Equestria: The BEN Chronicles

by HylianJuggalo

First published 22nd of June, 2012

Everyone knows BEN has been freed, but what about Jadusable, the kid who started it all?

It is May 25th, 2012.

Two years following the events of the haunted 'Majora' cartridge, newly minted brony, Jadusable prepares himself for his junior college graduation. Returning home from a drunken night of partying, he soon finds himself having issues with his old Nintendo 64, yet again. Following a few... technical difficulties, Jad finds himself in quite the strange land. Equestria? No. This place isn't real, it's only a cartoon.

Or is it truly? Soon, Jadusable finds that all is not well, and this place? It certainly isn't how the cartoon portrayed it.

Follow Jadusable's first-hand account in this mystical land as he discovers this new darkness that slowly taints it...

And comes face to face with a mortal enemy in the process, all the while, asking one simple question.

"How do I get home?"

This question may never be answered, but Jad will soon come to find a wicked scheme that threatens far more than Equestria and the real world...

*EDIT - 7/7/12* Yes, folks, this an unofficial sequel to the BEN Drowned ARG. If you have no clue what the hell this is, please feel free to view it in the link below for some back story.

http://inuscreepystuff.blogspot.com/2010/09/majora.html

(Takes place in real time, between seasons 2 and 3. Did I mention this is my first fic ever? xD)

Also, best read with the lights off >:D

Chapter I: A Nerd By Any Other Name

Life wasn’t bad for me when I was a kid. I had pretty much everything I could ever ask for. My most fond of memories was playing with my Nintendo 64. I would always play with it when I got home from school, usually shirking my homework. Recently though, in college, I’ve been rather afraid to go near that machine that once brought me joy. Why? Perhaps you know the story of BEN. If you haven’t, feel free to Google ‘Ben Drowned’. If you have, guess what? I was the one who lived it.

My real life name is Nicholas Brownford, though you may better know me, however, by my online alias, Jadusable. I’m currently a junior in college, and have been trying to approach a game development degree. Perhaps my downfall though, which takes a lot of my time away that could be spent studying, is focused on ponies. Yes, you heard that right. I’m a brony, do we have a problem? Before you start bashing me, let me first explain what got me into this bizarre craze. Not too long after the incident with the cartridge, the first season of the show aired a few months after the event. For about a year, I bashed the show, and its fanbase, wondering why the hell anyone would watch such a thing. I was quick to discover the many sides of the fandom, from the reserved and friendly fans that did nothing more than watch the show, to the piles of musicians that dedicated original pieces to the show, to the ‘hardcore’ bronies that breathed, ate, and slept pony, creating their own original characters and making fan animations, all the way to the more ‘saucy’ and disturbing fannon. However, soon after that time passed, I kept hearing reasons to watch: It gives good life lessons! It cures depression! It-

Right there. You had me at depression. You see, the incident with that cursed cartridge, has only worsened over time. Despite my attempts to remove BEN from the world, I’ve heard that he’s spread all over the internet. I don’t care if you believe me or not, because, hey, fuck you, I KNOW what happened. That kid’s ghost won’t leave me the hell alone. I get nightmares every once in awhile, and oftentimes, I’m left without hours of precious sleep. BEN still torments me personally every once in great while; he left me in extreme clinical depression (until I started watching Friendship is Magic after the constant therapy visits did nothing), and I failed a year of school because of him, but, I digress, for this was a time for celebration, because today is the day I’m to finally receive my Associates degree. So, even though I looked like hell with only three or so hours of sleep, following another BEN-induced nightmare, I cleaned myself up, dressed well in my best of formal attire, had a nice breakfast of toast, eggs, coffee, and sausage, and went to the main campus auditorium to attend the ceremony. As I was called to give the graduation speech, my heart sank. I began to sweat. I wasn’t much of a public speaker, but I was more than willing to give it a shot. As I approached the podium, I stumbled a bit, but kept on my feet. I could feel my lungs expand and constrict the slowest they may have ever done. I breathed in deeply.

“Just keep it short and sweet...”

“Well everybody, we’re here. I know it’s been quite the journey for some of us - hell, most of us. We’ve crammed, we’ve studied, we’ve lost hours on hours of sleep, we’ve partied with friends, we’ve had a wild ride - or at least I know I have. But you know what? We made it; we are associates in our dream fields. We have most of the education we’ve always dreamed of, and now, it’s time to finish it off. Some of you may be satisfied with just an Associate’s, but I’m not. I’m ready for more, and for whatever life throws at us, I’m sure you’re ready too. Now is our chance to make our mark on the world, so let me ask you all... ARE YOU READY, FOR UNIVERSITY!?”

An explosion of roars and cheers ruptured through the auditorium. I smiled, waved, and walked off the stage to await my degree with everyone else. As the ceremony ended, I was instantly greeted with high fives, hugs, a few kisses from some of the ladies, and fist bumps. But they weren’t cheering because of my speech, no, they were cheering because it was my twenty-first birthday - and I was too. As all my friends and I piled into a convoy of vans and headed to the local nightclub, I fidgeted uneasily in my seat. Not because I wasn’t a drinker, no. I’m a big German guy, I like my booze. I felt uneasy because I was worried things might get bad at the party. I shrugged it off and kept on, however, Insane Clown Posse, my favorite artists (yes, I’m a Juggalo too - a lot of things can happen in two years), blaring out of the speakers. As we piled out, I grabbed my CD from the player, and the beer bong out of the back, and strolled into the structure of multicolored lights and musical wubs that violently rattled the walls. We ordered practically everything on the shelves and commenced our wild night. There were fights, a few blowjobs in the bathroom, a few got kicked out, and about three puddles of vomit were created that night. Some dumb bastard tried to light the place on fire, too. In layman's terms, it was your typical college grad party. I wasn’t very drunk despite the fact that I crushed a bottle of Bacardi and a 24 pack’s worth of Heineken bottles (like I said, I like and can handle my booze). All I could do was relax and enjoy the night as another song came to the speakers, and trying to speak over it, several voices.

"Let's get fucked up!"

“Oi, Nick, great party man!”

“I’m WASTED! Who wanna go at it!?”

“Ha! Bill, stop trying to hump the vending machine, you drunkard!”

“WOOP WOOP!”

“Ma’am, we’re gonna have to ask you to leav-- Aw, god, all over my suit!”

Me? I sat in the back and chilled, slugging down beers. I never really trusted people. In fact, most of these people, some of whom I called friends, were mostly users and punks I knew from classes. More than half of them had next to no money on them, so I had to pay to get them in.

On MY fucking birthday. Bastards.

Before you start pointing fingers, I’d like to point out that It’s not like I don’t like people, I just don’t trust people, and for my own personal reasons. A lot of people, first and foremost, are looking out for themselves in this world before their friends, and rightfully so; the world we live in can often be a tough, unforgiving place. Still, I wish people could be just... I dunno, a bit more loyal. Perhaps they really are my friends, but I can’t really tell; you see, if you can’t already tell, ever since the incident with BEN, I’ve become paranoid about a LOT of things. It's gotten so bad that I even went as far as to stop by the gun store and buy a pistol early in the morning before the graduation ceremony. I have every reason to be paranoid, if you ask me - that kid’s ghost is fucking frightening. It’s a shame that I’m probably the only one (aside from a few people that followed my account of the incident) who actually believes in him. I don’t trust people, and I'm always on alert, that they might stab me in the back at any moment. I slipped two mushrooms into my mouth.

Were they people I could trust, is what it boiled down to. The only people that I knew I could for certain? My family.

“Hey *hic* stud! What’s say you and I go back to the van?”

“Fred, you are REALLY drunk if you’re trying to get with me."

“I... *hic* I know that, Jake.”

*thud*

I sighed. “Fuckin’ dumbasses...”

And none of these people knew I was a brony. If they found out... dear god, I doubt they’d hang with me anymore. Again though, I wouldn’t say they were bad people, this is just how humans are. I’m not saying I'm not guilty of the same shit, I most certainly am. I’ve used people for gain before, and hey, we were just college kids, right? Regardless of what they were like or what they truly thought about me, I would stand by them. They were MY friends, if I wasn’t theirs - it’s important to keep your worldly connections strong and look out for your fellow man, regardless of how they are. So, even if they were users, I’d take care of them as if they were my family. So yes, I’ll admit, I’m quite the softy.

“Fuck it, Imma dance.” I relented, setting my Blue Moon down on the table and hitting the luminescent floor as the current song finished up and kicked into another.

~”I hate college, but love all the parties...”~

As the party ended, I (being the most sober) carefully ushered everybody that was able to move back outside, and called the city for multiple cabs. As everybody piled into the city cars and left, I took a breath and walked back home. I was going to move out of my apartment next week, but for now, I was still living here. I got home and dressed in a casual pair of jeans and a nice red and white button-down shirt with a red tee underneath. I fixed the bend on my glasses with some pliers, and then plopped on my futon, tucking my ICP disc under my shirt. The air in the room was a little constricted, it seemed, but I didn’t think much of it. It was cold too, despite the thermostat being around seventy degrees. I figured the heater must have been busted. I reached for the pistol on my nightstand and slipped it into my belt loop, setting it on safety, and covering it with my shirt. I took the spare magazines that were in my drawer and put them into my belt as well.

“Augh... dear god, my head hurts. I drank too much.”

I grabbed my makeshift wireless N64 controller (thanks to a handy internet tutorial. What CAN’T you find on there nowadays?) and got up to flip the console’s switch. It was Gauntlet Legends tonight, another classic from my childhood that brought fond memories. I continued, playing through vigorously, blasting away hordes and hordes of demons. The mushrooms from the party were starting to wear off, the trippy colors fading away from my vision. Suddenly, my game froze. It was quite typical, especially for a 64 this day in age. I got up, my head still throbbing, and reached for the reset button.
Nothing; the screen was still frozen. Oh well. I turned the switch off.
Still frozen.

“What the fuck?”

Suddenly, without warning, my ceiling lights burnt out. I scowled. First I have to pay for MY party, my game breaks, and now my lights go?

“Oh, God damn it!”

I grabbed my keys. I knew I shouldn’t be driving, but I’m night blind, and can’t see a damn thing in a dark room with no windows, so I absolutely needed to get a replacement light. I went to the door and opened it - or at least tried to; the thing was locked... somehow, from the inside.
“SON OF A BITCH!”

I kept turning the knob, to no avail, so I tried kicking the door down. As weak as it was, it wouldn’t falter.

“Open! Damn it!”

Then, suddenly, my TV began to deliver static. The abrupt noise made me jump, and I let go of the door to remedy the situation. I went around behind it and proceeded to pull the cable, but as I put my hands to the wire, a very familiar song filled the air: the song of healing - in reverse. The TV continued to flicker, and suddenly, out of the blue, I was greeted with the statue’s face on the screen as the static subsided. My heart sank like a stone.

“BEN, I told you. I’m done. Leave me the fuck alone.”

My voice trembled in fear. It was quivering and panicky now.

“What the fuck do you want from me, BEN? Leave me be! Please!”

BEN didn’t say anything, the image just stared. I was growing progressively uneasy. Suddenly, there was the noise of an electrical spark, then, an abrupt whooshing sound, very similar to an industrial-strength vacuum filled my room. The TV delivered a quick white flash, and as soon as it came, it and the sound were gone. So was I.

Chapter II: Not In Kansas Anymore

What’s it like traveling in a wormhole? Well, to put it bluntly, it hurts like shit. Imagine your body traveling at hundreds of miles an hour in two directions at once. It’s like being torn apart in a high speed stretching rack, if you could imagine that. As quick as time and dimensional travel would seem to be, it actually has quite a perceptual delay in your conscience. Though it does indeed happen in a split-second, it actually feels closer to two minutes of waiting.

“FUUUUUU-AUGH!!!!”

I fell out of the sky, screaming for my life. As I collided with the ground, I heard a loud crack, followed by a sharp pain in my chest. I grimaced in agony, seething through my teeth. As I got up, I felt myself gently; a cracked rib. The perfect way to start off…

“Aw man, this sucks.”

I examined myself carefully. My flesh and clothing, as well as belongings seemed quite cartoonish in color and design, appearing to be a midway compromise between something I might have seen from Wallace and Gromit, and Powerpuff Girls. The land itself looked like something out of a colorful pastel painting. Must be a wacky drug trip, but hey, I liked it; I’ll roll with this till it wears off. I surveyed my surroundings. The area seemed awfully familiar. I was surrounded by several apple trees, and there was a barn and a farmhouse a few meters in the distance.

“Where the fuck am I? I know I’ve seen something like this before...”

I checked for my pistol and spare magazines, and procured my CD, which fell from my inner shirt pocket. I slowly approached the house, gently gripping my side. I knocked on the door, and a few moments later, was greeted by a rather strange sight.

What stood before me was not a human being, but a horse. It was an orange coated one, with a blonde mane and a rancher’s hat. On the horse’s backside appeared to be an arrangement of three apples. It stood about three and a half feet tall, coming just over my knee. I quickly hit myself in the face, an exasperated, jaw-dropped expression overcoming me. I gripped my head and shook it a bit.

“What the shit?”

“Well hey there, Sugarc-” The horse began, but stopped and examined me with a particular interest. She didn’t seem to believe I was even standing here. Then again, I didn’t believe SHE was either. Her jaw dropped as well, then she took a step back and took a better look at me.

“Nah, this isn’t real... just the mushrooms gettin’ to me...”

“Oh mah dear golly… Sugarcube, are you a -- a human?” The horse asked me, her eyes widening with what looked like a combination of excitement and fear.

I gave her an inquisitive look, raising one eyebrow. My bewildered expression faded slightly.

“Holy hell, she’s TALKING!?”

“Yes, what of it? Did somebody slip me a couple dozen hits of acid? Am I tripping out or something?”

“Honey, are ya sick? Wou’d ya like to come in fo’ dinner?” She asked, her initial shock fading away as her eyes began to soften into a welcoming gaze. I thought on it for a second. I shivered for some reason, but shook it off, and smiled brightly. She didn’t seem very happy about inviting me in. I think she was just trying to be kind.

“That would be lovely, ma’am, and thank you very much.” I said, as I gently stepped into the house, clutching my side. I silently groaned in pain.

“Now sugarcube, what in tarnation is wrong wit’ ya?”

“Oh, that’s just a broken rib. There’s nothing you can do, miss, so don’t worry about me.” I said, chuckling weakly.

“Aw, now hon’, don’t be talkin’ all that nonsense. We can get ya fixed up right quick; a nice meal and a place to stay for the night. What do ya say?”

“Oh, thank you so much, ma’am. Yes, that would be amazing.” I replied, beaming in excitement.

“Well, let’s not dilly-dally now. Lemme introduce ya to th’ rest of th’ family!”

As I followed the orange horse around her home, she began to go off on a history lesson. It was rather interesting, but I was more concerned about my injury, and so, didn’t pay all too much attention to the details of it. Could this place possibly be- Nah, fuck that.

“Mah family’s lived on this land for nearly a hun’red years now. Back then, there was barely an apple tree on this property - that is, ‘til Granny Smith found th’ zapapple trees deep in th’ woods one day. An’ hoo-ie! Am ah ever glad she did! We make a fine livin’ offa all th’ apples we sell on this here farm. Finest quality apples in all of Equestria, I tell ya!”

“…In all of Equestria…”

My mind froze. I couldn’t process what I was hearing. I was in denial the whole time upon arriving here, but after hearing those words, my heart began to race.

“Waitwaitwaitasecond. Did you just say EE-QUEST-REE-UH?” I asked, shaking my head around and smacking my ears a bit.

“You’re darn right ah did hon.” Applejack said, smiling gingerly at me as we continued our walk down the hallway. Yep, there was no denying it now. Either I was having the most awesome drug-induced trip in the world, or I suddenly developed dementia. This wasn’t real. My mind was playing tricks. I must have gotten fucked up from the party and went walkabout. Who gives a shit, just go with it, wait till the drugs go away...

“Well, miss Applejack,” I began, “I’d never expected to meet you in perso- er, pony.”

I gave a nervous laugh.

“Wait, How in tarnation do ya know mah name?” she asked, shivering a bit.

“Well, where I’m from, you’re fictional characters in this thing we call television.”

I gave another throat laugh, and my eyes widened, agape in amazement as I stared around the house. How the hell did I get here? I remember seeing the elegy statue from the game appearing on my TV, then having some trippy vision of me traveling through space... Could...? No. It was the party. I. Was. High.

“You’re just having a trip, Nick, don’t stress...”

“Heh, well, ain’t that peculiar. All our old... foal’s tales speak of your kin’, but ya really exist? Hot dog, this is too good to be true!” Applejack cheered, kicking her front hooves into the air with a wild grin plastered to her face. I laughed again, smiling and heading to meet the rest of the family. However, the way she said ‘foal’s tales’ seemed... hesitant. Something was wrong.

“Applebloom? We’ll be having a guest fo’ dinner, so ya best done set th’ table right!”

Applebloom, Applejack, zapapples... No, this was just a crazy shroom trip, or I was so drunk I was seeing shit. As we sat down to the table, I was greeted to a nice salad. Of course, despite being a human, I didn’t bother to ask about meat out of respect. Applebloom was staring at me the entire time dinner was going on, as if something was bothering her, and more likely than not, it was my existence that was doing the job. Granny had a strange look about her: Her eyes were bloodshot red, and she was barely awake, clutching her forehead in pain – I figured she must have been sick. I frowned a bit. Big Mac was a little more reserved, though was just as confused and if not, scared as the rest.

“Miss Smith? Are you feeling okay?”

“Well, mister,” Applebloom began, “She won-“

Applebloom was cut short by an angry scowl from Big Mac. I nervously looked down to my plate and just prodded at the cherry tomatoes in the salad to avoid causing further tension. A few more minutes passed by, and Big Mac cleared his throat, and I looked up, an expression of puzzlement overtaking his face. He wasn’t very sure of what to say to me, it seemed. He must have been still coming to terms with the fact that a human was in Equestria. I was trying to come to terms with the fact that I was even in Equestria.

No I wasn’t. I was having a dream, a drug trip... a... shit, I don’t even know.

He looked away to cough into his hoof, then spoke up. Appleboom shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Applejack looked over to me every now and again over the course of dinner, still surprised that I was even here.

“So,” He began, “Ya got yaself a name?”

“Uh-eh... Uh... Jadusable.” I mumbled quickly in a panic, not expecting the inquiry.

Oh, what the fuck? How did I let my internet name slip out?

I gave him a warm smile, my heart pounding in excitement. The dining room was eerily quiet, with the exception of a grandfather clock ticking down the hallway, and I could have sworn I could hear everybody’s heartbeats; they were all so shocked and scared I was here, and my smile made them, to say the least, sweat in fear. Why were they so scared? Perhaps it’s just the fact that, to them, I was a fairy tale. I shook it off.

“Well, Jadusable, I gotta say, ya picked a mighty good time to show up. Applebuck season is just around the corner and we need all the available hoov- er, hands we can get. Would it be too much to ask if ya could help us out this season?” He asked, his confused look still pervading his face.

“Well sir, your family was kind enough to take me in, I suppose it's the least I owe you, and please, allow me to clean up dinner tonight.” I said, finishing off with a warm grin.

“Eeyup.”

As dinner finished and the rest of the family cleared the dining room, Applebloom stayed to watch me clean, which, to be fair, I didn’t mind. I looked over to her every now and again, and each time, She uncomfortably fidgeted in her chair, as if she wanted to say something, but didn’t. As I washed the dishes, she eventually got up and approached me, tugging gently on the edge of my button-down.

“Mister, I-”

“Hey Applebloom?”

I looked over, and so did she. Big Mac had come back in, and he didn’t look very happy for some reason. Frankly, he seemed pretty pissed.

“Come here, Applebloom.” Mac said blandly, popping a round, purple object into his mouth. I stared, though tried to avoid eye contact. Applebloom did as told, and nervously and sadly walked away from me. Both of them disappeared down the hallway. I didn’t think much of it; she was probably getting a scolding for ‘rudely staring at the guest’. I chuckled to myself at the thought, and as I finished cleaning and left the kitchen, I was instantly met with Applejack at the entrance to the hallway.

“Hey. Did you need something from me?” I asked.

“Yeah. I was won’erin’ if’fin ya seen any of them dark ponies around.” Applejack said, with what appeared to be a look of concern.

“‘Dark’ ponies?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, them damn voodoo ponies. Ya know, the dark coated kind like that Zecora witch. All they want is to get with mah little sis, I’ll tell you what! Last night, a whole damn group’a dark stallions went after her and did all kin’s ah sick stuff to her!” Applejack exclaimed, slamming her front hoof against the wall as she gritted her teeth in anger.

I nervously looked at the ground, growing uncomfortable. Applejack was clearly being closed-minded and prejudice, judging an entire group from some disgusting individuals.. From what I remember from the show, she was never like this. Something was wrong. I just decided to be polite and answer, but somebody attacked Appleboom? Maybe that’s what she was talking about, and needed help. Who was doing it, I couldn’t say. I sighed. Such a poor little filly. I’d have to keep my eye out for her safety; hurting a child was sickening.

“Well Miss Applejack, I sure haven’t, but I’ll be more than happy to let you know if I see any.”

“Thank ya kindly, dear.”

“I’m going to sleep.”

“Alrighty, you have a good night now - Jada-whatwasit?”

“Just call me Nick.”

I walked upstairs, minding the oddly sized platforms which, first and foremost, were designed for hooves, not feet, and made my way up to the second floor guest room. In here was a small, yet comfy looking bed, obviously filled with hay by the sight of several tan straws potrouding out of the side. In the corner sat a desk with various drawers. I emptied my pockets and my belt, setting my CD, weapon, and phone on the desk, and took a seat. It was a small one, mostly made out of wood, the handles on the drawers a weak brass finish. I opened one, to only be greeted with a quill, an ink well, and several pieces of parchment, bound into a small scrapbook with a leather cover and spine, of which looked severely aged.

“I guess I could keep a journal...”

A few hours passed, and the night wore on. I was growing progressively weary. Time to turn in, I guess. As I lied on the spare hay-filled bed and closed my eyes, I was suddenly awoken by a loud crash and what sounded like an excited yell. Some time must have passed, because when I turned to look at the alarm clock, it read 1:30 AM. I quickly sprung up from the bed and ran downstairs to the source, grabbing my pistol. Perhaps a burglar? Something fell down on somebody? As I went to the living room where the sound originated, I noticed the room’s lights were on. I placed my back to the wall and peered around the corner. It was Granny Smith. She was up, wildly dancing with a broom. In one hoof she had her dancing partner, in the other, a giant ceramic bottle. The entire living room smelled strongly of rubbing alcohol. Granny put her lips to the bottle and chugged. I peered around the corner, to keep myself out of view.

“Granny Smith’s... a moonshiner?”

She wasn’t sick at dinner; she was hungover from the previous night of drinking. It was obvious something was wrong here - Something very, VERY wrong. This wasn’t the Equestria I knew from TV. No, this was worse. I just wondered what was going on with all the others in town after seeing this. I snuck away to my bed, but on the way, heard what sounded like a soft squeal in the room across from me. Sounded like... Applebloom?

Naw.

As I laid myself back down and prepared to close my eyes, a forest-green colored figure quickly sped past the door of my room. I couldn’t quite make it out.

“What the fuck was that?”

Nah, no need to worry. as soon as I fell asleep, I would wake up in my own bed. This was nothing more than a dream. Would be an interesting story to tell my buddies on the EQD chat, though.

Chapter III: Satan's Cellar

Awoken to the all-too cliché cry of a rooster, I got up, bathed, dressed in my clothes again, and got some bandages from the bathroom and patched my wound up as best I could, despite the fact that it did nothing; the actual injury was a broken rib. It was at that moment, finally waking up to the warm shower, that I realized...

“I’m. Still. Here. How the fuck is this possible?”

The whole concept that something or someone sent to a place like ‘Equestria’ was flat out ridiculous. Should I attempt to kill myself so my brain would wake up from the dream? Probably. Nah, I was jumping to conclusions. Even if this place were real...

“Man, wake the fuck up!”

Heading outside to help with the work, I went to the trees to meet with Applejack. I wasn’t that big a guy, but I was fairly certain I could knock some apples off trees. As I reached a full one, I placed my good side against the trunk and slammed my body into it, full force. Most of the apples came off, and fell into the buckets surrounding the base. I smacked at the tree again, knocking the rest down. I moved on to the next, and next, and next, my energy degrading quite quickly. After some rather self-destructive work, Applejack approached me. I propped myself against the tree I was standing by, wiping sweat off my forehead as I breathed heavily.

“Shit... I should really start working out.”

“Hon, you don’t look in much shape ta be doin’ this work. Why don’t you go take ya’self a breather?” Applejack asked me, concern spreading over her face again.

“No, thank you, miss Applejack. Big Mac isn’t here right now, so I figured I’d do his half of the work. But before I get back to it, may I have some water?”

“Sure thing, sugarcube. There’s some in the ice chest down in the apple cellar. Feel free to help ya’self.”

“Thanks, miss A-”

“Sugarcube, just call me Applejack.”

“Thank you very much.”

