Slave of Eternity

by Secrets and Lies

A Hearth's Warming Eve Special: Part One

Before the events that were to come, there was a great and terrible ordeal. No one truly knows what exactly happened on the darkest night of one of Equestria’s Winters–but one knows, the one who experienced it himself. A sensation and abandonment beyond comprehension overtook one faithful soul and he nearly lost more than his sanity because of it. He did come out of this peculiar event unharmed, but scarred forevermore–as if a deathly shadow lingered behind him all his days to come. No matter how many times he rekindles the events, it becomes more terrifying to him. He has told no one, he strives not to, and it is his greatest secret.

        This story will not end with a happily desired outcome, for this is the Blackest Winter.

        It was Hearth’s Warming Eve in Equestria and after a long day of activities, night had fallen. The darkness which washed over the snowy landscape was particularly unsettling for sentient and even non-sentient life. The usual nocturnal animals fell silent, as if hiding away from a predator. The moon gave no light, and the stars were veiled in a thick mantle of coal colored clouds. Snow had fallen during the day, leaving behind a foot-deep shroud of white, glistening slush. The high winds of Winter trundled down the sloops into the valleys, swaying the barren trees in a haunting, lifeless dance. The moan of the mountains’ breathes were long and tiresome; nothing in these regions could ignore the murmurings of the harsh season.
The small town of Ponyville twinkled between the darkened hills and white valleys it nestled in. The roofs were thatched in ice and snow; icicles hung themselves on the edges of each building. Street lamps in the inner city shimmered out over the whitened streets. Flickering orange, they lit the way for two passing individuals, walking alone and ignorant of the irregularly black night.
Zack was acting as a vehicle for Pinkie Pie as he trekked cumbersomely through the foot of snowfall. She sat tightly secured, with her hind legs hanging over his shoulders and forelegs holding gently to the top of his head. Pinkie carried in her hooves a bag of lovingly prepared baked goods for a Hearth’s Warming Eve party they were to attend at Sugarcube Corner. The pink pony had spent the day with Zachary, so she pushed Zack to quicken his pace towards her own party that she was late to.
“Faster, horsey! Faster,” she gleefully cried out, tapping her hind hooves against Zack’s chest.
“Hold your horses, Pinkie. We’re only three minutes late to your party.” She bent her head over him and looked him square in the eyes while upside down. Her pink mane tumbled over Zachary and he had to stop and push away the curtain of hair in his face.
She gave a look of irritation as she strongly reminded him dryly, “For-your-information, this is my party I’m late too. I’ve never been late to any of my parties! I’m tardy to my party! If you wouldn’t have taken so long, we would have been on time!”
He rolled his eyes, “You’re beginning to sound like Twilight...”
“Who,” she inquired. Zachary had forgotten that Pinkie hadn’t met Twilight Sparkle yet, who presently lived in Canterlot Castle. He hoped that someday they would meet–they would make good friends right off the bat he thought.
He replied, “Oh never mind. Look, we’re here.” The candy coated cupcake house was lit like a Christmas tree in a much dimmer village. The whole shop was graciously rented out all night for Pinkie and her friends to pass around gifts and spend quality time together. Zack tromped through the snowy pathway and up the icy stair porch. Pinkie hopped off of his back while he proceeded to knock on the front door.
Pinkie chuckled, “You don’t need to knock on the front door. It’s my house, silly!” As she approached the entrance, it swung wide open–releasing its inner warmth. Rarity had answered the knocking and the two ponies greeted each other with embracing hugs.
“I was wondering when the hostess would arrive," cooed Rarity, "it was quite peculiar arriving to an empty house.” She looked up, acknowledging Zachary and asked both of them, “What took you two so long to get here?”
Pinkie groaned, “It was Zackie, of course.”
“Really?” He held his hands out in front of him and continued with rising vexation, “We were only three–” he checked his watch to make sure, then went on to correct himself, “four minutes late to the party. I wouldn’t think it would be that big of a deal, but it seems like it is.” Pinkie turned suddenly towards the tall man. He looked down and was surprised to see her enraged expression, a look she was not usually accustomed to.
“It is my party I was late too. The host has to be here when the party starts!”
“She’s true you know,” chimed in the white unicorn.
