My Little Pony: The Entities of Emotion

by Michael_Ravencroft

Intermission Episode 2: The Fiery Bull vs. The Icy Spirits

The Badlands, a place that was inhospitable for life, pony life anyway. Further into its reaches, a transformation was taking place, one that was slow, tedious, and somewhat painful. Roars of pain and rage echoed through it, any creatures that dwelled here kept their distance, their animal instincts telling them that a creature far stronger and far more dangerous was here.

In a canyon further away, crimson light blazed. Within it, a monstrous creature thrashed back and forth, slamming its body against the canyon walls, and letting loose a blistering torrent of blood-fire breath at anything that happened to be in its sights. Above the beast, standing and watching from the canyon’s edge, were two beings, one a changeling, taller than most, with yellow eyes that could peer into your deepest fears, Parallax. And next to him was a teenage dragon, standing a head taller than him, with his arms crossed and wearing a look of impatience, and the symbol of Avarice upon his forehead, Ophidian.

“How much longer will thisss take?” Ophidian asked impatiently.

“Calm yourself, you know Butcher isn’t one for concentration, and forming a suitable body requires focus,” said Parallax.

“No argument here, that rampaging bull never wasss one for thinking things through, surprised he’s lasted this long. Are you absolutely sssure we need him for the plan?”

Parallax gave the Entity of Avarice a shifty eyed glance, “Do you want to go up against Ion, Adara, Proselyte, and Predator alone?” The Entity of Fear only received a frustrated sigh from Ophidian. “Two of us have a chance, but the three of us are in a better position to go up against them. They won’t even take on hosts, so we already have a huge advantage over them. By the way, how’s your end going?”

Before Ophidian answered that, he erected a barrier of orange light in front of them, protecting them from a random blast of the burning, acidic fiery blood blast. “Well, thisss, Spike, has great Avarice within him. But he’s guarded; he won’t let it take hold. I believe he’s actively fighting it every day, but once I find the one thing, or thingsss, he wants the most, that’s when hisss guard will be down and I can take root.”

“Are you sure he’s the right host for you? He barely comes up to your waist, and you want to make him your host?”

“I see the true beast that liesss within. What makes you think you can convert and entire speciesss that’s dependent on love to fear?”

Parallax thought it over for a moment and eventually shrugged, “Touché.” The fear parasite then looked down in the canyon, “Oh look, he’s almost done.”

Butcher was thrashing about, his fiery red light merging with the magic of this new world, it sickened him, there were elements of good emotions as well as bad, but he wouldn’t let these stop him from getting what he wanted. With one powerful roar, his body exploded into blinding red light.

When the light subsided the canyon was gone, reduced to nothing but a smoldering crater that hissed from the intense heat. Ophidian and Parallax floated in orbs formed of their respective lights. They floated down towards the epicenter of the explosion to see if their fellow Entity didn’t blow himself into oblivion.

What stood at the center was no longer the giant red bull from before, but rather something close to it. Standing at six foot-five, his upper body was rippling with muscles, evenly toned out underneath his dark red fur. His lower body was a dark gray, matching that of his shaved down Mohawk that went halfway down the back of his head. His curved horns were still there, but his mouth no longer sported his goring tusks. Instead, they connected to his horns and ran close beside his face. His eyes were a harsh red, and battle hardened, accompanied with a body littered with scars, his arms, chest, and back were covered. Even his face sported a long one going across his face diagonally.

Butcher examined his new form, flexing his digits and cracking his knuckles. He then worked the kinks out his neck; popping it a few times till he was satisfied that it no longer bothered him.

“I assume that you like it?” asked Ophidian.

“I don’t ‘like’ anything.”

He then held out his right arm with his palm open. Red light gathered to it and in less than a second it changed. The light took the form of an ax, but when he gripped it, the light dispersed and a real ax appeared in its stead. The shaft was at least five feet long; the ax blade was a dark crimson, bearing the symbol of Rage, his symbol. Butcher then gave his ax a few practice swings, twirling it around in his hands, getting a feel for his favored weapon. He then plunged the blade of the ax into the ground and gave a satisfied snort.

“This body will do, what’s it called anyway?”

“A minotaur, which oddly enough suits you well,” said Parallax.

“Now all you need to do is find a host and the plan can proceed,” said Ophidian.

“‘The plan’, ‘the plan, ‘the plan’! All you ever talk about is ‘the plan’, when do I get to fight!?” Butcher then hit the palm of his left hand with his right fist. “We should strike now and get the drop on them!”

Both the Entity of Fear and the Entity of Avarice released frustrated sighs. They knew Butcher was a glutton for war, destruction, hate, and battle, but he truly lacked a strategist’s mindset.

“If we were to do battle with them, it would either end in a ssstalemate or they might win. We cannot fight them as we are,” said Ophidian.

“And why the hell not!?” Butcher growled.

“Look at it from this perspective.” Parallax used his light to grab a large rock that survived Butcher’s explosion. “Our powers are as equivalent to this rock, powerful, but blunt. We cannot form complex constructs, we are power, and we can only do so much with it. However, as you may or may not realize, when we are within suitable hosts, our power becomes as honed and refined as that blade upon your ax.”

“It all boils down to which isss more lethal: a club or a sssword.”

Butcher merely scoffed. “Both can kill, it just depends on who’s using them. Besides, I need no host! Don’t forget, I nearly destroyed Ion!”

“Yesss and then Adara showed up and snuffed out the flame of your rage and Ion gave you the asss kicking of the millennium.”

Butcher grabbed his ax and took a combative stance, “Maybe I’ll show you how powerful I am, by skinning your reptilian hide!”

Ophidian widened his stance, he then snapped his claws and in no time the area was surrounded by the construct Orange Lantern Diamond Dogs. “Did you forget, I consume all the lights, yours included.”

“Don’t act tough with me Ophidian! Against Adara or Predator, we both know that you wouldn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell against them!”

Ophidian’s brow furrowed at the mention of the Love and Hope Entities. The teenage dragon and burly minotaur were about to go at it, until Parallax stepped in.

“Enough, the both you! We haven’t the time to waste fighting each other! If we are to make this world ideal for us then we have to be a cohesive unit!” Parallax argued.

Butcher relaxed, although his face was still contorted in anger, and Ophidian called off his constructs. The red minotaur then rested his ax on his shoulder, looking to Parallax and Ophidian in turn.

“You two can do whatever little ‘plan’ you like. Me? I’m leaving!” Butcher then turned around and started walking, his whip-like tail lashed from side to side in agitation.

“And where do you think you’re going!?” asked Ophidian.

“To do what I want! Get in my way and you will find that I have killed for far less!”

Without another word, Butcher’s body erupted into red light, shooting off into the sky to wherever he cared to go. Ophidian face clawed himself, dragging it down his face and groaning in complete annoyance of Butcher’s actions.

“Great! Just great! Now we have to ssstep up the time table!”

“Kckt. Maybe, maybe not.”

Ophidian looked to Parallax incredulously. “What are you talking about?!”

“If there’s anything that I’ve gathered from probing this world’s knowledge, it’s that things often are more than what they appear. Butcher has, out of pure instinct, possessed a fair number of sentient beings in the past. We merely leave him to his devices and, without him realizing it, he’ll fall in line.”

---

(1 ½ Months Later)

Butcher had ventured to many different parts of this world called Equus. He’s faced down a horde of dragons and proved himself the stronger, taking a few of their fangs and chiseling down small enough to make bracelets around his wrists.

He then came across a land filled with more like him. They were an unruly bunch, much like himself, but found little in common with them. This world had made, what appeared to be fierce creatures, soft. He made sure to show them what the true meaning of strength was before he left their homeland.

All throughout, rumors were being spread about him. Rumors about a rogue minotaur that fought without mercy and without relent. They nicknamed him the Berserker, for no matter what was thrown at him, magic or otherwise, no matter how many times he was injured, he never stopped.

Butcher traveled farther, seeking the beasts that dwelled within the Eastern Everfree Forest. Many a deadly creature were said to dwell within, to Butcher, it was just another forest. By the time he had left the forest, he wore a necklace made of the claws of an Alpha Ironwood Timberwolf. That creature was particularly fun to fight, so he gave it a quick death.

At one point, a large manticore foolishly tried to attack him. He thanked whatever forces that were, because the place he was going to was getting colder and he needed a coat.

Now donned in his manticore skin cloak, and with his ax slung across his back, Butcher continued his journey. His travels eventually brought him to the large city of Stalliongrad, which was currently in the middle of having a snowstorm. He could sense the tension in this place, there was rage here, and a smoldering anger. He casually walked through the city streets, many ponies, and even a few griffons stepped out of his way. Some gasping at the sight of his garb, and other, less unsavory denizens, eyed him as if a potential target for a robbery.

Butcher found himself at one of the taverns within the city. He snorted, annoyed that this new body had some limitations, like rest. The Entity of Rage pushed open the door to the tavern, letting in a rush of cold air and snow before closing it behind him.

Many of the patrons paused to glance at the new addition. Butcher kept his hood up, the only thing that could be seen within the hoods shadows were his burning red eyes. The patrons quickly took note of his garment, some gulped, others returned to what they were doing, pretending not notice him, and others took it as unspoken challenge.

