A Demon in Ponyville
Ch. 18: The Fire in His Eyes
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights of MLP or any of its related properties.
Rarity watched the scene swirl into black nothingness, only to be replaced by the all too familiar grey of the hospital. It just so drab and boring, she thought to herself with distain. Matthew slowly came to consciousness, the purple bruising along his body a starch contrast to his natural skin tone. The left side of his face was swollen, his eye unable to open.
With a great force of will, Matthew finally managed to open his good eye. The grey of the room and the blaring heart monitor revealed to Matthew where he was. Matthew groaned, “Oh god. Not again.”
From the next room, a nurse swiftly entered, ensuring Matthew had regained consciousness. “How are you feeling?” she asked, using a light to check Matthew’s pupils and head.
“I feel like I got hit by a bus,” Matthew coughed.
“Are we talking elementary school bus or Greyhound?” The nurse asked, jotting notes onto Matthew’s chart.
“Double Decker,” Matthew sighed, taking a look around the room. “Where’s Beatrice?”
“Who?” the nurse asked, tilting her head to the side.
Matthew didn’t care to catch the nurse’s name, “The girl I was with. You know; pale, thin, black hair and green eyes.”
“Oh,” the nurse said. After taking a moment to think, she finally responded, “I believe she’s in the next room. Should I get her?”
“Sure,” Matthew nodded enthusiastically. The nurse quietly left the room, leaving Matthew alone. While he waited, Matthew sat in contemplation. Let’s see, what to talk about? Hmmm… I got nothing.
Matthew’s revelries where interrupted when the mentioned girl entered the room. Their eyes met. Brown and green irises connected in a moment of pure silence. The air was full of a murmur of voices and electronic beeping. The air was electrifying and filled with an incredible amount of awkwardness.
The two just stared at each other, their minds blank and heat rising in their cheeks over the fact that they were standing in a hospital and had yet to say a single word to the other.
“Um, hi,” Beatrice finally said, trying so desperately to break this uncomfortable situation.
“Hi,” Matthew responded, his brain not giving him very many instructions on what to do. Thanks brain, Matthew thought sarcastically. “Please sit,” Matthew motioned to the foot of his hard mattress.
With very little to do, Beatrice took a seat silently. Her thin frame barely affected the mattress, as she sat with her hands clasped in her lap. Looking to Matthew, Beatrice asked cautiously, “You wanted to see me?”
“Yes,” Matthew responded, “I wanted to uhhhhhhhhh say thank you for everything you did in the prison.
“You’re welcome,” Beatrice answered, confused. All she had done was her job, nothing more.
“Where’d you learn that?” Matthew motioned, trying to think of the right word. “Nursing? That’s it; where’d you learn nursing?”
Beatrice noticed the awkwardly phrased question and decided to just go with it, “I learned it from my mom. We were forced to look after the prisoners after my town was sacked. It was either learn medicine or work in the fields until exhaustion finally killed me.”
The ponies and the human Matthew watched Beatrice’s body language. She was very rigid and revealed little emotion behind her words. Matthew found her guarded appearance so sexy and very annoying. VERY ANNOYING, Matthew yelled internally. Matthew asked, “So, what’d you do for fun?”
Beatrice could only look at Matthew, an elegant eyebrow rising as if to question Matthew’s sanity. “We didn’t have fun. All I had was my work and sleep, nothing more.”
“Wow,” Matthew said slowly, “that’s a buzzkill.”
“Yeah,” Beatrice nodded slowly.
“You wanna do something?” Matthew offered with a shrug.
“Why?”
“Cause I’m bored and would love to hang out with you,” Matthew responded.
Beatrice could only look at him, her confusion so great she could only ask, “And what would we do? You’re kinda stuck in a bed.”
“Please,” Matthew sneered, rising out of his bed on shaking limbs. “I can do anything I want to.” Taking his first step away from the cold mattress and metal frame, Matthew was fairly confident in his abilities and for 1.5 seconds his strength was confirmed. But gravity had something to say about that. The unseen force plunged Matthew to the cold hard ground.
