//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Humble Beginnings // Story: Memoirs of the Mindless // by Writey the writer //------------------------------// Chapter 1: Humble Beginnings “...it’s all for the thrill” she spoke slowly, a tantalizing lure to inspire a final fighting sprit into his broken form. She stood a few metres in front of him breaking the silence with the gentle distinct tapping of hoof on stone floor. He faced downward, blood trickled out the corner of his mouth from where she had bust his lip. His body was riddled with healing and fresh wounds covering his blue form. Dried tears had formed beneath his blindfold from his twisted ordeal. His psyche was seemingly broken; she had to drag out his suffering over the course of a week-a week of horror behind closed doors. She couldn’t keep getting new recruits like she used to, the numerous disappearances were beginning to be noticed by the locals. She had to find a new source of targets and in a town as small as Ponyville the only new faces were those of travellers. They had come from as far as the hill marsh plains in the north, all of them seeking adventure but some finding instead, something far less enjoyable. The travellers sadly weren’t frequent visitors which reduced the amount of fun she could have with each, so instead of one night murders she was forced to stretch the torture over the course of a week however she proudly managed to break one of them in two days. She sighed heavily and walked slowly toward him, with each hooffall his breathing quickened, a response he had adopted shortly into this nightmare. His restraints prevented much movement however he still quivered and tensed his body. She breathed purposefully loud to intimidate him further. An aura of fear surrounded him. She leaned menacingly close to his face until she could feel his ragged breathing on her face. “It’s all for the thrill,” she repeated, hoping for a response to show he wasn’t ready to give up yet, showing he was still determined to battle through his ordeal. She waited patiently for a response but none came, just the same fluctuations in his breath and the occasional tremble but otherwise a dormant form. She sighed once again. “I thought you would last longer, but I guess we all reach a point,” she said in a grim tone. She scratched loudly upon the chrome table next to him, so he knew she was picking up one of the various instruments of torture. However she picked the simplest and favoured weapon. Its blade was still stained with the dark ichor from the last execution. She stared at it fondly, smiling like a mother with her child. She gripped the handle tightly. Reaching over to his face, she pulled down his blindfold and was met by his bloodshot eyes staring wildly at her, his face contorted in fear after seeing the monster that caused his suffering. This would be the second time he had seen her and notably the last thing he would see. She smiled reluctantly at his fearful expression intent on showing him her confidence in what she was about to do, she spoke the final words all other victims heard before reaching their demise. “When I kill you and you’re bleeding out your last, I want you to remember my face,” she said quietly, but enough to be heard. His breathing speed up once he digested what she meant, a look of terror locked in his unwavering stare fed her desire further to end him. She raised the knife to his neck and with a smiling glance passed it cleanly through his throat. His body immediately convulsed and blood sprayed from his newest wound covering her coat and face. Gargles of fading life were heard, as his final thoughts were lost to the void. She stood stationary for a moment listening to the slow dripping of ichor becoming less and less frequent until a silence she so desire filled the room. The simplicity was astounding she thought, if we but listened to the sound when there is none, we can hear the laughter of a filly and the scream of an antagonist. It filled her with content that this loose end was tied and another successful killing was complete. She wiped her face on a cloth from the table and stared at the body. This was the annoying but necessary part of the job, dealing with the body. She had no need to dispose the body, only to make sure it was in pieces to hide in her basement, and that it wouldn’t produce a noticeable smell, both of which were solved by mutilation and large amounts of bleach. However the process of soaking the body took many hours and the mutilation wasn’t an entirely pleasant experience due to the large amounts of blood and the thorough hygiene she required at the end. Almost six months she had been doing this- six months and nopony had noticed the rapid disappearances of their closest villagers. The travellers were the safest she could be with any killing. No-one knew them and gladly none would remember them. The lack of activity with the officials had surprised her, the police weren’t paying any attention to the disappearances. Despite this being rather good news it made her rather suspicious as the body count was already in double figures and at the current rate was likely going to fill her basement soon. Judging by the news, no official declaration of missing ponies had been released recently, at least locally that is. The lack of media attention was very fortunate, picking up and drugging a traveller who is suspicious of everypony would be very risky work. If word got out, there would be little between her and retribution of the many she had killed. She sighed deeply and unstrung the body. It fell to the floor with a gentle thud and