Mare-Do-Well: Stripped

by ReikoRye

Rating: mature
Tags: Adventure, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Rainbow Dash
Length: 6268

Unofficial side story to the Chunk Finely hit Banishment Decree involving Mare-Do-Well

Before Fillydelphia there was Manehatten and before there was Gilda there was Mare-Do-Well.

Pinkie Pie had cleaned up Manehatten for the better. The cops were honest, the gangs were gone, and a friend's honor was protected. Pinkie had a wealth of experience being a masked heroine for the city that never sleeps, but while the roving criminals were all but an afterthought a single mare rose up to grip the city in fear. With a string of horrific murders our heroine will be pushed to her limits and beyond to stop this monster in pony clothing.

Mare-Do-Well won't be alone as her friends and mentors, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, join her in a race to find out who is killing ponies and stopping them.

Published 2012-06-17 06:34:03 UTC
Last updated 2012-06-17 06:34:03 UTC

Part 1: Losing Faith

Mare-Do-Well: Stripped
by
ReikoRye

“Look at you...E-e-Even through that mask. I-I see y-y-y-your beautiful side.”, the mad mare said through painful gasps as she lay underneath the hoof of Mare-Do-Well. Bloodied, beaten, and still smiling that sweet little smile as if she had never done anything wrong. The flashes of lightning that brightened the room exposed a world of terror that was being brought to an end. The air was thick with the sounds of the dark hero of Manehatten's labored breathing as she picked up a piece of weighty title with a free hoof. “You're sick. There isn't anything beautiful about what you've done and there is nothing for a monster like you to see in me.”, the masked crusader said in a deep voice. Dropping her haunches down on the ribcage of the beaten mare and shuddering as she felt a rush of pain herself. If there were another soul in the room to see the scene they would see Mare-Do-Well covered in cuts and favoring a deep stab wound to her left side. Wounds from a vicious battle with a true monster. Something so evil it brought a city to shake at its core with fear.

Three Weeks Earlier

“Early this morning the mutilated body of a missing filly was found. This makes the seventh body found by Manehatten P.D in the last four weeks. While the police are giving out few details it is believed that this is another victim of C.K. “ , a news colt reported through the t.v. In Pinkie Pie's apartment. The party pony was busy doing push-ups. Her fore legs were thick with small bundles of dense muscle fiber and sinew. She was lean and in great shape; stomach flat, back legs full of strong lean muscle along the calf and more dense muscle around the hips in flank. Signs of a Olympic class kicker. A far removed sight from what one would think the sweet eating, party throwing, and prank playing earth pony would look like by now. Her new job required her to be in the best condition she could be in. The job? Protecting Manehatten as Mare-Do-Well. It had been couple of years since she came to this city. It was full of crime and sadness that most ponies tried to just look away from every day. As long as it wasn't them they walked on not caring about the gripping hooves of gangs that strangled the life out of the city bit by bit. The police did their best, but even they couldn't stand against temptation and corruption. Normally, a big city crime problem would even be on the minds of peaceful minded Ponyville ponies, but the hooves that held the city struck out and found one of Pinkie's many friends.

Vinyl Scratch a.k.a DJ-P0N-3 went to the big city to take her shot at being discovered. Yet, what she found was scumbag ponies looking to make a fast cash. Even after so much time had passed and she fixed the city she could still see the image of her friend in the hospital on a respirator. Beaten and mugged just for a few bits and her shades. Seeing that the party pony could help, but want to seek revenge. She was outraged by the act and by the lack of peace of mind found in Manehatten. That was what lead her to becoming the real Mare-Do-Well. Yet, here she was in sweating as she exercised to prepare herself to once again dawn the suit. The job of cleaning up a major city hadn't been easy and it wasn't as clean as super ponies make it out to be in the comics. She had seen things that would turn the stomach of any good mare and colt. Drug dens, murder scenes, whore houses, and the ponies responsible for that kind of filth. With the support and training of old friends Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, both of whom had spent time in the covert operations field, she was able to bring the city back to light. Yet, now it seemed as though what replaced the regular widespread grime of evil was a thick, inky, stain of concentrated disregard for others lives.

