When Shadows Bleed

"My, you are happy, aren't you? Laying there, with the love of your life by your side? I guess that is how I would have wanted you to be.", Pinkie said. She smiled. "What you don't know, AJ, is that you can't always have everything go right." She began to walk towards AJ, who began to feel slightly uncomfortable. "Things can always go wrong, even at the most perfect of times. And when they do..." Pinkie's form began to change, began to shift into that of a shadow, a vision of darkness. "Expect to see me there." Her voice decayed into monotony, into anonymity, both sounding female and male, but at the same time, being neither, genderless. Her bright blue eyes became red pools of blood, her body simply dissolving at that point, making the shadow taking her place seem almost as if to bleed. "Expect me to be there, laughing at your little, rotting, filthy carcass!"

AJ gasped and awoke. She lay breathing heavily for a few minutes, before Fluttershy's hooves wrapped around her and pulled her back down. AJ's breathing slowed down, and finally became normal.

"It was a bad dream...nothing to worry about...", AJ said quietly to Fluttershy, and kissed her. Fluttershy blushed, but didn't smile.

"I'm scared...", she replied.

"Me too.", AJ agreed. She sat up, and pulled Fluttershy onto her. Fluttershy leaned her head back against, AJ, finding comfort she couldn't find anywhere else.

"More are going to die...", Fluttershy said suddenly.

"What? Where is that coming from? Nopony else is going to die...", Applejack reassured her lover.

"I-I don't know where it's coming from...I just know that Pinkie isn't the first, and sure as Celestia above, not going to be the last.", Shy replied. She pressed closer to Applejack.

"Ah ain't gonna let that happen. We are going to catch that evil pony. Even if ah have to do it with mah bare hooves.", AJ said. A fire burned in her eyes, a fierce fire too hot and too big to be controlled.

"Just don't get yourself hurt...", Shy said quietly, before nodding off again. AJ stayed awake for another few minutes, before she too lay back down and embraced Fluttershy, letting the warmth of her body be all the comfort she needed, knowing the love of her life was right there next to her.

Expect me to be there...

Inkblot sat outside of Twilight's home, simply staring off into the distance. Trixie walked out, and sat down beside him. Twilight and Spike stood in the doorway, just looking at them.

"I understand that they have done nothing wrong, but can't you tell that Inkblot has some problems? Have you noticed how jumpy and cautious he is, like he is hiding something?", Spike said, crossing his arms.

"So what! Sure, he has his quirks, but just let him alone! He hasn't done anything wrong yet, so you have no reason to judge him.", Twilight replied curtly.

"Yet. I say don't trust him, and my opinion stands.", Spike replied, and with a huff, disappeared into the house. Twilight sighed in aggravation, and sat down.

"FUCK!", Inkblot suddenly swore. Trixie, being used to foul language at this point in her life, only flinched because of the suddenness of the outburst. Twilight, on the other hoof, not only jumped, but grimaced in distaste at the language, knowing there wasn't much she could do about it. Ink had begun to pace restlessly. "I just came here to enjoy a damn vacation. Now I am stuck here for a week, right in the middle of a murder case, and the killer hasn't been found! Like my life couldn't get any shittier than it already is!"

"Ink...calm down...", Trixie whispered. Her horn glowed, and Inkblot moved toward the mare. He reluctantly sat down. "You don't have to be so negative about it. As bad as murder is, you are only here for a week, like you said. Just enjoy it while you can." Twilight walked down and sat down at the other side of him.

"We are contacting detectives already. We shouldn't have much to worry about.", she put in helpfully, trying to ease the mood.

"From where?", Ink asked, his anger abiding for the moment.

"Well...just about anywhere we can find a good one...", Twilight said.

"Good luck with Manehatten detectives.", Ink scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Why is that?", Twilight asked.

"Most of them are self-centered, arrogant "elites" now. Having worked covertly with some of them, I have realized that they feel that only high class deserve their services. If you ask them why, they won't tell you. They will just blow you off with excuses. That's the good ones. The bad ones don't get you anywhere.", Inkblot said.

"But...they are supposed to help everypony...", Trixie said.

"That's what their contract says, but in Manehatten, their isn't much that binds them to the contract anymore. Of course, there are certain lines they can't cross without being caught, but otherwise, their acts voiding the contract go unnoticed, or unpunished.", Ink said.