Pinkie continued, stamping her hoof in frustration, “Why can’t you just accept that you’re wrong and I’m right?”
Zack curled his fists as he took a step a forward, pointed a finger at the mare and hotly argued, “Now you listen here–”
As soon as his heel made contact again with the icy porch, it slipped wildly forward. Zack was sent backwards with his feet flying in front of him. His head knocked against the porch steps as he lay motionlessly in front of Sugarcube corner. Pinkie–feeling triumphant–turned her head high and proceeded to enter into her home. Rarity remained out on the porch, waiting to see if the defeated Zachary would recover from his fall.
After a long moment, she asked, “Are you okay, Zack?”
“Just leave me here,” he replied in a monotone, rigid voice.
“Are you sure I can’t get you anything? Wouldn’t you like to come inside where it’s warmer?”
“Please, just leave me here to die in the cold.” Rarity thought for a moment and decided to just let him mull over his actions. She turned into the open door of the corner store and gently closed it. Zack remained bitter and still, keeping to his anger.
He finally proceeded into the house after feeling a warm trickle of blood caress the back of his head. He made his way into the restroom and patched up his wound; tying a large, white strip of cloth around his head to stop the blood flow. Though he felt lightheaded, he was relatively fine as he slouched in a pony-sized armchair, watching from afar as the festivities commenced. He bore a look of disgust on his face as he silently tapped his fingers in rhythm on the arm of the chair.
Not too long after he sat himself down, both Applejack and Rainbow Dash came in together, bearing gifts and treats. Rainbow brought in some rudimentary and unseasonal salsa and chips she prepared at the last second, while Applejack wheeled over a small wagon full of apple-related goodies. Pinkie looked as if she had forgotten about the argument, parading and skipping around as if nothing had ever happened. Zachary remained unmoved however, boiling in his displeasure while watching the ponies in front of him. He hated to look like a fool, and was perpetually stuck in his angst.
“Hey Zack,” an elated voice called out, though he didn’t respond or even look over to see who it was. He was zoned out at the moment, submerged in seething thoughts. The voice called out again a bit closer, this time gaining his attention.
He looked over and somberly greeted, “Oh... hello, Rainbow Dash. Enjoying this evening?” The cyan mare stepped next to the couch he was sitting in and leaned a hoof up against it. One of her wings was folded out, carrying a small plate of tasty, holiday-themed edibles. She brought her wing down and slid the plate onto the arm of the chair.
“I brought you something. You looked pretty hungry... and angry... and uncomfortable in that chair. What happened to your head?”
Zack answered, taking hold of a sliced apple with caramel drizzled over it. “True, true, true, and I don’t want to talk about it.” He quickly pushed the sweet slice into his mouth as Rainbow Dash watched.
She went on to ask, “Why are you mad?” Zack looked over at her and tried to explain his situation in a calm manner.
“Because... Pinkie can be infuriating and bone-headed sometimes.”
She laughed out and agreed, “Oh ya, tell me about it.”
He turned slightly and clarified his reasonings, “I don’t mean that she’s annoying... Look, I can handle her silliness, but she is so blunt and demanding! If things don’t go her way, she loses it. For example, we arrived four minutes late to this party and she got so ticked off because...”
Rainbow nodded along, saying 'uh-huh’ when it was appropriate, but in reality, she wasn’t paying attention to his dilemma; instead, she was transfixed by his looks. She thought fondly of Zack as her mind raced with illusions of romance and marriage–thoughts that seemed so alien to her, but not when thinking about her and Zachary.
“...so I feel like my life is some sort of twisted piece of horrible fan fiction to her that she can control at whim. I can’t do anything without her approval and it’s driving me crazy! You know what I mean, Rainbow Dash?” He looked over to see that the smiling cyan pony was blinking slowly at him, completely oblivious to everything accept his appearance. He rose an eyebrow and questioned, “Uh... Rainbow Dash?” She finally snapped out of her trance and blushed.
“Oh! Oh ya! Totally like a fan fiction.” Zack sunk back into his tiny chair and fell quiet. Rainbow spoke up, “Why don’t you just let it slide? It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Ya,” he agreed, looking off towards the oblivious pink pony, “but she’ll need to learn someday–unless she wants to end up without any friends. Someone’s gotta get through to her and it’s probably going to be me.” Zack sat up and reached for his cup of punch on the floor next to the chair. He brought it up and took a swig of the red and sweet liquid. He took Rainbow’s advice and allowed his emotions to wash over him, for now.
