(Before you start reading this, you should read Cupcakes if you hadn' the original and Minalkra's alternate ending to be able to follow this story the easiest. Thank you for reading and Enjoy)
I woke drowsily, feeling the rugged leather as it held my wrists and ankles to the wood table under me. I looked around the dark and dank room, noticing the sickening party decorations made of the previous hosts of these shackles. "Life is a party!" the dried skin banner read in blood and I couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of that statement for what had been done to make it.
"Fuck..." I said to myself, looking around for her. She was no where to be seen and I sighed, relieved for the moment, knowing it was only a moment. I realized this could be the last time I'd have the chance to look through these memories, so I did so.
I remembered my first time here in this world, having not been from here. It was so much different from Earth, but oh so similar. I had woken up in the forest, not even any idea what the fuck had happened. I had fallen asleep in my bed the night before and now I was in the woods.
I stood up and wandered aimlessly down the path that seemed to have been beaten by someone or something. After a few hours of seemingly endless travel I came to the edge of the copious amount of unkempt lumber and saw a vast grove of beautiful apple trees. They looked natural enough, but the way they were lined clearly pointed to the fact that they were planted by something of intelligence for the sake of growing the produce.
I traveled through the orchard, attempting to not reach up and pick one of the fruits to quench my rising appetite. As I continued the trees began to become surrounded by large wooden buckets, which at first were empty, but soon gave way to full containers. I knew I had to be getting close to something by now.
"Yeehaw!" I heard, starting a bit at the unexpected noise. The voice sounded so familiar to me. I continued towards it. I saw a barn in the distance and as I approached I noticed four figures next to it, standing by carts full of apples. One of them was wearing a cowboy hat, an orange shirt, a pair of jeans and a pair of cowboy boots. Her hair flowed down to the bottom of her shoulder blades and was the same color as wheat.
The next was a tall, well built man. His hair color resembled that of the previous girl, but only fell halfway down his neck. He wore a crimson shirt and, same as the girl before, a pair of jeans and boots. I noticed he was chewing a piece of hay in his mouth.
The woman next to him was hunched over slightly, clearly finding this position the best for comfort. Her hair was white and tied up in a bun and she wore a green dress that went down to her ankles.
The next was a little girl with long red hair and a large bow in her hair. She wore a pair of overalls with a yellow shirt under it and wore red sneakers.
Something was very familiar about all of this, but somehow I couldn't put my finger on it. I stepped out from behind the tree and proceeded to walk towards the group. They turned to face me, caught off guard by someone walking out of their orchard. The male and the teenage looking girl stepped towards me.
"And who just might you be?" The girl spoke in a southern accent, inquiring, but not unkind.
"My name is Nick," I answered back.
"Well, what are you doing out here in our orchard, Nick?"
"I woke up out in the forest out that way," I pointed back the way I came. "And I just happened this way. Where am I?"
"You don't know where you are?"
"Not in the least. Everything's kind of a blur..." I lied.
"Well... You're in Sweet Apple Acres, near Ponyville, Equestria," she said, probably never having to say this to anyone before. My eyes fell to the ground as it sank in both where I was and who I was talking to. I blinked a few times. "You alright there?"
"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine. Just got a rush of images." I looked back up to her. "Which way is town?"
"That way," She said, pointing down a trail.
"Thanks... umm...?" I pretended not to know her name.
"Applejack," She said, holding her hand out to me. I took it and shook it before continuing down the path she had pointed out.
I stared at the trees, grass, rocks, whatever I could focus on as I walked down the dirt path. My mind was taking a moment to wrap around the situation. Was I really in Equestria? If I was, why were they humans? I shook my head clear of the questions and thought that I might as well take this for face value and just try to get home.
I saw the town clearly as it eased up over the horizon. I saw a few winged humans, Pegasi, I found out they were still called here, flying across the sky and looked down the streets to see many of the other people walking through them. I continued on my way towards the town, looking between each and every person I passed. I noticed something I hadn't before. Everyone had some kind of tattoo on their neck, which I soon realized to be their cutie marks.
"Makes more sense then on their asses..." I muttered to myself. I continued down the street, taking in the familiar buildings of Ponyville, which I realized was a strange name for a place inhabited by humans, but I brushed it off, knowing they probably called all their towns horse puns like the show.
I had become a slight bit more comfortable as I walked through the padded down streets, watching people pull carts full of various items or taking in the wonderful sights of Pegasi and Unicorn (they called themselves that as well) humans, when suddenly I was bombarded by loud noises. I had instantly closed my eyes, but when I opened them I saw a mass of pink, wavy, bouncy hair and a large smiling face accompanied by large cyan eyes staring into mine.
"Hello! Hello! Hello!" She shouted in quick succession, deafening me even more. Her smile grew larger as she continued. "Who might you be?"
"My name is Nick," I said. She bounced around me twice before stopping in front of me and leaning right up on my face, her smile giving me a weird sense of peace and cheerfulness.
"I'm Pinkie Pie!" She giggled. "I'm the local party expert!" She apparently noticed something on my neck, or a lack thereof and leaned in, her smile fading, but her wistful demeanor staying intact.
"You don't have a cutie mark...?" She said in slight awe. She poked and wiped at my neck, most likely attempting to get some kind of makeup off of me. As I was about to raise a statement she spoke again, her smile back. "Well, no matter! I think it's only fair we welcome you to Ponyville! How about a famous Pinkie Pie Welcome party?" She asked. I smiled, thinking back to the show and how much fun they seemed.
"Sure. Sounds like... a party." She smiled at me.
