Day Three In Equestria.

*Clank*

“Shit!”

*Clank*

“FUCK!”

*Clank*

“COME ON!”

*Clank*

“DAMMIT ALL!”

No matter how many times you attempt to do so, you can't brake the bars that hold you in this cell. You still can't quite get your head around what's happened to you yet. It was only a few days ago; you were out for a light jog, along a route that you've taken countless times without incident, when out of fucking nowhere found yourself thrown into...wherever the hell you are! You mean it too, you were literally hurled, full force, into a tree. You think you might have passed out at the time, but Anyway! The first thing you saw was some weird wooden dog/wolf thing, sniffing at your prone form, probably trying to determine if you were good to eat. Naturally, your first instinct was to punch the strange wooden nightmare, right in the snout...that probably wasn't very wise of you...

You put up a decent fight, all things considered. You managed to find a large stick and climb a tree quick enough to get out of harms way...after being pursued across what felt like miles of terrain. You thought you'd made the right call, but apparently attacking some gigantic wooden wolf thing that's trying to eat you is not the right thing to do in those situations, because when help arrived in the shape of half a dozen waist high horses -that apparently heard your screaming from their home- they felt that because you were able to fend off the gigantic wooden wolf thing, you were too dangerous to be allowed to move around freely. 'at least for the time being' as that stupid mayor person would have you believe. These horses have the worst logic you've ever heard of.

And you haven't even gotten onto the fact that you're in a world of magical talking horses yet.

“Would you fucking let me out!” You shout down the hall, going unanswered. “Sonuvabitch!” You decide to give up for now, falling back into your straw mattress - for a bed, or your dinner, you have no idea- opting to try again later.

“You're not going to make any friends that way.” You jump from the sudden appearance of a sweet young voice around the corner from your cell. A purple unicorn horse thingy comes into view on the other side of the bars, nobody else joining her, just her.

You don't know what to say...should you ask her name? What if it's not a she? maybe you should ask where you are? Or how you got here? How do horse operate the keyhole of the cell without hands? What is the purpose of the pile of hay? Are they even horses? No they can't be so what are they?...there start with that!

“What the hell are you things?” You ask calmly, but that doesn't stop her from scrunching up her nose in offense. At least you manage to catch yourself, throwing up your hands in regret. “Sorry! I shouldn't call you things, but I've had a long couple of days and quite frankly I don't know what to call you.” You say a little nervously, play nice and maybe you can find away to dig yourself out of this chasm you've found yourself in.

The purple horse smiles sweetly, sitting down comfortably as she answers. “Ponies...as in our species is pony, but my name is Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.” She says with a serene smile, studying you from a distance and you think up a response...

oh what harm could it do?

“I'm Anon. Anonymous Unknown.” You say, mimicking her tone of voice and extending your hand through the bar. Twilight retreats a little in fear of your alien appendage, but eventually calms down when you don't do anything. “..it's uh...nice to meet you?” You hold your hand there for a moment as Twilight keeps staring at it intently, studying every curve and bump and scrape.

“You shake it.” You say, completely deadpan. That causes Twilight to snap out of her stupor. Taking a rather reserved sigh of resignation, she hesitantly extends her hoof forward so that it lightly touches your fingers, but is unsure whether to continue or not, obviously fearful of what you might do.

“uh...?”

You roll your eyes and extend your hands further out and gently wrap your fingers around the hoof, you can feel her tense up slightly, a sharp intake of air making it past her lips. Deciding not to torture her for too long, you shake it quickly then release. When your hand slinks back into the cell, you see her examining her hoof with a distant expression, not quite comprehending what just happened...

“I... just... shook hooves... with an alien!” She speaks gleefully, bouncing on the spot. “I mean, what are the chances that your culture would have developed one of the same greeting as us?! What are the odds!?” She asks rhetorically, looking at you with fascination. You're starting to like this one.

“I have to tell Celestia! She'll surely be fascinated by this discovery.” She shouts as she trots back down the corridor, out of sight, but you are quick to act.

“Wait! Come back!” You hear the sound of her hooves stop dead, as she returns back around the corner, looking to you with a strange mix of curiosity, concern and a little bit of glee.

“What is it?” She asks, curiosity prevalent in her voice.

You look to the bars of the cell, then back to her. “Do you think you could get me out of this thing?” You ask, tapping one of the bars for emphasis, but her expression turns worried, staring at you for a moment.

“I don't know. When we found you, you were...”

“That was self defense, I swear! I'm not going to go about hurting anyone for no reason. Please, I just want to go home!” You plead, trying to appeal to Twilight's better nature, and for the most part, it seems to work. Twilight looks to her hooves in contemplation, looking back up to you after a solid minute of thought.

“You promise to not hurt anypony?” She asks seriously.

“Yes! Yes! I- wait, anypony?” You say with complete confusion, causing a sweet little giggle from the unicorn.

“I'll ask Celestia about it, you don't seem like your gonna be trouble.” If looks could hug, she'd be pretty uncomfortable right now.

“You may want to stop banging on the cell though, it's scaring the guards.”

You smile back at her, grateful for the potential freedom. “Thank you. Thank you so much, Twilight!”

Your gratitude gains another suppressed giggle from the purple mare. “Of course, Anon. I'll be right back.” She says as she leaves around the corner again. You turn around and take a seat on the hay. Maybe things will be okay...

