What would you have done?

I had made it back to the warehouse, and sat next to Sour Candy once more. She was just as I left her. "You know, maybe you were more help than harm, my friend." I smiled. "I'm worried about what's going to happen today though. If I take you with me, you might be in danger... But you could be even worse off if I leave you here, defenseless..." I thought about it for over an hour, and decided that I'd take her with me. Worst case scenario, I could let her family take care of her while I fought whatever may try me.

I rested until Celestia's sun rose. I wasn't tired, despite the lack of sleep. I looked at Sour, and shook her until she woke up. "Mmmn... What is it?" She looked around. "Oh yeah... So, are you going to my house soon?" She said tiredly.

I nodded and picked her up onto my back. "And you're coming with me. Your parents must be worried sick."

She sighed. "Fine. Just... Be careful, okay? Let me explain all of the blood on you, because I don't think they'd trust you."

I nodded and we headed out the door. Her broken limbs dangled on my sides. I couldn't wait until I could get her to ponies who could help her. She may be useful in the long run, and having to carry her around like this wasn't going to help at all. Well... Maybe I also felt bad for her... She was in pain, and I wanted to fix it.

We reached the house she had previously described, and I smiled at her. I walked up to the door and knocked a few times.

I could hear yelling and crying inside. A mare's voice said "IF YOU'RE SELLING SOMETHING, WE'RE A LITTLE PREOCCUPIED!"

Sour Candy yelled back at the voice. "MOM! IT'S ME!"

The door opened a crack and a green mare looked out. "SOUR!" The mare pulled Sour Candy and myself inside. "Who is this? Where were you? Why is this pony soaked in blood?!"

I felt somewhat insulted that she referred to me as "This pony" but I was in no position to act out.

"Mom, The Wolf Clan came after me on my way to school yesterday. This is Bright Shine, she saved me from Rake... He won't be bothering us anymore. And I'm also very hurt... My legs are broken..." Sour said.

I nodded and lowered my head. "Hello, ma'am..."

Sour's mom looked at me. "It's nice to meet you... I think... I'm Lime Green. Give my daughter and I just a moment." She said. She picked Sour Candy off of my back and onto hers, and they left the room for a few moments.

I took this time to look around the living room. The walls were all a dark purple. I could have mistaken them for black at a glance, but as much as I'd have liked sleek black walls, they were purple. So close, and yet so far. The furniture was cheap, I decided to sit on the couch, which was an ugly shade of tan. It was made out of cotton, and had no pattern. Only tan. It was ill fitting with the Zebra striped floor, and the plaid furniture. Nothing in this house looked very good, honestly. All I could think about was how stupid it all looked.

But then again... I was the pony with red splashes on yellow fur. I chuckled as I thought of it. And then i sighed. 'Red splashes...' And suddenly, my thoughts turned towards death, agony, and the idea that Sour Candy might have to live with what I was living through.

Just then, I heard Sour Candy yell. "MOM! SHE CAN PROTECT US!"

'I...Is she really defending me up there?... After what she saw yesterday?...'

Lime was the next to yell at the top of her lungs. "ARE YOU INSANE? SHE'S COVERED IN BLOOD! WHEN YOUR FATHER GETS HOME....!"

I stopped hearing anything after that. I decided to stop listening. It wasn't my business. But I didn't have to stop. They weren't yelling anymore. I waited for twenty minutes in silence. Nopony came down the stairs.

After a while, I decided to get up, and right as I did, a note blew in from an open window. It fell face down, and I hesitated to pick it up. I decided that it would be better than being surprised when something happened. I picked it up and it read.

"Bread, butter, wine, roses, MY TURN!"

And as if on cue, the window broke and in came a black earth pony. Larger than average, with a dagger for a cutie mark. "WHAT'S UP? BITCHES!" He yelled. He was obviously grown, but he had such a baby face. It was odd.

