The Elements of Disharmony

Chapters

Chapter 1: You Liked It, Didn't You?
Chapter 2: The First Victim
Chapter 3: Missing
Chapter 4: Questioning
Chapter 5: The Scratch
Chapter 6: The Rock Farm
Chapter 7: Life as a Filly
Chapter 7: Father-Daughter Troubles (Life as a Filly Re-Written)
Chapter 8: Protect The Animals
Chapter 9A: The Ripple Effect

Chapter 1: You Liked It, Didn't You?

"Thank you all so much for coming! It means so much to Gummy," Pinkie announced to her "real" friends.

To say that Pinkie Pie, party extraordinaire, used to be happy would be a massive understatement. For most of her life, one would very rarely come across her and not see a huge smile on her face. Even when it seemed as if there was no reason to be so happy, the party pony always somehow found it in herself to grin.

It could reasonably be argued that her former friends were the biggest reason for her supposedly eternal elation. Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack were the best friends anypony could have ever asked for. When she wasn't throwing a party for one of them for whatever reason she could come up with(whether it be their birthday or the first time they ever ate one of her special cupcakes), she was simply jovial to be in their company. She would support them whenever they felt down and vice versa, and Pinkie Pie really couldn't have asked for a better group of friends.

...That is, until they ditched her.

After celebrating her pet alligator Gummy's birthday with her friends, Pinkie got the idea to throw an "after-birthday party". For whatever reason that she couldn't put a hoof on, her friends all seemed to be avoiding her, coming up with any excuse they could to make it seem like they were too busy, such as Twilight having to "hit the books"(though Pinkie didn't understand why hitting books would be that productive) or Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy having to babysit a bear that plays volleyball and collects seashells(or was it "collects volleyballs and plays with seashells"?).

Even at her most direct, the most explanation that Pinkie could get as to what was going on was that they were doing construction in the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. With nowhere else to turn, she interrogated Spike, Twilight's baby dragon and #1 assistant, for answers, using gems, his favorite snack, as a bribe.

"W-What do you wanna hear? Tell me what you want me to say, and I'll say it!" Spike had cried.

"Tell me that my friends are all lying to me and avoiding me because they don't like my parties and they don't want to be my FRIENDS ANYMORE!" Pinkie shouted at the top of her lungs, causing her to breathe heavily from the anger building inside her and the effort it was taking to get answers.

"Your friends are all lying to you and avoiding you 'cause they don't like your parties and they don't want to be your friends anymore!" Spike answered.

So with Pinkie's suspicions confirmed, her mood, and as a result, her appearance, changed drastically. If somepony were to see her at this point, they would see a sort of...misinterpretation of what Pinkie Pie should be. Her coat took on a notably duller shade, the smile that used to be near-permanently plastered on her face would more often than not be absent, and her mane went from poofy and bouncy to straight and flat, the hair going down the side of her face.

But what did Pinkie care? Her so-called "friends" had ditched her! If they didn't want to attend her parties anymore, so be it. She would throw Gummy's after-birthday party anyway, with some other friends who would actually care what she had to say and who would appreciate the effort she puts into her parties.

"Could I have some more punch?" said a bucket of turnips.

"Well, of course you can have some more punch, Mr. Turnip." Pinkie replied, giving Mr. Turnip a glass of punch.

TWANG!

Even as Pinkie interacted with her true friends, she could feel pieces of herself getting yanked out bit by bit. The pony she used to be was becoming more and more of a memory with every second.

"This is one great pahty! You've really outdone yourself!" a pile of rocks exclaimed.

"Why, thank you, Rocky." Pinkie said a little haughtily.

"I'm having a delightful time as well." a clump of lint stated.

"I'm so glad, Sir Lintsalot," the party pony answered.

TWANG!

See? Pinkie thought to herself. These guys actually care about me. Why did I even bother with those ponies? I had actual friends all along!

"I'm just glad none of them ponies showed up." Rocky said.

...Though it doesn't do better to talk about them.

"Oh, they're not so bad..." the pink pony replied, right before her pupils started moving away from each other in a reverse cross-eye.

"Not so bad? Puh-lease! They're a buncha losers!" Rocky insulted.

Pinkie's eyes went wide, shocked that Rocky would use such a word to describe ponies, much less those she used to call her friends. He was always so kind and loving. Sure, he was brash and bold sometimes, but he would never resort to insults.

Then again...he might not be wrong... Pinkie thought.

"...Oh, c'mon now. 'Losers' might be a little strong, don't you think?"