“148, 149, and 150.”, Pinkie Pie counted to herself as she finished her last push up and collapsed onto her stomach. She stretched herself out as flat as she could listening for the audible pops in her joints as she released the tension she had built up. For a moment just lay there motionless on blue confetti dotted carpet eyes closed tight. Silently, she prayed that the latest victim of C.K would forgive her for being unable to stop the villain before they met. To Pinkie it was more than just a random victim. It was a little pony who would never get a chance to live and make friends. It was beyond cruel to kill another pony. Especially so when they were just kids. Pinkie never could get used to the scenes of hurt children even though she had seen plenty of it in the past couple of years. It still set her on edge and made her break a little inside. It even led her to break her code of 'No Killing' just once. She still regretted that she had stained her hooves with blood and it was the reason she took two showers a day. Now as with then her emotions weighed heavy on, but this time it was just because the children were mere victimized. They were turning up dead and she couldn't make it stop.

Heaving a deep sigh she rose to her feet and walked over to her bed room and looked herself over in the mirror. She had changed a lot since her time in Ponyville with her best friends and now. She was in better shape with a sharp eyes that had small dark circles underneath. A sign of her late night work interfering with her sleep along with the occasional nightmare of a world with now sweets to eat. Even with all the bad she had seen somehow she was still the same Pinkie Pie for the most part. She was great at compartmentalizing in no small thanks to Twilight's psychological training. The unicorn had taught her the harsh lessons of being able to separate her 'work' from the rest of her life. How to cope with horrors of being exposed to the dark side of life on a regular basis. There were many times in the beginning where the party pony cried like a newborn foal at the meanness of the world. Twilight could sympathize in that respect as being an covert operator and analyst for the Equestrian government she had seen more than her fair share of dark underbelly of the world. Rainbow Dash on the other hand played her experiences close to the vest. She taught Pinkie how to deal with a multitude of situations from combat to sneaking. All that training had paid off in spades considering the pastel earth pony was still alive.

Before Pinkie could become further lost in her own reflection, both visually and mental, a knock at her door drew her attention with a small jump. She ran to the door kicking up a confetti dust as she went. Opening the door she saw Twilight and Rainbow Dash standing in the door way. “Hi girls! I'm so glad to see you!”, Pinkie's happy voice came as she pulled the two mares into hug and led them inside kicking the door shut behind them. “Its been a while since we last seen you, Pinkie. How have you been?”, Twilight asked as she watched Dash struggle to pull herself free of the hug, but to no avail.

“I've been fine, Twi. I heard you took indefinitely leave from your EIS job.”, the party said as she released both her friends from her strong clutches.

“Damn, Pinkie. Have you gotten stronger since we last came to visit?”, the rainbow maned pegasus said as she craned her neck in an effort of readjust it. “I dunno, I feel the same as I always do, but I lost more weight. I'm probably thin enough to be one of Rarity's models.”, Pinkie pie replies as she walks over to the window and looks outside. Her apartment building isn't much to look at from the outside or inside. The building is around one hundred years old and in need of repairs, but still quite livable. There aren't many tenants and the ones that are there have been there for half as long as the building itself. Pinkie had a top floor apartment overlooking the city skyline. It was a beautiful view for a good price.

“I left my assignment desk, actually. I thought it was time I stopped doing field work and took time to enjoy things like spending time with my friends.”, the purple unicorn said as she looked between Rainbow Dash and Pinkie. Twilight was older now, as they all were, with a weathered face and a couple of small scars on her legs. Well earned scars serving as proof she wasn't just another egghead in the field. She could handle herself.

“That's sounds like a good idea, which is why I hate you had to come and visit me on these terms.”, Pinkie said with what seemed to be a genuinely sad tone of voice. “I've got a problem that I can't handle on my own. Manehatten has become a hunting ground for some psychopony.”

“You can't be serious, Pinkie. What nutjob would set up shop in Mare-Do-Well's city?”, Dash questioned, not ready to believe someone would risk crossing hooves with their friend's hero persona.

“C.K.”, Twilight interjected. “That is what the press calls them anyway. I've been hearing about it, but there isn't much to go on from just the news reports since the police are trying to keep public panic down.”

