Blaze, having crept up behind Tricky, was holding a tight grip around her throat. A look of helpless anger appeared in Ace’s
eyes. Tricky’s eyes were darting between the two stallions. Blaze’s breath smelled of alcohol, but he didn’t seem to that drunk. He held her tightly around her broken and battered ribs, making her silently scream in agony. She couldn’t move, but she had to admit that she was impressed of how swiftly Blaze had managed to gain the upper hoof, especially if he was drunk out of his wits… Unless…
“You’re not really drunk are you?” she spit out between bared teeth.
“No darling. Now calm down so that I won’t have to hurt you.” Blaze whispered to her whilst grinning at the helpless Ace.
“You planned this, didn’t you?” Tricky hissed. Blaze loosened his grip a bit.
“Of course, Ace and I hold a grudge. Couldn’t let a fair mare get in between could I?” he chuckled. “Well, truth to be told…”
“Bastard! I’ll always cherish the original misconception I had about you.”
Blaze sighed. “Why, that was just uncalled for darling.” He tightened the grip again, Tricky had to rise to the tips of her hooves not to choke.
“Ace!” Blaze’s voice echoed in the room, Aces lip quivered in anger. He was once again sinking into a pit of utter madness.
“YOU!” he yelled. “YOU UNTHANKFUL DONKEY! Ugh! ! What is it with you ponies? I give them everything you want, and yet you hate my guts!”
“You killed my family, ruined my life and her’s,” he motioned to Tricky, who was turning bluer by the second. “you cursed me with a power I never had a chance to control!”
“It was a PRICELESS gift! You’ll be more powerful than the toughest royal guards when you learn to control it.”
“I burned down a whole house,” Blaze hissed back at Ace. A brief memory of flames shot through Tricky’s oxygene-deprived mind. Flames licking Blaze’s body in the village and in the forest.
“What?” Tricky whimpered.
“Argh, you fool!” Ace shrieked at Blaze, all whilst looking helplessly at Tricky.
“Help? Anyone?” Tricky hissed with her last breath. One of her hooves tapped frantically at Blaze’s shoulder.
“Blaze! Calm yourself! We-we can still sort this out… Blaze PLEASE? You’re killing her!”
Blaze looked down on Tricky, she stared back at him with what she hoped was a brave look. Her ragged gasps betrayed her fearlessness of death. Blaze loosened his grip slightly.
“Oops, sorry!” His expression changed to a focused glare. “Now, Ace… I have some requests.”
“Anything!” Both Tricky and Ace shrieked.
“First, I want a safe route out of here…”
Ace glared at him, horn slowly lighting up.
“Ah AH!” Blaze said as he once again took a tighter grip around Tricky. “Wouldn’t want any… Accidents.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Ace hissed like a snake at Blaze.
“Are you ready to take the chance?” Blaze raised an eyebrow at him, clearly entertained by his advantage. Ace’s eyes darted between his daughter and her captor, hesitant.
“FINE, just let her go!”
“All in due time,” Blaze smiled. “secondly, I want bits.”
“Done.”
“Lots of bits. Now!”
Ace pierced him in a murderous glare, but after a few seconds of Tricky’s desperate gasps of breath he gave in. A large bag appeared by Blaze’s hooves.
“Good… I’d say we’re making progress, Acy, huh?”
Ace growled in fury.
“Hold your horses. Thirdly, I’ll take this gal with me until I’m in a safe place-”
“WHAT?” Tricky and Ace glanced at each other, startled by their simultaneous responses.
“-and until you’ve given your word not to chase me, I won’t let her go.”
Ace fell silent. Blaze impatiently glared at him, occasionally looking at the door.
“Time’s running out Ace.” Blaze said and took a little tighter grip around Tricky’s throat. She desperately tried to kick herself free, flapping her wings and legs in every direction but to no avail.
“Ace?” Blaze asked. “I think she wants to breathe.”
Ace let out a growl, mad with anger and helplessness. “FINE. FINE!!! WHY DON’T YOU JUST ASK FOR AN AUTOGRAPH FROM THE PRINCESSES WHILE YOU’RE AT IT?”
“That you come in handy… Yeah sure I’ll take that as well.”
Ace’s jaw fell to the floor.
“Now, chop chop Acy, don’t want to be late, do we?”