I smiled and walked away. As I went across the field and headed to the back of the barn, where the apple cellar was located, the air became chilly, and the pegasi set up the clouds for an overcast afternoon. The wind blew gently, yet crisply, stinging my ears with the cold. I rubbed my hands against my arms to try and build up heat, but stopped as I reached the cellar. I opened the trap, and not surprisingly, it was rather dark down there. I gently and carefully headed down the stairs, holding my hands against the concrete walls for support.

“god damn it, I can’t see.”

I pulled out my phone, activated the flashlight, and continued down the stairs. The air, as I continued down, seemed to get thinner, and carried with it a very spunky aroma. I heard a muffled whine, and my heart jumped. I aimed my light around the room, and saw the area was gingerly splattered with blood. I got to the bottom of the stairs, and searched around the area slowly. I kept looking around, until I got to a small corner, whereupon I froze. There was Applebloom, and not just her, but her two friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. They were covered in blood and sweat (as well as what appeared to be various other bodily fluids), gagged and bound with their legs spread, tied apart with separate ropes, squirming wildly and trying to get free as they cried silently to one another. Each of them were bruised, and their ‘private’ regions had clearly been sexually ravaged. I rushed over to Applebloom, and removed the gag from her mouth. She violently pushed me away in immediate reaction, screaming as she shuffled over to the wall in a panic, but stopped after taking a few seconds to look at me. She sighed in relief, but was clearly still scared out of her mind.

“GET AWA- Mister, it’s you! Thank Celestia. Help us out!”

“What the fuck...”

I nodded and quickly proceeded to untie them. I wiped them off with my shirt and hugged them all tightly. Someone local was attacking the girls; them being in the apple cellar made that abundantly clear. I simply snuggled with the Cutie Mark Crusaders as they cried into my arms, giving them what comfort I could offer, almost like a father of sorts, whose little five year old daughter fell off of her bicycle for the first time, but the heartwarming was cut short at the sound of a cough behind me.

“Oh shit.”

I quickly turned around, and there he was - Big Macintosh. It didn’t take a genius to tell what was going on. I was just disgusted and angry. My heart began to race as I turned my flashlight to max power to get a better look at the demon standing before me. I carefully set the girls down and stood up.

“Big Mac, what the FUCK is this shit!?” I asked, anger growing in my voice, my hand slowly inching towards my pistol. Big Mac began to speak, and frankly, his voice alone made me quiver in fear. It wasn’t entirely his normal voice either. It had somewhat of a serpentine flavoring in its accent. Another thing? His eyes were red - Solid. Blood. Red. Ice flew through my body.

“Ah, Jadusable. You found me. Congratulations.” Mac said, clapping his front hooves together as the CMC huddled around me for protection. “Ya know, ah always thought you humans didn’t exist, but now that ya’re here, I can say Ah’m impressed at your kind’s intelligence – Ya can clearly tell when something isn’t right...”

I swallowed in fear, backing away some.

“There’s just one thing ah don’t like about you, boy. It’s acting. Humans always act on instinct, or so the foal’s tales tell us.”

“T-that’s right... we often do...”

“Well, let’s see what your instinct will do for you now...”

“Oh, god...”

“I’m not gonna be able to let you go though, on account of you discoverin’ my pastime for filly buckin’. Sorry you have to die on such short notice.” Mac said, chuckling as he chewed on a hay straw. I drew my pistol, my arms quivering as I tried to control myself.

“Mac, don’t make me do this, man. I REALLY don’t want to kill you.”

Could I really do it? I’d never killed anything that wasn’t virtual... Could I live with myself?

“Fight or flight? Fight or flight? Fight or flight? Dear god, he’s gonna kill me!”

Big Mac’s eyes narrowed, and glistened in the darkness, and he slowly walked up to me, taking the gun from my hands and examining it. I froze, sweat pouring down my body. I was so scared of Mac from the start that I practically allowed him to take my own weapon from me, but could you blame me? This guy could tear an average human to pieces. I had every reason to be scared.

“What- Watcha gonna do, Mac?” I asked, my heart pulsating at lightning speed. He threw me down to the floor, pinning me there with his free front hoof. He grinned at me wickedly, his eyes growing beady.

“Oh, Jadusable... You have NO idea… Before ah do anything though, I’mma have to off ya first.” He said, planting my gun to my head. I felt the cold plastic and metal touching my temple. It wasn’t a hallucination at all. This was real. Equestria existed, and it was corrupt beyond all conceivable imagination, if Big Mac, the most reserved and hardworking of them all was doing THIS. I closed my eyes, bracing for the worst as a lone tear ran down my face. So this is how it ended? I was forced into Equestria against my will, and only half a day here, I was going to die. This was NOT the fun loving Equestria from Hasbro. This was Hell. I clenched my eyes shut tighter and recited a prayer as I waited for my life to end.

You may ask yourself right now; how do they use a gun if they don’t have fingers? I mean, Jad, what do you have to be afraid of? He can’t shoot you! As a viewer of the show, I’d say that doesn’t need an answer; they use their hooves like hands all the time...

“When I die,”
“Show no pitty,”
“Send my soul to Juggalo City.”
“Dig my grave six feet deep,”
“Put two matches by my feet,”
“Put two hatchets on my chest,”
“And tell my homies I did my best.”

Suddenly, Big Mac screamed as the gun dropped to the floor. I opened my eyes, and saw that Scootaloo had jumped on his head, blinding him with her hooves. Mac thrashed around the room, knocking things off shelves as he frantically tried to regain his sight.

“Get off me, you little shit!”

I took the opportunity to stand up, grab my gun, and aim for Mac’s head. He grabbed Scootaloo off of him, and threw her violently against the wall. Just seeing him do that made me want him dead, so, already flatout enraged about the situation, I dove in for a tackle and threw him to the floor, punching at him in a fit of rage. He managed to land a few blows on me, smashing my glasses into my face. The left lens shattered and flew into my eye. I wrenched back screaming. As the shards dug deeper, I took a shot at Mac’s chest with my gun, but he quickly rolled out of the way, and the round hit the concrete floor, ricocheting and clipping my cheek. I yelled again. I stood up and he swung at me again with his hoof, but I ducked down, and in response, kicked him in his lower sternum. He was sent flying back violently, slamming into the wall. I got up, and approached him, upon which he attempted to punch me in the face. I narrowly avoided missing contact, suffering a smack to the ear as my glasses flew off. I quickly attempted to deliver a roundhouse to him, but my leg got caught on his yoke, and sprained my ankle.

As one could probably guess, I wasn’t much of a fighter, but I would be more than willing to stand up when the situation was dire, and it was; not only was I fighting for my life, but I was fighting for three children as well. Big Mac jumped at me, knocking me to the ground and my pistol out of my hand. I watched it go sliding over to the girls.

“APPLEBLOOM, THROW IT OVER HERE!” I screamed, as I took another hoof to the face.
She did as told, and slid my gun to my hands. I gripped hold of it, but not before being punched again, which knocked out a few of my teeth and heavily blackened both my eyes. Rage clouded my mind, and at this point, there was only one thought swimming around in my head.

Kill this child-fucking lowlife.

“Oh... THAT IS IT, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!”

Gripping Big Mac by the head, and quickly rolling him to the ground underneath me, I put him into a sleeper and I took hold of my gun with what little room there was free, and twisted my wrist, planting the barrel at the side of Big Mac’s head.

“Say goodnight, you sick, pedophilic sack of shit!”

“STOP!”

I turned my head to the sound. It was Applebloom. She was crying and wailing, practically begging me not to shoot her older brother. I nodded, and just hit him upside the head with the grip, knocking him unconscious. I stood up, and through a whistle in my teeth, asked,

“Why shouldn’t I have just offed him right there?”

“He’s never done this before. He jus’ started doing these horrible things to us a week ago. Ah don’t know what’s gotten into him. Granny Smith won’t stop drinkin’, and Applejack’s gotten all hate-filled on other kindsa ponies. Ah dunno what’s been going on, but mister, please trus’ me when ah tell ya it’s not his fault!” She said, emotions pouring out of her. Applebloom broke down, crying on the ground. I sighed, and sat her up, hugging her gently. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle joined in, holding their crying friend close. I took a deep breath, before grabbing some of the glass that was in my eye, and pulled it out, screaming like a banshee, each yell making the girls cringe. After I was done, I threw the remains of my glasses to the floor and looked at the girls. They tried to avoid eye contact, as it was blatantly clear my destroyed one was freaking them out. First thing to do, ask what’s been going on: The CMC know everything that happens in this place.

“Now, girls... It’s obvious something’s not right in town. Have you seen anything suspicious lately? I know you don’t wanna talk about this stuff right now, but it’s super important, okay?”

Sweetie Belle looked down at the ground, then spoke up gently, raising her hoof in the air a bit.

“Well, there’s been this little green imp all over town recently.”

I looked into Sweetie Belle’s eyes with a cold, solid stare, which I could tell bothered her.

“Green imp?”

Sweetie Belle said nothing. She averted my gaze. My sea-green eye softened a bit, and I covered my destroyed one with my hand.

“I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle. What do you mean by a green imp?”

“Well, all over town, when we go crusading, we’ve seen this little green statue show up all over the place.”

“Nopony is acting like themselves.” Scootaloo added.

“What does this statue look like?’ I asked, looking back and forth between the three girls for an answer. Please, girls, for the love of god, don’t be talking about...

“Well, it looks like a little human, with brown boots, an’ green clothes. It has a blonde mane and a green hat, and it has this really creepy grin all the time!” Applebloom said, snuggling close to me for comfort. “Big Mac has been talking to it a lot; it shows up at our house at least twice a day! It tells him to take those purple pills!”

Fuck. It WAS the statue.

“Wait... Those are pills?” I asked, concern spreading over my blood-soaked face as I came back to the memory in the kitchen..

“Yeah, Big Mac takes ‘em, and he does horrible things to me and mah friends! That’s what ah wanted to talk to ya about after dinner; when I left with him, he started doing all kinds of nasty stuff, stickin’ his... thing in me an’ all. Applejack doesn’t even know the truth!” she continued, crying into my arms.

I sighed, and checked the ammo in my gun. I took one last look at Big Mac’s body, then stood up and grabbed a bottle of water from the ice chest. The Crusaders followed me back outside, each of them limping in pain. I wiped some blood from my face, and we went into the farmhouse, where I helped the girls get cleaned and bandaged up. I, myself, reeking of blood, urine, and other bodily fluids, took a quick shower after I was done helping them. The hot water stung my ruined eye, but I manned up and just cleaned it off. As I got out and dressed in my foul-smelling clothes again, I got some more first aid and patched up my eye and cheek, each operation on which stung as badly as the next. Once I finished, I checked for my equipment.

One nine millimeter glock 7 handgun, twelve rounds.
Five nine millimeter glock 7 clips, thirteen rounds each.
One HTC MyTouch 4G Slide smartphone with flashlight and camera, plus charger, ninety-five percent battery life.
One custom mixed, custom labeled CD comprised of Insane Clown Posse in unmarked jewel case.
One small leather bound journal.

“Okay girls, let’s get out of here. I wanna see exactly how bad this town has gotten.”

Applebloom tugged on my shirt gently as we stepped out the front door. I turned my head down to face her.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Ummm, mister, how do you know who we are when you’ve never met us?”

I chuckled a bit, patting Applebloom on the head.

“Well, where I come from, you exist on a thing we call television, and from what I hear, humans are just a foal’s tale to you. And please girls, call me Nick. We’re all friends here.”

I smiled and offered Applebloom my hand. She took it, along with her two friends’ hooves, and we walked into Ponyville together. Scootaloo looked over to me as we continued our stroll.

“Thanks for saving us.”

“No, Scoots, thank YOU for saving ME.”

“You know, that WAS pretty cool, what you did, fighting like that.”

“Fighting is NEVER ‘cool’, Scootaloo. I did what I had to do to survive, and that’s all I plan to do: I want to go home.”

“Um... Can I ask you something?” Sweetie Belle nervously piped up, a bead of sweat running down her forhead.

“Shoot.”

“Uh, how did... your eyes turn red when you were fighting Big Mac?”

“What?”

Chapter IV: White Boy In The Hood

As I walked through town with the CMC, I couldn’t help but notice that Ponyville just wasn’t the Ponyville I knew. The streets felt... lifeless. The air was disturbingly cold for a sunny day (the pegasi had moved the clouds since my battle in the cellar), and a lot of structures were boarded up. The few ponies who were on the streets took notice of me and the multitude of looks I received were ones mostly of bewilderment, and frankly, I wouldn’t blame them, what with me being a ‘mystical creature’ and all. There was one, however, that took notice of me, and drew a LOT of unwanted attention.

“HA! I KNEW THEY WERE REAL! YOU ALL THOUGHT I WAS INSANE!”

“Fuck off, Lyra.”

“Holy- IT KNOWS MY NAME!”

As we walked down the main drag, I took notice of how bad Ponyville actually was: ponies of all types were mugging one another, starting hooffights in the road, breaking into buildings to steal things, robbing street vendors... hell, even a few mares were standing on the corners, covered head to hoof in makeup, and a few sickly individuals hobbled around the littered streets, begging me for change; drug addicts. I pushed them away from myself and the girls.

“Get away, you fuckin’ basehead!”

All in all, the area just gave off the general atmosphere of a slum. I wiped some blood from my mouth, and gritted my remaining teeth as I looked to find a place where I might meet the next of the six. Although, there was one other thing about town I didn’t understand...

There were soldiers EVERYWHERE. Why? And why, for some reason, did the populace... seem to go about their lives in fear?

Suddenly, I heard a galloping noise behind me - a rapid one. I turned around with the CMC at the abrupt sounds, and there, a few meters in the distance, was Applejack, charging toward us with anger spread across her face.
“Nick! There ya are! What in the sam-hay did ya do ta Big Mac!?” she screamed, charging at me and throwing me to the ground. The girls quickly pulled her away. I stood up to confront the earth pony, dodging her punches as I spoke, trying to reason with her.

“Applejack, listen to me. Big Mac was molesting the girls for the past week.” I said, my eye softening to a friendly gaze. Applejack grew even angrier at my statement.

“WHAT!? HOW DARE YA LIE ABOUT MAH BROTHER!?” She screamed, as she threw a hoof at me. I quickly jumped out of the way and backhanded her, where she fell to the street. A small crowd of ponies was gathering along the sidewalks to watch this situation unfold. I helped her up, but she swiped at me again, leaving a red mark on my face, and the strike caused me to let go of her and let her fall back to the ground.

“It’s true, Applejack. He’s been doing awful things to us.” Scootaloo said, searching for sympathy in her friend’s sister’s eyes.

“Why should ah believe a complete stranger!?” Applejack asked, finally standing down from her attacks as she stood up again. I sighed.

“Applejack, you don’t have a reason to believe me, but I swear, I’m speaking the truth. The girls will side with me. You heard what Scoot just said. Something is very wrong in this town. As far as I know, you aren’t being yourselves!” I continued, still trying to calm myself before my anger got the better of me again. The cold air thrashed my semi-elongated hair about in the wind.

“That DOES NOT change the fact that ya kill-”

“HE, is unconscious, Applejack. Don’t worry about him. Besides, bastard attacked me first. What the hell was I supposed to do? Let him fucking kill me and the girls? Look at what he did to me!” I said, spreading my body out in full view so she could get a look at my wounds. I opened my mouth to show her my missing teeth, and gently peeled away the large, white bandage that was on my eye, which made everybody in the vicinity who was watching us, including Applejack and the CMC, jump back in disgust. I smelled rank even in the open air, piss, blood, and semen the many aromas among them. Applebloom stepped in front of me, extending her front hooves out as if to try and protect me while I put my bandage back on my now bleeding socket.

“Big Mac isn’t dead. Nick was jus’ protecting us. Our brother has been hurting me and mah friends like this for the past few days.” She said softly, stepping away from me and moving closer to her big sister. Applejack’s anger began to soften. The crowd was getting bigger, and a few more druggies approached us, begging for change. I shooed them off.

“R-really?”

“Yes, Applejack. I know it’s hard to believe, especially coming from a human you just met, but I KNOW what I saw. Please, believe me when I tell you, something’s wrong, and I think I know the answer as to why. I’m not your enemy, Applejack. I am your friend.” I said, extending my hand out in a welcoming manner as my remaining eye went soft and kind.
Applejack just fell apart crying, trying to comprehend the fact that her brother would do such a nasty thing. I lifted her up gently, hugging her softly, just like I did with Applebloom when she was having her nervous breakdown. The Crusaders joined in, and the young ranch girl tried to force a smile.

“So, it wasn’t dark ponies then?” She asked me, sniffling a bit as she tried to regain her breath from all the sticky mucus blocking her throat. I raised an eyebrow.

“Where the hell did you hear that?”

“Ah... ah told her, Nick.” Applebloom said, placing her hoof on my leg. “Applejack found out I was being hurt, but Big Mac made me lie about who it was, or he said it would only get worse. Then, after that, he started hurtin’ mah friends too! I wish it was just me he was doin’ things to and never them. They didn’t deserve that.”

Tears were welling in Applejack’s eyes again. She looked over to her baby sister and just held her close.

“Ah- ah’m so sorry, Applebloom. Ah should have paid more attention…” she said, falling into her little sibling’s forelegs, crying again. I let her pour her emotions out, and after she calmed down a bit, I started talking to her.

“Granny Smith probably knew, and couldn’t come to terms with it. That’s my guess as to why she started drinking. But listen... Applejack, it’s not your fault. You were misguided. Everyone has that mistake now and again. Let’s all go get something to eat, okay? Take this stuff of your mind.” I said, smiling at my new friend. I gently took her hoof in my hand, and she wiped her tears away, looked up at me, smiled, and we all walked to Sugarcube Corner together. The crowd of ponies that was watching us began to break up. I looked over to the town hall, then straight ahead, at Sugarcube Corner, and without turning my eye to anyone, spoke.
“We’ll get Big Mac some help. I promise.” I said, gently running my fingers through Applejack’s mane carefully. She turned up to smile at me, and I did the same. It was good knowing I had a new friend.

“I’ll hold ya to that promise, Nick.”

Nearing Sugarcube Corner, and placing my hand on the door, I was suddenly offset by violent screaming from inside the shop. There was a crashing noise, and the sound of glass breaking. The girls huddled close to me, unsure of what to do. I jumped at the sudden noise, which, not too much later, was followed by a man (or a stallion) yelling. It was muffled because of the walls, but I could hear pretty much everything.

“HOW DARE YOU, YOU STUPID BITCH! I BUILT THIS SHOP FROM THE GROUND UP JUST FOR US AND OUR FAMILY! HOW DARE YOU CHEAT, YOU FILTHY WHORE!”

More sounds of glass breaking, then a scream of pain.

“I NEVER, HONEY, I SWEAR! JUST PLEASE, PLEASE STOP!”

The sound of babies crying.

“YOU SHUT THOSE DISOWNED BUCKERS UP BEFORE THEY GET ANOTHER WHOOPIN’!”

“CARROT, STOP!”

I drew my pistol, stood in front of the door, and swung at it with a kick. It went flying to the ground, and I placed my pistol at the ready.

“Alright, what the fuck is going on in here!?”

I didn’t even have to ask. I knew what was going on. We all did. Mrs. Cake was brutalized. She had several shards of glass in her face (most likely from the broken cake display) and blood all in her mane and coat. Her left front hoof appeared to be broken and out of place. In comparison, Pound, their pegasus baby had a broken wing, and several bruises and bitemarks. He was crying. Pumpkin was face down in a pool of blood, silent, with her horn broken off and spewing out more red. My own boiled in rage, and the Skull Kid’s laugh could be heard in the room.

“So... BEN really IS here.”

Applejack ran over to Mrs. Cake to help her up. I aimed my gun straight for Carrot’s head, and the girls ran over to the children to try and assist them. There were bottles of alcohol littering the floor, most prominently, Applejack Daniels. Just a bit of deduction, and it was clear that Carrot was an alcoholic that beat his family, the sick waste of life.

“GET ON THE FLOOR!” I screamed, taking finer aim with my weapon.

“A human, huh? I didn’t think you ex-”

“GET ON THE FUCKING FLOOR, YOU SCUMBAG!”

Carrot did as told, throwing an angry scowl in my direction. I approached him, my gun still trained over top of his head while the girls tried to settle things with Cup and the children.

“Why Carrot? Why are you abusing your family?” I asked, my veins beginning to bulge across my body.

“I don’t have to answer a human a damn thing. You probably aren’t even real. I’m just seeing you!” He yelled, still down on the floor, but looking up at me in anger. I sighed. There was only one way to prove it to him.

“Sorry Carrot, but I gotta do this.”

I aimed my pistol at his back leg and took the shot. He screamed and clutched it quickly as blood began to ooze from the side.

“Still believe I’m fake, motherfucker!? HUH!?”

“CARROT!”

“Mrs. Cake, you need ‘ta rest, sugarcube, please.” Applejack said, gently picking her up. The girls were trying to nurse the foals back to health. I collected my bearings and started giving orders; I’d stalled Carrot, now it was time to get his family to safety.

“OKAY! Guys, get Mrs. Cake and the kids to the hospital! I want a thorough DNA test done on those children for legitimacy, and all three of them in intensive care in the next five minutes! Is that understood? I’ll handle Carrot, and you guys get out of here!”
“Are you sure you don’t want some help?” Scootaloo asked, her eyes filling with concern as she looked over to me from Pound, still trying to mend his left wing. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom began to panic, trying to help Pumpkin Cake.

“Nick, we have a problem! Pumpkin’s not breathing!”

“GO! GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!”

“On it!” Scoot said, saluting me before taking off with the others. As they ran off and left, I towered over Carrot. I grabbed him by the neck and pinned him against the wall, pure anger flowing through my veins; if there was one thing I couldn’t stand in the world, it was domestic abuse. This guy was nothing but scum. The Skull Kid’s giggle filled the room.

“Woah! How did your eye turn red, human!?”

“WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING?”

What the hell was he talking about, my eye turning red?

“That wife of mine is a cheating slut!”

“Is that any reason to beat the shit out of her and your CHILDREN?”

“MY children? Heh, that’s a good one.”

“Why would they not be!?”

“Simple. This little statue showed up and gave me all the proof I needed.”

“Wait, statue? What?!”

“Yeah, a little green statue. I was always in denial ever since they were born! There is NO way in Celestia’s name two earth ponies could make a pegasus and a unicorn!”

Carrot’s breath reeked of liquor. The sound of Mask Salesman’s giggle reverberated throughout the room. I began to turn red, shaking in anger at Carrot. I took a deep breath as my eye went cross, staring into the sweating, intoxicated stallion. There was only one thing on my mind.

Kill this wife-beating, child abusing sack of shit.

“I have them going to the hospital to run a legitimacy test. If it comes back negative, I’ll leave you alone, but for now? Let’s see how YOU like getting the shit kicked out of you!”

I threw Carrot to the floor and hit him with a powerbomb. He screamed, and bucked me with his good hind hoof. I went flying into the staircase, and smashed through the banister. I picked up a broken piece, holding it as a spear, and he stood to fight. I got back up and charged at hm. The bout carried on for several minutes, me parrying most of his attacks with the railing. Finding a blind spot was pretty damn hard, but I got one, and jabbed him in his front left leg. The chunk of wood went through the flesh entirely, and as he screamed and fell to the floor, I grabbed him by his neck and kneed him in the face. He fell, and then I jumped upon him and started punching.

“PLEASE STOP! I SURRENDER!”

And punching...

“FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA, LET ME GO!”

...and punching.

Silence.

My heart pulsing wildly and erratically, I expelled the rest of my energy and passed out on the floor with a violent yell. The Skull Kid’s scream filled the air in my black vision.

Chapter V: The Forbidden Meat

I must have been unconscious for several minutes, because when I woke up, I had no recollection of what had happened, was bathed in blood, and was laying next to an unconscious Carrot Cake. I spit up a tarry, black residue, unsure of what it was, and I turned around to the body. I got up and wiped myself down, and tried to get him up, shaking the beaten and red horse.

“Hey... Mr. Cake, are you okay? Wake up! What happened to you?”

No response.

“Oh god... Oh dear god...”

I felt his pulse. Nothing.

“Oh... shit...”

I quickly got up and picked up the body. NOBODY could know I killed Carrot. I could never live that shit out. There wasn’t much of a place to hide it here, so I went down into the basement to find a place to stuff Carrot’s corpse. That was perhaps the worst mistake of my life though; as soon as I got down there and flipped on the lights, what greeted me made me instantly throw up. The walls were lined with pony skin, and from the ceiling hung various entrails. In the center of the room was a table, also covered in pony skin, and the centerpiece was an arrangement of three dismembered heads, their eyes and mouths agape, party hats strapped under their chins. A side of the wall had words written in blood, which barely made out ‘Life’s a party’. The decor of the room was damp and fresh, not dried, and the area held a strong iron scent. I dropped Carrot’s body and just started shivering. I heard a disturbingly familiar giggle, and drew my gun.

“C-c-come out, you sick fuck!”

Another giggle.

“This isn’t funny... What the fuck’s going on down here?”

Suddenly, I lost consciousness with a blow to the back of my head. I awoke several moments later, by a splash of ice water to my face, a wet piece of balloon latex on my cheek. I was tied down to a metal rack by leather straps. I was naked, my equipment and clothes on the table that was covered with grotesque decorations.