Pinkie turned to her friends and nodded. “It started out as a few missing ponies and fillies. Unfortunately that is normal for a city this size. Now, bodies have been turning up at an alarming rate and they are always horribly mutilated. Missing pieces and cutie marks removed.”

The three ponies looked at each other their eyes meeting as if to pass on a unified thought. Twilight and Dash could feel the same intense feelings as their friend. Dash was the first one to break the short silence.

“That's sick and it has to stop! Give me a one day to call up some old contacts in the Wonderbolts and I swear to you that mother bucker is dea-” the cyan pegasus was about to finish as the purple unicorn silenced her with her magic.

“What do you need, Pinkie? RD is right we can stand by and let this continue.”, she said before giving a stern look to the pegasus. “What we aren't going to do is cause a panic by starting a war by calling in the Wonderbolts.”, she added to the look as she released the spell on Dash's mouth.

Pinkie tapped her hoof on the carpeted floor kicking up more confetti. Chewing her bottom lip she thought about the offers of help and she'd need all it she could get. Yet, something that Twilight had said just didn't sit right with her. For now she would just let it go. “Okie Dokie! Let's head to the Candy Store and we can talk more.”

Across Town

“You so lucky little boy. You're going to become part of my grand work of art. Isn't that great?!”, a sadistic yet motherly female voice filled the dark room. A small pony could be seen attached to a table with his legs spread wide and shackled down. A strap across his head held in firm and a gag keep him silent. His eyes spoke volumes more than his little voice ever could. He was horrified and wanted to be anywhere, but here. Before he woke up in this dingy room with its dirty walls and blood caked floors he was just outside playing with his soccer ball. The young colt was tan with white spots and a cutie mark that showed his skill and love of soccer. He wanted to struggle against his restraints, but his body wouldn't listen to him. He was full of a paralyzing agent that would keep still and quiet while his captor tended to him. The of metal being gingerly brushed together only added to the terror he felt as that motherly voice came again, “You're just the most handsome little colt I've had on my table in a while. We are going to play a little game, a special game.”

The brushing metal drew closer as the young colt's captor entered the room pushing a small tray filled with surgical tools and a video camera. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a rather pretty mare behind the cart. Her was the color of butter cream cake frosting and mane was straight chocolate brown tied into a pony tail in back and front left to hand lose over her right eye. As she wheeled the rickety cart up to his side she gave him a little wink. It was a wink he had seen before. “I've been watching you for a long time little Striker. Did you like the special cupcake I made just for you? It was your favorite flavor baked with a mother's touch!”, her voice came in an excited quiver as she leaned over and nuzzled his face with her own. “Apple cake with strawberry frosting! Forgive me, but I added something extra to it this time so we could play together, just you and me.”, on she went as she set her deep green eyes on the colt's terror filled gaze. This was Sweet Jenie owner of the Cupcakes for Hire food truck. She was a small celebrity in Manehatten bringing her pastry baking genius to the streets of the big city. All of the made as she put it 'with a mother's love'. Jenie had met Striker many times always giving him cupcakes from her truck as she passed through his neighbor servicing the community's never ending need for sweet treats. She was the highlight of adult and child's day alike, but she always seemed to treat Striker nicer than the other kids that came to her truck.

Now, here he was seeing the pretty lady whom he was fond of for what she really was. Jenie stepped behind the table and placed her fore hooves on the underside and pushed upward causing it to tilt up with several audible clicks. “We're going to play baker. You get to be the best roll in baker, the ingredients! Isn't that fun, sweetie!?”, she cried with deranged glee as she quickly trotted back in front of the table to press her nose into Striker's little stomach. She sniffed him deeply and sighed as if she were instantly in love. “That beautiful bouquet of scents..You were simply made to play ingredients. I'm jealous! I wish I could be the ingredients, but momma always said I am destined to be the baker.”, said as she sullenly looked away from her victim. For a moment it was just her looking away and what could mistaken for choked back sniffles and tears. Yet, they were more for show than any true expression of feeling as Jenie had none like that. “Time to start the game my little pony! Sweet Jenie is going bake you into something amazing!”, she exclaimed nearly screaming as she picked up a scalpel and in one swift stab, thrusting it deep into the little pony's side.

