Reaper has come calling I’ve always been in a position to at least fight back, to defend myself, to stack the deck in my favor so that I can walk away. Playing this waiting game and being powerless to do anything about it was just absolute torture. I was in a hopeless situation and there is no way in hell it was going to get better… but at least there was a chance for Perfect to get out of this.

That’s when I heard the heavy wooden door leading to our cells slowly open and dim light filled the hallway. I tensed up; I guessed this was it but the sounds of only one set of hooves striking the stone floor put me off my game a bit. I was worried that we might not even make it to the chopping block until a familiar lavender head came into the view through the bars.

“Um, hi. Sorry to wake you,” she says looking around nervously.

“Who said I was sleeping,” I said turning my head to face her.

“Oh. Uh, right. Sorry, it’s kind of hard to tell with the whole,” she says waving her front hooves around her head.

“Yeah, I know.” That better not become a running gag.

“So I was wondering if you would be free to talk about yourself.”

“I’d love too, so why don’t you let me out of these bindings and then we’ll talk.

“Seriously,” she deadpans with a raised eyebrow.

“Eh, worth a shot. So what do you want to know?”

“Everything! There has never been a creature like you in all of Equestria,” I could see the twinkle in her eyes from where I stood, “I mean, after you left the castle I immediately started researching other demons, and do you want to know what I found?”

“Thrill me,” I shoot back.

“Not only do none of the other demon descriptions that I found match you, apart from those that I deduced were written about you specifically, but your entire personality is nearly the complete opposite of what is recorded about demons and how they act. I even found several accounts, though ancient and no doubt embellished a bit, about how you were seen fighting monsters, taking out bandit camps, and even rescuing ponies in distress. While I could have passed these off a coincidence as demons are known to fight for supremacy with other dark beings, our conversation and the subsequent events that night almost completely prove otherwise. In fact, the evidence points to you being some sort of dark hero and not just another monster like the rest.” Leave it to Purple Smart to get to the hard fact and above all else, the truth. She was never my favorite princess in the show, but after this she had more than earned her second place spot. “So please, tell me everything that you can about yourself.”

“Where should I begin? How about you ask the questions that you want to know and I’ll answer them truthfully, but in return I get to ask you questions about yourself and your friends?” I already knew almost everything about her from the show but this would give me a chance to get a few laughs at her expense before the end.

“Deal,” she says after a moment’s hesitation, “What are you exactly, because ‘demon’ doesn’t quite fit what you are?”

“I’m a human,” I say almost matter of factly.

“I thought you said you’d be honest?”

“I am being honest.”

“But, from what I saw of the human world, they aren’t all,” she makes those little gestures with her hooves again.

“I’m the only one who’s like this, I can promise you that. So, take a moment to think about it, if you take away the flames wouldn’t my bone structure match that of the humans you’ve met?”

“Now that you mention it,” she started, “I can kind of see the resemblance.”

“Now for my question; are you into mares or stallions?” I didn’t so much get an answer to that as I did a bunch of stammering and a deep blush. “Ha, sorry, I just couldn’t help myself; you don’t have to answer that. Hit me with your next question.”

“Um, uh, okay,” she said getting herself back under control, “what are your powers?”

“I figured you’d ask something tougher,” normally I wouldn’t tell a possible enemy my capabilities but given the situation it wouldn’t do me any good to keep it quiet, “First, I can summon chains that are almost sentient from my body and I can turn them into most non-complex weapons. Second, I can create and, somewhat, control hellfire; though my aim is complete shit if I try to throw it over a distance. Third, I guess, would be my motorcycle though that’s more for general transportation than anything else. Finally, I have my Sin Sense, as I like to call it, which lets me see everypony’s name and everything, good or bad, that they’ve ever done. It also gives me suggestions on how to proceed in dealing with that pony, though I tend to ignore that part and let my conscience be my guide.”

“The power to see what other ponies have done, both good and bad,” she drifts off into her own thoughts, “that seems to be a great and terrible gift.”

“Hey now, focus princess,” I say cutting off her train of thought before it went too far; “we ain’t got very long here. My turn again, do you like Peña Coladas?”

“Yes, but I prefer them to be non-alcoholic, I don’t like how it makes my head feel fuzzy. What is your name?”

“My name is Ghost Rider, but… my friends call me Rider.”

“Why don’t I believe you when you say that?”

“Because as far as anyone in this world needs to know, that is my name. Now, do you like getting caught in the rain?”

“No, who in their right mind would? Is there a point to your line of questioning?”

“Not really, but I’m just trying to keep up my end of the conversation a bit until I can think up a few good questions of my own. Also, that counts as yours. Are you into yoga?”

“What’s yoga?”

“Fair enough. You may fire when ready.”

“You said you were from another world, then how did you get here?”

“I don’t think I want to answer that one,” I say. I really didn’t like were this line of questioning was starting to going. “Do you like making love at midnight?”

“You said you would answer my questions,” she responds way too quickly. She knew I was going to try to derail the conversation at some point and she was ready for me.

