//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: Relapse  
// Story: The League of Extraordinary Ponies 
// by Infinite Carnage 
//------------------------------//


“If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?”


- William Shakespeare


Chapter 1: Relapse

Mr. Carnage’s POV
2 years later…

The sea wind brushed gently against my face as I continued to drink my tea. I liked the sea. There was something very comforting about the smell, the warm air, and the atmosphere. In truth, it was one of the few times that the rage and the bloodlust inside me soothed to the point on non-existence. That was one of the reasons I had moved to Trottingham. The city was located next to the sea. The second reason was because my accent matched the locals, so it helped me to blend in with them as an everyday pony.

A lot had happened in the past two years, not just to me but the entire country. There were new bearers of the Elements of Harmony, the return of my mother and the political fallout of a returning Princess, Discord’s return and swift imprisonment, and of course the disaster known as the royal wedding.  As I sat there, gazing across the expansive blue sea, I couldn’t help but look back on the day I was released. The mare that had released me was a writer with a very clever disguise. Her name, as best I recall, was ‘Daring Do.’ Due to her constant adventures, she figured that any fame she could gain from that would hinder her chances to explore and make her too recognizable. So she made a pseudonym and pretended the adventures she had were all fictional. When she had explained that to me I realised what kind of world I had woken up to… and to say I didn’t take it well would be an understatement. The rocks nearby felt my wrath that day.

My mother, the mare I had idolised from birth, had lost that battle with her sister and suffered a terrible fate. To live on the moon for a thousand years in solitude. Daring told me that the base she found me in was the final battle ground and legend said the entire building was destroyed by Celestia’s sorrow at sending her sister to the moon. Miss Do was apparently looking for some mysterious secret that Luna had left behind. She certainly found it alright, but it damn well wasn’t what she was expecting. My coffin was buried under the rubble. Luck would have it that the emergency sleep and food systems kept me alive, but then I realised I should have died from old age. I must have inherited my mother’s immortality. Lucky me. 

She slowly explained that only recently, my Mother had broken free of her prison and attempted to plunge the world in eternal night. I knew Mother had gained some issues over time, but what she attempted to do was nothing short of foalish. The world would die if there was only night. Apparently she had given into some evil force calling itself ‘Nightmare Moon.’ This explained why she insisted on the change of name a thousand years ago, so looking back, some things now made more sense than they did before. However, this time six mares stopped her and removed her Nightmare Moon alter ego with the Elements of Harmony. Then, she kissed up to my aunt in order to not be sent back to the moon again. Despite what happened, there were many reasons we fought against Celestia and her tyrannical rule. By betraying the cause for her own selfish reasons and surrendering to my Aunt, my mother betrayed everything we believed in, but I wasn’t mad anymore. I was just disappointed. That mare who lives in her cushy lifestyle as her sister’s lap dog is not my mother. My mother is dead to me.

I remember soon after getting free that I stumbled onto one of those new age stores called a ‘comic book’ store. I understood the pain of one character in particular, Captain Equestria. We were both ponies out of time; creatures whose bodies were altered to win their respective wars. The one difference was where the Captain was successful in her war, I was not so successful. The most horrible part of all this though? Everything seemed so peaceful. It shouldn’t be like this. Mother had told us all that if the solar ponies won the war then all of Equestria would be subjected to a dictatorship like state ruled by slave labour under the blistering sun. This was not the world that was foretold. It was peaceful. The last war was two hundred years ago which ended with the Griffon’s surrender. 

After the archaeologist had told me everything, I decided to show her mercy and let her go. She muttered something about using this in a story, and sure enough she did. She turned me into some sort of Spanish blue cat, and I wasn’t sure if I should’ve been insulted or… No, I was insulted. 