It was a excruciating pain for the child that sent hot tears down his cheeks and made his teeth dig into the gag. He feel her inside of him with the tool slowly digging, moving, probing the wound before gently sliding the scalpel out. Small red drips turned into a slow stream that splattered on the floor. Striker could feel himself getting dizzy and his eyelids drooped as if he was going to sleep, but the sudden shock of pain in his chest snapped his eyes wide. His body tensed as hard as the drugged muscles could on reaction as Sweet Jenie slowly opened him up. It was like a class dissection, but on a pony. She was so steady in her work, making neat lines that never wavered and never became jagged at the edge. This was a work of art for her. Expression of what she saw as her 'inner beauty'. A beauty that she could not show in just baking alone, but needed to etch into the soul. Flayed skin, carved muscle, and fresh picked organs all clean and innocent. For her this was another piece of art to add to her foundation exhibit of mortality. For Striker, it was a painfully slow torture that nopony deserved and as the blood loss increased fate granted him a slow relief from the feeling of broken nerves and hot stings as he was taken a part. With dull empty eyes and lids sliding hold so soft and slow finally peace finds him in his suffering. Jenie on the other hand works at the body as if she is a mare possessed. Taking the flesh canvas she sees before her to new heights of artistic genius. A private exhibition of her true talent that only she could understand. This went on for a couple of hours. Well past the body losing worth and the room growing foul with the scent of drying blood. A scent she knew well and a sign that her work was complete.

“Time to capture you on film my little pony.”, she whispered to the corpse as she picked the camera from her now bloodstained cart with equally stained fore hooves. With the press of a button the little machine sprang to life and focused the camera on her work of art. “I call this piece Child at Rest. As you can see this piece is a grand opus in celebration of colts and fillies everywhere. The chest was emptied of its blocking contents and filled with small candles with a cupcake for the heart. To represent all children the cutie mark of the canvas has been removed. It will be used on my self portrait piece. This particular piece is of special significance to the artist and also represents her coming out to the mainstream audience.”

One Week Passes

Pinkie Pie paced about the Candy Store brow furrowed in intense thought. The Candy Store was a playful nickname given to the largest of the party pony's secret bases of operation as Mare-Do-Well. It was located under Manehatten's historic district. The area was full of old tunnels that had been used for bootlegging in an earlier part of Equestrian history, but now they provided our masked hero with privacy and security. The base itself was a rather large space sectioned off by newly constructed walls. The main room had been filled with boxes of files and snacks along with a large computer setup tapped into city surveillance cameras. There was a time when she lived and worked from here at all times, but when the lull came she had been able to enjoy being part of the city for a while. In a small room there was a plethora of equipment and costumes and next to that was a small section that served as a medical room. It was full of medicines, bandages, and even an emergency surgical kit.

“This doesn't make any sense to me. None of the victims share a common connection other than the last few being children.”, Twilight said with an air of frustration while sitting at the computer terminal. “Before the victims we our age. The is no predominant genders, specific dumping grounds, or even a hint of a pattern that jumps out at me.”

“Yeah, who ever this C.K is they seem to just be snatching anyone they can get their hooves on. How does someone so random avoid being caught.”, Rainbow Dash said as flipped police reports stacked on a table.

“I've never ran across a criminal this random who could hide, girls. There has to be something that ties all of these dead ponies together.”, Pinkie Pie said with a huff.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight each kept pouring over their sections of the work. Twilight had been a big help looking over crime scene photos and psychological reports created by the police to see if there was something she could use to give her friend an edge in catching C.K. The cyan pegasus on the other hand had called in some favors to have paperwork on the high profile case turned over to her. The reports ranged from overly detailed to little more than repeats of previous findings. Both Dash and Twilight shared in the frustration of Pinkie at this point. It had been a week since they arrived and started working the case and it already felt like they were just chasing ghosts. Something had to give.

