Chapter II: Trust
"When all the truth does is make your heart ache, sometimes a lie is easier to take."
Rakz walked through the dark streets with his usual silent gait. Breathing ever so slightly as he carried Latch in his magical embrace. He would have to figure out what Latch knew about this Gail figure before he could leave him in the grasp of Olive Branch. A pony he trusted about as much as he trusted Bones to make a sound and perfectly sane plan. Which in Rakz's days had never occurred as long as he could remember.
"Now, I've made good plans... you just say differently." Bones rasped next to him.
"No, you don't. All your plans consist of causing mass anarchy and to kill everything that moves. How the hay is that a good plan?" Rakz asked, Bones looked away however and ignored his question. "Yeah, I can see that you're being so mature about this. Ignoring me is not a very good way to prove I'm wrong. Which I'm not, 'cuz your plans are horrid." Bones looked at him, was about to say something but stopped himself before he could say it.
"As I thought... you know what, I like this Bones better. Stays quiet as he should. Why, if this keeps up I think today might be the best day ever!" he almost yelled out as he skipped across the road, still not making a noise with every skip he took.
This continued for a few minutes before Bones broke the silence with his ever so cheery voice. "Where do you plan on doing this interrogation of yours? Last time I remember, you had no place safe to hide due to a very tricky mare."
Rakz looked at Bones with a small smile that was hidden under his cowl. "I always have a nice little place to settle down in. How could I have gone living for so long in this city if I had just one safe house?"
"What was that?" Bones asked
"What was what?" Rakz asked as he looked around for something out of the ordinary.
"What was with the emphasis on 'little'? I want to know why you did that."
Rakz looked innocently at Bones. "I don't know what youre talking about, 'cuz I definitely didn't tell you where we were going would be little."
"I don't like little, little means confined spaces and confined spaces means no pony wants to be there... well, except you." Bones pointed a hoof at him.
"Why do you not like a place without a trace of life?"
"Because that means there will be no chaos or anarchy... which is why I follow you. You're like the very epitaph of discord in pony form."
Rakz stepped back from Bones with a shocked look. "How dare you! I am not the very epitaph of discord..."
"I know you're not, that's why I said you're like the very epitaph of discord... in pony form."
He looked at the creature with a shocked look but couldn't maintain it. Dropping it and just chuckling at the creature. "Eh, it's not my fault that chaos seems to follow me everywhere I go. I don't mean to cause it-it just... happens."
Bones nodded at this as if acting like his therapist. "Now that you told me what your 'problem' is, how about you tell me where they touched you? Did they touch you there?" Bones pointed to his nethers.
Rakz's face quickly turned red as he moved his legs to cover his nethers. "What?! What the hay are you talking about? No pony touched me you crazy weirdo!"
Bones just nodded some more, walking away from him. "That's what they all say."
Rakz stood there, staring in confusion as the eldritch fire filled creature trotted slowly away. "What the hay is wrong with that thing?" he asked no pony in particular.
He quickly caught up to the creature as they walked towards one of his many safe houses to dump Latch off for the interrogation to begin afterwards. Rakz didn't really think it would be a interrogation though, more of getting an answer to every question as the yellow unicorn wet himself in some silly sense of fear. This would be quite possibly the easiest squeezing of information that Rakz would have ever performed.
Latch woke up groggily, lifting his head to see what surrounded him. Only to be revoked his privilege to see by the claustrophobic darkness that surrounded him. Causing him to begin to breathe deeply as he tried to think of the darkness as not suffocating but enlightening. This only worked for a few more seconds before he began to scream hysterically. It quickly ended though as something smacked him across the face.
"Holy Goddesses, I'm glad that's over. It was quite the nuisance to hear you scream for... hell, if I know, why the hay were you screaming?" the darkness seemed to ask Latch.
Latch responded by beginning to babble nonsense. Muttering that the darkness was going to eat him and that the world was after him and him only. This ended quickly though as the same object struck him across the face.
"Seriously, shut up. It's getting on my nerves and I don't want to slip and kill you because I didn't want your annoying sounds to plague me. That'd really bum me out."
