> Secrets > by LightsCameraAction > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter One > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter One You loved coming to this club. You loved the atmosphere, the drinks, not to mention the dozens of mares. It was a bachelor's dream. You loved to hear the great music that was always playing, and the beat that flowed through you like a powerful river. There was, one, thing you didn't like about this place, and that was the group of rude stallions that always seemed to be there. You had come to this club dozens of times, and they were always right there, sitting at the bar. You tried your best to avoid them, everypony did. They were a bad crowd and even the bartender was reluctant to serve them drinks. Today, it was no different than any of the others, you walked in and saw that strange group of angry looking stallions sitting and talking at the bar. You decided to hit the dance floor first, getting your 'groove thang' on for a good five minutes while the DJ worked her magic on the stage. You new this DJ fairly well, you had talked to her in the past and seemed to have gotten along pretty well. It was none other than DJ Pon-3. She played great music, all the time. You knew that you could always count on her for the best beats and some serious bass dropage. When you were done dancing, you decided to go get a drink from the bar. You sat on the far side of the bar, away from the group of stallions. The bartender came up to you. "Pick your poison." He said with an annoyed tone. "Surprise me." You said kindly. The bartender turned away and started throwing together a very strong looking drink. You just sat patiently and closed your eyes, letting the music put you into a trance. You listened for a good three minutes before the sudden smash of glass pulled you back to reality. You opened your eyes to see the bartender crouched down behind the bar and liquor dripping down the bar shelves behind him along with broken glass all around him. The stallions were laughing hysterically as the startled bartender stood up. "The club is closed! Everypony out!" The bartender screamed. "Oh shut up!" One of the stallions yelled back from across the bar. "I said get out!" He yelled back to him. By this time, the lights had turned on and the music had stopped. Most of the ponies were leaving the club and you decided to do the same. But something stopped you, the newspaper sitting on the bar. You looked down and started reading the front page. The title read 'Killer In Ponyville'. Your gut tied in a knot, and you decided it was best that you got out of the bar quickly. As you got up out of your seat, you see the strange group of stallions discussing something quietly. You decide to get a little bit closer to hear what they were saying. "Hey, the DJ hasn't left yet." One of them said. "I bet we could 'work something out' with her." Another said. You listened in on the conversation in horror and decided you couldn't let them go through with what they were planning. You had to stop them somehow. You decided to put your special talent to work. They followed the DJ out the back entrance to the club, and you followed close behind, just far enough away that they didn't notice your pursuit. "Hey DJ, you want to help us out with something?" One of the stallions asked. "Oh, uh, n- no thank you, I have to get going." She replied. "No no no, you don't understand. We aren't asking." A different stallion said. "Oh, um..." Her voice trailed off as the stallions backed her into the corner. One of the stallions grabbed her foreleg and tried to pull her to come with them. She lifted up her opposite hoof and hit the stallion across the face. He stumbled backwards but stayed on his hooves. This time two of them grabbed each of her forelegs and one of them lined up and bucked her right in the face. Her glasses smashed and fell to the ground from the blow. She fell to the ground in a bloody heap and unconscious. The stallions go to pick her up and take her home, when you decided it was time to strike. SLAM! The bottle came across the stallions face with surprising force, breaking the bottle and part of the stallion's skull. You spun around with great speed stabbing another stallion in the chest with the jagged end of the broken bottle. You then bucked the last one straight in the head before he had time to strike you in the back. You sit in the alley, with three dead stallions and a lot to explain to the mare that was now waking up and in complete shock. "Dear Luna, what did you do!?" She said. "I'll tell you what I did, I saved your flank! I think a 'thank you' is in order." You replied. "Thanks, but what about the royal guards, they have to be on their way already!" She said. You thought about what to say, and you chose your words rather poorly. "They haven't caught me yet." You say, turning and walking out of the alley. > Chapter Two > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Two You walked home quickly, avoiding guards as you made your way to the outskirts of Ponyville. When you finally made it home, you let out a sigh of relief. You couldn't believe what had just happened. You had also broken your number one rule: You left a witness alive. Questions started racing through your mind at a mile a minute. "What if she turns me in, or worse what if she wants to