What Happened Last Week

Chapters

Segment One
Segment Two
Segment Three
Segment Four
Segment Five
Segment Six

Segment One

What Happened Last Week

By Mist

Segment 1

The high life; fame fortune and everypony’s attention. Not a street existed that I could cross without my flank getting eyed up and down by half of the local population. I couldn’t open a magazine without myself staring right back at me, or turn on a television without seeing my face appear in some manner. I was everywhere that I could think of, and even several places I couldn’t. Everypony wanted to catch even a fraction of a glimpse of the famous Rainbow Dash.

As much as it annoyed me to be pestered everywhere I go, part of me loved being Equestria’s top model. The cameras, the attention, the recognition; I loved it somehow. It was all just another giant challenge to me, and I could never resist a good challenge.

The perks of being famous seemed to weigh it out a lot of the time. Any restaurant I wanted to get into, I was in, no reservation. With just a flick of my tail and a smile I could win over any stallion I wanted. I never had to worry about buying things ever again either, my model agency paid for just about anything I could ever want. The best part was that all I had to do was be myself a majority of the time. I had something my agent called “spunk” and apparently the audiences loved it. I would give them a smile or a scowl depending on how I felt that day and they would eat it up. I could probably slap my name onto a DVD rewinder and ponies would probably still buy it.

For nearly four years I was the face of Poneyz Inc. I was their top model, their iconic symbol for all their latest clothing and accessories. They had even gone so far as to make a specific line of clothing based on my body structure and features, then just marketed it as “Dash’s Stash”. Coincidentally I ended up wearing a lot of clothing from that same line in my day-to-day life outside of work.

The only frustrating part about work was that it ate up a lot of my time, and there were times where I wanted nothing more than to just buck the photographers right in the teeth then head out for a drink.

Everypony always warned me of the pressure involved in modeling, telling me that with just one mistake and my time in the spotlight would come to an abrupt end. I hardly humored such ideas though; those were the words of losers; weak individuals who couldn’t take the pressure and do what needs to be done to get by.

My parents never really approved of my profession. They were always telling me that I was a step away from doing pornography, and that I was just selling my body for money and attention. That was one way of looking at it I suppose, and I had been offered to do pornography but I would never accept such an offer, too bad mother and father would never believe that.

You have to have standards to survive in the business world. I set my standards and refused to bend around them, and that’s how I became successful.

I wasn’t just another dumb bimbo that walked the runway for Poneyz Clothing without a brain in my skull. I had a face, a name, a voice and a reputation. It was important to make sure everypony knew who I was and not just what I looked like. Once you establish familiarity with your audience, they’ll accept no substitutes. The moment that happened to me, I knew I was in control of my managers and not the other way around. I was irreplaceable, and that kept them bending to my will and not the other way around.

The truth was that I was a natural at business strategies. Create a product that can’t be duplicated, then convince the masses that they can’t live without it. I must have picked up a thing or two from my mother when I was young and she was running a shop in Cloudsdayle.

“Come on Dash I need to see more emotion! You’re just waking up, and it’s a gorgeous day, but not as gorgeous as you, and you know it. You’re a majestic beauty rising to greet the day.” Reminded my photographer.

Shooter, he was the most annoying pony I had to work with. He would always ramble about nonsense when we were doing a session about what I should be feeling in each scene. I never really liked him, and there were times where I just wanted to tell him off.

For a pony that did nothing but take pictures of beautiful mares all day though he seemed very uninterested. Many of us suspected he was gay, but then again it may just be out of boredom. If you saw attractive mares all day that you didn’t have a chance with you would probably be tired of seeing them after a while.

Despite how aggravating Shooter was, he really was the best photographer to ever grace Equestria. I’ve seen him capture sides of girls that I didn’t think possible to catch on film. I was always impressed by the shots he got during our shoots.

“Shove it Shooter.” I scolded.

“Attitude, I love it!” He laughed.

He loved everything I did it seemed, but for somepony who loved everything he sure had a lot of demands.

I leaned down on the bed and pressed my chest against it with my front hooves pulling the fluffy blanket close to my cheeks. I gave an uninterested look in the direction of the camera; something that said “whatever” in my mind.

Shooter ate it up it seemed. He began snapping shots from every possible angle, even some that many didn’t think were possible. He let out a relentless wave of “oo’s” and “ah’s” as he danced around the room with his camera stealing as much of what he saw as he could.

“That’s right! You’re a bad girl, you don’t care what’s going on around you; you know you’re then center of attention!” He cheered.

He was so damn cheesy sometimes that it pissed me off.

“I’ll show you ‘bad girl’ if you don’t knock that shit off, Shooter. You’re just the brush, I’m the artist remember? So shut the hell up.” I said.

Not to much surprise he enjoyed me scolding him as well.

“Fiesty, I love it!” He growled.

“I’m serious Shooter, knock that shit off or I’m going to come over there and make you eat that camera. Just shoot and stop talking, you’re annoying the piss out of me.” I glared.

He nodded and continued to take photos without a second of hesitation. He was annoyingly over peppy about his job that much was certain.

I bit at the white button up shirt I had on and pulled it enough to unfasten the top two buttons with just the tug. Shooter stole those images the moment I did so. Leaning over the edge of the bed I put one of my hooves at an angle as if I was trying to hold onto the bed while I let the other hang freely to the floor. I put on the most childlike face I could find and let shooter capture a few more shots. He seemed very pleased with the pose.

“You never cease to amaze me, Miss Dash.” He commented.

“Keep it in your pants, Shooter.” I teased.

He laughed heartily but didn’t allow anything to halt him for even a second. He exchanged film rolls in a split second, tossing the old one into a cart behind him and snapping pictures within the same second.

I rolled over and grabbed one of the many magazines around the bed area and lifted a hind leg up placing it over the other so I’d appear to be laying in a casual reading manner. He followed my motions with his camera so quickly that I barely so him move.

“I swear all the colts must be bowing down to you, Miss Dash.” Shoot complimented.

He just didn’t like shutting up, no matter how much you tell him to.

“Yeah, but I don’t want somepony who’ll just bend to my every will because of who I am. Where’s the excitement in that? Besides I’m far too busy to have a boyfriend… Or Girlfriend.” I smirked.

“Girlfriend!? Miss Dash you’re…?” Shooter gasped.

I laughed. I knew that would catch his attention.

“Nah, I just wanted to see how you’d react. Now can you shut the hell up and let me concentrate here? How do you expect me to work when you’re distracting me all the time?” I asked.

He nodded.

“I’m sorry; I’m just captivated by how much perfection you emit into my camera. I get a little excited when I’m working with such an image of loveliness.” He smiled.

I rolled my eyes; he was just so damn cheesy that I could hardly take him seriously a majority of the time.

“You can get your lips off my ass anytime now, Shooter.” I smiled deviously.

He laughed and responded with more photos.

That shoot must have gone on for another two painfully long hours. I could only take so much of Shooter at one time.

I had gone to the Carousel Boutique, a local shop in Ponyville, after work got out to visit my longtime friend Rarity. I had made arrangements to see her sometime last week, and I’d be damned if I was going to let my schedule get ruined.

Rarity was probably the best fashion designer around, but hadn’t been fortunate enough to receive a big break yet. She had some of her stuff worn by Sapphire Shores, but nothing too major since then. Being a local shop she didn’t have the bits required to pump out the big television ads and billboards that big name corporations like Poneyz Clothing did, but her stuff was just as high quality to say the least.

It always made me feel guilty going to see her now. She had always dreamed of making it big in the fashion world, and practiced her whole life for it, while I was just some lucky mare who stumbled across the right ponies a few years back. When I first started I didn’t even know how to spell fashion. Rarity was the hard working talented seamstress, and I was the lucky fashion model now. She never has voiced that it bothered her, but I doubt that she’s never thought about it.

“Rainbow Dash, great to see you, dear. You look enchanting as always, I must know your secret.” Rarity complimented.

Four years ago I doubt she’d have said anything of the sort to me, and if she had I’d have probably bucked her in the face for it.

“The right diet and exercise.” I said.

“You must take me to your gym then.” She laughed.

“Sure, it’s right at my house.” I replied.

“A personal gym? You are one lucky mare…” She was caught in a daydream.

Sometimes I could easily let myself believe that Rarity was the model and not me, she certainly had a better personality for it. I’m sure Shooter wouldn’t mind snapping a few shots of her flank for a few hours. I laughed internally at the thought.

“I’m more interested in your mane actually.” She smiled.

Rarity had little reason to be jealous of my mane. Her mane was her pride and joy. She spent more time fussing over her mane than she did breathing. Time well spent however, as she had probably the best haircut in Ponyville.

“Oh, company salon. They use some really crazy shampoos and stuff that I’ve never heard of.” I laughed.

“Whatever they’re doing, their results are so shiny and silky… I just want to run my hooves through your hair…” She was nearly hypnotized.

She was always fawning over everything I did it seemed.

“Reality to Rarity, come back, we need you here on Equestria.” I joked.

Rarity snapped out of her trance.

“Right, sorry. Ahem… How have you been Rainbow Dash?” She smiled brightly.

“Exhausted, I seriously want to kill Shooter. That pain in the ass annoys the piss out of me every single shoot with his constant talking.” I said.

She sat down next to me gently placing a tea cup onto the coffee table, offering me some from the nearby teapot. I accepted the offer and allowed her to pour me a cup. Only a few seconds later I was taking the first sip; perfect, as always.

Rarity made the best tea I ever had, every time. She was not only a talented seamstress, but also apparently great in the kitchen. I was always curious as to how a catch like her wasn’t married yet or at least with a steady boyfriend. Then I would remember her impossible to meet standards of the opposite sex. Rarity knew that she was close to perfection, and expected the same of any partner she could possibly have.

“Must be extremely stressful working as a model.” Rarity sympathized.

“That’s an understatement…” I laughed lightly.

She giggled at my straightforwardness.

“Well, it’s all worth it at least right? I mean you’re the biggest star in Equestria right now almost!” Rarity applauded.

“This is true.” I leaned in with a smile.

“Which brings me to a question I’ve been meaning to ask you…” She got quieter.

I took another sip before addressing her statement.

“What’s up?” I asked.

Rarity leaned back with an expression of deep thought. She appeared as though she wasn’t certain how to move the conversation from here.

“I know you work for Poneyz Clothing, and you have your own line of cloths to advertise but…” She paused.

“But what?” I gave her a curious look.

She placed a hoof onto my hoof.

“Do you think you could wear around some of my ensembles? You wouldn’t have to make commercials or model for me, just wear them every now and then. Just a casual thing… That is… If you are okay with that…” She suggested.

I smiled and looked up to make eye contact with her.

“I’d be more than happy to wear your designs Rarity.” I responded.

Rarity nearly jumped off of the couch, almost taking me with her. I had always remembered her to be excitable. One might even go so far as to call her bipolar.

“Thank you so much Rainbow Dash, this means so much to me!” She grinned.

“Yeah, no problem,” I attempted to calm her down.

“You’re a terrific friend Rainbow Dash. I know you’re really busy all the time, but we should get together more often, it’s always wonderful seeing you.” Rarity changed the subject.

She was right; it was nice to be around my friends for a change. I felt nostalgic just being in the same room as her. My mind was exploring all the memories that were shared in this place together. All the dresses I modeled for her (begrudgingly), all the times I came in looking for new clothing, and all the times the gang and I would just drop by to visit our friend.

“I’ll have to drop by more often. I might be able to sneak away from the company every now and then.” I smiled.

Something happened at that moment. I saw something in Rarity’s eyes. For just a split second, I could have sworn I saw them glow red. I continued to watch them seeing if they would do it a second time, but no such luck.

“Something wrong?” Rarity questioned.

“Nothing,” I replied.

The moment I stepped into my own home it had felt like I hadn’t been able to even enter my own house in decades. Without much of a second thought I turned on the answering machine on the phone and began to listen to the messages while I wandered into the living room aimlessly.

“Rainbow Dash, sweetheart! The photos are in and you look phenomenal, just want to thank you for a great shoot and can’t wait to see you tomorrow!” A familiar annoying voiced called from the device.