The time came when everyone, including Zack, was situated around the hearth in Sugarcube Corner to pass out each other's gifts. Zack was the first to pass out his presents, which all happened to be books. He was a terrible gift giver and never could determine what a pony wanted. That, and his shopping had to be done quickly, for he forgot that Hearth’s Warming Eve was a week before Christmas–he often confused the dates every year. As he handed out the books with a playful smile on his face, each pony read their book’s title aloud.
Rarity eyeballed the cover of her purple book and said with distaste “A Dummy’s Guide to Sewing... well I suppose I could use a few pointers... Wait a minute, are you calling me a dummy?”
Applejack took the book from Zack’s hands, turned it a few times and read out loud, “The History and Philosophy of Apples, well toot ma’ horn and call me a jackrabbit! Thank ya kindly, Zack!”
Rainbow looked over her book with glazed eyes of repulsion, “Daring Do and the Jungle of Terror? Like I’ll ever read this...” She stopped what she was saying as her eyes illuminated with sudden insight. She had received a gift from Zachary and she thought she should be more thankful.
She rephrased her last statement with a reddening face, “S-sorry... What I meant to say is that this is my favorite book.” She looked up at the human and smiled, “Thanks for giving this to me, Zachary.”
Zack looked befuddled by her change and behavior and replied, “I honestly thought you wouldn’t enjoy it.” Rainbow flinched with embarrassment. Zack chuckled and playfully jabbed her on the shoulder saying, “Just kidding. I’m glad you enjoy it.”
Finally he handed Pinkie a thin, red and white stripped book that looked nothing like what everyone else received. She was tickled with excitement as she read out, “Point Out Ponydo! Oh, you know just what to get me! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you,” she repeated, tightly hugging Zack around the waist.
The others began passing their gifts to one another after Zack had finished. Applejack approached the now happier Zachary and presented her gift to him. She shoved her hooves in front of him and in them was a lovely wrapped up object in apple green wrapping paper.
“Here’s a lil' sum’thang, partner!” He reached out and delicately handled the gift in his hands with care.
“Well thank you, Applejack! I wonder what this could be?” He inspected the gift more closely and amusingly wondered aloud, “Is this an apple, Applejack?”
She lowered her head and honestly replied, “Y-yes...” He didn’t really think she would get him an apple, but at this point he didn’t care either. He unwrapped it and to his suspicions, it was a ripe, red apple; but Zack became curious about it for a moment. He wondered how she could have grown an apple in the months out of harvest season.
He asked her how she did it and she replied with pride, “This apple ain’t only an apple, but the perfect apple. I saved it all the way from Summer, taking special care of it just for you! It’s the last apple from our harvest and now it’s yours!”
Knowing this, he properly thanked the mare, “Well, now that I know how much dedication was put into this single apple, I appreciate it a lot more. Thanks Applejack.” He sat up from his seat and hugged the pony. Rarity came up beside the earth mare, levitating two neatly wrapped, white rectangular boxes with purple ribbon. She hovered a smaller box towards Applejack and a larger one towards Zachary.
She placed a hoof up to her chest and lilted, “I thought I’d be more festive than last year, and I put aside some high paying clients to work on everypony’s gifts. I hope you both enjoy it as much as I did making it!”
Zack smiled and began to unwrap the box. When it was fully opened, he saw that inside was a neatly folded sweater. He rose it up out of the box and inspected it further with a growing grin across his face. It was a gold yellow and snow white knitted sweater, with little silver colored Prevailer’s knitted around the patterned edges. He could see she put a lot of work into this and began to notice that everyone at the party were wearing similar sweaters with designs and colors that matched their coats and manes. He even noticed that it was just his size in appearance.
Rarity saw his growing look of satisfaction and commented, “It’s always a challenge getting your size right, especially when making a gift in secret for you. But I recalled your measurements for when you wanted that fitness coat during the Running of the Leaves.” She pressured him saying, “Well try it on, darling. Let’s see if it fits. Who knows? I could be horribly wrong! That would be tragic!” Zack did so and stretched the sweater over his head. Popping his arms through the sleeves first, he wiggled his head through the collar and adjusted the wool garment around his form.