Ace’s face slowly contorted into a look of all-consuming madness. Mumbling unhearable insults he turned around and trotted to the door. He opened it and roared instructions to the poor guards. Ace turned around and slammed the door so hard that it actually fell off it’s hinges.
“What are you doing?” Tricky whispered, furious, but intrigued, even though she’d hate to admit it.
“Leave this to the grown-ups, darling.” Tricky sighed at the word. It was really getting on her nerves. If it was in a good or bad way she hadn’t decided yet.
Ace marched back to them, a furious look of sadistic hatred plastered on his features. Blaze backed away from him. “Keep it back Acy.” Tricky could feel something warm lick her back, she glanced back at Blaze. Small flames tickled their bodies. Tricky stared at them, mesmerized.
Ace stopped where he stood, anger spewing from his eyes. He looked at the fire, and a sudden, frightening look of comprehension flashed through his anger. His chest started shaking, Blaze and Tricky stared at him, Tricky felt a small kindle of fear light up in her. Ace’s chest shook in laughter, the wicked sound escaped his rib cage and threw itself out into the air, where it echoed eerily through the room.
“Are you being serious?” Ace asked Blaze. “Out of all mares… HER?” he started laughing again. “That’s just perfect! You went on and fell in love with the one and only mare you knew you shouldn’t? You fell in love with my daughter?!”
Tricky’s eyebrows shot up. What?
“That’s why the fire can’t hurt her?” Ace clapped his hooves. “Bravo, brother. That is just magnificent. Magnificent failure.”
Blaze bit his lip. Shit.
“Take this sad bastard out of my sight!” Ace roared to the room. Tricky lifted her gaze to the high walls. The shadows grew darker and more threatening around them. Ace’s sadistic grin spread from ear to ear, he eyed Blaze who nervously trampled on the spot.
“I’ll do it!” Blaze shrieked to the shadows. “I SWEAR I’ll do it!”
Ace chuckled at his servant. The shadows came lingering down from the walls, menacingly dancing around Blaze’s feet. Tricky let out a small shriek of panic and pressed herself closer to Blaze.
Ace laughed at the two. “Giver her to me Blaze.”
“NEVER!”
“Come on, I know you won’t hurt her. You can’t even if you tried to.”
Tricky felt all the air rush out of Blaze. The shadows came closer and closer every second. Tricky could hear them whispering eagerly.
Ace watched the two struggle. Amusing, that’s what it was. Amusing. Blaze’s helplessness. Tricky’s tries to save herself. Amusing.
“Blaze… There’s no point. She killed your fiancée, whatever her name was. Doesn’t that make you angry? Come on now, hand her over.”
Blaze shot a glare at him, but the words sank deep into his heart. He glanced down on the mare in his arms.
“... NEVER!”
Ace blinked. “What?”
“NEVER! I’LL NEVER LET HER GO.”
Tricky weakly flopped her wings in his tight grip. Whether it was in agreement or in a try to come free he couldn’t tell. But Blaze knew. Never would he let her down again. Sure, Millie was gone. But she’d already been gone for a long time.
Ace’s face twitched in anger. He looked at the shadow that hovered over the two ponies, hesitating. Then, in a calm and sickly twisted voice he whispered:
“Fine.” He nodded slightly at the shadow. “Don’t hurt the mare.”
The whispers from the shadow grew stronger around Tricky, it almost sounded as if they were arguing.
Mine...
Mine…
No!
Take her...
Give it to me...
Let us live...
We want it...
Take her…
The other one...
Take it from her…
Take it from HIM!
Take HER!
She’s ours...
Mine…
Mine...
“What?” Ace asked the shadow. “No, I said don’t take the mare. Take the stallion!” The shadows circled faster and faster around them, Ace backed away from their menacing voices. “NO! The STALLION. OBEY, YOU-”
The whispers grew louder and louder, Tricky couldn’t hear Ace’s angry voice anymore. Beside her, Blaze was panting heavily.
“Darling? I think-” As he spoke, the shadows hissed as one and dove down on the two. Blaze never got to finish his sentence, instead his lungs filled with a scream of agony.
Tricky could feel it too. The shadows ripping them apart one by one until there was nothing left but empty bones.
“NOOOOO!!” Ace’s angry voice echoed through the wall of shadows, but nothing happened.
