“Okay Dash we got one unconscious unicorn and one knocked out super-hero. What was the plan again?” Gilda, still in her Jack-O-Lantern outfit, asked Rainbow who was pacing back and forth on top of Sugarcube Corner.
“Well… we could unmask Mare-Do-Well and then just leave these two on the roof… make for an interesting conversation between the two later. Or we could just… you know leave them alone…. nah screw it We’re SO taking off MDW’s stupid mask.” Rainbow said with a grin. A black tendril then appeared at the edge of her hoof as it slowly find the crevice where the mask met the skin and then started to lift the mask off.
“HALT! IT IS I! MARE-DO-WELL’S EVIL TWIN HERE TO STOP YOU!” The pair looked to see an identical Mare-Do-Well standing there.
“Uh… Then WHY are you trying to stop us?” Gilda asked as the “twin” faltered a bit, apparently having not anticipated that question.
“Yeah, if you’re her evil twin then shouldn’t you WANT us to beat her? Come to think of it, why are you dressed exactly like her?” Venom asked as the so-called evil twin just stood still, an awkward silence filling the air.
“Because… OH LOOK! IT’S FILLY-DO-GOOD!” The other Mare-Do-Well pointed to a filly wearing a red and white version of the Mare-Do-Well but it was clear from the way she was just standing she couldn’t care less about being here.
“Just so you know, I was promised a tour of the Marecave and I’m pretty sure this counts as child endangerment.” The so-called “Filly-Do-Good” said, and Rainbow Dash instantly recognized her as Scootaloo. She was then grabbed by the Evil Mare-Do-Well, and thrown at Venom. Scootaloo slid off Venom’s face like a pancake lobbed at a wall… And revealed a not so happy Venom.
“ARE YOU BUCKING CRAZY?! WHO THROWS A FILLY AT SOMEPONY LIKE US?! FOR ALL YOU KNOW WE COULD BE SOME CRAZED PSYCHO-KILLER!” Venom growled as she started marching towards the “Evil” Mare-Do-Well. “So on top of taking our thunder… you use FILLIES to fight your battles?! YOU! ARE! A! COWARD MARE-DO-WELL!” Venom roared and with each step her face started to become monstrous as she said these words. Soon Mare-Do-Well saw a giant ebony black figure.
“I think we-” What she would’ve said Venom never heard as she wrapped a tendril around the “Evil” Mare-Do-Well’s throat and began squeezing her neck.
“We’re going to make you suffer every indignity you made Us go through. We’re going to suffocate the life from you and then unmask you for the coward that you really are… and then? We’re… going… to eat.. your… BRAINS!” Venom yelled at the top of her lungs before she opened her jaws to an impossible length. Suddenly a shotgun blasted the face apart. Everyone turned to see… a hockey mask.
“Weird… the 13th came early this year?” Venom asked as she slowly repaired her face.
“Been trackin’ ya for days Venom… Looks like the rumors were true.” A gruff voice said as everyone noticed the skull symbol was on a thick vest, that belonged to a jet-black diamond dog. On his back was were several weapons of diamond dog design. His cold grey eyes sent shivers up everyone’s spine, as if they were looking into his very soul and he into theirs… These were the eyes of someone who had seen and done things that no one but himself or others like him could fathom… he was a killer and he loved it. “If you would be so kind Mare-Do-Well as to move out of the way. This walking pile of trash needs to be taken out.” The Diamond Dog said as he cocked his Shotgun. Surprisingly the mare didn’t move from her spot.
“No can do. This is between me and the filthy little lawbreaker… and Nightmare Night decoration apparently.” Mare-Do-Well said. The Diamond Dog growled and saw how protective the Pumpkin wearing griffon was standing in front of Venom. Grunting he aims a pistol and shoots the griffon in the leg.
“NO!” Venom roared. Faster than a thought she leapt into the air and grabbed the diamond dog and started pounding his head into the ground. Each blow she dealt to him ended up drawing a little bit of blood before she wrapped a tentacle around his neck. Not even thinking she throws him into the building itself before leaping down to pin him. “We’re going to kill you… no not even kill. TORTURE is a better word… and then your brains are going to exit your head and enter our belly.” Venom snarled as her mouth opened up and revealed several serrated teeth. She was inches away when a sniffling sound was heard. She looked behind her and saw that Scootaloo already had her mask off. Looking back down at the beaten and bloodied creature before growling and head butting him and knocking him out. She flew back up and looked at Scootaloo. “We’re sorry you had to see that… but We’re not the bad mares here.” Venom said as she walked over and picked up Jack-O-Lantern. Before she leaves she hears a small voice.