"Goody! I'll go get ready! Be at Sugarcube Corner at seven, alright?" She waited for my answer.
"Alright," I agreed and watched as she merrily skipped off towards what I recognized as the bakery. I realized now I had no fucking idea what time it was. I looked around for some way to check it, but saw nothing but the sun, and like most people of my generation, I had no clue how to read time by the sun. I looked around, hoping to see someone familiar when my eyes landed on a pony I could remember. I started towards her, but stopped a few steps later, remembering how she reacted when she first met Twilight. I probably wouldn't get a straight answer out of Fluttershy, at least not one that I could hear.
I looked around again when suddenly I was slammed into by a flying object. I heard myself and another entity grunt as we rolled across the dirt for a few meters until we stopped. I groaned in pain, but knew I'd be fine as I opened my eyes to look up at the girl sitting on top of my chest. She was shaking her rainbow hair. She looked down at me quickly and spoke just as fast.
"I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" She got up and grabbed my hand, hoisting me to my feet.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I've had worse." Lie.
"You sure?" Rainbow Dash asked me, concerned.
"Yeah." I looked at her as she looked me up and down for damage. "You seemed to be a in a hurry. Shouldn't you get moving?" I asked. A look of confusion then hurried surprise covered her face and she shuffled between staying and making sure I was okay and whatever she had to be doing now a few times before she flew off. I smiled and continued to search for someone to ask the time of. I scanned the crowd until my gaze found the one person I thought would probably be more than willing to help me out: Twilight Sparkle.
"Hello, Miss," I said as I approached her. She turned to face me with a smile, her varying purple and pink bangs hung low on her face, but blocked none of it, her horn poking through.
"Hi," she said back.
"You wouldn't happen to know what time it is, would you?" I asked. She looked down at her bag and pulled out a watch, checked it, put it away and looked at me.
"It's about a quarter after six," She answered.
"Thanks." I turned to walk away when she stopped me.
"May I ask who you are?"
"My name is Nick," I answered, turning back to face her.
"Where are you from?" Oh shit... this question. My mind raced through hundreds of answers before finally settling on something.
"Far beyond the Everfree Forest," I answered, giving a half-real and half-lie response. Her eyes grew in amazement and worry.
"Do you... Are you...?"
"I'm not here to hurt anyone or anything..." I laugh at this these days. "Just passing through." I saw her features soften at this. It was natural to worry about things like this when you didn't know what laid beyond such a thing.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that. I heard Pinkie Pie is throwing you a party." I looked up at this, a bit surprised.
"Word travels fast around here doesn't it?" I asked. She laughed a bit before answering.
"Small towns tend to do that." She looked at me, having noticed my lack of a cutie mark as well. She began to study me, much like Pinkie had.
"I'm gonna have to get used to this aren't I?" I said, a bit irritated, but amused. She moved away, a bit bashful.
"Sorry. I've just never seen an adult without a cutie mark..."
"They don't have them where I come from."
"Then how do you know what your special talent is?"
"By learning it and perfecting it. I'm sure that's how you do it here too."
"Well... of course... it's just that..." She couldn't find the words to say.
"It's quite alright." Time to lie more. "If it weren't for the books I've read on your kind, I'd probably be studying every cutie mark I've seen." I smiled at her, easing her embarrassment. She looked enchanted by the words "books"
"You have books on us?"
"Yeah, from long long ago."
"Wonder why we don't have books on cutie mark-less Ponies..." They still called them Ponies here? Weird, I thought, but it made a lot of other things make sense now.
"I dunno. Maybe they were just lost or something."
"... Maybe..." I had to get out of this conversation.
"Well, I'm gonna take a look around before I head to Sugarcube Corner for the party. Will I see you there, Miss...?"
"Twilight," She answered. "And yes. I wouldn't miss a Pinkie Party for the world." She smiled at me and I turned with a good bye and walked away.
I turned my own way and walked back out of town a bit and sat on a grassy hill a bit away from Ponyville. As I sat there I heard the light sound of foot falls from behind me, but decided not to react to them.
"You'd be best to be on guard around here, Stranger." I turned to see Applejack standing behind me. Her gaze was solid and threatening, but her body language showed she meant no harm.
"What do you mean?" I asked back, slightly worried.
"Just keep yourself on guard. If you do, you won't need to find out. If you don't, you'll find out faster than anyone would ever want to." I stood up and faced her eye to eye.
"What are you implying here?" I asked back, not wanting to fool around. She moved her face closer to mine as she spoke, almost spitting her words.
"You are not from here. You don't know what is going on here. You don't know that you're digging your grave! If you're determined to stay in Ponyville, watch your back. If not, leave now before it gets worse." She turned and walked away at this, leaving me alone on the hill. I had never seen her act like that before in the show... Something was up.
A bit of time passed and I found myself at the party at Sugarcube Corner, the smell of cooking sugar and flour permeated the air. I sniffed, smelling something else... Something I couldn't put my finger on. I shook it off and enjoyed the party. I had a piece of cake and some punch, some salad and an apple fritter. Everything was delicious. That was until I picked up a cupcake. As I took a bite of the dessert my mouth was instantly washed over with a horrible taste and smell. I coughed and spat the chunk of frosting and baked good out. Everyone stopped to look at me.
The smell was back, the one I had chosen to ignore. It was back and it was worse.
I didn't care about the eyes on me, I tore the cupcake apart, looking for the reason for this horrible taste, but finding nothing. I finally composed myself as the others, who had no doubt heard that I was "from far beyond the Everfree Forest," Backed away from the crazy lunatic who was tearing away at a cupcake. I looked around them, composing myself.
