//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Madness (4 hours Until Dawn) Part 1 // Story: Blackhoof Mountain // by DeskManiac //------------------------------// 3:11 a.m. ~ 4 Hours Until Dawn Twilight drifted back into consciousness. A blistering headache reminded her that she was in the hands of the enemy. Dizzy and confused, she quickly realized that her limbs were restraint to a chair. Trying to break free, Twilight tugged on the ropes. She was tied down. Without any magic to help her, she had to find some other way out. “Stop moving Twilight.” Twilight tried lifting her head. Groggy, and still trying to recover from the effects of chloroform, she could only make out a figure of Discord sitting across her, pointing something at her… Discord spoke again, but this time she noticed the icyness of his tone. "I want this over more than you do…” What in the world was he talking about? She tried to focus on the blurry image. She could tell that Discord was displeased, no doubt, but he was also holding…… A gun? Twilight shook her head and concentrated again. It was a gun. “Wh- What’s going on?” Twilight asked. Discord didn’t reply. He just remained. Silent. As Twilight began to see better she saw that Discord’s claw was actually shaking. And that’s not all. He was tied to a chair opposite of her, and his only free claw was holding the gun. Another glance at him and she saw that his eyes were red from crying. He was clearly struggling. Someone had put him up to this. Discord continued to tear, as the gun in his claw continued to tremble and he bit his tongue. “I- I h- have to- to- to k- kill you,” he stammered, trying to swallow his own words. Twilight closed her eyes. This wasn't a time to panic. Clearly something was wrong. Something, someone… no. The Killer must have done something to Discord, pushing him to the brink of insanity. She wasn’t in the best state of mind either, but she had to talk him out of it. Twilight licked her lips, and spoke. “Discord,” she said in her calmest voice possible, like a mother talking to her child, “Can you please tell me what’s going on?” Discord hyperventilated. His eyes darted to every corner of the table as tears begin to fill his eyes to the brim. “They…" he muttered, "They have her Twilight…” He cringed, letting out a helpless yelp. “Have who?” Twilight asked, as it was logically the question that came next, but she should have known who Discord was talking about, because the next moment he snapped. “HER!! FLUTTERSHY!!” he shouted. “THEY HAVE FLUTTERSHY!! AND THEY WON’T LET HER GO UNLESS I KILL YOU!!" Streams of tears flowed down his cheek as he waved the gun at Twi. Twilight felt her heart stop. She knew the killer manipulated Discord, but she hadn't anticipated him using Fluttershy as bait. Now she was in big trouble. Fluttershy meant the world to Discord, and he'd do anything to save her. “Discord," Twilight took a deep breath. "Please calm down," she said, "We need to get out of this. Together.” Twilight exhaled each word. Discord’s eyes were still tearing. But he was beginning to lower the gun. "B- But... They have Fluttershy..." Twilight continued to calm herself. The next few words were crucial. "We'll save Fluttershy. Together." she said, trying to keep Discord's hopes up, "You and me. Once we get out of this, we'll save her." Discord put the gun down, and reached his free claw to cover his face. “I can’t. I can’t do it,” he sobbed. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “I just can’t get us both out of here,” Discord reached for the gun again. “Wait Discord! We can do this! We can beat the killer! We just need to put our heads together to figure something out!” Discord shook his head and raised the gun, “No, we can’t Twilight. I’ve tried. He’s taken away our magic and there’s nothing I can do but shoot you…” he said wearily, taking aim at Twilight. Twilight struggled to break free from her bondages, “No! You’ve just been drugged Discord! You just need time to recover! Once either of us gets our magic back, we’ll be able to take him down for sure!” Discord fell silent. He didn’t mutter a word or two for a minute. He just stared at Twilight. Slowly he lowered the gun, and placed it on the table. He broke into tears again. He almost shot his remaining friend. Twilight watched as her friend break down, claw covering his shame . "What was I thinking? Stupid! Stupid!" he sobbed. Twilight was speechless. She tried to open her mouth to say something. *whirrrrrrrrr* A noise sounded from above. Twilight gasped as she saw a large buzz saw coming towards her face. She pulled at the ropes, but they were too strong. Twilight looked at Discord, a giant saw was approaching his head as well. “Discord!” As if things hadn’t gotten worse, a voice came from the darkness within the room. “Last chance Discord. Don’t