she stared pensively at his form. Now came the part she disliked, tying the loose ends. She put her hooves under each of the foreleg and dragged him over to a shallow steel basin. Straining under the weight, she lifted him up and dropped him in with a loud band as his skull bounced of the metal base. There was just enough bleach left to fill the basin, she would need some more she thought to herself. The body would soak there overnight awaiting the next stage of the procedure, but for now she needed to get cleaned up, as an oblivious crimson stain covered her body. She walked up the stairs out her basement and then glanced over to the clock on the wall; she was meeting up with Twilight in an hour. She moved the thick metal latch and pulled open the heavy soundproof door to Sugarcube corner, the Cakes were out for the day so she had no concern of being seen. The metal door swung shut with a bang, locking the several bolts and locks immediately after. She was visiting Twilight to assist her with her studies. What little Pinkie knew about some topics was easily dismissed by her very extensive knowledge of pony anatomy. Twilight never asked how she knew, but she always had a lie installed to readily explain herself. Luckily her friend respected her knowledge and only asked questions related to the rather difficult subject. She had to be clean for seeing Twilight. She was a smart pony and if she had noticed the disappearances might be able to put two and two together. She began climbing the stairs; she would hate to have to kill a friend she thought. The unicorn scanned quickly through the text, picking up relative information although the topic was rather familiar to her. She enjoyed the work of this author. The writing style was a similar one to her own making it a more comprehensible read in comparison to the more complex styles she had seen. In a brief moment of panic she glanced up at the clock, Pinkie was due to arrive soon. If Pinkie’s usual timekeeping was met, she would be arriving in about twenty minutes either two minutes before or two minutes after the designated time like she normally was. She was receiving another lecture about the anatomy from the party pony. Despite her usual persona, Pinkie's knowledge was admirable in more than just anatomy, but was the topic she had offered to teach. Twilight was beginning to understand Pinkie more, she thought. She was a sociable pony but on the inside was a great mind perhaps exceeding herself in more than one shared area of study. She ended the sentence she was reading and, after memorizing the page number, put the book down. There were a few minor preparations which needed to be attended to before Pinkie arrived. Primarily just the recovery of the books she needed for the enrichment and the equipment with which to take notes. Spike was asleep his bed next to her however she had no fear of waking him. If there was one thing he knew how to do, it was sleep. The books were at the desk where she studied. She had tried to read them but without a basic knowledge she could decipher what to her was an encrypted code. The four books together should be all Pinkie needs she thought as she set the books down on her bed. She was nervous now. The first encounter with Pinkie had took her off guard she never expected her to know so much. She had a notepad and pen at the ready to take notes this time. A gentle knock came from the front door below her. She turned her head quizzically toward the clock, Pinkie wasn’t due for another 18 minutes and she was never far off the designated time. The knock was heard again however slightly louder this time. She glanced down to Spike who was still undisturbed by the noise. She gradually made her way down the stairs, her eyes fixed on the door. She found herself strangely worried by the unexpected visitor. She stood next to the door and glanced through the eyehole. She saw a brown pegasus pony on the other side glancing around nervously. “The libraries closed now...I’m sorry,” she said loudly through the door, to avoid having to open it. Her eyes dotted around nervously for a response. A thick voice shouted back “It’ll only take a second I just need one book” She didn’t expect a response, simply an approval or understanding of her decision; she rarely got any visitors during its opening time so to find somepony especially one she hadn’t seen before was worrying. “What is its name then, I’ll post it through.” She spoke through the door once again. A brief moment of awkward silence passed. “I can’t remember its name, let me in and I’ll find it. I know what it looks like...Fluttershy sent me,” said the voice again. Not many ponies know Fluttershy, she thought. She was a solitude loving pony who didn’t often leave her isolated house. So for him to know her name meant one of two things: they knew her and were telling the truth, or they lived in Ponyville, both of which would make them easier to trust. “Okay,” shouted Twilight. She raised her hoof hesitantly up to the door, and moved the lock. Using her magic she pulled opened the door slightly to allow the Pegasus in. The door suddenly crashed inward and two ponies ran inside. The pegasus she had seen before was carrying a wooden bat and an grey earth pony brandishing a knife. In shock she fell to the floor and the earth pony dived on top of her, holding her down and pressing the knife against her neck. He smelled strongly of dirt and an unfamiliar musky smell indicating he hadn’t washed in a long time. His eyes darted furiously across the room. He was probably looking for valuables she thought. She struggled against his weight