Fucking Shooter just didn’t know when to leave me alone.

The second message began to play.

“Umm… Rainbow Dash…? Yeah, hi… This is Fluttershy. Just thought I’d congratulate you on winning Mare of the Month in Mare Magazine. You looked really… Umm… Beautiful… Does that sound weird coming from me? Well anyways, you looked really beautiful in those photos that they chose, give me a call back sometime if you get the chance, I’d love to hear from you… If you wanted to that is…” A soft and timid voice spoke.

Fluttershy was true to her name even over the phone. It was near impossible to carry a phone conversation with that girl. I did miss talking to her, I’d have to return that call when I got the chance.

The last message started.

“Miss Dash, this is Stitch. We’re testing out a new line and I need you to come in about three hours early tomorrow to model it for us. Counting on you.” The voice said.

I sighed.

Stitch was the CEO of Poneyz Clothing, and often when he would call me he would deliver nothing but news I didn’t want to hear, and this was one of those instances. I wasn’t too thrilled about having to come in three hours earlier considering how hard I had to work already. It was all the life of a model I suppose.

I needed just a moment of relief from the burdens of the world. I trotted over to the cabinet and dug around for a quick moment before sliding out a small red and white box. While I was at the counter I grabbed a pair of diet pills that I was supposed to take every night and slipped them down my throat. I used to gag trying to swallow pills, but I had gotten to use to downing them that I could do so without a glass of water now.

Making my way back to the couch I threw myself onto it in a lazy manner. I pulled a small white and brown cancer stick out of the box I retrieved from the kitchen and struck a match from the matchbook I kept inside the box.

Within seconds I was taking a drag of the cigarette. My mind was slowly emptying itself of worries. I could feel my body following suite.

Smoking was such a socially unacceptable thing these days that I did everything I could to hide the dirty habit. I didn’t want the public to know that I smoke, nor did I endorse it for any of my fans. It was just something I did to relieve stress. I had been trying to quit for the past month or so, which I seemed to be making good progress on. The same pack I had on the coffee table now I had for the past two weeks, and it wasn’t even a quarter gone yet. I had promised myself that when that pack was gone that it would be the last one.

I’m sure if Twilight found out I was smoking she’d have lectured me three times over by now and forced me to read every book she owned on smoking and lung cancer. Fluttershy would just go on about how bad for my health it is, but I was certain that Shooter wouldn’t care either way. He’d just find a way to make it look sexy and demand to take photos.

I was finally starting to relax when the phone broke the silence.

Begrudgingly I picked it up and answered.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Rainbow Dash?” The voice on the other end asked.

It was female that was certain, and her voice sounded familiar.

“This is she,” I replied.

“I need your help, and I can’t take no for an answer. I want you to meet me tomorrow at the outside of the café just outside of where you work, do you understand?” They demanded.

It sounded like some insane fan to me.

“And why should I do that…?” I asked curiously.

“You’re just going to have to trust me. I’ll tell you there.” They said.

“And what if I don’t?” I asked.

There was a pause on the other end.

“Then I’ll have to kill you.” They responded.

“Who are you?” I jumped.

“Be there, don’t make me come looking for you, I don’t want to kill you, but if it comes to it, then I’ll be left with no choice…” She spoke solemnly.

“Wait, what’s going on?” I hissed.

They hung up.

I tossed the phone aside carelessly.

What an odd individual. Did she honestly expect me to show up based on just that notion? I was certain that it was just another insane fan, probably trying to confess how much they’ve always loved me and how we belong together and such; wouldn’t be the first time. I couldn’t shake the “I’m going to kill you”, part though.

I took another drag and exhaled the smoke. Part of me was curious about the call and how they got my number.

I dismissed the thought realizing I needed to get some sleep if I was to come into work three hours early tomorrow. I humored the idea of perhaps smashing Shooter’s camera out of annoyance tomorrow and headed to bed.

Segment Two

What Happened Last Week

By Mist

Segment 2

Shooter made me sit through the longest photo session I had in months. He kept going on about how my “figure and form has inspired him to try something new and exciting”, just another bullshit way of saying that he wanted to waste a few more rolls of film before letting me get back to my life outside of the studio.

The new clothing line that they wanted me to try out was mostly just formal wear; dresses, suits for women, and piles of shoes. There was a button up blouse every now and then, but I spent most of the day sweating in enough garments to make 3 more coats for myself. I must have drunk more water in one day than I had all week.

Shooter was as aggravating as usual with his overly peppy attitude, and willingness to take my degrading insults on command. I don’t know why he pisses me off really; he pisses me off when he’s being miserable, and he pisses me off when he’s being positive. I suppose Shooter is just a very unlikable pony. Every day with him was just another challenge on my attempts to quit smoking and to not buck a photographer.

“Business sexy! That’s what you are! You don’t know the meaning of casual; you’re always coming to the office with everypony’s attention!” Shooter exclaimed while stealing a few more shots.

“Shooter, for the love of Celestia, knock that shit off. I can do without the commentary.” I scolded.

As expected he responded with a smile and more stupidity spewing out of his mouth. I liked to imagine it as vomit just pouring out like a facet.

“I’m sorry, love. You know how excited I get when I’m making art; it’s just in my nature.” He smiled.

I sighed and gave up arguing with him, it was like arguing with a brick wall. Instead I just kept posing for him in the hopes that if I remained silent he would eventually tire himself out from his own cheesy lines. Listening to him sometimes made me feel like my profession was standing here getting hit on by the biggest loser in Equestria then turning him down.

“Let’s see some more anger, you just had a bad day at work, and now you’re quite pissed off about it.” Shooter instructed.

I didn’t even need to fake that one. I gave the nastiest scowl I could possibly give in his direction. He soaked it up with joy, too bad he didn’t know that was a real one. Members of the crew approached and roughed up my hair a good deal and gestured for me to keep going. Sure enough Shooter thought this was brilliant as well.

“I love it!” He shouted.

I seriously wanted to shove my whole hind hoof up his asshole right then.

Shooter had just taken a roll of film out and magicked another into the camera when I noticed something I had seen before. For just a brief fraction of a second, I saw it again; the ominous red glow in his eyes. It only stayed for an instant, but I was certain that it was the same phenomenon I had witnessed at the Carousel Boutique with Rarity. I had gotten a better look at it this time though, so I was certain that what I saw before wasn’t just my eyes playing tricks on me. Something definitely happened with Rarity’s eyes yesterday, and now the same just happened to Shooter.

Something was certainly a miss; I couldn’t just mark it off as coincidence this time. The only problem is how I should proceed.

“Dash, stay focused.” Shooter snapped.

I obeyed and continued to pose for the annoying colt.

Should I say something? If I did, how would he react? Would he think I was just seeing things, or would he actually acknowledge that something was odd? No, it’s safe to assume that he won’t have a clue as to what I’m talking about.

My mind was dancing around the subject. I didn’t know how I should be reacting to the situation, or rather if I was over analyzing it or not.

“Is something bothering you Dash? You’re acting exceptionally distracted today.” Shooter questioned.

“Yeah I’m-“, I paused.

They did it again. His pupils lit right up, then returned to their normal color. I wasn’t seeing things.

“Fine…” I finished.

I got out of work much later than I anticipated. Walking out into the lobby I noticed the café out front. I recalled the phone call with the familiar stranger requesting I meet her outside of that same café. I was several hours later than what she probably originally thought I would arrive. Chances are she was already gone by now.

I allowed the concern to shed off of me as I walked towards my limousine to head home. My brain told me to stop only a few feet away and look back at the café.

She wouldn’t still be there… Would she?

Curiosity got the better of me. I approached my driver and leaned into the window to give him instructions.

“Circle the block; I’m going to be about ten minutes. I have something I need to attend to.” I said.

He nodded and rolled up the black tinted window. Before I knew it he was out of sight. Part of me was regretting this decision, but it was too late to turn back now.

The alley near the café reeked of molding food. It was an extremely pungent smell and difficult to ignore. What kind of pony would want to meet in a place like this? The smell was more than likely the result of not having the dumpster dumped in a good amount of time.

It didn’t appear as though anypony was there, more than likely either went home or never showed up in the first place. I had a feeling that it may have just been a prank call the day before anyways.

Taking this chance to feed my addiction I drew a cigarette from my bag and lit it up with haste. I wanted to finish before my driver returned after all. The first inhale was very relaxing; I could feel my whole body limber up.

“You know smoking is bad for you?” A voice behind me called out.

I was so startled that I choked on the smoke during the exhale. Having a fit of coughs and wheezes I attempted to reply.

“I think that’s the least of my concerns,” I managed to get out.

“I wouldn’t say that, after all you only get one you. Why ruin it with a little lung cancer?” They questioned.

Their face, it was dreadfully familiar. She had a rather wild mane that looked like no amount of sculpting gel, shampoo, moose or hair spray could control. It was almost like cotton candy really, and hung well over her left eye. She had so much mane that it was doubtful she could even see. It was wavy, and long, and pink. The entire creature was coated in pink from head to hoof, with the exception of her crystal blue eyes.

It appeared as though she was wearing a rather gothic style dress. It consisted of a black top with a small red bowtie and fishnet down her front hooves. Her backside was heavily exposed from beyond her short red skirt.

“Live fast, die fun.” I replied with a smirk.

“Interesting philosophy, where’d you pick that one up?” She responded.

I took another drag before answering.

“My father, probably the only useful lesson he ever taught me. I could go on all day about what a worthless piece of shit he is, but I’m assuming we’re not here to talk about my personal life. What did you want?” I said.

She took a few steps closer.

“I’m a little surprised you showed up. Your curiosity got the better of you didn’t it?” She smiled.

Her smile made me feel awkward. There was something off about this mare. I decided to answer her with silence.

“You haven’t changed.” She added.

“So we know each other then?” I asked.

“Pinkie Pie,” She gestured towards herself in an over exaggerated manner.

“You look… Different.” I said.

“Likewise,” She smiled.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you and all Pinkie, but why exactly are we both here right now? If you wanted to get together you didn’t need to be so creepy about it. We’re friends; you don’t need to trick me to get me to come see you.” I smiled back.

Pinkie nodded awkwardly and trotted around me slowly in a circular motion.

“I apologize… I didn’t mean to frighten you on the phone… I just wanted to make sure you’d show up…” She bowed her head in a polite gesture.

“It’s fine, but do you think we could reschedule this meeting to another time, and perhaps somewhere more appropriate?” I asked.

“I’ve already waited for you long enough,” She said.

“Were you waiting here the whole time I was at work?” I asked curiously.

She didn’t answer; instead she just kept walking around me in the same circle repeatedly. Her eyes studied every part of me as she orbited around me again and again.

“You’re starting to creep me out Pinkie; I’m going to go home. If you want to talk then I request you do so at a more appropriate location.” I started walking away.

“Don’t you want to know about the red eyes?” She asked.

I stopped.

“So I was right, you can see them then?” She grew a devious grin.

“What do you know about them…?” I asked.

“More than I’d like to,” She said.

I continued to listen.

“They aren’t natural that’s for sure. The fact that you can see them means you have the same gift that I do; which means that you have the ability to do something about them before it’s too late…” She rambled.

Do something about them? What is this girl talking about?

“Forget it, I’m not interested. The less I know the better.” I continued walking out of the alley.

“Fine,” She walked past me and started to head towards the sidewalk.

That was it? I just needed to say I wasn’t interested and she’d give up that easily? No, it’s too easy…

“I’m sure you’ll change your mind, when that happens, here’s my number.” She tossed a scrap of paper at me and walked around the bend.

I heard the sound of a vehicle engine pull around the corner. When I looked up I saw my driver honking his horn to get my attention. I turned back to the scrap of paper on the ground. I wanted to just leave it there and be done with it, but for some reason I couldn’t just abandon the thought of taking it with it. Scooping it up, I slid it into my bag without another thought towards it and headed back to my ride home.

“Welcome home Rainbow Dash!” Called out the excited voice of a young orange pegasus.

Scootaloo, she occasionally would drop by unannounced. She lives with her nanny not too far from where I live, and visits on a regular basis. Her sister died in an accident about two years ago, so she is essentially all alone in the world. I may have had father issues, but Scootaloo had entire family issues. Her parents had been dead since she was just a young filly, and her sister took care of her for a majority of her life. After her sister passed though she was left an orphan with not a soul to care for her but her nanny.

