The Darkness Never Dies

Pinkie, noticing Rainbow's quickening approach, decided on exterminating Applejack right then and there without any further delay. "And here I was, Applejack, thinking I could have some fun with you before your death." Pinkie burst into a fit of giggles, continuing to advance menacingly on the farmpony. "Oh well, I guess Dashie ruined that, didn't she? No worries, though! You'll die knowing that one of your best friends was with you when you did!"

Applejack backed up even further, only to hit a solid wall. What? Ah backed mahself into a dead end! Beads of sweat starting to drip down her forehead, she could see Pinkie growing on her, her insane grin even wider than normal. "Pinkie... please, ya've gotta stop! Can't ya see what yer doin' is just madness?"

Pinkie narrowed her eyes. "Madness?" she echoed. "No, I don't think so, Applejack. I'm doing what's best for Rarity right now, don't you see? I'm going to make everything right again by avenging her, and I'm going to do that by murdering everypony in Ponyville until Rarity's killer admits to killing her!"

"It's not right to avenge Rarity by takin' out yer grief on other ponies! Listen to what yer sayin', Pinkie! Is this what ya would have wanted? Is this what Rarity would have wanted?" Applejack cried out in desperation.

"What... Rarity... would have... wanted?" Pinkie faltered, a mental battle once again going on within the recesses of her mind.

"You're going down, Pinkie Pie!" a familiar voice suddenly shouted just as Applejack witnessed Rainbow Dash slamming into the dark pink mare from above, sending her plummeting into a nearby wall before she had any time to react.

"Rainbow! What in tarnation are ya doin'?" Applejack exclaimed, rushing forward to restrain the pegasus and prevent her from doing any further damage to the now unconscious Pinkie.

"Applejack, can't you see she's gone crazy?" Rainbow Dash struggled against Applejack's grip; unfortunately for her, the farmpony's iron grip was too strong to be so easily rid of.

Applejack was clearly furious. "No, yer the one that's gone crazy! Couldn't ya see that the real Pinkie was tryin' to break free of whatever's controllin' her?"

Rainbow snorted in response. "Seriously? Have you been brainwashed or something? Pinkie's gone crazy because of Rarity's death! She's not being possessed or whatever you're talking about! She became a monster because she wanted to!" As soon as she'd finished saying those words, she knew she'd made a mistake; the dark expression on Applejack's face said it all.

"What... did... ya... say?" Applejack growled, tightening her grip so hard that Rainbow began to choke.

Spluttering and gasping for air, the pegasus was not able to voice a response as she struggled feebly. To her relief, as soon as black dots began dancing around her fading vision, Applejack loosened her grip. It wasn't much, but it was enough for Rainbow to at least breathe again, and that was a luxury of its own.

"Serves ya right, ya little varmint." Applejack's emerald eyes were narrowed dangerously, causing Rainbow to tremble in terror at the sight of her; she had never before witnessed this side of Applejack. As a matter of fact, she was certain that none of her other friends had ever did as well. Great, just great. I'm the lucky winner, aren't I?

"You do know," Rainbow began, choosing her words carefully, "that this kind of behavior just isn't like you, AJ?"

For a brief moment, the air surrounding them was crackling with tension as Rainbow awaited a response, dearly hoping that it wouldn't be an aggressive one like before.

Suddenly, Applejack's eyes widened as the truth behind her friend's words sank in. "Ah'm so sorry, Rainbow," she mumbled, adjusting her Stetson so that it covered her guilt-ridden face completely. "Ah just... lost control of mahself. It hasn't happened to me in a long time."

"Huh? What'd you mean by that?" Rainbow folded her wings - which had flared out instinctively when Applejack had almost choked her to death - as a perplexed expression formed on her face.

Applejack, unable to meet Rainbow's eyes, quickly averted her gaze. "It's a long story, Rainbow. Trust me when Ah tell ya that you really don't want to hear it."

Rainbow, being the pony she was, did not surrender that easily. "Just tell me, AJ! We're friends, aren't we? If you've got a dark secret, then a friend's what you need to help you open up! Besides, I guess you could consider it an apology for, well, trying to choke me to Tartarus."

The farmpony let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Rainbow, listen to me. Ya don't wanna hear this, ya got me?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "What, you mean that you're not actually sorry for choking me?"

"Ah am sorry, okay? Just... just forget about all this," Applejack answered, irritated.

"Seriously, AJ-" Rainbow Dash's words trailed off as a moan from behind her caught both ponies' attention. She whirled around to find Pinkie Pie pushing herself to her hooves, the confused expression on her face clearly indicating that she was still dazed from the impact of crashing into a wall headfirst.

"Ugh," Pinkie groaned, massaging her head. The pain she had felt moments before was slowly subsiding, as did the haze that enveloped her vision.

"Oh goody," Applejack muttered under her breath, tipping her Stetson down even further.

"Hey, um, Pinkie? Are you... you?" Rainbow gulped as Pinkie stared directly at her.

"Dashie?" Pinkie blinked rapidly, her vision finally clearing.

"Oh um, hey, Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow chuckled nervously, her senses on the alert in case her friend made any sudden movements.

Slowly, everything came back to Pinkie as memories from before she'd went unconscious surfaced once again. Her expression shifting to one of intense hatred, she growled, "Oh, that's so not funny, Dashie. You knocked me out before I could finish off Applejack!"

Applejack - having noticed Pinkie's sudden change of mood - immediately made frantic hoof gestures at Rainbow Dash, willing her as hard as she could to understand what she was implying.

Unfortunately for the farmpony, her attempts were futile as her pegasus friend merely shook her head and once again directed her attention to Pinkie Pie.

"You don't want to keep doing this, Pinkie. Just don't."

"And what can you do stop me, Dashie? I can do anything I want! I'm Pinkamena Diane Pie!"

"You're nothing but a monster!" Rainbow Dash snapped, not even acknowledging the fact that Pinkie had just said her full name. "You're just being a bucking evil pony! Can't you see that or are you just so blind right now?"

An awkward silence ensued.

"I'm a monster?" Pinkie repeated slowly, her eyes beginning to narrow. "You don't know what you've got yourself into, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash froze in place, knowing from past experiences that whenever Pinkie said her full name like that, she was utterly serious. This is really, really bad, the rainbow-maned pegasus thought to herself.

"Pinkie, please, calm down! This isn't like you! We need the old you back!" a shaking voice cried out as a familiar yellow pegasus landed in front of Applejack, her turquoise eyes filled with misery.

"Fluttershy?" Applejack and Rainbow Dash exclaimed in unison.