Tricky felt the weightlessness spreading from her hooves. It was just so easy, just letting it all happen. No problems ever again, no pain nor happiness. Just freedom. Just sweet nothing. And unbearable, endless pain.
She closed her eyes, beside her she felt Blaze fall to the ground.
Don’t leave me!
Tricky let her body go limp and fell back together with her friend. A small weight was lifted off her heart.
Who would have thought death was so… peaceful?
The golden dome over her swam out of view, only the darkness remained. Tricky felt how her ribcage moved on its own, taking one last breath…
“NO!” Ace’s furious face appeared in the dark.
No, no, Tricky thought. Not now! Let me go! I don’t want to stay, just let me die right here, right now!
Hooves nudged her aching body, unwilling to wake up, she just ignored them.
“...Icky? T...Cky?” A voice echoed in her head, unable to understand it, she played dead.
Everything was quiet for a moment, Tricky could feel her body relaxing, but suddenly a wretched scream cut through the peaceful silence.
“ACE YOU FOOL!”
Tricky jolted into a sitting position, the scream had broken every hope of regaining that peace. Ace stood by the table, bent over it in frustration. He once again spewed unhearable words into the air, Tricky watched him in fear as he mumbled. He was so caught up in his madness he hadn’t noticed her waking up.
Slowly, she turned around to Blaze, a small kindle of hope telling her that maybe, just maybe he was okay.
It was far worse than that.
Beside her, Blaze was shaking, tears streaming unhindered from his eyes and every breath seemed to hurt more than the last. With a shaking hoof he clutched his chest. Only fragments of words escaped his bleeding lips.
Tricky felt the world slowly shatter around her. Everything was drained of color, the only sound she could hear was Blaze’s short pained breaths. Her skin suddenly felt cold and numb, the darkness around her confusing and dangerous. Her own breathing grew quicker, her heart seemed to have stopped. She didn’t feel alive. Maybe she wasn’t?
Her jaw shook, trying to make words but her brain wasn’t co-operating. Her mind was frozen in fear and confusion. Blaze twisted on the ground, his blood-shot eyes found Tricky’s. A flash of recognition lit up his agonized face.
“D-d-da…” he could barely stand the pain talking caused him, Tricky fell down on her knees before him. “D-dar-darling…” Tricky let out a gasp of sadness, but she was smiling. Blaze swallowed his own blood, the iron taste made him wince, but he continued best he could.
“Darling… My heart- ARGH!” Blaze voice was cut off by his own gasp of pain, his whole body shook trying to keep on living. A tear fell from Tricky’s eyes onto his cheek. “My heart… It BURNS-AARGH!!!”
Tricky turned to Ace, fury burning stronger than fire in her heart.
“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” she saw Ace slightly shrink under her anger, but she was far from done with him. “HOW could you? He did everything you asked him! He only wanted to safely get away from us! US?!”
She lifted her wings and rose in the air so that she could stare bitterly down at the cockroach in her shadow. “Can’t you see what this has come to? It wasn’t like this in the beginning! WHY did you have to go murder all those ponies?! They were innocent, they didn’t even threaten us in any way!”
Ace stared up at his daughter, defiant. He didn’t have to listen to her ramblings! Daughters were to listen to parents and obey. Not rebel. She had to be reminded of her place.
Over his head Tricky continued listing every single disgusting detail she could find about him.
“You DISGUST me, you don’t even kill because it’s necessary, you just kill to see the despair in your victim’s eyes! Who, WHO does that? I hope that you watched your mother die or something, because there is no way you went cuckoo just because of a mare.” Tricky could feel the rage building up in her spine, all ready to strike down on the pityful little fucking bastard and barbecue him on the spot. Every single reasonable thought just vanished from her body, she was more than ready to just dive down and bit that fucker’s face off.
She wanted nothing more than destroy him and make him feel. Feel absolutely everything she’d felt. Feel her disgust when she saw him. Feel all the nauseating feelings of love, friendship just so that she could crash it all. Just so that he’d know what he’d done.
In her fit of madness, she realized how easy it would be to unleash her rage if she was a unicorn. Just one beam of rage, and Ace would only be a pile of ash at her hooves.
“You…” Tricky felt laughter rising in her throat. “YOU, YOU FUCKING IMPERIOUS TWAT! YOU’RE A VILE WASTE OF SEED, YOU DINGUS!!!”
