Another Life

by Ironwolves21

Chapter Seven and a Half

Riot cantered over to the window, pulling the curtain over slightly. “Who are they?” He squinted, seeing a large group of angry ponies led by an enraged yellow pegasus. He shook his head slowly. “Celestia, can’t I get a single fuckin break in this dingy little backwater!?”

“Rainbow Dash is the carrier of the element of Loyalty. Applejack is the carrier for Honesty” Spike said flatly, looking out at the mares rallying the crowd of thirty or so ponies.

The large stallion banged his head against the wall. “Not only is there a mob, but they have the elements of Harmony.” The stallion swore quietly under his breath. “I don’t suppose there’s a back door huh?” He looked at the reeling Twilight, who seemed to ignore him.

Twilight trotted over to the stairs, climbing them quickly, and looking out the back window. “Doesn’t matter....We’re kind of surrounded.”

“I don’t suppose you can do anything huh?” He watched as two familiar ponies trotted up next to the mares. The first was that ‘Buck’ character he had run off earlier, and the second was his marefriend. Riot sighed heavily as he sat down on the floor; a heavy metal object poked him in the ribs, reminding him of its presence. “Guess this is it.”

Twilight looked out the window again. “We may be able to talk them down, we just need to get them inside and away from the crowd...” Her mane had sprung up, and the mare was showing serious signs of stress.

“Fly at it, looks like they’re pretty keen on coming in.” Riot spat on the ground before standing up; his horn flaring.

The purple pony opened the door. “Girls, please! You don’t need these ponies, let’s just talk!” She said, calling outside. There was an angry roar from the crowd, but Rainbow and Applejack redirected them. Buck stepped in front of them, and focused on Twilight.

“She’s not the enemy here, we won’t be angry at her! Yes, Twilight. We will come inside, but only if the ‘dog’ is leashed.”

Twilight blinked before nodding. The four broke off, heading towards the door.

Buck sneered at Twilight, giving her his best ‘I’ve won’ look. “He’d better not cause any trouble, because I can’t promise the crowd will stay like this for long.”

Fluttershy fluttered up next to Twilight, her head bowed. “I-I’m sorry Twilight, but that pony in there is a bad pony, but we want things to be peaceful.”

Twilight balked, then nodded slowly. “A-alright Fluttershy...”

Back in the library, Riot was pacing back and forth in the main room. Spike was up on the stairs, not sure what to make of the situation. “Why’d that stallion call you a dog Mr. Venture?”

He snorted hotly. “Devildog, slang for a soldier. Otherwise derogatory in use, means I’m an animal to be loosed on something bad when somepony doesn’t want to get their hooves dirty.” He stopped his pacing and stood firm as the door swung open, the five trotting in.

Buck took one look at Riot, before turning to Fluttershy. “Make him sit.”

Fluttershy nodded with a bit of uncertainty, before taking a step back. She glared at Riot with an intensity unlike any he’d ever felt before .”Sit.” She said, looking at him, eyes seeming to grow huger, like two aqua pools that he was drowning in.

He’d been stared down at by drill sergeants and roaring charges. He wasn’t going anywhere. “No.”

Some of the ponies eyebrows raised, and Fluttershy pulled back, looking at Buck with uncertainty. He simply shook his head “We have to do this the hard way? We’ll do this the hard way. Again Flutts” The normally-timid butter yellow pegasus’s eyes became deep wells of pure oppression. Riot could feel his strength sapping away, like he was thrown into a frozen lake. His legs buckled under the assault of her stare, wobbling slightly. “Now, what did I say? Sit.” Fluttershy commanded.

Twilight put her hooves up. “S-stop it, Fluttershy! You’re hurting him!”

Riot sat down, but not entirely. His entire body tensed up like an animal on the hunt. At the first sign of weakness he would pounce. Riots eyes became lakes of burning hatred towards the mare. It was like Kai-Fong all over again, with the Hyenas cackling at him as they chained him to the thick forest trees and beat him with bamboo rods, before throwing him into the pit. He HATED those dogs. He had slaughtered them, down to the last pup. He had pulled their tongues out through their throats; crushed their skulls with rocks and strangled them with barbed wire.

You’ll slaughter these ones just the same.

Fluttershy knew animals, she knew a predatory posture when she saw it. Her eyes narrowed, but didn’t seem to shrink at all, the gaze even focusing. She was sorry for what she had to do to this pony, but after Buck had told her what had happened, she couldn’t sit idle any more.

“Now, sit properly.” Buck growled, taking an angry step towards the soldier.

