Pain
The normally calm and collected creature of the night suddenly had a tight knot in her stomach upon hearing that declaration as Bullseye flew out of room. Shroud quickly followed her to see that she was in the kitchen reaching for a large breadknife. She quickly threw a kunai and knocked the knife out of Bullseye’s hoof. “What the hell!?” Bullseye exclaimed.
“What are you doing!?” Shadow Shroud asked frantically. She leapt onto Bullseye before she could grab either knife on the floor.
Bullseye struggled against Shadow Shroud holding her down. “Hey! Get off of me, f***face!”
Shroud rolled her eyes in frustration. “Ugh…If this doesn’t set an example for Turf War…” she muttered to herself. “Ok, first of all, enough with the cussing. Second, listen to me for a moment!”
Bullseye head-butted her in the nose, causing Shroud to recoil back a little. She was anything but gentle. “Listen to what?”
Shroud held her nose as she glared at the berserk filly. “Let me talk, and you’ll hear.” She growled. “Do you think that this is something that won’t have consequences? Because let me tell you something: it will! And you’re gonna be the one who’ll have to live with them for the rest of your life!”
Bullseye creased a smile that was both demonic and amused as she giggled. “And what would you know? Have you ever killed somepony you hated before?”
“And you have prior? Well, please forgive my ignorance! Tell me all about it! What’s it like?” Shroud said. Bullseye went back to gritting her teeth in frustration once more. It was all the answer Shroud needed. “Thought so.” She took a small deep breath to calm herself. “You’re right about one thing though. I have indeed taken a life before.”
Bullseye seemed to calm down out of surprise upon Shroud telling her this. “Really now?”
Shroud nodded. “Yes, but it wasn’t without reason and a great deal of thought. If there was any way I could have been able to spare him, I would have taken that path, but there wasn’t…” She recalled the weight of the world burdening down on her heart when she made that fateful decision. “The pony I killed was doomed before I even encountered them as was Equestria, so I merely acted as the reaper. Had the circumstances been any different, I likely would’ve been able to be merciful, but the only mercy they could be granted was their final slumber.”
Bullseye giggled with that same smile returning to her face. “Huh…..You know what? I like you. You get things done.” She hissed. “But how are my parents not deserving of being gutted!? Do you know how much agony they’ve put me through ever since I shot my first arrow!?”
“And kudos to you for maintaining a strong will even if it’s displaced.” Shroud said. “But spilling their blood as mere punishment would be selfish despite their unforgivable transgressions. The only pony they’ve ever hurt was you, nopony else. The pony I slew threatened the entire realm, and they were mentally insane. Death was the only mercy they could be granted. If you’re not around for them to abuse, they’re powerless; think about it. Wouldn’t feeling helpless to do anything be a worse fate than death? Besides, I have a method of exposing them for who they are. They’ll be thoroughly dealt with, I assure you.”
Bullseye’s glare intensified as Shroud finished her speech. “Selfish?.....SELFISH!?” She lifted up mane again to reveal her injured eye. “How is THIS not selfish of them!?” she let her mane back down. “Ever heard the saying ‘fight fire with fire’? I’M GONNA MAUL THEM INTO PILES OF FLESH WITH THEIR OWN SELFISHNESS THROWN RIGHT BACK INTO THEIR F****** DIPS*** FACES!!”
“Adding heat to heat only makes things hotter, Bullseye. Oftentimes, too hot. Do you really want to become just like if not worse than your parents?” Shroud asked.
That seemed to hit home. Bullseye face held an expression that was distorted with both anger and guilt. Shroud couldn’t tell which was more prominent, but either way, she could tell that she’d convinced Bullseye to stay her hoof however reluctantly. She fully understood how strong feelings of anger and hate could cloud one’s judgment, but it looked Bullseye needed to learn to resist its effects. “Fine…” Bullseye growled. She got up as Shroud eased up. “Let me get my saddlebags, and I’ll pack some water and stuff.”
Shroud nodded. “Do you have arrows to go with that bow of yours?”
“Not personally, but I bet my parents have some stashed away from me from back when they were the talk of the town.” Bullseye said.
“Fair enough. I’ve got a couple of friends who’d be able to make some more for you if needed, I’m keeping my eye on you while you’re in there.” Shroud warned.
