A beautiful misty moon dipped beneath the horizon. The starlight over Equestria, ever breath taking, shown bright and clear in the warm night sky. Daylight, the first hints of morning, gave a subtle purple blush to the horizon to the east. It was going to be a glorious day. In her bed, surrounded by half finished books, Twilight Sparkle was already awake. She was so excited!
The past few months had been dreary. Though she'd had plenty of opportunities to catch up on her reading, her friends had seemed to be drifting out of her life one by one. Rainbow Dash had unexpectedly returned to Cloudsdale for some intensive training and had been gone for months. Fluttershy had eventually missed her oldest friend so much that she'd gone to join her. She hadn't heard any word from either of them in sometime.
Rarity on the other hand had been in active correspondence with her from Manehattan where she'd been engaged in a fashion show in the big city. What was exciting at first had become heartbreaking, as letters from Rarity had become less and less frequent and obviously hastily written. Even Applejack, so attached to hearth and home, had wondered away to the town of Appleloosa to help with some strange problem with the trees out there. Of all her close friends only Pinkie Pie stuck to Ponyville and even she seemed busy at all hours with her typical Pinkie Pie smile on her face.
But today, after so many long months, she'd finally be re-united with all her friends! Pinkie Pie had sent her an invitation with sparkling gold leaf and lots and lots of glitter to a special surprise party with all her friends! Twilight Sparkle wasn't sure who the surprise was for, but she looked forward to the happy reunion and all the stories her friends would have to tell. This was going to be the best day ever!
Unable to wait a moment longer, Twilight Sparkle hopped out of bed. For a moment she thought about waking up Spike, but imagined the baby dragon would only be cranky. It would be better to let him sleep. Being as quiet as she could, she closed the door behind her and bounded into the fresh morning air. She hurried down to Sugarcube Corner. Though the Bakery wouldn't be open yet, she was sure Pinkie Pie would be up making preparations for the party. Twilight wasn't sure where that pony got all her energy.
Going around back to where the kitchens were, the excited filly let herself in, not wanting to wake anyone that might still be asleep by knocking. The smell of baked bread and sugar almost overwhelmed her and her stomach started to growl. Twilight smiled sheepishly. Maybe she should've had breakfast before rushing over here. A clatter of hooves startled the young pony and she whirled. "Oh, you're here early Twilight!" It was her good friend Pinkie Pie, Twilight let out a sigh of relief, she couldn't help but smile broadly with excitement at the sight of her friend. "I just couldn't wait Pinkie! I'm sorry I'm so early. Are any of the others here yet?" Pinkie batted her eyelashes and smiled slyly. "Silly, all our friends are here! They've been helping me set up for the party. Making streamers, party hats, balloons and cupcakes! They've been so helpful, come on, I'll take you to them!"
Pinkie led the way to one of the rooms she tended to use for her parties. It was still pitch black which seemed odd to Twilight. Maybe it was part of the surprise. Maybe the surprise was for her! The filly could barely contain herself when Pinkie suddenly turned on her and looked her deep in the eyes. "But First! You must be hungry, have a cupcake!" Before Twilight could think a warm delicious baked morsel was shoved into her mouth. It tasted a little...off, but Pinkies cupcakes often did. She needed to talk to this pony about how much sugar she was putting into her baked goods. Suppressing a sputtering cough, Twilight thanked Pinkie and swallowed the warm lump feeling it trace a path down her throat to her empty stomach. She had to admit, it hit the spot, even if she usually preferred Muffin's for breakfast.
The pink pony laughed lightly and skipped ahead leading the way into the darkened room. Twilights eyes were starting to adjust to the gloom and she could see the silhouettes of a few Ponies standing around a table piled with food. The sweet smell had a sickly edge in this room. Something about the smell made Twilights eyes heavy. Pinkie's laughter seemed to come from all around the room as Twilight lost her footing and started to stumble, she gasped "What...what's going on?" In a flash Pinkie Pie was next to her, airy breath tickling Twilight's ear. "Surprise!"
