Previously: Twilight managed to convince Zecora that Soul Hook was of no danger to them, but on their way back to Ponyville, they met some strange ponies Soul Hook seemed to be acquainted with. In the meantime, Rainbow Dash and Winter Breeze joined forces to find out who the mysterious mare Dots was. They are shocked when it's proven she didn't exist. They also received information from the royal guards that the infamous 'Stud' had been seen in Ponyville. Winter Breeze puts two and two together and later confronts Dots in public, claiming she is 'Stud'. At that moment, Dots takes off the cloth hiding her body, revealing she is in fact the heir to the walking nightmare who lived two hundred years ago...
Farewell, mother
The dark turquoise unicorn halted just like his female company did. They were halfway back to the town hall square of Ponyville, but they both agreed it was time to stop for a just a second and look at each other. Indifferent expressions decorated their muzzles. That strangling feeling around their necks, digging deep into their inner sanctums of mentality, bringing out the worst of what they both could imagine. It had to be the one and only pony they knew who could do that from such a distance.
"Looks like playtime's over" the male with the black irises said, answered by a nod from the dark gold mare. They hasted, either using hooves or wings to move faster towards their destination, following the aura of darkness...
Beneath the thick clouds of gray in the sky, the two females felt a freezing grasp filling the air like a huge dome of terror. They looked into each corner of their eyes. All the guards they had brought as back-up for this confrontation were all on the ground, stricken to their sides like a sudden disease plagued them. They could barely breathe, even less stand on their hooves due to the heavy air of despair. They all had different visions clouding their eyes, everything between a nightmarish memory to an illusion of what they feared the most had them locked in a state of complete defenselessness.
Rainbow Dash could hear her heart beating like the loudest drum. The worrying rhythm instilled the same horror she never would forget. The healing words in her mind, the ones promising that her friends always would be there to help and protect her, faded behind a wall of her worst fears. The horror films she had seen in her life time was nothing, actually a bit embarrassing in comparison.
"What... wh-what did you do?!" Winter Breeze exclaimed, managing to break past her obstructing fear to put her words in the scarlet mare's head. She couldn't focus even though she knew the tricks to stay calm and clear-headed. This suffocating darkness had brought her limits to the test, yearning to break past and bend her to her knees. She turned back her eyes to the tall mare, instantly cringing in disgust when seeing the hidden truth now wide-open for anypony to see.
When not hidden behind the black mane, the strains of blood nearly covering the circled eye were a prelude to what else had to be seen. A light shade of gray dimmed the right eye, showing signs of blindness and age. The thick veins leading towards the eye from the entire right part of her muzzle resembled serious acid burns combined with dehydration. Winter Breeze couldn't maintain the eye-contact for more than a few seconds before she simply had to look away. Instead she looked at Stud's side, asking herself if the two letters on her flank were ancient numbers.
Stud inhaled deeply through her snout, closing her eyes in a satisfied manner. She opened the disfigured eye first, glitching like it didn't fully obey her.
"This pure air..." she began. The innocence decorated with a bright tone was gone, replaced by a harsher version of what female vocal cords could produce, somewhere between Nightmare Moon's majestic tone and Queen Chrysalis' wretched echoing. "... it flows like the water. Water meant for the fragile ponies inhaling it. What say that you cannot be compared to the bittersweet flowers of an early spring?".
Rainbow Dash would usually have raised an eyebrow. Sentences making incoherent poetry of that early caliber was not something she had spent her life understanding. But the terror inflicting her mind was way too powerful to be so easily vanquished. Instead she could only stand still and beg for her life that nothing would happen. In that same moment Dash laid her wish, the tall mare turned her eyes to her. The heaviest heart beat so far vibrated through her entire body.
"A dash of rainbow and the breeze in the winter... the pleasure is all mine" she furthered in the background of her right eye's pupil shrinking into nearly nothing.
Rainbow and Breeze looked straight into it, attracted by a force they couldn't understand. Once their eyes met the insignificant dot, they could no longer feel any connection to their hearts. In the next second they both fell to their knees like the air literally got too heavy on them. Their lungs drained themselves on air, making the faint dizziness grow into a full-scale headache for yet another second. Rainbow could only see the distance between herself and the scarlet pony expand into miles or shorten into millimeters. Breeze saw the flashing images of the same mare, only difference was that she multiplied into hundreds before returning into a single being over and over again.
"Relax... just... let go" the voice whispered in their ears. It was the same voice again, echoing like the inside of their skulls were filled with thin air, blackening their mentalities into the dying remains of screams that once escaped their mouths as infants. The same voice was there. "Just... let go".
"It hurts my soul to be aware of what I have missed" Stud said from behind them.
Dash turned her head in a flash, shocked over the the fact that she had missed the mare's short walk. The darkening images had made her temporarily blind without her noticing it. She looked straight into the back of Stud's head, doing her best to look as fearsome as possible. Gritting teeth was however her only weapon...
Sud gazed on the houses, switching between the ground and the air like a curious foal. She observed everything around her, looking casually at the ponies she just had downed without explanation. Rainbow understood less for each passing second, now merely maintaining her crumbling pose.
Breeze didn't want to look back. She already understood it was no idea to out-stare this pony. She had looked into many minds during her years, experimented and challenged herself into reading her patients in record time. She could judge how long it approximately would take for a pony under her care to receive a full mental recovery. Once upon a time there had been a stallion who turned himself in for arson. It took her nearly two years to get him to at least drop the matches from his hooves, and another four years to convince him fire wasn't a way to get rid of mares you've raped nor their foals. After that, Breeze was convinced she had seen the worst of the worst.
Today that changed. Even Stud's healthy eye spoke of a well without a bottom, a well filled to the brim with nothing but darkness, malevolence, hatred and so much rage you'd think a frenzied bull with spears impaling its back and red in its eyes was calm as a sleeping foal. This truly was the perfect example of a mind beyond repair.
