Sugar Valley

Rainbow Dash gnaws furiously at the thick cloth binding between her hooves. The material is ragged and frayed after having endured hours of desperate gnashing, the blood it drew on Rainbow’s forehooves all dried. Jaw aching and mind frustrated by the short carnival song that had been playing nonstop, Rainbow Dash breathes a sigh of relief at the sound of the binding snapping.

The pony closes her eyes and leans back in the metal cabin. Pain still lingers on her back, near the severed appendages where her wings once were. Freeing her hooves is a relief, but Rainbow Dash continues to feel the crushing defeat about losing the two things that practically defined her. A hoof reaches behind the pony’s back, rubbing the sore spot beneath the bandages gently.

Your friends still need you.

Determination returns to the face of the pegasus, who leans out of the car’s window to get another glance of her surroundings. She sat alone in a capsule that had been rotating slowly on a large, creaking ferris wheel, the base of which was surrounded by an expansive web of barbed-wire. The last thing she notices is a dark, blooming tower; smoke rising over the distant horizon.

“Is that you guys?”

Rainbow’s eyes narrow, and she leans just a little further to watch the car beneath her. Shadowy figures appear to be huddled around each other, quietly enduring the seemingly infinite ride.

“What the hell?”

One of the figures looks up, watching Rainbow Dash with vacant eyes. The others soon follow suit, leading the pegasus to slowly lean back into her cabin.

“Okay… I think it’s time to get out of here.”

The aching mare stands on top of the metal bench, placing a hoof on the edge of the capsule. As the wheel makes yet another slow rotation, Rainbow Dash bends her knees and prepares for a jump. She would have to make an extraordinary leap to clear the barbed-wire.

“Come on!”

The car skirts the ground, having reached the lowest point and quickly rising again for another loop. Fear grips the cyan mare, who stands frozen at the edge of her cabin. The barbed-wire begins to grow smaller as the cabin ascends out of range.

“Fuck!”

Rainbow retreats to the interior of the car, slumping against the opposite window. Peering out, she discovers that all of the cars had occupants; and every one was leaning out of their cabin to quietly watch the pegasus.

Dash’s heart begins to pound. She slowly leans back into the center of her car, in an attempt to avoid their frightening gaze. Her eyes again lock onto the distant smoke as the capsule passes its apex, the pony trying to focus every passing thought in her mind with escaping.

THUD

The cabin suddenly shakes violently, a leg protruding from the roof appearing in the window. Rainbow Dash instinctively moves to the opposite side, further swinging the car with her sudden movement. Metallic scraping sounds make their way across the roof, concluding with a thin figure falling off of the ride. The wide-eyed pony stands petrified, barely listening to the sound of the creature making its painful descent into the barbed-wire below. Coming back to her senses, Dash quickly leans out the window to get a better view of the cabin above her.

Another beast had already climbed out the window, and was hanging just above Rainbow’s car.

“No—”

The pegasus pulls back just in time, a second thud sounding above her. More prepared this time, Rainbow Dash throws herself into the side of the cabin, causing the creature to slide loose before being left hanging in front of the cyan pony’s window. The sight locks Rainbow in place, who’s now able to get a good look at the demon. The tortured mare’s ribcage is clearly visible against its tight, splotched skin. The jaw had been completely removed, a grotesque display of dangling bits of flesh and rotten teeth in its place. Before Dash has time to regain her composure, the last of the occupants from the car above her throws itself onto the roof, flailing madly for something to grab. It kicks the jawless beast in the head, knocking it off the side of the cabin.

Rainbow backpedals away from the window, slamming her back into the opposing wall. The wheel had made another full rotation, and as Dash turns her head to see the car in front of her, she finds yet another creature preparing to board the pegasus’ ride. The beast rolls on its landing, sliding off of the roof but managing to grip the bottom edge of the window. Rainbow Dash lunges toward the hooves peeking into her cabin.