“W-why Rainbow…. I-I know it’s you…. b-but why?” Scootaloo asked. Venom was silent for a few seconds, unsure how to answer this. In the end she just resorted to flying off into the clouds.
W-why Rainbow? The question still bugged Venom as she flew back home. She landed on the front porch, having pulled the bullet out of Gilda’s leg before splinting it herself and having the suit become a sort of first aid super glue.
“You know Dash that thing might be a medical examiner’s big break if you-”
“Why did We do this Gilda?” Venom asked. Gilda just looked at her with a raised eye brow as she takes her mask off.
“What do you mean Dash?” Venom just sighed as her form turned back into Rainbow’s original form.
“I mean why do I try to ruin Mare-Do-Well? I hate her…. I get that I hate her… but why? Is it because she’s a better hero and I’m jealous? Or…. or is it because I see her as a mirror for myself. She doesn’t ask for praise but I do. She could’ve turned down an offer to show up at a parade but I’d perform a Sonic Rainboom at a moments call. Not to save the day but just to show I can. Am… am I the bad guy here Gilda?” Rainbow asked her. Inside her even the symbiote seemed… conflicted. It wasn’t used to different emotions at once like this. Anger was normal and hers was still there… but it tasted… wrong… disgusting.
“Well… what do you think Rainbow? I’d support you either way but this is your call.”
“I know… just… I need some rest. I haven’t had any of it in a while.” She said as she flew up into a open window… before flying back down.
“Hey Gilda you wanna sleep in the same bed? It doesn’t have to be weird but… I don’t want to sleep alone tonight.” Rainbow said with a blush. Gilda rolled her eyes but she had a smile that betrayed her answer early on. “Thank you G.”
The first thing Rainbow noticed was wrong was that she was falling. Not towards the ground but in an endless abyss and for some reason her wings weren’t working. She flailed around aimlessly until she lands on something sticky. Panicking she looks around quickly and tries to summon Venom… and for the first time the symbiote doesn’t flow over her form.
“O-oh Faust no. NO! SOMEPONY HELP!” She shouts. Looking around once more she sees that she’s landed on a web… and soon sees the one that weaved it. While not as big as a building the creature in front of her was a giant red and blue spider. Crawling ever so slowly as it could over to her it snapped its jaws… but each snap was more like an accusation.
MONSTER! SNAP!
FREAK! SNAP!
MURDERER! SNAP!
LIAR! SNAP!
“SHUT UP! I AM NOT A MONSTER OR A FREAK! I NEVER LIED TO ANYONE AND I WILL NEVER KILL ANYPONY!” Rainbow roared as the spider got closer. Whatever effect she thought shouting would do to the spider it wasn’t going to work. Closing her eyes she waited for the spider to bite down.
“AAAAAAHHHHHH!” Rainbow bolted awake just seconds before the giant spider bit down hard. She looked over and saw Gilda snoring peacefully. She turned back over and laid down again… and saw two water drop blank white eyes staring at her.
‘We need to talk.’
“AAAAAAHHHHHH!” Rainbow bolted awake yet again as she felt the cold sweat drip from her body. She looked over to Gilda’s side of the bed and saw that it was empty. Looking around she saw that Venom apparently decided to take residence in the room whenever she slept… as in it covered EVERYTHING.
“Is something wrong Rainbow?”
“No… no it’s fine.” Rainbow said as the symbiote flowed over her and covered her form for a few seconds before slipping away to wherever it is that the symbiote usually hid in. She walked down and saw Alex just sitting and watching TV again. What really caught her attention though was Gilda… and she was cooking. “Hey uh… G? Since… when did you start cooking?”
“Oh about the same time I ended up with a little thing that kept me up at all hours of the night and wouldn’t let me sleep and then grew into something that eats like a dragon with a tapeworm.” Gilda said, motioning toward Alex sitting on Rainbow’s couch. Rainbow chuckled a little as she then heard Alex sighing in frustration, but then suddenly calling them both over to the TV.
