Desires always have a price. And sometimes that price is too much. How much are you willing to sacrifice to get your greatest desire?
Not many ponies knew about King Sombra, and even fewer knew about his deeds. Even the Crystal Ponies as a whole had forgotten the terrible deeds of their tyrannical king. And those who know of his acts of cruelty know it only in the vaguest blur of knowledge. But only one knows his callousness in full detail: Elcia Ashford. Thief, murderer and marefriend. With a clear memory of Sombra's actions, righteous anger burns in her heart. She grits her teeth in rage. She's hungry for blood.
Hi! My name's Elcia Ashford. I'm a Crystal Pony living happily in the Crystal Empire! ... ... ... Is what I'd like to say. My life here in the Empire is going horribly. Ever since Sombra came to power, it's been nothing but Tartarus here. He's been working us to death down in the mines, thinking that the crystals will give him strength. And they will. With every crystal he absorbs, he grows stronger. His magic is unlike any other unicorn in history. He uses it to enslave ponies and make them work in the mines. Now, most ponies know him as a tyrant who rules with an iron hoof. But I still remember him for the stallion he once was. He used to be such a nice stallion. I would know. He was my coltfriend! But I'm getting off topic here. Point is, he's a real asshole and we all need him dead. I made peace with the fact that he isn't the stallion who used to go out with me, give me chocolates and cheer me up whenever I feel down anymore. He's nothing but a cold-hearted douche who can't even hold for two minutes in bed.
I've imagined many ways to kill him, all of them involving salmon for some reason. I must have been hungry at the time. Oh, and steak too. I fucking love steak. Why are you looking at me like that? Oh! It's because I'm a pony, right? Well, fuck you, I eat what I want. Anyway, back to the topic. Everyone wants him dead. But there's a small problem with that. With all the power he's gained, I can't hurt him with a normal weapon. It's like he has some sort of plot armor that protects him from any and every attack. Weird, right? But I've already got that covered.
I slowly poke my head out from the side of one of the empty, derelict houses to check for any Corrupted patrolling the area. What's that? You don't know what a Corrupted is? Well, there isn't much difference from them and normal ponies. The only differences are their unrelenting lust for the deaths of everypony around them, their green scleras and red irises. They also have small black crystals on some parts of their bodies, indicating how long they've been corrupted. They are also extremely vicious towards ponies. Especially their former loved ones. But that's a topic I don't really feel like sharing at the moment. Corrupted also have their physical attributes multiplied.
I look around and sure enough, I see a Corrupted walking around in the dead of night. It was a stallion with a grey coat and a blue mane. Black crystals jutted out from his jaw, forming a sort of beard. I knew that one. His name was Marc Volun. He was once a good-hearted carpenter who invited me and my coltfriend for a beer every now and then. Now, he's a bloodthirsty cannibal who feasts on the corpses of his former friends. I pull my head back and wait for him to pass. As soon as the telltale sounds of bloody hooves hitting the dirt pass, I poke my head back out and proceed towards the rendezvous point of my rebel friends. I walk through the streets silently, not wanting to attract attention to myself. I passed a large shop window and as soon as I got 10 feet away from it, I heard the sound of tearing flesh. Now, I know what you're thinking. 'It's dangerous! Don't go in there!' And you may be right. But I was always a curious pony. It's how I found out about the weapon that could kill Sombra.
I might have been curious, but that didn't mean I was stupid. I peeked into the ruined shop and my dinner seemed to like the idea of exiting through the entrance. Six foals were feasting on the corpse of what I assumed was the shop owner. His mangled body was very hard to identify, but I'm sure it was a guy. Two of the corrupted foals were feasting on his innards, intestines and blood spilling out of his body and onto the table that they used as a dissection tray. One of them was gorging itself of his brain, grey matter staining its already bloody mouth. The other three had taken themselves to tearing the stallion apart with their bare hooves. I quickly pulled my head back and continued on my way to the rendezvous, periodically covering my mouth to prevent myself from vomiting. No matter how many times I saw a scene like that, I always felt disgusted. Well, at least I kept some of my sanity.
I quickly dash behind one of the houses to avoid the watchful gaze of one of the corrupted sentries. Sombra's been tightening security ever since he found out about our little rebellion. It started out small, with a few small scale raids and courier assassination being our common practices. Then it began to grow, with general assassination and large scale sabotage being much more common. Of course, I was at the head of the most important missions. It always brought a tear to my eye whenever I watched an outpost burn or see one of his generals get roasted inside a brazen bull.
The sentry was perched on a wooden tower with holes in the sides so he could see. The tower was placed in the middle of the intersection, giving him a large line of sight. With a pretty huge field of vision, I couldn't exactly run straight past him unnoticed. I reach into the bag on my back and pull out a tranquilizer gun. This piece of machinery took me days to perfect. It was about the length of my foreleg and it was magazine fed, meaning I didn't have to chamber another dart to fire again. The poison took me even longer to formulate. I had to hunt down tons of Barions over the course of 7 months. Tricky bastards with their armor and hidden sleep sacs. I mounted a metal rail and placed a clear Hawk crystal on the top. The crystal allowed me to focus on distant targets. I took my aim and I slowly squeezed the trigger, only enough to chamber the dart. I held my breath for half a second and I fired, the dart silently puncturing his neck and injecting the tranquilizing solution. Before he could scream to alert the other Corrupted, he was already falling asleep. I look around and as soon as I see that there were no more guards, I move for the sewer entrance. I moved the lid and slipped inside unnoticed.
I dropped down into the sewer after closing the lid. I landed in the muck of the sewers and I felt my face scrunch up due to the horrible smell. "Ugh.... I still hate the fact that our headquarters is in the sewer..." I groan as I navigate through the winding maze of the sewers of the Crystal Empire. Despite the size of the place, it was fairly easy to find my way around. Back when we were just foals, me and my friend, James (Now Sombra), used to play around in here. We didn't mind the smell. All that mattered at the time was having fun. Before more of the memories of the life I used to live came back to haunt me, I found my way to our base.
I round the corner of the sewage pipe, and despite the horrible smell filling my nose, I smile at the sight. Two guards who I recognized as Mark and Vince stood outside a rusty metal door, equipped with weapons that I designed myself.
Many would describe me as straightforward and generally not smart at all. Those are the ponies who don't know me well. Only my closest friends know that I have a knack for making weapons. I wasn't good at making or working on things before Sombra came to power. I barely knew how to work an engine. But ever since he came to power, I worked on my weapon creation skills. Well, I wouldn't really call it "skill". A more appropriate term would be "sadistic creativity".
Most of my weapons focus on the brutal death of the target. A good example of this is my "Energy Saw". It's a spinning blade of magic that is made to tear the enemy apart. Another would be the "Force Charge Gun". It fires 1-4 magic charges into the target. These charges detonate and the sheer force causes the target to basically turn into a puddle of red paste. By far though, my favorite had to be my recently acquired weapon. I'll tell you more about it later.
The ponies at the entrance were armed with some of my more efficient weapons. They were carrying the G-43 rifle models. These rifles fired flechettes that splintered inside the target, ensuring the target's death. They were also fairly ammo efficient. They were semi-automatic and they had a 32-round capacity. Many have complained how the weapons looked. They looked like silver spines. The barrel and the body were very bone-like and it was elongated, much like a spine. But I don't think I'm gonna change how it looks. I made it and I'll change it if I want to.
"Hey! Mark! Vince!" I wave to them. They smile as I approach them.
"Hey, Elcie. Everypony's been waiting for you." Mark says.
