Chapter 5: The Beauty of Death
"WAHAHA! HEEEEELP!" Rarity screamed in fear. As Rarity struggled to break loose, the humongous circular saw started to trail over to the restrained unicorn. It was nearly ten feet away from cutting Rarity into two. Looking at this setup, Jack sighed in annoyance as he saw yet another one of Fluttershy's friends.
"Uuugh… Christ…" Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash gasped in horror as the event started to unfold.
"Hold on Rarity! I'm coming!" Rainbow Dash yelled out as she dashed up towards the platform. Suddenly, she crashed on some sort of invisible barrier surrounding the bottomless pit area. She recoiled herself and gently rubbed her nose.
"Ow! What the hay?!" She quickly observed the invisible barrier and took a few knocks on the surface. It was strong tempered glass that felt like it was bulletproof. Realizing she's not getting anywhere, Rainbow Dash decided to dash up to the right ramp to rescue Rarity. Fluttershy went into action as she ran after the speedy pegasus. Jack mindlessly ran to the left ramp while keeping his eyes sight on Rarity. The spinning circular saw was drawing closer by one inch per second. Sparks were flying off to the side as the saw head met the gapping sides. Rarity continued to scream for help while struggling to get free. Jack was half up the ramp… when he suddenly heard another sound coming from his left. He slowed down and darted his eyes at the wall where the sound was coming from. On the wall had a lighter colored version of bricks and the depths on the edges were flat. Raising one eyebrow up, he inspected the wall. On the other side of the room, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash finally met up with Rarity. The huge circular saw was now halfway towards its goal. Rarity looked up at her friends while crying joyfully in a hastily way.
"Ho! Oh thank goodness you're here! P-Please! Help me!" Begged the terrified white unicorn. Rainbow Dash went to work as she bit the taut leather strap on Rarity's left arm and started pulling it. However, the strap was too tough and too thick to set loose. They were held firmly in place. Fluttershy tried to pull the right strap with her teeth, but proved to be useless. All of a sudden, Rarity darted her eyes at the incoming circular saw and gasped.
"WATCH OUT FLUTTERSHY!" She alarmed her. But at that moment, the sharp disc tore a big wound on Fluttershy's left flank. Fluttershy squealed in pain and leaped out of the way. Rainbow Dash released her grip on the strap and gasped from the sight of her wound.
"Oh my gosh! Fluttershy! Are you okay?!" Fluttershy clenched her teeth together to resist the pain. Medium amounts of blood oozed from her wound. The blood covered half of her cutie mark butterflies symbol. She quickly looked at her wound and back to Rainbow Dash.
"Nugh… yes. Don't worry… about me. We need to set Rarity free right away…" Rainbow Dash nodded and went back to work on the leather strap. Back on the other side of the room, Jack took a long look at the mysterious wall. The way it looked seemed so… unreal. He slowly reached over to it and placed his hand on the surface. And that's when it hit him; the wall was made out of paper. Immediately, he tore off a huge amount of the false wall. Behind the false wall, he let out a small gasp.
"Oh for fuck sakes…" Jack cursed at himself. He spotted another Rarity strapped down in leather bracers. She started to wither frantically while a cloth was gagging her mouth. Above her was a huge circular saw machine lowering itself down towards Rarity's stomach. She struggled to get free but she was glued down on sturdy planks. She eyed at Jack with tears of fright streaming down her cheeks.
"MMPFH! MMUMMPHUMMPHHHRRRMPHUHMUMM!" She screamed while gagging on a wrapped cloth. At that moment, Jack immediately grabbed his army knife from his knee boot. He then begun cutting away the leather strap on Rarity's left hoof. The sharp disc was one foot away from its target. A few seconds later, Jack managed to cut the leather strap off of Rarity's left hoof. With her hoof free, Rarity pulled off the gag cloth from her mouth and screamed.
