Of Laurels & Lace

by WritingSpirit


Voyager's Arc: Black Retrospections

"Idiotic..."

Sidus Sirenheart clawed at the mound of rocks, cursing and growling with depriving anxiety in the darkness.
The rest of them could only watch his futile attempts at doing so, sitting down on the slate pavement with looks of frustration on all of their faces.
"Enough, Sidus," Winter snapped.

"It's your darn fault, Winter!" the assassin shot back.
"If we hadn't let her go-"

"Everything would still be the same!!"
The Patriarch panted a little, before the rage on his face was swept away, becoming completely emotionless.
"They'll escape. One way or another."

"And we'll be trapped here forever?" Caduceus piped in.
"Is this your intention, my Patriarch?"

"It was never my intention," he coldly replied.
"She was crude enough to use that spell."

Silence filled the air for a moment, the stallion glancing around in the dome of rocks they were under.
Luckily, neither of the Crux Four seemed to be hurt. They had served the family for decades and were the icons in many of his ancestor's anthologies. In fact, Winter had once used their facilities a long time ago, back when his father was still reigning over the city.
All because of a stupid book.

"We'll need a way out of here," Stellar quipped, breaking into the Patriarch's thoughts.
"I don't think the South Gate would be that easily accessible. Surely there must be some sort of obstacle in store for them."

"Just let them rot," Sidus merely scowled.

"And we'll rot as well!" the butler lashed out at his friend.

"Listen for a moment!"
Persimmon finally raised her hoof, making the rest of them turn. With a sigh, she continued:
"Harmony's bunch did not come down here intentionally, seeing how they're confused at everything. I believe it was by accident that they arrived."

"And?" Winter prodded forward.
"The other two?"

"Charter and Primrose weren't certain of what they would find, but they were notified."

"Notified?"
Caduceus blinked in surprise, before asking:
"By whom?"

"Gypsum Palgiot."

Another moment of brief silence overtook them, before Sidus scowled, kicking against the stone wall.
"Great! Who'd knew there was a conspirator in the family as well?"

"I'm sure there's a good explanation for this, though it seems our friends don't want to speak out."
Persimmon kicked back a little dust off her hooves, settling down onto the barren floor.
"They suspect we had known of the ruins, even though we recently discovered it. I believe it was by a misunderstanding yet instinctive move that they shot at us first."

"Preposterous," was what Stellar could only reply, before turning towards the Patriarch.
"What now, Winter?"

"After we get out, I'll talk to Harmony for a moment. The rest will open up eventually."
Winter held his breath, before looking at the wall of stones before him.
"She saw something she had never meant to see. Something I thought my uncle had disposed of."

"Doesn't matter now, does it?" Sidus scoffed, the assassin kicking back his hooves.

"It matters a lot, actually," the stallion replied.
His horn suddenly flared a bright blue, the rest of them stepping back in surprise and bewilderment.
"She wasn't the only one who knew its contents," he said, breathing in deeply with his eyes closed.

"You mean..."

Winter merely smiled, before his eyes suddenly snapped open, his mouth opening with a shout:

"TERRA FRACTURA!!"

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"Hurry up!"

Charter whirled back from the corner, clutching Primrose's gun and firing at the mob of accursed mannequins, who had shattered through the windows and swarmed into the academy, growling and snarling with each splatter of black ink.
His focus immediately turned to Dresden, hearing the sound of the jiggling knobs and slight ticks as the cyan stallion furiously worked with the door, sweat streaming down his body like rain.
"Almost... there..."

The loud click resounded in response, signaling his success.
"Charter!" he shouted back to the pegasus, "We're done over here!"

With one last bullet to spare, he quickly fired, before darting speedily into the door, following after the rest. The ravenous figures charged after him, pursuing him like wolves out for slaughter.
Primrose immediately slammed the door shut as Charter fell towards the floor, hearing the creatures roar and bellow in frustration on the other side.

"That was too close..." the pegasus proclaimed, panting under his breath.
He clicked his revolver open, letting the now empty lead shells fall onto the floor. Reaching for Dresden's satchel, his hoof reached around the random assortments ruffled in a mess, before pulling out a disappointing find.
"We can't afford to run into any of those mannequins again. I have but only three rounds left."