Twilight's head hurt. There was a noise just at the edge of her hearing. It might've been voices, it might've been the buzzing of a gnat. There were softer noises too, but those would have to wait. She tried to focus on the distant voices, straining to hear those sounds which became much clearer as the little filly awoke fully. Twilight didn't even remember falling asleep. "I dunno sugarcube, I think you may've over done it with the surprise." Applejack? Was Applejack here? "Yeah, I mean don't get me wrong I love the idea, but when are we gonna see some action? I'm tired of just sitting around!" That sounded like it might be Rainbow Dash, but there was a strange rustling whenever she spoke.
Twilight finally managed to force her eyes open. Though it was still dark the sudden rush of light into her eyes was like an ice pick in her brain. As near as she could tell she was sitting with two or three other ponies at a table strewn with party favors and food. It all smelled good but the stench beneath it was growing stronger by the second. Grimacing Twilight tried to speak. "Applejack? Rainbow Dash? What's going on?" At that moment Pinkie pie jumped up at the end of the table between the other two ponies. "Oh good, you're awake! Rainbow Dash was starting to get bored!" There was a slight movement to her left as the rainbow haired Pegasis pony spoke, "I sure was, but now things just got about twenty percent cooler!" This was accompanied by a sound like dry leaves and a fresh gust of putrid air. "Dash? Are you okay? Your voice sounds wrong." At that moment the lights fully came on. Twilight gaped in horror unable to believe her eyes.
"Oh she's much better than okay!" The dried mask that used to be Dash's face fell off of her bleached skull with a dry plop onto the table, "Well, she would be if she could keep herself together!" Pinkie Pie's gleeful laughter was in stark contrast to the ghastly scene before Twilight. Brightly painted pony skulls decorated the walls, intestines and ragged flesh hung from the ceiling like bloody streamers. Inflated organs swung from stings or bobbed gently on the floor, ghastly replicas of party balloons, twisting and turning so Twilight could see every glistening tube, every horrible vein. The table itself was strewn with cupcakes and pastries, each speckled with dry blood and gore, or worse, clearly contained a piece of a pony such as an ear or eyeball.
It was also clear she was the only one of her friends still alive.
Rainbow Dash, or what remained of her, was a terrible shattered thing cobbled together from bits of stitched pony hide that was wrinkled and brown around the edges. Her wings were dry, lifeless things that looked as if they'd lost most of their feathers and had to have them glued back into place. The only part of her that remotely looked the same were her mane and tail, the rest was a faceless ghoul held together with wire, empty eye sockets glaring across the table. "Applejack" on the other hand looked at least somewhat life like. Her stance was natural, but her face wasn't. Where her eyes should've been eyes were two apple halves clumsily jammed in the sockets. What was worse was that though the stitching was more subtle, it still wasn't right, and it left her face with a wide twisted grin that spoke more of agony than mirth. Twilight started to tear up seeing what had happened to her friends, but if what remained of Dash and Applejack broke Twilights heart, Pinkie Pie filled it with revulsion.
The pretty pink pony wore a dress of tanned hides, each strip of 'cloth' emblazoned with familiar cutie marks. At each shoulder she had several sets of multicolored wings, many in a worse state of decay than those on Dash's corpse. Around her neck she wore a necklace of unicorn horns, their thick ends caked in blood. Dangling just beneath Pinkies disturbingly wide grin, was Twilights own horn. There was a sudden loud noise and it was only after a few seconds that Twilight realized it was her own screams. The chair she 'sat in' she now realized had cuffs tightly secured to each of her legs and her head was secured in a brace to the headrest so she couldn't move it, the clamp on her skull preventing her from even looking away. As her eyes wondered around the room, bloodstained from floor to ceiling, Pinkie placed a hoof to her mouth silencing her shrieks. "Shhhh. It's okay, I knew you'd be surprised! But the party's just getting started!"
Pinkie Pie danced away out of Twilights field of vision. Only a few seconds later, she was back and rammed something onto Twilights head and held up a mirror. Pinkie had put a white party hat with a purple streamer on her head. With much revulsion she quickly realized that 'hat' was made of pony hide as well, the streamer a bloody wisp of tail. Pinkie nudged the preserved corpses of Applejack back and forth as she talked out of the corner of her mouth, a faraway look in her eyes. "You sure look good sugarcube! I reckon we can begin!" Pinkie shook her head. "No no no! She's early remember! We have to wait for ALL the guests to arrive before we start." But Pinkie looked thoughtful, "Then again, I guess it wouldn't hurt to start a little teeny bit early!"