Present Day.

“I swear, you're making a mistake!” Twilight pleads at the top of her lungs, but just ends up shouting to nobody. She's locked away in a cell for the night. The same one you were locked in when you first came here. Ironic, Twilight helped you then and technically, you're the reason she's in here now...Isn't life a bitch...or death. One of those two.

“Wow, She just won't shut up, will she?” Grim remarks, covering her ears comically.

“She's locked in a cell while some guards ransack her house. You'd be upset too.” You say matter of factly.

For the past hour you're purple friend has been locked in the cell in front of you. You've heard your body has gone missing, but you haven't got any information other than that. Grim is being as helpful as she usually is, which is not very helpful and Twilight just yells at the top of her lungs to let her out.

“So you think she did it?” Grim asks, hinting towards Twilight with an inquisitive look... You furrow your brows and look Twilight over. She's sitting on her rump as she holds the bars of the cell. A single metallic ring wrapped around her horn to suppress any magic she tries to use. She said she was trying to solve your murder and she doesn't seem to be the kind of person who would do such a thing. She can let things get out of hand sometimes, sure, but killing someone? No way. Not Twilight.

“I believe her.” You say consciously. Grim just shrugging her shoulders and trotting on down the hall to alleviate her boredom.

“Whatever, tell me if she says anything good.” You decide to shrug off her comment, instead applying your attention to Twilight, who is currently hanging her head against the bars defeated. Her mane disheveled, her skin tight burglar lies discarded in the corner of her cell and her eyes red and puffy from one of the many reasons they have to be that way.

You sigh heavily. Your heart unable to be more broken after today's events. You kneel down so that you are eye to eye with her, or you would be if she knew you were there. You can hear her quiet breaths, fighting back tears.

“Twilight?” You ask. She doesn't respond, but that's not going to stop you. “I know you can't hear me, but I just thought you should know...” You say gently, as if consoling a sick relative. “...I'm gonna find a way to help you. I'll fix this...some way. This whole thing will just be another strange occurrence that we can just laugh off in a few months. I promise.”

Twilight doesn't even look up, but you feel better, like you have a responsibility now. A promise you have to keep. “...So don't get too comfortable, because you're not staying in this hell hole for long. I'll get you out, just like you did for me.” You smile down at her comfortingly, bur she does not return it, continuing to stare at the lower half of the wall behind you.

“Are we gonna do something, or are you just going to be a sappy dick?” Grim asks, irritably. You groan from the interruption, but you get up all the same.

“Would you shut the fuck up and just-”

“Anon...?” You freeze solid. what the hell

“...Twilight?” You turn back to the purple mare as she continues to hang her head in the dingy cell.

“...I'm sorry.” She says regretfully.

“Twilight?” You lean down to eye level with her, but she doesn't respond to your presence.

“This is all my fault...” She says sadly, the atmosphere in the room dropping a few degrees.

“Twilight, you should really dye your fur bright green and throw eggs at children.”

“...that whole restraining order thing was my idea.” She forces out, practically a whisper. You sigh heavily, you guess she's just talking to air. “...maybe if we hadn't all gone out, you'd still be alive...maybe you'd be okay.” Her quiet, depressed demeanor is enough to make you want to just cuddle up to her, hold her until she's okay. Until she's happy again. Say what you will about the sex drive of these ponies, they sure do know how to draw sympathy from you.

You reach your hand down to lift her chin up, to make her look at you, but your hand just fazes through her, causing a notable shiver to run through her form.

“This is all my fault...I-I...” The rest of her confession is cut off as she fails to hold her composure and the previous day's activities finally catch up to her. She let's her legs fold up under her, deciding to lie on the cold hard ground, weeping silently, like so many others you've seen in the past day.

“You sure she didn't do it?” Grim asks from behind you, seemingly listening in. You look to the mare in front of you and then to the mare behind you. You're too tired to deal with this. You sigh heavily, rubbing your hands over your face in frustration...

“No. No she didn't.” You say simply, earning a raised eyebrow from Grim, but she knows better than to question it.

You stand there for a moment longer, watching as Twilight cries softly into her hooves. The silence ringing out in your ears... strange. Shouldn't there be a guard or something? You look around the corner of the cell to see the one guard who drew the short straw that evening, asleep at the desk.

You just sigh in knowing. It was probably for the best, it would be really bad if the guard heard her say that your death was all her fault when it clearly wasn't. Grim taps her hoof on the floor in annoyance.

“So we've seen your little friend here, she's fine. Can we go now?” Grim asks, impatiently waiting for your response.

“No, I think I'll stay a little longer.” You say softly, phasing through the bars of the cell and sitting next to your friend.

“But, what about your body!? Don't you want to know where it is!?” Grim asks disbelievingly, Unable to comprehend your calmness of the situation. You just let out a long drawn out breath through your nose.

“Not when my friend is trapped in a place like this.” You try to run your hand through Twilight's mane, but it just phases through again. You let out a sigh of defeat, looking back up to Grim.

“Besides, the guards are on it, and whether they find it or not, they'll come back here. There's no point in wasting our time...” You notice that Twilight seems to be much more calm now. She lies on her belly with a distant look on her face, her fur matted and her chest gently rising and falling. Poor girl. She's had a long day. They all have.

“I'd rather spend my time making sure they're okay. No matter what happens I'm still dead, it doesn't matter how or who.”