What the fuck was wrong with me? There was nothing wrong with the cupcake that I could see, but that taste... it wasn't a rotten ingredient or anything. I had watched the other people, er, Ponies eat them as well and enjoy them. As I composed myself I took another cupcake, hoping that the first was some kind of messed up piece of the batch. I took a bite of this one as well and I was instantly assaulted by the same exact smell, taste and feeling. I pretended that it wasn't happening, but my stomach wouldn't last. I stepped outside and turned the corner of the building, vomiting the entirety of my stomach onto the ground.
"Had yourself one of her special cupcakes?" I looked up to see Big Macintosh standing there, leaning against the wall.
"What?" I asked, too stupid to ask anything else.
"You ate a cupcake right?" I nodded. "She has a special ingredient in them. One that most Ponies can't taste. Takes something non-Pony to taste it."
"Who else?" I asked, not sure why.
"Me, my family and you as far as I can tell."
"How do you know there's more?"
"The Ponies aren't the only race in the world. Here." He handed me an apple. "The sweetness kills the taste of the blood and flesh." I took it and bit into it, feeling the sweet juices getting rid of the horrid nightmare that had occurred in my mouth moments ago. Then my mind processed what he said. I realized what story I was in now... or at least where this one was basing from. Cupcakes.
"Great..." I said under my breath.
"Come on." He motioned for me to follow him. He led me to the woods, which he navigated without issue, unlike me.
"Stop falling behind," he said for the fifth time.
"I'm sorry. I'm not used to walking through this crap."
"Well, try to keep up, we don't have all night."
We arrived at a camp, just a few tents and a fire in the middle of them. I saw Applejack sitting on the edge of a crate by the fire, same with Granny Smith and Apple Bloom. Applejack looked up at me as we arrived.
"I told you he'd be stupid enough to go."
"Eeeyup."
"Had a cupcake huh?"
"How the hell do you know about all this?"
"Because, we're the last of the Elves that resided in this forest thousands of years ago." My mind clicked again. I was in Minalkra's continuation of Cupcakes?
"But you have..."
"Cutie Marks?" Applejack reached up and pealed a sticker-like thing off her neck. "Part of the disguise. If they knew, Celestia would have us killed. Pinkie was going after you tonight. She thinks you're one of us."
"So you're hiding among them for survival?"
"Yes, but no. We need to stop Celestia. She's having her own kind killed for the sake of controlling a curse of bloodlust on her..." yep, Minalkra's story. "... that was put on her when she banished Luna to the moon. It caused two hundred years of war against all other races of Equestria. She soon found a way to control it when she captured a dragon, imprisoning it in her castle in Canterlot. It taught her how to control this curse. Keep it under lock and key. She needed something to die. Her kin. She needed their bodies to be devoured by the rest... That's where the Butchers come in. They're the people hired by the princess to kill, cook the victims into food, write down how they did it and send it to the princess. We don't know what happens with her, but... We're sure it's not pretty."
My mind jumped through the story I read a while ago. How she would read the stories, frothing at the mouth. How she would then visit the dragon's prison to deposit the reports and so on and so forth. I couldn't share this of course, knowing it'd sound insane, but I could think it.
"So how do you plan to stop her?"
"No idea."
"What about Luna?" I threw out there.
"What about her?" Applejack asked, but another question hit her. "How do you know about Luna?"
"I'm a lot more intelligent to your world's affairs than you know. Now She was the reason for this blood shed, this curse on Celestia. I think the reason the princess kept it under wraps for eight hundred years was in wait for her sister. She wanted to wait for an heir to pass the throne onto... when she could no longer carry her burden of this curse."
They looked at me dumbfounded. Realizing this was a possible outcome. They were also surprised at my confidence in the matter.
"Or maybe she wants to kill her sister. Get the ultimate revenge. Either way Luna needs to end up on the throne. She's most likely innocent and ignorant of the pain she caused since her imprisonment. We just need to figure out how to get her on the throne."
The Apple Family looked between one another and nodded their silent agreement.
"Well, what's your plan?" Great, they were trusting me now?
"First, I need to go back to the party. I'm sure they're missing me right now... and if I'm not there Pinkie will inform Celestia that I've ran and have some Butcher search party on my ass."
"You'll be captured!" Applebloom shouted.
"That's part two of the plan. Get captured and get some information." I wasn't sure of my own plan at these words, but this world was insane enough that it might work.
"How will you get out? She'll kill you." I thought for a second before stating my choice.
"Improvisation will have to be key at that point. I'm not one hundred percent sure what I'm dealing with." Truer words have never been spoken.
"You're being stupid," Granny Smith added, very sure of herself.
"Stupid leads to brilliance in the right hands... I'm those hands." I smiled to her and stood, heading my way back to Ponyville.
I went back to the party, waited til the guests were all gone. Pinkie asked me if I wanted to try one more cupcake that she made special for me. It was delicious. Definitely void of the special ingredient I was sure to become if I failed... but it had another, which I had expected, but the effects still caught me off guard, sending me to the floor in a daze.
Now we're back at the start of the story... Alright. Thoughts sorted. Now to think of how the fuck to get out of here... I struggled against the restraints, attempting to pull myself free, but of course she had practiced this and had fought against others tugging at them. I looked around close to me for something to maybe cut the ties with, but found nothing.
"Well... damn..." I said, a bit displeased. I don't know how I expected this to end up like a movie where I say an epic line and expect to be MacGyver or Chuck Norris, but I had. I hit my head against the wooden table I laid on and heard a slightly hallowed smack. The table wasn't completely solid. Yes! I steeled myself and lifted my head, bringing it down on the table, hearing it give a bit under the impact... much like my skull. I continued to do this a few more times before I realized this was fruitless and now the back of my head was bleeding profusely.
