//------------------------------//
// Chapter Sixteen: Blood and Dust. 
// Story: A Demon's Second Chance 
// by Perfectly Insane 
//------------------------------//

I slowly stood up, reluctantly letting go of the bed as splinters dug into the palms of my hands. Even with the stinging pain, the sticky sensation between my fingers was impossible to ignore. It somehow felt worse than before, like I’d stuck my hands into a pot of goo until I touched the bottom. 

I bit the inside of my cheeks as I clenched my fist, nails stabbing into my palms with as much force as I could muster. It hurt a lot, but couldn’t overshadow the feeling of blood that’s not there. 

I hated it so much. 

Fluttershy walked around the bed, stopping behind me in dreadful silence. 

“You know you can tell me anything, right?” she said, followed by a flickering noise as one of her wings uncurled. “Please, I want to listen. I can’t do that if you don’t want to talk, Chara.” 

Her wing touched my shoulder, gently and barely more than a feather, but it struck a chord of terror in me. I sharply inhaled and jumped forward, out of her reach, with my arms wrapped around myself like a frightened child. 

“I’m…” I stuttered, finding myself cold despite the warmth of the room we were in. “sorry.” 

Once again, I’d failed her. 

I failed all of them. 

I convinced Twilight to listen to me, to go along with my plan. Then I led Applejack and Limestone right into the jaws of their death, when I could have talked them out of it, or at least tried to. Instead, I went along with it. I knew the diamond dogs were out for blood, but I wanted to understand why they were there. To know them better. 

My curiosity got them killed. 

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. It’s ok, I promise.” she whispered as she stayed just behind me, not moving an inch. “After last night, I have no right to push you anymore. Even if…” the room got gradually more tense as she took a deep breath. “I know it’s hard sometimes, and you feel like I couldn’t possibly understand. I get it. But it can make all the difference to say it, as pointless as you think it might be.” 

I’m weak, so frustratingly weak. It would be so easy to fall into her arms again, to ball like a child for those few moments of relief and comfort that would come after. I wanted to so badly that I couldn’t stop shaking, on top of a handful of other reasons.

But what would that do? Waste more time feeling sorry for myself, just to make the same mistakes again? Enjoy her touch again, just for it to be taken away when I have to enter those death filled tunnels?

I can’t do it again. 

I can’t walk down those stairs, knowing they’re waiting for me. I can’t look in their unaware eyes, just for them to die again because of what I did or couldn’t do. I can’t wear that scarf again; it haunts me. 

What can I even do? Make another plan again, and just hope it works out this time? Every plan I’ve ever made failed, just ending in more death. I could always tell them the truth, or at least part of it, like with Twilight. Then, at best, all of us enter together. The diamond dogs pull out their anti-magic rocks, or something else I haven’t seen yet, and everything will go wrong in seconds. 

Or maybe nothing will go wrong. Maybe we’ll win, at first. Twilight, Fluttershy, or someone else would try to talk to them in vain. The dogs will give up nothing, and take advantage of the mercy offered to them, resulting in more death. 

In the face of bloodlust, of those who have clarified that this conflict can only end with bloodshed, they still won’t kill. Because ‘ponies don’t kill’. Time and time again, I’ve seen where that virtuous resolve leads. 

I can’t watch them get killed again; I’d rather die a hundred times before risking that happening again. 

A freezing realization washed over me, like the first few drops of rain from a storm that had just arrived. I no longer felt like it was me that was cold. Instead, it was everything else. 

The trembling stopped, substituted with an unsettling stiffness as I finally let go of myself.

“Fluttershy,” I said as I began walking towards the backpack, ignoring the sharp pain in my hands as I picked it up. “Do you trust me?” 

“I…” she hesitated, briefly rubbing her wrist. “Yes.” 

“Please, I need that trust now.” I walked over to the window, spotting the corner of the shed Limestone led me to before. “What I’m about to do, I need to do by myself. I know I’m asking so much, but can you keep Twilight and the others here? I don’t care how, just…please.” 

I leaned forward, placing my hands on the window and dropping my head. It was taking nearly everything I had to keep my voice steady, trying to not look her in the eyes. I couldn’t let her see how vulnerable I felt, how much I wanted her to stop me from doing this.

I knew I had to. I also knew what the consequences would be. 