“Shit,” I sigh, “I never should have agreed to this. As to how I got here exactly, I can’t tell you.” She tries to interrupt but I don’t give her the chance. “I can’t, because I don’t know myself. The only thing I know is that I died before I was sent here.”

“What?” I can see the shock on her face and hear the disbelief in her voice.

“It was late at night and, uh, I had this costume party that I was going to, my High School Reunion in fact, when it all went wrong. I was speeding, more so than usual, down some back country roads because I was already late to the party. I really should have been more careful, maybe even worn a helmet, but I thought I’d be just fine. I was very, very wrong; the last things that I can remember is something large, brown and furry running out into road. I didn’t have time to stop or to get around it. I didn’t see what happened after that so much as felt it… the feeling of impact… the feeling of flying through the air… and finally, the feeling of my skull connecting with asphalt. The rest, they say, is history.”

“That’s terrible. But that still doesn’t explain why you’re here.” Why? The ultimate question. I was about to answer her when her words finally hit me and I realized what had been bugging me since I heard Perfect’s voice.

“That’s right, why are you here?” I ask, my blood already beginning to boil.

“What do you mean? I told you why I was here.”

“Exactly, it just hit me. Why are you here and not in a cell like Perfect Count? Celestia’s little clown posse arrested her and threw her in here without so much as a trial just because I mentioned her name, and yet it’s you and your friends who are still free.” By that point I wasn’t even trying to mask the anger in my voice.

“But, I’m sure-“

“No, Twilight, you can’t deny that something is up here. They put an innocent mare, one that I saved from becoming a slave mind you, on death row without a trial or even asking questions. Think back to that night in Ponyville when I came to your castle, what happened? We had coffee together with Spike and shared a nice conversation, then Rainbow Dash helps me put an abomination down, and then I rescue Applejack’s sister. And guess who’s not in here. Celestia can’t bring herself to believe that any of you could have had a positive interaction with me but she will gladly put to death any one of her ponies for that same encounter! She is too blind to see things for what they are, but her little student, her little student and her friends she could never doubt.”

“That’s not true! It can’t be true!” she cried out as tears welled up in her eyes. “We have laws, laws that she wrote herself. She can’t just by pass them at her convenience.”

“She can, Twilight. She is, just look at these two cells and that’ll be all the proof you need.”

“But why?” the tears were flowing freely now, I guess the truth does hurt.

“Because she believes that she is doing the right thing.”

“That doesn’t make any sense! How can she believe that this is right?”

“Think back to what I told you about my powers, my sixth sense in particular,” I tell her. It only takes a few moments but I can see the realization when it hits her square in the face.

“You’re no hero,” she breathes, almost too low to hear.

“Ding, ding, ding, give the girl a prize Johnnie, she got it in one. That’s right buttercup, I’m judge, jury, and executioner of everyone and everything I meet.”

“Why? Why would you do that?”

“The same reason you prune a rose bush, to cut out the dead and dying stems so that the good and healthy parts can grow stronger and, ultimately, bloom. That’s what I do with the world; I am the one who cuts evil out at its source so that the good can truly flourish. I am the shepherd and I am the terrible punishment of any sheep that strays from the herd, even a just a little.” I might have embellished that a bit but it gets the point across.

“What- What gives you the right!?!”

“The weight of my own sins! I’m here, forced into a role that I hate. Forced to destroy something that I love because I can see the darkness in it, hidden just below the Technicolor surface, but guess what, it finally ends at dawn. Every innocent death that I was too slow to stop and every corrupted being that I have put down since I arrived here has caused me nothing but absolute anguish and suffering, because I can see what this world could be but is being held back from. I am cursed for the great evils that I committed in life. Cursed to do this until the end of time or the Devil himself comes to claim me, and it looks like I’ll be meeting him soon enough.”

“You’re cursed,” she says and I can see the gears turning, “I have to tell Celestia. She has to know that this- this travesty, can’t be allowed to happen. You both have done nothing wrong. I may even be able to help break the magic that has done this to you.”

“No, wait,” I say, stopping her as she turns to leave, “she won’t listen no matter what you say.”

“But I have to; she has to know she’s wrong about you both.”

“That’s the thing Twilight, she is right about me, I am the danger. If even you, a former bearer of an Element of Harmony, were to step too far out of line I would have to intervene. I would turn you into a purple smear on the ground and not think twice about it.” A blatant lie, but I had to do something to get my point across. I mean, Twilight, evil enough for me to kill, I don’t even think that’s possible. “If you really want to help, then you will do everything in your power to get Perfect out of this. Of the two of us she is the only one who is truly innocent, and if my final act in this world can be saving one last innocent, then I’m okay with that.”

“I’ll- I’ll see what I can do,” she says as she turns and leaves me once again in the darkness, alone with my own thoughts.

-----

Morning came way too quickly for me. One moment I’m chilling in my cell and the next I’m being herded out of the dungeons and through the castle. I would like to say that they were at least nice to retie my hands but I’d be lying since Trixie just used her magic to force my arms from their raised position down to the small of my back and dislocating both of my shoulders in the process. Then they just tied another enchanted silk rope around my waist to secure them in place, leaving me unable to force them back into the sockets so that I can at least be comfortable before I died. Fucking assholes.

