The Elements' Demise

Chapters

Applejack's Gown
Fluttershy's Butterflies
Welcome to the Party
Grandmother's Mirror
Friendship is Obsession
Ditzy Delivers
Twilight's Secret
Aftermath
Cat and Mouse
Food: Out Of Order
Reformation
Midnight Hauntings
Dilemmas Undone

Applejack's Gown

“Hello Miss Rarity.” A dark grey mare with long hair sat with a notepad, looking out from over her glasses at the shaking white and purple unicorn before her. “Can you tell me why you’re here?”

Rarity sat hunched over in the overly cushioned chair, her limp, dirty hair hanging in her face. “Twilight Sparkle forced, pardon me, brought me in. She thought I could use a pony to vent to. 'You need to calm down,' she says. 'you've got get over it, it's over now,' she says.” the unicorn tried to bite back an rude remark to her friend. Rarity’s normally pristine demeanor had faded away to show a shivering, paranoid mess. Long, shiny purple hair had turned to stringy clumps. Bright, happy blue eyes were full of darkness and red from tears. Her white fur was dull and discolored, and her eyebrows furrowed in a constant worry. “I really see no need for this, I’m fine.” She mumbled.

The mare scribbled something and sat back up. “My name is Ms. Mareanda. I will help you through this, ok? Just tell me everything you know.”

“But that’s just it. I know nothing.” Rarity’s frowned deepened. “Just that all my friends are... Gone.”

“Ah, that’s a start! Good. I mean, bad. It’s bad that they’re gone.” The mare was excited that Rarity was cooperating, yet kept a sympathetic tone.

“Of course it’s bad! It’s horrible! It’s… it’s absolutely horrifying!” Rarity wailed loudly, the force of her voice almost knocked the jelly bean bowl over that sat next to her.

Ms. Mareanda reached over and steadied the bowl. “Of course, darling.” She said, leaning back and checking something off on her little pad. Rarity decided that if she ever got the chance, she would burn the damned pad and pen. Who is this pony to judge me? “Please, tell me all that you can remember, from the beginning.” the mare droned on.

Rarity scowled at the floor. Her eyes were dry, no tears came, but if she had tears still in her, Rarity would drown the room with the memories of the last two weeks. “How is this going to help? You’ve already seen the news, the front pages in Equestria Daily. I’ll just be repeating what everypony already knows.”

Ms. Mareanda sighed. She had experience with ponies who refused to open up. She tried to use Rarity’s ego against her. “Ah, but Rarity, darling, you have special insight. You are exactly what we need. You, and all your wisdom, will surely be the best source of information. Please, dear, we need you.”

Rarity glanced up at that wretched mule. She was trying to brainwash her, She knew it. But Twilight wouldn’t forgive Rarity if she didn’t open up to this pony. Twilight... The last one. The pony that Rarity promised to guard with her life. She sighed. “Fine. But only for Twilight.”

Ms. Mareanda smiled. “Good! Just sit back, relax, and tell me absolutely everything.”

“Pinkie Pie! PINKIE PIE!” Rarity was yelling, trying to wake Pinkie from her sleep. “PINKIE! Wake up!”

The pink, frizzy haired pony blinked her eyes open. “Wh.. whaat?” She mumbled, confused.

“Pinkie, dear, wake up! Oh my, it’s almost 2 in the afternoon! What in heaven’s name you DOING last night?” Rarity prodded at the tired pony with her hoof. “Darling, I know it’s best to get your beauty sleep, and Celestia knows your hair needs it, but too much is never good for anypony!” She nudged Pinkie into standing position. Pinkie Pie shook her head.

She blinked twice, then grinned like a maniac. “Rarity! Ohoh, Rarity it’s so nice to see you! I went to the bestest EVER party last night! It was hosted by DJ PON-3! Can you believe it?! DJ PON-3!” Pinkie gushed out, as she hopped up and down. “You shoulda been there! We were up all night!" Pinke giggled at the memory of the fantastic party.

Rarity smiled politely. “Good thing you’re up, dear. Last night I was working on our dresses for the Grand Galloping Gala. Yours turned out great!"

Pinkie sat down. “I still don’t think the Gala is the best idea. I mean, remember what happened last time? There wasn’t even any sarsaparilla!” She pouted.

Rarity giggled. “Oh, but Pinkie darling, Celestia told me personally that she has redone the Gala this year, to fit all of our needs! Isn’t that just fabulous?” As she talked, Rarity pushed Pinkie out the door of her home and toward her own. “And your gown is simply adorable!”

Pinkie squealed. “Really? That's so nice of her!”

Rarity smiled and nodded. "This year, we have to be on our best behavior. Even if it's not exactly what we want, you must be polite."

“Oh, fine. As long as I get to PARR-TAY!” Pinkie Pie stood up on her hind legs and did a series of silly looking dance moves. Rarity couldn't help herself, she fell on her rump and burst into a fit of giggles.

“Pinkie! Rarity! Watch out, guys!” A burst of color swept past the two ponies, blowing their hair back. The color angled back; it was none other than Rainbow Dash. “’Sup?” She asked, as if she just walked up to them like any normal pony would.

Rarity quickly tried to calm the frizziness Dash's gust of wind gave to her hair. “I’ve made Gala gowns, Rainbow Dash. The Gala is going to be much better this year, according to Celestia.” The unicorn said and she brought out her comb and began to fix her hair.

Pinkie nodded, ignoring her hair. It was already frizzy beyond repair, anyway. “They'll have everything, Dashie! Aren't you excited?”

Dash beamed at Pinkie. "Sounds AWESOME!" she said as she fell into step beside her bouncing pink friend.

“Come on girls, hurry up now. I can hardly wait to show you the dresses.” Rarity said, trying to get to two mares that were talking quietly with their muzzles close together to go faster.

Rarity opened the door for Pinkie and Dash. “Come on dears, come see your new gowns!” The two ponies were excited and nervous at the same time, and walked in cautiously.

“Ooooh, Rarity! They’re super fantastically wonderfully awesome!” Gushed Pinkie.

“They’re not even 20% cooler, they’re 100% cooler than last years’ gowns!” Squealed Dash.

“Thank you, thank you. Do you want to see the others?” Rarity asked, humbled by their enthusiasm.

“Yeah!” The two ponies said in unison.

“Alright, wait just one moment.” Rarity walked over to something that was covered in a cloak. She pulled it off, revealing four more gowns. Rarity’s, Twilight’s, Fluttershy’s and Applejack’s.

There was a moment of shocked silence, then three pairs of horrified shrieks filled the dress shop. The cloak Rarity was holding dropped to the floor. As it landed, all three ponies were staring wide-eyed at the horrendous site before them.

Applejack’s gown was beautiful, yes. But instead of the usual mannequin, there was the stuffed, dead body of their dear friend AJ. A pole stuck straight through her spine, and head hanging limply, her hat tipping off her head, as if in a greeting. Her beautiful dress hanging off her body. A pool of dark red blood surrounded the horrendous sight, the stench of it gave away that the kill was fresh.

All the dresses were designed to show off the ponies’ cutie mark. Some matched the color, some matched the shape. Apple Jack’s dress was fashioned so that the skirt was bright red and shiny, with cute little apples sewn on the hem. The skirt fell over her backside like a beautiful waterfall, but it was high enough on the back for one to see her cutie mark.

However, there were no three cute apples that made up AJ's previous cutie mark; only a circle of dried blood, and stitches from where a new cutie mark was sewn in. The cutie mark was an apple, but a green one with poison seeping out of the bite mark in the side. It clearly showed the death of Snow White, a beautiful maiden in a old mare's tale.

The three ponies reared back from the disgusting site. Rainbow's wings instinctively flew out to cover her eyes as she turned away from what was before her. Pinkie coughed and spluttered, barely holding back a wave of nausea, before crumpling to the floor. Rainbow Dash fell beside her, shaking and shivering with trepidation and disbelief. They spoke no words, it was too horrible for them to grasp. Tears streamed from Rainbow's eyes and down her muzzle, soaking Pinkie's mane as the two held each other closely, searching for comfort in each other's warmth.

Rarity blinked and stuttered, staring at the mutilated body of her dear friend. Completely shocked bewildered, Rarity backed away from the scene until she hit the wall. She began to hyperventilate due to the shock, and soon her vision became cloudy and blotched with dark spots. She sobbed and choked, the tears staining her face and neck grey. Who would do such a thing or why was beyond comprehension. As the reality of the situation hit her like a solid wall, and she fell to the floor, unconscious.

When she awoke, Rarity was sprawled out on a bed, but it wasn't her own and smelled of cleaning products. Sitting up, the unicorn looked around at the small white room. There was a chair covered in plastic pushed against the wall, and a series of confusing medical-looking items on one side of her bed.

A nurse pony with bright, happy yellow hair and a off-white body slipped into the room quietly. As she attended to the robotic thing next to Rarity, she hummed a lullaby that sounded a little familiar to the sleepy unicorn.

"Excuse me, but could you tell me exactly what I am doing here, miss?" Rarity asked.

The nurse jumped. "Oh, you're awake! Pardon me, for I thought you were still asleep. You took such a long nap, dear. I'm glad you're up and about now!"

Rarity coughed, holding her hoof to her hoof. "Ahem, I asked you something, ma'am." she reminded the nurse.

"Y-you did? My apologies, I'm just so scatterbrained these days." she answered, giving off a nervous giggle. "I'm not quite sure why you are here, I wasn't told. I'm simply here to clean up."

"Clean up?" Rarity repeated. She looked around the room again. "Why, this place is spotless! What do you have to clean up?"

The nurse pony was silent for a moment, looking at the large robotic instrument. She flipped her golden mane a little out of her eyes, then started to talk again, "It's never dirty here, but these.... Things always need a good lookin' at. I guess all I'm supposed to do is check for some weird noise or blinking light. I don't see any, so it's fine for now. You have a nice day, ok? I hope you get better soon!" with that, she happily trotted from the room.

Rarity huffed angrily. She hoped somepony would come and explain what was going on. She couldn't remember a thing--

"Wait," she whispered to herself. "I remember... Showing the dresses to Rainbow Dash and... Was it Pinkie Pie? Yes, it was Pinkie." Leaning back ont he pillows, she continued to rack her memory for what had happened earlier... Or last night. How long has she been here?

Suddenly, it all came back. Applejack, the dresses, the mutilation. The stench of death and fresh blood filled her nostrils once again. Rarity coughed, trying her hardest to hold back the bile that surfaced in her throat. Even after a good sleep, the horrible reality of what happened to AJ still hadn't really sunk in, but the disgusting thought still brought nausea to her mind.

"Hey, Rarity?" a familiar voice sounded from the doorway. Rarity turned and saw her friend Rainbow standing along with Pinkie in her door frame, frowning at her. "Uh, are you... Ok?" she asked.

"N-not really," Rarity began shakily. "I just can't... Grasp this. Who would do..." Rarity trailed off as the horrible picture that was etched in her memory flashed across her vision.

Pinkie Pie slowly made her way next to Rarity. Her hair had flattened out like it does when she's depressed. Her eye's weren't bright and crazy looking, however. they were dark and sad. "Hey..." she whispered, nuzzling her friend on the neck in an attempt to comfort her. "It'll be ok, I promise. We'll find out who did this. It's... A horrible incident, but it will be fixed."

Rainbow Dash stood next to her friend. "Yeah, Pinkie Pie promise."

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Rarity stopped talking, she began to choke up. She cried a tearless cry, just a series of moans and whimpers. For a few minutes the grey mare just watched her shake shudder, a sad look on her face. "After that, I told Twilight what happened. She saw how torn I was, and took me here."

Ms. Mareanda nodded sympathetically. “Did anyone else see Miss Apple Jack?” She asked.

Rarity nodded. “My sister, Sweetie Belle did. The poor sweetheart, she cried for days..”

The therapist nodded slowly, scribbling more things on her pad. “Could you continue for me, dear?” Ms. Mareanda prodded Rarity's knowledge carefully, trying not to set her off.

Rarity scowled at her. “No. you’ve heard enough. No pony can do anything, they’re already dead.” she said flatly.

The anger in Rarity’s voice started the mare. “Oh, dear. No reason to get mad, now.” She forced a smile, trying to bring a happier mood to the situation, but it was in vain. "If you like, we can talk about something different for a while."

"No." Rarity growled, increasingly becoming more annoyed with the therapist. "I don't want to talk at all. Not to you."

Ms. Mareanda flinched at Rarity's harsh tone. "Dear," she continued. "We really need your help."

Sighing, Rarity turned her face away from the mare. She knew she was being very rude to her, but at this moment she didn't care. Anger built up inside her as she thought more about it. "I don't have to tell you anything." she snapped. "I've told you plenty already."

Rarity watched as Ms. Mareanda sighed and wrote a few more things on the pad. "Hey," she started, sitting up straighter. "What exactly are you writing on there, if you don't mind me asking?"

"O-oh, that's confidential, actually..."

"No, I want to see it." The unicorn's horn began to glow dimly.

"I really shouldn't show you," Ms. Mareanda held the pad to her chest tightly.

"Oh, but don't you think it would e best not to keep secrets from your patient?" Rarity continued, a suddenly calm look on her face.

"U-uh..."

Rarity's horn grew brighter, the pad along with it. She used her magic to carry it to her. Ms. Mareanda gasped and grabbed for it, but Rarity's magic was too fast for her to get to it.

"Let's see what you've been writing about me..." She trailed off as she read.

"Unclean appearance. In denial. Unwilling to talk. Easily frightened. Seems guilty of something." Rarity listed off the words scribbled on the paper. One thing was checked off, 'Angry disposition' among many other 'dispositions' on the list.

Anger welled up inside Rarity. "You think I'm guilty. Guilty of what, exactly?"

Ms. Mareanda gulped. "Uh, um. You shouldn't have read that, it's just for me to analyze what your symptoms are so I can help you..." She tried to keep calm, even though she knew that Rarity was going to burst into a fiery ball of fury at any moment. "Ponies can take it the wrong way when they read them."

"Take it the wrong way?" the unicorn snapped. "Answer my question, what do you expect me to be 'guilty' of?"

"Um..."

"You think I did it, don't you?" Her eyes grew dark with anger, her horn beginning to glow dimly again.

"N-no, I--"

Rarity’s anger flared. “How DARE you accuse me of such a heinous thing? They’re my friends! My best friends! Why would I kill them? The whole reason I’m here is FOR my friend!” Her anger was so intense, her horn began to glow more intently. Books and tissue boxes began to float all around, pulsing with Rarity’s own unstoppable anger. “The past two weeks were hell, and you expect me to come in here, sit down, and tell you the whole story, smiling all the way?” She fumed, the glass bowl began to shake and quiver next to her. “I didn't KILL THEM!” As Rarity screamed, the bowl shattered, glass and jelly beans flying everywhere. Book pages were torn out of their covers, tissue boxes practically imploding in themselves. Ms. Mareanda pressed against the back of her seat, shocked by Rarity's outburst. In the heat of the moment, the horrified therapist slammed her hoof down on the emergency button that had been hidden in the wall next to her, camouflaged to match the wallpaper. The button was used for emergencies, such as a patient threaten to kill the therapist and/or hurt them, or maybe a fire.

Rarity was confused by the action, causing her anger to die down a bit. "What does that button do?" she asked.

"I'm very s-sorry," Ms. Mareanda stuttered, calming herself as she sat back down. "I'm not qualified to handle your anger. Don't be offended, dear, but you'll get much more help from a more qualified therapist." She honestly liked Rarity, even though she had a ad temper, and felt bad about sending her away.

A knock came to the door. "Ms. Mareanda? You requested assistance?" a soft voice snaked through the door.

"Yes, please send somepony to escort Rarity here to Mr. Buck." The mare called back.

"Okay, just one moment."

Ms. Mareanda turned back to Rarity. "Honey, don't you fret." she told her, smiling, trying to act motherly for the poor dear. "You'll get help. Everything will be alright."

“Fuck off.”

Even Rarity was surprised when the words left her mouth, but she didn’t take them back. She was too angry to care about her reputation of being proper and well controlled. I don't need help. I need Twilight. I need a real friend! For a long, drawn out ten minutes the two mares sat in an awkward silence, one hurt emotionally and one angry. beyond words.

Then, an large colt came into the room. He acted calm and unafraid, as if he had no worries of taking a very powerful unicorn into custody. “C’mon, Miss Rarity. Time to go, hun.” He held out his hoof, and Rarity slapped it away from her. “Shut up and just take me to wherever you want me to be. Don’t touch me either, you cocky piece of--”

“Alright, no need for insults Miss Rarity.” Said the officer calmly. “Let’s get going. When we get to Mr. Buck's place, you can have a nice big meal, and tell him all about your troubles, ok?”

Rarity snorted and turned her nose to the air snootily, but followed the colt. These next few days may be worse than the last…

Fluttershy's Butterflies

“Ah, good to have you here. Miss Rarity, please, have a seat.” A mean-looking colt was standing at one end of a long table. The seat Rarity was instructed to sit in looked hard and uncomfortable, with a few stains of something Rarity didn’t want to think about scarring the dull silver color. She glanced at the pony, hesitating. He motioned to the seat with his head. She carefully sat down. The coldness made her shiver.

“Thank you.” Said the pony. He leaned forward over the table. “My name is Mr. Buck. But you, my sweet, can call me Alexander.” He winked slightly, looking Rarity up and down. He pulled out the chair and sat down, touching his hooves in front of his face.

Rarity was already disgusted by this pony, and glared angrily at him. The officer had kept his promise, Rarity was given a meal. A shower, too. She looked much better, but felt all the same, if not worse. She was in no mood to spend her time talking to such a… a… repulsive and distasteful pony. “Just get on with it then, this is no time for flirting.” Rarity’s eyes glinted dangerously with anger, and Alexander sat back, nodding.

“Oh, yes. I suppose you're right.” He grinned, but it wasn't comforting. “Listen,” he continued. "I'm not going to be as easy on you as Ms. Mareanda was. If there is any suspicion of you doing anything against the law, I can and will have you taken to the station for questioning. Do you understand?"

Rarity snorted. "I haven't done anything against the ordinance of the law, so don't even bother having me questioned. I don't plan on telling anypony anything more, for that matter. I'd like to go home now, sir."

Alexander shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that." He told her, a hint of sympathy in his voice.

Rarity frowned. "Then I just won't say a word. No matter what you do, I won't say anything"

"But why, Rarity? What makes you hold back?"

"I... I just can't do it." Images of the mutilated body of one of her best friends flashed before her eyes. "It's just too much."

Alexander sighed. He understood why she was holding back, but he really needed the information. The police colts took pictures and such, but in order to find the killer they needed every last drop of information. Things like this never happen in such tranquil environments such as Ponyville, so the detectives and police ponies weren't very qualified.

Rarity saw the confused and fallen look on the colt's face. She felt... torn. In one hoof, there was her sanity. Although she barely had any left, she'd like to stay somewhat sane. In the other, was the killer being found and brought to justice. Being the Element of Generosity, Rarity decided the safety of other ponies was more important than her sanity. "On second thought," Rarity started, smiling at Alexander. "I could tell you, seeing as it's really important."

Alexander nodded, clearly happy with her decision. "Thank you, Rarity. It's very generous of you to tell me this, even if it is hard for you."

You have no idea... Rarity thought to herself. She sighed, readying herself for a very painful story telling. "O-of course," she stammered. "I hate to see you ponies work so hard when I could offer a hoof." She blinked a few times, then forced herself to start the story, no matter how hard it was for her. I have to help these ponies, before somepony else gets hurt.

There came a knocking on Rarity’s door. “R-rarity? Are… are you in there? Are you okay?” It was Twilight’s voice. Rarity hurried to the door, dropping the funeral gown she was creating for Applejack’s ceremony. “Coming, dear.” She called.

Rarity pulled open her door, showing a nervous looking Twilight Sparkle. Spike, the young dragon, was sitting upon her back. He was looking at Rarity with awe, as always, but a sad look was also on his face.

“Oh, Twilight! Thank heavens you’re safe!” Rarity gave out a sigh of relief. Ever sense the day they found Apple Jack’s body, everypony in Ponyville was acting jumpy. They always walked in pairs or groups, never alone. Royal guards were scattered about for safety, even though Princess Celestia was hesitant to send them out. No pony ever questioned the Princess, but they did think it odd.

Twilight shook her head, a tear glistening on the edge of her eye. “Rarity, I’m so worried. I… I haven’t seen Fluttershy all day.”

As Twilight said this, a heavy silence fell over the ponies and dragon. They were all thinking the same thing, but it was too horrible to say. “Well, have you checked her home? Maybe she’s taking care of animals.” Rarity said, her voice half hope and half dread. Fluttershy can't... I mean, it just can't happen. She's so nice, who would ever want do anything to harm her? Rarity wondered to herself nervously.

