Five years, eleven months after meteor...

The darkness was oppressing in its completeness.

Falling like a waterfall, the rain made it that much more difficult to pierce the gloom. An occasional ripple of lightning illuminated rolling clouds for only an instant. The wet world below reflected the light in every direction.

Gilda felt the downpour slowing. She stared down at the silhouette of the pony lying on her back. A single drop of water dripping from a feather sticking out of her head distracted her. Her raptor claw came up and smoothed her head feathers to the side.

The pony stirred.

The griffon cocked her head to one side. “You still alive, pony?”

Lightning lit the sky overhead. Further away from the griffon lay another pony-like form. Gilda saw blood on the armored pony’s face in the moment the light touched the earth.

“Oh, I see... ” Gilda took a few steps around the armored pony towards the second form. “This one saved you. What a waste.” The rain continued to lessen. Only a few drizzling drops fell upon the griffon as she walked. “Why sacrifice yourself for someone who doesn’t want to live?”

More lightning revealed the form for what it was: a zebra. The armored pony was looking now too. Her eyes were wide with shock. “Ze… Zecora?” she said softly.

The rain had stopped completely and Gilda was able to hear the name, though she didn’t recognize it. Below her the zebra made a small sound. With a sigh, Gilda angled her spear downwards. “You’re both unworthy of my spear. Be gone from this world.” She stabbed down at the zebra’s head.

Two long, white feathers of a wing pinned the tip of her spear midair, halting it completely. The owner of the wing was out of her sight. Gilda’s years of combat allowed her to react aggressively, pulling her spear back and stabbing to the side where the wing originated.

Her spear was halted again. She turned with a growl. “Who-”

Princess Celestia held Gilda’s spear at bay with her wing. She stood a single yard away from the griffon. The alicorn’s eyes were cold as the snow that began to fall. “Get away from my subject,” she said maliciously. Her wing snapped back, knocking Gilda and her spear backwards.

The griffon fell back a few steps. Her mind raced, trying to make sense of what was happening in front of her.

Celestia’s wings opened. Gilda realized something was coming and tried to steady herself. The alicorn flapped her wings once in the griffon’s direction. Snow and wind slammed into the Clan Mother, tossing her into the air like a ragdoll.

The roof of a house wasn’t enough to stop her momentum. Pain overwhelmed her like nothing she had ever felt before as she crashed into the home. It all happened so fast that her thoughts couldn’t keep up.

No… she thought as she lay in the heap of rubble, this isn’t as bad as when Signy died… nothing will ever be that bad…

On her shoulder, Rainbow Dash’s skull felt heavier.

Shy watched Celestia blast the griffon away from the corner of her vision. A quiet thought noted that the alicorn wasn’t in her ice queen drapings. Another quietly understood that she had probably never looked like that at all, and that’s why Fluttershy had always called her Celestia and not Skadi.

But those thoughts kept getting pushed away by the sight of Zecora’s still form. Shy rolled herself onto her stomach so she could stop craning her neck. “Zecora? Hey… what did you do…?”

The pony felt Celestia’s eyes on her. “I’ll deal with you in a moment,” was all the alicorn said before shooting off after the griffon.

Shy wasn’t paying her any attention at all. She started crawling towards Zecora. “Hey… answer me… what did you do?” Her face felt sticky and the mud resisted her movement but she pushed on.

Darkness made the zebra appear motionless, but Shy saw a minute amount of motion. She’s still breathing.

Why wouldn’t she be? She’s fine.

Everything… is…

Revealing light from the turbulent clouds above showed Shy the truth. Zecora had shielded her from the blow with her side, ripping her almost in half. The lightning from the spear had cauterized much of the injury and temporarily prolonged the zebra’s life.

But Shy knew Zecora was going to die.

What amazed her was how calm the zebra had looked. She wasn’t screaming or crying or cursing the pony. She looks so…

“Zecora?” Shy put her face inches from the zebra.