Beatrice merely watched Matthew crash into the floor. The young man was yelling furiously about the coldness of the floor on the bare skin not covered by the paper thin hospital gown. The heart monitor came undone, filling the air with a loud blaring tone. A nurse passed the door, her face un-amused as she looked down at the struggling Matthew.
“Does this happen often?” Beatrice asked the nurse.
“Mmmm-hmmm, it sure does,” the nurse hummed to herself, deciding to add her two cents. “At least we don’t have to restrain him this time.”
“Restrain him?” Beatrice asked with some confusion.
“That’s why we keep this little number,” the nurse reached over to the left side of the door, pulling a rather large and menacing cattle prod. Beatrice’s eyes widened at the sight of the device, unsure of what to make of this situation. “Matthew here can get a little restless at nights. The drugs give him bad dreams or he’s a little resistant to the doctors.” Motioning with the cattle prod to the wall, the nurse indicated a single poster displaying a small cat that stated ‘Hang in there.’ “Last time, Matthew was delusional and punched a hole in that wall. So we decided we needed a little more persuasion if he got out of hand.”
The nurse turned away, leaving the befuddled Beatrice and Matthew slowly clawing his way back onto the pale mattress. Beatrice turned back to poster, her curiosity getting the better of her. There is no way he would do that.
Nimbly getting to her feet, Beatrice calmly moved towards the poster. Taking a corner between her thin fingers before giving a light tug, Beatrice found to her surprise a single hole through drywall and concrete leading to the outside air. That’s certainly surprise, Beatrice thought to herself, suspecting a certain someone’s fist bashing though the wall with little resistance.
“Well it’s been fun-“ Beatrice began.
“Wait! Wait!” Matthew cut her off, finally flailing onto the cold mattress like a fish out of water. “Can’t we hang for a little while?”
“I don’t know, can you talk with proper grammar?” Beatrice responded with a thin, raised eyebrow.
“Hey! I’ve been tortured for like five days. Give me a break!”
“I spent years there,” Beatrice pointed out.
“And I’m the one that almost died like yesterday,” Matthew retorted.
“You were out for three days.”
“Stop being so literal! God that’s annoying,” Matthew snapped.
“Then stop being stupid!”
“I’m not stupid! I’m healing! You’re the idiot!”
“Don’t call me an idiot, jerk!” Beatrice snapped, the first true emotion crossing her facial features.
“I’m not the one picking on a sick person. You should be ashamed. You’re mother must be so proud,” Matthew commented offhandedly.
“Why don’t we ask her?” Beatrice snapped, reaching behind her back. What Beatrice produced was something Matthew or the ponies could have suspected.
“What in the world is that?” Rarity snapped, horror etched on her muzzle much like the rest of the ponies.
In Beatrice’s hands, held by a chain and clip to her waistband was a shriveled, dark green shrunken head. The slimy, clammy skin was wrapped around the tiny skull. The black pits where the eyes should have been looked out at the horrified expression.
“What the hell is that?” Matthew snapped.
“I’m Mrs. Evans, you little shit!” The tiny, wrinkle head snapped back.
Matthew sat silently, much like the ponies, his mouth slightly open. A random fly flew across the open space, filling the air with the buzz of its wings. Matthew finally managed to gain control of his voice, “I think I’m missing some context here.”
“Well, let’s just say that I’ve seen better days,” the green piece of flesh said with some amusement.
“Clearly.”
“My mom got mouthy with one of the guards,” Beatrice sighed, noting that unlike the standard looks of horror she would normally received Matthew’s face was one of surprise and confusion. “As punishment, they bound my mother to her severed head and I’ve had to listen to her since then.”
“Hey!” Mrs. Evans snapped, “You normally just leave me in your room. And if I remember correctly, inside of one of your dirty socks!”
“Hey, you know better than that! I launder my socks, thank you very much,” Beatrice turned the face of her mother towards her, looking into those black pits Mrs. Evans considered eyes. “And you’re very lucky I actually remembered to grab you before we left.”
The ponies were somewhat entertained by the bizarre look on Matthew’s face. It said, ‘There’s a hot chick arguing with the shrunken severed head that is her mother… My god I need a drink.’