It had been rough adjusting to the language at first, but I quickly picked everything up. After a month, I bought false teeth to cover my razor sharp ones and contact lenses to cover my eyes. I’ve never looked back since. I use my blades to carve wood sculptures, one of the rare talents I had that didn’t involve slicing ponies up. Ponies would come into the shop, give me a picture of a pony or a place they wanted me to carve and I would pretend to use the cutting tools in the back when I was actually using my blades. I took pride in my work. This raised questions about my cutie mark though, because it did not seem to match my occupation. It was a black half crescent moon being struck by a black lightning bolt. It stood out on my coat so it wasn’t exactly easy to hide. That was why I had invested in clothing.

One of the first things I did upon my freedom was experience the local wildlife. Apparently, I was in some place called the Everfree forest. I moved from forest to jungle in 6 months before I accidently stumbled into a small town after an altercation with a bunch of Timberwolves. You can survive your entire life in the wild. I originally felt more comfortable there. Anyway, I fell through the roof of some fancy clothes shop during the chase, and there I found… my identity. My blue eyes looked over the pinstriped vest in front of me. It was black, and the thin pinstripes were blues. On top of it was a matching black hat with a black tie. I took a number of suits and ran off to the nearest city. A month later I went to Trottingham after ponies kept asking if I came from there due to my accent, and I haven’t looked back since.

I visit this little café often, mostly because it’s located by the sea. Also, the tea is superb. I have to admit though, some of the waitresses are easy on the eye. One mare in particular, I believe her name is Citrus Orange, has taken quite a fancy to me. Perhaps I should ask her out sometime. More and more, every day I am starting to feel at peace. Screams of war that previously invaded my head are now a distant memory. I have cut ties with Mother, for I have no interest in contacting her, and I must say. I’ve come to love this city. It’s dirty, but honest. Much like me. I remembered that I still had some work to do. Mainly carving a piece for that trophy wife of Fancy Pants. I adjusted my hat and headed out towards my shop.





[??? POV]

And there he went. The target. I remembered the file our new employer had given us in great detail.

Subject Name: Carnage Moon. (Note: Prefers the title of Mr. Carnage.)
Gender: Male
Noted Abilities: Electricity generation and manipulation, unbreakable blades that deploy out of his arms, and advanced senses (mainly smell).
Known Bio: [Information redacted until further notice]

They had practically given us nothing to go by. That suited me just fine. I was used to taking out individuals that I would have to learn about first. The only difference here was that I was used to assassinating them. We had to take Mr. Carnage in alive. I would not complain, though. I would not dream of putting the Brotherhood in an awkward position.

Never compromise the Brotherhood.

While all of us joined on our own merit, we were told that this individual was vital to the mission. Also, he would likely not come of his own accord, so our best bet was to capture and explain at the base. Something felt fundamentally wrong about that, but I did not question any further. If the Brotherhood had told me to do this, I would have jumped at the chance in a heartbeat. I kept my nerves in check though. If all else failed I would be the last to reveal myself.

Hide in plain sight.

The stallion I was taking orders from was now a friend to the Brotherhood, so I wouldn't question it any further. Still, it would be nice to have more of a backstory on this guy first. My psychology background yearned for it. All I was told was that he was a war veteran, but he looked way too young for that. He looked like he was in his twenties. There was a tiny scar above his left eye and he was kind of handsome to boot. He also looked well-built too, so he wasn’t going to be held down easily. That was a guarantee. He began to make his way to the secluded area. There we could pick him up without any danger of harming civilians or alerting them.

Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent.

It was time for us to roll. I leaned over the edge of the rooftop and signalled the others. As a great man once said, let the games begin. I pulled my hood over my head and whispered a small prayer.

“I dedicate my mission today in the name of the Assassin Brotherhood. As the great mentor Altair once said, ‘Nothing is true, everything is permitted.’”