"Then we gotta find the exit as soon as possible, don't we?"

Charter nodded at Harmony's question.
"To make the search easier, I guess we all have to split up. Once somepony finds a way up to the roof, try to signal the rest of us."

"B-But..." Primrose stammered, her face almost paling.
"But what if there's something else in here?"

"That's the part I'm afraid of."
With a sigh, he looked around at the branching corridors. There were times where he thought he saw flickering shadows darting about, which only tingled a little fear in each of their hearts.
"We're in the heart of one of the darkest secrets of the Palgiot family. They wouldn't just let us pass through the gate and corridors without a fight."

As if in response, the wooden walls started to creak and groan, making each of them turn.
Faint whispers fluttered through each of their ears, reminiscent of the slithers of snakes and low screeches of bats. The absence of anything else other than the Voyagers only disturbed them even more.
"It's decided then?" Charter asked with a slight hint of fear shivering in his voice.

Each of them give their nods, albeit a hesitant one.

"Alright..."
Holding their breath, the five of them immediately split their paths, moving swiftly and warily down the fragmented wooden panels of the corridors.

Not knowing of the consequences of such a decision.

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Primrose Custard silently trotted down the despaired hallways, her journey of silence in vain from each creak of wood underneath every step she makes.
Her heart wrenched with trauma and repulsion as the remains of one of the mannequins laid before her. The black fluids leaked out in cracks, its jaw frozen open with its teeth still gleaming. Its chest was shattered, with one of the many bullet holes pierced deep into its black core.

Nausea nearly swept her off her hooves, the mare clamping her mouth with a desire to just regurgitate.
Her chest stopped heaving, the sickening smell of ink trying to overrun that as the caramel mare skipped over the lifeless, cold body.

Wind fluttered from the tattered, musty curtains, tossing them gently around. She could feel the soft air grooming down the edges of her skin, though she only shuddered at the frigidness of it.
Holding her breath, her only weapon being a small scalpel she found on the floor, she turned around a bend, before gasping in disbelief.

Instead of another dreary scene, she was faced with a white corridor, pristine in unbelievable, saintly purity. Not a single crack or splinter was seen around the cemented walls and floor, which beckoned her down in a sort of surreal embrace.
Primrose glanced around, still agape at what she was seeing. What was once a set of broken wooden doors had become bleached, firm ones with polished knobs. All of them were closed, preventing her to find out what was inside.

All except one.

The warm, welcoming rays of sunset came into view, mottled with the shadows of maple leaves swinging in the breeze. There was a warm atmosphere that flowed from it like a river, putting out her embers of distress razing about her mind.
Peering her head in, the mare was amazed by the simplicity and sterility of it all, from the tall, oak cupboard to the scarlet curtains drifting about, the scenery outside of a tall maple tree shedding its colored leaves of autumn; from the wooden armchairs sitting regally at the side to the wooden, white puffy bed filling the center of the room.
Though it was the figure in the bed that made her gasp.

"P-Prim?"

"It couldn't be... it couldn't be..."
Tears sprung up in her eyes, her gaze fixated at the mare in a state of denial. Her pupils widened in confusion, as was her expression, before making way for delight.
"C-Chamomile?"

"Y-You came back..."

The weak reply was enough to make the caramel mare squeak in delight, her hooves scampering towards the bed in gleeful anticipation.
"Chamomile!!" she screeched with delight, hugging the mare tightly, dropping the scalpel onto the floor.

There was a soft chuckle, Primrose enveloped in the warmth of the other mare's embrace. She was exactly the way she remembered her: her sea green body draped under the white sheets, her mane a bright color of green with light brown streaks running across its curls. The strong, seasoned smell of lavender and mint only flourished her comfort, her tears of happiness falling down onto the sheets of the bed.
Her heart tingled with passion; of one lost in the everchanging waves of time. The same ones that Primrose thought had took away the very mare lying before her.

Chamomile Custard. Her elder sister.

"I missed you!!" the caramel mare wailed softly, her hoof pounding at the dampening sheets.
"I missed you, I missed you, I missed-"

"Hush now, Prim..." Chamomile spoke tenderly.
"I'm here now, okay? Everything's alright..."