Latch looked around for the source of the talking but felt as if the entire room of darkness was talking to him. Threatening to devour him whole. He opened his mouth to scream or babble or both when the object struck him again.
"I'm serious, if you make another noise I don't like, I will kill you. Understood?"
Latch nodded his head with extreme enthusiasm. At this point though he would probably agree to eating the flesh of another pony as long as he didn't have to deal with this darkness anymore.
"Great, I'm glad you can understand me. Now, I'm going to remove your blindfold, if you scream, I'll put it back on. Same thing if you babble... so be a nice pony and shut up. I'm removing it now..."
The darkness fell to, well, the same level of darkness as a strip of cloth was removed from his eyes. Latch began to panic again but was reminded of what the consequences would be as something cold slid under his throat.
"Don't... I told you once already-which means that this is your final chance."
Latch swallowed, closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to stare at the darkness. He opened his mouth to speak but was only able to say a few garbled words before choking up on them. "I... I... t-t-thou..."
A light suddenly appeared, illuminating a dark grey face with a purple glowing horn above his jet black hair. "Happy, now? Cuz I'd rather not have to deal with getting answers like... that." Rakz said in reference to the garbled speech that Latch had given.
"W-where am I? W-who are you? What's going on? Am I..." Latch howled as his senses bursted into pain with the strike of a hoof against his head.
"I'm saddened that you already forgot who I am but it is for the best. As to all of those fear filled questions, I'll answer them all shortly... no." Rakz said simply
Latch stared at the dark unicorn with a look of fear and confusion. "N-no? What is that supposed to mean?"
"No, it is a two letter word that means to reject, refuse, and to deny. How are you a archivist if you don't even know such a simple word?"
"I-I mean, why'd you say no?"
"'Cuz I'm not going to answer any of those first three questions. I will answer one question though."
"What question is that?" Latch asked weakly
"Wrong question, you were supposed to ask what I wanted. So, are you going to ask the question?" Rakz said with the influence of his knife petting the top of Latch's head gently; which received a nod from Latch. There was a silence for a few seconds before Rakz's left eye twitched and he struck the yellow pony once again. "So ask the question!"
"What d-do... you w-want?" Latch shook as he let out the small amount of urine he had built up while unconscious.
Rakz smiled, which only deepened Latch's fear instead of making him feel safer. "I want a better world. A world where justice is served to those who have done wrong. Not this, where ponies like you think you can just get away and live in luxury for your crimes."
"I-I didn't mean anything wrong..." Latch howled as he was struck once again.
"We've already been over this and I already explained my part. So let's not repeat anymore, shall we?"
Latch nodded shakily, crying silently as Rakz leaned in. "Who is Gail?"
Latch stammered the next few words in great fear. "I don't know..."
Rakz bent his hoof back for another hit but stopped when he saw that the other pony was telling the truth. "Alright, you get a free one for that... I wouldn't want to throttle your brain any more than I already have. So, let's start off a bit more peacefully. Try to remember who Gail might be."
Latch looked around himself, trying to find a way out but didn't understand that he couldn't escape the bonds of rope that held him through simple struggling. "I-I can't... I can't remember... just, please let me go. I promise not to tell anypony about this..." Latch cried cowardly
Rakz rubbed the middle in between his eyes, trying to think of ways to make the yellow pony remember who Gail was. "Latch, I need you to remember. If you don't, a lot of ponies are going to be hurt. Do you remember telling me that somepony had contacted you and asked you to do something for them? Something that would cost a lot of lives but end the war?"
Latch shook for a few seconds but looked up to Rakz with a hardened look. "Yes, I remember telling you that... that somepony had contacted me, asking me if I could provide any and all the information I knew. They said that in doing so, I would be removed from this struggle and put into the luxury that Canterlot ponies enjoyed... but, I said no. I said that I would not risk millions of lives for myself. So... he said something else-that me talking would end the war, saving millions."
"Did he tell you that it would also cost lives? That talking may kill more than save?"
