Can't Stop Now

by PingSquirrel

Chapter 6: Escalation

It might only happen once in a blue moon, but every once in a while, I’ve got to admit that Lanny was right. It’s kind of hard to believe, but it happens and tonight was one of those nights. I had doubts about where Lanny was taking me, but it was all confirmed as soon as I saw the place. The place barely even qualified for a bar. It was the basement for an actual bar, with some homemade sign saying it was “The Spider’s Web”. At least there was no cover for The clientele were strange looking in their over-the-top leather and PVC outfits and top hats, but that didn’t stop Lanny from diving into them like he was a regular. Unlike me, he had no fear.

This wasn’t my scene. I was worried that someone would notice my eyes or tail, so I found myself a corner table to nurse a beer in silent worry for my case that I should be working on. The music was loud and grating and the entire place reeked of sweat and alcohol, though that might have been my newly enhanced sense of smell. In short, it was looking to go as badly as I feared it would with me planning to wallflower away the entire night.

That’s about when Lanny stepped in and badgered me until I actually joined the people on the dancefloor. He wasn’t going to let me hide on my last night and anything less than enjoying myself wasn’t an option for me. I didn’t think I could though. I don’t dance and the music was some loud, aggressive beat that I didn’t recognize, but I tried, making me smile nervously. One of the other girls must have noticed me though because she saw the fangs, and rather than be scared or anything like that, she actually came over to me, and started asking questions about where I got them because they were so realistic. I didn’t give her the real answer but told her I made them myself. Well, it was technically true, but splitting hairs.

You know, once you have the attention of a pretty girl in leather, dancing gets a whole lot easier. She loved my ‘contacts’ just as much once she convinced me to take my shades off, though I was quick to get the shades back on. I didn’t want to freak her out when my diamond shaped pupils narrowed or something, and even the lights on the dancefloor were a little bright for me. We danced, we talked. I bought her a couple drinks and we had a good time which ended all too quickly with last call.

I told her I’d call her in a couple days but that was a lie. It was unlikely I was going to even be human in a couple days, so that precluded even considering a relationship. Besides, she was nice and cute and all, but by the end of the night, that initial spark was gone. That aside though, Lanny was right and I did have a good time. Maybe I should’ve done it before I was going to be a horse for the foreseeable future.

To his credit, Lanny never said, “I told you so” on the ride home. He didn’t even imply it; he was happy that I had a good time and nothing more. After he dropped me off, he took off to pick up our new friend, and left me with a few regrets at home. I wish I could’ve stopped and listened to him more, but I always had a reason not to, and now it was too late.

As I approached my door, I checked the time quickly. Three in the morning. It might as well be three in the afternoon though because I was wide awake, if a little buzzed. It wouldn’t be the first time I had to sneak into the house, and with my newly developed night-vision, it was even easier. I didn’t need to turn on a single light on the way to my Fortress of Solitude once I took off my shades. At least there was a couple perks to this.

It was good to be back somewhere familiar. It was in the same state as I left it with the mess to one side, and all business to the other, and in the middle, as always was the unmade bed and TV. Sally must’ve left it on after watching more of that show because it was on the title screen for one of the seasons. No big deal. Tonight was more fun than I expected once Lanny plied me with alcohol and women, but all the worries never left me. The case still bugged me even if I did hand it off to the police. I really wish I could’ve done more for them but with my condition, it simply wasn’t possible.

Speaking about my condition, though, my tail was aching; how can something that’s mostly hair ache like that in the first place. I pulled the offending limb free of my pants and tossed off my jacket on to my office chair. If I was going to be awake, I was going to make some plans for tomorrow and do a little research on what I was becoming. The more I knew the better but I wasn’t going to hold out for a cure or anything like that. That’d be like panning for gold in the shower as far as unwarranted optimism went.

It could wait a few minutes because my feet had been feeling numb for the last hour, and I could take a pretty guess as to why, but I wanted to see for myself. I sat heavily on my bed, and before I could even bend to pull a sock off, the heap of blankets beside stirred.

“Ryan?”

Crap! My sister didn’t just leave the show running, she fell asleep in my room. I sprung to my feet and turned my back to the wall. If I was really lucky, I could get my tail hidden before she woke up. “Sally! What are you doing in here?” I snapped. I didn’t want to get angry, but she was in my room again. Why did she even have her own room if she was just going to use mine?

She rubbed her eyes while I tried to stuff my tail away, but it was clear I’d never make it so I did the next best thing; I pulled it up and held it in my hand behind my back. “Just watching the show,” she yawned as she sat up. She was in her sweats and t-shirt.

“And mom and dad let you?” I asked.

“They can’t really stop me when they’re asleep,” she said as she reached for the nightstand light. I didn’t remember until after she flicked it on that I didn’t have my shades on anymore, and for the second time that night, I was temporarily blinded by the light. Brain, you’re not allowed to get that song stuck in my head.

“Can you turn that off?” I asked with a hand over my face to shield it while my eyes adjusted to the light again.

Instead of quick obedience from my sister, she got curious. “What do you got behind your back?” she asked. Crap. I should’ve known she’d waste no time before getting to that. I wouldn’t have.

The glare dulled as I adjusted to the light, but I couldn’t risk a peek or she’d see that my eyes were messed up. Crap. I wrapped my hand around my tail again to make sure none of that blue hair got spotted. “Nothing! Just get out of my room!”

“Why you covering your face? Are you on drugs or something?” she asked with no intention to leave. “Can I blackmail you?”

“No, you may not blackmail me, Sally. I’ve been in the dark for a while so my eyes are sensitive, and I’m not on drugs. Now, get out!” I repeated firmly, and I heard her get off of my bed finally. It was the triumph of hope over experience to expect she’d actually leave. Totally my fault.

“How about you show me what’s behind your back and I’ll go?” she asked sounding more awake by the second. She was definitely my sister, but this was the worst time ever for her to get so damned curious.

My first instinct was to stick to my guns, but that wasn’t likely going to get me anywhere. Maybe I could play this off and get her out of my room. With a defeated sigh I let my tail drop. “I guess you can call me a brony,” I lied. Well, kind of lied. I did get more involved with the show, though in no way that I thought possible a few days ago, but I hope my sister would think I was just a fan and tease me for it.

“You serious?” she squeaked as she dashed to my side to look at my dark blue tail. “Oh wow! I love it! Where did you get it? Can you get me one?”