A brutal strike to one of the sickly forehooves dislodges it with a meaty thud, leaving the demon clinging to the ride while its back legs drag through the barbed-wire. Dash continues onto the second hoof, striking it with every fiber of energy she has. Utterly distracted, the mare doesn’t see the attacker climbing off of the roof and in through the window behind her. Its black, contorted arms grab hold of Dash before she’s able to react, tearing her air supply away from her.

Rainbow Dash strains her muscles in an attempt to defend against the assault, helplessly striking the beast in the muzzle. Giving into the weight of her assailant, Dash rams herself into the window behind her, the creature howling with pain at the impact. With oxygen briefly returning, Rainbow is able to reach behind her, tightly gripping the peeling skin of the pony attached to her back. The pegasus grits her teeth tight enough to sever wire, pulling the creature by its head up and over herself, before slamming the body onto the metal floor. Blind with rage, Rainbow Dash delivers a powerful stomp to her attacker’s muzzle, eliminating her with an unsettling crunch. Not losing her energy, Rainbow proceeds to ram the rusting metal door in front of her, knocking it and the creature that was attempting to crawl through it into the mess of wire below.

Commotion draws the pegasi’s attention to the car behind her, where a hulking beast violently pushes past the capsule’s other occupants. It leans out of the window to watch Rainbow, then howls loud enough to send echoes through the air, and chills down the mare’s back. It huffs and growls, its pony shape only vaguely recognizable behind the masses of flesh and muscle, a creature nearly twice the size of the others. Finally, Dash notices a long, flat blade that had been embedded into its flesh on the right, front hoof. By the time Rainbow Dash regains her senses, her pod is already halfway to another apex, where she would be a mere meter away from the monster’s car.

Dash quickly starts to panic, knowing she was still without a plan of action. The cyan mare decides it’s time to put more distance between her and the creatures, hastily climbing to the roof of her cabin. She reaches the top just before the maximum height of the ride is met, glancing back at the demon behind her. It was following suit, easily lifting itself to the roof of its own car, then impatiently pacing back and forth while watching Rainbow Dash. The pegasus forces her attention forward, then quickly leaps across the gap between her capsule and the empty one ahead of her. The jump is managed quite well, the mare holding the roof until the hanging car steadies itself from the recoil.

Looking over her shoulder, Dash finds her pursuer to become seemingly more aggressive, launching itself toward Rainbow’s original pod with energy unseen by the smaller creatures. The impact sends the cabin into a dramatic swing, the aging and unkempt beams screeching under the sudden increase in pressure. While the car is at almost a ninety degree angle, it dislodges from the wheel, quickly falling towards Rainbow Dash. The pony is able to scurry to the opposite end of the roof, just before the mass of metal and monster crashes into the car, then drops further still, breaking loose the cabin below and sending all of its passengers into the growing expansion of bodies and barbed-wire. To Rainbow’s dismay, however, one very large and angry beast had survived the fall, clinging desperately to the roof with its blade driven into the metal.

Rainbow Dash fights desperately to maintain the high ground, her phantom wings pumping furiously to keep her from sliding into reach of the monster on the other end of the roof. The cabin leans at a forty-five degree angle, just enough for the assailant to slowly make its way upward, cutting through the metal with every slash it uses to hoist itself up. Dash looks to the side, near the edge of the barbed-wire beneath her, then back to the growling beast that would soon be within reach. Heart pounding and mind panicked, the mare launches herself up and off of the roof, toward the smoke in the distance. Her eyes remain locked on the horizon, even as her rear leg just barely grazes past the reach of the monster, and as she instinctually and violently flaps the wings not there. As her descent hastens, Rainbow squeezes her eyes shut, knowing only fate could save her now.

Rainbow Dash crashes into the earth with forehooves on the ground; and hindlegs buried in the barbed-wire.

“AAAAHHHH!”

Opening her now tear soaked eyes, Dash falls onto the support of her right foreleg, turning to get a look at the damage on her lower body.

“Ahh—ah!”

Blood begins to poor relentlessly from the newly gained lacerations all over the mare’s legs and stomach. She gently holds her free hoof toward the wire, placing it under in an attempt to gain enough leverage to dislodge herself.