"This little quiet town overflows with life-bringing harmony. It dwells in clouds of happiness and satisfaction. Petty greed is redundant here in Ponyville. Everypony has what they need... there are barely any dark thoughts hiding. The light of evil is so... dying" she said and laid down on her stomach, keeping her head high so her mane wouldn't get too dirty during her moment of sightseeing.
Breeze didn't understand. Stud must have been in this town for at least a day, yet she behaved like she suddenly had arrived less than a minute ago. It frustrated her, seeing Stud laying down and taking it slow in a comfortable pace. But of course, when she reminded herself that she was surrounded by defeated guards, Stud obviously didn't have much to worry about. Minding her own instability and unnerved state helped explain more about it. She convinced herself she had to say something. She needed answers, more reasons for why this was a bad idea. A quick glance at Dash confirmed that she was pretty much alone with this initiative.
"Why... what are you doing here... Stud?" she finally asked, glad that she wasn't paralyzed by fear yet.
The laying mare nudged her head a bit, lifting an ear in the same direction where the voice came from. She got up on her legs again, taking her time to step one hoof in front of the other on her way to the shrink. Breeze held back the gulp, the monstrous aura grew thicker the closer it got to her, gently caressing her vital flaws until nothing but a few inches remained between her body and Stud's. The hideous eye felt like a piercing beam of revelations, a spike of pain nailed into her soul, threatening to kill her if she so blinked. The scarlet female remained indifferent in her expression, apparently unimpressed by what she saw.
"You ask 'why' even though you know the reason? You don't serve the purpose of the one who digs for secrets in the minds of ponies... my little breeze, you blow in the wrong direction of the wind. My purpose for being here...".
She suddenly paused. The soldiers were back up again, shaking their heads to get rid of whatever had haunted them the past minutes. None of them felt wise about it, nor motivated to quit and stand back. Stud turned her head, cracking a smile without showing her teeth,
"... is for you to witness what I'm about to do".
With those words, Stud's right eye formed thin circles behind the gray dim. The first guard to stand up with a spear in his hoof raised his head, accidentally looking straight into the malevolent circle. He froze on the spot, failing to move a muscle as the contact grasped his attention away in a pumping rush going through his brain. His eyes widened as the illusion of total darkness covered his field of vision. The heartbeats grew louder as the adrenalin rushed, his imagination gained its own personality and spread an unstoppable image into his system. His pupils shrank slowly, soon leaving behind what soon was his new existence. The giant mouth filled with sharp teeth came at him...
It was at that moment Dash noticed the guard who fell lifelessly to the ground. His closest comrades turned their heads in surprise, wondering what had gotten into him again. The blue filly raised her eyebrows in complete shock when one of the guards searched for his friend's pulse... and then shook his head.
Breeze grit her teeth in horror. The one and only thing she feared more than Stud's very existence, was the mythic ability he was rumored to have: kill a pony by merely looking at it.
Stud gave away a satisfied expression, snickering wildly until it fell out as a maniacal laughter. She threw her head back, lungs convulsing with air as she let the aura of her sadism break free. The pupil grew so small it nearly disappeared from the white of the eye. It went bloodshot in a second before the single thought in Stud's mind became reality.
A shredding pulse of sheer bloodlust exploded from her, infiltrated every single pony in the square aside from the two pegasi she didn't want to harm. The guards, however, were new victims of the murderous thoughts penetrating their minds. One after another saw the same pony-hell they all could imagine, sending them into an eternal nightmare before descending into a realm of pitch-black nothingness. The only thing they heard now was that menacing laughter shrieking from the monstrous jaw they all saw.
And like that... their bodies fell to the dirty ground, rustling their armors and weapons as helms rolled off from their lifeless heads. Their eyes were empty without that sparkle of life everypony was told to have in them. Breeze followed the last guard with her eyes as he fell, slowly getting a painful cringe in her heart when she understood he and the rest had no future anymore aside from getting a united gravestone with their names on it.
"You... you monster" she muttered, shutting her eyes too late to prevent the tear falling down her cheek.
The maniacal laughter died out, finally giving Dash the time to think of something, anything, whatever the hay she could figure out of this situation. It was impossible to get something out of this mare. Everything she did was talking in strange ways, surely just to confuse everypony. Those were the strongest thoughts in Dash's head, the only things that still kept her going, and now was the time to intercept.
"There's no need to ask, young flier of Equestria" Stud said the second before Dash had opened her mouth. She caught herself off guard and rolled over her tongue, not hanging onto the tempo in which the earth pony behaved. She could now only stand like her friend just did and watch as Stud's shadow jumped her. Seeing the darkened shade of blood red standing so close to her sent many signals about escape that she actually wanted to do that. But alas... something inside her brain demanded her to stay put. Something she thought had to be her sense of loyalty to her friends.
"The game is about to begin, the participants can soon leave their positions to join. But before our time ends here..." she paused and leaned forward. Dash locked her sight on the defiled eye, following it in a hypnotizing stare. "... I will happily explain whatever your mortal hearts might want to ask".
Her right eye hadn't blinked a single time since she revealed it, that was an observation Rainbow had made under the pressurizing moments of hesitation. She already had a whole hoard of questions, for example what the hay was wrong with that eye, why she had problems breathing, what she was going to do with her, why she couldn't just go home, will anypony remember me, all the other questions you ask yourself when the presence of death hangs above you...
"Who are you, actually?" Winter Breeze suddenly asked, using her most stern and blunt tone in order to keep at least some of her sanity in place. Stud turned her her head to the beige pegasus, chuckling with a closed mouth while taking her time getting over to her. Without Dash's knowing, Breeze had actually asked the best question to get the most important answer. This would most likely explain her true name, explain her cutie-mark, talent, some of her background and other pieces of vital information. Perhaps this wasn't over just yet for them. Perhaps there was something she could exploit.