There was a light sniffle, before the younger mare looked up, staring deeply into her sister's passionate eyes, who glimmered with life.
The green mare brushed her mane aside, muddled up during her short outburst.
"I couldn't be more happier to see you here..."

Her heart immediately stumbled, tripping inside a pool of longing hope. Primrose clutched her hoof towards her chest tightly, her lips curving up into a smile, finally liberated in a triumphant victory over the remorse after all these years.
"H-How... why..." she stammered, earning a giggle from the other mare.

"Life surely has its surprises," Chamomile replied, before coughing lightly.
"I h-had never anticipated something like this. Reminds me of that time..."

Primrose sighed, closing her eyes. Her hooves were tucked inside the other mare's, feeling the soft, warm hold invigorating inside her own chest. A luxurious passion filled her; it was something she had never felt before, of sensuality and sentimentality.

Of hope.

She smiled once again, letting the last tear drip onto the bed. She isn't going to let her go again, her inner voice told herself with fierce determination. She's not going to lose her again.

"...that you left me here all alone."

Primrose's eyes snapped open, finding herself face to face with the blank, piercing stare of her sister.
Her voice was bleak, devoid of any emotion. Chamomile's grip on her hoof tightened, making her wince.

"Now I remember..." the older mare muttered as Primrose squirmed and struggled, trying to free her hoof.
"You left me here all alone..."

"C-Chamomile?" the caramel mare called nervously.
The green mare continued looking down with ignorance, before starting to smile.
"This isn't funny, Chamomile. Let me go, please? Let me-"

Her smile started to twist, her teeth baring before she burst out in laughter.
She laughed and laughed like a deranged maniac, only making the other mare's attempts of twisting her hoof out from the vice of her grip even more furious.
Primrose looked in horror as black ink started to leak from above the walls, drowning the white purity into a sea of corruption. Her sister's pupils warped into slits, staring into her very soul.

"PRIMROSE!!" she roared, making the mare cringe.
"You left me here! You left me here to DIE!!"

"No..."
The caramel mare finally freed her hoof, tumbling towards the floor. She hastily backed away, her hooves pushing against the wooden floor.

"You said you would find a cure!! YOU SAID YOU WOULD SAVE ME!!"

Chamomile pounced from her bed, the floorboards cracking at her landing. The black slop dripped across her mane, engulfing her in the retching mess. She grinned deviously as the mare grabbed the scalpel from the floor, licking its sharp tip with a sultry hunger.
"Now how would you repay your debt, Prim? How would you apologize?"

"No!" she pleaded frantically.
"Please! I didn't want to leave you! I... I just..."

There was a moment of brief silence, before Chamomile suddenly perked up, clopping her hooves happily.
"I know just the thing!!" she gasped out in excitement, before raising the scalpel up high.

"NO!!!"

Without hesitation, the green mare plunged the blade down into Primrose's hoof, making her scream in agony. Blood immediately rushed out, with splatters of it staining the blackening walls.
Primrose yowled again as her sister moved the blade, twirling it in a circular fashion with the tip still lodged in her skin. Dragging the blade out slowly, she tried not to whimper at the pain twisting like a drill into her heart, her mind screaming like a crazed banshee, as she gazed up fearfully at the mare before her.
"Y..."

"What?" Chamomile cried out in glee, stomping on the bleeding hoof and making the other mare scream, sobbing out her pain.
"I can't hear you, wretch," she scowled, forcefully pushing her jaw up.
"Speak up."

"Y-Y-You're.... you're n-not Chamomile..."

"Oh, really?"
There was a giggle, before a maniacal, insane laugh burst through her vocal cords. The scalpel was raised once more, the mare below forcefully clamping her eyes shut.
"Well, news flash, Prim..." she growled, all the twisted happiness immediately turning into cold wrath.



"I'll always be your big sister."



*BAM*


Primrose yelped, shuddering in the corner, before hearing a thump.
She opened her eyes, before letting out a silent gasp, her voice stolen away by the tight grasp of fear, at the sight of her sister's soulless eyes, a large, leaking bullet hole in the middle of her forehead. She started to whimper, her sobs turning more frantic and deranged with her hooves rubbing her forehead forcefully, with blood still running down her hooves.