“Well, do you like it? Does it fit well?” He moved his arms around a bit and swayed his body to get a feel for the clothing.
“It fits great! A little itchy, but very warm!” He got on his knees and squeezed the white unicorn with affection.
“Well I’m just so glad! I was worried for a moment! And after the first hoof-wash, that 'itch' will come out, dear.”
He got back up on his feet and responded, “Ah, nothing to worry about. In fact, this sweater reminds me of the sweaters my aunt use to make.” He quickly stopped himself and thought about what he had said. He hadn’t thought of Earth in a very long time and he began to get caught up in old memories of friends and family.
He pointed his thumb over his shoulder and added with less enthusiasm than before, “If you two don’t mind, I’ll be right back.” Both Applejack and Rarity nodded with smiles across their faces. They joined the others in merriment as Zack walked out of the room with the apple gift in his hand.
He made his way out the back door and into the frigid night once more. He noticed that it was beginning to snow again in the yellow streetlamp’s glow, situated near the corner of the porch. He rose his shoulders and pushed his hands into his pockets, taking in the bitterness and breathing out a steady puff of hot, condensed air. He proceeded to take a few steps away from the back of the store and out towards the edge of the lamp light, standing still in the fresh slush.
While he tried his best to reminisce about Christmases long gone, and while fighting the urge to itch the seasonly sweater he adorned, he reached below his right legging and pulled from his shoe a small dagger. He had made it while working as a blacksmith and always had a dagger strapped to his calf in case of an emergency. He unsheathed it with one hand and with the other, took Applejack’s apple out of his pocket. He then began to carve around and inside the apple, not really caring for the gift as much as he conveyed to the earth mare. His hands shivered while he toiled, but was still delicate and deft with his handiwork.
Once he had finished his grand design, he put his blade away and removed from his pocket a small, cylindrical container. He began to unscrew it and take out of it a strange, flaky substance. He placed and packed it carefully in the depression he carved into the top of the apple. Once he did this, Zack put the container back in his pocket and exchanged it for a match box. He struck a match and placed the apple up to his mouth where he had carved a hole in it. Once he lit the smoking product, he took in a long, refreshing breath. He was thankful that Valiant gave him his gift early, a fine griffon kingdom blend of fermented smoking herb.
As he toked, he began to think more and more about Earth and how he missed it greatly. At the time of his attempted suicide, he was foolish to think no one really cared about him and now regretted ever trying it. He thought that if he wouldn’t have done it, he wouldn’t be here; and even though he thought Equestria was great, to him, it was starting to get bleak and boring. He wasn’t exactly sure why, and wondered if it was just the constant peace or happiness that never ceased around Ponyville, or perhaps it was something else entirely.
It had been almost six years since he left Earth, he wondered who all cared for him still. He knew that to them, he was missing and they thought of Zack as either lost or dead; but after six years, he knew they wouldn’t really care anymore. The only person that might have truly cared for him was the woman he once loved. He had been in a long relationship with her in the past, but he pondered if she still loved him. With a heavy drag, he breathed out her name, which gave him a bit of relief saying it out loud and after so long without thinking of her.
“Caroline...” he whispered, watching the smoke dance from his lip and out into the black night.
The door to Sugarcube Corner creaked open and Zack became nervous. The apple pipe he held in his hand was quickly pitched over the roof of a building and into the night. A distant shattering noise could be heard as he turned and noticed the sweater-adorned Rainbow Dash scanning the night washed streets before her, looking for her secret lover. She soon noticed his foot prints and followed them with her eyes to his exact location. He trudged through the snow and out of the shadows towards her.
“Hey RD,” he greeted while approaching still, “what’s up?” She became visibly happy as he came into the light and towards her.
“Hey! I asked Rarity where you were and she said you went out back. I wanted to find you and–” she stopped in mid-sentence and sniffed the air as Zack halted before her. She asked him, “What’s that smell?” His mind raced for a quick lie to spin, wondering if it would be a major issue if he was caught smoking illegal herbs here in Equestria. It had no major affect on his mind, except for getting him into a more relaxed state, but he wanted to stay safe still.