"Such a bold question, Winter Breeze. You approach me with the intention to find weaknesses? Oh my...".
The shrink gulped as she closed her eyes. That moment screamed of imminent death, especially since she now was convinced this had to be the pony she once promised to capture. It was easy being brave and cocky when supported by guards, that's what she always had been when confronting criminals. Now when all of her support was gone, she didn't know what to do but gather as much information as possible. While she was trapped in her thoughts, the tall mare had walked past her like she didn't exist.
"But... as your naive wishes wants..." she began and slowly turned around, unveiling a sharp smile on her scarlet lips. Both Dash and Breeze were in her vision now. "... I shall give you the tale your sensitive ears wants to hear. But let us give the willing audience some time to find their places around us first".
Winter Breeze raised and eyebrow. When she then glanced at Rainbow Dash, she found her friend looking around. The most unfitting fact was occurring now, and with little to no doubt the most insecure one.
From the shadows they came. Dirty hooves meeting the ground as they stepped out from their hidings. Several muzzles of different kinds came out, all decorated with foul scars and bruises if not twitching eyes or sadistic grins. Most of them carried the clear signatures of buffed bodies and muscular legs. The hunger was the same in all of their eyes, a constant hunt for what they wanted. They would without hesitation take it with violence if they had to. In fact, some of them didn't even know any other way than the forced one.
Breeze widened her eyes as they all approached. Several of those she already saw were wanted criminals with high bounties on them, either condemned serial killers, rapists, or both. Stud waited for them all to appear, happily letting them take their time showing their faces before standing put in the square.
It was at that moment Breeze realized that these ponies were hundreds. They gathered up in a thick mass around them all, staying silent in the large crowd as they got closer. But they all knew what to do, thus didn't take a single hoof step further when reaching the dead guards laying in a circle. They were now a thick wall of murderous intentions, waiting for the signal to do as they please.
Stud saw the terrified look in Breeze's eyes as her cue to finally explain herself.
"As much as you both already have removed my cowl of secrets, I'd beg for your blessing to introduce myself" she began and bowed her head in a polite manner. "My name is Stud IV. Heir to the legacy of Stud. Leader of the underground group that was created two hundred years ago and prime suspect to any serious crime committed in the city of Fillydelphia". Stud caressed her seared flank, explaining the letters were in fact numbers marking her as the fourth in her ancestor's bloodline, just like Breeze suspected.
Didn't take much to understand that, Dash thought. Her mouth wanted to be equally bold, but such a move was currently taboo for her in all ways imaginable. The better thought was just to shut up and listen to this nutcase of immeasurable proportions.
Stud sat back on her haunches, enjoying the view of stallions around herlike it was the morning sun warming her body.
"And these... are my followers. Descended through generations and recruits who have dedicated their lives to Stud's will" she said with a foreleg extended towards the mean-looking ponies. They smiled wickedly in response to prove their allegiance at this moment. Lust and hunger radiated from them, somehow even a stain of pride followed it. They were indeed all glad to be here today.
"It is my duty to lead this herd as well as nurturing it, strengthen it, govern it and vanquish its enemies. Just like the previous Stud and the one before that, I've carried on the legacy without failure in order to let the future generation take over when the time comes".
Winter Breeze was about to open her mouth again, furthering the questions. Sadly enough, she had already been stricken by another pulse of fright. Stud had her eye on her again.
"As for why I am here... two reasons. I suppose you both know what I mean...".
Yes they did. The same colt came up in their mind at the precise same moment. If something was obvious, it was the pure fact that even before the charade fell, she was obsessed with finding Soul Hook. The words about 'searching for over ten years' couldn't have been lies. Maybe it would have been better if they just had left her alone, Dash started to think. Breeze wasn't nearly on the same train of thoughts, even though she was on the same level of being scared.
"Soul Hook is vital for Stud's legacy to live on. I have spent two years looking for him, added to the eight of years I've already donated to this cause, now I've finally found him in this town of solitude. And I do not intend to let anypony stand in my way" she explained while getting up on her hooves again.
Dash took a gander at the massive crowd again, trying to count the number of ponies surrounding them. It was painful how hopeless the situation seemed. Not only was she convinced a thick tendril of suffocation threatened her life, the presence of these strange ponies made it all ten times worse. Did they stare at her? Yes, they stared at her. Hundreds of eyes watching her every move, waiting for her to make the wrong one so they could jump her. Sure, flying seemed to be the only solution. Too bad she already had counted over twenty pegasi among the earth ponies and unicorns she saw. They'd surround her in no time if nothing else would happen.
"My second reason for being here... it goes with my first reason. Since Soul Hook already has been introduced to this town and is probably known by several ponies... I really have no choice".
Breeze narrowed her eyes in response as Dash widened hers. In that moment of revelation, the smile on Stud's lips sharpened, opened up to reveal the rows of teeth in a continuously growing grin of wickedness. A sensible illusion of the ground turning into a giant pool of darkness took shape in the heads of the pegasi. A strong suction like vacuum pulled their attention to the dark little spot in Stud's right eye. Even though the wind was still enough to leave the gray clouds untouched, it felt like a gust blew through their wings. They never stopped staring, and in the end they beheld the slowly expanding seed of trauma.
Stud's smile widened as her eyes did. The shiny teeth flashed in the same instant a ravaging beast devoured the innocent ponies. Blood splattered in all direction as Dash felt her limbs weaken. The muscles died withing Breeze's chest, slowly decaying into a sack of flesh and blood bursting from her throat. Darkness swept their hooves as a rain of blood covered them in seconds. The giant silhouette of a head with eyes big as themselves and a grin filled with razor sharp teeth appeared from the inside of their eyelids, shot towards them in a screech of agony and pain and sank its teeth into their flesh.