Zecora spoke between ragged breaths. “… Shy?”

Shy wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted to say. “Why’d you… you… ”

“… You… ok?”

“Am I…? You’re dying!” Shy felt suddenly angry. “You’re fucking dying! I don’t care how I am, I never did! I’ve never done anything for myself, I-” The zebra said something softly that Shy missed while she yelled. “What?”

“… Ok?”

“GAH!!!” Shy screamed and hit the ground next to the zebra with her hoof. “YES I’M FINE, DAMMIT!”

One of Zecora’s front hooves touched Shy’s cheek. It was so dark the pony didn’t see it till it touched her. “…s’ok… ”

Shy didn’t know whether to cringe away from the zebra’s touch or lean into it. “It’s not ok… you were supposed to leave, why didn’t you?”

A lick of lightning let Shy see Zecora again. The zebra’s eyes found her own. “… Fluttershy… ”

And in that moment Shy knew: it had never been about her. Zecora had latched onto Fluttershy, and so she had endured Shy tormenting her. There were never any real feelings between them.

“… Because I can’t feel anything.” Shy moved away from Zecora. The zebra’s hoof fell to the mud. “I can’t feel joy, or happiness, or love. I told you that, but you stayed for her.”

Zecora’s breaths started to come more rapidly. “I love… you… all of… you… ”

Shy shook her head slowly. “You lying BITCH!” She pounced on the zebra and pressed her hooves down on her throat. Zecora struggled weakly, hooves pushing the mud in a vain attempt at stopping Shy. “You never cared about me!”

“Shy! Stop!” Fluttershy wrapped her front legs around Shy and tried to pull her away. Shy swung her front leg out and knocked the other pony away. Fluttershy landed in the mud, holding a hoof to her face.

“GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!” Shy screamed at Fluttershy. “This is all your fault! Everything is your fault!” The blood staining her body felt hot. She turned to tower over the pristine pony.

Blood dripped down the otherwise pristine pony’s face. “You hit me… ” Fluttershy said in shock.

Shy couldn’t take her eyes off the blood. Everything else around them was cloaked in black except Fluttershy and the red on her face. The armored pony looked at the claws she wore. “I wanted to save you. Then I wanted to be you. I wanted more than anything to know how it felt to be alive. And now I know... to be alive is to suffer!” She lashed out at Fluttershy. The other pony gasped and disappeared an instant before the blow would have hit her. “Run, you bitch!”

A sound turned Shy’s head. Skadi attacking the griffon. The pony took a step towards the sound but stopped. She looked down at Zecora. The zebra wasn’t moving at all anymore.

She’s dead.

For a moment Shy didn’t believe her own thoughts. The one other being in her hell of a life was gone. She never cared about me anyways. It was all a lie. My entire existence is a lie.

Snow flittered down through the hole in the roof. Gilda watched it fall in silence. Strangely, it stood out from the rest of the darkness. What’s wrong with this town?

The snow shook.

Princess Celestia appeared on the roof, looking down at Gilda through the hole overhead. The sight of her made the griffon tense up. She fought against the pain and stood. Silently, the alicorn descended.

Before she hit the ground, Gilda swung her spear up at her. Lightning cracked wildly off the tip. Celestia again turned it away with a casual flick of her wing.

“What the fuck are you?!” the Clan Mother screamed. Never had her spear been turned away from her target.

“Have I already been forgotten?” Celestia said, her voice echoing around the small home. Her eyes held more anger than Gilda had ever seen a pony have. “I am your princess.”

“You died!” Gilda stabbed at the alicorn’s face. Celestia bit down on the tip of the spear as it reached her. Lightning licked her cheeks but she didn’t seem to notice. Her fiery eyes made Gilda’s knees weak. With one bite, the princess shattered the head of the spear.

Magic exploded outwards. Gilda flew through the air again, tumbling through the wall behind her and back outside. She groaned in pain and shock.