Butcher took in the surroundings. It was a fairly large establishment, big enough to allow him entry and free movement. Many chairs and tables were set up all around, with ponies mostly to one side of the room, and some griffons to the other, both barely tolerating the others presence. There was a stage further back, where a few mares were dancing to the music of a pony playing the piano.

The Entity of Rage then walked towards the bar area. His hoofsteps thudded against the wooden floor; shaking some of the tables he passed by. He then found an empty stool and sat, luckily it supported his weight. The patrons that were sitting nearby scooted down further away from the hulking minotaur in fear that just being near him would get them thrown across the room.

Butcher glanced up at the bar; it was an oaken wood counter, lacquered and cleaned enough to eat off of. Behind it was an assortment of drinks, ranging from alcoholic, to sodas, and other beverages, although the alcoholic drinks took up the majority of the wall space.

“Real howler out there ain’t it.”

Butcher glanced in the direction of the voice. The barkeep was a female griffon, with silver fur and wings, and cobalt feathers around her head. Her plumage was long, covering one side of her face and giving her an air of mystique, especially with those lavender eyes.

“What?”

“The storm, weird stuff. Stalliongrad’s usually cold but it tends to be fairly pleasant around here during summer. Guess the pegasus ponies at the Weather Factory messed up somewhere.”

Butcher snorted.

“Friendly aren’t we? I can tell you aren’t from around here, we don’t get many minotaurs here.”

“What business is it of yours why I’ve come here?”

“Well,” the griffoness casually grabbed an empty glass and started to clean it, “for one: I own this place and I don’t want you stirring up trouble in my bar. Stalliongrad is neutral territory, and my bar even more so, and I intend to keep it that way. Second: You see that mare up there, the lead dancer?”

The griffoness nudged her head in the direction of the stage. Butcher turned his head and saw that one of the mares, a pegasus pony, leading the group of dancers. She had a light orange coat and a white mane that flowed back and forth as she danced and even sang.

“That’s my girl, and I love her. And I don’t like anyone who comes here and starts crap that could potentially hurt her or my other dancers and friends. So, keep this in mind. Don’t start nothing, won’t be nothing.”

Butcher drew his hood back, allowing his face to be seen. The griffoness didn’t even flinch from the sight. “Is that a threat?”

“A warning, trust me, you’ll know when I’m threatening you,” she clarified.

Butcher wanted to put this griffoness in her place, show her that he wasn’t one to be ordered around, but this body of his, while sturdy, did still require time to recuperate. So he begrudgingly accepted her warning.

“Fine.”

“The name’s Sonya by the way.”

Butcher snorted again.

“Tell ya what, as incentive, your first two rounds are on the house. Just tell me what you want when you’re ready.”

The dark red minotaur waved off Sonya and returned to his brooding. She shrugged it off, Sonya had seen more than her share of moody patrons and it didn’t faze her when they blew her off. Still, this guy was different, and just because of his looks either, there was an air about him that radiated hostility. Sonya then motioned to one of the barmaids and whispered something into her ear; the mare nodded and left the room without anyone being the wiser.

Several minutes past and Butcher was starting to get back his strength, but his energy, for some reason, felt like it was being syphoned. He just attributed this to his mortal body, empowered or not, it was still slightly vulnerable. But, he had to admit, that was half the fun. It added an extra edge of excitement in the fights.

Butcher then sensed a shifting of the air, and heard a strange whinny like howl that echoed faintly in the background. He turned around to see if where the source was, thinking that it was either a griffon or pony, but none of them were making that sound, nor did any of them seem to hear it either. Butcher released a sigh, but quirked an eyebrow when he noticed that he could see his breath. Which was odd, considering how comfortably warm it was inside, even with his cloak on.

“Hey watch where you’re going ya feather duster!”

The red minotaur glanced over his shoulder and noticed that a Royal Guard unicorn and a griffon Border Patrol Officer were getting in each other’s faces.

“Who are you calling a ‘feather duster’!”

“If the horseshoe fits!”

The griffon leered at the unicorn, “You damn Royal Guard’s think you’re so high and mighty, but I guess I’d feel the same way if I had rulers who controlled the sun and moon!”

“Watch it, griffon, the Royal Guard are the protectors of the crown!”

“More like glorified lawn ornaments.” Another griffon walked towards the first, standing beside him. “All you do is stand around and look ‘intimidating’ while your collective flanks are saved time and again by your oh-so-special princesses.”

“Like you have any right to talk.” Another Royal Guard came to the aid of the first. “If it wasn’t for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Discord would’ve made this world chaos central! If anything you should show a little appreciation.”

“Appreciation!?” They said in unison.

“Yes, I think you and the rest of your kind should be down on your knees, thanking them for saving your collective rears!”

The griffons laughed at that, boisterously. “Oh yeah, right, ‘thanking them’ he says! Tell me, wasn’t it your own ‘goddesses’ that went mad and almost plunged the entire world in Eternal Night? What was her name, oh right, Nightmare Moon.”

The Royal Guards were, ironically, caught off-guard by that retort. “Well…She was not herself! She was purified and returned to us!”

“‘Purified’, yeah, because it makes so much sense to put one of the rulers who tried to stage a coup back in power, and speaking of Discord, didn’t your princesses, in all their infinite wisdom, release the Spirit of Chaos?”

Once again the Royal Guard ponies were verbally slapped upside the head. Although they had to admit, the release of Discord wasn’t exactly a thing that was made clear to them.

“Face it; your rulers just like to jerk you around, sitting on their fat flanks and looking regal and perfect while they leave the rest of you to fend for yourselves.”

“I bet they even keep a few of these guys around for other ‘Royal Duties’.” A griffon spoke, wiggling his brow in a suggestive manner.

“Now that you mention it, I wouldn’t mind being part of the Royal Guard. The fringe benefits sound awesome –!”

The griffon didn’t get to finish his sentence as a punch from the unicorn effectively silenced him. The second Guard barreled into the other griffon, plowing through tables and griffons alike. The ponies and the griffons then went into a full out brawl, both sides clashing within the tavern. Glass shattered, mugs were thrown, tables flipped, and many cursing like sailors at each other. All the while, Butcher watched this, shrugged, and then turned his back to it.

“HEY, HEY, BREAK IT UP!!!” Sonya yelled.

Butcher still didn’t pay the barroom brawl any mind, only glancing once or twice to see how it was progressing and finding slight entertainment in the fight.

Now I see why I find my light keeps popping up within places like this. Still, not worth my time, he thought.

“STAY AWAY!” A mare cried out.

Butcher watched as Sonya’s head popped up and looked in the direction of the voice. She leaped over the counter and fought her way through the warring sides, finding her rather impressive as she did so with ease. The dark red minotaur watched as Sonya rushed to the aid of the pegasus mare she had deemed ‘her girl’ and put herself between the mare and a group of male griffons who were surrounding them. The pegasus mare was, at that time, acting as a shield, blocking the other mares from the griffons, who were now had looks in their eyes that teetered on the edge of lecherous.

“Summer, are you alright!?” Sonya asked.

“We’re fine…for now…”

“I can’t believe you’d protect these weak mares, let alone have them as entertainment,” said one of the griffons.

“She probably keeps them for ‘other purposes’,” suggested another.

“Touch one of them and I swear I’ll gut you all right here and now with my bare claws!” Sonya snarled.

The male griffons, eight in all, all lowered into attack position. All the while Butcher wasn’t liking this fight, there was something else driving it. Sure he was the Entity of Rage and his presence almost always caused something to happen, but this, this didn’t feel right. It was as if an outside force of rage was fueling it, feeding on it. His ears started to pick up on the sound of the snowstorm outside, the wind sounded like it had increased dramatically. And yet again he heard the howling whinny.

Butcher tried to focus, for once, wanting to locate the source of this outside force and that annoying noise. But he was finding it rather difficult, not just because of the constant mugs shattering on his back, or the occasional pony or griffon hitting against his back, not even that one pony who tried to sucker punch him only to receive a backhanded fist to the face and sending sailing back into the brawl.

No, it was something else, an aspect of his light that he hadn’t felt for a long time, one that emanated from Sonya, who was now engaged with the male griffons. Butcher looked to see that Sonya was now on her back pinned by the griffons she was fighting. She struggled and thrashed, snapping at whomever was close enough to bite. One of the griffons had grabbed Summer and held her in a choke hold.

“You know what, I think these two are banging each other,” said the griffon holding summer.

“Gross, maybe we should show her why she shouldn’t stray from her own kind,” said the lead griffon, inching closer to the pinned griffoness.

That’s when it hit Butcher, this familiar aspect of his light that was neither anger nor hate. It was righteous fury!

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!”

The dark red minotaur turned in the direction of brawl and bellowed out a great roar that shook the inside of the tavern, and caused the brawling patrons to stop their fight. Many looked upon the minotaur with a degree of fear and edge, wondering what he was going to do. Butcher, now having ceased the chaos, walked towards Sonya and the male griffons. His hoofs thundered against the floorboards as he approached the male griffons, stopping right before them. He let his cloak open up more, showing his thick muscly arms and scarred body.

“Release her, now!” Butcher ordered.

The griffons that were pinning Sonya looked to each other, as if wondering if they could take this hulking minotaur on. Butcher then released his manticore cloak, letting fall to the floor, revealing his macabre ornaments, and of course, the giant red steel ax on his back.