Out everything he could think or say to the gullible pony, his incredibly brilliant brain sent a signal to his mouth and the only excuse he could come up with was, “Cats.”
She paused for a moment and asked him with disbelief, “Cats?”
“Yes, cats.”
“...Cats, huh?”
“Indeed, smelly... cats.” An awkward quietness overcame the two as the sweater Zack wore itched at his side.
The pegasus rubbed her chin with her hoof and uttered, “Interesting...” She quickly changed back to her merry mood and digressed, “Anyways, I wanted to find you and give you my gift.” She broke eye contact with him and stared at her hooves.
She continued more seriously, “I’m fortunate I could give you my gift here where we’re alone.” She looked back up at him and ordered him gently, “Close your eyes and hold out your hand.” Zack did so, opening his curled fist before the mare. He heard her feathers rustle as if she was preparing to fly, then suddenly he felt something drop into his hand. He felt her hooves close his hand and back away. It felt to him like a circular and smooth object–cold and metallic.
“Okay, you can open your eyes now.” He did so while slowly revealing what was placed in his grasp. It was a pocket watch that captivated his eyes with wonder. It was silver and had a sheen of light blue coated around it. In the center was an engraved image he couldn’t recognize. It appeared to be an upside triangle with a rounded end, and on its sides were wings of some sort. Inside of the shape were three vertical lines, two crossed lines and a circle in the center. Encompassing the larger circle were six other circles and below it was an elongated teardrop shape. He figured it was some sort of pegasi sigil or family crest, this object had to be worth a fortune.
Rainbow pointed out, “That’s the Firebolt’s symbol.”
Zack questioned, “Firebolts?”
“They later became known as the Wonderbolts, but my Dad use to tell me stories about how my ancestors were once part of that team. They use to be Equestria’s backbone when it came to military affairs. But go on, open it.”
Zack did so by pressing the dial on top, making the hunter case spring open to reveal a beautiful clock face. It ticked and chimed when he held it closer, listening to the gears and mechanisms operate harmoniously. The face of the watch was pearl white with ebony painted hands. In the center was a ruby red crystal, which strangely matched the color of Rainbow Dash’s eyes. The twelve numbers which circled the watch were classic Equestrian numerals which Zack had learned over his course of studying them in the Canterlot Archives.
“I don’t know what to say, Dash. It’s beautiful. It definitely makes my gift look like trash to this!” He closed the watch and looked down at the pony with great pleasure in his heart. Rainbow could tell he enjoyed his gift, which made her feel even more joyous than he was. Zack began to think though that maybe this was too good of a gift. It had to be a family heirloom of some sort, she couldn’t have possibly been able to afford this.
He brought the hunter-cased pocket watch back down to her level and expressed his gratitude, “Thank you... but I can’t accept this. This was your father’s, wasn’t it?” She looked up at him crestfallen and nodded slowly.
“It is, but I want you to have.”
“No, I can’t take something that doesn’t belong to me.”
“I’m giving it to you, it’s mine to give away to whomever I choose.”
Zack hesitated and spoke out against her, “I thought you said it was your dads?”
“It was, but not anymore!”
Silence fell over the two as they looked away from one another. Zack shuddered with sudden guilt as to what he had done; he should have just accepted it and thanked her for it.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized in a low voice.
“Ya,” she mustered up to say, still feeling tense from the bitter and quick dispute. Zack lowered his hand and placed the gift in his pocket.
He vowed with sincerity, “I promise to take good care of it.” He swiftly dropped to his knees and leaned in to hug the mare. His warmth enveloped her as she stood frozen in awe. She finally gave in and leaned closer into him, embracing his affection.
She whispered into his ear as he listened in silence, “I don’t know you as well as I should, but I trust you; and I don’t know why, but I do. I feel so... comforted by you, so safe. Can we hug a little longer?”
“Sure... Sure we can.”
A loud commotion broke the moment for the two that came from within the corner store. They released one another as Zack proceeded to enter the door. As he opened it, a rush of pinkness slammed into him as he caught Pinkie in his arms.
“What’s going on,” he asked her.
“There you are,” her voice rang with displeasure. “Finally found you! Lollygagging out here in the cold.... being all secrety and such!”
Zack pushed her off and expounded, “I wanted to get some fresh air. Lay off, Pinkie.”