"I... don't know... wait, yes I do, yes... he told me that my actions would kill but that doing so: I would save all of Equestria. Not just in the present but in the future also. I would become a hero to be written down in history... I didn't care though, I just wanted to end the war. I was so tired of seeing and hearing others suffer. I was tired of seeing other ponies standby while there were those out there who needed help!"
Rakz stared at the pony before him not as a genocidal opportunist but as a corrupted hero who just wanted to see the world as a better place. He was still corrupt though; but that just meant that somepony else was behind this. Somepony had pressured him into doing what he did as Latch had explained to him earlier. "Latch, you said that somepony pressured you into doing this? Was it this pony who contacted you or somepony else? I need to know so I can make the world better."
"Yes, I did say that didn't I? It was somepony in the PRP... they had been talking about how to end this war. I thought that they were just acting out of rage because a superior or somepony had made them angry somehow. So, I just let them slide. Then... then three ponies cornered me and... and..." Latch stopped suddenly, looking around frantically as if there was a group of ponies waiting to beat him in the darkness.
"Latch, do you remember these ponies? Any of them at all? I'll fix what they had done, I promise."
Latch refused to talk any further though, only shaking in his restraints.
"Hey, come on, I need you to tell me who did this! Don't break down now when we've gotten so far, so easily!"
Latch only continued his previous shaking, it was quite perturbing to the taller unicorn. As he did not understand why Latch broke so easily, retreating back to the depths of his mind where his body would take control of itself with instincts. Spasming and resisting anything in the outside world as if everything was a disease to his body. If it was the old war, when everything was bright and cheerful, there would have been no reason for this. However, the new world had arrived long ago and had left its effects on all who had prevailed in surviving it. Rakz knew there was no use in wasting any of his energy on questioning the buck anymore while he was in this state.
"So, you going to give him to Olive now or are you going to do what I think you're doing; and be the hero of the day. Releasing him to be on his own." Bones said dryly from behind him.
Rakz looked down, knowing he couldn't release Latch no matter how much he wanted to. He would most likely be swept up by the Royals again or just captured by the PRP anyways. Though, his chances to just die from other causes were still high with him being in Manehattan and all. He would have to turn the pony in to the PRP. As much as he frowned upon it, this was the only logical choice to him. Latch would never survive out there by himself.
"You're doing the right thing..." Bones began to say
"No, I'm killing somepony who had the goal to save the land he loves." Rakz mumbled quietly
"A-are you going to let me go now? I told you e-everything I know... I promise you. I don't remember who this Gail is or anything else... just please l-let me go." Latch said weakly
Of course, if I killed him, no pony would get him but the reaper. Nopony else could hurt him for his noble, but foolish, cause. I would hate myself forever for doing it but it's nothing I'm not used to. I-I'm sorry, Latch. I have to... for your sake. Rakz thought darkly to himself
"I-I can't let you go... your life would end in somepony's hooves no matter what or you would cost the lives of millions... I'm sorry, Latch. I truly am... if it helps any, I believe that you are a hero... your ways were twisted but I think you are a hero nonetheless." Rakz drew a long blade out as he stared into the brown, teary eyes of Latch.
"N-no... you don't have to do this! I won't say anything and... a-and nopony will ever see me again. J-just please don't do that... oh, Goddesses please don't do that." Latch cried, snot bubbling up from his nostrils as he watched the purple light glint off the blade.
"I do not wish to kill you but I must for your own safety and the safety of millions. I would be happy if you accepted your fate with your last words before I... do this." Rakz said with his head down.
"I-I don't want to accept it though... I don't want to die! Please, don't kill me... I'm afraid! I'm afraid of what is beyond life, of what I will see and experience, of who I may be in the afterlife."
"We all must experience death sooner or later... it is the common cycle of life. Fear is normal, if not proper of the great beyond that awaits us on the other end of life. You will soon come to know though that there is nothing to fear after death... I hear it is quite peaceful." Rakz said without any outer emotions showing on his face from the conflicting war of emotions that continued to rage on inside his head.