"Yeah, sorry. I had to be a bit more careful this time. They tightened security around this district." I say and Vince speaks up.
"So, you really think that sword can kill Sombra?" He asks as he points at the sword mounted on my back. It was a large sword with an inch and a half thick blade. It had silver filigree running along its length and some blood splatters from earlier use.
"I hope so. I risked my life to get this thing. We'll just have to see." I say as I walk through the rusty doorway. I enter a dark hallway with mold and insects crawling along the walls. We never really minded the smell or the look. It was all about functionality. I walk down the dark hallway and soon, I come to another door. I push it open and the four ponies inside turn to me. Some of them had smiles on their faces, while others had disapproving frowns.
"You kept us waiting." A brown stallion said. He had a buzz cut black mane and tail and dark brown eyes. His name was Johnson McDuffy. We just called him Sarge. I know, I know, it sounds clichè for us to call him that, but you'll just have to deal with it, you whiny shit.
"Where'd you run off to?" A light blue stallion said as he lit a cigarette. He had a maroon mane and dark blue eyes. His name was Emile La 'Ques. He was our team sniper. I use the word 'team' lightly because he's more of a lone wolf. He hefted a G-117 onto his shoulder, the barrel sticking out and nearly touching the rather low ceiling. "Well?" He asked after he blew out a puff of smoke. I scowl a bit before answering.
"I had to go around the regular route. They tightened security." I say with a bit of a growl in my voice. I don't know why, but he always seemed to get on my nerves. Whenever he spoke to me, he always had more venom in his words than when he spoke to others. Yeah, that was probably the reason. Before I could strangle him, another stallion stepped in.
"Break it up, you two. We have more pressing matters to attend to." A stallion with a light grey coat and brown mane said. His name was Cyrus Magna. He was the guy who prevented me from strangling Emile. He was a really nice stallion, unlike Emile. He knew just how to treat a mare like me: like a normal pony. My condition often put me in very violent mood swings. Like one moment, I'm really happy and another, I'm gutting ponies.
This usually repelled ponies and caused them to call me a madmare. I didn't really mind it, though. They are all welcome to insult me WHILE I TEAR THEM APART LIMB FROM LIMB!!!...... *ahem* I'm sorry. That happens a lot lately. Anyway, back to the topic. Cyrus is a nice stallion and he's been the one keeping Emile alive these past few months.
"You're right. And while I would simply LOVE to impale Emile on a spike, I guess it'll have to wait." I say and the stallion in question scoffs.
"Ha! You don't have the guts!" Emile says. This stallion had just about gotten on my last nerve. I reach for the sword on my back and begin unsheathing it to turn Emile into a bloody mess, but Cyrus stopped me yet again.
"Elcia! Stop!" He says as he holds my hoof back. "We need him!" He says and I slowly sheathe my blade with a scowl on my face. Emile gets to live. For now. Then, he turns to Emile. "And Emile, stop harassing her! Of all the ponies in the room, she has the most reason to cleave you in two." He said and Emile backed down, but not before throwing me a nasty expression. I tried my best to ignore him as another voice rang out from the back of the room.
"Come on already! Let's start this meeting so we can kick some Corrupted ass!" A rather childish voice said. I looked to it to see a young mare with a bright red coat, blue eyes and a white mane and tail. Her name was Alisa Valenwood, one of the daughters of the Duodecim, the 12 families that assisted the ruler of the Crystal Empire. She was the only one of the Duodecim who rebelled against Sombra. For a noble, she was a big loudmouth. She didn't care about what others expected of her. All that mattered to her was that she be given freedom. I respected her for these reasons.
"Yeah, let's get this started. I really want to gut Sombra by tomorrow morning." I say before I take a seat before the table in the middle of the room. Everypony sat down and we all began the meeting.
"So, does everypony know the plan?" Sarge says and I speak.
"Yeah. But I'm gonna elaborate just to be sure." I say as I pull over a map of each of the 12 districts. "Okay. We are here in District 9." I say and I point to the ninth district. "Sombra's castle is in the center of the city." I mark the castle with a nearby pen."Districts 4 through 8 are completely overrun and Districts 10 through 12 are falling quickly." I mark the aforementioned districts. "Most of Sombra's forces are outside of the city, being kept busy with assaulting the other cities. All he's got in this city are the Corrupted." I say and Sarge speaks up.
"Districts 1 to 3 are where our forces are." He says.
"If we can get to them and coordinate we'll have a much better chance at this working." I say and Sarge nods.
"Yeah. Cyrus and Emile." He says and the two stallions stand at attention.
"Yes?" Cyrus says.
"You two are going to rally the troops. Contact us and give us a headcount when you get there." He says and they both make their way to the door.
"Yes, sir." Cyrus says as they open the door and leave. Then, Sarge looks to me.
"You and Alisa will be infiltrating. Get in there and kill that sonofabitch." He says and I smile. It was about time.
"What about you?" Alisa asks.
"Me? I'll be leading the frontal assault with Cyrus and Emile. Now go, you two. Sombra dies tonight." He says and I smile evilly. I have been waiting for this moment for 4 years. Finally, after years of sabotage and subterfuge, I will have my sweet, sweet revenge.
"Are you sure this will work?" Alisa says as we duck under the porch of one of the houses near Central Circle. I turn to her with conviction in my eyes. Or murder. I'm not really sure. I was too focused on my plans of killing Sombra which, again, involved salmon.
"I don't know. I'm just hoping we won't get caught before Sarge rallies the troops." I say as we move silently among the shadows, careful not to catch the attention of any guards. A few minutes later, she speaks up again.
"Aren't you scared?" She asks. I shrug at this.
"No, not really." I say before continuing underneath the houses and towards one of the hedges in Central Circle.
"What? How are you not scared? We're sneaking into the castle of the strongest unicorn in existence!" She whispers to me as we have our backs to the hedge. I peek over the hedge and try to count how many guards there are. A total of 5 guards. Three of them were standing at various points in the Circle and two of them were standing at the main gates. Easy. I pull my head back down to answer Alisa's question.
"I dunno. I guess that I just really want to kill Sombra." I say as I pick up a rock and throw it over the hedge to draw one of the guards away. The guard snapped to attention and growled as he went over to investigate. We quickly dash to another hedge and through to the side of the castle's wall. I feel around the grimy wall and soon I grab onto a grating that was just big enough for us to fit through. We crawl into the drainage pipe and wait for the signal.
I open my bag and I pull out a small syringe filled with clear liquid and Alisa shoots me a curious look. "What's that?" She asks.
"It's a syringe of pure serotonin. It helps me keep calm." I say before tilting my head to one side. Now, Alisa was pretty into science, so she was concerned when I had a syringe full of serotonin.
"Serotonin? Why would you need-" She says, but stops when she sees me jam the needle into my neck, straight into my jugular vein. While I'm used to injecting myself with drugs that help me keep calm, Alisa wasn't. As I injected the liquid into my bloodstream, Alisa got very dizzy. She looked like she was about to faint. She quickly shook her head to prevent herself from fainting and then she shot me a very shocked look.
"Why did you do that!? Are you insane!?" She says as quietly as possible.
"Bingo." I say before storing the empty syringe in my bag.
"That amount could kill you!" She says.
"Nope. I've done that dozens of times." I say rather proudly as I lean on the side of the pipe, beside Alisa.
"How could you have regularly injected yourself with nearly 50 mL of pure serotonin and not die?" Alisa says, that funny expression of shock still on her face.
"Eh, the Doc gave me what I needed to survive this. Enhanced endorphin factories and increased effect of specific chemicals on my body." I say as I blow a stray strand of my black mane away from my face.