Dash yelled in fear and fell down on her stomach, shaking in her newfound frightened state like a foal with her hooves covering her muzzle. Yes, she felt indeed pathetic. The fear for her life was overwhelming, merciless and so unbearable she didn't know where to go.
Winter Breeze blinked, then the images were gone. Everything she could have sworn happened in real life... was suddenly gone. Stud's smile was no different than before, calm and self-confident, not lacking anything in defensive ways. Breeze was just proven that it served even better as an offense too. Her heart was beating harder than before, causing tremors in her skin. She had always imagined it would beat faster, but there was no way she'd feel anything else than those prolonged, echoing beats.
Soon she realized that her beats were actually getting slower. Her throat felt thick and stuffed, her legs weakening by the second. Like a parasite drained all her energy, she was soon down on her knees.
The audience snickered and mumbled, showing pleasure in this. Dash glanced from her hooves and saw what was happening. She could see Breeze losing her cool. A hoof reached for her neck, a sign she was having difficulties breathing. She turned her frightened eyes to the smiling Stud.
"I've seen with both eyes the truth you're hiding, Winter Breeze. You can deny it forever and ever after, but truth always hunts you down like a weak prey when it can't be contained behind the worthless lies".
The scarlet mare walked up to Breeze, leaning her head down gently so she could look into the ice-blue eyes. Her own scarlet circle shone bright in the reflection in difference from the other one. She caressed the soft chin of the pegasus mare, shooting her a smile as she leaned in even closer.
"Wrong. That is what you hide behind these pretty little eyes. It is of little matter that you know who I am" she said before the distance between their snouts was reduced to half an inch. "But your feelings for my future foal's father... is not acceptable. You have committed too many crimes, Winter Breeze. Your mere existence has grown from a virgin's joke into a tremendous act of selfish heisting...".
The hideous eye focused on the beige shrink, taking a silent aim into the pits of what she feared. Memories became clear as sunlight to the darkened mind. Evidence came up in form of a mute story without a happy ending. The innermost images of a traumatized foalhood, the deflowering of what one day would become a strong mare who wanted to help others find peace with their memories. Memories she thought she had buried in an unmarked grave.
"Memories never dies, Winter Breeze" Stud uttered as her dimmed pupil shrank into nothing again. At that moment, Breeze widened her eyes as the world around her changed. Everypony in the background blurred into a scape of dim. The pony before her caressing her chin wasn't the same anymore. Instead of a fearsome mare, an even more horrifying stallion glared at her. The pegasus male with that disgusting hunger in his eyes. A stallion she once loved as her...
"D-dad...?".
"Yes, my little princess. You alright?" he asked, sounding exactly like Breeze remembered him.
"No... no. You're dead... I... I s-saw when you died! You fe-".
"Fell off the balcony, drunk enough to forget how to unfold my wings, yes...".
"Then how... no! No! You're dead!".
"Daddy doesn't leave his princess behind. Who else is going to... bathe her?".
Breeze felt the skip of beat in her heart. Her teeth grit dangerously hard for a second before she looked at her own hooves, discovering they were hooves of a foal. She was young again, a little filly who couldn't fly yet. And that vile stallion licked his lips, followed by the old grip he always had around her right foreleg. Breeze cried, screamed and struggled. Her will didn't reach out far enough before she was back in the tub filled with hot water, massaged and caressed by her father. His hooves moving innocently around her shoulders so she'd loosen up. But soon they would move in between her hindlegs, around onto her behind, spreading her thighs, embracing her around the waist just the second before his disgusting cock teased her labia and...
Stud let go of Breeze's chin and violently struck her to the ground with the vacant hoof. Tears and blood flew from her muzzle as she hit the ground, paralyzed by fear and wounded by the light headache.
"Breeze!" Rainbow Dash shouted as her bravery came back in a rush. She got up on her legs and prepared to charge at the tall mare, only to get a strong buck right into her side. She yelped in pain and slammed the hard surface.
"Shut up, you little stereotype of a fillyfooler" a stallion said while stomping a hoof over her back. Dash was instantly informed through the physical touch that he was much stronger than her, thus not likely to even break a sweat if forced adding violence to assault. "Just lay still and watch the bucking game. I'll break your neck soon enough" the male ensured with a harsh tone.
Stud turned away from the immobilized mare, landing her sight on the two ponies she had been expecting. The evil smile fell down into an expression of indifference. "Black Eye... Moist. You let me wait for you two" she said annoyingly.
The turquoise unicorn with the pitch-black eyes hung his head in shame for a second. "I'm sorry, Stud. We passed by some foals on the way here and..." he nearly finished until his dark golden friend continued with a begging look in her eyes. "They were just so pretty! I couldn't help myself...".
"Don't worry... I understand you, Moist" the scarlet mare said while looking down at the blue pegasus beneath Black-Eye's hoof.
"Who are you?!" Dash yelled, exclaiming anger through her tone. Stud chuckled and got closer to the two ponies standing next to each other.
"Leaders can't be thanked for all their deeds. Even the greatest ones, such as your own princesses of the sun and the moon, they need lieutenants who serves as your right and left fore hoof" she explained and gave the ponies she talked about a pleased smile. They answered by bowing their heads in submission. She stroke the dark gold pegasus mare's mane, rolling her hoof through the small curls. "They do what I say... and in exchange they are privileged to serve as my voice and decisions when I can't be there".
"I don't care who the buck they are, just let go of m-AAAH!" Dash cried in pain due to the hoof mauling her spine. "Talk like that again, bitch, and will impale your cheeks with my horn so I can pull a barbed wire through your mouth!" Black-Eye said angrily, resisting the urge to do what he just said right here and now.
"Tread lightly, Black-Eye..." Stud said as she turned away. "I want her alive for a little bit longer" she then finished, answered by a disciplined nod from the unicorn. "Now... where were we?".