"Miss Custard!!"

Turning around at the mention of her name, Persimmon's worried face stared back into her.
"Are you okay?"

Suddenly, Primrose wrapped her hooves around the other mare, who blinked in surprise.
She let out an intense sob, wailing with her face buried in the other mare's chest. Persimmon could only stroke her mane, whispering tenderly to the traumatized mare.
"It's okay, Primrose. It's okay..."

"It's not going to hurt you anymore."

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"I'm perfectly fine, Charter."

The pegasus merely scoffed at Dresden's words, his revolver swinging tauntingly as he replied:
"Says the pony with a bleeding hoof."

"Look, it's not that I want to get shot."
The cyan stallion limped forwards with the support of Charter's hoof around his shoulder, gritting his teeth in pain with every step down the creaking corridor.
"Besides," he continued, "we were in a hurry back then."

"Doesn't matter now. All we need is to find the stairs up the roof. I've checked the floor plan and it seems they've actually disallowed students from ever reaching the top."
With a flap of his wings, the pegasus slowly advanced down the corridor, careful not to make his friend trip over. Blood still trickled down the stallion's hooves, leaving a small, scattered red trail behind.

"Aren't you a silent pony?" Charter laughed out, trying to lighten the situation after noticing the tenseness of his friend's hooves, who grunted with an uneasy chuckle.

"I'm just not in the right mood to talk, that's all."

"Perhaps you just need a little rest."
Without hesitation, the pegasus settled his friend down onto the floor, letting the cyan stallion tend to his hoof whilst he glanced around, before tossing a gun towards Dresden.
"I'll go ahead for now. The pistol's for safety, just in case."

"You're just going to leave me here?"
The cyan stallion slid a few bullets into the cartridge, though his gaze still remained fixed onto Charter's face.
"And I thought you were a great pony."

"I hate to say this, but you're impeding our progress."

Both ponies chuckled, before the pegasus started to trot down the corridor.
"We'll come back for you. Promise."

Dresden nodded, finally smiling as he watched his friend turn a bend.
With a sigh, he reached for his satchel: his favored weapons depot, scuffling around the handles of numerous daggers and casings of lead bullets, before his hoof reached the sleek surface of his desired object.
Pulling it out, his face glistened at the coin glinting in his hoof, his adventures of the past flashing back into his head.

"By Celestia's mane, look at this place..."

The cyan pony gasped, his gaze focused on the other end of the corridor.
A black pony stood there, grinning nonchalantly once Dresden finally set his eyes on him. He raised his hoof, giving the other pony a wave, which only made him snarl.

"Caper."

"It's fascinating, isn't it?" the magician replied with a laugh.
"Who would've thought that this whole, extravagant ruin would be standing under Pendant Lakes?"

Dresden only growled, glaring at his ignorant friend.
"What are you doing here? I thought I told you to lay low."

"It seems laying low is really a bore."
The magician chuckled, kicking his hooves back.
"We could've found out about this place, don't we? We could've prospered in history, don't we?"

"Stop it, Caper."

"But no! You've decided to leave me alone here so you could have it all for yourself, don't you?!"

Caper suddenly flicked his hoof, revealing a long, silver baton sliding out into the open.
"Injured hoof, eh?" he chuckled deviously at the bloodstained wound as the cyan pony gritted his teeth, pushing himself down the corridor.
"Don't worry, Dresden."

"This wouldn't hurt a bit..."

"STOP!!"

Charter's loud voice made the both of them turn, the pegasus's gun raised with a click.
"Leave my friend alone!!"

"Your friend, Charter? But I thought he was our friend."

The suddenly feminine voice made the pegasus pale with a gasp, as the black stallion's face suddenly contorted, turning into a light green. He dropped his gun in shock, unable to say another word at the pony before him.
"It... It couldn't be..."

The mare just giggled, approaching the pegasus with the baton still in her hoof.
"Miss me... Charter?"

There was another laugh from the green mare; a much colder one. Her silver baton suddenly swung across, striking the side of his face. Charter stumbled backwards, clutching his sore cheek with a few drops of blood leaking out from his lips, gazing up at the mare advancing upon him.
There was no doubt who she was.
"Gypsum..."

