Author's Note

I tried to keep this as T as possible, what with the torture of a filly going on. Though of course, I'm not the best writer, so it may come off as so stupid. However, if I did my job right, this would make you angry and scared, while also keeping this from being too graphic.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bj9d4obKvU

CHAPTER IV: Joker's Debut

Twilight looked at the chart, her mane unwashed, matted, and tangled. She'd been at this for almost a week. Niether she nor her friends could figure it out the pattern. Fluttershy had even gotten Discord to help. He had proposed a very unsettling idea: "There is no pattern". Twilight had pushed that aside. There was a pattern. There had to be. Only Discord would act randomly. No pony else could. Only Discord. Discord was the exception. But what if?

Twilight shook her head and looked back to the charts and lists.

Monday: Bun theft by unknown criminal.
Criminal has past with Rising Dough.
Tuesday: Multiple explosions. 55 deaths.
A group of criminals, perhaps. One criminal must have history with explosives. How does this relate to Rising Dough?
Wednesday: Mends 'n Hay Hospital explodes. 67 deaths
Criminal(s) again show comfort with explosives. Must have planted explosives over a few days.
Thursday: Her Day Spa is poisoned. 27 deaths.
Criminal(s) show comfort with high-level chemistry. Chemicals react 3 hours after application.
Note: Her Day Spa has subsequently been burned down by rioters.
Friday: Everypony in Sound Trot's Educational School was shot with tiny nails. 38 deaths.
Criminal(s) must have either Level 6 Magic Blast, Level 7 Levitation, or have exceptional accuracy. Possible ex-guard.
Note: Memorial service put off due to bomb threat.
Saturday: Mass prison escape caused by Rising Dough who was disguised as a gaurd.
Note: Both Rising and Cookie Dough are missing.
Sunday: Assassination attempt, followed by bomb threat.
Assassin disappeared in panic. Level 2 Levitation required
Note: Upon Investigation, bombs turned out to be marzipan. Made out of dead kittens. View illustration cautiously.
Note: Celestia is fine. Shot was non-fatal, fired by weak magic.

Suspects:
Swift Clean, Janitor of Mends 'n Hay.
Rising Dough (Missing)
Soft Hoof, CEO of Perfect Massage, competitor of Her Day Spa.
Straight Kane, old friend of Dough, convicted of illegal corporate sabotage under Soft Hoof ten years ago.

Twilight looked over the list again. And again. No one stood out. No obvious motive. "Any ideas?"

"C-Could this all have been an accident?" Fluttershy asked with a twitch of the eye. Discord, try as he may, could not distract her. He had thrown her into a veritable paradise, and she still demanded to go help the others find the criminal.

Twilight frowned. "No, Fluttershy. This is certainly intentional."

Fluttershy simply nodded silently.

After a moment, Rainbow spoke. "Discord, if you were a pony, without cool magic, what would you do next?"

Discord look taken-aback. "Well," he said, clearing his throat. "I would make myself known soon. Some way I couldn't be stopped. Through television, perhaps?" As if on you cue, Spike knocked on the door.

"Uh, can I come in? The Princess sent a letter." He asked through the door, uncertain. He was young, but he saw Fluttershy when she took a break in the living room, and she didn't look very happy. She kept muttering about bodies. So many bodies. He was still shook.

"Err... Yes, Spike." she said, covering the photos with a sheet. Spike handed her the letter, which Twilight scanned quickly.

"The Princess says there is a new channel up, one not registered. Go to channel 40."

Rarity twisted the nob with her magic. The channel popped up, a garish purple contrasting the green numbers(?) in the center. A logo in the right signified this channel as "Joker TV".

"What're those symbols?"

"That's the..." Twilight rubbed her temple for memory. "Changeling numbers. It's counting down from 19." The countdown reached down to zero, the screen going black. A tone sounded[1], and it started.

"Hello, Joker here!" the voice was just as joyous as Pinkie Pie's voice. Perhaps even moreso. In the center of the feed was a curtain, or rather a sheet, that was doing a terrible job of obscuring what was behind it. Somepony in a chair. "Now, we've all been wondering what has been going on this last week. Who's responsible for these... 187 deaths (Is my body-count really that high?)? Well, I wanted to find out, too. So, let's find out from somepony with first-hoof information: Princess Celestia Apollo de Sol's would-be assassin, RISI... err... COOKIE DOUGH!"

The pony pushed the curtain aside, revealing the thing behind it: a filly tied to a chair. The Six gasped. Cookie held her head low, not seeming to notice the camera. Her fur was disheveled, she was shaking profusely, and a close up on her face revealed that she was crying. Importantly, she was covered in bruises and had pieces of something in her coat.

"Hello, kid." Joker beamed. The filly didn't react. She hung loosely to her chair, whimpering softly.

"This is sick," muttered Rainbow Dash. The others nodded in silent agreement.

"Kid?" the Joker asked holding her head up. She slid her head out of his hoof, moving it back to looking down. "Come on kid!" Joker encouraged. She still didn't respond, instead quaking in her seat. "Kid, am I gonna have to get the rubber chicken again?"

