• Published 24th Jun 2016
  • 852 Views, 246 Comments

Shine Of The Silver Sun - Nameless Narrator



Necromancers and dark mages are rising all throughout Equestria. Some ponies aim to find out why and destroy the root of the new evil. For now, though, the important ones are those standing against the new darkness - The Order of the Silver Sun.

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Insanity: Abuse II

A pegasus wearing an official dark blue suit walked through the train car hall, stopping before the first door, knocking on it, and after not recieving any response slid the door open. It was his job to periodically check the passengers' tickets in case of any new stowaways, and he would be a pretty awful at his job if a silent coupe stopped him.

He did stop, however, at the sight greeting him, smirk growing on his muzzle.

A very distinct trio of passengers were sleeping on the floor. One was grey-maned half pony, half some sort of minotaur with strange head, likely a male. He was in the middle, squeezed by a muscular arm wrapped around his back and pressing him tightly against the leftmost sleeper - a female minotaur with coat of dark yellow and brown melding together. From what the pegasus had seen during his years on the job, the minotaur wasn't as big or bulky as the occasional males looking for adventure down here in the south, but definitely overshadowing even the strongest earthponies. He tilted his head, peeking at the half-pony biped's head buried in the minotaur's cleavage, a small stab of jealousy running through him.

"Even bigger than the legendary Trottingham milkmare's," the pegasus muttered in disbelief.

The final occupant was either an earthpony with claws on her forelegs or a hippogriff without wings. Her lean and smaller form was closer to the latter, and the pegasus was happy to see somepony even remotely normal. Her coat was rusty through and through, but golden freckles dotted her body all over, sometimes making star-like constellations. He couldn't help smiling as she, in the cutest way possible for somepony fast asleep, shifted on her back and wrapped one foreleg around the strange biped's waist.

The pegasus regretted having to wake them up, but- nevermind. He noticed three tickets on the windowside table. Time for some tiphoofing and validating them. Using his wings for balance, he slipped around the rusty mare, quietly punched the tickets, and took his first step back to the open door when the mare turned on her side, hugging his leg with her forelegs tightly. She bit down lightly on it with her muzzle, mumbling.

"Muh Astry..."

The cuteness was lost on the poor pegasus who felt the razor-like teeth on his skin before seeing them. Just like the others, this was no pony in the end. As he tried to pull away, she bit down harder. Thankfully, still not drawing blood. The pegasus looked around for anything that would save him from having to wake the mare up and possibly losing an entire fetlock. He decided on a risky move, pressing his wing against the mare's nose and tickling it with his feathers. She took a deep breath, let go of his fetlock which he withdrew instantly, and-

SNAP!

-closed her mouth like a bear trap.

Cold sweat dripping down his forehead, the pegasus left the deceptively peaceful scene of the three sleepers, closing the door behind him.

***

The trio, having rested through the whole not-interrupted-at-all ride from Canterlot to Manehattan were now before the task of reporting they were back home to Contradiction. The reasons for their hesitation were the obviously unfriendly letter, the mess inside Cromach's office, and the smell coming from its only inhabitant - the black, white-maned mare whose eye started twitching the second they opened the door.

"Aaah, glad you're back. Here's to hoping my boss didn't get in harm's way after you left," Contradiction levitated a shot glass of something and downed it in one gulp. Everyone realized Cromach's liquor cabinet in the corner was open, steel lock twisted out of the wood, "Oh wait, that wouldn't have changed anything. Hahah hahahah..."

"Hey-" Anvil started. Astray immediately put a hand on her back when he saw Connie's gaze sharpen and snap straight at the minotaur. The unicorn's expression clearly stated - 'Just one word, give me any excuse! Anything... pleeeeeease.'

"Contradiction, ma'am," Astray saluted, taking charge, "We're reporting our return from Canterlot. As soon as we unpack we are ready for new orders."

Connie shot Astray an annoyed glance for his interruption, but the satyr just stood at attention, staring at a point somewhere on the wall behind his team leader. He only hoped Anvil got the message.

"You got him hurt so bad, and he finally asked me out..." Connie whispered, shaking her head. It probably was aimed more at herself, but everyone heard, "I told you I'd kill you if you let anything more happen to him," she breathed out, "But no... no no no no... you don't deserve the easy way out. I'll make you useful, or I'll make you disappear. Heh heheh..."