Pinkie dashed away and yanked on a rope. From the above the table a heartrending sight was lowered. "No...not Fluttershy too," was all Twilight could think. The same mad taxidermy was at work on Fluttershys body, but you could tell she hadn't yet been stuffed. Where the others looked like skins draped over skeletons and stuffing, Twilights gentlest friend looked like an old rag doll that had been ill used by time. Her skin was clearly ruptured in several places, hastily stitched back in some places and left to hang limply from other popped seams. She was covered in glitter and had two buttons sown over closed eyes and a line of buttons sown over a wired shut mouth. Pinkie pie jumped on top of the table knocking off most of the ghastly 'food', already blindfolded with a baseball bat in her mouth. With sick realization, Twilight recognized that Fluttershy had been turned into a nightmarish pony-pinata. Pinkie twirled around twice and then started to swing, the bat whistling through the air and knocking off Applejacks hat, revealing a cavernous hole in the back of the dead ponies skull. Another swing and the gore stained piece of lumber came within inches of Twilight's nose. Finally with a wet thump and a popping noise the wood connected with Fluttershys bloated stomach. A sickening torrent of dark red gore, candy, and little fuzzy bodies rained down onto Pinkie Pie, the table, and Twilight Sparkle.
"Oh, I wondered why she kept bloating up! I thought I just put too much candy inside. I forgot about force feeding her parasprites!" Pinkie pie giggled, after she removed her blindfold and started rummaging through the candy and popped a bloodstained peppermint, one of the tiny insects bodies stuck to it, in her mouth. "She screams so softly, I think I may've over did it, but she's just SO sweet you know?" A soft patter of blood rained down from the now deflated corpse, a length of intestine trailing from her body lay coiled in the middle of the table. Pinkie shoved her hoof inside and rummaged around as if the tube was a damp sock, and pulled out a wad of bloodied candy and gore. "Here Twilight, open wide!" Before the purple pony could protest the wad of putrid sweets was shoved in her mouth. She responded the only way her body could. Twilight sparkle vomited, violently.
She threw up the candy, last night's dinner, and the cupcake from earlier. Unable to force her head down the filth at first coated the table and then dribbled down her chin. Pinkie Pie didn't seem to mind, she was too caught up in her own little world. Twilights stomach heaved and heaved until all that came up was water and thin yellow bile. When she was at last able to catch her breath all she could manage through the snot and tears was, "Why? Why would you do this?" Pinkie turned and smiled, sweetly, her unicorn horn necklace rattling with the movement. "For you Twilight! Silly pony. All our friends numbers came up, so I just KNEW you'd want to see them all again. A little bird told me how much you missed Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, and Fluttershy, and...oh...oh my gosh I almost completely forgot!"
The insane pony dashed over to a small control panel just to Twilights left. Pressing a few buttons visible sparks of electricity coursed down the wires and into...there was a muffled scream and some pony next to Twilight Sparkle jerked back and forth rigidly in a contraption that spread all four hooves painfully apart. Hammered deep into each hoof was a long nail. Connected to each, and to the nub on her forehead that used to be a horn, were copper clamps that carried the current into the filly's body. Pinkie giggled manically as the pony's purple eyes bulged and blood vessels popped inside them, causing tears of blood to dribble down her face and sizzle away on her flayed cheeks. At first Twilight didn't recognize her. A massive circle had been cut from her thigh where her cutie mark should've been, and much of the rest of her mane and hide had been stripped away as well. But then Twilight remembered the 'party hat' Pinkie had put on her head. This was Rarity, and she was still alive, if only barely. The most beautiful, elegent pony Twilight knew hung like a helpless doll next to her, ribs exposed and agony etched clearly across her every feature. Twilight wondered how it was Rarity could keep from screaming. It looked almost as if something was forcing the pony's mouth closed.