blackmail me?" You thought out loud. You heard someone pound on the door. "Open up, please, please open the door!" The mare said. "They followed me here!" You opened the door and see DJ Pon-3 standing there, with a very panicked look on her face. She ran inside, then closed and locked the door. "What is it?" you asked. "The guards, they think I killed those stallions!" she said, still in panic mode. You had vowed never to leave witnesses for that reason, you didn't want someone else blamed for your crimes. Now you had to figure out how to fix this before the guards get to her. "Ok, are you sure they follow you here?" You asked. Just as you said that sentence, there was a loud pounding at the door. "Royal Guards, open up the door!" You heard the guards yell. You looked at DJ Pon-3 with an irritated look. "Seriously, you led them to my doorstep!?" You asked. "I had nowhere else to go! They were at my house when I got there, so I bolted." She replied. You looked around for a place to hide the mare, and found a small cubby hole under a rug where she might be able to fit. "Get inside." You whispered. You knew that she would be reluctant, so you grabbed her foreleg and 'helped' her. She let out a small yelp when you grabbed her, for you had grabbed her where the other stallion had. You closed the cubby and slid the rug back over it to cover it up. The door on the front of your house broke down and as the Royal Guards busted through it. "Where is she?" One of the guards asked. "She ran in, knocked me over, and ran through the back door. I don't know where she went from there." You said making sure not to sound like a liar. You were a good liar, you had to be with your 'talent'. "Search the house, make sure he is telling the truth." The head guard ordered. They decided to check the top floor first. Only the head guard staying on the first floor to keep you in check. You needed to get out of there, fast. You spun around and smacked the head guard with a strong uppercut making sure to avoid his armor. He stumbled backwards and went to swing back. You dodged his attacked with great agility and countered with a swift buck to the stomach. He dropped to the floor, and before he could get up, you bucked him again, this time in the head, knocking him unconscious. You opened up the cubby hole and helped the DJ out of her hiding place. "C'mon, lets go. We have to get out of here." you said. You both ran towards the front door that was already open, for obvious reasons. As you walked through the door you knocked over the candles that were lit on a stand next to the door. The stand caught fire and started burning everything around it. "That should do the trick." You said to the mare. "Yeah but where do we go from here?" She asked. You had been planning for emergencies like this for years. "We head to the Everfree. I have a safe house there for emergencies." You said. You both take off down the road heading to the Everfree Forest. You walked for about twenty minutes into the Everfree, and finally made it to the safe house. You go inside to see a dusty room. One twin bed sits in the corner. A small table big enough for two people sits next to the window on the back wall. "We need to get you stitched up, you are bleeding pretty bad." You said looking at the wounds on her face. "Yeah, that would be great." She replied. "Can I get a name? You ask. "I know your stage name but not your real name" You said as you took out your First Aid Kit. "It's Vinyl Scratch, What's your name?" She asked. "Oh, uh, the name's Dead Aim." You say reluctantly, breaking your second rule. Nine stitches, two painkillers, and two bandages later, you were finally done fixing her wound. "Thanks, it feels a lot better now." Vinyl said. "Don't mention it." you said in an emotionless tone. You weren't use to taking care of anypony but yourself, but inside, it felt kind of nice, having somepony to talk to. Of course, you had to shut those feelings down, you knew that when you got too close to anypony, it would be an unfortunate end. "Ok, I guess we should stay here until morning." You said as you looked at the old clock on the wall that read 1:00 AM. "Ok, sounds good to me." Vinyl said. "You take the bed, and I'll take the floor." You said, remembering to still be a gentlecolt. "Ok, are you sure?" Vinyl said as she jumped up onto the bed. "Yeah, it'll help with your head." You said, still trying to be nice. "Ok, thank you." Vinyl said with a small smile on her face. She slid under the covers and fell right to sleep. You couldn't help but feel bad that you dragged such a nice mare into such a bad mess. You decided to lay down in a spot next to the bed, and fall into a restless sleep. > Chapter Three > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Three You're running down a long endless hallway. You don't know what you are running from, because there is nothing but darkness behind you and ahead of you. You just keep running, and the hallway never ends. You run for what seems like hours, until you can't run anymore. You stop, feeling nothing but defeat. The darkness started to get closer, and closer, and closer. You sit in the dark, a single tear runs down your cheek. There is no way out, you are stuck. You fall over in a heap of tears, and just lay there. You jolted awake when you heard a loud bang on the floor. "Why are you sleeping