“That wasn’t a request.”

The griffons immediately released Sonya, backing away from her. The griffoness got up and stared at Butcher, part of her was relieved to have been saved from whatever perverse acts they were going to do to her, and on the other hand, those eight griffons might have been the lesser of two evils. Butcher then looked to the one holding Summer.

“Her too.”

The griffon released his choke hold and backed off real quick. The pegasus mare quickly ran to the side of her lover, nuzzling up against her for both comfort and security. Butcher then looked to the other pony dancers who were cowering in fear, waiting to see what their fate would be. The dark red minotaur locked his fiery red eyes with that of Sonya’s.

“Get them out, now.”

Summer glanced worriedly to her lover, “Sonya…?”

“Girls, c’mon, stay close.”

The other dancers stuck close to the barkeep as they walked through the crowd of griffons and ponies. Summer took the lead once they were past the initial brawling line, and Sonya took up the rear to make sure no one was going to attack them from behind.

Seeing that they were now leaving the fight zone, Butcher grabbed his manticore cloak and slung it over his shoulder, walking confidently towards the bar. Now that that settled, maybe I can finally find out what that –!

*Crash*

Butcher stopped walking; he placed his left hand on the back of his neck, feeling tiny pieces of glass in his hair. Turning around, he saw that one of the griffons, in probably the first act of mercy he had ever shown in his eternal existence, had thrown a mug at his head. Butcher immediately recognized the face that the griffon was making, it was the infamous “Oh crap why did I do that, I’m such an idiot” look.

The Entity of Rage turned to face the griffons completely. He then tossed his manticore cloak over his shoulder and towards the bar area. Cracking his knuckles, the minotaur was about to teach these glorified turkeys the true meaning of pain.

“You do realize that you just screwed us big time right?” asked the griffon.

“Oh please! We aren’t going to be intimidated by an overgrown, moronic, carved up –!”

In the blink of an eye Butcher threw an uppercut at the griffon, right in the beak, sending him sailing into the roof where he found himself dangling from. He then grabbed the nearest one by the throat and tossed him into the crowd of ponies and griffons. The other six were now angry and terrified at the same time. Two of them tried to rush him, but Butcher dashed forward, holding out his massive arms. The result was a clothesline hit to their jugulars, sending them into a spin and slamming back onto the floor, hard.

Another tried to slash at him with his claws, one hit digging into his flesh and causing a bit of his blood to flow. Ignoring the pain, and using it as further fuel for the fire, Butcher grabbed the griffon by the wings, broke them, and tossed him like a rag doll against the table, breaking it in the process.

From the corner of his eye, Butcher saw as one of the griffons tried to crawl away. The dark red minotaur got into a running position and dashed away. He took perfect aim as his hooves thundered against the floor, and with one swift punt kick, delivered the blow right to the griffon’s privates, sending him careening into the crowd, and screaming in a high falsetto.

During this fight, Butcher yet again heard the howling whinny, and it was stronger, yet none of the ponies and griffons heard a thing. It was irritatingly frustrating. Out of nowhere a pony lashed out and tried to land a punch on Butcher. He easily caught the blow and threw him into another pony. A griffon, who wasn’t a part of the original eight he was fighting, entered the brawl as well. And then another pony, and then another griffon, and then another, and another, and another, and another. Soon Butcher was fending off multiple attackers at once. He thought it so easy to just burn them all, but again, this bar fight was beneath the use of his powers and unworthy of staining his ax with their blood.

“BRING IT ON!!!!”

---

( Meanwhile)

“I freaking hate this Border Patrol crap – ACHOO!”

Gilda had been walking about town, dressed in her uniform. It was basically a faux black leather jacket, with a brown furry inseam to keep the heat in. She also wore a black beanie, bearing the official shield emblem of the Border Patrol Force. She fluttered her wings from time to time, trying to keep them from freezing and locking up. Her tail twitched in agitation from this freak snowstorm.

She didn’t even know there was a scheduled snowstorm! Had she known she wouldn’t have reported for duty, sure she flew high in the air where the temperature was cold, but this cold, this was something different. It chilled her very core, and she couldn’t shake the annoying feeling that there was someone or something watching her. Maybe not her specifically, but it was still creepy. Especially when every time Gilda thought she saw it out of the corner of her eye, it vanished.

Lately, Stalliongrad had been getting hectic, which was right around the same time this snowstorm hit. There was always tension in the city. It was populated by griffons and ponies alike, so unfortunately at one point or another, you were going to have some fights and culture clashes. But recently the tension in the city seemed to be boiling, escalating to the point where more patrols were needed.

“Humph, anything’s better than being back there and being reminded of her!”

“Gilda!”

The griffoness looked around, hearing her name amongst the wind and snow. It took her but a moment to recognize who it was, one of Sonya’s barmaids at her tavern. The pony walked up to her, slightly panting.

“What’s up?”

“Sonya, she asked me to come and get you. There’s this minotaur at the tavern and he looks kinda shady…”

Gilda raised an eyebrow. “Minotaur, huh? Don’t normally get many minotaurs up here, they don’t like the cold. So what, how ‘shady’ does this guy look?”

“Well…he came in wearing a cloak made of a manticore’s pelt, he’s wearing bracelets that look like they were made of teeth, sharp teeth at that, and…He’s just overall scary.”

“Does Sonya want me to arrest him or something? `Cause that place of hers is half filled with Royal Guards and BP Officers like me,” said Gilda.

The earth pony mare scoffed. “Please, half of them are either too plastered out of their minds or too busy trying to grope mine and my friends’ flanks! I think Sonya just wants someone there who’s clear headed enough to react when something bad goes down.”

Gilda thought it over. It was part of her job to keep the peace in Stalliongrad, and a possibly dangerous stranger was probably good grounds to get somewhere warm, that and she really didn’t want to be in the cold any longer than she had to.

“Alright, alright, I’ll come with. I owe her and Summer Breeze for putting me up.”

“Thanks Gilda.”

The mare and griffoness made their way to Sonya’s tavern. As they did, they noticed how the storm seemed to be increasing in intensity the closer they got, getting to the point that the barmaid had to stay close to get Gilda to keep from getting separated.

“What the –! Why in the Tartarus is this storm getting worse!?”

“I don’t know! I’ve never seen snowstorms this bad!”

The wind blustered and blew, creating a whiteout with all the falling snow and turbulent wind. Gilda felt the area getting colder, and right now she couldn’t see three feet in front of her beak! Suddenly she started to hear a strange noise, a sort of howl mixed with a whinny. She watched and listened, keeping the earth pony mare close . In the swirling snow she barely made out a pony like figure.

“HEY YOU!” Gilda yelled. “GIVE US A HOOF OVER HERE, WE CAN’T SEE IN THIS MESS!”

The pony figure turned towards the mare and griffoness, Gilda now amended her earlier analysis, whatever or whoever it was in front of them, it was taller than the average pony, stallion or mare. It could be a Saddle Arabian, but again, a rare thing to see here.

The figure started to get closer, and for a split second, Gilda could’ve sworn she saw its eyes shine with a white and blue flash. But then something happened, it disappeared, and at that same time, the wind died down and the snow settled, becoming eerily silent.

“W-What just h-happened?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it. C’mon, I can see Sonya’s tavern.”

At that moment one of the windows shattered, with a pony sailing out of it and falling into the large heaps of snow. At nearly the same time, the other window shattered and a griffon was thrown through it, landing face first into the, thankfully, large piles of fresh powder.

Fearing the worst, Gilda had the barmaid go and find other Guards and Officers while she went in and dealt with whatever was going on. Gilda quickly busted the door open and went slacked jawed at what she beheld.

A muscular, dark red minotaur was standing on the stage. A pile of bodies, live ones, and groaning in pain, were strewn in sort of a pathway, leading right to him. The minotaur was currently fending off three opponents. They decided, in a desperate attempt, to bum rush the minotaur and bring him down. When they piled on, the minotaur fell to one knee, but it was only for a brief moment. He then rose up and threw the three off his body and onto the pile of other beat up bodies.

From what Gilda could tell it was pretty much just the patrons, there wasn’t any sign of Sonya and Summer Breeze, or any of the other tavern workers. Gilda then glared at the minotaur, who was now panting heavily after having fought so many.

“You! Don’t move!” Gilda ordered, flaring her wings and entering an attack position.

The minotaur looked towards Gilda, his fiery red eyes almost caught her by surprise, but as intimidating as his gaze was, she had one just as intimidating.

“I thought I got them all, guess I missed one,” he said.

“You’re under arrest for inciting a riot and –” Gilda took a moment to take a count of how many of the patrons he beat up, “– and multiple counts of assault!”

“Arrest me?! You can damn well try!”

“Oh I intend to!”

The minotaur readied himself for one more brawl and Gilda extended her talons, preparing to bring down this hulking mass. Just as the two of them were about to charge for one another, the door near the bar area burst open, with Sonya flying in and waving off the two from fighting.

“GILDA STOP, YOU TOO!”

Gilda and the minotaur both halted in their tracks. “Sonya, you’re alright?”

“We all are, we were hiding out in the back room when this mess started,” said Sonya.

“And this guy,” Gilda pointed a talon at the minotaur, “was he the one who started it?”

“No,” he said, “But I did finish it.”