"Twilight got here so early I almost forgot I hadn't finished with you yet. I guess that makes ME the silly pony, huh Rarity? I'm sorry I've been such a rude host, neglecting you. If only you had stopped whining long enough for me to concentrate we could've been done HOURS before Twilight got here." Pinkie rotated a dial and the electrical current relented. "Still, this is YOUR special day too, and I couldn't possible take that away from you!" Pinkie bent down and did something at Rarity's feet. There was another puff of a sickly stench that made Twilight's eyes water and hot steam poured up from the pony's back hooves. "Almost done! " Twilight tried desperately to see what Pinkie was doing. It was hard to tell but it looked like there was some kind of bubbling pot of white goop that Rarity was being forced to stand in. Was Pinkie cooking the pony alive!? "What is that stuff!? Oatmeal!?" Pinkie Pie gave Twilight a condescending look, "Oatmeal? Are you crazy?"
A noise from the front of the shop suddenly caught Twilights attention. The shop bell rang. Someone had come in to buy their morning bread. A surge of hope suddenly flooded Twilight as she drew in a breath to call for help. Just as suddenly something scalding hot and sticky was spooned into her mouth. "Does it TASTE like oatmeal?" Twilight's scream for help and cry of pain mixed but instead of coming out as sound, formed a stinking white bubble instead. When it popped more of the hot sticky liquid covered her face as spoonful after spoonful was smeared over her lips. "I really have to thank you, Rarity, for helping me replace all the glue I had to use on you and our other friends. You really are so very generous!" Pinkie moved the pot from beneath Rarity and Twilight could see her friends hooves and been completely melted off. Only stunted white nerves hung uselessly from flesh that had been slow cooked, the hide blistered and bloodied where sores had burst and flesh and peeled away.
Twilight felt herself vomit again but there was nowhere for the bile to go. She swallowed the burning mess back down as Pinkie trotted away, stripping out of her dress, wiping the excess blood off on a nearby apron, and tossed the necklace of horns aside. "Now you pony's play nice while I see who's out front! Maybe we'll have another guest for our party!" She smiled and skipped away, joyously. Twilight was still numb with shock at what had become of her friends, the truth about Pinkie Pie, and her own predicament. Unable to call for help and her horn removed there was no chance of using magic to somehow escape. About to sink into deep despair, she heard a familiar voice. "Hello child, I'm looking for my dear student, Twilight Sparkle. Have you seen her?" It was Princess Celestia! The princess was here, if any pony in all of ponydom could save her and Rarity it would be her! But how could Celestia guess the truth about the psychotic pink pony? Twilight couldn't see how it would be possible unless she found a way to warn her.
With a surge of renewed hope Twilight desperately wriggled in her bonds, trying to find any give at all. They were all padlocked firmly. Shockingly there was just a little more room to move her right front hoof than the others. It wasn't much but she worked diligently, wriggling it left, right, forward and back. In a short amount of time she'd started to wriggle the clasp away from the chair, but the flesh around her hoof was rubbed raw and bleeding. The blood only aided her attempts to work her hoof free though, and with a sickening pop that stripped most of the skin, her right hoof was free. She immediately brought the hoof to her mouth to try and scrape off and dislodge the wad of glue crammed in her mouth, but it was still too fresh. It would have to dry before she could make any real progress and by that time Celestia would be long gone. Twilight might've assumed the princess had already left, but for the painfully hope inducing sound of Celestia and Pinkie murmuring to one another in the other room.
Twilight still had time, but what could she do? Her eyes drifted around the room again...with her head still firmly braced to the backrest of the chair she couldn't even lean forward and bang on the table. She tried to pound on the chair but all she managed to do was hurt her bleeding limb, producing nothing but dull, wet thwacking noises for the trouble. She'd need something loud to be heard clearly in the next room where the other pony's were talking. Slowly an idea dawned. It was a truly horrible idea...but she didn't see where she had a choice. She glanced to her right...the control panel that would cause current to leap through Rarity's body was right by her hoof. The glue around Rarity's mouth was already dry and cracking in one or two places. She might kill her friend, however if she couldn't get Celestia's attention they'd likely both be dead within the hour anyway. It was a horrible thing to do to anypony, let alone her last remaining living - and sane - friend. Twilight didn't look away as she pressed the button that started her friends agony. The look of betrayal in her eyes would be with Twilight for the rest of her life.