"So you remembered me after all."
Another swing struck him onto the face, making him cough with pain as Gypsum Palgiot watch the pegasus crawling away, his wings fluttering with anxiety and confusion.
"Queer, isn't it? Leaving your lover to bleed to her death on the street."

"I-I didn't want to-"

"YOU DESIRED IT THE MOMENT WE MET!!"

Charter cringed on the spot, his eyes widening with terror as the mare panted furiously, her eyes warping into slits with her mouth widening into a deranged smile.
"You said you loved me... you filthy liar..."

"Caper!!"
Dresden's voice couldn't break into his dark remorse, the cyan pony's hoof shivering with a gun clutched inside.
"What are you waiting for, Charter? Just KILL HIM!!"

"It's none of your business, Dres!!"
Caper's deep scowl came back as the black pony twirled around, his baton slightly bloodied with the pegasus still coughing right behind.
"You don't have the nerve, don't you?"

The witch-doctor gasped, his shivering becoming more frantic as his friend continued:
"You don't have the nerve to kill, not like I did. I could beat you to death and smile if I want to, yet you'll only break down at the sight of shooting your friend."

"Th-That's not true-"

"Then DO IT!!" the magician screamed, making Dresden flinch.
"Shoot me!! Right here!! Right now!!"

"Gy-Gypsum..." Charter's weak voice pleaded.
"Don't..."

"He's a wretch as all of you are!!" she screamed at the pegasus, before whirling back to Dresden, her face being Caper's from the cyan stallion's point of view.
"Now...." his deep voice ordered.
"Shoot me..."

The gun shuddered frenziedly in his hoof, Dresden clamping his eyes shut as his hoof neared the trigger...

*BANG*

Gypsum gasped, the mare instinctively clutching at her chest, which bled furiously.
She turned to her shooter, her eyes widening with rage at the small wisp of smoke pouring out from the barrel of Charter's revolver, the pegasus's expression a cold grimace.
With a hellish scowl, she suddenly advanced towards the pegasus, the blood spewing from her chest reminiscent of the ink from the mannequins. She let out a yell as she raised the steel baton once more, the pegasus below raising his hooves with his eyes shut.

*BAM BAM*

Dresden and Charter both opened their eyes in surprise, watching as the figure fell onto the floor, writhing in deep agony with streams of black fluid flowing out his/her chest.
They turned to the direction of the gunshot, spotting two familiar ponies with a smile, although they could see the worry behind it.

"You alright?" Caduceus asked, lifting the pegasus up, who was noticeably shaken by everything that just happened, his wings shuddering in confusion.
Sidus tended to the cyan stallion at the other end of the corridor, hoisting the witch-doctor's bleeding hoof up and making him yelp out in pain.

"I'll tend to it later, Sidus," his friend said as the assassin motioned at the bleeding hoof.
"Right now we got other things to do."

"Yeah," Sidus merely replied, looking at the abomination bleeding on the floor, its demonic tongue hissing and wriggling about in a repulsive manner.

"Like getting the buck out of here."

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The corridors of Academia Nox never seemed to end.

Pinkie held her breath, cautiously turning around the corner with a shiver of nervousness. Her gut twinged with undesired anticipation as she traveled down the darkness, the faint glow of blue light shining through the few shattered windows around the hallways.
The disheartening silence only made her uneasy; she had already found comfort in the creaking floorboards beneath her hooves. Her thoughts wandered towards her friends, her concern only tamed by the overwhelming presence of fear tingling in her heart, thrashing about the cage of her chest in anxiety.

Harmony, however, immediately became the center of her attention. The pink mare could remember her powerful scowl, towards Dresden, which only made her shudder with fear.
Her focus quickly veered to the front, her breath shivering with fright. For some reason, she thought she heard a shuffling noise and a faint cackle, though her mind told her it was only her imagination.

She halted suddenly, staring doubtfully at a few dancing shadows on the walls, which were illuminated in the vibrant, radiant colors of red, orange and yellow.
Edging closer down the hallway, she peered inside the room, before gasping in shock.