"N-no. Please don't." the kid whispered, wincing as if expecting to be struck. Her voice was ragged, as if she hadn't had a drink in a long time. She probably hadn't, judging by a stain in her over-sized chair that proved she hadn't been let out of the chair for bathroom breaks. "W-what do you want?"

"What do I want?" the Joker beamed loudly. Cookie winced at the noise. "Why, I'm just trying to figure out what happened!" He stopped for a second, then went on in a casual, gossipy voice. "Sooooooo, do you know who killed Princess Celestia?"

The filly whispered something. Her shaking increased, as did her tears.

"What did ya say?" The filly whispered it again.

"Come on, spit it out!"

The filly whispered it again, and this time the words were audible. "I k-killed Princess Celestia."

The Six and Spike gasped. Surely this wasn't true. Surely the Joker was making her say this.

The Joker either didn't hear the confession or was feeling sadistic. "One more time!"

"I killed Princess Celestia!" Cookie screamed. Behind the camera, the Joker chuckled.

"I'm sorry! Let me get the microphone!" On cue, a microphone fell on to the filly, it hitting her face, leaving yet another bruise visible through her coat. A pony off-screen maneuvered it so that she could talk into it. "There ya go!" the Joker said around the microphone.

"I k-killed Princess Celestia!" Cookie was in full emotional breakdown mode. Crying, shaking, wailing. It was a terrible sight,

"Only bad ponies kill Princess Celestia..." the Joker said matter-of-factly, in a tone that a kinder-gardener would use.

"I-I-I I I'm s-s-s-s-o-o-rry-y!" Cookie was hyperventilating now.

The Mane Six were worried that Cookie might die of heart attack. But, then, that might have been merciful for the filly.

"We have to stop this!" Rainbow Dash proclaimed, already in the air.

"How, Dash? They could be broadcasting from outside of Equestria." Applejack said miserably. She was crying, as thoughts of Applebloom filled her mind.

"We'll go on a..." Pinkie stopped immediately when the Joker continued.

Cookie was still in terrible shape, but the Joker had managed to calm her down. Singing a nice little ditty about an unfortunate grandparent who had gotten trampled by a stampede of reindeer. This was somehow calming.

Cookie gasped a few more times before saying something.

"K-kill me." she asked, or rather squealed. "Kill me, please."

The Joker broke out into a peal of laughter that went on for almost a minute. The small room they were in made it echo.

"Haha, heh, heh, w-whatdya say." he asked, laughing. Cookie opened her mouth again, but was cut off when the Joker started laughing. "Haha, heh, OK, w-what?"

"Kill me! I'm a bad pony! Kill me pl..." Cookie stopped as she started wail and hyperventilate again.

"But don't you want to see your dad again?" he asked in a tempting voice.

"D-daddy?" she asked, desperate.

The Joker sat the camera down, presumably on a tripod. He trotted a bit, opened a door (a closet?), and pulled out something. By the way it rustled, it was probable a sack, but the Six couldn't be sure because it was off camera. There was a sound, like 200 pounds hitting the ground, and Cookie screamed.

"Your dad has a chest cavity the size of a baseball. He'll need a good dental-insurance for that! Not to mention Life Insurance!" The Joker burst once more into laughter a horrible sound that somehow seemed to fit with Cookie's terrible screaming. "And! And, and," Joker said, panting. "Look what I found!"

The Joker pulled the camera back, allowing the shot to widen. A pony stepped it frame. His back was turned, but you could tell a lot about this pony anyway. He wore a terrible purple suit that, for once, Rarity didn't comment on. He sported a green mane that had probable never saw cleaning. And it seemed that he had no fur on his face and neck, exposing pale white flesh. He was holding a rubber chicken in his mouth.

He threw his head back, and struck Cookie in the head, the chicken producing a squeak. There probably wasn't much force behind it, but she was a filly, and she was experience a complete breakdown. Wailing, shaking, crying, they all increased to inpony levels.

"Show us your face, you..." Twilight muttered, and called him a very mean string of words. Ponies almost never cursed, but this time she allowed herself the exception.

But, of course, he would never show his face. Why would he incriminate himself? It was rule number 1: never expose your face. And then the Joker broke rule number 1.

After the 5th hit at the little girl, he stopped and dropped the chicken. He turned to the camera an said over his captive's screams: "Originally, I was going to beat her with an actual chicken corpse, but it took 30 seconds just to pull it out of my sleeve! And it also made a strange squishing noise when it hit. Oh well. That's why we have rehearsals!" He went off into laughter again, despite the rubber chicken being in his mouth again.

In that brief moment, they saw the face of evil itself. He smiled wide, with yellow teeth. He wore lipstick to enhance his clown-like features. And he had eyes. Evil eyes. But they weren't soulless like Discord's used to be. They weren't like Tirek's. He had the eyes of a pony. A normal pony.

After the 23rd hit contacted her, Cookie started bleeding. And around the 168th strike, she died.