Rarity bucked and writhed, her useless rear legs dripping sticky white glue and fresh blood jerking back and forth. The glue around her mouth cracked and flaked but held. Wincing at what she knew she had to do, Twilight turned the dial up slowly. She'd spare her friend as much pain as she could but she HAD to warn Celestia. Pinkie Pie had to be stopped. As more and more current went into Rarity the lights began to dim and flicker and her flesh started to smoke. Without warning her eyes burst, exploding in a shower of sparks as white hot fire erupted from her now empty eye sockets. With that her upper lip ripped free and an ear piercing screech roared from her throat with a shower of blood and a bolt of lightning. Rarity's chest ripped apart and her stomach lining ruptured, flaming organs spilling across the floor as electricity crackled from between her ribs and down her legs looking for ground. Twilight quickly shutdown the machine but the damage had been done. Twilight had surely just killed her friend. The stench of burning pony hair, fresh gore and cooked meat overwhelmed the sweet stench of the room. If the noise hadn't alerted Celestia, the burning smell might.
In the ringing silence that came after Rarity's death, Twilight didn't hear Celestia enter the room. "Oh my! You poor dear." The princess of all pony's waded through the blood and gore, moving swiftly to Twilight's side. In but a moment she used her magic to remove the glue from around Twilight's mouth. Each padlock opened with an audible click, but Twilight was too weak with horror and relief to move. "Oh princess Celestia...it was horrible...horrible. Pinkie Pie killed them all!" Celestia looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time, then her eyes lingered on Rarity's charred corpse. "Yes...she did. Except for her. She only started on your friend Rarity. It looks like you finished her. What a waste of good meat." Twilight stared at the Princess, silenced by overwhelming shock. " Well I suppose we can make some more glue from her remaining hooves and grind up the rest of her for bone meal and pet food. It won't be a complete waste...and you've gotten your first kill out of the way too!" There was no way what she was hearing could be true, Twilight started to hyperventilate. "How...how...could you say that? Don't tell me your part of this!"
Celestia, Princess of all Equestria smiled maternally on her brightest student as she said, "Of course. The well being of my subjects is my utmost duty and concern." There were no words to describe Twilight's confusion as she swept her bloody hoof around the horror filled room, "How can this be beneficial to any pony?" she rasped. Hot tears that were barely suppressed before flowed freely now. "You misunderstand Twilight. Equestria's citizenry are its greatest resource. Why, without the work of pony's like Pinky Pie, our society would quickly fall to pieces." As Celestia said this she had a gentile nibble of a blood flecked cupcake, "That's right!" Pinkie Pie bounded into the room, carrying a small pack on her back. "It's a dirty job, but some pony has to do it!" She giggled as she set her pack upon the table and joined Celestia, stuffing two cupcakes into her mouth at once and swallowing with gusto. "Twilight Sparkle, do you know how long a pony can live?" The question caught Twilight off guard, still stunned by this turn of events. "Uh...about thirty or forty years?" Celestia laughed, "Very good my faithful student, but you misunderstand the question. A ground pony indeed can live past the age of forty, but Unicorn and Pegasus pony's can live for hundreds, even thousands of years."
Turning to the small package on the table, Celestia nudged the wrapping open, revealing a small silver circlet. "Equestrians have no natural predators, no fear of want of food, and control the seasons and weather. If we didn't cull the population now and then, why, Equestria would be full of ancient pony's that would quickly dwindle our otherwise abundant resources and make of our beautiful world a barren wasteland." Celestia lifted the circlet with her magic and held it over Twilight's head, where her ruined horn once sprouted. "Surely you can understand, that we of Canterlot owe it to our fellow pony's to safe guard their world. That's why when I must sacrifice my children to the void I can do so with a clear heart. Their deaths are not in vain." through all this, Pinkie Pie danced madly around Twilight sparkle, her gruesome dress and necklace twirling, talking to her 'friends' stuffed corpses and the newly dead Rarity as if they still breathed.