Ace’s expression changed from surprise to disgust and then to boiling rage. Tricky just continued shrieking everything that came to her.
“YOU’RE NOTHING BUT A HARE-MINDED PIECE OF FECES!!! YOU SIMPLY CAN’T ALLOW ANYONE JUST A LITTLE, A LITTLE ITSY-BITSY BIT OF HAPPINESS, CAN YOU? GRUMPY OLD DONKEY, I HOPE YOU DIE ALONE AND IN THE GUTTER! I wouldn’t wish that on anyone normally, BUT YOU, YOU DESERVE IT!!!”
“Stop with these silly insults infant! What’s happened to my little foal? You used to be so much fun!” Ace smiled at her, so full of himself Tricky could see the shit spewing out of his ears.
“Fun? FUN? FUN YOU SAY? LIKE YOU? YOU THINK IT’S FUN TO MURDER PONIES AND TORTURE THEIR FAMILY INTO MADNESS???”
“Calm yourself, I remember quite clearly that that was your favorite hobby.”
“I think I might actually enjoy murdering your friends, if you had any!”
Ace shook his head in disappointment.
“What in the name of Celestia has changed? Ah, don’t tell me… Was it that bastard I sent after you? Did he make you go all mushy inside?” Ace made a cry-foal face at her.
“STOP IT!” her voice cracked, a drop of humiliation managed to tear into her rage-roasted heart. Ace’s grin didn’t make it any better. He smiled at her in the most annoying understanding way, as if he thought he even had a chance…
“Tricky Tricky, he’s just a pawn on our big board of chess! More fish in the sea, dear.” he trotted over to where Blaze lay writhing in pain. “Do you really think he is worthy of a royal like you? He can’t even defend himself.” Ace lifted one of him hooves, Blaze helplessly watched as it came stomping down his battered face.
“NO!!!”
Tricky’s scream bounced from the walls together with the sound of cracking bones. Blaze’s wail of terror and agony replayed over and over again inside her head.
Ace lifted his hoof from the bloody mess that had been Blaze’s skull. He looked down on it, disgusted by the small pieces of bloody brain and tried drying it off on Blaze’s coat.
Tricky’s mind was unnervingly clear, but her body didn’t respond. Her wings flopped like paper plates in a hurricane. She crashed into the wall, the pain did nothing to wake her body. The ringing in her ears was accompanied by Blaze’s screams, it felt like someone had super-glued earphones to her head and was replaying that one sound over and over and over again. Her vision started blurring at the edges too, she couldn’t see Ace bending over her, whispering something. All she could see was Blaze’s bloody face and brain matter spreading out on the floor.
An image flashed through her mind.
A dark room. Millie’s limp body stretched out over the floor like a rug.
It’s happening all over again.
Tricky couldn’t breathe. Every time she tried her guilt and misery strangled her a little more. Maybe she would die too, from shock?
Ace’s hoof appeared under her chin. She refused to look at him, her glazed eyes were fixed on the dead body. An angry voice echoed faintly in her empty head. Ace’s probably.
She felt her lips moving, but couldn’t tell if she actually said anything. Blaze’s eyes stared up at her from the floor, she could see a tear glimmering on his cheek.
“Why did you do that?” the voice that came from her mouth was that of a stranger. “I-I don’t understand, he was just… Wha-?” Tricky suddenly felt her stomach wriggle like a worm, a powerful wave of nausea made her bend over. A transparent liquid gushed from her mouth like an upside down geyser.
Every convulsion made her throat burn, her tears blinded her, her hooves shook, it felt like someone was spinning her head around and around until it was going to snap off.
Ace distanced himself from her. A pearl white handkerchief appeared before his nose as he looked down on the ruined carpet. He really loved that carpet. Stolen from a traveler from Saddle-Arabia, it was worth more than a little house.
“Why?” a tiny voice snapped him out of his thoughts, back to the dead stallion in his dining room and the nauseating sight of his daughter, kneeling over the traitor, covered in her own puke. Ace sighed and scratched his horn. I really need to learn how to control my… Impulses, he thought.
Coolly, he answered, “Just because.” With that he turned away and marched to the table. Realizing how foalish he sounded, he added, “He was really annoying.”
Tricky puckered up her eyebrows. “What?” her voice rose into a panicking pitch as she spoke. Her heartbeat peaked, everything in her brain froze instantaneously. “I-wha? Th-there was the fire and then he just…” as Tricky kept on rambling Ace rolled his eyes. Things had suddenly got too complicated for his taste. The mare continued, her scared eyes jumped between Ace and the body.