I sort of watched after the kid from time to time. I had taken a liking to her and found her personality to be very similar to my own. It was pretty clear that my little filly friend saw me as her hero, and for some reason, the fact that she looked up to me made me feel better than any other pony doing so. I was an icon on television and a star in Equestria with millions wishing to be like me, but none of them felt as important as Scootaloo.

“What’s up, Scoot?” I asked.

She didn’t seem to mind that pet name for some reason. It sort of became her nickname over time, and not just by me. I’ve caught just about everypony in town using it to refer to her, even though I thought of it first.

“Not much, I just came over and figured I’d clean up a bit while you were out. I even made you some food.” She grinned.

“Thanks. I was a bit hungry actually… Did you finish your homework yet?” I teased.

She lowered her head.

“I’m kind of stuck on algebra… I think I’m the only one in my class that doesn’t get it…” She sighed.

I laughed softly. She was too adorable at times.

“Bring your stuff into my room and I’ll help you,” I smiled.

“Really!? Thanks Rainbow Dash! You’re the best!” She hopped up and down.

Not too much time later the two of us were laying on our stomachs with our heads hunched over an old math book with a mess of papers laying all over the bed we laid on.

“Alright, so in algebra it can be a little confusing because you’ve got letters and not just numbers. It’s important to remember that x is no longer used as the multiplication symbol but as a variable. Think of x as a blank space, you’re trying to figure out what goes in that blank space to solve the problem.” I explained.

Scootaloo scratched her chin in deep thought.

“What about the other letters?” She asked.

“Same thing, though commonly they’ll use x when there isn’t any other variables, do you understand?” I elaborated.

She leaned into the paper closely.

“I think so… So what you’re saying is… Instead of trying to figure out what the answer to the question is, I need to figure out what x is?” She asked.

“Exactly; so in the question 10 – x = 2, what number could be put in place of x to make 2 the outcome?” I asked.

“Eight?” She said.

I nodded and smiled at her.

“Hey this makes perfect sense now! Why can’t my teacher just have said it like you did? I swear I think she’s out to get me or something…” Scootaloo complained.

“Or perhaps you should spend more time paying attention and less drawing dragons in your notebook?” I smirked.

I held up the back cover of her green notebook. It was decorated with enough dragons that one would almost believe Scoot was a dragon. They were fairly detailed likenesses which lead me to believe she spent a large chunk of her class time illustrating them.

“Yeah… Well… Did you pay attention in school?” Scoot changed the subject.

“Hardly, I spent a majority of my time skipping classes and hanging out with my friend Gilda. I had been threatened to be expelled probably once every three months, if I wasn’t on the flying team I’d have probably been kicked out though.” I laughed.

Scootaloo joined me in laughing.

“You were such a badass back then!” She complimented.

“Yeah, I got into fights a lot though, and walked away with my fair share of bruises…” I said.

“It’s amazing that you can put up with being a model and stuff now really,” Scoot commented.

I took another bite of the dinner we had brought with us.

“Yeah, well everypony has to grow up sometime I suppose. I still like to have more fun than I should though.” I placed my hoof onto the filly’s head and roughed up her hair playfully.

She responded with laughter.

“Alright squirt, I think it’s time for you to head to bed. I need some sleep because I had a pretty long day. I’ll take you to school tomorrow morning before I go to work.” I instructed.

“Alright, I hope you sleep well!” Scoot replied as she gathered up her school supplies that were scattered all over my bed.

After the filly vanished from my room I let out a sigh of relief. She was such a delightful little kid; I couldn’t believe how much she looked up to me sometimes. I did everything I could to make sure I was something worth looking up to; as a result I had to keep my lessor habits hidden from her, smoking being one of them.

Sighing I walked into my bathroom and shed off my clothing. This wasn’t exactly my favorite time of the day, but I had become so used to it at this point that I didn’t think much of it anymore.

I leaned my head over the toilet and pressed a hoof into my mouth. I reached as far back into my throat as I could. Before I knew it I was gagging relentlessly until finally a brown and green slime exited my body through my mouth. I had become so numb to the feeling at this point that I just let it pass through me without much thought. Before I knew it the two minutes of wrecking and gagging were over.

I had eaten too much today, and it’s as Stitch always says, “The life of fashion and success doesn’t come without sacrifices, we all have to look our best after all.” I had always had trouble maintaining the diet needed to be a model from the start. When I first started working I would be two to four pounds over the desired weight range every monthly weigh in. I had grown up as a tomboy who ate like one of the guys, so it was difficult adjusting to such strict diet.

I had tried exercising more, but after I got my job I didn’t have as much time to exercise as I used to. When I got home I was always too exhausted to do my usual routines, and the only time I had to work out was on weekends, and that was only enough to stay in shape. With work, Scootaloo and everything else in my life I just didn’t have the time to go and stretch my wings like I used to.

It was after the third or fourth month that I had grown tired of getting scolded about my weight, and finally decided there was only one solution to the problem; so almost every night I would “throw away”, one meal. At first I was disgusted with myself, but in time I started to realize the truth in Stitch’s world. We all really did have to make sacrifices, and the last thing I needed was to lose my job. I was far from unhealthy anyways, and it was just one less meal a day.

One day I’d retire and I’d take Scootaloo away from all of the chaos of the model world. I had always fantasized about moving back to Cloudsdale and getting a place to ourselves. Scootaloo didn’t deserve to become a model, she’s better than that. I enjoyed what I did for a living, but I have accepted that I’m not helping anypony with what I do. Sure I donate money to charities and give speeches for advocacy groups in my off time, but Scootaloo has what it takes to actually be out there helping ponies for real. I’ve always been an entertainer, even before I got this job. All my life I wanted to be a Wonderbolt, an entertainer, it’s what I’ve always been good at.

A tall muscular stallion took the seat next to me at the local Star-Buck down the street from the studio. His mane was rugged and untamed, and appeared as though it hadn’t been washed today which was probably a safe guess.

He reeked of alcohol, which was typical of him. It figures he would ask me to meet him somewhere then show up either drunk or hung over. There wasn’t a shred of decency in him, and I knew it. The sick part is that I am pretty sure he knew it too.

I couldn’t stand looking at his dirty turquoise coat anymore than I could stand looking at his disgusting jet black filthy mane.

“How’s work?” He grunted.

“Fine, you’ve been drinking I see.” I remarked rudely.

“I may have had a few…” He managed to get out.

“I’ve heard that one before,” I rolled my eyes.

“Working on fucking another liver up I see, trying to set a world record? Good for you, great to see you’ve actually got some ambition towards something.” I added.

He took a sip of a coffee that he had ordered and sighed.

“Why are we here dad? I’d like to get this over with and get back to my life.” I said.

“Well… You know I don’t like asking you for anything…” He started.

I could already see where this was going, we had been down this road before, and I already knew what was at the end of it: empty promises.

“The feeling is mutual,” I turned away from him.

“I got fired last month and well…” He began.

“And let me guess, your worthless ass can’t keep a room over your own head right?” I replied rolling my eyes again.

I had struck a chord. He finally started to retaliate, just as expected.

“Hey, I don’t wanna hear it! I paid child support for you for thirteen years. I had to work two jobs just to afford that.” He growled.

“Awww, poor Storm he has to work to pay child support for a child that he up and ABANDONED THIRTEEN FUCKING YEARS AGO AND DIDN’T EVEN SEND THEM A FUCKING BIRTHDAY CARD OR RETURN ANY OF THEIR FUCKING PHONE CALLS!” I started gathering the attention of the whole store.

He stood up and got in my face this time.

“Before you judge me, why not try being a father?” He challenged.

“You know what…” I sighed.

With great haste I scribbled a few numbers on a blank check and signed it promptly. I ripped the scrap of paper out of the book and threw it in his direction.

“Here’s a thousand bits, go spend it on some booze and poison yourself some more. While you’re at it, why not disappear for another thirteen years?” I hissed.

I fled towards the exit before I heard him call out to me.

“Rainbow!”

I turned back to his direction.

“Thanks for being a sperm donor. Have a nice day, Storm.” I replied.

“At least I’m not some tramp strutting myself across a runway for all the horny stallions to see.” He retaliated.

It was at that moment that it happened again. His eyes, they turned a shade of red, then back. This time I heard something though, like a voice whispering in my ear. I could just barely make out what it was saying, “sloth.”

“Good bye, Storm.” I turned around and ran out the door.

All the emotion and tension built up from the meeting had been completely dumped from my mind when I saw his eyes. This wasn’t just coincidence anymore.

I dug through my bag and managed to find the scrap of paper that Pinkie Pie had dropped and my cell phone. When I started dialing I repressed my urge to stop and stick to my promise of not getting involved any further with Pinkie Pie; I had to know now.

“I knew I’d be hearing from you soon.” A familiar voice replied on the phone.

“I need to talk to you, right now.” I cut right to the point.

“Meet me at the Green Cousine on Mane Street. Ask for table number four, I look forward to seeing you.” She hung up after that statement.

Pinkie Pie was dressed as unusual as she was before. Still strictly gothic, but now she had gone the extra length with eye shadow and some interesting black hair pins shaped like hearts. This time around she was wearing a black silky corset and a matching jacket with many belts hanging off of it. It wasn’t exactly practical for keeping warm, but was obviously meant to be a fashion statement, just not one that I would choose.

The mare gave an uninterested look as she bit down into her meal in front of her. I wasn’t particularly hungry so I only ordered a salad.

“So, are you going to tell me what the hell is with this eye thing? Why do I keep seeing these red eyes?” I asked.

She didn’t even look up at me. She kept chewing and started talking with her mouth full in such an irritatingly nonchalant voice.

“They’re demons. They’ve overtaken the bodies of the ponies you see and they’re only visible to you and me.” She replied.

“Horseshit,” I responded.

“Dead serious,” She spoke between bites, still not even looking at me when she spoke.

“Not that I wouldn’t like to believe my father is a demon, as it’d sure explain a lot, but you’re telling me that all these ponies with red eyes are demons?” I raised a brow in question.

“Not exactly, see the demons are actually inside of them. Have you started hearing them yet?” She asked.

“Yeah… I heard one that sounded like my father when I saw his eyes… It said sloth…” I answered.

Pinkie Pie nodded before taking another bite. She had some of the worst manners I had ever seen.

“The demon is telling you what created it. See these demons are created from misery. When you live a life of sin and hold your negative feelings inside it becomes strong enough for the demons to be created inside you. They then feed off of that sin and misery. Once the demon has you, then you’re just going to keep doing the things that make you miserable. It’s like brainwashing really.” She explained.

I hesitated before asking anything.

“What do they want?” I asked.

“Souls, they feed off of the soul. The more negative feelings and sin you let them have, the more of your soul they’re able to steal. The sins make them stronger and they eventually get strong enough to suck your soul out of you. Once that happens you can’t go to heaven or hell when you die. You just cease to exist upon death.” Pinkie answered.

Cease to exist?

“Why can I see them?” I changed the subject.

“No clue. To be honest, I’m not even sure why I can see them. I just started being able to one day, and eventually my power grew strong enough to where I could sense others with the gift, and that’s how I found you. As far as I know, we’re the only ones who can see them. Everypony else is oblivious and ignorant to their existence.” She swallowed after she finished talking.

This was a great deal to take in at once.

“So, why do you need me? What can we do about it?” I asked.

“I need you to help me save them from their demons.” She said.

“How?” I asked.

“We need to free them,” She replied.

“And how would we do something like that?” I asked.

She took a sip from her glass of water and looked up at me for the first time. Her eye contact was powerful.

“We kill them.”

Segment Three

What Happened Last Week

By Mist

Segment 3

She looked so peaceful, so relaxed, so care free. I couldn’t help but stare at her while she slumbered for several hours. My mind wouldn’t allow me to sleep, so I slept vicariously through her. Her pink mane lay ever so gracefully around her orange body as she rested.

I wondered what she was dreaming about, maybe flying or being with the Wonderbolts perhaps? I liked to think she was off on a wonderful adventure, enjoying herself.