Grim just shakes her head defiantly, not giving in to your views so easily.

“But it's your body! If you find it, then you know who-”

*SLAM!*

The sound of the front door being slammed open startled the three of you as the sound of purposeful hoof steps make their way down the corridor. Each step is carried with confidence, arrogance and just a general knowing. Hoofsteps that anyone who didn't find something would never be carrying. You'd give yourself three guesses as to who it is, but you only need one.

“Well, Well miss sparkle..!” Inspector Hoofcuff announced as he rounded the corner of the cell, showing a folder to the mare in question. “It seems you haven't been quite honest with us.” He says with a self satisfied smile that made you want to back hand him into oblivion.

“What are you talking about!? I already told you; I had nothing to do with the murder!” She shouts defiantly, but Hoofcuff's expression doesn't falter, it only grows sickeningly with each passing syllable. What the hell did he find at the library?

“Well, then, my dear, would you care to explain these photographs, I found in your home...” He waves the folder in the air for emphasis, causing Twilight's eyes to widen in fear, but she remains defiant.

“I-I don't know what you're talking about.” She says matter of fact. Causing the inspector to grin, like a child who's been allowed to open their first Christmas present.

“Well then, allow me to enlighten you.” He says joyously as he throws the folder onto the floor, spilling out all of the contents inside. Twilight's eyes widen as photos spread out across the floor, photo's of you.

“Have a little bit of a fascination with the victim did we?”

The photos varied in context, but they were all of you. You couldn't believe this. Where did she get these?! Some of the photographs were completely innocent, friendly pictures of you and Twilight, group photos and even a few single shots of just you, but others were not so innocent. There were photos of you in the shower and getting dressed. There was even one of you in a more...personal situation when you thought you were alone.

“Jesus Christ.” You breath out. You can't help but feel betrayed. Twilight had been stalking you and you didn't even realize!

“Wow...I...Oh wow.” Grim's eyes glance over the pictures, trying hard to remain professional, but her definitive blush betrayed her.

“Stop looking at my junk!” You snap, earning a rather guilty look in return.

“Sorry.”

“Well, Miss Sparkle?” The Inspector asks, but Twilight remains silent, keeping her eyes fixed on the opposite wall. Hoofcuff, not liking that one bit, decides to move himself right into her field of vision, baring down on the guilty mare.

“Here's what I think happened...” The inspector begins, inquisitively. “...I think, that you grew rather attached, to Mr Unknown here.” He taps one of the pictures for emphasis. “...so much so that you began to obsess over him.” You want Twilight to explain herself, you want her to say that they weren't hers, but Fluttershy's or Applejack's, but...no. She just stays silent, allowing the Inspector to continue.

“...I believe that when he came to you, asking for help with his mare troubles, you finally got it into your head that he wasn't going to ever be yours! That you couldn't have him! And that's when it snapped. You decided that if you couldn't have him nopony could, is that it!?” Twilight, finally looks up in shock, staring right at the inspector.

“No! I-I...I didn't kill him! I wouldn't do that to anypony! Especially not Anon! I swear! You have to believe me!” Twilight begs, but the inspector remains cocky in his interrogation.

“So you are saying these aren't yours?” He asks. You hang on every word, watching Twilight, but she remains silent. “Were these Photographs taken by you!?”

Twilight hangs her head in shame. “...yes.” And with that, any resemblance of trust you ever had is destroyed, crushed and incinerated. You feel hollow, like someone's ripped out your stomach.

“Well I believe this is enough evidence to warrant your continued detainment, Miss Sparkle.” He said, rather proudly.

“...b-but I didn't-”

“Well, unfortunately, you have no evidence to prove that, do you? and you are still technically under arrest, so for now you will remain he-” The inspector is interrupted by the appearance of the Guard who was asleep at the door, now fully awake, wide eyed and panicked.

“Sir!” He offers a quick salute, but the panicked expression on his face showed that formality is the last thing on his mind. He doesn't give Hoofcuff a chance to respond. “...The Princess, She's here!”

At this news, the inspector doesn't even flinch. He just straightens himself up, not even bothering to move the pictures from the floor. He prepares a toothy smile, before replying. “Feel free to send her in.” The guard audibly gulps, clearly afraid of something.

After just a few seconds, Celestia herself takes his place, clearly not impressed at the situation at hand. “Inspector.” She speaks, no malice or pleasure, just plain acknowledgment. Hoofcuff simply bows politely at her presence.

“Your majesty, it is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.” He says. Rather extravagantly, either being too much of a kiss ass, or he's taking the piss. Either way the Princess doesn't call him out on it.

She just rolls her eyes at the display and gets right down to business. “I understand that you have detained one of my students.” She questions, looking down at Twilight, who is refusing to meet her gaze, eyes fixed shamefully on the pictures scattered across the floor.

The gray stallion raises from his bow, standing up straight once again. “Ah yes, I believe that Miss Sparkle is a prime suspect in the murder of Anonymous Unknown.” He begins, earning a rather heated look from Celestia.

“Well, whether that be the case, or not, as my personal student, I am ordering her immediate release.” She says with the grace of a politician.