Just as this happened, Lime peeked out from behind a wall, with sour on her back. She brought her to a door that had stairs leading down. 'They have a basement. They might be safe there.' I thought. 'I'll be able to take this head on.'

He looked around. "You the only one?!" He said. "Doesn't matter. Everypony will know Jack Alaska when I'm done with you!" He said as he pulled daggers out of his black mane. He pointed one at me. "It's Bright Shine, right? Your mom probably misses you in hell."

I glared at him. "WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"I should know. I killed her myself. I caused the fire!" He said as he grinned at me. "I just wish I could have killed those others too. I heard that they screamed a lot." He laughed and I charged him, punching him in the face hard.

He looked at me. "That wasn't very nice, you BITCH!" He cut my shoulder with his dagger and began trying to comprimise my footing.

'Dodge, dodge, attack, dodge' I said in my mind as my body prepped for battle and I dodged and punched him. Every punch missed, and I grew angrier and angrier with him. 'So this is the MOTHER FUCKER who made me grow up without parents? And he's one of the wolf clan? My lucky FUCKING DAY!'

He punched me in the face and I flew back about fifteen feet. It was obvious that he wasn't normal. He started throwing daggers at me.

I jumped around and dodged as many as I could. But eventually, one hit me on the front-left leg. "FUCK!" I yelled as I fell to the floor. I looked up at him as he walked over to me.

" Did you like the knife show? It's my specialty. Throwing daggers are so fun. Better than arrows because I can hide so many so easily. Better than a gun because I don't need to reload." As he was talking, I moved my hoof over to a nearby dagger. I grabbed it, and waited until the right moment. "All I have to do is move around until I find one that I threw, and throw it again." He said. "And it's very effective on twerps like you." He smiled as he took the knife from inside my leg and positioned it above my head.

I grinned as I looked at him. "You know, you should check if your victims are immobile before you yammer on about shit!" I said as I stabbed him in the hoof with my new dagger. He screamed and fell to his knees. I licked the dagger and my bloodlust rose to a new level.

I jumped onto my hooves, and with my magic, I rose Jack above my head and smiled sadistically.

"W-What are you doing?!" H began panicking. This was the best part of the kill, the panic in his green eyes.

"I'm killing you. You should understand. It would be business... if you didn't MAKE it so personal!"

But as I spoke those words, my magic diminished and he fell to the floor, getting up on three of his hooves.

I writhed downward in pain. My stomach was wrenching, and I looked up. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"I didn't do anything, you brat! But I'll take advantage of what I can!" He said as he swung his dagger at me. Despite my pain, I grabbed his hoof and forced it to stop, then I thought about what I would do. It was a stale mate. I couldn't move my hooves without him being able to move his. We were in an equal struggle. Two injured ponies with nothing to lose. Fighting to the death for different reasons. Two souls who had killed many times before, with two different feelings about what they had done, ready to make a kill that hopefully wouldn't be their last.

"You're pretty strong for a twerp!" He said.

"You're not bad yourself." I smiled.

"Then why are you smiling?" He grunted.

"Because you forgot something about me. Something I have that you don't."

He laughed. "Ovaries?"

I laughed back. "Nope!" I grinned as I rammed my head into his throat. My horn went right through his head, and I grinned as he wheezed one last breath before I turned my head and snapped his neck.

I pulled my horn out from the bottom of his head, and let him fall down. With a THUD he landed on the floor, and as my bloodlust hadn't dropped, I took one of his daggers out of the nearby wall, and cut open his throat, licking the blood out of his neck happily.

I was ashamed about what I was doing. But I wasn't about to stop. It was so much fun! So tasty! So much potential. I realized that I was once again deafened. I heard nothing, and could only see, smell, taste, and touch my victim. The grotesque noises could only be heard by the walls and the tacky couch.