Twilight nodded. “Let’s go check on her then. Can’t be too safe now-a-days.” She laughed nervously, the tear falling from her eye as she laughed.

The two ponies trotted quickly down the road towards Fluttershy’s. A few other ponies called out greetings to them, and they returned with curt nods. Pinkie Pie popped her head out and started to say something, but when she saw the solemn stare in her three friends’ eyes, she quickly retracted into her home. She didn’t want anymore nightmares filled with the thoughts of dead ponies.

Finally, Twilight, Rarity, and Spike reached Fluttershy’s house. Rarity walked slowly up to the door, and knocked. But there was no answer. She knocked again, and again nothing. She started to become frantic.

Knock knock.

Silence.

Knock knock knock.

More silence.

Knockknockknockknockknockknockknockknock!

The silence was deafening.

Finally, Rarity burst into the room, on the verge of tears. “Fluttershy!” she called, “Fluttershy, no! Please be here, please! Don’t leave us.” Twilight came in beside her, looking around. They all saw nothing. Then Spike made a horrible, half gagging half gasping sound.

“Look.” He choked. “Look up.”

And so they did. Twilight screamed, and Rarity stared in pure horror and disbelief. It was horrible, it was hideous. It was the most disgusting thing Rarity had seen in all her lifetime. She put her hoof to her mouth, and tried to hold back the nausea. She blinked away the dark spots in her eyes that threatened to overtake her and cause Rarity to pass out, again.

There, hanging above the ponies, was a limp, dangling Fluttershy. She was hung from the ceiling like a macabre chandelier by a series of ropes. The ropes twisted around her, and would have been sort of pretty. If it wasn’t for the torn butterfly wings and mock-dead-stuffed-animals sewn on them, yes, it could have been a strange but interesting gown, maybe seen in a fashion show by Photo Finish.

The ropes were wrapped tight in some places, loose in others. There was a pattern, too. Butterfly, bunny, butterfly, bird, butterfly, mouse, butterfly, bunny. The animals were so bloody and torn, they almost looked real. The stuffing that fell from them was the only thing that gave away that they were toys. Fluttershy’s head hung low, a grin plastered on her face. Her pretty, big, sad looking eyes were replaced by flower heads, poppy flowers to be exact. As they stared, a petal broke from the flower and floated silently to the ground.

The threes’ eyes trailed over the body, until they found the cutie mark. Instead of Fluttershy’s cutie mark of three little butterflies, which indicated her fall from a cloud and being saved by a group of butterflies years before, was replaced, like Applejack's. The thin ring of blood circled a picture of the heel of a glass slipper, impaling a small clothed mouse. It was an obvious reference to Cinderella, but a horrendous one.

Spike cried out and clung to Twilight as if she were his mother. Out of the corner of her eye, Rarity almost thought she saw the two exchange a few whispers. She didn't think anything of it, she was too engrossed in the disturbing current situation.

Sobbing loudly tears falling heavily to the ground, Rarity used her horn to bring Fluttershy down. As she laid the yellow body on the floor gently, she noticed a small cut in the skin on her stomach. Rarity leaned forward to look at it, and nudged it gently with her snout. She jumped back and screamed with horror as the cut broke open, and a thousand dead butterflies poured out of Fluttershy’s stomach. A few even trickled out of her mouth. Then a typed note fell out too. It read: “I always get butterflies in my stomach when I think about you.” It was signed with a heart.

Twilight turned her head away and gagged. She spluttered out noises that could have been words, but she was so horrified to speak correctly. She swayed from side to side as if she might pass out, her eyes rolling back into her head. Spike steadied the unicorn, petting her mane. “It’ll be ok. We can get through this. I promise.” He said, attempting to sooth her.

“That’s quite enough, Miss Rarity.” Said Alexander. “I needn’t know what happened afterward.” He looked down at the table, frowning, eyebrows furrowed, lost in thought.

“I thought I was here for therapy, not to explain murders to you." retorted Rarity.

He glanced at her. "In all truth," he began, "You were brought to Ms. Mareanda for therapy. I, her manager, was the one to told her to get information from you. You see, we really need all the details in order to catch this criminal. Twilight Sparkle refused to help with investigation, we thought it odd, but she is the Princess's student. We can't really ask that much of her. So it's you that holds all the information."

Rarity sighed. "I... I just want to go home. I want to lay down, listen to some soothing music, take a nap. If I become inspired, maybe make a dress. If I keep fretting over this, It'll drive me insane."

“Ah, but Miss Rarity.” Said Mr. Alexander Buck. “Insanity is such a short drive.” He clapped his hooves together once, and several large colts rushed into the room, picking up Rarity and dragging her out.

Rarity flailed her hooves, trying to wiggle free. "What... What are you doing!?" she yelled.

Mr. Buck held a hoof up, halting the other colts. "Miss Rarity," he began, "I have a feeling that we will need you int he future. I also have a feeling that by then, you may leave Ponyville."

"Wh-what? If you want help that bad, It would be completely inconsiderate of me to leave! Trust me, Mr. Buck, I'll stay in Ponyville." Rarity begged, tugging her arm away from one of the colts.

He shook his head slowly. "The fact that you're fighting this makes me even more worried that you plan on running out on me."

"P-please, no, I don't want to go. I just want to go home!" A whine showed in her voice, similar to when she faced the Diamond Dogs. This time, however, she was truly whining. She really just wanted to relax at her own home, it was the only thing she wanted at the moment.

"Sorry, Rarity, but I can't do that." Alexander waved his hoof at the colts, and they dragged her out. She screamed and squirmed, but it was all in vain.

Dear Celestia, Rarity prayed silently. give me the strength to outlive this horrible predicament.

Welcome to the Party

[NOTE: This chapter is told from the killer’s point of view, in 1st person. If the killer’s name is brought up, it will be replaced with “K” for Killer. Also, K is known by the other ponies as a friend.]

[AND: I do not own Saw or the traps from Saw, I simply thought the trap was a brilliant idea and decided to have the character use it. Please don’t be angry, at least I’m not saying it was all my idea!]

Killing ponies? No, it’s not a hobby. It’s just something that… must be done. I have my reasons. I will keep my favorite pony to myself, of course. But the rest simply have to be taken care of. I'm alone in this operation, except for a few... helpers of mine. Ditzy does the most work.

I know what you’re thinking. Ditzy Doo? She’s retarded, are you kidding? Well, quite the contrary. My good friend Ditzy is very clever. Her lazy eye has cursed her with a life of being judged. But, that eye comes in handy when on guard duty. Ditzy Doo is smart enough to not mess with a killer like me, and I promised her I would reward her fondly if I got through this. If? What am I talking about, of course I'll get through this. there's nothing stopping me.

I was thinking the other day, however, that killing the ponies in such a… poetic way was such a smart thing. I might as well add some more passion to my poetry. So, I decided to kill Pinkie and Dash together. Everypony knows that those two have a thing going on. I mean, duh. So, I thought, since they are so cute together, why not have them die together? Gosh, I am brilliant.

“Hey, Pinkie pie.” I said, poking my head into Pinkie’s little cottage. “I brought you something!” I waved a basket in front of my face.

Pinkie’s head poked from around a coner, frizzy hair bouncing. “A present? Yay! I love presents!” she raced towards me excitedly. “Whatisit whatisit?”

I smiled. “I’ve got some sweets, for the sweetest pony in ponyville.”

Pinkie blushed deeply. “Oh, K. Stop it! That’s just silly. Everypony is the best pony in ponyville!” She sniffed the basket. “What kinda sweets? Huh huh?” She didn’t wait for an answer. She snatched the bag right out of my hand and ripped the little cloth off of it. “CUPCAKES! YAY!” She squealed. “Can I eat them now? Pretty please?”

“Of course!” I said, coming through the door. “I wouldn’t keep you from eating your favorite food, that’s just cruel.”

Pinkie gobbled the cupcakes. When she was done, she blinked slowly. “Those… those were… good… sleepy…” I watched triumphantly as Pinkie fell to the floor. Chuckling, I poked my head out of the door. I saw Ditzy in the clouds, circling, caught her eye and nodded. She flew down, and I set the mail bag onto her back, with the sleeping Pinkie inside. She flew off to Applejack’s old apple farm, just as planned.

I walked out, and scanned the town. No ponies looked suspicious of anything. Nervous, yes. Terrified, yes. But no suspicion. Then I saw Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle standing together, conversing. I felt a pain of sympathy for a moment. Rainbow Dash had such potential with her life. She could become one of the Wonderbolts if she tried hard enough. She was already a bit wealthy, judging from her huge cloud home. Such a shame she had to die soon young.

I approached the two ponies, smiling. “Hello ladies, how are you this fine afternoon?” I asked politely.

“Oh, hey K. We’re... not so good.” Said Twilight, frowning.

Dash nodded. "We both miss AJ and Fluttershy so much..." I notice her eyes glint with wetness. I'd never seen her cry before. "B-but they'd want us to be happy, right?"

“Well, of course. There's nothing you can do but be happy for the wonderful lives they lived." I flashed a sad smile. "I’d hate to put you in a worse mood but, I seemed to have lost Pinkie Pie.” I frowned at the two. “Could you help me find her?”

Dash nodded. “Of course, of course. Oh no… I hope to Celestia she’s alright.” Fear was already making her shake slightly.

I nodded. “Come with me Rainbow, dear, and Twilight, could you look in that direction? I’ve already checked her house.” Twilight nodded and immediately trotted off in the opposite direction. “Come, Dash.” I said, walking towards the direction Ditzy went.

We walked for a while, calling out Pinkie’s name. Finally, Rainbow Dash realized the direction we were going. “H-hey.. Why are we going to Applejack’s place? No pony lives there anymore, not after Big Mac moved to that barn on the other side of Ponyville."

I glanced at Dash from the corner of my eye. “Oh, why not try. I mean, knowing Pinkie, she could be planning a party there. You never know what she could be up to…”

Rainbow Dash nodded slightly, as if this satisfied her question. Soon enough, we reached the barn doors. I turned to Dash and said, “Close your eyes. You never know what could be in there.” Dash looked horrified and confused, but followed instructions. I quickly took a ball gag that I had kept in my bag and shoved into her mouth. I had put covered the gag in a gooey, disgusting tasting substance that would keep Dash from trying to push it out with her tongue. Dash’s eyes opened wide and she started screaming against the gag.

“Shut up already.” I mumbled, walking over to her flank. “I’m sorry, Dashie, really. Hah, just kidding.” I laughed, and grabbed hold of her wings and pulled them back hard, and twisting them in a direction that they shouldn’t go. I heard a definite snap, and Dash moaned out in pain. I shoved her through the big barn doors.

In the room there wasn’t much. The barn was pretty small, about the size of a two bedroom apartment. There was a cage, which held a slumbering pink lump, a gurney, a table piled with medical instruments, and eight large chains hanging from the wall, used for tying up ponies. Dash squirmed and tried to run away.

“Stop it! You’ll only make it worse!” I reached out and smacked her. She calmed down a bit, but still shook violently. I guided her to the wall where the chains were, and locked her up. She hung from the wall, head low, tears streaming heavily from her eyes.

“You little baby.” I mocked, staring angrily at her. “You’ve just got here, and you cry before the party’s even begun? Again; baby.” Dash stared at me, a begging look in her eyes. She tried to make words, but the gag only allowed her to make muted, guttural screams. I laughed in her face. "So pathetic."

I turned from Dash, facing the cage. “Pinkie, oh Pinkie!” I called, walking near it. “Time to wake up, Pinkie.” I took the needle I was holding and jabbed it into her. The drug I had put into her system was Methamphetamine. Soon, Pinkie would be awake and alert, if not a little silly. I opened the cage and dragged her out, strapping her tightly to the gurney. I left her head unstrapped, just for fun. As Pinkie blinked her eyes open, I smiled evily at her. "How ya feeling, Pinkie?"

"Uhh..." she started, her eyes glazed. I watched at the drug kicked in, her eyes growing increasingly more wide and bright. Her pupils got large and almost filled up her entire eyes. "H-hey, where am I?" she asked, her eyes darting around. She swivled her head back and forth, terrified. Her face flushed red and I heard her jaw clench down and a squeaky noise was heard as she ground her teeth together. So the Meth did work. Good.

"You're at a party, Pinkie." I said, patting her arm reassuringly. "Just calm down and enjoy it!"

She jumped at my touch, and wriggled around in the straps, tryign to break free. "T-this isn't a party! what's g-going on?" Her eyes darted around her, never really stopping on one area. She twitched violently as she talked. "Is... is there other ponies here? H-hey! Somepony help me!" she yelled.

I pushed her head roughly down. "Shut up." I growled, nearing her face. She shrunk away from me, her pupils quivered, but they continued to fill her eyes.

"K? Is that you? K, why do you look like a giraffe? That's not r-right..."

I laughed, going along with her hallucination. "This is a theme party, Pinkie!" I told her, a large grin on my face. "It's a murder theme party. In celebration of AJ and Fluttershy!"

Pinkie blinked. "Why would we celebrate them? They're...GAH! Bugs, there's bugs on me!" Pinkie screamed and squirmed, panic in her eyes. "G-get them off of me!"

I watched her become covered with invisible bugs. She looked at me, fear and confusion filling her large eyes. "H-help me!" she whined.

I didn't say a word, just pulled out the meth-filled needle. She stared at it. I watched as it sunk in. She shook her head back and forth. "W-what have you done to me?" she yelled, tears flowing down her face. "What are you going to d-do to me?"

I silently walked closer to her and injected the rest of the drug into her neck. There was more than enough Meth in there to cause her to overdose.

“No, no, please K no!” she whimpered, voice wavering with fear. Her eyes darted around more, beads of sweat dotted her forehead. I imagined that if I could see what she saw right now, it'd be terrifying. She probably saw the shadows ripple and move, demons crawling out of the walls towards her. Poor girl. At least it was fun for me to watch.

Her breath became rapid and short, a tell tale sign of reaching an overdose. Her pupils completely covered all but a thin line of color from her eyes. Her huge, black eyes rolled around as her body convulsed violently. The smell of urin filled the barn and Pinkie emptied her bladder, the wetness covering her inner thighs. She screamed, "I can't feel--" Pinkie cut off herself as vomit rocketed from her throat, covering her face and body.

I noticed her grind her teeth and squeeze her eyes shut, obviously in pain. "What hurts?" I asked her, curious.

"Head." she barked at me.

I nodded. Vomit, numbness, headache. She was having a stroke, thanks to the methamphetamine overdose. I watched as her eyes rolled back into her head, and her body convulsed once. She wasn't dead, but she did pass out. Her body twitched slightly as I brought two needles to her forearm. I took the larger one and quickly injected 50 milligrams of methadone into the largest vein. With the smaller one, I filled her vein with 3 milligrams of benzodiazepines. When Pinkie woke up, her heart rate will have slowed down enough for me to cut her open and not have her die instantly of blood loss. She'll be barely awake, but will be able to feel it when I cut her open.

As I waited for Pinkie to awake, I turned to Dash. The pegasus had been watching in horror for most of the time, I heard her moaning through the gag and her chains rattle as she tried to break free. At some point she had passed out, however. I pulled out my last two needles. One filled with adrenalin, the other with ecstasy. I laughed to myself. Rainbow will be very amusing once I inject with these. Sticking both needles into each of Dash's arms, I watched as the drug kicked in. Her chest almost instantly began fluttering as her heart rate rose and rose. Her eyes soon blinked open, her pupils dilated. She swung her head back and forth, her chains rattling. I pulled the gag from her mouth.

"Good morning, sleepy head." I grinned at the mare. "Have a nice sleep?"

She blinked at me, a big grin on her face. "Hahh, where am I? Am I at a party? Oooh," she rubbed her face against the wall behind her. "This feels so nice..."

I held back a giggle. "Eeyup, you're at a party alright."

She tried to move her arms, but soon realized that she was chained to the wall. "Hey... why am I... wait." she looked at me, her grin becoming wider. "Ooh, K, you kinky thing!" she slurred her words.

I frowned. I thought I put in adrenalin. Why wasn't she getting jittery? I might have put in too much ecstasy. I went along with it though. "Oh yeah, boy do I have plans for you." I told her, inching closer.

"Heh heh, yeah..." she trailed off, staring at the ceiling. "have you ever noticed how wonderful life is?" she breathed, her eyes crossing slightly. "Ya gotta live it up while ya can, amiright?" she glanced at me, then back to the ceiling.

I narrowed my eyes. Did... she know? "Yeah," I said. "It's so short, though." I saw Pinkie's head role over to the other cheek, meaning she'd be waking up soon. I brought a large, metal contraption from my bad over to Dash, to stared at it, wonder in her eyes.

"Listen, Dash. I really like you. But this is business. Be grateful you'll be able to hear your friend's voices one last time, unlike Pinkie here." I set the contraption onto her head. She didn't move around much, she was probably too high to understand.

I had always liked horror movies. Not so much paranormal, but gore I loved. One of my favorites is Saw. There was one tool that Mr. Jigsaw had used that I found quite interesting. It was called the reverse bear trap. My favorite thing about it was that it went off on command. And, it killed the person swiftly, so there wasn’t much loud and annoying screaming. It pulled back the jaws of the victim with such a force that her jaw broke and their neck cracked, killing them instantly.

Not too long ago, I recreated the reverse bear trap. It went off when I hit a certain button, and good for me the range was quite far. The trap wasn’t perfect, but I know for certain that it will kill a pony.

Dash moved her head back and forth. "Hey, what is this?" she asked.

Pinkie mumbled. I had to hurry. I'm loosing daylight. "Just shut up." I barked at her. "Say another word and I'll cut your tongue out."

Her eyes widened. The reality of the situation broke through the dense fog of the ecstasy. The adrenalin kicked in just then, and she screamed and tugged at the chains. "Hellh!" she tried to yell, but the trap on her head kept her from saying words correctly. I turned to her, eyes blazing with fury.

"What did I just say?" I growled. I moved to the tray of medical equipment, pulling out a small, rusty scalpel. I help it up as I neared her. "You'll hear your friend's voices before you die, be happy of that. But that's all I'll give you. You don't deserve to say goodbye to them, you filthy mule." I shoved the scalpel through the opening int he trap, and began to saw at her tongue. With one hand I held the tongue out and with the other I worked hard to get the blunt blade to cut through the muscle. Dash screamed loudly at the pain, the adrenalin coursing through muscles her aloud her to be able to push me away. I frowned and dove back in, sawing until there was a thread of muscle left. I tore the last bit off, holding up a raggedly cut tongue. Blood poured from Rainbow Dash's mouth, staining the metal of the trap and covering the blue fur on her chest with red.

"Now, don't make any more noise." I growled in her face.

She nodded, whimpering. I could deal with whimpering. But not screaming.

I turned to Pinkie who was almost awake by now. From the tray of medical equipment, I rummaged through the many used needles. Finally, I found a large knife. I cu a slit in her arm to test it out. A drop of blood beaded at the cut, but there was not nearly as much blood as there would have been under normal circumstances. Pinkie's eyes blinked open as I slid the tip of the knife carefully into her chest. I cut a huge gash from there down to her crotch. Pinkie looked around, confused, as I stuck my hand into the gash. Pinkie made eye contact with me as I clutched her large intestine. She looked from me, to her stomach. She screamed loudly, causing Dash to jump, her chains rattling.

“Shut your mouth." I barked. She looked at me, eyes wide, but continued to scream. I sighed. I took my hand from the gash, which blood was slowly leaking out of, and picked up a small blue box. Out of the box I pulled black thread and a needle. "I really didn't want to have to do this, but I guess I must," I frowned at Pinkie. "I'm very disappointed in you." I quickly slid the thread through the needle eye, and brought the needle to her lips. I clamped her mouth down with one hand and began to sew them tightly closed with the other. She screamed as I did so, but the drugs also caused her to be delayed and slow so I could keep her still enough to so it.

I set the blue box back down after I had finished, and turned back to her. I held up my blood soaked hand and plunged it back into the gash, grabbing hold of her large intestine. I pulled it out slowly, savoring Pinkie's horrified face and muffled screams. I continued with the small one, not stoppinf to joke around. I had to hurry. She could survive an hour at most without her organs.

I continued with the bladder and spleen, the stomach and liver. Soon, the only thing left inside pinkie was a heart surrounded by veins and blood. I used my sewing kit to sew the cut up as quickly as I could.

I dragged her the wall and hooked her to the chains. She turned and looked at Dash, tears streaming down her face. Neither could say a word to each other; but that's just how I like it. They both made sobbing noises, the tears smeared the blood on Dash's chest, leaving long red trails that went down to her hooves.

I took a different knife from the table, a smaller, pointier one. I slashed at Pinkie's belly and legs, leaving long cuts in the fur. She twitched at each cut, but otherwise didn't respond. She was fading into death, and I knew it. I cut a long, deep gash into her side, in which blood poured the most heavily from. Thick red rivers snaked down Pinkie's body and pooled at the floor beneath her. Dash was sobbing even more loudly now. I turned to her.