Latch stopped crying, looking into Rakz's eyes with an expression of fear... and acceptance. "I don't want to accept my fate but... you are right. I have no choice of when, where, or how I die. As a pony once said, one must pay for his sins. I guess I will be paying for my sins then, won't I?"
Rakz grew stiff at these words, a memory of a dream or something clawed itself into his conscience. Forcing his vision of the darkness, the blade, and of the terrified Latch into the deepest part of his mind. Only to be replaced by another scene of darkness in what appeared to be a forest in the night. Rakz succumbed to the feeling, allowing this memory to take hold of him.
A strange feeling filled Rakz as his mind receded from his body and filled another pony's body. This body being a unicorn buck as he is but almost half the size of him. He noticed immediately that this... colt seemed to be staring at another pony through the dark forest. Watching as the other pony came into clear view and turned their eyes to Rakz's host. Bringing about a small smile from the other pony.
"Ah, there you are little one. Please, can you come over here so that I don't have to talk so loud?" the other pony said in a scarred and weathered voice.
Rakz's host trotted over to the unicorn with the sound of brush being pushed around him. He was finally able to make out a description of the other pony, a pony that struck a strange cord in his body for some reason. The other pony was a unicorn buck with a black coat that complimented his colour matching mane and tail. His eyes were an oddity though, being a dull orange that seemed to have nothing behind it that clashed with the darker colours. Rakz attempted to discern the dark unicorn's cutiemark but was unable to due to the black cape that sat over their flank.
"I'm glad to see that I found you-I'd say you have a nice knack for stealth... sadly, though, I could detect your life force." the other pony said with a knock of his hoof on his horn. "Don't forget your lessons... they will teach you forever."
"Black Watch... why don't you teach me any spells?" the colt he was in asked with a small voice.
Black Watch drooped with a sigh, looking into the colt's eyes with those odd orange eyes. "You're not ready... far too young. Hell, I didn't even teach Shadowsky anything I taught you and he was twice your age!"
"Oh, come on... I can handle it! I've shown more magic expertise than even you did at my age. You've said it yourself. It doesn't have to be big either... just any spell." the colt smiled.
"Sit down, little one, let me tell you why I won't teach the spells I know." Black Watch said while on a large log, patting the spot near him for the colt to sit on.
The colt sat on the spot Black Watch had indicated with an interested look, clearly wanting to know why Black Watch wouldn't teach him his spells.
"As you know, there are many, many, many spells. I don't actually think there is a limit since somepony always finds a new spell to garden their lawn or to make themselves appear better looking every day. It's an endless struggle of knowledge. Yet, there are more than those harmless spells, there are others. These forms of magic are categorised under many names but some, that some being mainly me, like to call these magics elemental magics and... dark magics."
"I don't know much about elementals besides that I'm horrible with them. This little horn seems to laugh at me if I try to make something heat up or manipulate the air. I can do it... just... not very well or for long. See, that is why I have this cutiemark I have though." Black Watch lifted up his cape, pointing to the cutiemark of a pony skull. "I'm talented in those... dark magics I spoke of."
"What do you mean by dark magics?" the colt asked
Black Watch grimaced, trying to think of a way to tell his "apprentice" the best way possible for him to understand what dark magics were. "Well, dark magics are... well dark. They use a part of a unicorn that is dark, where all our fears, nightmares, sins, and corrupted thoughts reside. As long as we fuel this dark area we technically can use a spell forever... but only the worst of ponies are able to manage this. For to have infinite dark magic is to be the worst pony there is, taking pride and a sadistic joy in what you do. Dark magic is evil and corrupt, only able to hurt. It has no other purposes unlike other forms of magic. It can't serve any other purposes for the dark side of a pony can only hurt. One infamous character that was able to do this was that King Sombra I'd told you about."
"So, what can you do with this dark side? What kind of spells can you perform?" the colt asked with a new enthusiasm.
Black Watch bit his lip before standing up and looking into the colt's eyes with a small hint of dread. "Do you really want to know, little one? For to perform this spell I must... use the darkness in my soul-something I have not done in a long time."
The colt looked down, understanding the damage of bringing up memories that only caused pain. He nodded grimly to his master.