RIGHT next to the bed?" Vinyl said angrily as she got up off the floor. "Sorry about that." You said in your most apologetic face possible. "So what's for breakfast?" Vinyl said as she turned back towards you. You got up off the floor and opened the cupboards. You dug through all of the old canned foods that wouldn't go bad for another hundred years, and you finally found what you were looking for. You pulled out the tasty yellow sponge cakes and threw a pack to Vinyl. "Twinkies!" You yelled. "You have got to be kidding me." Vinyl replied. "We need to get a move on, and we can eat these on the road." You said. You opened the door and stepped out into the fresh, forest air. You look around to make sure nobody else was present. "We are bound to be the talk of the town, and if anyone sees us, they won't think twice about turning us in." You said to Vinyl. You turn around to find her munching on the tasty yellow sponge cake. "These are really good!" Vinyl said with the food in her mouth. "I told you that you would like them, now let's get going." you told her. You both take a few steps outside and feel the morning dew on your hooves. "We should head north, we can link up at another one of my safe houses." You said. You both start walking north, continuing on the path deeper into the Everfree. A few minutes later, you start thinking about your dream. You have had that repeated dream over and over every night for the past two months. You knew what it meant, but were afraid to admit it. "So what is the plan?" Vinyl asked. "Well, the safe house is about 15 miles away still, so if we keep walking at this pace, we should be there in less than 4 hours." You replied. You both continue walking for the next few hours with hardly any conversation. You were both still walking through the Everfree when you heard the voices. Behind you, you heard several ponies heading toward you quickly from around a bend in the path. You knew that they were likely searching for you and Vinyl. You had to get off the path, and fast. You grabbed Vinyl's foreleg and pulled her off the path, quickly ducking into the bushes. You both lay down as close to the ground as you can get. You watched as the royal guards walked past the bush you and Vinyl were hiding in. You let out a sigh of relief and looked over to Vinyl, who was looking at you with a smirk on her face. "What's so funny, we could have been caught?!" you asked her in a loud whisper. She looks down to her foreleg. "You are holding onto me for dear life." She said laughing. You pulled your hoof away from her foreleg, feeling your face turn bright red. You both crawl out from your hiding place and keep walking, now following far behind the royal guards. You made sure to stay at a safe distance between you and the guards. You had walked for another half hour before you decided it was time to get rid of the royal guards. You looked around on the trees seeing if there is anything you could use to 'assist' you in your job. You find a strong vine with several long, sharp thorns running along the sides. You use your strength to break a piece of the vine off the tree. The royal guards stopped for a short break when you decided it as time to strike. You told Vinyl to hide 100 feet back and wait for you to finish up. You crawled through the bushes and got directly behind one of the royal guards, the other guard was on the opposite side of the path, looking towards the guard you were behind. You wrap the vine around the first guard's neck without coming out of the bushes and pulled it tight. You felt the thorns pierce deep into the guards neck, you then slid the vine from side to side, slicing the guards neck wide open. The blood ran down the guard's neck as the life slowly drained from his body. You pulled the vine out of his neck and let his body fall to the ground, all before the other guard could react. You jump out from the bushes running at the other guard as fast as your legs can carry you. You ram into him with astounding force knocking him to the ground, you spin him onto his stomach and sit on top of him wrapping the vine around his neck and repeating the process. After both of the guards were dead, you rolled their bodies into the surrounding bushes and you took a moment to look around you looked at the path that was now drenched with blood, and you looked at your hands which were also covered in blood and were blistering from pulling tightly on the vine. A tear came to your eye as you saw what you looked like, and what you had just done. It never gets easier for you. Every time you kill, you cry. You slowly walk back down the path to where Vinyl was hiding. "C'mon, you can come out now." You said to her. She came out, looking at you with wide eyes. "What did you do?!" she asked. "I took care of them. Let's just go, I don't want to talk about it." You replied. You both continue walking down the path, walking through the bloody spots trying not to think about what just happened. > Chapter Four > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Four You and Vinyl had finally made it to the next safe house deep in the Everfree Forest. You went inside to find that the house looked very similar to the first safe house. One bed, table for two, small amount of food. "We can take a break here, but we can probably get to the next safe house before dark." You