you want to see your precious Fluttershy again?” Discord looked up, and stared at the darkness. He was right there. He quickly grabbed the gun and shot in that direction, only to hear a chuckle. “Missed me.” Discord fired a few more rounds only to hear the laughter grew louder. “Nice try Discord. But we should stick to our agreement if you want your precious somepony to live…” Twilight stared in horror as she heard the killer’s taunt. He had Discord right where he wants, and there was nothing she could do. Discord turned to Twilight, knowing that it was his last. “Discord don’t do it! He’s just trying to turn us against ourselves!” Twilight cried. Discord looked up at the buzz saws, then back at Twilight. Either he shot Twilight or everyone dies. He held up the gun. “Well," he said, smiling one last smile at Twilight, "It’s working.” “DISCORD NO-” *bang* A bright lamp shone on Applejack, lying on the cold concrete floor. “Wake up Applejack…” Applejack shifted her neck. Her entire body ache. “What’s going on?” Applejack whimpered, trying to get up. The voice cackled, “Have you forgotten Applejack? Have you forgotten where you are?” Applejack froze. She remembered. She was still on Blackhoof Mountain. Her friends were still on Blackhoof Mountain. “So you do remember?” The voice teased. “Guess you’re not as dumb as I thought.” Applejack tried to stand up but her forehooves were chained to the ground. Applejack growled. “Why are you doing this?” she shouted at the voice. It continued to cackle. Applejack’s blood boiled as she listened to the maniacal laughter. Another light turned on, several feet away from her, revealing another character. “Rarity!” Applejack ran towards her, but was quickly reminded that she was chained to the ground. Rarity, out of reach her reach, was tied up and sitting above an empty dunk pool, with a noose tied around her neck. Her head was covered with a sack, and Applejack could hear her muffled cries coming from inside of it. The voice spoke. “You've already lost a friend Applejack, it's time to lose another...” Applejack turned around to face the voice. Gallons of blood was rushing to her head, she was unable to respond. “I'm sure you've heard of this game before, even the school fillies play it...” The voice paused. Applejack’s heart pounded rapidly. “Let's play Hang Pony.” Applejack’s heart burst. That moment could only be described as choking on adrenaline. She needed more time to process this. “Wait! Hold on!” Applejack cried, only to be interrupted by the voice. “I’m thinking of a six letter word." The voice announced, "Something that describes your past sins…” “What? No! Please don’t do this!” Applejack’s voiced cracked. “Six letter word,” it repeated, completely ignoring her pleas, “Your past sins…” “Please! If this is just between me and you, let Rarity go! She has nothing to do with this!” Applejack cried. The speakers went silent. Then out came a maniacal roar of laughter. Each moment of laughter grew more and more hysterical, making Applejack extremely uncomfortable. The voice grew darker and scarier. “DON’T YOU REMEMBER APPLEJACK? DON’T YOU REMEMBER WHAT YOU DID TO ME?” it said. “RARITY, FLUTTERSHY, TWILIGHT," it listed. "SPIKE, PINKIE PIE, RAINBOW DASH AND YOU.” Applejack felt her sins crawling upon her, but was unsure of what it was. "YOU WERE ALL THERE..." It said. In an act to defend herself, Applejack shouted back, “What the hay are you talking about?! We never did anything to you!” Applejack did her best to look unintimidated. But she was actually trembling. Out of confusion, anger and fear. The voice laughed some more. "IT WAS THE JOKE OF THE CENTURY! DON’T YOU REMEMBER?” Applejack retaliated. “No! Ah'd never played pranks on anypony! Never! Ah just don’t do that sorta thing!” “C’MON APPLEJACK. YOU CAN'T HAVE POSSIBLE FORGOTTEN. AUGUST 13TH…” "Ah... Ah don't know what yer talking about!" she shouted. The voice remained unfazed. “Time's ticking Applejack…” Rarity’s seat dropped a little, sending muffled screams to Applejack’s ears. “What did we ever do to you?!” The voice scoffed, “Second letter O, last letter E.” What? Applejack strained her mind to come up with something. "Tick Tock Applejack..." the voice continued to taunt. She couldn't think of anything. The more she thought the less it made sense. And at long last, anger overcame her. "WE NEVER DID ANYTHING TO YOU, YOU OVER EGOISTIC PEGASUS!" The echos silenced the room. No one said a thing. Even the voice fell silent. Everything went quiet. Applejack breathed deeply, trying to regain composure. Her face was red with anger. She waited expectantly for the voice to respond. Finally it spoke. “Wrong answer.” The board beneath Rarity gave way, dropping Rarity, and tightening the noose around her neck. Rarity screamed. “Rarity!” Applejack screamed. Everything went black.