Hoofcuff, however doesn't even flinch. “But Princess, I must insist that the suspect remain here. It is highly unorthodox to release a suspect, just because the Princess is her mentor. What if she were to flee, or-”

“I am sure you are aware that it is possible to pay a fee towards her release and in doing so, she would be subject to certain laws and rights.” Celestia says sternly, but caring. An impossible mix that only the greatest of leaders can conceive. The inspector tries to stand his ground, standing up tall to the Princess of Equestria herself.

Celestia however just quirks an eyebrow. “Do I have to write up a new law, right now?” She asks, trying to stifle the shit eating grin that's trying to worm its way onto her muzzle.

At her show of power, the inspector merely grumbles under his breath before levitating a key over to the cell door and opening it. Leaving Twilight free to leave, after he removes her magic inhibitor.

She doesn't say a thing, slowly standing to her hooves and walking away from the cell that holds her.

Celestia, being the caring mother figure that she is, wraps a wing around her pupil, escorting her out of the building, leaving you, Grim and Hoofcuff alone.

Once he hears the front door close shut, he slams his hoof into the brick wall behind him. “BUCK!” He screams, Bucking the cell door shut with a loud bang. “I can't believe this!”

“Sir?”

“That...That whorse! She thinks she can escape the law just because she's got friends in high places! Well, we'll see about that!” He says sinisterly, turning towards the rookie guard and jabbing a hoof in his direction.

“Search every one of her friends houses, starting with the Rainbow one! If there's anything to bring that bitch in, I want it found!” the young guard offers a snappy salute and a quick 'yessir' before trotting off, back to his desk, leaving the Inspector to retreat to his office to brood in his defeat.

You remain in the cell, sitting in thought over what has just transpired. Doing so, however, brings out concern in the white mare behind the bars “Anon?” Grim gently questions, sitting beside you.

“I can't fucking believe this.” You say, completely emotionless.

“I thought you'd be happy she got out.” Grim tries to comfort you, but it only draws further attention to the matter.

“It's not that. It's those!” You say, much more malice in your voice, pointing to the photos that Hoofcuff left behind.

“The pictures?”

You shoot Grim an obvious glare, trying your hardest to restrain your emotions. “Yes. The pictures. I thought that she was different. I thought that she was normal, but...she was stalking me. The whole fucking time.” Grim tries to rest a hoof on your shoulder, but you quickly swat it away.

“This whole fucking time I was feeling sorry for these ponies, but they were all part of my misery weren't they?!”

“You don't know that.” Grim tries to reason, but you refuse to listen.

“I wouldn't be surprised! They all apparently felt that way! Heck, maybe Rainbow was the one who kept stealing my underwear! She clearly had all the opportunity to, when she crashed at my place all those times after so many I'm so FUCKING tired! Let me sleep here!'” Grim winces at your tone, but does nothing to stop you, probably knowing she can't.

“And then there's Pinkie. Heck she probably had a whole spying business made around me! She had all the equipment! And she could get just about any-fucking-where! Heck, maybe she was the one who stole my fucking body! Would you be surprised?! She could do that!” You don't allow her to respond as you storm out, through the cell doors, through the corridor, and out through the front door, outside once again, where Twilight sits next to Celestia, crying into her chest, seeking comfort. You'd care, but you're too pissed off.

“What else! Maybe they were all working together! Maybe Rainbow stole my underwear to get me to go see that fucking pervert Rarity! Wouldn't that be a fucking twist and then she would get me nice and naked for Twilight Stalker over there! Who would then sell the picture to fucking Fluttershy who would somehow use them to figure out which fetish to proposition me with. Then Applejack would move in to try to widdle me down somehow, by trying to rape me! And then while I'm distracted by the two of them, pinkie Pie would sneak in and set up whatever stupid shit she'd want to, in turn making the whole stealing my underwear easier for Rainbow Dash! I'm fucking sick of these fucking horses! I fucking hate all of them!” You scream to the heavens, panting in irritation as you allow your rant to subside and the excess adrenaline to seep from your system.

You fall to your knees in despair, breathing heavily through clenched teeth. “You really believe that?” Grim asks condescendingly, subconsciously breaking you out of your angered state.

“No.” You admit pitifully.

“So what now?” Grim asks, causing you to wonder.

You look back to Twilight as she speaks with Celestia, and then back to Grim. A dark glare etched onto your face.

“Fuck this, Let's go find my fucking body.”

So with that, to Pinkie's place.

“Anon, would you calm down?” Grim pleads, concern and panic evident in her voice. You just keep walking, keeping to your heavy pace. Grim keeps trying to get through to you, but you just ignore her. You walk straight through the door to Sugarcube Corner without hesitation.

You said Pinkie could have been the one. Might as well start with her.

The whole building is completely desolate. All of the kitchen looks to have been abandoned, baking equipment strewn about all over the place. The sound of ponies, which you are usually greeted with, is replaced with an eerie silence. The cake twins probably asleep, along with their parents and Pinkie Pie.

The light's are on though, so there's that.

“So...where do you think it is?” Grim asks quietly, You respond with the same dark tone as before.

“No idea. I'll search the basement, you have a look around the kitchen.” You move towards the door leading downstairs, Grim traveling into the kitchen, her scythe in hoof. You only question it for a second, before you faze through the door, and find yourself at the top of the stairs, the lights switched off. Since you can't see a thing, you just faze back through, into the main room of the bakery.

“You okay over there?” Grim calls from what you'd assume was the top of the stairs.

“I can't see shit.” You say irritably.

