IX - Get Down With The Sickness
Author's note: Apparently, because of how the website only allows me to have a maximum of five characters, I obviously can't add anymore. For everypony's well-being, please insinuate that Vinyl Scratch is in this, as well as the Mane Six, and possibly the Princesses.
Thank you. I'm terribly sorry if even an ounce of confusion was created. Please enjoy this chapter of HHaF!
IX - Get Down With The Sickness
Praxis, Jace, Zeke, and Vinyl had exited the Dream Realm the next morning in high spirits that the former's plan would succeed. Aksheal, taking pity upon how clothes-less Praxis was, had snapped his fingers once more, and strange black clothes wrapped themselves around his torso. The clothes looked a lot like a marching band jacket, with how crisp, smooth, and sleek it was. There were even small silver pauldrons on the shoulders, a flap of cloth around his neck that served as a mask (due to how charred his ace bandage was from Celestia's solar flare), pockets, and silver buttons to accommodate the jacket.
After returning to the Everfree Forest and back to the immense yew tree that was once the satyr's original home, the four of them decided to... decorate it. With his scythe, Zeke cut a big section of wood out of the wide truck of the tree and used his Touch of Death to slowly decay the inside of it, hollowing it out to about fifty feet up; the only object that didn't decompose was a spiral staircase that ran along the inside of the tree to a platform halfway to the top. Praxis went swimming through the thick underbrush of the forest until he came across huge stalks of grass that shot up six feet high. He ripped several handfuls of the tall grass and brought them back to the hollow yew, where he began weaving the grass into mats. After several failed attempts at getting a proper knot, followed by many minutes of intense swearing, he finally managed to get the grass stalks into reasonably comfortable mats. Vinyl had gone into town and bought nails and lots of rope; when she came back, Praxis intricately weaved the ropes into a hammock, and Jace proceeded to hammer the nails into the wood of the tree on the second floor and hang the ends of the hammock onto them before going to Ponyville to plan for the concert, which would take place at 7:00 at night, and to buy furniture for the satyr's new home, taking Vinyl with him; the white unicorn had to practice the Walk-On-Clouds charm anyways. Zeke, having cut windows into the walls of both floors for ventilation, and Praxis had left the tree to examine their handiwork, and they couldn't help but grin at their masterpiece. It was a very exceptional dwelling that fitted the saytr quite well; spacious, well-ventilated, and welcoming.
"Hey, Praxis?" Zeke began, lowering his hood to show himself clearly in the now-afternoon light of Celestia's Equestrian Sun. There was a '666' scratched onto his forehead, and his eyes glowed red, but Praxis wasn't afraid of Zeke's appearance: ever since he played "Amnesia: The Dark Descent" back on Earth, he had seen even more disturbing and unsettling things than the Reaper's looks.
"Hmm?" answered Praxis, who had picked up a stone and carved "Home, Sweet Home" in Arabic into the wood above the door.
"May I see your jacket? I have this... weird suspicion about it."
"Um... sure." He obliged by unbuttoning his jacket and removing it, leaving him in nothing but a black undershirt that Aksheal had also magically given him. He handed the jacket to the Reaper.
"Excellent. Thank you," Zeke mumbled. He laid it down flat along the forest floor and raised his scythe. Praxis gasped as the scythe made its descent and pierced the front of the jacket. The sound of cloth being ripped could be heard all around.
"Zeke! 'The fuck, brah?!" the satyr outbursted, hands balled up into fists as he stared at the Reaper.
"Relax, Fluffy," Zeke reassured, beckoning Praxis over to examine the jacket. "Take a look." Praxis came closer to his clothes, muttering words of anger at Zeke. He bent over to examine the jacket and went slack-jawed at what he saw.
The gaping hole that Zeke's scythe had created was gradually repairing itself. Each severed string seem to become sentient as they whipped towards their partners, melding into one another on contact and becoming one whole string. After a few seconds, the tear had vanished, like it had never existed at all.