"That... did not work how I planned," I mumbled to myself, my vision blurry as hell now. That's when I heard her footsteps start down the stairs, the door down to here closing behind her. She walked into view and smiled at me cheerily. She of course had on the dress made out of cutie marks, Pegasus wings and the necklace of Unicorn horns.
"So how are you feeling?" She asked, genuine concern in her voice.
"Well, I'm tied to a table naked, you're crazy and my head is bleeding a lot more than it was before," I answered back with as much smart-ass attitude as I could muster.
"Well, why'd you go and hurt your head? That surely wasn't my fault." Her concern grew and she knelt down and looked at the blood pooling around my fractured skull. "Well, you're in luck." She stood up straight.
"How so?" Didn't like where this was going.
"I'm going to kill you quick. You've got nothing I want. No cutie mark, no wings, no horn. I'm just going to cut you open and take out your guts." Her smile while she said this was oddly adorable. She sounded crazy, but not like murderer crazy, just average run of the mill Pinkie Pie crazy. I smiled back and she looked at me with surprise.
"Why are you smiling?" She asked, not angry, but I know she had never seen anyone smile during this before. I laid my head down on the table, cringing in pain as I pressed on the soft, broken spot on the back of it.
"Well, I guess it feels right to die in the way that I killed hundreds of people before me," I lied. She looked at me in awe.
"You've done this too?"
"Yeah. Bit differently, of course, but about the same thing. Table, check, tools..." I looked at the cloth covered cart next to the table. "... check, victim, check. Only thing I had that you don't was a large amount of plastic covering the room." Ah, Dexter. Probably the only reason I even read Cupcakes without losing my lunch and mind.
"Why did you kill people?" She asked in amazement at these vomited words of untruth.
"Various reasons. Mostly because I felt like it. What about you?" I asked back. She showed signs of discomfort at this question and looked down at the floor before looking back up and answering.
"So I can make them into cupcakes, of course!" She had energy in the words, but not enough to make me believe it. This was Pinkie Pie of course.
"Come on. One murderer to another. It's not like I'm getting off this table. I might as well know why I'm dying." Her visage showed understanding and she brightened a bit more.
"Alright, I'll tell you!" Her energy was back. This was the truth. "Princess Celestia has what she calls Butchers all over Equestria, we specialize in killing and cooking our kills into food, Which we sell to the ponies all over." She stopped here, not done, but wanting me to ask a question.
"Why?"
"Because of a curse that was put on her a thousand years ago. The curse made all of the Ponies in Equestria and her become obsessed with blood and death. The only way to quell this was through blood spilling... or eating the flesh and blood of another once-living being. But for two hundred years no one knew about the latter, only the former. The Ponies slaughtered every other race they could find to quench this blood lust.
"After about two hundred years of slaughtering and violence Celestia, the major curse holder and the one who took the major blunt of it and had to taste blood more often than the rest, found that if the ponies were to eat the flesh of another living, intelligent creature would suffice.
"She rose up and created a world of peace, slowly letting the knowledge of the wars and curses fade to the back of everypony's minds and out of existence. She made pacts with the leaders of the other races, treaties if you will, saying that there would be no more violence and bloodshed between the races of the world. They quickly agreed, having seen the powerful abilities of the Ponies.
"She kept the truces, but of course had to find a way to quiet the blood lust that surged in all the Ponies of Equestria. That's where we Butchers come in. We're hired to kill a random Pony at random intervals, take their meat and cook it into a daily eaten food of the Ponies..." She was about to continue when I interrupted, apologizing instantly.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I'll take it that that was probably why when I ate the cupcake at your party it made me puke. I'm not a Pony. I'm a Human." She nodded understanding.
"Most likely. I can tell you're not quite the same as any Pony I've ever seen before. Well, I'm genuinely sorry for it making you sick, but I'm sure you'll make a delicious batch or two yourself." Her smile was genuine happiness, not completely insane. I think she was really happy to have someone as psychotic as she was tied to a table and not yelling, crying or fighting her like everyone else.
"As I was saying however, the Butchers feed the blood and flesh to the Ponies of Equestria to keep them calm and unaffected by the curse. We have to send in a report to Princess Celestia detailing a minimum of ten Ponies we kill. I don't know what she does with them, but that's not my place to question." She smiled at me, her story done and waiting for any questions. I had none. I had the information I needed... still no way out though.
"Well, that makes a lot of sense. Alright. Should we get this on the road then?" I asked, nodding the best I could towards the cart of tools. That's when I felt it. The pool of blood had spread on the table and was reaching my wrists.
"Yeah, I guess we shou-" I interrupted again.
"Sorry, Pinkie. I know I'm being a bother by interrupting you again... But could I maybe trouble you with a glass of water or something before all of this. I know it's an odd request, but my throat is killing me..." I chuckled at the words, finding them genuinely funny. Something was wrong with me. She laughed too.
"Sure, I'll be right back!" She said this with pure kindness and skipped out of the room. I twisted my arm as best I could, soaking it in the blood that reached to my arm.
"Come on... come on!" There wasn't enough blood. "Dammit... here we go..." I lifted my head and slammed it on the table again, breaking more of my skull and dragging out more blood. I did it again, splattering blood into the air and over onto my arms. Again. I felt the cracking pain and the sickness in my stomach arise. I could taste the blood in my mouth, but found this refreshing, knowing it was mine. Suddenly the pool grew and I soaked the rest of my arm, dripping it down to my wrist and the strap that held me down. I felt it give and slid my left wrist out and reached over, unhooking the other and my feet after that.