I took the knife I had cut Pinkie's body with and began to cut out Dash's eyes. She screamed against the trap on her head, but I ignored her. I gouged them out, not wasting any time. When I had finished there were two blood filled sockets in her head, the blood tricking down her muzzle like tears. I set the eyes on the tray and turned to Pinkie and did the same. She may have already passed, or maybe she was unconscious. Either way, she didn't really respond. I brought her eyes to Dash and shoved them into her sockets. They fit quite nicely. I did the same with Dash's eyes to Pinkie.

I sighed and rubbed my hand on my face to rid of the sweat that beaded there, leaving a smear of blood and body fluids. I didn't care, though. I turned and picked up Pinkie's organs, stringing them out on the floor to dry. I sat down for a moment on the gurney for a break. Boy, could I go for a glass of water.

I stood up, ready for the last step. I took a very small surgical knife and brought it to Pinkie's neck. Sense she was propably already dead, I didn't worry about avoiding the two main arteries. I cut a medium size gash in her neck, putting two fingers inside to make it wider. I shoved my hand in deep until I felt her tongue, and pulled it as hard as I could through the hole. I dropped it and it flopped lifelessly on her chest, like a necktie. I figured that Pinkie should look her best for a party, right?

I took a few steps back, admiring my work. It went just as planned. I patted Dash on the head. "Your friend's will be here soon." I whispered to her. She turned her head to me. While she was blind and mute, I could still see terror and pain twisting her face. I smiled.

Leaving the barn, I wiped my face and hands off on a towel and put it into my bag, along with the remote that would kill Dash. I waved to Ditzy, who had been standing outside, keeping guard. We turned to the apple orchard, which was overgrown by now. We took a path home that no pony could find us or hear us on.

“Sounded like a lotta fun in there.” Ditzy stated. “Was it real bloody?”

I smiled. “A bit.” I chuckled.

“What are you gonna tell the other ponies?” Ditzy asked, tripping over a small rock. I would have laughed, but she was known to get angry when people laughed at her clumsiness.

“I figured I’d say me and Dash found Pinkie, and they wanted ‘alone’ time in the barn together. I’m sure some pony will want to check on them, seeing how no pony should want to have girly time in the barn of their dead friend.”

Ditzy nodded. “We’re here.” She waved her hoof at me goodbye and flew off toward her own home. I walked into the town square of Ponyville, scanning the small crowd of ponies there. I then saw Twilight standing with Rarity, and came up to them slowly. “Hello, Twilight. Rarity.” I nodded to them both. “I found Pinkie. Her and Dash were saying something about ‘alone’ time in Applejack’s barn, however.”

Twilight and Rarity exchanged worried looks. “We’ll go check on them,” the two mares said as they walked in the direction of Applejack’s old home. I watched them walk away for a while, and then followed from about 60 feet behind them.

I watched, smiling evilly, as they walked through the doors. They screamed out at an ear shattering level. I heard Dash begin to make muffled sounds filled with panic.

Her voice was cut off by a loud snap, and more screaming. I walked back towards my home, dropping the remote and stepping on it. Today was a good day, two birds with one stone.

Grandmother's Mirror

“Good morning and hello, everypony! This is Robin Tweet reporting to you live with Twilight Sparkle! Twilight, could you tell Ponyville and I what has been happening in the past few weeks?” A brown-red pony with a straight black mane held the microphone toward Twilight, who looked a bit uncomfortable.

Rarity snapped to attention. She sat up in her overly cushioned bed and turned the volume up on the small old fashion TV in front of her.

“W-well, as you should know, there have been a few murders in Ponyville. They all happen to be my c-closest friends…” Twilight trailed off as she tried to keep the tears at bay, breathing in deeply

“Oh Twilight,” Rarity sighed, looking around the room. “I wish I could get out of this place so I could comfort you.” She looked around at the cushioned walls, the bare floor, the one big white chair in the corner. It’s not quite fair for me to be here. Rarity thought to herself. I’m not even crazy. I mean, sure, I am a bit paranoid but not insane!

“Yes, we all know of this. It’s very tragic.” Robin’s voice was mostly unemotional, with a hint of sadness. She probably had some wort of training to keep her composure on TV.“Could you tell me about the last murder? From what I know it was especially horrible.”

“I… I suppose,” Twilight looked down at her hooves. Rarity watched her friend, and wished she could hug her through that cold, glass screen.

“Well,” Twilight’s voice continued. “A friend of ours told us that Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had asked to be alone together in Applejack’s old barn. Of course, Rarity and I found this suspicious, seeing how AJ is… gone. So we went to check on them. When we got there… we saw the most horrendous sight.” The purple unicorn choked on her words. Her faithful assistant, Spike, stood next to her and grasped her hoof in his paw, wiping a single tear from his eye and handing her a tissue.

“What was it that you saw, Twilight?” Robin asked, leaning a little closer.

Twilight’s voice got soft and quiet. Rarity hurriedly turned the sound up to hear, even though she has already seen what Twilight was about to describe.

“...Guts were all over the floor. In the corner was a tray of horrible looking medical things and a big, rusty cage. Pinkie and Rainbow were chained to the wall. Pinkie was long gone, her mouth was sewn shut. There were a bunch of cuts on her body, and blood was all over her. Rainbow Dash was still alive, but she had this contraption over her head…”

“And what was that contraption?” Robin asked, a little more emotion in her voice, causing it to waver.

“I’m not sure exactly,” Twilight answered. “I’ve never seen such a thing, and I couldn’t find it in any of my books. It was big and metal, and it was attached to her jaws. Rainbow started to yell, but right before she could something happened. Something in the … thing on her head snapped and it pulled her jaws apart with such force, I could hear her neck break. Blood and brains were pouring from her mouth… by then I couldn’t take the sight anymore and I ran home. Rarity stayed though. She took them to the police.” Twilight broke into tears as she finished, and hugged Spike to her chest tightly. The baby dragon cried a little too, but not nearly as much as Twilight’s loud sobbing.

Robin Tweet lowered her head, a solemn look on her face. “Thank you, Twilight.” She turned to the camera, looking into the eyes of all the ponies watching. “I’d like to say one thing. Whoever this killer is, if they are watching, stop. You’re doing horrible things to innocent ponies. Just, stop. The police will find you."

The news cast switched to the weather quickly, probably because Twilight’s sobbing grew to the point of hysteria and they don’t want that on live television.

Rarity sighed and curled up on her bed. The past few weeks had been horrible to her. Three weeks ago, she was creating dresses and going to the spa with Fluttershy, having fun with her friends. Now, all but one of her friends are dead and she’s locked in a mental ward.

Why, Celestia? Thought Rarity, as she began to drift off. Why is this happening to me?

“Miss Rarity, you have a visitor.”

Rarity awoke ungracefully from her sleep, almost falling off her bed. “A visitor?” She said aloud. “Who is it?” Rarity hurried to the door and looked through the small, square window.

A big, grey colt looked back at her. “It’s Princess Luna, Miss Rarity.” He answered.

“Princess Luna?” Rarity squealed. “W-why is she coming to see me? She must have the wrong... Rarity.”

“I’m not sure, Miss. But she gave us a description, and she wants you.”

“W-well, ok. Let me out, please.” Rarity quickly checked her mane and tail. They were both tied into messy buns. Rarity didn’t have much to work with, no brushes, no mane-spray, nothing besides a few hair ties she had kept on her hoof when they brought her in.

Several locks turned, then the heavy door opened wide. The colt guided Rarity to the visiting room. In a corner there was a small table. Sitting in one of the chairs was Luna herself. She looked slightly scared and had her head lowered, as if she didn’t want to be noticed.

Rarity walked over to her and sat down. “P-princess? What do you want from... me?”

Luna looked at her, worry glinted in her eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked, ignoring Rarity's question.

"I suppose," Rarity frowned. "But, Princess--"

"Oh, Rarity!" Luna wailed, standing up and throwing herself at the unicorn. "I'll get you out of here, I promise. You'll be back home in no time, where it's safe." Luna drew back and looked Rarity in the eyes. "I'm so sorry."

Rarity carefully wriggled away from the Princess's grasp. "Pardon me, Princess, but why--"

Luna rambled on. "Oh, Rarity, when I heard what was happening I came down here as fast as I could! I'll keep you safe, I'll keep you company. No need to worry when Luna's here." She smiled at Rarity.

"Princess Luna!" Rarity shouted, pulling away from her. "Please, just explain to me what is happening."

Luna looked hurt for a moment, but nodded. "Sorry, Rarity." She said, blushing. "I came out here to Ponyville to keep you company! Oh, and to help keep order. It is one of the many duties of a princess to comfort her subjects in times like this. Celly thought I could use the practice."

Rarity blinked. That sort of made sense. "But why me?" she asked.

Luna grinned. "Well, you've obviously been the most affected, and I just can't allow you to stay here in this dump! Celly also told me to get you out of here, you are of royal blood, you know."

Rarity stared at Luna, her jaw dropping to the floor. "R-royal blood?" she stammered.

"Well, of course! Your family is not-so-distant cousins of mine." Luna frowned at Rarity. "You didn't know?"

She shook her head. "N-no! I knew that my family was wealthy and of a higher class, but not royal!"

The princess giggled. "Anyway, let's get you out of here, Miss Rarity." She smiled and walked towards the door. "I paid a good amount of bits to have you taken out." she added, nodding to one of the guards.

A royal carriage awaited them outside. Luna and Rarity stepped in and got comfortable as the carriage strolled down the road towards Ponyville. Luna sat across from Rarity, never taking her eyes off her. "Thank you." she said suddenly.

Rarity turned her gaze away from the passing scenery. "Whatever do you have to thank me for, Princess?" she asked.

"For saving me, of course! If it wasn't for you, I would still be Nightmare Moon!"

"Oh, yes. You're welcome, Princess." Rarity smiled nervously.

They were silent for a moment. The young princess couldn't stand the awkwardness. "Do you mind if I stay with you?" she asked. "I'll need somewhere to sleep and eat while I'm here. Your house is big, right? Fit for a princess?"

Rarity nodded. "It would be an honor for you to stay with me, Princess." she smiled.

The carriage neared the entrance to Ponyville, stopping to let the two ponies off. One of the horses that pulled them in smiled at the princess and said in a gruff voice, "You be careful, Highness." Luna smiled back awkwardly and turned away. Rarity glanced at the colt, seeing a almost saddened look in his eyes. She wondered what kind of drama went on at the royal castle.

"Oh, I can't wait to meet my subjects!" Luna squealed. "They all seem so nice!"

Rarity nodded, smiling slightly. "Ponyville is a very hospitable place, Princess. I'm sure they will welcome your with open..." Rarity trailed off as she heard whispers fill the air. They were almost too quiet for the two ponies to hear.

It's the dark princess.

Has she taken Rarity as a hostage?

What's she doing here?

Has she come to make eternal night, again?

Ruby, stand back. She's evil.

Princess Luna held a stone cold facial expression, keeping her eyes straight ahead. The two ponies swam silently through an ocean of biting insults until they reached Rarity's home.

The two stepped inside, the door closing loudly behind them. They were silent for a few moments as Rarity watched tears well up in the Princess's eyes. She turned to Rarity.

"I'll go unpack my th-things," she stammered. "Please direct me to m-my room."

Rarity pointed down the hall. "Very last door on the right, dear." she said, sympathy heavy in her voice. Luna nodded and speed-trotted down the hallway, obviously trying to hold back tears.

Sighing, Rarity turned to her big, full body mirror she kept in the center of the main room. The mirror was almost as tall as the ceiling and shaped like an oval, golden roses and vines carved into the sides. The leaves were so well carved, you could see all of the veins and wrinkles. One would be afraid of touching a leaf in fear of it breaking off and falling to the ground. It was given to her by her grandmother before she passed on. She had told the young Rarity, “There's a legend that is you stare into your own eyes in this mirror, all the answers you seek will be found.”

At the time, Rarity had thought Grandmama was going batty from old age, and didn’t think a thing of what she had said. Now, after all that had happened, Rarity wished with all her heart the legend was real. “Oh, Grandmama,” Rarity sighed, looking at herself in the mirror. “I wish you were still here. I need help, and you were always so good at solving problems.” Staring into her own blue eyes, Rarity searched for her soul. “I’ll always be with you, Rarity.” Her grandmother’s voice echoed inside her head.

Suddenly, Rarity understood. Who would have killed off all of her closest friends, besides her and Twilight? What was so special about those two ponies? “Of course!” Rarity exclaimed, staring at herself in the mirror, a grin on her face. “It would have to be somepony close to twilight and I. Somepony who just happened to know where the bodies were… who happened to not be around when they had gone missing. Well maybe not somepony but some dragon!” Rarity squealed happily, knowing she had found the killer.

“Wait,” Rarity deflated. “Why would Spike kill the ponies… I know he is quite in love with me, and Twilight has always been like a mother to him… but, why would he kill the others?”

Luna popped her head around the corner, much happier than before. She must have given herself a pep talk or something. "Hey, Rarity. Whatcha doin'? she asked.

"Nothing." Rarity replied briskly, lost in thought.

Luna looked at Rarity more intently, and saw the detachment in her eyes. At first anger flared inside her that the pretty unicorn wasn’t paying attention to her, but then she calmed down. Scaring her won’t make her like me. “What’s wrong, Rarity?” the princess asked.

Rarity ran to Luna and put her hooves on her shoulders, shaking her slightly. “I’ve figured out who’s been killing ponies! I’ve done it! ...I think.”

Friendship is Obsession

"Uncle Cobalt? Hello? It's me, Rarity." The unicorn squinted into the mirror at the blue pony on the other side. The magic that allowed her to talk through mirrors to her uncle was weak, so the picture was a little fuzzy.

Cobalt smiled. "Oh, Rarity! What is it, darling?" he asked.

"Um, Uncle, I'm sure you've heard of the Ponyville murders. Well, I think I know who's the killer. I need you to investigate, however." Rarity sat down and frowned at Luna, who was pacing angrily as she talked. Whenever she was doing something and not paying attention to Luna, the princess got irritable. Is scared her a bit.

"Oh, do you now? I'll come right over to help. Be there in a few, darling." The mirror blinked back to Rarity's reflection. She set the mirror down and turned to Luna. "Luna, dear." she said. "Pacing is not a very ladylike thing to do. You are a princess, you should act like one!" Rarity moved towards the princess, steadying her into one spot.

"Hold your head high," she put her hoof on Luna's chin. "Keep your back straight. Always walk lightly and with grace. Do not flick your tail around often, keep it steady and high. Hold your expression with either a slight smile or a bored, tired look. And always, always try to be polite as possible."

Luna did as she said, standing tall and straight with her head high, eyelids half closed. "how's this?" she asked, hoping for Rarity's approval.

Rarity smiled politely. "Very nice, dear. But try and talk with a more... oh, how do i put this... with a more proper demeanor." Luna lowered her head, a fallen look on her face.

What is wrong with this pony? I only gave her a little criticism and she acts so upset! Rarity tried to hold back her annoyance. "Oh, don't be upset darling. It takes a little practice. I will be opening up the shop today, so you can work on your speech with the customers!"

Luna smiled and nodded at Rarity, who smiled back and trotted toward the main room. As soon as she rounded the corner, the princess's smile fell. "Darnit!" she growled, kicking at a cushioned couch. "Just one day, I only got one day of Rarity. And now she'll be letting strangers into the shop, and she'll only pay attention to them! Irk!" Luna yelped as she felt a sharp twinge in her stomach, her whole body cringing. "What the... oh no. It's happening again, that feeling... gah!" another sharp pain rippled throughout her body. Luna rain to the nearest mirror, terrified of what she might see.

Looking back at her in the mirror was her normal self, curly blue mane, dark blue fur. But what she saw deep in her eyes was something ancient that she had never wanted to see again. The same crazed look... the same evil darkness. "Nightmare Moon..." she whispered. "No, it can't be. Ah!"

"Hello, old friend." Luna heard the voice, she saw her mouth moving in the mirror, but it didn't come from her.

"Leave me alone! I'll never turn to you again." Luna growled. She squeaked and cringed at the stab of pain that pierced her, much more painful than the last.

Deep, manic laughter filled her ears. "Oh, but you will. Rarity obviously doesn't care for you. You have to catch her attention with something… bold!" The terrified princess backed away from the voice as it hissed in her ear. A dark purple cloud shrouded the room around her. More angry laughter echoed in the room.

"Luna?" Rarity's voice called from the other room. "Luna, dear, I need your help with setting up these mannequins."

"Just a moment, Rarity." Luna answered. Glaring at the purple cloud that shimmered around her, luna began to back out of the room. "I may crave her attention, but I will not turn to you for help!" she snapped, then turn and quickly trotted into the main room.

Basking in the happiness of helping the wonderful Rarity, Luna was content. She moved around decorations, dusted off the mannequins, and dressed them up with Rarity's newest creations. Finally, the main room looked just like Rarity wanted, and she happily turned the sign to "Open."

Luna smiled sadly as she watched Rarity fluff and ready the dresses for the customers. She knew that her love of the unicorn's attention was not the healthiest, but she didn't care. Someday Rarity would be hers, and for now she'd have to cooperate with her and make her happy. She needn't turn to Nightmare Moon's help to gain Rarity's affection. She could do this on her own. Luna learned many years ago that it's best to wait for someone's attention, rather than force it from them.

Soon, customers began to fill the main room, Rarity was happily buzzing around, tending to their needs. Luna conversed with a few of them, testing how "proper" she could talk. Most of them kept away from her, or simply bowed their head in respect and didn't start up conversation. Soon, Rarity was swamped with ponies begging for dress designs. Luna took this chance to slip unnoticed into the guest room she was staying in. She pulled out a large wooden box. She opened it up to reveal her own personal shrine dedicated to Rarity. Several pictures of the unicorn were tied together with a small string. A bundle of purple hairs were laid delicately in one corner. An old, ratty hair brush was also in the box. The whole thing smelled of a mixture of several of Rarity's perfumes. A pile of old, used fake eyelashes sat in the center, accompanied by old makeup that Rarity has supposedly thrown out and misplaced bobby pins.

Luna breathed in the wonderful scent of the shrine. She lit up several candles that had been once been used by Rarity, and added a few hairs to the bundle. She brought a camera from under the bed, and used a spell she had learned not too long ago that developed the pictures straight from the camera instantly. Soon, she had a small pile of pictures of her own obsession; Rarity.

Luna spread out the photos she had, admiring the beauty of her idol. She picked out her personal favorite and held it close. In the picture, Rarity was bending over to pick up a fallen needle, her muzzle close to the ground, tail high in the air. Her pose was completely innocent, but had a seductive look to it, In the curvature of her body and her half-closed eyes. Luna drank in Rarity's beauty with her eyes greedily.

Holding the picture in a tight embrace, the princess sighed. Ever sense the night she was saved from Nightmare Moon's grasp, Luna had been interested in Rarity. It had started out as a innocent crush, then as time bore on and Luna hadn't seen the beautiful unicorn, she began to crave the presence of of the mare. She asked one of Princess Celestia's royal servants about her, and they pointed her in the direction of Ponyville. Luna snooped around in alleyways and bushes, snapping pictures of Rarity. She often used invisibility spells so she could get a few pictures of her in her home. Almost a year had passed, but the princess had never worked up the courage to actually talk to Rarity. She continued to silently stalk her, until the day she saw her be taken into a mental hospital. There was no way she'd be able to get in there, her invisibility spells only lasted a little bit. Luna knew that Rarity would be vulnerable, and in need of a friend. She payed a good amount of bits to the owner of the asylum to let her out, and finally she had Rarity to her self. The only hard part was coming up with that brilliant reason for why she payed to have Rarity taken out.

Luna let out a manic little giggle. "Yes," she said to herself, looking at the picture. "My sweet, sweet little Rarity. You will give into me someday, and we can live happily ever after..." A twinge of anger lighted inside of her stomach. "Unless you refuse, of course. Then we'll just have to punish you a bit, just so you know who's the boss. This time, I won't give into anypony, like I did with Celly." Luna broke into another fit of manic laughter.

Suddenly, she heard hoofsteps coming down the hall. "Luna?" Rarity called. "Luna, darling, where have you gone?" Quickly, Luna shoved the pictures back into the box and slid the box and camera back under the bed. She stood up and called back, "Oh, sorry Rarity. I just wasn't feeling too good." She began to walk to the door, but glanced back at the bed. Someday... Someday she will be mine.

Luna opened the door and peeked out at Rarity. "Luna!" Rarity said, waving her hoof for her to come out. "My uncle's here! Quickly, Princess."

The two ponies trotted out into the main room, where a large blue colt stood. "Hello Rarity, darling. Good afternoon, Princess Luna. It's very kind of you to stay here in Ponyville to keep the ponies happy and calm, you know. I'm sure they're all very grateful."