“I’ll sit when I’m dead.” Riot glowered at her with every ounce of anger and frustration in his body. His haunches flattened against the wood paneling, despite his words. Fluttershy’s friends were bickering near the table, but they would reach him eventually. Fluttershy could see the pain she was causing the stallion, but it had to be worth it? Right?

“He attacked mah brother! And the pair of us! He can’t be trusted!” The orange mare shouted, turning on the purple unicorn.

“Yeah! Why are you defending a murderer anyway!?” Rainbow Dash floated above everypony else, but her posture was the same.

Twilight gapped at their words. “You were both drunk! He stopped you from hurting each other and destroying your friendship!” She looked up at the pegasus. “And how could you say that Rainbow? You don’t even know him! He’s not a murderer!”

Riot would have been quite happy that somepony he barely knew was trying to defend him; against her friends no less. Unfortunately his thoughts were on the heavy pistol that was tucked comfortably at the side of his chest. For the longest time, he didn’t know why he felt compelled to bring it with him, but now he had a damn good reason to thank his gut.

“Rainbow, AJ, if you would please wait outside?” Buck asked with a voice filled with saccharin hatred.

“Hold on one ponypicking minu-!”

“We’re not going anyw-!”

“Girls, please just go.” Fluttershy said, turning her head towards the two mares as she begged them mentally to leave without a fight. “You two need to keep the ponies outside calm.”

The two other ponies grumbled, but eventually agreed and left; the door clicking shut behind them.

“Alright, now that we won’t be interrupted, please, Twilight, have a seat.” Buck said calmly, motioning to her left.

The purple mare nodded slowly, taking a seat by the small table in the center of the room. “Listen Buck, I don’t know why you’re doing this, or why you’ve dragged my friends into this, but you need to stop! This is insanity!”

“When I found out that a dog of the military was living in my town, I was angry enough, but when watched him assault two ponies, both my friends, it set me off.” His gaze wandered over to the floored Riot. The stallion smiled as he watched Fluttershy obey his order, keeping the pony rooted down.

Riot scowled at him, despite the massive amount of willpower it took to even turn his eyes that way.. “I’ve given up everything to keep ponies like you safe, and this is how you thank me...” He grunted in pain as his attention was firmly swallowed by Fluttershy yet again.

Buck matched his glare with one of his own. “That’s how it begins.....I saw it in your eyes when you attacked me in the store, then the same as I do now. That sharpened edge of reflexes, that killer instinct barely held back by a fraying grip on sanity. I’ve seen it before, and I know you’re nothing better than a wild animal who needs to be put down.”

Fluttershy gasped quietly, her eyes flicking to Buck. “How can you say that?”

Riot held back the urge to deck the self-righteous little shit right then and there. Unfortunately, he wasn’t exactly wrong. “You think I’m not trying to deal with it right now!?”

“I do believe you are trying, but what if you fail? Ponies die. That’s what happens if you fail. And even if you succeed, who’s to say that something or somepony won’t set you off again? There is no winning here, Dog.” The last word was uttered as if it were something disgusting to be gotten out of his mouth.

Twilight stepped between Fluttershy and Riot, effectively breaking the stare without even realizing it. “That’s it! I won’t have a witch hunt in my home!” She planted her hooves on the pegasus’ chest. “This isn’t the Fluttershy I’m friends with! Please think about this!”

The mare looked to Twilight for once, as if only now noticing her existence. Her gaze softened considerably, closer to her old self. “Twilight, I’m protecting ponies, I’m sorry!.”

Buck simply spat, his ire falling on the pair. “You don’t know what he’s capable of! Flutts, stop listening to this dumb bitch and keep that bastard down!”

Riot focused on his holster while the mares were distracted; his pistol safety silently clicking off as the holsters button popped open. He leveled a look of pure disgust at Buck “And I suppose you’re some stuck up ‘free the trees’ type who thinks anypony who tries to be better deserves a bullet in the gut huh? I’ve never even met you for fucks sake!”

His anger flared,and his hoof struck across Riots face, registering a gasp from the mares. “You?! Trying to be better?! By killing ponies!?”

“You arrogant little spoon fed shit! I’ve sacrificed everything for ponies like you! I LOST MY BESTFRIEND BECAUSE OF PONIES LIKE YOU!!!” He was roaring at the top of his lungs; his frustration had come to a breaking point.

This is it. There’s no turning back from this point. You gotta make your choice.