So here we stood, in front of a pair of large doors, surrounded on all sides by the Demon Hunters. I could hear Celestia’s voice through the doors as she gave some rousing speech to a crowd that I could just barely see the edges of through the windows that flanked the double doors that we were waiting at. I don’t know what her exact words were and, honestly, I could have cared less, what I did care about was Perfect. She stood next to me and I could see her visibly shaking in fear, I wished that I could reach down and offer her some form of comfort, but I couldn’t risk blowing her mind control story without her even getting a chance to use it. So I just did my best to look around the room and act as disinterested in what was happening as I could.

That’s when I locked eyes with the little red pegasus standing to my other side. I remember her from the Everfree Forest as she still had that same look on her face as she did then.

“What are you looking at freak,” she spat. I guess I had been looking at her a bit too long.

“A pony who is in doubt.” I respond, not looking away from her.

“I have no doubts about my mission.”

“That’s not how it looks from where I’m standing.”

“Enough,” cut in Hammerstrike, “keep antagonizing my team and I’ll break your legs and have Trixie drag you the rest of the way. And as for you, Storm Kicker, you know never to listen to the enemy but since you’re new I’ll let it slide this once.”

“Yes, sir.” She snaps. “It’s just… that dream that I had after I hit the rock… it still bothers me and this whole event has me…”

“That is all Lieutenant. We will discuss this later … in my office.” My mind was abuzz with the little ray of hope that had just shined itself on two unfortunate souls.

“Prophetic dreams,” I started, “you breathed in the ashes of one who was burned by my hand. They say the ashes can give a pony visions of the future.” Or cause madness. I’d heard rumors both ways but had never really had a chance to verify them, but this might just give me the wiggle room I needed to get Perfect and myself out of this mess.

I didn’t have the time to gain more ground before the doors in front of us swung open to reveal a large courtyard filled with ponies and Celestia standing on a raised platform in the middle. The crowd was dead silent as it parted to let us pass and I was pressed forward by Trixie’s telekinetic hold. Before I knew it, I was standing face to face with the last alicorn that I wanted to see.

“Any last words before you die,” she asks, with a smirk that makes my blood run cold. I look around at the crowd hoping against hope that I’ll see the only familiar face that can stop this, but she isn’t anywhere to be seen. Just my rotten luck I guess.

What I do spot, however, is Twilight and her friends. None of them look happy about these preceding but I guess Twilight told them about last night. That still doesn’t help that Dash and Applejack look about ready to rush the stage at any moment, whether to try to free me or to do it themselves is anybody’s guess. I only had one shot left for a miracle and it was probably a long shot.

“Yeah,” I say, turning back to face Celestia, “can I bum a cigarette off anypony? I could really do with a smoke to settle my nerves. Last request and all that.”

“Request denied. You forgot that I know about your little fire control trick, so no smoke for you.” Shit, I was running out of ideas fast.

“W-wait, what about a last meal?” I ask as Trixie uses her magic to drive me to my knees and stretch my neck across the chopping block. “Can’t we at least talk about this?” I cried, struggling against the magic that held me in place.

“No,” she said with finality as a large two handed sword appeared in a flash of magic. Every fiber of my being screamed in terror at the mere sight of the large weapon, this was no ordinary blade; it was created by the Princess with her own magic. A divine blade, the only thing that can kill me.

Averting my eyes to my coming doom I spotted something in the crowd, something I didn’t expect to see. It was a pony wearing a hooded cloak and the more I looked around the more of them I saw. But that wasn’t what bothered me, what bothered me was that they were all blocked from my Sin Sense with the same darkness that had been growing across Equestria. The same darkness that I had seen in the young pegasus that I had killed the day I was freed from the painting. It finally clicked, the darkness wasn’t some buildup of dark magic, it was them coming together is large groups. And as I watched more and more of them began to appear in the crowd.

“Celestia! Wait!” I shout, trying to stop her, “Something is wrong. If you go through with this something terrible is going to happen!”

“Enough! No more of your lies and threats demon! Equestria shall finally be rid of your darkness forever!” she shout as the blade held in her magical aura raised high for the final strike.

-----

Twilight and her friends could do nothing but watch helplessly from the side lines. After her secret trip to the dungeons Twilight had told them all what she had learned. They had all agreed that while the Rider may not be completely good, he still deserved better than this, but they were powerless to stop the events as the unfolded. They could do nothing as Celestia’s blade came up and fell again with a harsh finality.

But as it did they heard two distinct sounds; the first being the sound of a hoof striking flesh and another of steel impacting on wood. What they didn’t hear was the sound of a blade as it separated a head from a body. With a sharp intake of breath all eyes in the crowd, even those of the solar princess, fell on a red pegasus mare, her hoof still raised as a unicorn mare lay curled up at her hooves holding the spot just below her horn in pain.

“Now,” came a voice that should not have been, “where were we?” All eyes turned to meet the sight of the Rider as he stood back up on feet.

Author's Notes:

Finally finished. I guess all I needed to lose my stress was some good old fashioned lead therapy.

Same deal as always for the comments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDKM181eTsM