Three ponies stood outside in the snow. They stood before a door. Not just any door. No, this door was an old, rusted metal door that creaked a bit when opened. No pony touched it, they only stared. On the surface of this old, rusted door was very new red stain. Still wet and smeared across the handle.
"Vinyl," Octavia gasped as she reached out. She felt it under her hoof as she slowly pulled on the door. The icy winds whipped through her mane one last time as she descended the stairs. She didn't know what she was walking into, but she knew Vinyl was here. She could feel it.
When she reached the bottom she finally saw just how bad it was. Vinyl was laying in the middle of the floor. Her eyes barely open and unfocused. Even from across the room she could see the red pool around Vinyl's midsection. Octavia wanted to run, to run as fast as she could over to Vinyl, but she couldn't. Her body refused to move. Even if it could, she wouldn't reach her.
"So, who might you be?" The voice belonged to a large stallion. He stood front and center among this horror show. Beside him stood five other ponies. Two Pegasus were flexing their wings. Three more Earth ponies showed their own frustrations.
Octavia stood tall and proud, or as much as she could. She didn't want to admit it, but maybe Velvet was right. She really should have brought some more ponies. And this stallion was quite large. But she didn't want to let that stop her. She did everything to suppress that fear.
"I'm here for Vinyl," She boldly stated.
"Again," The large stallion asked. "Who are you?"
He took a few steps forward, towards Octavia. He also stood tall and proud, using his size to try and intimidate her. He stopped moving, though, when he saw a rather familiar face. Standing just a few paces behind her was a male Unicorn.
"Hey," He pointedly stated, "Didn't we deal you already? Didn't we leave you passed out on the floor, like, and hour or two ago?"
Velvet gulped, trying to swallow his nerves. "Yes," He squeaked. "And you might want to think about getting new goons seeing as how I woke in just over an hour." His heart was pounding. Why? Why did he just say that? Why was he antagonizing this monster of a pony?
"Hahahaha," The stallion roared, "Yaknow, I misjudged you. I took ya for a coward, but yer actually pretty funny. Hehe."
"I am here for Vinyl," Octavia stated again, this time a bit louder.
"Yeah, I heard ya the first time," The stallion replied, coming down from his fit of laughter. "Ya can't have her."
"Give her to me," Octavia yelled, unable to contain herself anymore.
"Why should I?"
"She's not moving and she's badly bleeding," Octavia started.
"What, that," He gestured back at her seemingly lifeless body. "She took a fall. A bad one."
"Just let me take her, or-"
"OR WHAT?!" The stallion challenged. "I am tired of everypony getting between me and her! What are ya gonna do?" He was shouting every word with anger as he stepped closer and closer to Octavia. "You got you, the coward turned comedian, and an old mare with ya. What are you gonna do to me?!"
Lydia had been quiet up til this point. She had tried to reason with Octavia same as Velvet, but she was having none of it. She was too caught up in Vinyl to see anything else. The only thing Lydia could do was go with her, and hope that nothing happened. Unfortunately, a lot more was happening than she wanted to.
"Now you hold on there," Lydia piped up as she walked next to Octavia. "You are getting awfully angry there, mister. You want this Vinyl pony so bad, hmm? Well guess what, so do we. And we aren't going anywhere. Now, I may just be an old mare, but even I can see that she isn't worth this much trouble for you. Just give her up. It'll be a lot less trouble for everypony."
Lydia stood as tall as Octavia was, but she was also just pretending. Her legs were shaking even more than hers. But she kept her head held high and her voice calm and clear. She could tell that this stallion was much more brawn than brains, but even he had to be smart enough to see the logic in her words.
"I don't think so." He said back after a second of thought.
"Now see her-" Lydia never got another word out as a hoof came across her face. It wasn't a particularly hard or forceful hit, but it was more than enough to knock her back. Velvet ran up to her right away. She was still conscious, but she was definitely not going to be saying anything for a while. The last thing she saw before looking away was that dastardly stallion with a wicked smile on his face.
"You monster!" Octavia shouted the words. She was done. Done with the chivalry and the politeness. She was past nice and civil. She was done with all of it. She let her emotions take over her. She stepped up to challenge the stallion. "Is that all you know how to do, you brute? Beat down those smaller and weaker than yourself? Are you so dimwitted you cannot see what you do to ponies?"
"You best be quiet," The stallion said with such calm that it almost scared Octavia. Almost.
"NO! I will not be quiet," She shouted. "You have beaten both my friends. You have nearly killed the mare that I love! I will not be quiet while you assault us any longer."
“Love? Love,†The stallion repeated the word, as if trying to figure out what it meant. "Is that why yer here? Your in love with Vinyl?"
Octavia's mouth opened but nothing came out. Her mind was still racing. She said it. She actually said it. Vinyl was so close. Could she hear it? Did she? Octavia's heart was already racing, but now it threatened to burst from her chest. Her cheeks turned red as silence filled the air.
"Ooh, that's rich," The stallion hollered with a laugh, "You came all this way for love? Ha! I'm almost tempted to let ya take her at this point. But I'm thinking you should join her instead."
He raised a hoof. He expected what always happened when he did this. In the seconds before his hoof came down he always saw the same thing. The fear, the panic, that ran through the minds of the ponies. He loved those seconds. He lived for them. But this time they didn't come. He raised his hoof and got a response he never could have expected.
"Do it." A few stray tears fell down her face as Octavia glared up at the stallion. Even behind her tears he could see her anger. He found it unsettling in every way. "Do it," Octavia cried again. "Hitting things is all you know. So do it. If hitting me is the only way I can be close to Vinyl again, then go ahead, and do it."
By now she was crying fully. Tears rained down her face as she yelled at this stallion. Her eyes full of tears, her voice full of anger, her heart full of love. She did not back down. She was no longer afraid.
"HIT ME!"
"NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
A new voice screamed.