I wanted to protect her, from harm’s way, from the demons, and mostly from Pinkie Pie. I didn’t want anything to hurt Scootaloo, but with things going the way they were, I didn’t think I would have a say in the matter when the time came.

Just kill them? Just like that? Is it really that simple to her? How can she say that without any kind of remorse?

Regardless of the circumstance murder was still murder, and there had to be another way to save these souls than by murdering them. No, murdering them wasn’t saving them at all; I couldn’t even fathom how she could even think such a thing. Killing will never solve anything, and Pinkie Pie needed to accept that. Who are we to decide when someone’s suffering should end or not? We couldn’t even prove these demons truly existed at this point anyways. All we had to go off of were some voices and a red glow, that wasn’t enough to justify murder.

Pinkie Pie was crazy that was the only explanation. There had to be a logical explanation as to why the two of us could see the red in ponies’ eyes. If what she was saying was true then we’d have to murder Applejack’s family. She said it herself, that was the first time she saw the red eyes, in Applebloom.

“Rainbow Dash…? What’re you doing here?” Yawned Scootaloo.

I must have woken her up.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I came to check up on you, that’s all…” I lied.

She smiled faintly and gestured for me to join her on the bed. I accepted the invitation and rested myself next to her.

“I had a dream about you…” She smiled.

“Really now?” I tapped her nose playfully.

“Yeah, I was upset about something, and you picked me up and held me close. You kept telling me everything was going to be okay…” She smiled again.

She was too precious sometimes.

“I’d never let anything happen to you Scoot. You just go ahead and go back to sleep alright?” I stroked her mane out of her face.

She responded by pulling herself closer to me and resting her head on my chest. I placed a hoof around her and pulled her in closer. She snuggled up to me like a teddy bear and nuzzled into my chest. I stroked her mane gently as she laid there.

“Rainbow Dash is going to protect you, don’t worry… I won’t let anypony hurt you… I promise…” I whispered.

“You have a great day at school alright Scoot? I’ll come by to pick you up today. I took the day off to catch up on some sleep, so we’ll spend some time together tonight, alright?” I smiled at the young pegasus.

She grinned happily and nodded.

“Sounds awesome and I hope you feel better!” She said.

I smiled gently and nodded back at her.

“Me too,” I replied.

“Scootaloo, come on, we’re gonna’ be late to class!” Cried a southern accented female from the distance.

I recognized the voice right away, Applebloom of the Apple family. She had grown quite a bit as she approached her teenage years, but still bore the same blank flank I always remembered. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and her always hung out together for as long as I can remember, but the only one that seemed to acquire her cutie mark at this point was Sweetie Belle.

“Sorry Applebloom, just talking to Rainbow Dash, I’ll be right there!” Scoot replied.

“Rainbow Dash!?” Applebloom exclaimed.

She raced over and before I knew it she was bowing in front of me. Her long red mane danced frantically as she tilted her head up and down in front of me.

“Nice to see you again Applebloom, how’s your sister doing?” I asked politely.

“Great, Big Mac and her are tryin’ to raise more money for the farm expansion, so they’re pretty busy, but they are pullin’ through. You know how Applejack is.” She waved a hoof.

“That sounds like them. Tell her that I said we should get together and catch up sometime, I miss seeing her,” I said.

Applebloom nodded.

“Sounds like an idea,” She smiled.

It happened again. It was different this time though. Everything around me lost color, it just all turned to shades of grey, except for Applebloom’s eyes. They shined the same eerie bright red that I had come to fear at this point. I wanted to believe I was seeing things; I wanted to believe I was imaging this happening, but then I heard it in my ear once again, “Deceit.”

This couldn’t be happening; I didn’t want to believe it was happening.

“Something wrong Rainbow Dash?” Applebloom asked.

I had snapped out of my spell and shook my head.

“Nothing, I’ll see you later Applebloom, tell your sister I said hello, and tell Big Mac that I said he’s a brute.” I joked.

“Can do,” She responded with a nod.

Taking flight I decided I wasn’t going back home for a nap like I promised, I couldn’t sleep now. There was somepony I had to talk to again.

“Rainbow Dash, what a pleasure to see you again,” Pinkie Pie responded with a care free tone.

“Shut the fuck up Pinkie Pie, I don’t even know why I’m humoring you, but you have five minute to explain these demons to me and why I shouldn’t just turn you into the police.” I growled.

She sighed and gestured for me to sit down at the couch with her. Her apartment was small and claustrophobic. It only added to how eerie she was, regardless I sat down.

“I know it’s a lot to ask of you right away.” She started.

That was an understatement.

“But you have to understand. These ponies have no other escape. These demons will feed off of them until the day that they die, and by then it’ll be too late.” She said.

“There must be another way; maybe we can like exorcise them or something… Like in that movie…” I replied.

“Rainbow Dash, this isn’t Hollyhoof. Exorcism isn’t real, but these demons are very real. They can blend in so perfectly… At first you find them odd, and then you only mildly notice them… Before long… You can’t tell who’s a demon and who isn’t anymore… Only those of us who have the power to see them can find them and flush them out. They have the rest of the world fooled, but we have a gift, Rainbow Dash. We have the power to see them no matter what masks they wear…” She spoke softly.

“I can’t kill them Pinkie Pie… I won’t.” I said in the most serious manner I could.

She sighed yet again and shook her head in disappointment. Looking back up at me she smiled gingerly and gave the most care free expression I had ever seen. It irked me that she was so unmoved by anything happening around us.

“You can do this, I know you can.” She said.

“No I CAN’T!” I yelled.

“You saw the demon in Applebloom didn’t you?” She questioned.

“What of it?” I hissed.

She approached and sat next to me.

“She’s only a child now, but it’ll feed off of her. It’ll consume her and make her suffer. These creatures show no mercy. They’ll devour anypony that lets them.” She explained.

I froze just staring into my empty tea cup in front of me.

“I don’t know if I can bring myself to do something like this Pinkie Pie… I just… I don’t know if it’s right…” I managed to get out.

Pinkie Pie placed a hoof around me in comfort. She pulled me closer to her and nuzzled my head into her chest affectionately. It was odd to see her showing any kind of compassion at this point, as all I had seen from here up until now has been an emotionless expression.

“Rainbow Dash, I know you’re scared, but you’ve been given a purpose greater than yourself. Nopony is going to understand you for it, nor will they appreciate you for it. I won’t lie to you; you’re going to be the scapegoat for these ponies to be saved. You can’t have anything good without sacrifice.” She explained.

I lifted my head up, trying to compose myself.

“We can’t possibly save them all though. We can’t possibly even make a reasonable dent on their numbers. If more of these things are being created every day, us stopping a select few isn’t going to change anything. Sure we may save a few from their fate, but what about the rest? We’ll be stopped long before any actual progress is made. Nopony is going to believe us if we tell them that demons live inside of us and they devour our souls.” I spoke rationally.

She got quiet for a moment before speaking out again.

“If you saw a mare about to get raped, and you could stop her attacker, would you?” Pinkie questioned.

“Of course, a majority of ponies would.” I replied.

“Why?” She asked.

Why? She was asking why I wouldn’t allow somepony to just get violated when I could stop it?

“What do you mean, ‘why?’ Rape is a crime; it’s taking away somepony’s freedom and innocence. Why wouldn’t you stop it?” I raised a brow, curious as to where she was going with this.

“Rape happens every day. There’s always going to be rapists, you can’t stop them all, there’s always going to be more, so why try?” She leaned in with a devious smile about her.

“Yes, but we can’t just let it happen just because we can’t stop it.” I protested.

Her grin grew; clearly I had played into her trick.

“So what you’re saying is that even though efforts may appear pointless we should try anyways for the greater good, that we should try to save the few rather than not save any?” She said.

I didn’t know how to respond. Clearly she had thought this through with more detail than I had. It was to be expected though, as she knew I would come to her eventually.

“Meet me at Applejack’s house at midnight. We’ll do this together, and I’ll show you once and for all that we’re helping these ponies.” Pinkie instructed.

“And what if I decline?” I asked.

“Then I’ll do it myself.” She responded.

She knew how to propose an offer. Damned if I did and damned if I didn’t. Part of me wanted to just walk away and play ignorant, but knowing that Pinkie Pie might actually just go through with it herself prevented me from doing so.

“Fine… I’ll be there…” I sighed.

“Excellent,” Pinkie nodded.

“Before you go, I have something you may need.” Pinkie added as I was heading towards the door.

I turned around instinctively to be handed a metal object with a long cylinder. It had a cartridge slot of some sort in the back, and a belt to strap it to one’s front hoof. I recognized it from the many movies I had seen on television. It was a gun.

It felt like it was the darkest night I had ever witnessed. The moon, the stars, even the streetlights didn’t feel like enough to illuminate the darkness on this particular night.

My brain kept telling me to turn back and go home, to forget about the whole situation and let it be. I had been trying to convince myself that Pinkie would never show up, and that it would all be a waste of time. I wanted to believe that nothing was going to happen tonight, but I couldn’t convince even myself. I knew what Pinkie knew, and I was the only one who knew it like she did. It made it impossible to not put myself in her place and see it from her perspective; she was going to do this either with me or without me.

It was that mentality that forced me to actually show up at the Apple family residence. Upon arrival however, I was met by no Pinkie Pie despite being there only minutes after the scheduled time of midnight.

I wanted to turn back knowing that she wasn’t present, but I couldn’t be certain just by standing outside. There was only one way to be sure that Pinkie wasn’t here.

Sneaking in wasn’t too difficult, Applebloom had left her bedroom window open a crack to let in some of the cool night air. Their family didn’t have the kind of money necessary to own an air conditioner, so it was safe to assume that she left the window open on a regular basis.

Sure enough, I stood in the bedroom of a young filly with only a sleeping little girl there with me. There was no sign of Pinkie Pie anywhere in this room.

I approached Applebloom cautiously. She gave off a delicate snore as she slept; she had no clue that I was even there.

“Applebloom? I heard a noise…” A large red colt trotted in unannounced. I nearly wet myself from the surprise.

It was too late to hide now, he certainly saw me standing in the bedroom over the little girl. There was no way to make an escape. Surely he would be suspicious as to why I was there, and it was too late to run, as I was certain he had already gotten a good look at me.

I made the only choice that made sense at this point. Snagging the little girl I held her head tight in my grip while I turned back to face the brutish colt.

“Just stay back and nopony gets hurt,” I warned.

“Put ‘er down, she ain’t done you any harm… Just let it go…” He said while sitting.

“Shut it Big Mac, don’t try to be a hero,” I commanded.

Applebloom was silent the moment I lifted her from her slumber. She understood the intensity of the situation the moment it appeared.

I raised my right hoof to reveal the firearm strapped to it. There was a glint of cautiousness in Big Mac’s eye now.

“Y’all don’ wanna hurt anypony, we both know that. So why not put that gun down and…” I cut him off.

“I said shut up, unless you’re looking to get shot.” I demanded.

He complied, though it would seem that a raincloud of misfortune was hanging over my head this night, as right through the open door walked a sisterly looking mare with golden blonde mane, a bright orange coat, and a shocked expression.

“Nice of you to join us AJ, now sit down or one of them is going to get it.” I threatened.

She obeyed without so much as a side comment.

This had escalated to dangerous levels quicker than I expected. My desire to abandon the situation and go home was impossible now, and to top it off, Pinkie Pie was going to show up soon.

“Is anypony else here?” I asked.

“Nah, Granny Smith is with our relatives in Apploosa, so it’s just the three of us.” Applejack answered calmly.

“Alright, good…” I nodded.

“We’re going on a little trip outside to the barn, if any of you run then I won’t hesitate to kill the others,” I said.

That was a blatant lie, and I’m sure they knew it. I had already proven nervous and reckless at this point, they had no reason to take me seriously except for the fact that I had a gun and they didn’t. Regardless I led them outside anyways.

The three were silent the entire trip, but fortunately they obeyed perfectly without a single one of them stepping out of line. Clearly they knew that at least one of them would get hurt if they tried anything, which was the only thing working to my advantage at this point. We arrived inside the barn uninterrupted.