Buck pulled his knife out, probably intending to threaten Riot with it, but Riot was already in action. His pistol whipped out of his holster, and the barrel came to a stop next to Bucks ear.

BLAM

The concussion of the shot burst the stallions ear drum in an instant. He jerked to the side involuntarily, giving Riot just enough room to slam the butt of the pistol down on Bucks head. The stallion hit the floor, just as Twilight and Fluttershy were reacting to the gunshot. Riots horn lit up, and a magical flashbang went off immediately, blinding the pair before they could act.

In an instant, Riot was on his hooves, and bounding towards the door. He came to a stop, seeing the group gathered outside.

The angry mob outside had becoming agitated at the gunshot, and were now advancing on the treehome. Riots angry expression became tainted by fear. Fear of killing innocent, misguided ponies. The same ponies he had sworn to protect. His pistol floated into his mouth, allowing him to use the weapon while he fended off ponies with his horn.

Twilight shook, barely able to speak or see. “W-what d-did you do?” She asked, looking down at the weeping Fluttershy, who had her wings curled around herself, shaking like a leaf.

He looked at the mare as she spoke. “I did my job, I did what Princess Celestia asked of me.” He steadied the pistol, before closing his eyes for a moment.. “Looks like the Princess was wrong.”

“W-what a-are you doing!? I swear to C-Celestia, if you plan on hurting those ponies....” Her horn glowed dangerously, eyes showing tinges of bright white light. She still couldn’t see him.

“I just want to go home...” He started trotting towards the door. He stopped in front of the thing and he took a deep breath. “I guess this is it...”

“No! Stop! I can get us both out of here without anypony getting hurt.” She said, her expression dropping it’s anger.

“You’re not my ally. They’re your friends, and I’m just a murderer you met last week at some dingy club. You’re not going to take me somewhere safe, don’t even begin to pretend that you will.” His hoof rested on the door handle. He could feel a pair of eyes on him from the stairs, though he couldn’t find any words for the small dragon.

Spike was still cowering at the top of the stairs, and waved a claw at Riot weakly as he left.

Riot burst through the door, his shield going to full strength as a cyan rocket bounced off it. A well placed telekinetic burst and a flashbang punched a non-lethal hole through the side of the crowd and bought him some time. Riot broke into a gallop across the street and into the town proper. His vision wavered, and he wasn’t in ponyville anymore.

His hooves dug into the wet ground of the Kai-Fong jungle, the paws of his captors weren’t far behind. He could hear them panting and cursing as they chased him through the dense terrain.

“Git that murderer!”

He doubled his pacing, he may not have any back-up, but he was hardly alone. Riots heart was calmed by the taste of polymer and steel in his mouth. It’s weight assured him that he would go down fighting and killing.

Riot pounded through the jungle, his own breathing laboured, his wounds searing his entire body as malnutrition fought his every move. Just vision flickered for a moment, and a small equestrian home appeared some twenty meters away. A set of keys came out in his magic, and flew towards the door. Riot dove through the door; slamming it as he entered, the deadbolt falling.

He looked around, the house becoming familiar for some reason. He felt like he had been there before. It felt like he had something here. He pulled off from the door, and quickly slammed a couch up against it for good measure. As the mob reached the small home, he was already in the workshop. Nopony else was in the house, probably for good reason.

He easily found the gun safe. The ring of keys floated up in his magic, and the safe door swung open. Inside sat a number of deadly weapons that he had used before. Each one had killed.

There was a pounding at the door as the enemy tried to force its way in. He had to move quickly before they just burned the house down around him. His eyes fell on the StA-52, a relic from the past; a undeniably dangerous one at that. He’d had to smuggle it out from the captured gear locker, which was under the commanders watchful eye. The fruits of his labour had come round in the shape of a fifty round 30-06 bullpup drum mag and cold stamped steel that could easily crack bones.

A window smashed in the front room, and the door was bucked in. Riot silently cursed, and brought his rifle to bear.

A cyan hyena stomped into the hall, and locked eyes with him. Her eyes went wide as she found herself staring down the barrel of an assault rifle. She screamed something intelligible to him, before barely leaping out of the way of a two round burst. Riot turned his head, finding a small back door in the workshop. He said a quick prayer to whomever was watching, and charged it down.

The sunlight blinded him for a moment, but thankfully he was free of the claustrophobic halls. A yell rang out, and the mob circled around the building. Riot swore, finding his escape routes cut off. The yard of the house was penned in by other houses, and a long drop into a fast moving stream. He turned his attention back to the mob, which had encircled him, but was keeping their distance.