"As you wish, little one, I shall demonstrate why dark magic, of all magics, is the worst magic. Please step back, as I may be rusty in it after so long of keeping it within."
The colt stepped back as Black Watch's horn glowed a dark purple that was barely noticeable. Then the purple darkened even further into a blackish colour and made a form of light that proved to defy logic, illuminating the surrounding area in this dark light. The air around Watch began to tremble, moving to his demands as it coiled in dark purple and vile green wisps around the pony. Then the wisps dug into Watch, causing him to gasp as the purple and green withdrew to hold an orb of light that sparkled all the colours of the rainbow. It seemed as if the colour orange stood out the most of this orb.
"W-watch... and learn, little one." Black Watch said in clear pain as the wisps dug into the ground, causing the black soil to tremble and rise. Then the ground exploded apart as a rotted hoof dug its way out of the ground and stood on its wobbly legs to stare at Black Watch with its hazed over eyes.
"W-what is that? I-is it dead?" the colt stammered
Watcher turned to the colt with a sad smile. "This... is an inanis dormis: otherwise known as a zombie, or even as a zombler as some fools would say. Using the soul of a pony you are able to raise another dead pony to join you. Fighting until the host body is completely destroyed, releasing the soul from its prison to join its fellows in the afterlife. Unfortunately, the process of raising these are the cost of another's life. It is a very painful process... a process I had felt myself."
The colt's eyes grew big as he stared at his master. "Y-you mean that y-your..."
"Yes, little one, I am a walking corpse as this one is. Except, I had willingly had my soul ripped apart and inserted into the same body it had dispersed from. Creating a stasis that keeps my body at the same age no matter what. Unfortunately, my body is not nearly as strong as it once was and I am not able to do as much as I used to be after the... "process". Not to mention some of my memories seem to be distorted and altered through the ages I have survived. It is not a pleasant experience to be what you have crafted for over two and a half centuries."
"Now do you understand, little one? Do you understand what horrors await you if you confront your dark side and use it to your advantage? The dark side is to not be tampered with, this is what your training is for. To not train you to use it but to resist it. For if you let it control you too much... you may find yourself overwhelmed by its urges and forced to satisfy the sins it demands from you. The dark side of me has only caused me to sin and destroy."
"And when you sin my little pony, you must always pay for it."
The world returned slowly to Rakz as the memory faded away. The room becoming a intangible void of darkness that refused to give even this stallion sight. He found himself sitting on his haunches when a voice broke the silence from behind him.
"How was the dream walk? I hope it was enjoyable 'cuz Latch got away." Bones rasped
Rakz stood up quickly, lighting the area around him in a purple glow from his horn. Instead of a pony being tied to a chair in front of him, there was an empty chair with cut up ropes lying on it. By the chair laid his long blade he had been using on the other pony.
"He used his magic to cut himself free and escape while you were daydreaming."
Rakz picked the chair up in a magical embrace and hurled it against the wall. Shattering the chair into a million splinters on impact. He picked his knife up and immediately headed for the door that led out, muttering how that fool just screwed up beyond comprehension.
"What did you expect? You were going to kill him and he already told you that he didn't want to die. Did you just expect him to just sit patiently while you went through whatever the hay just happened to you?"
Rakz spun to Bones with a face contorted in rage. "He's going to get captured and kill millions. He was only thinking about himself... I was thinking about him-how I could make his life better!" he yelled
Bones shook his head with a smile. "You were thinking about making his life better by murdering him? I like to think that for every murder you commit, my life gets better; I sincerely doubt that killing him was the best choice."
"It was and is the best choice, otherwise he would be tortured by those he worked for or be captured by the Royals and used to kill millions. Better yet, he'll probably just die anyways. Manehattan isn't exactly safe to trot around in with it being the center of crime in Equestria." Rakz stormed out the door into a small room with nothing at all in it but the walls, floor, and roof.
"Rakz, you just have to accept that unlike you, others don't want to die. Now he left not but what, five maybe eight minutes ago? You can still find him and do whatever you want with him." Bones rasped as it followed the dark stallion out of the room into the dark streets of the night.