I closed and latched the door behind us.

“Alright, Applejack, I want you to tie them up. You can use any of the rope here in the barn, but I am warning you now, I’ll be checking the knots, so if you try anything funny, one of you is going to pay for it.” I threatened.

Applejack nodded and began to bind her siblings as instructed. With her knot tying skills she was done in only a matter of moments. Checking over her work it looked legitimate, just as I suspected it would be. After confirming the authenticity of her knots I began to tie her up myself with the leftover rope. My knot wasn’t as tidy as Applejack’s, but it would do.

After the three were strapped down nicely I leaned back into a vacant chair left in the barn. I sighed as I tried to let my heart rate return to normal.

The four of us sat there in silence for nearly two hours.

“E-excuse me…” The smallest of the group asked.

I ignored her.

“E-e-excuse me…” They spoke again.

I gave her the same response.

“Miss Rainbow Dash…?” She asked a third time.

“What!?” I shouted.

She quivered in fear, but continued to speak.

“What are we doin’ out here…? Are you gonna let us go or somethin’?” She asked.

“We’re waiting for someone… Now shut your fucking mouth, I’m trying to think here.” I commanded.

The filly did as told.

Pinkie was starting to make me impatient, maybe this was all a trick and she wanted me to go here just to make a jackass of myself?

“MOTHER FUCKER!” I yelled.

The three of them were startled by my sudden outburst.

“WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE!? SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HERE OVER TWO HOURS AGO! THAT STUPID PINK BITCH!” I screamed.

“No need for name calling,” A collected voice replied.

I pivoted quickly to be greeted by a familiar pink mare.

“Nice of you to show up…” I tried to compose myself.

“Sorry, I got a little distracted,” She admitted.

A little distracted? What could have been on her mind besides this?

“Maybe you should get your head out of your ass and focus on then?” I scolded.

“Calm down, I’m here now, that’s all that matters…” She rolled her eyes.

She was as nonchalant and easy going as ever, and it sickened me. I couldn’t stand how cool she was acting.

“So what do we do now…?” I asked.

“I think you know,” She smiled.

I did know, but I didn’t want to think about it.

“Maybe we’ve taken this too far Pinkie… Maybe we should just let them go and apologize, we haven’t really done anything too extreme yet; we can still go back and call this whole thing off…” I pleaded.

“Rainbow Dash, you know we can’t do that. We’ve already come this far, we have to finish what we started.” She insisted.

I was afraid she was going to say something along those lines.

“I can’t do it Pinkie Pie…” I admitted.

“Sure you can, you just need a bit more confidence that’s all.” She assured me.

“Let them go!” called out a powerful masculine voice.

Big Mac had decided to speak up.

“Take me, but let them go! Y’all can do whatever ya’ want to me, but don’t be hurtin’ them!” He yelled.

“You shut the fuck up!” I screamed waving my gun at him.

“Come on, y’all don’t want these lil’ ones, take me an’ leave them be,” He insisted.

“I am warning you, shut the fuck up…” I hissed between my teeth.

“Y’all won’t do it. Yer’ shakin’ in yer’ shoes right now. If ya’ wanted to kill us, y’all would have done it by now…” He grew a smirk on his face.

He knew I didn’t have it in me to actually do it, he had figured me out.

“Shut up…” I spoke almost silently.

“Y’all ain’t nothing but a scared little filly…” His grin grew larger.

“Knock it off,” I replied.

“Why don’t y’all make me? You ain’t nothing but a stupid little bitch!” He taunted.

“Just kill him and get it over with…” Pinkie yawned.

“Y’ALL AIN’T NOTHIN’ BUT A SCARED LITTLE BITCH!” He screamed.

His eyes, I saw them turn at that exact moment. It was exactly like before, the eyes, the loss of color, and the voice, “Lust.”

I lost control. I fired my gun without even thinking about it.

When I snapped back to reality all that stood in Big Mac’s place was a limp corpse with a hole in its skull; blood gushing out from the backside. He was dead, I killed him.

I vomited at the sight.

Applebloom and Applejack were going ballistic; screaming, crying and begging for mercy was all I could hear from them.

“Not bad Dashie, only two more now.” Pinkie complimented.

“I was an accident! I didn’t mean to! His eyes… And then…” I replied.

“Dash, you only did what you were supposed to do, there’s no reason to be upset.” Pinkie attempted to calm me.

“NO! I DIDN’T MEAN TO KILL HIM!” I yelled.

Applejack was bawling like a baby at this point.

“Shut up, I can’t hear myself think.” Pinkie responded to Applejack.

With a quick jerk of her right hoof she aimed it and a loud bang came out of a firearm attached to it. After the shot Applejack fell over silent. Pinkie quickly turned to the whimpering Applebloom.

“Now keep quiet…” Pinkie instructed.

Applebloom brought her whimpers down to an almost inaudible level.

“See, now we only have one more.” Pinkie smiled.

“No… I can’t… Big Mac was one thing, but I can’t kill a child…” I begged her to let me out of it.

“Don’t think of it as killing, think of it as liberating. We’re saving her from a fate worse than death…” Pinkie smiled as she approached me.

“Why doesn’t it feel that way then…?” I asked.

Pinkie came in close and pulled me into and embrace. She was oddly warm for somepony I had thought to be heartless at this point.

“We’ll kill her together,” Pinkie whispered into my ear.

I nodded.

The two of us took a step back and both aimed our guns at the crying filly.

Could I really do this? Could I really murder a child…?

Before I knew it all I heard was two loud simultaneous blasts. Only a second later did a headless Applebloom fall to the floor.

“We killed them… We killed three ponies… We killed a child…” I thought out loud.

Pinkie walked over to the bodies and started to make Applejack’s limp corpse dance. She clearly was amused by the whole situation.

“We’re murders… Somepony is going to find out, it won’t be overlooked…” I said.

Pinkie Pie sighed and dropped the body. She approached me and placed a hoof on my shoulder in a comforting gesture.

“Nopony is going to find out, all we have to do is hide the bodies, just take them back to your place and throw them in the basement or something. Nopony is going to suspect the famous super model Rainbow Dash, so naturally nopony is going to think to look there. We’ll just keep them there for a little while and we’ll move them later when it’s more convenient.” She explained.

“In my basement!? ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY!?” I screamed at her.

She took a step back to get me away from her ear.

“Just lock it up and nopony will ever go down there.” She said.

“How the fuck do you propose we get them to my house without being seen? Even if we take the back roads and keep a low profile we have to drag these fucking bodies all the way there. Somepony is going to notice…” I pointed the hole in her plan out.

“That’s why we put them in bags and move them,” Pinkie tapped her forehead.

“HOW THE HELL ARE WE GOING TO DO THAT PINKIE PIE!? BIG MAC ALONE IN FOUR TIMES MY SIZE!” I screeched.

“We just have to… Trim them up a bit and make more than one trip.” She explained.

“Are you suggesting… That we… Cut them up…?” I gagged at the thought.

“If that’s what you want to call it, we can use the tools right here in this barn to do it.” Pinkie nodded.

I couldn’t believe her. She truly had no morals or remorse for anything that happened in the past few hours.

“Fine… But you’re doing that yourself… I want nothing to do with that…” I turned away.

“Fair enough,” She replied.

“Rainbow Dash, you alright?” Scootaloo asked.

She was standing at my bedside with a gentle smile on her face. She was as innocent as always.

“Yeah, I’m just having some trouble sleeping is all…” I replied.

“Maybe I can sleep in here with you then?” She said.

I wanted nothing more than to rinse my hooves clean of what happened and sleep right next to Scootaloo. I wanted to forget this whole thing happened and sleep it off, but I knew that it wouldn’t happen. Right now I couldn’t face the child.

“I’ll be fine by myself; you just go and get some rest alright?” I smiled.

“Alright, but let me know if you need anything.” She replied.

“I will,” I answered.

My needs were far beyond her power to fulfill now.

Segment Four

What Happened Last Week

By Mist

Segment 4

Three ponies dead; I killed them. I was a murderer, no matter which way I looked at it. Pinkie’s justification just didn’t make the guilt disappear. I could analyze it in my head a million times, but come to the same conclusion: I was a murderer.

I hadn’t gotten any sleep last night, and as a result I was running on nothing but coffee and energy bars today. I doubt I could ever sleep again, not after what happened, not after knowing what I had done.

I had nopony to turn to, nopony to confide in. Scootaloo was far to young to throw my problems on, and Pinkie Pie generally only made it worse. Rarity would listen, but I just couldn’t bring myself to put my problems on my friends anymore. Rarity had it hard enough as it is accepting that I am living the life she wishes she could live, without me bitching about it along the way.

“Coffee’s ready,” Said the turquoise stallion.

“Thank you,” I replied taking the cup.

It was the only pony I knew that I could go to. I hated him, I loathed him, and I may never forgive him for walking out on me and my mother, but he is my father. There wasn’t any other pony I could think of to talk to besides him sadly. I just needed somepony, anypony at this point, even him.

“Mind telling me what’s going on, Dash?” He questioned.

I took a big sip of the bitter beverage. It needed sugar, but I didn’t care at this point, I just downed another sip without another thought.

“I just… I just need somepony right now, and I didn’t know who else to turn to…” I sighed.

“You could have gone to one of your friends; hell doesn’t your company have some kind of paid doctors you can see?” Storm said.

Same old Storm, passing the buck to somepony else.

“Yeah, but they’re not my father, you’re the one who’s supposed to give a damn when I’m in trouble, maybe you’d have known that if you’d stuck around a bit longer…” I scolded.

“It’s just as you said, I’m not your father by choice, just by bad luck.” He spat.

It was the truth, and we both knew it without him saying it.

“That sounds like the story of your life so far, just a bunch of bad luck. Has nothing to do with you being a worthless piece of shit, or an alcoholic, or just a lazy excuse of a stallion. Nope, it’s all just bad luck, the world’s out to get you. You’re pathetic Storm.” I rolled my eyes.

“At least I worked an honest job. I’m not out parading myself around for money.” He retaliated.

Here we go again.

“I never hear you complain when you accept my money…” I got quiet.

“Why can’t you do something respectable?” He changed the subject in an instant.

“Newsflash, I’m not a porn star, dad; I’m a model. I model fucking clothing and accessories; I don’t have sex for money!” I was starting to raise my voice.

“Not far from it…” He commented taking a sip of his coffee.

He was testing my patience with each comment.

“Well maybe if you had encouraged me a little, or told me that you loved me, or acknowledged that I even existed half the time I’d have reached my potential!” I finally screamed.

He fell silent. For the first time in over twenty years my father clearly knew I was right about something. He knew I was right, and he was speechless.

“Dash… I want to tell you something… Something I think you should hear…” His volume had dropped significantly.

I sat back down and leaned in to hear him better.

“Sure…” I replied.

His face turned to a rather pained expression, and I could tell he was recollecting memories that he’d rather forget.

“My father… Well he wasn’t exactly that much better than me… See when I was growing up, my mother died when I was about six, and my sister and I lived with my dad by ourselves out in the country.” He began.

I could tell this was going to be a fairly long story, so I made myself comfortable.

“When my mom died, he was pretty beat up about it; he blamed himself. He picked up drinking after that, and things just went downhill from there…” He paused.

“Go on…” I said to show him I was still listening.

“He took a lot of his anger out on me… I remember almost every weekend he would take me out into the woods and beat me until he drew blood. Then when he was satisfied with that he’d spend the rest of his night molesting my sister…” He lowered his head in shame.

“Back then nopony cared though… They wouldn’t believe a couple of kids, so we just let it happen. For years we just thought it was our fault.” He continued.

I could sense sadness about him, but no tears were being formed. He must have cried out the last tears he had back then I presumed. I still sat silently and listened.

“When I was only twenty-three, he died. I went to his funeral and was shocked to find that I was the only one there… This stallion had died… And there wasn’t a soul alive that cared he was gone…” He looked up to meet with my eyes.

I still remained silent.

