“It’s hip to be square…” whispered Dusk Shine as he lowered the chainsaw onto her neck, his protective wielder’s mask splattered red. The best thing about watching the mare’s death was the imagination that it came with her death.
Teeth bit into the red fruit, the forbidden fruit of Eden: apples. The apple was paid for with Cracker Jack’s bits, laundered though the profits of his library. Dusk Shine smiled, skin stuck between his teeth. How great it felt, under him was the bleeding body of Cracker Jack, Dusk Shine revved the chainsaw once more with his magic. Cracker Jack weakly throbbed, one last attempt to move her limbs. There’s no limbs for her to move.
WWWWWHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRR
Dusk Shine pushed the last beet into the juicer, a slew of blood red liquid fell into a large bottle. Dusk Shine loved his juicer but it’s incredibly loud. Louder than a lawn mower prototype, his ears flicked and flickered to escape the light whine in his ears. Dusk Shine looked to his right to dip his hoof in the bowl of reddish cream batter. He sucked on his hoof, a drip fell to the plastic covered white counter.
“Mmm…” hummed Dusk Shine. Red velvet cake, the best cake to have ever grace his lips. Dusk Shine took a rag from his sink and wiped up the droplets of blood from the plastic covered counter, Cracker Jack’s head sat comfortably next to the bowl of cake batter. Dusk Shine smirked at the mare’s disembodied head, his hooves picked up a plastic covered spoon. “Open wide…”
Cracker Jack’s lips scrapped against the spoon, the batter dripping from her lips along with blood. Dusk Shine smiled, tranquil he was this day. To think he managed to romance Cracker Jack was a neat feat, The Checklist really knows it’s stuff. Dusk Shine isn’t the romantic type, he preferred to not even get close to the targets until it’s too late.
“Oh, look… Oh goodie...” hummed Dusk Shine. Toying with disembodied parts of Cracker Jack is not part of The Checklist, in fact – it’s against the fourth rule. Dusk Shine was just offering her a final gift before he took surgical tools and took her innards from her. “The walls are in jeopardy…”
“Nebuchadnezzar’s chaotic walls crumbled like a wet cookie…” continued Dusk Shine as he hummed the poem. He bagged the individual pieces of the deceased Cracker Jack. Dusk Shine poured wet cement into each bag, encasing her in stone. The cement filled her empty body pieces, replacing her organs and bones for rock. “Ohh… Nebuchadnezzar’s walls keep tumbling down…”
The early morning still provided Dusk Shine the opportunity to slip through town with a chariot that carried the “211th Books” box, filled with Dusk Shine’s costume bricks. The Everfree Forest, full of monsters according to legend—why should Dusk Shine be excluded in the monster list, he kills ponies too. Here will be his dumping grounds.
Dusk Shine did his homework, he knows everything about everywhere. He has to. If this town is to be his new hunting ground, he had to own every zone. He had to know everything about every-pony, he planned to do that today. He’ll never be friends with them, he can’t; he cannot learn to feel emotion if he must control the chaos in his head.
The last of Cracker Jack’s bagged pieces sunk to the bottom of the quick sand, never to be seen again, ever. Dusk Shine mentally crossed off the final step on The Checklist, oh the sweet tranquility flood that followed suit. The peace, finally, after days of hunting and planning – he made the kill. Dusk Shine’s head felt lighter, the rainstorm and hail finally silenced for some time.
In the dark and monster filled forest, Dusk Shine felt more at home than anything else. The chaos that reign his head has been replaced with a harmonious silence, that is –until the Dark Passenger arrives. The Dark Passenger, however, is welcomed in Dusk Shine’s life. Dusk Shine’s Dark Passenger, the only one who shares the torment.
Hell.
Ponies consider the Everfree Forest to be the link to hell, is that why Dusk Shine felt like home?
Tonight’s the night, and it’s going to happen again and again.
It has to.
But tonight is special, I’m not hunting.
Dusk Shine looked to his hoof, to his wrist watch. The watch exposed the time to be Seven O’clock in the morning, Dusk Shine yawned deeply while stretching. He should get some sleep, the stalking of ponies can come later.
Whose this?
Dusk Shine stopped, his eyes gaze over the pony in his yard. Near his mailbox. Dusk Shine shrugged, he yawned again and trudged onwards towards his front door until he saw her eyes.
“Hi, you must be the new stallion!” greeted the winged grey mare bubbly, her voice irritated Dusk Shine’s ears. Dusk Shine noticed that she had a bag sling around her and a full bag to her side. The town must make a lot of mail, then again, this town is the in between two capital cities. “I was just about to slip your letter into your mailbox, but since you’re here—here you go!”
“Thanks,” said Dusk Shine, grabbing the letter in his magic. “I’m guessing you already know my name, given you had to look at the letter.”
“Dusk Shine, right?” said the mail mare, she tilted her head and leaned forward slightly. Dusk Shine leaned back, not comfortable with the proximity of the mare to him. Dusk Shine nodded his head, remembering way to act as the Checklist demands. Acting friendly was easy: small smiles periodically, small movements based on the topic, divert eye contact for a small amount of time before reconnecting.
Why does her left eye travel…?
“That’s right…” replied Dusk Shine, breaking eye contact to look at the letter. He almost lost his breath at the seal he had not seen since he was little. There was no mistaking the regal sun design on the red wax, this letter is from Celestia herself. Dusk Shine mentally fidgeted, what could she want with him? “I’m actually coming from Canterlot to be alibrarian.”