Well, shit. I was expecting teasing and laughing and not praise. The first would’ve been easier to shoo her away with, but now she was even more interested in checking out my tail… Ugh. There had to be a better way to phrase that. “I found a guy that makes them. I guess I could ask,” I answered hoping she’d just lose interest after the novelty went away.

“It looks so real. Other than the whole blue thing, but hey, it matches your dye job,” she said, and then came a very sudden and surprisingly painful yank on it.

“Holyjesusfuck!” I cursed as both my hands reached for the base of my tail, and my sister jumped back from my outburst. Yeah, I could’ve handled that better but crap that hurt.

“It’s attached!” she declared as she shook some stray hairs from her hand but then she looked up at me, and I realised my mistake instantly. I wasn’t covering my eyes anymore and now she was staring up at me with her mouth agape.

“Sally. I can explain,” said as calmly as I could with my hands out in front of me, showing my palms. I’m not entirely sure how that was to help, but it’s what people in movies always did when trying to calm someone down.

“F-fangs,” she whispered in her state of shock. Oh, come on! I didn’t even show those, and here she was staring up at me like I was some sort of monster.

“Earth to Sally. Please stay calm about this. I can explain. Well, I can’t explain but I can explain everything I know,” I said in an effort to keep her from screaming or anything. I’m sure I’d have to reveal my changes to my parents eventually, but three in the morning wasn’t a good time to do that.

“A-and your eyes,” she whispered looking like a creepy-girl-in-a-horror-film. This could be going better. She took a deep breath with her hands clenched to her sides. This is it. Here comes the scream and a long, awkward night.

“Oh, my god! Those are all real aren’t they! Does that mean that star was really your cutie mark?” she ask excitedly as she started bouncing in place. Well, this was better...ish?

“Hey, keep it down Sally. Mom and Dad are still asleep,” I said as I gave my tail a flick. She knew about it already, and just moving it helped it feel better, especially after that pull. Just that was enough to get her to giggle.

“It even moves!” she chimed with a wide grin, but then the smile faded and her brow furrowed in thought. “But how do you got a tail like a pony’s? People don’t grow tails.”

Isn’t that the million dollar question right now. “I don’t don’t know, Sally. It just came out of nowhere, and now I got a tail and fangs. It’s not fair, really. I didn’t even know much about the show until a couple days ago,” I admitted with a helpless shrug.

“Wow. That’s kinda cool and sucks at the same time,” she said as she more carefully reached for my tail again. I turned away from her. “I just want to see it. I’m not going to pull it again.”

With a little apprehension I turned back and she went to inspecting the dark blue hair. “You’re right that it sucks, though. I don’t know how or why or even how to stop it, and it’s getting worse. Like the eyes.”

My sister seemed to be taking this all pretty well. Better than I was, but then again, she wasn’t the one changing. Either way, she was happily combing her fingers through my tail before she looked up at me. “I could totally get a bow for-”

“No. No bows. Period,” I said as I pulled away from her and sat on my bed. “And, no braiding it either, just before you ask.”

“You’re no fun,” she retorted as she took my office chair and swiveled it to face me. “At least you look like you’re one of the cooler types of ponies.”

“Well, ‘cool’ wouldn’t be the first thing I’d call a pony, but we can run with that over cute. Now what sort of pony do I look like?” I asked. She might actually have some insight into my condition given that she’s been watching the show non-stop.

“A bat pony!”

Well, that’ll save me looking that up tomorrow and I could move directly into trying to planning my life around being a bat pony. Whatever that was. “Alright. What’s a bat pony?” I asked.

“You don’t know?” she asked as if I were kidding.

I gave my head a quick shake. “How would I know?”

“Well, you look like one! How can’t you know?”

“Sally. I don’t know. You’ve seen every time I watched the show, so please assume I’ve never seen anything if you do know something,” I restated.

She got up and went to the TV to fiddle with the remotes. “Well, let me show you then. Bat ponies had only been in like a few episodes and don’t do much on the show, but they’re there!” she said. “Real bat ponies seem to be really in tight with Princess Luna and are her guards which is coolness right there.”

Luna. Did that name ring any bells? Not really. Either way, I watched as she went through the episode selection, and pulled up a scene where a yellow and pink-maned pony was hanging from a tree limb by her tail. “Now, Fluttershy isn’t a real bat-pony here but she really looks like one so, it’s close enough to show you how they look.” Sure enough, she had bat wings and fangs.

“Oh my god, hotness!” was my immediate and internal response from my libido while I stared at the mare on the screen. My sense of decency immediately relegated the feeling to the back of the bus where it continued to make noises about how I should feel about what I was seen. It was just a cartoon character. I shouldn’t have that sort of reaction to her, but I couldn’t help thinking about what it’d be like if she was here in the flesh.

“Well, uh. So that’s a bat pony,” I said flatly as I stared at the image. “Are they all yellow, or just this one?”

Sally shook her head. “Nope. The other ones are all dark colours. It’s just that this episode was in the tray already and well,” she said before trailing off. “This is so weird.”

“Tell me about it,” I replied dully. I guess the wings are a plus. I don’t think I’d be able to do anything like hang by my tail without tying a knot in it, and that didn’t seem like a comfortable thing to do considering my sister hurt me by tugging on it a few minutes ago.

My sister had turned off the TV but hadn’t got to her feet yet. Instead, she was looking down at the ground in front of her. It was pretty easy to notice the worried tremble in her voice. “This isn’t some crazy dream, is it?”

Now that would be nice if all this was just that. The kidnapping. Sanguine. The whole metamorphosis. If only I could write this up to a late night at work and some bad food or something. “Afraid not, kid,” I droned back.

She turned slightly towards me. “So, what’s going to happen?”

You’re putting them in danger. Run away.

I shook my head. A half-bat, half horse with some sort of magical enemy didn’t exactly make for a safe member of the household. “I don’t know. This might be my last night looking mostly human. I might have to go into hiding. Or, maybe run away entirely.”

Before I was even done that sentence, Sally was staring at me like I just ripped her heart out. Tears were already building on the corner of hers eyes, but she wasn’t about to let herself cry. “Run away? Like, for good?”

Did you mumble? Yes, for good. Just say it!

I needed to say it, but my breath caught in my throat as I looked at her. My sister. She looked up to me from as soon as she could walk. There was an age difference but that didn’t matter. I loved her, and wanted to keep her safe and happy, but how could I do that when I had hooves? I knew what I had to do. “Well, I don’t know. Maybe. I hope not,” I lied.