“The truth is Rainbow Dash… I don’t know how to be a father… I’m just like my father was, and I knew that if I stuck around pretending to love a wife that I didn’t love you’d only grow to hate me more than you do now. I’d only become more like him, and I just couldn’t do that to another pony. I couldn’t put you through what I went through… I’m just a bad father, and that’s never going to change…” He admitted.

I decided to finally speak up.

“You’re not a bad father Storm. You make a lot of dumb decisions, and you have some problems, but you’re not like your father was…” I attempted to comfort him.

“You were better off without me, and I’m sorry that I have inconvenienced you by being your father…” He sighed.

I had never seen him this vulnerable before, hell I had never seen him showing any kind of emotion besides anger.

“The first few years… When you were there… You weren’t terrible. You weren’t the best dad, but far from the worst…” I smiled lightly.

“It doesn’t matter; you’re still better off going to your mom for any kind of help… You don’t need an old stallion like me in your life; I’m only going to cause you more problems than you already have…” He replied.

Even with everything happening, he stuck to his guns. He was insistent on not being my father, despite everything I had done up to this point.

“Dad… I don’t care about all of that stuff… Even though you piss me off, and even though you left all those years ago… Well… I still love you… It’s strange, and I probably shouldn’t, but… I do for some reason…” I said.

He smiled lightly and nodded.

“Thanks…” He said.

There he was doing it again. He always did that, even from when I was five. Every time I told him that I loved him I could never get him to say it back, he’d always try and play the cool guy and hide his emotions. I just wanted to hear him say it once.

“Dad… Ever since I was little… I don’t think I’ve ever heard you actually say you loved me… Do you think you could say it… Just this once… I really just want to hear that right now…” I admitted.

I never thought I’d see the day where I would open up to my own father.

He turned away.

“I… I can’t…” He mumbled.

“Why not…?” I asked leaning in.

The face he made, I recognized it. My father was the worst liar in the universe, so whenever he was caught in a situation where he knew he couldn’t lie, he gave this awkward face that just told you that he didn’t want to give you the truth, but he couldn’t lie to you.

“Oh…” I replied.

“Dash…” He attempted to speak.

“No, it’s fine. You know what, it’s getting late anyways, I should really be going…” I interrupted.

Before he had another chance to open his mouth I was out the door.

I just wanted to go home and be alone. I wanted to just pour myself a drink and get some well-deserved rest. I hadn’t slept in over 24 hours almost, and my eyes were ready to just close and never open again. The idea of my own bed sounded very inviting right now.

Arriving at the house I shut the door behind me and slid down to the floor. I didn’t want to get back up; I just wanted to lie there, maybe even forever. I felt as though I could even sleep in that spot right in front of the front door.

I could hear a light trotting noise come across the floor and approach me. I already had a guess as to who was here.

“Rainbow Dash… Are you alright?” They asked.

I pulled myself up into a sitting position and tried to hide my shame before speaking to them.

“Yeah, everything’s cool, just a little tired.” I faked a smile.

“You look like something is bothering you…” She expressed her concern.

Scootaloo could see through me better than I expected. She had been around me for so long that she recognized when I was just trying to hide the truth from her.

“Actually, you know what Scootaloo… There is something I should tell you…” I exhaled.

“I want to let you know that I love you, and I care about you like family…” I started.

She listened carefully without speaking.

“Because the last thing I want, is for you to grow up and find out over twenty years later that I never loved you… And... And…” I couldn’t finish my thought.

Hot tears began to run down my face. With the tears I felt the rest of my body give way as I collapsed to the floor sobbing.

“Why… Why doesn’t he want me…” I managed to get out in between sobs.

Scootaloo more than likely could assume I was talking about my father, as she had some knowledge that the two of us always had a shaky relationship, though I tried to hide it from her as much as possible. Scootaloo was too smart though, it was impossible to keep something like that from her.

“WHY DOESN’T HE LOVE ME!? WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME!?” I screeched.

I felt a set of hooves around me. They were smaller, but they had a gentle touch about them. It was Scootaloo; she had pulled me into a loving embrace. My tears halted instantly at the surprise, I wasn’t sure how to respond.

“I love you too Rainbow Dash,” She said plainly.

Those words started the tear flow again, but this time I pulled her in closer and returned the embrace. I don’t think Scootaloo had even the slightest idea how much she meant to me right then. My father may have never wanted me, and never loved me, but I didn’t want that for Scootaloo. She had been through enough as it was; my only goal at this point now was to protect her, to keep her from experiencing what I was.

I remembered for a moment about my father’s demon inside him. He may have been harboring such a demon since before I was born. He may have been destined to be as horrible a father as he was right from the start. He couldn’t face his demon, and as a result I was the one who suffered for it.

All the pain that I had felt from my father, it was the last bit I needed to push me over the edge. It was all I needed to numb myself to the pain. There was nothing else out there now that could hurt me greater than what I had just experienced.

“Darling, I am so glad you came, I know you’re dreadfully busy, but I know you’re just going to love these outfits! They’re perfect for somepony of your body structure!” An overly enthusiastic Rarity shouted.

“Don’t worry Rarity, when I’m done everypony will be talking about your outfits,” I assured.

Rarity seemed rather pleased by this comment and a giant grin painted her face. She was unusually chipper today.

“Yes, well a pony of your… Er… Loveliness deserves only the best designs to compliment her figure.” She nodded.

Once again she was trying to inflate my ego.

“Don’t say stuff like that…” I turned away shamefully.

“It’s the truth though; you are practically a goddess walking on this planet. You have finesse that would rival that of Celestia herself I’m certain.” She continued.

I didn’t like it when she loaded me with compliments, it made me feel uncomfortable.

“You’re just as beautiful as I am, Rarity.” I commented.

She blushed. She attempted to hide it, but I caught the shade of red rush through her face before she could turn away.

“You know Rainbow Dash… I’ve always thought of us as very close… You’re probably the closest connection I’ve ever had with another pony… Maybe even the only one who understands me…” She kept pausing while speaking.

Rarity and I had grown closer ever since I started modeling. We suddenly had a lot more to talk about, and I found that once you looked past the insane drama queen that she was, there was a gentle creature under it all. Sure she didn’t like to get dirty, but Rarity was a pony you could count on when you really needed her. Rarity had shown more support and affection towards me in my life choices than my own father did, sometimes even more than my own mother.

“I feel the same way,” I smiled.

“That’s sweet of you to say dear…” She returned the smile.

She had a pleasant smile, the smile of a lady.

“The truth is… I…” Rarity paused as she sat down next to me.

I placed a hoof around her gently and smiled at her.

“You what?” I coaxed her into finishing.

Rarity bit her lip for a moment. She clearly was having trouble finishing her sentence, but instead of finishing she turned to my direction and pinned me down onto the coach.

She wasn’t applying a lot of pressure but the initial shock paralyzed me for the moment to where I was at her mercy. I wasn’t sure how I should have been reacting.

Before I knew what was happening I felt Rarity’s lips touch my own. My whole body froze; I didn’t know what to do, or how to get away from the situation. Instead I just allowed her to finish what she was doing in the hopes that she would give up eventually.

Rarity kissed with the lips of experience clearly, whereas I was clueless as to what I should have been doing. It wasn’t a surprise to me that Rarity had experience in that area, as she was gorgeous enough to get any colt she wanted with just the fluttering of her eyelashes.

As soon as she parted lips with me I attempted to speak to her.

“Rarity, I-“ I paused when I felt her nip my ear.

“Rarityyyyy!” I held the last syllable of her name in shock.

I felt her tongue on my neck followed by the gentle gnawing of her teeth. My whole body felt like electricity just jolted through it and paralyzed me. Rarity clearly knew how to reel her prey in with little to no resistance; unfortunately for me my body was a lot more sensitive that I had initially thought, and Rarity knew how to hit all the sweet spots it would appear.

“They say actions speak louder than words Dash… Am I crossing the line though…?” Rarity asked in between gentle gnaws.

I had never felt this way before; my whole body was tingling with a pleasant sensation. I couldn’t even get my mouth to spit out an answer to her. She took my silence as a no and continued to gnaw. I was helpless to stop her.

“You’re a virgin aren’t you Dash…?” Rarity let go of my neck and asked.

I turned away panting heavily.

“Y-yeah…” I responded embarrassingly.

“Then I’ll be gentle with you.” She smiled warmly.

This wasn’t Rarity. She wouldn’t be so straightforward about something like this. Something was wrong with her.

I felt her tongue go down my cheekbone to return to my neck. I felt the same paralysis numb my body. Once again I was helpless to stop her.

Not like this… I don’t want my first time to be like this…

“It’s alright Dash, I’ll be extra careful with you…” Rarity smiled looking up at me.

The red in her eyes became apparent for that moment. The same red I had seen in her before, and then the voice came after, “envy.”

It was enough to shock me out of my paralysis.

“NO!” I screamed.

With great force I lodged my hind hoof into her groin area. Then with great speed I shoved her onto the floor with my front hoof. The moment she fell onto the floor I jumped on top of her and held her down to the floor.

“Forgive me Rarity…” I begged with tears in my eyes.

“This is for your own good…” I added.

I pulled both my front hooves around her neck and pulled as tightly as I could. I held her as firm in my grip as I could, not allowing her to move. She began gasping for air, but with little luck.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I continued to hold the struggling unicorn.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” I kept repeating.

Finally the mare stopped struggling and ceased moving entirely. Her head went limp and the rest of her followed. I released her gently and threw myself over her body.

“DAMN IT! FUCK!” I screamed in agony.

“Why did it have to be her…?” I questioned to no one in particular between sobs.

I was cursed, and Pinkie Pie aided that curse. I wished she had never told me about the demons. I wished that I could just continue on my life ignorant to their existence. She had put me in the same boat as her, and now we were both damned to the same fate.

“I’m sorry Rarity… I’m so sorry…” I stroked her mane.

Segment Five

What Happened Last Week

By Mist

Segment 5

I spent the better half of the morning angled over the toilet bowl tossing my breakfast. It wasn’t exactly the most pleasant way to start the day, but I just wanted to get it out of the way for today. Things were already stressful as it was.

“You know that’s bad for you right?” A devious Pinkie Pie commented standing in the doorframe.

Gagging once more I gave a quick look in her direction.

“As if I give a fuck about that right now…” I responded.

“The language is unnecessary,” Pinkie yawned.

“Can’t you just leave me alone today? I have to go to work, I haven’t been in all week and they really need me today,” I replied.

Pinkie nodded and started flipping through the photo album of shoot pictures on the desk outside the bathroom. She kept the same bored expression with each page turn, sometimes I wondered if she was even capable of emotion at this point.

“Some of these are a little edgy,” She remarked.

“Hey, why don’t you mind your own fucking business and don’t touch things that aren’t yours, and if you must know I don’t make the decisions. Sex sells and it’s an unfortunate world we live in but that’s just how it is.” I replied.

She set the book down.

“By that logic, why not just be a porn star?” She asked.

I was getting sick of ponies asking me to be a porn star.

“Because I’m not desperate enough to where I plan on fucking for money, I’m pretty comfortable with my job and my financial situation,” I said.

“I thought about being a porn star once…” She changed the subject.

Was this girl for real?

“Why the hell would you want to do something like that?” I stood up from the toilet.

“Well for starters, porn stars don’t need to throw up every day just to keep their job. Horny colts will watch anypony have sex regardless of a trivial detail like weight. Plus it sounds like a pretty easy job; you just have orgasms all day and get paid for it, easier money than modeling.” She answered.

This mare really didn’t have any kind of emotion about her. The things that came out of her mouth only seemed to get more and more shocking.

“Sorry, but I have dignity…” I rolled my eyes.

“There’s no shame in it really, you’re going to have sex with colts tons of times for free; if they’re dumb enough to throw some money your way, then you’re just smart.” She spoke.

“First of all, I am not just ‘giving it out for free’, I haven’t even-“ I cut myself off.

Pinkie smiled deviously, she already knew how I was going to finish that sentence.

“Virgin then…” She smirked.

“It’s none of your business, so just stay out of it,” I scolded.

In all the time I knew Pinkie Pie, I should have known that you could never really get her to drop anything. If she wanted to know she’d find out one way or another, even more so since we both discovered our little “talent”. The power only seemed to increase her confidence in herself, and make her that much bolder.