They watched the rambling unicorn with widening eyes. Anvil was only half-consciously twitching her fingers ready to grasp the warmace strapped on her back along with her backpack.

"Ma'am?" Astray asked carefully, "Can we help?"

"HELP?" Connie barked, "No, thanks. You've helped enough. Get out of my sight. With Cromach away I'm swamped with work already. I'll think of a way to punis- train you later, but trust me, you will rue the day you didn't put your bodies in the way of whatever sent him to hospital in the first place."

"May I say something?" Anvil asked in a firm voice.

"Do you like having your tongue and teeth?" Connie gave her an ear-to-ear smile, "If you do, the exit's right there," the door slammed open, "If you love soup so much you'd like to sip it, and only it, for the rest of your life then, by all means, keep talking."

"Please?" Astray whispered, nudging Anvil.

The minotaur just saluted again, ushering everyone out and closing the door behind her.

"We have a problem," she stated simply.

"Yeah," Astray nodded.

***

The trio's night wasn't as restless as Astray expected after seeing Contradiction visibly teetering on the edge of sanity yesterday evening. In fact, everyone, after enjoying late dinner at the cantine, simply relaxed in a long bath after over a week spent in a cheap motel with barely warm water in the shower. Anvil even offered a massage to Astray herself despite him being only tired from lack of sleep and not physical training. Everything felt almost too good.

Of course, that changed in the morning, when Contradiction arrived at the usual time for physical exercises, taking the group back behind the mansion to sargeant Cross' personal gauntlet. If that was the worst the unicorn had in mind for the group, then Astray could let out a breath of relief. He knew he was likely to pass out at the end of this exercise, but that was nothing unusual by this point. Anvil didn't look as threatened as yesterday, instead watching Connie twitching with nervous energy with unimpressed, stony expression.

The unicorn presented four collars and immediately put one around her neck. Anvil and Astray did the same without thinking while Bubbles growled at her own before realizing she wasn't inside the tower anymore and was surrounded by friends. When all collars were put on, they clicked and tightened up, although not to the point of discomfort. Astray suddenly had a very bad feeling about everything, knowing he should have asked about the things first. He just hadn't wanted to provoke Contradiction even further.

Seeing everyone was set up, Connie said cheerfully:

"Good morning, walking corpses. Since you fucked up everything I told you to do we're going to need more TRAINING. This time it's gonna be a race, and we ain't stopping while you can still see."

Inside his mind, Astray shrugged. That was just about what he'd imagined. Race, though? Was the loser going to scrub the bathrooms? The winner, of course, would be Bubbles, no doubt about that. And the last one would be him, there was even less doubt. He sighed. So, he would go to bed an hour or two later than usual. Big deal. There was only one question left.

"What's with the collars then?" Anvil asked it first.

"Heh heheh heh eh," Connie wiped a tear of madness off of her eyes, "Those are shock collars. The last one to finish a round is getting a little love tap. I'm not gonna show you how strong the shock is going to be. Mostly, because I don't want to spoil the surprise and lose my chance to enjoy your screaming, but also so that you don't pass out before we even start."

"Alright, that's illegal," Anvil stepped forward angrily.

"The exit is right over there," Connie's singsong answer was followed by her pointing to the gate cutting the Order gardens off from Manehattan.

"That's not going to work, now, is it?" Astray crossed his arms on his chest, "No matter what sadistic idea you've got for us it's not going to work. I'm going to drop off first, so yeah, there's your punishment. But you're next. Anvil's not gonna get shocked once, Bubbles definitely not, so why don't you just stop this nonsense, break my leg or something, and stop pretending your problem is with anyone other than me?"

"Huh," Connie raised an eyebrow, "When did your balls drop?"

Astray didn't answer, which wiped the manic smile off of Connie's muzzle and replaced it with a scowl.

"This isn't only about you, not by far," she poked his abdomen with her hoof, "And if you think I'm not serious, then you'll just have to see. You three almost single-hoofedly destroyed this Order by nearly causing the death of the griffon holding all this together. YOU-"

"According to sir Cromach's own words," Astray said calmly, "It was his fault for taking such inexperienced members like us on that-"

"SHUT UP!" Connie screamed, white glow enveloping Astray and throwing him towards the first part of Cross' training course, "And run... or I'll fry you," she tapped her collar.