I doubt it. They all hate me. "It is the duty of a princess to keep her subjects happy." Luna plastered a fake smile on her face.

"Hello Uncle Cobalt, It' been a while."

Cobalt nodded. "Much too long, in my opinion." her sat down. "Now, we mustn't waste any time, Rarity. Who is it that you suspect of this horrendous crime?"

"I have a feeling that Spike the dragon is doing it. He is never around when the ponies first go missing, and he knew where the bodies were twice in a row. I'm not quite sure what his motive would be, but it seems likely that he would keep Twilight and I alive the longest." Rarity told her uncle.

The colt nodded, thoughtful. "That's enough for me to get a warrant i believe, I'll go to the station and get started."

"Be careful, Uncle Cobalt." Rarity said, concerned about her uncle. She nuzzled him and watched him leave the store.

Rarity turned to Luna and sighed. "I really hope he catches Spike, or whoever the killer is. I don't want to loose Twilight... or you."

Inside, Luna was bursting with sheer happiness at those words. She kept calm not he outside, however. "As a princess, I must try my hardest to keep the ponies happy and healthy and alive. I have an idea, Rarity. Come outside with me." the princess stepped out the door, Rarity following behind her. Taking up position in the center of the town square, Luna rose her voice so all the ponies could hear.

"Ahem, every pony please gather here int he center. I, Princess Luna, would like to speak with all of you."

Slowly, almost all of the ponies in Ponyville gathered around the princess, murmuring amongst themselves. Luna speed her wings wide, casting a shadow on the ponies. They quoted down quickly.

"You all have an idea for why I'm here. I'm sure some of you are very wrong. I'm not here to hurt anypony, I'm not here to cast eternal night. I'm here to help you." Luna's gaze traveled across the group of ponies, one by one. "I'm here to keep you safe."

It was very quiet for a moment, then a pony spoke up in the middle of the crowd. "How do you plan on doing that?" a few agreeing whispers flitted around the crowd. "Yeah, how exactly are you gonna keep us 'safe'?"

Luna kept composure. "I will patrol the town at night, while the guards are asleep. I will cast a spell that will allow me to hear the faintest of screams from miles away. I will catch the killer if they happen to be out. If any of you feel scared or threatened, come to me and I'll comfort you. I'm your friend now, you can trust me."

The group was one huge accusing eye, staring at the young princess. After a few moments, an approving whisper floated throughout he crowd, then quickly grew to a loud cheering. Luna smiled.

Rarity had been sitting in the far back, silently watching the princess. She felt very happy for her, but a deep worry turned her stomach. What if even a princess can't stop this murderer?

Ditzy Delivers

[[NOTE: This chapter is told from several point of views.]]

Ditzy Doo

I was sitting quietly on a bench in town square, pony-watching. It wasn't a very exciting day, there were a lot of ponies wondering around aimlessly. They seemed more at ease after Luna's speech last night. To the left, I saw in one of my eyes a large blue colt approaching me. I turned my head to him and smiled politely, trying to keep at least one eye on him.

The colt was obviously taken a-back by my lazy eye, but he didn't say anything. "Hello ma'am," he said. "I was looking for Spike the dragon. Do you know where he might be?"

I blinked. "Why do you want to find Spike?" I asked.

The colt glanced around, then leaned close to me. "Listen," he whispered. "I have reason to believe that he is the one killing ponies. I have a warrant to search him and take him into custody if I have to." he leaned back a bit. "Can you tell me what you know about him?"

I began to feel nervous. If this colt is looking for the killer... he might find out who it is, and that I'm helping! Shoot... i thought. I'll have to get rid of him somehow. Or stop him from searching. "All I know about Spike is that he's very nice and he stays with Twilight Sparkle in the library. If you want to find him, however, I can show you where he is now, mister... um..." I can't believe I'm doing this...

"Cobalt." he answered me. "And I'd be very grateful if you showed me to his whereabouts." He took a step back. I could see in the way he moved he was very high class, probably not used to fighting for himself. He probably has never been in a fight in his life. I was in a good share of fights when I was young and full of anger and angst, when people talked bad about my eyes. I'm sure to take him down easily.

I bit back a groan. In the last few weeks I have seen -and heard- many murders. I even helped with one. Being a pegasus, it was quite easy for me to get that pony all tied up and on the ceiling. But I had never thought that I would have to commit my own murder all on my own. If I mess up, I am completely screwed. Our police force is not the best, but they certainly aren't the worst. I'll have to do this where no pony would go, so I can't be found. I stood up and nodded my head, gesturing for him to follow. Clumsily, I made my way to the western side of Ponyville, towards the Everfree Forest. Very, very few ponies go in there. Zecora wouldn't dare rat me out, I have some heavy blackmail on her. It turns out not only are her practices... 'Not exactly legal' but her spells sometimes call for a certain type of sacrifice.

As we got nearer the forest, Cobalt began to get nervous. "U-um, why are we going to the forest?" he stuttered.

He's clearly not the bravest of detectives. This should be pretty easy. "Spike is here collecting herbs for a experiment Twilight is doing. I know because he asked me to help earlier. I said no, I'm not quite fond of the forest. But anything to help stop the murders of ponies, of course." I turned to him. "I'd hate to see another one go."

Cobalt smiled nervously. "S-sure, that makes sense. Do you think he's um, uh, really deep... in the... forest?" as he squeaked the last word out, it greatly reminded me of when I had to tie up that yellow pony. She was very quiet, and didn't scream a lot. She seemed to be expect that somepony would come and save her if she just waited it out. She made quiet squeaking noises that calmed the animals that tried to attack us, which I thought was odd. But the boss just said to ignore it. For a single moment, I felt sort of sad. That pony will never hold one of her bunnies again, never say hello to her friends. She probably never confessed her love to that purple pony in that picture that she held close to her as she died, either.

That was only a single moment, however. I quickly turned my thoughts away from the yellow pony and focused on now. The boss told me that whenever you start to feel horrible or sad, just focus on something better or more important. It's better to not think about it too much, that's when you start to feel suicidal.

"Not too deep." I answered, turning off the path into the more dense bushes. Cobalt whimpered behind me, stepping daintily through the undergrowth. We soon reached a small clearing. "We're here," I turned around and looked him in the eye, silently planning out the murder in my mind.

---

Cobalt

I am Cobalt, of the Gem family. We were not raised to go trekking around in forests. This odd pony seems to be hiding something, and I plan of finding out what. After I find Spike and question him, of course.

I don't know why even a dragon would want to go this far off the path. Well... anything for Rarity's safety. Oh, the other ponies of Ponyville too. But mostly my niece Rarity.

I picked my way through the hideous growth and bush underneath my hooves. The mare I had followed -I still never got her name- stopped in a clearing. She turned to me, a slightly pained and unsure look on her face, one eye focused and the other looking to the right, but there was also a sort of... evil glint in her eye. It made me worried.

"We're here." she stated coldly.

I looked around. "I don't see a dragon..." I mumbled, confused.

"Oh," she started after a few moments of silence. "Spike is unavailable, sorry."

First, I felt confused. Then annoyed. Then furious. "Then why the hay would you take me this far into the forest? You stupid, insolent, cloud-headed mare! It's got something to do with your eyes, doesn't it? You're that "Derpy Hooves" that some ponies talk about. Why don't you go eat your fatty muffins and think about how you'll never find a lover with your hideous face. Hmf!" I brought out all of the anger I had been building up over the past few weeks on the innocent pony. I breathed in deeply, realizing that this isn't how a gentlecolt acts.

"I am so sorry, miss. I've just been horribly frustrated with work for the past few weeks, and--"

"No, that's quite alright." she cut me off. "My name is Ditzy, actually."

"Well, Miss Ditzy, could you please tell me the next time I could contact Spike?"

Ditzy grinned a sort of loony, wide grin. "Oh yes. The next time you two will meet... will probably be never."

"I... what?" I took a step back as the mare drew closer to me, her brow furrowed and her eyes were as close to completely focused I've seen yet.

Suddenly, she leaped at me, wings spread open wide. In one swift movement, she brought out what seemed like a letter opener that she had kept in her tucked in wings and slashed at my windpipe. My eyes shot open wide at the pain that rippled throughout my upper body. Warm, thick liquid dripped down my neck and torso. I tried to scream out for help, but only throaty whisper escaped me. The vibration of the whisper on my cut windpipe sent even more stabs of pain into my body. I panicked. I can't scream, but I can't not scream.

Before I could overcome the shock, Ditzy had me pinned to the ground, the thorns digging into my back. She was breathing heavily, Sweat trickled down the side of her face. Or was it a tear? I was in too much pain to care or tell.

"I-I'm sorry," she mumbled around the dagger in her mouth. "I just... I have to."

I shook my head back and forth. I tried to say something, but it came out as a painful, gurgled grunt that could not be understood.

Rearing back onto her hind legs, Ditzy raised her head high and brought the dagger down on my chest with such a force, I felt a rib crackle under the weight. It pierced my heart and filled my body for a split second with searing, burning pain. I stared up at her, tears blurring my vision as I passed on.

"Wh- why...?" I whispered painfully through the cut in my windpipe. A single tear rolled down her eyes and fell onto my face as I slipped into cold blackness. The last noise I heard was her soft sobbing filling the silent wood.

Apple Bloom

"Cutie Mark Crusader hikers YAY!" I squealed along with my two best friends as we gleefully entered the Everfree Forest. With our capes on and confidence high, we began to trek along the path. It was barely worn, not many ponies come into the forest. I glanced around, remembering the last time we ventured into these parts. I mentally shook myself. I'm a big pony, I don't need to be afraid!

The sun was just above the tree tops, bathing the forest in a red-yellow glow. It was very beautiful, like the Sweet Apple Acres at sunset. Shadows crisscrossed the path, their ragged shaped giving them an evil looking feel.

We walked quietly for a while, only the sounds of breaking twigs or a pony going "Ooh, that flower looks cool." breaking the silence.

"Um... girls..." I heard Sweetie Belle murmur in her soft voice as the woods grew darker. "I'm scared..."

"Aw, c'mon!" said Scootaloo. "We just got here! If we're gonna be real hikers, we gotta go off the path!" She turned around. "Don't be so worried all the time."

"Ah'm not scared!" I protested, taking a step towards Scoot. "Ah'm a brave pony! You're the one's that chicken!"

She sneered at me. "Well, if you're so brave, then you can clear the bushes for us." She held her hoof out to where the bushes blocked the edge of the path.

"Ah'll show ya, Ah'm the bravest pony in Ponyville! I reckon clearing bushes ain't so hard. Ah'll just take this here stick an..." I trailed off as I saw hoof prints in the dirt. They lead to a crudely cleared path through the undergrowth.

"Wh-what is it, Apple Bloom?" Sweetie Belle came up behind me, worry in her voice.

"it's hoof prints!" I shouted. "Somepony was out here earlier. Let's see just where they go..." I held my head low to the ground, following the path. Scootaloo snorted behind me.

"Oh course you found hoof prints. I knew you couldn't clear a path."

I turned and glared at her. "Now hush! There might be somepony lost out here an' we'd be just silly to not go an' look for 'em! Applejack told me to never not help a pony when they need help! Now quit ya complaining and come on." I turned and continued to follow the prints. We all trekked in silence for a while. I heard Scoot mumble a few angry curses behind me, but Sweetie Belle and I ignored her.

Soon, we reached the entrance to a clearing. I followed the track with my eyes to the center, where I saw something. It was blue and red and lumpy. "What's this here?" I asked aloud.

Sweetie Belle took a step back. "I-I think w-we should g-g-go..." she whimpered.

"No way!" said Scoot, pushing her forward a step. "What is that thing?"

I shrugged. "Uh.... I reckon we better go see if we wanna find out what it is an' all..." I took a careful step forward, but curiosity took the better of me and I quickly trotted up to whatever the thing was.

I stared at the bloody lump before me. At first, I had no idea what it was or how to react, but slowly it dawned on me. As the reality hit me like a bucket of apples, vomit rocketed suddenly from my stomach, pouring out onto the grass in front of me. I coughed, backing away from the thing. "It's a pony," I choked, my throat dry.

"What?" Scootaloo asked, doubt in her voice. "Whaddya mean, it's a pony? Are they sleeping?"

I turned to her. "I mean, IT'S A PONY! An' no he ain't sleepin! He's dead!" I burst out into tears and stumbled away from the blue lump, towards the path.

Scoot's eyes became wide. She shook violently in fear, and I saw the insides of her legs become wet with her own urine.

Sweetie Belle shrunk down, keeping her eyes away from the body. Even though she hadn't even seen it, tears pooled at her eyes and ran down her face, leaving rivers of grey stained on her cheeks.

Anger welled up inside of me. "What are y'all DOIN'? We gotta tell somepony!" I raced toward the original path, the others behind me. I sprinted into Ponyville, the now blood-red forest behind me, screaming "HELP HELP! SOMEPONY HELP!"

Twilight heard me first. "Girls!" she said, holding out her hoof to stop us. "What's going on? It's almost sunset, you should be inside."

"Pony! In the woods!" I started.

"There's a pony in the woods?" Repeated Twilight, confused. "Who?"

"We don't know!" Wailed Scootaloo.

Twilight glanced at us, starting to become worried. "What's going on, girls?"

Sweetie Belle was shaking in her horseshoes. "They're... they're dead..." she whispered. Her strong singer's voice burst out of her, "THEY'RE DEAD!" she screamed.

Twilight took a startled step back. "D-dead?" she repeated. "Oh, dear Celestia, not more! You girls go home right now and get safe with your parents." She turned and raced toward the police station, holding back worried tears. Ponyville had been peaceful for a week... and now it was starting all over again.

I sat and sobbed loudly, holding my hooves to my face. "Apple... Applejack. I want Applejack. But... she's..." the horror and sadness that I had kept at bay since my sister passed bubbled over. I cried and sobbed curled up in the street for who knows how long. Eventually, I cried myself to sleep. When I woke up, Big Mac was carrying me home on his back.

"B-big brother, is that you?" I whispered.

"Eeyup."

"Big Mac, I... I wish Applejack was home."

He got quiet for a second. "I do too, Apple Bloom. We all do."

I sniffled, burring my face into his warm, safe fur. "Don't ever leave me."

"I would never leave you." His voice sounded very sad.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Twilight's Secret

Big Mac stared off into the rolling hills of the Sweet Apple Acres, remembering the days of his foalhood. Ghost images of a young Applejack leaving him behind for a better life, teaching baby Apple Bloom how to plant the seeds just right, dragging that heavy plow around the field all day, only to be refreshed by AJ's happy voice as they all sat down for dinner. A single tear rolled down his muzzle, tickling his nose. Big Mac closed his eyes and turned away, trying to set up a dam in his mind to hold back the flood of tears that threatened to break through.

"Hey, Big Mac?" a soft voice sounded behind the large red colt. "You okay?"

Big Mac turned to see his good friend Caramel behind him, a worried look in his eyes. "I-I'm fine," he stuttered, brushing the tears from his eyes. "Just got dust in my eye, that's all. Eeyup, dust."

The buff earth pony was slightly surprised when he heard his friend chuckle lightly. "Mac, you don't have to act so tough when I'm here. I know you're justa big softie..." Caramel stepped next to Big Macintosh, pressing against his flank. "It'll be alright, buddy. Applejack's pickin' apples in the sky with Momma and Pop now."

The two farmer colts stared at the sky as the sun rose steadily into the air. If one looked hard enough, they could almost see the shadow of the great Princess Celestia against the huge yellow ball of fire. As always, Caramel's girl-ish mannerisms set Big Mac off a little, causing him to feel awkward as the colt pressed against him. However, the warm feeling of a smaller, daintier body next to him made him feel as if Applejack was there instead, happily watching Applebloom playing with her friends, or going on about stories of Momma and Pop.

Big Mac sighed. "You're right, like always." he mumbled. "Ah shouldn't feel so sad, AJ would want me to be happy, wouldn't she?" he glanced at Caramel.

"Sure she would!" he said, a bounce in his voice as he tried to cheer his friend up. He got silent for a moment, then turned and looked Big Mac in the eye. "So, what are you gonna do?"

The red colt was confused for a moment. "Whad'ya mean, what am I gonna do? Not much I can do but continue workin' on the farm."

Caramel shook his head, slightly annoyed. "No, ya big feather brained foal!" he flicked his tail angrily. "What are ya gonna do about AJ and all of those other ponies? I know you ain't gonna sit there and act sad, you gotta do something about it! Stop reminiscin' and act like the big, fearless colt you always try to look like!"

Big Macintosh felt slightly angered and shocked at Caramel's outburst, but soon saw the truth in his words. "...You're... you're right! I gotta find the horrible pony that did this to my sister and her friends!" With that, Big Mac galloped towards the Ponyville Town square, leaving Caramel in the dust.

As he watched him go, Caramel smiled. "Such a dense colt," he said to himself. "Yet so lovable."

---

Big Mac was knocking furiously on Twilight Sparkle's door. "Twi, hey, Twi!" he yelled. "Are ya there? TWI!" He banged his large hooves harder on the door, nearly breaking the whole thing to splinters.

The door swung wide open. "It's just after sunrise, Mac! What in Equestria do you want?" a sleepy Twilight Sparkle rubbed at her eyes and yawned widely.

"Twilight, I need your help." Big Mac stated. "You see, you're one of the last two ponies left of that group of friends y'all were in, an' Rarity isn't as... emotionally stable as you, so Ah need your help in findin' who that murderer is."

"Well that's very... ambitious of you, Big Mac, but the police are already working on that. Also, did you really have to come up with this plan so early in the morning?"

Twilight was slightly surprised as Big Mac snorted angrily. "The police ain't doin' manure 'round here! Besides, I'll never let it go if I don't do somethin' to avenge AJ! C'mon Twi, you know you wanna help me."

Twilight glanced behind her into the library, lost in thought for a moment. She turned back to Big Mac. "Fine." she answered. "Though I still think it's a better idea to leave the investigating to the police, but I guess helping them can't hurt."

The big red colt grinned. "Thank ya kindly, Twilight. I need your brains and you need my strength, so it'll work out just fine."

Twilight hesitated before responding. "Yeah." she said finally. The two ponies slipped into the library, the door slamming shut behind them. Twilight motioned for Big Mac to sit on a cushion near the center of the room. He sat down, getting comfortable. Spike scurried down the stairs, an eager smile on his face. For a moment, Big Mac though it odd that the baby dragon didn't ask what was going on. Maybe Twilight and him had some sort of connection, who knows?

Twilight Sparkle's horn began to glow brightly, and Big Mac suddenly found himself bound and gagged, afloat in the air by Twilight's magic. His eyes widened as she went into panic, trying to thrash his hooves around to break free of the ropes that held him. The cotton rag stuffed in his mouth teased at his uvula, causing him to cough and gag against it.

Twilight sat down in front of him, watching as Spike hurriedly took a shot filled with a large dose of an anesthesia and stuck it into Big Mac's side. The colt's eyes rolled back and he slowly slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.

What felt like not more than two minutes later, Big Mac groggily woke up in some unknown room. He was strapped to a gurney that was cold to the touch with dark stains across the straps. A disgusting smell emitted from it, like urine and vomit alike. There was a sort of feeling coming from the gurney, it felt like a mixture of fear and pleasure. It was a weird emotion that toyed with Big Mac's brain, so he soon turned his attention to what else was around him.

It was very, very bright. Several lights were aimed at him, blinding him. He couldn't see anything but white if he tried to look further than his gurney, so he might as well been in the dark. Big Mac squirmed in the straps, yelping as they dug into his skin painfully. He was a pretty strong colt, but these were much too tight.

Panic shot though Big Mac's body again as he realized the numbness he felt below his waist. He tried to move his leg, anything, even just barely flex a muscle, but he couldn't. The colt could barely tell if he had legs anymore.

Gulping down his fear, Big mac called out to the whiteness, "Hello?"

A familiar voice answered him. "Oh, look who's woken up finally!" The lights flickered out, shrouding the room in darkness. A single, dim light bulb came to life on the ceiling, lighting up a small space. Twilight sparkle entered the light. Tight black elastic gloves covered her forelegs all the way to the knees. She had her mane pulled back into a messy bun behind her head, long needles sticking out of it. her eyes were dark and bloodthirsty. A black apron was tried tightly around her body, the threads swinging by her sides as her walked. As much as Big Mac hated to admit it, Twilight Sparkle looked beautiful in her rage.

Horn glowing dimly, Twilight stared at Big Macintosh. She smirked slightly, as if she could read his thoughts, and sat down. "Big Mac, please don't panic. Save that for later. For now, I want you to relax."

Horrified thoughts and suspicions ricocheted in his mind, and his whole body was shivering under the straps of the gurney. He couldn't possibly relax now!

Twilight either didn't notice his fear or chose to ignore it. "I've got a story to tell you."