"Hahaha....hahaha HAHAHAHA AAAAHAHAHAHA" I laughed as I tore him apart, skinning him slowly. His head was the first thing to go bare. I carved his eyes out of his sockets and grinned mischievously. By the time I got to his neck, I felt another pain in my stomach. "Fuck... What the hell is going on here?" I regained my sanity due to the stomach pain and I decided to go to the basement, where I was instantly hit on the head with a blunt object, and knocked out.

I could hear the screams of my victims. The crying of Sour Candy. The wheezing of Jack Alaska and the breathing of somepony who had been crying for a while. I opened my eyes to see Luna again. Her eyes were teary, I could tell that she was the source of the heavy breathing. "What do YOU want?" I said as I closed my eyes again. I felt sorry for her, but I was too stubborn to think of her before my petty defensiveness

She poked me with her hoof. "I told sister about Discord. He won't be bothering you again any time soon. And... I'm very sorry about my previous comment... I... I was inconsiderate. And I won't insinuate such things again. I'm sorry I was angry with you... and I'm sorry I offended you." She said sadly.

I looked at her reluctantly. "I-I'm sorry too... It wasn't nice of me to just leave like that." I sighed. "Thank you for fixing my discord problem. Have you been watching today?" I asked.

She looked at me and nodded. "Good thinking, using your head." She tried to make a joke out of it.

I laughed slightly. The joke was lame, but she meant well. "Thank you. So, what are we doing now?"

She smiled at me. "You can relax. I didn't really expect to see you yet." She laughed a little.

"I wasn't expecting to fall asleep either. It was a surprise to both of us." I smiled. "If we're going to relax... Can I hear a story about you and Celestia? I'm curious." Curious... That was a word I Hadn't used often before.

She sat down next to me and smiled. "Sure. Do you want to hear a sad story? Or a happy one?"

I rested my head on her back. "Sad please. I find those stories the best." I nuzzled her as if she were family. That's what she felt like now. The big sister I never had. The big sister I always felt like I needed...

She looked at me and smiled. I think she thought of me as family as well. Family without wings, that is. "Here's the full story, of how I was banished to the moon." She said gently. Her words stopped seeming casual. They became like music without music. A song without singing. "It was a warm night. I was feeling especially cocky that night. I wanted to see all of the ponies look to the sky as I showed them a spectacular night time. I made each star brighter. I even had some shooting stars prepared. I had the moon in its full glory and even made it shine a little brighter. I thought that nopony would dare sleep through a night so spectacular. I looked upon my kingdom... Expecting so many ponies to be looking up and screaming in joy at the spectacle... But truly, they were all inside. Most were asleep, in fact... I felt such a pain race through me. I grew angry... But I held it in as best I could. I waited until dawn, and as Celestia had her normal sunrise... Everypony woke up, smiling and happy. The guards congratulated my sister for another sunrise." She paused for a moment as a tear dripped from her face and she wiped her eyes with her hoof.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yes. Now, to continue... This went on for 4 years. Each night I would find another way to make my sky better... And yet nopony was awake to see it... Not even my sister, who each morning, would make a sarcastic remark about my hard work... When all she had to do was raise one object and stand under it. On the dawn of the longest day of the 5th year... I Appeared in front of my foolish sister. I confronted her calmly at first. Telling her that she had to do something about it. She laughed in my face... saying she was aware of this, and that it was just something that I had to deal with. and that maybe ONE DAY!..." She grew angry as she spoke the next sentence. "ONE DAY YOU COULD MAKE THE NIGHT HALF AS GOOD AS THE DAY! THOSE WERE HER WORDS! I decided that if she was going to disrespect me, she was going to pay a hefty price. I Shot a burst of magic that would trap her in the moon, so that she would be forced to see my nights at every moment. And her day would be a thing of the past. However... she quickly used a protection spell that deflected the magic back at me... The magic formed around me, and for the last ten seconds of my freedom... I saw her cry. She knew what would become of me, and that I would not return with harmony in my heart... I watched as every night became as average as the day... for one thousand years, she sang the same lullaby to the moon, as if I would forgive her for her ignorance. And I would eventually come to sing back to her, though she would not hear me... I sang of vengeance... and sometimes of forgiveness... But I was shunned for a thousand painful years. She did nothing to stop my anger, and with her ignorance, I was punished..." She finished... I felt so sorry for her... I wasn't sure what I could say to a princess who was trapped and shunned for a thousand years. "That is why I took an interest in you. When you yelled to the sky... It reminded me of how I yelled to the ponies... And nopony cared... A unicorn of great ability... And a tragedy so grand... I could not settle on the idea of somepony becoming what I was for a thousand years. That is why I am here now... to stop you from becoming the monster that you could have."