“GAHHHHH! This is so boring! Every report is the bucking same! No clues, no suspects, no calling card, and some weirdo in the coroner's office seems to think that somepony eating at the crime scene is getting cake frosting on the bodies.”, RD says and throws her hooves up in defeat at the stack of papers.

“This is getting us no where, we need to take a step back for a little bit.”, Twilight said as she rose from her seat and watched the now scowling Pinkie continue to pace. She had never seen her friend like this before. The unicorn knew the frizzy maned pony could get pretty distraught, but right now it seemed as if she was lost in her on emotions. “Pinkie, I'm going out for a bit and I need you to come with me.”, Twilight said as she headed towards the downtown exit of the Candy Store.
“Dash do you feel like taking a break?”, asked Twilight as Pinkie joined her at the exit.

“Nah, you go ahead. I'm going to take one more pass at these bucking reports. No dumb paper is going to get the best of me.”, the pegasus said as she waved them off.

Downtown Manehatten, a bustling business center full of high end restaurants, shops, art galleries, and a museum. The day was sunny and calm like any other day in Equestria. A day that a pink earth pony would love any other time if not for the recent outbreak of crime. In the light it was easy for Twilight to see Pinkie's condition. Lack of sleep, stress, and too much darkness was plaguing her physically. She had seen ponies like this back in EIS who were burnt out on the dirty work and needed to get back to their roots. She had been one of those ponies after her time in Taranoland. It was then that a white and blue food truck playing the latest Sapphire Shores single pulled in front of an art gallery. The sight of the truck and song made the weary looking crime fighter snap to attention.

“ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! It's the Sweet Jenie truck! Come on Twilight you gotta try her stuff its great!”, the pink pony said she started to bounce up and down like a little filly.

“Who's Sweet Jenie? What does that truck even sale, Pinkie?”, questioned the unsure unicorn. She had missed seeing her friend so excited, but just over a food truck? It seems...unsafe in her best guess.

“Cupcakes! Sweet Jenie and her truck a famous here in Manehatten. She sells the absolutely positively undeniably yummy cupcakes!”, Pinkie Pie went on as she suddenly bolted under the unicorn mare and lifted her up on her back with ease. In what seemed like an instant Pinkie, still carrying Twilight on back were in front of the gallery staring at the food truck's owner. Twilight never could understand how the earth pony did it, but somehow she could seemingly teleport at random times. This time it was for cupcakes.

The side of the made a small hissing sound as part of the lettering slid up. Sweet steam spilling out like a magical fog and some rather interesting mood lighting set the stage for a simple tray of freshly baked cupcakes to be set on a recessed counter top. Twilight enjoyed a good show and cupcake every now and then, but this much presentation seemed strange to her. I guess this how you sell cupcakes in Manehatten, the unicorn thought as she moved out of her pink friend's well toned back. She wasn't in the mood for more sweets after having spent the past few days in a perpetual haze of sugar and information analysis. The art gallery on the other hand caught her attention. A small team of moving stallions muscled a rather large wooden crate into the center of the show floor. Next to the box was a small sign carefully written by hand:

Child at Rest
BY
Packekip Culler

“Packekip Culler? Never heard of that artist before.”, the purple unicorn murmured to herself before looking over her shoulder to he friend who was watching a butter cream colored mare frost the fresh cupcakes while doing little tricks. The mare in question made it seem like cupcakes were child's play for her as she even began to juggle a few of the baked goods with a great amount of dexterity. All the show decorating and juggling must have done the trick because before Twilight even realized it she had turned and started to take a step towards the truck which now had a small crowd gathering.

“So what can Sweet Jenie do to make you happy?”, the chocolate-maned bakery mare said as she set eyes of the bright pink mane bobbing about in front of her counter.

“Hmmm...If you want to make super duper LOOPER happy you can give your finest cupcake!”, said with a sudden glee.

“Hmm...you want my finest cupcake?”, Sweet Jenie said as a sly grin crept across her face.

“Sure do! I really want it! I want soooo much!”, Pinkie responded her voice dripping with excitement.

“Then that is exactly what your gonna get!”, Jenie said before disappearing down under the counter top. “I like you miss. I really like you a lot. That enthusiasm, that spunk, that uncontrollable craving for the finest in cupcakes! It makes you one special pony in my book and here it is!”