“But you- that wasn’t his fault… And then yo-you told them, those monsters… And he-he’s not moving… Oh my Celestia, he’s not moving, is he dead? Tell me he’s not dead, he can’t be. H-he said… he told me… Wake him up, please?” Tricky grabbed Ace’s leg, who let out a small disgusted grunt. “Please, just… Could you just nudge him? Tell him he can’t be dead, so he has to wake up. Tell him I’m scared, will you do that? Please?”
Ace stared down at his daughter, shocked. This time’s she’s really gone bonkers, he thought. This wasn’t good at all, his agenda would be thrown off by a week if she didn’t get herself together before tea.
Down on the ground things weren’t looking too good though. Tricky had crept over to Blaze, a hopeful smile twitching in the corners of her mouth.
“Blaze!” she threw herself to the ground beside him.
Ace sighed and facehoofed, but Tricky didn’t seem to notice.
“Blaze! You scared me, please don’t do that again. I thought you’d left me, but I know. I know you’d never do that.”
Ace stared down at her, almost horrified. Goodness gracious!
“Look Blaze, I know we had a falling out earlier, but I’m really sorry. I promise you I’ll never do that again, ok? Please don’t be mad at me. I can’t stand it.”
Ace turned around, a feeling of confusion and horror grabbing him. She’s really over the brink this time… He looked around, trying to figure out a way out of the mess. Then, his eyes fell on a cheese knife that had fallen from the table. Slowly he picked it up.
Well, honestly, it would probably be the most merciful way out, said a little voice in his head.
No! replied another. We still have time, if we just leave her be for a while, she’ll be just fine! She’s used to us doing these sorts of things. Remember the time we burned up her doll? She actually improved after that!
The first voice answered venomously, Don’t you remember what happened when we took her father, Darius? That was quite glorious failure on your part.
Shut up Finch! the first voice shrieked. Besides, we’re missing the point here. This is all the fault of that fickle featherbrain Pierre.
Moi? a heavily accented voice asked. W’ateverrr did I do now?
It’s alway the prench, Finch laughed, Darius chuckled in agreement.
Ah, vraiment? You ahre encore mad about zat time I took cahre of zat little brat Fancy Pants? It was unbearrable! Ze way he looked down on us!
The two others remained silent. Pierre carried on, Ah! I zee ‘ow it iz. You do not appreciate my opinions anymohre, eh? Oh you americans, you nauseate me! Oh, quels bâtards!
British, Pierre, I’m not one of those narcissistic brutes! Darius sighed.
Oh, that was just uncalled for, Finch argued. Do you speak Germane, Darius?
No, and you know I don’t. If you’re going to say that ridiculous-
No? Well you’re welcome! Finch laughed wickedly, Darius just sighed.
Ace listened to the two voices arguing back and forth, Pierre eventually retired back to his part of the brain, mumbling something about “Zpoiled brocoli”.
He sighed, trying to banish them back to the depths of his mind, but the fight was growing fiercer and bloodier by the second.
Finch! How dare you call me a snob? I am by no means a snob, just because I’m refined doesn’t mean-
Oh, Darius, you’re just too much of a wimp to admit being wrong. The mare has to go, and she has to go now. As in like, right now right now.
Broccoli!
Darius sighed, clearly annoyed by the other’s foalish demeanor. NOT now, Bane. Let the stallions talk this through.
She RUINED the broccoli! the voice named Bane growled.
Not this again, Bane! Finch facehoofed. It was bad enough the last time you came out, aren’t you supposed to be taking like a vacation or something?
Holiday, Finch, it’s called a holiday.
Whatever, wi-
BROCCOLI!
Bane!
Shut your trap!
Ace shook his head, trying to shake out the voices. He really couldn't stand them anymore, all their ridiculous quarrels made his head ache.
What should he do? He couldn’t really kill Tricky, could he? He’d been looking for her for a month, just to throw all that time away would be irritating, to say the least.
See, Finch? Ace here is the only one with a little sense between his ears!
You seem to have forgotten why we’re here, Darius. We’re here because he’s weak, he needs us to tell him what to do.
“Oh shut up!” Ace spoke out loud. He could feel the voices frowning down at him.