"Celestia...you may rule but you are not a goddess! Killing innocent pony's to try and keep them safe? It makes no sense! There's nothing to justify the agonizing death and torture of those who look to you for protection!" A new light had entered Twilight Sparkle's eyes. Never in her wildest dreams could she believe the person she most looked up to and admired could be so ruthlessly cold, so callously murderous. Celestia laughed lightly, "Of course you are right. Ponyville is a very traditional town, founded by ground pony's. The old ways have been kept here for a long time, but cannot continue. That's why I want you to help Pinkie Pie. Using all you've learned about friendship I think you're the best pony for the job of organizing a better system. One not based off an arbitrarily assigned 'number'. A new way, a better..." "Never." Celestia looked shocked, "What was that dear?" Twilight Sparkle glared up at her ruler and former tutor with fire in her eyes. "I said NEVER! I will never kill for you in cold blood, no matter what imagined cause you've dreamed up!"
All kindness and gentleness faded from Celestia like the light of a dying star. She slowly lowered the circlet back into the package as her eyes turned to chips of ice. Her entire body went rigid, as did Twilight's as the magic of a thousand year old ruler of her kingdom gripped her. "Very well. You are not the first to deny me, and I have always prided myself on listening to my subjects wishes." With a sudden violence Celestia forced her rebellious student back into her chair and clamped her iron bonds tighter than before, each now drawing blood, biting the poor filly to the bone. Twilight couldn't even cry out so strong was the hold of magic upon her. "If you choose to disobey me, I have no recourse but to pass sentence upon you. I banish you from life, Twilight Sparkle of Canterlot! May you find peace in your treason for their will be none in your demise." Celestia's grip faded as she stalked slowly away, leaving Twilight panting, blood oozing from her nose and far too many other places on her body.
"She's wrong you know." Twilight had almost completely forgotten about Pinkie Pie, she still reeled from the power of her princess. How could she have thought to defy her? "The old ways will continue, long after Celestia's own number has come up. She thought you would be the one to break the cycle, but I guess you're just like every other pony I ever made friends with." The pony looked different, colder, angrier. The madcap prancing and girlish laughter was gone from Pinkamena Diane Pie. Her long pink mane hung limply at her side as she toyed with a long butcher knife. "You remember don't you? The first day her majesty sent you here? I was the first pony to meet you...I was so excited. It had been so long since I had friends. You can be so alone even when you're the life of the party." She moved closer to Twilight and gazed into her eyes with raw hatred. "I thought we could be friends. I thought if any pony could understand me it would be you. Do you think I like being the eldest of my family? Do you think I LIKE this burden? Oh sure I get all the cupcakes I want and we have such a wonderful time before they fade. But the price is, deep down, I know at the end of the day every single pony I know, or ever will know, will leave and there's nothing any pony can do about it."
"If you hate it so much, why not just stop?" Twilight had never seen Pinkie like this, she was so calm, but so full of barely suppressed rage. "I CAN'T STOP! You don't understand and you never could! I thought we could be friends, I thought you could stand with me when every other pony would pass away! I don't even want to play with you anymore! " Without warning Pinkamena picked up the butchers knife and slammed it so hard into Twilight's chest that it pierced her ribs, her heart, and burst clean through her back to bury its blood stained tip deep into the chair behind her. The light in Twilight Sparkles eyes faded to nothing and she knew no more.
Pinkamena Diane Pie turned from her friends and knew deep down no amount of thread or fluff could ever bring them back. She hated these moments of clarity when the world was what she expected it to be. It was much more fun to make life a party and death a celebration, but right now she just wasn't into it. She stalked from the room, not bothering to wipe off her former friends cooling blood. This party had been a disaster. Back in the kitchens, gummy looked up at her with his precious pink eyes. It did nothing to cheer her up. Now she'd have to wait again, for more friends, for more lies. Maybe she should just do like her dear old Granny Pie had and end it all. Chop herself up and make one final batch of cupcakes. "Then I'd just be passing this off to one of my sisters." Pinkie sighed sadly and slumped into a corner, shivering. When would the cotton candy clouds in her mind come back? She sat rocking gently back and forth for hours.