"HURRY! GET ME OFF OF THIS THING!" At that moment, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash suddenly paused their work and darted their attention to the left side of the room. They now spotted another Rarity in the same situation. They were surprised to see another dilemma. Then, both pegasus gave puzzle looks down at the Rarity they're saving at the moment. The white unicorn darted her eyes back and forth at the clone and to her friends.
"I-It's not what you think! I'm the real Rarity! That one is an imposter! You gotta believe me!" She pleaded. But the other Rarity looked up and spotted her clone.
"Girls! Don't listen to her! I'm the real Rarity! I'm not the imposter! She is!" Rarity yelled out frantically. Both pegasus looked at each other confusingly. They both eyed at the one that was in front of them, and the one that's on the other side. They couldn't decide which one was the real Rarity as time is running out. Rainbow Dash placed her hooves on the sides of her head and started to panic.
"Oh horseapples! Which one is the real one?! Oh man, oh man! What are we gonna do, Fluttershy?!" She panicked. Fluttershy was about to go apes when she suddenly spotted an something unusual on the Rarity they're saving. She noticed that Rarity's eyes were barely transparent. She remembered the phony Rainbow Dash having transparent eyes too. And that's when it hit her. She now knows what was going on. From that moment, Rainbow Dash managed to let loose Rarity's right leg. She let out a small sigh of relief.
"Alright! One down, three to go!" Dash congratulated herself for a short moment. Rarity smiled gladly as one of her legs was free. Dash then proceeds over to the left hoof. She was about to put her teeth on the strap when a yellow forearm blocked her path. Dash looked up and saw Fluttershy looking disapprovingly at her. Dash was puzzled on her behavior.
Back down, Jack got the third leather strap cut loose. He quickly worked on Rarity's right hoof. About half way done cutting the strap, the circular saw started to cut the surface on Rarity's stomach area. Rarity suddenly jolted in pain and started screaming in pain. Jack, noticing the saw was now digging into her, rapidly picked up his pace. Finally, the last leather strap snapped off and he immediately pulled Rarity off the wooden plank. She fell flat on her face with a small grunt escaping her mouth.
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash looked at the freed Rarity and gazed back at the other Rarity who was still strapped down. The white unicorn darted her eyes at her clone and gasped. A sudden jolt seemed to impact Rarity, as her eyes were suddenly wider. Her pupils shrunk into tiny black dots with huge bloodshot scattered on both sclera.
"No… NO! FORGIVE ME MASTER!" The imposter Rarity exposed herself out. At that moment, the huge circular saw finally reached to her side and begun sawing her. The phony Rarity screamed in agony. But it wasn't long until her voice changed into a high pitched screeching noise. It was the same screech as before. Her body transformed into the same legless and disturbing monster. It withered in pain as the saw worked halfway through its body. Huge amount of blood and intestine parts sprayed into the air showering both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Both scooted back and avoided getting any more blood on their coats. After a few seconds later, the circular saw made it through the monster's body and the saw came to a complete stop. Blood dripped off the sharp edges of the disc blade. The monster let out its final gurgling breath before it died. Guts and ripped intestine parts presented itself between the halves of the body.
Suddenly, the trapdoor opened and the monster's remains went falling down into the dark abyss, where at the very bottom were three trapped undead hounds waiting for their next meal. The rest of the monster's blood and intestines fell out of the insides, as the hands were still shackled. When the undead hounds spotted their meal being splattered down to the ground, they rushed over and fought. Disturbing moist, gooey sounds and growling echoed inside the darkness hole. As the intense scene was over, Rainbow Dash couldn't believe the outcome of this whole thing. She had no idea that they were saving a phony Rarity all this time. Curious for answers, Dash looked at Fluttershy surprisingly.
"H-How… how did you know?" Asked the puzzled pegasus. Fluttershy eyed at her and gave a small grin.