“God fucking damn it, SHOW YOURSELF!”

Another giggle echoed throughout the room, and the song of unhealing played in the air. I swallowed in fear and began to sweat. That song. That. Fucking. Song. Out of a blackened, secluded corner of the room appeared Pinkie Pie. Her hair was straight, her eyes beady. That meant one thing, in the brony world.

“Dear god... NO! Not this!”

My heart sank deep into my stomach. I knew what was going on; I had read about this on the internet once. I just couldn’t believe it was actually happening.

“No! This shit ain’t right! This isn’t right! Dear god, save me!”

“Look, Rocky, we have a new party guest! It’s a human too! Oh, goodiegoodiegoodiegoodie! You know, I had no idea you were real!”

“LET. ME. GO!”

“Awww, that’s not fun now, is it? I can’t do that, that’d spoil the surprise!”

Pinkie produced a small tray of sugar. She snorted it from the little glass plate, and looked at me.

“Wanna try some?”

“Fuck no, you stupid bitch. I do-”

She grabbed me by the head and dunked my face into the tray. I spit it out. It wasn’t sugar at all.
It was cocaine.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU, LADY!?”

“Nothing. I’m just being me!” Pinkie giddily squealed, happily smiling with her eyes shut in a cute little pose, as she ‘squee’d’ once.

I’m going to ask you again. You let me go. If you don’t, you WILL die, Pinkie. I swear to fucking god, I will kill you, you sick-”

She smacked me across the face. I yelled in pain. Hooves hurt.

“Now, now, this is a party. Parties are all about having fun!” she said, as she wheeled out her cart of blades. The cocaine was starting to kick into my system. My eyes dilated, and my heart rate jumped. The elegy statue from the game, BEN, materialized right in front of me. I stared each of my enemies down with prejudice. Jesus... BEN was REAL.

“You’re both gonna fuckin’ pay for this...”

“Oh, silly, nopony will find out. This is just between you and me.”

Apparently, she didn’t see the statue standing behind her. She grabbed her knife, and slowly moved it towards me. My heart rate spiked up even further. I quickly surveyed my options. For one, I was tied down by my limbs, but not my head. I quickly formulated a ditch effort plan, and proceeded to set it in motion as the blade drew closer. Now was my chance. The coke had kicked in quite a bit. I was much, MUCH more aware now. If perhaps, by freak chance, I could knock the knife out of her hoof at the right angle, it would land on one of my leather straps and cut me loose. Better to try than to die in vain, right?

3...
2...
1!

I quickly gave Pinkie a headbutt to the face. She squealed in pain, wrenching back and grabbing her nose as a trickle of blood ran down her. The knife flew into the air, and time seemed to slow down as I watched it spin. One rotation, two rotations, three, four. It suddenly stopped, and fell downwards...

Right through my left straps. My whole side was free. Pinkie quickly reached for another knife and tried to slash at me, but I bent down, procured the lost instrument, and both blades clashed. I kicked her in the face with my free leg, which sent her reeling backwards. I took the window of time to cut my other restraints loose with the newly procured weapon, and I fell to the floor.

“Kill or be killed. Fight. Survive. You are fighting for your life. Don’t hold back, Nick. Remember what dad taught you about hand-to-hand combat...”

“You wanna go, Pinkie? Let’s do this shit!”

The song of unhealing continued to play as our battle commenced. Our fighting went on for several minutes, and in my head, I was having another battle...

“Kill her! She was gonna make treats out of you!”
“Don’t kill her, she’s just hopped up on drugs!”
“Are you fuckin’ crazy, Nick? She will end you if you don’t fight back!”
“Turn the other cheek...”
“Kill her!”
“Help her!”
“Cut her damn head off!”
“Knock her out, if you have to! Just don’t let your anger make you do what you did to Carrot!”
“Kill this disgusting cannibalistic freak. It would be better for everybody.”

“Woah! Madame McFlour, check this out: the human’s eye changes colors!”

Then, I was broken from my thoughts, still dodging and parrying Pinkie’s slices and jabs, as a voice could be heard from upstairs.

“Nick, We’re back!”

I quickly looked in the direction of the stairs as soon as I heard the words, which was, to put it bluntly, a pretty stupid idea. Pinkie swung at me again.

“OI! MOTHERFUCKER!”

three of my left fingers flew off. I dropped the knife and gripped my hand in pain. Pinkie picked the blade up, then swung at me with both. My left hand flew off entirely.

“OH SHIT!”

With my remaining hand, I grabbed her by the mane, and slammed her into the ground, blood flying every which way from my destroyed arm. I dove on top of her, but I landed on my bad side.

“OW! MY RIBS! DEAR GOD!”

I was in so much pain, I could barely move. Pinkie threw me off of her, and stood up, towering over me with the knives. This was it. I was dead. I gently closed my eyes, and braced for death. I prayed again.

“When I die,”
“Show no pitty,”
“Send my soul to Juggalo City.”
“Dig my grave six feet deep,”
“Put two matches by my feet,”
“Put two hatchets on my chest,”
“And tell my homies I did my best.”

Just then, I heard a scream and a loud crashing noise; the sound of wood falling apart..

“NO!”

I drearily opened my eyes and sat up. Applejack was attacking Pinkie, overtop of the now destroyed party table. They were going at it wildly, throwing hooves left and right. I took the opportunity to head for my gun, grabbing it, and checking the magazine: twelve rounds. I ran over to the two mares duking it out and slapped Pinkie Pie upside the head with my gun. she squealed, and I dropped my weapon, holding her down with Applejack. She pulled out a lasso from her saddlebag and began to hogtie Pinkie.

“Okay. Girls, we gotta get Pinkie some help, and we need to bury Carrot. He’s dead.”

The CMC were frozen in fear at the decor of the room, sick to their stomachs. they got up and ran away, scared and, likely, scarred of the scene. It was left to me, BEN, Pinkie, and Applejack, the latter of whom stared at me, and then to the yellow earth pony’s body. her own heart raced at the gruesome state of the room, still holding a violent Pikamena underneath her, and the song of unhealing finally faded away.

“Wait... he’s dead? What did ya do!?”

I shuffled nervously, averting eye contact slightly.

“Lie about it! She won’t forgive you for killing! Not after all this!”

“It was Pinkie. She was going to eat him.”

“WHAT!? NO I WASN’T, YOU LIAR!”

I walked over and planted the barrel of my gun to Pinkie’s head.

“YOU shut up, you lying cannibal freak!”

“Nick, sugar, stop that right now!”

“Yeah, you’re right Applejack. I should calm down. Did you know she does cocaine?” I asked, taking the gun off of Pinkie, and walking over to Carrot’s corpse and slinging it over my back. Applejack looked over to me, a bit surprised at the statement.

“No, but the hospita’ tol’ us that she done got this illness they call ‘skitzerfrener’ or somethin’.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, they done gave us the record right ‘chere.” Applejack said, exposing a manilla folder that was in her saddlebags. She lifted Pinkie up on her back and we walked up from the demented hole that was Sugarcube’s basement. As we got to ground level, I saw the girls were trying to clean up the blood stains and broken glass that littered the floor. I set Carrot’s body down on the nearby table and approached Applejack, who handed me the records. I opened it and began to read. It was a diagnosis form filled out by nurse Redheart. It gave the specifics of Pinkie’s issues, mentioning her unhealthy tendency of talking to inanimate objects. I remembered that from Party of One. I continued reading, and the file went on to say that Pinkie should never attempt to consume a controlled substance, or her illness may worsen. I folded the papers away, and put them in my pocket. My stubbed arm stung in pain and shot out blood. I fell to the floor and covered it with my other.

“Can anyone get me some bandages!? I lost a fuckin’ hand back there!”

I tore my shirt off, and wrapped it just underneath the wound, and pulled tightly on the knot, forming a homemade tourniquet. That would stop the bleeding for a while. I needed a branding iron next to seal the actual stub.

“I’ll also need a branding iron, and a fire going.”

The girls split, running through town to get me the supplies. I was left to deal with Pinkie Pie. I stood up and walked over to her, a fire in my eyes. I kneeled down beside her, smirking.

“You know, I should kill you, you little batshit loon.”

“Untie me, and we’ll see how tough you are, human!”

“Pinkie Pie, stop being like this. This is NOT you. You’re a fun-loving party animal. Lay off the drugs. That shit’s poisoning your mind.”

“That little green thing told me not to trust anypony but my real friends; Rocky, Sir Lintsalot...”

“What little green thing? The statue?”

“Yes.”

I sighed and chuckled, looking at the ground with a smile. My eye came back up and met with Pinkie’s again, and instead of a thirst for revenge, it was soft and kind.

“Do not, under ANY circumstances, listen to that thing. For your own sanity, and for the safety of your REAL friends, Pinkie, please, for the love of god, do NOT listen to that thing.”

“Why should I trust a human I just met!?” She yelled. She threw an angry glare, trying to bite me, lunging her head forward. I sat down on the floor and wiped the blood off on my pants.

“Look, you don’t have to, but I want to ask you a few questions, Pinkie. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want answers.”
Pinkie just kept her pissed off glare trained on me. She probably wasn’t going to tell me anything. I decided to try anyway. I collected my thoughts, and rested my head in my hand, holding it underneath my chin.

“First of all, Where did you get the cocaine?”

“What, you mean that super sugar?”

“No, I mean cocaine.”

“Derpy told me it was some kind of super sugar.”

“You got it from Derpy?” I asked, looking at Pinkie more intently now. Her tone was changing, and her hair instantly poofed back to its curly state. She was returning to sanity.

“Yep. She’s got this new kind of candy delivery service for the mail. Big Mac is a customer too! He gets these little purple candies. He takes a bunch of them and goes to share them with the girls. He’s so fatherly.” Pinkie said, smiling a bit. She had come back, her carefree self. I figured it was a good a time to talk as any.

“Yeah... fatherly... So... he’s a viagra addict.”

“Did you know you’ve been eating other ponies?”

Pinkie wasn’t sure what to say. She just gave me a dumbstruck look, mixed with a bit of fear and disgust.

“EWW! I’d never do something that gross!”

It was obvious she wasn’t aware of what she was doing in the basement. It left me with only one option: take out the source of the drugs. If she kept away from the coke, this would never happen again, according to the medical records. There was nothing we could do for her schizophrenia, but we could keep her from killing anybody if she stayed off the drugs. At that moment, however, the rest of the gang burst through the door with the supplies I asked for. I stood up and walked over to the basement, looking over at the others. I walked downstairs and collected my equipment, which was scattered all over the floor. I dressed, though doing so in such a maccabe environment is, well, extremely hard to do. BEN was standing there, and as I picked up my gun, my final piece of equipment, I heard a serpentine voice.

“You shouldn’t have done that...”

I turned around in fear, my neck making a ‘crick-crick’ sound in the process, which met the statue.

“Did... did you just talk?”

No response from the statue. My heart jumped again in fear. I kept staring at the little green thing, and, out of nowhere, the skull kid screamed. At the yell, an earthquake suddenly hit, and a support beam from the basement fell apart and pinned me to the floor.

“HELP!”

The quake continued to rock the structure, objects of all kinds falling off shelves and whatnot. The CMC ran outside, carrying a tied up Pinkie Pie with them. Applejack heard a cry from the basement and ran down to acknowledge it, and when she arrived, she saw me struggling to get free. I turned my head to my friend, cracking a bit of a smile, yet sweating in a panic as another piece of ceiling fell down beside me. BEN was trying to bury me alive in Sugarcube Corner.

“Applejack! Help me out! Please!”

She nodded and gripped my good arm, trying to pull me out as yet another beam fell behind her, and then another, and another.

“Hold on, sugarcube! Ah got ya!”

Another yank, and I came flying out from under the debris. I weakly clambered onto Applejack’s back, gripping her gently around the neck as she ran up the crumbling wooden staircase. As we bolted out of the building, at the very last second, the structure collapsed into pieces. I thought about Carrot; we’d left his body in there. So much for a proper burial. I shuddered, growing weak.
The mask salesman giggled, which made my spine shiver. I wish I was back home in my bed. Why in the love of god did I have to play that cartridge? Why didn’t I just stay away? Any brony would love to be able to visit Equestria, but let me tell you, if by some freak chance you come here? Run. Run far the fuck away. I’ve only been here for half a day, and already, I want to leave. The cities are slums. Their world is no better than ours. There are racist biggots, alcoholics, incestual rednecks, child molesters, domestic abusers, and even cannibals. Stay the fuck away. I’m warning you now. I’ve a feeling it’s only gonna get worse, but as for going home, there’s nothing I can do for now. Yet, there is some light - perhaps I can fix this. I brought BEN into our world, and he brought me here, and so far, he’s been the cause of pretty much everything I’ve experienced here. This was my war, and I needed the help of the six. We needed to work together to kill him. So much for love and tolerance. Two questions bobbled around in my head though...

How exactly DO you kill a spirit? How the hell do I get home?

And at that thought, I passed into unconsciousness from blood loss as the skull kid giggled.

---

A voice, quite obviously a male, yet not serpentine like that of the statue spoke up from the rubble of Sugarcube Corner.

“So, Jadusable... you want to play dirty? We’ll play dirty. We WILL kill you and your friends with our next trick. You may have survived Sugarcube, but trust me... chaos will reign, human.”

The mask salesman giggled throughout Equestria, sending a deathly cold shiver down the spine of everypony in the nation. The serpentine one spoke again.

“BEN is getting lonely...”

Chapter VI: Uber Soldat

I woke up in the CMC’s clubhouse, clutching my head in pain. My wound on my left arm was gone, and in its place was a purple and black stub - obviously a seal done by an intensive burn. It was exactly what I wanted to do, but somebody else had done it for me it seemed. I looked around and noticed I was surrounded by the girls, AJ, and Pinkie. I was alive, Pinkie was well, and the girls were safe. I was content. I fell back against the wall and sighed in relief, VERY weak and extremely lightheaded from all the blood loss. Scootaloo seemed a bit odd though. On her flank was the image of a blue caduceus, a common symbol used to indicate medical facilities. Her cutie mark, obviously. I shook my head a bit, and as I cleared my mind, my eye went to my stub, then to Scoots, then to my stub, and back to Scoots. I also had a proper patch on my eye, which had, upon me lifting the cover and feeling myself, been entirely removed to prevent infection.

“Scootaloo...” I paused, looking at my stub, then feeling my patch. “...did you do this?”

Scootaloo smiled at me and giggled, a proud look on her face. The others gave me warm grins as well. I felt safe, despite all the injuries and the setbacks said damage would cause me in life.

“Yep, but I’m not done. Lie down, please, Nick.” she said as she took some bandages in her mouth and began to wrap them cleanly around my arm. I smiled at her, and as she finished, I gave her a hug.

“Thank you. And congratulations on getting your cutie mark. I’ve been wanting to see that ever since I’ve started watching your show.”

I felt proud, almost like a father, even, seeing his daughter grow up to be a strong, independent woman with a future. Why was I feeling this about a horse though? A fictional horse, no less...
Pinkie tilted her head and stared at me quizzically.

“Show? What show?”

I just laughed at Pinkie Pie (in a friendly way).

“Just like how we’re fairytales to you, you’re a TV show to us. In other words, my people find you entirely fictional, Pinkie. YOU, of all ponies know we exist, you fourth wall breaker.”

“Well, duh, of course humans exist, silly! I just never told anypony the truth because they wouldn’t believe me!” Pinkie continued, beaming in excitement. My stomach gurgled. Some food would be wonderful right about now, despite the fact that I can’t get that sickening image of the basement out of my head. I nearly vomited again at the thought of that hellhole. A pang of guilt about Carrot hit me again. I repressed, and turned my attention to Applejack.

“Thank you for saving my life... I owe you one.”

“Sugarcube, ya saved mah sis and her friends. If anythin’, I owe YOU, darlin’.”

“I didn’t save anyone, I did what I knew was right.

“Nonsense, sweetie.”

Well, at least things had stopped for a while, but BEN was still out there, the son of a bitch. What did I ever DO to that kid that made him do this to me? How did he send me here? What exactly was he doing here in the first place? More importantly...

“Who’s hungry?” I asked, smiling at everyone else, looking around the room for response.

“Ooooo! mememememememe!” Pinkie yelled, quite literally bouncing off the walls. I couldn’t contain myself. I just broke down laughing at the scene, along with the other four as Pinkie Pie rebounded and sprung around the clubhouse like a rampant bouncy ball fired from a cannon. THERE was the Pinkie Pie we all knew. I stood up and brought them all together for a hug. As we left and headed into town, though, the mood got depressing quite quickly. Pinkie nervously looked up to me, as if to say something, but didn’t. She looked down at the ground, a sad look on her face, and then looked back up to me.

“Um, Nick?”

“Yes?”

“So... I really did all those awful things?” Pinkie asked, a sadness overtaking her face. She was about to cry, and so, I really didn’t want to answer. If I told Pinkie the truth, it would emotionally destroy her. If I didn’t, she would resist help. I gently placed my hand on her back, cracking a faint smile at Pinkie Pie, then delivering a slight scowl at everyone else.

“Alright, who the hell told her about the basement while I was out cold?”

“We- we all did.” Sweetie piped up. “If we didn’t tell her about what she’s been doing, who knows what she would have done next!” She finished, shuddering a bit at the returning image of the blood-soaked basement. I sighed and turned my attention to Pinkie as we walked.

“Yes, Pinkie Pie, yes, you did.”

Pinkie began to tear even more. As those words left my mouth, a pang of regret hit me. It was for the best though, that I knew. Pinkie just fell, and let the tears flow. The rest cuddled around their friend to try and comfort her. I just stood there, contemplating what to say. Finally, I drew a breath, and spoke.

“PInkie Pie, listen... I’m not mad at you. None of us are. We just wanna see you get back to normal, okay? We’re your friends. We’re here to take care of you. I’m not gonna judge you for something that obviously wasn’t your fault. You have a sickness, and the drugs were hurting you. We’ll try to get you medicine, okay?”

“I...I... I’m... I’m so sorry! Mr. Cake... I’m sorry!”

Oh... great. They told her that she killed Carrot. This was DEFINATELY gonna bite me in the ass later. I sighed, nearly crying at the fact of her having to live with ‘killing’ her employer. Should I confess now? No. I couldn’t. If I did, they would all leave me here, with no way to get home, and a rampant BEN terrorizing the country. I couldn’t afford to lose their trust now. Every moment I went without a confession tore at my heart though... I just... never knew I could kill. I sighed, kicking up some dust as I looked down to the street and continued to walk.

“I’m sorry about your hand Nick... Are you mad at me?” Pinkie asked, giving her puppy face.

“No... I can’t ever be mad at you... Not when you give me that face.”

“Sugarcube, we could never be mad at ya, specially with what’s been goin’ on in town recently. Everypony’s got some kinda problem nowadays. Ya shoulda heard the awful stuff Big Mac was doin’!” Applejack said, trying to smile at her friend. The CMC nodded in agreement. Pinkie squee’d and hugged us all again. Suddenly, I felt much better, and the thoughts about Carrot’s murder washed away. BEN washed away. That cursed game faded out of my mind, and even the basement and apple cellar faded away as I held my group of friends tightly. Why couldn’t I be close with my friends back home? Why was it all they ever wanted to do was get drunk? Why couldn’t they be like this? Supportive, friendly... instead of mooching off me? I take back everything I said about how corrupt Equestria was, it was just under attack by something attempting to destroy the country from the inside out, namely, BEN (and perhaps, Derpy). HE was the one doing all these awful things. It wasn’t the fault of any of the citizens. It was MY fault. I let him out of that cartridge, and he came here. I was the one that ruined Equestria. Now, it was up to me and whomever I could get to side with me to fix it.

“Hey, let’s go get that new drink that Flim and Flam have been selling!” Sweetie Belle excitedly added.

“Oh, I love that stuff!” Applebloom commented.

I was confused. a new drink from the FlimFlam brothers?

“Wait, they’re at it again?”

“Yeah, but they ain’t doin’ apple cider ana’more, they got their own drink this time.” Applejack interjected.

“Hmmm... Sounds interesting. Let’s get over there.”

I shivered again as the mask man’s laughter filled the air. Something told me this was only going to get worse. MUCH worse. As we approached the stands, Pinkie pulled out some cash. She ran up and returned with drinks for all of us, smiling brightly. The stands were in town square, and the area was absolutely packed. A bunch of ponies stared me down, and I began to sweat at all the attention.

“Woah! It’s a real, live human! Lyra wasn’t joking!”

“Yes, yes, humans exist. Move along, please.” I said, trying to shoo those that approached me off. I REALLY wasn’t in the mood to draw myself out, for the sake of avoiding BEN. There were several guards standing around the streets, which I found extremely odd. There was RARELY a public presence of armed forces in Equestria according to the show, but here, there existed about three squads in this region alone. On top of this, the citizenry seemed... afraid somehow. I couldn’t explain, but they rarely talked, and the happy atmosphere of the town was even less than that of what I saw when I got here. Interaction between citizens was at a VERY minimal level, and many of them avoided eye contact with the troops.

“It’s on the house, Nick. Think of it as only a portion of what I owe you.”

“You owe me nothing. You being safe and off those drugs is all I need from you, Pinkie Pie.”

I examined the drink with interest. It was a bright green and orange mixture, unlike anything I had ever seen. I gave it some final inspection, then smiled at the girls. We clinked our glasses together, and at that, we drank.

“OKTOBERFEST!” I yelled in excitement with a slight German accent. I took a swig of the drink, and my heart started racing a bit, though not nearly as bad as the cocaine. This must have had caffeine in it or something. As the mellow taste, somewhat of a citrus lemon-lime flavor, mixed with Marley’s Mellow Mood (that’s the best description I can give, looking back) rolled around on my tongue, something seemed to take hold of me, not to mention the girls. It was a very pleasurable feeling, and my entire body tingled and tickled at every nerve. I lost some coordination, stumbling around a bit. Was there alcohol in this too? Must be some pretty strong booze. ...but no, if it did, they wouldn’t give it to children... would they? Flim and Flam would do anything for coin, that I knew. Ah well, who gave a damn? I felt awesome right now! I grew a little lightheaded and began to laugh. The others did as well, and their own tones became a bit distorted and garbled to my ears.

“Man... I love you guys... so much.”

“We love you too Nick.”

At that, I blacked out.

"Ow... where the hell am I?"

I awoke on another metal rack, naked again. I looked around the room I was in, my eyes drearily coming to. where I was at was much cleaner and well-organized than the torment that was Sugarcube’s basement. There were a few models of pony skeletons at the far end of the room that looked disturbingly real, two to be exact. One was an alicorn, with a slightly smaller stature and body build than that of either Luna or Celestia, and on its horn rested a golden ring. The second was a unicorn, a standard size pony, and atop its skull sat a purple wizard’s hat with multi colored star designs. There was a small computer tower next to a desk, which had a small chemistry lab on it, and from the tower was being produced several printouts, similar to those found in seismic scans or polygraph tests. I looked around more, and I saw the other five were locked down on racks as well. These trays though, were much more secure, metal, switch-activated locks holding our limbs. The five we were on (and the only ones in the room) were arranged in a star-shaped pattern, connected together by their inner edges. Aside from the desk, skeletal models, and tables, there was a small control panel of some kind, with various buttons and a large lever with a neon orange knob. I began to panic. Where were we!? Everyone I had befriended was struggling wildly, trying to break free of their mechanical restraints, and suddenly, over top of me appeared Twilight Sparkle.

“Hi there!” she said, in a giddy tone. She was NOT normal by any means. She was wearing a lab coat stained with dried blood, her eyes were solid red, very much like those of Big Mac when I fought him, her coat and mane were solid grey instead of purple, and she had that famous look of insanity from Lesson Zero, beady eyes and all. Her voice, like Big Mac’s, was not entirely her own, with somewhat of a serpentine lisp behind it. I screamed at her impromptu appearance and my body jolted backwards (or as far back as it could go), and I immediately started sweating.

“What is this!? Let us out!”

Twilight didn’t answer me. She just turned away to the nearby desk, walked over, and took a sip of a drink from a lab flask. It was the same mixture that we got from the FlimFlam brothers; orange and green. Something about THIS drink was off, though. Twilight set the flask down and walked over to me, staring at my body with a particular interest. Each step she took towards me, her clopping hooves hitting the tile floor, made me quiver in fear. Never before had I been so scared of this horse... What was she going to do to us? Everybody else looked over to me, as if to look for an answer to my own question.

“So... a human, huh? Straight out of the foal’s stories. Un-be-bucking-lievable. This certainly breaks all scientific explanation.”

“No... YOU break scientific explanation, Twilight.”

“Pfft, whatever, human. I noticed you brought some interesting toys with you.” she said, rolling her eyes over in the direction of my gun, phone, charger, ammo, and CD, which, along with my clothes, were on the desk with the chemistry lab.

“Let me go, and I’ll show you how the L shaped one works.” I replied to her, scowling as I tried to viciously tear my way out of my bonds with no success.

“Heh. Nice try. You know, a human would really make a great testing subject. There’s so much to find out, what with you being a brand new species! Would you be willing to help further the cause of science?”

I spat in her face. Twilight gave me a blank stare, then wiped her face off and gave a seductively cute smile.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Fuck. You.”