“I think so. For a little while, at least. Why? I don’t understand, -”

She was cut off as I lifted the window, feeling the contrastingly cold air against my face for what felt like the thousandth time. I’d only been on this farm for one day, longer if resets are counted, and already I was getting sick of it: the emptiness, the cold, the lack of actual sunshine. No others for miles, nor was anything significantly distant. Almost like the farm was an infinite copy of itself that will never end. 

I can’t blame Pinkie for leaving, or Limestone for her anger. I can’t save them from this place, but I can save them from what’s lurking beneath it. 

“Chara, please just talk to me!” 

I froze. The panic in her tight voice as it rose was paralyzing. If I hadn’t been leaning against something, I would have fallen to my knees. 

“I can’t.” My voice cracked as I whispered, struggling to get my fingers under the bottom of the window. “Please, I promise I’ll be ok. Just keep them here; it’s important. I can fix everything. You just have to let me.” 

“Let you? There are diamond dogs out there. I don’t want to let you just go by yourself! How can you fix everything?” 

“I just can!” I shouted back. “I’ll tell you everything when this is over, but this is what I have to do now. Trust me, please.” 

My voice shook with desperation, which got harder to hold back the longer I stayed here. Hearing her so blatantly afraid for me was like a needle stabbing my heart with each word, and I hated it so much. I bit my lip and stood in solemn, terror riddled silence. It was tempting to just jump out the window, get what I need, and do what I have to. 

As much as I yearned to, some part of me had no doubt she wouldn’t let me. 

“Can…” I waited for her to speak. As patient with her as she’s always been with me. “Can you promise me that we’ll be ok? That you’ll be ok?”


“Yes.” 

I wasn’t lying; everyone will stay alive and leave here in one piece, eventually. I will ensure it, no matter how many resets it takes. 

Her wings tightly hugged her sides, pressing her hands against her chest as she was biting her lip. Without a word, she walked over to the door, moving her mane out of her face. I wondered for a moment where Rainbow was, as she was usually here by now. She likely heard the shouting and went back down, or was on the other side of the door right now and listening in. 

“Okay. Just stay safe.”

“I’ll try.” 

With that, I hated myself just a little more.

________


As I tried to open the door, I realized why Limestone had lifted it upward before. Some part of the bottom was stuck to the ground, and needed to be held up to open. The inside looked the same as before, with the beat-up birdcage and all. I took one of the smaller shovels, putting it in the inventory of my backpack. Then snatched the same lantern Limestone grabbed before, almost dropping it when I felt that it was heavier than I expected it to be. I got a handful of matches as well.

The journey there felt longer than usual, but lacked that crippling uncertainty all the previous resets did. In fact, I didn’t feel any anxiety at all. There was nothing to be anxious about, really. I knew what was going to happen, where I was going, and what was waiting for me. I didn’t even shake as the wind hit me, although I knew I was cold. 

Somehow, the feeling of unshaking, absolute knowing was worse. 

Once I approached the hole, filled only with death and a revolting stench, I removed the lantern attached to my pants. Despite copying Limestone the best I could, it took me a few tries to get the lantern properly lit. I burnt through three matches, those of which took multiple strikes because I couldn’t keep the fire lit long enough before the wind blew it out. 

The smell of the tunnels didn’t seem so bad anymore. Maybe it was the anxiety all the previous times that made it worse than it was, or I had just gotten used to it. I couldn’t help but wrinkle my nose a bit, but it bothered me considerably less. 

It felt so different being in the tunnels alone, and being the sole source of light. I should have been afraid, or at least concerned. Coming here sooner might have changed things, maybe even caused the dogs to come out of hiding earlier and attack me. There were so many things that could go wrong, many of which I’m sure I wasn’t thinking of.

Yet, I was calm. Nearly to the point of numbness. 

I hated it. 

Once I got to the wall, I used the shovel to tear it down. A few minutes passed before I’d chunked out enough for it to collapse on itself, falling into piles of dirt. Shortly after, I made my way to the chamber, turning off the lantern I brought and putting it in my inventory. 

It was the same as before, down to the placement of the gems and the chest. I opened the chest again, picking up the antler necklace that sat inside. For just a moment, a malicious thought crossed my mind: to wear this necklace, out of nothing but spite for them. I didn’t even know what it meant to them, or why they were here in the first place. Nor did I expect to get an answer. 