"My… my heart told me. It never lied to me before… just like when I almost given up hope that all of you were… well… gone." Dash replied by displaying her friendly smile. But at the corner of her eye, she spotted Rarity getting back up. Both pegasus noticed her and ran over to meet their friend. Rarity curled herself up while sobbing in fear. She bawled and sobbed from the horrors she went through. With Jack's work completed for the moment, he walked back up the platform, passing the sprinting ponies. Both Dash and Fluttershy hugged and comfort Rarity. Dash softly stroked her mane gently.
"Shhh… it's okay. It's over…" Rarity leaned her head against Dash's chest and wept.
"Uuuhuhuhuuuu! *Gaaasp* It was just… simply dreadful… just simply horrifying! E-Even worse… my beautiful white coat is ruined! I-It will take WEEKS to get this stain off! Oh woe is mehehehe…" Cried the complaining unicorn. Dash rolled her eyes and laid her head on top of Rarity's head. Up on the northern part of the room, Jack found a large wooden desk. He went up to it and opened the upper drawer. Inside was a key fragment that had a diamond shaped ruby on top. Jack narrowed his eyes from looking at the treasure he found.
"The Key of Blood." He whispered to himself. Jack grabbed the key fragment and placed it inside his large satchel on the side. With the first key fragment now in his possession, he walked back down to join the pony group, cracking his tired fingers. Fluttershy saw Jack coming down, and couldn't resist making puppy eyes.
"W-Why… why would they do this to Rarity? Why did they set this up?" Fluttershy asked woefully. Jack eyed away for a moment.
"Well… death is like a game to them. They don't cherish their very existence in anyway. They meant to fool you into saving the imposter and strike you down the least you expect it. Those naïve idiots…"
He then eyed at the newest pony. Staring at Rarity, he couldn't help but pity her a bit. Rarity looked at Jack confusingly and solemnly. Never seeing a human before, she chose her words carefully and spoke.
"Umm… t-thank you… sir. I-"
"No big deal," Jack interrupted her impassively. "I'm just too agonized by saving fruity fruit ponies like you. *Sigh*… Well… from the look of this situation… it appears that you have no other choice but to tag along with… us." Jack couldn't help but blame himself for saying that. He rather do things all on his own. He even begun to regret saving Fluttershy's life. But putting that aside, he looked at Rarity's wound on her chest. It wasn't too deep but it could serve as a problem.
"And on top of that, I guess you need some medical assistance." He sighed. Rolling his eyes, he reached into his right pouch pack and pulled out his only roll of woven gauze bandage, a syringe, and two insulin vials containing antibiotics. Rarity saw the medical equipment in his hands and gave a courtesy grin.
"Oh… why thank you! That wasn't what I had in mind but it will simply do! Just look at my beautiful pure white coat, it's getting bloodstains aaaall over my fur! I mean, I just can't simply live with myself having such a monstrosity cut on me. And-" As Rarity continued to blather herself, Jack could only twitch his left eyelid.
You can't be serious… I have to deal… with this too? *Sigh*… just stay calm. You'll be out of their hairs soon… He spoke in his consciousness. Ignoring Rarity's endless gossip, Jack unrolled the bandage and aimed at her wound area. But just before the bandage could meet with the wound, Rarity suddenly gasped in horror.
"WAHAHA! Oh my stars! Fluttershy! Your flank! It's bleeding so badly!" Fluttershy blinked and looked at her wound from the rescue attempt. Blood trails went down to her hoof, while her leg shook a bit. She looked at Rarity again and smiled at her.
"It's alright… I-I'm fine… really… ouch…" She said while ticking in pain. In an instant, Rarity's mind was changed. She wouldn't let her other friends suffer for her greedy desires. She looked at Jack with a serious face.
"Please, if you would be so graceful, aid Fluttershy's wound first!" Jack raised his eyebrow while looking puzzled on this strange turn of events.
"But… this is my only roll. It won't be enough for the two of you. You even said that-" Rarity interrupted him with a hoof being presented in front of him.
"I know that, darling. Having beauty and exquisiteness is one thing… but character is another. I can't accept this when my friends need it more than I do. As being the Element of Generosity, no one will go unfair." Once again, the new word, 'Generosity' shot into his head like a bullet. His face went pale for a brief moment.