“—FUUCK!”

Rainbow Dash grimaces, even just budging the wire having caused excruciating pain. She bows her head against her foreleg, her thoughts drifting to the sight of her friends. Dash holds the image and buries her head as deep as she can into her leg, again positioning her remaining hoof under the wire.

“AaaGGHHUH!”

One leg is freed, Rainbow taking a short moment to recuperate. The second leg is too far away to be saved by her forehoof, instead forcing the pony to use brute force.

“AAAAUUGGGGH—AH!”

The second leg is finally dislodged, gaining several new cuts on its way out. Dash falls into the grass, unable to do much beyond writhe in agony. The wire mesh is painted with her blood, clumps of fur and tail hair clinging to the organic adhesive.

After enduring what seems like hours of pain, Rainbow Dash shakily brings herself to her hooves, and takes one last look at the scene behind her. Bodies lined the barbed-wire, some still flailing their legs like helpless infants. The hulking beast had made its way into the interior of the car it once clung to, still watching the pegasus with vicious eyes. And as Dash turns, and begins trotting away determinedly in spite of a limp, the creature howls relentlessly from the wheel, having lost its first decent meal in days.

* * *

Applejack shakily gasps as her friend tightens the improv bandaging around her leg. Blood had soaked through the sweater once worn by a prize stuffed animal, the ferris wheel decal turning from a sky blue to a deep shade of crimson. Once assured it is as tight as can be, Princess Twilight releases the cloth from her muzzle, and takes a moment to get a better look at the earth pony.

Despite the fire’s efforts, Applejack had spent most of the night shivering, only managing simple one or two worded responses to Twilight. The alicorn had spent every second of her time within just a hoof’s reach of Aj, providing her with comfort and warmth. She wishes she could do more; unable to look away from the weak mare resting before her, troubling thoughts weigh down her mind about their future. Twilight wasn’t a doctor—nor did she have to be, to know that time was running out.

A figure in the distance prys away the pony’s attention. After watching it for a few short seconds, Twilight quickly discovers it to be coming closer. Panicked, the violet mare reaches for the blade lying next to her, the indents of her hoof feeling the smooth wooden handle.

“Who’s there?”

The figure suddenly stops with its ears perked.

“...Twilight?”

Disbelief suspends Twilight’s muscles, her eyes straining to see the other pony’s face.

“Rainbow Dash!”

Without wasting anymore time, Princess Twilight rushes to reunite with her friend, leaving the knife in the dew-soaked grass. Tears begin to break loose from Twilight’s eyes as she wraps both forehooves tightly around the pegasus’ neck.

“Dash, I’m so glad you’re alright!”

Rainbow returns the hug with one arm, the pony able to manage her trademark smirk even under the circumstances.

“Well… mostly alright.”

Twilight pulls off, giving her friend a worried glance. It doesn’t take long for her eyes to make their way down toward Rainbow’s abdomen, where her legs and hips are laced with dried blood, and familiar bandages cover the joints where her wings should be.

There’s a still moment of realization between the two, each of the ponies scanning the other’s lost appendages. Rainbow Dash’s lips part, but no sound makes its way out.

“Is that Dash?”

The cyan pegasus looks toward the voice, then rushes to its owner after quickly identifying her.

“Applejack! What happened?”

Aj suppresses a groan as she turns to see her friend’s face.

“It’s nothin’... Twilight’s been taking good care of me.”

After getting a good look at the earth pony’s wound, a sense of urgency suddenly overcomes Dash, who turns back around toward the Princess.

“What the hell is going on here? Where are the others? What’s wrong with Pinkie?”

Twilight pauses, carefully choosing the order in which she answers Rainbow’s questions.

“Frankly—we’re not sure. I don’t care to imagine what sort of evil befell her while captured… but suffice it to say, the Pinkie Pie we knew is long gone.”