A cold wind made her look up from where she lay. Princess Celestia stood over her. She looked down at her like she was nothing more than a bug to be squashed. “You died… ” the griffon said again.

The alicorn smiled wickedly. “I cannot die.”

“Celestia!” the armored pony yelled. Both the alicorn and the griffon turned their heads towards her. Even in the dark, the red blood on her face and armor was visible. She walked towards Celestia with her head high. “That’s enough.”

“Wait your turn, Shy,” Celestia spat at the pony. She focused her attention back on Gilda. “I swear, ponies become more insolent every ye-”

The armored pony punched out with her front hoof into Celestia’s side. Her claw entered the alicorn like a knife through butter, blood gushing out of the hole. Celestia cried out in pain and fell away.

“Go back to your hole with Fluttershy!” said the armored pony. Growling, blood running from her mouth, Celestia started to disappear. The snow that had heralded her arrival ended as well, but the rain did not return.

Fluttershy, thought Gilda. The element of harmony? Things started to make slightly more sense to her, though she was still terribly confused. She looked at the skull of Rainbow Dash on her shoulder. Somehow, Gilda saw something within the hole of Rainbow Dash’s eye. Lightning?

LIGHTNING

Her muscles tensed up as it cascaded through her from the skull. All her wounds crackled with blue energy as they healed. She shut her eyes, her body glowing from the lightning.

Though she would have loved to enjoy the thought of Celestia in pain longer, Shy realized something was happening to the griffon. Lightning sparked from her feathered body to the ground. She stood tall; all the damage done to her by Celestia gone. Just like the monster, she’s gained some sort of strength.

Well, so have I.

The warm embrace of the blood covering her calmed her raging emotions. All thoughts outside of what was to come faded away. Only the griffon bathed in lightning filled her mind. I will kill you because that is what I do. I will make you suffer because that is my purpose.

The griffon's golden eyes shot open and locked onto Shy. She said nothing, and didn’t have to for the pony to understand. In that world where darkness covered everything, they stood out to one another like beacons.

Laughing insanely, Shy charged forward. She swung her right claw out in a slash in hopes of gutting the griffon. Blue light pulsed and the griffon was suddenly a step back. Undeterred, Shy continued forward with a slash of her left claw.

This time the griffon attempted to block the attack; her right claw whipped down and collided with the pony’s claw. Lightning exploded at the connection. Shy’s left front leg was thrown wide, dislocating her shoulder and melting the metal claw on her hoof. The molten steel burned flesh. The tremendous force of the blow spun her around. With her left claw, the griffon grabbed the pony’s right front leg, causing another lightning explosion.

Shy cartwheeled through the air. Her right claw, melted like the left, flew away into the night. She landed on her dislocated front leg, tearing muscle. The pain made her want to throw up. Rolling to her stomach, the pony kneeled, trying to get her back legs under her.

The griffon was there in a flash. A lion’s paw hit her in the stomach with enough force to lift her into the air again. The lightning that pulsed from the blow entered Shy, scrambling her thoughts and locking up her muscles. Another exploding blow hit her midair and she hurtled away again, pieces of body armor flying away.

Before she hit the ground her thoughts caught up with the situation. I have power, I know I do! Fluttershy does, Celestia does! WHERE’S MINE?! The griffon blood covering her front hooves felt boiling hot. An instant before she hit the ground, it raced up her front left leg and jerked it back into place. Shy rolled along the ground for a moment before coming to a stop.

… Blood…

It spread from her remaining armor to to every inch of her body. Her exposed fur glowed crimson. All the pain from the relentless assault faded. In a smooth motion she hopped from her back to stand on her two back legs. The action made the griffon halt her advance.

“Sorry,” Shy said flatly, “I’m ready now.”