Beatrice decided to replace her mother behind her back, Matthew merely stared at her. “What?” Beatrice asked in annoyance.
“That’s really unsanitary,” Matthew pointed out.
“No one was asking you,” Beatrice responded, hissing through her clenched teeth.
“I thought you might need some help. Ya know, with sanitation and common sense. Especially with you being half a nurse,” Matthew said with a raised eyebrow.
Rainbow Dash snickered at the rising red in Beatrice’s face, the twitching eyes and the thinning of her lips. But what finally broke her was the shrill voice of her dead mother from behind her back, “Don’t you ignore me! I am still here and you will respect my authority!”
Twilight could not understand when the scene changed to the nursing station situated close to Matthew’s room. The pale colors of the scrubs did little to change the dreary atmosphere. What caught Twilight were the two voices ringing through the hallway dedicated to healing the injured.
“YOU UNBELIEVABLE DICK!”
“BITCH!”
“YOU DEGENERATE A**HOLE!”
“YEAH? WELL YOU’RE A FILAPIST!”
The empty air lasted for only a couple of seconds before Matthew finished responding, “SEE! I CAN MAKE UP WORDS TOO!”
The three nurses stood hovering around the station, their eyes scanning the dry charts and data without really reading them. Looking up at each other, the nursing staff could only shiver in horror. The dark skinned nurse muttering to her coworkers, “Good Lord! There’s two of them.” The other nurses could only solemnly agree as insults were thrown through the air like confetti.
The scene faded, all ponies turning towards the dark imitation of Matthew. He was silently smiling, sharp teeth glinting in the feeling of nostalgia. “Truly the greatest love story ever seen.”
Rarity felt a small part of her die in that instant, “Love?” Her voice was sharp, her brain trying to comprehend what Dark Matthew was implying. “That wasn’t love! That’s got to be the beginning of one of the most twisted, disturbed, perverted relationship I have ever seen.”
“Isn’t she the best?” Dark Matthew sighed happily.
Before Rarity could respond further, the surroundings shimmered to life. The burnt brown ground next to the tall grey concrete walls looked harsh under the evening sun. Two figures could be seen walking through the badlands. One was Matthew and the other Beatrice. Both wore worn jeans and shirts, Beatrice’s black hair glistening in the light of the evening sun. Wrapped in Matthew’s arms were a deep blue blanket and a box of unknown content.
“Why are we here?” Beatrice asked her voice straining as she tried to maintain the boiling fury she wished to unleash onto Matthew.
“I told you. We’re going on a picnic,” Matthew responded with a smirk that nearly drove the young woman over the edge.
“No. You decided to drop by my room, say we’re going on a picnic and ran me all the way over the wall,” Beatrice responded, having to take a few steadying breaths. “You do know I did not consent to this? You’ve basically kidnapped me.”
“Isn’t kidnap the most romantic way to start our relationship?” Matthew asked teasing Beatrice.
Beatrice’s face fell, trying to discern if he was joking or not. “You can’t be serious.”
“Oh yes I am!”
“Where did you get an idea like this?” Beatrice asked, wondering if one of these heavy rocks were heavy enough to bludgeon Matthew’s skull in.
“I’ve seen a lot of the girls around base reading Twilight. I thought it was popular among the females, so I decided to emulate what its message was,” Matthew answered simply.
Beatrice halted, staring at Matthew with a completely blank expression. “So you got kidnapping from reading Twilight?”
“It’s not the craziest thing to every happened,” Matthew said, deciding on a soft spot in the sand to place the rough blanket on. “Mark Chapman killed John Lennon after reading Catcher and the Rye.”
“Fair enough,” Beatrice sighed, rubbing her pulsing temples with an unsteady hand.
“And also,” Matthew announced with a flourish, pulling out several object from the box he was carrying, “I brought beer!”
Beatrice looked at the aluminum cans in Matthew’s hand. The tantalizing beverages glinting in the light, calling to her and her inner alcoholic with the music of angles. “You better have more than that.”
Matthew smiled, taking a seat on the ground and wiggling his eyebrows, “I also raided the whiskey cabinet.”