“So we hunt her down, and then torch the place! I’m sure there’s something the princesses can do about Pinkie Pie…”

Applejack looks solemnly at the ground beneath her, not nearly as sure as Dash was, but unwilling to tell her as much. The violet alicorn fills the gap.

“We haven’t even seen her since the dinner; we were looking for you!”

Princess Twilight stares sympathetically at her friend, who stubbornly huffs in response.

“She’ll need a lot more than a couple of goons to stop me. We do what we have to, then the five of us quit this place.”

There’s an intermission in Rainbow’s plan which she uses to scan the area around the ponies.

“By the way—where are the other two?”

Twilight had delayed as long as she could; but now it was time to face the storm. Dash deserved as much.

“...We don’t know where Rarity is. And Fluttershy—”

A lump forms in the mare’s throat.

“What about her?”

Unable to utter a response, the princess instead locks her reddening eyes with Rainbow’s.

“You don’t—”

Applejack watches the two silently, Dash shaking her head at Twilight. The alicorn finally swallows, then finds the courage to continue her explanation.

“We were attacked by one of those creatures. Fluttershy, she—”

Again, the princesses’ voice fails her. The words just seem impossible to get out, leaving the explanation open-ended; perhaps for the better. Rainbow Dash pouts her lip and looks off to the side of her friend, an attempt to hide her expression.

“Why didn’t you save her?”

Applejack stirs at the comment.

“Rainbow!”

A single tear breaks free amidst Dash’s crumbling display of apathy. As much as the words hurt, Twilight finds it in herself to stay strong, and quietly close the gap between the two mares. The pegasus weakly resists at first, shuffling back a step as she continues her futile attempt to hide her emotions.

Twilight Sparkle stops, heart aching at the sight of her normally bashful friend. It doesn’t take long before Rainbow Dash breaks, falling like a filly into the warm embrace of the princess, crying loudly into the mare’s chest. Twilight rests her head against the rainbow mane, stroking Dash’s coat softly in an effort to soothe the pegasus. Nearly five minutes would pass before Dash could stand on her own again.

After the stillness of the air returns, and the wailing tapers off, the two ponies slowly make their way to the fire, and join Applejack in rest. Only embers remain within the kindling, the fire demanding a second glance to reveal any life at all.

One pony remained lost; and as the princess rests her head on her forehooves, and glances away from the fire, her thoughts are attacked by images of the fragile, violet-maned unicorn.

* * *

Bright, buzzing lights sear Rarity’s corneas, and flood the room with their vividness. The mare lies motionless, lacking the energy needed to pull herself from the cold, flat surface beneath her.

“...Water…”

A shapeless pink blur moves close to Rarity’s head, presenting itself with sudden clarity.

“Rarity?”

The unicorn’s lips part slowly, but no sound escapes.

“Huh. Guess I used the wrong dosage…”

The fog begins to lift as Rarity squeezes her eyes shut and allows them to re-acclimate to her surroundings. Pinkie Pie stood above her, closely inspecting a small bottle in her hoof.

“You know—this is actually good! I think I’m going to need your help anyway.”

A small glass crash draws Rarity’s attention, who turns her head in an attempt to locate the remains of the bottle Pinkie had tossed.

“...Water.”

Pinkie Pie leans in closer to the unicorn.

“Huh? Oh!”

The earth pony pulls back from the table and turns to communicate with a mare who had been standing lifelessly against the back wall.

“My friends thirsty! Get her a drink—now!”

The mare, who’d been dressed up as a nurse of sorts, follows Pinkie’s pointing hoof toward a vending machine on the other side of the room. The Element of Laughter returns her attention to her guest.

“So, after dinner the other night, there was a teeeeeny tiny accident…”

Rarity squints as she lays her head back again, against what she had just discovered to be a folding table covered with a white cloth, and not an operating table.

“I don’t want you to worry, though! The hardest part is over. Well… for me, anyway…”

The pseudo nurse appears at Pinkie’s side, hoof extended with a bottle full of pink beverage. The earth pony retrieves it from her assistant, then effortlessly removes the cap with her teeth.