She walked back the few steps towards Breeze, admiringly beholding her work so far. The once self-confident mare had been reduced to the little shaking pony she now was. In hear head she was still in the tub, crying and begging her father to stop. It burned in her nether, burned so much she couldn't stop screaming. In reality she just laid on the ground with wide-open eyes, drooling, tears pouring from her eyes as she twitched her legs every now and then.
The shadow fell over her defenseless body, laid on the executioner's block for the merciless mare to use in any way she desired. The crowd grew restless, panting hot air as excitement rose from their expectations. They knew what was going to happen now, thus cheering for their leader.
"And now, Rainbow Dash..." Stud said with a glance over her shoulder. "... watch in defeat, as I show mercy to your friend". She kept her eyes on the blue filly, making sure she was looking from the pathetic pose. She then placed her right fore hoof over Breeze's neck.
"Watch... as she finally can let go of Soul Hook..." her disgusting voice echoed as she grinned like the maniacal rings in her deformed eyes proved she could.
The hoof raised into the air, arching for the preparation to strike down with full force over the exposed neck.
Dash screamed.
The crowd screamed.
Stud relished in the horror.
And the hoof fell from its altitude.
"I would never take Soul Hook away from you...".
In the split of a second, a strong illumination broke from a distance and sent a beam of volatile magic into the back of Stud's head. The crowd fell into a deaf silence as they watched their leader fly away a couple of hooves before hitting the ground, rolling over a few times and ending up on her side with smoke rising from her burned mane.
Winter Breeze saw the end of the dark tunnel, suddenly snapping out of her nightmare within the blink of an eye. She got up on her stomach, flinging her head in every direction to escape her thoughts. The memories returned to the locked areas of her brain, going back to their eternal sleep. "Wh-what happened?" she asked.
Black-Eye and Moist watched with hanging jaws at Stud who laid lifeless on the ground. They soon turned their heads toward where the beam came from. All the ponies in the crowd did the same, joined by Rainbow Dash who was convinced she'd see Breeze die a second ago.
As she beheld the sight of her friend's savior, she didn't know what to say nor do aside from yelling a name as loud as she could, tears rolling from her eyes.
"TWILIGHT!".
Out from a slowly opening hole in the crowd, the purple unicorn filly walked in. A light trail of smoke raised from the tip of her horn, acting as evidence for the crowd so they could see the obvious. Behind her there was another pony, the one who was the main reason for why the bruisers stepped aside. He and Twilight walked past without worries and stood in front of the main scene.
"SOUL HOOK!" Dash cried again, still unable to move.
Breeze instantly tossed her head towards the pony she trusted her friend saw. And there he was, the tall colt with his indifferent expression wherever he looked. The other stallions around him gave different looks, not making it clear if they were glad or disappointed to see him. One thing was for sure, though: they didn't plan on interfering his progress. While the the newly arrived ponies came closer to the downed mare, Twilight glanced over her shoulder. Behind her she saw even more ponies approaching, or to be more precise, ponies she knew way too well.
Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy had arrived too, followed by many other ponies who had insisted on coming with them. Those were Big Macintosh, Ditzy Doo, Berry Punch and Cheerilee. Without any of their knowledge, the three cutie-mark crusaders had followed them in all secrecy, staying behind far enough to not get seen and then nestled themselves among the large crowd of stallions. Everypony gathered in a group behind Twilight and Soul Hook, showing their great concern though serious frowns at the scarlet mare laying on her side.
"Twilight, help me ou-AUGH!" Rainbow once again cried out without any chance to finish her sentence. The turquoise hoof stomped her back one last time before leaving her be. Twilight grit her teeth, charging up another salvo of magic in her horn.
"Watch her for me while I kill this bitch..." Black-Eye said bluntly as he walked away, leaving Dash alone with the dark golden pegasus who happily tossed herself over her. Squeezed down with her hooves behind her back, Dash was forced to see the unicorn male walk towards her marefriend.
The crowd of stallions gulped, knowing the look in their lieutenant's eyes was not of any good. Tensed veins on his forehead expressed his anger over seeing his leader fall down. He only had one thing in mind which involved seeing the purple head of this unicorn getting rip off.
Twilight lowered her horn at the approaching unicorn. "Stay back, or I will take you down!" she called, readying herself to fire. The male didn't listen, instead he kept walking casually, taking his time getting closer. He gave Twilight no choice but to use violence again. Thus, she charged her volatile magic and shot a purple beam straight towards his muzzle.
Like a slow projectile moving through butter, Black-Eye simply tilted his head to the side, letting the beam pass by and hit the stallions far behind him instead. The beam combusted into an explosion of magic and knocked three ponies to the ground in a pillar of smoke rising from them. The other nearby ponies yelled and fell back in surprise.
Twilight fired again, and again, and again, continuously missing the stallion due to his extreme reflexes and accidentally hitting more of the ponies in the crowd fleeing in panic. Wherever she aimed it was like he already knew where to dodge. She didn't know what to do, glancing at her friends in order to get some help. Applejack stepped up in front of Twilight, pouting her chest to show her unflinching courage when defending the love of her life. She had a second to look into the pitch-black irises of the stallion...
Then she was lying on the ground, bleeding from her snout after the hard punch she couldn't block. Apple Bloom covered her mouth in horror while Big Macintosh widened his eyes and instantly charged towards the unicorn he suddenly couldn't forgive anymore. Black-Eye raised an eyebrow and stood up on his hindlegs, inviting the large thing to face him. Big Mac jumped up and pressed his strong forelegs into the shoulders of the hostile unicorn. His usually calm eyes spoke of rage, a meaning to help his family. A fire not easily quenched after being lit. His muscles tensed, forgetting mercy. The other stallion's muscles also tensed, forcing him to expose his gritting teeth. The pressure built up for each second, Big Mac slowly pressing his opponent back.