[Twilight's point of view]

"What do you mean you didn't kill them?" I roared at the started griffin in front of me. "I saw you! You has plenty of chances to kill Rainbow Dash! The party!" I paced back and forth, Gilda cowering in the door way. "You had several chances at the party!" I stopped and turned back to her. "I though you said he had Pinkie Pie 'taken care of'?"

"W-well, I thought I did! She dropped several miles out of the sky, for fuck's sake!" she stammered.

I rolled my eyes. "You should have tried harder. The Princess used the best engineering to make her and the other four the ultimate warriors. She won't die from a simple fall."

Gilda opened and closed her mouth, but couldn't come up with how to respond. I frowned, starting to pace again. "You don't know about that, do you? What did the Princess tell you, anyway?"

"That those five had to be killed and disposed of soon. She wouldn't tell me why, though."

I sighed. "When the Princess hears of your mistakes she'll be very upset, you know. I might as well tell you why you were sent off to kill them, before she punishes you." I glanced at Gilda. She looked much less frightening when she was frightened herself. If the Princess had seen her like this before, she never would have hired her. "Several years ago, the Princess became aware of Luna's threat to break free from the moon and cast eternal night. She knew she'd have to defeat Luna somehow. But, being the Princess she is, decided it wouldn't be her that defeats her."

Gilda spoke up. "I thought Princess Celestia was the strongest unicorn in all of Equestia?"

I nodded. "She is, but she's not one to fight. She didn't care for her younger sister, Luna wasn't even important enough to her to have the satisfaction of finally meeting Celestia in battle. So, she called forth the wives of her five strongest guards. Using her very powerful celestial magic, the Princess impregnated each mare with a specially designed child that would grow up to be the Elements of Harmony. When the fillies were born, Celestia quickly had them planted in families in Ponyville, where they could grow up together without any special treatment. That way, the Elements would be the most pure." I stopped and looked at Gilda. "Do you follow?"

She nodded slightly, obviously surprised with my story. I continud.

"Several years after that, Luna broke free. The Elements fought her, along with I, and turned her back to her normal self. But that's where things go wrong. You see, the original plan was to kill Luna. There's no need for her, and she has a disorder of some kind where she sort of goes crazy if she doesn't get attention. I know what you're thinking, why can't we just try to kill Luna again, instead of the Elements? Well, the Princess hates imperfection. Those warriors were made to do one thing, and they failed. Not only did they do that, but they also came with a long list of glitches. Schizophrenia, paranoia, multiple personality disorder, things like that." I swung around and face Gilda. "You were sent out to terminate them. You failed. You will most surely die next."

"B-but, why do we have to kill them? Why can't we just leave them be?" Gilda asked.

"They were created with the Princess's magic, therefore they are just as powerful if not more than the princess herself. Celestia can't bare to have ponies more powerful than her living."

Gilda gulped, tapping her claws on the floor. "What about Luna? Who's gonna... kill her?"

"Celestia will, but in a very unfair way. Something like stabbing her in her sleep, sawing off her horn and sending her back to the moon, so she won't be able to make food or air with her magic." I answered the question without emotion. Celestia was a bloody ruler behind the scenes, and she was training me to rule over Equestria in the same way. I feel no sympathy for the many ponies lost, they're clearly not important enough to worry about.

Then, the Princess herself burst into the room. Her huge wings were expanded fully, a serious look was carved into her face. Her beautiful long hair mimicked the ocean as it rippled around her face. "Gilda," She started, nearing the terrified griffon. "Did you kill them?"

"N-no," Gilda answered, voice shaking with fear.

Celestia was quite for a moment, then leaned forward a little more. "Sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly." She said, dangerous laughter in her voice. "What was that?"

"I... I failed. I'm sorry, Princess."

The princess nodded once. She turned her head to the door way she came through. "Guards!" she called. Three guards hurridly rushed into the room, awaiting their master's order.

"Take her to the chambers."

The three nodded and escorted Gilda from the room. She knew better than to protest, but tears streamed steadily from her eyes as she walked. Celestia turned to me, eyes blazing with anger. "That rat! That lazy, weak, rat!" she spat, sitting down. I was surprised, the Princess rarely sits down in the company of others, even me. She thinks it makes her look weak.

"I'm sorry, Princess. I'll go look for a stronger assassin if you'd li--"

"No. I can't trust anypony outside of castle. The guards aren't nearly strong enough. I need you, Twilight. I teach you only the strongest spells, you've attended the lessons I have in the chambers. Someday, you will follow in my hoofsteps, Twilight, and become the bloody ruler I am today. It's the only way to keep total control."

I gaped at Celestia. "princess, I would never question you, but are you sure I am strong enough?"

She nodded, staring at me with pleading eyes. "Twilight, I need you."

In that moment as I sat with the Princess, I realized how much she trusted me. Here she was, completely vulnerable in the presence of a unicorn she trained herself. Warmth flooding my body, and I smiled at Celestia.

"Anything for you, Princess."

"Do you understand, Big Mac?" Twilight asked. Big Mac couldn't answer, but she didn't care. Yawning slightly, the unicorn continued. "While I still have Rarity left to kill, I have big plans for her, the Princess told me to also kill anypony that gets in my way, who might find out the secret. You, Big Mac, are one of those ponies.Seeing as you woke me up early and I had nothing planned for today, I'm going to spend a lot of time on you."

The straps on the gurney became shrouded in a purple glow, and fell off Big Mac's body like dying snakes. Big Mac flopped to the ground, holding himself up with his forelegs, his back legs laying uselessly behind him. Twilight grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him into the darkness, her glowing horn the only light. She put his hooves into cuffs, having him hang upside down from the chains. Big Mac spit out the cloth, the gravity making it easier. He promptly vomited, the chunky liquid covering his face and dripping onto the floor. He coughed and yelled for help. Twilight didn't react, she just sat and watched in amusement as big mac panicked, swinging from his chains.

"No pony can hear you." she stated after a while. "I put a spell on this place. This is Applejack's cellar, you know. You're going to die in your dead sister's cellar."

Big Mac shook her head, "No, don't do this Twilight. I'll... I can help you! I won't tell a soul, I swear."

Twilight laughed dryly. "For some odd reason, I don't trust you on that, Big Mac. If you don't mind, I'm going to begin now." Spike entered the very dim light, holding a knife. The knife was huge and curved, the blade stained with dark splotches. "Don't worry, you won't feel a thing."

Twilight snatched the knife from Spike, and swung her foreleg around in a wide arch. Big Mac gasped at the blade cut his side. Twilight continued the slashing, moving with a warrior-like grace. She looked like a beautiful samurai, but a dangerous one.

White lines crisscrossed Big Mac's vision as the pain burned through his body. He gasped and whimpered and yelped with each slash, each cut, tears mixing with the vomit on his face and dripping down into the disgusting mixture beneath him.

After a while, Twilight stopped. She was breathing heavily, sweat making her fur damp. She laughed hard and long, a manic sounding guffaw. "Oh, this makes me feel so alive!" she breathed, handing the knife to Spike. She got seriously quickly. "We have to move him and finish this before he dies of blood loss." As she spoke, Twilight used her magic to free the colt. He floated limply over to a small bench, where her was tied down again.

The puddle of vomit, tears, and blood alike was scooped into a small pail, and set on Big Mac's chest. Twilight neared him, holding up the bucket, smiling widely. Big Mac clamped his mouth shut, shaking his head. "Open uuup, Big Mac!" Twilight cooed. Big Mac refused.

"Fine. Then I'll just have to force you to. SPIKE!" Spike scuttled to her side. "Star the pendulum."

Spike nodded and hurried into the darkness, metal clanks and rope whooshing through the air was heard, and suddenly a huge, curved blade was lowered form the ceiling. Big mac stared at it, shivering in the straps. The blade began to swing back and forth, very slowly. Twilight backed away and watched quietly. As it swung, it neared the ground more and more. Big Mac whimpered, but still refused to open his mouth. The pendulum swished through the air, not two inches from Big Mac's chest.

Twilight gasped, then giggled, as the blade made it's first contact with Big Mac. He moaned and squirmed, but the straps held him tight. In his absolute fear, Big Mac relieved himself, foul smelling yellow liquid dripping down his useless back legs. Finally, her opened his mouth. "F-fine! Just, stop that thing!"

Twilight nodded to Spike, who pulled on a rope that caused the blade to stop and raise back into the darkness above. Twilight brought the bucket to where Big Mac's urine streamed off his leg. She held it there until it began to drip very slowly, then swished the bucket around and shoved it into the colt's face. "Drink."

Big Mac maoned and stared at the repulsive mix. He could drink it, or he could die under that huge, swinging blade.

"You're going to die anyway," Twilight said suddenly, as if she could read his mind. "Just do as I say and you'll live for a few more hours."

The red colt gulped, sweat trickling down his brow. Twilight became impatient, and stuck her hoof into his mouth, opening it up widely. Big Mac thrashed and gurgled as the mizture was dumped into his mouth. It tasted disgusting and smelled of despair and death. As Twilight poured the liquid down his throat, Big Mac vomited several times. The chunky goo covered the two ponies, but Twilight never stopped. Finally, the horrified and disgusted red colt swallowed the last mouthful, holding back another wave of nausea. Twilight smiled triumphantly.

Using her magic, she gather the stray vomit back into the bucket, but instead of forcing it down Big Mac's throat again, she handed it to Spike. "Ready the pool."

Spike scurried away. Big Mac wanted to cry and scream and go running home to is Momma, but he can't now. He knew he was going to die. That was Big Mac's last thought as a weight came crashing down on his skull, and blackness overwhelmed him.

Big Mac was awaken to the feeling of cold water enveloping him. Thrashing around, Big mac soon realized her was in a small cage. If he sat down (At this point, 'sitting down' meant putting his upper body weight on the twisted and limp back legs that crumpled beneath him.) his muzzle just barely rose out of the water. Sucking in a breath, the colt listened to Twilight begin to talk from some corner of the area.

"Big Mac, I'd like to tell you that you are almost completely unsafe in every way at the moment."

"Ah figured already, you rotten--"

"Silence! I will not have you insulting me when you are in my chambers!" Twilight barked. "Big Mac, you are in a pool. A pool filled with filthy sewage, with a hint of your own urine and vomit. You're going to stay here for a few hours, while I go have some lunch and converse with the ponyfolk. They will notice if I'm gone all day, won't they? Scream all you want, Big Mac," Twilight added as the colt began hollering and shouting for help. "Nopony can hear you. Magic, duh." With that, Twilight Sparkle and Spike swiftly left the room, leaving Big mac in the pitch black, swimming in his own vomit.

He wondered if maybe he went to sleep, he'd drown. He probably would, and then he wouldn't have to feel anymore pain. He clenched his teeth at the burning in his chest. The huge gash that cut from his chin to his pelvis was festering in the filthy water, and he knew that it would get infected and kill him, if he could make it through this. He doubted he could even make it until Twilight got back.

Suddenly, Big Mac though of something. If he were to die now, Twilight wouldn't be able to play any more 'games' (That he would be alive to experience) that she enjoyed so much. It would make her so mad... and that's the best way of revenge Big Mac could think of.

As he relaxed slightly, the colt realized how tired he actually was. The blood loss was making him dizzy and woozy, and all he really wanted to do was drift off into a peaceful sleep. As he slowly closed his eyes, Big Mac whispered into the empty, wet darkness; "I'll see you soon, sister." His eyes shut heavily and his body crumpled, his head dipping under the water. At first, his instincts made him panic and struggle, but soon he just simply drifted off, leaving the horrible torture and filthy water and memories behind.

Meanwhile, Rarity was smiling at Twilight Sparkle who was standing at her door. "How may I help you, Twilight, dear?" she asked.

Twilight grinned. "I'd like to look at some dresses. A funeral gown, for Rainbow Dash's upcoming ceremony." Each of the Elements had had their own ceremony over the past weeks. In each ceremony, the ponies' necklace that represented their Element was polished and sat on a coffin filled with pictures and such of the deceased (the ponies' bodies were sent to Canterlot for 'experiments'). Some ponies might say that the pendants glowed slightly, with an almost urgent feeling around them. As if they knew a horrible secret and had to tell everypony, but no pony would listen.

Rarity nodded. "I've been working on those..." she started, but trailed off. Princess Luna was sitting in the very center of the main room, a angry look in her eyes. Twilight bowed deeply in respect for the Princess, but ground her teeth as she did so. She hated giving anypony respect besides her master, Princess Celestia. Luna was a fluke, anyway. She should have never been born. She was birthed of unlawful blood, a bastard child. All of the royals loathed her behind her back.

Luna looked at Rarity, her eyes glinting. Rarity acted as if she heard words from that simple glance, and quickly turned to Twilight. "I'm sorry, Twilight, dear," she said mechanically, "but I cannot be of service to you at the moment. Please come back another time, dear."

Twilight frowned. "What do you mean? You were just--"

"I said, I can't be of service to you."

"But--"

"GET OUT! Can't you take a fuckin' order?" a loud and assertive voice boomed throughout the cottage. Twilight turned to Luna, surprised, but Rarity flinched and refused to look at the princess.

"Princess?" Twilight said. "Princess, when did you start--"

"Get out, before I throw you out. Can't you tell Rarity doesn't want you in here?"

Rarity piped up, her voice weak. "Princess, you really don't have to be so rude to Twilight. I can take care of myself."

Luna rolled her eyes. "You can't take care of shit" she spat. Turning back to Twilight, the princess continued. "And you better get your purple ass out of here before I do something you might regret."

Twilight's rage flared in her stomach, engulfing her in an intense heat. Deep inside, she wanted to kill her. She wanted to torture her slowly, cut off her limbs one by one. However, Luna is much too strong for her. She could never take her down. Instead, twilight nodded once and left the cottage, painfully ignoring the thumps and whimpers emitting from it as she left. She knew she planned to kill Rarity eventually, so she shouldn't care if she gets abused, but she wanted to burn and cut that Luna so bad, it almost hurt.

"One day," she whispered. "One day..."

Aftermath

"L-Luna, please, you don't--"

"Shut your mouth, and don't call me Luna!"

"But--"

"I said shut up!" a hoof reached out and slapped Rarity across the face heavily. Rarity fell to the floor, whimpering. The Princess frowned down at her. "Weak." she mumbled.

There was no Princess Luna in the room. In her place, Nightmare Moon had taken over. Her anger spilled over onto the poor Rarity. The purple cloud floated about the room, pulsing with Nightmare's emotions. She spat at Rarity angrily.

"Don't you know what is happening? Are you stupid?" she growled.

"I... I don't understand, Princess..."

"She's out to kill you! She's out to kill me! I should have realized this sooner. Of course Celestia would send out Twilight. That damned tyrant, that damned Twilight. She'll never lay a hoof on you, do you hear me? Never!" Nightmare Moon spun around and stuck her face near Rarity's, a manic look in her eyes. "never..." she whispered, more quiet and soft.

Rarity trembled. "Wh...what?"

"Celestia wants to kill me. She's always wanted to kill me. I'm not of royal blood, I'm not stable, I'm not anything a princess should be. Then there's you, an Element of Harmony. You were made to kill me."

"Made?" Rarity repeated.

"Yes, made." Nightmare sighed. "She used some sort of scientific spell to alter you and the other four Elements to be 'the perfect warrior'. You failed, you didn't kill me. Celestia doesn't like imperfection."

"So, she wants us to die... because we didn't k-kill you?"

"Yes. Like I said, she hates imperfection." Nightmare Moon stared off into space for a moment, a heavy silence filling the room. "if you want to live," she began again after a few moments, "You'll have to run away. With me."

Rarity blinked at Nightmare Moon. She was terrified in her presence, shaking and shivering. She looked down at her legs, frowning at the bruises and cuts there. Nightmare Moon was far from a gentle friend; she forced Rarity to love her, to worship her. While she was horrified by the alicorn, Rarity wanted to live, too. She still didn't understand exactly what was happening, but she did know that even if Nightmare was abusive herself, she'd protect her form outside forces. "I'll go with you, as long as you promise to protect me, and explain this more when we get there."

Nightmare Moon blinked at Rarity, happiness slowly filling her. The anger inside her evaporated, and Luna was herself once again. "I-I'm sorry if I hurt you," she always said this first, after mood swings like such.

Rarity helped up the Princess. "It's ok, dear."

"We'd better go. Get some stuff packed."

Rarity nodded and hurried into her room, leaving Luna sitting thoughtfully in the main room. Is she leaving because she trusts me, or because it's her only chance of living?"

Twilight's anger overflowed. "SPIKE!"

Spike scurried into the room, trembling. "Y-yes, Twilight?"

She pointed into the murky pool, at the cage, "He's dead."

Spike glanced at it, and nodded. " Uh, yeah?"

"He died... too... early!" Twilight stomped her hooves in frustration. "I didn't get to do all the other things I had planned!"

"Well, Twi, he's not one of the Elements, so it's not like it really mattered how he died. The actual Elements have to be killed brutally to die."

Twilight rounded on Spike. "I don't care, Spike! I have to learn to be a horrible killer just like the Princess! If she finds out I just let one slip after just barely grazing him with torture, she'll flip!"

Spike shrugged. "Sorry, Twilight. I'm sure the Princess will understand." Spike neared the cage, and breathed a large gust of fire into it, sending it to Canterlot. Not ten seconds later, he burped out a note. He read it aloud.

"Dearest Twilight,

Thank you for the fresh kill. Gilda here has been getting hungry. I am slightly disappointed at the lack of damage to the corpse, but I'm sure my little murderer will do better next time. Please, hurry with the last Element. I know it will be hard, seeing as it is another unicorn, but I'm getting antsy. If Luna is out there, she might figure out what is going on, and inform Rarity.

Many regards,

Princess Celestia."

Twilight sighed. "It's true. I need to continue with Rarity."

Spike frowned. "I wish that--"

"No, Spike." Twilight interrupted. "You're my pet, and I work for Celestia. You have to get used to these sort of things, even if you have feelings for the pony."

Spike looked down at his feet and nodded sadly.

"Spike, please clean up. I have to go and plan out my attack on Rarity." Spike's face became twisted with disgust, but he didn't argue. Quietly, Twilight walked upstairs and to her bedroom, pulling out the large quantity of books that were hidden under her bed. Murder mystery books, books on ancient tortures, and one book called Encyclopedia Magisica; a Guide To The Strengths and Weaknesses of Unicorn Magic. Twilight flipped through it, scanning the pages. After a while, she came across one very interesting section. She read it aloud to her self.

"Unicorn magic," she read, "is made in a special part of an unicorn's brain. This special part, named the Magia Lobe, is located near the top on the brain, just under the horn. When a unicorn thinks of a certain spell, the Magia Lobe is notified and sends the correct signal to the horn, which casts the spell using large amounts of energy from said unicorn's body. If something were to happen to the horn and it broke, then it would be impossible to cast spells. There is something called an iaculator carminis near the tip of the horn. That iaculator carminis is what converts the energy into magic, and casts the spell. If the horn were to have more than one inch broken off, the iaculator carminis would either be cut in half, or taken out completely. This would be extremely painful, and would leave the unicorn incapable of magic. It is possible to have a donation of a new horn, but scientists are still working on connecting the iaculator carminis's nerves back into the Magia Lobe so late it can work again.

"The iaculator carminis's secrets are still unknown to most scientists. It is a small, blue-purple ball that is slightly squishy and soft in texture. If one held it, they would feel a very light feeling of electricity coming from the ball, but it's actually just stored energy form the unicorn's body. Some scientists believe is is just an over sized nerve, and others believe it is a whole new concept to the unicorn body."

Twilight looked at the diagram below the section, wondering how she could put Rarity in a position to dislocate her horn. As the unicorn continued reading the following chapter named "Defense and Attack Spells", Spike scurried up into the room.

"So I cleaned up the blood and vomit and stuff, and drained the pool. Now what?"

Twilight smiled at him. "Now, you can spend some time with me!" She held out her forelegs, and the two hugged each other tightly. Though neither one said anything, a heavy sad and serious feeling fell over them. "Spike," Twilight said softly into his ear, "I never stopped to ask you, but are you sure you're ok with what I'm doing? I've made you help, I've made you clean up, and you're still a baby dragon, after all."

The dragon's body began to shake, and Twilight heard soft sobbing coming from him. "It's hard," he said after a while. " B-but, I'd do anything for you, Twilight. You're like my mom. I understand that you have to do this. It's the princess's orders."

Twilight began to tear up herself. "Oh, Spike," she breathed, hugging him closer. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this. When this is over, I'll make sure you'll never have to see such horrid things again."

Spike sniffled. "i love you, Twilight."

"I love you too, Spike."

Meanwhile, In Canterlot, Gilda was having her dinner.

The griffon spat and pushed the mauled body away from her. "No," she choke. "I refuse to eat any more ponies. It's just not right."

The Princess frowned at her. "Then you'll just have to starve. Somegriffon has to rid of the bodies, and you happen to be the only one being punished in the chambers at the moment." She leaned closer to the bars on Gilda's cell. "You should have at least killed Rainbow Dash while you could. Maybe I wouldn't have been so angry."