"Gener…osity…" He mumbled to himself. The new word seemed to penetrate some of his personality traits by little bit. He never knew or felt what generosity could feel like. Rarity was suspicious of his mumbling message as she went up closer.
"What was that, dear?" She asked. Jack snapped back into reality and gave a concern look to her.
"Are you sure… about this?" He asked courteously in a strange way. Rarity closed her eyes and nodded.
"Absolutely! I made up my mind and I'm sticking to it." She said proudly. Jack looked at Fluttershy and back to Rarity. He then slowly nodded his head.
"Alright…" He said softly and went to work on Fluttershy. While wrapping bandages around her flank, Jack couldn't help but think about the three words he heard and experienced. They were buzzing around in his head like bees. But aside from that, he continued to wrap the bandage around Fluttershy's flank. Soon, Jack finally managed to put enough bandage rolls onto her flank. The roll was almost empty as it had enough for two rolls around Rarity's chest. He then gave Fluttershy some antibiotics on her flank, knowing that the saw had bloodstains from the previous victim. Once that was done, he went over to Rarity and used the last bit of roll to cover her wound. After that he gave her antibiotics. When he was finished, he sighed in relief.
"There… now try to be more careful of where you tread on. This may be the only time I'll actually come to your aid. Now then… let's get out of this quarter and head to the next one." Jack said and stood back up. He placed his medical supplies back into his pouch.
"Let's go. And Fluttershy… if you would, tell Rarity about my three rules. I don't want to keep repeating myself everytime I come across another one of your friends." He spoke dully, then headed towards the exit. The three ponies followed behind him while they whispered to one another. As Jack approached the door, he placed his hand on the door handle and turned it. He opened the door, only to let a sudden gasp escaping his mouth.
"Ahh shit…" He cursed himself again. The three ponies gazed behind the doorway and looked aghast. The two cultists were standing right in front of the pathway grinning at them sinisterly. Behind the two were the three prisoners standing like puppets. The brown cub's ears and jaw were missing. The headless fawn had several black tendrils popping out of its throat. And the old man had blood and saliva rushing down his mouth like a fountain. Both the old man and the cub had blackened eyes with black blood running out of their eye sockets. The cultist on the left pointed his finger at Jack.
"He comes! The time is nigh, his blessing curse will soon befall upon you interlopers. Become him… serve your true purpose in life. Your existence that which has no meaning will be replenished by our lord's salvation! Join him… or suffer for all eternity in a never ending cycle of pure hatred and pain!"
Jack could glare only at his forehead, as he couldn't look directly into the cultist's eyes. The three ponies shivered in fear from the sight of their appearances. Jack slowly reached over to his handgun while keeping his eyes at the cultist's forehead.
"Oh yeah? Well tell your master that I have something to say to him directly. Tell him," At that moment, he suddenly whipped out his handgun and aimed at the cultist's head.
"That he'll be the one that will suffer MY endless cycle of pure hatred and pain when I come!" He yelled angrily before he pulled the trigger. The bullet went through the cultist's forehead; making his head explode like a firework. Inside the cultist's head was more black tendrils emerging from the throat. Jack placed his handgun away and pulled out both katanas from his back. He charged at the hostile gang at full speed, swinging his blades horizontal and vertically onto each target. The speed of his flurry attacks were incredibly fast that it almost looked like Jack had no arms. Slice by slice, Jack's speed and power increased, due to the bloodlust he was developing. Once Jack managed to work his way through the group, he stopped his attacks and stood still in his current position. Rainbow Dash dropped her jaw and watched in awe.
"Whoa…" She gawked. The cultists and the three prisoners soon slid into pieces. Dash chuckled and spoke in a voice bordering on envy.
"Well… that was very impressive. But… I could've done bett-" Dash was cut off by Jack glaring right back at her.