I was stunned. "Y-you really care enough to pull through all of this..." I said.

She kissed my forehead, just below my horn. "I suppose you could say, I'm the sister that you need. The sister I needed..." She smiled at me, and I looked at her with eyes full of tears.

"Tell me, princess... If we had switched roles... and nopony were there to save you from my fate... What would you have done?" I asked.

"..." she didn't give me a verbal response. She just looked down and sighed.

I knew what she was saying. In a silent way, she was telling me that it could not have been much different from what I had the potential to do. Pain is difficult to deal with... And sometimes... You need somepony to help you. But in reality... Is this actually any different from what it could have been? Have I truly learned anything from my Princess of dreams? "Princess... If you want... I don't think I can sleep tonight. So when I lie awake... I will walk outside. I will use my magic to tear open the clouds. And I shall show your night to all of the ponies of this city... this city which needs a beautiful sight... And even if nopony else walks out to see your light of darkness, you know I will be there to see it all. I will bring out who I can to watch your spectacular show! So... If it's not too much trouble... Could you make this night like the nights over a thousand years ago?" I smiled at her. Hoping to make her as happy as I was to become when I watched the show that was yet to come.

She looked at me. and as tears of joy fell down her purple face, she nodded. " I shall make it the most spectacular night of all. For you, my little spirit sister. Be sure to clear all of the clouds that have been building up for so long on your neglected city. I will be watching more closely than ever before. But your time outside of the concious realm is over for a while." She touched my head with her horn as it began to glow. "Go help your own little sister. I cannot wait to show you my masterpiece."

I woke up, lying in a bed of metal. A large bump on my head. I was looking at a white ceiling. It was very bright in this room. As I looked around, I noticed machinery. I followed a cord to see what it could be hooked up to with it's rhythmic beeping. As I followed the cord, it lead closer to my body. The machine beeped faster as I realized what it was attached to... ME! I looked to my side, and I saw Sour Candy in a bed next to mine. With casts on her legs, but no machines. Only magazines and books on a table between us.

"H-hey, sleepy head." Said the filly who had only 24 hours ago, had nothing but fear of, and distain for; my existance. "Welcome back to your life."

I felt my forehead. "W-what happened to me? Where are we?" My machine beeped faster and faster as I grew anxious.

"Calm down. We're in a hospital. My mom thought you were Jack, and hit you on the head."

I calmed down a bit, "And where is madame conclusión?" I asked.

Sour giggled. "She's in the hall. Visiting hours ended a few minutes ago. And my mom reads the news. She signed you in under an alias as thanks for saving us. Nopony will know you with that cutie mark she drew on you." She smiled at me as she turned her head to look at me.

I looked down and pulled up the robe that I had been put in while unconscious, to see a dolphin on my flank. I giggled slightly. "And what's my new name?"

She winked. "New name? I don't know what you mean, Lemon Swirl." She giggled.

I found it to be an alright name, if not a bit creative. "Listen, can I ask you something?"

"Sure" She said.

"Can you stay up with me tonight? I have something to show you." I looked at a clock to see that it was 4:30 pm. In two hours, the sun would set. And in 4 the night would be nearing its great beginning.

"Sure, I guess. But what would you want to show me at night, that you can't show me now?" She said, suspiciously.

"Don't worry about it. It's a surprise. I'll tell you when it's time."