As the daylight outside slowly faded, a silvery whisper of laughter floated through the air. "Oh. Good..." the voices were starting to come back, that was a good sign. Soon Pinkamena could go back to being simply "Pinkie Pie" and get on with her party. Another soft susserus flickered just on the edge of her hearing. This wasn't how it normally went...usually the voices were loud and bright and beautiful. That's when she realized the sound wasn't coming from inside her head but the room she just left. Had her majesty returned? If so who was she talking to? It sounded like a lot of pony's. Curiosity overwhelming her dark mood, Pinkamena pushed through the door and back into the party room. It was pitch black. She didn't remember turning off the lights. The whispering was louder here. She could almost make out the words. "Is some pony there? I have to warn you, I'm not in a very good mood right now." Pinkie Pie fumbled for the light switch. It was already in the on position, but the lights remained dark. A fuse must've blown. Mr. and Mrs. Cake would be mad if she fried the electrical grid again. Suddenly a single light flickered on, illuminating Twilight Sparkles corpse still slumped in its bonds, blood drenched the entire floor around her. Even though she'd seen others in such a state so many times before, even after what had happened to all her other so-called friends, for some reason the sight disturbed Pinkamena. The light flickered and in slow motion Twilight sagging head slowly rose. A flash of darkness and the body was gone.
"Is this some pony's idea of a prank? Because if it is, I LOVE pranks. I think I have one for you. Just come out and I'll show you." Pinkie Pie stalked through the gloomy room confidently. She knew this room like the back of her hoof, which is why it was odd when she suddenly tripped, smashing into the table. Something clattered to the floor with a splash. Light suddenly flooded the room and the whispering grew into a low chant. The light seemed to come from beneath Pinkamena, and it took her a moment to realize the light was coming from her necklace. The unicorn horns each glowed with intense violet light as they lifted from around her neck and settled in a rough bunch onto something on the floor. "HEY! Those are mine!" Whoever was doing this didn't seem to care as each horn fastened onto what Pinkie now realized was the circlet Celestia had offered Twilight, now fallen in the half congealed pool of the filly's own blood. "Oh..." This wasn't good. Twilight's body seemed to have never left its chair. The circlet rose into the air, now a crown of ten curling horns, and settled upon her head. There was a spark of magic and all was again darkness.
A soft, wet sound filled the silence, followed by something flying across the room and burying itself into the wall. Light flooded the room, and Pinkie Pie knew fear. Twilight's form had grown, ripping free of its iron bonds. The young pony now resembled nothing less than a full grown unicorn that rivaled Celestia in size. Clearly no living pony, bones thrust through dead flesh like ivory spikes. All signs of her former self were unrecognizable, save a hole in her chest that gaped wide to reveal her still bleeding heart. As her bones had shifted a pair of wings had sprouted from her back, not of feathers, but of bone with strips of her flesh stretched tight and ragged across it. Her eyelids peeled back, revealing eyes that glowed from within with the glaring brightness of pure magic. Her mane transformed, stretching into the same color and substance of shadow at twilight. She smiled.
Every severed head, every skull in the room sang a song older than Equestria, every scrap of flesh and bone writhing across the walls and ceiling. Even the blood seemed to move, pooling into four puddles before forming into four very familiar pony's. Before Pinkie could react, lengths of intestines coiled around each foot like a hissing snake and yanked her roughly into the air, stretching her limbs until every joint in her body screamed. "Who are you?" Pinkie gasped, struggling against her slippery manacles' to no avail. One of the blood pony's glared at Pinkie with hatred and outrage before shrieking, "You do not question the Twilight Queen! She questions YOU!" Fledgling wings stretched to maintain her balance, the new Twilight rose from her tiny chair on legs that seemed new to her. Unsteady for a moment, a new poise came to her, and she put her head down to lap gently at her own blood. A shudder went through the liquid pony's and one by one they dispersed back into liquid. "It is simple. I am your master...old yet made new. I am the twilight of this world!"
The chanting and rustling quieted as the blood flowed into the four mutilated bodies of Pinkie Pies former friends. The first had been Rarity. The blood coated her from head to hoof, staining her white body crimson. As it did this her organs slithered back into her body and the ruptures in her flesh healed. With a surge of strength she could never have known in life she completely destroyed the metal gurney that had bound her. Her shattered hoofs were replaced with hoofs of dark scarlet flame that glowed as darkly as the pin pricks of light in her empty eye sockets. She was beautiful and terrible. Even in death pony's would fight and die for her. They would be honored to do so.