It’s for your own good. There’ s no shame in forgetting about your family when all you are is a risk to them. They’ll be better off without you.

That got her attention because she got up and hugged me. “I know you’re not around much, but I don’t want you to go away for good! Just don’t go and leave us. That isn’t fair” she sobbed. Oh god, now I’m misting up too, but I had to do my best to be there for her.

“Hey, hey, kiddo. All this is crazy, but it’s not all bad. It’s not. I’m going to be around. Just, if I do go into hiding, it’s just until I figure out how to fix all of this,” I said as strongly as I could, while I hugged her back. My worlds nearly sounded true to me as well.

“P-promise?” she said into my side. She hadn’t let go of me yet.

“I promise,” I said softly back following it with a sniffle.

“Ryan?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you crying?”

“No. Just venting excess tears through the ducts,” I joked. God, the laugh felt bitter.

She looked up at me with a bit of a grin, even though her cheeks were tear-streaked. “The show called it ‘liquid pride’,” she said.

Oh, jeeze, I didn’t need to hear that right now. I felt anything but pride knowing I was about to take off on them all. “Alright. Yeah. Liquid pride.”

“When are you going to tell mom and dad? They’re going to wonder why you’re leaving hoofprints on the carpet eventually,” she said as she wiped her face. I did the same.

“Yeah. I’ll tell them tomorrow after I go and get some things. I’m sure being a pony means some things will change when it comes to my day to day needs,” I answered, trying to work up to the lie I was going to tell her. “What I need you to do is watch as much of the show as you can, and look for anything that might explain what’s happening to me. Can you do that for me?”

If it works out as I plan it, the task will keep her busy enough that she’ll miss me packing up and leaving. She didn’t pick up on the lie. “Sure thing! I’ll work on it as soon as I can,” she stated, then got up to go to the TV.

“Sally. It’s late. Go to bed, and work on it tomorrow,” I said flatly.

She looked a touch disappointed at that, but she’s smart and knew that I was right. “Okay. Goodnight Ryan,” she said as she came back over to me for one last hug.

“Goodnight, kiddo. See you tomorrow,” I said. The words tasted bitter in my mouth, but She might see me once more, but then, I’ll be gone. I let go, and she left me alone in my room. I reached over and flicked the light off and instantly the dark of the room was much more comfortable for my eyes.

That’s a good boy.

I sighed and looked straight up at the ceiling. I wasn’t really tired but I should try and get some sleep for tomorrow. Abandoning your whole life wasn’t a simple, one step process.

_-_-_-_-_

The cold and bitter wind whipped the snow around in a whirl about me as soon as I opened the door to the roof. Needless to say, the weather was ill-suited to flying. It didn’t matter now though. I could feel it through me from my hooves to my tail. I was close.

He was close.

I could smell him. I could hear my sister’s whimpering through the frosty haze.

“Sanguine! I know you’re here! Show yourself!” I yelled, without a care for stealth. Even just saying his name made me bare my fangs in anger. There was only one way to go, and kept walking towards the edge.

Finally, a unicorn’s silhouette showed through, right by the edge of the building. He was calmly sitting, drinking something from a mug as I came closer, but as soon as he saw me, he put down the mug and waved with a bright smile. I was already to rush him, but this seemed wrong. He had to have a plan.

“Oh good, my friend, you’re here!” he said as if greeting a friend and he gave his mane to shake to get some of the frost and snow out of it, but it fell right back in its long, red cascade. “Care for a nice cup of tea? It’s hot and it’s so cold out here.”

“Shut it. Where is she?” I spat as I closed the distance and got ready to rush him Then, I noticed the aura of his horn, but he was drinking with his hoof. He was holding something up behind him and entirely off of the building.

He chuckled. “Looks like you found her without my help,” he said, as he turned his head to the tightly wrapped sack behind him. It was the right size for her.

“Sallet? Are you alright?” I called without taking my eyes off of the psychopath.

“Save me, Vantage! Please!” the bag called right back. He had my sister and was clearly holding her hostage.

“Now that we got that out of the way, my friend, do you care for a spot of tea and a friendly chat?” he offered as he gestured to the thermos beside him. It was like nothing was wrong to him.

“No, you sadistic pile of road apples! Let her go!” I yelled.

He arched an eyebrow. “Right now? Are you sure?” For a moment his aura flicked off and instantly my sister began to fall. The shrill scream cut through the air before the aura resumed and the sack lifted again. Now she was sobbing in terror.

“You,” I spat, without anything I could say to even finish that sentence.

“Me. You and me, specifically. Sit down, my friend and just talk with me,” he said as calmly as ever. It’s like nearly letting a filly fall to her death didn’t even phase him. How could it, considering the carnage that he’s caused so far. The foalsitter. The police officer. The security guards and who knows how many others along the way.

He had me at a loss. “About what?” I asked through gritted fangs. “What could we possibly talk? How many bones I’m going to break?”

He laughed softly then drained the last of his tea and set his cup aside so he could turn and face me properly. The cold all around him didn’t look to affect him in the least. “Oh, life and the purpose of special talents,” he answered happily.

I glanced to the sack he was holding aloft. Until something changed about that, I was stuck. “Fine. What do you got to say?” I said coolly as I tried to take another step a little closer, only to have Sanguine shake his head. I withdrew a step back.

Once he was satisfied with the distance I had from him, he looked up to the snow-hazed sky and sighed wistfully. “Do you know what my name means?” he said after a moment of reflection. He glanced to me and I clearly had no intention in humouring him any further than listening, so he continued. “Names for us ponies are portents. That little tremor of magic that comes with our births inspires a proper name that not only identifies us, but describes us. To be sanguine is to be hopeful; cheerfully optimistic despite all odds. But simply just being hopeful without any method to share it is worthless. I was young and I tried to live up to it, but it’s not until I realised my name’s second meaning did I understand. Blood red.”

Was he really doing this? “Get to your point,” I growled.

Sanguine chuckled and took my interruption to pick up his thermos once more and poured the last cup of his drink into it. He was making a show of swirling the hot liquid in the cup while staring into it. I’d considered how fast I could close the distance to him, but as he swirled, his hostage and my sister bobbed behind him. “In good time, my friend. It’ll be obvious by the time I’m done all this.” He paused to sip his drink again. “Everyday I hope to make Equestria a better place for all. I’m polite and kind to those that deserve it, and to the liars, thieves, braggarts, cads, pretenders and ne'er-do-wells of the world, I act in the way the second meaning of my name dictates. I remove them gladly without regret or hesitation because it must be done.”