I stood and found my clothes on the the table made of bones. I got quickly dressed, almost falling over numerous times as my dizziness faded and became more powerful and faded again. I turned around and saw the huge puddle of blood on the table and with a grim satisfaction a large crack in the table where my head had hit, dripping blood on the floor. I heard the door open and her footfalls on the stairs. I turned to face her as she stepped into the room, seeing me standing. Her face changed from the smile that she had been wearing, thinking she had someone who wouldn't fight and complain and scream to cut open, to a face of pure anger. I watched as her hair straightened out, which I remembered from the show as being when she lost her mind and turned into what the fans dubbed Pinkamena.
"How'd you get out of your bonds?" She asked, her cheeriness gone. I pointed to the blood on the table and showed how my body was still covered in the sticky liquid under my clothes.
"Lots of blood," I answered. She growled quietly. I knew I was no longer going be safe here, but I realized where I was standing in relation to her, she was closer to the table full of sharp tools.
"Well, there's going to be a lot more after I'm done with you!" She moved forward and tore the cloth off the table, grabbed the hacksaw and stepped towards me quickly, swinging the sharp blade at me. I ducked and moved out of the way of the next swing, feeling the rush of air as it passed a few inches from my cheek. I tried to move closer to the door and suddenly felt the connection of the blade as it imbedded itself in my arm. I howled in pain and looked down at it stuck down to the bone. Her hand was still on it and I looked up to her face, which was twisted in anger and realized that this was not going to be pleasant at all... She yanked the saw, grinding it against my bone and ripping flesh and muscle along with it until it was out of me. The arm was useless now, but she couldn't cut completely through with one slice and it was still attached. I kicked at her. She took the kick to the stomach, but in stride. She was insane and pissed, the worst combination.
"You're going to die here and now!" She shouted as she swung at me again. I dodged and started to run to the door, my limp arm smacking my leg as I did so. Surprisingly enough I got to the door and out of it before she even caught up to me. I saw Mr. and Mrs. Cake stare in surprise and fear as I ran out of the secret basement and through their kitchen and out their door. I stopped in the middle of town, the Ponies staring at me in amazement, my arm barely hanging on. I turned around to see Pinkamena running out of Sugarcube Corner after me, the saw still in her hand.
"Gods... Gods... Gods..." I couldn't think of anything to do. I was frozen in confusion. She was right on me, about to swing that damned bloody blade into my neck when I saw this flash of red go over my eyes. It took me a second to realize it wasn't blood, but in fact had been Big Mac tackling her down. He looked at me.
"Ru-" He didn't finish the words before she slit his throat with the saw. I knew what he meant though as I turned to see Applejack and Apple Bloom waving for me to come with them. I ran after them as they took off into the woods. I followed as best I could, realizing we were weaving around the trees to attempt to lose Pinkamena. I kept running, barely keeping the red of Apple Bloom's hair or the yellow of AJ's in view as I chased after them.
"Did we lose her?" Apple Bloom asked to her sister when we stopped.. I watched Applejack look up the way we had come and around us completely.
"Yeah, I think so."
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Zecora's hut. She'll heal that arm of yours. She's the only one I think we can really trust right now." She started walking in a sure direction. She sure knew her way around these trees. Soon we came to the familiar looking hut. Applejack knocked on the door and soon I saw the black and white hair of the Zebra, of course in human form, as she opened the door. She moved out of the way to let us enter the hut.
"It's begun," Applejack said to her.
"Come in my friends. Let me help meet your ends." We walked inside and I looked around at all the ingredients for potions. Then I remembered something and looked down to see my arm, still hanging on by a bit of muscle and skin and completely red and covered in blood. My eye twitched a bit and I got dizzy.
"Relax, Zecora'll fix you up good," Applejack told me. She was holding Apple Bloom who had now begun to cry and I wondered why for a moment before the image of Big Mac dying to save me came back to my mind. I closed my eyes for a moment and remembered the action. I was still alive and they needed my help to make sure that this all stopped.
"Now hold still and I'll fix this quick, just need to take a little bit..." She took a bit of the blood off of my arm and into a vial, causing pain to shoot through it, but I bit my lip and took the pain. She moved over to a mixing bowl and among other ingredients poured it into it, stirring it up. She handed me the potion. "Drink and heal, be proud you're not a meal." She clearly meant that I should be happy I'm not dead and a batch of cupcakes right now. I drank the potion, cringing at the bitter flavors and watched my arm link back together bits and pieces before becoming whole again. I moved it experimentally and found it worked great. I felt the back of my head start to move like a clay mold and form back to normal and soon the horrid pain and my blurry vision faded away and I was feeling much better.
"Thank you, Zecora," I said to her. She smiled back to me.
"Think nothing of it, if you're the one to end this shit." I smiled subconsciously at the swear. We decided to rest for the night, but I was restless and couldn't sleep. I walked outside the hut and sat on the grass. I stared at the moon and all it's glory. What was next? Just attack the castle and hope for the best? That's all I could think of. I closed my eyes for a second and instantly saw her face, raging and angry against my eyelids. I shook awake.
"Now I'm scared?" I asked myself, I clearly wasn't so scared when she had me strapped to a table, but then again, I was always steeled during situations where I needed to be... not so much after or before. I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Gods I'm tired..." I opened my eyes again and this time I jumped at the living face right in my own. "Ahh!" I involuntarily whisper-shouted.
