[Perspective: Arrell]
The moon was still high in the sky. Everything that had happened, happened in the course of one day. It was so...surreal.
I lay in bed, thinking about the day's events. My feelings were mixed about the whole thing – happy that Asylum was safe; sad that innocent ponies died; ashamed that I turned so violent. But out of all the feelings I felt, fear was probably the biggest.
I was afraid because it finally hit me that I wasn't invincible, even as a practically godlike creature. I was afraid because if not for a deus ex machina ability, I'd be dead.
But most of all, I was afraid of myself.
Once we got home and everypony else went away, the five of us had a few things to sort out. First on the list was False's little death sentence – I wormed out of that one easily, pointing out that she had told me to go to bed, not stay in bed. She seemed both annoyed and relieved when I pulled that one out.
Next up was future plans. I made it very clear that once I was past my sickness, we were heading to Stalliongrad, no matter what. All I needed was another disaster centered around this small town to make me go even more insane. Nopony argued with me.
And then we reached the topic I was dreading.
My anger.
"Arrell, you can feed us all the lies you want, but remember what my special talent is." False gestured to her cutie mark. "I'll see through them, and I won't let you leave until you tell us the truth. So answer me: what happened out there?"
I maintained a stoic expression. "I got angry."
"That much is obvious," Risk remarked. He'd been in a much more sour mood since we got back. Probably because of me tricking him earlier in the day.
"We've seen you angry, Arrell. The Dusk of Ice and Fire? That was you being angry. This was...different."
I sighed. "Fine. Long story short, I released the evil that was sealed inside of me."
"Evil?" Nimble and Asylum asked simultaneously.
"Right, you weren't there. Basically, when I was sent here by Styx, she took part of my anger and magnified it. Then Princess Celestia sensed it and sealed it away inside of me, thinking it was evil. Which technically it is, I guess, but I digress. As a human, I was the kind of guy who you could take the piss out of nonstop as long as you didn't do something that REALLY got me mad. Once you do that, you're doomed."
"Kind of like what happened with the Dusk of Ice and Fire," Risk added.
"Right. Styx decided to increase that for me to make me stronger, but she increased it so much that Celestia sealed it within me. Fortunately, I rarely get mad anyway, so I didn't end up accidentally destroying Ponyville before she got to me. I ended up unsealing it while dealing with Frostfiend because of just HOW angry I got. But after the fight was over, it went right back into its seal."
"How do you know?" Asylum asked.
"Because right when the fight was over, I...powered down, I guess. I went back to normal size, normal mannerisms, all that stuff. I'd still be like that if it didn't." I yawned. "Are we done?"
"I suppose so," False decided.
"Good. I need to put my stuff away." I pulled out my saddlebags.
"Whoah, whoah, whoah!" Risk yelled. "Where did you get those?"
I rolled my eyes. "From my saddlebags. Do we have to go over this again?"
"I thought they burned in the fire! And your axe too!"
"You mean this axe?" I pulled Bloodbath's axe out of the left saddlebag. "I had it in my saddlebags."
"...I'm not sure what's weirder. The fact that you pulled those saddlebags out of nowhere, or the fact that your axe somehow fit inside them."
"Oh, that second one can be explained. These saddlebags are limitless. Must be one of the powers Styx gave me; infinite storage space." I trotted up the stairs to my room, saddlebags on my back and axe in my mouth.
False watched me go with a raised eyebrow. "Why not just carry the axe up in your bags then?"
"I'm too lazy to turn around and put it in," I called back around the handle.
That was the last thing I said before I entered my room and shut the door with a sigh. I could only stay in a good mood for so long...
Fortunately, I avoided talking too much about my little rage fest back there. I just diverted their attention away from that topic and left as soon as I could. I had pulled that trick enough times as a human, so I had it perfected to an art form.
Honestly, the only reason I didn't want to talk too much about my anger was because I was afraid I'd start talking about...past events. Other things that happened as a human because of my anger. And that'd scare them.