Flashbacks of better days whooshed through Gilda's mind. Being alone and afraid at flight camp, and Rainbow Dash coming over to cheer her up and be her friend. The two sitting together at lunch, making jokes about the other feathered creatures at the camp. Growing up into awkward teens, sticking up for each other at school. Even sharing their first kiss together when they were growing older and learning their sexuality. How could Gilda ever kill somepony so important to her? Yet, the last time she'd seen Rainbow Dash she was just a barely recognizable body on her dinner plate. She turned away form the Princess, tears burning her eyes. "No." She repeated.

Celestia's anger flared. Suddenly, Gilda was covered in a snaking pink cloud that held her several inches off the ground by her neck. The Princess leaned as close to the griffon as she could, her face pressing against the bars. "Eat it, or die slowly." she growled.

Gilda coughed and spluttered, but managed to nod her head a few times. The Princess dropped her, and the griffin quickly tore into the carcass. Celestia laughed at her tears and gagging noises, watching her with a broad smile on her face. "You see, Gilda," she said, "If I were not as brutal as such, no pony would respect me. Besides, you deserve it. All the ponies and other creatures punished in these chambers deserved it. You've been a naughty griffon, and you should expect much more punishment after my dear Twilight has finished her duty. Hah! I thought you were tough, but some little unicorn can do better than you! Gilda, you are a disgrace to beasts of all kind. Your softness will be the reason for your death."

Gilda angrily gulped down the cold meat, hate bubbling inside her as the Princess tore on with her verbal abuse. She thought that karma would reward her for not killing the Elements, but maybe, the Princess controls karma, too. Was it possible that not killing the Elements was wrong, though? Is the world supposed to be brutal and twisted like this?

The Princess's laughter quieted down, and she turned around. "Two more weeks." She said simply as she quietly walked up into the palace.

Gilda frowned. She pushed the remains of the body away from her, and turned to throw up the disgusting meal int eh corner. She couldn't bare the thought of having some innocent ponie's body in her belly.

"Two more weeks..." she muttered to herself. "Two more weeks to live? Is that what she meant?" Gilda turned to the wall, where she used her claws to sketch a picture of the Elements, with Rainbow Dash in the center, smiling proudly. She held her paw to the drawing, tears pooling at her eyelids. "I miss you so much, Dash," she whispered. "I'll see you soon, though. In two weeks, we can fly together again, we can joke around together again. That is, if I don't go to h-hell..." Gilda choked on her words, looking down at her back paws. Tears blurred her vision and dropped heavily onto her fur. No, I can't think like that. Not now. She looked back up at the drawing of Rainbow Dash. "I promise, we'll be together again soon."

Gilda pressed her body against the cold wall, tears falling steadily down her face. She stayed like that for a long while, until she eventually cried herself to sleep. She used to have nice dreams about flying through the clouds, a big smile on her face. Tonight, her dreams were crowded with images of horrible monsters and darkness, fire and hate.

Cat and Mouse

Rarity and Luna stood on the edge of Ponyville, the cold wind whipping through their manes. The night was very dark, Luna had used her magic to dim the moon's light so they could hide better. Luna did not control, however, the biting cold. it was the beginning of winter, and snowflakes fell lazily from the sky. Rarity looked up, a breif thought flitting through her mind. I hope my mane doesn't get ruined in this weather She soon turned her mind on the current situation, though.

"Luna, where are we going?"

Princess Luna sighed. "Somewhere far away, Rarity, love."

Rarity was not quite sure if she was okay with Luna's obvious affection for her, but she didn't say a word. She wouldn't dare set off the princess again, she had learned her lesson. The permanent scars that flawed her body were a constant reminder. The unicorn shivered and wrapped the scarf more securely around her neck.

Luna stared off into the two paths ahead. One steered into the Everfree Forest. While it was a wonderful place to keep hidden, she wasn't sure if it was safe for the two mares. They were both strong unicorn with trained and skilled magical abilities, but in the end, a manticore would kill them with one swipe of a gigantic paw. The other path was a rolling plain, with a small dirt path, that led to the nearest city, Manehatten. There wasn't much cover that way, but it was much safer. Once the two got to Manehatten, they would be safe among the crowd.

The princess frowned. Her decision could lead to her and Rarity's death, or lead to the avoidance of such. At times like this, Luna really wished her mother was around. She was the only one of her family who really appreciated her. She understood Luna when she was engulfed with rage, and tried to stop Celestia. The princess of the sun responded with her usual tactics, which was the murder of her own mother. Luna's father was never of real royal blood, and had long ago fled her mother and herself. The king, Galixor, didn't care for Luna. She was alone, and had always been alone sense then.

Rarity suddenly spoke up, "If we travel by night, we shouldn't come across any pony. Even if we did, what would be the odds that it was Twilight, or Spike, or the princess herself? I think Manehatten isn't that far away, we should take the path, don't you agree?"

Luna was surprised, but understood Rarity's way of thinking. She nodded. "Let's go."

The two unicorns set off onto the dirt path. Luna expected Rarity to whine about the conditions, but surprisingly she kept quiet. When the wind took up and whipped the two around in the freezing cold, Luna held Rarity close with her wings, giving her all her warmth. She had spent a thousand years on the moon, she was used to cold like this.

Rarity was grateful for the warmth, but in truth she felt very awkward. She had searched her heart, but found no loving feelings to return Luna's with. She was fearful of her, and didn't she her as anymore than a moody ruler. She might have thought of her as a friend, if it wasn't for the abuse.

Well into the night, Rarity collapsed to the ground. The moon was nearing the horizon, so it was actually early in the morning. Luna, heart filled with panic, frantically asked Rarity was was the matter.

"I'm fine," Rarity yawned. "Just... really... sleep...yzzzz" Rarity dozed off, face first into the dirt. Luna used her magic to lay Rarity in the grass, and pulled a blanket out of the bag she had slung over her back. She set it gently on Rarity, and sat down beside her. The princess of night found that even she was a little drowsy, and lied down to take a short lap beside Rarity.

"Wake up! The Great and Powerful Trixie demands it! Wake up!"

The two unicorns were awoken to the sound of very loud talking. They grumbled and looked around, confused and angry.

"Is that the princess?" a slow, deep voice almost lulled the two back to sleep.

"Who's this pony she's with?" a shrill one pierced their ears and had them almost sitting straight up.

"Be quiet, you two! Hey, they're getting up. Hello? About time. The Great and Powerful Trixie hates to be kept waiting."

Luna frowned at the trio in front of her. "Who are you?" She asked.

The blue unicorn rolled her eyes. "The Great and Powerful Trixie, of course!"

"The most magical--" Snips started.

"--Most beautiful--" Snails continued.

"Unicorn in Equestia!" The two finished together, gesturing toward Trixie.

"Ok..." Luna drawed, staring at them. "What do you want, then?"

"You are princess Luna, right?" Trixie asked, dodging the question with another.

"Um, yes." Luna answered, cautious.

"Oh, then you're not an impostor, right?" The Great and Powerful Trixie leaned it, staring princess Luna down.

"No..."

"Good! Oh dear, where are my manners. Hello, princess." Trixie bowed down in front of Luna. Luna was shocked, no pony ever bowed down to her. Trixie straightened up. "Dear princess," she said. "I ask of you a favor. A simple favor, one that I'm sure a princess of your raw beauty and talent could pull off."

Rarity gawked at the blue unicorn. She remembered Trixie quite clearly as being a stuck up snob who thought she was the best at everything. Why was she acting so... submissive?

Luna stamered. "A... I... um... ah, ok..."

"I wish for you to teach me your magic, princess." Trixie said, leaning close to Luna. "You are obviously the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, being able to cast eternal night, even if it was only for a few days, and taking over the princess like that! Even now that you're good and all, you can raise the moon. The moon! I want to be powerful like that."

Luna stuttered "Ah, um... But..."

Rarity glared at Trixie. "Oh, stop being such a kiss up. Luna, she's a very rude and bratty pony, don't listen to her."

Trixie rounded on Rarity. "Oh you shut up! I'm not kissing up, I'm merely paying respect to the most wonderful and beautiful unicorn in Equestria!"

Rarity sniffed. "Oh, psh. Suck up."

Trixie stuck her tongue out. "Prick."

"Oh, you take that--!"

"Enough!" Luna shouted. She turned to the trio before her. "Yes, I am powerful. No, I will not teach you any magic. The situation we are in is much to urgent to stop and do things like such. My friend and I must get going, and I would prefer you leave us alone."

The Great and Powerful Trixie ignored Luna's indirect order. She followed behind the two ponies as they set off for Manehatten. "Where are you going? Why can't you teach me magic?" She asked.

"Why are you following me?" Luna mumbled, ignoring her questions.

"Because, if you can't teach me magic I could at least keep you company and help you out!" trixie answered.

"Kiss flank." Rarity murmered angrily.

Trixie frowned at her. "Anyway, where are you going?"

"Manehatten." Luna told her.

"Why?"

"We can't stay where we are."

"Why is that?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because, we just can't."

"Does it have something to do with those Ponyville murders going on?"

"Maybe."

"Are you going on an adventure?"

"I guess. Not really."

"Can I come?"

"No. Go away."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pleeeeeease?"

"No. I just said no."

"PLLLEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASE?"

"No!"

"PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEE!!??"

"NO!"

"Pretty please with cherries and sparkles on top?"

"Of fine, just shut up."

"Yay! So, what's your favorite color?"

The rest of the way down the path was filled with never ending questions. At one point, Luna asked why Trixie was asking so many questions.

"Because all I've had to talk to for the past six months are these dorks." she answered, gesturing toward Snips and Snails, who followed lovingly and loyally behind the unicorn, completely oblivious to her distaste for them. Luna sighed. She understood what Trixie felt, sort of. When one hasn't talk to anypony or anything interesting for a long while, she craves the conversation of somepony new.

Rarity mumbled angry things toward the Great and Powerful Trixie, but never really directed them aloud to her. Luna frowned. On one side of her, was the mare she loved, who didn't love her back. On the other side, was a mare who adored her and her conversation, and whom she could relate to, but she also found a tad bit annoying, and was hated by the pony she loved.

Just my luck.

Meanwhile, Twilight was very angry.

"She's gone! She's up and disappeared! Oh my stars, she knows! Do you understand what is happening, Spike? Rarity knows! She's run away, and now I'll never find her. Celestia is going to kill me! Ohh..."

Twilight Sparkle paced in a circle around Spike, who sat down, staring worriedly at her. "You know, Twilight," She said, "You could just go looking for her. I mean, you know a lot of magic, right? Maybe you could use it."

"Spike! that's a horrible... wait. No. That's a great idea!" Twilight turned and around and hugged Spike tightly. "Oooh, thank you! You're the best! Now, let's see if I can find a tracking spell..."

The next few hours were spent looking for the right spell. Finally, a few hours before sunset, they found it. The library was a mess, books covered the floor. Twilight read the chant quickly, and held up a brush that belonged to Rarity with her magic. The spell quickly pointed her in the direction of where Rarity should be, and Twilight Sparkle followed her horn.

Spike, holding on for dear life on Twilight's back as she galloped out of town, tried to keep the bag of supplies steady. Inside there were several different types of blades (Twilight wasn't sure what kind of blade would cut through a horn, so she brought all of them) a long string of rope, a gag, chloroform, and a few different types of liquid drugs kept safe in small bottles.

Twilight stopped, panting, at the top of a hill. the dirt path that led to Manehatten was very long, and streched out almost endlessly before them. A tiny glimmer in the distance was the only thing they could see besides dirt and grass. According to her spell, Rarity was already within the city. How did Applejack walk all the way to there when she was a FILLY? Twilight wondered.

"Shit," She cursed. "I'll never get her alone there! There's too many ponies around. And, it'd going to take forever to even get to the city! Hrumph." Twilight sat down heavily and angrily in the dirt, hooves folded across her chest.

Spike climbed off Twilight Sparkle's back. "Maybe we should rest for the night. Celestia can wait a couple more days, can't she?"

Twilight nodded, gingerly following Spike to the bottom of the hill. The two set up a makeshift camp a few yards away from the path. As they settled down, Twilight sighed. "Today went by pretty fast, huh?" she stated, snuggling close to her dragon to keep him warm in the cold wind.

He nodded. "Yeah. I'm kind of excited to see Manehatten, though. I've never been there." Spike yawned widely, his eyes drooping. Twilight smiled at him.

"You get some sleep, ok?" But she needn't say anything, Spike was already drifting off into slumber. Twilight carefully set a blanket over him, whispering "Sweet dreams," into his ear.

The unicorn walked a few feet from the camp, staring up at the dark sky. The moon is not usually this dark, and there should be much more stars out, she realized. Obviously Luna's work. Twilight sighed.

"I really don't want to kill her," she said aloud, to no pony in particular. "But I have to follow the princess's orders, right?" Twilight stared up at the few stars that were out, wishing they could talk back to her, tell her the right thing to do. "The princess told me that the only way to keep rule over Equestria is through violence. She has to be right, she's the princess! The princess is never wrong... right?" The young unicorn shivered as the snow began to fall more heavily, covering the ground in a shallow dust.

As she sat there, staring up at the sky, a thought slipped into her mind. I could just ignore the princess, and not kill her...

Instantly, Twilight shook her head. "No! I can't go against the princess!" she said aloud. "Equestria must be ruled by a killer to keep them under control, and the Elements must be destroyed so they aren't a threat to the Princess." she reassured herself. "Yeah, the princess knows what she's doing. I just have to follow her and ask no questions, and I'll turn out fine."

As she stood there, she suddenly felt how exhausted she was. Yawning, Twilight walked over and snuggled next to Spike, who subconsciously buried his face into her warm fur. She smiled. "Just one more," she said. "Then you won't have to help me anymore."

Gilda was pressing heavily against the bars of her cell, grinding huge gashes into her feathers and skin. She grunted and pushed as hard as she could, but they didn't give way to her weight. She flapped her wings is desperation, yet the bars held strong. Gilda cried out and fell, blood leaking from her arm and sides. "Let me out!" she screamed, crying loudly. "I'll do anything, just let me go."

She crawled into the corner, crying pathetically. Her back paw was broken and infected, and she was horribly sick with some kind of flu. She coughed up blood several times a day, and each day she grew weaker. She new she would be going soon, if Celestia didn't kill her first.

Turning to the carving of Rainbow Dash in the wall, Gilda sighed. "I'm sorry," she said. "I never meant to be so mean to you. You're not a flip flop, you're the most talented and beautiful pegasus I've ever known. I love you, Rainbow Dash. I wish I could have at least told you that before you died." Smiling sadly, she rubbed a claw over the drawing, feeling the bumps and curves. Suddenly, a surge of heavy emotion filled Gilda. She felt hate for Celestia, sadness for herself, love for Dash, and disgrace for her family. She didn't want to live int his torture for any longer, she wnated to be with Rainbow again.

Celestia told her that if she killed herself, she would make sure her body was treated with no respect. She would violate it and destroy it beyond recognition, and let it rot in a far off forest. The griffons have always had a thing about treating the dead with care. They preserved their bodies and they were buried in beautiful coffins, lined with velvet. So, this was the worst of threats to give to Gilda.

But, at this point, she just didn't care. As she stared into the eyes of her one and only love, Gilda brought her claw to her neck. She dug it in, screaming with pain, and drug it across her neck. Blood poured out of the wound, dripping down and soaking her belly. Gilda never looked away from Rainbow Dash as her life leaked form her body. The longer she stared, the more real the drawing looked. As Gilda slipped into the darkness, Rainbow Dash was there, smiling down at Gilda with love in her eyes.

"See you soon,"

Food: Out Of Order

Gilda knew she was awake. She could feel her chest moving up and down, the breath snaking in and out of her beak. She wiggled her claws, unsure of what to think. Then, the worst thought possible fluttered into her head;

"Am I still alive?"

Gilda forced her eyes open, hoping for some sort of white room or a cloudy area or something that was anything besides the stupid chambers. She saw a huge, vast, empty space. The ground was hard and soft at the same time, and streched in all directions. There were no walls, only white. White everywhere. If there was a ceiling, it went much too far up for Gilda to catch a glimpse of it. In awe, Gilda sat up and looked around.

"Good morning."

Gilda spun around. "Who said that? Where am I?" she shouted.

"I'm right here."

Slowly turning her head to follow the voice, the griffon was shocked to see another griffon standing behind her.

She was huge, several times the size of Gilda. Her wings streched out to what seemed like a length a few times larger than her own body. Her color contrasted with the whiteness of the area. It was black, black as black could get. Not a single speck, not one tiny hair, flawed her coat. Her beak was a very bright gold, it curved into a sharp looking point. Her eyes seemed small for her huge body, but their blueness seemed to strech on for infinity. She was the most beautiful thing Gilda had ever seen.

The griffon smiled. "Glad to see you're awake, finally." she said in a casual tone. "Do you remember me?"

Gilda stammered. "Ah... I... um... no..."

The magestic griffon's smile fell. She sighed deeply. "I should have thoguht so. I suppose there's more important things to teach in school now-a-days."

Gilda blinked. "Huh?" she said, quite intelligantly.

"Back in my youth, I was very well known. All the griffons worshipped me, they sacrificed themselves for me. It really was fun. As I grew older, though, and I noticed the times beginning to change, you forgot about me. You all forgot about me. I get very lonely, you know." She stared off into the distance, a sad look on her face.

Suddenly, a glimmer of understanding flashed in Gilda's mind. "She Who Shouldn't Be Named," she breathed. "The old griffon goddess of death."

"I go by Shi," she said, smiling again. "But I am glad someone remembered me. Now, time to get to buisness. The reason you are here, Gilda,"

She knows my name? Well duh, she's the goddess of death! She Who Shouldn't Be Named! Of course she knwos my name.

"Is because you cannot leave this world just yet. You have one last task to complete, then you may cross over onto the other side." Shi said.

Gilda was slack-jawed. "Uh, what? What do i have to do?"

"Ohhh, um," Shi looked around, an annoyed look on her face. "Darnit. Some stupid pony goddess of Life or whatever told me to tell you, but I think I... oh! that's it! You have to tell this Twilight girl to not kill this other pony, or something. I don't know, she said you would understand. Anyway, it's about time you get going. I got things to do, griffons to kill."

"But... but!" Gilda yelped as Shi began to cut a huge gash into the air with her claw. "I don't want... AH!" she was forced through the whole by Shi, who called "Good luck!" after her as Gilda screamed her lungs out.

She wasn't screaming her lungs out because she had just met the goddess of death who promptly pushed her through a portal back to the living world, no. Gilda was screaming because she was falling face first into a huge forest several thousand feet below her.

Wait, i have wings.

Silently hating herself for being so dumb, Gilda unfurled her large wings and was pulled back violently by the force of the air. She flew down closer to the ground, and landed in a thick branch of a large tree. She began to lick her paws, the only cat-like behavior she partakes in.

"I have to stop twilight Sparkle from killing somepony?" Gilda murmured out loud. "So, she has been killing of the Elements. I figured she was too... I don't know, dweeb-y to pull something like that off."

Silently grooming herself, Gilda thought the situation over. She had died, she knew that, and as forced back into the living realm to stop Twilight. She had no idea why some awesome Goddess of death would care what some dorky pony goddess wanted her to tell one of her own subjects, but, whatever. It's not like she could ignore Shi, Gilda would only get trapped in the living realm forever. She thought she would just convince Twilight to not kill whatever Element it was, and then go back to being dead and stuff. Yeah, that could work.

"But how the hell am i supposed to know where Twilight is?" Gilda frowned, staring at some stupid bird try to catch a bug.

"Oh, sorry," a voice boomed in Gilda's ear. "Ahem, you should be able to find Twilight around like, Mane-hatt-aaan," the voice pronounced the city's name weird, like it was some new language. "or something. I'm out, good luck." The voice obviously belonged to Shi. While Gilda was grateful for the info, she still had no idea where she was.

"Well," she said, unfurling her wings. "Nothing left to do but keep flyin' until I find some sorta city." Gilda leaped off of the tree and flew off into the horizon, a bored look on her face.

Rarity, Luna, Trixie, Snails, and Snips stood in front of a huge building. It was painted gold and silver, and looked very fancy. Rarity, of course, was in her own little world. She marveled over the shining glass door, the glittery silver handles, the smooth granite flooring inside. Luna hadn't seen such a building in all he life. Being cut out from the world for 1,000 years, the last fancy building she saw was a brick bank. Trixie was a bit self conscious, seeing all the fancy unicorns strutting about. She tightened the cape around her body, shielding out cold wind and judgmental glances. Snips and Snails were, as always, engrossed in every move Trixie made, every word she uttered.

