Here's chapter two, another short(ish) one.

Sub-Volume 5 - Demons Within

Chapter 2 - Look at Me (Lennon, 1970)

DECEMBER 5, 2015

At Canterlot University, classes had officially begun on September 21, with finals taking place between December 7 to 11 before classes resumed on January 4, 2016. For Vincent and his friends, the last few months had been quite uneventful, but now finals were about to take place.

"What do we have to do in finals?" asked Song Cue, nervous at the fact the finals were coming in quicker than she anticipated.

"It will be okay, Song Cue," said Sunset as calmly as she could. "It's very normal to be nervous at this time of year."

"We just need to go at our own pace, and we'll be fine," assured Rarity. "It gets easier and easier when you've done it a few years."

"I guess so," sighed Song Cue. "The school terms usually ended later than this."

"Maybe it's college terms that are different to high school?" asked Comet.

"I guess that explains it," said Fluttershy. "It will give us more time to prepare for the holidays."

"I can't wait for Christmas this year," said Orange. "Dad's found a new dessert that he wants us to make together."

"What's it called?" asked Comet.

"Apple and blueberry jelly treats." Orange Sherbet showed Comet the recipe on his phone.

"Oh, wow," said Comet. "That does look delicious. I may have to look that up and make it with my family too."

"I've invited Flash to celebrate Hanukkah with my family again this year," said Twilight.

"When does it begin?" asked Vincent.

"Tomorrow," Twilight replied.

"Man, that's early," said Song Cue. "I hope you have a fun filled eight days."

"I sure will," Twilight smiled. "Sounds like you're going to have a fun Christmas too."

"Fluttershy, Heartsong and I all love to take it in turns to sing various Christmas songs for our family when we get together," Song Cue grinned. "Comet is going to be spending time with us too."

"Ooh, first time spending Christmas with them, Comet?" asked Rarity.

"I've been spending Christmas with these guys since we met," Comet admitted.

"Oh, I see," said Rarity.

"Who else is planning to spend their holiday with another's family?" asked Orange.

"I know that Flash and I will be at home with our dad and Fictionary," said Vincent. "After he's spent Hanukkah with Twilight, of course."

"I'm going away for the holidays," smiled Sunset. "My family is really excited to go."

Vincent was surprised by that bit of news. "You are?" he asked. "Where? When?"

"During break, for about a week or so," Sunset explained.

"That sounds like fun, Sunset," said Twilight. "Hope you have a good time."

"But that means we may not see each other over Christmas," said Vincent, sounding disappointed.

"I'll make some time afterwards," Sunset comforted. "You have your other friends to keep you company."

"I suppose," sighed Vincent.

"Where will you and your family be going?" asked Song Cue.

"We'll be visiting the United Kingdom," Sunset grinned. "Mom says we may be seeing some heritage railways in the area."

"Can't I come with you?" asked Vincent hopefully.

"Sorry, Vincent," said Sunset. "We already planned the holiday well ahead of time."

"Oh..."

"We've got quite a bit of activity going on here," said Orange. "Making food, wrapping gifts, singing carols, you name it."

"Yeah, Sunset will be back before you know it," added Twilight.

"I'm sure there will be day trips for your family to look forward to, Vincent," said Rarity. "Maybe to the zoo or out to dinner."

"Might be a bit cold to head to the zoo, perhaps," Vincent pointed out.

"Oh yes..." Rarity said quietly. "I guess I must have been thinking about Australia's Christmas."

"It would be nice to go there for the holidays," said Comet to Song Cue. "I heard that it's one of many places on the planet where it's always summer during Christmas time."

"Oh, that would be amazing," said Song Cue. "I've always wanted to see some koalas and kangaroos in their homeland."

"They are just beautiful animals, aren't they?" gushed Fluttershy.

"They sure are," said Comet. "I remember seeing one of the new Wiggles songs about koalas: 'Koala-By'. It was Lachy's first song that he wrote as the purple Wiggle."

While everyone was excitedly chatting about potential ideas for the holidays and other random bits of trivia, Vincent was very unfocused.

"It's not going to be the same without Sunset..." he said to himself.

Sunset and Vincent decided to spend as much time together as they possibly could before the former went away on holiday. After hearing the lake had completely frozen over, they decided to go ice-skating.

"Do you think the ice is thick enough?" asked Vincent.

"I believe so," said Sunset. After doing her skates up, she went onto the ice.

"Glad to see you guys out here," said Rainbow Dash, who was with Soarin.

"Oh, hey Soarin, hey Rainbow Dash," greeted Vincent as he followed Sunset onto the ice. "How are you both doing?"

"Going good," said Soarin. "My mom's running out to get our Christmas tree, and dad is getting ideas on what to do for Christmas dinner at my house."