The room was ablaze; flames pouring in from all directions with the exception of the floor, which was covered in ashes. They razed hungrily like locusts, eating away at the seemingly invincible room without any chance of extinguishing.
Hanging down on the center, their hooves bound together by a powerful rope, was a colt, his light brown coat already covered in black soot

Pinkie's eyes started to water, her mouth opened in shock at the seemingly unconscious pony, swaying from side to side like a pendulum, his mane pulled down by gravity.
She started to whimper in disbelief, calling out to the pony with a shudder:

"D-Dad...?"

"P-Pinkamena...?"

The weak voice of her father was enough to make the pink mare rush in, ignorant of the menacing flames reaching out, threatening to engulf her in the hellish inferno. She frantically glanced around the room, the intense heat already starting to make her sweat.
Her eyes immediately widened at a sharp, curved glinting object leaning against the wall, reminiscent of the days when she was young.

A pickaxe.

With a grunt, she lifted it from the floor, dragging it away from the hungry embers. She coughed as a cloud of soot assaulted her snout, with wooden debris and dust pouring across the room.
Raising the pickaxe up high, she let out a loud cry as Pinkie swung the tool, slicing through the ropes. Her father immediately fell towards the ground, his grunts a squeak compared to the howling and roaring of the flames.

"Daddy?" she shook her father's soot-covered hoof.
"Daddy, please wake up..."

She started to sniffle, the small tears dripping across the soot-coated floor. Her heart thrashed furiously with remorse, her teeth gritting in despondency. Shaking her father's hoof once more, Pinkie's breath shivered, before she finally broke out a sob, gripping her father's hoof tightly.
"I don't want you to go... not again..."

"P-P... Pinka..."

A loud gasp flew from her mouth, as her father started to stir, his eyes squirming about before opening.
"Pinkamena.... you're alive...."

"Daddy!!"
In an instant, Pinkie hugged the colt tightly, wailing out her despair.
Her father just chuckled, ruffling the pink mare's straight mane and letting her cry in his chest.

"I'm glad you're alright, Pinkamena," he muttered tenderly, soothing the pink mare.
"I'm just... happy..."

"You sure put up a good act."

Both ponies whirled around, the colt's brows furrowing at the sight of the stallion standing at the doorway, the flames still blazing magnificently above their heads.
Winter Palgiot frowned upon the colt his revolver raised, the barrel aiming towards the colt's face.
"Leave her alone."

"Winter! Don't!"
Pinkie scampered between the two colts, her face frantic with worry.
"He's my father, Winter! He can help us escape!"

"And you're very sure about that?"

"It's him! I know it's him!" the pink mare pleaded.
"He's just the way he is! Just like I remembered!"

Winter, however, glowered at the stallion, who started to smile.
"Pinkie," he glanced back at the pink mare, holding his breath.
"You have to accept that once a pony's gone, he or she might never come back again. This is the way life works, Pinkamena, and-"

"Don't call me that."

"Sorry about that," he gave a sheepish grin, before correcting:
"Pinkie. You seem to adore that name when your father calls you that."

"So I'm right, right?" Pinkie asked, ignoring her blush while turning to her father, who gave her a smile.
"He's my father, isn't he?"

"Then ask him this."
Without hesitation, the Patriarch continued, his grip on the revolver tightening:
"Why now, of all times? Where had he been after all this years?"

"Well, he surely has his...reasons... right?"
The mare's voice faltered, the sudden dawn of realization striking her inside her head. Reluctantly, she turned towards the colt, who was now wearing a cold frown.
"Don't you?"

"I wanted to find you, Pinkamena."
His short reply was enough to make the pink mare smile widely with relief, as he continued:
"I wanted to know that you're still alive..."

"...so I could hunt you down."

Pinkie stopped, turning around with her smile immediately whisked away. Her eyes widened in horror as the sharp end of the pickaxe lunged towards her head, her scream twisted in silence.
"D-Daddy...?"

*BAM*
*BAM*

The pink mare gasped in shock, watching as her father fell to the floor, coughing anxiously.
Slowly, she approached the bleeding stallion, with Winter watching grimly, still leaning at the side of the doorway with his revolver raised warily.
"Daddy... why?"