“Here…”

Rarity’s parched mouth desperately latches on to the bottle as Pinkie tips it her way. She’s able to down a few swigs before the intense rush of sugar forces her to pull away. Pinkie Pie stifles a laugh as the white unicorn spits the remaining liquid out on the tablecloth.

“Sorry; it’s a prototype! I still need a name, actually, if you have any suggestions—”

The mare’s bushy, blue-streaked mane bounces about as she suddenly shakes her head violently.

“Nevermind that, we were talking about the ‘hardest part’!”

Rarity finally musters the strength to lift her head up and inspect her torso, which is almost entirely concealed by a blue tarp.

“I guess that batch of cupcakes I cooked up was a little too much for a first trip; long story short, you wandered off and had yourself a bit of a spill… well, maybe I should just show you. Like a bandaid, right?”

Rarity’s eyes widen as Pinkie tears the tarp off, revealing a wide, open gash across the unicorn’s stomach, exposing frayed meat and her loose intestine. The mare nearly faints, a choked shriek filling the room. Pinkie Pie looks toward her assistant and raises a hoof in confusion.

“Was that not the saying? ‘Rip it off, like a bandaid’? Because this doesn’t seem like a good reaction…”

Tears begin to stream down Rarity’s face, who’s unable to look away from the ghastly sight.

“N-NO, NO NO NO!”

Pinkie Pie casually leans in toward the patient again, this time lifting a long, sharp object from underneath the table.

“Ta-da! You can relax, alright! It’s out!”

The air feels painfully cold to Rarity, the mare pressing her hooves forcefully into the cloth beneath her.

“How you ended up with Tetra’s horn a hoof deep in your tummy is a story you just have to tell me later. I actually think she had the longest one on the carousel!”

Rarity had managed to grow a lighter shade of white, barely able to focus on the bloodied object Pinkie held. It looks nearly half a meter in length.

“This’ll make one heck of a souvenir!”

A loud moan from Rarity draws the park owner’s attention back to the table. She places the metal horn on the floor beside her, then leans in toward the sobbing pony under the lights.

“Right, the boo-boo. Unfortunately, I used the last medkit a looong time ago, back when I’d just hired my employees. Buuuuut, I have the next best thing we can use!”

The unicorn is barely listening, instead staring into the lights with her mouth agape as Pinkie Pie trots off to retrieve something. The sound of a squeaky wheel quickly fills the room as the pink mare pushes a medical tray across the floor tiles.

“And… viola!”

A pink hoof waves over the tray, Rarity’s pupils dilating at the sight of a large sewing needle and coiled thread.

“Get—get… Twilight…”

“Twilight? Oh, I don’t think there’s much she could do for you in her condition.”

Rarity grimaces, rolling her head over to see Pinkie Pie.

“W-what?”

“Look, it’ll be just like making one of your dresses! You’ll do fine!”

Shock continues to shake Rarity, only a quick, violent shake of the head manageable in response to the earth pony.

“Well, I guess that just leaves ‘bleed out painfully over an excruciating long period of time’. Might as well not let this go to waste.”

Pinkie punctuates her statement with an outstretched hoof that wraps around the soda bottle. She takes a quick sip, then pulls up a dusty lawn chair from the back of the room and unfolds a pair of sunglasses that seem to appear from the air just behind her tail. Rarity struggles to lift her head up, watching the relaxed earth pony with tear-soaked eyes. Pinkie Pie has already checked out, her head leaning over the back of the chair and facing the ceiling, the bubbling soda hanging loosely in a hoof.

Rarity risks another peak at her abdomen and nearly vomits at the sight. It was a twisted, disturbing situation to be in; but Pinkie was right. The wound wasn’t going to heal itself.

The white mare winces at the tray to her side, the lights creating a large glint on the metal needle. Rarity closes her eyes and lays her head back toward the ceiling, muttering softly to herself.