[Mr. Carnage POV]

I turned a corner and headed into the alleyway. It was a convenient shortcut home and I wasn’t afraid of any muggers or thugs I would find hiding in the shadows for two reasons. One, it was still daylight. Two, I’m the scariest damn thing you would find in this city. Random graffiti marked the walls. I never understood what any of it meant apart from the sign at the end, which was a straight line, with three diagonal lines on top. It was the symbol of the Unicorn Defence League. The UDL were a group ‘dedicated to protecting the rights and dignity of all unicorns’. Basically, they hated anything that wasn’t a Unicorn. You were fucked if you were an Earth pony before the Luna/Celestia war. You were either a slave or dead. You know that Clover the Clever? Complete dick. Well, not the original, but I’m referring to his great grandson. He was a lead slaver for the UDL, but you won’t find that in the history books. This city is mostly comprised of Pegasi, funnily enough. Unicorns are the minority, just like Manehattan, so I have no idea which Unicorn had the balls, Or stupidity, I thought with a smirk, to spray that logo. The UDL hasn’t existed for years. Apparently Aunty, It still physically hurts me to call Celestia that. Went to great lengths to annihilate them after the war, but their history can still be seen today. I was about to leave the alleyway and head on home when I heard a noise from behind me.

It sounded like somepony whistled at me, but when I turned around there was nopony there. I knew better than to let one initial look judge a scene. Years of strategic meetings and wars do that to a pony. I stepped into the alleyway a bit further, but despite my abnormal vision, I couldn’t spot anypony following me. It smelt like there was more than one pony here. My nose might have just been on the blink though, so I ignored it. I walked backwards to make sure nopony could follow me, but as I was about to leave I had bumped into something.

It definitely wasn’t a wall because it felt too soft, plus I had an excellent sense of direction, and I was heading straight out of the alleyway. The only logical conclusion was that I bumped into another pony. Silly me, my fault for walking backwards like a fool, I thought. I turned around so I could apologise to the pony I bumped into. Despite my bloodlust, I was still a gentlestallion.

“My sincerest apolog…” When I turned around though, there was nopony there. I quickly looked around but there was nopony anywhere around. That’s odd. Nopony should have been able to move that fast, especially from me. Something was wrong though. It smelt like somepony was right in front of me, yet my eyes told me otherwise. Am I going mad? Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve asked myself that question. I wanted to try something before I left. I stuck out my hoof gingerly and prodded the air in front of me. I could feel a pony’s body.

“Whoa there buddy. You’re cute, but I’m afraid you’re not my type,” said the thin air. It was a stallion’s voice, that much I was sure of. What I touched made me assume he was mostly skin and bones. There wasn’t a lot of meat on him. Suddenly, I felt a hoof connect to my jaw. It was a weak punch, but for all I knew my opponent was merely testing the water. I got into a stance, ready to fight. I instead heard the clip clop of hooves circling me, and before I could react, two hooves connected with my rear end. Again, the shot was weak, but it was enough to send me forward a few paces.

I had to think. I was dealing with an opponent who I couldn’t see, but I could smell him. I sniffed the air. He smelt of smoke and sweat. Not the most attractive of odours but easy to pick up. I got into another stance as he attempted to circle me again, but this time I was ready for him. As soon as he got behind me I bucked with average force, so I didn’t seriously injure him, and my hooves connected to his side. I heard a grunt of pain and a body slamming directly into a trash can. That was the first fight I had been in for quite some time, and I could already feel a beast rising from within me, despite how quickly it ended. I took a moment to calm down before approaching the trash can. I could still smell him there and it appeared that he was having trouble standing up. I approached whatever this abomination of nature was as calmly as I could.

“I do not know who you are, sir,” I said, “but you are quite fortunate that I am trying to be a better pony, otherwise I would have slit your throat right here. Now, I wa…” At that moment, a bullet skimmed the edge of my face. I wasn’t paying attention and another pony got the drop on me. An inch closer and that bullet would have killed me. At least my initial assumption was correct: there was more than one. I spun in the direction of the bullet and I saw another two stallions looking down at me from one of the rooftops looking over the alley way.

The first stallion had a dark chocolatey-brown coat with a black mane that had been fashioned into dreads which hung over his head. He was wearing some sort of mask over his mouth. At best guess, it was some sort of breathing apparatus. He was wearing a brown overcoat which seemed to cover up his cutie mark. The other stallion looked a little distressed at the scene before him. He was most likely one of those types who tries to find the peaceful solution first. He had a tanned coat and a spiked up short brown mane. He was wearing a brown suit. He began arguing with the chocolate brown stallion. From what I could make out, he didn’t approve of the gun. Suddenly the tan stallion pulled a small object from his jacket pocket and pointed it at me as the blue light at the end of it lit up.