Screeching like a wild animal, the griffon zapped forwards in a blast of electricity. Shy barely followed the incoming attack with her eyes. Instead, her body reacted on instinct. She stepped back and to the side, dodging a downward slash trailed by lines of lightning. A bloody afterimage of herself was sliced in half.

Shy balanced herself and punched out with a blood drenched hoof. The strike connected with the griffon’s ribcage, lifting her off her paws diagonally away. As her lower half rose past Shy’s face, the pony stepped in and wrapped her front legs around one of the griffon’s lion legs. She whipped the griffon over her body to slam beak first into the mud. Roaring out, Shy squeezed the griffon’s leg against her body, crushing it.

The half-lion cried out. Lightning pulsated out from her, exploding as it made contact with Shy’s remaining armor. The pony slid backwards in the mud. Her heart skipped a beat and she curled up in pain. Melted armor fell off of her in chunks. Slowly the pain subsided, but when she coughed she tasted iron.

Electricity was arcing off the griffon in all directions. Her broken leg was bathed in it, twitching as the bones re-set. Shy shakily got her back legs under her again. I have to deliver a killing blow or we’ll be fighting forever.

Getting to her own paws, the griffon seemed to come to the same realization. “Pony,” she said, sparks on her tongue, “I acknowledge your strength. Become my servant and I will let you live.”

Images of Fluttershy watching her, commanding her, keeping her caged in Ponyville flashed through Shy’s mind. “I’m done with being somepony’s puppet. You’re going to have to kill me.”

Sighing, the griffon’s lightning enhanced body crackled with energy. “What a waste.” Instantly she was beside Shy. The pony tried to turn but the griffon’s slash came quicker. Crimson trails followed the griffon’s claws away from three deep gashes on her front leg.

Shy grit her teeth, still turning to face the griffon. But the griffon had seemingly teleported again. The next blow came to her back, tearing the remains of her armor away from her. Electricity jolted her.

You want to do fucking tricks? I can do some fucking tricks!

Blood lanced out from Shy’s exposed wing wound like a blade. It pierced the griffon through the stomach and out her back. The damage was minimal but it confused the griffon, slowing her. Shy spun around and the blood blade tore through intestines as it exited out the griffon’s side. The sound the beast made, shock mixed with intense pain, brought a smile to Shy’s face.

You’re mine now!

Moving like it was alive, the blood on her front legs ran down to her hooves and solidified into large claws. They felt completely natural to Shy, as if she had been born with them. She grabbed the griffon’s wrists and looked up into her golden eyes.

Gilda looked down into the pony’s blue eyes and knew death was coming. She tried to make herself zap away like before, but the lightning couldn’t break her free from the pony’s grip. Her struggling seemed to amuse the pony. It infuriated Gilda. “Do you know who I am?! I am the most powerful griffon in Equest-”

Thick, bright red blood on the pony’s face surged around her mouth, making long, sharp jaws.

“FUCK YO-”

Shy bit onto the griffon’s chest with dragon-like maw. Gilda felt each tooth tearing into her body. Pain stole her breath, drained her mind of all thought. All she could do was watch in awe as the pony tore chunks of her away with every bite.

At least it wasn’t a male…

An owl tentatively hooted into the night. High above, the clouds broke their hold on the sky. A massive full moon revealed the world for all to see.

Shy stood over the remains of the griffon. Gore covered her face and body. The blood drenching her hair made it feel heavy. In the moonlight she could truly see the extent of the violence she had inflicted upon the other creature. There were chunks of feathers, meat, and bone all around her.

A female out of her sight gasped. “What the fuck… ” The pony looked towards the voice. A score of griffons were approaching, weapons and claws raised. Leading them was a female griffon with light blue splotches of color on her white feathers. She stared at the remains of her Clan Mother. Growling, she pointed at Shy. “Kill her!”

The griffon’s behind her hesitated.

“She killed the Clan Mother!” the female griffon yelled. “As your new Clan Mother, I-”

“Who says you are?” a male in the front of the clan questioned.