It was because of this fact that I should have realized that telling Pinkie to stay out of it would only make her dig deeper into it.

Pinkie made a speedy advance and slammed me against the bathroom wall. Her hold was quite powerful for such an effeminate looking pony, and obviously stronger than mine. I didn’t bother squirming or trying to break free, I already knew that Pinkie was stronger than me. It was expected as I had given up on becoming a wonderbolt years ago, and since then the only exercise I did was to keep from getting fat. I hadn’t lifted a weight or even flapped my wings for more than five minutes in years.

“Rainbow Dash, Equestria’s most desired mare, wet dream of probably half the colts out there hasn’t even been made into a lady yet… It’s kind of funny if you think about it…” Pinkie giggled oddly.

“I’m just not like that is all, I haven’t really found anything I wanted yet,” I replied.

Pinkie leaned in and touched her forehead to mind. I could feel her wavy pink mane caress my face as she did so. She smelled very clean surprisingly, like some kind of bubblegum shampoo.

“You’re so innocent Rainbow Dash… You act all tough and harsh, but really you’re a delicate little pony aren’t you?” She smirked.

“I’m just as tough as I’ve always been,” I protested.

Pinkie leaned in closer and touched her cheek to mine.

“You’ve always been a big softie Dash; you just never wanted to admit it. I’ve caught you snuggling a teddy bear many times back in the day, and I’ve seen you get all flustered when you were nervous.” Pinkie whispered in my ear.

“So what?” I shrugged it off.

“You’re a lot more feminine than you wanted us to believe, it really came out when you became a model though. It looks good on you though, you’re better when you’re trying to be pretty than you are when you’re trying to be tough.” Pinkie complimented.

I wasn’t sure how to take that compliment.

“What are you getting at…?” I questioned.

Pinkie pulled her cheek away from mine and brought her eyes to lock onto my own. She actually had very vibrant crystal blue eyes, which didn’t seem to fit her demeanor at all.

“Why do you try and act so tough? You don’t have to, there’s nothing weak about being a mare and letting your feelings out. Why is it the only time you can allow yourself to cry is when it’s about your father?” She questioned.

My ears twitched.

“How did you know about that…?” I squinted.

“All I know is you were upset about him, I don’t know any of the details, just that you broke down and started crying. I have my sources…” She replied.

I didn’t like her answer, but I figured it was the best I was going to get out of her. I would have to keep my secrets closer guarded with her snooping around though.

“I just… I want to set a good example for Scootaloo…” I sighed.

“So noble,” Pinkie smiled.

Pinkie slid me from the wall and pushed me onto the floor. She crawled over top of me and continued to hold me down. Once again I didn’t struggle; this was her way of gaining control over the situation. I was calm at this point anyways.

“You should just embrace your softer side; it’d make your life a lot less stressful I bet…” She whispered.

“It’s not really an option at this point…” I sighed.

I didn’t answer.

Pinkie took advantage of my silence and pressed her lips to my exposed neck. She began to administer butterfly kisses up to my ear. Lifting her lips from my flesh she whispered to me.

“You’re scared about this whole operation, I can tell. You’re scared of getting caught, you’re scared of what might happen to you, and you’re scared of the demons; I can feel it.” She whispered.

“What’s your point?” I questioned.

“The only part that doesn’t make sense, is why you’re not scared of me,” She replied.

She locked onto my eyes awaiting an answer.

“After all I’ve been through at this point; you couldn’t possibly scare me now. Sure I don’t doubt that you could kill me if you wanted to, but I think that you’re not willing to make that choice unless you absolutely need to. It’s more convenient for you to keep me alive.” I explained.

She smiled and released me from her hold. I crawled out from under her and rose to my hooves trying to compose myself.

“You know me pretty well Dash. You’re right that I wouldn’t want to inconvenience myself if I didn’t have to, but you’re also wrong about something…” She said.

“And what might that be?” I responded.

“I wouldn’t kill you. We’re in this together, and I have no reason to do so. You seem to have this idea that I enjoy killing which isn’t true. If there was a way to save these ponies without killing them then I would gladly do so. Applejack was my friend, I didn’t want to kill her, but I knew that the demon had her now. It was a matter of ending her suffering before it became unbearable.” Pinkie said.

“How can I be so certain I can trust you…?” I questioned.

“What do you mean?” She replied.

She really was dense at times.

“Once a pony has killed, there’s no way of knowing who else they’re willing to kill. You can’t deny that things between the two of us are not the same. We can’t treat this like it’s the same as any activity between friends, because it’s not…” I explained.

She smiled in response.

“I suppose that means you’ll just have to keep a closer eye on me then,” She smirked.

Sleep was something that I wasn’t getting much of over the past few days. I had gone maybe two days on only two hours of sleep at this point. Every time I would close my eyes, the nightmares would begin.

They were so vivid; Pinkie Pie taking a cold blade to all of my friends, and just jabbing it into them repeatedly again and again. The whole time I would be held down and forced to watch. She would even do the same to Scootaloo despite my pleads to leave her be. After she was done with her, she would bring her long blood stained blade over to me. I would always beg her to release me, beg her to stop, but she never listened. The grin on her face would only grow from the joy created from my suffering. Then at that final moment, she’d raise her blade and bring it down with a quick stab.

I’d always wake up after that with tears in my eyes and sweat drenching my sheets. I didn’t want to go to sleep anymore. To ensure that would happen I had decided to make good friends with coffee and those little energy shots that you usually find at the gas station. I normally didn’t enjoy them as they were tremendously bad for one’s health, but right now I didn’t care about that; I just wanted to escape the nightmares.

It had gotten to the point though where sleep was a better alternative than being awake. The power to see the demons was growing with each passing day. Soon I was seeing more and more of them everywhere I looked. It wasn’t just demons though; I was starting to see their world almost.

They came here from another world, another dimension almost. They were created by our negative feelings, but they existed on another plane of existence. They were stuck between two worlds, and could only cross when they were strong enough.

There were many places in our world though where the barriers between our worlds were very thin. I could see these places now. They cast a shadow over themselves that gave off an eerie red glow. They looked as though demons could just slip right out of them. The horrifying part though, was that they were everywhere. I couldn’t go anywhere without seeing at least a hundred of them all around me. They were even in my own home.

The worst part though, was that I couldn’t stop seeing them.

I had finally turned to the one pony that would be able to understand my situation, or at least have some knowledge of what was going on.

“So what seems to be troubling you, Rainbow Dash?” Asked a friendly purple unicorn while levitating a cup of tea in my direction.

I took the cup graciously and took a sample of it. It wasn’t as good as the tea that Scootaloo served at home, but it was drinkable.

“I just need somepony with your kind of knowledge right now… Somepony who might understand what’s going on…” I spoke.

She sat down across from me at the other side of the fine oak table. Her mane looked especially untidy today, and she had the stress of a sleepless night of study about her. She appeared content though despite her constant studying.

“Of course, what’s on your mind?” She smiled warmly.

“What do you know about… Demons…?” I questioned.

I was cautious about revealing too much to her, it was better to find out what she knew before I jumped right into the subject.

“Mostly that they’re old folklore and many ponies believe they walk around unseen by our eyes. Though science has never been able to provide any evidence that suggests they truly exist, many still like to believe they walk among us unseen. Why do you ask?” She raised a brow.

Twilight really was an egghead, always stuck in her books.

“What if I told you that demons were real?” I blurted out.

Twilight adjusted her glasses and leaned in closer to me. Years of having her snout in books had cost her a part of her vision. The glasses seemed very fitting for her though; she looked almost ten years wiser with them on.

“Impossible, how could demons be real?” She challenged.

“You said yourself that there’s no evidence of them existing, but there’s no evidence that they don’t exist either, right?” I replied.

She stood up and trotted over to one of her many bookshelves. Scanning across volumes she pulled a large older looking book from the middle and brought it down to the table. Flipping through a few pages she stopped on a particular page and continued to search the shelves.

“It says in that book that demons are the servants of a dark master in the underworld. They’re sent here to gather up souls of the living for their master,” She explained while still searching her shelves.

“That’s not exactly accurate…” I corrected.

“How so?” She asked, still not taking her attention away from the shelves.

“They want to gather souls, and they do have a world of their own, but they don’t come from that world… They come from here… In our world,” I explained.

Twilight didn’t appear to be taking me seriously as she continued to browse her library.

“Why do they have a world then if they come from our world?” She asked.

“They’re created by us, we create them through sin. They are brought into existence by our sin and the suffering that comes from that sin. When they’re born they are born in their world though. They’re born there, but they’re created here.” I said.

“Then why are they cast into their world?” Twilight questioned.

“They aren’t strong enough to live in our world yet. When they’re born, they’re weak. The need power to live in our world and collect souls. They feed off of the one who created them; they get stronger from their suffering caused by their sin. The suffering gives them strength to where they can start to consume that pony’s soul. Then they can get strong enough to leave their own world.” I elaborated.

“Why do they want souls then?” Twilight was still searching for a book, but was carrying the conversation.

“My guess is that they don’t have a soul of their own, and to live in our world they need one. They get strong enough to where they can suck the soul out of their prey and then they cross over to our world where the barrier is weak.” I said.

“How do you know all of this…?” Twilight finally asked.

I was wondering when she’d get to that question.

“I can see them… I can see the demons…” I was trembling as I spoke.

Twilight turned to face me finally.

“How?” She questioned.

“I don’t know, but for some reason I can see them, and I’m not alone… Pinkie Pie can see them too…” I informed.

Twilight had a look of confusion on her face.

“Pinkie Pie? I just saw her a few days ago…” Twilight sat back down.

What was Pinkie Pie doing here?

“The demons, they’re everywhere… And-“ I stopped as I looked up at her from my cup.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Her eyes, they glowed with the burning of hell in them. She was one of them. I could hear it once again, “Neglect.”

“Y-You’re one of them…” I stuttered.

“What?” Twilight tilted her head in confusion.

“GOD DAMN IT!” I screamed.

I jumped over the table and pushed her onto the floor. She crawled out from under me frantically though.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!?” Twilight exclaimed.

“This is for your own good… I’m sorry…” I said.

I grabbed one of the golden goblets that Twilight kept on the table as decoration and chased her down with it. She attempted to lob books at me, but I navigated around them too quickly for her. Before I knew it I was right in front of her.

Before she had a chance to retaliate I cracked the goblet over her head. She fell just as quickly as the gold touched her skull.

Without a second though I brought the piece of precious metal down on her again and again, bloodying it more and more with each crack.

Before I knew it, the floor, the goblet and my coat were all stained with a foul red.

“I’m sorry Twilight… I’m really sorry…” I spoke softly.

She was nothing more now than the host for a parasite, and I was the exterminator that was to free her from her suffering.

“Quite a nice place you have here, but then what else can I expect from a mare of your stature…” A daring stallion growled to me as he admired my home.

“It’s cozy I suppose,” I faked interest.

I had picked up this colt at a bar on my way home. I had stopped there for a drink and he approached me.

The two of us sat down on the couch quietly. I wasn’t sure how to open conversation, but fortunately he did that part for me.

“I’ve always been a huge fan of your work. No pony fills those cloths like you do…” He smiled.

“Not even your wife?” I questioned.

He laughed.

“Well, let’s not talk about her… Let’s talk about us…” His expression changed entirely.

“I don’t think I’m really ready for that…” I turned away bashfully.

He pressed himself towards me and pushed me down onto the couch forcefully.

“Don’t worry; I’ll be gentle with you…” He smiled deviously.

“Like I said, I’m not like that…” I was very calm in speaking to him.

“It’s going to feel great, I promise…” He hissed.

I jabbed a blade I had been hiding up my sleeve into his chest. Turning the edge inside him I pushed him off of me forcefully. He fell onto the floor and started creating a pool of blood.

“Lustful beast…” I scolded.

“Rainbow Dash, I don’t usually see you home this early”, an excited Scootaloo said as she walked in.

I had just finished cleaning up the mess made by the colt from earlier, and sat out on the couch to smoke a cigarette. Thankfully I had finished the cancer stick before Scootaloo arrived.

“I was just-“ I turned to face her, and my words left me.