Rakz looked around pensively as he stood still, looking for any sign of where Latch might have been headed. He quickly spotted what looked to be dried spots of blood that were dotted on the road here and there. They headed north, where the Royals were stationed. "That son of a bitch, even after I tell him the consequences, he still goes to the Royals. I'm gonna make sure I hammer it in his stubborn head before I gouge his eye balls out."
"I'd love to see that. It's been awhile since I've seen you do a slow kill... always gets me going." Bones said excitedly
Rakz began running, following the trail of blood, looking in every alley in case of a hidden danger as he did so. Soon enough he found himself staring at a blank strip of road. He had lost the trail. Somehow Latch had healed his wound and had, in doing so, lost his predator for the moment. He looked around for anything that might have given Latch away while he ran but found none.
"How the hay did you get away? You never had any combat experiences so you couldn't have known how to lose somepony-so how did you lose me?"
He was stopped from pondering the question though when voices broke the silence of the night. Forcing him to go into the nearest alley and wait in the shadows for the ponies speaking to leave.
"So, what are we gonna do?" a mare asked
"Were going to do what we were told and then were gonna get our reward." a buck responded
"No, I mean what are we even going to ask for a reward. You accepted it so fast that you didn't even discuss a reward with her. What if she just cheats us out of one?" the mare asked
"Well, it's not like we had to actually try to get him... he sort of just fell into our hooves." another buck said
"We ain't no charity. We don't work for free." the mare quickly replied
"I don't think we can get a reward in the first place besides a pat on the back. We work for them afterall..." the first buck retorted
"Hm, well that's true... damn, that still sucks though. I don't like going out in the middle of the night to collect somepony when I don't even get anything in return." the other buck said
"You don't get flogged for disobedience... I'd say that's a reward." the mare said,
Rakz decided that their voices were coming from ahead of him. His curiosity getting the better of him as to what they were talking about, he looked out with one eye and almost instantaneously spotted the yellowish unicorn with a gag in his mouth and his hooves linked together by an iron clasp that chained his hooves.
"Still, you think Olive would be better on us. This could have really turned to hell..." the first buck said as Rakz crept out of the alley and followed the trio.
"Yeah I guess it could have... there are Royals just about everywhere, not to mention that Rakz guy that just scares the piss out of me." the other buck said
"Telling us that there was a brighter future for us if we took care of the Death's Envoy. Fuck that, I'd rather eat my own hooves than mess with that tyrannical monster." the mare spat out
That could be arranged, especially since it sounds like Olive seemed to have cut our business short. Rakz thought as he drew his blade out and closed in on the group.
"Hey, do any of you guys feel... cold?" the first buck asked nervously
"It's night and getting near fall, Nails... of course its cold." the mare replied
"No, I mean... do you feel like the air got colder all of a sudden? Like somepony's watching us or something." Nails said
"Actually, I do feel that... in fact, I always feel that way when that Rakz guy is around... oh shit!" the other buck said as he turned around, the movement turning as if it was in slow motion to Rakz.
Rakz instantly reacted, galloping forward with an amazing speed; aimed for the buck as he pulled out another long blade in his magic and targeted the other buck with them. By the time he slid to a stop, he had already dug the two blades into the throats of the bucks. The blades did not stop when they met the open throats of the bucks however, instead they continued their forward path to the mare's forelegs where they slid quickly through her knees. Forcing her to the ground with a scream as she fumbled with her hoof for the rifle she had dropped clumsily onto the cracked asphalt road. When her hooves finally touched the rifles wooden stock, her scream had quickly changed to that of a whimper of pain and finally to one of a grunt of fear and confusion as a slick, metallic presence appeared on her throat.
"I wouldn't if you want to survive this night." he said slowly for the mare to hear him.
The mare looked into Rakz's eyes with a look of hatred, anger, but mostly fear. "F-fuck you... I'm not going to let you kill me, you sick..."
He cut her off by leveling the knife just above her right eye. "I'm gonna need you to be quiet now so that I can talk. Also, you have a potty mouth... and that is not very polite."