He stops again and stares into his cup again, but his facade of friendly cheerfulness breaks down to a bleak sneers. “And, I’m called a monster for it. I’m hated and ostracized for it! I do work that needs to be done! To keep the fear and worry of the ultimate reprisal in the blood of every stallion, mare and foal of this nation and I’m cursed for it! Cursed for doing nothing more than what I love to do!” He tosses his cup over the side and it disappeared into the icy haze, and that simple act of destruction allowed him to compose himself. “Sorry, my friend. I didn’t mean to let my emotions run away with me like that, but it frustrates me to be so alone in my struggle, and I highly recommend that you take a few steps back.”

While he was talking I was creeping closer, but evidently he had had enough of that. I took a step back and he smiled at me as if I was his neighbor. I hated that smile so much.

“Thank you. Now, as poorly as my work is received by the general public, you can only imagine my surprise when I hear that there’s a pony that does exactly what I do, but is even respected and appreciated. I had to see for myself if that was true.” He couldn’t be saying what it sounds like. His eyes met mine and he nodded once to confirm it.

“Don’t you dare compare me to you!” I snapped, with a stomp of my hooves. “I’m nothing like you!”

“Actually, that’s why I went through all of this trouble; I wish to determine what exactly you are for myself,” he said as he looked me over as if for the first time. “You’ve done a lot of things, Vantage. A lot of things that most ponies do not want to think about, but I do think it’s rather good work you do.”

His praise filled me with nothing but shame and anger to the point that I stamped hard the frozen ground. “Everything I’ve done, I’ve done under orders and the blessing of Princess Luna! I’m not a deranged psychopath!”

“An overly fine distinction to that gryphon war-prince, isn’t it? How exactly did he meet his end? A terrible allergic reaction to a parasprite sting while in his warcamp high in the mountains, if I recall. It’s a good thing too, because he was in a perfect position to raid that minotaur iron mine and have access to high quality steel weapons. Now that would’ve been a terrible predicament for the status quo,” he said as if he was musing the entire situation. It was anything but hypothetical.

“That was just as you said, an allergic reaction and nothing more,” I replied neutrally but I knew he knew everything.

He just grinned wider. “Of course. Just like that hunting accident a couple months ago where that pack of diamond dogs ran into a hydra. It’s a true shame none of them survived to tell anypony why they were on the surface rather than their nice, safe caves, but it’s just as well. That Alpha was actively holding the train system hostage wasn’t he?”

My stoney visage didn’t even flinch, but I remember that night. It was a simple job. Go in before they could mine out the supports to another rail line and fix the problem. It wasn’t even hard because diamond dogs are so ill-disciplined that all I had to do was wait for them to fall asleep before I moved in. The cover up was the hardest part of the task, but the nearby hydra warren solved that issue. “I can neither confirm or deny the circumstances of the supposed event in question,” was my stock response.

“I’m sure you cannot. You’re quite the professional and just speaking freely of your accomplishments like that wouldn’t be fitting,” he said with a chuckle. “But, hypothetically, if a pony happened to have a hoof in bringing these things to pass, and happened to be on this rooftop right now, I would ask if he enjoyed his work.”

All of this blood and chaos just for that one question? The kidnapping, the dead foalsitter, the disaster at the archives for this one question: Do I enjoy my work? He couldn’t be serious, but here he was. Right now, I’d do about anything to see him broken and bleeding onto the snow. This had to stop, and I was going to make sure he never got off of this roof.

“Well? Do you enjoy your work?”

He was there, still as relaxed and kind as ever, with that smile still on his miserable face. He knew already. “I only do as is required of me by the Princess,” I answered.

Her turned at me, and spoke firmly as if “That’s not what I asked, Vantage! I’m trying to be civil with you, but you’re avoiding my question. Are you nothing more than some weapon that is turned loose at a Royal Decree? If you only do it because you’re told, you’re nothing but an attack dog and a thousand times worse than any pony I’ve met.”

I started to close the distance again. I wasn’t worse than him. There was no way that was true and he’d never insinuate that again. “I do what they need!”

“That’s exactly why it’s worse! I’m a supposed monster for doing the necessary work that I love, but if you’ve no love for your work, you’re nothing more than a mindless tool that does nothing but kill on command! Anypony that had control of you could aim you anywhere they pleased!” he spat as he got to his hooves and faced me as I stomped closer on the snow-covered roof.

“Your twisted sense of morals don’t make you better than me! I save lives!” I yelled at him.

“Is that the lie you tell yourself to keep yourself from the truth? Because if that were the case you’d be a doctor and not Luna’s little secret agent,” he replied with an infuriating calm. My pace quickened. I’d shut him up.

“I can tell what you really want, and it’s not saving lives,” he said as he faced me. My eyes drew up and I saw my sister again. She was still hovering behind him, over that edge. I was going to make him put her down.

“Drop her!” I screamed as I slammed into him with the full weight of my body. He didn’t even try to dodge and he crashed to the buildings parapet in an unceremonious heap, and I never gave him a chance to get back onto his hooves before I rained heavy stomps down upon him. He was going to bleed for all he’s done!

There wasn’t a struggle. Instead, he was staring into my eyes and studying me no matter what I was doing to him, but I didn’t care. I was hurting him now and that felt so good. Finally there, was a snap from one stomp on his chest, and he screamed. I couldn’t bring myself to feel any sympathy for anypony that killed or caused chaos and then let themselves be caught. He deserved everything that was coming to him for this.

That scream turned into a soft chuckle after a moment. “That wasn’t what I was planning, but we’re such close friends, I think I can do that for you as a personal favour.”

I didn’t even realise what happened until I heard the squeak of the voice off of the edge. “Help me! Please!” He was pushing her further into the snowstorm, and already I couldn’t see her in the haze. If I flew out there I might find her in time or catch her, but that had to be what Sanguine was hoping for. He wanted me to leave him for her.

I turned back to the monster and he was focused entirely on his magic. “Do you think she can fly?” he asked as if he honestly expected an answer from me.

If I went for her, he’d simply just walk away before I got back. Who knows where he’d go? Who would he kill before he was caught again? He had to be stopped now! Like all the other monsters I’ve ended, it was my duty to stop him! But my sister. I had to do something! “No! Stop!” I growled as pushed down on that broken rib. The pain had to be immense, but he didn’t even seem to care.