There was a cough of blood, with some splattered across her face. It sizzled for a moment, before Pinkie watch it discolor suddenly, turning into a crude hue of black.
"Y... You...." she stammered, grabbing the pickaxe by the side.

Winter immediately perked at the sight, holding his breath as he stared at the pink mare, her fluffy mane suddenly flattening. A black aura seemed to have surrounded her, the pickaxe in her hoof only making him call her nervously:
"Pinkie?"

Pinkie suddenly raised the pickaxe, her glare steeling with morbid rage. She started panting furiously as the colt below her chuckled with black fluids streaming from his mouth, his smile a devious one.
"Go on," he taunted. "Kill your own father."

With a loud cry, the sharp tool dived towards the colt's face, the foul, tainted blood splattering in response. The pink mare's hooves frenzied, hacking and slashing away, forming bloodied gashes along the face.
Stab, splatter, stab, splatter... the combination seemed to last forever; her frantic, violent swings and her broken screams, the spurts of blood already forming a puddle on the floor. The Patriarch could only watch from afar, too afraid to stop her in her crazed assault.

With one last plunge, the mare let the pickaxe fall with a clink onto the floor, its tip nearly blunt from the endless slashes at the face, which was now a gouged-out mess.
Pinkie cried loudly, her face planted in the black puddle of blood. Her hooves pounded against the floor in anger and despair, the mangled scene ravaging furiously in her head.

"Pinkie..." Winter finally called, scurrying towards the mare. He knelt down, instinctively hugging her despite her blood-covered face, trying to think of what to say.
"It's... it's okay now," he spoke tenderly, stroking her flat mane.
"It's okay..."

The Patriarch waited patiently until her sobs were over, her head buried in his chest. It wasn't long before the mare looked up, as if pleading for an apology.
"You didn't know, okay?" Winter replied. "You didn't know that he -umph!"

In an instant, his lips were slammed down by Pinkie's, his eyes widened in surprise with his back splashed into the black puddle of taint. He could only glance at the mare, unsure of what to do.
The sweet, intoxicating smell of the pink mare started to warp his senses, overwhelming his consciousness in a blooming flower of lust. It wasn't long before his eyes closed along, losing himself in the exceptional flavor of the mare.

The small tears dripped across her face as Pinkie's lips squirmed with need, prospering with hunger. She could feel his strong set of hooves gripping her closer towards him, caressing down her skin passionately. She tried not to moan at the fiery, spicy kiss, their tongues finally meeting together.
Arching his back, Winter pushed himself upwards, before the kiss broke. His fire of lust started to die down, as the two of them just stared at each other, fiddling their hooves awkwardly.

"T-Thanks..."

The stallion's ears perked at her response.
"For what?" he asked.

"I wouldn't have known that it was a... a... whatever it was..."
Pinkie leaned against his shoulder, her eyes staring soullessly at the bloodied body before them.
"If you weren't here..."

"It's alright, Pinkie," Winter mused, nuzzling her snout.

"Call me Diane," she responded, making the stallion jolt up in surprise.
"I... you.... it just feels... I don't know..."

She held her breath, a small part of her relieved for the other pony's patience, before finally finishing her sentence:
"Sexier?"

"Really?" he replied, trying his best not to giggle.
"Well, if you wish.... Diane..."

"Pinkie, I've found the-!"
Harmony Peridot stopped at the sight of the two of them, who quickly got up as soon as they heard her voice. The pink unicorn glanced at the stallion, trying not to scowl, then at Pinkie, before stopping to gasp.
"What happened to you?"

"Winter helped me kill something... I.."
The pink mare turned back, trying not to retch at the sight.
"You found the exit...?" she continued, wanting to change the subject.

Her friend just nodded, trying to ignore Winter's presence in the room.
"Quickly now! Who knows how much more of these abominations are here?"

As the unicorn quickly ran off, both Pinkie and the Patriarch followed her tracks, trying not to blush.
"Winter..." she muttered, trying not to tear up again.
"I can't... she would..."

"I know," he whispered back.

"I'm.... I'm sorry..."

"Don't need to be sorry for that, Pinkie," he replied, giving a reassuring smile and making her grin.
"Or should I say... Diane?"

"Shut up!" she squeaked, nudging the laughing stallion.
"If Harmony hears us..."