“I can’t… I can’t. I—”

The tray again draws her eye. Hoof wound tightly against her chest, Rarity focuses on the needle and thread, shakily bringing them into the air with her magic. Another unavoidable look at the wound—specifically, the exposed intestine—tests the mare’s steel. She cautiously envelopes the organ within a blue aura, then gently nudges it back into its original position, until it slides in with a sickening, wet noise.

Sweat pours from virtually every pore of Rarity’s skin, who closes her eyes tightly and attempts to mentally push past what she was just forced to do. She was on the edge of consciousness, and consciousness was desperately needed for her ‘procedure’. With a violent shake of her head, she forces a small boost of energy to pump through her veins, finally gaining enough pep to lift herself up and bring the needle close to her unkempt coat.

Don’t think. Do.

The needle and thread hover over her stomach in a shaky field of magic. Rarity effortlessly knots the thread, the engraved knowledge coming easily even in the mare’s dire state.

Do this, then find your friends. Then we can go home.

A yawn coming from the lounging pink mare briefly pry Rarity’s eyes away from the wound, the unicorn taking the opportunity to distract herself with all of the ‘why’s surrounding her once best friend.

Get it over with!

Rarity’s breathing begins to accelerate as the needle quickly levitates down into the exposed innards, the mare’s magic forcing it up through the flesh.

“AAAHAH—”

Clenching her jaw, Rarity fights past the pain and directs all of her focus into her work. Pinkie Pie’s attention is finally regained, the pony leaning forward and lifting her sunglasses as Rarity winces at the sensation of the coarse thread being pulled taut against the skin.

Keep going, don’t think.

The needle dives back into the skin, just enough to hold the thread in place.

“Aaah!”

The mare in the back of the room shifts like an excited dog as her master stands up from the lawn chair. Rarity involuntarily holds her breath, bringing either end of the torn flesh as closely to each other as possible as the needle returns for another dip. The hole slowly begins to close, each careful motion from the needle creating a longer zigzag pattern across the unicorn’s stomach. One particularly painful slip-up forces the patient to stop, gritting her teeth as she throws her head back.

A smile creeps onto Pinkie’s face.

“Missed a spot!”

Before she has time to react, a pink hoof sends waves of pain throughout Rarity’s body, as it prods carelessly into the open wound. Instinct takes over the unicorn’s magic, driving the needle deep into the earth pony’s shoulder. The attack elicits a strange sound from Pinkie, like a hybrid of a yelp and a laugh. Rarity’s now narrowed eyes meet Pinkie’s, pulling the weapon out for another strike, only to be stopped by Pinkie Pie’s flailing hoof that knocks the needle out of its telekinetic cradle. Pinkie’s other hoof swings upward from beneath the table, turning it over and spilling its patient out onto the cold floor with a loud crash.

The fall nearly knocks Rarity unconscious, who quickly brings a hoof up to clench her half-sewn stomach wound. All eyes lock onto the needle, which had rolled toward the center of the room after Pinkie’s disarming attack. Now entirely thoughtless, and instead driven by a primal urge to survive, Rarity pulls herself along the tiled floor, reaching toward the bloodied object with her free hoof. Pinkie wastes no time vaulting over the flipped table, landing atop of Rarity with enough force to knock the wind out of the unicorn. The earth pony straddles Rarity’s back, pulling her head off of the floor by her mane, exposing the fragile flesh covering her throat. Blue embers pop up inconsistently around the needle, Rarity’s frantic attempt to free herself from the attack. Pinkie’s assistant stomps down onto the weapon, a move that turns Pinkie’s smile into a snarl with frightening haste.

“STAY THE FUCK OUT OF THIS!”

Rarity’s muzzle turns just enough so that she can see Pinkie Pie’s face as the unicorn takes advantage of the sudden interruption, and drives an elbow straight into the pony’s jaw. Pinkie takes the hit without making a sound, twirling backward from the strike and landing with her chin against the floor. With a long strand of drool dangling from her mouth and a fire in her eyes, Rarity turns and pounces the pony, striking uncontrollably at the back of her head. The sound of the needle being rolled away from the two can just barely be heard, the assistant pony returning to her spot against the wall.