Beatrice decided to go against common sense and join Matthew; also the fact that she could not scale the wall without Matthew’s help. “Isn’t someone going to be missing this?” Beatrice asked, taking a beer and pulling the tab briskly.
“Don’t worry about that,” Matthew said, lying down to get a good view of the sun. “That’s future Matthew’s problem, not mine.”
The shrill call of the commander rang through the darkening air, “MATTHEW!”
Beatrice turned to Matthew. He merrily shrugged, “They’ll never find us out here.” Beatrice just sighed, taking a grateful swig of the amber liquid. Matthew was quick to join her. The two continued to get smashed under the dying light of the sun. No conversation was needed. Only the company of the other was required under the red backed sky, the air serenaded by the angry screams of the commander echoing in the air.
Rarity looked to Dark Matthew, deadpanned, “Did you really think foalnapping was romantic?”
“It got me a second date,” Dark Matthew shrugged, smirking as he continued. The scene of Matthew and Beatrice sitting atop an unused tank as the morning sunlight stretched across the broken asphalt and concrete. The dull green and tans grew bright in the light. Matthew’s hung upside down on the main cannon of the war machine, only his legs keeping him from smashing into the ground. Beatrice sat close by, her eyes trying to dissect the young man next to her.
Rarity, much like her friends could not properly understand why these two where together. They were too A-personality. They had a fire in their hearts and it burned those around them. These personalities would rub against each other, the friction building a fire. Matthew and his Beatrice would destroy themselves before they would fully understand their love.
Rarity could not make out the words, but she could see the sparkle in Beatrice’s eyes. It was a limited joy, much like Matthew’s. They were smiling, but not fully and not even capable of reaching their eyes. The corners of their eyes were wrinkled and the early signs of raven claws. The weight of the world was too much to bear and the stress was beginning to show.
They were broken people. The cracks in their minds and spirits would only increase, leaving a pair of sociopathic people held together by loose character traits. Rarity caught sight of Beatrice’s foot, catching Matthew off guard by the sudden movement. While her limb never made contact with him, Matthew’s leg slackened slightly causing him to crash into the rough ground. The string of cursing did not rake against Rarity’s skin like before.
That must be it, Rarity thought to herself. This was a tragic love. One that she knew would end in tragedy. The reactions of both Dark Matthew and the lighter personality told her this much. But she could see it in their eyes, the cold smothering the fire. This was a drug, love the greatest aphrodisiac. It only held back the pain and the suffering for just a moment longer. To think sad thoughts is the easiest thing in the world.
“Who knows what tomorrow will bring
Tomorrow is in the hands of God
Tomorrow will be a lovely day.”
Rarity and the other ponies turned to Dark Matthew, his eyes misty. The words floated over the crowd of alien people. They could not understand them fully. Only in the hushed silence of night did Beatrice whisper them in his ear before he left on a mission, every mission since they began their estranged love. Matthew knew they were important to Beatrice. They were the last comforting words her father had said to her and her mother.
He was a brave man, but he died screaming.
Rarity was about to ask, but Dark Matthew did not elaborate on his solemn tone. Instead Dark Matthew changed the scene before him. Matthew and Derek stood on the sandy training grounds. The wild haired Shannon and the cold calculating Mari watched from the sidelines with an incredibly irritated Beatrice watching.
“What am I doing here?” Beatrice asked her arms crossed across her chest, taking a moment to turn to the two girls next to her.
“All I heard was ‘Come check this out’,” Shannon growled, it was Saturday morning and she wanted to sleep in. Mari just shrugged, her expression never changing.
“You ready?” Matthew asked, his brow dampening with perspiration, unsure of this.
“Yes. Now stop being a little bitch and hit me already,” Derek snapped, his muscles flexing as he prepared to test what he wanted.
“Alright,” Matthew sighed. Igniting the dark shadows along his right arm, Matthew prepared his attack. Both hands held in front of him, Matthew channeled energy between his palms. Blue lightning sparked between his hands. Sweat began to slide down his forehead, his focus only on the attack. Pulling his hands back, Matthew’s energy pulsated creating a shower of sparks and chaotic light.