The mare didn't say anything though, just continued to stare in fear at the knife that hung a hair's width from her right eye.
"Now, can you tell me why Olive put a hit out on me... you know, the pony she uses to do hits? If you ask me, I'd say that that's pretty counter productive to put a hit on your hit pony." he asked with a hidden smile as he swirled the knife around slowly above her eye.
"I-I don't know... honestly, I have no idea why she wanted us to drop you." the mare stuttered
He sighed, seeing that the look in her eyes told him the truth. She wasn't lying about knowing nothing about why Olive wanted to see him dead. "Alright, how about I ask you this then? Why were you hunting Latch down in the first place?"
She spoke with a stutter of fear. "O-Olive wanted to m-make sure that the job was done r-r-right... she didn't think you w-would do it right after she s-saw Latch's apartment."
Rakz lowered the knife to her throat, wondering how Olive had seen the apartment. It didn't really matter to him now though, he would figure out soon enough. He helped the mare up, pointing a hoof towards the south. "Go now before I decide to change my mind."
She quickly nodded to him, attempting to stand up but only to fall back to her legs. After a few more of these attempts, Rakz lifted a small purple bottle out of his cloak and gave it to her. He watched cautiously as her tendons and skin grew back, allowing her to stand back up and gallop as fast as she could in the opposite direction of him. I hope to never see you again, else I'll most likely do something I will regret. Rakz thought
"You are possibly the softest pony I have ever seen... you just let everypony run away, don't you?" Bones rasped
"There is such a thing known as tolerance... you don't just kill anything and everything that makes a mistake." Rakz said
Bones shook his head in disagreement. "No, the sinners need punished. No pony should be given a second chance."
Rakz spun to the creature in anger. "Then what about me? Why do I get a second chance? I sin every breath I take but yet I still get a second chance. Why do I get off when others must pay?"
"Because you are being punished for it. You suffer for your sins every moment, being given no choice but to go out there and punish others. Unless of course, you enjoy punishing others."
"I'm not like you Bones, I don't enjoy causing pain... I don't enjoy killing others when they could do something better than what I am doing. All I do is kill and make the world worse." Rakz said hollowly as he turned to a confused looking Latch held to the ground by his magic.
"No... that's the thing, Rakz, you are making the world better. You kill for justice and justice only, something that needs to be done more often. You do not stray from that path." Bones pointed to Latch "You told him that killing would solve nothing... if you ask me, that was just you being a hypocrite. You can't tell me that this city hasn't improved at all since you took up hits."
"How? How have I improved this city?"
"That's for you to answer... I'm only here to give you questions, not to answer them."
Rakz sighed as he let go of Latch and undid all of his bonds. "So, where were we before I seemed to have dozed off?"
Latch stood up slowly and looked into his eyes with distress. "There is no way for me to change your mind, is there?"
Rakz shook his head, already moving towards Latch with a blade floating by him.
Latch laughed, not a sane laugh but a hysterical one. It was the only way he could accept his fate as he began to hiccup from his undeniable fate. "So, this is how I'm going? Like a coward? I wished I could have died like a hero but it looks like I'll be remembered as a traitor."
"No, Latch, I will remember you as a hero. I know the truth and that's all that matters." Rakz said sadly
Latch smiled sadly, falling to his haunches. "I never got to tell Olive how much I hated her, never got to tell Lime that he's just another whiny asshole, and I never even got to really enjoy my life. All I have to die with are memories of how bad my life has been... ponies pushing me around the entire time, unable to do anything 'cuz I was weak and helpless. How fucked up is that?"
"That's how life usually treats us. It's something we must deal with and when life has us down, we just keep going no matter what the consequences."
Latch sighed and then looked into Rakz's eyes with sorrow. "I guess I'm as ready as can be... ready to become another casualty."
A memory that Rakz had just recently experienced bursted into his mind with a surprising clarity to it. Allowing him to remember what the pony, Black Watch, had told the unicorn colt. Rakz bit his lip, sheathing the knife. "Latch... I understand your fear-and I find it saddening to take your life with steel. I would like to see you live but I can't give you what you want... but I can give you something like it."