said. Vinyl walked in and sat on the bed, resting her legs. You walked over to the sink and turned it on, waiting for the water to get warm. "So what are we going to do as far as long term, we cant just keep running." Vinyl said, sounding worried. "I, I honestly don't know. I have never been caught or investigated before." You say. You look at Vinyl and see that she is scared. You wash your hands off quickly and walk over to her. "Look, I know things look bad right now, but I promise we are going to be ok." You said trying to comfort her. "Don't make a girl a promise that you can't keep." She said, looking at you with tears in her eyes. "I miss my family, my friends, and my work." She continued. You looked at her trying to find the correct words to say. Vinyl rolled over and lied down with her back to you. You lied down next to the bed and fell asleep. You're running down a long endless hallway. You don't know what you are running from, because there is nothing but darkness behind you and ahead of you. You just keep running, and the hallway never ends. You run for what seems like hours, until you can't run anymore. You stop, feeling nothing but defeat. The darkness starts to get closer, and closer, and closer. You sit in the dark, a single tear runs down your cheek. There is no way out, you are stuck. You fall over in a heap of tears, and just lay there. You jolted awake and looked around panicking. You looked at the door to make sure it was closed and locked, and then back to the bed to make sure Vinyl was still there. You let out a sigh of relief when you saw that everything was ok, and she was safe. You had grown attached to her, having her around. You walked over to her and placed a hoof gently on her side. You could feel her breathing, slow and steady. You remove your hand from her side and walk over to the cabinet. You open it up to find a few Twinkies. "No surprise there." You heard from behind you. You turned around, startled. "Well you sure are jumpy this afternoon." Vinyl said walking over to you. She took one of the Twinkies out of your hoof and began eating it. "We should probably head out soon, or we will have to stay here tonight." You said to her. "Well, it might be better just to stay here instead of go to the next safe house. We are well outside Ponyville by now." Vinyl said. She was right, you were far into the Everfree by now, and guards would hardly ever come looking for you two out this far. You looked outside to see the sun was already getting ready to go down. "Fine, we can stay here for a few days, but we should start our plans on getting new identities so we can move back into Ponyville." You said. You turned around to see Vinyl tampering with an old record player in the corner of the room. She starts it up and it starts playing a slow dancing song that you would hear at the gala. Vinyl walks over to you and gestures for you to dance. You feel yourself blush a little. She takes one step closer to you and takes your hoof by force. She proceeded to lead you through the dance flawlessly, spinning you around in many different ways. At the end of the song, she leaned in and gave you a tiny peck on the cheek. You felt your face turn even more red than before and she let out a little giggle. She let go of your hooves and went to back to the record player. "So now you know how to slow dance with a mare, in case you ever get the chance." Vinyl said, still tampering with the record player. "Yeah thanks." You replied. You looked outside and saw that is was starting to get dark out. "We should probably get to bed, that way we can get a good night's sleep and head out to figure out our next move." You said to Vinyl, laying down next to the bed. "Yeah, we have a busy day tomorrow." Vinyl replied. She lied down and started to drift off to sleep, and you did the same. "Um, do you want to maybe sleep in the bed too?" You heard Vinyl ask. "Um, sure, that would be nice." You replied. You got up off the wooden floor and slowly crawled up onto the bed and lied down next to Vinyl. She was facing away from you, and you were facing her. You fell into a peaceful sleep. You're running down a long endless hallway. You don't know what you are running from, because there is nothing but darkness behind you and ahead of you. You just keep running, and the hallway never ends. You run for what seems like hours, until you can't run anymore. You stop, feeling nothing but defeat. The darkness started to get closer, and closer, and closer. You sit in the dark, a single tear runs down your cheek. But just then, you feel someone put their foreleg around your neck, you look up to see Vinyl, smiling at you. She takes your hoof and pulls you out of the hallway into a bright room. She whispers into your ear. "I will never leave you." > Chapter Five > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Five You woke up the next day feeling more refreshed than you have in years. You also got the pleasant sight of Vinyl's eyes looking deep into yours. "Morning!" Vinyl said to you. "Good morning to you too." You said to her, smiling. You got up out of bed and looked out the small, dust covered window. You saw nothing, except the forest. You turned around and went to the cabinet. You opened it up to find some Twinkies, and passed one to Vinyl. Right as you opened your Twinkie up, you heard someone pound on