"Calm yourself," Applejack said to me. She sat down next to me and we sat in silence for a moment. We both stared out into the woods that surrounded us.
"What you thinking about?" I asked. She turned to me, a bit of anger in her eyes, but not really directed at me.
"Just about my brother. I can't believe he's gone... She killed him." The tears welled up in her eyes as she said this, the contempt for Pinkamena showed clearly.
"Applejack... I'm so sorry..."
"You should be. If you had just stayed with us he wouldn't have had to die. We could have just assaulted the castle, killed Celestia and freed the Ponies of their blood lust." I looked at her in a bit of confusion. "Celestia is the body of the curse. If she is to die, the curse will die with her," She explained. I knew this of course, but I had to make sure I covered all my bases here.
"Luna?" I asked.
"I'm sure since she was locked away through the entire lifespan of the curse this far, she's probably clean of it, like you said." She stared at the moon. I watched the woods. She stood and walked towards the door again. "You should get some sleep, Nick. You're gonna need it." She walked into the hut and closed the door quietly. I sat outside the hut for a moment longer before I walked inside.
I awoke to a familiar smell, the one that had permeated from the walls, the decorations, the table of the basement torture chamber. I looked up and found Pinkamena standing over me, the bloody saw in her hand. I tried to move my arms and legs, but found them unable to move. She had drugged me. She put the saw to my neck and pulled it along it, dragging my blood and air away from me.
I awoke again, sitting bolt upright with a slight scream, which woke up Applejack, Apple Bloom and Zecora, who were all in the same room since it was the only one in the hut.
"What is it?" Applejack asked annoyed. I looked outside and saw that it was still night.
"Just... Just a nightmare," I answered.
"Go back to sleep!" She said, laying back down. The other two did the same and I followed. I didn't sleep however... Not until I felt an arm reach over me and heard the light whisper in my ear. "Just relax. The hut is protected by magic. She can't get in here. I promise."
"Thanks Applejack..." I said, grabbing her hand. It wasn't romantic, but for comfort. She may hold contempt for me, but she knew how bad it could be to have been in my situation, even if I had put myself in it and she most likely needed the comfort as well.
"You're Welcome, Nick. Now sleep. Please." And I did.
I woke up to everyone staring out the window. They all looked worried. I stepped forward and looked out the window as well. What I saw scared the living shit out of me. There stood about five lines of maybe ten or more Ponies, lead by none other than Pinkamena.
"The Butchers..." I said.
"Looks like Pinkie got some friends to come help her track us down..."
Shit... shit shit shit shitshitshit! I thought. "What do we do?"
"You're going to go out the back door, we're going out the front and we're going to fight them while you head to Canterlot and slay that psycho princess of ours..." Applejack said.
"Yeah... that sounds solid..."
"Only plan we got. They can catch us if we all go, but we can at least take down the Pegasi before they can catch up and take you down."
"Applejack..."
"Yeah, this'll be the last time you see any of us... Good luck, Nick." They pushed open the door without another word and charged into battle. I watched as they leapt up and tore the Pegasi down to the ground, breaking their wings and stopping them from flying after me. I caught Pinkamena's eyes as she stared at me. I turned and burst out the back door, charging through the forest. I looped around a path marked "Canterlot" clearly placed there by Applejack or Zecora. They knew this was going to happen. I followed the signs until I came to the train tracks that lead up the mountain to the capital city. It was gonna be a long hike, I thought.
That's when I heard the foot falls behind me and turned around to see the now bloodier group of Butchers coming through the trees after me. I noticed that the Pegasi did have broken and misshapen wings now, but they were clearly still able to chase me on foot. I turned and ran as fast as I could into the dark train tunnel. I hoped and prayed there was no trains coming from the other end of this fucking thing as I ran through it, tripping and stumbling over the wooden pieces between the rails.
I heard their footsteps behind me and knew that I had to pick up the pace, but I was getting winded. I was from a world where I could eat meat and not exercise. I didn't have to pull shit on Earth. I was a fucking photographer! These Ponies had a leg up on me in all categories, but I was running scared... that was the source of my energy and I picked up the pace. Suddenly I heard it. The train whistle and the bells. I looked up ahead of me and saw the light. There was no where to go... I couldn't go back because of the murderers behind me, but I couldn't go forward because of the train. Time to make a decision.
"Fuck this shit!" I turned and delivered a kick to the jaw of the closest Butcher, being higher up than him made it easier. I grabbed his dazed self and threw him into the others, rolling them down the tracks a bit, but missing a few, one of which was Pinkamena, still brandishing the most accursed weapon of all time. She took a swing at me and I ducked out of the way, sweeping the leg of another one of the Butchers and causing her to fall into another bit of the group.
I heard the train whistle getting closer, but still a bit off. I had a few more seconds.
I grabbed the Pegasus who was standing up in front of me's wings and put my foot on her back, pulling with my arms as hard as I could while pushing with my leg with all its strength. Her wings let go and she screamed in agony as I kicked her to the ground. I flipped them around and grasped them by the bloody side, blocking Pinkamena's next attack with the muscular flying appendages. I never figured wings would be a good weapon, but apparently Pegasus wings were. I smacked Pinkamena across the head with one and she stumbled back. I stepped forward and kicked another one of the Butchers down, sending him rolling and knocking a few others down.
The train was almost on us. I forced myself not to turn to look at it. I blocked another of Pinkamena's attacks and kicked her in the stomach, stepped forward and headbutted her hard in the nose and smacked her with the wing in my right hand. She stumbled backwards, bleeding from her now broken nose.
