In the Wolf's Lair
by Mane-Shaker
First published
Mane finally discovers her hideout, and things got wrong very quickly.
Mane Shaker, an outcast of Equestria, makes justice for a living through contracts, making him a bounty hunter. Also being wanted and hunted, just like his victims.
Going after one of the most dangerous psychopaths, he faces inner problems in his mind, along with complicated decisions.
With a mysterious past, the grey colt soon did the unexpected against his standards and rules.
PS: It's a short history. also my first, so please, be a bit tolerant. The next one "midnight mishap" has more content, interesting stuff and less mistakes. Thank you!
1 Entering the cave
Author's Notes:
I'm sorry about the "-" between speech, but that was how I was taught over 12 years as a portuguese!
I'm not an english native speaker, so I'm sorry if this bugs you.
"*Shit" - Whispered Mane after seeing the hanging bodies, some with dried flesh from the time they have been exposed with their bodies open, and some of them with maggots growing on them.
He looks to other way.
"Fuck". - He said more louder, gazing the old metal table rusted by the old blood stains, filled with surgical material also rusted by the constant use and uncleaned blood stains, and some of them, with some flesh bits stuck.
Going there was a really bad idea, but going even deeper into the basement was even worse. After he finally found the hideout of the infamous killer, he started to notice for what he dragged himself into.
He saw scenes full of gore and blood, and most of them for his nature, made his stomach twist but holding up, and at the moment, he felt like he was about to barf out his intestines.
Collections of organs inside flasks, slaughterhouse knifes, surgical equipment, pools of blood in the walls and floor, chains holding decomposing corpses, and heads nailed to the walls with iron plates as trophies.
*Who could do such a thing?*
A noise started to form in the distance, steps.
Calm ones, without hurries, with a normal walking rhythm.
*DAMN! DAMN! NOT THIS TIME AND PLACE!*
Mane looked around for a place to hide, but everything around in that room was a nightmare to get close to.
But what was worse? Hide somewhere next to a vomit inducing decomposing corpse, or end up like some of them?
*FUCK my life!* - he thought while hiding under a hospital bed covered by brown red stains, next to a corpse which state was not that old, and with some staring, It was like the pony was killed days ago...
A whispering starts forming, and getting louder. The voice was feminine, which only caused even more confusion. The stallion decides to take a peek, and among the table legs, beds and darkness, a dark pink coat could be seen.
Followed by a tail in the same tone but even more darker. It was a young pink mare...
*What the actual hell.*
She was pretty, her eyes were sapphire blue colored and her body was like a sculpture, shaped by an experienced sculptor in the finest marble. And her humming singing was somewhat nice.
Nothing related to the other's descriptions and stories, they were complete lies regarding her look.
Mane started to feel uncomfortable, that couldn't be his target. How could such beauty at his eyes have such disgusting nature? Why? How? Questions starting to form on his head, including mixed feelings.
She appeared confused and surprised by something:
"H-hello? Is somep-pony there..?"
He flinched for a second, she knew he was there! But where?
She started walking in place, turning around, with a scared look in her face, only to make Mane wonder, if she was the responsible for the events in that basement, how could such pony be afraid of a possible new victim?
She walks again, this time closer to his spot. Mane was panicking:
*D-DID SHE JUST SENSED M-MY PRESENCE?!* - One of the worse conditions ever against him.
Mane besides being an indirectly related to the Sombra family, also the last one from his family line, and for somepony raised by "uncle" King Sombra himself in his very early youth, Mane was full of imperfections that would make his uncle ashamed.
Fear of the dark, fragile to gore scenes and weak in physical fighting, among other ones, and now, afraid of a young mare...
*Shit shit shit!* - he thought while the supposed serial-killer dragged closer.
He had to make a decision...
Too late...
As soon the pink mare touched the cotton sheets, revealing Mane's terrified face, a storm just began.
The mare screamed loud in fear, and Mane screamed even louder.
She stumbled on her own hooves against the wall and started crying and screaming, as if she was being burned alive, as if she wanted to blast her vocal cords forever.
In the middle of the confusion, Mane trips in every table, loose bloody limb, among other things, to the corridor leading to the stairs to the world. Making flasks, cutting material, and a big assortment if different body parts fall on the muddy floor of the basement.
Leaving the poor mare behind crying in that dark violent place,
he started to feel guilty, but giving the circumstances, It was better not head back down there that soon...
"Can It be..?" - Said to himself - "Such beauty did that?"
But he started to analyze what he saw from her...
- *If she's a serial-killer, she must have a psychological complex... and a sociopath seems to fit on her... unpredictable, sudden changes of behavior, violent crime with a unknown purpose... but only she knows her personal reasons... hard to believe how somepony like her look so innocent outside... but if she's calm like that... I wonder how is she in her bad side... next time...*
Mane noticed he was still close of the place and he could barely still hear her groans and sobs.
"Better get the hell out of here..." - He said and started running away of that cursed place.
"Next time!"
2 Waiting
Five days...
Five days since the incident in the basement of terrors.
He stayed at the distance observing, analyzing and waiting.
*She doesn't show activity since then, what is she planning?*
Mane takes a sip of his favorite brand "Crystal Vodka". The alcoholic touch in his tongue filled him with confidence.
*Does she have food there? Water? How can she survive down there?* - Questions that he couldn't stop thinking since the next morning after the unfortunate happening days ago. He took shelter in an abandoned building, some streets away from the passage to the killer's basement.
In all those five days, he observed from the windows, with enough supplies for two weeks, including some bottles of his favorite drink, where he could drown his sad memories, which in the category were mostly of his past.
*Five days... and she didn't show up... she doesn't come out...* - It didn't make sense - *Unless there's a second passage? A backdoor? Can't be... but what the hell do I know? That place is certainly bigger than what It looks like... a cave system!*
Too tired from not sleeping, but he needed a living, and for somepony with his reputation thanks to his dead family, there was no choice but to lurk in the dark, hidden from Equestria, and only few knew of his existence.
"What are you waiting for? Go get her!" - Shouted a familiar voice than none could hear besides him.