Doc was a nice stallion. He was a genius in pony physiology and I went to him to see if I could get any improvements on myself. He did a great job, so I promised I'd come back so we could have a drink together. But when I came by again, he was corrupted and he tried to kill me. I killed him first though. Tore off his limbs and beat him to death with them. And I believe I was hungry at the time, so I made a lovely bone broth and sucked the marrow out of his bones. What? I love bone marrow. I know its a little unhealthy, but its delicious. If you tasted it before, you'd understand.
I don't exactly remember all the augmentations he made, but among them were the additional lungs and enhanced blood cells. I also remember him giving me another heart as well. Also, since vegetables wouldn't do much to curb my extremely high resultant energy levels, I asked him to replace my vegetable chewing teeth with meat slicing teeth. Worked wonders. Now, I take down wildebeests for sustenance.
It was clear that she was shocked at the that modifications were done to me. "That's..... Umm..... Wow....." She managed to say and I laugh.
"Yeah, everypony gives the same reaction. It's always funny to see the stupid look on their faces." I laugh and then I hear the battle cries of the troops just outside the Central Circle. I then put on a serious face. "Alright. It's time for the show to begin." I say as I reach into my bag again and pull out another syringe, this time with a yellow liquid.
"Oh, don't tell me you're gonna inject yourself with that!" She says with a look of despair plastered on her face.
"Okay." I tell her as I tilt my head to the side. She recognizes this motion and immediately tries to turn away. "I won't tell you." I say as I jam the needle into my jugular vein and inject the fluid. It was a mixture of Valium and many other aggression enhancers. It was like an anger cocktail. Before the fluid could circulate fully, I look to Alisa.
"Alisa, I want you to stay here and secure the exit. When the guys come, I want you to follow them in the assault." I say to her and she nods.
"But what will you be doing?" She asks.
"Me? I'm gonna be infiltrating. Wish me luck. This will be tough." I say as I move deeper into the pipe and she moves out of the pipe. Before I reach the end of the pipe, I call out to her. "Alisa!" I call out as I touch the grating on the other side. She turns around to answer.
"What?" She calls out as she exits the pipe.
"Good luck. I hope we see each other after this." I say. I told her this because she stuck with me through thick and thin. She supported me throughout this rebellion and I wanted to find a way to repay her after we kill Sombra. She smiles back at me before answering.
"Don't worry. We'll make it out of this yet!" She says as she closes the grate and moves to meet the others.
As Alisa closed the grating, I felt the drugs kicking in. I felt angrier at Sombra than ever before. My muscles tightened and I looked towards the grating. "You're not getting between me and Sombra." I say with a loud growl in my voice as I kick the grating open. The force unhinged the grating and caused it to hit the opposite wall with a loud crash. I noticed a lid above me. I climbed the ladder and pushed it open. As soon as I got up, I noticed the ground vibrating with a thousand thundering hooves. The sound alerted all the guards in the area. I soon heard the roars of Corrupted sound through the halls. I smile as I draw my blade slowly. As the blade came out of its sheathe, I recalled the words of the peculiar feline I met in the Madness.
"The Vorpal Blade is swift, keen and always ready for service." The strange cat said to me. That cat was right. This blade was bound to me and it would never leave my side. I look to the far end of the hall and I see a large amount of corrupted soldiers charging down the hallway, weapons drawn and glistening with the blood of recent kills. I laugh maniacally as I brandish my blade and point it at the oncoming horde.
"Strip the flesh! Salt the wounds!" I say as I charge into the fray. I cleave the closest corrupted soldiers in two. The blade held true to its legend. It could really cut through anything. I swing the blade behind me to catch another guard's head. I impale a guard in front of me and I quickly yank it out, a shower of blood issuing from his new wound. Some of it covered my face and body, but I didn't care. A good bloodbath was one of the things that made my role in this rebellion fun.
Those who knew me by reputation knew me as a brilliant tactician and loyal friend. That's only one side of me. Others who knew me personally knew that ever since I returned from the Madness, I was vicious and bloodthirsty. I would often be sent on missions to capture any turncoats and interrogate them. Well, 'interrogate' is a much more pleasant way to put it. I employed plenty of torture methods to get the truth out of those bastards. They typically ranged from spiked whips to electric prods. But if I was feeling extra nasty, I used these huge nails. I jammed them into unimportant parts of the body. Often times, this got the truth out of them. But sometimes, they would stay strong and bite through it. But they had no idea that I attached jump cables to the nails. That was usually the time I flipped the switch on the wall, sending thousands of volts of electricity through their bodies. At this point, they usually fessed up and begged me to flip the switch back. But then, I enjoyed the pain of others, especially my enemies. So, I left them there to be fried by over a hundred thousand volts of electricity.
Those who knew me by watching me on the battlefield described me as having the grace of a ballerina with the viciousness of a dragon. They say I perform a beautiful, yet disturbing dance of death on any battlefield, that me and my sword were one and the same; both working together to unleash genocide on my enemies. I was naturally flattered when Mark came up to me and complimented my moves.
In the hallway, I perform my supposedly famed dance of death. I swing my blade in conjunction with my body, using the momentum to carry me through with another strike. Each swing cleaved a guard in half and spraying gore all over the once pristine castle floors and walls. Another spin of my body and I found that my mane was completely drenched in blood. I was alright with this. As I said before, bloodbaths were normal for me. My mane hung down my face as I steadied myself, the blood causing it to cover my right eye. I ready the blade as I see the next wave of guards arriving. By my guess, all of the guards should now be at the front line, repelling the attack at the gates. This would be the last group of guards. I grin devilishly as I charge forward, blade in hoof, to meet the horde. I swing my blade through the first line, leaving only ravaged corpses in my wake. I quickly swing my blade at the next group, their body parts separating from them like paper links. Then, I hear the crack of gunfire. I have to work fast. I quickly slash through the final guards and race through the hallways.
If I remember correctly, I should be able to make it to the throne room before they reach the gates. I skid to a stop before two large double doors. I buck them down and see a very annoying sight. STAIRS. An entire tower of stairs. I growl lowly as I hear more gunfire. I then proceed up the stairs. After about 5 minutes of running up the massive staircase, I notice how painfully slow I'm moving, despite the fact that I was going 3 steps per bound. Then, I unleash the rage that had been building up for quite a while now. "BUCK YOU, SOMBRA!!! Why did you have to make so many BUCKING stairs!?!?" I roar out so loudly, I think everypony down at the gates heard me. Then, I pick up the pace. I increase my bounds to 6 steps per bound and thanks to my endorphins pumping like mad, it was pretty easy. Soon, I reach a break. A circular room at the top of the stairs. I run in and I was surprised. The one relic that Sombra was weak to, other than the Vorpal Blade, sat in the middle of the room. It was the Crystal Heart. It sat on a crystal stalagmite with runes on the floor sustaining a containment spell. The room had huge openings on all sides, offering a view of the entire Crystal Empire.
"The hell is this place?" I say and I hear a dark voice come out of nowhere.
"Do you like it, Elcia?" The voice says with a demonic growl. My face scrunches up in anger. I knew that voice.
"Sombra..." I growl back as I draw the Vorpal Blade. I spot a shadow move quickly around the room. I follow it with my eyes, trying to target it for a hit.
"That's no way to talk to somepony who made all this just for you, Elcia." Sombra said and the shadow began to move faster.
"Buck you, Sombra. You never cared!" I say as I whirl to try to follow the shadow, which was now moving faster than I could follow.