I simply wanted to take something valuable from them out of sheer pettiness. 

However, I decided against it; I already had plans to take something from them.

Instead, I put it in my inventory. Taking a moment to check its description, something I had been neglecting to do. I was hoping it would tell me anything about it, like how so many descriptions of things before had hinted at things, if just vaguely. To my growing frustration, it only added more questions. If it had been just a few words, or even blank, I could have accepted that. In place of that were various symbols, none of which I recognized in the slightest. 

Briefly, I almost thought they were wingdings, but they weren’t. It was like someone made an entire language of symbols meant to appear nearly identical to wingdings, but intentionally made to be as close as possible to frustrate anyone who knew wingdings and tried to read it. 

More and more, I’m wondering whether whoever sent me here hates me, or just has a thoroughly twisted sense of humor. 

I stood in the center of the room for an entire minute. Not a single sound escaped my lips. They didn’t make themselves known, yet I knew they were watching me somehow. If not listening to me, at least. 

With tangible purpose, I made my way back to the entrance, leaving the chest open and empty on the table. The dirt wall had been replaced, and I assume a diamond dog is waiting on the other side. As I stood facing the wall, I let my arms limply hang to my side. Leaning back with my hair dropping, and staring at the lantern right above me. 

The light burned my eyes, but provided just a moment of nothingness within my mind. No abrupt thoughts pervading me.

 There was nothing to do now but wait. 

Minutes later, I heard the diamond dogs approaching; the unmistakable sound of their paws hitting the ground as they got closer, one I could never mistake for anything else. They were in no more of a rush than I was, taking their time to get to me with, presumably, a hefty amount of caution. 

Once I could tell how close they were, I slowly closed my eyes. Deeply inhaling through my nostrils, the smell stinging my sinuses; I couldn’t face them, not yet. As I clenched my fist, the memories of the previous resets hung onto the inside of my brain like a still picture: a morbid commemorative.

“You are not a pony. Where are they?” 

“Away.” I didn’t need to turn around to know whose voice that was. “It’s just me. They won’t be coming.” 

The clattering of armor was instantly recognizable, as was the anger practically dripping from his voice. 

“By yourself? When you know we were down here? Are you suicidal?” 

I couldn’t help but smirk at his question, for reasons I despised. 

“No, just determined. Though sometimes, they’re the same thing.” I wiped my hands on my pants, struggling just to keep my breathing steady. “Even after everything you’ve done, I want to give you one more chance. No matter how futile I know it to be, I have to try; Leave. Get the diamond dogs waiting on the west side and go. I don’t know why you’re here, and I don’t care anymore. Don’t…” I grit my teeth, digging my feet into the ground. “Make me do this. You have no idea how much I don’t want to.” 

“How did you know about…” his voice trailed off, followed by the sound of him tapping his claw against a rock. “Your threats are as empty as pony apologies. We can’t just leave, not that you’d understand. What do you think you are?” 

I figured this was how things would turn out. I was just hoping, like so many times before, I would be wrong. 

“Violence just breeds more violence. In the end, I guess it really has to be this way.” I muttered as I turned around to face them. They looked exactly the same, not that I expected any difference in their appearance. 

I pictured my emotions as a glass bottle, spiraling like a trapped cloud, pressing against what was keeping it inside. It was easy to pull it out, to let it begin to course through my body like poison in my veins. My skin tingled with a sickening warmth as I began focusing all of it in the center of my hand. 

‘Your right hand as the eye of the storm’, just like Twilight said. 

That disgustingly familiar pressure reared its ugly head, rising from the back of my mind and spreading to the rest of my head like a growing migraine. With each heartbeat, my brain pulsates painfully, like needles being stabbed into every cell I had above my neck. It was agonizing; it took all I had not to whimper every couple of seconds. 

With it, came that sensation of power pouring through me. A red orb appeared in the center of my right hand, condensed and vibrant with energy. It straightened out as I pictured the knife, taking the form of it with every detail I envisioned. The pressure reached my eyes, leaking out with only a fading sense of relief. It dripped down my face, sticking with an oozelike texture that made my stomach churn. 