Finally, Rarity worked up the courage to actually step inside the building, and the other four followed. The high ceiling held thousands of glittering lights that shone brilliantly down on the group. A male pony stood at a desk, humming a song to himself as he polished some sort of shiny award. He glanced up at the four, looked down at the award, then looked back up, startled.

"P-princess Luna?" He gasped. Rarity was surprised to hear he had such a girly voice, he looked so manly.

Luna blushed. "Um, hello."

"Oh, it's so wonderful to have you here, princess!" said the colt, bowing his head in respect. "What is it you want?"

"Um," Luna said, blushing even more deeply. "C-can we stay here a few nights?"

"Of course! Do you have any bags?"

"A few," Rarity answered, turning slightly to show the colt the medium sized pile of luggage Rarity and Luna had carried with their magic during the journey. The colt nodded, and clopped his hooves together.

"Bell boy, bell boy!" he called. A young and jumpy looking earth pony dashed into the room. "Take our wonderful guest's luggage up to our finest room, please."

"Yes sir!" He struggled to the elevator, trying to steady several bags on his back, and a few in his mouth.

"Come," said the colt, taking them down the opposite hallway. "This elevator is only used for our finest of visitors. It has velvet walls, and moves faster than the others. Your room is 102, on the 23rd floor. The bell boy will have your key for you. have a nice stay!" the colt smiled warmly at the ponies as they crowded into the elevator.

"I'm excited!" Trixie burst out. "We get the best room, which means the biggest, which the prettiest view! i can't wait for you to teach me some magic, Luna."

Luna frowned. "I never said I was going to teach you anything."

"Oh, but you will."

Rarity sighed. Trixie really got on her nerves, always being so bossy and needy and totally inconsiderate of others. So rude. Especially to the princess!

But... a voice in her mind whispered. Luna is less likely to get really angry and hit you if Trixie is around.

Of course. She needed her there, to keep her safe. Rarity knew it would be hard, but she'd have to deal with it. At least until she could rid of Luna's overpowering grasp on her.

Twilight and Spike stared up at the city before them. It was huge, and beautiful. The slowly dying sunlight was dark red, and bathed the whole city in fire. Lights blinked on and off, ponies called to one another and a mixture of all kinds of music drifted out from downtown. They were both in awe. Twilight took in a breath, and walked briskly into Manehatten. spike followed closely behind her, terrified of being separated from her and getting lost.

They stopped at a rickity old hotel on the edge of downtown, the steel doors held a sign that read;

"FOOD: OUT OF ORDER."

Twilight stared at it, frowning. "How can food be out of order?" she asked.

Spike shrugged. "Maybe they can't afford to make any."

The purple unicorn sighed. "This is the only place we can afford." she said, pushing open the heavy doors. The floor was a dirty carpet, and the room was empty except for an angry looking mare leaning on the front desk, chewing gum with a bored expression. "Can I help you ma'am and sir?" she droned as the two approached the desk.

"Um, can we have a room, please?" Twilight asked.

"Yep." popping a pink gum bubble, the mare slowly typed something into the computer. Twilight was sort of surprised, computers were rather rare in Equestria. Maybe Manehatten is different from Canterlot or Ponyville, though. "Room 17, first floor. Here's your key. 20 bits a day. Enjoy your stay, or whatever."

Twilight trudged off down the hall. She laughed dryly as she saw room 17 was literally the last room on the floor, and she had seen no elevators or stair cases on her walk. "Well," she sighed, sliding her key. "We'll only be here for a little bit, so I think we can handle it. Right, Spike?"

Spike nodded, but he looked sort of scared at Twilight opened the door. Almost instantly, he saw several cockroaches scuttle into the shadows. Something leaped out from sight too fast for them to see, but it looked a lot bigger than a cockroach. Turning on the light, Twilight stepped into the room and sat the bags down. The metal and glass inside of them clanked loudly, but she didn't seem to care. The unicorn flopped onto the dirty and stained bed, and almost instantly fell asleep. Spike wondered around the tiny room for a little bit, trying to find whatever animal or thing had run from then earlier. When all he found was a cat-sized hole in the wall, Spike curled up next to twilight on the tiny bed. He tried to keep from crying as his body crawled with disgust. He had always hated unclean places and bugs, it creeped him out.

After a very long time of tossing and turning and whimpering, Spike finally managed to drift into a light sleep. He dreamed of Twilight going off into a battle field, covered in armor. She told him she would be home soon, proudly carrying the helmet of her defeated opponent. Spike waited days and days for her to return, but she never did. When he finally got the courage to travel to the battle sight, he found her body rotting in the dirt.

Spike shot up, screaming, from the bed. Twilight grumbled and turned over, she had always been a heavy sleeper. Breathing heavily, Spike looked around. He grabbed for Twilight, taking comfort in the feeling of her chest rising and falling, the warm breath billowing from her nose. he sighed, and lied back down.

I wish this was over, Spike thought to himself as he tried to go back to sleep. I'm not sure if I can handle it anymore.

Reformation

Twilight prodded Spike with her hoof. "Wake-y wake-y!"

"Uuuuhg." Spike sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "What do you want, Twilight?"

"I want for you to get up! Today we are going Rarity hunting. Once we find where she is staying, and for how long, then we can begin to plot her demise." Twilight giggled to her self as she looked through the bag of weapons once again. She pulled out a few non-weaponry items like tooth brushes, mane combs, a scarf, and set them aside. "Let's see..." Twilight mumbled, staring at the needles and blades laid out on front of her. "We most likely will not get the chance to kill her today, so maybe bringing just two knives and the chloroform will be good, just in case. Okay!" she started putting the selected items into the bag, and flung it over onto her back. "Let's go."

Spike groggily followed Twilight out of the hotel and into the city. The city was very quiet; only the sound of a distant train could be heard. As the two followed the streets into downtown, Twilight stopped to inspect every shop or building they came across. They saw no hotels or bed-n-breakfasts, only small businesses or bakeries. When they reached downtown, they were surprised.

There were a lot of buildings, and all very close together. In the middle of the hoard of buildings was a wide open green space with a fountain and rose bushes. Twilight swung her head around, gaping at all the shapes and colors in the square. She plopped her behind down onto the sidewalk, and pouted. "We'll never find Rarity and Luna here!" she wailed like a young filly, stomping her hooves.

"Hey, calm down." Spike patted Twilight on the shoulder. "We'll just ask around, okay?" Spike knew that in times of great stress, Twilight got really whiny and frustrated. When he was younger, she used to get so upset she'd sometimes go into a fit and knock over all of the books on the huge shelves in their Canterlot castle. Over the years, Spike learned ways to calm her down before she got really upset.

Something deep in the back of his head squirmed. Hopefully, Twilight will never find Rarity. Spike thought. He instantly became guilty. How could he think like that? Twilight and the princess gave him an order to help murder all of the Elements, he could never go back on an order like that! Shaking his head to clear it, Spike led Twilight to the nearest store, a bakery. Twilight followed him gingerly, sniffling as if holding back tears. Spike wanted to sigh out loud at Twilight's baby-like attitude. I mean, I'm an actual baby, in dragons' terms, and I'm handling it better than her! Sometimes, Twilight really gets on my nerves.

Opening the door to the bakery, Spike was instantly flooded with a mixture of smells. Chocolate cookies were set out on counters, and cakes of all flavors were baking in the ovens. It smelled a lot like home should smell, from what Spike read in books. Twilight never baked.

A cheerful colt behind the counter waved at the two. "Well, howdy!" he said. "Would y'all care for a cookie or two? First customers of the day always get 'em free." Twilight smiled awkwardly. "No thanks," she said, stomping her hoof down on Spike's tail before he could go running off, arms extended, for the cookies. "We would just like to ask you something, if you don't mind."

The colt grinned. "Well, that's alright with me! Name's Chocolate Chip, Chip for short. What can ah do ya for?" he pulled open a small door and sat down at one of the booths, waving for Twilight and Spike to sit with him. Twilight was very uncomfortable as she sat down, but Spike was still hoping to snag a cookie while they were there, and didn't notice the awkward vibes emitting from Twilight.

"I seem to have lost my friend," Twilight said, never really making eye contact with Chip. "Her name's Rarity. She's a unicorn, about my age, with white fur and a purple curly mane."

Chip thought for a moment. "Ah think ah mighta seen a unicorn like that aroun'. Saw one that fitted yer description walkin' about with a real loud blue unicorn. Boy, was she a spectacle! She had a cape on an' was hollerin' 'bout magic and bein' great an' powerful. Sure did cause a riot."

Twilight brightened up and looked him in the eye. "Really?" she said. "Was she with anypony else?"

Chip looked around the room, trying to remember. "Uh... no, not that ah know of. Sorry, sugarcube."

Sugarcube. Spike looked up at Chip. Memories of Applejack flooded into his mind, and he almost broke into tears right there. Twilight opened her mouth to talk, but nothing came out. The two weren't sure of how to react to the word, and simply sat there in shocked silence. Thoughts swam slowly through Spike's mind.

Why am I reacting like this to a simple word? I shouldn't be this upset. I mean, Applejack was just a pony. I was never really attached to her. But... why is it so painful to hear that word come form the mouth of somepony else?

Chip glanced back and forth at Twilight and Spike. "Uh... Somethin' wrong?" he asked.

Twilight shook her head. "N-no, we just knew somepony who would call us 'sugarcube' all the time. Her name was Applejack. She... she passed on."

"Oh, ah'm sorry for yer loss. Y'all better go on lookin' for that friend of yours, ah gotta get 'ta cookin' anyway. Good luck!" Chip smiled gently at the two, and hurried into the kitchen and checked on the cooking food. Twilight called goodbye and walked slowly from the building.

"Spike." she said sharply, turning to him. "Both you and I know how we reacted in there to Chip saying 'sugarcube'. We both know that's not good at all. Applejack was the very first one to go, the least important of all of the Elements. Let's both make a promise now, to each other, to not let ourselves begin to feel any sort of feeling for the fallen Elements. They were weak, they had flaws. Okay, Spike? Do you promise to not let yourself or me feel sorrow for the Elements of Harmony?"

Spike's lip quivered. Deep down inside of his mind, a tiny voice screamed 'No!' His stomach turned and flipped, his brain doing cartwheels. Should he just say yes, or say how he really feels? I don't want to do this anymore! I want to sit down and cry for all of the ponies I've lost, I want to pay them the respect they deserve! Why can't I just tell her that?

"Spike? Spike, answer me. Spike!" Twilight stomped her hoof angrily. "Do you promise?"

"N...NO!" Squeezing his eyes shut, Spike screamed at the top of his lungs. He breathed heavily, a tiny flicker of fire escaping his nostril. "I won't do this anymore, Twilight! It's... It's just not right! The princess is wrong!" Heavy tears fell from hs face as he turned to run away, splattering the sidewalk.

Twilight reached out a hoof to stop him. "Spike, wait--"

"Don't touch me! I... I hate you! You're disgusting! Leave me alone!" Spike fled from Twilight, running blindly through the city. He had no idea where he was going, but anyway would be better than with her.

Twilight Sparkle stared after Spike. She was shocked beyond words. "He was so helpful," she murmured. "Why didn't he just say something?" Her little baby dragon, whom she'd hatched on her own, and raised him for his whole life. He had never known his true parents, who were slaves of Celestia's, and had always thought of Twilight as his own mother. He rarely questioned her, and had always seemed to love her with all his heart. "He... hates me?"

Gilda held out her paws, gaping at them. The sun was rising slowly behind her, and the dark golden light that spilled over the meadow below her filled her body with color. She'd soon figured out that she was ghostly and transparent, just like in the stories. She felt herself smiling at her honey colored fur. It looked really cool, she had to admit. Gilda imagined ponies and animals looking up to see a golden and regal griffon flying above them gracefully, sighing in awe. But, she knew that they couldn't see or hear her. She'd tried to ask a several different animals for directions, but they were all unresponsive.

Gilda had flown for almost 24 hours straight, but she realized she didn't feel tired or hungry. One of the side-effects of being a ghost, she guessed.

"Uhg," she groaned, flipping over on her back in mid air. "This is so boring. I mean, sunrise and sunset is cool, but i wanna find Manehatten already!" Staring up into the sky, Gilda watched as the lightness overcame the darkness. She wished she could paint of picture of this moment. The purple-black of the night and the golden caramel light of morning clashing together in the center of the sky, the moon and sun together in one moment of time. Gilda wondered why looking at the sky made her feel restless, and turned back over. She flapped her wings harder, wishing to see some sort of city sometime soon.

Suddenly, something deep in the back of Gilda's mind tugged sharply to the left. Eyes wide, she found herself turning to the South without really telling her body to do so. Frowning, Gilda tried to turn back to the West, but she couldn't. She simply could not make her body move in that direction.

"H-hey! What's gong on here?" She yelled, her body wriggling around as she tried to move it back to the direction she was flying. "Shi? Hey, tell me what you're doing to me?"

A loud sigh sounded in Gilda's ear after a few moments of silence. "Uhg, what do you want? I'm getting ready to go kill this old guy who's got the flu or whatever. "

Gilda tried to move again, her body staying rock hard, except for her wings, which flapped mechanically against her will. "I can't control myself!" she whined.

Shi's eye roll was practically audible as she sighed again. "Well, what did you call me for? I didn't do it. Probably that pony goddess trying to steer you in the right direction. Go with it, and quit calling me all the time. Gotta go, see ya."

Gilda roared in frustration. She hated how cool Shi was with everything. Frowning, she reluctantly let her wings take her in the direction that stupid pony goddess wanted them to go so bad, and let herself relax... sort of. Gilda still had no idea how she was going to stop Twilight from killing the last Element.

"She can't hear me, or see me, then how the fuck am I supposed to influence her to do anything?" Gilda's eyes furrowed in thought. "Maybe I can write stuff in dirt. Oh, what if I can like, slip into her dreams like that one horror movie? that would be so sweet!

Off in a different dimension, Shi smiled down at Gilda though a hole in space and time as she slowly sucked the life from another griffon. "She could have been a really great leader someday," she glanced down at he elderly male. He tried to tell her that he wasn't ready for the Goddess of death to take him, he had to say goodbye to his daughter. Shi wasn't one for sympathy. "Too bad she went and killed herself. Maybe I could make her my student? I am immortal, but I'd like to take a few thousand year vacation in the Horse Head Nebula sometime. Maybe she could take over. What do you think?"

"P-please, She Who Should Not Be Named, spare me just one more hour..."

Shi frowned. "That doesn't really answer my question."

"Please... I'll do anything..."

"Nah, a goddess of death's gotta do what a goddess of death's gotta do." She sucked the last bit of life from the griffon. Life, in Shi's dimension, is tangible once separated from a body. The old griffon's life was a dark red lump that felt sort of like jello. Shi gulped it down in one huge bite, his life filling her body with new energy. She left the body in the hospital bed and dissolved into the air as the griffon's relatives entered the room. She was comforted by their sobs and gasps that leaked through the portal as she settled down in her own home. "I have such a lovely job, don't I?" she said aloud.

Rarity sat on the edge of the plushy bed, the Great and Powerful Trixie sobbing heavily, her face planted in Rarity's lap. "I get that you want to be famous, Trixie, but you can't force Luna to teach you magic. As much as I dislike your rudeness to my friend Twilight Sparkle... or, my former friend Twilight Sparkle, you really do have a lovely magic act. Just don't be so rude, and you'll go very far." Rarity patted Trixie on the head, trying to comfort her.

Trixie sniffled. "I-I'm sorry, Rarity" she sat up, rubbing her puffy eyes. "You must think I'm such a cry baby."

"No," Rarity smiled. "Everypony get's in these types of moods every now and then. You just have to pick yourself up and dust yourself off."

Trixie smiled. "Thanks."

"Anytime, de--"

"RARITY? HELLO?"

Trixie and Rarity nearly jumped out of their skin.

knocknockknockknockknock. "RARITY! Are you in here?" a very familiar voice sobbed from the hotel door, tiny fists banging heavily.

Using her magic to open the door, the two unicorns watched, shocked, as Spike fell through the doorway and onto the carpet, tears streaming heavily from his face. Wary, Rarity stood up and held her self in a defensive stance. "Spike?"

Spike stood up. "R-rarity! Oh, Celestia, you're okay!" he ran to the object of his affection, hugging her front leg tightly.

"Spike? What's going on?"

Spike glanced at Rarity and Trixie. He remembered her, and all of her rudeness. Frowning, Spike looked back at Rarity. "It's a long story."

Rarity glanced at Trixie and then back and Spike, then back at Trixie. Trixie shrugged. "Luna's out buying us supplies. We got an hour or so."

"Fine," the white unicorn sat back down on the bed, still wary of Spike. She knew that he was working for Twilight, but she had a feeling that at the moment he wasn't looking for trouble.

Spike went on to hastily explain to Rarity and Trixie about Twilight's plans for the Elements. Rarity already knew, of course, but it was news to Trixie, so she stayed silent. Spike began to choke up as he neared the end, explaining how he simply could not kill anymore ponies, or hold the guilt of the ponies he's already killed on his shoulders.

"I t-tried to act strong, for Twilight, but I found myself crying myself to sleep every night. I'm such a baby... but... but... I just can't do it anymore, you know?"

Trixie gaped at the baby dragon, completely taken a-back from his story. Rarity oozed with sympathy for him, and hugged him tightly. "oh, Spike," she sighed. "I'll keep you safe, I promise. I won't let Celestia or Twilight make you do such horrid things ever again."

Spike hugged Rarity back tightly, wetting her fur with his tears. "Thank you, Rarity," he sniffled. "You have no idea how much this means to me. I won't let her hurt you, I swear."

As Rarity held Spike in a tight and tearful embrace, Rarity wondered what she'd gotten herself into. How could she defend herself against Twilight Sparkle, student of the princess, defeater of an Ursa Minor? And, how could she deal with two admirers hanging on her every word? Rarity stiffed a sigh. She'd always thought things like this happened in soap operas and novels, not to her, in the real world.

Midnight Hauntings

Twilight sat alone on the hotel bed, her as eyes dark as the night sky outside her window. Her mane was frizzy and dirty, clumps hanging into her face as she bent over the blade on her lap. She turned it slowly, the light of the moon reflecting off it and onto her chest, a long blue-grey slash.

"I can't turn back now," Twilight whispered, as if she was talking to the knife she held. "I don't need Spike. He was a brat. In the end, he would have died anyway..." She laughed dryly. "He knew too much, Celestia would have killed him. I... I'm the only one she can trust." Twilight slid the cold metal over her hoof, shivering with a mixed feeling of giddiness and nervousness.

I swear to Celestia; tonight, Rarity dies.

Moving swiftly, Twilight gathered the supplies she brought. Flinging the heavy bag onto her back, the unicorn slinked from the hotel, moving quietly down the sidewalk into the city. She stuck to the shadows, trying not to look suspicious.

The day Spike had left her, Twilight shifted into a higher gear. She searched all over the city, asked everypony she could, for Rarity. She learned that she was staying in a high class hotel in downtown, with Luna and Trixie. Smiling grimly to herself, Twilight plotted out the murder in her mind.

I'll tell her I've changed my ways, that I've realized what I've done wrong. I'll make her believe me. And then once I've got her alone, I'll knock her out. I'll do the same with Trixie and Luna. Then, I'll use my magic to take them back here and get rid of their horns. After that... the fun can begin.

Twilight tried to stifle a fit of manic giggles, holding her hoof to her face. She snorted loudly, causing the heads of the few other ponies wandering the streets to turn. Embarrassed, Twilight blushed and scurried down the alley, scolding herself for attracting attention. She peered from around a corner, the golden building in view.

She glanced down and up the street and hurried into the building. Grinning at the clerk, Twilight shuffled into the hallway, being careful to not make the metal in her bag clanked too loudly.

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

Twilight stopped dead, scowling at the floor. "Yes?" she plastered a polite smile on her face and stuck her head from around the corner.

"Are you staying here, or meeting up with a friend?" the colt leaned on the desk, looking skeptically at the unicorn.

"I have a friend upstairs. I was just gonna go and check on her."

"Mm." he looked Twilight up and down, pausing on her bulgy bag and her dirty mane. "Have a nice night, then."

Twilight grinned at him and scurried back into the hallway, pushing the button for the elevator impatiently. As she rose slowly into the building, Twilight flicked her tail back and forth as she thought. Is my magic strong enough to teleport them all the way to my hotel room? Will somepony hear them if they scream? Do I know a spell that will make the room soundproof? Are my blades sharp enough to cut off a horn? What if I fail? Will Celestia put me in the chambers?

Ding!

The elevator stopped abruptly, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts. She stepped out into the hallway, breathing in the smell of cleaning products. As she prowled down the quiet hallway, the unicorn searched for room 102. She remembered the other night when she asked the mare at the counter for the room number.

"Rarity, her name's Rarity. Can you tell me what room she's staying in?"

"Um... yeah, just a sec. Did you forget your room number or somethin'?" the mare had asked, typing slowly on a sleek looking computer. Twilight stared at it, mesmerized in its milky whiteness.