“You know what, you seem like a competent fighter... perhaps you’d better serve me as a soldier.”

“I’m not doing a goddamn thing for you, Twilight.”

Oh, that’s a shame...” she said, as she cast some magic and crushed my right fingers.

“AUGHHHHHHHHHHHH! GO TO HELL, YOU STUPID BITCH!” I yelled, as I felt my bones crunch into a broken mess.

“Twilight, what in tarnation are ya doin’!? Stop this right now!”

“Well, if you won’t help me, that’s okay. The little green guy has been. He’s quite the assistant. Plus, he refills my drink without me asking!” Twilight said, taking another sip of the flask as she walked over to Applejack and smiled at her wickedly. Pinkie and the CMC were scared out of their minds and on the verge of crying. I spit up some blood, watching as the nearly empty flask magically filled itself.

“Wait... green?”

“Yeah, that little guy over there.” Twilight said, pointing in the corner, as she turned back around and started to approach me again. Her eyes grew an even bloodier shade of red. “Say hello, BEN.”

The statue, it was here, standing in the corner of the room next to the control panel. The song of unhealing was playing in the air, and my head suddenly hurt from the tune. The CMC screamed in unison at the unholy noise, and later, started crying.

“Make it stop!” they all yelled.

My heart sank at his appearance. How far did his reach go? Had he corrupted EVERYONE? And... why was Twilight’s skin grey?

“Oh dear god, no...”

“Well, let’s get started, shall we?” Twilight began, gripping a scalpel in her hoof and approaching me. I cringed, bracing for the worst. She searched for a spot to begin her incision, and fortunately, decided to use my handless arm. The scalpel dug deep into my left limb, forming a clean-cut incision that went down vertically, dangerously close to my vein. She must have been doing this twisted work for years, because the slice was so fast and clean, I barely felt any pain.

“Why? Just... why, Twilight?”

My face flustered red with anger. I began to cry. Equestria was REALLY corrupt... I couldn’t believe this.

“Why?” I asked her again as I held back more tears. “What did I ever do to you!?”

Twilight just laughed at me. She opened the newly formed incision, peering inside my arm. The pain had hit. I screamed, and the skull kid laughed. As blood spurted from the fresh cut, even more tears streamed down my face. How could Twilight be doing this? What exactly WAS BEN doing to her?

“TWILIGHT! STOP IT!” Scootaloo yelled, thrashing her little orange body about. Pinkie was crying, trying to cope with what she was seeing. First herself, now one of her very own friends, practically doing the very same things she had done. She tried to sing a tune of her own amidst her tears as the song of unhealing continued to play through the air.

“G-g-g-giggle at th-th-th-the g-g-g-ggg-g-g-ghosties...”

At that, there WAS a giggle: the giggle of the mask salesman. I wrenched around wildly in pain, my arm spurting out blood, growing weak as my vision began to fade from even more blood loss.

“Twilight, what are you trying to accomplish here?”

“Oh... I’ve got BIG plans for Equestria, human.” she said, laughing as she took a syringe and extracted some of my blood. Applebloom threw up all over herself and started crying along with the other two. Twilight was toying with my open arm, playing with the bone and muscle, making it twitch and spurt even more.

“So that’s how that works...”

“Let’s *cough* cut to the chase lady. Are you going to kill me or not?”

“No, silly. I’m just gonna add you to The Collective.” Twilight said, taking another sip of her drink. Her eyes turned a bright red again.

“It’s that potion, shug! Stop drinkin’ that!” Applejack screamed out, trying to yank herself loose. Even after all the years of apple bucking, she still wasn’t strong enough for these locks, stressing her body for no purpose. Twilight smiled at the blonde pony and slowly walked over to her.

“Twilight, I swear to god, if you fucking hurt her...!”

“Oh Applejack... you simply don’t understand how amazing this drink is. Why, with every sip I take, I expand my mind! I constantly learn new things with this brew! It’s from the FlimFlam brothers. I added a few special ingredients to MY drink though, and let me tell you, it is absolutely grand!”

Twilight stopped for a moment, levitating her drink over to the desk and setting it down, as she drew even closer to AJ.

“You know, Applejack... I always fancied a strong one...”

“Wha-what do ya mean, sugarcube?” AJ asked, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of her face. Twilight gave a cute little smile, and her voice went soft, almost a direct parallel to those demonic eyes of hers.

“Here... let me show you...”

Twilight began rubbing Applejack’s stomach, slowly at first, methodically, before beginning to nibble on her friend’s ears.

“O... okay, Twi, we’re gettin’ a might personal here... there are fillies in th’ room...”

Twilight wasn’t listening. She continued to caress Applejack, feeling her up, and starting to lick her. I couldn’t watch this sick shit, I knew it was going to get worse. I had seen enough of this vile crap on the internet... Twilight continued her twisted game, taking her mouth off of AJ’s ears, then running her tongue down the length of her front body, down to her vulva. After teasing it with her tongue for a few seconds, Twilight’s horn glowed, and gently slipped inside. Applejack screamed in pain, and Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo clamped their eyes shut. This went on for about five minutes, then Applebloom screamed at the unicorn.

“What are ya doin to mah sister, Twilight!? Quit it! Quit it now!”

And so she did, removing herself from a shocked Applejack...

...and then approached the little yellow filly. She screamed and tried to bite her attacker, but it was just like the cellar; she was completely powerless, and had no choice but to submit. Her two friends and Pinkie Pie couldn’t bear to watch. Twilight forced her way into the young girl, which nearly made me vomit. I thrashed around some more, screaming.

“God damn it, Twilight, let her go! She’s been through enough!”

Again, she completely ignored me, and as she finished her work inside of Applebloom, Twi conjured another spell, and pressed one of the buttons on the control panel, which released my shackles. I fell to the floor, weak as all get out, but stood and stumbled over to my gun.

“Now’s your chance. Kill the bitch!”

I gripped hold of it and took aim at Twi, but not before being blindsided by... the statue? Yeah, I wish I could make that up, but the statue just LITERALLY attacked me, slamming itself into me. I fell to the floor, dropping the gun, which, my finger still barely in the trigger well, fired, and sent a bullet flying around the room. It came back and hit me in my left shoulder. I screamed again and tried to collect myself, but I was suddenly picked up by a spell from Twilight and thrown, face first, against a blank spot in the wall. As she held me there, with her magic, she picked up a small plastic ziptie from a drawer in the desk, and tied my arms together. She took a rugged burlap sack from a pile of identical ones that were on the floor in the opposite corner, and gagged me with it. Then, she took a second one and placed it over my head, and the mask salesman giggled as the song of unhealing finally subsided. I tried to speak through the muffling cloth.

“I’ll be back. I promise you all.”

Twilight smacked me upside the head with her hoof.

“Shut up, human!”

As I was led down a few flights of stairs, the air became increasingly thinner. How far down did Twilight’s lab go? Would the others be okay?

---

Pinkie finally came to her senses, and tried to relax, snot running down her face as her hysterical crying slowly trickled to a stop, and then tried to break loose of her bonds.

“We gotta help Nick! He’s gonna die!”

Applejack looked over and rolled her eyes.

“What in tarnation do ya expect us to do, Pinkie? We’re locked down on these here metal racks!” she said, as Sweetie Belle and Applebloom continued to cry in the background. Her inner body still hurt from Twilight’s attack, a burning, stinging sensation from the rape taking her nerves. She screamed at the vicious, searing pain inside of her. Applebloom continued to cry, traumatized by her own assault.

“Everypony just shut the buck up!”

The room fell dead silent at the abrupt order, and all eyes turned to face the source of the noise; Scootaloo.

“Okay... let’s calm down and think. Applejack, do you see that control panel over there?”

“Yup Scoots. Ah... ah do.”

“Try using your head to chuck your hat at that lever. I’m willing to bet that thing will let us free. Maybe, just maybe you can pull off a Daring Do!”

“Aw, now Scoot, there ain’t no way in hay I coul-”

“Shut up and try!”

“Scootaloo, why are ya being so demanding?” Applebloom managed to squeak out, a twinge of fear in her voice.

Scootaloo sighed, closing her eyes, then opening them again. She brought them around the room multiple times, staring deep into each of their own with a sense of determination as she spoke.

“Because Nick wouldn’t want us to give up. When he saved us from Big Mac, was he scared? Yes. Did he lose composure and give up? No! He fought for us! He fought for our lives! Without his injury, I wouldn’t have my cutie mark! We owe him! If there’s anything he’s taught me, it’s to be rational even if you’re scared out of your mind! Nick didn’t come here on complete accident, he came here for a reason, and now, we have to help him! He obviously has some connection to this BEN statue, and it’s pretty obvious that this statue is hurting everypony else in town. If there’s anypony who has the slightest idea on how to stop BEN, it’s Nick. We NEED to work together!”

Sweetie Belle chuckled lightly, sniffling a bit as her tears began to dry, following the little speech.

“Yeah!”

“Yeah! Let’s do this!” Pinkie Pie cheered in reply, looking to Applejack, awaiting her friend’s next move.

“Alright, fine, ah’ll try.” Applejack said, with a groan and a sharp pain in her nether, knocking her hat off her head and onto her chest. Picking it up with her mouth like a frisbee, she took careful aim and threw...

---

“Alright, Twilight, I’ve had enough of your games. Take this fucking thing off my head!” I ordered, barely audible with the cloth bag stuffed down my throat. Surprisingly, not soon after my request, the bag on my head was removed, and the gag taken from my mouth. I was now clearly deep underground, and in a hallway, a long, thin hallway with many doors. Twilight picked me up with some magic and slung me over her back. She took another ziptie, which was tucked behind her ear, and used another aura to bring the plastic tie to my legs, and bind them together so I couldn’t run. I just laid down, stomach first, on top of Twilight’s back, and I read some of the labels on the doors as we passed by. Each of them had a window nearby, which had clear pictures of what was happening within them. As we went down the hallway, I became increasingly disturbed. In the first room was a collection of various ponies and creatures, all of very muscular builds. Athletes, fighters, you name it. Each of the individuals in the room were inside pressurized glass tubes, each of which was covered with some frost. The label above this first room read: ‘Cryogenics Lab’. The second room down the hallway was a strange one. It had several artificial pits in the room, and each of these contained an abundance of different creatures. Each pit held one specific type of creature, and, passing the window, I saw the room fill with what seemed to be some kind of a noxious green gas. All the beings within the entirety of the room fell over dead as the view of the window moved out of sight. The label for this door was ‘Harvesting Room’.

Further down, we came to a third room, and inside of this, was an even more disturbing activity. There were life support chambers running the lengths of the walls, and inside each was a developing fetus of some kind of a creature - a dragon, a pony, a diamond dog, and on and on. In the middle of the room was a small chemistry lab, lined with vials of white and red. Judging from the fetuses that were in the tanks, I assumed they were collections of sperm and eggs, and my hunch was correct as we walked past the label ‘Breeding Chambers’. The very next room needed little explanation, but further down the line, the next lab contained more life support tanks. The only difference here? they were spread apart, grouped in sets of four, and each cluster contained identical beings. Suffice to say, the label was ‘Cloning Vats’. The fifth room in the line was even more maccabe. Within it were several operation tables, and I was guessing this was where most of the twisted work was done by Twilight herself. On the tables were various beings, all of which were disembodied, beheaded, and sewn together with one another. Ponies with diamond dogs, griffins with parasprites, chimeras with dragons, ursa majors and minors with manticores and on. This door read: ‘Splicing Labs’. This place was a twisted lab of death, and in each window we had passed stood the statue. We weren’t done though. We passed several others, each with their own labels. None of these had windows to see what was occurring inside, but most didn’t need an explanation. From the start of the first door to the end of the hallway, they went:

‘Armory’
‘Medical R&D’
‘Weapons Research’
‘Training Room’
‘Behavioral Rehab’
‘Assault Course’

It didn’t take much to figure out that Twilight and BEN were creating a genetically modified army of mutants. Twilight had the brains and the resources, and BEN... well, what DID he do exactly? Who gave a shit? This needed to be stopped, and stopped now. We came to the end of the hallway, to an unmarked door. What was behind here? God damn, this whole trip couldn’t get any worse.

Oh boy, was I wrong.

---

It failed. Applejack’s hat didn’t activate anything, but it DID land on the lever, though only for a brief moment before sliding off onto the floor.

“Aw, damn it!” Applejack cried.

“Now what?” Pinkie asked.

Scootaloo looked around the room and noticed the gun on the table, then an idea rushed through her. She grinned.

“Sweetie Belle, can you use some magic to pick up Nick’s weapon and shoot the switch?”

“Are you crazy? I never learned any magic!” Sweetie cried, an exasperated look on her face as she turned to her friend.

Scootaloo sighed, tilting her head back some, then bringing her eyes to Sweetie Belle.

“Come on! after all the time you spend with Rarity, you can’t even learn a simple grip spell?”

Sweetie Belle looked at the gun, then to her friends, then to the gun again. She took a breath.

“Well, I guess I could try...” She said, as she closed her eyes and grunted. A spark flew from her horn.

“Hold on... I’ve got something...”

Another spark.

“Let me try again.”

A spark, then a weak aura surrounded Sweetie Belle’s horn and the gun. It levitated a few inches off the table. Everypony cheered.

“Great, now get it over here!” Applebloom said, trying to wiggle her hoof loose.

“Applebloom, we don’t have fingers! How in tarnation do ya expect us ta work this thing?”

“Wait... let me try something...” Sweetie Belle said, dragging the pistol to her. She put it on top of her, setting it down on her belly and examined the weapon. She ran her eyes along the action, then the grip, then they stopped to the trigger, the hammer, and finally, the barrel.

“Okay... now, let’s see how this works.” she said, looking at the gun in interest. She used her magic to pick the weapon up, took aim, and with a bit of extra effort pulled the trigger with some more magic. The gun sounded, followed by some metallic pings, and a fleshy sound, accompanied with a scream of pure agony.

“SWEETIE BELLE!” Pinkie cried out, trying to break free as she began to cry at the sudden sight of blood. Sweetie had shot herself, trying to figure how to work the gun. The bullet went straight through her stomach, and, hitting the metal table she was tied to, ricocheted throughout her body, tearing her organs to pieces. She dropped the gun, crying in pain. She was a brave one, yes, but she couldn’t handle this. She let the tears flow like the distressed and hurt filly she really was; it was just too much for her to handle .The burning sensations in her organs; her stomach, her heart, her intestines... all of it seared with roaring burns as blood began to flow from the wound. Sweetie’s heart began to beat erratically, and slow down as the ‘clink-clink’ sound of a bullet casing hit the floor. Scootaloo was on the verge of tears. Applebloom and Pinkie were already letting out waterfalls, and Applejack began to panic, looking around wildly to see what she could do.

“Sweetie Belle, you gotta try again! If we get out of this, I can fix you up!” Scoot said, as a lone drop rolled down her face.

Sweetie Belle, in intense pain, took what energy she had left, and conjured another spell to pick up the gun. The stings and burns and slowly dropping body temperature all a challenge that the young filly had to surpass. This time, she slowly and carefully took aim at the lever and took the shot, with the gun now facing proper.

*Boom*
*Ka-ching*

Success. The bullet hit the lever, and opened everypony’s shackles. Sweetie fell off of her rack, her face to the floor, a pool of blood forming on the ground. Scootaloo rushed over, and rapidly tried to revive her, giving her CPR as best she could. She ran over and grabbed a burlap sack from the pile, pressing it to her friend’s wound.

“YOU AREN’T DYING ON ME! DAMN IT, STAY WITH ME SWEETIE BELLE!”

Pinkie was panicking, sweating, and looking around wildly, trying to see what she could give to help Scoots and Sweetie.

“What should we do!?”

“You guys go after Nick! Leave Sweetie Belle to me!” Scootaloo cried. “GO!”

As they left, a serpentine voice filled the room. Scootaloo’s spine shivered and the mask salesman giggled.

"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

---

I simply couldn’t contemplate what I was seeing. What was going on down here was bigger than just a personal evil, this was a deranged army of freaks about to roll over Equestria, and Twilight had been working away feverishly at it. BEN had been helping, but to what extent, and what exactly he did, again, I was not certain. We stopped outside of the unmarked door at the end of the hallway, and Twilight threw me to the floor. I stood up, using the nearby wall for support, a small trail of my blood leading all the way down the hall. I felt so fucking weak. I had barely any blood left, I was tied up, I had only one hand, one eye, half of my teeth (approximately), and a large cut along my handless limb. Still, I was willing to sacrifice myself if necessary. I’d fight to the death here. I had brought BEN to Equestria, more or less, so the weight of this entire war was on my shoulders. I spit in Twilight’s face again.

“You are NOT using this army, you god damn psycho!” I said, my voice trembling in fear, yet confident.

“Yeah... sure... and what are you gonna do? You’re missing one of your hands, you’ve lost a lot of blood, you have wounds everywhere, no weapon, plus, you’re pretty out of shape anyway. You think you can take ME? I use MAGIC, you stupid bucker! Humans can’t even fathom that! You have NO conceivable chance against me! You’re worthless! You’re a pile of trash! And you wanna know what else? As soon as I’m done with you, I’m gonna go have some fun with everypony you brought with you.” She said, as the skull kid laughed yet again. At that, she conjured a spell that took my already ruined arm, and twisted it sideways. it snapped at the shoulder and fell limp, tearing out of the socket at a jarring angle, which protruded through my skin. I screamed and collapsed on the floor in blinding pain. I was going to die. I knew it.

“Now, as I said, YOU are going into The Collective.” she exclaimed, taking another sip of her drink. From the outside, moaning and tortured screams could be heard. As the electronic door lifted up, I was greeted with a room that was, to say the least, organic. The entirety of the walls, including the ceilings and the floor itself, were covered with bodies, sewn together in strange, bizarre patterns. Some of the individuals were still alive, kept that way by the aid of all the others tied into the sheet, while others had been long-since dead, partially decomposed. In the center of the ceiling was some amorphous mass, tanish-grey in hue, that had several tentacle-like appendages protruding from its mouth of many teeth. I couldn’t even begin to tell you what the hell that used to be. The area smelled STRONGLY of rotten meat.

“What the fuck is this thing?”

“Oh, this?” Twilight began. “This, I just call ‘The Collective’. basically, it’s a being made out of practically every creature in Equestria. It survives by living off of its own tissue. It’s about to feed now. Let us watch.”

As she finished those words, the central core of the creature reached out onto a piece of the walls with one of its tenticles, and tore out a mint colored unicorn; Lyra. She was moaning and crying, in a distorted, gurgling sort of tone.

“P----pplease.... Ugh.... T-tw-twilight, stoooooppp- Hu-human? It- it’s you! help me!”

At that, Lyra was gone, thrown into the void that was the beast’s orifice. Bits of flesh and blood dripped down from the ceiling as very loud crunches were heard above us. I fearfully looked over to Twilight, just scared beyond anything I had ever been.

“H-how long have you been doing this?”

“Oh, just a week or so. I’ve always wanted to see if I could build an army with my smarts, and finally, with the help of your BEN friend, I summoned the courage to follow through.” Twilight said, smiling wickedly.

“How!? How in the mother of god could you POSSIBLY build a lab this size, take this many beings, and be THIS far along on your progress in one week with only YOU doing the work? How the hell has nobody found out?” I asked, my voice still trembling in fear.

“Moderation! I didn’t take these creatures en masse. No, I took a few at a time. perhaps the last thing you remember was drinking the stuff Flim and Flam were selling? I have this little deal with them where, for some bits, I’m allowed to mix knockout potions into some of the drinks and take the bodies to my lab. That’s how you got here. Most of them go towards my army, but if they don’t serve much of a purpose, they go into The Collective. Once this thing matures, it’ll be an organic super-weapon that will no longer need to eat itself to survive. Until that time though, I have to constantly replace the wounds it gives itself with fresh tissue. That’s where you come in.” Twilight added, cackling under her breath. “How exactly did I do all this work in a week? My special drink. It infuses me with an energy unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, almost supernatural even. I’ve done nearly five months worth of work in just over a week! It’s amazing, I tell you! But enough talk, let’s get started, shall we?”

“I hope you die, you cunt.”

Twilight picked me up with her magic, and, cutting the zipties with some scissors and stretching my limbs out, carefully put a cut in the other three that hadn’t been. She lifted me up, placing me against the newly formed opening in the wall, where Lyra had been, and made several incisions on the neighboring creatures. They screamed in torment, and I shed some tears at their pain, empathising with them. As she attached the slits in my limbs to the lacerations on the other creatures and began to sew, my life flashed back to when I first arrived. BEN wanted me dead. That kid wasn’t toying with me for fun, no, he was just pure evil. I had so many questions I wanted answered...

Why was everyone scared of me when I first arrived here?
Why were the eyes of all the ‘evil’ ponies I met red, and (according to Carrot, Pinkie, and Sweetie,) mine gone the same color?
Why was Ponyville in such horrible shape?
Why was there a large military presence on the ground, and the citizenry so afraid?
How exactly did BEN end up here?
I had a feeling somebody OTHER than Twilight was helping BEN. Who?
What was in Twilight’s drink?
Why did BEN bring me here?
How did BEN get the power to send me here, or do anything for that matter?
How did Equestria exist, in the first place?
How the hell do I get home?
And most importantly...
Were the others okay?

I prayed out loud again. The only thing I could do was have faith, now.

“When I die,”
“Show no pitty,”
“Send my soul to Juggalo City.”
“Dig my grave six feet deep,”
“Put two matches by my feet,”
“Put two hatchets on my chest,”
“And tell my homies I did my best.”

“I wonder how The Collective’s digestive system will react to human meat... I- Ouoof!”

“NIck! We’re here!” Applebloom cried out as her sister tackled Twilight to the floor. I turned my head behind me, seeing all the others (with the exception of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle) here, coming to save ME. It made me smile amidst my pain. My faith, my prayers... They were answered yet again. I’m not a very religious man, but here? I had no trouble in believing. While Applejack and Applebloom were busy fighting Twilight, Pinkie Pie ran up to me, trying to tear me off the wall, as I hung from one arm.

“Stop her from drinking that potion!” I yelled, screaming in pain as Pinkie tore at me.

“Twilight, sugarcube, ah really don’t want to do this, but it’s for ya own good!” Applejack said, hitting Twilight in the face with a hoof. In response, Twilight gripped AJ by the neck with her magic and flung her to the side, and kicked Applebloom away, into the nearby wall.

“Oh, no you didn’t, you fucking bitch. You did NOT just hurt Applebloom!”

I shook in anger. NOBODY hurts the CMC. NOBODY hurts MY friends. I was near death, the only thing keeping me alive, my pure anger at Twilight. I brought my feet up against the wall, and placed my good hand against my ruined, sewn-in arm, and pulled with all my remaining strength. I came tearing off the wall, losing a chunk of my flesh in the process, and landed on the floor, on my back, screaming in pain. The others tied to sheet did too, and I struggled weakly to regain my balance. Pinkie Pie bought me some time by going in for Twilight, and the two dueled it out as Applejack was trying to nurse Applebloom back to health.

“How the buck did you all get free!?” Twilight yelled, jumping at Pinkie. Suddenly, the skull kid laughed, and a wave of energy abruptly rushed through me. It was unnatural, in a way; even though I was minutes from death, I felt perfectly alive and well.

“Nick!? How in tarnation did ya eye turn red!?” Applejack asked, amidst the fighting. I just ignored her and dove in for Twilight, pure anger fueling my organs, and in the process, nearly blindsided Pinkie Pie. She backed away and, holding Twilight down by the neck with my knee, I began punching her continuously in the horn. It began reacting violently, a massive wave of magical energy emanating throughout the room. Fire spewed from Twilight’s horn, lighting The Collective ablaze. Screams unlike anything I had heard filled the room, a deafening mashup of tortured yells and moans of all types. I kept punching and punching. Another spark shot from Twilight’s horn and went flying out of the room. The sound of a distant explosion was heard, then an alarm could be heard blaring, but I didn’t care, because there was only one thing in my head.

“Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill! KILL THIS PSYCHOPATHIC BUTCHER!”

The Collective’s room had almost entirely engulfed in flames by the time I was done, and as I finished my relentless assault, the skull kid screamed. At the familiar imp’s yell, my left side of my body went almost completely numb, and I felt faint, losing touch with my senses, particularly my hearing. I clutched my heart quickly from a sudden pain that had hit it. I was having a hear- I passed out on the floor of flesh.

“Come on! Let’s get out of here, Pinkie Pie!” Applejack screamed, as flames began to surround the duo. She quickly picked up her little sister and tucked the unconscious filly under Nick’s good arm, and threw him onto her back. Pinkie grabbed Twilight, slinging her over her own back, and the two friends rushed out of the burning room - which quickly spread throughout the rest of the labs, chasing them down the hallway. As the team got back up onto the ground floor labs, Pinkie quickly threw all of Nick’s equipment; CD, ammo, gun, clothes, phone and all, into her saddlebags and ran out with her orange friend. As they escaped the library, the entirety of the tree burst aflame, glowing brightly in the dead of night as the two ponies rushed as fast as they could to the hospital. They would have to be quick and wary to avoid getting arrested for breaking the new martial curfew. At least this fire would distract the guards. They both disappeared into the darkness, and with only a short window of time, as the mask salesman’s giggle filled the air. The serpentine voice spoke again, deep into the black of the night.