The crimson knife sat comfortably in my grip, my hand functioning as the perfect sheathe. It felt so right there, so fitting. Not only that, but the raw magic filling every inch of me felt so good. Like it was the nutrient I had been missing to be healthy, that being without it would be wrong. 

I hated it so much. 

The diamond dogs were taken aback, grips tightening on the spears and visibly tensing up. Despite being unable to see their eyes, I could tell there was a hint of fear. 

“What,” the scared dog backed up a few inches, letting out that signature whistle. “Are you?” 

I lowered my body, coiling every muscle I had as I waited for them to make the first move. 

“A demon.” 

The ground shook with diamond dogs digging through the dirt and rocks straight towards me. Unlike before, I held firm. This was the fourth time I’d seen them, and they rarely changed how they attacked. The difference was I was alone this time, with no need to be overly cautious or concerned. There was no one here to see what I was going to do, no need to hold on to any sense of self-preservation. 

I would do this, no matter how many times it took. 

The first diamond dog burst out right under me, the same way they always had before. One of the few benefits of my size was how easy it was to move around, and these diamond dogs were slow. I jumped backwards, swiping with my knife as my feet skid against the dirt. 

Twilight’s explanation about conjuration magic was still fresh in my mind, particularly how powerful it was depended on how much magic I put into it. I was well acquainted with knives, and thought this one would be no different. 

I was terrifyingly wrong. 

I expected the slash I made to only be a surface cut, to scare them into running away. To my horror, it sliced off his arm with barely more than a flick of my wrist. I barely even felt it go through, only realizing what had happened after his forearm fell to the ground and his warm blood splattered on my face. 

He howled with pain, the top half of his body sticking out of his hole as he thrashed in it. Blood gushing out in alarming amounts. I taste a sputter of bile in the back of my throat, being reminded once again that these weren’t monsters who would turn to dust; there were organs and blood inside them, and they’d leave their corpses behind. 

A reality, whether I wanted to live in it, was the end result of the path I’d just chosen. 

The two armored guards started charging towards me, this time without the orders from the scarred dog. The other diamond dog sprung out, this time from the wall. I snapped out of my temporary stupor, running towards the diamond dog and sliding on my knees. It hurt a lot, the pain as I scraped my knees was splitting. 

I tried my best to ignore it, stabbing my knife upward into its chest and carving down. Nevertheless, I was grazed, the tip of its claws cutting the side of my cheek, though not very deep. 

I heard it hit the ground with a loud thud as I got to my feet as quickly as I could, ignoring the searing pain on the side of my face. It barely made a whimper, laying on the ground with blood pooling underneath it. The cut was deeper than I’d expected, with some of its guts poking out. 

It was hard to tear my eyes off of it, but I couldn’t afford to stare; I had to keep fighting. 

The scarred dog let out a loud whistle, a cue for the dog on the other side of the wall, who tore it down right after. At that moment of shock, one spear nearly stabbed me. I yelped as I managed to sidestep it, though it cut my shirt and scraped my hip. I twirled the knife in my hand and jabbed upward, straight into the unprotected jaw and into its brain. 

At the very least, he died with relatively little pain. 

What I failed to account for was where his body would end up; on top of me. I felt the life leave him as the full weight of his body and armor limply collapsed, forcing me to the ground and nearly crushing me. I couldn’t breathe, and there was barely space for me to try to wiggle my way out from under him. The moment I began, the other dog took advantage and tried stabbing my head, missing by inches. I took the opportunity to cut the spear by its shaft, resulting in it becoming nothing more than a stick of wood. 

My small stature made it easier for me to get out from underneath the diamond dog and back to my feet, only to immediately be attacked by the diamond dog that had just entered. He tried to grab me into a bear hug, presumably to crush me to death. I impaled his leg, pulling it out just as quickly and spinning on my heel to face him.

 I didn’t, no, I couldn’t afford to hesitate. 

More blood sprayed on my face as I slashed his throat; the sound of him gasping for air as he desperately grasped at his neck was eerily similar to Fluttershy. I turned back around. The last thing I needed was another death burned into my mind. 

The last diamond dog lunged towards me without any thought, yowling in primal rage as it swiped at me. Once again, I was fast, but not fast enough. Three new claws marks donned themselves on my arm, cutting my sleeve and my arm deep enough to bleed. 