"W-what do you mean? Y-you're going to... spare me?" Latch frowned
Rakz sighed and shook his head sadly. "No... your body will die but... your soul will continue to exist in the real world instead of leaving for judgement."
"I don't understand..."
"You don't need to... all you need to know is that I can give you a fitting death, I can make sure that you are remembered."
Latch looked up with a smile, not filled with happiness but also not forced. "I'd like that if I am to die. I'd like to know that even after death I will be helping the world for I hope the better... will I?"
"Yes, but I must tell you this... it is much more painful than what my blade would endow to you. I will also need you to completely open up to me, dropping any mental barriers you have for me to do so."
Latch didn't speak for a few moments, thinking of whether or not he wants to die painfully and be remembered; or die quickly and be forgotten by almost all. "Life is a hardship... filled with pain... I want to do it. I want to be remembered no matter what the cost."
Rakz frowned and stared deeply into Latch's eyes. "I will need you to trust me... to give up everything and allow me to access your mind. Okay?"
"It's hard to trust a pony who is just going to kill you... but, of all the ponies I have met in my life, Rakz, you are the best pony I have ever come across. If I could... could I call you my friend until... until..." Latch choked up with tears.
"If it makes it easier, yes, you may call me your friend."
"I've never trusted anypony before, Rakz, never. Yet, for some reason... I trust you completely. If I could, I would put my life in your hooves. For you know how to make this world better... you know what it needs." and with that, Latch drooped his head with his last smile.
Rakz smiled as he put his horn to Latch's horn, resulting a in a tiny spark as Rakz's horn glowed. He gasped as the other pony's memories and thoughts flooded his memory, filling him with foreign feelings. Latch was clearly hurt from all of the punishment he had received from other ponies. Almost all of his memories were of ponies hurting him in so many different ways. Rakz receded from them though, they were not his to look at.
Soon enough, he found what he was looking for deep in Latch's mind. A light that splayed every colour imaginable, shifting to mainly one colour though. A deep blue that seemed to sing of how much pain and misery Latch had dealt with in his life. Rakz grabbed the light with a soft embrace, pulling it gently and slowly out of Latch's mind as the other pony began to have tremors from the pain going through his body. It was a dark deed but Rakz would do it... for a friend.
He pulled the sphere of light away from the pony and was greeted by white wisps emanating from the yellow pony and surrounding Rakz. They dug into the dark stallion, filling him with a satisfying pain. When it stopped, he gazed down upon the other pony, glad to see that his eyes were closed and that he was smiling as he died.
"How?" Bones asked with an expression of pure ignorance and confusion
Rakz turned to the creature with a sad smile, "Somepony in my dreams taught me." he said this as if it made it any more clear to the creature. Instead, the creature fell on their haunches and scratched at the top of their skull in confusion.
"Okay... I guess you aren't as sane as I originally thought you were."
He just shrugged at this though as he levitated Latch's body up and began to walk to a large dirt patch on the side of the road. A large flat rock sat in the dirt patch, it was the perfect tool for what he must do. The rock lifted up in a purple glow and soon began to bite into the dirt, scooping it up for the hole that Latch would sit in. It was not the best grave to Rakz's opinion but it was the best he could offer.
"So, after you're done with your little chore, what are our plans for later, boss?" Bones asked with that dry rasping that he had become so accustomed to.
Rakz turned to it with a set expression of vendetta on his face. "Now, we plan for the future," and with this, he shoveled the last of the dirt out of the pit he had been digging out and lowered Latch's body in slowly. "for the future holds our fate in its hooves."
(Author's Note: Again, thanks go out to Kkat for FoE and to Somber for his work that continues to inspire me. Even if I wish I could forget some of his story so that I wouldn't have to think of the horrors contained in it. A special thanks goes out to Flyingspud for allowing me use of Black Watch and to thehiddenbrony for the mention of Shadowsky. Remember to leave commentary so I can fix my story if I have problems or just smile at your praise. Mind any problems, I can't get them all by myself.)