“He helped us! Saved me and Summer from getting…well…we were almost…”

Gilda didn’t need to hear the rest, she could pretty much figure out the rest from there. The griffoness then looked to the minotaur and sighed heavily.

“Guess I outta thank you, whatever your name is.”

“I am the Butcher.”

Sonya and Gilda both glanced at each other and face clawed themselves at nearly the same time.

“Yeah, that’s going to go over well with the Guard and Officers when they get here,” said Sonya.

“How about Butch?” Gilda offered.

“What,” shouted Butcher.

“Yeah, I like it! Anypony asks, your names’ Butch, got it?!”

Butcher groaned in indignation, but relented, both because he was too tired after that little brawl, and because he got most of the fight out him. “Fine, I’m Butch, happy!?”

“No, but it’ll be better than you spending time behind bars,” said Gilda.

---

(3 Hours Later)

Answering all those questions and dealing with all those Guards and Officers nearly made Butcher, or Butch, go into another rampage. But luckily this, ‘Gilda’, was able to speed him through the process and now he, Sonya, Summer Breeze, and Gilda herself, were at the home of the griffon and mare couple.

It was a nice place, considering that Sonya owned the bar and her lover worked there as well, their combined income was able to help them afford a place of their own in the city. It was a two story house; the inside had warm colors all around, a good contrast to the white of the snow and grays of the city.

Butcher had to admit, it felt strange to be actually invited to anyone’s home. He mostly smashed through anything and “invited” himself in. Noticing the couch, Butcher walked over to it and sat down, making the room shake from the impact. Luckily the couch held up against his weight and size.

“You couldn’t let go of the ax, could you?” asked Gilda.

“No one touches my ax, unless I make you touch it,” said Butcher.

“Geez, do you ever lighten up, Butch?”

“It’s Butcher, not ‘Butch’!”

“It’s a whole lot better than ‘Butcher’, I feel like I’m talking to an executioner every time I say it!”

You’re not far off.

“So…” Butcher crossed his arms in front his chest, “You live with those two?”

“Yeah…I kinda wandered here, ended up in Sonya’s bar, got a little too grabby with Summer Breeze, and Sonya and I had a throw down. Next thing I know, Summer’s offering me a place to stay, although Sonya was a little reluctant when I did.”

Butcher just sat there on the couch from then on. Sonya and Summer Breeze entered the room and began talking with Gilda about the day before the fiasco that occurred earlier that afternoon. All the while, Butcher was getting edgy, calm atmospheres made him uneasy. It was still, and stifling. In the end he decided to leave.

“Wait, where are you going, it’s the middle of the night!?” asked Summer Breeze.

“What’s it look like, I’m leaving.”

Butcher lumbered over to the front door, but soon found Summer Breeze blocking the way. The Entity of Rage was a little surprised by this action, but quickly got over it.

“Move.”

“You can’t, it’s too cold out there and you said you just got into town. Unless you’re planning on sleeping on the streets, you’re better off here where it’s warm.”

“I’m made of stronger stuff than the average creature, now move.”

Summer Breeze didn’t relent, keeping herself between Butcher and the door. Sonya watched with trepidation as her marefriend stood before the hulking minotaur. Gilda however was impressed by Summer’s gutsiness.

“I can easily just pick you up and move you,” said Butcher.

“Then I’ll hold onto your arm and wont’ let go.”

“I could toss you over my shoulder like a rag doll!”

“Then I’ll hold onto your neck with everything I got.”

“I could also just simply cleave you in half and walk over your dead body!”

Summer Breeze hesitated slightly, but nonetheless stood her ground. “Then I’ll hang onto your legs until the life leaves my body! Please, just stay for the night; you’ll die out there in the cold!”

“Would lay off already Butch.” Summer and Butcher turned to Gilda. “She’s not going to move, she’s as much stubborn as she is cute.”

“Watch it Gilda,” warned Sonya.

“Just making an observation. Anyway, back off.”

“Why don’t you make me!?” Butcher dared.

Gilda shot him a sly smile. “Sure, we’ll throw down.”

“Gilda are you crazy!?” Sonya yelled.

The corner of Butcher’s lip curled up, half-smiling at the notion of another fight. “Good, I was getting restless.”

“Hold on big boy, I’m not in the mood for a fist fight, so let’s settle this a different way. Sonya, set `em up!”

“Gilda…I’m not so sure that’s a good idea, considering our guest’s temperament, and yours.”

“Look, either he and I fight it out here and you and Sonya get an early renovation to your den, or you can set up the drinks and one of us ends up passing out. Which sounds less destructive?”

Sonya really didn’t like either choice, but, at the very least, this would prevent a brawl from breaking out, once every other week was more than enough for Sonya. So reluctantly, the griffoness went into the kitchen and brought out a large bottle labeled Crazy Horse Fire Water along with two shot glasses and put them down next to the bottle.

“C’mon Summer, let’s leave these two.”

Sonya led her marefriend up the stairs, glancing every so often from behind her shoulder until they had ascended the stairs. With the two lovebirds gone, Gilda filled the first shot glass and then the second, moving it to other side of the coffee table. Butcher walked back to the couch and plopped himself back onto it.

“What kind of fight is this?”

“Drinking Contest, what else. First one to pass out loses.”

“This is not a real fight!” Butcher growled.

“What’s the matter, afraid of getting beat by a girl?”

“I fear nothing!”

“If you think you can drink me under the table, bring it!”

Butcher snorted and grabbed the shot glass. Gilda drank hers down in one gulp, slamming the glass back down on the table. Butcher followed suit, throwing it back and, lightly, slamming his glass onto the table. He held back since he didn’t want to break the glass and table and risk losing by default.

“Just so you know, no one’s been able to match me, pony or otherwise,” warned Gilda.

“I’m not ‘otherwise’ either, so pour it.”

Gilda poured them another shot.

---

(Ten Shots Later)

Gilda and Butcher both had a forearm on the table, staring each other down as they held their respective glasses in their grasps.

“Feeling buzzed yet,” teased Gilda.

“I feel angry, does that count,” deadpanned Butcher.

“Ugh…You really need to lighten up. Even a drinking contest can be fun between two strangers!” Gilda gulped down her drink and growled as she felt the beverage flow down her throat. “Rainbow Dash would be better fun than you.”

“Who the hell is Rainbow Dash?” Butcher drank his as well, finding that he liked the taste of this stuff. He could understand why so many fights were started over it. “She an enemy of yours?”

“……It’s complicated……We used to go to the same high school back in Cloudsdale. “ Gilda poured the two of them another shot before continuing. “We were labeled the ‘bad girls’ of the school, never really understood that. What’s bad about pranking and having a good time!?”

“So, you two were comrades in arms?”

“…Something like that…” The griffoness drank this glass a little more reverently.

---

(25 Shots Later)

“I swear that colt had it coming! Rainbow Dash just straight out flew up into the air, turned around, and did a flying kick right between his legs! It’s funny, he didn’t react right away.”

Gilda and Butcher were now three quarters of the way through the bottle, and Gilda was already starting to loosen up, feeling a little giddy, she started to reminisce about her childhood and all the fun things she did with her best, and apparently only friend, Rainbow Dash.

Surprisingly enough, Butcher found himself listening to every word. He had to admit some of her stories were funny, especially the amount of fights these two got into when they were younger, and with themselves, only to just laugh it off later.

“So what happened, she miss?” asked Butcher.

“No, she hit the bull’s eye,” Butcher never liked that saying, “but the kick was so fast and sudden, that Hoops’ brain didn’t register it until a minute after she had kicked him! I swear to Celestia, he was mouthing how weak Rainbow was and then all of a sudden he’s cupping his crotch and screaming in this high squeaky voice! It was a freaking delayed reaction HA, HA, HA!”

Butcher had to admit, that one was very amusing, finding himself chuckling as he imagined this colt doing just that. “Either your friend was too quick and it didn’t register as you said, or he was too stupid to realize what happened to him.”

“I know right!? I said the same damn thing to her!”

This time it was Butcher who poured the next drink, and Gilda happily allowed him to do so.

---

(48 Shots Later)

“So, did you have feelings for this Rainbow Dash?”

Butcher reclined on the couch, resting his ax on the side of the couch and allowing himself to get comfortable. Gilda was only slightly swaying, but still seemed to keep herself speaking clearly, however, the alcohol may’ve loosened her tongue more than she wanted.

“I did, not goin’ to lie about that. Never really liked guys, no offense, always found girls hotter, I mean you know what I’m talking about,” said Gilda.

“Not a clue.”

Gilda rolled her eyes. “Anyway, yeah, I did like her, a lot actually! Of course I never said anything, she was too afraid of being called a fillyfooler, and honestly I didn’t want to put her in that light and make her loose her shot at the Junior Speedsters flight camp…”

“Hmm, for her sake, you kept your feelings secret. Not many good things come of that, they often end violently, believe me I know,” said Butcher.

“Yeah, well, that didn’t stop me from teasing her from time to time. I’d swat her on the flank with my tail, ‘accidentally’ land on top of her whenever I messed up a stunt and other junk…” Gilda took another drink, her mood somewhat getting sad. “One time, I told her that we should just do it! Right there in our dorm room. We ended up fighting, but it weirdly enough turned to into the two of us –”

“I get the picture, so what happened next.” Romance made Butcher’s stomach churn, that was more Predator’s thing, not his.

