There was that sound again.
"Ah, I see you have finally come to visit me."
"Baron, dear!" the serpent cooed, "It has been such a long time since we last conversed!"
"40 years, to the point. How you managed to evade me is beyond me."
"Evade you?" she melodramatically said as she finally moved into my view, "What reasons would I have to try and avoid meeting my favorite spirit?"
"That is exactly what I am trying to find out. Ever since you gave me your....opportunity, you have simply avoided me. It has been four decades and I still do not even know what my end of this bargain is!"
Somehow, the snake smiled at that.
A horrible sort of smile.
A smile that tells of many promises that have ended in pain.
I thought any sense a normal pony would have escaped me a long time ago....but that horrible expression made my fur stand on end.
"Oh, my dear Baron, I do not have to tell you what your part in this deal is, when you are already fulfilling it."
"What?!"
A slow laugh escaped her lips, until finally, "Ah, Baron, you never cease to sate my hunger. Now, I must go."
"Wait! You can't just go, I still need to know what you meant!"
But she had already disappeared.
Oh no. Why did I accept a deal as dangerous as this one.
I had to take my mind off of her.....what should III- Oh! I'll go hunting again! Rabbits did have an almost exotic sweetness to them.
The day had come. She had been hoping it would. After a few attempts at relationships, Lora was finally getting married to the most handsome stallion she ever met. Narcissus Delight.
He was everything she had hoped.
He was confident, he loved her as much as his flower shoppe, he was able to support both of them, and he-despite his name sounding like a certain Roaman myth-cared for her with all his being.
She had practiced this, she could do it.
"I do," she managed to say, despite her heart nearly exploding out of her chest.
"You may now kiss the stallion," the pastor recited.
She was so happy!
[they kiss]
Her heart fluttered from all her excitement. This day, this very day, the day all fillies dream of. When they finally become a mare. Granted, she was closer to 60 years old by now, but better late then never. It would be a long time before her midlife crisis. Ha!
Oh, the look on that idiot's face, when he finds out!
She was happy, truly happy. When she had taken that potion, and she knew she wouldn't regret it. And now she had proof!
Her life could never be ruined again.
I was sitting.
One might say contemplating.
I had...been able to think much more clearly over the years. In a way, it was the opposite of what should have happened.
May be the forest. At this point I am sure it is what gives me the energy to continue my existence, to allow me to continue to fuel my hate.
I wasn't a monster. She was the monster! The only monster I could ever be is the monster she made me into.
...
I could tell more and more, that I was becoming a spirit. In a way I had been a spirit for the past four decades, but a part of me held on...
Held on to being a pony...
Tried to live.
Tried to find forgiveness.
...
That disgusting word.
Pah!
Forgiveness?
For that...that...
Ugh, she made mistakes, yes. She seemed to regret them, yes. But she also KILLED me.
I...I...
I can feel that part, no matter how weak it is. It still continues to smolder, it may do so forever. But it is easy to ignore next to the inferno that is my rage.
"She killed me!"
...
Great, now the animals are looking at me again.
You can somewhat feel what they think, if you are around them long enough.
That part, the part that tries to stay you. Well, you can repurpose it. One might say, you can become like them. Actually, being a spirit fueled by magic, anything is just a matter of will. A will to live.
A will to...be.
It may be a small part, but it is important.
So...
What should I...
Oh! I will see how my favorite monster is doing.
...
"So, what do you think?"
She asks that, with such a....knowing attitude.
Doesn't she know exactly what I think? That she is a monster. That she will regret the decision she made so long ago. That she should not meddle with other ponies.
I haven't.
Despite us being predisposed to live in groups, communities.....families....it is better for your sanity to stay alone, when you outlive anypony.
"I feel you are foolish for taking on a husband, but your decisions are yours."
She frowned at that. Then whined, "Oh, come on. Aren't you at least a bit happy for me?"
The nerve!
"Happy!? Why should I be happy for you?"
She made a mock shocked expression and exclaimed, "For finding somepony! You said that I would regret taking that potion, but I have been nothing BUT happy! I have learned so much! I have met so many! I proved you wrong!"
"Once again," I calmed myself, "I will only have to wait. You know what will happen to him. Maybe that is why you are so angry? Do you know, what his fate will be, while you watch? Forced to damnation without relief?"
"ENOUGH!"
I remember when she used to get so red, it always filled my heart with delight. Maybe it would do so now as well, IF I had one.
"I can tell I have overstayed my welcome, goodbye."
She ran after me for a bit, but I was faster. Hunting is a good exercise! Who knew?
I heard her fading screams.
"No, NO! You get back here! I am not done with you! How dare yo-"
And she was gone.
No!
No, no, no no no no no no!
"Please, Delight! Wake up!"
Oh, please no.
She galloped into the street, as fast as she could.
She nearly stumbled a few times, but managed to keep going in her panic.
She arrived at Local Doctor's clinic.
(Yes, his name is Local Doctor, how original.)
"Doctor Doctor, PLEASE! Come with me!"
"WHAT is it, Bella?"
"Narcissus! He! He!"
She almost couldn't breathe, chocking on her own cries.
"Bella, calm down, please."
She doesn't calm down.
"BELLA!"
The yell got to her. She snapped out of her panic attack, and began to cry more consistently.
"He didn't wake up! He feels cold."
...
The doctor ran into his clinic, then he galloped into the direction of their home.
The squirrel sat there, on the tree.
He watched, as the town square is filled with a small crowd.