"Whoa... what the hell?" Praxis was flabbergasted at his jacket's self-reparation. He tenderly picked it up and reequiped it, rubbing the area where the tear had closed itself up.
"Hmm... my thoughts exactly," mused Zeke philosophically as he gazed at the spot where his scythe had cut the cloth.
"Wait, whadaya mean?"
"It appears that Aksheal had given you a jacket and muscle shirt of the rarest and most wanted material in all of Equestria, known as 'Shadow Fiber'. It is said that this material, formed from the purified and magically altered hide of changelings, is impervious to anything mundane and harmful: fire, acid, wear-and-tear, dirt; you name it, it nullifies the damage done by it. Legends say that Shadow Fiber actually GROWS with the wearer, ensuring that no discomfort is brought unto him or her as he or she ages. I must say, you are one lucky little bastard. Do you know how many ponies would KILL for cloth like this?"
"Whoa... that's amazing. I didn't know that such a thing existed in Equestria," Praxis said with wonder in his eyes. "But wait, if Shadow Fiber is extremely rare, how come changelings' hides is the prime ingredient in it when tons of changelings exist?"
"Well, changelings are very dangerous, ruthless creatures that attack their prey in swarms, due to their belief of strength lying in numbers. Only the toughest of ponies are capable of overcoming them. Their hide, which had been banned from stores by the Equestrian Peace Act eight year ago, is now and still worth a fortune on the black market," explained Zeke as he mentally commanded his scythe to vanish. It dissipated into black mist and swirled as it got smaller, vanishing with a little pop.
"We're back!" Jace and Vinyl called to the two others simultaneously. The two of them were carrying a one-man desk, two love-seats, a swivel chair, and a coffee table, all but the love-seats and the chair being crafted of mahogany and oak. Jace had placed the two love-seats in the center of the first floor, which would be the living room, while Vinyl used her telekinetic magic to place the coffee table in between the two love-seats, then hauling the desk and the chair up to the second floor, which would serve as the bedroom. The two DJs walked out of the treehouse and took a seat on the forest floor, sweat cascading down their foreheads and chests.
"Dear Celestia, this was a long day," Vinyl huffed, wiping her forehead with her foreleg and flicking the collected sweat away. "But at least we're done for today!"
"You can say that again," wheezed Jace as he mopped his face with his Skrillex T-shirt. He stood back up and stretched his limbs, Vinyl following his example. When they both finished up with their activity, Vinyl used her magic to levitate a small cirrus cloud over to them. She then shut her eyes behind her purple sunshades and aimed her horn at Praxis. A sparkling, bright-blue aura appearing around the satyr. The aura dissipated into nothingness after five seconds. Understanding her motives, he cautiously placed a hoof on the cloud. He let out a breath he didn't know he held in when he discovered that his hoof didn't sink into the cloud. Instead, it felt incredibly soft to him, yet sturdy enough to not let him fall through. He placed his other hoof on the cloud, receiving a likewise result.
"Excellent work, Vi!" Praxis congratulated, extending his fist out for a brohoof. Vinyl walked over and bumped her hoof on his fist.
"Heheh, thanks, Prax," the equine DJ said. "But it'll only last for a few hours, so we'd better head to Ponyville. Luckily, we perform in one hour, so the spell should hold until afterwards." With that, she lifted the cloud high above their heads as they walked back to the town. Praxis, hidden snugly in the cloud, was beginning to get rather nervous. If this plan failed....
Sweet Apple Acres; Barn
'It appears that nopony is around,' Insanity mused evilly as his form of black smoke flew in through an open window. He took an alicorn form of his regular self and scanned the room. His thought was proven folly when he noticed three little fillies snoozing in a bale of hay; Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.
'My, my, my... this is going to be fun.' He chuckled coldly, scraping his hoof across the ground. Sparks flew, and a little fire came to life at his hoof tip. He flicked the minuscule ball of flame at a wooden post that supported the barn.
'Perfect....' The entity of dementia became a wisp of black smoke once more and flew back out of the window as the base of the post begin to catch fire, cackling like a madman as he left.