"Uh, I wanted to visit my friend. She's staying here."

"You're friends with Princess Luna?" The mare looked up at Twilight.

"...No, I'm friends with Rarity, she's the pony who's friends with the princess." Even though it was true, it sounded like a lie even to Twilight.

"Oookay... that's room 102 floor 23. Have a nice stay." The mare watched Twilight nod and slip into the hallway. What she didn't see was Twilight sneak out a back door, galloping back home to set up her plan.

"Room 102," Twilight whispered, staring at the door. She took a deep breath, and knocked her hooves lightly on the door, four times.

Whispers and murmurs could be heard from the other side. The door shook slightly as somepony leaned on it to look into the peephole at Twilight, who was smiling awkwardly.

"What do you want?" said a voice. Twilight couldn't tell who it was; she wasn't very familiar with it.

"I've come to talk to Rarity. I... I have to explain to her that I'm not what I seem."

More whispers. Somepony stomping their hooves. The door rattled again.

"Go on." This time, the voice was familiar.

"Rarity! Rarity, oh thank goodness you're alright. Listen, I know that you know I killed the others. But you have to understand... Celestia made me. When Spike left me, it made me realize the horrible things I've done. R-rarity, I feel awful. I need you to believe me; I really need to be comforted right now. I promise I won’t hurt you. Please." Twilight leaned against the door, forcing tears from her eyes. She tried to make it as real looking as she could, but she had no idea if Rarity would buy it or not.

"Rarity, she's acting." The voice sounded hurt and angry at the same time. The sound of it rocketed straight into Twilight's heart like an arrow, piercing her with emotion.

"Spike?" Twilight's shock was genuine. "Spike? Is that you? Spike, are you okay? I'm so sorry, sweetie. I... I miss you... it's you that made me change my mind. Spike, honey, I'm like your mother, remember? I love you. Please believe me."

Twilight sat huddled against the door, sobs shaking her body. Some of them were real tears of frustration and desperation for Rarity to believe her, some were false, and others were of relief to hear that Spike was alive. Deep down, Twilight knew she wouldn't be able to cope with Spike leaving her. She loved him like a son, no matter what.

"You killed them, Twilight. You killed our friends. Do you really expect me to just let you in?" Rarity's voice was tight with anger and emotion.

"What can I do to prove it to you, Rarity?" Twilight stared up into the peephole, wondering if she was making eye contact with the unicorn.

Rarity was silent for a moment. "...Pinkie Pie swear."

What? Seriously? Alright then, this'll be easy. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Twilight followed the motions of the swear, but this time was more careful about stopping her hoof just before it hit her eye. "I promise I'm telling the truth, Rarity. Please, let me in."

"Rarity, don't--"

Spike's voice was cut off by a rattling of chains and turning of locks. The door opened widely to show Rarity's emotionless face. "Come in and explain yourself." she said coldly.

Twilight slipped in, staring at the room. It was huge and very fancy, a large TV hanging on the wall and several realistic paintings of oceans and flowers hung up around it. On the bed, Luna stared at Twilight, anger and distrust in her eyes. Her tail flicked back and forth, hitting the bed with quiet thump... thump... thumps . Trixie was standing not far from the princess, her expression showing that she was confused. Snips and Snails were peeking out from behind her legs like she was their mother, innocent and afraid looks on their faces.

Plastering on another smile, Twilight turned to Rarity and Spike. "Spike left me saying that the princess is wrong, and that what I'm doing is wrong. At first I didn't understand. I thought that whatever the princess said must be true, she's the princess! But... now I see where I was wrong. I wish you both would forgive me... I was only following orders... I now, too, mourn for the deaths of the Elements."

Spike frowned at Twilight. "Why'd you bring the bag?"

Twilight shrugged it off her shoulders, letting it fall heavily to the floor. "It's an offering... I guess. I brought it to give it to you, so you can do whatever you want with what's inside. You can destroy it. It's no longer in my hooves, I have nothing to attack or defend with. "

"Except your magic." a voice piped up from the back of the room. Twilight turned, and saw it was Trixie. A voice she had forgotten. "You can defeat an Ursa Minor, what would stop you from defeating us?"

The purple unicorn blinked. "I... I don't know. All I can tell you is that I promise I won't try to."

"Even if she did, Trixie," Luna spoke now, her voice very level and cool. "I doubt she could overcome us. It's five unicorns against one."

As Luna said that, Twilight realized for the first time it was true. They were all unicorns. Shoot... I should have planned this better. Now, I don't even have my chloroform! "What she says is true. But really, you don't have to worry. I won't hurt you." Twilight was becoming more desperate for them to believe her.

Rarity stared her down, her face unchanging. Twilight noticed her hair was limp and was entering a more natural looking curly state. It fell around her face and brushed just above her knees. It curled slightly, reminding Twilight of Fluttershy's mane. While her expression seemed stone cold, the purple unicorn saw a mixture of emotions in her eyes. Anger, hurt, fear. "Twilight... I trusted you. I listened to you; I went to therapy like you told me to. I held onto your every word, because you were my last friend. You were so precious to me... but now I know that you killed them. When I was locked away in a mental hospital you were murdering ponies left and right. I let you inside of this room, but I'm not ready to let you inside of my heart. Please go, maybe I'll talk to you again tomorrow."

Twilight's mouth was open slightly. Rarity's words echoed in her mind, ricocheting back and forth. At this point, her murder would be a blessing. She seems so broken... "Of course, Rarity. I'll be on my way." Twilight dipped her head to the ponies and dragon. She caught eye contact with Spike, but he only returned her apologetic look with a frown and eyes full of disgust.

The door slammed behind Twilight, nearly hitting her behind. As she walked down the hallway, her head low, Twilight suddenly felt alone. She'd never really felt like this, even before she met the other Elements. She'd always had Spike or her books. Now, she had brought no books, and Spike had left her. All but one of the Elements had been murdered by her command, and the last one hated her. Twilight knew that it shouldn't matter to her, but it did. She tried to turn her thoughts on other things as the elevator sank to the bottom floor slowly, but her mind kept turning back. How would she get Rarity alone? How would she knock her out if she left her bag of drugs with the enemy? Why did she even do that? I should have left it at the hotel. I'm so stupid! Maybe I should just give up...

Twilight fought her emotions as she stumbled toward the ratty excuse for a hotel; several ponies stared at her like she was insane. The worst part was, Twilight was beginning to believe that she was going insane.

"Rarity, do you realize what sort of danger you just put us all in!?" Spike was seething with anger, not even stopping to wonder if he might hurt his crush's feelings. "She could have killed us all!"

Rarity blinked at Spike. "But there's five unicorns against one." she murmured.

Spike shook his head. "You have no idea what kind of raw power Twilight has. Her special talent is magic itself! Celestia trained her to be the strongest she can possibly be, and that's extremely strong. Trust me, Rarity. Twilight doesn't know it, but she's defiantly strong enough to have princess Celestia put up a fight. The princess has trained her to doubt her skills so that she would never try to overthrow her, but she is strong enough for Celestia to use for her own good."

Luna nodded. "Celestia used to send me letters when I was one the moon, to keep me sort of updated. They were usually very rude and tried to make me feel left out, but I sort of enjoyed in information I got out of them. In one, she told me she had taken a student under her wing. She said she is training her to become stronger than herself one day, stronger than either of us ever could be. She wants her to become an even more brutal tyrant than her. It makes me sad to think that her powers will be used for evil, when they could bring so much good."

Rarity sighed, her eyes staring off into the distance. "I... I just want to be alone, okay? I need to think."

The others nodded and moved to the living room. Luna nuzzled Rarity's neck gently as she passed. "If I could, I would make sure you'd never have to deal with things like this. Remember; don't think about it too much. It will get to you, dig a hole in your mind, and plant an idea there that will never go away. Someday in the future, Twilight might turn out to be good, and you'll be unhappy when you realize you'll be incapable of letting it go." Rarity watched as Luna left, the door closing softly behind her.

She crawled onto the bed, burying her face into he pillow. Swimming in her thoughts, tears leaked onto the soft cushion. I just don't know what to think. I've got all of these nice ponies around me, but I feel so empty. Rarity looked out the window at the night sky. The stars speckled across deep blue-blackness made her feel very, very small.

Dilemmas Undone

Gilda sat perched on the edge of a dusty bed, watching Twilight pace back and forth. It felt weird for her to be in the same room but unnoticed by the unicorn. Shuffling her feathers uneasily, the griffon sat in silence, listening to Twilight talk frantically to herself.

"Spike's so stupid. I mean, I shouldn't doubt the princess because of him; he's just too young to understand. When this is all over, if the princess doesn't kill him, then I'll try to explain it to him. That stupid infant can't see anypony besides Rarity. It's pathetic." Twilight stopped and abruptly sat down on the floor, holding her hooves to her temples. "Argh... I've got the worst headache. I wish I could just kill the mule and get this over with."

Gilda shifted her weight between her talons. She wasn't sure how to communicate with the unicorn, but she knew she had to find out a way. As she watched Twilight rub her temples slowly and quietly, an idea struck the griffon. She had read stories about ghosts whispering to the living; maybe it was possible for her to do it. Gilda leaned towards Twilight and let out a tiny breath, “Hello.”

"What was that? Who's there?" She jumped to her hooves, too shocked to even start some sort of defense spell. "Show yourself!" she shouted, her voice cracking.

Gilda grinned. So, she can hear me. “I’m your conscience, Twilight. You can only hear me when you’re under a lot of stress.”

Twilight slowly sat back down, but stayed extremely cautious. “Oookay… if you’re my conscience, then what do you think I should do?” She asked aloud, glancing around the room.

“Twilight, if you look deep down into your heart, you’ll realize what choice is the better. The princess can’t always be right, and right now she is in the wrong. You don’t want to admit that to yourself yet, but I know it’s true,” Gilda paced around the pony, trying hard to plant the idea deeply into Twilight’s mind.

“N-no… you’re wrong. Princess Celestia must be right. She’s always right. She’s the princess!” Twilight shook her head. “She’s trained for thousands, maybe millions, of years. There is no way she could make such a huge mistake. It doesn’t make sense.”

Gilda frowned. Why is she so stubborn? The princess has brainwashed her so much she can't even get it through her head that murder is wrong. If the princess said frogs could fly, I bet she'd believe it, too. “You’ve been taught to believe her, Twilight, but you must learn to question her. You can’t lean on the princess forever. You have to make your own choice.”

Twilight Sparkle was silent for a moment, and Gilda almost thought she was starting to believe her. But, the silence was broken as the pony stood back up. “I disagree. I’ll always have the princess. Besides, I’ve come this far…”

Gilda heard the falter in Twilight’s voice. She saw the uncertainty in her eyes. Nodding once, even though she knew Twilight couldn’t see her, Gilda began to back towards the door. “You think about this, Twilight. Decide what you think is right.” The griffon turned and passed through the door silently and down the hall. She sighed as she passed the snoozing pony at the front desk and muttered to herself, “I can’t stay like this for eternity. Please, Twilight, make the right choice.”

Sighing, Twilight ran her hooves over the rough wood of the bed frame as she climbed into the covers. The earlier situation confused her and left her worried for her own sanity. She wasn't sure of what to believe, but one, tiny, almost silent voice kept slipping in and out of her mind. Like the voice that claimed to be conscious early had flipped some sort of switch, causing a small part of her to defy everything she knew.

"You don't have to kill Rarity," It whispered. The princess needs to be overthrown. She's a tyrant. A murderer."

Twilight's head sank into the flat, uncomfortable pillow. Another voice, one much louder, fought to keep what she had known and believed for so many years alive.

"The princess wouldn't lie to you, what she makes you do is for the good of Equestria. Any good leader would do the same in her position. It's just one last kill, then you can take a break. Yeah, you'll miss Spike, but the princess will make you new friends. Better friends. Less annoying friends."

The unicorn rolled over onto her side. The beige wall she looked at was covered in stains and spots, looking like mocking and twisted faces in the gloom. As she lay there curled up into a ball, body shaking with confused and frustrated sobs, sunlight filtered in through the dirty window. Twilight could imagine the princess rising into the sky, her powerful magic taking the fiery ball up with her. She wondered, groggily, what the princess was thinking at the moment. Was she annoyed that Twilight hadn't finished yet, or was she proud with how far she'd come? Or was she thinking about somepony else, somepony more important...?

The unicorn sighed and closed her eyes as the room turned to a dirty honey color. She had grown up worshiping the princess, following the princess, believing the princess. And now, everypony was telling her to turn on the princess? The thought of Celestia's long, flowing hair and tall, graceful body filled Twilight's mind. "Come, student," the hazy Celestia in her mind's eyes whispered, her voice heavy with lust. "It’s time for your lessons."

Twilight shook her head. Now is no time for fantasies. I told myself long ago that my love for the princess is childish and very unlikely to ever turn into the real thing. Gosh, Twilight, focus. She rolled over onto her back, looking up at the ceiling. She had to make a choice. Right now.

But she couldn’t.

Yawning, Twilight decided to sleep on it. She pulled the covers around her tightly and closed her eyes. Sleep would help. It would give her brain time to relax.

…

Twilight couldn’t sleep. She tossed and turned, she counted sheep and recited half of the Hoofington Dictionary to herself, but nothing helped. She leaped out of bed with a burst of energy and looked into the dirty cracked mirror on the wall.

Twilight truly was a mess. She briskly combed her hair down, wiped the grim off her fur, and was out the door before she could stop herself. Twilight was going to talk to Celestia.

Another day and several train rides later, Twilight Sparkle was finally knocking her tired hooves on the princess’s bedroom door. The guards had let her in immediately, but Twilight couldn’t tell if it was out of respect or fear.

A golden cloud shimmered around the door handle and it swung open. “Twilight Sparkle,” said the princess. “I’ve been expecting you. Come, sit with me.”

Twilight blushed deeply as she stepped into the room. Celestia was lounging on her huge bed, dressed in a delicate royal nightgown. Her long hair fell like a waterfall over the side of the bed, and her tail draped elegantly over her legs. Her eyes were half closed and a knowing smirk sat upon her lips. Her hoof beckoned Twilight towards her. Just around the corner of the bed several bottles of wine could be seen, but Twilight didn’t worry about those. All her life, she had dreamed of a scene like this. Her horn and backside tingled as she grew slightly aroused, but she pushed the feeling back down.

“Princess,” Twilight said urgently as she slowly approached Celestia. “We have to do something about Rarity and the others now. I tried to trick them into trusting me but I only lost my weapons, and I need your help to get this over with. I… I think I’m starting to go a bit batty from the stress.”
Celestia laughed long and loud, punctuated at the end by a hiccup. “Oh, Twilight, you’re always so practical. Have some fun why don’t you? C’mon… Take a break…” Celestia began to slip off the bed, moving like a wildcat hunting it’s prey. She snaked up to Twilight and circled her.

“P-princess, this is serious…” Twilight stammered, her blush deepening.

“Oh hush,” Celestia purred. “I know you’ve always wanted this. I’m d-hic-unk, don’t you want to take advantage of me?”

Yes, oh Celestia yes! “Princess! That’s absurd. I’m trying to talk to you about the last Element, Raritiiiieeehhhh… oh, Princess….” Twilight’s train of thought crashed and burned as Celestia began to nose at her student’s flank. “S-stop, you know I’m sensitive…”

Celestia giggled. “That’s exactly why I’m doing it!”

Twilight shook her head. This isn’t real. I’ve seen her do this to the guards all the time when she’s drunk. “Celestia, stop. I’m being serious.”

Celestia paused. Twilight never called her by her first name alone. She stared down at her student’s soft, purple flank and realized what she was doing. She sobered up quickly and stood up straight. “Ah… ahem, sorry, Twilight…” She said, turning away to hide her embarrassment. “That was… extremely unprofessional.”

Twilight nodded. “That’s okay, princess,” she said as she helped Celestia back to her bed, as she was still mostly drunk and had a bit of trouble walking. “Listen, though. I need help. I—“

“Sh. I already know everything that has happened. I watch you closer than her may –hic- think.” The princess said, helping her hoof out to keep Twilight from speaking. “I already know what we’re going to do.”

Twilight blinked. “What?” she asked.

“For as long as time itself, there have been set rules for war between princesses. To issue the war, one princess must call for an eclipse. If the other princess accepts, then they meet on the battlefield. Only, the princesses don’t fight. They have their own armies fight on the fields before them as they use their magic to fight for control of the sky. Each princess commands the moon or sun to raise higher and higher. Whoever can push the other’s element back into the horizon wins.” Celestia gestured toward a large painting over her fireplace. “That is a painting of the last war, 1,000 years ago. The war against Nightmare Moon.”

Twilight walked over to the painting and looked it over in awe. The painting showed a grey wasteland stained with dark reds of wounded warriors. On each end were large stone gazeboes with intricate patterns.
“Why do warriors have to fight on the battle field?” Wondered Twilight.

“It symbolizes the warrior’s need to protect their princess. Without them, anypony could come up and assassinate a princess while she was distracted.”

“Oh,” said Twilight. “But why are you telling me this? You don’t mean to say that you are planning to start one of these wars, do you?”

“Yes, I do. It is the simplest way. You can kill Rarity on the battlefield and I can defeat Luna, and hopefully that will keep her quiet for a while.” Celestia glanced up at the afternoon sun in her skylight. “I can’t kill her myself. I need help of all the Elements, and the last ones were too weak.”

“What about me, Princess? Am I weak?” Twilight asked.

“Of course you’re not!” Celestia said, a shocked look on her face. “Twilight, do you really think you’d be my student if I thought you were weak?”

The purple unicorn looked back at the painting. “I suppose you’re right.” She stifled a sigh. Something about what the princess had just said made Twilight feel a bit… sad. Alone. Like the princess only saw her for her power. “So, are you going to summon an eclipse?”

“Not until nighttime. Unless Luna sends out an eclipse first, that is.” Celestia glanced at Twilight and saw the unhappiness in her eyes. “Twilight, why don’t you come down to the chambers with me? I have a pony starving down there, and I think that I’ll let you use up the last bits of her time here. I’ll let you pick the torture device this time!”

A month or two earlier, that would have sounded fun to Twilight. But, now, it only disgusted her. “Not now, Princess. I think I’m going to go to my room.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll call for you when It’s time to summon the eclipse.” Celestia held open the door for her student. “And, uh, sorry again. About earlier.”

Twilight smiled at her. She sort of liked Celestia when she was a bit drunk, she was softer, nicer. “That’s okay, Princess. It’s in the past.”

Twilight Sparkle’s sleep was shattered when suddenly there came a tapping upon her chamber door. Or more like a sharp BANG, BANG, BANG!
Yawning, Twilight stumbled to the door and opened it. A tall royal guard stood there, a serious look set on his face. “Twilight Sparkle, the Princess requests your presence at her bedchamber immediately. He said in s gruff voice.

“Thank you, sir.” Twilight said, bowing her head slightly in respect. The guard nodded and marched off to wherever royal guards march off too, and Twilight drifted down the hall to Celestia’s room.

The door swung open before Twilight even had a chance to knock, and Celestia pulled her in, locking the door behind her. “Princess, why--”

“Hush!” Celestia cut Twilight off. “We need to prepare. My warriors are already gathering. Push all the furniture to the edges of the room.

“But, why did—”

“It’s part of the tradition for the princess to be secluded with the one she trusts the most. Get to work!” Celestia bolted from the room and into her large closet.

Twilight frowned and pushed all the furniture to the walls in neat rows using her magic. As she squeezed the last cushion into a row, Celestia emerged from her closet in an intricate outfit. Her hooves her covered by her usual horseshoes, only long golden vines curled out of them and up around her legs. Glimmering yellow armor adorned her torso and neck, and on her head a thick headdress. Her horn emitted from it in stark white contrast, and the whole sight left Twilight dazzled. “Princess, I…”

“Hush, we have to start.” Celestia trotted to the center of the room, and forced the skylight open with her magic. A cold nighttime breeze rolled in and caused Twilight to shiver, but the solar princess stayed completely still. She closed her eyes and her horn turned gold. She was stone still, but Twilight could see the struggle in the sweat forming on her brow. Slowly, the moon peaking through the skylight turned an orange color. As the color faded, Celestia let out a burst of air and toppled over, Twilight rushing to her side. “Water,” the princess croaked.

“How do you know if Luna as excepted it?” Twilight asked as she brought a cup of water to Celestia.

Celestia gulped down the whole glass quickly. “She sets the moon and stars. They’re cannot be a source of light in the sky during a war between princesses.” She explained. “It will be very dark for a while.”

Twilight wondered how other ponies would react to sudden perpetual darkness. Maybe most of them are asleep, though.

“Twilight, look!”

Twilight looked up at the skylight. The moon was sinking down lower into the horizon, and the stars fell too. Like a million teardrops, falling back to ground.