Derek and Matthew’s eyes met, both ready for the attack. Matthew threw his hands forward, the black energy cracking with blue lighting shot forward. Beatrice, Shannon and Mari watched with surprise at the amount of energy being pushed outward. Derek became engulfed by the explosion, dark smoke and dust covering the area.
The three women coughed slightly, but they were focused on the training pair and waited patiently for the dust to settle. A stark breeze cleared the field proclaiming a pair of worn and panting boys. Matthew’s hands were on his knees, sweat quenching the earth. Derek was in a similar condition.
“So,” Derek began, “what was that?”
“Trying a new attack… Wanted something with a little more kick,” Matthew answered. “Did you find a way to defend yourself?”
“Yeah,” Derek smiled, “I thought if I pushed out energy when I’m attacked, it would soften the blow.”
“Did it work?” Mari called, her ears catching everything.
“Kinda,” Derek said, stretching his aching muscles. “It stuck like a bee.” A thought crossed Derek’s mind, asking Matthew, “You didn’t go full power, right?”
“No,” Matthew shook his head vigorously, “I can’t put that much power into it yet.”
“Why?” Derek asked.
“I blow up.”
“Oh,” Derek took a nervous step back.
“You’re going to have to get a lot farther.”
As Derek continued to increase the gap between him and Derek, Beatrice called, “Is that you’re new attack?”
“Yeah,” Matthew said.
“Did you intentionally steal from Dragon Ball? Or is this just a coincidence?” Beatrice asked, her eyebrow rose in accusation. I don’t know how she does it.
“No I did not rip off Dragon Ball!” Matthew snapped.
“But you just fired a kamehameha,” Beatrice said.
“No! It’s nothing like the kamehameha!”
“It was a focused beam of energy and kinda blue,” Beatrice responded, a sly smile.
“There was black in it to!”
“Still a little blue,” Beatrice shrugged.
“That doesn’t make it a kamehameha! The kamehameha uses chi not evil demonic powers,” Matthew shouted at the top of his lungs.
“From your description, your inner energy makes the attack. Chi is internal energies that are used to make blasts and other stuff. So you are totally using the kamehameha!” Beatrice sighed smugly.
“Yeah!... Well… Shut up woman!” Matthew stuttered, trying to think of some form of response. Unfortunately nothing came so Matthew considered yelling more, That always works… Right?
“You’re an idiot,” Beatrice sighed in exasperation.
The ponies turned to Dark Mathew, Rarity commenting, “She’s right, you know.”
“Shut up pony! I can end you with a thought!”
“Don’t you tell me to shut up! You-you barbarian!” Rarity snapped.
“I’ll tell you to do something and you’ll do it! Or else I’ll show you the proper use of a bitch slap,” Dark Matthew snapped, raising his right hoof. Matthew’s crimson eyes looked from her to his hoof, then back again. “Got to admit, it might be difficult without hands. But I’ll make it work!”
“Will ya stop fighting!” Applejack snapped, stepping in front of Rarity to glare at Dark Matthew.
“Fine,” Dark Matthew rolled his eyes, thinking of something else. “Here! This is something.”
The scene shifted, featuring a worn Beatrice desperately dragging something with red glowing chains. “Oh you are going to get it now,” Beatrice seethed, dragging a heavy object past the orderlies standing silently at the nursing station.
“What are you doing?” One of them asked.
Beatrice continued to pull, revealing a very annoyed Matthew. A bright red rubber ball stuffed in his mouth. Beatrice gave the orderly a quick glance, “Where can I find the shock paddles?”
“Why would you need those?”
“He called my butt fat in these jeans,” Beatrice said in a hollow voice that sent a chill through everyone’s spine.
“Right over there,” One of the orderlies pointed down the hall, an uneasy smile crossing his face.
Beatrice nodded in thanks before continuing her quests to punish Matthew. After the angry woman left, all of the nurses shook their head in pity. “He’s a dead man.”
Bright flashes of light blazed through the hallway, instilling the full ramifications that Matthew had screwed up and he was paying for it. “Oh my god! Beatrice it hurts! It hurts so good!”