"Well, I suppose you would be mad at me for killing your family and friends." He says and my blood begins to boil as I continue to try to follow the shadow. "But it felt oh so good to hear them scream." He says and I grip the sword tighter. He is going to pay! "Do you remember that time Liza was sleeptalking?" He asks.
"How do you know that!?" I say as I see the shadow stops moving and begins to materialize. In front of me, the stallion who ruined the Crystal Empire stood. Sombra stood at the other end of the room with a smug grin on his face.
"She wasn't sleeptalking." He says with a manic grin on his face, his newly acquired fangs showing. I pale as the sword almost falls from my grasp.
"You.... You didn't!" I stutter out and he laughs.
"I did." He says and I depressed the trigger on the hilt. The edge split in half and it was replaced by hundreds of whirling teeth, similar to a chainsaw. He is going to die. Nopony can save him. I will gut him and scatter his innards across the streets and have a bucking festival on them. I scream loudly as I lift the blade and charge at him, the blade roaring as the engine revved.
Time slowed down as I approached him with my blade raised. I got closer. Closer to tearing his head off. And closer. Closer to gutting him. And closer. Closer to tearing him to pieces. But as if the universe had some sort of grudge on me, a bright flash happened just outside the opening and before I knew it, I was blinded. And after the bright light, there was darkness....
The sky had darkened for a moment as Sombra's dark cloud loomed over the Crystal Empire, but it was short-lived. The light of the Crystal Heart and the love of the Crystal Ponies shattered his darkness. All the Crystal Ponies rejoiced at the destruction of their tyrant king. All except for one.
At the top of the Crystal Tower that held the Heart, a grey mare awoke from a deep slumber. Her eyes shot open and her memories of the last time she was awake rushed to her. Her eyes darted left and right as her memories returned. They came as blurry splashes of color, but slowly began to take shape. She saw a dead stallion. Then she saw a lifelong enemy of hers. Then she saw the smiling face of a friend. Then she saw her hooves coated in blood. And finally, she saw the face of the one she hated most. She shook her head to allow all her memories to settle. She recalled the familiar walls and the rune in the center of the room she was in. This allowed all her memories to stick. Her face scrunched up in anger and her bones shivered as she recalled all that transpired. She then shifted her gaze towards one of the openings in the room and her face was drained of what little color it had. A dark cloud was cracking under a wave of light. At the center of the cloud was Sombra, his expression one of anger and agony. "NO!" She screamed as she jumped out the opening and jammed the sword on her back into the wall of the tower to slow her descent. Her expression of anger was slowly replaced with panic as the number of cracks on the cloud grew. As she reached the ground, she jumped and sprinted towards the cloud. All her senses were dulled as she sprinted as fast as she could towards Sombra's dark form. All that she heard was turned into a dull thumping sound. All that she felt were pinpricks against a stone wall. All that she saw was the path before her, and the increasing number of light cracks on Sombra. She pushed herself harder to reach him, but it was all in vain. Sombra roared in anger as his gaseous body shattered and the light engulfed him. She stared on in disbelief as she slowed her running to a staggering gait, her jaw hanging open. She collapsed on her belly as remnants of Sombra fluttered to the ground in a rain of dark wisps. She lay on the grass, motionless as the dark wisps fell around her.
"I thought I could make it..." She thought as she buried her face in her forelegs. She sobbed quietly as the dark flakes fell slowly in the calm breeze.
Rainbow, in her smug expression of victory, flew up high. In the air, she noticed a lone mare crying in the middle of Sombra's falling darkness. "Hey, guys! I think somepony's crying over there." She said as she landed and pointed towards the edge of the city. Twilight was naturally the first to speak up.
"We should go see what's going on." She said as she lead her friends to the crying mare.
---
"I'm sorry, Mom and Dad..... I failed you.... I couldn't fulfill your dying wish... Forgive me...." Elcia thought as she continued to cry into her forelegs. With her only goal failed, she found no reason to live. All of her training, all of her sacrifice gone to waste. She shakily rose to her hooves, her crying not ceasing. She was going to return into the heart of the city, when she heard a voice from behind her.
"Hey, are you alright?" A mare said. She wiped her tears away quickly and she turned to face six mares. One was pink, another yellow, one white, one cyan, one orange and one purple. She regarded them with disdain and she put a scowl on her face as new hope burned inside her. At the sight of these mares, she found a reason to live. Or at least, she tried. "These ponies came into contact with Sombra's magic. Knowing that bastard, he may have a backup in case he failed. I might still have a chance at finding and killing him!" She thought. In reality, she was grasping at any chance at killing Sombra, no matter how far-fetched.
"Whoa, what's with that look?" Rainbow said and another thought crossed her mind.
"Wait... The purple one smells of the Crystal Heart... She's the one who did this..." Elcia thought and she grit her teeth as she locked eyes with Twilight, who was frightened at the aggression she was putting out. Her gaze hardened and her eyes shimmered with anger and malice.
"Um... Why are you looking at me like that?" Twilight asked, trying to keep her voice from cracking and showing her fear.
"Do you know what you've done, kid? What you've all done?" The grey mare said as she approached Twilight in an aggressive manner, who was now backing up from her.
"Hey! Leave her alone!" Rainbow said as she got between her friend and the angry mare. She simply laughed at her.
"Heh... Won't even hear me out? Well, I think a little discipline is in order." Elcia said as she grabbed Rainbow by the throat. Before her friends could react, Elcia threw the pegasus into the ground. The impact was a solid thud and Rainbow screamed in pain as she landed on one of her wings, breaking it with the sickening crack of bones echoing around them. Rainbow's friends gasped in horror at the show of violence.
"What are you doing!?" Twilight shouted and Elcia answered.
"She was being a bitch. Now, answer my question. Do you know exactly what you've done?" She asked as Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie rushed to help their injured friend.
"No, I don't. But whatever it is, I don't think it warrants you assaulting my friend!" She said, now with more force than she usually held. But Elcia didn't care. She laughed loudly at this.
"Doesn't warrant assault? You just crushed the dreams of an entire organization and family. But most importantly, you just crushed my dreams. Every night, I would dream that I held Sombra's heart in my hoof and I crushed it. YOU made that dream impossible to achieve." She said as she cracked her neck to both sides and she beat her hooves together, a malicious smile painted on her face. "And I am going to make you pay!" She said as she reared her hoof back to strike at Twilight, but she felt something tug at it. She looked back to see that the orange mare had captured her hoof with a rope. "Where did she get that rope?" She thought as Applejack pulled the rope hard, causing Elcia to fall to the ground. She landed on her jaw and her teeth clashed inside her mouth; the pain was intense, shocking through her skull. She bit past the pain and she quickly drew her sword and cut the rope with a quick, downward stroke. She rose up and sheathed the blade. "Beating the shit out of them will be MUCH more satisfying." She thought to herself as she noticed movement from her right. It was Rainbow, who was charging at her with anger and determination in her eyes. Elcia flashed her a malicious grin, revealing her canines and sharpened incisors. This caused a wave of hesitation to go through Rainbow's body.
"What the- What is up with her teeth!?" Rainbow thought. Elcia used this moment of distraction to attack. As Rainbow approached, she slammed her hoof against the back of her head. The strike wasn't strong, but it was enough to redirect her course. She landed face first into the cobblestone road with a loud crack. There went her nose. She moved to finish the job, but somepony grabbed her from behind and restrained her forelegs. Knowing that she would not be able to break free quickly enough, she swung her head backwards, her head impacting against Twilight's. The force knocked Twilight back and she screamed in pain as she landed on her flank. Elcia had struck the second most sensitive point in a unicorn's body: the horn. This meant that Twilight would not be able to use magic for a while.