"It doesn't work like that. You had an army and look how it turned out for you..." - said Mane without emotion
The ghostly character got closer of him.
"Nephew, you know what they say: "No pain, no gain!"
"If you knew who I'm dealing with!"
"And yes I know. Want me to say?"
"No thank you, the name itself shivers me... not even the nickname!"
"No surprise for someone afraid of the dark..." - Mocked the ghost.
Mane didn't listen and kept observing, and from time to time, nibbling on the cookies he stole from a delivery wagon.
He couldn't stay there watching. Staying would mean lose the track and the contract. And to add to the confusion, he kept thinking of her, a weird feeling he never knew before, along with confusion and fear.
Her eyes. Those blue innocent looking eyes. He didn't forgot them since the incident. They were showing fear and insecurity, signals of a clear sociopath. And getting caught in her territory leaded to the less expected: Panic.
What psycho would be scared to death by catching a new victim in his place? With all the tools in that room, she could have stabbed him and get the job done. Probably the unexpected factor? Who knew?
"So..?" - Muttered the ghost
"I'm going, I can't stay here forever."
"No guts, no glory! That's my boy!"
"Don't be so happy about It, otherwise, I'm gonna end up next to you, not in any ring of Tirek's Hell, but in the Tartarus!" - Said Mane in an angry tone while packing his stuff. - "The last thing I need is somepony cheering me when I'm actually willing to face death!"
"Why are you like that..?"
"Because, It's how this world shaped me!"
The ghost made a move towards him, as if he was hugging Mane, but none of them could feel It...
The stallion was thinking of saying something in his acid words, but he decided not to.
The spectral figure left him from his nonexistent hold, and Mane starts heading to to downstairs followed by the companion.
When he was about to open the door and check the surroundings..
"Mane..."
"Yes..?"
"Please don't die... It will only adds to my pain seeing you next to me down there..." - said the dark ghost while pointing to the floor.
"I'll try not to."
"I wish I could help you, but He doesn't allow me to."
"It's alright. The fact you five down there are watching, already comforts me..."
"Good luck!"
"Thank you... and send my regards to the Other Four."
"Will do." - And with that, King Sombra's spirit vanished to the depths...
He opened the door, checked...
The streets were empty...
*Let's do this...* - and he ran off to the target...
3 Caught
The old door made a screeching noise, like a tuneless violin being played by a inexperienced amateur violinist.
It made him shiver.
*Back to the little shop of horrors...*
He wanted to cough due to the dust but he couldn't alert the prey, and he didn't even know who was the hunter.
It was her territory, not his.
The stallion crossed the small entrance hall to contemplate the abandoned place, not so different from where he was sheltered moments ago, but that didn't matter in the moment. The trapdoor was there, leading to the basement, or "anthill" how Mane was calling It in his thoughts, because that place where they met couldn't be the only room down there.
*Time to work.*
He opened the trapdoor very slowly, praying to not make a single screech and sound the alarm. Sucess.
Next part: Go down the stairs, with the same precaution. Failure...
The stairs were made of old wood, and most of them seemed replaced by new ones, but that didn't ceased the constant noises.
*It's like she made It on purpose... like an alarm system." - he thought - *This one isn't like the others... she's TOO MUCH careful Plus! She sensed my presence through my fear... this is bad... by the time being, she maybe already knows I'm here even before I touch the trapdoor.*
He started to see the muddy floor at the end of the stairs.
"*Night vision..." - He whispered, and the magic flowed inside his head, changing the green of his eyes to a more bright one. Much better.
As soon Mane reached to the underground level, the trapdoor on top of the stairs closed with a loud noise, followed by a click. It started...
*Well shit... no turning back now.*
He started to roam the room. It changed since that day. Most of the bodies were gone, but the beds stayed in the exact same place, just like the tools he littered in that day, in the mossy mud.
Mane started to have a cold feeling in his spine, as if he was being watched, but he didn't know from where.
*BANG!!!*
The metallic explosion made Mane jump terrified by the unexpected factor. But It didn't end there.
Followed by a very bright light from the walls, combined with the night vision spell, created a flash-bang effect, blinding him in place.
While rolling on the ground rubbing his eyes hoping for a quick recovery, steps started to be heard.
The colors started to come back but still shuffled, but there was more pink than normal.
She didn't move... she waited instead...
"You got balls to come back here..." - said the pink mare.
"W-what..?" - Muttered Mane trying to get on his hooves.
But he got interrupted by a tremendous kick in his chest, with the familiar strength of an earth pony, rolling him away from the mare.
"You know what they say..." - She said calmly, walking towards him. - "The secret to live longer..." - And delivered a kick in his stomach - "... is not getting into other's business."
Mane tried to talk, but the last kick made him curl in pain. She was stronger than her appearance.
"And you... decide tO COME HERE!!!"
About to kick the grey stallion in the face, she got launched in the air against a hospital bed with a corpse on It.
He stood up with his horn smoking from the magic shock-wave, without showing any pains.
"Aren't you a merciful one..." - He said, raising an eyebrow at her.
"I have my standards..." - Said the pink mare, grabbing a butcher knife from a table.
"I see... you're the first one that didn't try to stab me when I was defenseless. Instead, a kick in my chest, a kick in the belly, and almost one in my head, while doing small talk."
"You talk a lot."
"So do you. May I know your true name before I finish the job?"
"Why do you care?!" - She shouted angrily - "You came here to try kill me and you wanna know my name?"
"You see, unlike you and the others I hunted down..." - He posed in attack - "I don't forget the ones I kill..."
"And I won't forget your face, must admit... and you will end up in my walls! AS A TROPHY! IN A SILVER BOARD!!!"
And they charged at each other...
4 Wise Prey
The noise was endless.
Metal on rock, magic on wood, all shorts of combinations.
The mare had her metallic weapons. Mane had his mind power.
And each one with their own skills.
Each room was literally destroyed. Shelves broken into pieces. Corpses split apart by magic blasts. Broken glass and wood splinters, along with rust, mud and rotten flesh
The battle had passed to a bigger room, not so different of the other ones: Body parts, all short of blades, autopsy material, blood stained beds.
"I'll have your eyes! In a flask apart!"