“Run, my little ponies. Run. The human brain can only live eight minutes without support...”

The skull kid, for yet another time, laughed wickedly, trailing off into the distance.

Chapter VII: Pony Center: Under The Hoof

-Beep-

“Doctor, is he gonna be okay?! Is he alive!?”

-Beep-

“Don’t worry, miss Pie, he’s perfectly fine. He had a heart attack and lost a lot of blood. When you brought him here, we weren’t sure if we COULD fix him, but he seemed to pull through the surgery well. He’s extremely weak, though. He needs at the bare minimum, a month to recuperate. He had something lead-based stuck in his shoulder, so we had to take his left arm to prevent infection, and, by all accounts, It was too ruined to be repaired anyway. I hope he can handle the fact that he lost it. The blood transfusion was the toughest part; the only acceptable type we had for a human was swine blood, what with him being the only human to come here. I didn’t even know they existed.”

-Beep-

“We didn’t either. He showed up at mah farm the other day with a broken rib, I offa’ed him some food, he stayed the night, and offa’ed ta help us with th’ apple buckin’ this season. We think he has some kinda connection ta that weird lil’ statue that showed up a week ago.”

-Beep-

“Oh. That one. Ya know, there’s all kinds of folklore popping up about that thing ever since it showed up.”

-Beep-

“Like what, doc?”

-Beep-

The doctor turned away, staring at a few medical posters and a wall-mounted case of latex hoof gloves, looking down at the the floor for a moment, then back up to the wall.

“Well, they say it’s a demon, a demon that can possess anypony at will, make them do unspeakable things. When it gets hold of you, you never know, but they say when he does, your eyes turn red, and you get really, really strong... and you use that strength in a foul way. They say, every time it laughs, somepony dies. And that song it plays? It can drive even the most strong-minded ponies to insanity. The mental ward has gotten a large influx of patients since it showed up. Barking Mad was just the first of many that he destroyed. They even say he can revive the dead, and kill on command.”

The doctor sighed, taking a breath, then turned back to the two mares standing before him.

“The worst part? They say... when he takes hold of you... he brings out your darkness. He brings out the antithesis of what you stand for... your... shadow, if you will.

The doctor then went back to the posters, grabbing a small orange bottle from the nearby cabinet, still talking to AJ and Pinkie.

“Even moreso than Queen Chrysalis, he may just be the biggest threat Equestria’s ever faced; at least SHE doesn’t kill. Add in the fact that Celestia’s gone on a power-hungry spree, and refused to fund the city’s facilities on top of the depression and her martial law, and the riots that happen every day to get it overturned? I’d say Ponyville may be facing the darkest of times it may have ever seen... I should probably shut up though, her ‘police’ could be listening...”

Pinkie and Applejack gulped nervously, holding each other by the hooves, staring at the unconscious human in the bed next to them. The heart monitor sped up a bit, and Nick began to twitch some.

“Ah, he’s waking. Give him some air, ladies.”

---

Once again, I woke up in pain. I was in the Ponyville hospital. I felt extremely weak. A caramel colored unicorn in a white coat and glasses approached me. He had a heart monitor cutie mark on his flank; this must have been Heart, the doctor from Read It And Weep.
“So... you’re awake. I’ll be honest, I was surprised when they brought a human in here. We didn’t have any medical records for your kind prior to your arrival, so we had to go off of a wild guess to figure out your anatomy, sir.” the doctor exclaimed, smiling at me a bit. I coughed some. My blood felt like ice.

“Wait... what the hell happened?”

“Oh, you? Well, when the others brought you he-”

“Wait, what others?”

“Oh, those two ponies over there!” the doctor said, smiling in the direction of AJ and Pinkie. I looked over at them, and they both gave me wide, happy grins. I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.

“So... what happened to me?”

“As I was saying, when they brought you here, you had suffered massive cardiac arrest. You were bleeding internally, and you’d lost a lot blood beforehand. Frankly, it’s a miracle you’re alive. Add in the fact that you had lead poisoning and some weird object in your left shoulder, plus the damage you already did to that entire arm, and nopony can help but say your survival is an absolute miracle. I hope it’s not too much of an inconvenience, but we had to take your left arm. It was broken beyond repair.” Heart said, pushing his glasses up his face some. I looked to my side, and noticed the blank space on my shoulder; a red patch of skin, tightly sewn together with stitches. God damn it, this was REALLY gonna set me back. So much for driving when I got home - IF I got home. But these thoughts were soon overtaken by an even more threatening one. The girls. Where were the girls?!

“Where are the girls at!?” I asked, sitting up in a panic.

“Sir, don’t move around too much, you aren’t fit to start stressing yourself for a long while. The three fillies that came here, you mean?”

“Yes sir! Where are they!? Are they alive? What happened!?”

“Well, one works as an intern for us here. The other two are having intensive surgery. We’re afraid the unicorn has taken a turn for the worst. Her organs are pretty badly scrambled, and she’s got a foreign lead object lodged one of her arteries.”

I swallowed, fear spreading across my face.

“What happened exactly?”

“Sweetie shot herself with your weapon when she was trying to free us.” Pinkie exclaimed, tearing up and clutching hold of Applejack. My fear worsened. I weakly tried to stand, my body frail and tired. I nearly collapsed to the floor, but the doctor rushed to my side and caught me, setting me back into the bed.

“Sir! Lie down! And while you’re at it, take two of these for the pain.” Heart ordered, dumping a few pills into my hand. I just sighed and hung my head, but then looked over to see... Twilight in the bed right next to me. My heart grew cold. I stared at her, looking deeply into her bruised and bloody face. She stared back at me, a sullen look, as if begging for redemption, and for her, I had none to give; I was far too angry right now. Her purple color was back, and her eyes were a regular color as well, but that didn’t change anything; I was pissed, and for good reason. I popped the medicine into my mouth, and then spoke.

“Ah... Twilight Sparkle...” I began, my voice trailing off in anger. “You regret what you’ve been doing? You killed HUNDREDS of innocent creatures, you sick psychopath!”

“Look, human. I don’t even-”

“Call me Nick.”

“Look, Nick, I don’t even know what the hay I’ve been doing the past week. The last thing I remember was taking a sip of the brothers’ new drink. Let me tell you, that stuff is ADDICTING. I don’t know what’s in there, but after I took the first drink, I pretty much blacked out, and kept craving more.” She said, turning to the side and spitting up a familiar black residue on the floor.

“Oh yes. Sir? We heard you were the one that requested the DNA tests on the Cake’s children?” Heart asked, butting into my conversation. He handed me some papers. I viewed them carefully. They were indeed the tests I asked for, and I was pretty surprised at what I saw. The tests confirmed that, yes, Pound and Pumpkin were the Cake’s genetic children. Back home, many of us bronies believed that Cup may have cheated on Carrot, but, this just sealed it. There was no denying Carrot was the birth father. My heart sank. I set the papers down on the bed and the doctor took them away. I rolled over on my face and tried to sleep, crying into the pillow. I couldn’t come to terms with fact I killed Carrot now. I’d left Pound and Pumpkin without a father, and Mrs. Cake a widow. No matter how abusive he was, it didn’t change the fact that I killed the only father figure those children would ever have. I screamed into the soft, white cushion. Pinkie approached me, lightly pressing a hoof to my back.

“Nick? What’s wrong? I was the one who killed Carrot, remember? It’s not your fault.” She said, with a barely audible squee, trying to cheer me up. She didn’t know the truth... nobody did. I couldn’t fathom telling them, let alone Mrs. - or MISS Cake. I continued to wallow in regret as the heart monitor I was tied to maintained its beep. I stopped for a moment and dried my tears, sitting up.

“Doctor?”

“Yes sir?”

“Are the children and the misses safe?”

“Yes sir. They have been recovering since they were brought here yesterday. The little unicorn foal was in pretty bad shape; she was missing her entire horn.”

“I... will she ever recover?”

“She herself will be fine, but she will never be able to use magic. Horns don’t grow back, sir.”

I was about to cry at the statement. The lives of that family were ruined, thanks to BEN and I. That sick bastard needed to be stopped. I was about to cry again, but at that exact moment the doctor finished his words, there was the sound of a metallic door bashing open, some distance away, followed by a stallion yelling.

“WHERE’S SWEETIE BELLE!?”

Heart quickly turned out of the room and rushed down the hallway to answer the cry, but I couldn’t just sit here and wonder what happened to Sweetie Belle. No, I needed to see this, first hand. It was my fault she was even IN this position. Had I not come here, she wouldn’t have shot herself. And so, I got up off the bed, and tore out my IV cables, my heart monitor going flat. I weakly limped, trying to be extra careful not to burst my new stitches, three of which ran down the length of my remaining limbs. Applejack ran over to me, grabbing me gently by my remaining arm, and trying to hold me up.

“Nick, sugar, you’re too darn weak ta’ be movin’ around. For the love of Celestia, lie down! Get some rest!” She said, trying to keep me bedridden. I did nothing but just gently push her out of the way, and I stumbled over to the nightstand and grabbed my cell phone, which was off. I don’t know why I grabbed it; it was almost as if something told me to, and after turning it on and checking the battery (seventy-five percent), I stumbled through the door. As I did, though, I was nearly blindsided by Rarity’s parents, who were rushing in the direction of the ER. I decided to follow them, but as I turned the corner, I was immediately jumped in front of by nurse Redheart.

“Sir, go back to your room, please.”

“Ma’am, please let me pass. I need to see the unicorn in the ER. Her injuries were my fault. I replied gruffly, maintaining a steady eye contact.

“Sir, I’m not going to ask you again. Return to your room.”

“Look miss, I’ll be fine! I was the one who hurt that filly! Now please, let me pass!”

Redheart was growing impatient, stomping her hoof down on the green tile.

“Sir, I don’t care. Both you and her are not in ANY condition to be moving around. This is the last time I’m telling you, return to your room!”

My anger was getting the better of me. The mask salesman laughed again, and in impatience, I threw her, quite forcefully, against the wall, and ran as fast as my injuries would allow.

“God damn it, let me through, lady!”

Applejack, Pinkie, and several doctors gave chase. I continued to run away, nearly getting tackled, but narrowly dodging an orderly. I burst through the doors to the ER, and, well, what I saw was the most gut-wrenching thing I’d ever laid eyes on. Sweetie Belle’s parents were there, holding each other, her mother crying into her husband's arms. There was a small team of about six ponies looming over Sweetie with scrubs and medical tools of various kinds. Sweetie Belle herself was cut open at the stomach, and covered in blood, though I couldn’t get a much better view than that, what with all the surgeons towering over her, and it’s not like I wanted to in the first place. The heart monitor was sounding off a flat. Applejack, Pinkie, and the orderlies who were chasing me stopped in the door frame, though, frozen at the sight, and didn’t even bother to subdue me; all they could do was watch the scene, just like me.

"I'm not getting any vitals! Somepony get the defibrillators!"

“Doctor, we need to get that thing out of her heart first!”

“Forceps! Forceps! Celestia damn it, kid, stay with me!”

“Forceps doctor.”

“Alright, I’m going in. I can see the object. And... I got it!”

“Doctor, still no lifeline! Get the paddles!”

“Okay kid, work with me... one, two, three, clear!”

The sound of a violent shock filled the room as Sweetie Belle’s body jolted and convulsed at the overcharge, and at the vile, cracking electrocution, I held back some vomit. Sweetie’s mother just wailed, holding tighter to her husband as her tears poured in streams.

“One, two, three, clear!”

The heart monitor started up again.

“We’ve got a pulse! A pulse! Nurse, get me some adrenaline over here, stat!”

“Vitals are critical! Blood pressure is one-twenty over forty and falling fast! We need to stabilize her!”

“Where’s that damn adrenaline shot?!”

“Keep fighting kid, come on!”

“Adrenaline, doctor.”

“Okay, we’ve got her stabilized. Suture kit.”

“Suture kit.”

“She’s coming to! More anesthesia!”

The skull kid’s laugh filled the room, and at the sound, the heart monitor inexplicably stopped.

“What the buck?! She’s going into cardiac arrest again! Defibrillators on the double!”

I looked at my phone for a moment, then opened the screen. I stared at it for a second, then opened the video camera. I didn’t want to record this at all, but... something was calling me to. As I hit record, the elegy statue materialized right next to the operating table. I swallowed nervously, and hoped for the best, but with BEN? The ‘best’ was the worst, as far as I’d seen.

“Doctor, what is that?!” a nurse asked, jumping away from the green statue that materialized right next to her.

“There’s no time to worry about that! Focus on the patient! One, two, three, clear!”

The monitor started again, then went out.

“Clear!”

Again.

“Celestia. Bucking. Damn it! You are NOT dying on me, kid! Clear!”

Sweetie’s heart started back up again, blood flying out of her body at the jolt, and accompanied by more of Mrs. Belle’s crying.

“Okay, beginning the sutures. Starting on the heart.”

“Be gentle, doctor...”

“Heart repaired. Moving on to the stomach. ...Done. Reorganizing the intestinal tract.”

As the operation continued, I became increasingly worried.They were almost done, but something didn’t quite add up. BEN being here didn’t help either. I knew the sick fuck was making her suffer through this whole thing. I crossed my taped up fingers together, still holding the camera.

“Sutures complete. Disinfecting.”

“We’re almost done, kid. Hang in there!”

“Sterilization done. Sealing the body. ...Done. patching the wound.”

“Vitals are stable. Heart rate is normal. Congratulations doct--”

At that moment, things got bad. Really, really, bad. The lights pulsed a few times as the skull kid laughed again, and the room grew extremely cold. The air became thin, and a vile presence filled the room. The statue was rocking back and forth gently, and we were all staring at it. A familiar serpentine voice reverberated through the ER.

“You shouldn’t have done that...”

Just then, the skull kid’s scream blasted through the hospital, and the entirety of the building’s power went out. Doctors and nurses alike went scrambling in random directions as heart monitors flatlined, lights cut, testing machines failed, computers bluescreened, and instantly, the place fell into chaos. I rushed over to Sweetie Belle, as she was coming to. The surgeons were wanting to push me out of the way, as evidenced by the looks I was getting, but they let me stay. I set the camera at her hooves, still recording.

“QUICK! ACTIVATE THE BACKUP GENERATORS!” a pony screamed from out in the hallway.

I shivered, and looked into Sweetie Belle’s eyes. I tried to force a smile at the distressed white filly.

“Hey... how you doin, kiddo?”

Sweetie Belle groaned a bit, coughing up some blood, then looked up to me, bringing a hoof to my face.

“I... I’m sorry Nick...”

“Sorry for what?” I asked, my eye going soft as I placed my hand behind her head and gently tickled her ears, trying as best I could to make her feel better amidst her pain.

“I’m sorry I let you down...”

“You...” tears began to well in my eyes some. “You didn’t let anyone down. You did what you had to do, honey. You may have gotten hurt, but you did the right thing: you saved us. None of us would be around if it weren’t for you!”

Pinkie, AJ, and Sweetie Belle’s parents walked up beside me. Each of them placed a hoof to her, holding her close.

“Nick?”

“Yes, Sweetie?”

“What’s it supposed to feel like, living with all that pain? You’ve been hurt more than anypony I know...” She said, coughing viciously, as her breathing became shallow and weak.

“I... I’m just lucky I guess... but listen, Sweetie Belle, you WILL make it out of this.”

“No, NIck. No, I won’t. I know it’s time.”

The way she said those words made me freeze in fear. They sounded too sure of themselves. She really meant it. When an eight year old child tells you they’re going to die... what do you say?

“Is Applebloom okay?” She asked. I sniffed a bit, unsure of what to say.

“I... I don’t know, Sweetie.” I said. One of the surgeons looked over to me.

“She’s fine, sir. She’s recovering in her own room.”

Sweetie smiled lightly, her breath becoming even thinner; she definitely was not healthy.

“That’s good. I can rest easy now. Applejack?”

“Yeah, sugarcube?”

“Can you tell Rarity I’m sorry about the Sisterhoof Social? I’ll never forgive myself for saying all those things.”

“Sweetie Belle, Don’t talk like that! You’ll be okay! Pinkie said, tearing up.

“That’s nice of you, Pinkie, but... I know I won’t be here much longer.”

Pinkie couldn’t do anything but cry at those words, and Applejack? Well, I knew she was dying on the inside; I could see it. Sweetie weakly looked over to her parents.

“Mom, dad? I love you.”

“We- we love you too, Sweetie Belle.” Her father said, hugging his wife closely as the pink unicorn continued to cry.

“Nick?” Sweetie Belle piped up again, her struggled breathing accompanying the dull tone of the flatlining monitor. Her green eyes radiated brightly in the darkened room as tears began to fill them, and they reflected the image of the still heart monitor back into my own.

“Yes?”

“Can... you do me a big favor?”

“Absolutely, Sweetie Belle.”

“Promise me you will stop BEN. He can’t be allowed to torture anypony else! Pinkie promise me!”

I took Sweetie Belle’s hoof in my hand and tried to smile amidst my tears. I gave her a light kiss on the cheek and the others put their hooves on my shoulders.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

“Thank you. I’ll hold you to that.” Sweetie Belle said, giggling. Suddenly, there was a strange light appearing from Sweetie’s flank. Was it...

Yes it was. Her cutie mark. She had the image of an open cage, and a pony stepping out of it. Considering what she did back at the labs? My guess was her talent was escape artistry, and I couldn’t help but smile widely.

“Heh... Look at that. I got my cutie mark...”

“I’m proud of you Sweetie Belle. We all are. Congratulations.”

“Thanks, Nick.”

I stared at her a few moments more, looking at her injury, and I still couldn’t believe that this little pony sacrificed herself to save ME. She truly cared, putting her friends before her, and it left me with only one thing to say.

“You know Sweetie... I’ve only been here for a few days, but... I love you.”

What was I saying? How could I love a cartoon horse? Was this real? Did these ponies truly save my life, or was I having a dream? I still couldn’t tell.

“I love you too Nick. I love all of you.” The tiny unicorn said, looking between us all. “...and Nick? Please forgive Twilight.”

As Sweetie completed her words, though, the skull kid laughed, and at the noise, Sweetie’s body contorted. She gasped for air as she was abruptly taken and lifted an inch off the operating table. Her body was twisted in two directions at once, and suddenly, she began to swell. Her stitches burst open and sprayed blood and entrails all around the room. Everybody screamed.

“OH MY DEAR FUCKING GOD!”

Nope. It’s been real the whole time. This shit wasn’t a dream at all - I could feel the warm iron splatter over me. I passed out from the shock, and the statue faded away in its traditional green energy funnel with a laugh.

“Happy birthday, Jadusable...”

BEN never had this kind of power back home...

---

It was a stormy evening in Equestria, violent winds rattling the windows of houses abound, rain pouring in torrents as the sun began to fade over the horizon, Celestia preparing to raise the moon as guards patrolled the nighttime streets in droves, covering every block of Ponyville and beyond. A small squad was finishing up cleaning the debris of Twilight’s destroyed library. Some distance away, the sound of something materializing could be heard from the hill above, well away from the destroyed tree, and all that could be seen (had anypony been there, of course) was a small set of brown boots standing on a polished mahogany stand. To the side of them approached a second set of feet, neither of which matched.

“So... would you like to tell me why you failed me?”

“Well... master, you see... The unicorn filly broke them free. If it weren’t for her, It would have gone off smoothly!

“Jadusable is still alive. I thought I made it perfectly clear that you ensured Twilight killed him. You failed SO poorly, that I had to step in halfway through and handle him for you before he shot up the room! You call yourself the god of chaos, yet you can’t even bring yourself to handle a few pathetic mortals! Why didn’t you turn them against each other so they would refuse to cooperate!?”

“Master, I-”

Shut the fuck up with your excuses! I only freed you from your petty stone prison because I needed you to get Twilight to consume the drink - that horse is far too questioning for her own good. I KNEW she wouldn’t drink it without some ‘persuasion’, which I couldn’t do on my own; she had far too strong a will! While you succeeded in this, in the end, we lost our army to your incompetence, and Jadusable still roams. You have failed me MISERABLY, and you know what?”

“No master... what?”

“You shouldn’t have done that...”

a crack of thunder echoed throughout the land, which was later followed by a strange, magical aura, black and purple in shade.

“Wha- what are you doing!?”

“Punishing you.”

The sound of the magical mist continued to hover in the air for a few moments more, before being interrupted by a violent snapping noise, and a scream as the mismatched feet fell down to the grass, cringing in pain. The green blades slowly began to turn red as a lion’s paw fell beside the puddle with a fleshy noise.

“Do you know, Discord, what TRUE chaos is? Making cotton candy rain chocolate while buffalo dance around in tutus? Of course not! Chaos, where I’m from, means the worst of things: death, murder, destruction, rape, racketeering, war... what YOU did before I came here, was child’s play! I still don’t understand how the people of this world even fear someone like you; someone that won’t even kill! Where I come from, those that do the unspeakable are the ones who are feared. Somebody like you? We would just laugh at you. You, Discord, amount to nothing more than a petty illusionist with a silver tongue!”

Discord continued to whimper in pain, curled up as he nursed his stub.

“Aww... do you miss your paw? You want it back? How about this... you get Rarity to kill Jadusable, and I MIGHT not take your other arm.”

“Y-y-yes... m-m-m-master...”

“Good. I am going to speak with Chrysalis about getting a new army. I expect no less than a hundred and ten percent while I’m away. Kill. Jadusable.”

“I- I understand...”

The mask salesman giggled again, and the brown boots faded off of the grass, leaving a traumatized, one-handed Discord screaming painfully into the night as the rain began to wash the sticky red mess through the field.

---

After waking up, it was pretty much a safe bet to say Sweetie Belle was dead. As my vision came to, I noticed I was back in my bed again, with AJ, Pinkie, and Sweetie’s parents staring at me from the foot, distressed looks over all their faces. Mrs. Belle was hysterical, crying in torrents as she held her husband. The power was back on as well, one light flickering on and off for a few moments before burning out. That was a horrible way to go. Nobody deserves to die the way Sweetie did. I didn’t say anything for a moment, just sat there, sullen. I turned over and dug my face into the soft pillow, screaming as my own tears began to flow. I had lost more than Sweetie Belle - I had lost a friend, perhaps my best friend, her being my favorite Crusader from the show, and yet, perhaps, something even deeper than that. I doubt I was heard, but I spoke softly, the white puff muffling my words.

“I’m sorry about your daughter. It’s my fault.”

“It wasn’t you, human. It was that THING in the emergency room...” I heard Mr. Belle say behind me, anger filling his voice as his wife paralleled him with more tears. I continued to let my sadness and depression out even more, crying at the statement. Scootaloo walked into the room, talking to them all for a brief moment, and they got up and let me be. Suddenly, I felt a hoof touch my shoulder. I turned around, and my eyes met with Twilight. She breathed in a bit, then spoke, looking at my red, watery eye.

“So... are you feeling okay?”

I dried my tears off, meanly scowling at her. I had no respect for this pony.

“What the fuck do you think?”

Twilight jumped back, pulling her hoof away.

“Woah... why the hostility?”

“You know goddamn well why! If it weren’t for you, NONE of us would be in this mess, and Sweetie Belle would still be alive!” I yelled, turning away from her and pulling the blanket over my side, snorting gruffly. Heart walked into the room, and tapped me on the side. I rolled over, an angry look still pervading my face.

“Sir? About your injuries... we won’t be able to give you the reconstructive surgery you need for your...” he paused, looking at my right hand, unsure of what to say.

“Fingers?” I asked.

“Yes sir.”

I sat up, looking inquisitively at the doctor, then to my taped up fingers.

“Why?”

The doctor just looked down at the tile, kicking his hoof, then back up.

“Well, to put it bluntly, sir, we are extremely underfunded. In fact, we’re so underfunded that we can only afford to keep the emergency generator running for hours at a time.” He said as the lights started to flicker again. “We’ve been losing a LOT of injured ponies to this whole mess.”

“Why are you so underfunded?”

“Why? Well, sir, ever since Celestia got this strange thirst for power, she’s been ignoring all of her subjects except those in the wealthier cities like Manehattan and Canterlot. We actually just got served papers from her that state we are to cease operation of the hospital in the next two months. You’ve seen the condition the homes are in on the street, right sir? All run down and boarded up? We’re in a massive depression. The only thing anypony seems to be spending money on is Flim and Flam’s new drink. I don’t know what they put in there, but literally, everypony seems to be coming back for more.”

I licked my lips at the thought of the drink and began to salivate, the delicious taste coming back to my mouth.

“Well... I could go for another one of those... that was damn good.” I said, smiling.

The doctor looked at me with a disappointed gaze for some reason.

“Sir, don’t tell me you’re an addict too!”

I chuckled, looking at the doctor. Did he really believe that? Was I? Hell no, I couldn’t be.

“What? No I’m not, doc...”

The doctor walked away with a sigh as he left the room with one final message.

“Your hand will be back to full use after a month or so, but it can NOT be strained too much.”

“Understood, doctor.”