"That's not fair.", Twilight said, her head cocked in confusion, and a scowl darkening her face.

"Exactly. More profit for them. That's all they care about now.", Inkblot replied.

"Well...", Trixie said, trailing off.

"Happy fucking vacation...", Ink swore.

Rarity ran down the hallway, eyes darting from side to side. She tripped and fell, crying out in despair. She looked behind her.

"Rarity...where are you going...?", Soarin asked, running after her. He slowed to a stop when he saw Rarity lying on the ground, and a sardonic grin spread across his face, though part of it was hidden by the broken metal hanger in his mouth.

"Soarin, wha...what are you doing?", Rarity asked, her lip trembling and her eyes wide and tearing up in paralyzing fear. Soarin moved forward and sat down, and took the hanger out of his mouth. He raised it up. "S-Soar..." She cut herself off with a scream of agony as Soarin slammed the sharp edge of the hanger into her belly, causing a spurt of blood. He ripped it out violently, tearing her belly open and spraying blood all over his smiling, evil face. He leaned down and put the hanger to Rarity's throat, slowly dragging it across multiple times, causing a trickle of blood. He put his mouth to her ear.

"I said only so far, didn't I? Yet on you went.", he said, and with that, wrenched open Rarity's neck, breaking it and tearing it open at the same time. Rarity lay on the floor gasping uselessly for breath as she lay paralyzed on the ground. "Serves you right, you little slutty bitch." Then, a cry sounded through the halls of the home, and Soarin awoke.

Soarin raised his head up and shook it. In his mind, he kept relieving that horrible wrenching sound as Rarity's neck snapped. He took a deep breath in, and let out, trying to calm himself. Why would I dream about that? I would never kill her. He looked to his side. Rarity was pressed against him, crying. Her hooves were at her belly, and she was gasping for breath in between her sobs. He wrapped his hooves around her.

"Rarity, what's wrong?", he asked. Rarity pulled away, tears still forming in her eyes. The two had shared a very strong relationship for a long time, but had recently, in fact, only a few days before Pinkie's death, broken up because of tension between the two. Not long after, however, Rarity started having nightmares, and she quickly reached her final straw. She practically begged for Soarin to at least stay with her, so she had his comfort. He agreed willingly, and had since lived with Rarity, and though the nightmare problem didn't seem to be subsiding, Rarity seemed more comfortable with Soarin there.

"I-I dreamed that you were chasing me down the hallway of my home...you had a broken hangar in your mouth, and then you stabbed me with it right in the belly, and then you b-broke my neck and slit it open...and oh Celestia it was horrible!", Rarity cried. Soaring scowled, finding it strange how him and Rarity had shared a dream.

"I would never do that to you. It was just a nightmare." Rarity's crying started to subside. "Shh...it's alright...I'm right here...the real me...", he replied, and softly caressed Rarity, who met one of his hooves with her own and held it close.

"S-Soarin...I need you back in my life...like, I need you back in my life...", Rarity said, her Light Blue eyes meeting with his Green. Soarin smiled down at her, for his mind had been thinking the exact same thing.

"Rarity...I never meant to hurt you...everything I said, everything I did, if I could take it all back, I would, in an instant. When you left me, something inside me died, and the rest of me never got over you."

"Really? Please tell me you aren't lying...please."

"Rarity, I still love you, so much. What I said...I was depressed." A pause. "Remember that stunt I pulled a couple weeks back, that thing I did in Canterlot?"

"Yeah...I was there when it happened."

"Well, apparently it didn't suit well with the authority, and the Wonderbolts themselves. According to them, I did something illegal, and it resulted in more death than lives saved, and that I didn't deserve to be a Wonderbolt anymore. It took them a week to finally persuade the Administration to remove me. They revoked my license as a Wonderbolt, and told me to go kick rocks. That is why I said all those things to you Rarity. I was just..."

"Angry, depressed, confused."

"Yeah. Exactly. I am so sorry Rarity. Do you forgive me?" Rarity nodded, but didn't smile. She had something else to say. This is what she feared most, the telling of this secret. It might break them apart once again, something she didn't want to happen ever.

"S-Soarin...there is something I have to say..."