"Come get them then! Yours remind me of sapphires!" - He answered preparing an attack - "I would embalm them for a necklace! They are too beautiful..."
"...Sh-Sh-SHutUP!!" - And she throws the scalpels of various sizes, each one almost hitting Mane in every part she aims. Deflected by the small shields he summons, It was all about timing and a matter of centimeters, but mostly, a game of guessing.
*She has skill! Every hit she tried could have killed me!* - He turned his head for a second - *Daaamn! The blades of these small scalpels just penetrated solid concrete!! Who the fuck I'm actually dealing with?!*
He barely turned his head and a medium sized shaving razor scrapped right his ear, taking a bit of his grey fur with It.
She showed a creepy white grin.
She could see she didn't miss that time, that the stainless steel actually struck him, even If it was nothing.
"Teehee..." - The opponent giggled
The appearance of her face made Mane shiver, she was looking at him in the eyes, with a death wish.
*Don't show fear! Don't fall in her mind games... she's tricking me into attacking...*
The pink mare charged with a trench knife, blind running without caring. The knife in her mouth, just by Mane's neck height.
*She's crazy! But that doesn't matter...* - He grabs a heavy butchering knife with his mouth - *At that speed, I don't need much strength to strike her down. Good...*
Five meters.
He starts gathering pressure in his leg muscles. Eyes on each other's eyes.
She keeps running.
Three meters.
He balances and raises his front hoofs in the air, turning the edge of the blade in his mouth down, in a way to strike her head.
She kept running.
One meter...
As soon she got close enough, Mane let his body weight fall along with the knife in his mouth.
All the sudden, the tables got turned.
In a second, she got from suicidal to shifty:
Before Mane let It fall, she passed the dagger to her hoofs, somehow holding , and she assumes an unusual pose, in her back hooves knees, sliding in the floor.
Her sharp blade glides in the stallions grey belly, leaving a superficial super dark red line behind.
After the show, she gets up in a normal way, in her four hooves.
Mane was stunned by the speed of his opponent.
- *Wha-what just happened..?? I couldn't even see what she did!*
His front hooves land on the floor, and his mouth wide open letting the heavy weapon fall.
"Face It, you don't know me... I can have the agility of a pegasus if I want."
"Y-you sure d-do..."
"Feeling weak..? What a shame, I was enjoying myself... "- She mocked with a laugh.
"Y-you're crazy... You ARE INSANE!"
She dropped her trench knife, in a very calm way and started walking slowly to him.
And her eyes showed a death stare, her pupils contracted, revealing more of her blue eyes, eyes Mane couldn't stop staring. They were too beautiful for such personality.
"Why. Why! What have you done to me?!"
"I knew you would come... would there be any other reason to come back here after what you saw that day? Besides, not many know of this place, you're clearly a bounty hunter. And a good one, must admit! And so, I prepared traps... that loud noise and light at the beginning? I saw you were a unicorn, and you would use a night vision spell, not many unicorns know cause It's made for military use only, so my guess was, you have magical training, but not physical one. You are strong, yes, but not into fighting, but with magic. So, sooner or later you would get hit."
"Qu-quite an explantion... you're v-very smart..."
"Thank you... and so, I bathed every knife here with a powerful sedative!"
Mane's eye pupils retracted in fear, those thirty seconds of panic that day were enough for her. He has been studied, strengths and weaknesses, and he walked into a trap all along.
It was the definitive moment of what she really was, NOT a normal earth pony. She had the strength of her race, the speed of a pegasus and the keen mind of an unicorn, and with her mindset, a true killing machine.
She stopped walking, they were face to face again.
"Why are you still trying?" - She asked.
" 'Cause It's how I roll... I survived..." - The sedatives were starting to make the true effect - "I-I didn't survive this shit world... to die like th-this..."
"How brave, giving the circumstances... now... what did you call me moments ago..? And be quick! Before the sedatives reach your brain."
"A-again..?"
She nods.
"Crazy... bitch..."
He gave a last look in those deep blue eyes, has her expression turned from a cute smile into an terrific raging one, showing all her teeth grinding, her face full of wrinkles from such anger towards the grey stallion, as if those two words touched her deepest dark feelings.
And turning her back at him, he received a powerful kick right in the middle of his face. Knock out...
"I win..."
Author's Notes:
I had a Sherlock Holmes moment there...
5 Caught
The air was nearly unbreathable, this alone made him come back to his senses.
A buzzing sound inside is head, and his vision shuffled, combination of the kick and the sedative.
He tried to take a hoof to his face, but he can't move.
Another try. Same result.
While the effects started to vanish even more, he notices where he was. In the same room where the fight ended.
*S-smart... she also saw I'm a heavy bastard... so she ended the fight in here to make It easier for her...*
At least he could move his head, looking to all sides.
Situation analysis time...
Stuck, against a wooden table.
Hooves, held locked to stretched chains, holding his members away from his body.
Environment analysis...
Not too dark, a few lamps in the dirt ceiling.
Floor, clean showing some marble mosaics, strange for such place.
Four tables in front of him. One contains all shorts surgical equipment, super clean as in factory new.
One containing all shorts of knifes, small, big, too big, like a slaughterhouse.
The other one, containing tools, a drill, a torch bathed into petrol, a lighter, a sledgehammer, a pickaxe, an axe.
Next to this one, was a iron bucket with a iron bar, inside the bucket, burning coals.
The final table was the most simple one... nothing...
A stainless clean steel table.
All of them with small wheels.
Something touched his sleeping muscles.
"AH! You're awake... how was the good sleep..?"
"Heavy..." - mumbled Mane against is will
"I guess! A kick plus a sedative for somepony of your weight in one hell of a combination!" - She laughed. - "So... shall we proceed..?"
*I have to get the fuck out of here! I need to buy time and distraction!*
He spotted the light switch in the wall, but for a reason he couldn't focus on It.
*She putted a magic ring on my horn... fuck...*
She walked normally to the locker in the corner, and she assumes again an unusual pose.
She balanced in her back hoofs, and stands in a bipede pose, showing the beauty of her body's back and her rear muscles, slightly covered by her razor straight dark pink tail. Such contemplation made Mane confused.