Before Astray could stand back up, Connie was already leaping over a climbing wall. Bubbles whizzed past like a rusty blur, only using her claws to push herself up on the wall once before disappearing past it. Anvil grabbed his hand, pulled him up while running, and started climbing the rope. She wanted to help more, but Contradiction needed to be taught a lesson and if Astray was to be the necessary sacrifice, then so be it.

The satyr whispered a thank you before grabbing a rope next to Anvil's and climbing as well. As he got up, he realized Contradiction was serious. The not too physically gifted mare was now ahead of Bubbles, using unnaturally long jumps instead of galloping, and clearing any high obstacle in one fell swoop.

Astray got three-quarters into the course when Anvil cleared the starting line, beginning her second lap.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed his lungs out.

Wrecking pain made him lose control of his body, causing him to fall like a bag of potatoes from a wooden stepladder onto the hard ground. He twitched, lightning coursing through his nerves. He had no control over himself, only seeing red. Blood poured out of his mouth from biting his cheek, making him taste nothing but iron. It took him minutes to get back on his legs and slip under barbed wire mesh he was supposed to crawl beneath. The second lap was on.

"Oh -huff- and if you're -huff- behind more than one round -haaah- it gets better!" Connie, sliding on the ground next to him followed by Bubbles kicking her hind legs so hard dirt was flying.

Astray's survival instinct kicked in, adrenaline fueling his desperate crawl under the wiring.

His world dissolved into gasping for breath and blurry outlines surrounding him. If he was in shape to notice, he would have realized he finished the course much faster than ever before. Sometimes he even saw Anvil's back when she got stuck on some obstacle too difficult for her due to her size. But-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

-it was just as he'd prophesized. He was the one with the least strength and stamina. Nevertheless, the second shock wasn't as bad as the first one. Perhaps he was getting too tired to feel it, or the adrenaline worked miracles, or maybe he just got used to it, but he kept going.

The third shock came sooner than expected, but he was still able to recover and go on. Unfortunately, Connie and Bubbles passed him again, meaning they were two rounds ahead. Anvil was close behind them, focused, silent, and drenched with sweat. Her endurance was slowly breaking even with the mad dash of the first two, but that only meant Astray was too behind.

Then Anvil started another lap, meaning he was two laps behind everyone else.

She was the only one to stop and turn in horror as she heard the high-pitched screech of someone gone in a second. She smelled the burst of ozone coming from behind her. She heard the crackling of electricity. All she could do, though, was hope that Astray fell unconscious in the first instant and the rest was only the reaction of his tortured body, because she hadn't heard a scream of pain this... real ever before. It was as if physical boiling agony bubbled out of Astray's throat.

On the other hand, if Anvil could just last long enough, Contradiction would feel the same thing she did to him.

"I'll make sure to shove one of the collars up your cunt for this before I win," Anvil promised to herself, picking up the pace.

She rushed like never before. Cross' obstacles were designed for an equine which meant some were difficult for her, but quite a lot of them, when she got the hang of it, became much easier. She still wasn't fast enough, and the penalty for being the last to finish the round caught up with her. She shrugged it off, but panic started creeping up her spine. The shocks not only punished failure, but the pain and damage meant that she would stay behind until she dropped.

There was a fire burning inside her even hotter than the electricity searing her nerves each round. She got closer and closer to Connie and Bubbles. Now, if she could only last a little bit longer, Contradiction would be the one in the back, and Anvil knew, no matter what dirty trick the unicorn was using to conserve her usually lackluster stamina, she wouldn't last.

She didn't really even register the final shock, her legs just stopped working just as she was almost on par with the unicorn. What she did do, though, was grab Connie's hind leg, causing her to fall as well.

"You were... a worthy... opponent... but I'll... make sure... you... fry... too," Anvil chuckled.

Connie kicked her hand away, but Bubbles was gaining a lead which was going to be insurmountable.

"YOU, on the other hoof, are not worthy of being in my team. Cromach's stab wounds all over his body are a clear sign of that," Contradiction rushed off.