the doors. "Slide under the bed!" You whispered to Vinyl. She did as you asked. You grabbed a knife out of a drawer, and stood where the door would cover you when it opened. The visiter opened the door and walked in, looking around. You peeked out from behind the door to see who it was. It was a single royal guard. You jumped out from behind the door and brought the guard down to the floor of the safe house. You rolled him over and stabbed him several times in the chest, blood spattering everywhere, until he stopped moving completely. You got up, covered in blood. You looked out the window to see another group of guards walking towards the house, coming to see what was taking the other guard so long. You looked to Vinyl, who was still under the bed. "I will distract them, don't move until I am far away from here. The next safe house is east of here, head there." You said to her quietly. "You will meet me there right?" Vinyl asked. "I can't make any promises, good luck, and goodbye." You said with a weak smile, knowing your time was near. You walked out the front door, as tears streamed down your face. You spun the knife in your hand, so you were holding the blade of the knife. The guards started walking quickly towards you. You lifted your arm and threw the knife with amazing accuracy and speed. It struck the guard closest to you through the eye, and he fell lifelessly to the ground with blood pouring out of the open wound. The others picked up the pace into a full gallop towards you, and you took off towards the west, away from the safe house. You ran as fast as you could, tears still streaming from your eyes. Your mind was racing, thinking about Vinyl, and if she would be ok. You thought about yourself, what it would be like to be in prison, or death, if you were lucky. You kept running and the forest was getting denser, and darker. It reminded you of a long hallway, with darkness closing in on both sides. You looked back to see the guards were still in pursuit. You decided you were far enough away to end the chase. You stopped on the path and waited for the guards to catch up to you. They ran up to you and knocked you to the ground. "You are under arrest and coming with us!" The guard said. You did as they asked without resisting. They followed on either side of you, and you started the long walk back to Ponyville. "Where will you take me, once we get back?" You ask one of the guards. "You will be taken to Canterlot and put on trial in front of Princess Celestia." The guard said. Your stomach turned at the thought. ------------------------------------ It was dark when you finally made it to the edge of the Everfree. You saw the few ponies that were outside at this late hour give you nasty looks. You figured they recognized you from the newspaper. You just hung your head low to the ground and let your mind continue to race. You thought about your dream, and realized something. You had reached the end of your dream. This was rock bottom. You would never see Vinyl again, and never tell her how you felt. You regret that the most. The guards took you into a back alley to avoid other ponies that may not take kindly to your presence. That's when you saw it, a figure on top of the building. You couldn't make out who it was but you saw it focusing on the guards on either side of you. It had blades in both hooves, and was getting ready to pounce. You knew exactly what was going on. The figure leaped down towards you, and you jumped backwards. The guards however, didn't even see the figure until it was too late, they didn't stand a chance. The figure landed in between them slamming the knives into each of their backs as she did. The guards winced in pain, and the figure pulled the knives out and put them across each of their throats, ending their lives simultaneously. You couldn't believe your eyes, it couldn't be, Vinyl. She lifted her head and looked at you with a smile, tears running down her face knowing what she had done, but she was still smiling. You walked up to her, and looked her in the eyes, leaning in, you give her a strong, passionate kiss. Your tongues danced with as you kissed and held each other close in your arms. After several minutes, Vinyl broke the kiss. She looked at you with a smile, and you did the same. "You came back for me, you shouldn't have." You said to her. "What did you expect me to do, let you get caught?" Vinyl asked. You heard the sound of guards heading towards the alley. "We'd better get out of here." Vinyl said. You nodded in agreement. You both took off down the alley away from the sounds of the guards. "Where are we going to go?" You ask. "We need to get out of Ponyville, there are too many guards looking for us." she replied. You followed her as she darted in and out of different alleys making sure to make both of your trails harder to follow. "I say we head to Lasso Vegas, and blend in for awhile." Vinyl said. You thought about Lasso Vegas, lots of bright lights, beautiful buildings, and lots of gambling. You had been there once before and you loved it there. It was where the rich ponies went. "Sure, I am up for that." You said. "Awesome, lets hide out at the edge of the Everfree tonight and we can catch a train in the morning." Vinyl replied. You nodded in agreement. You both walked over to the edge of the Everfree and lied down. Vinyl curled up