Twilight was running the fastest she ever had. Her niece and sister in law in the foremost part of her mind, her mind began racing to find a solution. One that didn't end with the annihilation of a nation. Nothing. A part of her mind answered her in the form of a reflection. She stared at her reflection for a moment as it spoke.

Get psycho. Give in... Decide..., the voice in the puddle said.

"I don't want to get psycho... I want to save them..." Twilight replied.

Give in..., the voice insisted.

"I... I want to save them!"

If that's what you want... You have to sacrifice something else. Equivalent exchange. To save a few, you must sacrifice the many. To save many, you have to sacrifice a few..

"I'd be no better than Tirek if I killed all those ponies!

But if you don't, you lose your precious family... You have the proper motivation, it will justify the ends in which you must go to save them.

"I'll find something else! Good day!"

There isn't anoth-

"I SAID GOOD DAY!" Twilight shouted, cutting the puddle off from continuing.

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Twilight began searching her part of the city frantically, looking for any place the crystal ponies might have hidden her family. She had no such luck. The city was just to big to know for sure. She just came out of another house, after another failed attempt, when she heard a sound that made her ear twitch.

She whirled around and found herself facing a small armada of the ponies. Simultaneously, they all lifted their rifles, causing a sound much like a a collective snap. Her mind began racing again. They all looked down their sights and into their scopes. She looked behind her for a place to run. The only thing she saw was more ponies with their guns pointed at her. She began spinning round and round, looking for a way out. Each way she faced, she saw a new set of guns.

"READY!" One shouted to the others, "Aim!"

Twilight closed her eyes, very aware that she was about to die.

"FIRE!"

All around her she heard gunfire. The sound was deafening.

She felt something similar to that piano that fell on her. Only difference being it was more like hundreds of those hitting specific points on her body simultaneously. Then everything faded.

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Twilight looked at the buildings around her. They were all uniquely the same. She started to think about what happened. She had been shot. She was aware of that. Then was this the afterlife? It must be. She walked around, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. I couldn't save them... They needed me... And I couldn't save them... She thought to herself.

"That isn't exactly true, Twi. We both know it isn't." a familiar voice rang out.

Twilight stopped in her tracks and spun around, to be greeted by a disobedient reflection. Her reflection smiled at her.

"You see... You are both dead, and not dead. This is neither Heaven nor Hell. This isn't Equestria, and it isn't Limbo."

"Then where are we?"

"Your head! I'll cut to the chase, because time is short. You're dying, Twi. You have only a minute left before you bleed out and die. However, you have a choice. Die a hero who stuck to her near-sighted ideals and refused to take a life to save her own and her family, OR live a hero who killed a hundred ponies to save herself and her loved ones, but you risk living with guilt for the rest of your life. The choice is yours. You have one minute to decide."

Twilight started weighing the options very carefully. On the one hoof, she didn't want to kill anyone. On the other, she didn't want to lose anyone. She dawned a look of resolution. Her decision made.

"I would do anything to save my friends and family. Today isn't the day I die."

"I knew that would be my decision," the reflection smiled.

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Her eyes snapped open. Looking down, she saw the hundreds of holes on her body. She giggled. The longer she stared the louder her laugh got. The louder her laugh got, the more she laughed. The more she laughed, the more crystal ponies promptly pissed themselves.

"FIRE!" The command rang again.

Twilight disappeared, only to reappear behind the one who shouted the initial order of execution.

"Peek-a-boo!" she shouted as she whipped his neck around so he could see her. As she forced his head 'round, several sickening cracks could be heard.

The gunfire rang again as they found her new location. She took to the air, forcing the bullets to miss as she flew around. She spotted what she was looking for... A rock.

She gripped it in her magic, bringing it to her face to nuzzle it lovingly. Her smile widened. She landed and started bashing a pony's head in with it.

"You know~ I wanted to spare you fuckers, honest! But you shot me before I could find a solution! So, since i couldn't find a solution... I decided to make one!" she sang out, making sure they all heard her.

She jumped onto another pony and repeated the process with the rock, whose name she had decided would be Brick. The blood splattered all over her coat and bits of grey matter clung to her mane as she continued. Then the ponies had started to run away! They were trying to leave her party! She found it rather rude and disappointing that they would leave the funeral before the final words had been spoken!

She grabbed their collective legs in her aura and decided on the spot that it would be harder for them to leave if they didn't have their legs. She put this thought in motion, ripping their legs off, causing a massive splash of blood to hit the streets. There!, she thought amongst their screams of pain and terror, Now we can have a proper meet and greet!

She finished her little project of bashing in a pony's head. Her hypothesis: They die. The results were conclusive. But, being the scientist she was, she tested this a few more times, never seeming to mind the bits of brain that found their way into her hair.

Of course, once 100% of the tests were proven correct, she placed Brick in her hair. She wanted to see something new. She wanted to test something else.

If you rip a pony in half, how long can they scream before dying?

She was so excited to discover the answer that she set to work immediately. The first test screamed for about two seconds before they died. She went to her next one, deciding to try to pull them apart more slowly. The second one screamed for thirty seconds before dying.

That was when Twilight made a mental note: This is boring as shit... She decided to grab Brick in her aura and used #157 to shape Brick into a neat little dagger.
New test, she thought to herself, How many times can I cut a pony before they die? I think I read about an ancient technique where they managed about three hundred...

She began to cut one of the survivors open. One... Two... Three...

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA STOP YOUR INCESSANT SCREAMING! I'M TRYING TO COUNT AND YOU ARE VERY DISTRACTING!" She shouted at her.

Four... Five... Six....

She finished her task and managed about 256 before they died.

How many stabs does it take to get to the center of a crystal pony? The world may never know...

She turned to her last assailant, who had decided to try to roll away. Twilight, who wasn't one for ponies who skipped lessons, decided that this one needed a curb stomp.

As the life force of the last one faded, she began to absorb their blood and transfigured it to match her own, before replacing the several liters they had taken from her. She began laughing again as she started sewing the wounds closed.

Hehe! That tickles!

Author's Note

I regret nothing about this story, nor do I apologize for it's contents. I'm earning that mature rating, dammit.