Anvil couldn't move anymore. Her body relaxed while the other two finished the next round. Sadly, that only meant she felt the full extent of the shock collar's power. At least it didn't last long. Vision fading, Anvil allowed herself a smile. There was no way Bubbles would lose after her little... help.

Connie realized it soon enough, stopping by Anvil's unconscious form. Her nose was bleeding profusely, her legs were trembling, and her horn felt numb. She didn't have problems with using her telekinesis in massive bursts, but long, sustained springs under her hooves, constant assisted jumps, and basically the equivalent of gliding through crawling-based obstacles were too much.

She kicked the minotaur softly, not having the energy to do more. She tried again, visions of one bleeding griffon being choked and tossed around by unnatural tail running through her brain on repeat. Remembering it hurt so much, more than anything ever before. She barely noticed the shock as Bubbles finished the round. Her body was going numb and cold.

"I HATE YOU! I HATE ALL OF YOU! YOU DESERVE TO BURN, TO BE RIPPED TO PIECES JUST SO YOU'D UNDERSTAND HOW I FEEL EVERY TIME I HAVE TO TAKE A BREATH KNOWING HE'S AWAY FROM ME IN SOME STUPID UNGUARDED HOSPITAL. YOU ROTTEN, USELESS, PIECES OF SHI-"

Bubbles finished another round. The enhanced punishment struck Connie mid-word, but she hardly felt it. It was nothing compared to seeing her griffon with tubes sticking out of his body and Black Shield's tail pumping blood out of him.

Her body disagreed.

Bubbles stopped when her collar clicked open and dropped on the ground. She, of course, heard Contradiction's insults. Her reason for trying so hard not to lose this time was different, though. It wasn't fun, it wasn't easy like all the times before. This time she needed to win, to outlast Connie, if only to show her that she didn't have to be so mad at them all the time. To show here that they messed up but can do better in the future.

And in the end she won. Tired and hurting, but won. Her back was bleeding from going through the crawling obstacles too fast, her hind legs were burning from jumping over too high obstacles over and over, her heart was beating like a machine gun, and her breathing was ragged. In her sad shape, she checked Astray first. As it turned out, Connie's threats were mostly just threats. Considering the reactions, Bubbles was worried her friends were seriously hurt, but now that she examined the unconscious satyr she couldn't see any significant burn marks. There were dark smoldering trails on the skin in places, but it seemed to her that the collars were supposed to cause immense pain, not physical harm.

When she ascertained that Anvil was passed out but breathing evenly and without blood coming from her mouth like Astray had, she walked over to Connie and sat down by her side. She nudged the limp unicorn with her muzzle without any effect. She knew what the real problem was, or who. It had all begun with her not being able to think properly under the assault of smells that almost physically hurt her. She'd panicked and attacked the undead pegasus without thinking and knowing anything about him. That was what mister Cross taught them every time. Every little lesson was in some way focused on dealing with the unknown side of the enemies. She had completely forgotten it in the heat of the moment. She had disabled herself in the sewers, forced Anvil to go save her and do a battle roar in order to get the pegasus' attention, distracting sir Cromach. Miss Contradiction had slipped past her in the hospital using the simplest trick a foal could see through. Bubbles knew that all this, from the beginning to the end, was her fault.

"I'm sorry, miss Connie," she slung the unicorn over her back, carrying her off once again into the shade, "I'm really sorry. I wish you could just yell at me, leave the others alone, and feel better in the end, but I guess it's not that easy. I don't understand difficult things. I'm just... a dumb animal that can only play fetch. I got confused by a thrown vase, after all. I only hope you can get over this and feel better when sir Cromach is back here with us. Then you can be nice again and we can play all evening like we did when I first arrived."

She laid Connie down by the mansion wall still in the shade from a roof overhang.

"If you can give me one more chance, I'll be like Astray. I'll try harder and work my plot off. I just need time. You know that when I first got on the train to here I thought the ponies in Canterlot were mad at me and wanted to feed me to a big metal monster? The hissing steam wasn't helping at all," Bubbles licked Connie's nose, "Just have patience with us a little longer, miss, please. I promise I'll become at least a bit smarter in no time. I even read these books with pictures in them now."

Connie, of course, didn't answer. Bubbles stood up, sighed, and went back to the course so she could bring the others here.