I slammed the knife into its foot, bringing the diamond dog down to his knees for a few precious seconds. As I leaped over its shoulder, I stabbed into the armor, gripping the knife with both of my hands and using all my strength to swivel around and cut downward as I landed. The metal creaked, but was more durable than I expected. It hardly cut into the skin at all and left me with no time to dodge its arm as he swung behind without looking. 

That knocked the air out of me, but I managed to stay on my feet. The diamond dog attacked again, raising its arms above its head and bringing them onto me. However, it forgot that its arms weren’t protected. I sliced upward with the little vigor I had left, cutting off the diamond dog’s forearms as it fell forward. In that instant it was on the ground. I thrusted the knife into its helmet through the top, barely getting into its brain. 

As much as I wanted to relax, I couldn’t afford to yet. I knew how fast the scarred dog could be. 

I struggled to pull the knife out, turning my eyes towards where he stood. I was expecting him to be on top of me in that instant; not standing in the same spot as before, with barely any change. He was visibly trembling, claws digging into the dirt so deeply I couldn’t even see his fingers, but he didn’t move. 

Neither of us moved, standing in a room full of cadavers and silence. I couldn’t stop shaking; the adrenaline made that an impossibility. I didn’t even attempt to hide my heavy breathing, or how much pain I was in. The bleeding was fortunately not that bad. I could keep going. As long as I held onto the knife, I could keep going. 

I had to. 

I began walking towards him, not even blinking as I watched out for anything else that might pop up. If I was being honest with myself, for once, I expected to die at least once or twice before killing them all. Maybe I got lucky, or maybe learning how to survive in combat after watching Frisk do so helped me a lot more than I thought it would. 

Or maybe I would collapse at any moment and die; That’s certainly how I felt. But whatever happens, this was my choice, and I couldn’t stop now.

Instead of lunging at me in a fit of irrational rage, the scarred dog’s crooked sneer morphed into…a smile? His head dropped, hanging low as a guttural wheeze slipped through his mouth like a machine that hadn’t been turned on in ages. I couldn’t tell what it was at first, then it hit me. 

He was laughing.

“It doesn’t matter. None of this matters.” he uttered, stating it like an everyday fact. The melancholic solemness in his voice reverberated with despair as they bounced off the wall of the empty room. “There’s no way that bug was ever going to give us our pup’s back, but what choice did we have?”

The despair written all over his face was the last confirmation I needed; these diamond dogs never wanted to do this in the first place. Someone, or something, had forced them here. Not that that made much of a difference at this point; I’d already watched them kill my friends, experienced that chilling touch of death at their very claws. Even if it was justified to them, it didn’t matter. 

I can’t afford to care anymore. 

Right here, right now, I just couldn’t. I knew how I’d feel when I crash, how every aching moment of this would haunt me, how I’ll remember the sound of their pain as my knife cut into them. I already couldn’t say if I’d be able to bear it. Mercy wasn’t an option. 

I, too, was being forced to do this.

“Do your pony friends know you're doing this?” he asked with a grating cough. 

“No.” I stood over him; the grip on my knife was as strong as iron. Yet, hovering over him the same way he did to me, a tangible hesitation welled inside me. “They had nothing to do with this. All me: the human.” 

“Shame. If you had told them, they might have lived.” 

I felt my heart stop for a moment, everything physically coiled to the point of being painful.

“What do you mean?” 

He glared up at me. “Those three you mentioned earlier? They should be heading towards the farm right about now. Today was our last day here; if the ponies didn’t come to us, we were going to come to them.” 

I lowered myself, inches away from his face. Black ooze dripped onto him. “You’re lying.” I growled. 

“No,” he bit his lip, so hard blood dripped down his chin. “I’m not. If you don’t believe me, you’re free to stay here. Not that you’d make it back in time anyway.” 

A sense of unrelenting panic came over me as I looked at the entrance, conflicting with the rising doubt that I could make it back in time. Was this some kind of ruse? What point would that have? I don’t know if I had the energy to run that far normally, especially not now.

I peered back down at the scarred dog, who looked like he was waiting for the moment I turn my back to him. Whether or not this was true, I had no doubt he would attack me. I could see it in his eyes; I recognized it too well to mistake it for something else. 