“She has no spear,” another male chimed in, “she has no title.”

“Silence!” the female screamed, but the murmuring continued. Sudden movement within the pack caused a stir that cascaded. Weapons were swung and blood flew. Shy watched quietly as the griffons destroyed themselves.

It was over in moments. The remaining males outnumbered the females two to one. Sensing defeat, the females threw down their weapons. One of the largest males called out commands and was obeyed.

There is a Clan Father now, the pony thought.

Nodding, the male turned to Shy. Though she felt weakness seeping into her limbs, she knew she could kill half of the group of griffons before they killed her. The male seemed to realize it as well. “Let’s go, there’s nothing for us here,” he told his clan.

They turned and walked into the night.

Shy waited until she felt they were gone before taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly. Ungraciously, she fell to the ground into the gore. Her muscles felt like jelly. It took effort to push the pieces of griffon away from her face so she could breathe better. As she did, she caught sight of Zecora.

I healed myself… maybe I could…

Without thinking, she started crawling towards the zebra. Her lower legs wouldn’t move, so she had to drag her body with her front legs only. She managed a few hooves before starting to slow.

Come on… I’m going to fix you, you stupid bitch… I’m going to make you suffer for lying to me… you’re going to make me breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day, and you’re going to do anything I say when I say it… you’re going to forget about that cunt Fluttershy… you…

You’re going to mean it when you say…

Shy fell to the mud, unconscious.

Her eyes opened to daylight. Cloud cover kept much of it at bay, but the world was visible to her again. The first thing Shy saw was Zecora. Flies covered the wound in her side.

Shy curled up into a ball and stared at nothing.

Because nothing is all I have.

Three days later…

The pink maned pony sat in front of the slab of stone she had placed on the grave. She hadn’t moved in hours.

Steel raised his rifle up and steadied himself. When he had lined up his shot, he fired. A gem the size of a nail shot out of the gun. The pony jerked and fell forward onto the stone. A red line of blood ran down the center of her back.

“That is how you kill a pony,” the iron dog gloated. He stood up from where he knelt inside the ruins of a house. Several other iron dogs stood from their hiding spots as well. An iron dog moved carefully from the tree line near the pony to where she lay. He brought his paw to her neck.

His nod to Steel confirmed the kill.

“Gather up!” the iron dog leader yelled. “We’re heading home!”

Thick, white outlines were the only things making the black buildings of Ponyville stand out on the black background. Skeletal ponies stood silently, outlined in white, insides black. Everything appeared as if from some old cartoon’s fever dream.

Fluttershy poked her head around a white outline of a home. A few pony lengths away was the outline of Shy lying against the stone grave. Taking a breath to steady herself, Fluttershy rushed forwards towards the other pony’s still form. Her hooves were outstretched in front of her as if she were diving.

Shy turned and grabbed Fluttershy’s front leg with a bloody claw. The pristine pony gasped. Smiling, Shy pulled Fluttershy closer so they were face to face.

“Got you.”

Author's Notes:

This chapter really got away from me. When I thought of it I thought Shy would feel angry at her own inability to feel. But as I wrote it and incorporated information from previous chapters into it, things got out of control. I don't write knowing exactly what's going to happen, just a general idea of how the chapter starts and how it ends and maybe a few things in between. I try and let the characters come out as much as possible through me. This leads to things like Shy becoming violent with Zecora even though she's already dying. The ending of this chapter was also a complete curve ball for me. I knew it was going to end on a cliffhanger but not one so insanely dire.

That's not to say I don't know what's going to happen for the rest of the fic. I know EXACTLY what's going to happen all the way to the last chapter, so don't worry about that.

All I know is I am as excited as I hope you readers are as Part Three begins to wrap up. The next chapter, Skitter, tells the back story of the iron dogs.

One last thing: I love reading big reviews or ideas of whats going on, good or bad. Tell me what you think!