"Maybe he'll invite Dashie for the ride?" joked Vincent.

"Uh... well, I wouldn't be opposed to the idea of visiting Soarin for Christmas..." Rainbow said quietly. Vincent and Sunset chuckled at Rainbow's blushing.

"This will also be my first Christmas without aunt Firefly," Rainbow Dash sighed sadly afterwards. "She always made the best Christmas cookies."

"Oh, we're sorry to hear that," said Sunset. "I also lost uncle Clerk File in the riot too."

"Yikes..." said Soarin. "Sorry to hear, Sunset."

"But I'm sure they will be watching over us," said Rainbow Dash. "And they'll be with us in spirit."

"They sure will," agreed Vincent.

"And I will be there in spirit too," said Sunset to Vincent. "I'll be just in another country though."

"I know," said Vincent.

"Be sure to send postcards," said Soarin.

"You bet I will," smiled Sunset. "Who knows? Maybe I'll run into the real Stepney while I'm away."

"Oh yeah, I think you mentioned he was that terrier tank engine who visited Sodor," said Rainbow Dash.

"And somehow became a full time resident there," Vincent muttered.

"But Rusty rescuing him was so sweet," said Sunset. "They formed such a special connection."

"I suppose Percy being exposition for Douglas the whole time would have been boring," Vincent admitted.

"And it was rather cool seeing Rusty go off against those bigger diesels," Soarin added.

Meanwhile, far away from the bustle of activity from the frozen lake, Timber was watching all by himself.

"I don't blame them for staying away," Timber sighed. "Not after what I did..." The nineteen year old had only barely escaped arrest a few months back, but he still heard angry voices from passers by and people staying away from him.

"Why did Cinch have to exist..." he muttered, thinking back to that day...

AUGUST 20, 2015

The crowd had slowly disassembled as the now disgraced Abacus Cinch was taken away by the police. Timber Spruce was among the people who still remained as he witnessed her arrest. Despite the relief knowing that she wouldn't be a bother to anyone anymore, he was not happy. His sister Gloriosa Daisy had died a few days earlier after being stung by a scorpion, and her allergy had resulted in death by suffocation.

Before that, she'd broken out of hospital and robbed Mistmane Meadows of potted plants to help a forest regrow... or so she believed. Before that, she'd had her face scarred in the events of Bloody Sunday and in hospital, she'd seen her own reflection of her face and snapped. And long before all of that, she'd witnessed her parents' remains and had gotten sick upon the mere sight.

As far as Timber was concerned, Gloriosa had begun to lose her grip on reality when their parents died that fateful Christmas Eve, but it was Cinch's actions as mayor that had finished the job. Cinch had destroyed Gloriosa, both inside and out. The more he thought about it, the angrier Timber became.

He took notice of a pistol on the ground that had been dropped by someone; he knew how a gun worked despite not having been trained to use one, and inside, many emotions were screaming at him. Half were telling him not to kill Cinch, whilst the other half told him to do the deed. One bullet was all it took; one bullet right to Cinch's chest!

"You won't be hurting anyone else anymore!" was the last thing Abacus Cinch had heard before she world around her went dark, and her body went limp. Timber then dropped the pistol to the ground, thinking his sister's death had been avenged.

The police were shocked with what had happened, but Shining Armor was furious.

"What the hell have you just done?!" he shouted at Timber.

"I did the right thing!" snapped Timber. "That bitch deserved to die for what she did to everyone!"

"That was not a decision to be made by a citizen like you!" argued Shining Armor. "Just what is wrong with you?!"

"Nothing! Is there anything you could tell me as to what I should've done instead?" Shining Armor was so furious he couldn't come up with an answer. "I thought not!" snapped Timber.

"Jesus Christ..." groaned Shining Armor, face-palming.

"You should have let us handle her in custody!" came Lieutenant Night Light. "We strictly advised everyone not to kill Cinch, otherwise we'd be as bad as her."

"He's going to have to come with us down at the station then," sighed Shining Armor. "I don't want to head back there with an empty back seat."

Timber felt his heart pounding hard at those words and his legs felt numb and weak.

"You heard us," said Night Light. "Get in, now!" Before Timber could move a step forward, he had fallen to the ground and his vision went dark.

Timber first came to once more when he felt a light shining in his face. He groaned once he came to.

"W-what's happening?" he mumbled.

"You're at the interrogation room for the Rainbow Falls Police Department," said a voice. Shining Armor was right behind him. Timber was still feeling a bit groggy, but his vision soon cleared up.

"You passed out," muttered another police officer who was with Shining Armor. "But, as you're now awake, we can get to business."

Timber was about to say something else when he saw a familiar figure standing nearby. The figure had a sorrowful look on his face, and was about to cry.