"What are you three still standing there?! These freaks can't be killed remember?! MOVE!" He yelled. Like magic, the sliced pieces of each hostile slowly reconstructed themselves. Knowing that this was their cue to run, all three ponies rushed past the hostiles. In a mere couple of seconds, the cultist's head soon reformed itself. Once his head was fully regenerated, he twisted his head towards the opposite direction slowly. It made sickening cracks while he kept his eyeless sights on the escaping intruders.
"Life is but an illusion. Only in this darkness… there can be no escaping. He's coming…"
He said in a voice that sounded like a dark whisper and yet overwhelmed the ponies with its volume. The gang ran as fast as they could, daring to not look back. Sprinting across the catwalk, Jack prepared himself to bash the door down. As he made contact with the door, he bashed his body against it. The door swiftly swung open from his bash attack. Ignoring the recoil damage he took, he continued to sprint. Following behind Jack, the three ponies galloped with no intentions of catching their breaths. Their heart raced, never in their lives they were in an overwhelming dilemma. Fluttershy couldn't help but look behind her.
There, she noticed that the hostile enemies were hot on their running animation looked grotesque and disturbingly unsettling. As they ran, they made wheezing sounds that made the ponies' blood run cold. The old man suddenly grabbed his own arm and tore it clean off. The inside of the ripped arm revealed a huge black tendril. Fluttershy gasped in shock from the horrific act, making her pick pace up. Soon, Jack made it down the end of the catwalk, grabbed the door handle and immediately twists it. He swiftly opens the door and awaited the three ponies to arrive.
When Rarity and Dash made it through, Fluttershy kicked it into high gear, as she was ten feet behind them. When she was almost to the doorway, she leaped forward. At that moment, the old man threw his arm tendril directly at Fluttershy. The tip of the tendril barely made a cut mark on her right shoulder. When Fluttershy made it through the doorway, Jack immediately slammed the door shut. He held the door with his back leaning against it while panting for breath. All the ponies collapsed on the ground while they were out of breath. Strangely, there was no resistance behind the door. It was dead quiet… too quiet. But Jack knew that it wasn't important right now, as he was busy trying to catch his breath. For the time being, everyone sighed in relief and rested for a bit before moving on.
"Uuuugh! I can't take it anymore! I can't just wait here doing nothing while Rainbow Dash could be in trouble!" Scootaloo exclaimed. The three crusaders were sitting in a circle bored and impatiently. Spike walked up to Scootaloo and sighed.
"I know how you feel, but there's nothing we can do about it. We don't even know where they went." Spike stated the obvious. But just then, a light bulb lit up on top of Apple Bloom's head. She made a wide grin.
"That's it! The Cutie Mark Crusaders Rescuers!" She happily announced. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle shot their heads up and smiled.
"Yeah! Why didn't I think of that?" Sweetie Belle exclaimed in happiness, but to only last for a second. "Only… we don't know where they are." But in an instant, Scootaloo bloomed her face.
"I know! I bet they're trapped inside the Everfree Forest! That's the only explanation!" The other two fillies instantly smiled in excitement. With no time to waste, Apple Bloom started to trot out the door.
"C'me on, crusaders! Let's get rescuing!" She called them. Suddenly, her path was blocked off by Spike. His arms were blocking the doorway.
"Whoa whoa whoa! That forest is way too dangerous! You could get hurt or worse!" Spike once again stated the obvious. The three fillies' spirit of adventure suddenly faded. All three gloomed down on the floor depressed from Spike blocking their path. However; Sweetie Belle's thirst for adventure returned, as she had an idea. Hiding her grin, she gasped and pointed her hoof behind Spike.
"Look! It's my sister! She's back!" Acted Sweetie Belle. At that moment, Spike spun around in excitement to see his love returning.
"Rarity?! Where?!" He anxiously said. Right behind Spike, Sweetie Belle lifted her hoof up and whacked his noggin hard, knocking him out cold. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo felt no remorse from what Sweetie Belle has done. As their hunger for adventure begun, the trio went out the door. The three friends went trotting away out in the cold night towards the Everfree Forest.