“Stop being happy! I’m trying to punish you!”
“Keep it up! I’ve been so bad!”
“Matthew!” Beatrice screamed, a loud banging filling the air. If Beatrice could not electrocute some respect/manners into Matthew, she beat it into him. Or crush his skull in, whichever one happened first.
The ponies could only stare blankly into the air. “What was the point of that?” Rarity asked her voice full of confusion.
“I dunno,” Dark Matthew scratched the side of his head, “I kinda forgot where I was going with it. Hold on, let me try something else.”
Matthew burst through the door to Beatrice’s room, “Hey Beatrice, Derek caught some kind of Demon fish. We’ve got to try and eat… EEP!” Matthew quickly slammed the door shut, a long sharp knife digging deep into the wood.
Matthew waited patiently for the high-pitched scream to die down. When silence began to reign, Matthew decided to comment, “Sorry Beatrice.” Looking both way, a snarky smile crossed Matthew’s face, calling “By the way, lovely boobs.”
Matthew quickly ran down the hallway, laughing loudly as the blade of an axe made its way through the wooden door. “Kinda defeating the purpose of a door, holes don’t provide very good protection.”
“Get back here and die, Matthew!”
Dark Matthew cocked his head to the side, “Hmm… Maybe something like this.”
Human Matthew slowly marched under the dying moon. Within a couple of days, the small sliver of moon left would soon be swallowed by darkness. Tall, thick trees reached high into the cold night sky creating an eerie atmosphere. Applejack trembled silently, watching the bare twisting bark pass by Matthew. Something was wrong with this forest. Instead of the rough healthy cellulose, Applejack watched the smooth bark shift bizarrely across the multiple limbs and trunk. The twisting shapes were all wrong to her eyes. Deep black pits littered up and down these misshapen trunks in varying patterns.
Matthew held his right hand at the ready. Matthew’s breath came out in a steam, dissipating between the bare branches. Matthew watched the branches twitch erratically in the unseen breeze, almost greeting the heated moisture passing through them.
A soft shuffling to the right, Matthew spun around darkness held in the palm of his hand at the ready. The branches were moving, slowly creeping towards him. They were coming from all sides, thin branches reaching through the open air.
Matthew caught one, snapping it with ease. The resulting scream was horrifying. Sharp and hollow, the wale echoed through this nightmare. Matthew held at the ready, every fiber of his being coiled to spring into action.
What he did not expect was the sudden appearance of glowing orbs beginning to ignite across every conceivable tree. The light of these orbs revealed a horrifying truth.
Applejack screamed, her hoof reaching to her muzzle. Faces. The glowing orbs revealed hundreds if not thousands of humanoid faces fused into the cursed woods. The trees and faces continued to stretch as far as her eyes could see. Each of those burning orange eyes drilled into the trespasser.
“Why do you break me?” a soft woman’s voice, hollow and full of pain. Matthew stared transfixed at the woman who spoke, her mouth contorted in pain. “Why do you enter this place? We are the damned. Consider your options and turn back. Do not become like us.”
“Do not become like us,” those words echoed through countless mouths. “Leave. Run.”
Matthew snorted, steam billowing in the wind. Taking a walkie-talkie from his cargo jeans, Matthew called in, “Hey, HQ?”
“Yes, Agent.”
“Did we have Intel that these trees talk?” Matthew asked, keeping a weary eye the twitching faces and limbs.
“Um… What?”
“Never mind,” Matthew sighed, “Freaking useless.”
“We can still hear you!”
“Not hiding it sweetie,” Matthew said sarcastically. Returning the device to his pocket, Matthew turned northwards and taking long strides.
The crisp air stung Matthew’s skin, the dead air striking the pores with extreme preduduce. “Should have listened to Beatrice. Should have brought a jacket,” Matthew muttered to himself, his arms wrapped tight around his chest.
The journey would have been only uncomfortable, but the constant yelling and screaming of the trees was kind of getting annoying. “Get out.” “Leave this place.” “Save yourself.” “The pain!” “Welcome to the Jungle.” “Ignore him, he’s weird.”