"Uncle Burnt Oak..." Timber whispered quietly. He couldn't imagine how his uncle was feeling about the whole situation.

"W-why..." he said quietly. "How could you have done this..."

"If... if Cinch escaped from prison, she could have hurt someone else..." Timber whispered.

"I don't even know if you'll ever be lived down for this, Timber," sighed Burnt Oak.

"What else was I meant to do?" asked Timber.

"Think about your choice," Burnt Oak said, trying to remain calm.

"You're often at work, mom and dad died when I was teenager, my sister just died; how could I think with all that in my head?!" Timber growled. He was on verge of tears himself.

"Believe me, I know what it's like to lose someone close to me too," said Burnt Oak.

"At least you were able to talk to your friends about it," retorted Timber. "I was bullied in school so much and the friends I did make ended up drifting away!"

Burnt Oak looked shocked at his nephew's outburst. Had that really been going on the entire time he was in school? Timber didn't know what more to say. Instead, he rested his face against the palms of his hands, crying softly.

"Timber's mental health will only get worse if he's locked up..." said Burnt Oak softly.

Some days later, it was time for the trial. The atmosphere in the room was tense and silent, as it always seemed to be.

"We are here today to discuss what Timber Spruce had done to the false mayor, Abacus Cinch," said the judge. "While many view this as a heroic act, others believe it to be a violation of the law. We are going to be hearing both sides of the argument now."

The first member of the side against Timber got her book out. "No person should ever have the right to kill another," she said. "Was Cinch a pain? Yes, and laws were falsely changed. But she was still a person. And people should be treated humanely, no matter how awful they were."

"She also nearly had a student commit suicide," came a judge from the opposite group. "That woman was nothing but a bully who loved to make people miserable. Timber has done the world a favor to make sure Cinch won't ruin this place any further."

"He has broken the law with murder," argued another jury member on the against side.

"The Cinch family has the notorious reputation for blackmail and obstruction of justice," protested another member of the for side. "If it had not been for Abacus Cinch, the Bloody Sunday riots never would have happened, and those people never would have died."

There was a pause in the courtroom as some of the people pondered these words.

"If that were true," said a member for the against side, "then Cinch should have been arrested before she could have become mayor."

"She manipulated the system," argued a defense jury. "The same way she did so when she was principal of Canterlot High School."

The argument went on like this for what seemed like hours, and Timber felt his head spinning with sickness.

"When will this madness end?" he wondered to himself.

"I don't know, Timber," whispered his uncle. Before long, Burnt Oak was asked to take the stand. He nervously went up and faced the whole crowd.

"Mr. Oak," the attorney began, "tell us in your own words what drove Timber Spruce to shoot and kill Abacus Cinch."

"Ever since he was a teenager, his world began to turn upside down," Burnt Oak began. "During Christmas Eve, his parents, my sister and brother-in-law, they went to collect the Christmas tree to decorate from... my tree farm." He was trying not to cry when he came to his next bit. "And... both of them were crushed by a tree that blew over in the wind while it was in the middle of being cut down." The jury was quiet as Burnt Oak continued.

"My nephew and niece became very withdrawn from others. Gloriosa often throwing herself into studying or trying to care for Timber, but failing to connect emotionally. Timber was often bullied in school and any friends he did make drifted away. And I... I lived far away and had work, so I wasn't there most of the time. Gloriosa was Timber's last source of comfort and support. But because of Abacus Cinch, she was taken away from him."

A hushed silence fell over the courtroom once more as no one was quite sure what to say.

"Timber is not a bad guy," insisted Burnt Oak. "He just didn't think right because he was distraught over losing his sister."

"Well..." said one of the jury on the side for Timber, "so long as this never ever happens again." Before long, the jury had made a verdict. "We the jury find Timber Spruce... not guilty."

Some of those in the courthouse were in shock.

"But he killed someone!" cried one.

"This is an outrage!" cried another protester.

"He's guilty!" said a third. "He should be locked up like everyone else who's been a killer."

"Order!" commanded the judge. "Any more complaints, and the only ones going to prison will be you for harassment!"

Everyone who was not happy with Timber being let go went silent, but glared at him as the young adult left with his uncle.

"Just ignore them, Timber," Burnt Oak advised. "Those haters are always looking for something to complain about."

"I... guess," he sighed. If he felt lonely before, he felt like his whole world was empty now.

DECEMBER 5, 2015

Timber opened his eyes and realized how cold the weather was getting.

"Better go back home..." he sighed. "Since no one's gonna talk to me..."

FOOTNOTES

Like the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of The Rise and Fall of Abacus Cinch, Timber Spruce's parts draw heavily from The Stories of Sodor.

Song Cue's interest in Australia is reflected from her creator's own home.

Apple and blueberry jelly treats are an actual recipe that can be found on the Woolworths website.