Riot yelled incoherently at them, but they didn’t falter.

In a moment, the mob of hyena guards turned into angry ponies. Ponies he’d given everything for. His rifle barrel shook, and he lowered it for a moment.

In his revelation and return to Equestria, he hadn’t seen the cyan mare take to the sky, nor did he see her coming down. Rainbow Dash slammed into his side, lifting the heavy stallion off his hooves. He hit the ground and rolled, attempting to find his attacker. Before he could, a steady pair of hooves bucked his other side, sending him down again; feeling as if a train had just broken four of his ribs. Riots eyes went wide, and he sputtered blood onto the grass. Rainbow lighted next to him, her hoof striking the side of his face; before the rest of the mob charged. His weapons were wrenched away from his grasp, and Riot swiftly found himself at the bottom of a vicious beating.

Feels like home.

He yelled out in pain as somepony bucked his chest again, but as swiftly as the kicks and punches and jabs started, they stopped. A few ponies spat on him as somepony else said something. The crowd parted, just as Riot forced himself to his knees. Looking up, he saw Buck handling his officers sidearm. The stallion smiled, but didn’t fire.

“BUCK!” Somepony yelled, grabbing his attention. The stallion turned his head away from Riot.

Pulling the weapon from his mouth, he addressed the butter yellow pegasus who has landed near him. “What the fuck do you want Flutts!?”

The mare pulled back at the sight of the weapon, but pressed back in. “You will stop this instant! You’ve gone too far!” She wiped tears from her eyes and approached him. “Just stop!”

The stallion nickered, before pointing the weapon at Riot. “We’ve got him! I just need to finish this and we’ll be safe!”

Fluttershy shook her head in horror. “Finish him!?” She screeched in anger. “If you don’t drop that thing right now, we’re over!” She stomped her hoof, driving the point home.

“Like I give a shit you dumb bitch!” Buck pushed her away, and bit down on the pistol. “Hwe’ll ‘ave hwat hwee hwant!”

A fiery flash erupted at the edge of his vision, and Buck yelled in surprise. His tongue hit the trigger, and the pistol barked to life. A large circle of magic appeared for an instant, before flashing again, blinding anypony who was looking, which was everypony. Celestia herself stood at it’s center, lightning playing up and down her wings, and across her horn.

The mob stopped dead in its tracks as their deity stood between them and their supposed enemy. Riot looked at the glowing white alicorn, his features broken and bloody. He forced himself up, and Buck fell back; the pistol forgotten as he backpedaled as fast as his legs could carry him.

“ CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE!” Her voice boomed, the full power of the royal Canterlot voice sending some of the ponies before her back a few steps. “ RETURN TO YOUR HOMES, LEST YOU SEE THE FULL POWER OF THE SUN!” Her eyes were quite literally burning. Like Twilight’s white glow, Celestia’s was of a hot sun-like fire. The ponies in the mob squeaked in fear, running down the streets, trying to escape the angered alicorn. All except for the elements of harmony and a frozen Buck.

The flamed left Celestia’s eyes, but her wings were still flared protectively. “How dare you try to hurt this pony!” She yelled, all guise of motherly scolding from previous encounters gone. “You are the elements of harmony, yet you prey on an innocent pony who has done no wrong other than be mutilated for you!”

Everyponies eyes fell in shame as they realized the foolishness of their actions. Celestia snorted hotly, calming herself. “This pony holds no ill will towards your town, and goes with my blessing. Any action taken towards him will bring the might of the equestrian law system upon yourself.”

Bucks demeanor grew desperate. “But Princess Celestia! He’s a murderer!”

“So were you, almost.” She said, looking down on the brown stallion.

Bucks eyes fell to his hooves in defeat. Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked at each other nervously, guilt filling their eyes. Dash looked at the bloody buck, still standing to attention behind Celestia. She cringed as she looked at the injuries she had inflicted on him.

“Now, Ashfall, if you could come before me, it would do me great pleasure to heal you.” Celestia said, bowing her head slightly.

Riots salute fell, but he didn’t answer her. His bloodshot eyes stared past her, past the ponies in front of her, and into the distance. He wasn’t there anymore. A choked cough escaped his lips, along with a fat glob of blood. He clutched at the tingling spot in his chest.

“Ashfall, did you not hear me?” Celestia asked, looking behind her at the stallion.

