//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Turning Point // by ZachTheBrony //------------------------------// Twilight couldn't stop pacing around once she got home. What Celestia said to her, it just... she didn't want to do it. Did she have to? No. She didn't... but either way, she'd feel guilty. This was one of those times when Twilight had to make a tough decision. All I can say? Guilt is one hell of a bitch. - - - - "No way." "Way!" "EEE!!!" This had been going on for about an hour. Kratos laid in his bed, on the verge of yelling. The voices were of two young mares outside his door, talking about some damn stallion that was 'hot' or something, and how one got with him. "So what is he like?" "He's like, totally awesome! He's such a good kisser..." Kratos mumbled, "I'll give you something to kiss..." Before growling. "Really?! Oooh... so... how big is he?" "I haven't gotten that far with him yet!" The Spartan was seriously on the brink of- "WILL YOU TWO SHUT. UUUP!!! BEFORE I RIP OUT YOUR TAINTED... VOCAL... COOORDS!!!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. Silence... Thank Zeus... ... wait. Don't thank Zeus, brutally murder him when you get the chance. Got that? Got that. "Finally... some peace and qui-" "Like... what the hay was that?" "Hehehe! I don't know!" "URGHGRHGRGH..." Kratos realized something. One. He wasn't restrained. Two. His blades were on the floor, completely left for his taking. Three. Ponies were idiots for being so ignorant. A few minutes later, Kratos opened the door, and slammed it against the wall, which cracked. The two mares stared in slight horror at him as he said, "The next word... I hear... come out of your mouths... earns me the right... to rip off your head." He held one of the blades in his hands. The mares went pale, quickly exchanged silent whispers, walked away slowly... ... and screamed, "GUAAARD! MONSTERRR!!!" "NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO-" "GAH!" Kratos woke up with a yelp, and panted. Another damn dream! He growled, and tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't. His eyes seemed to be glued open after the dream. Strange was the dream, but even more so strange was the fact that he couldn't get back to sleep. Now, Kratos hadn't really thought about what happened in the day. Tried to... shove it down with ignorance. But even then, it made him feel off. Hollow. Stale. But, he was an expert at ignoring things, so he simply ignored. As the saying goes, 'ignorance is bliss'. The Spartan thought, 'I'm not bound to the mattress... I could simply walk out of here if I wanted... I doubt the guards would be able to put up any kind of fight.' But quickly dismissed it. Why? Because then he thought, 'But why would I leave...? I've nowhere to go, stay... that's how it has been for me for many years, but this isn't my home... I... don't know if I can return without help...' He groaned, forcefully shutting his eyes in an attempt to sleep once again. Just as Kratos was about to drift off into slumber... "K-Kratos...?" A familiar voice called to him in a whisper. He looked over, and opened his eyes. There, emerging from the bed next to his, was none other than Twilight Sparkle. The very sight of her made him look away. "Kratos... I... didn't mean to hurt you..." "Your words mean nothing to me... get out of my sight." He ordered. "No, Kratos." She barked. "It... isn't... how you think it is. It was..." "If you're to talk to me, Twilight, be quick with your tongue! I'm not tolerating mindless gibbering!" He snapped. "I-i-it wasn't intentional. Princess Celestia made me do it... I... we... were trying to-" Before Twilight could even finish her sentence, Kratos's eyes shot open in shock, then quickly boiled with rage in realization. "How... dare you... try to manipulate me, Twilight, how DARE you?!" Kratos demanded as he sat up on the bed. "You know what I have been through! You know that it was because of manipulation, because of deceit, that I MURDERED MY OWN FLESH AND BLOOD! AND YET, YOU STILL HAVE THE NERVE TO TRY AND BREAK ME, MANIPULATE ME, JUST TO BEND ME TO YOUR WILL, AND GET ME TO BE CONTROLLED!?!?" He yelled. By now, Twilight was curled-up in a ball on the ground, crying out of the guilt and pressure he quite literally shoved on her, sputtering out apologies like there was no tomorrow. "I-I'm... s-s-sorry..." "Your apologies mean nothing to me! Now leave me... before I do something you'll regret." Twilight didn't comply, but understood what he meant by 'something you'll regret'. Her horn lit-up, and she swiftly plucked the blades up from the ground into her magical grasp, and quickly started for the now opening door. Acting fast, Kratos attempted to pursue, but fell down as soon as he started running. Twilight looked back, and that gave the Spartan just enough time to get up, and get a head start on her. Terrified for her life, the unicorn ran out of the room, and attempted to slam the door shut, but Kratos grabbed it before it could shut, and flung it open. Armed with nothing but his bare fists, he chased the unicorn through the midnight halls. One of the patrolling stallions noticed him running, and charged toward him. Bad idea. Kratos sent out his undamaged leg once the stallion came rushing into the within-three-feet-zone, and with brutal force, knocked the wind out of the guard with an inhumanly powerful kick, straight to the chest. He heard a crack, but didn't care, continuing to pursue her, even as the stallion fell to the ground with a thump, gasping for painful breaths, until he finally breathed his last, limbs falling limp to the ground. "GIVE ME THE BLADES, TWILIGHT!" He ordered as he ran. His leg was starting to get to him, but had he not been utterly pissed off to the point of no return, he would've been screaming. Twilight ran out of the doors to the hospital, into the night air. But Kratos charged through them. "GRAAAGH!" He yelled with bestial vigor as he threw the doors aside. Cuts were now on his chest, but he seemed not to care. He gritted his teeth, and continued to run after her. The chase continued for several minutes. Twilight's stamina was depleting quickly, exhaustion beckoning her to stop and take a breather, but she was running for her life, ignoring every demand her body threw at her. She had to get the blades away from him, as fast as possible, but it was fruitless. But even then, she kept running. Kratos continued to close the distance, but as she ran through Ponyville, she got an idea, and skidded to a stop. Kratos did too, and growled at her, but before he could leap or charge at her, the chains that were connected to the blades were quickly, forcefully, and tightly, wrapped around his forearms. Painful memories haunted Kratos's mind, ones of when Ares did this to him. The Spartan was confused, but tried to take the blades anyway. But this failed, as Twilight took advantage of this, yanking the blades outward to the left and right sides of him, causing Kratos to become unbalanced. She wrapped the blades' chains around two fence posts. Kratos smirked. 'Really...' He took hold of the chains that were extended, and pulled inward with all his might, before both fences broke from the ground, and were sent flying towards him. It was Twilight's turn to smirk, as her horn lit up again. In a flash, Kratos was tied-up painfully by his own chains, like a mummy. The fences were thrown away. His arms were disabled- practically useless now, the blades hanging by his sides. She glared at him, and tied them under his legs, just before he fell onto his back. He squirmed, but it was no use. Twilight approached him. "You're going to lay here... and think over your actions... d-do you understand me?" She asked. Kratos almost laughed at her stuttering, easily telling out she was either terrified or in shock that she managed to disable him, but groaned, halfheartedly saying whilst resisting a shit-eating grin from forming, "I understand..." "G-good..." Twilight said, before walking off to her home. Her eyes went wide as she thought, 'I... did I really... h-how did I...' She was astonished at herself. ... but then she heard the yell. Looking behind her, her ears pinned back as Kratos miraculously freed himself. Her jaw slacked, dropping widely, pairing well with the shrunk irises that now accompanied her face. Kratos grasped the handles of the blades tight, the chains wrapped tightly, almost painfully tight around his forearms, where the scars used to be. Twilight braced herself, teary-eyed for what was to come...