While dressing an apron that would make anypony panic. Made out of real coats showing numerous cutie marks.
"So... uh... nice... place?"
She interrupted her dressing action and turned around surprised with her ears raised.
"Thanks..?"
An awkward silence filled the room.
"Also... nice apron?"
"What the actual fuck I just said?!"
"You're not that sane of mind are you..?"
"Not at all..."
"I see, but you must know this, you're the actual first one talking to me, but trying to make an actual conversation!"
"Really..? No offense, but I don't think many in this situation would be willing to talk with their executioner."
"Haha! I guess..." - She looked at him with a smile - "So! You're a bounty hunter?"
"You said It before knocking me out..."
"True... true... And what made you come after me?"
She turned around and kept dressing the terrifying apron.
"Money... glory... and I guess redemption."
She turned around to him with a intrigued face.
"Money and glory, I understand... but redemption? Is my head that valuable?! WHO DO YOU WORK WITH?!! THE ROYAL GUARD?! THE LUNAR GUARD?!!"
"Another sudden change of behavior, she didn't like that word. She's a true psychopath, but with feelings... I can play along with these..."
"VERY valious."
"HOW much?!"
"I don't remember, but what if I tell you you're the most wanted assassin in Equestria, let alone nopony knows your true appearance! Just some facts!"
She seemed confused...
"I'm not buying that. AND HOW do you know that assassin It's me..? Hmm?"
"Ohh a challenge..?"
"Alright! In every crime scene I sneaked in, besides holding my guts inside me, I examinated the bodies of each victim. No vital organs, bones most of times smashed in a certain places instead of cut. But the most noticeable, cutie marks missing!"
She looked at the apron and giggled.
"Thank you for noticing..." - She blushed a bit - "But you know, many killers also like to take a trophy with them. That doesn't prove It's me!"
"The many flasks in the other rooms, all holding vital organs inside with a conservative liquid or substance, and I would say It's an alcoholic based thing. Explains the slight alcohol smell from the bodies, cause for a huge time of conservation of the organs inside glass, It's alcohol gel based, so the alcohol doesn't evaporate that quickly. Reason why the corpses had a strange unusual smell of conserve."
He looks at the brand new surgery kit of the first table.
"And for such expert conservation, I can say you sell them in the black market. Explaining how and why you afford such expensive and clean equipment. Every organ must go clean and most of them are expensive."
"And how do you explain the smashed bones then..?" - She looked insecure, holding her homemade apron.
"You have good blades, but I admit I'm feeling a bit mad at you, not only cause of my current situation. But how bad you misuse them! They are blunt, most of them don't have a cutting edge. And for a butchering knife, the weight would do most of the work, but in your case, they were like thin hammers, instead of cutting of trying to cut, they just smash the coat, the muscles, and after repeated strikes in trying to cut a limb, you end up smashing the bones. And you end up using a wood saw, explaining why the most times the muscles were so roughly cut, and by the time being, you are so mad that you don't even clean the tools..."
He finished while looking at the saw with rotten flesh attached to It's blade.
She was surprised with the examination. Stunned in place.
They look at each other in the eyes.
"You're unique... Not like the others, every fucking time!" - She started doing ridiculous faces, as if she was thinking something completely different
"Don't do this!"
"Why you do this!"
"Let me out!", "Please, I won't tell anypony!"
"ARGH! I must admit, I'm feeling a bit bad for killing you, 'cause you're the only one that actually talked to me in years!" - She screamed after stopping doing expressions.
"I'm pretty sure of that, cause the other ones are silenced..."
"They wouldn't shut up!"
"Oh excuse me! Miss Murder!"
"THE FUCK YOU SAID TO ME?!!"
In a blink she rushed at him, taking a hammer and ready to strike his face.
When she stopped and gazed his green eyes up close.
His angry expression didn't change.
"Well? What are you waiting for?!"
"Your eyes... I can't do It..."
"Wait, what??" - His face changes in surprise.
She dropped the hammer and started crying.
Walking backwards, she curled on the marble floor and started crying, holding her tail to cover her face.
"Again? This was unexpected. What's with my eyes?? It's like they triggered something on her. Feelings. Let's see her reaction to this..."
"What's wrong?"
"W-what..?" - She sobbed while trying to cover her tears.
"Why are you crying? What's with my eyes?"
"It doesn't matter! Fuck you!"
"I wanna know..."
She uncovered her face showing her blue eyes covered in tears.
"Ok... When I was little... My sister once found in the mines a gem..."
"She has a sister?!! I bet she's crazy like her..."
"And that gem would take our family out of our misery... living in a rock farm is rough..."
"Wait!... a ROCK farm?" - He asked with a smirk.
"Yes, and I see your face! Laugh and I take the sledgehammer to your privates!"
Mane gulped after that threat and decided to shut up.
"Not while I'm still alive!"
"Anyway... one day I was playing with the emerald, and a big one, and I went to the woods close of our house. And... a bunch of thieves saw me. After being beaten, they took It... and... I had to tell my parents of course... you can guess the rest..."
"She just shared a story of her childhood, and a sad one. Must say, she sure was irresponsible, but who would beat a innocent filly? Let alone a poor one from a poor family!"
"I'm sorry..."
"I don't need your sympathy!" - Her mood changed to an aggressive one - "Every time I had a fucking "friend", It was just a backstab! Laughed! Beaten! Insulted! And for what?!! Their own fun! So I decided to have fun myself too!!"
"So... you do this for your hate to society?"
"Indeed! And you came her to try finish me! Making them a "favor"! "
"Well allow me! Look around you! You're still confused why they want you dead?!"
"She keeps swamping her moods. I may get killed if I keep teasing her, but I can gather some information."
"And they wanted me dead mentally, and they got what they want! Now that I think of It... I already lost too much time with his!"
She finished in putting the apron and walked fast in Mane's direction.
"Fuck! The only way out is mentally playing on her... but I see something on her..."
- "I can be your friend..."
She stopped dead in her tracks.
"The fuck you just said..?"
"I can be... your friend."