Instinctively, I jumped against the wall beside me so I could dodge whatever it was but nothing came. Then, I realised he wasn’t aiming for me at all, but rather the valve pipe that was located on the brick wall near me. The exact point where the blue light was aiming at suddenly burst and hot steam landed directly on my face. I screamed in pain as I covered my face with my forehooves. The initial pain was awful, but I felt no lasting damage. I was mostly worried about the rage that was starting to build inside me. 

They’re taking me alive, that’s for sure. I’m not sure why, but I shouldn’t lose my cool. They’d be sorry if I did though, but the mess it would cause… No, it’s decided. I can’t become that beast. Even Mother feared me when that happened. Before I could finish that thought, a hoof collided with the back of my head, causing me to fall to the ground.

That was no light shot, that shot nearly knocked me unconscious. Clearly it didn’t come from that invisible pony, so another player had entered this one-sided game. My face was planted into the ground, and as I slowly lifted my head I was expecting to find a pegasus. The speed of the punch drew me to that conclusion. Instead, my eyes fell upon a unicorn mare who stood confidently above me. I recognized her rather quickly. A poster of her was advertising her appearance at one of my cousin’s weddings. The so called “Princess of Love.” Her stage name was DJ-Pon3, but her real name was Vinyl Scratch.

“Never send a stallion to do a mare’s job,” she gloated. “You guys just hang back for now. DJ-Pon3 has this one.” Her coat was a chalk white and she had a vibrant blue mane. She removed her shades to reveal a pair of unnaturally red ruby eyes. Then she opened her mouth to reveal a pair of fangs. It couldn’t have been more obvious that she was a vampire. All she was missing was a cape and vampire bats flying around her. “I hope you and your blood ain’t attached because you’re about to lose some.” I was still dazed and she took advantage of that. She rolled me over so I was on my back and sat on my stomach. “Don’t worry, though. I only need enough to knock you unconscious. Who knows? If you’re a good colt, I might make you part of my undead army.”

Oh, hell no! I sprang to life and grabbed her by the throat. I capitalised on my sudden advantaged as I pulled her helplessly down to my face.

“Listen to me, Miss,” I said in a low, threatening tone while maintaining as much of my gentlestallion side as I could. “My mother was the queen of darkness. I know most of the bull about vampires. You may have super speed and super strength, but you’re not immortal or undead. And although I don’t like hitting mares, this will be a lot easier if I envision you as a solar guard.” With that, I head-butted Miss Scratch straight to her mouth. Although she wasn’t knocked out, she was clearly knocked loopy, and I quickly threw her off me.

As I got up I heard the clicking of a gun and quickly dodged another bullet. This one appeared to be directed at my foreleg. I realised that the stallion was using a sniper rifle, so time was of the essence. I harnessed the electricity inside of me and fired a number of shots at the stallions. Although the shots missed the pair, they ducked back in surprise. I took my chance to fly up and out. My original plan was to fly out and lose them in a crowd. There was no way they would risk blowing their cover. However, this plan was short lived as a lunar guard was heading straight for me from above.

Despite the dramatic entrance of another attacker, I kept my cool and dodged yet another shot directed at me. I attempted to fly up and out, but as she passed me she grabbed my back legs. She used the momentum to overpower me and toss me back down to the ground. I didn’t fall too far, but I was clearly out of practice because this was the second time I’ve been knocked silly in a matter of minutes. The back of my head smacked into the concrete as another sharp pain went through my skull. I’m gonna have brain damage by the end of this fight. Before I could get up, a spear was shoved against my throat, the sharp tip dangerously close to slitting my throat. The Lunar guard kept the spear tip against my throat as she bore down an intense gaze from above me. She had the bat like wings that I remembered and her armour was nearly identical to the armour worn by my brethren a thousand years ago. Her eyes were a piercing yellow that stood out among her grey coat and black mane. I couldn’t see her whole cutie mark due to her purple armour, but it was light blue and it appeared to be some sort of wing. If that armour was nearly as tough as it was a thousand years ago, then I was in trouble.