Her eyes, they turned red! How could I have not seen it before? How did it slip past me?

No, I don’t want to believe this, I can’t… I won’t!

“What’s wrong Dash?” She tilted her head.

I can’t kill her, I won’t kill her!

“Actually, there is something bothering me… Can you come here for a second?” I instructed as I gestured for the young filly to approach me.

“Sure, what’s up?” She skipped over to me.

Without warning I snatched her up and held her tightly. She squirmed frantically trying to escape, but I was too strong for her. Dragging her over to the kitchen I snagged some duct tape from one of the drawers and began to hog tie the little pegasus.

“I’m sorry; this is for your protection…” I assured.

She couldn’t answer as I had already covered her mouth.

After I was satisfied with the job I had done I wandered down to the basement. I had moved the bodies into the attic at this point, and cleaned out the basement, so it’d be safe for her to stay there.

I opened the door and threw the young filly down with tears in my eyes.

“I know you probably don’t understand what’s going on, but I’m doing this for your own protection, alright? I love you Scootaloo, and I won’t let her hurt you… Just stay here, I’ll keep you safe down here…” I assured.

I wasn’t about to let Pinkie Pie have her, not Scootaloo.

Segment Six

What Happened Last Week

By Mist

Segment Six

“Tank, things are just spiraling out of control… I don’t know what to do anymore… I want out of this whole thing, but it’s too late to walk away from it now…” I expressed myself to my loving pet.

The tortoise responded with silence as expected.

“What have I become? I killed those ponies… I killed my friends. Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, all dead because of me… I can’t accept Pinkie Pie’s word as fact for some reason; I have too much doubt about it. We’ve taken this too far, I mean I have Scootaloo bound and gagged in my basement for Celestia’s sake!” I exclaimed.

Tank didn’t show any change in expression towards anything I was saying.

“Sometimes I’m glad you can’t talk, you’re probably the only one who doesn’t judge me, or expect me to be anything in particular,” I smiled at the creature.

He crawled up to me and rubbed his head against my hoof affectionately. I returned the gesture with a gentle caress of his neck.

“Things just aren’t making sense anymore, Tank…” I continued to caress the creature as I spoke.

“I went to the apartment complex that Pinkie Pie was staying last night, and the mare at the front desk told me that they didn’t have any residents named Pinkie Pie… I tried her full name, and still no such tenants. My last thought was that she may have used a fake name, so I asked to see her apartment…” I bit my lip.

Tank looked up at me curiously. It was doubtful that he was actually interested in what I was saying, more like he was wondering why I was talking so much.

“They said that nopony had ever rented that place out!” I shouted.

Tank perked up.

“I went to check out the place, and sure enough the room was empty. It doesn’t make any sense; Pinkie Pie is clearly hiding something from me, but what and why?” I questioned out loud.

“How did she just get all of her stuff out of there and vanish so quickly? It doesn’t make any logical sense… “ I added.

A knock at the door interrupted my train of thought. Snapping back to reality for the moment I approached the door and opened it.

Standing in my doorframe was a familiar thuggish looking pegasus. That same drunken odor was about him, though much softer now than it was before. He actually appeared as though he attempted to sober up before coming to my home.

“May I come in?” He asked.

I wasn’t sure how to respond to the situation.

“I’d rather you didn’t… But I suppose it’s alright…” I sighed.

He nodded and was cautious upon entering. His step suggested he was afraid to offend me in some manner. Walking the way he was made me imagine him walking near broken glass or something.

The two of us sat down gently in the living room sitting across from each other. The whole time I never broke eye contact with him.

“I wanted to apologize… For the other day… I didn’t mean to upset you…” He came out with.

“It’s fine,” I lied.

“It’s not fine. You deserve a father Rainbow Dash, and it was a mistake that I was your father, but it’s also made worse that you must suffer from my mistake.” He said.

I remained silent.

“You’re a great mare Rainbow Dash. You’re smart, successful, and honest; hell you’re a better pony than I could ever be. I really don’t think badly of you, it’s just…” He bit his tongue.

“You don’t care about me,” I finished his sentence.

He sighed heavily before answering.

“The truth is, no. It’s nothing against you and I don’t resent you or anything, it’s just I never wanted to be a father. I’ve never really been attached to anypony before, and it’s better that I remain honest and tell you the truth rather than pretend that I do when I don’t. I understand if you hate me for it as well, and I’m ready to accept that outcome…” He lowered his head in shame.

I didn’t know how to respond, so instead I just held my silence.

“We can still be friends though if that would make you feel any better?” He asked.

How could he ask such a stupid question? Why would anypony want to be friends with him? How could he even assume I would consider such an offer?

“I don’t need any friends right now, I need a father.” I finally spoke up.

“I’m sorry…” He turned away shamefully.

That red glow in his eyes, it made me sick. I hadn’t taken my eyes off of it this entire time. I couldn’t help but feel that he deserved his demons after all he’d done. I wanted to just watch him suffer some more.

The only problem I had was the thought of was he like this before the demon took him over? Is it fair to hold him accountable for something a demon is making him do?

“You’re sorry?” I questioned.

“I am,” he repeated.

I stood up and approached him carefully. He looked like a pathetic mess of a stallion even up close.

Walking around the backside of the couch he was sitting on, I picked up a kitchen knife that had been left out on one of the end tables and came behind him slowly. The entire time he had his head hanging down, refusing to look up.

“I forgive you…” I muttered.

With those words I pierced the knife through his skull.

“It’s nice of you to invite me over Rainbow Dash! We don’t get to spend a lot of time together anymore, and I’m always wondering how you’re doing,” A soft spoken pegasus said to me.

I had a feeling that Fluttershy was affected by the demons as well, sure enough I was right. Looking at her I could see it inside her. Those eyes, their glow, and that voice, they were all there. She had one inside her as well, there was no mistaking it.

“It’s no trouble; I’ve been rather lonely lately actually…” I explained.

I wandered into the kitchen searching for an appropriate weapon. I continued the conversation across rooms to lower the suspicion.

“What have you been up to lately?” I yelled to her.

She was the worst pony to try and communicate with if you stood at a distance from her. She couldn’t yell to save her life, making it nearly impossible to hear her.

“I’ve actually been working at the Green Cuisine in the city… I recall seeing you there sometime last week?” She replied.

A drop of sweat ran down my neck at the thought. Fluttershy was there when Pinkie and I met up at the restaurant? She might have heard part of our conversation.

“Oh? Who was I with?” I asked casually.

“Nopony if I recall… You sat there at a table by yourself; I remember you were complaining that you sprained your hind hoof. I was your waitress, remember?” She answered.

Sprained hoof? I hadn’t sprained a hoof anytime recently, not since I practiced for the Wonderbolts years ago.

I had never gone to that restaurant by myself, and I certainly didn’t recall being waited on by Fluttershy. I would have recalled a detail like that.

“Yeah, that sounds about right…” I lied.

Selecting the sharpest knife I had, I began to make my walk towards the living room where she sat. The blade was perfect for her, sharp, and powerful; it would kill her quickly. I liked Fluttershy, I didn’t want her suffering to be that long.

Only inches away from the back of her head, I could feel my heart pounding faster and faster. I had killed before, but no matter how many times I performed the act I could never get used to it. There wasn’t any kind of training to make one ready to kill.

I didn’t want to do it, I almost couldn’t. Before I knew it though, the blade came down at her swiftly.

I had my eyes closed the entire time; I couldn’t bear to look at her this way.

At least she was free now.

“You’ve done so well Rainbow Dash, I didn’t think you’d have it in you. I stand corrected though; you were able to kill even your own friends…” Pinkie Pie spoke.

She hung over me as we moved the body of the recently slaughtered Fluttershy to the basement.

“Pinkie Pie… There’s something I don’t understand…” I came out with.

Now was as good a time as any to ask her about my suspicions.

“What is it?” She questioned.

“I called the apartment that you lived at, and they said they never heard of you…” I glanced in her direction.

She fell silent and dropped her end of the body.

“There’s a lot of stuff actually about this whole operation that isn’t making any sense anymore… Most of it revolves around you…” I added.

Pinkie didn’t look up at me. She kept her gaze at the floor.

“What’s going on Pinkie Pie?” I demanded to know.

Pinkie grew a disappointed expression about her face. She raised her gaze slowly to meet me, when I saw it there was a familiar red glow about it.

“You’ve helped me greatly Dash…” She smiled deviously.

“No… You’re… One of them…” I took a step back dropping Fluttershy.

“Now that you’ve helped me kill all of them, there’s only one left to kill now…” She continued to smile.

The pink mare started to approach me slowly; however I continued my move backward away from her.

“No hard feelings Dash…” She spoke.

With those words she darted towards me and attempted to grapple me. Agility was on my side however as I was able to avoid the attack and get behind her.

Swiftly she drew a blade and slashed it in my direction. I was fortunate enough to be only a few inches away from the blade’s reach.

“Come on Dash, it’ll only hurt for a minute!” She laughed as she lunged at me again.

I dashed out of the way and attempted to make a run for it, however Pinkie only gave chase. She was just as speedy on her hooves as I was.

“Come to Pinkie Pie!” She laughed again.

She had backed me into a corner. There was nowhere to run now; the only option left was to fight back.

With that thought in my head I jumped at her. Luck would have it that I took her by surprise and ended up pinning her to the floor.

“You mother fucker… You tricked me… You made me into a murderer!” I screamed.

“I did nothing that you wouldn’t have done yourself…” She smiled menacingly.

I lifted her head by her mane and smashed it into the hard floor. Blood sprayed in small amounts as I did so, but I ignored it and continued the action. I brought her head down again and again onto the floor. Each time I could hear the cracking of her skull, and see the blood spray everywhere.

Finally Pinkie Pie ceased movement.

When I was satisfied with her I stood up and walked over to the coach. Digging through the end table drawer next to it, I raised a cigarette to my lips. I earned it.

Epilogue

“Why do you think that Pinkie Pie wanted you to kill your friends for her?” Asked a white mare with a sophisticated lab coat.

“I think that the demons can only escape the bodies they’re in through death… I think that Pinkie wanted to release her other demon friends from their prisons, I’m not sure though…” The rainbow mare answered.

“Alright, I think that’s enough for today Miss Dash. The staff will escort you back to the recreational area, alright?” The doctor replied.

“Thank you…” She nodded.

Two brutish looking ponies came and gathered Dash to take her back out of the office. The doctor only nodded as she jotted down more notes to put into her file.

The whole story was simply amazing to her; she couldn’t help but re-read that same file again and again.

Patient Name: Rainbow Dash
Patient#: 007891A
Case Information: Subject appears to be suffering from advancing stages of Korsakoff’s Syndrome. Signs of early dementia have begun to sprout up, as the patient is undergoing memory confabulation. Particularly with a mare named “Pinkie Pie”.

We researched this “Pinkie Pie,” and after some digging we were able to locate her. Her real name is Pinkamena Diane Pie, though her friends simply refer to her as “Pinkie Pie.” We checked the apartment that the patient suggested and sure enough found no traits of any inhabitants for the past few years.

When we found this “Pinkie Pie,” she actually resided at a local Bakery in Ponyville. When questioned about the case, she went on to say that she had never met with patient 007891A and the two hadn’t spoken in years. She was oblivious to all the events that the patient claimed transpired. We checked her alibi and it held up.

There are other major inconsistencies with the patient’s claims that lead to the diagnosis.

Korsakoff’s is usually caused by a lack of thiamine to the brain, which is common in eating disorder cases and alcoholism cases. The patient apparently had been suffering from bulimia for the past few years which is more than likely what caused this condition. Her status as a model caused her to have a very isolated social life; this may explain why others didn’t catch on to her condition before it grew to this level.

When the police found the patient she was sitting in her living room by herself surrounded by several severed corpses. She was playing with the limbs like sets of toys and a smile upon her face.

When the police apprehended her, she put up no struggle; instead she appeared to be accepting what was happening.

In the basement the police found a young filly bound and gagged. When they set her free, she explained that the patient kept saying she put her there to “protect her from herself.”

My suggested treatment is lifetime incarceration. Subject is deemed too dangerous to be re-admitted into society.