“Mom, Miss Dash look!” He said, frantically pointing a little claw at the TV, which showed a picture of none other than Scourge. It was a news broadcast.
“Yes that’s right folks, the serial killer vigilante known as Scourge has been sighted in Ponyville. Residents are in no immediate danger, all known cases state that Scourge only targets those with criminal records. He is a former Diamond Dog soldier known as Nuke, solid white coat, yellow eyes, and stands…”
Rainbow looked at the TV in stunned silence, barely hearing the news anchor drone on.
‘I brought him here… I’m… I’m the bad guy.’ Rainbow thought as she felt tears brimming in her eyes. She then felt Gilda wrap her arm around her and pull her close.
“It’ll be alright Dash... This guy ain’t gonna hurt you or me or anyone else” Gilda said as she tenderly stroke the pegasus’ mane.
‘War Journal Entry 481: Made first contact with Venom… Did not go as smoothly as I hoped. Venom has strength and speed on her side making any form of fighting challenging. Guns just seem to bounce of her. In any case I will need to head off to a different place. Perhaps Manehatten will have some scum that need killing.’
“No… Gilda it’s… it’s not okay.” Rainbow said as she let Gilda stroke her mane. “He came here because of me. He wouldn’t have come here if I wasn’t being the way I’ve been…. I’m the bad mare…. I’m the villain.” Rainbow said as her tears came flowing forth. Before Gilda could say anything another voice spoke.
“No… it’s not your fault. It’s mine.” Both pony and griffon turned around and saw… Mare-Do-Well. “I’m the one who drove you to this. Me and the others. I’m…. we’re so sorry Dash.” With this Mare-Do-Well finally moved a hoof to remove her mask. But surprisingly… Rainbow stops her.
“No. No I don’t WANT to know who’s under the mask anymore. I don’t care WHO it is… I just know that I screwed up and now I nearly got three of my best friends hurt and now…. now I let a psycho find me and nearly hurt someone close to me.” Rainbow said as she finally just fell to the floor crying not even caring that Mare-Do-Well saw her symbiotic tendrils.
“Well… when you get better we’ll be ready to set up a small party. Again… I’m sorry.” Mare-Do-Well said before leaping out an open window. Rainbow just sniffs a little as Gilda and Venom help her up.
“T-thanks Gilda…. you to Venom.” Rainbow said as she patted both claw and tendril. Gilda smiled and hugged Rainbow. Just then the TV showed a news clipping of some pony in a purple and green outfit with a green ski mask aiming a hoof-held shotgun in their hooves just outside town hall. “-and as we warned citizens before stay indoors tonight to be safe. Once more the notorious serial killer Sin Eater is loose-” Rainbow turned off the TV with a tendril before turning to look at Alex.
“Is Aunt Dash gonna stop the bad pony?” Alex asked. Rainbow looked over and was soon struck by a sight almost on par in scale with Fluttershy’s stare… Alex’s puppy dog eyes.
“Well… might as well not wait around. Gilda I’m gonna be out for a bit. Take care of the place while I’m gone?” Rainbow asked. Gilda just smiled.
“No problem Dash.”
The air was hot as a masked mare ran down the streets. A dark shadowy figure followed her from above, but she was unaware of it, too focused on task at hand. Soon the sinners of the town would pay for their crimes. She peaked through the window of her prey… A pegasus filly who could not fly? Such a bastardization of Faust’s law, but this would be rectified soon enough. She readied her shotgun, a modified one taken from Diamond Dog design with a larger trigger guard to allow the use of a hoof, and aimed it at the sleeping filly. Suddenly she was grabbed by some unknown force and dragged through the city at a speed no ordinary pony could muster. She was scrapped along the ground, badly banging her wings on the various rocks and roots sticking out of the ground as she was dragged out of the city and into the edges of the Everfree Forest.
Suddenly the force released her, as she slowly got up, clenching her shotgun. She tried to fly up out of the forest, but the rough ride did a number on her wings. She wouldn’t be flying anytime soon. As she headed back to what she thought was the edge of the forest, she ran into a giant web… It was thick, exceedingly thick. As a passing cloud moved, allowing Luna’s moon to shine down upon the nighttime scenery she saw it… It was a giant corale, webs off in the distance gleaming white. She was trapped.