Popping up from beneath the counter Sweet Jenie held a tray with two large cupcakes in plastic containers. The large treats were deep rich red cake, with multicolored frosting and capped off with a strawberry and chocolate sprinkles. If one looked close enough the would see a latent bit of magic running through the oversized cakes.

“These are the finest I got. They were made with a secret recipe and double doses of a mother's love.”, the full time killer, part time baker said as Pinkie Pie leaned in closer to the treats. “The center is filled zap apple jam and frosting is made of the finest milk and sugar you can get anywhere in Equestria.”, Jenie said now at a hush. “The ingredients for the cake is so rare, even Celestia wouldn't know how to find it.”

Pinkie was now just standing on her fore hooves and her eyes full of stars from the description alone. She was putty in Jenie's hooves and Jenie was smitten with the silly pink mare. She wanted her as much as Pinkie wanted the cupcakes. They were close in age she could tell and her devious little mind felt like they were connecting. Yet, the sudden the shared connection was severed when Twilight made her way through the tight packed crowd of now drooling ponies and tapped Pinkie on the shoulder.

“Want to take a look at this piece of mystery art with me before we have to head back to work Pinkie?”, the studious unicorn asked while Jenie watched them. Pinkie gave a slow nod yes still mesmerized by the cupcakes in front of her. Twilight didn't know whether trust the nod or not. Jenie on the other hand, was suddenly all too glad to see this purple interloper. The cut of that other pony isn't worth a second, but if she can get my new friend to see my art I think I'll be the happiest mare in world, the murderess thought as she looked from the pony crowd to the crate in the gallery. It took a while till she found the right gallery owner willing to show a piece without looking in the box until it debuted on the showroom floor. It took a small fortune of bits for a the owner to risk it, but now suddenly it was worth more than a cheap thrill.

“I'm feeling extra generous today so I'll give these special cupcakes on me. So you two can have a treat while at the gallery. Sounds fair?”, Sweet Jenie said with a sharp look to both Pinkie and Twilight. Pinkie responded with a furious nod of approval.

“Well, since my friend fully agrees. I will take that offer too. Thank you very much.”, the hoof picked student of Celestira said as her horn ignited lifting the two large cupcakes off the tray. She gave Pinkie a mischievous grin as she slowly backed out of crowd making the party pony follow her towards the gallery. Jenie just sighed lustfully as she watched the rear of Pinkie fade into the crowd. Even the twisted had less erratic desires that gripped at them. Desires like wanting to be held, to be nuzzled and caressed, to be understood and able to pass on secrets. Jenie had no like that and she never would or at least that is what she thought until now. Those big blue eyes and fluffy pink mane. She looks like cotton candy made out of pony hair. I love that! It was at that moment the remaining customers pleas for the delightful treats in her truck drew the mare back to her current reality. On the other side of the crowd, Twilight and Pinkie were just making their way inside the gallery as a pair of stallions stuffed crowbars into the sides of the wooden crate. The large crate seemed to be giving them a run for their money as they struggled to pop the front open.

Muscles tense, sweat forming on their brows, and the guttural grunts were met with the sounds of creaking plywood. It was a grand battle of pony versus crate, but in the end the ponies were winning. The sides bucked out and nails lost purchase and soon the front was laying on the ground, defeated. The stallions panting for breath as they returned to their natural standing positions and what was left was a covered in paper.

“So we are hear to look at a giant sheet of paper?”, Pinkie questioned as she turned her head over in confusion.

“No, Pinkie.”, Twilight said with a small giggle before passing her own of the large cupcakes. “We're waiting to see whats under the paper. If you look closely whatever it is already encased in glass.”, the highly observant unicorn said as she pointed a hoof at the bit of casing peaking out from the paper.

“Who sends a work of art already encased in glass? That would be super expensive! Even famous sculptures and paintings don't get shipped in cases of glass.”, remarked Pinkie showing her own observation skills to her friend's approval.