Didn't take long to receive a punch from the mare, leaving his cheek red and his eye flinching.
"I know that joke... It's not funny anymore!"
"I'm not joking..." - He tried
"How can I know?" - She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Then get a comfortable place to sit, cause if you think your past was hard and unforgiving... then fuck you, you don't know shit, and I mean It..."
After being offended again, she could have punched him again or take a knife to his heart, but instead, she took his suggestion. She sit, took off her apron and looked at him...
-
"He's unique... not like the others. He discovered my place, came back in bravery, dared to fight me, didn't gave up, didn't run away besides that day... and even in captivity and close to his end, he still has the courage to talk normally with me, instead of screaming to let him go. And now, he's convinced his past story in harder than mine. I'm actually interested..."
"I'm listening..."
Author's Notes:
Another Sherlock Holmes thing I had there.
About Mane's past, the first time I tried to write a FIC, it would be from his youth to the current moments, but It was a complete failure.Which made me quit writing for months, but then I returned with new ideas.
Instead from a "fixed start", I decided to start ahead of the time, which leaded to this FIC...
6 Inner Demons
Four hours of story telling.
From childhood, until that moment.
No interruptions, no questions. Some parts told calmly, others a bit faster. Sometimes the unavoidable tears from both of them.
She didn't take her eyes out of him, which made her prisoner confused. Was she afraid of him escaping, or was she paying full attention?
Probably both of them.
He finished talking, and she takes carefully the bottle of water to his mouth. He thanked her for her kindness despite his situation.
"um... you're welcome..." - she mumbled.
"So... can I know your name now..?" - Mane asked in a tired tone.
"Why do you still wanna know?"
"Because in my afterlife, I wanna know your name. Not only because you'll kill me, but I'll admit... I never saw somepony like you before, deadly but at the same time beautiful in every aspect..."
She blushed with an insecure mood.
"... I can see in your eyes, my story isn't that different from yours in many ways, so It seems we talk the same language. And sometimes, you look guilty of the things you do. You just have to admit... you have a mental illness..."
Her face changed in slight anger, somehow giving her a cute look in Mane's perspective.
He shows a tiny smile to her.
The mare's mind was spiraling, taking her hooves to her head, has if she was getting a brainstorm in her deep conscious.
All Mane could do was looking at her confusion and await for a result...
"Should I trust him... he looks so nice than he looks..."
"WHAT the FUCK are you thinking?? He tried to kill you!"
"But he was so open about himself... and he had his reasons..."
"And he will look way nicer when you cut him open!"
"You stopped to listen to his story... you even gave him water and some food..."
"Remember what he said! Your head is at a high price! And he came for that!"
"He knows I have problems... better yet, he noticed without me saying about It!"
"So what?! Just because a head hunter shared his story and called you beautiful doesn't mean anything!"
"We have the same issues in our pasts... but some of his are so cruel..."
"Are you even listening to me?!?!"
"... poor thing... they aren't comparable to some of mine..."
"Are you seriously crying of pity?! He's worthless!!! Just like you!! What good will he make for you?! Tell me! Look at what you did! You gained fame thanks to what you did to those who shamed you! This is your art! This made you worthy! And HE will be another piece!"
"You know what! I'm sick, I'm fucking sick of listening to you! I don't wanna listen to you!2
"Oh... is that It..? You know the consequences, like last year..."
"I'm willing to try!!" - she shouted out of her mind.
"What the fuck?!"
She glanced at him with a terrifying face, never seen before in his life, a death stare in one eye, and a desperate sad look in the other.
One side was metaphorically sparking in rage and death, and the other in sadness and despair.
The mare rushed at the big tools table and grabbed the hatchet, and aimed at Mane's head.
His expression changed from confusion to a expressionless one, as if she made up her mind.
"At least make it quick... goodbye..."
And he closed his eyes awaiting his fate, and with a loud bang, the hatchet lands right by his side, failing his head.
In the end of the grip, her hoof holding It with the rest of her in the unusual bipedal pose.
She takes out the hatchet of the wood and hits one of the chains holding the stallion with all her might, making the chain stretch, between his hoof and the wall. With the hit, It made his limb hurt with the shock of steel on metal but It did the job.
His front right hoof was free.
"What are you doing?!"
"A move of faith!"
The hatchet flew close of his head, and he could feel the cold steel swinging close of his muzzle.
"Girl! What's happening to you?!"
"Help me!.." - she cried in a despair tone - "...to kill you!" - her voice changed in rage.
She throws the hatchet at his lower zone, landing right between his legs.
"HEY!!!! NOT WHILE I'M ALIVE!!!" - He shouted in all of his panic.
Now she was holding a machete, lighter and quicker.
"Now I won't fail!"
She cuts the air with a swinging sound, and in just in time, he raised his head to avoid getting his throat cut, making her fail by a centimeter.
"STAND STILL!!" - She screamed - "KEEP MOVING!" - Her voice changed
"What the hell are you saying?!!"
She held her hoof with the other, holding the machete in the air, and looks at him, this time looking more desperate than outraged. Her voice saying "kill", but her eyes saying "help".
"A battle with her inner demon..."
She let the machete fell, and before It could strike his head, she shoves her strength to the right, failing completely towards the ground, and cutting the last right chain.
His right side was completely free, and he takes the chance to flee away from the table, in the left wall direction were the chains were, free to move but in a limited range.
Mane started to try pull the chains from the wall in hope to break the steel pegs and be completely free.
When a rather familiar noise was heard behind him, the sound of a mechanical running, filled with steel and energy. Something that brought back memories, scary ones...
He turns around and sees something he has seen before in her hooves...
A brass bock with small steel blades rotating in the an elliptic bar, powered not by electricity but a new technology that has been studied by the Equestrian scientists in the last years.
"No... It can't be... It's the once stolen prototype, stolen by the dead "Greasy Butcher"..."
She charges at him with the device, and he slides out of her way just in time, and the machine hits the concrete wall, sparking rock bits everywhere.
"STAND STILL YOU FUCK!!!"
"NEVER!"
The mare slashes the air, waving the heavy device with some difficulty, in a desperate way to kill him in one strike.