It felt like everything was slowing down, like the parade ground in front of him wasn’t there. Sergeant Venture gave his head a quick shake. He was probably just tired from last night, he and his squad mates had been out all night celebrating their graduation from bootcamp. Iron was lucky, he had shown exceptional ability and promise during training and the incident before, thus earning himself Lance Corporal right out of Boot.

Something didn’t feel right. It felt like he was swimming, more likely that his lungs were swimming...Everything hurt. The General’s trotting closer, better straighten up.

Back in ponyville, Celestia’s eyes widened as she saw the dark viscous liquid leaking past his hoof as he clutched his chest. She turned, and her horn glowed. A wash of warm golden light coated the stallion, quickly seeping into him. He drew breath again, her magic mending his punctured lung, and coaxing the ribs back into place. His breathing was still shallow, and it sounded like he was breathing through a cup of water. The sun princess closed her eyes in sadness. Her spell couldn’t drain the blood in his lung, and she had no spell that could suck the blood out of a pony. She didn’t even know about the hunk of lead that she had sealed inside his lung yet.

Riot swayed slightly, then fell flat onto the ground. Somepony cried out, running towards him. It felt like the he was surrounded.

Riot stood in the parade ground as the General stopped in front of him. The lemon buck smiled at him eagerly. “Well hey there Riot, what’re you doing here?”

He blinked, relaxing his posture. The rest of the recruits were gone, as was the parade ground. He sat in a nice club, but the General had disappeared as well. Mumbles was standing at the edge of the booth, smiling broadly as he usually did.

Mumbles crossed his legs as he sat down, then leaned onto the booths back. “Boy-o-boy, I’ve got so much to share with you!” He hugged the grey unicorn, then sat back down. “But before I start rambling, how have you been?”

“I think I got shot.”

The pony across from him shook his head before laughing. “Come on Cap’, that can’t be it.”

Riot shrugged slowly. “It’s been difficult. Everypony hates me, or wishes that I’d just go away.”

Mumbles inhaled, and then breathed out slowly. “That’s not true, if that were true then you’d have been killed by the angry mob outside of the library, or they would have crushed your skull while you were on the ground.”

“Yeah, but the only ponies who could make a difference actually hate me. Celestia, Aura left me. Vinyl all but kicked me out because I lied to her. The Elements...The Elements of mother fucking Harmony actually set out to either kill me or run me out of town.” He rubbed his eyes with his hooves. “I messed up man, I fucked up everything. You should have lived, Skyrunner should have shot me...I deserved that whole burst.”

The yellow pony closed his eyes, shaking his head. “No, Riot......That’s just how things go, you can’t dwell on the past. Look to the future, and live!” He said, throwing his hooves into the air happily.

”Riiiiiiight.”

The voice caused Mumbles to freeze. Riot looked up to see... Something. Something he had wished he would never see again. “Shiv.” Mumbles nearly spat out the name.

Shiv sat down next to Mumbles, wrapping a bloody hoof around the obviously scared stallion. “Come on Mumbly! Try and look happy to see me!” The near-stallion chuckled, before lifting a hoof. “Now, fuck off.” He gave Mumbles a push, and within a moment the stallion was gone.

Riot looked at Shiv, but he couldn’t help but notice the differences between them,. Shiv was a direct copy of himself, for reasons Riot didn’t know. However, Shiv was more cut, his muscles looking like piles of coiled ripcord. Shiv was spattered in blood, and his disturbing mask sat over his features. It felt wrong just looking at the bastard.

Said stallion laughed. “Yeah, I figured you’d think that.” He relaxed into the booth. “Not even a hello? I’m hurt, really. You’d think that after all the time we’ve spent together, you’d at least acknowledge me.”

Leaning back himself, Riot spoke. “I don’t want to talk Shiv. You’ve been causing trouble in my head. Making me see things. Think things..”

Shiv chuckled as he pulled a small flask from his combat webbing. “Watch your tone welp.” He leaned forward, the mask ever smiling with its jagged teeth and fangs. “I’ve been stuck in there for years, watching, helping, and learning from you. I’ve shaped you into what you are now.” The stallion leaned back, taking a deep drink from the flask through the mask.

The entire situation set Riot on edge. It was all too surreal. He had to get out.

“Oh you aren’t leaving that easy.” Shiv looked up him with his cold white eyes before sliding a glass to him. “Go on, have a drink. You know what it is.” The glass came to a stop just at the edge of his hoof, the liquid inside tempting him forward. The masked stallion across from him rolled his hoof. “Come on, drink.”