“But Zack, you’re missing out on the party! My party! Ever since you’ve been here in Equestria you’ve always stuck around at my parties! Why are you being such an in-ter-tro-vert?”
He pointed over at Rainbow Dash and replied, “I’m not being an introvert! I was having a lovely discussion with Rainbow Dash until you went haywire.” Behind the flustered pink pony approached Applejack and Rarity who watched from the safety of the house. Pinkie looked over at the cyan mare and narrowed her eyes.
“Ohhhh, so it’s like that, huh!”
“What?” Zack looked over at RD, then back over to Pinkie trying to grasp what she meant by her last statement. He finally got it and corrected her, “It is not like that.”
“Oh yes it is! It is, it is, it is,” she yelled, stamping her hooves wildly. Her hot temper soon began to transform into gloom as she pointed a hoof at the pegasus and upbraided, “But I thought I was your special somepony, not her!”
“Pinkie,” he pointed again at Rainbow Dash, “we’re not like that,” he then pointed back at her and himself saying, “and we’re not like that either!” He placed his hands on the mare’s shoulder, but she quickly swatted them away.
“I... I don’t believe you! What’s gotten in to you, Zackie?”
“Me,” he stressed, “what the hell is wrong with you?” Zack’s mood had finally snapped under the pressure he had been put under. Even the natural sedatives he had inhaled weren’t enough to hold him back any longer.
He vigorously and menacingly made his thoughts clear to the now terrified mare, “You’re constantly demanding me to do shit, and if I refuse, you explode in anger. Like I’m suppose to bow down and worship you whenever you desire. Are you forgetting who I am and what I’ve done for your pink ass on numerous occasions? The things I’ve done and the people I’ve killed, I’ve done it all just because I love you!”
Rarity–noticing Pinkie’s reddening face–interrupted, “Zack, I think she gets the point.”
Zack turned and stated, “No, she doesn’t! When does she ever get the point? When does Pinkie ever think with sanity in mind?” He turned back to the pink mare, who’s face was contorted in a shameful display of sorrow and dejection. “I’ve stuck my neck out for you and all these ponies here, and I’ve seriously about had it with this place–especially you, you little, pink shit!” Pinkie finally covered her face with her hooves and began to sob loudly into them. Zack only watched with his arms crossed and with disgust on his face.
“I think you owe everyone here, including me, an apology for acting like a nuisance and a stubborn ass.” With that remark, she hastily darted around Zack and ran off into the streets. She sprinted straight ahead as they watched her from the back of Sugarcube Corner. The fleeing pony galloped, stumbled, and tripped all the way out of town and straight into the edge of the Everfree Forest.
Zack cursed under his hot breath as he turned back towards the ponies and firmly asked them, “Stay here, I’ll get her.”
“No way,” Applejack retorted, “We’re running in after her! She’s our friend t–”.
Zack yelled out over her, “Stay,” in an authoritative voice that they had never heard before. The ponies obeyed as Zack began to walk out of town and towards the Everfree Forest.
He angrily said to himself, “I’ve found Pinkie in the Everfree Forest before, I can do it again.”

        The human entered into the bleak woods, but had not lost track of Pinkie Pie. Logical reasoning deduced that the best way to find the mare was to follow her fresh hoof tracks in the snow, and Zachary did so without a second thought. As he ventured deeper into the dark forest, he crossed his arms and buried his hands beneath his triceps. It had gotten colder somehow, whether it was from the lack of light underneath the canopy of twisting trees or something else entirely, he couldn’t tell. With this notion, he began to take in more of his surroundings as he proceeded further towards his goal.
The remaining light from the outside world swayed between the gaps of the sprawling forest ceiling, gleaming in pillars like white, translucent phantoms. The thick mantle of fresh snow was carpeted over the grassy ground and only the black trunks and crawling branches were untouched. The interwoven arms and fingers of the arboreal ancients wrapped around one another, their mass itself shrouded over the entirety of the woodland region. The light snowfall that fell over the town, nor the wind from the mountains could not penetrate the wooden roof of Everfree. Even stranger, the creatures of the night were silent and still, hidden away in the vast corners and darkened crevices. The moon eventually broke through the clouds as the forest gradually was bathed in a ghastly, ivory tint.