"What is it, my love? Wait, let me guess...you are with another stallion?" Rarity scowled. She had forgotten that.

"Well, sort of. Big Mac was there right when I needed somepony most, and he helped my get back on my hooves. He didn't think you and I were forever doomed, though. He told me quite a few times that he knew that you and I were going to find our way back to each other. That isn't what I wanted to tell you, however."

"What then?"

Rarity sighed. Time to drop the bomb. "I...I'm pregnant...with your foal..." Soarin opened his mouth to say something, closed it, opened it again, once again closed it, attempted once more, and only managed an embarrassingly high pitch squeak. He knew when it had happened. It was just before he was fired. Rarity had gone into heat, and he had been unable to control himself. With the depression of the following days, he had completely forgotten, but now, the truth knocked the air out of his lungs.

"I'm-I'm a father?", he wheezed. He took a few seconds to catch his breath.

"Yes, Soarin, you are. You have been for about a week now." Soarin swallowed nothing, and let his breath even out.

"Oh..." He looked in Rarity's eyes, and then, started to smile. "All the more reason to be with you, my precious gem. All the more reason to stay and love you and be with you and never let you go again." Rarity smiled, and pressed up nice and close to Soarin, a tear of joy falling from her eye.

"I was so afraid that you weren't going to accept it, or that you might leave me after the fact. Thank you...thank you for promising to stay...oh, I love you so much Soarin. I promise that no matter what we go through, that you will be my stallion. I don't want anypony else but you."

"Nothing will tear us apart. I won't let that happen.", Soarin said, wrapping his hooves tight around Rarity. There they lay for the longest time, not letting each other go, bathing in the love that poured off the other. It was there that they felt safe and sound, that as long as they were with each other, everything was going to be alright.

Oh, how wrong you are. You think that you are so safe, but I say we agree to disagree. Watch your backs, because you are never safe. Never.

In Manehatten

Silver Reprisal, better known to everpony else as just Reprisal, sat in Inkblot's home. He looked about the depressing apartment with nonchalance. He was a silverish alicorn, with a pepper and salt mane and tail. His eyes were all of these colors, mixed in lines, swirls, and dots. Everypony swore they saw it differently, almost like a Rorschach image. Reprisal got up, and looked at all the paintings.

You never stopped painting, did you? Hm... He looked around the room, seeing if he could find anything of use. Seeing the desk, he searched through the drawers until he found a gun. A gun? Where in the hell did you get this, Inkblot? I don't even want to know what you planned to use it for. Finding nothing else but blank paper, and scrapped sketches, Reprisal walked to the front door. Well, off to Ponyville then. Reprisal walked out the door, and locking it with magic that nopony could break, teleported himself to the quaint town.

Back In Ponyville

Reprisal ended up just outside the Sugar Cube Bakery. The sign read closed, but he knew better. Sighing, he opened the door. Inside, he found Mr. and Mrs. Cake, the former holding the latter close, the latter sobbing. Both looked up when the heard the door open.

"How did you get in?", Mr. Cake asked, a wary tone entering his voice.

"The door was unlocked.", Reprisal said simply.

"But we...", Mr. Cake started.

"No you didn't.", Reprisal shot back. Mr. Cake looked down at his sobbing wife.

"What do you want? Why did you even come in here? Even if I forgot to lock the door, the sign read closed. Shouldn't that at least make you take the hint?"

"Not me, no. You see, Mr. Cake, I am here to find out what happened to Pinkie."

"How do you know my name? And shouldn't you already know what happened to her? The whole town knows, hell, probably all of Canterlot and maybe even Manehatten knows at this point, based on the way news travels nowadays."

"Well I don't. Would you like to know why?"

"Yes, I would. Anything to get you out of here." Reprisal chuckled.

"Well Mr. Cake, that is because I was supposed to be the one to kill her." Flicking out a dagger, Reprisal launched himself at the Cakes. Mrs. Cake was the only one with time for a scream, and it came out no more than a squeak, unheard to the rest of the town.

And so, my corruption spreads farther and farther. It seems that I am not the only one in this scheme anymore. That is interesting, but it again brings up the point that you are never safe. Never, ever. And soon, I will lay my hooves on you, and mangle your poor helpless bodies.