In that fateful moment, the turquoise pony swung his head to the side, his horn's pointy tip shining faintly.
Applejack had an eye open the whole time while laying down. She wanted to close it when she saw the blood splattering from her brother's muzzle. He stepped down, covering his injured face while lowering his guard, giving the freed unicorn the opportunity to turn around quickly and shoot back his hindlegs with full force. In that instant, Big Mac's heavy body hit the ground with a large thud.
The fillies and mares gasped in panic. The realization of meeting a psychopath with blood dripping from his horn and murder in his intimidating eyes came far too merciless for them to handle without showing fear. His slow steps towards them made the image of incoming death so real, they could have sworn he was the grim hay-reaper himself. Just when he was about to take the final steps...
"That is enough, my dear Black-Eye" the voice of Stud called. Everypony turned to the tall mare getting up on her hooves again. She didn't cringe in pain or gave any hateful grimaces after the sucker-punch into the back of her head, nor any expression showing amusement.
The unicorn male halted and turned without hesitation, making his way back to the mare laying on top of Rainbow Dash. Once the temporary threat was gone, Rarity and some of the other ponies helped Applejack and Big Mac. They both got up, bruised, muddled and a little bloody, but okay nonetheless. Soon they stood together again, attaching their attention to the mare who had caused all of this.
"This... " she began, sounding awfully serious with just that single word before the short pause. "... did not lead to my expectations".
Twilight took a step forward, radiating self-confidence unlike anypony in her vicinity. This behavior annoyed Stud to no end. It was like she didn't feel her darkening presence. That nuisance grew stronger due to the pain in the back of her head and the scent of burned hair.
"I can explain that if you let Dash go... Stud" Twilight demanded with a strong pronunciation when mentioning the infamous name.
The scarlet mare narrowed her eyes, doubtlessly not being able to put two and two together. She reconsidered the demand, then gave the mare known as Moist a look. The dark gold pegasus hesitantly got up from the blue filly and thus allowed her to unfold her wings and fly over to Twilight. Dash's forelegs hurt and her spine even more, but that didn't prevent her from flying into a hug with her beloved filly. It also had to be followed by a quick smooch on the lips, then she could stand down and dry her wet eyes.
In the meantime, Stud grew restless.
"Who told you about me? You didn't have any idea about who I was or what I wanted. You were the only pony who didn't suspect me even the slightest, yet you know my name and attack me without hesitation. So who revealed my identity to you?" Stud asked with her snout slowly moving up in the air. She was indeed concerned to know since she wasn't used to get sucker-punched without being able to predict it.
Dash stepped aside when she felt Twilight's hoof on her chest gently pushing her aside. The schooled unicorn closed her eyes to gather her thoughts, soon revealing her decided eyes to the living wickedness standing before her. This was going to be her explanation for everything... and she intended it to be... everything.
"A long time ago, right after I had finished my first year of studying with princess Celestia, I was learned about a very special pony. A pony whose infamous reputation had reached so high levels, even Celestia was warned about him...".
She moved her eyes through the crowd, noticing one of the young girls hiding among the unpleasant stallions. She pretended waiting for rain and moved on.
"It was a pony with a preposterous ability to manipulate and read other ponies' minds. A unique and very powerful ability in which you can convince somepony what they can and cannot do, a form of hypnosis and extreme placebo able to cause everything from amnesia to hallucinations. I was amazed, but also warned when hearing about it from the princess. That ability was in fact so powerful it could literally convince ponies they were dying!" she exclaimed loudly. "And that's exactly what the maniacal pony 'Stud' was doing! He killed innocent ponies for reasons we'll never know, hundreds of them, just...".
She paused and sighed so the anger could ventilate from her thoughts. In the meantime, Stud kept her expression flawless. She didn't plan on saying anything until everything had been told. Yet, she was growing more restless by the minute...
"Anyways. This ability was thought to be unstoppable by all known scholars. Since the ability came from a cutie-mark, meaning it was somepony's talent, it couldn't be seen or treated as magic. Thus it was impossible to find something that could defeat it in the ways of magic. However..." Twilight paused and lit her horn with magic.
A light blue shroud shaped like a helmet illuminated the air around her head. Stud raised an eyebrow in response in difference from all the others widening their eyes in awe.
"Ever since I faced king Sombra's mirror, which had a resembling effect to your special talent, I decided to finally enchant myself with this spell Celestia had provided me so long ago. She worked for decades to make it work, and now I discretely have it on at all times to prevent somepony from manipulating my thoughts or reading my intentions. As a bonus, it also warns me when somepony tries to infiltrate my mentality. All I had to do was pretending I didn't know who you actually were while I sent an anonymous message to the royal guards with your whereabouts".
With those words, Stud suddenly widened her eyes together with the large crowd, all thinking the same thought. Twilight struck a smile beneath her frown.
"And as soon as I disenchant this 'mind shield', Celestia will be notified and instantly teleport here... to put you down for good, Stud".
Black-Eye and Moist tilted their heads back, struck by amazement. Twilight looked around her, preventing herself from blushing due to all the impressed eyes staring at her. She knew how serious this situation was, but her natural modesty and bashful personality always came out when making good impressions on others.
"Twilight... that is..." Winter Breeze tried to say, still laying on her side since she just returned to normal breathing a few seconds ago.
"Don't worry, Breeze. I had this from the start" Twilight said, still holding back her microscopic will to be proud of herself.
"No. you don't understand! Do you have any idea what you just did?".
The usually fast-thought unicorn opened her mouth before failing to make a sound. She stared out in thin air. "Uh... what? I just, err... revealed that I knew who she was all the time... and that I can summon Celestia at any moment. Yeah, that's about it".