He just kept waiting for me to go after her, but I wasn’t going to let him away so easily. Finally, he just smirked through his bleeding lips. “That’s what you chose?” His horn’s aura just ceased. There wasn’t even a scream to be heard through the winds and I was dumbstruck by what just happened.

At least, until I looked down and saw him laughing and clenching his broken side as he did so. “I’m not alone!” he cheered through his laughter, “You understand perfectly! You know what has to be done!”

My sister! I was at the edge of the building like a shot, and looking over it, but there was nothing to be seen. That son of a bitch! I turned about and just started beating him with no style or purpose beyond inflicting pain. Just swing after swing as hard as I could, breaking his bones and cutting his flesh until another pony dragged me off of him. It was a royal guard, but that didn’t mean anything. I just wanted to keep beating him.

He never stopped laughing the entire time.

_-_-_-_-_

My hand hurt.

“Jesus!” I yelped as I cradled it against my body, but it was throbbing. It wasn’t hard to figure out that I just punched the headboard.

Oh god.

That was all real. It felt so real. The cold, the feel of hitting that bastard.

I let him drop her. Out of what? Some sense of duty?

I rolled onto my back and threw an arm over my eyes to shield them from the light that was coming through my basement window and choked back a bitter sob. What the fuck was I? What did I do? I was nothing more than a threat to everyone I cared about. I had to leave.

Fuck. Just force it all down for now and focus. I had work I needed to do so I can go before this all got worse for them. Step one, see what changed. After I brushed my hair out of my eyes, I held my hands out and flexed my fingers. Still had those going for me. Wait. My hair wasn’t that long when I went to bed. My fingers combed through the tangle of hair and I brushed my ears. “I guess I should’ve expected that.” They were more to the top of my head. I guess I should take a look in the bathroom mirror or something so I wouldn’t get surprised by anything else. I’d just have to be quiet as I went so mom or dad won’t notice me.

*Clop clop*

Well, that’s something else to add to the list. Why the fuck not? I brought my foot up and it was pretty clear that it wasn’t a human foot under my sock. “Might as well see what I got,” I muttered as I pulled off the sock to reveal a hoof that was the same dark blue as my tail. Just seeing that ending a mostly normal leg was kind of freaky. The other sock came off too. I was thinking the hard edge of the hooves would make short work of them anyways.

“I guess I’ll have to look into new shoes or something.” I got up, and went for my baggiest and most oversized pair of pants that I owned. That should accommodate my tail and if I wear it a little lower on my hips it’ll hide the hooves. If anyone really looked they’d see I was kind of missing feet, but it’ll do for now. With that and a hoodie, I’ll look passibly human. Now that is a problem I never thought I’d have.

It was time to see the damage and to that end, I snuck to the bathroom despite the sharp clip-clop of hooves on the concrete floor. With the bathroom door closed behind me and the mirror ahead of me, I pulled the hood back. I had changed more than I expected and this was the first time I took time to really look at myself. I expected the fangs when I smiled, but didn’t realise how large they were. They were like railway spikes in my mouth! The damage those could cause if I bit someone would send someone to the hospital. And, of course, my eyes were just as the picture showed, but I didn’t realise how strange they were. I better keep the shades on, and not just to help keep the light out of them. If anyone ever clearly saw these, they’d know they weren’t novelty contacts. The clincher on my fading humanity was my new ears sticking from my blue mane. They were charcoal grey and quickly turning and shifting to catch all the sounds that caught my interests. From down here, I could easily hear the show my mother was watching in the living room or how my dad was moving around upstairs. With a little concentration though, I could get them to lay down or focus in a particular direction. That should get better with practice.

It was all so weird to see it all at once. My hair didn’t even look right even more. The colour I knew about, but now it was twice the length than it was when I went to bed, and was anchored all the way to my shoulders like an actual mane. Who am I kidding? It was an actual mane. Between all this, and my tail, hooves and that (ugh) cutie mark, I really am turning into something from a children’s show.

So, why did I have a dream where I was a royal hitman and my sister just got dropped off a building by some pony version of Dahmer. That ain’t any sort of shit for a kid’s show. Whatever, I guess. Maybe it was just stress, but it all felt far too real.

I looked at the clock in the mirror behind me, and noted it was about noon. It felt it was like I was getting up way too early though. I guess being nocturnal is going to come with my new species. Why the fuck not change that too? That seemed to be my mantra right now.

“Fuck. Gotta get going,” I said as a reminder to myself. I couldn’t have much longer where I’d be presentable as human, and there was things that had to do if I was going to leave for good. The first thing I decided I’d need is some sort of supplies for whenever the change finished itself. If I was lucky at least one of the payments from the insurance company or the Esterhazy’s cleared so I’d have a bit of a budget to work with. Then I’d give my last client a call to make sure that the case is being handled. His wife should be picked up by the cops by now, and that all could be winding down. If everything was alright on that front, I could come home, leave a letter and leave. Maybe sometime during the day I could actually figure out where I’m supposed to go. “Away” didn’t seem specific enough, but it was a start.

Before I headed out to let my parents test my disguise, I went to my phone and looking up my account info. Last I checked, I had enough left in the account to maybe get me a ticket somewhere, or maybe some groceries, but if was really lucky (for once) I’d have enough to…

Holy shit.

My fingers quickly flicked the buttons over to call Lanny who picked up on the third ring.

“Hey bro, what’s up?” he answered sounding like he just woke up.

“Put Bulk on the line,” I said in my state of shock. “He’s there, right?”

“Uh. Yeah. Picked him up last night. Wasn’t happy with being left waiting so long but he’s here now. Hey Bulk! Get over here!” Lanny yelled. A few moments later I could hear the sound of approaching hooves over the line.

“Yeah?” the pegasus said over the line.

“Your settlement was for 1.8 million dollars?” I asked flatly. I was still trying to comprehend what I saw, but I could do the math well enough to take a guess why I saw what I did on my phone.

He paused slightly before gruffly answering. “It was 1.75 but I was really, badly hurt and it was a permanent disability. That amount was for basically buying a new house so I could get out of that two floor thing I was in, retraining and all the medical equipment and drugs I’d need. I had a really kick ass health plan,” he said defensively.

“1.75,” I repeated as I tried to comprehend that number. “Fuck.”