on top of her, but he pressed the blunt edge of the knife hard against her neck. “Hey get away from there!” came the playground voice of Spike. She endeavoured to turn her head toward the noise, to see her longest and closest friend try and stop the criminals, but what she saw was from then on burned into her mind. It all seemed to happen so slowly. He ran at the Pegasus, claws out ready to strike. Her heart pounded in her chest as she felt his determination. The Pegasus swooped down and, swinging the bat, met the rounded end on the bottom of his jaw. She screamed but her voice was carried away by the vision before her. His eyes rolled back into his head and his neck bent further back than it should, he spun and landed in a crumpled lump on the floor- his neck hanging limply over his shoulder and his eyes. His eyes screamed belligerency as they stared blind in her direction. Her breathing became heavy and, aware of this; the earth pony applied the knife harder to her throat. “Don’t try anything! Or you’ll end up like your friend over there,” he spoke with a coarse voice. That moment she felt something she had never felt before, a lust to kill. Never before had she ever wanted so badly to do what was wrong. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she stared into those of the grey earth pony, she slowly mouthed ‘I’m going kill you’ and maintained a hard stare in his direction. His eyes darted over to the pegasus raiding the cupboards in her room. “You might want to hurry it up in there Snatch!” he bellowed, clearly disturbed by what she had said. His distraction was the opportunity she needed. Levitating a large cultural vase she got from Zecora, she launched it against the back of his head. It smashed into various fragments which rained down on her, however it sent the earth pony across the floor squirming-still holding the back of his head. The sudden release in pressure allowed a quick breath into her lungs fuelling her for the fight ahead. She rolled over and her hoof landed upon the handle of the knife, was she ready to do this she thought? Was she ready to kill in revenge for what they did to Spike? Her rational mind asked theses questions however she was more than that. She knew what she had to do and she knew there was only one way to do it. She picked up the knife in her hand and leapt toward the vulnerable earth pony. He rolled on his back and raised his hooves to protect his face. She slashed wildly at his arms leaving long gashes. He shouted for assistance but none came. She feinted stabbing at his forelegs and twisted the knife allowing it to pass through a thin gap between forelegs. His thrashing ceased almost immediately and his hooves fell, landing across his chest and by his side. The knife had penetrated under his chin and was buried deep in the maze of blood highways. He was either killed immediately or was just pretending which didn’t seem likely as he had four inches on steel through his neck, either way she ensured he wouldn’t get up again. She pulled the knife with little effort out of his throat, splatters of blood lifted up with it covering her face then, raising it high, she planted it firmly into his chest with one powerful swing. The knife shuddered as it passed through his sternum. More blood came pouring from his throat at due to the impact. The knife came out after two sharp tugs dislodging it from the earth pony’s appendage. She once again lifted it high and struck it back into the chest of the earth pony with less effort this time, she repeated this numerous times leaving large gaping channels in his grey body. She had killed one of the perpetrators against her home, against Spike. She glanced over to the pegasus, only his wings were visible from the top of the stairs in her room. Standing up quickly she walked slowly toward the foot of the stairs, determined to avenge the killer of a family member and willing to do whatever to achieve it. “How’s your friend doing Snatch?” she shouted as menacingly as possible up the stairs. His brown head emerged over the top, over his shoulder was slung a hemp satchel. His eyes scanned the body of his associate in disbelief. His face turned to horror as the morbid realization set in. He dropped the satchel suddenly and his jaw tightened in rage. His breathing sped up considerably. “I’m gonna’ kill you for that!” he screamed leaping higher than either earth pony or unicorn possibly could. He held the bat high above his head and swung it down with combined momentum at the purple unicorns head. She parried the attack with lethal precision, running the bat over the side over her shoulder with the side of the blade. Swinging again he struck at her chest this time. She jumped backward just out of his reach the knife held down by her side. They stood opposite from each other staring the pony they were determined to kill despite Twilight showing no evidence of it yet. They were both panting heavily.. His eyes flicked at the door then back to her. Her eyes narrowed. He was going to try and escape she thought and if he got outside there would be no way she would catch him, his wings gave him that oblivious edge. Her grip tightened on the knife and, swallowing all sense for her own safety, she launched herself at the pegasus stabbing at his chest. He parried the strike faster than she thought possible and a smile spread across his face as he struck her in the temple with the end of the bat. Stars floated across her vision as she dropped to her knee dazed by the impact. She stared blankly in front of her oblivious to the pegasus swinging at her, sparkles floated across her