I was much calmer after thinking about the delicious taste of the drink, the aroma, the flavor, everything about it was calling for another round. This pleasant thought was suddenly cut short as Twilight touched me again, and my new blood ran even colder as I lost my cheerful demeanor. She didn’t say anything, but with some magic, levitated a book over to me and set it in front of my face, on the other side of the bed. as it gently settled into my hand, and the purple haze faded off the book, I read the cover. It was one of the ‘Daring Do’ novels. I sighed and opened it up, reading myself to a restless, tortured sleep. I just wanted to go home, pretend this never happened.

I wished Sweetie Belle was back.

“I’m sorry, Nick.”

“Shut the fuck up, Twilight.”

Chapter VIII: Pre-Existing Conditions

As I lie here in bed, still recovering, there’s not much I can do other than write down my memories and recollection of the events up to this point. As I sit here, trying to put my thoughts to this paper, every wicked thing that’s happened since I got here continues to haunt me day and night. I want to go home. I want to see my mother again, and never let go of her. I want to be back in my apartment playing Assassin's Creed. I want to go back. Why can’t I go back? Well, as long as I’m stuck here putting words down on this parchment, let me tell you a bit about myself, as it seems we’ll be stuck together for a while. Anyone who’s followed me and my story of ‘BEN’ knows of my experience with the haunted cartridge. You know how he tortured me for nearly a week, and how I found the game at a suspicious garage sale, run by an old man. You’ve read my notes, you’ve seen the corrupt gameplay footage, but as a person, you know very little of me, I’m sure, so let me tell you a bit about myself and where I come from.

I had a pretty ordinary life, that, aside from the incident with BEN, wasn’t too special. My father was a marine who fought in the gulf, and, following an incident that occured when I was only a year old, preached self-defense as something I would need to keep sharp in. After the incident occurred, my father started teaching me how to survive in the wild, fight with guns, blades, and my own body. He taught me how to be resourceful and create tools and custom weapons with household junk. He taught me all kinds of things the Corps taught him, but, unlike him, I never honed my skills - though he did indeed teach me how to do all these things, I never bothered to practice as much as my father begged me to, if at all, even though he kept saying it was for my own good. I guess he was right; if I was better trained, better prepared, I probably wouldn’t be in this situation. I probably wouldn’t have lost my eye or my arm. Big Mac would have been taken down in one fell swoop, and Sweetie Belle? She would still be alive. Dad? If you can hear me...

I’m sorry for not keeping sharp in my fighting skills. I love you, and I’ll miss you. And mom? I’m GOING to get home someday, somehow. I promise you. Hold in there for me, okay?

I pulled out my phone, which was plugged into the wall, and opened a NES emulator, activated Zelda II, and began to play. At that, Applejack walked into the room.

“Sugarcube?”

“Yeah?” I asked, looking up see my eye meet the orange mare, who had taken a seat at the edge of the bed.

“Ah wanted to thank ya for savin’ mah sis and... her... friends. You’re a good fella in my book, doin’ what you can.”

“I...”

“Now, ah know that ya weren’t able to help, ya know, poor lil’ Sweetie, but ah know there wasn’t a thing ya could do, honey.”

“Applejack, I just try to survive okay? I’ll help where I can, but my primary concern is goin’ home.”

“Maybe, darlin’, but what you said in the ER back there... ah know ya really care for the Crusaders. It’s sweet, really.”

“Well, when you watch a...” I paused, looking at Applejack, then Twilight, who was sleeping in her bed, next to me. “...show or cartoon long enough, you start to grow attachments to the characters, and...”

“Wacha’ doin, sugar?” AJ asked me, leaning in to look at my phone, which I was still playing with the entire time.

“Playing a game. I’m almost done, but I just can’t beat this last boss...”

“Ya seem pretty darn invested in it, dear. How long ya been fightin’ this enemy?”

“Two years. Dark Link is a pain...”

"Well, ah hope ya..." ***VIDEO***

“Damn it!”

“Aw, he beat ya...”

“Yeah, and he has for the past two years. This damn boss is your shadow, I swear; he knows more about you than you do yourself. As far as I know, there isn’t an easy way to beat him, fuckin’ bastard...” I said, setting the phone down in frustration.

“Ah don’t suppose only playin’ with one hand is th’ problem?”

Nah, that ain’t it; I got butchered even back when I had two.

“Well then, ah wish ya the best of luck in... ‘conquerin’ ya shadow’ sugarcube.” Applejack smugly replied, mildly laughing at her own cheesy joke.

“Fuck, I need a shower...”

I got up out of my bed, my CD playing in a small boombox on the nightstand. The song that was playing was ‘Halls of Illusions’, and as I got up to go to the bathroom to get cleaned up, I couldn’t shake the memory of Carrot, what with the song reminding me of it with every line it said.

“~Back to reality and what you’re about: your wife can’t smile cause you knocked her teeth out!~”

I got to the bathroom, placing my hand on the sink. I stopped for a moment to look at myself, and I could hear the song continue to play in the other room.

“~And she can’t see straight from gettin’ hit, ‘cuz you’re a fat, fuckin’ drunk piece of shit!~”

I continued to look at myself some more, until the lights in the bathroom flickered once. I kept staring at my reflection, but jumped back at what I saw once the lights turned back on.

“~But it’s all good here! Come have a beer! I’ll break the top off it, and shove it in your ear!~”

I was looking at myself. However, my face was darker, with a black, shadowy outline about it. Looking into the mirror, and behind me as well, I saw that my shadow, which should have been perfectly visible on the wall behind me...

...was gone. And in the reflection? Its eye was solid blood red. A quick image of Carrot’s corpse flashed through my head...

...and then, my reflection started laughing at me. It carried with it a vile, demented laugh. I smashed the mirror, screaming, as the song in the other room began to transfer into the hook, and tried to catch my breath as the lights flickered again, watching the glass shatter, forming a weblike pattern that slowly branched out from the contact point with my fist.

“~And your death comes wicked, painful, and slow - at the hands of Milenko!~”

“Sugarcube, you okay in there!?”

“Uh... yeah, Applejack. I- I’m fine.”

Yeah. Sure. I was... fine.

“Darlin’, mind if ah change the music track?

“Uh, go ahead. I’ll be out in a minute...”

*click*

"~...He walks among us as a shadow, void of light. Powered by your own darkness. Strengthened by your own wickedry.~"

“Sugarcube, why in thunderation do ya listen to this music? It’s just creepy...”

Chapter IX: Addicts, Death, And Gluttony

So, it’s been a month and some change, and Applebloom, Twilight and I are slated to be discharged from the hospital, which would, for me, be a breath of fresh air; I’m tired of the constant tests they run on me, even if it IS for medical purposes. None of us who were there can get the memory of Sweetie Belle’s gruesome death out of our heads, and I can’t get the image of me murdering Carrot out of mine. As I got up and dressed, I turned to Twilight, who was still sleeping in the bed. Her bruises and other wounds had healed up nicely, and I was fairly certain I had (at least) forty percent foreign blood in my body by now. I went to the room shower and cleaned myself up. It was cold, as expected, for a hospital bath, but at least I could finally get something to wash myself off after all the bullshit that had happened. I felt filthy, in every sense of the word, both physically and emotionally. As the stinging cold water splattered across me and I shampooed my hair, I thought back on the incident with Carrot. I barely remember anything from it. All I remember was him screaming for mercy. I don’t even know what exactly I did, but I remember hearing the skull kid scream and laugh. That had some significance to it, but I wasn’t sure to what extent. I sighed and just let the shampoo run from my hair, flashbacks of the basement, the apple cellar, the ER, Carrot’s death, and Twilight’s labs rushing through my mind. Equestria, a fun-loving world filled with cute, colorful ponies, had left me severely injured, and mentally scarred. Stepping out to dry myself off, and dressing in my recently washed clothes (and the only ones I’ve had for this entire trip), I finally looked like my normal self, aside from a missing left arm, the stitches gone, and a long scar along my right one with scarred fingers, some missing teeth of varying kinds, and a missing left eye, and burnt, uncut hair with what now amounted to a ‘homeless’ beard to complement it.

Okay, so I didn’t look like my normal self: I looked like roadkill. I stepped out of the bathroom, only to be greeted with a standing Twilight in the doorframe. She grabbed a towel off the shelf and smiled at me, but I had no friendliness to give her. I just scoffed, and flipped her the bird, upon which she frowned, and slowly closed the bathroom door in sadness, looking away from me. I grabbed my equipment, including my blood covered phone from the nightstand, and left our room to go downstairs and get something to eat for breakfast. As I stepped into the hallway and walked down to the cafeteria, I was met with Applejack, Pinkie, and Applebloom, the latter of whom was in crutches, with a depressed, sullen gaze as she stared blankly at her daffodil sandwich on the plate in front of her. I moved my eye away from the sight of the upset filly, and I approached the mare at the serving counter, and cleared my throat a bit. I nervously tugged at my shirt collar, then summoned the courage to speak.

“Um... excuse me, miss? Sorry to offend, but... do you... have any meat?”

The entire room fell silent, and all eyes stared at me, even Pinkie, AJ, and Applebloom. I started to sweat at the awkward situation. I knew I shouldn’t have asked. I was about to apologize for any offense, but suddenly, The mare behind the serving counter spoke up.

“Sir, we don’t eat meat around here.”

“I know. That’s why I apologized. It’s just that, well, I’m a human. I don’t NEED meat to survive, but we ARE omnivorous creatures. There are some of us that eat nothing but fruit and veggies, but I’m not one of those people. I’ve been here for a month and a half, living off of what your society has to offer, and I’m grateful for that, but I would very much appreciate some fresh meat in my stomach. I’ll take any meat you got. ANYTHING. I don’t give a damn what it is.” I said, placing my hand against the food sneeze guard in minor frustration. The mare behind the counter wasn’t sure what to say, giving me a dumbstruck look for a few moments before she finally walked over to another pony next to her, and they started whispering to each other, occasionally looking back to me. The rest of the ponies in the room were still staring at me while this was going on, and it made me feel like I’d just said the N word or something, and considering eating another animal is like, a social taboo here, I’d say it was on par with that, in terms of awkwardness. After another minute or so of waiting, the counter mare approached me, and spoke again, albeit with somewhat of a hesitant tone.

“Okay, sir, we think we have found you some... meat. It should be out in about forty-five minutes, if you can let us prepare it.”

“Amazing. Thank you ma’am. I’m very, very sorry for the trouble.”

Soon enough, my food came. It in particular was a plate of well done hamburger mixed with scrambled eggs. I smiled, and got up to take the food from the counter. As I turned around to seat myself next to Applebloom and the others, I saw Twilight was happily talking with Applejack and Pinkie Pie, as if absolutely nothing had happened between them. How could they NOT be mad at her? I set my plate down on the table and sat down next to the others as my mouth began to water. This was the meal I’d been waiting for. I took the fork and and tore into my food viciously. Everyone else in the cafeteria was staring at me as if I’d done something wrong, but I didn’t care, I was too engrossed in my food, and damn, was it good! It was so nice and tender too, which I was extremely surprised at, what with it being ‘hospital’ food and all. I kept eating away, reducing the plate to half its size in just under a minute. If I had to make a comparison, I looked like Dash did, when she ate her hospital food, chewing away with no sense of mannerisms.

“That’s... just... wrong, human.”

“Hey, fuck you. I haven’t had a good steak in like, two months!”

*gulp*

“Oh my god, this is just fucking delici- Ow!”

I quickly spit my food out, and dug through the pile I was chewing on. I grasped something sharp, and, pulling it from the half-chewed mass of flesh, I took a closer look at it. It was a white shell, a very hard white shell. It was broken, but the end I was chewing on was cone-like, which tapered off to a point, like that of a small brine shrimp. Before I continued eating, I stopped to pull out a hair that was in my food. I hated when that happened. I removed the strand from the meat and inspected it for a moment - it was a light pink and light purple shade, which made my stomach suddenly gurgle in pain. I stopped for a minute, then took another bite. Sure wasn’t beef. Venison? Nah, can’t be deer; too sweet to be deer. Wait... cone-shaped shell, pink hair-

Oh.

My.

God.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?”

I jumped up, and ran over to the counter. I dove over the side and tackled the server to the ground, choking her with my hand as tears streamed down my face in droves.

“HOW COULD YOU!? YOU SICK BASTARDS!”

Several ponies ran out of the cafeteria screaming at my sudden outburst, as most of the others in my group stared at me. Applejack lept over the counter and tried to pull me away, but I kicked her out of blind anger and she went flying through the sneeze guard and flipped the table everyone was sitting at over, sending my ‘food’ flying all over the place, and my grip tightened even more around the pony as I began to cry harder, turning hysterical.

“WHY!?”

“Sir... you - you said you wanted meat! It was the only thing we had! We’re ponies, and we never expected a human! Do you really expect us to have meat on hoof? You said you would eat anything!”

I ceased the choking, my hand falling off the serving pony, and I could do nothing but cry; it was my fault for asking in the first place, and all they tried to do was make me happy by giving me what I wanted. I stood up and jumped over the food counter, heading to my plate. I bent down and carefully scooped what was left together on the floor as I held back more tears and sniffed loudly, while the mask salesman laughed at me, sending chills through everyone in the room .

“Somebody.... get me a bag...”

Applebloom and Pinkie could do nothing but cry with me, AB more than ever, and I wouldn’t blame her right now. Applejack stood up in pain, trying to regain her balance, and Twilight? She had a look about her, as if she felt sorry for me, but I didn’t want anything to do with her. If anything, this just me me angrier at her. Applejack wasn’t sure of what to do, but was just as shocked and depressed as the rest of us. A small security team walked in, only to see my crew and a few others there, staring at me as I picked up the pile of meat, and did nothing other than go assist the injured mare behind the counter. A pony I didn’t recognize went behind the counter and came back with a ziplock baggie. I tried to smile at him, and then I quickly shooed him away, to which he complied, and sat back down. Collecting my thoughts, I carefully picked up Sweetie, piece by piece, and placed her inside the bag. After I was done (following a VERY thorough check), I sadly stood up and walked outside of the cafeteria, and down the hallway to find Scoots, the others following with me. As we got to the main door, we saw Scootaloo talking to the receptionist. I gave her a gentle nudge with my leg, and she turned around, but jumped backwards at the sight of the bag.

“What’s... this?” She asked me with an inquisitive look, raising an eyebrow. I didn’t say anything to the orange filly, but she saw the sadness that we carried together, and didn’t need to be told much. I handed Scoots the bag, and picked her up, setting her on my back.

“I’ll explain on the way.”

“Where are we going?”

“The cemetery.”

Scootaloo examined the bag of meat for a while, before looking to Applebloom, who was letting her sadness start to destroy her. But could you blame her though? She was just a child who lost her best friend in the most vile of ways she’d ever seen. As Scootaloo clung to my neck, I put my hand on Applebloom’s head and gently ruffled her mane. As I did this, I looked over to Applejack during this time, and sighed.

“Sorry for kicking you.”

“Don’t worry about it sugarcube, ya had every reason ta be upset.”

“I had no reason to HURT you.”

“I forgive ya, hon.”

We all stepped out of the hospital, and instantly, the most striking thing was that the air was thin, cold, and the sky was dark despite being mid-morning spring. There weren’t any pegasi around, though, so perhaps the weather was changed while we were in the hospital. In any case, we continued our walk through town, and I turned my head to look back at the orange pegasus on my back, watching her look curiously at the bag of meat, still unsure of what exactly she was looking at.

“That’s... Sweetie Belle.”

“H-how?” She asked me, as her voice cracked at the statement. She couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing, and was trying to hold back her own emotions. “No... no...!”

As we approached the cemetery, it began to lightly drizzle, again, without any aid from ponies. The statue was standing at the entrance to the gate, which made us all shudder, as the song of unhealing played, giving us headaches to boot. We tried our best to ignore him, and walked around the sickening freak, to a decent, unoccupied plot of land in one of the back corners of the yard. Applejack grabbed a shovel out of the vacant gravekeeper’s shed, after which, she began to dig. Pinkie, Twilight, and myself went into the storeroom of the nearby church and collected an unmarked headstone, carrying it back out to the yard. Setting it down to wait for Applejack to finish digging, we all stood there. I set Scoots down off my back, and she put the bag on the ground. We all stared at the little container of flesh, memories and thoughts of all types rushing through our heads. Pinkie spoke up as different music began to play in the air, but it suddenly died off as she fell to her back hooves and cried, her hair going straight - not even Pinkie Pie could make us smile at a time like this; there just wasn’t a way. Applejack took Sweetie Belle from the ground around us as she finished the grave, placing her inside. with AJ stepping out, and begining to fill the tomb, Pinkie and I took the headstone and set it into the soil behind the open space. We stood there for a few moments more, unsure of what to say, so I bent down beside the stone, Applejack still filling the grave, and took a clip from my belt loop. I turned it on its side, and began to crudely etch words into the slab. After about five minutes of scratching the slate, the words came out a sloppy, dysgraphic writing, which read:

I stood again, ushering everyone in close for a hug as we all cried together. Some say that crying is a sign of weakness. Me? I call it a sign of having a soul. I didn’t bother to hold Twilight, and I probably wouldn’t; I was still angry. The mask salesman’s laugh echoed throughout the graveyard - BEN was proud to see us suffer in emotional pain. As we finished our time with Sweetie, we all stood to walk away, continuing down the main avenue in town. In the middle of the city square, Flim and Flam were still at it, selling their brew. The sky was still dark, but the rain had stopped.

“Come one, and all! Today and today only, we’re selling our amazing brew at an astounding fifty percent off! One free sample for each new customer!” Flam announced excitedly over a megaphone. Instantly, at that, all of our mouths watered and we rushed to the stands with the rest of the customary, which was an amazingly large group of ponies. Everyone was happy and giddy, and there were no guards around, ponies socializing happily, drinking, cheering... almost like it was in the show, instead of the slummy, crime filled streets that I’d been seeing. You know...

the way Equestria SHOULD be.

Twilight paid this time, and we all got together in a big group, pleased with our drinks. We walked back a ways, away from the crowd to drink alone. We clinked our glasses together, and we started to drink, and I put my lips to the mug, salivating; I NEEDED some more of this delicious drink. I knew that this, if nothing more, would help calm my mind of Sweetie Belle. I tilted it back, but stopped just before taking a sip, as something caught my eye. I paused for a minute and looked at the glass. It reflected me in a distorted mix of green and orange, but then, suddenly, that reflection changed. The image in the stein shifted, turning to a picture of us with our first set of drinks. The image changed again, and, impulsively, I smacked the beverages out of Applejack and Applebloom’s hooves just as they were about to drink.

“What in the hay was that for, Nick!?”

This time, the image was Twilight taking a sip of her lab flask drink, and cutting me apart with the scalpel, and raping the Apples. The image then showed the rest of the labs, and the many tortured souls within. I knocked Twilight, Pinkie, and Scootaloo’s drinks away, again, on impulse.

“Hey!”

The image changed again, and to accompany it, was a severe migraine. As soon as the pain passed, though, I heard a very familiar voice.

“Nick, stop them...”

I looked into the glass as soon as I heard the noise. It was Sweetie Belle, torn open at the stomach, all of her organs pumping; her heart, lungs... and she was crying, looking at me through the glass. The reflection was talking. I might have been going insane from loss.

“Stop them. They can’t keep poisoning everypony!”

I dropped the glass down from my face, and as it left, what I saw in the streets was MUCH different than what I thought I did. There were soldiers EVERYWHERE. The entire crowd consisted of malnourished ponies with deformations, poor teeth, and very sickly appearances, and they were all huddled around the drink stands, fighting each other for a fix. These people weren’t enjoying themselves - they were posioned drug addicts that had been starved of everything they had. And Flim and Flam? They were smiling at it. It wasn’t Twilight’s fault for Sweetie’s death...

It was this drink. THESE fuckers killed Sweetie Belle.

I shook in pure anger, dropping the stein to my feet as the liquid splattered all over my faded brown sneakers, and the glass broke into shards. The skull kid laughed again, and afterwards, I marched up, pushing my way through the crowds violently, until I parted through the mass. The brothers stopped for a minute, and stared at me as I emerged, an outlier amongst the common. One thing was rocketing through my head.

“Kill these mind-poisoning, drug dealing scumbags.”

---

“Uh-oh... girls, Nick’s eye turned red... did ya hear the laugh?” Applejack asked, watching the blonde human as he approached the mixing machine.

“Do... do you think BEN got hold of him?” Pinkie inquired in reply.

---

I pulled out my pistol and capped Flim straight in the head, and several ponies screamed and stopped drinking to look at the origin of the sound. Flim’s body went landing on the stands, and Flam looked down to his brother’s corpse, only to be met with the barrel of my pistol once he brought his head back up.

---

“That answer ya question, sugarcube?”

---

“YOU. You are going to answer some questions, Flam.”

The crowd of ponies began to surround us to watch the event transpire, and several guards drew their weapons, awaiting orders. I was surrounded by a bunch of hostile soldiers and civilians. One wrong slip, and I could kiss my ass goodbye. Did I care though? Fuck no; I was too pissed to care, and I was gonna get the vengeance Sweetie deserved, one way or another. Flam held his hooves up, taking a few steps back. He gulped, taking his hat off and placing it against his chest as sweat ran down his face.

“Good sir, what is all the hostility for?!”

I got closer to Flam, pressing the gun to his nose. I slammed my elbow down against the counter, gritting my teeth together.

“YOU KNOW GODDAMN WELL WHY! YOU’RE FUCKING DESTROYING THESE PONIES, ROBBING A DRUG-ADDLED POPULATION OF EVERY LAST COIN THEY HAVE, NOT TO MENTION THEIR SOULS!”

“S-sir, there’s no need to be hostile... h-here, have a drink on the house!” Flam said, gently pushing another mug of brew towards me. I scoffed and swiped at the mug with my hand, sending it flying to the ground with a loud smash.

“You aren’t pulling any of that commercialist shit on me, Flam! I want fucking answers, and I want them now!” I said, jumping over the bar and tackling him to the ground. I put my gun away and picked him up by the neck. It seemed like Flam had come to terms with the fact that trying to swoon me into taking another drink wasn’t going to work, because his general cheeriness diminished greatly, and his face ran cold with anger as he spat in mine.

“I”m not telling you jack shit, human.”

Oh, I was waiting for this...

“Wrong. Fucking. Answer, Flam.” I said, before taking him by the head and driving it through the center of the bar. As his body tore a hole through the stand, he held back a scream, his horn bending a bit in the process. I jumped back over the bar, and, gripping Flam by his neck, pulled the rest of his body through the counter. It collapsed in a broken pile. I gripped Flam again, blood oozing from his face. I stared blankly at his eyes, which were, like mine, filled with anger.

“Now... WHAT, exactly, is IN this drink!?” I asked, tightening my grip on Flam’s neck. He spit out some blood from his mouth onto the ground, then looked back up to me.

“If I knew what was in there, I wouldn’t tell you, plothole!” Flam announced in pain as a squad of guards landed on the nearest roof. They were aiming at me with bows, ready to take the shot.

“Funny. Now... tell me what I want to know.”

I threw him down beside his cart of ingredients, kicking his face into the wheel. The cart snapped in half, and he screamed as bits of wood splintered and stabbed his face, and individual bricks of ingredients (white powders wrapped in wax paper) went flying everywhere. The crowd of ponies was backing away slowly. I grabbed Flam again.

“You gonna tell me what’s in those drinks?” I asked, looking to the scattered packages that now littered the street. Flam struggled a bit, pointing a hoof to a small stack of papers that was buried beneath the ruined stand. I threw Flam to the ground, and as he struggled to regain his breath, crawling along the stone road, I pulled out the papers. They gave mixing instructions, as well as an ingredient rundown based on chemical makeup. there were plenty of things in it, but the two most potent were labeled as follows:

Methylenedioxymethamphetamine
Trimethylxanthine

I dropped the papers and pulled out my phone, and turning it on, activated a chemistry app I kept for reference from high school. I typed the chemical names in, and instantly got results.

“Ecstasy and caffeine, huh?”

So, it all came out. They had a drug-based drink, designed to make its consumers feel good and become addicts at the same time. I KNEW something was wrong with that drink the first time I laid eyes on it. No wonder every pony in the city was coming back for more. However...

It didn’t answer what Twilight was drinking.

There was only one thing left to ask. I marched over to Flam again, picking him up and putting him against the dispensary end of the mixing machine, leaning him partially over top of the conveyor.

“I don’t know anything else, I swear!” Flam screamed, struggling to get free from my grip.

“Stop wasting my time! You know damn well where the drugs came from!”

Flam was having enough of this. His horn glowed a bright green, which levitated the gun out of my belt loop. He turned it around and aimed it at me. Here was my dilemma, with only three possible ways out...

One: attack him and run a risk of getting shot by my own weapon.
Two: run, and likely get shot by the guards that were posted around town.
Three: do nothing and die.

I let him go, and ducked while I swiped my gun away. He tried to punch me, but I blocked it, and broke his concentration, which caused the pistol to fall to the ground. I was about to pick it up, but he produced a combat knife from under his vest, and tried to swing across my neck. I leaned back in a defensive posture, and as it passed, I leaned back in, gripping his entire hoof and twisting it backwards with a snap. I took the blade and, with what little free hand I had, jabbed it into his hoof, right in between the lining of the meat and hoof itself. Flam screamed wildly in torment, hanging off the machine, pinned in place by the knife. No guards had taken the shot yet; they must have been on orders.