Zachary had been in the Everfree plenty of times, even at night and even in the Winter–but something felt off to him. Something sinister, yet familiar was lingering in these woods, and the woods knew not what to do of it. A creeping shadow had nestled here, an unknown threat swept between the light and dark. The animals knew it, as did the forest; but Zachary was oblivious, yet cautious none the less. He picked up his pace, still following the pony’s tracks, but wary of his surroundings and the dancing shadows in the corners of his eyes.
A slow half hour had passed before finally he noticed the moonlit pony while turning around a large, coal colored oak. She had ventured very far in the disturbing amount of time they had been out here and Zachary was no longer angry with her, but anxious to leave this place. He approached slowly from behind, seeing that the mare’s attention was focused on a sparse opening in the woods. He couldn’t exact tell what she was looking at, if she was looking at anything at all. She sat still and unmoving near the edge of an aperture in the woods, transfixed on something he couldn’t identify from his angle.
He finally reached her, placed his hand on the top of her head and said tenderly, “Finally, I found you. Let’s leave this place.” Like a statue, she did not react to his touch or voice, at first that is. After a moment, she turned her head slowly and looked up at him. Her pupils were dilated as if she had seen a most dreadful event occur. Her eyes shown pale in the moonlight, glistening with dread and remorse. Her body quaked more so than just being cold as she remained silent and horrified.
Zack feared the worst as he bent down to her level and quickly asked, “What’s going on? What happened?” She remained quiet as she turned back towards the edge of the opening and away from him.
She rose a shaking hoof and pointed out in stammers, “Z-z-zack-ar-y-y....” He looked where she directed his vision and his eyes grew large with terror upon where her fear originated from. Standing in the small, vacant and bare area of the forest was something Zachary didn’t know how to comprehend. It was another human.
With its back turned to them, Zachary could feel that this being knew they were there. It was veiled from head to toe in a white cloak, faintly shimmering in the moon’s rays. Standing as tall as Zachary, its form was uncanny to a human’s, even under the long clothing. As soon as both their eyes met with the humanoid, it took notice of them and turned slightly. Only a part of the underside of its hood was visible, but from what Zack could tell, it was wearing a white mask that covered his entire face. It possessed cut-out, dark eye holes, but no mouth slit. It turned fully to finally face them, carefully moving its arms and hands behind its back. The mask it wore seemed to be strapped to nothing and floated around the blackness of his hood as if its head was only the mask itself.
In a strange instant, Pinkie seemed to change her mood. From a terrified and fearful mare to a curious, bewildered one. She sported a grin and sat up from her haunches to approach the cloaked being. The sweater-adorned earth pony smiled brightly as she breathed heavily with relaxation. She looked over the humanoid like one looks over an intricate and alluring painting. Zack reached over and pulled her back towards him by her tail.
“What are you doing? Let’s leave! Please,” he begged her.
“But Zachary,” she pleasantly stressed in a trance-like state, “He’s so... beautiful...” He looked up at the menacing, masked being and returned his gaze towards the enthralled mare. He didn’t know what she was talking about and was beginning to wonder if she was under a spell of some sort.
Pinkie asked the unknown human, “Who are you?” Zachary then hoisted the pony up by the forelegs and began hastily carrying her away, not caring about the strange being and more concerned about their safety. Before they could leave the confines of the opening, the other human spoke up as gently as the falling snow.
“An angel,” it responded lightly. Zachary stopped and turned back towards him. Pinkie squeezed out of Zachary’s arms near effortlessly and plopped back into the snow.
She asked him another question, “What’s your name?” The cloaked one tilted his head slightly to look directly towards the pony.
He answered softly, “Satan.”
Zachary’s mind raced with terror once more as he unsheathed the dagger strapped to his calf and flung it towards the creature. It spun in the air and passed through the unmoving angel’s head as if he was an apparition of smoke. Zack rushed over and tightly snagged the pony in his arms. He darted backwards, keeping his eyes on the mysterious stranger.
“There’s no need to leave just yet,” he said to Zachary, in a voice still as harmless as ever. Zack felt odd as he came to a slow halt, never even making it outside of the forest opening. It was almost as if something told his mind to stop fleeing and he did so without question. He spun back around with the pink pony still in his arms, now feeling safe and unafraid; but he knew he should be feeling alarmed and frightened still, and had no reason not to be.