“Hold still foul creature,” she growled at me. “I do not know what kind of pegasus can bring forth lightning from their arms, but we are apparently in need of you. That is the only thing that stays my spear.” I saw the sniper retake his position on top of the roof and aim directly at my head. The stallion that was beside him appeared to have left. Where to was anypony’s guess. The vampire also recovered and quickly trotted up next the lunar guard.

“Careful, Shadow. That dude has a hard head.” Vinyl rubbed her jaw as she grimaced. The pain appeared to still be there. I made a mental note of that. The other mare, apparently named Shadow, kept the tip against my throat.

“Do not struggle any further,” she said. “It will be easier for you and for us if you come with us.”

“Do you usually give invitations in the form of sneak attacks?” I shot back.

“You were deemed too… unstable, for reason. There is somepony who wants to meet you. You may have a higher calling yet, creature.”

“First off, Miss, my name is Mr. Carnage. Second, don’t pretend that you know me. I’ve fought beside ‘real’ lunar guards that were 10 times tougher than you.”

“A likely story, because this lunar guard appears to have bested you.”

“Oh, really? I still have a trick up my sleeve, or rather, in my forelegs.” Before she could ask me what I meant, both of my blades shot out of my forelegs. Both Vinyl and Shadow jumped in a mix of surprise and horror at the scene before them. I was just in reach of the spear, so I swung my arm and cut off the head. I grabbed the now useless spear and pushed it against Shadow who fell on her back. The still dazed Vinyl was helpless and the brown stallion was about to take me out. Before he could do so, I jumped back to my hooves and pulled Vinyl against me. She was now my shield. I brought up my right blade up to Vinyl’s throat. Vinyl called out to the brown stallion on the roof.

“Ulysses! Don’t you dare shoot!” she screamed up at him. I could see him pause at this and eventually lower his gun. Shadow was already up, but felt helpless with the situation before her. I edged back slowly with Vinyl in tow. 

‘Okay, get to the exit. Push her forward and… WAIT!’ My instincts screamed at me as I stuck out my left foreleg and felt a pony collide with it. I couldn’t see the pony, but I already knew it was that invisible stallion from before. Vinyl groaned at the scene.

“Damn it, Fade! You are just useless today!” Two more names. Ulysses and Fade. Unusual names for unusual ponies, I suppose. I couldn’t tell, but Fade seemed to be stunned again, so as I began to edge closer and closer to the exit I began to leave my warning.

“I’m not sure who you ponies are, but let me make this clear. I’ve tried too hard these last two years to give up on not fighting now. To give up this angry beast inside of me. Today you nearly brought him out, and then you would have had a fight that involved a lot more blood. I’m giving you one chance. Leave. Me. Alone.” The exit was near, but before I stepped out I heard a large bang from behind me, like something large hitting the ground. I turned my head slowly, but made sure to hold on tight to my hostage. I have seen a lot of things, but what I saw when I turned around made my blood run cold.

I have met and fought changelings, Princesses, wolves, trolls, weird humanoid creatures with no fur, and even a giant reptile that walked on two feet. This thing… was a pony crossed with a spider. An arachnapony. My mother would regale me with legends of the arachnaponies as a foal. The creature behind me was three times my size. It had brown fur and walked on four large, meaty legs. It also had four arms in front of its body that were much smaller. Weird fangs hung from the front of its mouth and six eyes were scattered all over its face. Its eyes were nightmarish. They were pure black and large; no pupils could be made out. In my surprise, I unconsciously let go of Vinyl, who quickly ran over to Shadow.

“Alright, Guardian! Mess him up, bro!” She called out. I just stood there for several moments, just staring at the creature before me in utter bewilderment. 