close to you, and you put a hoof around her and pulled her a little closer.. For the situation that you were both stuck in, you felt good, being with her, able to protect her, and she could do the same for you. You felt her turn to face you and she nuzzled her face into your shoulder, and you rested your head next to hers. You both drifted off into a deep and peaceful sleep, but just before you did, you realized that this was the ending to your dream with Vinyl. > Chapter Six > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Six You woke up with Vinyl's head still nuzzled tightly into your shoulder. You looked around, without getting up, making sure not to disturb her. You saw guards patrolling every street and alley. You knew it was going to be tough to avoid detection on the way to the train. You looked up in the sky and saw a Cyan Pegasus leading a group of Pegasi in formation, all dressed in royal guard armor. They were all looking for you. You gently nuzzled Vinyl near her ear to wake her up. She lifted her head up slowly, and looked around. "Well how are we going to get to Lasso Vegas without getting caught?" She asked. "I have a plan." You said. "We wait for the train to leave the station and we intercept it and get on." You looked at her to see what she thought. "Ok, we can give it a shot." She said. You both trotted over to a spot near the tracks, making sure not to be seen on the way. You sat down with Vinyl behind some small bushes. "So, about last night." You said, looking at Vinyl. She looked at you, and smiled. You felt your face turn a little bit red. "Would you be interested in doing that again sometime?" You asked. "I thought you would never ask." Vinyl replied, giving you a small peck on the lips, similar to the one after your dance. You went to return the favor, but you were cut off by the sound of the train leaving the station. "Ok, get ready." You said. Vinyl turned to the tracks and prepared to take off. Just as the train was almost in position, you heard someone yell from above you. "There they are, get them!" The Cyan Pegasus yelled. You motioned to Vinyl telling her to run and get on the train. You both took off with great speed, but the guards were faster. They flew down from above nearly crashing right into you. You and Vinyl avoided their attacks and kept running. One guard flew around behind you, and dove straight down. He came up and took all of your legs out from under you. Vinyl stopped and looked back at you. She ran back to you to help you up. You got up and looked around. You and Vinyl were both surrounded by guards, with their hooves at the ready. You looked up to Vinyl and saw the tears streaming down her face as she looked into your eyes. You got up and felt tears welling up in your eyes as well. The train had passed, and there was no getting out of this one. "I guess, this is it." She said to you. "No, we can get out of this." you said. She took her hoof and placed it on your cheek, gently nudging your head to look at her again. "Don't make a girl a promise, that you can't keep." She said to you. You knew that this was it, but you didn't want to tell her that. You lean in and whisper into her ear. "Follow me, and don't look back." You turn and run at one of the guards. He spins around and bucks you straight in the face, but before he can recover for a second kick, Vinyl came across his face with a strong left hoof, dropping him to the ground. She ran through the blockade of guards and into the Everfree forest nearby. The guards let her go and turned back to you. You had a large cut along your face from the kick. You were bleeding badly and could barely even see anything. The guards grabbed you and stood you up on your hooves. Your legs were wobbly and you could barely stand up. You started walking the way they told you to. You turned your head back to where Vinyl had disappeared into the forest. You could barely make out Vinyl peaking out from the edge of the forest, tears running down her face. You gave a weak smile and turned your head back to face the front. You saw that they were taking you to the graveyard, where they did executions. You felt your stomach turn, and you stopped walking. The guard hit you in the back knocking you down. You got back up and continued walking, but at a slower pace. You felt an overwhelming feeling of loneliness come over you. You never thought you would die alone, or at an execution. You arrived at the entrance of the graveyard, and hung your head low. That's when a miracle happened. Princess Celestia came riding up in her chariot. The chariot landed along the small road, and everyone, including you bowed your head. The princess stepped out of the chariot and walked towards the Cyan colored Pegasus. "What do you think you are doing?!" The pincess asked with an angry tone. "We caught one of the killers, and we were getting ready to execute him." The Cyan Pegasus replied. "I ordered a life sentence, not a death sentence!" The princess yelled at the Pegasus. The Pegasus hung her head and slowly backed away. Princess Celestia turned to the guards surrounding you. "Take him to my chariot, he is going to the dungeon." She said. You walked over to the chariot and stepped in. You looked back to see Celestia scolding the Pegasus, and you couldn't help but chuckle. Celestia walked back to her chariot, and stepped