She holds the device behind her head and with a groan, charges a strike.
Again, Mane took her difficulties for chance and dodged the attack, and stretching the last two chains, the device cuts clean his chains.
"Free at last..."
Her nerves cracked.
"You dumb bitch!! LOOK WHAT YOU DID! GET HIM!!! HE CAN'T ESCAPE!!!"
"SHUT UP!!"
Mane takes out the magic ring, and his magic was flowing back in his horn. Stronger than before.
While the out of control mare continued to try in killing him, Mane kept teleporting around the room, dodging every attack and in a hope she would loose her energies. But it seemed every attempt was only bringing her even more.
Rage was a fuel for both of them. The fury of the battle.
But in that rare case, Mane didn't want to escape or kill her. He saw something on her.
Not a maniac that kills for killing, but somepony with a true issue.
"Girl! Stop!"
"NO!"
"I want to help you!"
"Yes please!"
"Legit?!"
"NO!"
"Make up your mind!"
Again, charges him but more slowly. She was getting worn out, by the point of heavy breathing. Finally, she couldn't hold the machine in her hooves.
The unicorn took the chance, and magically took the weapon out of her hooves, threw It to a corner and zapped her in a paralytic spell, and to end It, he glued her four hooves to the ground with his magic.
They stood there, Mane observing her at distance, and she stood there, burying her face in the marble floor with her whole body paralyzed.
As soon he gets closer, she tries to bite his face off but she stands face to face with him by a field of centimeters.
"Miss... please... listen to me."
Her only answer was more attempts with her white teeth, and each one more savage, starting to drop saliva in his face and floor. She stopped... and growled...
"They don't know your appearance..." - his horn started glowing - "but the fury they described was right... you're wild... I like it..."
She didn't move, only showing a glance between her razor straight mane, a feral one, followed by her heavy breathing.
"You know... I'm not gonna kill you, besides, I may not know your true name... but I know some of the nicknames..."
He pointed his horn at her direction, and glowing even stronger, illuminating the whole room.
She growled louder.
"... "Bloody Mare"..."The Cannibal of Ponyville"..."The Organ Eater"... or should I call you... "Cupcake Killer"?"
Hearing those last 2 names, made her scream to the point that her throat was hurting.
And with a strong zap in her forehead, she fell dead in her tracks, asleep in the marble, like nothing of that happened...
7 Mind Cleaning
"Now you fucked up... you FUCKED UP!"
"I told you he wouldn't kill me..."
"Yeah! He did better! He's gonna deliver you to the authorities alive! For a public execution!"
"..."
"Didn't think of that didn't you..?"
"Oh no..."
"Now you realize what you did!? I was doing It for your survival! Now you screwed us up!"
"Interesting..."
"What? You have that death wish?"
"We're being listened..."
"What! Where?! How!? WHO?!!!?"
"He..."
"He..?"
Zooming out, the room was unchanged, except the four tables who were removed.
Her head was like a lamp, glowing white under Mane's spell "Mind Spy". He has been listening the whole time, her deep conscious and different moods, he could only listen but not interfere.
Each moment was interesting, and her sane conscious just spotted his interference but one hundred percent. It was just a feeling...
"Analysis of "patient"... behavior issues, along with bipolarity. Many mindsets, her main two, a demon hungry for flesh, fueled by rage caused by her tormenting past, abused by the society, that created an unforgiving hate towards everypony. The other one, a sane mare who recognizes her mistakes, shows feelings, who wants to come back to sanity, but ninety nine percent of time It's submissive. I can call myself lucky that she decided to strike at this time... Indications her hate is stronger than herself... I need to show my way to her... Let's wake up the "sleeping beauty" and see her reactions to her situation..."
His horn stopped glowing, along with her head, and she woke up slowly.
Tried to move, not possible at all... besides her head. Her senses snapped and she looks around frenetically. Her hooves were chained to the walls, and her body against a wooden table. She realized she was in the same spot he was before.
-"What! This wan't supposed to happen!!"
"AH! You're awake... how was the good sleep..?" - he mimics her in a mocking voice
"Stalked I guess..." - Took her a while to think of the answer.
"By who, sweetie?"
"D-Don't call me that! Stupid!" - She blushed - "You of course! You got into m-my mind! I...I know It!!"
"How cute you look..."
"W-why are you talking like that..?!" - She looks again at the chains and her pose against the table - "Oh... I see... you naughty boy..."
Her face blushed even more, and in a naughty expression, smiling with "bedroom" eyes.
"WWhat you mea-........ wait, no! NO!! NOO!! THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK!!!"
"Quite unexpected!"
"But that means..." - she stood silent for a second, and then released a blood curling scream - "YOU TOUCHED ME!!! YOU PERVERT!!!! I'LL KILL YOU!!! WHATEVER YOU DID TO ME AND MY VIR-!!!!"
"SHUT UP!!!" - And he launched a spell at her mouth, muffling her - "First... I DIDN'T touch you... you can check later... erm, however you girls do It... second... I'm gonna let you go, after some checks."
"Mmmf!!" - He undoes the spell in her mouth, letting her talk - "*GASP*, Thank you! And check what?!"
"First, who and how is your sister..?"
"What kind of question is that?! I won't tell, weirdo!"
"You mentioned you had a sister, and now, tell me... who is she?"
"She's just my sister!"
"Is she dead?"
"Yes."
"Alright... and your parents?"
"Also dead..."
"By you?"
"The hell is wrong with you?!! Of course not!"
"Of course not!" Also because you're a bad liar!"
Her expression went full surprised, as if she got caught.
"Your parents are aging well, true earth race health must say. And your sister too, and the other two too!"
"You creep! How do you know that?"
"While you were under my spell, I took the chance to take a walk around your... basement. And that soon, I won't enter that kitchen ever again! Because luckily I found the bathroom in time, the reason, I dared to open the fridge!" - he said in an upset tone - "You're a fucking cannibal!"
"How dare you touch my stuff you bast- *MMMMFH!!!"
"Girl..." - He muffled her again in his magic - "I'm not the chained one now. You answer me and I'll let you go..."
"*mmmh- *gasp*... fine..."