“Hey! I wasn’t supposed to recover but this whole pony thing started,” he yelled at me. “I ain’t letting anypony guilt me about that. I don’t care, you’re like me now, you’re not turning me in for anything!”

I didn’t expect him to react like that. If he only knew why I was calling. “What? Guilt you? Turn you in?! Jesus! I could fucking kiss you right now!” I laughed.

“What?”

“My pay for your pictures was a percentage of your settlement. You just got me my biggest payday ever!” I explained. “Jeeze. I just wanted to check if it was a bank error or what but seriously, thank you.”

“Uh. You’re welcome?” he said back with an obvious struggle to switch out of his defensive mode. I’ll have to buy him something nice before I took off just to say thanks.

Huh. That was a kick to the balls. I just got more money in one day than I ever had, and only a half day to spend it before I was stuck on all fours. It’d be kind of hard to go to a store when I’m just a bat pony thing.

“You there?” Bulk said.

“Yeah. I’m here. Just realised I might not get a chance to spend any of this,” I droned as my mind mulled the fact my life as I knew it was rapidly coming to an end.

“How far along are you?” he asked.

“Uh. I got ears and hooves now, too,” I said as I lifted a pant leg to confirm that I was still missing my toes. They were still gone, and dropped my pant leg back down.

“Shitty.”

“Tell me about it. Hey. Is there anything I should pick up before I go full pony?” I asked. I might as well talk to the guy that’s already been through it.

“Uh, I’d stock up on proper food. Whatever looks good and maybe some actual things to take care of a horse. By the time I figured out what was happening to me, I was housebound because I changed too much. Maybe you could get me a few things before it happens to you, yeah?”

Anything he’d need, I’d likely need soon too. “Like what?”

“Maybe a couple horse brushes or whatever they’re called. Regular combs don’t cut it,” he says. “You could go to a store and ask what’s they call a starter kit for someone looking to take care of a horse.”

“That’s not a bad idea. I’ll do that today,” I said. It’d be quicker if that sort of kit actually existed and quick was what I needed. My life was on a timer.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I will. No problem.”

“YEAH!”

I held the phone away from my ear. “Ow. Jeeze. Indoor voice, please,” I scolded as I rubbed my new ear and coaxed it to stand again.

“Sorry. Just got to do that. Don’t know why.”

There was a brief pause before I continued. “So anyways, it’s my last day as a human so I got to get going here. I’ll catch you later, alright?”

“Okay. Good luck.”

I hung up the phone and considered calling Jacob just to see how the pickup went. I wasn’t really part of the case anymore and I couldn’t really continue working on it with what was happening, but it didn’t seem right asking when I knew I couldn’t do anything about it. It was still an effort to put my phone back in it’s pocket; it didn’t feel right just leaving the job half done.

I came to a compromise with myself decided to call him later, after I got through the shopping. It shouldn’t be that long anyways. With my shades on, my hood up and pants worn low, I was ready to head up and test this disguise, but every step along the way was a rather pointed clop. I definitely had to fix that and soon.

“He lives!” declared my father as soon as I opened the door to the basement stairs. He was at the kitchen table with a newspaper laid out. I suppose I knew her was there, but that didn’t make me worry any less. “What’s with the glasses? Trying to skip out on paying rent?”

“It’s a disguise old man. Guess who I am!” I answered with the same playful venom we’d throw back and forth. So far so good.

“I don’t know. It’s been so long since I’ve last seen you that I’ve forgotten how you looked,” he sarcastically sniped back, but he did have a point. It’s been a few days since I’ve seen him and mom. I needed to at least see them off.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Been really busy lately with clients and all,” I said. It was technically not a lie.

“One of these years you’re going to have to make your own birthday party,” he said rather seriously. “Your mother made a cake and you didn’t even call to say you weren’t going to be in. I think you do owe her an apology.”

I winced. Even with all that was happening, I wasn’t immune to the dreaded scorn of a mother and I won’t let the last memory of me be me skipping out on dinner. “You’re right, dad.”

“I’m serious,” he scolded. He went back to his paper because his work was done saying his piece. The familiar guilt was already festering inside of me on top of the guilt that this might be the last time I’d be talking with them; well played dad. At least the disguise was working.

He was right though, and I should try and make it up to my mom. I went into the fridge and found the half eaten leftovers of the cake. It was my mother’s homemade black forest cake which was a favorite for the whole family and right now, that cherry layer was calling out to me. I could easily smell it even before I reached for that plate.. Dad just glanced at me as I pulled it out, and plucked some of the unlit candles that were on the lip of the plate and set them in. A trip to the drawers and I had a knife and fork and a pack of matches to light the candles. After I lit them, Dad chuckled and let me head off in the living room while singing, “Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me!”

Mom turned around in confusion at seeing me walk in with the cake and when I finished the song, I sat down on the couch beside her and blew out the candle. “Thank you mom for the cake.”

“Have you been working on your singing voice?” she asked as soon as I was done. “That wasn’t half bad.”

I didn’t even notice that change yet so lets just play it off as nothing. “Only the best for you, mom,” I joked. “Sorry for missing the party, though. The cake looks great.”

She smiled at me, though it didn’t cover the disappointment in her eyes. “It was better fresh. I wish you could of made it home for dinner,” she said wistfully. Ah, am I going to see it again?

“I was working, mom,” I explained sheepishly. That was technically true.

She sighed. Yup. I’m going to see the world champion of passive aggression at work here. “I know you were, and we’re really proud of how dedicated you are. It’d just be nice to see you more often.”

Anything I could promise her now would be a lie, so I didn’t promise her anything with my answer. “I know mom. I know,” I replied. Mercifully, she gave up on the guilt trip early.

“Twenty five. Wow, where does the time go? It’s hard to believe it’s been that long, and you grew up so strong. When you were born, the doctors were saying such awful things about you even seeing your first birthday, but you showed them,” she said with a bit of pride.

“We Blacks are tough,” I replied, thinking about that little fact. It rarely came up, but when I was born, apparently I was a mess as if I was on the bad side of a barroom brawl in the womb. It was straight to the operating table as soon as I was born to fix everything that was wrong with me. You don’t want to hear the odds that the doctors were giving me.

“You started out by scaring me, and that hasn’t changed over the years,” she teased with a little jab to my side.

“Well, to be fair I got a lot of practice at it by now,” I said as cut myself a slice, but I didn’t even bother with the fork and used my fingers to lift it. Of course, I had to be careful not to reveal my new fangs, but the cake was worth the risk for a bite. “Mmm, delicious as always, mom.”