peripheral vision with a feeling of nausea stirring up. The bat struck her once again, in the ribs this time, she thought she heard a crack but wasn’t sure, she rolled over onto her side and continued glaring aimlessly. It hurt to breathe, and gradually her breaths grew shallower. She focused her eyes for a second and what she thought was a pile of books at first was in fact the broken form of her assistant- his eyes pointing just above her, glass bulbs with no expression or soul. She heard a thump behind her but paid no attention to it as her world began to tunnel, narrowing on the centre of her vision dragging her into the darkness. The party pony pulled the door shut firmly behind her, locking it with the chrome key. She checked to see if anypony was around which other than a shadow disappearing round a corner there was not. She walked to the trough to the left of the building and deposited it behind it in the usual spot, she wouldn’t be more than an hour or two at the lesson so didn’t mind leaving it there. The key wasn’t stored there to keep Sugarcube corner safe, there’s nothing to steal anyway she thought, it was the things in the basement she worried about, it always came down to them. She turned to walk to the library; it was only about 7 minutes away so she would arrive approximately 1 minute before the suggested time. The narrow illumination of the street lights gave the path a comforting feel, she didn’t feel exposed in the spotlight nor was she unable to see where she was going. Ponyville in Luna’s night was most beautiful she thought, only then could you appreciate it. The ponies who lived there weren’t by any means a downside to the place, she was a sociable pony however she was always waiting for the silence, at the end of every killing and at the end of every day. The upstairs lights of Rarity’s boutique were still on; she was probably getting ready for bed by about now. Rarity went to bed early and slept late into the new day, beauty sleep she called it, laziness others Pinkie included. Turning the corner, the library came into view. The enchanted tree in which the library was built, dominated the landscape with its vast spread of thick coated branches. As she got closer something didn’t seem right, for starters the front door was wide open and if Twilights normal paranoia of house security was anything to go by, it shouldn’t have been. She thought she saw a dancing silhouette cast out on the door way but wasn’t sure, it had moved to fast. The door was wedged tight against the back wall, obliviously due to a large impact; she looked inside to see a brown pegasus standing over a hopefully unconscious Twilight holding a wooden bat. She put two and two together and didn’t need a second opinion on the matter; it wasn’t oblivious what had happened however the outcome was a one against her friend, an outcome she couldn’t handle. Pinkie entered the room as loudly as possible, deliberately dragging her hooves against the floor and kicking books across the room. He spun round quickly to facing her. He was breathing heavily she noted, the fight had been going on for some time. She hadn’t paid much attention to the grey pony by the door but it was clear the two were together; his eyes were set on the earth pony’s mangled form. She cleared her throat as if to speak but refrained from doing so. He took a step forward brandishing the bat; she quickly began to calculate her odds: He was tired +1, she was faster (probably) +1, he was armed -1, he would already be up with adrenaline -1, and he wouldn’t expect her to be able to fight well +1. In the end she scored +1, not the best of odds in her opinion however for a friend she would happily risk the fight. Her pink mane deflated as she prepared to fight, she hoped she wouldn’t get too bloody; she had just gotten cleaned up after all. She rolled her shoulders and began walking slowly toward him, his eyes narrowed and he ran swinging his bat. Too predictable she thought to herself, his body leaned over to the left so he would swing with his right. She parried the blow with relative ease and, grabbing hold of the bat, swung round hitting him hard in the nose with her hoof. She jumped backward to avoid his second swing and survey the damage. He held his hoof tight over his nose, either broken or at least bleeding she thought. A deep frown appeared across his face. “Not much of a fighter are you?” she said to antagonize. It clearly worked as he ran once again at her, same as last time swinging to the right. She mentally rolled her eyes. At the last second she jumped back, she felt the bat skimmed through her mane and smashed off the floor heavily. With his head down she turned and with her hind legs hit him strongly in the face. He fell backward soundlessly, clutching the bat still tightly in his hooves. Twilight’s breathing was now visible from her body, a wave of relief washed over her. The purple dragon she had just came to notice hadn’t been so lucky, she had never really been that close to him but was saddened all the same, Twilight would have witnessed his murder she thought. An idea began to brew in her mind- a propitious idea, random to her nature, but as sound a thought as any- an unexplored region of consequences all at opposite ends of the scale. She dismissed the idea but brought it closer, finding loop holes with which she could implement a more through plan. She smiled at the result it could bring and accepted the risks as her reality. She glanced quickly between the two live bodies and then at the dead two. It would take half and hour she predicted- half an hour to re-draw a perfect world.