The being looked over at him and commanded sweetly, “Release the pony.” Zack did so and Pinkie trotted gleefully over to the white demon. She nuzzled up against his side as he placed a deathly white hand over her head, patting her mane with his thin fingers.
He looked down and quietly told her, “Go home, child. You do not belong here.” Pinkie left his side without question. With an overjoyed smile and contentment across her face, she walked passed Zachary without a word or glance towards him and into the black woods once more.
As the snow continued to fall slowly and softly, Zack and the humanoid were alone and silent, looking upon one another curiously. Zack wasn’t sure if this was the legitimate Satan or not–he never believed Satan or the Devil ever existed and was beginning to think that this was some sort of playful spirit rather than a demon. It certainly wasn’t an illusion of some sort, Pinkie would have never been able to see or interact with it. Still, his emotions were conflicted and he was hopelessly confused as to what he should be expressing at this moment. Instinctively, he should be terrified, but he remained calm and heedful.
“You can leave,” the voice spoke out, “...if you would like to.” Zack didn’t want to leave, he didn’t feel like it. He knew he should; that at this very moment if he left the Everfree Forest that nothing bad would occur to him tonight. He remained standing still however, unsure exactly why, but he yearned to learn more about this being and what control it had over him.
Zack took a step forward and asked, “What... power do you have over me right now?”
He responded, “Truth. You see a light in the dark, you follow it–ignorant and blissful. But I came to see you, to meet the anomaly himself.”
Zack questioned, “But I don’t understand.” He then pointed a finger at the humanoid and foolishly spat, “I know you’re an enemy! I can tell you’re evil!”
“But I can do no evil, for I do not know what evil is.” He went on, “You are a mistake in an almost perfect existence. A fragment in the grand scheme. An impossibility made possible by means even I know not of. You should not belong here, for your kind is... impure... weak... flawed... imperfect...”
“But,” Zack declined, “humans aren’t impure... We’ve done things that are immoral, but there are many good humans.”
“What is deemed right and what is deemed wrong is nothing more than a choice. Morals are illusions.” Satan reached his hand out to his side and sprawled his fingers out over the ground. Slowly from the snow arose a white, spinning ball with familiar indentions carved around it. Zachary soon realized what the orb represented and inspected it closer.
The cloaked one remarked, “Humans, they are quite curious to me.” With his other hand, he did the same motions and created another floating ball of snow, only this time its markings were quite different. Both the orbs resembled planets. He knew one was Earth, and the other he presumed to be this world.
He continued, looking over at the newly formed sphere, “These equines too, the superiors of this world, they are much like humans. Both are quite interesting, even though you both are a worthless, greedy lot. How annoying their cries are to their invisible gods. How deluded they are to die for such deities. But both, both are equal in their harmonic corruption–and both are one and the same.” The two orbs floated close together and soon one eclipsed the other.
“What fascinations there are on this planet. Strange mortals with strange customs. What value you put in meaningless ways, in meaningless creations. But maybe... maybe this world is another planet’s hell. Maybe this world isn’t much of a world after all.” The snow-created planets fell back onto the ground, breaking apart in a pile of slush. Satan looked up at Zachary and asked, “Would you like your eyes opened now? Would you like to wake up? We all had fun toying with you, but I believe your time to awake is now.”
Zachary shuddered. His words tore through his very essence as he failed to answer the spirit. He soon realized his vision was beginning to darken from all sides. Blackness slowly consumed his eyesight as the words of Satan whispered in his ears. When no more could be seen, he felt his body escape into nothingness, neither ascending or descending. His consciousness began fleeting as he fought to keep hold of his mind.
Satan murmured, “Life itself is only a vision–a dream. Nothing exists expect space and you, and you are but a thought.”
His words trailed off into the bleakness. Before his mind accepted the lose of his consciousness, a strange melody could be heard chiming in the distant darkness. As if a music box whirred away in the back of a cavern, it echoed around him. He knew this song, or so he thought. He couldn’t remember what it was called, or the words in the nursery rhyme. It had been so long since he heard it last, but he started to mouth the song as it slowed in rhythm.

        The music ended on the verge of him falling into a deep sleep. The last thing he heard was clear to him, he knew what it was exactly. He heard a gun shot, then silence.