Bullseye rolled her eye. “Yeah, yeah. I know.” Bullseye packed a water bottle, some protein bars and fruit from the kitchen before making her way to her parents’ room where they were still fast asleep. True to her word, she left them untouched, and she rummaged through their closet. Sure enough, there was a quiver just big enough for her full of high-grade arrows. Shroud had to stop her from getting tempted when she noticed Bullseye giving her helpless parents a predatory glare, but there were no hiccups beyond that.
“All set?” Shroud asked.
Bullseye huffed. “Yeah. I shoulda ditched this hellhole years ago.”
With that, Shadow Shroud led Bullseye safely out through the window and into the White Tail Woods. It wasn’t the easiest trip Shroud had ever made considering Bullseye wasn’t one for very friendly conversation, but one little question lingered in her mind. “Where did you get that bow anyway? I’m surprised that your parents didn’t try to take it from you.”
“I kept it hidden under my mattress. It’s…..my most prized possession.” Bullseye said. Her tone was suddenly a little solemn. “When I was little and my parents actually loved me, they bought me this bow to practice and compete with. I’d always love to see them compete myself. Archery had forever been engraved into my being, but….”
“You won your first competition with unexpected talent, and that’s when they started becoming envious?” Shroud inquired.
Bullseye nodded. “Yeah…”
“Color me surprised that you didn’t dispose of it out of resent.” Shroud said.
“Pfft. Of course not. Archery is my life! Besides, I keep this bow to remind myself of what they can never be- me.” Bullseye hissed.
Shroud sighed. “Bless your soul….” She muttered to herself.
*****
“So Greensprout, what did you do for fun back in Gardenia?” Spiral Galaxy asked.
“Nothing particularly unique. Whenever I was not in meditation class, I’d run around the fields and chase butterflies, and if I ever saw an ailing plant, I’d tend to it with utmost care. Oh, the flower fields are just so beautiful and joyful that I’d often lose track of time and be late for other stuff!” Greensprout giggled. “Abbot Meadow would scold me every time. <sigh> It was wonderful.”
Spiral giggled. “It sure sounds like it.”
“It was quite brave of you to leave the nest as you did, darling. Your assistance will indeed be incredibly valuable.” Quantum Tech said.
“I’m more than happy to help. You’ve all been through so much, and I can’t stand to see a broken soul.” Greensprout said. “I just hope that Shadow Shroud will be able to safely rescue Bullseye.”
“Don’t worry, Greensprout. She always comes through.” Spiral said. It was then that everypony heard bushes rustling besides them. “See?”
To nopony’s surprise, it was indeed Shadow Shroud accompanied by Bullseye. They all welcomed her back before turning their attention to the young archer. “Hi! You’re Bullseye, right? I’m Fire Fight. Are you alright? Shroud told us that you’ve…..been through a lot.” Fire Fight said.
As everypony’s eyes were on Bullseye, Shadow Shroud looked into the shadows of the trees. A pair of eyes owned by a dark silhouette holding a black diamond gazed back at her. She and the figure nodded at one another before it disappeared into the night.
“Tch. Yeah…” Bullseye muttered.
The foals were slightly off put by her coldness, but it was to be expected if Greensprout’s explanation of her was any indication. Crazylocks suddenly popped up in front of her. “NEW FRIEND! NEW FUN! NEW HAPPY! HUUUUUUUG TIIIIIIIME!!” She wrapped her hooves around Bullseye and started moving her body in such a way that it looked like she was trying to dance with her while cackling.
“Huh!? HEY, B****!!” Bullseye shoved Crazylocks off her with such force that she essentially punched her away.
Crazylocks landed on her tail and started bouncing on it as though it were a spring. She then sprouted her wings and started fluttering about. “I’m a happy missile! WHEEEEE!!!”
Bullseye was understandably befuddled by the whole spectacle and eyed Crazylocks with both confusion and anger. “What the f*** is the deal with that freak?”
“Yo! Easy wit dat language d’ho, homegirl. We don’t gotta be spitting whack stuff ‘round he’e.” Turf War said.
Bullseye raised her eyebrow at him. “Umm…..English?”
“What Turf War means to ask is for you to please watch your language. It’s bad enough that he has a swearing problem.” Quantum Tech said.
Turf War sighed. “You ain’t lyin’…”
Kickback removed his hat as per his manners. “Ah’m awful sorry for her, Ms. Bullseye. Ms. Crazylocks is bit of a…..special case.” He said. “Mah name is Kickback by the way, an’ these are mah two partners, Sound n’ Fury.”