‘I thought I was the weird one.’ He brought his face down to mine so we were mere centimetres apart. He said but one thing to me.

“Boo.” 

Again, my instincts kicked in and I swung blindly at the monster. Although my strike hit his face it appeared to do practically nothing to it. It lunged at me. It was a lot faster than I could have predicted, but I still managed to sidestep him. I stood no chance in a straight up fight, so escape was my only hope. As I sprinted towards the exit the creature blocked it with webbing. It was lightning quick and I was being surrounded. The Arachnapony blocked the exit. Vinyl and Shadow blocked the opposite side. Fade and the tan stallion from before blocked my left and right side respectively. Fade called out to the tan stallion.

“Glad you could join us, Doctor.” The Doctor simply nodded in response.

“You’re trapped. There’s nowhere for you to run. If I can give you some helpful advice, it’s that we’d rather take you in alive and conscious,” said the pony identified as the Doctor. I had one chance left. I flew up as fast as I could. At first, it looked like I dodged them, but then I saw fire. There was a mare, and all I could see was fire circling her as she flew around me. 

‘FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! CRAP, I HATE FIRE! FIRE IS THE SUN! THE SUN IS BAD!’ I dropped onto the closest roof I could get to. The beast was rising to the surface closer and closer as I looked into the fire. The mare landed right in front of me as she struck a valiant pose.

“Hold it right there, rookie. You aren’t leaving that easily,” she announced. “You’re coming with us whether you like it or not.” I recognized her instantly. It was hard not to as she was probably one of the biggest celebrities on the planet. Spitfire. The Wonderbolt. Bedroom fantasy to every mare and stallion alive, and one of the most successful flyers in history. Apparently she had the ability to cast fire from out of nowhere. Huh. I began to lose it.

“Don’t let that fire near me!” I cried out. Spitfire had a mischievous grin grow slowly on her lips.

“Fear of fire, huh? You should never let your opponents know your weaknesses.” She threw a fireball that narrowly missed my mane. I wasn’t telling her to extinguish the fire for my safety, but for hers. My brain started to get foggy. I was starting to see nothing but red.

‘FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!

‘FIRE!’

I snapped…

My eyes grew wider as I began to growl and snarl. I tore out my contacts and false teeth to reveal my true form. Spitfire noticed this and backed away a few paces in confusion. She never admitted it, but she was also a little frightened by my sudden change in appearance and personality.

“Hey, what the heck is this?” I replied to this by letting out a large roar that could be heard throughout the large city. Spitfire’s eyes grew wide in surprise as I closed the distance between us in a matter of seconds and swung at her. She narrowly dodged my strike as she flew high into the air. I immediately flew after her as I began to chase her around the city. I saw her colleagues trying to catch up to us, but I didn’t care. My only desire now was to tear apart the fire mare. 

‘Kill! Rip! Tear! Eat! Cut!’ Those were the only thoughts going through my head. This was the first time I had succumbed to this side to me in over a thousand years.

It felt good.

She was faster, but my electricity became her downfall as I fired a shot and hit her directly in the back. She fell like a spitfire plane shot out of the sky and landed spine first on a random building. I could see tears beginning to form in her eyes as I landed right in front of her. I slowly stalked my prey. Her back was in too much pain for her to move, but this didn’t stop her from desperately struggling. Her limbs flailed in a pitiful sight as I sat on top of her. Slowly, I raised my right foreleg that still had the blade out.

‘KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!’

Then, I felt something sharp enter my neck. It was a needle. The world began to grow dark as I turned my head to face my assailant. I had made a classic mistake. When one plays a game or goes to war they must know all the players, and all the pieces to win. I had missed one. I was now looking at the mare that would change my life forever. She was wearing a hooded costume but I couldn’t make it out properly. Her cutie mark was some sort of foreign symbol. Her blood red and white mane matched perfectly with her slender white body. I reached up towards her as she put her hoof to my lips. She whispered two words to me:

“Hush you…”

With that, I fell fast asleep.