“We woke the next morning, and then she told me that that would be the only time that we’d ever do something like that. I remember being really annoyed with the way she said that, like she had a moment of weakness in middle of a rehab program or something………We still stayed best friends, we just pretended it never happened…”

---

(More Than Halfway Through The Bottle Later)

“I mean she’s-she’s such a dweeb! If she had just given us a chance we could be as happy as those two lovebirds upstairs! Probably getting it on as we speak!”

Gilda was now laying back on the couch splayed out, her shot glass empty, and having entered an angry state of mind. Butcher, however was the complete opposite, he was resting his arms on his lap as he sat hunched over, hearing the anguish and longing in the griffoness’ words.

“If any one had ever called her fillyfooler, I would’ve beat the crap out them for her! But does she decide to give us a chance?! Noooooooooooo! She just goes on pretending like it didn’t happen! Now I hear she’s with that egghead princess! I can’t believe her, those are the kind of ponies we used to make fun off back in school, and she goes and hooks up with a nerd!”

Gilda pounded her left fist against the couch, growling from the thought of the mare she had feelings for. Butcher was witnessing something really strange; he hadn’t seen such a mixture of red and violet light within one being before.

“I mean, we didn’t really start to change until after we left high school. She got a job as Weather Manager for that Podunk town, Ponyville, and I came back to my homeland to do some military training, per my wonderful Father’s suggestion” Gilda flailed her forelegs into the air, spilling her drink a little. “I understood why she took the job; it meant some good money, and the time to work on her moves to become a Wonderbolt!

But when I come to see her, I find out that she’s changed completely! It’s like only bits and pieces of the old Dash are there, but this new Dash is so…so…LAME!”

Butcher decided to chime in right around here. “So do you hate her or love her?” he queried.

Gilda groaned loudly. “I don’t know! She’s…She’s gone farther in that little, one horse town! She’s more or less in the Wonderbolt Reserves, and, despite her being a nerd, dating a Princess! Heck, Dash is even one of those Elements of Harmony! I hate it that she’s changed so much! But at the same time I-I-I love it that she’s come so far and found somepony she loves! And I also hate myself for feeling like this! Maybe I am a jerk………Give me that bottle!”

Butcher handed the less than full bottle to Gilda; she then looked at the bottle in her left claw and the glass in her right. “Buck it.” She threw the glass over her shoulder and downed the remaining amount of liquid inside. Once the bottle was downed of its contents, Gilda released a loud belch and, ironically, passed out right then and there.

“Hmmm, guess I win.”

It was right around that time that Butcher heard noises coming from the stairs. He glanced in the direction of the staircase and watched as Sonya and Summer Breeze walked down to check on them.

“Wow, that’s the first time I’ve seen Gilda passed out before the other guy,” said Sonya.

Summer Breeze walked over to them and noticed that the bottle was completely empty. She then looked to Butcher with confusion, this was one of their stronger alcoholic beverages, and it usually even put minotaurs as big as Butcher right out before they got to the bottom. Gilda was fortunate to have her opponents pass out before her, but this guy looked wide awake.

“So…you’re okay, not drunk?”

“Not drunk…!” Summer, Sonya, and Butcher looked to Gilda, “I’m Buzzzzzzzzzzzz…ed.” And then she was out again.

“To answer your question, yes, I am.” Butcher answered.

Both the griffoness and mare gave him a quizzical look. “We kinda expected the living room to be a warzone when we gave you guys this stuff…but, how can you be drunk and calm at the same time?”

Butcher shrugged, he admitted to himself, he did find thinking rationally a lot easier right now, and he felt, oddly enough, mellow. “I suppose ‘drunk’ for me is the opposite of how I usually am……Now if you excuse me, I’m going to go fall asleep by that window over there, with my ax. Thank you.”

True to his word, Butcher grabbed his ax, walked over to the wall nearest them, sat beside the window, and plopped himself right on the floor. No sooner did he do that did Butcher knock right out, cradling his ax close to him.

Sonya and Summer Breeze looked upon the odd duo. Gilda passed out on the couch, now for some reason, cuddling with the bottle she and the minotaur were drinking from, and Butcher passed out sitting up against the wall.

“Considering what could’ve happened, I think this better.”

---

(Later That Night)

Summer Breeze was quietly making her way downstairs, carrying some blankets on her back. She made her way to the couch and gently draped the blanket on Gilda, hearing her mutter “Thanks Dash…” Summer smiled, a little sad that she wasn’t this “Rainbow Dash” she liked, but content to allow her to think so.

“G’night G,” she said, attempting to mimic how she believed this mare would talk.

That seemed to put a smile on the griffoness’ face. Summer then moved to Butcher, who was lightly snoring as he held fast to his large ax. She scrutinized how she was going to properly put the blanket on him while he held that ax; it made covering him nearly impossible. Carefully, very carefully, she draped the blanket on him. Starting at his right shoulder and unfurling it further down his large form, thankful that she instead brought three blankets, considering how big Butcher was.

She stepped back and looked him over, Summer managed to cover him up, even hiding the ax, but the crimson blade still shone. The pegasus mare was about to head back to her lovers’ side when she took one more glance behind her and saw Butcher watching her with his fiery red eyes.

“That’s a good way to get yourself killed, mare. Had I not been aware of your presence I could’ve struck you down,” he warned.

“I knew the risks before attempting, don’t worry,” said Summer.

Butcher snorted a little. “You’re compassion is wasted on me, I have nothing to give back, and I’m not one for ‘thank yous’.”

“I’m being kind because I want you to be, I just want thank you the best way I can. My girlfriend believes you’re some kind of mercenary, or some kind of beast hunter. That must be a lonely life.”

“Humph, not quite either of those things. I just fight, whether it’s good or evil, it doesn’t matter to me, it’s the battle that I live for, and all I am.”

Summer became saddened by the way Butcher talked about himself. Seeing the many scars, and his attitude, coupled with the way he keeps that weapon close, made her believe he had a hard life growing up.

“You’re like Gilda, in some small ways.”

Butcher raised a quizzical eyebrow. “Pray, tell? Just how do I remind you of her?”

“When she came to Stalliongrad, Gilda wandered into our tavern, she drank and drank, she got so drunk she started globing onto me and calling me Rainbow Dash. Needless to say, Sonya and her got into a scrap. Afterwards we found out she really had nowhere to go and we did the same thing we did with you, we brought her to our home. It took almost two years, but eventually she opened up to us, and now we’re friends. Even though she can get grabby sometimes, I don’t mind really.”

“Point being?” asked Butcher impatiently.

“Point is, she was full of anger and hate, the hate’s slightly simmered down, but I think she’s still angry…I’m sure you’ve been through a lot, but anger, violence, and rage, it doesn’t have to define your life, that’s not all you are.”

Butcher couldn’t help but laugh at the remark, genuinely finding it hilarious. After a bit, Butcher gave Summer a serious look. “Look into my eyes pony. I am not like any living creature that lives on this world. I was born from the first murder of another living creature. I was spawned and personify all that is violence, hate, and rage! That is my existence, and that is all I am.”

“I don’t believe that, not at all. Would a being such as the one you described be willing to keep me and my love from being violated, and stop all the fighting? You could’ve just as easily left us to our fate, but you didn’t.”

Butcher went silent; it wasn’t like he wanted to. There was this strangeness within the room that he didn’t like, and his light of Rage had flared up with righteous fury, and wouldn’t stop nagging at him to save them.

“Anyway, goodnight, Butch.”

Summer then ascended the stairs, leaving Butcher to digest her words.

---

(The Next Day)

Butcher awoke with a slightly pounding headache, experiencing his first ever hangover. Gilda had one as well, placing an ice pack on her head, provided for and prepared in advance by, Sonya. Butcher was just standing at the window, staring out into the city and the snowstorm that didn’t seem to let up.

“How the Tartarus do you not have a hangover right now,” asked Gilda.

“I do, my head hurts.”

“So why do you look so damn calm like its nothing?”

“Because I’ve suffered worse than this, it’s more annoying than painful.”

Gilda groaned in misery, but smiled despite herself. “You’re the first guy who could hold his own against me, color me impressed. You’re alright Butch.”

The minotaur shrugged.

“Not going to moan and groan about the name?”

“If that’s what you want to call me, then do as you please.”

Suddenly the front door opened up and a gust of icy air blew into the house, Sonya hurried inside and closed the door behind her quickly. Summer entered from the kitchen, wearing a cute little pink apron.

“How’s the tavern?” asked Summer.

Sonya shook off the excess snow from her wings and fur; she then took off her parka and scarf before answering. “We’re going to have to call our contractor, get more tables and mugs, fix the windows, and replace the front door that someone busted down.”

“Love you too Sonya!” Gilda said, not bothering to look at her as she recovered from the hangover.

“And there’s the cleanup of all the teeth, blood, and…other excretions that, courtesy of another someone, will have to be taken care of.”

“Not my fault they soiled themselves in fear of me, it’s a given.”

“So…all and all, how bad?”

Sonya, despite everything she just said, smiled happily at her girlfriend. “Very salvageable. The bar and the drinks weren’t damaged, and the inventory’s still there. Hate to say it, but this storm’s actually helping to keep some of the looters from breaking in. Once it dies down we’ll close it up properly and start fixing up.”