"Anyway, your eating habits are not of my business. The thing is, you have a family, and they must be worried about you, and seems they don't know jack-shit of what you've been doing in these last years, and jack is out of town... if you get me..."
"They don't need to know..."
"Of course not, you don't want your poor old mom to die with a infarct in her heart. A direct hit would be the header of the news paper with your name on It, every description of your actions, and to the final punch, a date of your execution!"
"And congratulations! You did It! You got me alive! It's what you wanted!"
"Alive yes, but not for that purpose, my dear..."
"Uh?"
"I'm gonna redeem you..."
"Pff! What are you? Some mad god?" - She giggled in an evil tone
"Nah... I'm not one... But I'm kinda related to one..."
"What?"
And he touched with his horn in her forehead, followed by a purple magic stream.
Dived in her mind, spiraling in her visions of her actions, thoughts, memories.
He spotted two entities sitting next to each other, they looked exactly like the pink mare, looking at each other with disgust.
The only difference between them was the tone of their colors.
"Hey..."
"It's him!" - said the lighter one
"Him indeed! The fucker responsible for this shit!"
"That was easy..." - he mumbled
Mane didn't give a chance to the darker entity. He chained It down in a magic stream, almost impossible to break.
The figure started struggling and roaring, just like her physical body. They were now both tied up in both ways.
Mentally and physically
After some moments, the dark figure stopped her efforts, with the light one staring at her dark copy and Mane's figure.
"You're now in charge." - He said happily to the bright one
"Wh-what?!"
"But I noticed something on you... you're defenseless like that, so I'm gonna make you a favor, but I need to trust you..."
"Y-yes you can! I'll be glad!" - She said louder, tired of all those years under dominance of her darker self.
Mane stabbed his horn on the dark figure, draining It's powers into a magic ball, a really dark one overflowing in energy.
By the end of the process, the dark one was purely weak, crawling on the mare's mind, but the stallion tied her up even more, dominating the beast.
The light one was looking at the orb, in fear and intrigue. What was his idea?
She was about to ask, when he interrupted first.
"THIS... this is all her knowledge, this is her energy, her fury, rage, memories, strength... this is all the the matter and power of your darker self."
"Are you gonna destroy It..?"
"No... instead, I'm gonna fuse you with it!"
The light one stumbled in her hooves in fear.
"I...I Don't want to!"! - Panic in her voice was clear.
- "Listen... Please... I'll explain better what I'm gonna do... this is nothing more but something I did with myself many years ago. I had a complex messed up mind like you, but I came to terms with myself through this process."
"o..k..?"
"You are the most reliable mindset, you know self-control, and like that, I'm pretty sure you can control these powers I just sucked out of your former self. Like I said, you're defenseless like that, and by fusing you with her powers, you will be strong like her."
"That's... awesome, I guess..."
"But for your actions, I must do something. Something you must live with."
"I understand my position..."
"I'm glad you do, sweetie... you see, her memories and wrath are included."
"But I can control them like you said."
"Oh yes you can, the final reason why I'm doing this, It's cause I'm recruiting you!"
"What the fuck?!"
"To come with me and clean this world."
"No! I'm not gonna kill again!"
Mane pulled a fraction of the orb and threw at the light pink entity's head. Her eyes seemed to flash.
Flashed in memories, all of the bad ones in her life came together at once.
The thieves that beat her and took the emerald.
The bullies at school that punched her in a daily basis.
The rough life at the rock farm.
The street life in search of food, where getting killed was a price to take.
Everything came to her new sub-conscious.
"Now you understand... I don't know how many, but the years you have spent underground, you missed a lot... and trust me, the world is getting even more mad. Crawling in filth, crime, blood and tears of innocent."
"What are you trying?"
"Girl! Wake up! This world just got worse! And I just returned the memories to you, multiply all of them by ten. THAT is how the world is in these days! And tell me! Are you gonna be that selfish? And you listened to my story! The whole story! My fame isn't that better like yours!"
"I guess..."
"And if we go outside, the chances are, we are gonna get killed by the Royal Guard, so my suggestion is... That soon, our redemption will never ever come, but if we are going to die in a battle, let at least be a battle where we try to show our good side! This world has enough shit already!"
She standed still, thinking, she was confused. His suggestions were completely against her new nature.
"I'm sorry, but I can't... I really wish I could help, but I can't..."
"And I know WHY! - and with that, he launched the dark orb at her."
She let herself be swallowed by the energy. The near impossible was happening right there, a fusion of opposites.
Mane knew she wasn't that weak, she could handle all the energy.
"I will leave you now... enjoy the transition..."
8 Coming to terms
Has soon he left her mind, he rushed out of the room and locked It.
In his mind war, Mane thrashed the place where he was like a ravenous tornado, in a battle in his mind.
Fusing opposite mindsets was a dangerous operation, and It was his first time doing it to somepony else.
The final result can be very random, mainly for a mare like her.
He could hear her struggle in muffled screams, and was clear she was rolling on the floor.
"Better leave her alone for some moments..."
He headed through the underground hall, exploring every room, but these weren't the ones he was looking for.
Each one was pretty much the same apparatus, tools, knifes, blood spills, and from time to time, skeletons.
How could she live in there? Besides that, how does her system relays on pony meat?
Maybe a desperate move to survive, since she had problems in the outside world. And with that, got used to It.
The electricity was stolen from outside, clearly, and the water condition was poor.
The furniture was old and half destroyed, as if It was salvaged from a dump.
Conditions to live in that place were poor, and the money she used to get was expended in more knifes and other materials, besides being used to make a better life.
More he explored, more used he got. The mutilated bodies had less effect in his guts, only the smell, of rotten flesh, rust, murky water, among other disgusting things.
Finally, he found her bedroom.
It was small, a light bulb was all the light there and It was almost in It's end. The bed was a old mattress in a wooden frame and rough pillow. Next to It, a butcher knife.
The walls were wood and concrete put together.
In a wall there were pictures of her and her family.
Mom, Dad, her and 3 sisters. The way she talked to them were by letters, delivered to a fake address and picked up later.
And the process to send back was the same, she sends with the fake address. Clever.