“Just shut up,” Matthew yelled, running through the path at full speed. Their voiced refused to dim, refused to be silent as the trespasser made his way deeper into their forest of twisting bodies.
Time slowly slid by, the hours passing in near darkness before Matthew finally found something. The deep shadows and shifting darkness were nothing compared to what lived at the heart of this cursed forest.
It was almost indescribable. A gelatinous pile of flesh and hardened cellulous stacked into shifting bubbles lay sprawling across the ground. An ominous orange glow exuded from the shuddering pile of material, revealing the outline of moving internal organs. It was a solid, but shifted as liquid under the crusted skin. From it, warped tendril sprung from the thing, reaching into the forest of lost men, women and children.
“Who is here?” It’s voice was a combination of deep garbling and shuddering, it could barely be understood.
“What the buck is that?” Rainbow Dash asked, her voice straining at the abomination of flesh.
“Uh,” Matthew strained his brain for a response, “That would be me, Matthew.”
“Matthew,” the slow, sloppy words crossed the air. Then the blob shifted, a series of shudders slowly brought the thing’s head into view.
The ponies screamed, and Rarity fainted, at the sight of the squashed head, bulbous eyes and wide drooping mouth. From its head, tall spines of sharp twisting branches reached high into the air. From its large eyes, Matthew could see the pain and sadness sunk behind those glowing orbs.
“Have you come to kill me?” it asked, its voice almost and unrecognizable whimper.
“I don’t know,” Matthew said cautiously, eyeing the surroundings.
“Will you?”
“What?” Matthew asked, the question blindsiding him.
“There all here,” The thing said. “All their thoughts, their pain and sadness are all in here. We are together.” Matthew was trying to understand what the collection of mass was saying.
“What do you mean?”
“I was once human, like you.” The longing in the creature’s voice was almost heartbreaking. “I got power, but it grew and it grew,” The thing was crying, glowing tears of light orange sap leaking from those wide overemphasized eyes. “It reached out, taking everything. And they continued to grow with me.”
A wale roared from all directions, every malformed mouth screaming the pain of continuous growth. Never allowed to die and only allowed to exist in this existential hell. “We cannot die. Fire only burns us, but we continue to grow and spread.” Matthew looked deep into those pitiful eyes. “I am the anchor. We are here because of me. My death will set them free.”
“What do you mean by free?” Matthew asked, his mind latching onto the last word, a cold stone of dread dropping into his stomach at the unsaid implication.
“They will be allowed to die,” The thing said. The echoing encore of “Freedom” or “Free us.”
Matthew wet his dry lips, trying to think of a solution or something else, “How many?” The thing sighed, its blubber shuddering. “How many people have you absorbed?”
“Thousands,” the thing said. “It started small, but we continued to spread beyond the town and into the city. Travelers and adventurers would come and they too would join us.”
Matthew stood still, listening to the calls of despair echoing into the night. Their cries of despair and pleas were the only company Matthew had in the cold air.
Matthew raised his right hand, dark energy flowing across his skin. His face was stoic, almost etched out of stone. His eyes were focused only on the single point and he was prepared. The malformed creature looked at Matthew with deep eyes.
Then it smiles for the first time in year.
Then there is nothing. Only the black fires of Matthew’s energy were left after his attack.
Matthew turned his eyes to the forest surrounding him. With the loss of the heart of the forest, the trees began to degrade. The body fluids that were once human transmitted into something more, ignited as they rapidly degraded. A purging fire rippled across the land, consuming those condemned to this fate, and with a raucous call, they were saved.
Matthew stood silently as the world around him burned. Only ash would remain.
Twilight and the rest of the ponies watched Matthew make his way through the wasteland of spontaneous brushes still ablaze and ash. Ash flew to the grace of the wind. Twilight could not understand what was going through Matthew’s mind, his expression never changing.
Matthew’s voice played across their ears, “I killed them Beatrice; men, women and children. I killed them all.” A hollow laugh filled the empty silence of Matthew’s solitude. “Do you want to know the scary part?”
“What?” Beatrice asked her voice soft and gentle.
“I didn’t feel a thing as they screamed.”