Applejack lunged to restrain her, but she was too slow. Elcia made a downward swing with her hoof and it impacted with the apple farmer's head. She was sent straight into the ground. Like Elcia, the shock of impact into the ground jaw first shot through her skull. Now unlike Elcia, whose body was accustomed to large amounts of physical trauma, Applejack's was not. Several of her teeth were chipped by the force and her vision swam. Her world was turned into many different colors that separated from each other.
Elcia moved to Twilight, who was nursing her injury. She loomed over her and she flashed her fanged grin, striking fear into her. "Why are you doing this? Why are you attacking us?" She asked and Elcia scowled. She punched her in the face, knocking her on her back. Elcia rose to her hind legs and grabbed Twilight by her throat. She raised her up and Twilight tried to pry herself from her vice-like grip. It was all in vain. She could feel Elcia's grip become tighter and her face turned a deeper shade of purple. Her vision was growing dark and she looked to Elcia, who had drawn the massive blade on her back. She pulled Twilight close and whispered to her. "You brought this on yourself." She said as she prepared to impale Twilight. She gripped her sword and it seemed to come to life, growling like a manticore and showing its desire for blood. She would relish in Twilight's death. Her choking as she pulled the blade out. Her trying to grip onto what remained of her life. Only for her to grind her face beneath her hoof and extinguish her life. But, fate had another plan.
"TWILY!!!" Shining screamed as he approached them with a squad of guards. Elcia looked from Twilight to Shining and she grinned her manic grin at him as she dropped his unconscious sister. She turned her back to Shining and began walking away. "Hey!" He shouted, anger burning in his eyes. Elcia turned and made a mock expression of surprise.
"Oh my! I apologize! I forgot to attend to you." She said as she drew her sword and stuck it into the ground. She got into a fighting stance and waved a beckoning hoof to the soldiers. "Now, shall we dance?" She asked and Shining commanded his squad to attack. Elcia reacted immediately. As one of the soldiers approached with a spear, she sprinted towards him and slugged him across the face with her hoof, knocking him off his hooves. She picked up his spear and parried the attack of one of his squadmates. She disarmed him and impaled him with the spear. She heaved his body towards another guard and used him as a shield, protecting her from another attack from a guard. She saw another guard approaching quickly and she grinned at his reckless behavior. She picked up a loose rock and threw it at the approaching guard, distracting him. She dashed up to the stallion and drove her hind leg into his face. Like in one of her favorite movies, time seemed to slow as her hoof dug into his face. Several cracking sounds told her that his face would be very disfigured if he lived, which she didn't allow him to. One of her small mercies. She quickly stomped on his head as soon as he was knocked down, coating the ground with brain matter and blood. She then turned to Shining, who was stunned at the amount of violence she was capable of. She dashed up to him and pressed her body against his.
"What? You don't like a mare who can fight? Or is it that you can't believe you and your squad got their asses kicked by a single, untrained mare?" She said with a playfully seductive tone. She caught him lighting up his horn for a spell and her expression changed to a disappointed one. "Don't think so, buddy." She said as she applied a quick, heavy blow to his temple. His eyes rolled back into his head and the glow from his horn disappeared. He collapsed and she looked to the three other mares who simply stared on in shock. Elcia laughed.
"Well, it seems that you little maggots get to live for now." She said as she walked off, towards her sword. She swiftly pulled it out and sheathed it across her back. She had lots of work to do for her revenge, but she didn't mind. Hard work always payed off.
On the streets of Fillydelphia, two stallions spoke of the mare they kept hearing about at a local bar. "I dunno, man. She doesn't seem your type." The pale blue pegasus said as they trotted towards the bar. The red Earth pony raised his brow and held his hoof to his chest in an expression of mock shock. At least, that's what Clear Sky thought it was.
"Not my type? She can down an entire bottle of Antonov in one sitting! How could she not be my type?" He asked as they neared the bar, the lights of its neon signs flickering slightly.
"You've never even been to this bar before! How would you know what she looks like?" Clear retorted and Thunder scoffed.
"From what I heard, she's a real beauty. But she rejects every stallion that tries to even come near her." He said as they stood in front of the bar. To many stallions in the city, this bar was a test of strength, courage and wit. They all usually failed. And failure was punished harshly. Usually by getting put in the hospital, unable to speak or eat properly.
"Then why go after her?" The pegasus asked.
"To show I'm a babe magnet. No mare can resist me!" He boasted as he puffed out his chest with pride and Clear facehoofed. He hadn't changed at all in the twelve years they've been friends. But in all the attempts he made to change him, Clear failed every single time. He would never change his attitude, but he had grown on him. He was used to this. Clear let out a loud sigh of defeat.
"Fine. If you get Maced, it ain't my fault." He said as they entered the bar. Little did he know, Thunder would be getting more than he expected.
Unlike most bars in Fillydelphia, this one was rather quiet. There was no blaring music and it wasn't crowded. Of course, that was to be expected. This bar wasn't particularly popular, since it was quite small. What it was famous for however, was a legendary mare. She was said to be able to drink more than ten stallions and her attitude was twice as nasty. This contrasted her fabled beauty heavily. Thunder and Clear Sky trotted up to the bartender, who was a dark brown Earth pony stallion with a grey mane. He took notice of the duo quickly. "Hey. Welcome. What can I get ya?" He asked with a gravelly voice as he leaned on the counter.
"Two Red Bulls." Thunder said and the bartender acted quickly. He fished two bottles from under the counter and simultaneously popped the caps with his hooves. Clear whistled lowly to compliment his speed and grace.
"Three seconds. Fastest time I've seen." He said and the bartender gave a smug look.
"I've been here for 8 years. I know that when my customers want their booze, they want them fast. Name's Grey Matter, by the way." He said as Thunder and Clear took a swig of the ice-cold beverage. After making a sigh of pleasure, Thunder voiced his reason for entering the bar in the first place.
"So, I heard a pretty mare comes here often." Thunder said and Grey sighed. Then suddenly, he laughed loudly, as if he just heard the funniest joke ever. Thunder saw this as an insult.
"What's so funny?" He said with a scowl. Grey waited for his laughter to subside before answering.
"Is this your first time here or something?" Grey asked as he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.
"Yeah. What about it?" Thunder said as he downed the bottle and asked for another. Grey obliged him with another bottle of Red Bull.
"Since it's your first time here, I'm gonna give you some advice. Don't try hitting on the grey mare over there." He said as he pointed to a lone mare sitting at the end of the bar with a bottle of Antonov in her hoof. She stared blankly ahead as she downed the remaining liquid inside as if it were a bottle of water. Then, she called Grey over for another bottle.
"Grey! Another bottle please!" She said, her voice not slurred as Thunder had expected.
"Coming right up." He said as he trotted over to her and gave her another bottle of Antonov. She quickly popped the cap and chugged down a fourth of the bottle's contents, the bored look on her face refusing to leave. This shocked Thunder. His jaw hung limp as Grey returned with a smile on his face. That smile turned into laughter at the sight of Thunder, left slack-jawed by the mare's tolerance for alcohol.
"How many bottles has she had?" He quickly asked.
"Tonight? She's had 3 bottles now, including that one." Grey said and Thunder suddenly felt less confident. How was he supposed to hook up with a mare who could drink more than a sailor and not look even a little tipsy? But he would not falter. He already said that no mare could resist him, so he had to see this through. He took a deep breath and slowly made his way to the end of the bar, where the biggest challenge of the night was waiting for him.