The look on the Butcher's face told me the train was right on us and I dove out of the way, putting myself flat against the wall, hoping it would work. I felt the air whip at my face as it passed by, but also felt the warm spray of blood as it mowed down the Butchers. It was a good twenty seconds before it finished passing and I moved away from the wall. There was guts and blood and gore everywhere on the tracks, but I didn't care about the other Butchers. I was looking for her. I found her decapitated head, still attached to a good amount of her chest, but missing the lower half of her torso and her arms. I smiled when I saw the weapon I had feared sitting on the tracks. I threw the wings to the ground and picked up the damned hack saw.
Why do they call it a hack saw Pinkie? Well, you saw what you were doing with it at me? Yeah, that's why.
I turned and started up the tunnel hill again. I came to the top of the hill about an hour later, having taken a half hour rest at one point now that I wasn't in direct danger. I came to the Canterlot train station, but no one had seen me yet. It was packed with Ponies and I saw a few guards by the door, but of course they were unarmed. I was gonna have to make a run for it.
I steeled myself and ran through the crowd who all gasped and screamed at the blood covered lunatic carrying a hacksaw through a train depot. I made it to the door and slammed my shoulder against it and bashing it down, the guards doing nothing in this unexpected situation. I looked around for a second and charged up towards the castle, the crowd staring at me as I ran through the hectic streets, brushing blood and guts onto people as I ran into them.
I knew the guards knew I was coming now as I ran up the path to the castle and I got my hacksaw ready. As I approached about ten stood in my way and instead of stopping and attempting to reason, which I knew wouldn't work, I cut them down quicker than I even thought I could. I looked at the big open door in front of me now. Celestia was in there somewhere...
And I ran to my left, towards the gardens. I ran through the paths and plants, not meeting resistance since the guards were all in the castle protecting the princess. I slowed down to a jog as I saw him. I stepped towards the statue, looking at all the various animal pieces that made him up. Discord. Now how the fuck to get him out of this prison... how did it happen before...?
I rattled my adrenaline filled brain trying to remember the little fact. I ran through everything I knew about Discord, about the fan pieces and things like that, but I couldn't remember how he was freed. Suddenly I was overcome by anger and started cutting at a bush with the saw growling as I did so. I heard the cracking and remembered. Chaos.
Suddenly the stone exterior broke free and he stretched. After he was done he looked down at me, his eyes full of questions and confusion at the one, cutie mark-less Pony that stood before him and showed only signs of glee.
"Now who are you?" He asked, flying around me a few times before and stopping in front of me.
"My name is Nick. I've come to ask your aid in overthrowing Princess Celestia." He cocked his head in confusion.
"Why?"
"She's insane and is killing innocents for some curse that she, and the world are afflicted of. She is the sole holder of the curse, but it affects all of Equestria. If she dies, the Ponies are free." I told him, telling the story as quickly, but clearly as I could.
"What do I get out of this?" He inquired.
"I can't stop you from taking whatever you want... My King." I put in that last part on a whim and realized I liked that idea. He smiled evilly.
"Then, should we kill a princess?" He was into the thought of breaking Celestia's rule... especially if it meant he got a world full of chaos.
"Let us." I smiled evilly back.
We traveled through the hallways of the castle. He knew where the throne room was so I followed him. We came to the large doors that barred the way into where we needed to be. I readied my saw and Discord actually readied himself to cause some havoc. I smiled to him and he smiled back and we charged forward. I hacked and slashed and kicked and punched my way through the guards that I could get my hands on, feeling their warm blood flowing over my skin made me psychotically happy. Once the guards were dead I looked at Discord, Also covered in gore. We looked at the door...
"Three! Two! One!" and we bashed it in. It was exactly one instant after the door flung in that we started clearing the room of guards, slashing and hacking from me, tornados and claws and biting from him. Soon there lay nothing but nigh a hundred dead bodies, a growing pool of blood, a monster and me and Discord.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Celestia yelled, her anger showing clearly as she foamed at the mouth. I smiled and waved my saw in the air.
"We've come to kill you Princess."
"And to take your throne from you," Added Discord with an evil chuckle.
There weren't any more words shared as me and Discord charged forward and I was instantly lifted off the ground by her magic, which Discord was immune to, and thrown against the wall across the room. I stood back up and was greeted by more guards charging into the room, lead by none other than Twilight Sparkle's brother, Shining Armor.
"Kill them all!" Discord yelled, fighting an aerial battle with Celestia, blocking her attacks while simultaneously throwing his own wildly. I could tell he was a powerful fighter and would easily handle the Alicorn which I couldn't reach.
"Yes, My Lord!" I charged into the thicket. I jumped over Shining Armor at the start, using my new adrenaline and psychotic rage to vault over him. I brought the saw blade down on the guard behind him's neck, cutting halfway through it until it got caught. I pulled the blade out gruesomely spattering blood on me and his comrades. I proceeded to slash to my right, cleanly cutting the neck of the guard standing there. I used my left leg to kick the guard behind me into a few more to buy me a second or so to duck the fist that flew over my head from the captain. I rammed the top of my head into his chest, pushing him back a bit before letting him fall to the ground. Turning I blocked the punch, that had been aimed at my head, with the blade of the saw, causing his fist to split in half along the blade. I pulled it back and wound up the attack, landing it cleanly on his shoulder, lopping the arm off. I kicked him back. I slashed across another one of the guard's chests, cutting deep into his flesh, causing him to fall down in agony. I blocked another attack on me and floored that one quickly with a punch to the throat. I brought the saw down on the top of another of the guard's heads, breaking through the bone surprisingly easy, thanking Pinkie for keeping her tools high-quality and sharp. I turned and kicked at the guard that was running at me from behind, feeling his ribs break and splinter under the force. I looked around me and saw no one else but me and Shining Armor.