The sight of her blood-stained hooves momentarily pulls Rarity out of her attack, Pinkie quickly retaliating by spinning around and biting down on the nearest hoof with an evil grin. Rarity cries out in pain, recoiling back off of Pinkie. The earth pony follows, releasing the bloodied hoof from her mouth only when she’s standing over Rarity, placing both forehooves on the overturned table before her and kneeing the weakened unicorn in the head. The Element of Generosity slides hopelessly against the table and down onto the floor, having expended nearly all of her adrenaline.

“Ha-ha! That’s quite a lot of fight for a mare who spends two hours a day on her mane!”

Pinkie Pie pauses her taunting to spit out some of the blood in her mouth.

“I’m impressed—really!”

Rarity is barely able to lift her head again, finally noticing all of the blood she’d lost in their scuffle. The next item she scans for is the needle; which is found to be way beyond her current magic’s range.

“Shame you really didn’t get to see the park. Oh well…”

The unicorn sits lifelessly with her back against the table, eyes half open and watching Pinkie’s hooves.

“This—”

Pinkie motions toward nowhere in particular.

“This was never what it was about, anyway.”

The pony leans in on her forehooves so that she can be face-level with Rarity.

“Sugar Valley is about what it finds in you.”

A blood-stained hoof bumps gently into Rarity’s shoulder.

“...And I think it found quite a lot.”

Given the sudden break, an idea begins to sprout in Rarity’s mind. Pinkie slides her hoof up and around Rarity’s chest, lifting her chin so that their eyes can lock with each other.

“Do you hear them now...?”

Pinkie Pie suddenly forces her foreleg against Rarity’s throat, quickly cutting her oxygen supply. The unicorn grapples hopelessly with the pink limb as her magic goes to work scanning the floor behind the table. The life begins to flicker in Rarity’s tear-glazed eyes, but she continues her desperate search with magic, eventually feeling out a long, sharp object. Levitation pushes it against the table, slowly rolling it up toward the edge.

Pinkie’s twisted smile remains unchanged, her wide eyes ignoring the metal horn floating above her in a blue haze. Every fiber of energy had been stripped from the unicorn; and as she strikes with the bloodied horn, it does little more than break Pinkie’s skin, creating several new wounds on her abdomen. As the seconds go by, the stabbing degrades into helplessly waving the horn around, until the magic surrounding it dissipates, and the weapon falls to the floor. Pinkie Pie remains in her position, even as Rarity’s struggling ceases, and her bloodshot eyes reveal no sign of life. Finally, Pinkie relaxes her hoof, allowing the white mare to fall limp against the cold tiles.

The victor dips her head low and sighs, eventually rising to her hooves with her smile gone and the action finally taking a toll on her usual pep.

“Oh, Rarity…”

Pinkie Pie looks down at the motionless body and wipes the still warm blood from her chin with a hoof. She doesn’t break her stare with the unicorn, instead referring to her assistant with her tail facing the mare.

“This isn’t suitable for a pony of her status, you understand?”

A sliver of Pinkie’s face exposes itself to the mare in the back.

“I want her cleaned up; keep her looking sharp. And find Fluttershy!”

The pony dressed in a nurse outfit nods with obedience.

“We need to keep my friends together…”

Pinkie Pie walks over to the window behind a counter, and bends the blinds with a hoof so that she can watch the lights littering the park.

“...the rest will join us soon.”

The party mare lingers for a while, giving her assistant time to clumsily grab hold of the corpse with a hoof. Dozens of colorful lights reflect in Pinkie’s eyes, her pupils dancing curiously around their flat prisons. When she finally grows tired, Pinkie Pie turns from the counter and heads for the exit, passing by her struggling assistant as she does so.

“Hurry up.”

The ‘nurse’ grunts quietly, nearly tripping over herself as she forces her hooves to peddle faster. Rarity is dragged out of the light, leaving only a trail of blood and a metal horn lying on the floor, its tip stained with a steady crimson drip.