“Oh, hold on a sec, I can fix that.” She says happily, before trotting over to beside the door. You watch with curiosity as she wedges the blade of her scythe into the door handle and pulling. The weight being enough to pull the handle and allow the door to open slightly.

Grim finishes up with a proud little smile as she gauges your reaction...which is, much to her surprise, not good.

“You can do that?!” You shout in disbelief. “You could do that this whole fucking time!?”

Grim merely smiles sheepishly, her scythe evaporating into thin air once again. Probably so you don't try to shove it down her throat. “Well, it's not what you think, it only-”

“Just shut up. Shut the fuck up!” You say darkly, the anger brewing inside of you, threatening to boil over. You storm past her and into the basement, Grim taking extreme care to stay out of your way. The additional sliver of light, illuminates the room just enough for you to see faintly what's inside. You make your way down the oak stairs, seeming to glide down effortlessly. There's nothing here. Just labeled boxes, a few sacks of flour and what would appear to be a freezer...well, if anywhere...

“Grim, open this would you.” You say darkly, malice dripping from your voice, but you don't see Grim anywhere. She's disappeared from the doorway. “Grim!”

At the sound of your voice, her head pops through the crack. Her expression looks irritated above anything else. Probably has something to do with your tone. “What?”

“I need this open.” You say simply, unable to contain your frustration. Grim either doesn't notice or doesn't care as she descends the stairs, summons her scythe, and uses it on the freezer door. The lid opens without a hitch.

You let the freezer open completely before looking inside. The mere thought of something grotesque being stored inside, being enough to give you cold feet.

“Just fucking look!” Your sight bounces off the contents off the freezer for a millisecond. Your breath releasing slowly in relief.

“Nothing.” You declare with relief. Gesturing for Grim to close it once again. With nothing in the basement, you return to the kitchen. You find that Grim has all of the cabinet doors open, clearly displaying their contents to the world.

“Nothing?” You ask, very little emotion in your tone.

“No, just foodstuffs.”

“What about the fridge?”

“Same there. Nothing out of the ordinary. I guess there's nothing here.” Grim concludes

You look to the stairs to the next floor, a knot steadily forming in your stomach. “No. There's one more place to check.”

Grim doesn't respond, she just follows quietly as you climb the stairs, the usual creaking of the wood under your feet is absent, as you progress, you can't even hear the gentle sounds of snoring. The deathly silence is starting to disturb you, until you hear the crying.

That sound. Just from the last day alone, you really hate that fucking sound! It appears to be coming from Pinkie's room and it has a more frantic sound to it. High pitched breaths. Trying to choke out the sobs, but ultimately failing.

The door to Pinkie's room is just beside the stairs. The dark purple wood, decorated with hastily drawn balloons usually brought out some form of calm from you before, but not this time. Now you feel like you are about to walk into a slaughterhouse. Behind these balloons, there could be the most horrible sight you've ever imagined. She could be crying about anything and that scares you.

So with hesitant steps, you slowly walk through the door, the wood passing over you like water around a rock. You get your first good look at what's inside and your breath catches in your throat. Refusing to believe what you are seeing.

“Jesus Christ!” You proclaim. Grim, charges in shortly after, only to stop at the scene in front of you both.

In the corner of the room, sits Pinkie Pie, flat mane and all. A long cutting knife held in her hoof, drawing a shallow scar into her other foreleg, tears streaming down her face, crying loudly as the blood seeps out from under the stainless steel. A small hiss emanating from her mouth as the pain reaches her brain.

“Pinkie!?” You exclaim, quickly walking forward as she lines up the blade on another piece of uncut flesh.

“She can't hear you.” Grim says matter of factly, but you refuse to listen.

“Pinkie, put down the knife.” Pinkie pulls the blade across, leaving another shallow cut in her flesh. She lines up another one. “Pinkie!” You try to grab the blade, but your hand goes through it. “FUCK!” Why do you keep forgetting that?!

You look back to Grim. Or more accurately, her scythe. “Grim, you have to help me!” You cry out pleadingly. Grim just looks at you in bewilderment.

“What do you want me to do?” She ask. Her response causes you snap and loose your composure.

“YOUR FUCKING SCYTHE, DIPSHIT! GET HER TO STOP THIS!” You scream, desperate to stop your friend from hurting herself.

“I can't. We're not allowed to interfere. I can't jus-” You don't have time for this. You stand up and quickly run towards Grim, but before you can grab the Scythe, she vanishes it! It's very existence evaporating into thin air. You stop in your tracks, staring at the empty space where the scythe used to be. You must be showing anger in your features, because Grim is quick to try to talk you down.

“Now Anon, You need to remain calm. I know it doesn't look like it, but-”

You must actually be angry because the next thing you knew, you have Grim pined up against the wall by the scruff of her neck, your eyes glaring into hers with seething rage.

“Anon, you're hurting me.” She grunts out, but you don't let up.

“Get. Her. To. Stop!” You spit, Grim not giving in. In fact she's looking like this is more of an inconvenience to her than anything else.

“Put me down.” She demands, every word laced with her authority.

“Give me the scythe!” You scream back, not having any intention to let her go without it.

“NO!” She shouts in an almost echoing voice and in the next split second, she's on fire, her skin and muscle melts away to reveal a red hot skull, burning so hot that you're forced to let her go and tumble back onto the floor. This is more like what you were expecting.