The wall behind him, where the door was situated, made out of old concrete was all written on in blood.
Messages more likely to herself.
"Control yourself"
"What have I done?"
"Help!"
He quickly recognized those were messages from her other mindset, in a urge of help if anypony would find that place, and those.
"Seems I did my part then... and after that, I think I can persuade her..."
Mane leaved the room, and the fussing in the room stopped.
Time to go check.
He walked silent to the door, and he couldn't hear anything.
She could be dead, or worse, the fusion could have gone wrong.
Going back to one of the other rooms, he picks a knife with his magic and returns to the door. It was time to face It.
He would have to stab her if she would attack him. No way he would go through that nightmare again.
There was enough problems in his life, but killing her would bring more to him on his head.
That would make three nightmares he would see every night.
The stallion took a deep breath and putted the knife right in front of him.
He unlocked the door, opened it and she wasn't there.
Baffled in confusion, he walked inside looking for her.
And with a door banging behind him, she jumped at his back in a surprise tackle.
He lost control of the knife with It ending on the other side of the room, while struggling to take her out of him.
He rolls on the floor and she jumps away.
She was there, looking at him. Just looking...
Both of them stayed in their positions.
She simply sited and kept looking.
"Are you... gonna kill me? Or at least try?"
"Um... that would be rude."
"I see... how do you feel?"
"Different... It's been years since last time."
She walked towards him, while Mane gets back in his hoofs.
She didn't change outside. It kept the beauty that makes the stallion's nervous.
Her eyes show a look of gratitude and happiness.
"Can you still... stand up?"
"How?"
"You know, in two hooves."
She posed has requested, making her slightly taller than Mane. And by surprise, advancing at him, delivering a hug.
He blushed... completely red on his cheeks. The unexpected factor was beyond huge.
With his head against her pink chest, he sniffs her pinkish coat, and the smell made him drowsy, in a way he couldn't explain, but It was strangely attractive.
It reminded him of the days when he was in Canterlot, and every time he had the chance, to go to the royal gardens to smell the flowers, and the mare's essence was like a rose.
Such impact made him hug her against him, while he kept sniffing her coat heavily and louder.
She quickly shoved him with a loud slap.
"HEY!! WE BARELY KNOW EACH OTHER!" - And her eyes showed anger. Showing the fusion gone completely well. She had control in her feelings.
"Erm... sorry..?" - He apologized with a red cheeck.
"...It's alright..." - And she showed mercy and some happiness.
"Everything went well has expected! Fuck yeah!"
"So, now what..?"
"I'm the one who ask It now. First... I would like to know your name."
"I guess... It's safe to say now." - She was confused, lost because of what she gone through a hour ago - "You first! Please!"
"Alright... I'm Mane. Mane Shaker. Pleased to meet you."
"My turn I guess..." - Took her a while - "Do you promise not to laugh?"
"Why would I?"
"It's a ridiculous name."
"I think mine is even more. Come on! I told mine first like you asked."
"*gulp*... P... Pinkamena... Diane Pie..."
A flame was born inside his chest. Again, something he couldn't explain, but It was nice.
"It's... It's a cute name!"
"No It isn't."
"Why you think so?"
"Everypony has their name related to their functions or cutie marks! I have 3 damn balloons in my ass!!"
Mane burst in laugh with that sentence, and Pinkamena kept a septic look.
"Then tell me! What does "Mane Shaker" stand for?"
"Well... I once went to a concert... you know, metal. And... I started bagging my head in a way others never saw. So I found myself guiding the headbang of everypony in every part and every concert I went."
"Ok..." - An awkward look in her face.
"But my cutie mark, an iron cross, has other meaning. Besides being a symbol in metal music, It's also a symbol of gangs, and... war."
"Can you tell me the part of "war"?"
His pupils shrunk, with his head swirling in his past. Pinkamena could read in his eyes.
"It's ok... I understand... I did horrible things too. You don't have to share."
"No no! Thank you... but I'm not a warmonger or anything like that."
"Oh. You participated into one?"
"No."
"So you were part of a gang?"
"No!"
-"Then what!"
"It's a thing from somepony strangely related to me!"
"Ah! Hereditary?"
"Kind of... but It's not related to me, besides the music part."
"I see..."
"There's something I wanna ask you, um..."
"Pinkamena."
"Thank you, Pinkamena."
"I would be glad to help you out, after what you have done for me."
"I don't think It's an easy question, but... can I live here with you?"
- "Wait what?! This place barely has condition!"
"I can help."
"Ok... well... I don't think that fills my gratitude."
"Oh?"
"I'll join your personal cause. This world needs to be better. I want to help you. I want It to be a better place for us, the others and my family... do you have a family?"
Mane looked into her eyes, no expression. He bit his lower lip to hold the sadness inside.
He couldn't show he was weak. If he wanted to be accepted by her.
"I'm sorry..."
"Yes... I don't have."
"That's so bad..." - She shared her sadness - "Do you AT LEAST have a... past?"
"Of course I fucking do!" - his mood changed to an irritated one very quickly, as if the simple question was an insult towards him.
"I didn't mean to offend. Is It that bad?"
"Yes!"
"I won't ask then..."
"Thank you..."
They walked outside the room, and went together to every other room. Analyzed and talked.
Both would have a quest ahead. Cleaning, reconstruction, etc...
"We need resources."
"No problem. I have contacts." - Said Pinkamena with confidence.
"I have some too... but they are scattered around the country."
"That's even better. We can get different stuff!"
"The problem is getting in contact with them. It's hard when the Royal Guard is on you."
"That makes us two."
"I don't think so. The outside world only knows you for your doing. They don't have a single idea how you look like!"
"You think so?"
"We need to organize ourselves..."
They went back to the big room were they were at.
Mane and Pinkamena faced each other, into each other's eyes.
"Do you feel It..?"
"I think so."
"That what I thought..."
They looked at the wooden table and the broken chains. The tables with the different materials.
First mortal enemies, now new friends... the world is a strange place for those two, but even more strange were events like those.
"You know what, Mane..?"
"Hmm..?" - He looked at her.
"I think this is the start of an everlasting friendship..."