Ace! even Darius was disappointed. We’re here to help you. You’re wrong you see. We’re right.
You unfaithful little prick! Here you are, lecturing them about being thankful when you’re the worst of them all!
You‘re a disgrace to the noble name of this family!
“Get out, get out… Get out! Leave me be I tell you!” Ace held his head tightly, the migraine growing worse and worse.
A small whimpering sound made the voices fall silent. Ace jerked around, cheese knife in his hoof and a slightly mental expression on his face. Tricky had burst into tears over the dead fellow’s body, Ace couldn’t remember his name anymore. Something to do with “F” he thought.
Tricky slowly rose up. She was sobbing, but the pain had already subdued under her growing feeling of rage.
“They didn’t even take his cutie mark.” she whispered. Ace cleared his throat.
“What did you say, dear?”
Tricky closed her eyes, everything inside her burned. Not necessarily in rage, a reasonable amount of it was sadness, desperation, confusion… But rage was what burned the strongest.
Rage was weird. It burns like love, destroys equally. It ends the same way, really. Either in fulfillment or a feeling of hollowness and waste.
So maybe she did it out of love. Not for Ace, but for Blaze.
She hit Ace as hard as she could. Right in the soft spot. Ace doubled over, he winced in pain. The sound made her smile. God it feels good!
Ace looked up at her under his frown.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance,” Tricky hissed, looking at the knife by his side. Ace scoffed.
“That wouldn’t have served my greater agenda,” he stood up, raising himself high over Tricky. “However now…” he continued with an evil grin. Tricky glanced back at Blaze, the rage fired up again.
“You villanous folly-fallen footlicker!” she shrieked. Ace actually laughed at this.
“Creativity, Tricky. I like it! I could use something like that…” he scratched his chin, already planning their next heist. He could see the headlines before him, but Tricky’s outburst cut off his chain of thought.
“You’re garbage that kills for nothing! And now you want MY help with something? You back-stabbing, dirt-brained, inbred, two-faced, filthy, sack of refuse!”
“You do realize you just insulted yourself?” his eyebrows shot upwards. “You’re probably the most inbred of us all, apparently you have either two uncles or two fathers…”
“You’re not my father, you’re just sick and lonely!”
Ace just rolled his eyes.
She wasn’t this dense before was she? Finch wondered.
Tricky felt the anger burn, the power gushed through her veins. All the anger, the excess power… she had to get it out. On anyone, anything…
“You’re a freak.” she said with so much hate and venom she could muster, all whilst giving him the glare of her life. Ace just chuckled.
“I’m no freak. I’m just ahead of the curve, darling.”
Tricky’s heart stopped.
“What did you say?”
“You heard me, darling.” he smiled at her, reaching after the cheese knife. Tricky’s eyes stared at him, disbelief and confusion dancing inside her.
“You don’t have the right!!!” she growled as she threw herself at him. “YOU MONSTER! Ahead of the curve? REALLY?”
The punch was too sluggish, she felt it as soon as she’d launched it. Ace ducked it easily. Before Tricky had the time to turn around, Ace had bucked her right between the wings. The kick expelled all the air in her punctured lungs. She fell to the ground. Behind her Ace was just getting pumped up. He jumped from leg to leg, adrenaline gushing through his veins.
“Phew, I do miss a good fight!” he walked up to Tricky where she lay panting. He carefully stepped on one of her wings. Tricky jerked up, only hurting herself worse. She refused to make a sound. Ace chuckled.
“You’re too proud, and too confident.” he whispered into her ear. Tricky just bit her lip in frustration. Ace stepped off her wing. Tricky flexed it, making sure nothing was broken. She rose to her hooves, glaring at Ace over her shoulder.
“That’s thick, coming from you!” she took one step forward with every word. At the last one she threw herself onto Ace’s back, pulling his hair with her teeth. Ace unwillingly shrieked. He shook his head and bucked as violently as he could. Tricky flew off his back and hung from Ace’s bangs. Their eyes met, Ace’s bulged with rage. Tricky stared back at him defiantly.
Ace’s horn lit up, and suddenly Tricky was flying through the room. The second hit made her eyesight go blurry. She coughed up a mouthful of blood on the carpet. She shook her head. On the other side of the room Ace cursed.