in. She signaled for them to take off and return to Canterlot. The chariot took off towards Canterlot, and Celestia looked down at you. You just hung your head, still bleeding badly. "Why did you kill all of those ponies?" She asked. That was all she needed to say, and tears started pouring down your face. You didn't answer her. She looked back up and focused on Canterlot. You were looking over the side of the chariot, and everything was blurry. You felt your strength slowly leaving your body, and you lied down on the floor of the chariot. You looked up to Celestia. "How long will I be in the Dungeon?" you asked. She said one word. "Life." > Chapter Seven > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Seven You arrived at Canterlot a few minutes after your short conversation with Celestia. She walked you into the castle at a quick pace. You could tell that she just wanted to get this over with. She takes you into a large room with a few ponies inside. You could tell exactly what the room was. It was a courtroom. You looked up at Celestia. "I thought I wasn't going to get a trial." You said. "You aren't, but we still have to formally convict you of the crimes." She replied. Your last small piece of hope faded when she said those words. You walked down the center isle towards the front of the room. You felt your breathing get faster, knowing what was to come. You went up and took the stand. You didn't stand a chance at getting out of the dungeon. "Dead Aim, you are on trial for seventeen counts of first degree murder, is there anything you would like to say before we begin?" The judge asked you. You looked out to the empty seats of the crowd, and the filled seats of the jury. You said nothing, knowing you couldn't do anything to save you or your reputation now. "Very well, let us begin." It was hardly a trial. The trial consisted of the judge telling you the names of all of the ponies you killed, but you knew they all deserved it. They were always bad ponies in general, but they just weren't seen that way by others. You felt tears well up in your eyes after every time the judge said on of the names of the dead ponies. After the judge finished off with the last name, you turned and looked back to the jury. "So, what do you think of this, bastard, of a pony?" The judge asked the jury. "Guilty!" The whole jury said in unison. Your heart dropped, as your fate was finally sealed. "Off to the dungeon with you!" Yelled the judge. Two royal guards escorted you out of the courtroom, and back to the main hall. You then took a left and walked towards the dungeon. The dungeon looked like a giant well with rooms on the inner side of the well. One of the guards pushed you onto a small platform and got on along with you, and the other guard went over to the small lever, which he pulled and the platform began to descend. The platform descended several stories, until it reached the very bottom level of the chamber. The guard pushed you into a cell and closed the door behind you. The platform then ascended all the way back to the top of the chamber. You looked around the cell and saw a small bed, a sink, and a toilet. There was also and small chute that led to the top of the chamber, that was used to send food down to you. The only light inside the whole chamber came from the top where sunlight was flooding in through the windows of the castle. You sat down on your bed and took a moment to think, you thought all the way back to the night you saved Vinyl. You thought of those strange stallions that started this whole mess. You thought of Vinyl, and how she never gave up on you, even when you were captured. You thought about how she was alone now, and where she would go. You thought about how she would get caught and eventually brought to the same place and thrown in the dungeon. You got up off the bed and started pacing around your cell. You couldn't do anything to get yourself out of here now. All you could do is wait, and wait, and wait. You looked out of the cell bars and towards the surface, you couldn't see anything except the stream of light coming through the windows. You walked back to the bed and sat down. not knowing what to do. This went on for several months, and you were starting down the long road of insanity. After two years, had lost all hope of getting out earlier. You had never been visited, and hadn't seen another pony in a year. You always looked up to the surface, hoping that you could see, or at least get a glimpse of something. You knew that you never would but you always kept your hopes up. You were pacing around your cell when you heard the sounds. It sounded like someone was struggling. You heard the sound of fighting and yelling. You ran to the edge of your cell and looked to the surface, you watched as a guard lost his footing and fell into the well. He fell all the way to the bottom level and landed on the top of his head, breaking his neck. "What the hell?" You thought out loud. You looked back up at the surface and saw the other guard fighting off the attacker. He was spun around by his attacker and stabbed in the back, then kicked off the side into the well. He landed next to the other guard, and tried to get up. You looked back up to the surface and saw a very familiar silhouette. You couldn't tell who it was until they said one sentence. "I will never leave you."