Breeze put a hoof to her forehead, trying her best to grasp the fact of what was happening. "Yes. But this is the heir to the most dangerous and cunning criminal in Equestria! You're the first one ever to-".
"Stay one hoof step ahead of me..." Stud ended, still with the surprised look on her face. Twilight suddenly didn't understand a thing. Was it really that unbelievable to have stopped a criminal, even if it happened to be the most wanted one? She turned to the scarlet mare, waiting for her to say something if nopony else.
She was stunned.
"I... have never doubted my ability before. But it seems not even Stud's legacy could see through it" she explained, moving her head a little to the side so her right eye was aimed straight at Twilight. "You've locked me like the king in a game of chess, Twilight Sparkle. Never before has Stud's eye failed to see through anypony, yet letting its heir walk blindly past a loose end".
Twilight cocked an eyebrow, just like Winter Breeze and many of the other present inhabitants of Ponyville. "Wh-what do you mean?" Twilight asked.
The nearly blank eye surrounded by tensed veins formed into psychotic circles again, flashing the colors of blood around it as the wearer spoke. "This eye of mine... is not actually mine. When Stud took the honorable deed of freeing his future minions, he was pained by one fact: the undisputed fact that he didn't carry the immortality of an alicorn. He wanted to see what his legacy would lead to, see what his great work would cause, see what his future foals would see when shedding the blood of his enemies".
As she finished that sentence, she grit her teeth and arched her eyebrows into a full-fledged expression of absolute rage. At that moment, the gray clouds seemed grayer than before. She violently struck a hoof to the ground, nearly causing a crack beneath it.
"BUT HIS SINFUL EYE NEVER WISHED TO SEE HIS HEIR'S DEMISE! HE DIDN'T SACRIFICE IT TO HIS GENERATIONS SO HE COULD WITNESS THE FAILURE OF A BORN CATASTROPHE! TO SEE HIS FOAL STAND BEFORE ANOTHER PONY THREATENING HER LIFE! YOU HAVE DEFILED STUD'S EYE WITH YOUR DEED, TWILIGHT SPARKLE! AND FOR THAT...!".
The innocent bystanders cringed in horror at the loud voice flinging in the air. The imaginative silhouette of the monstrous face screeched into their minds like an eruption of terrible noises and flashes. The young cutie-mark crusaders ultimately lost their cool and flew out from the group of ponies the hid amongst, dashing towards the pony closest to them. Pinkie Pie felt the three little fillies hide beneath her, but she was paralyzed with the image behind her eyelids, unable to say anything at all for once.
Just when they all thought this was the moment of doom, the crowd of stallions eagerly looked at their leader. The signal just had to come now. That wonderful signal telling them all it was time to burn this town to ashes and kidnap as many ponies as possible. But suddenly... the furious mare exhaled a long sigh, smiling along the way.
"For that... I will spare all of your lives... including this town".
Black-Eye and Mist turned their heads to her in the flash of lightning bolt, shocked by what they just heard.
"It is far too early for Stud's legacy to face Celestia's wrath. We've been cornered in this game and have no other choice but to capitulate. It is the will of Stud... Black-Eye and Moist" she stated casually, carrying the same indifferent expression Soul Hook had. Her next set of words were not something anypony expected...
"It is of little matter... I don't need to be here for the promises of genocide to come true" she said with her eyes suddenly locked toward one of the ponies behind Twilight. The purple unicorn looked behind her, feeling utterly confused when she could have sworn it was Pinkie Pie who Stud looked at.
A quick glance at each other, then a nod. The two lieutenants turned to the large crowd.
"Alright, you little bitches! You heard Stud, we're outta here!" the male unicorn shouted to the groaning audience. They knew better than to resist, so they all slowly moved away, leaving the square one after another in large chunks of ponies. Grunts and disappointed mutterings filled the background of their departure out from the square.
While they kept decreasing in numbers, Stud looked over her shoulders to make sure it all went on smoothly. Then she turned back with her eyes on what everypony believed was Twilight. "Now, let us make our leave... Soul Hook".
The group of friends and couples quickly turned their heads to the dark purple colt. He had been standing still like that since he arrived to the square, silent and unnoticed about what he did. Like on cue, Dash dared taking the initiative to speak again.
"What you talking about? You said you were gonna leave us alone!" she claimed, ready to stand up again even due to what she just had went through.
Stud snickered before her words. "Soul Hook is not one of your lives... he has Stud's name labeled on him, thus belongs to me. His life was already mine the moment he was born...".
"No! It's not!" Dash yelled and flew over to Winter Breeze. She was muted by the sheer horror of losing him again, forgetting what she was supposed to do. That was what the radical pegasus planned on reminding her of by helping her up on her legs. She laid her hooves on the beige cheeks and looked deep into the shrink's eyes.
"Don't do this to yourself. I know as much as you do how much you want him..." was her only words. She decided to not say anything else until the first step had been taken by her friend. And as light shone on Breeze's mind, she saw the enlightened path to what she really wanted. Rainbow was right; she only had one thing on her wish-list, and that was that colt she now looked at.
She took a deep breath and made her way to him, making sure she stood right in front of his vision even though he could look straight above her head. However, he tilted his head down without hesitation, answering the look he was given by his mentor.
"Soul... I..." she had time to say.
Then he walked around her...
The friends and couples of ponies flashed at this unfriendly behavior. But no matter how surprised they were, the winning price went to Winter Breeze. She trusted that he'd at least listen to her before making up his mind.
Wait, making up about what, she thought as she turned around. "Soul Hook, wait! Where are you going?!" she yelled after him. He didn't answer. He just kept walking until he stood in front of the equally tall mare. He allowed her to reach out a hoof and stroke his black mane. Stud was utterly pleased when looking at him, awfully enough looking even more excited when landing her eyes on the beige pegasus mare.