I didn't want to scare anypony.
If I had a choice, I'd just turn from a Windigo into a regular pony. Maybe a unicorn or something. Being a villainous creature just drew more attention to myself.
Sighing, I buried my face in my pillow, pretty much the only thing still in its original position. Ever since I walked into my room just half an hour ago, my room had gone from neat and straight to an absolute mess. My saddlebags were just dumped by the door, Bloodbath's axe on top of them. The covers and blankets on the bed were thrown onto the floor, completely useless to my coldproof form. The few trinkets and extra pieces of furniture around the room were either knocked over or moved somewhere else based on my OCD. Heck, at one point my mattress got flipped upside-down, and I don't even remember doing that.
A quiet knock at my bedroom door startled me, and I grunted ambiguously in response. The pony at the door took this as a "come in" and did so. Said pony turned out to be Risk.
"Yelling, arguing, demanding answers, or all of the above?" I asked upon seeing him.
He blinked. "Uh, none. I just came to make sure you were okay."
"I'm fine. Besides the whole 'evolution' thing, anyway."
"That's horseapples and you know it."
"What could possibly be wrong with me aside from the obvious?" I asked rhetorically, sitting up on my haunches.
"You just killed an entire clan of Windigoes today, and indirectly led five ponies to their deaths. Considering how shook up you were from just killing a couple ponies in the Dusk of Ice and-"
The rest of his sentence was cut off when his body was slammed backwards into the wall. I held him there, my hoof on his throat; firm enough to shut him up, but not enough to prevent him from breathing.
"You're great at dangerous stunts, Risk," I breathed. "But bring up any of that again, and no amount of training will prepare you. Understand?" He nodded, and I let him go. "Now get out. I know you meant well coming in here, but you chose your words poorly, and I'd rather not lead into a situation we'll both regret because of a repeated offense."
Rolling his eyes, the unicorn trotted out of my room, and I walked over to my bed. I hadn't even laid a hoof on it when somepony else knocked on the door. I groaned audibly.
"That any way to treat a guest?" False asked, opening the door and walking in. I glared at her.
"Says the pony who insults me in half of her sentences," I shot back.
"That's not true!"
"Yeah, it's more like three-quarters."
She facehoofed. "Why are you such a stubborn little moron all the time?!"
"Case in point!" I stomped the ground, temper reaching a boiling point. "I can never please you, can I? When I'm happy, you think I'm annoying. When I'm angry, you think I'm stubborn. When I'm sad, you think I'm overdramatic. And on the rare occasion where I do something right, such as saving your life or protecting all of Equestria, you conveniently forget in less than a day!"
"I didn't forget!"
"You sure as hell act like it!" I shoved her backwards a few feet, just enough to get her out of the room, and slammed the door as hard as I could. I expected her to open it back up, but she didn't. Instead, there was silence, and then I heard her hoofsteps walk away and downstairs.
That escalated quickly, I thought to myself with mild shock. Risk comes in and I'm irritated. False comes in and I'm pissed off. Hopefully Nimble and Asylum stay out, or I may end up murdering them.
I sighed. Risk and I were on such good terms before, and now he was probably going to just leave the group. And while I can't say False and I were ever on good terms, they probably wouldn't be getting better anytime soon, and she'd head back to Manehatten as soon as she was relieved of duty. Nimble and Asylum would probably hear about this and, coupled with my rage-induced superpowered form, think I'm absolutely insane and stay behind in Smooth Grove.
Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe everything will be fine. I paused. ...who am I kidding? Even I know when lines have been crossed. Give it a week, and I'll be all alone.
With that final depressing thought, I took to my bed, suddenly tired. Maybe my lack of sleep was affecting my thoughts. Maybe some rest was all I needed. Maybe over the next few days, everything would go back to normal.
Or maybe I was being too optimistic.