"I'll make sure she doesn't do anything to you."

There was a sigh, before Pinkie asked him a question:
"Pinkie Promise?"

Winter smiled widely, giving her a peck on the cheek, which only made her blush furiously, her lips puckering as she pouted at that, the Patriarch chuckling in response.
"Is there any specified answer for that?" he asked, earning a shake of Pinkie's head.
"Well then..." he began, his answer only making her giggle.

"I hereby comply to your... Pinkie Promise."

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Present Day





Applejack hummed a small tune down the corridors of the castle of Canterlot, wiping a few beads of nervous sweat off her brow after her small journey into the prestigious town.
She had accompanied Fluttershy for a visit to the local clinic to get a few bottles of medicine, just in case something comes up during her pregnancy. The pegasus, despite naturally timid, was anticipating the child's birth already: her wings were flapping excitedly and frantically every time she talks about it.

Their small confession to Big Mac earlier in the morning also went out well, in spite of the few disruptions and the bountiful, priceless looks of surprise her brother gave. The plans for a marriage were already underway, seeing how their foal would be illegitimate if it was born.
The worries of motherhood... the orange mare only chuckled at that.

She eventually reached the destination, silently giggling at the door standing tall before her, awaiting her entry into the Princess's bedroom.
As soon as she was about to turn the knob, however, she halted immediately, her ears perking at the pair of voices talking behind.

"What do you mean 'total chaos'?"

"We're dealing with a major force here. Even the Princesses are greatly concerned about the grave possibilities of the problems that might rise."

"Even if I want to," the other voice continued. Applejack recognized from his deep growl and slightly stubborn yet cute tone as Kane.
"How am I suppose to help? I'm stuck here unless the Princesses free me."

With a brief knock, the orange mare stepped in, before blinking in surprise.
Right beside the crimson dragon, there was a midnight-black one, slightly taller than Kane. His pupils glowed a bright sapphire of passion and calming, contrasting to Kane's red flare of energy.
"Um... you are...?"

"His name is Jovern," the red dragon replied, holding his breath before continuing:
"My brother."

"Hold your horses," she quipped, staring at Kane in disbelief.
"Ya never told me you had a brother!"

"It's something that's not desirable for him to mention," the black dragon replied.
"But he's got quite a good choice. The Element of Honesty, eh?"

"Ya even told him about us?" the orange mare exclaimed, gaping with disbelief.
"Why ya little..."

"Relax, Applejack," the dragon said, chuckling warmly at her somewhat cute snarl.
"My brother has a history of loving mares as well."

There was a grumble, her orange hooves crossed skeptically
"If that's the case..." she muttered, before reaching out her hoof.
"Name's Applejack. Pleasure to meet ya."

"The same."

"Well, Jovern," she continued, still frowning at the black dragon.
"What brings ya here?"

"To Equestria? I've been in Equestria the whole time, Miss Applejack."

"R-Really?" she asked, before gasping in realization.
"You... You're the Princess's dragon?"

Jovern and Kane merely chuckled at her response, with the younger dragon nudging his brother.
"Told you she's cute."

Applejack blushed at the comment, before continuing to ask:
"Well... did the Princesses sent you here?"

"Sort of. I requested to return here, actually. I would've done it myself if not for some forsaken barrier that had sprung up around Pendant Lakes recently."
There was a growl from the older dragon, his wings flapping with annoyance as he recalled his unsuccessful attempts of breaking through the magical wall, before continuing:
"I've detected Kanov'hin's arrival from the Badlands and I thought there would be some destruction, but the Princesses told me that you've been handling things well here."

"There were a few problems..." Applejack mused, glancing at Kane, who gave them a sheepish smile.
"But so far everything's solved."

"That's good news, however..."
The black dragon suddenly knelt down, his tone becoming only a little louder than a small whisper.
"The Princesses told me to relay a message to you as well. It's extremely important that you hear this."

Applejack blinked in surprise, before looking at the other dragon, who gave her a nod. Her hoof pattered with excitement; finally, something that can help her friends!
"Well, Ah have no idea what in tarnation would Ah be doing, but Ah'm all ears!"

"Alright then," Jovern said, giving a smile.

"Now this is what she wants you to do..."