Ponyville Square; Stage
"PONYVIIIIILLE!" Jace hollered into the microphone. He had an electric guitar in his arms, while Zeke twirled the drumsticks in his skeletal fingers and Vinyl tuned her bass guitar to her liking. "ARE YOU READY.... TO ROOOOOOOOOOOOOCK?!" The massive crowd or Ponyvillians went ballistic, getting on their back hooves and shouting their approval, whistling or screaming like fangirls.
'Well, here goes nothing,' Praxis thought darkly from up in his cirrus cloud. The effects of the Walk-On-Clouds charm was slowly beginning to dwindle: his hooves were now deeper into the cloud than they were an hour ago.
"Well let's give it up to a new friend of mine. Let's hear it for the one... the only... PRRRRRRAXIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!"
The audience gasped as the name was called. They couldn't believe it... they didn't want to.
But when Praxis leapt off of his cloud and landed directly behind the microphone stand, they had to. They could only watch in shock and awe as the creature grabbed the microphone from off of its stand.
"Thanks for that warm welcome, Jace," the satyr muttered into the microphone in the most sinister voice he could muster. "Zeke? Hit it!"
"With pleasure!" replied Zeke, hitting the drums and commencing the song. Some of them were actually bumping their heads to the beat of the drums.
"Can you feel that?" Praxis whispered darkly into the microphone. Most of the crowd nodded in fear as the bass notes of Vinyl's guitar rang out like gunshots in the night.
"Ah shit!"
Jace started strumming the guitar, smiling smugly that he could still play as the notes of the guitar synchronized harmoniously with Vinyl's bass.
"OH-WAH-AH-AH-AH!"
Some of the members in the audience were wailing their approval when the beat dropped and became more hardcore. Some were indifferent, while the many others still wore a look of anxiety on their faces.
"OH-WAH-AH-AH-AH!"
"He did it again!" shouted a stallion in the audience before as the archaic grunt went off again. He whooped it up, some of the more appreciative ponies following his example
"OH OH! OH OH! OH OH!
"Drowning deep in my sea of loathing,
"Broken, your servant, I kneel,
"Will you give in to me?
"It seems what's left of my human side is slowly changiiiing... inn meee,
"Will you give in to me?!
"Looking at my own reflection,
"When suddenly it changes!
"Violently it changes!
"OH NO! There is no turning back now, you've woken up the deemooon... INN MEEEEEE!
"Get up, come on, get down with the sickness!
"Get up, come on, get down with the sickness!
"Get up, come on, get down with the sickness!
"Open up your hate, and let it flow into me!
"Get up, come on, get down with the sickness!
"You mother, get up, come on, get down with the sickness!
"You fucker, get up, come on, get down with the sickness!
"Madness is the gift that has been given to me!"
Half the crowd was now on their back hooves, roaring in ecstasy when the chorus ended. Praxis cleared his throat again before going back at singing.
"I can see inside you, the sickness is rising,
"Dont try to deny what you feel,
"Will you give in to me?
"It seems that all that was good has died,
"And is decayiiiiiiing... inn meeeee...
"Will you give in to me?!
"It seems you're having some trouble,
"In dealing with these changes!
"Living with these changes!
"AHH, NOW the world is a scary place,
"Now that you've woken up the deemooon... INN MEEEEEE!
"Get up, come on, get down with the sickness!
"Get up, come on, get down with the sickness!
"Get up, come on, get down with the sickness!
"Open up your hate, and let it flow into me!
"Get up, come on get down with the sickness!
"You mother, get up, come on, get down with the sickness!
"You fucker, get up, come on, get down with the sickness!
"Madness is the gift that has been given to me!"
"And when I dream..." the satyr whispered at first.
"And when I dream..." The whisper became slighty louder.
"And when I dream..." A little louder....
"AND WHEN I DREAM!!!!" It came out as a bellow of false rage.
"No mommy, don't do it again! Don't do it again!
"I'll be a good boy! I'LL BE A GOOD BOY!
"I PROMISE!
"NO, MOMMY, DON'T HIT ME!