Bullseye took a look at his guns, and then looked at him with a smug face. “Are those supposed to be some kind of pea shooters or something?” she sneered.
Kickback lost his smile and put his hat back on. “Now Ah don’t reckon that these two are ‘pea shooters’, Ms. Bullseye. Once you see ‘em in action, Ah think you’ll know what Ah mean.”
“Tch. Whatever. They’re pea shooters until then.” Bullseye hissed. Kickback found himself giving her the stink eye.
Zebota and Shrapnel then appeared out of the brush. They had gone to gather some herbs while Shroud was gone. “Forgive us, ponyfolk. There were not as many herbs as we-”
“HOLY S***!” Bullseye exclaimed. She quickly drew her bow and fired an arrow at Shrapnel. It would have hit him right in the eye had Spiral not caught it with her magic.
“Hey! Stop! It’s ok. That’s just Shrapnel. He’s Zebota’s pet timberwolf.” Spiral said.
Bullseye looked back and forth between the zebra and his ‘pet’ in shock. “Wh-What!? Are you s******* me?”
“I’m sorry, Bullseye. Totally forgot to warn you. I guess I’ve gotten used to the big guy already.” Shroud said. Shrapnel grunted.
“But know that he is not my pet, but my friend. It is a pleasure to meet you, Bullseye.” Zebota said.
Bullseye looked like she was on the verge of laughing her head off. “A timberwolf…..for a friend? You’re seriously that lonely? Wow! That is pathetic beyond belief!”
Shrapnel growled ferociously upon hearing that, but Zebota held him back with his brooch. “No, my friend.” Shrapnel eased up, but continued to glare at Bullseye. Zebota looked at Bullseye. “You think it is pathetic? Why?”
“Why? Seriously? You don’t any other zebra friends to turn to? Not even your parents?” Bullseye asked.
“No…..My parents have left this world….” Zebota muttered.
Bullseye lost her amusement upon hearing that. “Oh….Well, lucky you.”
“What was that!?” Zebota exclaimed, but Shrapnel held him back with his claw.
“You get to roam free with your mutt while I was stuck back home with those a**holes who called themselves my f****** parents, and I didn’t get to tear them to shreds like they deserved !!” Bullseye exclaimed.
“Hey! Easy, Bullseye. I know you’ve had it rough, but there’s no reason to vent it on us.” Fire Fight said firmly.
Bullseye eyed him. “Hmph! And what do you know about me!? Why did all of you f***nuts even run away, huh!?” Fire Fight explained pretty much everything he did to every new foal up to this point. He was used to it by now. The other foals explained their histories as well. Once they were finished, Bullseye wasn’t any more amused. “Tch! So you’re all just f****** pathetic little wimps!”
“Da f*** you just say, b****?” Turf War said as he drew his hammer.
“Turf War.” Greensprout said. Turf War sheathed his hammer in response.
“What do you mean we’re wimps?” Fire Fight calmly asked.
“You all felt pain like me, but didn’t do jack s*** about it except run away like little b****** with your tails between your legs! You all have the ability to make them suffer, make them scream for dear mercy under your hooves, but you just had to a bunch of goodie-four shoes and let them go unpunished! Why didn’t you stay and fight them!? If I were you guys, I would’ve slit every throat, gouged every eye, and ripped out every f****** heart of every last one of those f******! They deserve all the pain they put you through and then some!!” Bullseye ranted. She punched the ground as she finished.
The Battle Foals were appalled by just what a violent filly Bullseye was. Years of abuse had done this to her, and it was nothing short of heartbreaking. Greensprout found herself wanting to cry. “Bullseye…..how could you say that?” she said. “How could you be so hateful?”
Bullseye glared at her, prompting Air Slash to get in front of Greensprout in case Bullseye got violent with her. “Tell me……have any of you ever felt so much pain that….it started to feel good?” Bullseye asked. They were all already shocked. “Didn’t you once ever relish in your agony? Did it feel so good, that the sight of somepony else being hurt was pleasant? Especially if it was the ones who hurt you? And at your own hooves no less!?” Bullseye was smiling more and more devilishly as she ranted. “Come on! Don’t tell me that there wasn’t at least one instance where you wanted to make somepony beg for their life for hurting you!”
The Battle Foals were at a loss as to how to respond to her. Fire Fight promised that he would help every lost cause that he came across, but Bullseye might have been an even greater challenge than Crazylocks. “…You’ve lost your mind…” Zebota mumbled.