“What the fuck?!” You exclaim, but Grim only seems so advance on you, angry glare burning into your soul. Her every feature is gone. The flaming bones being the only things left intact. Her cloak from earlier has materialized and now gracefully covers her body, adding to the whole demented spirit image.

“YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL OF ME, ANONYMOUS UNKOWN! I AM DEATH, I AM THE OBJECT OF YOUR DEMISE! YOU ARE TO RESPECT ME OR BE DAMNED TO TARTERUS FOR ALL OF ETERNITY!”

She pounces, pinning you to the floor as her burning hot aura bears down on your very soul. Her eyeless sockets staring down at you as you try to wriggle free. For a moment, you are just left staring at her, the darkness that encompasses you, frightens you to no end, but you bear with it.

After a few moments of complete fear, her form reverts back to normal. A bright flash of blinding white light graces your vision before allowing you to see her once again, staring daggers at you, fur and all.

“Are we clear!?” She asks, her voice once again normal. You can't help, but feel that stubborn instinct kick in, you have to do something, but at the moment she's holding all of the cards...

“...Crystal.” You say with a taut voice. It's enough for Grim however as she lets you free.

You are left glaring at the angel of death, your eyes locked in a angry staring match, desperate to not be the first to break. Until a feral cry is heard behind you as Pinkie throws the blade to the floor, discarding it some distance away from her as she wails into her crossed forelegs, clearly ashamed of what she's done to herself.

“Come on. Your body's not here.” Grim grunts irritably as she turns towards the door. You don't respond. You just stand there, watching as the red of the blood spills out of her foreleg and onto the hardwood floors.

“I can't.” You whisper painfully.

Grim becomes irritated by your stubbornness as she just groans and turns to you. “Anon, there's nothing you can do. any-” Unfortunately for her, you've just about had enough.

“Just because you've never had a friend, doesn't mean I have to abandon mine!” You shout at Grim in anger. You expected a similar expression of rage from her, but instead you actually see she's apparently hurt by your remark. Well done, asshole. No. You're not giving in to this...thing.

Grim responds first. “You're mad, I get that, but taking it out on me isn't-”

“How's about you shut the fuck up! I'm fucking sick of you trying to act like you care! You don't! I'm not leaving my friend alone! Do you fucking understand that! Now either fuck off, or shut the hell up, because I'm done talking to you!” You finish your rant by taking a seat on the floor, next to Pinkie Pie, watching her as she silently cries into her forelegs.

Grim appears to reluctantly respect your wishes, remaining silent while you sit here, just waiting for something to happen.

The next couple of hours are just as awkward as would be imaginable. Pinkie must have fallen asleep at some point, her abused foreleg, hanging in plain sight of both you and Grim. The white mare herself was ignoring it, opting to silently stare at you with malice. Her cloak still wrapped across her back, her scythe still not with her. She only needs her eyes

Those red. angry eyes.

She's clearly pissed, but what do you care. That mare has been a bigger burden on you by the day. She's lied to you, she's allowed your friends to suffer, but worst of all; She doesn't care. You don't feel any remorse over what you did, but her staring is starting to get irritating.

“Got something you want to say?” You spit out coldly. Grim doesn't respond, continuing to stare at you argrilly. “Well, I'm sorry for trying to help my friend.” Your comment causes Grim's angry demeanor to switch to confusion. You don't stop. “I'm sorry that when I was forced to watch my friends suffer, I couldn't help. I'm sorry that when you offered me a sliver of hope, I tried to grasp it!” Grim flinches slightly, but you still don't stop. “And I'm sorry that when you cruelly took away that hope, I snapped! Yes, I'm so fucking sorry!” Having finished, you shuffle in your place as the awkward silence sets in. the best thing now is to remain quiet. You don't want to dig too deep now, do you?

“I'm sorry too...” You lift your head up in shock, not believing your ears. You see Grim looking down at her hooves in shame. “...I guess I just forgot how hard this is for you, and I shouldn't have reacted the way I did...But please understand that I can't do anything...” Is she fucking with you?

You'd think so, but from the sound of her tone, her apology would appear to be genuine. You can't help, but let out a remorseful sigh as you try to think up a response. “I don't know. How am I suppose to take this? You said we couldn't do anything back at the library, or my house...but you have that scythe...it can interact with the world, why can't we use that?” You ask remorsefully, unable to keep the feeling of betrayal down.

At the mention of her trusty tool, Grim forces the Scythe into existence once again, the tool falling into her hooves without a sound as she inspects it.

“It doesn't work like that...” She says regretfully, looking up at you with sorrow. “every time I use thing, the living world reacts accordingly, like when I opened the door downstairs. so when you see me opening a door, the living world sees a chain reaction of coincidences...do you understand?”

You furrow your brow in confusion, a few questions burning in your mind. “But I didn't see anything?” your question causes Grim to give you a appologetic smile.

“sometimes it can be subtle, like changes in air pressure or wind, it's not always that obvious.” You just furrow your brows in further confusion.

“That's awfully convenient.”

Grim shrugs ignoring your comment, continuing to inspect her scythe. “But this thing doesn't have that much power, it does have it's limitations...”

“Like what?” You ask, more skeptical than curious.