“Maybe you’ll actually show up next time for it,” she said plainly. “So, what’s with the glasses?”

“Dad asked that too. I’m going deep undercover. You think I can pull it off?” I said as I adjusted my glasses to play up my coolness.

She didn’t buy it for a second, but this wouldn’t be the first time she’d thought that. “Well, whatever you’re going to be doing, just keep safe, dear. I worry about you,” she said. “Before you go, do you have some time to spend with your mother?”

God, I want to say yes to that, but my life was on a very short timer right now. Maybe, if I hurried, I could get back here before the change took me too far, and that way I could say goodbye, but that all hinged on me actually getting out and moving today. “Well, actually, I got something I’ve got to get going, but I’ll hurry back as soon as I can,” I suggested apologetically.

She didn’t look hurt, but mom was always a champ at hiding that sort of thing. “Well, I’ll be home when you get here. Now you get going.”

I half smiled. Anything more than that would be hard to do right now. “See you soon.” I gave her one last hug and then headed for the door. With luck, maybe it wouldn’t be the last time and only the second-to-last time.

_-_-_-_-_

It had been a very quiet night after Jack left Porsche with Chris for safe keeping. He left shortly after the call to get some rest, while leaving them with the mutilated remains and a warning that he wasn’t going to be far away. That was enough to keep them cowed for the night. They didn’t take too long before moving into a new room on the floor, though the mood didn’t get much better once that was done. At least Porsche had the luxury of sleep that night, even if it was a fitful and poor rest.

When she gave up on the prospect of further sleep, she opened her eyes. The sun was barely over the horizon which meant it was still relatively early in the morning, but Chris was there, bleary-eyed and morose as the evening before. Upon seeing that his charge was awake though, he nodded her way. “Morning.”

Her guard was a young man in maybe his late twenties, but right now he looked so old right now thanks to the sheer weight of his situation. The welt on his temple from from the blow he took last night didn’t help either. The throbbing headache just added to everything and it left him hunched over the table to look down at his phone’s little screen, with only the occasional listless trace of a finger over it being the only sign he was alive. Between the lack of rest and the emotional cost of knowing his friend died last night was weighing him down until his every motion seemed like it was in slow motion. Porsche would pity him if he wasn’t one of the men that helped orchestrate this situation in the first place. Instead, she decided to use it to her advantage. “You don’t have to listen to him. We can go. You can let me go. We’d both be free.”

The words didn’t even make an impact with him.

“Did you hear me? We could run right now! He’s not here to stop either of us,” she urged.

“He knows where my mom is. If I run, she’ll be picking up the tab for this,” he said in a dull monotone. He didn’t even bother to look her way as he said it.

“Then call her! Get her to run too! We can call the cops and they can deal with Jack!” she suggested but both her frustration and desperation were showing through in how sharply she spoke.

He just shook his head. “And tell her what? That her boy’s a fucking kidnapper? That he’s been dealing and stealing to make sure the rent’s paid? She’d never forget that.”

“And this is better?” she continued. “He’s going to kill us, too.”

There wasn’t even a twitch from him. “Just drop it. I can’t do that to her. I just can’t.”

Porsche couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The chance to get away was obvious. All he had to do is take it and let her go too. Why couldn’t he see it. “We’re in danger as long as we’re here!” she pleaded. The rebuke was instant.

“Just shut up about it! I get it!” he bellowed before he put his face into a hand to hide his face. His tone calmed down. “I’m not that sort of guy. I can’t doublecross Jack. So, please stop asking.”

The statement hung in the air. Chris had nothing more to add and Porsche couldn’t believe what was just said. After half a minute, she, at long last, processed what was said and continued to press on him more. “You can’t double cross him! He just gutted your friend last night!”

Chris snapped to his feet sending his chair tumbling and raised his hand to strike the girl. “And I don’t want that to be my mom! Now just shut the fuck up!” he screamed. Porsche was already twisting in her bindings to avoid the blow, but it never came. Instead, that hand hovered there above her until he realised what he was about to do. From there, it dropped down and he listlessly collapsed into the next chair over that was meant for his friend.

The threat of violence snuffed Porsche’s hope for an easy escape, and with that gone, she slipped into silence. A frustrated, angry silence for sure, but there wasn’t anything coming to her mind that might help her situation.

It was Chris that eventually broke the silence. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just that... Sorry. Listen. You need something to eat? I think Jack left some fruit behind,” he offered as an olive branch complete with a sad smile turned her way.

She shook her head.

“You need to go to the can?” he tried next.

Porsche was ready to turn him down out of habit, but she had been tied up all night and hadn’t left the room. As much as she didn’t want to take anything from the man, she couldn’t ignore that offer. Finally, she gave in. “Yeah.”

“Alright. We can do that, but don’t cause any trouble,” he said right back as he got up, and walked behind her to undo some of her bindings. Not all of them, but enough that she could get up. “I really don’t want to do anything to you.”

Porsche nodded slightly when she took her feet, and Chris redid the cuffs in front of her. To be standing again always felt good after three days of nothing but sitting (excluding the brief trips to the bathroom), and she stretched as much as Chris would allow. Brad nor Jack allowed her this much freedom, but even that came to an end with the man giving her a shove in the back. He didn’t even look comfortable doing that much to her but it was a necessity.

The bathroom was meant for a busy office with several stalls and sinks for the staff, but since it never materialized, it was left in a half finished state. At least it still did have those stalls for privacy so whoever was watching her at the time wouldn’t actually see her, even though the locks were missing.

“Just make it quick, alright?” he warned though Porsche really doubted that he’d do anything, but she still went about her business without making a fuss. She’d had been doing this for a few days now, and modesty wasn’t even a concern for her now. It was her other captor that was the real fear that was digging at her. What was going to happen when he came back? If only Chris wasn’t such a useless shit, the both of them could already be gone.

God, she wanted to go home so badly.

She leaned back and let out a long sigh, and something shifted behind her. It was the toilet’s lid. It was eighteen inches of heavy porcelain weighing a few pounds, but Porsche saw it as it as her way out. With her hands tied in front of her, she could pick it up and swing it still. Now that she thought about it, she didn’t even recall seeing a weapon on Chris. It’s just been routine that had her acting this way so far. This could work.