Sonya then walked over to Summer and gave a kiss on the cheek, making the mare blush, and as she passed Summer to move to the fireplace, she gave her mare a quick smack on the rear with her tail, causing Summer to blush harder.

“Sonya!”

The griffoness gave her playful wink; Summer sighed, but smiled as she headed back into the kitchen to finish their food.

“Could you two flirt when I’m not this hung over, and I can enjoy it better?” Gilda groaned.

“Deal with it, consider it punishment for drinking the entire bottle.” Sonya raised her claws to the warm fire, letting its warmth fill her; she then turned her gaze over to Butcher. “And you’re going to help too, Butch.”

“And why should I?”

“`Cause most of the damage was yours. You could learn to hold back, considering how ridiculously strong you are.”

Butcher scoffed at the notion. “One doesn’t ‘hold back’ in the middle of a fight. Either give it your all or fall.”

“Heh, heh, he’s got a point Sonya,” added Gilda.

“Summer could you come in here for a sec, I wanna make out in front of Gilda!” Sonya called out.

“Find another way to torture her, honey!” Summer cried out from the kitchen, before adding, “Besides, that’s not until next weekend!”

Butcher raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the two griffonesses from the corner of his eye. Sonya blushed; Summer wasn’t one for letting embarrassing things happen to her without reciprocating in kind.

“Case you’re wondering, friends with benefits,” said Gilda.

Butcher just shrugged in a none caring way and continued to stare out the window. The storm had increased in intensity since yesterday, and still, Butcher couldn’t stop feeling like there was a force behind it, the strangest thing out of all of this, was that this force felt somewhat similar to his power. And then there was that howling whinny that would echo in the distance from time to time, Butcher had faced many a beast and foe before coming to Stalliongrad, but none of them made a sound quite like this one. It was almost otherworldly.

Suddenly there was fast rapping at the front door. Sonya and Gilda looked to each other, confused as to who would be visiting them during this freak blizzard.

“This is BP Officer Sawback, we have an emergency!”

Gilda, forgetting her hangover, got up from the couch and walked quickly to the front door. She opened it to find that it was indeed one of the Border Patrol Officers.

“What’s going on?!”

“There’s a riot in the center of town! Most of the inner city is having a full out brawl right at its center! The worst part is it’s like its spreading like a disease! We’ve got it contained, but stopping it is another story! The Royal Guard and Border Patrol Chiefs are putting a call to all law enforcers to head to the scene immediately!”

“Understood.”

The griffon quickly turned around and headed out to inform other off duty officers. Gilda’s demeanor changed drastically, she was more serious, and had an air of authority about her. She quickly went into the closet and pulled out her BP Officers jacket, complete with badge, and beanie. Before Gilda opened the door to head out, she turned to Butcher, who was still staring out the window.

“Butch! If something happens, I want you to promise me you’ll make sure that Sonya and Summer Breeze are safe!”

Butcher snorted. “Trust me, whatever you’re going to face is far less dangerous than me.”

“Butch, promise me!” Gilda shouted, not asking, but telling.

The dark red minotaur turned his head and gave Gilda a sideways glance. “So long as I’m here, whatever’s out there is better off far away from me.”

“Good enough!”

With that established, Gilda opened the door and slammed it shut behind her. leaving behind Sonya and Summer to wonder what was going on in the city center, and if she’d be okay. She was a tough as nails gal, but that still didn’t stop them from worrying.

All the while Butcher’s narrowed his eyes as he caught a glimpse of something running through the air that wasn’t a pegasus pony or griffon. His eyes glowed with the red light of Rage as his suspicions were confirmed.

“Time to get acquainted.”

---

The center of Stalliongrad was in chaos, and the blizzard wasn’t helping any, in fact, it just made stopping it worse. You’d think that a snowstorm wasn’t the ideal condition for a full scale riot to go down, but that didn’t seem to stop any of the citizens one little bit.

Gilda, along with several other Officers and Guards, entered the brawl to try and diffuse it. It was pure and simple chaos. Ponies fighting ponies, griffons fighting griffons, ponies fighting griffons, children fighting adults and vice versa, and even children, both pony and griffon, fighting each other, this was all kinds of messed up.

Many a swear word was said, along with cheap shots, and brandished weapons, at least those they could use from the surrounding area. It was madness. Gilda had just stopped a mare who had tried to suffocate, or drown depending on your perspective, another mare in a pile of thick snow.

Another incident found her wrenching a long icicle from a foal’s magical grasp as he brought up to slay another foal! Needless to say, Gilda was working overtime. She tried to talk sense into them, intimidating them, threatening them, even throwing her authority as a BP Officer and the law to scare them into stopping, but despite all this, it did little to nothing, in fact, it made some of them attack her!

“Buck this!”

Gilda had had enough, the only way to stop this riot, she reasoned, was to knock them out and put them down before this reached the outer edge of Stalliongrad. The griffoness went to work, putting down one griffon and pony after the other, her headache wasn’t even present as her body surged with adrenaline, the constant frenzy keeping her senses sharp and reactions quick.

Before she knew it, Gilda had knocked out or incapacitated forty to fifty of the rioters, and yet, when she paused to look into the expanse, at all the fighting that was still going on, it hadn’t made a difference, they were still going strong, even some of the officers and guards had thrown off their helmets and entered the fray.

“This is…what the heck is going on with everyone!?”

Gilda opted to leave the battle, she needed to get backup or at least come up with a better plan before she succumbed to this wild melee. She spread her wings and flew as hard as she could against the wind. Gilda was then caught up in a strong gust of wind, thrown about a like a rag doll, and thrown to the ground, hard, and hearing the unsettling sound of bone cracking.

She yelped, feeling a great amount of pain from her left wing. Gilda looked at her wing and gritted her teeth in anger, it was dislocated, and right now she didn’t have time to reset it. The griffoness looked up trying to see what had thrown her around and gasped. Somehow, the snow and wind had created a wall around the fighting, and, from what she saw, it was expanding.

“What…what is this!!?”

Gilda’s eyes went wide when she heard howling whinny echo on the wind currents. Her eyes turned skyward, widening at the sight. A swirling vortex spun overhead, like the eye of a hurricane. Only at the center of this eye, Gilda saw three ethereal, horse-like creatures running around, spurring the storm on. Their bodies were see-through and light-blue; they had forelegs but no hind legs, but instead a wispy lower half, and their eyes, shining with a bright white and blue color, and continuing to let loose their howling whinny.

She had never fully believed these things existed, only hearing about them in those Hearth’s Warming stories, thinking them some sort of made up figment of those ancient ponies’ imaginations in order to explain a really harsh and out of control blizzard. But here they were, right above her, the infamous creatures that both spurred and fed upon hate and anger, the Windigos!

The Windigos then shot straight down towards the rioters before hitting the ground; they shot out in three different directions, bringing with them a gust of icy wind. The ponies and griffons they passed by immediately froze, incased in solid ice, frozen in the moment of their rage and hate. The freezing continued, with the rioters completely oblivious to what was happening, too drunk on their hate and fighting to notice or to care.

Gilda just stood there, injured, and freezing cold, trying to stave off the urge to fall asleep as her body became numb. On the upside, she didn’t feel the pain from broken wing anymore.

The Windigos, after turning everyone in the insanely large crowd into living ice statues, turned their gazes on Gilda, the only one who was still in control. As they approached, Gilda watched as the ground below them turned to ice. It crept up to her fast, surrounding her from every direction. This wasn’t how she pictured her end would come; there was still a lot she wanted to do, and things that were left unsaid. Gilda stood there helplessly as the ice started to crawl up her forelegs and hind legs, anchoring her to the ground and creeping up her body slowly. One thing came to mind, one pony, and with her last breath Gilda spoke

“I’m sorry…Rainbow…Da–”

The ice had completely covered her now, the Windigos then rose up to the eye of the storm, preparing to use their new sources of power to further expand the storm and their influence.

Just then, they stopped. Behind were Gilda was, the wall of wind and snow began to glow a bright red. Piercing the howling wind came a battle cry as fierce and as loud as any explosion or raging storm could muster.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARHAAAAAA!!!!”

A giant red gash of light sliced through the wall of wind and snow like a hot knife through butter. Behind the attack, was a burly red minotaur, wielding his crimson ax as he cut through the storm.

Butcher landed with giant thud against the ice covered ground, shattering it like fragile glass. His body hissed as the heat of his light of Rage evaporated the moisture in the air around him. He then looked to his left and saw Gilda, frozen in a block of ice. Butcher released more his power, expanding his aura into a field of red light. When the shield passed over Gilda, the ice incasing her immediately began to melt. Cracks and fissures appeared as her eyes shined with the same light as his. And in that moment, Gilda burst forth from the ice, roaring angrily and proudly into the air. Butcher then released the field, bringing it back to him.

Gilda, now coming down from the rage surge, wobbled around in a daze, “Wha…What happened…?”

“You were trapped in ice like a fool, so I freed you.”

The griffoness started to regain her senses, now looking at Butcher as his body flared with red, wavy light. “I thought I told you to watch Sonya and Summer!”

“This takes precedence. Now tell me. What are those things!?” Butcher pointed his ax at the three spirits, directing Gilda’s gaze skyward.