Grim just inspects the blade once more before responding. “Well, the blade is the only part that's enchanted, meaning that you can't grip anything and to avoid contacting the living, the blade doesn't actually leave a mark anywhere in the living world...that and we're just not allowed to interfere with the living world in the way you're thinking, or we cease to exist and someone else takes over.” Grim finishes, looking to you expectantly.

“but that doesn't-”

“Please, it's hard to explain.” Grim pleads, practically disarming you. So you shelve it for now.

“So what's the point of it then? If you can't actually do anything with it?”

Grim responds with a rather sinister smile, a smile that send a fearful chill down your spine. “Because that's only a bonus of having this, it's main purpose is to send ponies to Tartarus.”

...and now you were terrified, if that thing could do that, then you really need to be careful around Grim from now on.

You see the light from the rising sun trail across the floor, the sounds of the birds singing usually pissed you off, but now, you were glad to hear the annoying little fucks. The last time you heard them, was probably yesterday and you weren't paying much attention to them, all things considered, but now they serve as a reminder...that all things go on, even after your death.

Wow, what a bummer.

“I think she's going to be okay.” Grim says, gesturing towards Pinkie Pie. You look over to her to see that she's snoring away, as she sits in a fashion similar to a drunk that's fallen asleep while sitting down, her bloodied foreleg has clotted up and though she will need to clean it later, it doesn't look too bad. You think the knife was clean.

“Yeah...” You agree, still a little hesitant to leave her. She was one of the ones you liked after all. It was unfair to judge her like you did.

“Are we okay?” Grim asks, her expression one of hopeful worry.

You sigh heavily in thought. You have got to practically live with this mare fore the next four days... “Yeah, sure...” You say, your heart not really into it. It's been a long day and an even longer night.

“Where to next?” Grim asks, walking towards the door. With one last glance in Pinkie's direction, you follow, not much you can do anyway.

“So why are we here?”

“If you'd known Fluttershy beforehand, you'd know.” You say fazing gently through the door to another pitiful sight; on the sofa, lies Fluttershy asleep, but her face scrunched up in discomfort, obviously having a bad dream of some sort, an occasional twitch or flinch to support that theory. The light from Celestia's early morning sun, seeps in through the window, basking the room in a warm loving glow, providing a clear contrast to the scene it's illuminating.

The many animals around the cottage, are all sitting in their little groups watching intently as they await the mare to wake up. From your best guess, you'd say they looked pretty hungry. A guess that is proven when you see a group of them, trying to tear into a burlap sack of food.

“So where would she hide it?” Grim asks, idly searching the nearby rooms for anything suspicious.

“I don't know, there's only like four rooms in her house, so this shouldn't take long. You look down here, I'll check upstairs.” You inform, already making your way up the oak steps. You wonder how your feet don't just go straight through them like they would the door, but you just shoulder it for now. You'll ask Grim later.

The upstairs is as it's always been, not changed since the last time you were in this house... now that's a scary thought. It's been months since you've been here. You haven't even seen Angel in ages. The house feeling rather alien to you. You guess Fluttershy's antics kind of acted as a deterrent towards this place for the last few months and to be honest, you'd never imagined you'd be here again. Well, no use dwelling on it now. You first take a look under the bed, the covers undisturbed, Fluttershy obviously opting to sleep on the sofa last night.

You check the en suite...nope. No decomposing bodies in the bathtub, just the horrible smell of animals, obviously the source of many a dog bath in it's time. Next is the...well...that's it. Fluttershy's house is Pretty small. It's not like there are many places she could hide your body...if it was her.

So without finding anything, you descend the staircase once more. From the lack of any shouting, you assume Grim hasn't found anything either.

“Found anything?” You ask.

“Nope.”

Simple enough.

The downstairs is similar to the upstairs, the entire place is spotless, not a single sheet out of place, or even a stain. The house is as clean as they come. You can never do anything about that smell though...That horrible, Disgusting Smell, that stings your nostrils with every breath. The smell of animals.

It does beg the question though; where does that smell come from? The house is clean, the animals are clean – as far as you can tell – so where...? You see it. The putrid smell finally making sense.

The burlap sack.

It's that industrial all brand pellet mix that Fluttershy only keeps for emergencies. The thing only seems to smell worse every time you notice it. Like processed bile, coated in sulfur, and packed inside someone's colon – Or Quorn...either comparison would suffice – But that doesn't stop the various animal inhabitants of the cottage from trying to rip open the burlap sack to get to the foul smelling nourishment inside.

They must really be hungry.

“I don't see anything here either.” Grim remarks, coming back from her sweep of the floor.

You just shrug it off with an acknowledging grunt, your attention being drawn to the little white bunny, gently rocking his owner awake. Deciding you really should check up on her, you move to stand beside her, watching as she begins to stir from her slumber, her eyelids flickering open to reveal the teal beneath as she begins to take in her surroundings.

For a moment, she looks normal. Not the weeping mare from yesterday, not even the stalker you had to deal with for the past several months...she looked normal. Like the friend you made when you first came here. You've missed her. The image brings a small smile to your face. It's been so long.

But it doesn't last. Because the next moment she seems to remember what's happened to you. She seems to remember that the horrible dream she just had, wasn't just a dream. You watch as the beautiful teal eyes begin to water once again as she covers them with her hooves and begins to weep frightfully, turning her back to the rest of the world as she seeks safety in the back of the sofa.