As I raised my hand, feeling the blood that coated the knife leak down my arms and drip onto my shoulder, he dug his claws deep into the ground like he was about to pounce. I closed my eyes, letting it drop like rain from the sky. 

I hoped it was just my imagination, but for a second, I thought I heard that familiar chime that signaled leveling up I’d heard through Frisk so many times before.

___________________

It hurt so much. 

My legs, my arms, especially my chest with every breath. It didn’t help that the air outside was so cold, intensifying the burning in my lungs with each inhale. I ignored all of it, pushing through the pain no matter how bad it got. 

I could see the house from here; as dilapidated as it was, I couldn’t help but be relieved when it came into sight. It was hard to even say how long I’d been gone, only that I was here now. In the distance, I could see Fluttershy and Rarity standing outside. The flicker of happiness I got from seeing them was just as quickly smothered out; the ground in front of them exploded as one of the diamond dogs attacked Fluttershy. 

Rarity reacted a lot faster than I would have expected. Her horn lighting up and forming a diamond-shaped shield in front of them. It cut a noticeable gash into it, but the shield held. Fluttershy yelled as Rarity visibly strained to repair it, already appearing tired. 

They didn’t notice me as I ran up, not at first. By the time they did, my legs quaked as a diamond dog dug through the earth beneath me. Without thinking, I gripped my knife with both of my hands, stabbing the diamond dog through the head the moment it came out. 

The crunching and then squelching sound that followed made me want to throw up on the spot, the putrid taste of bile in the back of my throat almost too much. Fluttershy’s brief gasp as she witnessed what I’d just done was wrenching; made only worse by the expression on her face that I wish I hadn’t seen. 

Those beautiful wings of her were extended to her sides, the same wings she had comforted me with so many times now. Her Hands covered her mouth as her pupils constricted, slight tears welled up at the corners of her eyes; everything froze in that one instance, as what I can only describe as ‘abject dismay’ crossed her face. 

It may have only been for a few seconds, but that look was burned deep into me; I don’t think I would ever forget it. 

The diamond dog on the other side of Rarity’s shield saw me, glanced at his friend, and clenched his fist. He swiftly reached into his vest pocket, pulling out the anti-magic rock and throwing it at me. A strange, difficult to describe sensation washed over me; numbing warmth encompassed my hand, a tingling weakness that stiffened my fingers and made it hard to keep my hold on the knife. 

If it lasted much longer, I was going to drop it and likely pass out. 

The diamond dog was baffled, but quickly got over it and leaped towards me. The last tidbits of energy were draining out of me more and more every second; it was a miracle I could even still stand. My vision was getting blurrier; I had just enough for one more swing. 

I collapsed to my knees, stabbing upward the same way I had done to one of the armored dogs. The knife slid right into his neck like it belonged there, fitting right through to the other side as it forced him backwards onto the ground. I fell with him, landing on his chest as he gasped for air. With his last seconds of life, he stabbed his claws into my back and raked them down. 

I screamed in agony: the white hot burning as he dug into my skin was like being branded from the inside out. I yanked the knife out of his throat, blood draining out of him, along with his essence. Forcing myself out of his arms, I got to my feet; I had to be ready. That wasn’t the last one.

“There’s…” I tried to speak, my voice hoarse. Every single wound of mine bled, the ones on my arm and back being the deepest easily. None of that mattered. If I could just kill the last one, everything would be fine. 

“Fluttershy! Are you-” 

Twilight’s voice rang out as the door opened, everyone running outside with her. She stopped when she saw me, a nearly identical expression to Fluttershys. Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, all of them have various looks of shock or disgust as they laid eyes on me. 

My eyes were bleeding with a substance only Twilight and I would know; as most of them were seeing me like this for the first time. My clothes are ripped in various places while the rest of me burns as my skin is covered in wounds. The blood red knife shined in my hand, only a slightly brighter shade than the blood it was soaked in. The few clothes I had remaining were splattered with the gray dirt, and I’m sure my hair didn’t look any better. 

“One left.” 

As soon as I spoke, I coughed up blood that was much darker than usual. With it, I finally let go of the knife I’d been grasping as desperately as I often did with my necklace. Everything went black; I think I even heard my own body hit the ground, mixed in with the deafening ringing. 

I collapsed, covered in blood and dust.