//------------------------------// // Fade To Black // Story: Subject 27 // by Phyrexian //------------------------------// Chapter 29 - Fade to Black         At the sight of the gryphon falling over after the prototype healing potion’s side effect kicked in, the Horror desperately tries to regain dominance.         “Calm the fuck down buddy, she’s okay, she’s just sleeping that’s all.” I guess the Horror really did feel as though it had made a pact with the Gryphon.         I bent over and picked the gryphon up; carrying her on my back; draping her front legs over my shoulders, as if I were giving someone a piggyback ride. She’s a lot heavier than a pony, but still nothing compared to how heavy Colt was when I ran through the Everfree Forest with him on my back as Cloud and I raced to Ponyville. But still not a problem for me at all.         I walked through the small camp, stepping over the corpses that now littered it. I can feel my tail occasionally rise up and poke at the sleeping gryphon that’s on my back. I can feel her soft feathers and fur resting against the scales on my back as I walked. Her head rests against the back of my neck. The Horror starts to settle back down as we make it to the treeline again. I feel that if I let anything happen to her from here on out, I might lose control again and I do not want that to happen.         I emerge from the treeline again without any incidents occurring. While I made my way back to the ambush site, I noticed that Nyuel wasn’t standing there waiting for me to come back. She must’ve made her way towards Caesar's palace; most likely expecting me to meet her there. I walk over to where she was standing and found her tracks, they’re still very fresh and it’s going to be easy to follow her.         The Horror’s presence still bearing down on me, like if I was at the bottom of a dogpile, but at least it’s staying relatively calm for the time being. I begin following Nyuel’s trail. After a while, I look up to the sky and I see it’s past dinner time as the sun is starting to hang low in the sky; I better ratchet my pace up a bit if I want to be able to reach the palace before nightfall.         I go from a brisk walk to a steady jog, I don’t know how far away the palace is but I would like to reach it tonight. I increase the speed of my jog as I see the sun start to fall lower and the moon slowly awakening from its slumber, I’m still hot on Nyuel’s trail.  I can feel the gryphon start to stir from her sleep as she rubs her head against my neck.         “W-What happened?” She says, still groggy from her nap.         “The healing potion I gave you has some weird side effects to it, you blacked out right after taking it. By the way, how’s the wing treating you?” She sluggishly moves her right wing.         “Well, It still stings, but atleast I can move it again... Wait... A-Are you carrying me?”         “Yeah, if you like I can set you down and you can walk, it was more convenient for me to carry you.” I start to slow my jog down to a brisk walk.         “No thanks. You know, a girl could get used to this kind of service.” She starts to giggle as she lays her head down on my shoulder, her face resting against the side of my head,         “Okay, just hold on while I run, don’t want you to fall off and hurt your gimpy wing.” I push her up higher on my back as I change the locations of my hands so I may run faster.         “Whoa there!” She yelled in surprise.         “What’s up?”         “Your hands are on my hindquarters! Not going to buy a girl dinner first?” She laughs after her remark.         “Oh! Sorry about that!” I’m a gentleman after all, must not let her feel uncomfortable.         “It’s okay silly, I don’t mind the attention at all!” My tail makes itself known as it brushes up against the side of her face, startling her a little.         “Hey now! Aren't you a friendly little guy?”         “Yeah, I don’t have any control over my tail at all... It acts like it has a mind of its own.” My tail wags its tip, as if it was agreeing with me.         “Wait, you can’t control your own tail?” The tail wags its tip side to side as if it were saying ‘no’.         “Not yet at least, I just got the damn thing today. By the way, what’s your name?” If she’s going to be traveling with me, might as well get to know her.         “My name nickname in the Family is Sure Kill, but everypony just calls me S.K for short.”         “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, S.K. Everyone here has been calling me Demon. I don’t blame them after what I’ve been through and how I look.”         “Demon, eh? That’s a rather badass name to have then.”         “I guess, really don’t care what the locals call me. As long as I’m out of sight, I’m happy. By the way, what’s this about the Family you’ve mentioned?” S.K’s beak drops open and hits my shoulder.         “Have you been living under a freakin’ rock?! The Family is what runs the northern part of Equestria!” Her chest puffs out as she says this, her voice fills with pride.         “You can say that, and I thought the Princess ruled all of Equestria?”         “That’s what they want you to think! But the Family runs the northern part of Equestria, ponies outside the Family call us by the name ‘Black Talon’, since the majority of the higher ranking members are gryphons!” We pierce through the treeline and reach a rather small palace.         “I see... So what does the Black Talon group do?”         “Besides running Equestria? Organized crime and some other odds and ends.” Great, it’s the mafia...         ‘This must be Caesar’s palace; but isn’t it a little too small to be considered a palace? Well, comparing it to the Canterlot Castle, this place is just dwarfed by it. The Palace doesn’t appear to be any less ornate.’ Ignoring this, I enter into the palace. To my surprise there’s no guards patrolling the hallways. I come across a fairly large pair of wooden doors, I press my foot against one and it opens with ease. Stepping into the large room I see Nyuel standing in the middle of it and another zebra sitting on a throne.         “D-Demon! What happened?” Nyuel turns her head and sees me walking into the room.         “The blue haze gave the Horror a chance to take control... It was rather gruesome, but now I’m here.” I come to a stop only a few feet away from Nyuel, my tail slowly creeps across the ground, causing Nyuel to jump back.         “W-What is that!” Fucking tail, such an asshole...         “Long story, it’s my new tail...” Nyuel’s eyes are finally able to move away from the tail as it snakes its way back to me. She looks up to see S.K resting her head on my shoulder.         “And who might be your new friend, Demon?” I lower S.K onto the floor as she asks me this.         “S.K this is Nyuel, Nyuel this is S.K.. Now am I correct to assume that this zebra on the throne is Caesar?”         “You are correct, Demon. Nyuel here has shown me your blessings and has told me what you wish to do and who you work for... I don’t approve of being in debt to one of Nightmare Moon’s minions but if you wish to throw your life away trying to stop the cult that grows stronger by the new sun, than do so. But before you do this I must test you myself.” He raises from his throne and starts to approach me.         “Fair enough!” The Horror wrestles control away from me and drops to all fours and charges at him. *HORROR MODE: ENGAGE!*         Caesar takes a defensive stance. I lunge at him, leaping into the air, he rolls to the left, only to be greeted by my tail. My tail goes for his throat, only to be smacked away by a brush of his hoof. I then swipe at him with my hands, only to be blocked as though could see at least three moves ahead of me. I am becoming very flustered as each attack I try to land is almost effortlessly repelled. I really, really, REALLY want him to hurt, badly.         Caesar switches into more of an offensive stance and dodges my tail like it wasn't even moving. He lands a quick jab-like hit on my horns, disorienting me. Staggering backwards as my tail flails about in front of me, trying prevent him from doing a head-on attack.         “You stupid Horror! You’re not going to come even close on landing a blow on him if you just swing wildly!” I yell in the darkness, but it seems that I’m only yelling into the nothingness. If it weren’t for the fact that I was trapped in a mental prison, I would probably be hearing crickets chirping right about now.         Caesar easily runs up in a frontal attack, dodges the tail as it swings wildly in front of me, his hoof jabs my horns again, making me even more disoriented. The tail comes flying back in on Caesar, he backflips away from me, but one of the spine like blades cuts his hind hoof. Bringing my tail in close, sniffing his blood that coats one of my spines, the Horror purrs as he gets Caesar’s scent. My bloodlust skyrockets as I lick the blood off my spine.         I can feel the temperature in the room slowly drop, making me even more energized. Charging at Caesar as he stands there on one of his hind hooves, jumping side to side trying to make my next move unpredictable. Now in striking range, my tail shoots underneath me towards Caesar, he jumps backwards trying to escape and I tackled him in mid air, sending both of us sliding across the floor. I rear up to bite his neck, only to be kicked in the lower jaw.         Caesar rolls out from under me and strikes me several more times, each one stunning me. I can see my breath hang in the air as the room becomes colder and I become even further energized. I take control back over from the Horror before the stuns wore off. The Horror throws a temper tantrum after I take dominance over it. I doubt I’ll be able to take back control from the Horror after this night...         Caesar lunges at me with his hoof aiming for the back of my neck, my tail interrupts his attack and goes limp. I roll to the side and quickly get to my feet before he could try to strike at me, my tail drags across the ground as it just saved me from a fatal blow. The cold is starting to take effect on Caesar’s body as his movements become sluggish, making it easier to study is fighting style.         I start to close the gap in between us, readying my fist to strike. I notice his shadow become larger with each step I took, I see it taking form behind him as it tries to swallow him whole.         “Look out!” I grab him by his neck and yanked him behind me as the shadow swallows me instead of him.         The shadow quickly covers my body, turning it cold and stiff with each inch it covers. My vision goes black as shadow envelops me completely. - - -         “Welcome home, Fade.” Her icy presence weighs me down like a heavy blanket.                  “S-Subject 27... I’m glad to see you alive and well...” Her words seem a lot colder than before.         “Fade, how have you been? When I came to, no one was there, I was worried about you.” She appears right in front of me, I’m glad to see she’s alright.         “After all you’ve been through, the new... look you have... And your first priority is to make sure I’m okay?” She moves in close, slightly hesitant at first.         “When I woke up Fade, I was scared shitless. Not because I was alone, but because I put my friends in danger and there was nothing I could do abo-.” She places her finger on my lips, stopping me before I could finish.         “Now, now, Subject 27. No need to worry about me, I can take care of myself. But something is bothering me... Your soul... It seems different...” Her finger still rests against my lips, I can tell she’s worried about me, her words filled with genuine sincerity.         “What has happened to you Subject 27? Your delicious soul and your magnificent body are both misshapen and warped now...” I removed her finger off of my lips and place my hand on her shoulder.         “Fade, what I’m about to tell you is go-.” A roar cuts me off, Fade turns her head and sees the Horror.         “And what is that walking pile of excrement?” Her voice no longer felt with caring, but more of disgust and disdain.         “Fade, listen to me, I need you to keep the Horror at bay while I take care of Caesar.” She turns her head back at me, with a smile on her face.         “Anything for you, Subject 27.” She laughs a little before approaching the Horror.         The Horror stands there, just watching Fade as she makes her way to it. The Horror opens its mouth again, only be to silenced by Fade.         “Quiet you!” She backhands the Horror before it could roar.         I don’t know who’s more surprised, me or the Horror, we both just stood there. Fade turns towards me and gives me another smile.         “Go Subject 27, I think the Horror and I have a lot of rules to go over.” I smile back at Fade, glad to see she’s safe and sound before I leave the darkness. - - -         My tail pokes the back of my head until I get to my feet, I turn around to see Caesar sitting back at his throne and Nyuel and S.K both just staring at me.         “Are you well, Demon?” Nyuel finally musters up the strength to break the silence.         “I’m better than okay. But to the matter on hand, Caesar, what say you? Am I worthy enough to go fight the cult?” My tail drapes itself over my shoulder and goes limp, as if it was playing dead.         “You’re an odd one, Demon. Now, explain to me how you survived that evil spirit that was trying to assassinate me?” His comment makes me chuckle, the irony behind a assassin stopping another assassin just seems silly to me.         “Easy, that evil spirit wasn’t able to withstand my superior power, as it entered me I just consumed it; rather tasty little snack if I do say so myself.” Caesar raises an eyebrow at my remark.         “I see. Yes, I deem you worthy to go through your life here in any way you wish. You’ll have no interference from me or any of the tribes. The cult is located in the center of Unyasi, you just need to head further inland and you can’t miss it.”         “Thank you, Caesar. Nyuel, I need you to stay here with him, I can barely control my inner demons and I do not wish to do you any harm if they manage to take control over me.” I make my way to Nyuel as a stern look rests on her muzzle.          “If that is what you wish, then I shall stay here and simply await your return.” Her frown doesn’t lighten up in the slightest.         “I’m sorry Nyuel, I made a promise to keep you safe, and the best way to do that is for you to stay here. Now S.K yo-.” She interrupts me before I can finish.         “I’m coming with you, no matter what you say! That Horror thingy seems like it wants to protect me, and if you leave here without me, who knows what will happen.”         “You took the words right out of my mouth...” Either this girl is really brave, or just stupid. She is right about the Horror wanting to protect her.         “Demon, if you wish, you and your friends may stay here for the night, you might be a minion of Nightmare Moon but I doubt even the night-life around here will accept you with open hooves.”         “Thank you for your hospitality, Caesar.” I bow before him, trying to show proper respect.         “Now there’s something I never thought I might live to see; a demon; a minion of Nightmare Moon bowing before me...” I look back up to see a shocked expression on his face.         “Come on Demon, I’m beat! Let’s go hit the hay and maybe have a little fun before we go out on our death march tomorrow.” S.K turns and starts walking towards the doors that lead out into the hallway.         “Hold on feathered one, we do not even know where these rooms lay.” S.K comes to a quick halt after Nyuel’s words strike home.         “The room is the first hallway on your left, second door on the right. I only have one room currently available to spare, but you’re welcome to use it.” I thank him once more before I left with Nyuel and S.K in tow.         We walked through the main hallway and made our way to the first hallway on the left, we make it to the room and I open the door and step inside. There was no bed, just a large mattress on the ground with four pillows and a few rather large blankets on it. I climbed into bed and tried laying on my back, but tail makes it uncomfortable to sleep on my back; that or I don’t know how to sleep yet with this damn tail. I roll over to my side and my tail coils itself around my leg as Nyuel and S.K both follow suit and lay down.         Nyuel lays down against my back and snuggles up closely to me. S.K plops down right next to me, her back leaning against my chest. her head laying right in front of my face; I can smell the scent of sea air wafting off of her; the scent brings comfort to me as I lay there. The Sandman doesn’t waste a single second before he sweeps me off to my slumber. Credits Editor frieD195