“Those are Windigos…They feed on hate and anger, and perpetuate it, and the result is a winter storm that freezes all those whose hearts are cold…We need to get out of here, now,” said Gilda.

“Ice and snow, hate and rage is not cold, it is fiery and blazing! Like a fire that cannot be contained! And yet, it is interesting that they share my power.”

Gilda looked up Butcher with confusion. He then walked towards the three Windigos, who were even now eyeing him cautiously, circling him as they determined what he was.

“Who are you,” spoke the first spirit.

“What are you,” spoke the second.

“I am the Butcher, the Entity of Rage. The source of all hate and anger in the universe,” he proclaimed.

“Impossible,” said the third.

“No living creature is ‘the source’,” said the first.

“And yet here I stand before you.” Butcher released a little more of his red light, his aura changing into an inferno of Rage energy. “You may prove useful, and are among the first creatures I’ve met that share in my power. Fight by my side, become my Red Lantern Corps!”

“We belong to no one,” said the first.

“We do not follow, we are not yours to command…”

“It is not wise to go against me. Either follow my orders and obey, or perish by my ax and my might!” Butcher clenched his left fist, now blazing with red light like his eyes.

The third spirit got closer to Butcher, snorting, and staring him down with its shining eyes. “The spirits do not suffer the living…!”

Butcher then reached out and grabbed the Windigo spirit by the throat. The other two gave a startled and surprised bray from what they saw. The spirit in Butcher’s left hand struggled against his burning grip as he applied more and more pressure, bringing the spirit’s face closer as to stare it dead in the eyes.

“YOU WILL SUFFER ME!!!”

The dark red minotaur then threw the spirit upwards, inhaling deeply, Butcher then released a stream of his napalm blood-fire at the third spirit. The creature howled in pain from the burning and searing power, though this was rage energy, and it should be feeding off it, the power was drastically different. The spirit ran around in the air, trying to put out the red flames that engulfed its body.

Butcher then raised his ax into the air and channeled his energy into the blade. “I am the only Entity of Rage!”

The blade then fired a beam of red light straight into the air, striking the storm and instantly evaporating the clouds, killing the storm as it spread out for miles till there was nothing left. The citizens that were frozen began to break free of their icy prisons, each one in a daze and stumbling about, confused as to why they were there.

Gilda didn’t know what to say, Butcher was powerful, he grabbed a Windigo spirit – grabbed a SPIRIT– and set it on fire! What kind of messed up magic is this!?

The two other Windigo spirits blasted the third with dual icy winds, putting out the flames of rage. They looked to each other, then to Butcher, and back to each other before nodding. The Windigos then took off into the distance, heading straight out of city.

“Oh, where do you think you’re going!?” Butcher yelled.

He jumped into the air and at the same time, his body erupted with red light propelling Butcher into the air and hot on the trail of the Windigos!

---

“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING!!?”

Butcher was following the three spirits, leaving the city and now heading to the outskirts. The whole way he would lob a blast of red light from his ax. Multiple explosions littered the way, the Windigos only once in a while counterattacking.

Just then, Butcher was slammed from above by a powerful blast of icy wind. The force was strong enough that it forced him down to the ground, impacting the land with a loud explosion and creating a large crater. The Entity of Rage rose up, shaking his head as he regained his bearings. When Butcher looked up, he saw dozens of Windigos, all circling him and letting loose their howling whinnies.

Butcher smirked at the mini-army of Windigos. “Oh now I get it. You’re going to try and overwhelm me with your numbers and power.”

Some of the Windigos landed on the ground, prowling towards the Entity of Rage. Butcher twirled his ax in his right hand and assumed a combative stance.

“It doesn’t matter where you attack from! COME AT ME FROM ANYWHERE!!!”

Taking his invitation, three Windigos flew towards him, hitting him with their icy wind breath. Butcher created a barrier of red light with a wave of his left hand, blocking the attack and turning it to steam. With a single step, Butcher dashed towards one of the Windigos and slashed with his ax, cleaving it in twain. The spirit released one last whinny before burning away in red flames.

Five more Windigos attacked at once. Together they created a tornado of snow, ice, and wind. The tornado grew to monstrous proportions, nearly big enough to rip apart Canterlot, and the mountain along with it.

Butcher did not falter; he charged head first towards the tornado. He jumped high into the air, channeling his power into the crimson steel ax. With one wide slash, Butcher let loose an arc blade of pure scarlet energy. The arc cut the tornado in half, leaving a giant breach between the upper and lower halves. Butcher then went into a flurry of slashes, casting one energy arc after the other. The blades of energy sliced up the giant tornado, and the as collateral damage, lopped the tops off a few mountains in the distance.

Without realizing, the Windigos had created a second tornado, but waited until it was right above him. When he finished the attack, the Windigos brought the second tornado right on top him. The gale force winds blew at improbable speeds, strong enough to strip rock off of rock. Butcher was held in place at the center, unable to move. The Windigos then fired multiple diamond hard shards of ice right at him.

Butcher grunted in pain as the shards pierced his body, lodging themselves in his back, chest, arms and legs. They must’ve thought by keeping his arms and legs immobilized that he couldn’t fight back, but they were wrong. Butcher concentrated, within the gap between his horns a ball of red light glowed. Butcher then fired the ball into the air, sailing higher and higher till it burst out, firing a barrage of red light beams in every direction.

Many of the beams pierced the tornado, and others struck the Windigos directly, burning them up into nothingness. Eventually the tornado broke apart, no longer able to suffer the onslaught of the death blossom attack. Butcher flipped once in the air before landing on the ground on his right fist and knee, using them to prop himself. The shards quickly melted, and the pure white snow beneath him was stained with the red droplets of his blood from the wounds.

Butcher flared his aura, cauterizing the open wounds on his body and adding to the numerous scars he had earned during and before his time in this world. The Windigos decided that now was the time to attack, many of them descended down from the sky and heading straight at him. The Entity of Rage could feel his power somewhat diminish, these things may not like his Rage energy when hit them directly, but that didn’t stop them from sapping it from him. Butcher could feel it, each of his attacks were taking more out of him than they should.

For once, Butcher decided to use constructs. He stood to his full height and bellowed loudly as the light of Rage coalesced on his back. Four orbs formed above and below his shoulders, and with one powerful grunt, the orbs broke apart, growing four muscular and burly arms that matched his. Butcher held up his real arm, calling to his ax that had been thrown in the turbulent wind.

As the first Windigo reached him, the ax flew into his right hand, and brought its blade down on the spirit. Another tried to attack from behind him, but the upper left construct arm grabbed the Windigo by the throat. The upper right arm grabbed the tail end of the spirit, and together, the arms tore the spirit in two! The remnants faded away as the next two attacked. Butcher grabbed the first, threw it to the ground, and bathed it in his blood-fire breath. The other sped towards him, but Butcher spun in place, bringing the flat of his ax impacting against the Windigo’s head sending him flying in the other direction.

It was a repetitious dance of death consisting of the four beats of grab, slash, smash, burn, repeat. Grab, slash, smash, burn, repeat! Grab, slash, smash, burn, repeat! GRAB! SLASH! SMASH! BURN!

The Windigos were getting stronger, but at this rate their numbers would be drastically, tremendously cut down. With no other option, the three original Windigos cried out with their howling whinny.

Butcher watched as the Windigos ceased their attack. He dismissed the construct arms and used his ax to steady himself. He then watched as the many Windigos swirled about, turning into a ball of blue and white light. The sphere then descended down to the ground a few yards away. The ball of light took shape, changing before his eyes. It looked like the Windigos, but its mane and tail were like a raging snowstorm. Its ethereal body shimmered with sparkling ice, and it had hind legs. The eyes of this Windigo were shining as bright as stars, looking right at Butcher. The Windigo then inhaled deeply and Butcher knew what was coming.

“Oh buck me –!”

The Windigo fired a concentrated blast of ice, snow, wind, and its own spiritual energy. The spiraling attack roared towards Butcher, smashing against him with a bone crushing force, but it wasn’t done just yet. The Windigo summoned forth large shards of diamond ice and launched them at the spot it was hitting. Thousands upon thousands of shards rained down in a seemingly never ending barrage. After a few more seconds of the onslaught, the spirit horse closed its mouth, and with a flash of its eyes the shards stopped their assault. The united spirit slowly approached the impact site, wanting to see if their foe had been felled.

At that moment, a large burst of red light destroyed gargantuan ice shards, clearing an area of about fifty feet. Butcher was still standing, slowly walking out of the destruction towards the Windigo. His body was battered and beaten, he was sure he had a broken bone or two, and he was bleeding from fresh cuts. In all, he was a total mess, leaving a trail of blood behind him as he kept walking.

“You are an anomaly…Your great rage sustains you, even with your body in its current state. Yet your heart is not cold, it burns…”

Butcher stopped walking, chuckling a little at the irony. “My heart…Guess that explains some things…I haven’t had much use for it…”

“With such rage, you will feed us and give us strength for many years…We will rise again…!”

The red minotaurs body erupted with crimson light. The giant Windigo spirit backed away, both out of surprise and from the sheer heat of the power. Butcher knew that he had to beat this thing; this was more than a fight now. This was a battle for the title of the Entity of Rage. And he wasn’t about to let his title be taken by some ice spewing ghost horse. Rage is not cold, but fiery and blazing hot!