---
Elcia was bored. Having gotten nothing done the entire day, other than playing a couple rounds of video games with her roommate, Tibbles, she was very bored. So, she went to the bar. She didn't like the rest of the bars in Fillydelphia, due to the blaring music and the abundance of assholes in them, so she went to her favorite: Grey Matter's. The music wasn't all too loud, there were few assholes and the drinks were great. The only things she looked for in a bar. But now after 2 bottles of Antonov, she was bored again. She drank the remains of the contents of the bottle and quickly asked for another. "Grey! Another bottle please!" She called out.
"Coming right up." Grey answered as he trotted over to her with a bottle of Antonov in his hoof. She looked at him with sunken, bored eyes and quickly took the bottle. She popped the cap with a quick bite with her jagged teeth, spit out the slightly chewed metal and took a swig of the sweet, memory erasure liquid. At least, that is what most ponies thought it was. To her, it was drink. Nothing more. As she lowered the bottle from her face, she noticed that Grey had trotted back to the other end of the bar. She shrugged as she took another swig of the Vodka. When she pulled the bottle from her face again, She saw a red stallion next to her. She sighed internally as she drank from the bottle again, leaving only enough for one last sip.
"Oh Faust, not this shit again..." She thought as the stallion spoke.
"Hey, baby. What's shakin'?" Thunder said in a well-practiced voice as smooth as smoke as he leaned on the edge of the counter and Elcia snickered.
"Really? That's the best you can do?" She chuckled as she put the nearly empty bottle on the counter. Thunder smacked himself in his head.
"Good job, you idiot. You just used the most plain and lackluster greeting possible. Real smooth." Thunder thought, his dismay not apparent on his face as he continued. "So... you come here often?" He said and Elcia's expression changed from amused to annoyed in less than a heartbeat. This drained his confidence even more. He wasn't usually the nervous mess he was right now. In fact, at this moment, the mare he was hitting on would be all over him. But something about this one made his skin crawl. Was it her beauty? The legends were definitely true. She was beautiful. Her long, dark mane. Her glittering green eyes. Her slender body. She was definitely the mare he was looking for. Was it her attitude? He had seen sassy mares before, and this one was no different. But, she seemed to radiate an aura of anger. She constantly seemed to be seething with barely contained rage. Her glare was also worth mentioning. A stare that punched straight through you, rather than slowly degrading you. One that repelled all but the most courageous, or the most stupid.
"What do you think I am, some kind of toy for you to play with? I'm not gonna sit here and be toyed with." She said as she gripped the neck of the bottle on the counter and drank the last of the vodka.
"I-" Thunder began, but he was interrupted by a bottle slamming into his face. Broken glass flew from his face and some shards were lodged in his cheek. He staggered backwards and he gripped his face in pain. He looked towards the mare in shock. Did she just hit him with a bottle? Before the thought could completely sink in, he was grabbed by the neck. Elcia slammed his face into the counter. The force broke his nose and blood gushed from it like a faucet. Elcia threw him backwards and looked around for another weapon, while Clear let all of her actions register.
"Holy shit! She's beating the crap out of him!" He thought as he dropped his bottle and rushed to Thunder's aid, while Grey looked on with mild interest. He had seen this before. Stupid stallion ignores his advice and hits on Elcia. Stallion fails to impress her. Stallion gets beaten to a pulp.
Thunder crashed to the floor, unable to think clearly with the glass lodged in his face and the unbearable pain. His vision was halved, with the right side of his face damaged. Even then, everything was blurred and he could barely make out a grey mare with a chair raised over her head.
Elcia quickly grabbed a chair from the bar and raised it over her head. Without a second thought, she brought it down on the unfortunate stallion with a loud crack. Wood splintered as it impacted flesh. The chair hit Thunder squarely in the chest, breaking his sternum, knocking the breath out of him and leaving him unconscious. She gave a grin of satisfaction as she threw the broken chair aside and walked towards the exit while Clear attempted to revive Thunder. "Grey." She said as she reached the exit and the stallion looked to her. She threw a small bag of bits onto the counter. "For the drinks and the chair." She said and she exited.
"No problem." Grey said as he watched the pegasus try to resuscitate his friend, only getting groans of pain in response.
"Told ya not to hit on her, ya dumbass." ---
Elcia walked through the dark streets of Fillydelphia with a grin on her face. Another asshole shown that not all mares were easy prey. She was a legend in this city, and she knew it. Those who were smart avoided her. Those who had the IQ of a slice of bread were much more unlucky. Soon, she reached a small apartment building and she stepped inside. The hallway was bathed in yellow light, showing the antiquity of the apartment. That, or it's horrible condition. Paint had peeled off and mildew grew on the corners of the hallway. She could see insects scurrying around on the floor, but she didn't mind. Having been a resistance member, she was used to living in horrible living spaces.
She walked up the wooden staircase, her every step making creaking sounds on the ancient wood. As soon as she reached the second floor, she moved to the room that was one door away from the staircase. Room 21. She knocked and spoke to her roommate. "Tibbles, I'm back. Open up." She said. Soon, the door opened to reveal a bleached white pony with a blue Santa hat perched atop his head and a monocle on his right eye. He smiled at the sight of Elcia.
"Elcia! You're back from the bar!" He said as he ushered her inside the small room. He seated her on the small couch and sat beside her. "So, any stallions you beat up today?" He said in a playful manner. Despite his tone, he was asking a serious question. Elcia chuckled as she gave her answer.
"It was a pretty slow day. Just one today." She said with a smile on her face and Tibbles laughed.
"Really? What'd he do?" He asked and Elcia rolled her eyes.
"He went with the most plain sentence in the book. 'What's shakin'." She said in a mocking tone and Tibbles laughed. He didn't know why, but he enjoyed hearing about Elcia's day. He knew that he didn't have feelings for her, but he always seemed to want to hear whatever had happened to any poor saps who had been unfortunate enough to meet her.
"Then, he said 'You come here often?'. Hah! What an idiot!" She said, prompting more laughter from the white pony.
"What'd you do to him?" Tibbles asked, his voice dripping with curiosity.
"I smashed my bottle on his face, slammed his face into the counter and beat him with a chair til it broke." She said without so much as a hint of remorse in her voice. Tibbles flinched at this, but quickly regained composure. This story was a bit more brutal than the last one, wherein she simply knocked him out with a quick blow to the temple.
"Ouch. That must've sucked for him." He said and was quick to change the topic to avoid any awkward silence. "Want to play video games?" He asked as he moved towards the TV. Elcia waved him off in response.
"Nah. I need to sleep. I'm leaving for Canterlot tomorrow, remember?" She said and Tibbles frowned.
"Oh yeah... And I'm heading to Hoofington." He said as they made their way to the bedroom. Their beds were on opposite sides of the room, to avoid any bad ideas and awkwardness. Elcia slid into her small, stiff bed and drew the thin sheets over her. She looked to Tibbles, who placed his blue hat on the corner of his bed, revealing his bleached white mane, and he dived into his stiff bed.
"How can you just dive into these beds?" She asked. While she was used to sleeping in bad places, she knew that diving into a stiff bed must have hurt. Tibbles scratched his head for a moment and shrugged.
"Eh, it's not so bad. I've slept on worse." He said and Elcia laughed.
"Yeah, I hear ya. What've you slept on?" She asked.
"Hmm.... Dirt, logs and rocks, mainly. You?" Tibbles asked and Elcia closed her eyes to remember the last few places she had slept in.
"Sewers, trees, caves and hay, just to mention a few." She said and Tibbles' jaw dropped.