She leaned into his ear and moved her lips, whispering words nopony from a distance could hear. He looked at her as she moved away. She didn't tilt her head like many would have expected, instead she just stood there, waiting for the words she just said to be converted inside the colt's head. Soul turned around, but something was different about him. His indifferent expression was flawed and out of order, not fully capable of maintaining his control. He opened his mouth, only to hesitate and look into the corner of his eyes.
Seeing her beloved apprentice this out of character was no easy thing for Winter Breeze. She had paid too much to see him like this, and now she had regrets out of nowhere. In the end she finally met his dark green eyes.
"Miss Winter Breeze...".
Twilight and the others froze. Everypony from Ditzy to Big Mac held their breath, knowing this had to be it. Knowing a colt who never cared about anything and who was cold to everypony aside from his politeness, they all expected this to be what they all waited for. The mentioned pegasus mare listened carefully for each word about to be said.
"These two years we've spent together... you've always asked the same question over and over. About... why I... smiled at you... the first time I saw you".
Winter Breeze couldn't get more anxious than she already was. Or at least that was what she thought until she got the point. This really was it. He was finally, after two years of therapy, going to reveal the secret, the biggest and most interesting question she wanted the answer to. Her ears were so tensed it hurt her, but she didn't care the slightest. She wasn't the only curious one. Rainbow Dash shared the same interest to know, convinced this was going to be a confession of some sort.
Soul Hook spent another second finding his words in the corner of his eyes.
"Tell her, Soul hook!" Stud called self-confidentially. "You know I saw it too! The first moment I laid my eye on her, I saw it! I saw the reason for why you smiled!".
Breeze's hopes halted for a brief moment. What was that she said? And why did her apprentice look like he was trying to swallow a large knot? Why was this moment killing her, why did it have to be this painful and tormenting, what had she done to deserve all of this? The small crowd was wondering just about the same, now more concerned than ever.
The tall colt dropped the ball by suddenly locking his eyes at his mentor. The final storm was about to begin. That dark aura swimming around him faded away, leaving him open to read like a book.
"When I first saw you, I was reminded of everything I once lost. It was my last memory of ever having somepony to look out for me. The sight of you promised warmth and comfort, a pony who I could love like nopony else...".
Rainbow wanted to strike a victory-hoof at that second.
Breeze didn't. She stared with the eyes of a dead pony at her apprentice.
The memories burned in him, scorched the last pieces of what he had worked on to keep alive. It was all over now. Nothing would be spared, but everything would be lost in a murderous storm of killed happy endings. The breath hit his neck, reaching all the way from Stud's smiling mouth. The tendrils caught his mind and left him exposed on the ground in a pool of his own lies. Truth... had found him in the end.
"Miss... Winter Breeze. All of that was because...".
Stud grinned.
"... you looked like... my mother".
The thunder bolt of emotional death struck Breeze. It jolted through her body and electrified all her organs before leaving her body. The burnt flesh cooled down in a storm of snow, just like the first winter she saw, the one she was born soon before. The ice grew thicker because of the maniacal laughter in the background. Stud was the pony laughing so sadistically.
"Aha ha ha ha ha ha! A perfect copy, I may say! Cut off the wings and Soul Hook's mother has returned from the dead, reborn to haunt his life unless somepony ends her misery! My reasons have been revealed, breeze of the winter! As long as you live, my little Soul had all the wrong reasons to doubt his true meaning in life!" she yelled, sentence after sentence just to have her voice in all of this.
"He loved you no more... than as a mother" Stud summarized after her chuckle. "Remember that... for the rest of your life".
She decided to not kill her. No, she wanted Breeze to have a much worse destiny than something so liberating as death. Stud's conviction rested on the fact that Breeze never would be able to let him go from her thoughts. That punishment... was a perfect fit for her. "Now... let us leave in peace, dear" the scarlet mare said and left without the shade of a doubt.
Soul Hook remained on his spot, keeping his cold eyes on the emotionally colder mare. This was the end for him. The end for his time with the last pony who could remind him of the blurry days before Stud. He couldn't remember them as bad memories, nor regrettable ones. There was just more to it than pain and suffering. He had to know what it meant. And now, even though he could see the first of many tears coming from his mentor's eyes, he turned around.
"S-soul..." Breeze whimpered, choking on her own tears as her heart broke in an overwhelming amount of pieces. "Soul... ghh... S-soul Hook!".
He walked.
"Soul Hook!" she cried desperately.
He didn't stop.
"Please! Don't... don't le-heave me-he!".
He heard her hysterical tone and pitiful sniveling.
"Soul Hook! Please! Come.. back! Don't leave me! I love you!".
Berry Punch and Cheerilee jumped up and held onto her, preventing her from chasing after the colt. They didn't have to. As cold as her name implied, the one carrying the name of what all ponies had... was gone. And like nothing of everything he had done mattered, he was gone into the dark.
Leaving nothing but the trace of a tear behind him...
To be continued...
Author's Note:
Believe it or not, but that was actually the end to this story arc. And the first chapter with no sex in it! Love me, hate me, say what you want about me, all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to kill me. Yeah, but seriously... this story ain't over! I'm telling ya! Sorry for overdue as usual, I probably shouldn't claim I try to publish every week anymore. Been far too long since I actually did that. Oh well, let's hope all of this ends well, shall we?
And for all of you who didn't understand what everything was about Stud's eye: her right eye is the first Stud's eye. Stud I, to be precise. Yes, it means that eye is about 200 years old and the current Stud got her right eye scooped out. Kinda creepy, aye? Knowing a dead pony's eye is staring at you... *shivers*.
Thanks to all of you who voted once again for the next customer in my story "Whorse!", and PLEASE don't forget to write me a little comment after reading this. I improve thanks to you guys and I don't want that to end since I still have so much to learn! (But don't lay your votes on "Whorse!" here, okay?) So until then...
Brohoof on ya all!