“A librarian, wow,” said the mare, she had stars in her eyes when Dusk Shine moved his eyes back towards her. “You must be pretty smart!”
Not every-pony can be a librarian, it’s not exactly the part of putting away books but learning to read and write languages other than Equine is pretty tough.
Not for me.
Pretty smart is the understatement of the year.
“I wouldn’t say so,” replied Dusk Shine, he faked being humble. “I guess it’s the amount of traveling I did.”
“I bet you could have been Celestia’s personal student...” The watch on the mare beeped, Dusk Shine silently thanked the universe for being so generous with their timing. “Oh—sorry, I got to go…”
“You too,” Dusk Shine flubbed up the goodbye, he unlocked his door and shot inside. Dusk slammed it shut. He growled at the door, anything in general – blaming his awkwardness on a flowerpot. By smashing the poor thing.
Seriously? “You too?”
Goddess help you.
Dusk Shine walked over to his sofa and ripped open the letter, not caring for courtesy. Dusk Shine pulled out the written content, his eyes traveled over it carefully; why did the Princess contact Dusk after all this time?
Celestia never showed up to my final exam, that was the day The Checklist was created.
That was the day the monster became organized.
From that day forward, I still haven’t gotten a single letter from the Princess. The only reason I know she exists is the Summer Sun Celebrations that happens yearly—it’s tonight..
Dusk Shine sat down, grimacing as he reread the letter over and over again. The letter wasn’t even personal, it was a task that’s imperative to the festival tonight. Tonight was the night indeed, the night Nightmare Night comes back to Equestria. Her death under Dusk Shine’s kill-list would substantially quell the chaos.
Dusk Shine was tasked with helping Celestia’s personal student with the Summer Sun Celebration, watch over and make sure that everything is ready and perfect. Dusk Shine lit up his horn with magic and folded the paper, he placed it in a random book. How does she even know he’s living here now, unless Shining Armor blabbed about it.
I know everything about Celestia’s personal student, Trixie Lulamoon. She’s a magician—was a magician. I never met her, I didn’t plan to. I don’t want to either, but now that I’m forced to do this I have no choice but to play along.
Dusk Shine felt the familiar weight in his head—the chaos was returning. Cracker Jack the poisoner wasn’t enough to satisfy The Dark Passenger, Nightmare Moon – however – should be plentiful. His teeth erected in tension, his tongue swished over his teeth, his temples felt like a sharp whine was burrowing in.
Dusk Shine had to kill again, but not now. The Need only comes periodically, it gets worse as time goes on. Dusk Shine was only in the first phase of the withdrawal, maybe he’ll go hunting later on with a speedy process.
Dusky Husky doesn’t hunt just killers.
The beautiful sun, why can’t you burn me now?
Dusk Shine sat in the torturous glare of the afternoon sun, awaiting patiently for Trixie’s arrival. She was late, very late. The only thing that caught Dusk Shine’s eye away from his book was a pink mare watching him from a distance, out of the way, but she disappeared as quickly as Dusk Shine saw her.
Trixie can come later, I think I miight have found my appetizer for the evening.
Dusk Shine sat up from the train station bench and quickly moved to her last known position, any clues to her whereabouts or some samples of DNA to cross over would be beneficial in the preparation of his investigation. Her name would be great in his hunt.
Shoving past ponies gently, he stood exactly where she stood. Dusk Shine examined the ground, it was near the entrance so there’s too many objects and litter on the ground to properly grab any object that looked out of place. No hair either.
Dammit, cough drop wrappers and cigarette butts doesn’t help anyone right now.
Dusk Shine growled and trudged onto Town Center, trying to remember the figure that stood mere yards away from him. Dusk Shine’s ear twitched, he looked to his right to find The Dark Passenger sniffling among the litter truffles. His shadowy figure outlining that of a pony but with a horn and a wing, an Alicorn… maybe.
Dusk Shine would have gave up and gone home if it wasn’t for the familiar golden chariot landing on the ground in the middle of town, Dusk Shine paused to grab a good look at Trixie and her brilliantly blue cape with stars as white as snow –and a hat to match. Dusk Shine gave a disgusted look, completely judging her.
Dusk Shine used magic to light up the book he was studying into smoke, a moon with a wand on the cover turning into micro-flames before becoming nothing. The Dark Passenger trotted towards her, already thinking of the persona he had to be… Dusk Shine groaned, he shook his head slightly before making his way to Trixie.
“Where in Celestia’s name is Trixie’s doughboy?!” Dusk Shine regretted his decision to not make the death of innocents part of The Checklist, with every syllable she pronounced—Dusk Shine fantasized about slitting her neck. “You! Purple stallion, where is the character “Dusk Shine”?!”
Oh god, her voice is like rubbing a spiked mace against a chalkboard.
“You’re talking to him,” smiled Dusk Shine, he gently offered a hoof shake. Trixie furrowed her eyebrow and scrunched up her nose—bad reaction. Dusk Shine lowered his hooves, faltered his smile and tilted his head slightly. “Not a big fan of greetings, I’m gathering?”
“Shut it, doughboy,” Trixie scoffed, throwing her nose upwards she shoved past Dusk Shine. Dusk Shine gritted his teeth, maybe he should look into Trixie’s records a little more—she’s being investigated after the ceremony. “Trixie does not shake the hooves of filthy commoners,”
If I could kill her, she’s dying tonight.