"OW! Why do you have to hit me like that, mommy?!
"Don't! Do it! You're hurting me! OW-HOW! Why did you have to be such a bitch?!
"Why don't you,
"Why don't you fuck off and DIE?!
"Why can't you just fuck off and DIE?!
"Why can't you just leave here and DIE?!
"Never stick your hand in my face again, bitch!
"FUUUUCK YOOUU!
"I don't need this shit!
"You stupid, sadistic, abusive, fucking whore!
"Would you like to see how it feels, mommy?!
"Here it comes, get ready to DIIEE!"
The whole crowd was taken aback as the satyr viciously threw the microphone down onto the floor of the stage at the last word. The instrument shattered into little pieces on contact, dispersing across the stage.
'Time to give them a night they won't forget....' he mused.
He didn't need the microphone. He knew what to do. He sucked in as much breath as he could and yelled the final words.
"OH-WAH-AH-AH-AH!
"GET UP, COME ON, GET DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS!
"GET UP, COME ON, GET DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS!
"GET UP, COME ON, GET DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS!
"OPEN UP YOUR HATE, AND LET IT FLOW INTO ME!
"GET UP, GET DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS!
"YOU MOTHER, GET UP, COME ON, GET DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS!
"YOU FUCKER, GET UP, COME ON, GET DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS!
"MADNESS HAS NOW COME OVER ME!"
Almost at once, the majority of the crowd had gone wild, roaring with delight as they applauded raucously. Some of them had thrown roses of red and white at the four performers, while a few of the more hardcore ones threw panties; a flurry of red, blue, yellow, green, and all the other colors of the rainbow began to mix in with the red and the white of the roses.
'What the hell?' the satyr mentally said in disgust and surprise. 'PANTIES? So much for innocence....' He had barely caught a white rose in his mouth, giving the audience a low bow that they deserved as he properly positioned the flower in his mouth with his jaw and tongue.
"Thank you!" he said to the crowd after removing the rose and pinning it into a buttonhole on his jacket. "Thank you all so much!" The Ponyvillians got a lot louder at his mention of appreciation. For the first time here, he was being accepted. he was being loved... he had never felt so elated with joy in his whole life here.
The feeling was short-lived, however. Over all the cheering and the photographs of him, Vinyl, Zeke, and Jace being taken. He could faintly hear screams. Not of delight, or elation...
They were screams of fear, begging for help.
With his heightened sense of hearing, Praxis turned to where the source of the screams were coming from. His heart dropped and his pupils constricted into pinpricks.
Against the night sky, in Sweet Apple Acres, a bright red and orange glow stood out, illuminating the trees in its presence. Black smoke billowed from the source of the glow. The scent of burning wood and hay was rather weak, but he could smell it, alright. He knew what the situation was now... why those screams were emitted....
The barn of Sweet Apple Acres was ablaze.
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Well...buck.
519920
Guess it's time to save the day again?
519996
You surprised, brah?
520228
Eh, sorry! I was gonna put Vinyl Scratch in earlier, but then I realized that she doesn't come in until later; she's chilling with Jace and Zeke, the characters from "What If: My Second Life".
Sorry about that.
Well... This took longer than expected for me to read cause of 2 factors... the song and the lyrics... I just HAD to listen and read EXACTLY just cause thats how I roll... You found my weakness dear sir...
521969
Psych! Glad to see you took some interest to the song.
Mwahahahahaha
521975 Sure, now maybe you could try putting TTFAF (Through the Fire and Flames) for the next chapter? Sounds incredibly cheesy I know
522043
Hold on a minute... that's... t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS9pUUWZ-xkF7BwW8kLJ6Nc5UJaGo17yDsJytgDjLjc9cCpXI7_mCUeCRZSWg
Singing about four lines. Approval?
SEEMS LEGIT
yay!
, Another metal head to add to the heard.
522082 He didn't need the microphone. He knew what to do. He sucked in as much breath as he could and yelled the final words.
This is my favorite chapter for the song and the town-wide reconciliation,especially the song.