“With blood and rage of crimson red,
Ripped from a corpse so freshly dead!
Empowered by my hellish hate,
I’ll burn you all – THAT IS YOUR FATE!!!”

Butcher was engulfed in a sphere of red light, growing in size till it matched the size of the Windigo. The sphere then broke apart, revealing Butcher’s true form. He roared savagely into the open air, snarling and snorting. The snow and ice near him melted in the blink of an eye, the rock turning molten. Butcher then stared down the Windigo, which now sported a shocked expression.

“Allow me to show you all what true Rage is!”

The Windigo had never felt such power before, it was enticing and terrifying at the same time. This was their very power source, given physical form and staring them down. It was a power that was the same and yet the opposite of theirs, and they were drawn to it. And like a moth to a flame they would surely burn.

The Windigo reared on its hind legs, howl-whinnied and charged for the Entity of Rage. Butcher did the same, rearing on his hind legs and roaring into the air before charging for the Windigo! The two powers raced towards each other, the Windigo leaving behind a trail of ice, snow, wind, and blue energy in its wake. Everything in Butcher’s wake burned, melting or incinerating as he stepped on it, leaving a behind a red energy trail as he charged forward. At the last moment, the two powers struck head first. And everything was washed away in a blinding flash of fire and ice………

---

( Hours Later)

The city of Stalliongrad was freed from the cold grip of the Windigos, many apologies were given needless to say, while others were either arrested or given counseling after taking a life during the frenzy. During the recovery, the loud sounds of explosions and concussive waves washed over the city, making many wonder what could be behind it.

At one point, there was a bright blue and red light coming from the distance, and then a bright flash of light. Afterwards, it got quiet and still. An investigative team was commissioned to find out where the dark red minotaur and Windigo spirits left to, in order to determine the threat level as they called for backup.

Gilda, after getting her wing popped back into its socket, stubbornly joined the team. She wanted – no needed and explanation. Butch…what was all that!? How did he drive off the Windigos, and what was with that red light!?

With more questions than answers, Gilda and the team headed in the direction that Butcher went. It took them awhile, but they eventually found the site of the battle. Gilda couldn’t believe what she saw, it was a warzone. There was no other way to describe it. There were large gash marks in the ground, along with sharp ice shards jutting from the battlefield. Craters littered the area, and in the distance some of the mountains looked as if they were decapitated.

Gilda followed the trail of destruction, piecing together the fight in her mind. It was a knack she had, finding that she could figure out how a fight went based on what was left behind, teeth, hair, blood, broken objects, it all painted a picture. But this place was a hodgepodge of pieces, so many of them and all connected.

She noticed some hoof prints in the ground, along with some blood. The snow around the prints had many streaks around them, indicating that Butcher was shuffling, attacking and defending from multiple directions. Gilda then saw where the ground had been peeled away, leading into the distance where something shimmered.

“THIS WAY, FOLLOW ME!” Gilda yelled.

The Royal Guards and Border Patrol Officers followed Gilda as she led the way. It took them all of thirty minutes before they reached the next battle site, and when they did, many of the ponies and griffons let out yelps of terror from what they saw.

Within a giant block of ruby ice, was a creature unlike anything Gilda had seen. Its body was red, or maybe that was due to the color of the ice. It resembled a bull, rippling with muscle. Its horns however did not look like normal bull horns, they curved upwards. Close to its mouth were a couple tusks, and its forehead had hard bone in the shape of dome, suggesting that this monster could ram through anything in its path.

The more she looked upon this creature, the more she realized how it resembled Butch. But this thing couldn’t have been him, but deep down, she couldn’t deny it, after seeing what he could do back in Stalliongrad, there was no doubt that this had to be that very same minotaur. And now he was trapped in ice, after all he did for them, this was his fate.

Gilda raised her right claw and rested it upon the ice, close to one of his hooves and silently thanked him. Thank you Butch, I don’t know what or who you are, but thanks to you, Stalliongrad, Sonya and Summer Breeze, we’re all alive. Whether you like it or not, you’re a hero, as far as I’m concerned. Thanks.

Unknown to Gilda, two of the Royal Guard ponies whispered to each other after seeing the giant red bull trapped in the iceberg.

“Do you think this is what we were asked to keep an eye out for?”

“It is strange, and after everything that happened, I don’t doubt that this is worth telling the Princesses.”

“Call it in.”

Author's Note:

Credit Where Credit Is Due: The alteration to the Red Lantern Oath and Butcher's nickname are courtesy of The OC Maker on fanfiction.net.

---

Next Time in MLP: The Entities of Emotion:

"Predator why are you staring at me like that?"

"I don't know how I can tell her Rarity..."

"Predator...wait...Stop...!"

"What...What have I done...?"

Episode 19: The Mistake...

Comments

[The Literary Lord]

So, the Butcher's a Minotaur now. I see he's causing trouble like he usually does. Well, I almost feels sorry for those jerks "Butch" beat up. Almost being the key word here. So, Butch and Gilda in a drinking contest, did not see that coming. I thought Gilda might have had a crush on Rainbow Dash. I'm impressed that Gilda had the self-control not to completely flip out. Awesome fight between Butch and the Windigos BTW, nice oath. I hope that not many people died, and that those who killed them under Windigo influence get the help they need. So The Butcher managed to defeat the Windigos, but got frozen solid himself?

[notapony]

Usually intermissions are short. This is a 14,000 word hulk of an intermission. Not that I'm complaining. This is quite honestly one of the best chapters you've put out recently. After the slower-paced more slice of life stuff from last chapter this chapter is quite the ride. Great fight scenes. I knew Butcher would be awesome as a minotaur, but...did the Butcher tie in his fight with the windigos? He drove them off, but his true form was encased in ice. Not exactly what I expected of the fearsome Butcher.

Also...

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARHAAAAAA!!!!"

When I read this my first thought was: Well, looks like Butcher's gone super-saiyan.

[sarkodine]

I spy a Lord of the Rings reference.

[FleetlordAvatar]

You think all thst would be left would be a crater, I expected a city block to be levelled at least. Butcher is a total badass.

[Michael_Ravencroft]

4695954 4696196
To answer both your questions, yes, he was frozen solid. Their ability to feed on Rage and Butcher's never ending light of Rage are creating a kind of give and take, his powerful Rage energy fuels the ice, reinforcing it, kind of a last "screw you" by the Windigos.

And yes, I know Intermissions are shorter, but to tell you the truth, I had fun writing Butcher as an anti-hero, more than I thought.

4696786
Please share, 'cause I don't know what I did.

4697294
Yes, well, I couldn't have all of the city destroyed, I needed to keep it as low key (as far as Butcher is concerned) so that...well SPOILERS!

[VampDash]

4697595 Kinda fits him a little don't you think considering that Rage can go both ways and yes....I was implying something

[sarkodine]

4697595 it was the part where Butcher was making his offer to the Windigos
"The dead do not suffer the living."
"You WILL suffer me!"
Pretty sure it was Return of the King

[Michael_Ravencroft]

4698765 Oh yeah, doi! I completely forgot I did that. I was up for a bit getting that chapter in there.

[Kit-San]

Okay Butcher is Terrefing ( Can't expect less from a Entity of Rage).
You know his 'Bull' form reminds me of The Red Bull from that old movie The Last Unicorn.
Also I can't help but wonder what his reaction would be if SCP-106 got him, or if he met The Red Bull.

Anywho, *Owl woods in the backround* Go Away! AnyWAY a great chapter and hope to see more soon.
Also I found someone even more Badass the Rainbow Dash Black Rock Shooter, and I'am not talking about her name. Seriously though she may not show any emotions what so ever, but still a badass.

[Coltz of Personality]

YEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! *insert Bulk Biceps emote here*

Amazing chapter, as always. Does that mean the Butcher will become a prisoner of the Princesses? Or maybe a giant red frozen monument of Stalliongrad... But i'm sure this is not the end for the Entity of Rage... or is it?

[Michael_Ravencroft]

4699644 Love that anime, love the show, but I wish they'd use human singers for the opening theme instead of that music program. Nothing against Hatsune Miku, but I like the human version of that song better.

[Michael_Ravencroft]

4700201 Oh no it isn't, believe me, after Episode 19 shit is going down son!

[Coltz of Personality]

4700246 Oh yeah baby! I can't wait!

[Michael_Ravencroft]

4704875 Hells yeah they are!

[Spaceman006]

Here is hoping that Gilda's rage sets him free

[Michael_Ravencroft]

4709389 Unfortunately, pre-season 4. Totally jacked up some stuff for this story. But that doesn't mean that some those things from season 4 can't make it in.

[ShadowLDrago]

4709405

Yay! I wonder what the entities would be like if Discorded, Willpower into Fear, Hope into Despair, Love into Hate, Compassion into Cruelty, Greed into Generosity (Not the good kind but Ophidian instead of hoarding everything would be giving everything away, being too generous) Rage into Calm (Too calm to the point where Butcher would do nothing no matter what) Fear into , into, I actually got nothing for Parallax.

[keaton-furman-prower]

4713250 Duh. If willpower becomes fear, then fear becomes willpower.

[Dark reaper]

4713250

4786973

Fear is horror, nightmares and its opposite....

LAUGHTER! In general, we go for Pinkie, she will arrange everything... I even felt sorry for him. Quite a bit