"Did I hear you right? You slept in a sewer?" He asked with an incredulous tone. Elcia nodded.
"Yep. It ain't so bad once you get used to the smell." She said as she laid back on her bed. She was known to be very honest, even when her honesty was completely unnecessary.
"Why would you ever have to sleep in a sewer?" Tibbles asked, worried for his friend.
"The sewers were the only place that was safe for me to stay." She said as she sat up and looked to Tibbles with her recently characteristic blank stare. He opened his mouth as if to ask something, but Elcia beat him to it. "Don't ask about it. It's a rather sensitive topic." She said before falling back on her bed.
"Ah. I see." He said as he laid down on his bed.
"Good night, Tibbles." Elcia said as she promptly closed her eyes to drift into the mad world that was her mind.
---
As Elcia drifted into a deep sleep, Tibbles lay awake in his bed, thinking of the mare on the other side of the room. He thought of her words. "The sewers were the only place that was safe for me to stay." Elcia's voice echoed in his head. His mind was bogged with questions. Questions that seemed to be far too personal to be answered. What made it so unsafe that Elcia would have to sleep in the sewers? This thought danced in his head ceaselessly, pushing him to sate his curiosity. Eventually, his curiosity got the better of him. He slowly got out of bed and silently made his way to his luggage that he had packed earlier. He slowly opened the bag and rummaged through its contents until he found what he was looking for. It was a pair of horn shaped devices. They were Link Cables. They were used to bring the minds of two ponies together to see what the other was thinking. He had bought them sometime during his stay in Trottingham. He only had one problem with them at the moment: He needed the receiver to be on another pony's forehead for it to work. He gulped and steeled his nerves. Elcia had problems and he wanted to be the one to help her.
He silently approached the sleeping mare and slowly brought his hoof up with the Link Cable. The moment he placed it on her forehead, he felt a crushing grip on his foreleg. "Gah!" He grunted in pain as he dropped the cable and he tried in vain to pry his leg free. He must have woken her up. Her grip was incredibly strong, as he could feel the blood in his veins being restricted and his bones beginning to feel intense pressure. "Sweet Celestia, she's got one hell of a grip!" He thought as his knees collapsed underneath him, Elcia's death grip not weakening. Just as he thought his hoof would be pulverized, Elcia let go. He massaged his aching hoof as he looked to Elcia, who was now awake with an annoyed look on her face.
"Tibbles, what the hell? What are you doing?" She demanded and the stallion in question tried to get the feeling back in his foreleg. As the blood began to flow into his foreleg again, he answered her question.
"I wanted to know why you had to sleep in a sewer. Nopony should ever have to do that!" He answered and Elcia sighed. She laid a hoof on his shoulder and her gaze lightened. For once in all the time Tibbles had known her, she didn't seem troubled. Her shoulders didn't droop and the corners of her mouth weren't pointing towards the ground, instead they were curled into a small smile. Usually, he saw her eyes as a pale green, but now they were a radiant gold. In this moment, he saw Elcia in a new light. He didn't see the dark, brooding psychopath who wouldn't think twice about strangling you if you looked at her funny. Instead, he saw a mare who had everything she could ever want in life. A caring family, trustworthy friends and a loving coltfriend. For the first time in a very long time, Elcia looked happy. But it was only for a fleeting moment. As soon as it came, it disappeared and he was left with the morbid mare he had come to be roommates with.
"Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but it won't end well for you. There's a reason why I always look like a zombie." She said as her eyes darkened once more. "I don't want anypony to know what goes on up here." She said as she pointed to her head and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly. This confused Tibbles.
"Well-" He opened his mouth to speak, but Elcia cut him off.
"Nuh uh. I'm not going to show you what goes on in my head. It wouldn't end well for you. Now, go to bed. We both have to leave tomorrow." She said and Tibbles trotted back to his bed and slid into the covers feeling defeated. Elcia drew the covers over her again. "You'd better go to sleep this time." She said and Tibbles chuckled.
"Alright, alright. I will. Sweet dreams, Elcia." He said and Elcia turned over.
"Heh, not possible." She mumbled as she fell asleep.
---
Tibbles opened his eyes and he was astonished and horrified. He stood in the middle of what looked like a street in the Crystal Empire, but he could barely recognize it. The buildings were damaged in varying degrees, some having only shattered windows while others had crumbling walls. The sky was filled with blackened clouds, the streets littered with the corpses of ponies of all ages. Some corpses hung on the lampposts, their intestines strewn across the roofs. Some lay in burning pits, the stench of burning flesh wafting into his nose and causing him to shiver in disgust. He heard several cracking sounds in rapid succession in the distance, possibly indicating small explosions. He strode amongst the corpses with the horror not leaving him. "What in Celestia's name happened here?" He whispered to himself as he heard faint sobbing coming from one of the houses.
"Is somepony crying?" He asked himself as he moved to investigate. He crawled into the crumbling wreckage of a house and took in the sight. The roof had caved in, destroying most of the furniture and opening a large hole in the floor. He looked into the floor and his heart wrenched at the sight before him. Four Crystal Ponies were sitting in the bottom of the hole, crying over the corpse of what he assumed was one of them. It was impossible to tell, though. Most of the skin of the pony had been stripped away, leaving its muscles exposed, blood pooling around it and its dead eyeballs staring at the wall. The survivors of whatever had happened were a single mare and three foals. Most of them were covered in blood, fearful looks plastered onto their faces as they cried. Tibbles heard loud cackling coming from down the street, causing the fearful ponies to look up in horror, somehow oblivious to his existence. He looked behind him to see a large stallion in black armor entering the building. He stood at least a foot taller than him and he carried a massive battleaxe on his shoulders, its edge bathed in fresh blood and shining in the firelight. He grinned a wicked grin, revealing sharpened teeth and his black, soulless eyes. Tibbles clapped a hoof over his mouth as he scrambled backwards, trying to keep his scream from coming out. He strode over to the hole, heedless of Tibbles' presence. He looked down onto the remaining ponies and they screamed, causing him to laugh.
"Looks like we got some stragglers!" He shouted as he jumped into the hole, causing its inhabitants to scream, but those screams were soon silenced and several slashing sounds came from the hole. Soon, the screams were replaced by horrified cries. The stallion climbed out of the hole with the mare in tow, her face contorted in an expression of horror.
"My foals! Oh Faust, MY FOALS!!!" She screamed as she was dragged away. Tears slid down her face as she struggled against the stallion's grip. It was all in vain. He was too strong. She eventually gave in and wept in silent despair as she was dragged off.
When they left, Tibbles hesitantly walked to the hole. Fearing what lay inside, he braced himself. Then he looked. Instant regret. Inside lay three corpses, one with its head chopped off, the neck stump still spurting blood. Another split in half, innards spread out before it. And the final one was completely hacked to pieces. Limbs torn off, body a bloody lump of torn flesh and crushed bones and tiny skull shattered like a shorted out lightbulb. Tibbles backed away, his breathing and heart rate soaring. He only stopped when he hit the wall. "Who would do something like this to foals!?" He screamed. "Whoever they are." He thought to himself. Whoever these ponies were, they couldn't give two shits about the lives of others. In fact, they seemed to enjoy making others suffer. He quickly made his way outside, wanting to be as far away from the corpses as possible.