Mothers hushed home with their foals, some foals pointed at him.
He had become a small legend.
When a foal was disrespectful to their elders, they were told that the Baron would come and eat them.
It was a bit brutal for his taste, but it seemed to be for a nice purpose.
Everypony in town knew, though, that he had his attention on 'the Witch.' It was odd, how not a single pony thought he could have something to do with her husband's death, but it made him somewhat relieved.
He would never kill another pony....except for Flora.
That got his attention back to the town square.
In the center were gallows.
How archaic.
You see, the news spread quickly, that one of the most handsome and well known stallions in the small town had died in his sleep. He was only 40 or so years old. His wife, who had been married to him for about 15 or so years, was distraught. But one or two of the town's gossips began to talk. "Is it true that she has been around for over 50 years?" "Yes, I heard she was in her 70s." "WHAT!? She looks to be in her 20s!" "How come he died so young?" "No clear cause, I heard. May have been an emptied pool of magic." "That is impossible, unless..."
Then, a word was uttered.
"Dark magic."
And it SCARED the ponies.
"What if she kills us next?" "Is it true that she eats foals?" "Do you think she feels any remorse for her victims?" "Rising Flour died not long before she married! Do you think he was her victim before Narcissus?" "Witch!" "We must destroy her!"
He knew, of course that the rumors were false. He hypothesized that the same way he has to be fed by the magic of the forest to stay alive, she slowly absorbs the magic around her. Like an alicorn, but unlike Princess Twilight, princess of Equestria, she does not have an unnaturally large pool of magic in her. Add that to the fact that Narcissus may have had a naturally small amount of magic inside him...
And death is almost a natural result.
And ponies, peasants, can be the most peace loving beings in times of harmony, but scare them, Really make them fear, make them worry for their loved ones and themselves...
And they will go to extreme measures.
Even from the distance, the squirrel could see Lora crying. Of course, he had no idea if it was for Delight's or her own life, maybe she never felt anything for Narcissus, maybe she cried and feared for both deaths, maybe she herself didn't know.
Either way, she has to walk onto the podium, onto the collapsible floor.
The mayors, twins, begin to speak.
THIS is what he had been waiting for! For her to realize what grave mistake she made so long ago. He would almost feel bad, but this is the retribution of which he had dreamed.
NO, this is so much more. SO MUCH BETTER!
He smiled with glee.
(It makes part of him sick.)
It is what she deserves for killing him. For what she did to him!
An eye for an eye and a life for a life.
The mayors conclude and give the signal to proceed.
They may not seem pleased, but the town has spoken.
Only a bit more...
The trap door gives out...
And...well, he knew what would happen, but it still disappointed him when the oh-so-beautiful snap never came.
She struggled, he could tell from afar that her lungs struggled.
Now she finally knows what it feels like to be in deathly pain.
To wish things went differently.
To wish the pain would stop.
He was happy.
The mayoral twins were mortified.
This is cruel!
They had to stop this.
"Release her," they ordered.
They heard her drop into a gasping heap.
The onlookers were mortified, but it was easy to see they felt justified.
She really must be using dark magic.
She really must be evil.
Was it placebo, or were they feeling weaker? Maybe she was using her dark powers?
"We are sorry, but you must all return to your homes, for the time being," one of them said.
"You have gotten what you came for," expanded the other, "So please leave the town square for now."
Mortified, yet dejected, the inhabitants of the-usually-quiet town went home.
What had they seen?
What should they do?
What had they done?
"I feel as though we are even now," I said.
"Maybe," Lora mumbled.
"Come on, be a little less sad! You didn't seem like this when you murdered me!"
She looked up at me.
After a while, I felt as though we were done talking for the day, but just as I got up, she replied, "This... this is almost different. I...was sad, mortified even over what I had done to you. I wanted to take it back. I didn't understand why I had done what I had, not fully. Maybe some part of me is inherently evil, but...I loved him. I- I felt as though I deserved this punishment, even though I didn't kill him."
Should I.....hm.
"In a way, you did cause his death."
She snapped up.
"What?"
"You may continue to live forever, and major damage to you can't happen. But small repairs, like aging and wounds, require you to absorb magic from your surroundings. I had not idea that the potion would present itself in this manner, and it may not, this is just the most plausible theory."
Then she ran.
I hadn't seen her for a while.
I don't think she was in the village, or the forest.
It must have been a good 10 years, but eventually it happened again.
I don't understand what made the villagers try this again.
After about five years, I stopped closely listening to news about her, but I think another death happened due to her.
How could they be so stupid?
To try the same again?
I...had to see it again.
I came as a raven, it was fall, so I fit more into the season.
But it was different.
The mayors did NOT want to repeat the same incident as last time, so when these gallows were built-as the last were burned down-they added extra height. Now, this could be disasters, any other pony would have simply been decapitated by the forces of the body versus the rope. They also made sure to have guards posted, so everypony could quickly be distracted if, Twilight forbid, the same incident reoccured.
But the biggest difference was Flora.
She...didn't seem there. Her eyes were empty, her face showed no emotion. The only way of seeing how she had felt was her bloodshot, puffy eyes.
He should have been happy, once again he can see revenge.
But that small smoldering in his soul began to mumble.
The trapdoor opened.
He wasn't sure if it had worked, she hadn't moved and her expression hadn't changed.
Until she blinked.
But there was just nothing in her expression. There was less pony in her than in him.
And, after a long time, the small smoldering in his soul spoke.
And he felt regret.