“What was her name? Ribbon Gaze? Crane Maul? Trawl Paul? Cave Paw?” Paradise flicked its eyes up at me. “Rainfall?” I turned my head upwards. “You know that chest wounds are quite painful. Especially when they go upwards through the stomach. Then they’re just downright abysmal. The face she made was splendid, just splendid. I won’t forget her face. Well, until lunch at least.” Paradise licked its lips as it moved its stolen eyes up and down my form.
I was shaking violently, similar to how Rainfall had been the previous Night. My thoughts were hateful and turned towards the being that was completely at my mercy. The thorns accessorizing my dark tendrils dug deeper into Paradise’s midsection. A few pricks of blood began to flow down to the ground as the crushing force drove in a little deeper.
“You do not speak her name.” My voice was a harsh whisper, hardly audible against the gusts of wind. “You do not have the right to speak her name. You who killed her shall not desecrate what she was. I will not allow it.” If I had been trembling anymore I would have caused a tremor.
Paradise gave a vile smirk. The pressure increased on the vines, causing the thorns to dig deeper into its loose skin. Paradise winced, but continued smiling through the pain.
“I think she mumbled-ugh-” Paradise blanched as the thorns dug deeper. “-Your name a couple times. But you were too lost looking at my body, too lost in your own mind. Then you lost her. Kind of ironic when you think about-” Another wince and a grunt of pain plagued it. “-it.” Paradise let her sharp eyes pierce my own. So sharp, but so empty... “And more than a little funny!” Paradise attempted a laugh, but with the pressure on her chest was only able to manage a strangulated chortle.
One sign of nervousness, frustration, or any other strong emotion in a pony is usually a small twitch on one of their appendages. My entire body was twitching. “Do you find the infliction of discomfort funny? Is that how you see this world? Do you like pain? Then I shall show you pure agony!!!”
I pressured the spell even more so, allowing it to continue at a rate fast enough so that Paradise would be subject to tremendous pain, but slow enough so that it would be able perceive its own fate. I saw it grit its teeth through the smile, unwilling to show me any weakness. Its eyes still bore into mine, but I am sure that mine had the same affect on its mind as its did on mine.
Paradise brought out its tongue and licked its lips in a long circular motion. “You’re filled with so much fury. Uncontrolled, unbridled, unadulterated, fury. You lust after blood, same as I. You just don’t embrace it the same way I do.” Paradise tilted its head to one side. The pained smile, gaunt frame, mismanaged mane, and mad look in its eyes truly portrayed the insanity and sadistic nature it had shown me over the previous Night.
“You are mistaken if you believe us to be similar, foul creature.” I said.
“Am I really?” Paradise’s response was quick, almost automatic. The mask fell away leaving behind an expression of indifference. “Yet our roles have switched have they-ugh-not? It seems that I am in the position you once filled. The captive, the one at the mercy of my captor. And you are now the captor, a merciless brute who does not only plan to kill me but to torture me beforehand. You call me insane for finding solace-ugh-in murder and torture, yet here you are finding comfort in the same exact thing. So what, pray tell, is so different between you and I?” The worn-out masquerade of insanity assumed its position upon its features once again.
“In fact, I would say you are far worse then me.” The strained grin grew even wider, despite the amount of pain the creature was undergoing. “This is considering that I haven’t kil-ugh-led you once, and this will be the second time that you’ve killed me. Simple math indicates you’re a monster.” An attempt at laughter was made, but the increasing pressure on its chest only allowed for a few choked breaths.
I took pause for a moment. The logic behind what Paradise said did hold true, I was now in the position where I could show mercy, where I could give back. But doing so would result in more death, more pain. I could not just let this being off. No, I had to do this, there was no choice.
“Perhaps you are correct in your theory.” I said eyes falling to the ground. “Perhaps I am no different than you, a simple beast. A monster who is bred to kill. One based on instinct, one that only strives after survival. But there is a key difference between us.” Paradise raised its eyebrows, causing a few strands of its new mane to fall in front of its face.
“I serve to ensure the survival of others- not only myself. If I, a beast, am destined to be such then I am a beast at their disposal. A loyal beast.” Paradise still maintained the agonized grin. “There will be no mercy for you, nor I. We shall both die as mongrels, whether it be now or ten-thousand years from now.”
Paradise let out another quake of choked breaths. “Exactly. You and I are just slaves. You to your pathetic ‘loyalty,’ and I to the truth of survival. We are Beasts, created to fight for an unimportant cause. so you see how redundant it all is don’t you? Why murder, and blood-thirst, and torture are such intense, passionate sources of enjoyment?” The creature winced but never gave a grunt through its impassioned speech.
