"*squee!*er." Asmo screeched to a halt in the parking lot, closed his hood eye, and ran into the building, followed close by Raven. "Probably violence," Azrael replied.
The door to Critique's office was locked, and the muffled screams were increasing in both volume and desperation.
"Your saviors have ariiiiived, dick breath!" Asmo conjured a few tentacles, using them to tear the door open.
(This might be the darkest I've ever gone with Nightshade.) Cricket's eyes widened with horror at the scene before her. "Oh... my... guh..." She ran out of the room began vomiting her breakfast onto the floor. Music Critique lay spread eagle on the floor, his forelegs pinned to the wood by a pair of daggers that had been shoved through the fetlock joints. His belly had been sliced open, and his intestines had been pulled out of the cavity. A section of the small intestine had been pulled all the way up to his face, stuffed into his mouth, and held in place with duct tape as a makeshift gag. Several hypodermics full of a powerful stimulant to keep him alive, aware, and awake for as long as possible, had been injected into his chest, and his eyes were wide with pain and terror as he screamed through the gag and tried to get free. One of his hind legs was little more than bare flesh, the peeled skin flapping around on the floor as he struggled. Nightshade, a razor-sharp blade held in her hoof and a joyful smile on her scarred face, was carefully flaying the skin of the other leg. She looked up at Asmo, and her smile grew wider. "Oh, hi! How are you?"
Maya spoke up from her seated position. "Hi, Eddy!" Raven fainted immediately. Asmo opened many eyes around the room before raising an eyebrow. "Uhh.... Shady. It was just a nasty article. This is a bit much. Even for me."
"He tried to hurt Raven," Nightshade cheerfully explained. "He wanted to make her unhappy. To ruin what she worked for. Just because he could! So I'm making him unhappy. Because I can." She looked over at the now-unconscious Raven. "Is she okay?"
Hello Maya. I detected a large amount of upheaval in this Universe, I decided to come back and check it out.
Maya shrugged. "No more than normal, from what I've seen." "Uhh..." Asmo focused his eyes on Raven. "She saw this, was horrified, and passed out. She was just gonna write up some lyrics, but this is... what the hell, Shady?"
But still, too much to be normal, but just a small enough amount of upheaval it seems normal. Unless I'm early? Time travel, I was outside the Universe, watching events.
Nightshade looked at him curiously. "I just told you. He wanted to make Raven suffer, for no good reason. He's a coward and a bully. What's the problem?" She sat down beside Nightshade and began stroking the Bat's mane with her bloody hoof. "Wake up, sleepyhead. Sorry I startled you. I guess you don't like the sight of blood, huh?"
Raven didn't respond. "Get the *squee!* AWAY FROM HER!" Asmo raised up a few tentacles between Nightshade and Raven.
"This!" He seemed to be speaking in numerous voices now as he pointed to the butchered critic. "This is what's wrong with me! Anypony who's dear to those old *squee!*s running the bar is dear to me. By proxy, Raven's very *squee!*ing dear to me. You expect me to let you touch her? *squee!* you."
"So, that's it, is it?" Nightshade's voice was barely above a whisper. "You really think I'd hurt her? I'd never hurt her. I'd burn this entire world to make her happy, but I'd never hurt her. I'd raze Equestria a thousand times over to keep her safe, but I would NEVER hurt her."