“You fight like a cow.” he spat out. He walked over to her, anger spewing out of his eyes. Tricky took shallow gasps, she stared up at Ace.
Come on now, chap! Do it! Kill her! the urging voices of Finch and Darius echoed in his head, egging him forward.
Ace grunted, and took a fast grip around Tricky’s throat. He took the cheese knife and pressed it under her chin.
“You know, I’ve never used a knife before.” he said, watching his own, cold, reflection in the steel. She gazed up towards the sky, gasping for breath. Ace continued. “ A shame actually, because I’m already having fun.” Tricky blinked, she couldn’t make out his words.
“J-just kill me already.”
“Tricky, Tricky…” Ace sighed and removed his hoof. “I take no pleasure in taking life from somepony who doesn’t care about it. I believe,” he said whilst rising to his hooves. “we should take another dance.”
With this he punched Tricky in the face. She moaned, warm blood gushing from her muzzle.
“Come on, darling! Get up from there already!”
Tricky glared at him under her blood stained mane. She pushed herself off the ground, but Ace slammed a hoof into her jaw. The horrible sound of teeth shattering echoed through her head. She landed into a fallen chair.
“You’re no fun! You used to put up quite a fight... I miss that Tricky.” Ace put his hoof under her bruised chin, lifting her head so their eyes met.
“Ugh… Go to hell.” She spat out another mouthful of blood, making sure it landed on Ace’s golden fur.
Ace chortled. “Not so creative anymore, are we?” he pushed her head out of his sight. She fell to the floor like a limp piece of meat. Her head was still spinning like a broken carousel. Anger boiled inside her, all because of her own helplessness and inexperience.
Suddenly she caught a glimpse of something by the wall. Ace had left the knife on the floor. She glanced at Ace, now making his way to the other side of the room.
Desperate as she was, she crawled over to the knife, hoping Ace wasn’t going to turn around and see her. She grabbed the knife just in time, as she turned to face the room Ace was strolling back.
“Giving up already?” he bent down over her battered face, voice seeping in sickly sweet confidence.
“We’ll see…” she whispered, looking deep into his left eye, before planting the knife into his right one. Ace shrieked like a little filly and jerked away from her. Tricky felt her rage purr like a cat. She rose to her hooves, hovering over the bent-over Ace.
With a swift slash she’d cut his left foreleg, Ace glared up at her, cursing between his clenched teeth.
“Bitch.”
Now it was Tricky’s turn to chuckle.
“That’s not very creative, Ace.” With that she bucked him as hard as she could in the gut. Ace skid backwards, fury spewing from his eyes.
“It is on, darling.”
A silver plate came soaring through the air. She didn’t have enough time to duck. She felt it cut into her flank. Another plate hit the wall behind her. Tricky looked at Ace, he was once again smiling wickedly, an army of plates lining up from the cupboard.
The stink of sweat itched her nose, but she couldn’t take her eyes off Ace. They were having some sort of sick staring contest. She was just waiting for him to take the first step. Ace stood before her, as full of himself as always, surrounded by plates ready to cut her in half. Suddenly the knife didn’t offer as much protection as she’d wished for.
She glanced to the table, if she could only get to it before Ace unleashed his little silver army…
The silence stretched out, Tricky felt a drop of sweat dribble into her eye. She blinked.
That’s when Ace unleashed hell. One after one, the plates dove into the wall. Tricky threw herself behind the chair. One of the plates cut off a piece of her tail. Ace’s laugh echoed through the room.
“A little hide and seek, eh, Tricky? I really do hope you have some better trick up your sleeve. Things aren’t really looking too bright for you.”
Tricky heard another plate digging into the chair. She had to get to the table, from there to the door or the glass dome… It was just the in-between that was the hard part.
She dared to glance over the top of the chair. Ace was running out of plates. Most of them were buried in the wall behind her. This was her chance. Without wasting another second behind the chair she sprinted off towards the table. She heard plates flying through the air. Just as she skid behind the table a plate scratched her hoof. The pain didn’t really register at first, but as soon as she put weight on it, stars blinded her eyesight.
“Fuck!” she looked down on it. the wound was so deep she could see her own bone. The sight made her sick, a cascade of puke spewed out.
Ace heard the sounds of liquid-on-expensive-carpet, and he was almost pleased he’d actually hit his prey. If it hadn’t been for the carpet. He approached the flipped over table, but one of his own silver plates flew back at him. It was off by at least a meter. He watched it fall to the ground, and to his satisfaction, he saw blood dripping from it.