For the first time in a few days she smiled as she lifted up her weapon carefully not to clink it against anything. Nothing was going to take this chance away from her. She flushed to keep up the illusion and stood up.

“You’re ready to come out?” he asked as he walked over to the door and pushed it open. He had enough time to blink before the dull thunk of that heavy lid hitting a skull came. Without even knowing what happened he was left reeling.

“Fuck you!” she screamed at the the man before she struck him again and this time there was wet slap to the blow. This one sent him down in a graceless fall onto his face where blood was quick to puddle around him. She didn’t stop there but wound up once more and struck one last time. He didn’t react in the least to it, and she dropped her weapon to run for the exit.

There was nothing in the way of the door and no one around. She was good as free! She scrambled to undo the locks on the office’s main door and with that hinderance gone, she threw the door open.

For a moment, she dreaded Jack just waiting on the other side of it with that cruel smile of his, but the coast was clear, and she began running again. All she needed to do is get down to the street level or find a floor with other people. She didn’t care which happened first.

“Fuck yeah, I’m out of here!” she cheered, ignoring how her underused muscles were protesting the sudden sprint. All she had to do is keep moving forward.

She was halfway down that bare hallway when another door opened in the hallway, and out stepped a yawning Jack. She stopped so fast that she slide down to her back, and scrambled to her feet to run the other way. She got about two steps before that red brown aura enveloped her and lifted her from the ground.

“No! Please no!” she cried as she tried to will any part of her to move but it all was frozen by that magic. Her back was turned to him, so she couldn’t even see him and she wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or a curse.

“Didn’t think Chris would perform this badly at his duties, but it’s a good thing I didn’t go that far. That’d be quite the embarrassment on my part, eh?” he said as he walked towards her. He was still on two legs, but those hooves were so loud on the bare floor so she knew exactly how close he was. “Maybe you shouldn’t yell so much next time.”

He stepped by her, and that aura pulled her with him with a lurch back into the room. Chris was back on his feet, though looking worse than ever with blood flowing freely down his face from the cut in his scalp. “S-shit. I’m sorry. She took me by surprise,” he stammered, though it was clear he wasn’t entirely there and was relying heavily on the walls to help him keep his balance.

He didn’t care about the excuse as he sat the girl back down in her seat and started locking her into place before the aura faded out again. Even though she was held, it was clear the change was still going. His hands were down to three fingers and an undersized thumb, and the nail on the middle finger took up two knuckles of length. It was clear how clumsy he was now because of how he struggled to even close cuffs into place. It wasn’t a concern to him. He wouldn’t need hands much longer because that horn had grown from the stub it was last night into a long thing and unlike the show, it came to a harsh, sharp point.

It was his eyes that seemed the most wrong though. Alien even on his barely human face. Every feature of it seemed distorted and stretched to accommodate the very beginnings of a pony muzzle. Only that evil smile was the same and he wore one now.

“So, care to tell me how this little adventure happened?” he asked of Porsche.

She turned her head away and just whimpered an intelligible response. Chris answered instead, while he closed the distance between where he was and his chair. “She got the jump on me. Hit me with the toilet tank cover,” he said, as he put his hand to his cut as if it’d help stop the bleeding.

Jack’s ears turned the way of the other man and his tail flicked once. “I see. You were caught off-guard by a girl in handcuffs,” he said calmly to clarify what had happened. Chris dumbly nodded. “Why were you caught off-guard?”

“She had a cover,” Chris repeated with a nervous tremble in his voice. “It was hard and heavy.”

Jack shook his head in disappointment. “That’s not what I asked. I asked why. Why did you get caught off guard by the girl you’d said you’d be watching. That you promised you’d watch. This is twice that she has nearly gotten away over two days and I’d hate for there to be a third repetition of this, so I ask again, Chris; Why were you caught off-guard?”

Chris wanted to stand up for himself so badly, but his will just dried up and vanished under the harsh judgement. “I don’t know. I guess I wasn’t watching her,” he replied finally. By then, he had gotten to his chair.

“And the truth comes out!” called Jack with his hands up in the air as if it was some grand biblical revelation that was just given. “You weren’t watching! Well, let’s see if we can teach you to watch. Come over here.”

Jack didn’t even wait for Chris to get to his feet, but grabbed the chair in his aura and easily pulled it along the floor to be right beside Porsche. Chris grunted when he was run into the table.

“Undo one of her cuffs and hold onto her hand,” Jack commanded as he stood across from them. It was slow as he was still dazed from the blows to the head, but Chris managed to do what was asked.

“What’s going to happen?” Porsche meekly asked.

“Well, I think we need to learn a few valuable lessons here. Last time we were in a situation like this, I already stated what the punishment would be, correct?” he said as his magic pulled his knife from his jacket pocket and flicked it open as deftly as he could with his hands. “This is the second such instance, so I think doubling up on the punishment is fair.”

All colour drained from the girls face as she realised what this would mean. “Oh god, no!”

“And, Chris. Hold her hand out and watch everything. Don’t you dare even blink,” Jack said as that knife floated towards the girl. He didn’t know what was going to happen, but it wasn’t anything he wanted to see.

The screams echoed through the empty floor.

Author's Note:

Well, that was ugly but I'm trying to get into writing regularly again. Here's to hoping.

Another note. Since Bulk Biceps is the official name, I'm going to run with that from here on in. Bah. Terrible name but what can you do?

Comments

[Von Snootingham]

Oh no! Such terrible things happening. And Chris is too much of a follower to act for himself. I can't wait for him to start changing into Silver Spoon and to realize that Sanguine just gutted Diamond Taira.

[flyingfox]

Just read through it all cause why not? Despite not being a big fan of the 5s/4 universe, this in my opinion is pretty good but that may be because I have a thing for thestrals/noctrals/nocturnes/bat ponies. I have seen them called as such, most commonly being the thestrals. Personally, nocturne sounds better than the others.

[PingSquirrel]

4069879 What I'm trying to do is use the premise of the 5/4verse as a backdrop and not the story's conflict. I really do wish to finish this up even if never gets popular because it's really good practice for me.

Either way, thanks for looking in spite of your reservations.

[flyingfox]

4072653
I like it more than the one that started this whole thing. Also, have you tried reading Sanguine's/Jack's lines in the voice of Sir Hammerlock from Borderlands 2?

[PingSquirrel]

4126506 Fixed

[Feurisson]

Update?

[PingSquirrel]

4953437 Half done

[Feurisson]

4954946 Great