“Where are you getting the drugs from, Flam!?”

“W-we, we got them from the grey mailmare! The one with the blonde mane and silly eyes! The little- AUGHHHHH-HAHA!!! green statue told us how to mix the drinks!”

“Heh. You don’t say...”

I walked over to the destroyed stands and stood on the pile of lumber, picking up a drink that was laying on the ground, and putting my gun back into my pants. I lifted the glass into the air.

“Citizens of Ponyville! Hear me now! What you hold in your hooves at this very moment is a poison! You have all succumbed to the fatal illness that is addiction! I urge you, strongly, to discard your beverages! The mind-numbing terror that is the FlimFlam brew is no more!” I yelled, slamming the stein to the ground, watching it shatter to pieces. The citizens were unsure of what was happening, talking amongst themselves for a moment, when all of a sudden, a loud ‘more’ was heard in the crowd. It started off as one voice, then became two, then four, then eight, then sixteen, and on, increasing exponentially.

“MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE!”

The sickly looking crowd began to approach me as the skull kid screamed, after which I nearly lost consciousness, but kept on my feet. I reoriented and I spit up some more black residue, my head throbbing in pain. Where the hell was I? What did I do? I looked around the area to see a bunch of angry drug addicts sorrunding me, and that Flim was dead, next to me, and, looking behind me, his brother, hanging off their mixing machine with a knife in his hoof.

Did I just attack the FlimFlam brothers in public? Did I destroy this pile of wood I’m standing on right now? Did I anger all these ponies?

These questions would have to be answered later, as the drug addicts came closer to me, each with rage spread across their faces. There’s no way to reason with people with that bad a craving.

"Aw, fuck me..."

I took off and ran for the hills. Surprisingly, the guards didn’t attack me like I was expecting. Instead, they quickly set up a baricade to contain the riot and let me pass, though some civvies managed to break through the defense and give chase. We broke through town, and I darted down a side street, losing track of several of my pursuers. Though, as I turned the corner, I was immediately intercepted by Berry Punch and Vinyl Scratch. I made a hasty decision, and dove through a window, barreling into a house and knocking over a coffee table. I got back up again, and tore through the back door, smashing it into pieces. I then took another back alley and ran westward, and cut through the Flower sister’s gardens, and took cover in a small back alley nook as a team of ponies passed by me without a notice. I then stumbled out of my hiding spot, and ran the other direction.

“There he is! Get. That. Human! Get. That. MURDERER!”

I continued to sprint for my life, dodging in and out of streets, eventually coming to a construction zone where Sugarcube Corner used to be, and darted through the half-dried cement.

“Hey, you!”

I hit north, going through Sugarcube Square, but was cut short as Colgate teleported in front of me, blocking my path.

“She’s in your way. Run her ass over!”

Setting my arm as a shield and making a dead-on sprint, I visciously knocked Colgate out of the way and continued on my run, moving up to Library Way. Did I know where I was going? Not a fuckin’ clue - I just needed to get these bloodthirsty drug addicts away from me. I ended up passing the remains of Twilight’s tree, and jumped over a park bench. There was a group of pegasi flying over me now, and I was out in the open. Time to hide. I made a sharp right, cutting across Cutie Pox Parkway (or at least I called it that, in remembrance of the cutie pox incident’s location), and began to head eastwards, back the way I came. Thunderlane and Cloudchaser swooped down in front of me as I hit another back alley, blocking me in. I turned around to go the other way, but was then blocked off by Bon-Bon, Caramel, and Green Grapes. There wasn’t a way out.

Conventionally anyway. On a side of the alley was a window sill, which, with a jump, I knew I could easily reach. Right above that was a semicircular design of bricks, which protruded out a ways, and gave open grip to the roof, if I could reach them.

“Are you nuts? you can’t freerun!”
“It’s do or die!”

Against my better judgement, I decided to go for it. With one arm, this was gonna be a bitch to acheive. I took a jump, and grabbed the ledge, trying to hoist myself up. the earth ponies on one end tried to pelt me with rocks, and the two pegasi flew above me. Fortunately, the stones missed, and I managed to clamber up onto the window. Now, the only issue were those bricks. Could I make it?

“Jump with the knees. Remember what I taught you.”

What the fuck? Where did that voice come from? And why did it sound...

“You can reach that edge!”

...so familiar, with a voice of a fifty-something man? It was a question that would need to wait; I had to get away from here. I had barely caught the ledge, with just three fingers. I tried desperately to bring my arm farther up, flailing about as I took a rock to my ribs, which caused me to lose grips, and fall down into the alley. Though I was in pain, I HAD to keep going. I was being sorrounded by a massive group of sickly looking ponies. Amidst my pain from the fall, I stood up, and kicked the first in the group, Octavia, in the face, who flew backwards, knocking half of them down like bowling pins. It created the perfect escape route. I ran for several miles, still being chased by the crowd. I looked back behind me, and noticed the others - Applebloom and the rest - were chasing after me in anger too. I figured it was just their addiction getting the better of them, though. I sprinted through diamond dog territory, some of the pursuers falling back, other braver ones picking up the pace. I continued to run, but soon lost my balance and fell down a pit, and a few moments later, I landed in a barren cave, crumbled pieces of what I was guessing, were remains of jewels coating the ground. I could hear something deeper in the cave producing lip-smacking noises, followed by several crunching sounds. I stood, collected myself, grabbed my gun, and checked the ammo - seven rounds in the current mag, plus the five additional clips I brought with me. As I walked to the source of the sound, the reversed song of healing played through the air yet again, which made me cringe in pain and try to cover my ears.

There was a stick sitting on the ground, and I didn’t think much of it until I bumped into the cave wall; it WAS pretty dark down here. I felt the wall I hit, examining its texture and quickly recognized it to be flint rock, so I picked up the stick and struck it against the wall, creating a torch for myself. Biting the end of the stick with my mouth, I took my gun out of my belt and loaded another clip, saving the rounds from the last. I would have used my phone to light the way, but the battery wasn’t doing too well, and I had a feeling I would need it later. Regardless, as I continued down the cave, the sounds became louder and clearer. It was blatantly obvious that something was eating, but what eating what, I couldn’t say. My curiosity soon left me as I traveled farther and ended up reaching a rather large chamber with a pile of jewels. The mask salesman laughed, the voice echoing off the cavern walls. I shuddered, then heard a burp soon after. I turned, swinging my torch and gun around, and what I saw? Well, it was pretty damn disgusting. In the corner was a familiar looking purple dragon, but nothing like I had expected. He was morbidly obese, eating away at the pile of gems he was sitting on as his fat trickled down in layers overtop of his throne of stones. He smelt rank, as if he hadn’t bathed in some time, an apparent fungal growth begining to take hold of his body. I wished I could have plugged my nose, but I wasn’t about to let my guard down.

“Sp-spike? I-is that you?”

“E-Eehhh... Huh?” Who’s there?” Spike asked, looking in my general direction, and noticed the barely visable one-eyed face that was lightly illuminated by fire. “Eeeuuuhhh... A - a human? Here? That’s very odd...”

I continued to stare, though I meant no offense. His struggled speech meant that his breathing was irregular, and his health was suffering from all the extra weight; he had a very hard time thinking and completing a thought, it seemed, and throughout, he mindlessly chomped away at the jewels he was sitting on. I was disgusted, and spoke again from the muffling stick.

“Would you stop eating, damn it? Look at you!”

Spike threw a gem at me in anger, which I dodged, and he growled at me and turned away.

“Why? Why exactly should I stop eating? Can’t you see that I have nothing more to my life? Rarity never loved me, and the only comfort I have are these delicious gems.” Spike said, beginning to tear up as the sapphire he was holding reflected his own depressing image right back to him. I gave him a disappointed look and put away my gun, taking the torch out of my mouth. I shouldn’t go off on a baby dragon...

“Who told you Rarity never loved you? That’s a goddamn lie.”

“That... that thing, over there.” Spike said, pointing to the east end of the cave. I looked over and jumped backwards at the sudden materialization of the statue.

“Oh for fuck’s sake! You people are TOO trusting!”

“And why should I care? Why should I trust a human I don’t even know?”

“Oh... I don’t know... why would you TRUST A GOD DAMN STATUE YOU JUST MET!?”

“I... w-well, when you put it that way, I- I really don’t know. Will you just let me eat? I’m doing this to forget, alright?” Spike continued, crying even harder than before. I just stood there, dumbstruck. I walked over and knocked the gem that Spike was about to bite into out of his claw.

“Stop eating! That’s not going to fix your problems!”

“Nick! There you are!”

I turned around to be greeted with Twilight and the others. I stopped for a minute, dropping the torch and drawing my pistol and aiming it for them, all of which had the same angry, blood lustful grimaces on their faces from when they were chasing me. Could I trust them?

“What? Are you gonna kill me like all the others wanted to? Are those drugs making you want me dead? Is that why you were chasing me in anger?” I asked as my gun trembled in my hand. Pinkie Pie approached me, her skull now touching my gun. She didn’t look the least bit scared. How could I trust those that had turned on me so easily? They looked like they wanted to kill me.

“Nick... please, put your weapon away. We aren’t here to look down on you, and we certainly don’t want you dead. We need you more than anything; you’re the only one who knows more about BEN’s weaknesses than anypony here.”

I looked over to Twilight, Scootaloo, Applebloom and AJ, who were still staring at me with mean looks plastered to their faces.

“Then why the hell are you so angry?”

“Angry? Why? Sugarcube, we’re angry cuz ‘a what ya’ve been doing, not ba’cuz we were ‘messed up’ by that drink; ya wouldn’t let us even have a sip! We’re angry cuz of how ya’ve been actin’! Ever since ya got here, all ya ever done is use violence to get ya way! Ya beat up poor Twilight, you done killed Flim and stabbed Flam, knocked out Big Mac... sure ya stopped th’ drinks from poisonin’ anypony else, and ya even got revenge on th’ brothers for Sweetie Belle dyin’, but do ya really feel better about yaself? Ya may be helpin’, but ah’ll tell ya this: th’ methods ya been usin’ ta get stuff done are far less than desirable, darlin’.”

I turned my gun to AJ before looking down to the cave floor a bit, my weapon still trained on Applejack’s head.

“Look at me Nick. Do ya honestly feel like ya accomplished somethin’ by hurtin’ all the ponies you been hurtin’? This ain’t NO way ta act if ya want real friends, an’ even in as dark ah’ times as we’re dealin’ with, it’s still wrong to be doin’. Don’t ever hurt nopony unless you absolutely need ta defend yaself. And ya ain’t gonna pull that trigger on me, Nick. Ah can see it in ya eye.”

Was this really it? They weren’t as ‘angry’ at me as they were disappointed... they didn’t want me dead, they didn’t want to leave me... they cared for me. They had forgiven me. They just wanted to see me be peaceful, and that explained why Applejack was happily talking with Twilight; she had forgiven her for all the harm she’d done. Would they do the same for me if I told them the truth?

“Girls...”

“Yes Nick?” Pinkie asked me as I put my weapon into a safe direction.

“I... I was the one who killed Carrot...”

Everyone gasped in bewilderment and backed away from me slowly. I wasn’t surprised they did.

“You can leave me if you want. I understand if you hate me for lying.”

I cringed, preparing for an assault of smacks and punches, or at the very least, angry words.

...but it never came. I opened my eyes to see the others continuing to stare, then Pinkie offered her hoof.

“So... you were the one who killed Mr. Cake?”

“Yes Pinkie Pie. It’s my fault. I did it... and I’m... I’m sorry. That’s all I can say. I know you guys hate me.”

“Sugarcube, we don’t hate ya; you’re our friend. We want ya to be healthy. If anything, we’re just disappointed.”

“Me, a killer? Your friend?”

“Look at what I did, Nick. Applejack told me everything I was doing back at the library.”

“Twilight, I...”

I searched for my words carefully, before putting my gun away and putting my hand on her back. If her friends could live with what SHE did, the certainly could live with what I had done.

“I’m sorry for being so... mad at you. Friends?”

“Friends!” the purple unicorn loudly exclaimed with a squee before suddenly charging at me with a hug and knocking me to the floor playfully. I laughed, snuggling with Twi, and the others came in to join us, but this soon stopped as I turned over to see Spike.

“You... we need to get YOU on a treadmill.”

“Augh... I hate working out...”

All together, we picked up Spike and carried him out of the caverns. As we did our work, casual conversation continued. I turned to Twilight.

“Hey, Twi? Would you mind telling me what your nation’s economy is based on? I only ask, because you seem to be in a massive depression.”

“Gemstones. Why?”

I looked at Spike, then down to the crumbles of jewels that coated the floor.

“Well... you will be in one for a LONG time then... “

Though their economic situation wasn’t the first thing on my mind.

I wanted Sweetie Belle back.

Chapter X: Do You Know The Muffin Mare?

We’ve spent several months trying to get Spike back to his former self, and now, it’s somewhere around mid September, on a blazingly hot day. Applebloom is out of her crutches, and my existence is well-known now, reports and stories about me running through the local and national news. Some fear me, some adore me. Some find me a criminal, and yet, others revere me as a hero, tales of my time here passing around like an urban legend, becoming more bizarre and perverted with each retelling. What I find most surprising is the fact that in the time I’ve been here, nobody has broken out into song like I expected to have happen at least once, not even Pinkie Pie. Also, Celestia and Luna have not made themselves known after all this time, the former causing a cancellation of the Summer Sun Celebration, and Big Mac has flatout disappeared; I expected him to come back for revenge. Cheerilee has gone missing too, either by coincidence or direct correlation, so the girls haven’t been going to school, because the city can’t find a substitute. We’ve all been living at Sweet Apple Acres since the funeral, Granny Smith finally getting hold of herself and breaking her moonshining habit. Every night I cry myself to sleep about Sweetie Belle, and soon after, am haunted by BEN. Every day that has passed in our efforts to get Spike in shape leaves me angrier and more depressed; I’ve strongly considered offing myself multiple times, but I never have - I know that’s what BEN would want. Every time I return home to the farm, I swear to god, I always see the image of a little white unicorn giggling and running down the hallway with a beach ball. Everytime I try to follow it though, It abruptly disappears as soon as I turn the corner to confront it. Am I going insane? The two remaining Crusaders suffer from Sweetie Belle’s death on a nightly basis; I always wake up to hear them crying for her, and-

Well, look at that... poor feller is just done tuckered out from all th’ chores today. Hey yall, this here’s Applejack. Now, ya may be askin’ why in tarnation ah’m writin’ in Nick’s journal. Well, ah know ah shouldn’t, but ah feel ah should say what ah’ve gotten out of him bein’ here, if’n that makes any sense.

First of all, ah’d like ta say that ah look up ta Nick. Sure, he’s a human, from those nasty foal’s tales (which he don’t know nothin’ about), an’ sure, he’s got a bit of a temper, but granny always tol’ me ta never judge somepony by they cover. Though he sure as sugar can be irrational, and at times, violent, he’s a darn softie at heart, an’ a mighty hard worker ta boot. He don’t ever ask for anythin’ more than a meal an’ a bed, an’ does nearly as much work as Big Mac, all with only one hand. He plays wit’ th’ girls as often as he can, an’ teaches ‘em a lotta life lessons on top’a it all. Scootaloo looks up to him, almost adorin’ him in a way, but that poor filly never knew her parents, so ah suppose it’d be only natural an’ all. Still, he’s quite the ‘father’ and farmhand. Truth be told?

The whole thing, makes him... kinda cute. He’s a father to th’ girls, he saved their lives, and he’s one’a th’ toughest workers ah’ve ever laid eyes on. He’s done so much for mah family and the fillies with barely any reward. Before ah start fillin’ up his journal, ah best end there. Ah’m writin’ this in th’ back pages, well away from th’ rest of his logs. Readin’ back on ‘em, ah’m surprised how much he remembers; it’s disturbin’ly detailed...

That’s all ah wanted to say, though. Nick’s a great guy in mah books. He has a few personal problems, but who in tarnation don’t? At th’ end of th’ day, ah’m glad he came into mah life. Th’ biggest thing has to be him takin’ care’a th’ Crusaders; he treats th’ fillies like his own daughters. While I couldn’t trust him ta begin with, when ah first met him, I know he means us no harm; he jus’ wants ta get home. We talk alone when we get th’ chance, an’ he’s a real sociable fella. Still, if ya ask me, ah think somethin’ happened ta him in his past, an’ it ain’t BEN, cuz he told me all about him. Ah feel... he’s got something else, a dark incident, or some kinda traumatic event an’ whatnot hidin’ away. Ah hope he tells me one day - bottlin’ in ya emotions ain’t healthy; that’s how suicides an’ school rampages start. Nick, if ya read this, please know I’m worried about ya. Ah... nah, that ain’t the word... just... know ah care, alright?

-recently, I’ve been trying to calm them down by singing them a lullaby, much like Fluttershy attempted. In truth, it works, and it calms them down considerably, so I’ve become accustomed to sing it for them every night. On an unrelated note, I’ve become fairly close with Applejack. I think she has feelings for me, which, in all honesty, I wouldn’t mind if I was a pony, but being a human, it just seems... wrong. I mean, everytime I look at that young mare, a wild mix of emotions take me. She openly welcomed me into her home all those months ago, and while I’m thankful for that, plus the diet she’s involuntarily put me on making me MUCH healthier, on top of the farm work putting me in extraordinary shape from my old, flabby self, and the many times she’s saved my life, I still can’t shake the fact that, well, at the end of the day, she’s a horse. Granted, the world still looks cartoony and clean, which makes individuals here attractive to the eye, given the lack of physical imperfection, but at the end of the day, I can’t help but see Applejack in the image of an actual horse every time the thought crosses my mind. Is it wrong because, to me, she an animal, or is it okay because she can talk and use tools and has human qualities? What’s right and wrong? I don’t even fucking know anymore. All my brain can see though...

...is a horse. Beastiality. That shit would get me thrown in a looney bin back home, and banned from practically any petting zoo. Nope, it was wrong, it will always BE wrong. Aside from this little internal mess, nothing terribly awful has happened since the incident with Flim and Flam, the latter of whom has also gone missing. I expected him to come back for me, but he never has. Martial law here has gotten even stricter. I personally have seen several occasions where guards have snatched up civilians and taken them away, never to be heard from again. It’s blatantly clear Celestia’s up to something, but what, I wonder. The martial rule also causes a lot of riots to occur, what with ponies trying to fight back against the system to regain personal freedoms, and that always costs, at the bare minimum, twenty lives per occurrence. I hear Manehattan’s economy is doing better than ever, while Ponyville and Cloudsdale suffer. Heh. Seems a lot like our situation back home, I’d say. The general demeanor of the citizens has gotten better, and the amount of drug addicts in town has died significantly. We haven’t seen Derpy yet, but we know she’s still doing her work, because every time we go out and get something to eat, we’re immediately overrun by baseheads begging for money. There seems to be an even larger number of prostitutes on the streets than when I first arrived as well; someone is running a sex ring through town. Spike is nearly in ideal shape, our final test for him the Running of The Leaves, which all of us are participating in. At the call, all the competitors lined up, and we all took off at our own speeds. If Twilight taught me anything, it’s to pace myself, so I did just that; I stayed behind, jogging with her. Scootaloo decided to fall back and follow us as the others competitively ran ahead, into the crowd.

“Nick?”

“Yes, Scoots?”

“Can... you tell me more about where you came from?”

I mulled the idea around in my head for some time, trying to think of what to say. I tried to delay it though.

“Why would you ever want to know that?”

“I just... wanted to know what your world is like is all.”

I sighed and ruffled the young pegasus on the head as we jogged.

“Well, we live in a world where, since the dawn of time, we’ve always found something to kill each other over. Why we do it, I can’t say, But an important thing to note is, BEN came from my world.

“You kill each other?” Scoots asked, taken aback by my statement.

“Yup.” I said, a nonchalant tone about me.

“Why?”

It actually took me some time to think that out. Why did we kill each other?

“Well, from what I can understand, we have a hard time agreeing on things. Often, we kill each other over political reasons. If its not that, we kill because we’re insane. We kill because we’re hungry or poor. We kill because we’re angry... we kill for all kinds of reasons, right, wrong, moral, immoral, you name it."

“So... humans ARE evil then?” Twilight quickly interjected. “That explains why the foals tales are nightmare stories...”

“Nightmare stories?”

“Yeah. The ‘human stories’ are a method we use to get bad foals to behave. Applejack told me that she was afraid you were going to flat out murder them when you stepped in the house. If my library wasn’t burnt down, I’d give you some to read.”

I was appalled. So THIS is why they were scared when I came here; to them, humans were evil creatures. I was angry at the statement, but if I went off on them, that would only prove those writings. I chose my words carefully as we continued to run.

“Look... we aren’t evil, at least not all of us. There are always evil beings in every world, but most of us... we try to do what’s right. The only problem with that is, in our world, right and wrong are often shades of grey, because you can bend things for say, political or religious purposes. I wouldn’t say we’re evil; I’d say we’re misguided; we don’t know how to peacefully solve most of our problems. Deep inside, every human has the inner instinct to kill, and, truth be told, that comes from the world we live in; I hear everfree forest is a place where the animals kill each other and have to take care of themselves. For the longest time, before we had a society, we had to take care of ourselves, on our own. We had to kill to get food, and we still do. We aren’t evil, per se, but... it’s all we know at the very core. We’ve gotten MUCH better at suppressing it, but we still do it at the end of the day. Killing is such a common part of life, that it’s openly expressed in our media. Some of us try to make the world better though, with people like the Bronies and the Juggalos...

“Who?”

I suddenly grew even angrier at an abrupt thought.

“Then... then you have people like BEN... people who kill and torture for fun.” I said, clenching my fist.

“So... what exactly IS BEN?” Scootaloo inquired, still running alongside me.

“Well, out of the time I’ve spent with him, which has been about two years, I’ve come to gather that he’s the spirit of a child whose father drowned him to death.”

“His own father killed him!? That’s awful!”

“So, anyway... a year into college, one of my buddies gave me an old game console to play, one from childhood. I went around the nearby neighborhoods looking for old, used games that ran on it, and I came across this house with an old man. He gave me a copy of one of my favorite games, although it was a bit beaten up, and the label was missing.”

“So what happened?” they both asked me in unison, their eyes widening as we continued along the trail.

“I brought it home, and not long after, it started acting really weird. It would do things that weren’t even PART of the game, like teleport me to places with strange, unnatural properties. Then, this statue started following me around in the game. I started to record the thing, and, it only got worse - it would chase me, kill my character, alter the text... but the worst part was? When I hooked the footage to my computer, IT started acting weird. Then, the computer literally started talking to me with chat systems for no apparent reason!”

I shivered, flashing back to those dreadful days, some of the most frightening in my life.

“Long story short, he’s the spirit of a child who was drowned by his own father. From what I understand, his soul became trapped in his most prized possession, the game, then he started to haunt me. About four months ago, somehow, he came here and brought me with him. And I’m damn determined to find out why - and why he’s hurting this place. For now though, let’s just focus on the race, then go find Derpy.”

“One last question, Nick?”

“*sigh* Sure.”

What’s the biggest difference between your world and ours, do you think?

“How we live.”

“What do you mean, specifically?”

“What my people lack in magical skills, we make up for in technology and intelligence. For example, we can fly with a giant metal machine called a plane.”

“That’s not scientifically possible.” Twilight butted in.

“Would you believe me, if I told you that a hundred and twenty years ago, back in my world, we said the same thing? Hell, just twenty years ago, we would have called you insane if you said there was a computer that fit in your pocket!” I added, pulling out my phone, and waving it around to solidify the point. “Now let’s focus on the race.”

And focus on the race we did. I caught up with Spike, trying to catch my breath as I nearly collapsed on the finish line, tying with him in 12th.

“Whoo! So... how... you... feeling, Spike?”

“Well, I feel a lot healthier. Just... not happier.” He spoke, panting wildly as he tried to regain energy. I frowned, placing my hand down on his shoulder and crouching next to him.

“Awh. Why, bud?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s Rarity! I haven’t seen her in months, and I don’t even know if she loves me or not! You have no idea how much she means to me, and how long I’ve been trying to call her my special somepony.”

“Actually, I DO know.”

I looked at the little dragon for a few moments before turning to see Scootaloo and AJ cross the finish line.

“Heya Nick, good race! What say we-” Applejack began, but paused for a moment to see a crying Spike.

“Aw, what’s got ya in a rut, sugarcube?”

I answered for our crying, spined friend, that was trying to collect himself.

“Poor little guy just misses Rarity is all, and we’ll go see her once we find Derpy, okay, Spike?”

Spike sighed, looking behind him, then to the ground at his feet.

“Well... I guess.”

I smiled at him, picking him up and placing him on my shoulder. We returned to the central region of the park to meet up with the rest of the girls. As I met with the others, we headed down the main street, trying to find Derpy. As far as us bronies knew, she didn’t have a house of her own.

“Hey, stud! Ten bits for a clopjob?”

I nearly gagged at the thought. How did some ‘bronies’ get off to this shit? I wish these prostitutes that flooded town would leave me alone...

“God forbid. No thanks.”