Angel tries to nudge her shoulder, to try and indicate that he and his animal friends are hungry, that they haven't eaten in an entire day...but Fluttershy just ignores his prodding, opting to weep even louder into her hooves. One more prod from Angel...

“GO AWAY!” She screams, causing you to flinch back in fright. Angel also jumps from the sofa in fear. Fluttershy has never screamed like that... “JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!” She's now full blown wailing into her hooves now. “Just leave me alone!”

Usually the sight would break your heart, cause you to feel guilty, but now...? No you're sick of this.

“Oh for fuck sake! Feed your fucking animals!” You burst out, swearing to the heavens. Much to the confusion of your white companion.

“She's grieving for you, Anon.” Grim informs, causing you to switch your angry gaze to her.

“Well she shouldn't! I'm an asshole! I never returned any of her feelings! Or any of them for that matter! I treated them all like shit! So why do they all insist on treating my death like a big deal!” Grim's switches to sheer shock from your statement.

“You can't honestly believe that...?”

“I just don't think I'm worth all this!” You flail your arms around exasperatedly, causing Grim to take a cautious step back from you.

“You need to calm down, Anon...you can't-”

You hold your hand up to shut her up, which she does. You have an idea. “I know, I know. I just need some fresh air...” Grim is all too quick to jump at the idea, not even noticing your sudden mood change.

“Yeah sure, let's just go outsid-”

“I'm not leaving her, just open a window.” At your rather calm suggestion, Grim's Scythe reappears in the air, allowing her to catch it and trot towards the window.

You however have other ideas...

With Grim distracted, you snatch the scythe from her grasp. Her reaction is almost comical. A brief stage of confusion at the sudden loss of her tool, and then pure, unadulterated rage at the realization of where it went. She glares you down, her black mane beginning to singe at its ends. You'd assume that's because she's about to go demented hell spawn in a minute.

Any other man would be terrified by her angered glare, her all powerful attitude, but you? No. You're just sick of this shit. You swing the scythe around as fast as you can, impacting it into the side of the burlap sack, causing it to tip over and upon impact with the floor burst open and release its contents. The many animals of the cottage seize their opportunity and swarm the food, starting a frenzy right there on the floor.

Grim however has other things on her mind. “Give. That. Back!” She orders, on the verge of exploding at you.

You look at the scythe once more, inspecting its long, slender, handle and sharp, shiny, blade. This thing could send anyone to Tartarus. It can interact with the real world and it is quite possibly the most dangerous thing you have ever held.

“Sure.” You toss the Scythe on the floor, effectively disarming Grim's rage. She stares at it on the floor for a few seconds in bewilderment, while you exit through the door, staring at the sun as it is still low in the sky.

“What in the name of Celestia's teats, was that?!” Grim screams, also coming through the door.

“I fed the fucking animals. What did it look like?” You reply condescendingly, earning a frustrated growl from the white mare.

“We're not allowed to interfere with the world of the living!” she growls out, Anger very much evident.

“I couldn't trust you not to fuck with me again...” You imagine Grim's face is pretty pissed right now, but you're making a point of not looking her in the eye. A sentiment that appears to be pissing her off even further.

“Anon, I'm not 'fucking' with you, I'm merely obeying the rules...”

“What rules?” You ask, finally looking at her. “The rules of death? Have you ever heard of something so fucking stupid?” Stop digging, Anon. “For all I know, this is just a fucking game to you! You're just playing with me because I have no choice but to play by your rules!”

And that did it.

“The ways of death and the afterlife have to follow strict code. No interfering with the world of the living no-”

“Code? Rules? None of what you've told me makes any sense!” You say solemnly. “Why would I be forced to watch my friends suffer without being able to do anything...”

“You've asked that already!”

“...I haven't gotten an answer yet.” You respond, hanging your head in defeat.

At that, Grim keeps quiet, allowing the two of you to bask in the suns warmth, waiting for the next thing to happen. The gentle sunlight seeping over the horizon, gives you a realization.

“I'm only going to see that sunrise four more times...” You say changing the subject. Grim just nods. “...do you think I'll see them again...my friends, I mean?” She doesn't respond, sparing you of her answer. The two of you spend the next few minutes watching the horizon. The sun climbs into the sky, the town waking up once again to a new day. Hopefully today will be better than yesterday.

“You could leave, ya know?” Grim suggests, offhandedly. “...you keep complaining about being forced to watch all of this happening, but you could just leave now... so why don't you?”

You don't know. How would you? They were your friends, but they made your life hell...why can't you just cut them loose?

You're about to respond, when the sky explodes with color, the many different hues of the spectrum bursting out from a single source as a similarly colored rainbow trail follows from the center.

“A Sonic Rainboom?” You whisper to yourself, the shock wave of color flying over your head.

“What does it mean?”

You watch as the rainbow trail flies into the distance, towards the other side of town. This can't be good. A sonic Rainboom takes a phenomenal amount of speed to accomplish and given the state Rainbow Dash was in last night, you'd assume she'd be unable to muster up the motivation to do so on her own. Which only means one thing; Rainbow Dash is angry. Really, Really angry.

“Where to then?” Grim asks, almost sensing your thoughts.

“I have a feeling that we're going to need to go there.” You say, pointing to the end of the Rainbow.

Author's Note

I swear there are only so many ways someone can write that someone is crying, before they get bored of it.