A mare dressed in a black turtle neck and horn rimmed glasses trotted out to the show floor from an office and sighed. She seemed completely unimpressed by the lengths the artist had went through to add mystery to their work. “Zis piece is waste of my valuable space if you ponies do not remove ze damn paper!”, she snapped as the two stallions rolled their eyes. Others had gather inside the small gallery, not many, but enough for dealing with the hassle of showing a new artist's piece. The art house mare sunk her teeth into the paper covering a ripped back with all her might nearly toppling over. Gasps, stifled screams, and retching came in response.

“What is going on? Is ze piece that bad? Damn it! Zis is ze last time I listen to zat money hungry Right Price!”, the art house mare said as she fought to get out from under the paper. After a couple of moments she made it out of packing paper to discover a grisly sculpture of flesh and bone trapped in the glass box. The only thing keeping the scent of decay at bay being the very box itself. The mare gasped drawing her hoof to her mouth to hold back from vomiting.

“Z-z-zis is just terrible! I don't aszociate my gallery with new age gore sculptures!”, she howl through gasps and retches. Twilight dropped her cupcake and used her magic to obscure the grotesque sight by lifting the box cover back up fixing it in place. Pinkie on the other could only look away from the scene. A little colt in a sitting position, innards missing and legs placed to look as if he was gently resting. A single decrepit, fly eaten cupcake feeling the chest cavity. Twilight had already sprang into action shewing all the patrons into a far side of the room and getting the two workhorses to get the police. Pinkie couldn't hear any of that though. She was focused on trying to keep from having a fit in an already intense scene. Seeing it up close and personal was nothing like the photos. She thought she could bring herself under control, but the one voice she could hear was driving her mad. The owner of the gallery. Still ranting about someone disgracing her art house. How dare she be offended only by the fact this visceral display of murder didn't suit her gallery rather than the fact that another child was dead and turned into some repugnant display piece? The mare's constant complain enraged the normally happy pony to a level she'd not felt in a long time. Her puffy mane dropped flat and straight like a razor and sudden Pinkie was upon the mare slapping her in the face with her cupcake.

“Will you shut your stupid little face!? A pony is dead in that box and all you care about is your stupid artistic view!? You're just as bad a person as whoever did that!”, the pink pony screamed as she stood over the shrinking mare who now was covered in cupcake and bruises from the neck up. Pinkie was drawing back her hoof to hit the mare a second time, but was suddenly pulled away by Twilight's magic.

“Pinkie! You need to calm down right now!”, the unicorn shouted as stern and clear as she could make herself as she drew her enraged friend in close and whispered in her ear. “I know you're upset and I know she deserved it, but you can not start beating up random ponies. You still have a job to do and if you lose control now then this city loses Mare-Do-Well.”

The pink mare wanted to respond, but found her voice sealed away by her friend's spell. All she could do was struggle before giving into better judgment. Twilight deposited Pinkie Pie next to the door and motioned for her to leave as the cops showed up. She ran outside passing by Sweet Jenie's truck where its owner gave a small smile to herself. She was satisfied with her little stunt and the reaction it garnered from those how got to catch a glimpse of her work. Pinkie ran as fast as she could back to the Candy Store, but unconsciously taking a longer route back she needed. She couldn't breath or think and when she tried to slow down her body just sped up. She felt sick to her stomach in a way she never thought any pony could. It wasn't as if she had never seen death before or children done wrong. As Mare-Do-Well she had seen if far too much for her taste. She thought she had become tougher than she was back then, but here she was just running wildly. Trying to escape the feelings of disgust and guilt at another child she couldn't save. After what must have been close to twenty solid minutes of running she came to an entrance to the Candy Store tunnels and finally seemed to be able to stop herself. After a few moments of deep panting Pinkie dropped her head and vomited. Anything she had been able to keep in while running was now just a colorful mix of sick on the ground. She toppled onto her side and curled up in a ball and sobbed deeply. The tears burned her eyes and it felt as if all over feelings were running out of her body. After minutes of crying the tears were gone and only dry sobs remained in their place. Emotionally she was empty now and she would welcome it later.

The loss of raw emotional content would be what Pinkie needed when the time came to deal with the monster responsible.

Part 1 End.