We went into the worse part of town, where there were daily muggings, murders, and break-ins. Given my reputation, though, everybody steered clear once I came around the block, and subsequently, left us alone, which was nice. Looking back into an alleyway we passed, I saw two ponies fighting it out over something in a trashcan.

“So... does Derpy have her own place?”

“Yeah, she’s got her own place a few blocks from here.” Twilight piped up. “Are you sure she can help though?” She asked, to which I turned my head to the team behind me, still continuing to walk.

“It’s not about her helping, it’s about stopping what she’s doing - distributing drugs throughout the city.”

I turned around as I finished those words, continuing down the street, my pistol in my hand. I played with it a bit, having fun chatting my all my new friends. BEN was still out there hurting ponies, but at least for now, he’s leaving us alone, and I’m thankful for that, because we all needed a break. What exactly was he doing now?

---

Luna was sitting on a chunk of loose moon rock, sulking. How could her sister banish her for no discernible reason? What HAD she done? The last thing she remembered was sleeping peacefully in her quarters, before being drug out to the royal throne by two guards to face her sister. Not too long after being lectured, she was suddenly rocketed off of earth and back to this barren rock with a blast of magic. The dark blue alicorn threw a stone in anger, only to see it float up in her face, no satisfaction of it hitting the ground.

How could this have happened to her?

She continued to cry, digging her face into her hooves and curling up in a fetal position. However, there was a strange sound from behind her, then a laugh. She quickly collected herself and turned around.

“Who-who’s there!?”

Absolutely nothing. She turned back in front of her, and continued to cry, digging her face into her knees. After a few moments of wallowing, Luna carefully looked up, then screamed, jumping back - what stood before her was a small statue of a human with green clothes, and a crooked, ear to ear smile.

“Who... who are you?”

The idol said nothing, but suddenly dematerialized with a laugh into a gaseous black mist. It hovered in open space for a moment, before another laugh echoed through the galaxy, and suddenly charged for Luna. She screamed violently upon its contact, as she felt the black presence seep into her, collapsing on her back with a violent force. Luna took a moment to orient herself from the fall, but gripped her head in pain as a vile, serpentine voice began to talk to her.

“Princess Luna...”

“Who are you!? Get out of my head!”

“Dear, silly, princess Luna... I’m not here to do you any harm, your highness... I just wish to talk... I know all about your sister having banished you...”

Luna’s pulse began to race. How did this foreign being know ANYTHING of her life? Was this Discord in yet another one of his wicked forms? No, this thing was entirely different; the alicorn could feel that.

“What dost thou seeketh!?”

“Using your fancy wording isn’t going to intimidate me, Luna... I’m a spirit; there’s very little you can do. My concern lies within your current dilemma. Let me ask you...”

“Y-yes?”

“Do you feel... as if you’ve been cheated?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“By your sister. Do you feel as if your banishment was fair or just?” The serpentine one asked, a calming tone about its voice.

“I... no. I don’t even know what I did. She just told me I was to be sent here again, with no rhyme or reason...”

“And how does that make you feel? Angry? Spiteful?”

“I’d be lying if I said no.” The blue mare exclaimed, her eyes going cross with anger at nopony in particular.

“Would you take the chance to claim vengeance if you had it?”

“Why... why of course! How dare she do such a thing on no grounds!”

“Well then...” the voice began, as a set of familiar black armor materialized in front of Luna’s face. “What say you bring this moon down on them?”

Luna seriously thought on it for a second, before turning away from her armor.

“But... that would kill all my subjects!”

“True... but sacrifices must be made some days, no?”

“Never!” Luna screamed, grabbing her head in pain at the voice. “NEVER SHALL I PERFORM SUCH AN ATROCITY!”

“You shouldn’t have done that...”

The skull kid screamed as Luna tried to cover her ears at the deafening yell. It hurt. It burnt. It tore at her very soul, but after nearly five minutes of continuous screaming, she caved and collapsed to the ground, reawakening with blood-red irises.

“Bring this moon upon the earth, and together we shall rule. Chrysalis, Discord, Nightmare Moon, the Trinity of death and chaos, all backed by moi and what I can offer.”

“Master... indeed, my humble master...” Luna said, her speech almost hypnotic, as she donned her helmet that sat before her.

“Good horsey...”

At that, the skull kid screamed, and Nightmare Moon passed out on the barren rock. Tomorrow, It would begin. Tomorrow would be...

The Dawn of The First Day.

--

Applejack knocked on the door.

“Derpy? Sugarcube? Can ya come out please? It’s Pinkie, Twilight an’ I. We wanna talk ‘bout some things, hon.”

No answer. I checked the ammo in my gun, bringing it up in a safe direction.

“Derpy, are ya okay?”

Still no answer. I stacked up against the door, holding my weapon in preparation.

“Derpy, we’re coming in...” Twilight said, forming up behind me, as the others did the same in fear of what was on the other side. From the edge of the doorframe, I swung my leg sideways, throwing the door to the ground with a violent kick, still keeping my cover. As I stepped in, checking my corners, I stopped for a moment, and was greeted with the statue standing in the room. The song of unhealing was playing again, and over in a corner was Derpy, and as expected, something was terribly, terribly wrong: she was collapsed, spasming in a pile of her own bodily waste, a band wrapped around her left foreleg, and a hypodermic needle on the floor. I walked over to Derpy and tucked my weapon away so I could pick her up from her own mess, gently moving her from the wooden floor to her couch. I felt her forehead and gently waved my hand in front of her face, snapping my fingers a few times.

“Derpy, can you hear me?”

The others stepped into the house and began examining everything around. There wasn’t anything too out of the ordinary aside from Derpy having her episode, but I was certain things were much worse. After I was done setting Derpy on her clean couch and wiping her off with my buttondown, I turned to see Scootaloo bent down near the corner of the room, were Derpy originally was, and holding the needle that was lying on the floor.

“Scoots, be extra careful with that, okay?” Twilight said, taking it out of her hooves with some magic and levitating it over to me, the shot resting on the arm of the chair. I turned my attention to the syringe, and picked it up, bringing it to my face. Making a careful examination, I saw inside, remnants of a brown, viscous liquid - heroin. Dear god, Derpy had gone so mad with the drug sales, she’d started using her own product. I looked over to Scootaloo.

"Scoot? I need you to say with Derpy and try and nurse her back to health okay? We’re going to the basement.” I said, nodding to the others. They all followed behind me, and what we saw upon arrival was a quite large, well lit basement. In one corner was what looked like a small meth lab, as evidenced by the piles of iodine and lye, as well as various other ‘household’ ingredients sitting next to a gas stove. Running the length of the center of the room were various garden troughs, lit by sun lamps, which had marijuana, coca, and poppy growing in them. On the other side of the room, opposite the meth lab, was a table that consisted of bottles full of pills, and all of them read ‘PVS/Pharmacy’. I picked up one of the bottles, filled with purple tablets, and examined them - here was the viagra Big Mac was getting. Apparently, Derpy was stealing from the local drugstore to get her product as well. I had a feeling it ran deeper than that though; there was no way that the clumsy mailmare I knew and loved could do this all on her own. I walked over to one of the gardens and picked a small handful of mature cannabis leaves and tucked them under my buttondown, right next to my CD.

“I say we burn it all.”

Everybody stared at me, as they all inquired me in unison.

“What?”

“Burn it all. This stuff has no need to be here. The drugs are going to ruin Equestria. You saw what they did you you, Pinkie, and Mac.. and Twilight... and Derpy. This stuff needs to go. We get rid of the drugs, we make a LOT of progress; we break the spell on the citizens, we can get them to see what BEN is doing and form a resistance movement! After we get this done, we go to find the others. Who’s with me?”

Strangely, Spike was the first to do anything. He stood in front of the rest, a bit hesitant, but otherwise, a determined, solid look on his face.

“I’m in. Let’s get rid of this.”

“Wa-wait... Can I just...”

I turned at the voice; Pinkie Pie. She was slowly walking towards a pile of processed cocaine at the far end of the room, playing with it, dunking her hooves in it. She began to lick her lips.

“PINKIE PIE! STOP!” I yelled, running over to pull her away, but was violently thrown to the ground with a back hoof as she dove into It from all her built-up pressure. Not too long after, Pinkie’s hair deflated, and as she turned around to face us, I noticed she had the same homicidal grin from all the way back at the basement, which made me scramble to my feet in a panic. I swallowed in fear at the demented pink pony with a face covered in white.

“No... not again. Pinkie Pie, come to your senses, please. I don’t want to fight you again.”

Twilight and the rest were becoming increasingly disturbed as Pinkamena approached us. Suddenly, from her saddlebags, she drew a knife and methodically walked over to us. Applebloom began to cry, and screamed in fear, running upstairs, taking Spike with her; this was an adult matter. I drew my pistol, my hand shaking while Twilight and Applejack stood firm at my side. Twilight’s horn began to focus energy, and AJ drew another lasso.

“Pinkie, sugar, we really don’t wanna do this...” Applejack said with a panic-stricken tone. Twilight nodded at her friend’s words, also trying to get the dark-sided party pony back to reality.

“No. We don’t want to. Just, come back to us, okay?”

“Look, if all you guys are gonna do is stand there, I’m taking the fucking shot. I’m not risking this.” I violently butted in as the demonic Pinkamena drew ever closer.

“You are NOT hurting anypony unless you need to!” Twilight scowled, her horn glowing. She picked Pinkamena up with her magic and threw her against the wall, her knife falling out of her hoof. I kept my gun trained, in case anything got bad, but Applejack lassoed her down. I walked over and proceeded to hogtie her down. It went smooth, it was clean, and there was no blood. Nobody died either. I hoped to keep the rest of my time here that way.

Would I be given the luxury of peaceful solutions, though? Something in my mind screamed otherwise.

“Persistent, aren’t you, Pinkie?” I said as I finished, and stood up, putting my gun in my belt loop, and slinging her over my back with the help of the others. I bent down and procured the lost knife, placing it in my belt as well, sighing. “Well... that was nice and easy. I was expecting a fight.”

Pinkamena struggled to get free from the lasso. I looked around the room, first to the meth lab, then to the table with the processed drugs and pills, then to the garden, carefully examining their placement.

“Alright, everyone listen up. I need several bales of hay, and Spike down here. Twilight? stay with me; we need to keep an eye on Pinkie in case she tries anything.”

“Yes sir!”

I heard Applejack talking upstairs, and then a door shutting as Spike came down to the basement with us.

---

“Scootaloo, can I ask ya somethin’?” Applebloom inquired, looking to her friend who was trying to get Derpy back to consciousness, then back to the basement door, then back to her friend again.

“Sure, anything!” the young pegasus replied, removing the latex band from Derpy’s forehoof and applying a warm towel to hold back the bleeding.

“What do ya think of a human bein’ here an’ all?”

“What, Nick? He’s, well... he saved our lives didn’t he?”

“Yeah, but ah mean... He’s a HUMAN. From the nightmare stories... and... he HAS killed ponies...”

“Applebloom, you worry too much.”

“Too much!? Aren’t ya afraid he’s gonna hurt us?!”

“Look, Applebloom, he told me all about where he’s from. He told me how he came here. What we know about humans is wrong. Sure, there are some evil ones, he says, but they aren’t all bad. You remember that one day, when he showed up in the apple cellar?”

Applebloom shuddered at the recollection of that awful experience.

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember when he prayed ‘cause he thought he was gonna die?”

“Uh-huh...”

“He has faith. And I have faith in him. I trust that he won’t do anything to us; we’re too important to him.”

“I wish ah shared ya optimism...”

“Aw, come on, Applebloom! We’ve all been living at the farm for like, two straight months, and you still can’t trust him? He spends time with us, he teaches us things, he’s never once physically hurt us, he plays with us, and he got me my cutie mark. I trust him. I have to really... he’s...”

Scootaloo stopped to tend Derpy’s injuries further, checking her pulse and temperature.

“He’s what?”

Scoots sighed, looking up at the ceiling, not bothering to make eye contact with her friend.

“He’s kinda like a dad to me...”

Abruptly, the skull kid laughed, and suddenly, both fillies turned around. The statue - it had been standing here the entire time. It dematerialized into a black mist, before hovering up to the ceiling and splitting off, the two pieces floating in the open room for some time more before they finally charged for the two crusaders. Each of them screamed together, a blood-curdling cry that would send chills down anypony’s spine.

And it did just that.

---

“HOLY SHIT! THE GIRLS!”

At the freakish cry, I immediately bolted up the stairs, completely disregarding Pinkamena. So help me god, if anybody hurt them...

I kicked open the basement door, tearing it clean off its hinges. When I got to the living room floor, I saw a black residue covering the girls. They were unconscious. I rushed over to them, only to be violently thrown away by Applebloom, who suddenly awoke with unnatural levels of strength. I flew back and hit the wall, and stood up a few seconds later. Both her and Scootaloo were up and awake now, and...

No...

Dear god, no...

Their eyes were red.

“Hello Jadusable... Miss me?”

I shivered, pulling out my gun, yet keeping it aimed down as the girls approached me.

“Who said that!?”

“We did...”

The girls. They were slowly walking towards me with a thirst for blood spread across their faces. I tried to aim, but couldn’t keep a straight line of sight. I couldn’t shoot them. I wouldn’t.

“There’s been too much death, Nick. Don’t kill. Don’t. Fucking. Kill. You know better than that.”

The girls kept approaching me, backing me up into a corner as they spoke in unison, their voices not their own.

“Here’s a question for you Jadusable: would you bring yourself to kill children?”

“God damn it, let them go!”

The mask salesman giggled before the girls spoke again, cornering me even further.

“I’m afraid I can’t let that happen. It’s either you or them, Jadusable. Tell me, what’s it gonna be?”

“TWILIGHT!”

“She can’t hear you, Jadusable...” the girls said, dangerously close to me now. “It’s all about you. Will you do it?”

“They are going to KILL you. Off them!”
“You sick fuck, they’re KIDS! How DARE you even consider that!”
“If you don’t do this, you are going to die!”
“Children, Nick. Can you kill CHILDREN!?”
“They never give you anything anyway! What have they done for you other than be a burden!?”
“These girls look up to you, and put their faith and trust in you, a human! You mean something to them!”
“Fuck them up!”
“Do something else!”

I dropped my gun to the floor and my eye went cross with anger.

“No. Fuck you, BEN. Fuck. You.”

At that moment, the girls jumped me with demonic roars, tackling to me to the ground. They started beating me, punching me, and tearing me apart. But what could I do? I couldn’t kill them could I? If I did, ANY friendship I had made here would be over. And... it was the CMC I was dealing with here... I couldn’t kill the ones I cared for... I mulled ideas over in my head as my vision began to fade, and death started to take me into its fold. I took a breath and simply held onto my faith; my only weapon in this situation. First I recited that prayer.

“When I die,”
“Show no pitty,”
“Send my soul to Juggalo City.”
“Dig my grave six feet deep,”
“Put two matches by my feet,”
“Put two hatchets on my chest,”
“And tell my homies I did my best.”

“I can’t let you get rid of the drugs, Jadusable.”

Then I took another leap of faith...

...and began to sing. What did I sing? Their lullaby. I was living in a magical world, wasn’t I? And hadn’t I said, at one point, better to try than to die in vain? I took what hope I had and held onto it, praying that this worked. I inhaled as the darkness closed around me, and with what little strength I had left, brought my arm up and wrapped it snugly around the girls that were on top of me, ignoring their assault. The instrumental half of the song magically filled the room. Despite the vicious attacks and punches, I continued to sing as each hoof fell upon me in fury.

"Girls... it's me, Nick."

“Day to night, dark to light”
“Fall the sands of time.”
“Let the years like the gears”
“Of a clock unwind.”

“In your mind, walk through time “
“Back to better days.”
“Memories, like a dream,”
“Wash tears away.”

“Like a star in the sky,”
“Darkness can’t reach you.”
“Light the night, joy is light,”
“Till the new dawn.”

“Cast away your old face,”
“Let go your spite.”
“With this mask I’ll ask”
“To borrow your light.”

At the very last line, the skull kid let out his vile scream, and, suddenly, a black mist seeped out of the girls’ mouths, both of them yelling in intense pain, then losing consciousness. As they passed out on my chest, their crazed attacks finally subsided, and the black mist flew out of the open window. It was over. My extreme leap of faith - and my lack of violence - saved Applebloom and Scootaloo. Just one song was all it took. A prayer and a song. I sighed in relief, falling asleep with the two little fillies snoring soundly on my stomach.

BEN would NEVER hurt them without killing me first. I made that vow at that very moment.

“I’m here, girls. Nobody will take you away for any reason. Ever.”

I was awoken to a nudge, the CMC still sleeping away on my stomach. Applejack had come back in with a cart full of hay bales waiting outside. I gently pushed the two sleeping fillies off of me, setting them gently on the floor. Twilight and Spike were taking care of Derpy, with Pinkamena tied up in a corner. I stood up, wiping the blood off my face and walked outside, throwing a bale over my shoulder, and walked downstairs, placing it near the meth lab. I left, came back, left, and came back, all with the help of AJ, and we organized our kindling so it would all light in a quick chain reaction. I took one last look at this lab, then walked upstairs.

“Spike, can you come down here, please?”

The little purple dragon came down the wooden flight, cracking his arm joints and popping his spines out.

“You ready, Nick?”

“Yup. Burn this motherfucker to the ground!”

Spike inhaled for a moment, holding his breath in. Not too long after, a bright green flame engulfed the first hay bale, which quickly moved to the second, then the third, then on and on. We had about three minutes to get to a safe distance before the meth lab exploded and took this house with it, and we had to be well gone by then. I rushed back upstairs, Spike trailing behind me. I threw Applebloom and Scootaloo on my back, who screamed at their sudden awakening. Twilight grabbed Derpy, and Applejack took Pinkamena as the smell of gasoline filled the air.

Gas...

Change of plans - we only had a few seconds to get out; there was a gas leak in the meth lab stove.

“LET’S GO!”

We hightailed it out of town as Derpy’s house went up in flames. None of us watched the thing, but we sure as hell heard the explosion. It probably killed a bystander or two, but there wasn’t any time to worry about that. We had taken out the source of the drugs that were being sent throughout Equestria, so it was only a matter of time before the people began to wake up and see what was really going on. Granted, getting rid of the drug addicts would help, but It wouldn't change the fact that, at the end of the day, Ponyville was still a rough neighborhood, with muggings, thefts, murders, and prostitution among other things; there were so many desperate for money that they would do almost anything. Could we blame them though? Absolutely not; they were forced into this situation with the ‘mine cleansing’ incidents that Spike had caused, which, in itself, was caused by BEN’s manipulation. He had brought the harsh realities of OUR world here - economic instability, drugs, child molesters, serial killers, prostitution, and dictatorial rule, just to name a few, and HE shouldn’t have done that. BEN would pay dearly by my remaining hand. Equestria did not deserve this torture. And that fucking kid would regret ever haunting me.

“I’m coming for you, Benjamin. You’ll be crying for your spirit life to end when I’m done with you.”

It was at that moment I noticed I’d been wearing the same unwashed clothes for two straight months. I smelled fucking awful. You may ask why. Given this is largely a society that doesn’t wear clothes, there aren’t many places to get a wash. Well, what better time to plan a trip to Carousel Boutique, then. I wondered what this whole mess had done to Rarity. I’m certain she wouldn’t take it lightly to find that her sister was dead, and that I had eaten some of her, but the former, I was certain she already knew. I held back some vomit at that memory. Derpy was suffering from an intense relapse still. After she got out of it, I was going to question her, but we had other issues to contend with, namely, Pinkamena. She was still pretty hopped up on her drugs, so she was still a threat. Some time had passed since the removal of the drug lab, so we figured it safe to head back into town. As we walked, heading to the boutique as planned, we began casual conversation amongst ourselves. I had a LOT of unanswered questions, so I figured it good a time as any to ask a few, the sun beginning to set behind us.

“Applejack, when you were going home to get the hay, did you see Big Mac anywhere?”

“Nope, ah didn’t see a thing, ‘cept Granny Smith cryin’ on th’ front porch - she’s still pretty torn up ‘bout th’ stuff he did.”

“Yeah... I know. I still can’t believe he did that. Still, it’s not his fault, it’s BEN’s.” I said, wrapping my arm around her back, with a light squeeze as we continued to walk, Twilight carrying Derpy on her back. I turned my attention to her, though, and thought of what to ask her, then it finally hit me.

“So... tell me, Twilight... why is it, I’ve been here for about four months now, and I haven’t even SEEN the other three yet?”

“Honestly?” Twilight began. “I couldn’t say. What with all the death and destruction that’s been going on with BEN, and the depression? Celestia only knows. Worst-case scenario, BEN’s killed them.”

“I sure hope he hasn’t...”

The image of Sweetie Belle flew back into my head, and I nearly cried, but was cut short in thought as I heard a voice.

“He... he made me do things... awful things.”

I turned around quickly to the sound of the voice. Derpy was coming down. She hopped off of Twilight’s back and stumbled a bit, trying to orient herself and gain her balance. She set herself down on the grass, then frowned a bit, looking at all of us with regretful eyes.

“I... I didn’t mean it. The statue just said he had a way for me to make money...”

I crouched down next to the grey pegasus, my eye going soft with compassion. Her voice was sweet and squeaky, very similar to that of the ‘Save Derpy’ video, and not her original canonical voice. I sat close, listening intently. Pinkie had come off her buzz as well; her hair had poofed back to a curly state.

“It’s... it’s just so hard having a civil service job. We do more work than almost anypony, and our wages are terrible. One day, I was getting really desperate for money, and the little statue showed up out of nowhere. He told me that if I were to put those awful things in the mail, I could make the money I needed to live. After the depression hit, everypony went crazy to get what little bits they could find.” Derpy said, starting to tear up as her voice cracked even more. “He taught me how to make the stuff, but It’s not my fault! It isn’t! I needed the money! I needed to live, didn’t I? Everypony needs a way to take care of themselves, right? I was only looking out for me; times are tough enough as it is! I never meant to hurt anypony, but I know I did. I know that drink did awful things, I know the stuff I sold Pinkie made her sick, I even knew those pills would hurt Big Mac, but I NEEDED the money! What do you do when there’s no money left to put muffins on your plate?! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry... I just don’t know what went wrong!”

Derpy couldn’t contain herself any longer. She fell, her face into the grass, wailing in sadness and regret. I stroked her mane, trying to calm her.

“It’s okay Derpy. It’s okay, just let it out.”

Everyone else came around her for a hug, including Pinkie, who was almost back to normal, so I took the knife from my belt and cut the earth pony loose. Derpy just continued to let out a stream of water.

“Derpy, we’ve all done things we aren’t proud of. You aren’t alone. Everyone makes mistakes. The only question is, are you willing to fix those mistakes?” Twilight asked the distraught pony lying before her. Derpy raised her face up out of the grass a bit, looking into my lone eye, then to the others in the posse.

“Yes. Yes I am.”

I smiled and stood, helping Derpy up by taking her hoof. Pinkie was back to her normal self, and suddenly, out of the blue, a guitar riff abruptly filled the air. I recognized the chords, and to put it bluntly, I couldn't help...

...but Smile.

Pinkie jumped up in excitement and began to walk down the street as the guitar solo continued. I happily followed her, but, for some reason, the others were, well, a bit hesitant at first, but soon joined in on the celebration. As the song continued, we all sang together, our actions feeling like a montage thrown together to the rhythm of the music. Over the course of the performance, the citizens in town slowly and hesitantly joined in as well, acting as if as they were afraid of what would happen if they did. Why though, I wondered. My questions were soon answered once everything was abruptly cut short as a platoon of guards flew down to street level and drew their weapons, breaking up the party. A lot of civilians ran back to their homes, some cowered on the ground, and the rest in my crew were frozen partially to the stone road; I was the only one standing. What the hell was going on? Why did everyone stop? Suddenly, two guards drew spears and aimed at me. I froze and got on my knees, my arm up. What the hell was this about? A larger guard, wearing a black helmet (obviously the platoon commander, though not Shining), nodded at the troops holding me up, and they withdrew their weapons, signaling for me to stand up and leave. God damn it, I didn’t hesitate. I got the hell up and bolted with the others. As we got near the edge of town, to the boutique, I turned to face everyone in the group, catching my breath in fear.

“What the FUCK was that all about?”

“Well, Sugarcube, ya know how Celestia’s had martial law in place fo’ the last few months? Truth be tol’, we ain’t allowed ta do much. We can’t sing anymore like that, we can’t talk freely without fear ‘a bein’ snatched up off th’ street. We might as well stop talkin’ ‘fore they come fo’ us again.”

“So... you’re telling me that Celestia won’t let you have fun anymore.”

“That’s exactly what ah’m sayin’, sugar.”

“Look, if any of the soldiers try anything, I’ll just cap ‘em in the head, okay? I - MMMMFFFF!”

Twilight threw her hoof to my mouth.

“Don’t say stuff like that!”

She was right. That wouldn’t get us anywhere. There was no more need for senseless death; we’d lost far too much. The moon began to rise, and I opened the door to the boutique as my blood ran cold. I looked to my feet as the entrance creaked open, seeing a little white unicorn rush through the door.

“Rarity, I’m home!”

I shook my head around, trying to recollect my thoughts. There was only one thing on my mind...

I needed Sweetie Belle back.