Riot stared at the glass, the desire welling up inside him to just have that one drink. He only needed one drink. Hell, he used to live off brennevin and cigarettes, so one drink really wouldn’t hurt. His hoof wrapped around the glass, but he couldn’t lift it.

“No.”

Shiv looked up in an instant, mirth filling his voice. “What?”

Riot shook his head before pushing the glass away. “No. I don’t need this shit anymore. I don’t need it.”

“You weak piece of shit!” The masked stallion across from Riot leapt to his hooves, throwing the table away with the flick of his hooves. “I PROTECTED YOU! I HELPED YOU WHEN YOUR MA BEAT YOU SO BAD YOU COULDN’T WALK! I KEPT YOU ALIVE WHEN THE KORSKI TRAIN DERAILED! I MADE YOU!” The stallion pointed a sharp hoof at him. “You can’t deny me anymore Ashfall. I’m you. I’m better than you. In every. Way. Possible.”

Riot snarled at the masked stallion. “Our Deal was a mistake. A mistake I made a long time ago. You’re nothing but a voice in my head. You ain’t shit.” Riot turned his back on the stallion, and to his surprise, nothing happened. He was alone. Riot looked about, seeing nothing but an empty bar.

You’re never happy with yourself, are you Ashfall?

His head popped up. That wasn’t Shiv’s poisonous voice. “Who's there?”

Always be a murderer to me.

Riot growled angrily. “Show yourself.”

Shiv appeared as he turned his head. “Sorry, had to pop out for a few. Some ponies to take care of.”

Riot frowned darkly. “What did you do?”

“You don’t get it, do you? You were always slow. I made up for that.” Shiv pulled out a razor sharp bayonet. “What’s wrong, Ashfall? Can’t face the truth?”

“Shut the fuck up.” Riot turned to face the now laughing stallion. “The fuck is so damn funny?”

“Oh nothin, just happy I finally got rid of that bitch ex of ours!” The stallion ran a blood smeared hoof down his cheek, staining the fur. “That fine little DJ was fun to hunt too. Pinned her down and made her regret living.” He chuckled happily at the thought. “I fuckin loved the noise she made when I-”

Riot stood, facing his doppelganger. “Shut. The. Fuck. UP!” He booted over the table that stood between them, then tackled the still laughing stallion.

Shiv only laughed harder, and threw the enraged pony off of himself like he was nothing. It was clutching its sides with laughter as Riot peeled himself from the floor. “You know, Mumbles always did say we didn’t smile enough, you and I! So, I’m going to change that!” Shiv narrowed his gaze at Riot. “I’ll make you smile as you cut them down.”

Riot looked around, only finding a couple things that could even remotely help him. “I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!” He charged the stallion, tackling him off his hooves. The pair hit the ground and rolled; soon becoming a twisted knot of anger and maniacal laughter.

Masked Riot shoved back against him, slamming the grey stallion into the bar, laughing to himself as he did. “Come on, you can do better than that! I know you can! TRY AND KILL ME YOU WEAK PIECE OF SHIT!!”

Riots hooves wrapped around a shard of glass that came from the broken mug. Riot lunged at the stallion again, and managed to force the doppelganger to the ground. The glass shard dug into the stallions flesh from the impact. Riot forced the monster in his head flat onto the ground, the glass shard moving up and down in a feverous motion. The masked stallion twisted, snapping the improvised shiv. A hard hoof slammed against Riots chin, sending him off. The stallions horn lit up, and Riot found himself airborne for a full two seconds, before he smashed into a table hard enough to cause the strong wood to buckle under his weight.

Laughing, the pony approached him, his knife coming back up. “You’re fuckin’ pathetic. No wonder Pa left you. It’s no wonder why Ma took it out on you either! You’re a waste! A perfectly good waste of potential, you could do great things! You could kill so many!” Shiv snarled. “You’re a colossal waste of my time and energy.”

The knife lifted in the air, just as Riots horn flared. One of the tables snapped legs came up, the sharp broken wood puncturing the side of Shiv’s neck. The impact caused the knife to drop, and the masked pony fell to his knees gurgling. Forcing himself up, Riot placed a hoof on the table leg, then shoved it deeper in, ignoring the other ponies legs as they slapped weakly against him. With a twist, the leg came free, and Riot brought it down on the ponies skull. The stallion dropped, viscous black liquid leaking out from the massive wound in his neck. Riot roared his frustrations at the other stallion, before bringing the table leg back down, then up, then down, then up again.

Riot fell backwards, landing heavily on his haunches as his own throat filled with blood. He fell back; eyes flickering slightly before the light in them died out.
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