Suddenly her shotgun was snatched from her hooves, she assumed by the same unknown force who had brought her here. She looked around, eyes in a panic.
”There’s no need for such toys with us… We had plenty of time to think about how to… Repay you for all the ‘good work’ you’ve done.” A dark malevolent voice called out as the masked mare backed up into a tree. She panted, gasping for breath as she removed her mask to breathe better… Causing a surprised gasp to be heard from above her before a dark chuckle echoed from the tree. She looked up as dark green drool came dripping down on top of her. She could vaguely make out a set of snaggletoothed fangs and demonic moving eyes in the darknes above.
“Surprised Raindrops? We used to get surprised, but after you’ve seen what we’ve seen? Not so much anymore.” The voice said as Raindrops ran for her life into the Everfree.
“Oh sorry! Do you prefer Sin-Eater? It’s our first time dealing with a serial killer!” The voice called with slight humor, which made the grounded pegasus all the more terrified. She ran until she tripped over something. She looked down to see it was her shotgun which she immediately grabbed. Suddenly something struck her face, hard. She looked to see nothing there.
“You know, there’s something even monsters are afraid of…” The voice said as another strike followed, this time to her gut.
“That’s losing our family…” Several more strikes followed, sending the so-called Sin-Eater to her haunches as she nursed several broken ribs and spat her knocked out teeth to the ground.
“In other words… You’re going down… Right here… And nopony will ever miss you.” The voice said as Raindrops heard a twig snap behind her. She turned around, aiming her shotgun at a black clad pony.
“I’M WARNING YOU TO BACK OFF!” She yelled, aiming her shotgun and trying to fire it… Only to find there were no shells in it.
“You wanna see something… Really scary?” The black masked mare asked, as her body shifted into a massive hulking form, a tongue flying out of a massive maw of razor sharp fangs that grabbed the serial killer before it by the neck. It lifted her up and began to choke her, bringing her closer to the gnashing maw as she was cut in various places by the teeth of the beast. Suddenly the beast stopped and slowly began to move her out of its mouth… Before stopping and biting off her back legs.
She was then dropped like a sack of proverbial potatoes on the ground, a quivering mess, too afraid to even scream in pain.
“Now, just sit there… And we’ll teach you the ways of the world.” The creature said as it walked up to the terrified mare, looking down at her as its tongue traced along her face.
“You won’t die, we’ll make sure of that.. But we’ve done worse than kill you… We’ve hurt you. And we wish to keep on hurting you for all those who have suffered at your misguided attempts to please Faust… But know this, if you stop right here and now? That will be the end of it. We won’t look for you, we won’t pursue you. But… If we hear of any similar killings? Anything matching your M.O? We WILL look for you… We WILL find you… And we will eat… You… Alive. Slowly, from the stumps up. Are we clear?”
“YES FOR THE LOVE OF FAUST YES!” Raindrops yelled in mixture of fear and excruciating pain as Venom smiled.
“Good, glad to see we could reach an understanding.” Venom then webbed up the bleeding stumps of what used to be Raindrop’s back legs and began to walk off.
“WAIT! YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME LIKE THIS!” The Sin-Eater yelled as Venom looked over her shoulder.
“Why not? Ya got two legs that ain’t broke.”
“Dash? Dash?” Gilda asked as she realized Rainbow Dash wasn’t in bed. She then felt the familiar weight of the said pegasus on the bed, a hoof wrapping around her.
“Had to take care of something, go back to sleep.” Rainbow whispered. Gilda just smiled at this as she slowly turned over.
“So… how bad did you hurt them?”
“I left two legs still working. They’re okay.” Rainbow said quietly followed by a yawn. As she did this Gilda just closed her eyes and entered the realm of sleep.
A red creature howled in frustration. All these weak pitiful thoughts. Compassion, empathy, right and wrong, it made it sick. Such things had no place being there… Then a smile appeared on its crimson visage… With a mighty effort a large lump of itself was thrown up from its black fanged maw.
“Good riddance to bad rubbish I say.” The creature said as it swung away on a tendril… However unbeknownst to it… The lump began to move.