Greensprout then stepped up. “Actually Bullseye, I have…..and it was a horrible feeling that I never want to feel again.” She declared.
Bullseye looked at her. “Huh?” Greensprout explained her rampage when she discovered that the Fallen had slain her parents and how the Battle Foals had taught her what it truly meant to fight.
“We have all felt pain, Bullseye. That much is true, but we must not let it consume us.” Greensprout said.
“Indeed.” Air Slash said. “Pain may be cruel, but it can be an effective teacher if you pay close enough attention.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve learned plenty!” Bullseye growled as she showed her left eye. Everypony gasped to see the sheer extent of what she’d endured.
It was then that Greensprout creased a little smile. “Well, why don’t I make some of it go away? My Gaia Root here can-”
“I know. Shroud told me.” Bullseye cut her off. “And I refuse.”
Greensprout looked at her like she was crazy. “Wh-What!?”
“I need a reason to feel hate, to relish in pain, and what better way to do that than to bear a scar left by those you hate the most?” Bullseye growled.
Greensprout held up her Gaia Root and began charging it. “Sister, you must-”
Bullseye swatted the sacred root out of her hoof. “You touch me with that thing, and I’ll f****** kill you!”
Air Slash drew his swords and pointed them at Bullseye. “How dare you!!”
Greensprout gently tapped his shoulder. “Air Slash…” The look in her eyes softly told him to let, so he did while keeping an eye on Bullseye. She sighed. “Bullseye…..your spirit has been broken into so many pieces…..but…..know that I have the power and will to mend you. Please don’t hesitate to talk to me.”
“Pfft. Whatever.” Bullseye growled. It was gonna be a long and bumpy ride, but The Battle Foal’s newest recruit was gonna be their newest obstacle…
Stats
Page generated in 0.064 seconds
Total duration
915 users online
207,437 hits today, 2,314,256 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
You know things get serious when Turf War calls out someone else for swearing.
Whoa, looks like Bullseye is...really messed up. Like, she has some serious problems. Though, unlike everyone else they've recruited, they haven't interacted with her till now, so that explains why she treats them that way.
[Insert a bunch of error jokes here]
Missing something at the start here.
Despite the screaming here, you're missing a word. You're missing 'their'
I think you mean 'that they can never be me'. The 'of' is unnecessary.
Missing a 'was' here
Missing a 'her' here after 'had'
You mean 'may be cruel' Air Slash. Get it right man!
Technically, the 'one' here should be singular. There isn't a plural form of 'one'.
8064936 My proofreading is messed up too! Jeez! Thanks, dude. I got 'em.
8064947 No problem.
Holy shit!
It has been forever since I've felt so much HATE from a character.
I honestly don't know how to help this one.
8064936 You might want to start send pm to the arthor because I worry when new readers come in they we'll see this and worry about reading the story.
8065202 Hmmm...yeah, that's a good idea. But I rather see what the author prefers. Let's see if he replies later.
Boy, what a chapter. After reading that I worry how they'll cop with Bullize... I worry and would be interesting if she ended up creating a new group that follows her Philosophy that is against the Battle Foals stand for.
That creates a team villain for the series and can go on forever if you wanted to.
Well shit i think the battle foals found there first problem Member!
8065213 First? Didn't the zebra try to kill them before he joined? I still think that's worse in terms of problems.
Though I will admit, Bullseye is definitely going to be a bit of a problem compared to the others. Even Air Slash took a while to get along with everyone but this will be a whole new challenge.
Since they're traveling almost everywhere, I would expect a griffon, a yak, a Saddle Arabian pony (man if that happens you get my fave), a changeling, a Crystal pony etc.
8066458 Do you have any particular criticisms otherwise? Something you think I could do better?
8067289
Criticism? No, I'm not a critic. Just a simple reader traveling by. The story's flow is amazing. Each and every foal and filly you described could have his or her own backstory all by him/herself. What I like about the story is the variety and the fictional geography of Equestria. The multitude of places these characters could visit is infinite if we enlarge the Equestrian demographic to its maximum limits therefore the endless possibilities of recruitment making this fic non-ending. It is not me or anyone else who are commenting who decide when this fic ends, it's YOU.
So to answer the second question, broadening the demographic is what you could do best.
8067289
Add on to my comment: If you want me to bring you the endless possibilities of foal/fillies, feel free to tell me because I have plenty.
8068261 Thanks, man!
wow uhhh
talk about damaged goods
8065209
OMG that is such a good idea