"How... How... could you?" He asked, the most cliched line ever. I was about to answer when I saw the movement of the three still alive guards out of the corner of my eye. I walked over to each one while I talked.
"You know... I have no real reason. I'm not even from here..." I brought my leg up and stomped down hard on the guard's head, crushing it like a grape, blood and gray matter flying into the air and all over the floor. The captain cringed as I did so. "But I feel like it's somewhat my duty to fix this pathetic little part of the world, or at least set it RIGHT!" As I shouted that last word my foot caved in another of the guard's skulls. "Now, I'm a bit overzealous with my actions sure, but you know, you have to have fun with what you're good at right?" I pointed at my neck and he knew what I meant and looked away as I crushed the last guard's head. "Now... You can run now, or fight a losing battle." I turned to him and waved the saw in the air. He looked at me, turned and threw open the large doors as he ran.
It was then that I saw her. Luna. She was staring at me from the blood covered throne room. She saw Discord fighting her sister and me standing over the numerous bodies covered in blood. She didn't know how to react.
"Princess Luna," I said, bowing to the Princess of the Night.
"What is going on?" She asked, awestruck.
"Your sister is the bearer of a curse that plagues your land of Equestria. I have come here to destroy her and free the land."
"And Discord?" She was way more calm than anyone seeing all of this should be, but I could tell she was in shock.
"I have asked his help in this matter to help stop her, since I couldn't stop her alone. I want you to have the throne my Queen." Discord's laughter rang out and he spoke loudly.
"You would have me believe I would rule beside her?"
"Yes." I said, confidence in my voice. It stopped his next smart ass remark. "You two could easily rule this land. Her to keep you in line and raise the sun and moon and you to help with the magic of disharmony to keep the world in natural balance." While Discord held Celestia off, her attacks irrational and angry... Chaotic even, easy for Discord to block and dodge, he and Luna both considered this. Luna believed me when I had told her that her sister was mad and cursed. She had tasted the sickening cupcakes and knew something was wrong, but wasn't sure what. Now she knew and she had a way to help the poor Ponies of her world.
She stepped into the room and used her Alicorn magic to drag her sister down from up high, which Discord helped with as she struggled. Celestia growled and shouted expletives and obscenities at us as I moved closer, twirling the saw on my finger. I got right up to her and slit her throat with the blade without a second thought. She gurgled and choked and then fell limp, her rainbow mane and tail wisping away and becoming nothing. She fell to the ground as Luna let her go and both her and Discord felt what I felt. There was a change in the world. A newer feeling of peace resonated through the hearts of the Ponies, whether they felt it or not, the curse was broken. Now was the new Era of Equestria. It was the Era of Luna and Discord.
I've served as a royal guard for almost three years now. I've observed how the world took the news, but soon accepted the ancient evils of the world as reformed and now the true rulers of Equestria. The remaining Butchers were hunted down, disbanded and slaughtered themselves by me personally.
Luna and Discord worked hand in hand to create a self-sufficient world. Sure Pegasi were still given weather control, but there were heavy storms that even they couldn't stop, created by Discord. The seasons were still part of all the Ponies of Equestria's jobs to put in order. Not too much changed, but the ruling was now easier to handle in the world. The Ponies seemed to enjoy it more. I think with the lack of the blood lust curse on them, they were even more accepting of Discord and Luna being King and Queen.
As for those two, they did actually fall in love. Strange, but it was pleasant in my eyes. They were both shunned evil at one point, both imprisoned for a long time, but here they were working together to make peace. A slight lack of order, but peace nonetheless.
Me? Well, I'm now the General of the Royal Guard. I took the role of leader from Shining Armor, but offered him his job back, which after a lot of reluctance he agreed to.
One bit of the story remains to be told.
It was a few days after the slaughter and takeover that I was greeted by several familiar faces.
"You told me I'd never see you again," I said in amazement at my friends arrival.
"Well, they sure wanted you dead more than us. They just got us out of the way and went on after you." Applejack sounded happy, knowing that our mission had been a success and it was over. I scanned over her, Apple Bloom, Zecora and Granny Smith, but I stopped when I realized that there was one more Pony standing there with them.
"Big Mac?" I asked.
"Eeeyup," He answered.
"How are you...?"
"The Ponies in Ponyville patched him up right after what happened... was hard to keep him stable since his throat had been slit, but Twilight helped keep him alive until after our little escapade against the Butchers. We hoped that you'd live and beat Celestia, but we knew there was nothing we could do to help now, so we went back to Zecora's hut. She healed our wounds and then we went to Ponyville. We found where he was being kept and Zecora quickly healed him as well." Applejack told me.
"Well I'm glad to see you're alive. All of you," I told them, giving each one of them a big hug as I did so.
"You too, Nick... You too." Applejack smiled kindly at me as she spoke these words.
Everything went by with the mission to wipe out the Butchers for a few more years before I was approached with information I had hoped wasn't of affect in this world. As I opened the letter I felt AJ's presence in the room as she stepped towards my desk.
"Whatcha got there?" She asked, but I felt she already knew.
"Think Twilight could get us that spell so we can walk on clouds?"
"I reckon she could be asked... why?" She again knew, but wanted to make sure I knew what I had read.
"Well, we've got a factory to visit... And I'm sure Rainbow Dash won't appreciate the visit..." I burned the letter in the candle on the desk, put it out and escorted AJ out of the room.