She’s weak, the voices said. Take her!
I still think it’s a horrible idea- said the voice of Darius from some deep corner of his mind, but it was muffled by the shouts and commands by the others.
Take her!
She’s ours,
Kill ‘er already!
Take back what belongs to us!
Mine!
Mine!
Tricky knew she wouldn’t be able to walk anymore, not without spending a week in a hospital at least. And that was only if she ever got out of here alive. She felt the sunlight warm her sweaty body. The dome over her head shone in a golden color, similar to that of Ace’s coat, but colder. If she could fly through it… Well, that’d only be possible if Ace didn’t have any plates left…
Too many “if” s for her taste, but it was the only way out. She had to fly. It was that simple.
“Tricky, Tricky… Come on out and plaaay!”
She took one glimpse over the table. Ace saw her at once, he took a risk and threw his two remaining death-plates at the lock of red hair he’d glimpsed. One of them went straight through the table.
Silence filled the room. For a short moment he thought he’d hit his target. Finch and Bane were cheering somewhere in the back of his head.
But then a white blur of red mane and white feathers flew up from behind the table. Ace growled in anger, he watched in slow-motion how Tricky shot upwards. He launched himself forward like a rabid dog, a sling of spit flying out of his mouth as he buried
his teeth into the moving mass of red and white.
“Aiiee!!!” the roots of her hair were being ripped out of her skull. It felt worse than the silver plates. Ace chuckled cruelly, without letting go of her mane. Tricky spun around in the air, tears flowing. Everything around her flew past in a blur, her mane painfully pulled up her eyelids. She looked up at the dome. With a scream of agony she pulled up, heading for the light. Ace muttered a snide remark, but as he saw the approaching glass he screamed.
Both he and Tricky banged straight through the glass and into the cool evening air. The splitters cut into their flesh and a trail of blood followed them. The two whimpered in pain as they spiraled up and up and up, high over the clouds. Ace let out an unwilling wail as he saw the ground fall away.
“Puth. Mii. DFWN!”
“Let me go! Asshole!”
Ace made an indignant sound. His horn lit up. Tricky watched in fear as the tip began to shine brighter and brighter.
“NO!”
Tricky felt how a beam of enraged magic singed her feathers. Another beam cut off her fringe, Ace was shooting wherever his horn pointed, panicking. The hairs on her head were being ripped out, one by one, and the pain had grown unbearable. Tricky screamed as hard as she could. Probably everyone in Canterlot heard her.
Ace was breathing faster than normal, his pulse sky-rocketed as Canterlot disappeared. The voices in his head has suddenly fallen silent, everything in his brain was empty. But some part of him was going completely hysterical. His pupils dilated and he clung on harder than he ever had to his daughter.
“LEMME GO!!!” she shrieked.
She pulled her wings close to her, for a moment they hung still in the air. Then they started falling. Ace went berserk. He grabbed one of her wings and clutched it tight, ruffling the feathers in every direction. He started shrieking like a filly, for the first time, he actually feared for his life.
Fear spread through Tricky like a virus does. Her mind went on overload and she cursed herself for everything. For Blaze, for Ace, for being an idiot, for ever walking out of that forest alive. Franticly she flapped her wings, but as Ace was tightly embracing one of them. All she could do was watch the ground thundering towards them.
“FLY! FLY, YOU CHICKEN!!! FLY!!!” Ace wailed in her ear, his voice broke several times, just like Tricky’s did when she was nervous.
“I CAN’T! YOU HAVE TO LET GO!!!”
“LET GO?!?!”
The ground was approaching faster and faster, Ace thought his heart would stop before he’d hit the ground.
Then, an idea came to him. He grabbed Tricky’s waist and somehow pulled himself over her, so that he sort of sat on her back.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING? LET ME GO!!!”
“Only one of us has to die, Tricky.” he said, the sickly sweet voice back to it’s normal crawling sound. “And you have to honor of being my pincushion.”
“YOUR WHAT???” furious, she grabbed Ace’s head and tried pushing him back under. In turn, Ace grabbed her other wing and they spun and spun and spun around in the air. Every second they fought the ground approached. Tricky saw the roofs and spires, the busy streets filled with frightened ponies, before they hit the ground.