Out on the street, he saw no sign of the murderers. Not that he wanted to. Suddenly, he heard the clanging of metal on metal from further down the street. "Somepony must be fighting against these monsters." He said to himself as he followed the noise. As he progressed down the street, more and more gruesome deaths appeared. Some had been flayed alive, bare muscles showing as they hung by their hind legs from a pole. Some had been pierced by metal spikes, a few of them still clinging to the last vestiges of life as they tried in vain to free themselves. Others had been torn apart by racks, their separate halves still dangling from the sinister devices. A few had even been crucified, their bodies bloodied and wounded by previous torture as they hung on their wooden graves, writhing in agony. The few who had been left alive let out harrowing moans of suffering. The sound filled the air, forming into a collective howl of sorrow and pain. The cries of agony also seemed to hurt Tibbles. It shook him to the core. For a moment, he thought that this was all some nightmare. A nightmarish hell conjured by his mind. But the horrors he saw felt so real. No nightmare could ever be this graphic, this brutal. The smell of death buried itself in his nose, unwilling to let go of the terrified stallion. A sense a despair drifted around him as he gazed upon the soon-to-be corpses of the suffering, the pained expressions unable to change under the heavy veil of suffering that hung over them. He tried to look away, but his eyes only met another who either died in a more gruesome fashion or seemed to be in even more pain. Unable to take the sensory barrage, he laid on the bloodsoaked streets in surrender. He wanted to leave this hell.
Finally, when he thought he would be driven insane, he heard a voice. A beacon in the dark. "Eve!" The voice shouted. He brought himself up and his ears twitched, wanting to hear the voice again and not the sorrowful wails of the dying. Again, the voice came. "You fuckers are going to pay! You hear me!? You're going to PAY!!!" It screamed and he heard the dreadful sound of steel on flesh. He turned his gaze towards the sound and saw a grey mare killing some of the armored stallions. He moved closer and what he saw shocked him. There, in the center of the crowd, was a lone, grey mare. She wore a black hoodie and goggles around her neck, both stained with blood. She was bloodied, but unbowed. Her eyes burned with anger as she ignored the worst of her wounds and continued fighting.
She swung her combat knife into the nearest soldier with the fury of a dragon, embedding the blade hilt-deep into his neck. Before he could slump to the ground, she yanked the blade out and moved to the next enemy. A soldier swung his battleaxe down on her, but she sidestepped and slashed his throat. She punched another guard in the face and embedded her knife in his skull. She pulled the sword from his sheathe and prepared to use it. It was heavier than what she was used to, but it would have to do. She parried a strike from a soldier before hacking the offending stallion's head off. Behind her, she noticed a guard charging at her with a spear. She parried another blow and put him between her and the charging psychopath. The spearhead pierced through him and she reversed her grip on the blade. She stabbed behind her, killing another guard. She grabbed the fallen guard's knife and took aim at the guard who had charged at her. She quickly threw the knife, the blade embedding itself in the skull of the guard and causing him to drop dead.
Tibbles was in awe at the grace and speed at which she executed her foes. She moved as if she knew what the enemy would do. Her grip never seemed to falter as she fought. Her anger never seemed to diminish. And he could swear that she looked exactly like Elcia. The long, black mane. The shining golden eyes. The silvery grey coat. But he couldn't know for sure. While he was busy staring at her, he failed to notice a soldiers had approached him with a wicked grin on his face. He raised his sword and the mare looked to him, her irises mere pinpricks. The soldier swung the large, bloody blade into him as the mare screamed at him, knowing that she would be too late.
---
"TIBBLES!!!" Elcia screamed and Tibbles opened his eyes. His breathing was rapid, his heartbeats a thousand miles a minute and his body drenched in cold sweat. Elcia was sitting beside him, her hooves clasped firmly around his shoulders. Her expression was one of worry.
"E-Elcia?" Tibbles said, confused. The hell he experienced was nothing more than a nightmare. But it still shook him. Was that really Elcia he saw? Elcia sighed in relief.
"Oh, thank Faust you're alright." She said.
"Elcia, what was I doing?" He asked. He wanted to know why she has been screaming at him.
"You were thrashing around and you shouted a few times. I got worried, so I decided to wake you up." She said. "Yeah, that sounds about right." He thought to himself.
"I had a really bad nightmare.... Do you mind if I tell you about it?" He asked. He hadn't asked something like this since he was 12, but he had to know who that mare was. And he thought Elcia would know.
"Not at all." She said as she sat closer to him. "I can listen."
"Okay then." Tibbles said as he recalled the nightmare. "I seemed to be in a street in the Crystal Empire." He said, causing Elcia's ear to twitch slightly. "There were corpses everywhere. Some looked like they were tortured before they were killed." Elcia bristled slightly at this. This was beginning to sound familiar.... "I looked down a hole and I saw four ponies crying over a skinned corpse. Moments later, a soldier with a battleaxe walks in and kills them all, except for a mare, which he abducts." Elcia began sweating. "I walk down the street and I see somepony fighting the soldiers. That pony looked a lot like you. It disturbed me." Elcia's eyes darted around the room, searching in vain for a way to end this conversation. She had no doubts now. The question was, should she tell him or should she leave it? The answer was quite obvious.
"Damn, you have some fucked up dreams." She said. Evasion is how she got this far in life, so why stop, right?
"I'm glad you agree." Tibbles said, rather suspiciously. He never had any experience that could have forced him to dream that up. He figured it had something to do with his capricious roommate. Not wanting to dwell on the subject, Elcia looked at the clock. 9:45 AM.
"Oh shit, the train leaves in 15 minutes!" She said as she scrambled off the bed and ran to her bags. She hastily threw in all her belongings and zipped it up. She slung it over her back and looked to Tibbles. "Bye, Tibbles! I hope we see each other again!" She shouted as she galloped out the door and slammed it in her hurry, leaving Tibbles alone. His train was leaving at 12:00 PM, so he still had time. And he had to think. Why did he have such a horrible nightmare? No experience he ever had could match up to the horror he experienced in the Dreamscape. He had multiple theories. One, is that it was brought up when the news of his parents' death in the woods reached him when he was 16. He could have imagined their deaths. But the racks and crucifixions did not make sense. Another was that he had recalled some very disturbing art he saw somewhere on the Internet. But he quickly disregarded that. He would clearly remember recalling art like that. His final theory was that he had somehow connected with Elcia and they shared dreams. It made sense. While he failed to use the Link Cables, he must have cast an unconscious spell that allowed him to enter Elcia's dream.
"Those are my only theories. I guess the last one makes the most sense. And if that's the case, then there is something terribly wrong with Elcia." He said to himself as he kicked the covers off of him. He couldn't do anything about it. Whatever was wrong with Elcia, it was very deep rooted. Whatever that had happened to her, he hoped that she could resolve it without him. With a heavy, tired sigh, he readied his things for his train ride to Hoofington.
---
Elcia sighed. 2 hours on the train was boring. There was little to do other than sitting down and sleeping or looking out the window and watching the scenery roll by. She had to admit, though. The scenery was beautiful. Long blades of grass rolling under a gentle breeze. A baby blue sky dotted with specks of clouds here and there. Trees standing proudly in the fields. Beautiful. But, 2 hours of the same scenery was still boring. Having little else to do, she resorted to planning. "Alright I can't exactly take the train all the way to Canterlot. They probably already know about me." She thought to herself as she looked out the window once more. The long blades of grass had been replaced by much shorter, but much greener grass. "I'll have to find the nearest town and hoof it from there." She reached into her bag and pulled out a map of Equestria. She lazily hoofed around for the town nearest to Canterlot. Eventually, her eyes settled on a small town, only a few kilometers away from Canterlot. "Ponyville, huh? Not a very original name." She snickered as she closed the map. "I guess I could stop by to get some supplies before heading out." She thought to herself and she grinned.