The second to awaken was Applejack. Her coat darkened and shriveled to a leathery black, apples rotting on her cutie mark and in her skull. A pall of darkness surrounded her and where ever she set her hoof the wood warped, turning to ashes and dust. Where she walked all would rot away. In life she fed many, in death she would starve all. Next there came a sound from the ceiling, as soft cries of protest issued from sown shut lips scraps of flesh and hide slithered over Fluttershy's shattered body, acting like bandages. With an audible pop, the buttons sealing her eyes burst open, revealing pits of putrid swirling veridian smoke. The cadaverous pony finally shook herself free of the rope that bound her and she floated gently to the floor. As a glowing green miasma crept out from her the dead parasprites at her hooves rose into the air around her, buzzing cheerfully anew, swarming over their mistresses body with affection. She had loved and cared for all things that lived, great and small in life. She would care for them also in death as wasting disease took them one by one beyond any pain.
Pinkie Pie was ready to believe she was having an episode again when Twilight suddenly reared in front of her. Her breath was ragged, but her voice was pure as a bell, "Pinkie, do not fear. I've merely had a change of heart." She moved to the pink pony and nuzzled her, blood steadily pumping from her heart. "I can't just abandon my friends. You're all just too important to me." This all seemed far too familiar to Pinkamena and she didn't know why. She struggled harder as the new Twilight Queen tried to comfort her. "The dead cry out for the same thing that Celestia does. A breaking of the old ways...an end to the cycle." Warm, sweet blood pooled beneath Pinkie Pie, pumping steadily from the cavity in Twilight's chest. "Pinkamena Diane Pie...I forgive you."
Shock turned Pinkie Pies face white. Her eyes filled with tears. "Really? You really forgive me?" A chorus erupted from around the room as each skull and severed head whispered or moaned forgiveness for the little pink pony. "You forgive ME!? Hah...I don't deserve it!" Tears flowed down her face, whether of anger, fear, or disbelief it was hard to say. There was a sound like sand paper on glass and a hollow voice spoke, "You're right, you don't deserve it." A final splash of blood and a fourth and last pony moved into sight. All of her flesh had been slogged off, a useless remnant of an existence long forgotten. The skeletal pony stood before Pinkie Pie sheathed in azure flame, sheets of cold fire rippling from hoof to bony wing tip. Her eyes were cobalt and sharpened metal and wire ran across her bones, the last remnants of Pinkie Pies own grisly hoof work. The only thing that remained unchanged was her mane, still a riot of rainbow colors. Each syllable was sharp and clipped as the creature that had been Rainbow Dash spoke, "But then none of us deserved any of this. We're finally going to set things right." Pinkie felt rainbows sharp wingtips flutter against her, and something else explode in her chest and behind her eyes. The four pony's gathered around their Queen and gazed up at Pinkie Pie.
The pink pony laughed to see her friends had all returned! She wasn't alone! She'd never be alone again! She was so filled with joy she thought she'd burst! Twilight's crown of horns glowed bright as needles of blood shot up from the floor, impaling Pinkie Pie like an over-sized pin cushion, and flooded her body with blood and magic. As the plasma seeped into her a rush of wind filled the room as bone, blood, muscle and sinew streamed toward her; every organ in the room save those that belonged to the four pony's and their Queen, smothered Pinkie in a wet, stinking pile of half-rotted flesh.
Outside Sugarcube Corner night balanced perfectly with day, a time when the blue of the heavens had just begun to give way to stars. Indigo clouds suddenly churned from the vast emptiness. Many pony's thought it was simply an unscheduled storm, but others could feel, if not yet hear the peels of mad laughter. The bakery exploded as a massive pony composed of rotting flesh erupted from the building. Its teeth were skulls, its eyes a thousand different shades, as many as had been slaughtered. Its hooves were compressed bone and its mane the limp twisted hair of old corpses, cobwebbed and dripping with blood. The entire creature had a subtle, pink glow. An aurora of crackling violet lightning spread from it like wings, engulfing the heavens in its embrace as they spread from horizon to horizon.
It laughed in many voices, but one rose higher than the others and echoed across Ponyville.
"IT'S PARTY TIME!"