I blinked once and looked up. A allowed myself a small, sad smile. Paradise smiled back and continued, “Such horrendous acts, committed for no apparent reason...that is why I love performing them. They are, in truth, the ultimate forms of expression. A baseless form of insanity that has no reason, requires no reason, in a world full of justification. They are acts that don’t require the permission of a higher authority in a world which tries to control everything we do! I do not require a reason to kill, I merely need to possess the means!” Paradise spoke with a fire, one that had been nursed for centuries, maybe millennia.
“It is not my purpose, nor is it a hobby, nor an art. It is merely what it is: pain. And it is beautiful...” Paradise’s voice dragged off into the wind, which was slowly picking up. Its pained smile had been replaced by a distant and experienced smirk. It looked skyward as if the Moon would give it the answers it sought.
I gave a snort. Paradise once again turned its attention towards me. Only this time it bore a look of genuine curiosity. “And what, exactly, are you laughing at-” Another increase of pressure caused Paradise to wince. It would not be much longer before the being was completely drained.
“I laugh at you. I laugh at your pathetic attempts to teach me. If my actions are only out of a slavery to duty then so be it. I can live with being a monster. I have for a long time. However, all I said before was that you and I are beyond mercy. I did not say the same for the rest of Equestria.” I said.
“What is your point?” Paradise sneered at me, all the while maintaining a smile (quite the feat).
I looked up at Paradise, mane slightly disheveled from all prior events and wounds aching. “You inhabit the body of somepony I am sworn to protect. No, somepony I am enslaved to protect. For them I show mercy, for them I allow life.”
I withdrew the thorns from my spell. The minuscule river of blood flowing from each wound were damaging, but it was not so much lost blood as to cause serious injury or death. The crushing weight of the tendrils lifted slightly so that they continued draining Paradise of its magic, but did not crush its stolen body.
Paradise blinked a few times. “Wha-what are you doing!?!” The weakness in its voice told me how dangerously low its magic was running.
I swallowed down the lump in my throat and rubbed a hoof over Rainfall’s mane. “I am withdrawing the more lethal aspect of my spell. Once again, you inhabit one of my subjects. By threatening your body I threaten hers. That is something I am not willing to do. Besides, It would make you far too happy to know that you tormented another soul in your final moments.”
Paradise blinked a few times. It seemed to have trouble processing that I could possibly show mercy. “You’re willing to give up your vengeful thoughts, just to save the wretch who summoned me in the first place?” The corners of its mouth began to fall.
“Yes I am. If I am to be a slave to anything, then let it be my ponies. I shall cast aside spiteful thoughts of a vindictive nature. My motives give me base to protect my ponies, not harm them. I shall not fall to your level.” My voice was resolute. I did not know Rainfall’s mother, nor was I sure she was even alive anymore, but that did not matter.
Paradise was silent for a moment. The frown on its face was quite intense. The brows on its face were furrowed and its mane drug over half of its face. Short, fiery
breaths escaped its lungs.
“No.” Was what eventually escaped its lips. “You shall not defy destiny. You shall not defy the base rules of survival, nor the aspects of reason. You shall not be the lesser of two evils! You shall not deny yourself revenge. Kill me. Come on! Do it! KILL ME!!!” Paradise screamed the words, practically foaming at the mouth.
I kept my stare solid and cold. “I shall do no such thing.” It went against every bone in my body to do this, but I could not lay waste to my subjects every time something as petty as revenge goaded me. The tendrils began to withdraw, the final bits of Paradise were being drained away.
“YOU SHALL NOT DENY ME MY MADNESS!!!” Paradise’s nostrils flared and its veins bulged. Then in an instant the last of Paradise’s magic drained away. It was done. My tendrils released the body of Rainfall’s mother and she fell to the ground unceremoniously.
I lifted myself out of my sitting position and stumbled over to the body on three legs as I was still using one to cradle Rainfall. I had no energy left to cast a telekinetic spell. I sat beside her mother’s body, which did not appear any worse for wear. I could not think then, there was nothing left for me to express, I suppose.
A green light began to form above the body of the mare, small lines connecting it to her body snapping loose like cables. It was a sphere. A sphere of green light. Perhaps the remains of Paradise. Perhaps the remains of its power. Who knew. It would just be another mystery. And that was alright. sometimes the world needed mysteries-
In an instant so sudden, a voice pierced the air. “Next time I will kill you.” It was a low voice, harsh, but familiar. “And I can guarantee you that it will not be a swift matter. Au revoir, Miss Luna, au revoir. Next time I shall take care to properly sate my appetite.”
There was a pause for a moment, a second or two where the the orb just hovered there, illuminating the small clearing. “Also you smell funny.”
The small green orb disappeared, presumably back to the Rift, carrying the vile being along with it. I sat for a moment, cradling the lifeless body in my arms and staring at that mare, splayed across the grass.
Then I blacked out...