Sir Lintsalot practically scoffed at that. "After the way they treated you? I say 'losers' isn't strong enough."

"Well, it was pretty rude..." Pinkie remembered, looking down at her hooves.

"Pretty rude? It was downright deespicable!" Madame le Flour, a sack of flour, shouted in her heavily accented voice. She may be fancy, but she wasn't afraid to get down to the meat of things when time called for it.

"It was, wasn't it?" Pinkie said angrily, her resent for her former friends growing more and more with every word her real friends spoke.

"If I were you, I wouldn't speak to them ever again." Mr. Turnip surmised, his ever-wise side coming out like it always did.

The more Pinkie thought about it, the more she found them right, and so she came to her decision.

"You know what? I'm not gonna speak to them ever again. And I'm not gonna invite them to another party as long as I live! They don't deserve to be invited to my parties."

TWANG!

"Not after the way they've been acting..."

Every attendant at the party cheered her on, praising her for coming to the conclusion she did. Pinkie herself, on the other hoof, felt a strange mixture of emotions for her decision: happiness that she wouldn't try to have anything to do with those traitors anymore, anger that they would act in such a way towards her, and, oddly enough...sadness. Sadness that her friendship with the rest had to end the way it did.

After such a long time of having met what she considered the best ponies she had ever met in her life, Pinkie Pie never considered that they would turn on her, not least as suddenly as they seemed to have done. They could have at the very least talked to her about it, and they would have come to a compromise together. But instead, they resorted to avoiding her and excluding her in everything they did. If they were so willing to do that, then what reason could she have to trust them, let alone invite them to her parties? In this regard, she was glad to have found proper replacements.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Pinkie Pie is going to love this surprise! Rainbow Dash mused as she flew towards Sugarcube Corner.

Rainbow had been tasked with bringing Pinkie over to Sweet Apple Acres for her special surprise birthday party. It was the least they could do for such a wonderful pony, especially one that always put together such exciting parties and brought a smile to their face every chance she got. It might be a crude set-up for what they could get, but it was sure to make Pinkie happy regardless.

Though Rainbow(and the others, she was sure) did notice something...odd about the party pony. Okay, "odd" might be an understatement. They were only trying to hold a surprise for her, so they had to be secretive about it, of course. But as a result, Pinkie seemed more vitriolic, vexed, and suspicious than she normally would be.

Well...maybe it's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. Rainbow contemplated. After all, she's said and done a lot weirder. I still remember when she used musical instruments to get rid of a swarm of parasprites...and it worked!

The pegasus landed on the balcony on the second floor of Sugarcube Corner and knocked on the door.

"Who could that be?" Pinkie asked, perplexed.

Who and for what reason would somepony have to see me now?

The door opened, revealing Rainbow Dash, which caused Pinkie's face to turn into a scowl.

Ugh, what is SHE doing here? Finally come to apologize? This had better be a darn good one...

"Hey, there, Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash greeted. "Sorry I was in such a rush earlier. Had some place to be and couldn't slow down and say, 'Hello.' You know how it goes."

"I know how it goes, all right." Pinkie grumbled through clenched teeth.

Before Rainbow could say anything more, it hit her just what a strange image she was looking at. She noticed Pinkie's change in appearance, with the duller coat and flat mane. If that was all that was odd about this, she could have just written this off as "Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie". For all she knew, the party extraordinaire might have just decided to go for a different look today.

No. What was really strange about what she was looking at was literally everything else.

All the chairs around the table were taken up by not ponies, but a weird collection of objects. A bucket of turnips, a pile of rocks, a clump of lint, and a bag of flour surrounded the table, making up the party guests.

Okay, this is crazy even for Pinkie Pie...

"...Yeah...so, why don't you come with me over to Sweet Apple Acres?"

"No thanks. I'm spending time with my real friends. Isn't that right, Madame le Flour?"

At first, Rainbow expected that Pinkie would stay silent after this, expecting the bag of flour to actually respond. But what she did instead was arguably more disturbing: She wrapped her forearm around the bag and changed her voice to a more accented one.

"Oui! Zat is correct, madame!" Pinkie said, voicing the bag of flour with a crazed look in her eyes.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes a bit, feeling uneasy. She's seen her friend do silly stuff before, obviously, but this was the first time the pony seemed...unhinged. At least, more so than usual.

"Uh...Pinkie Pie?" she asked, unsure of whether the pony she was talking to was even Pinkie Pie at all. In what seemed an attempt to ignore her, Pinkie merely grabbed a plate with a slice of cake and offered it to the lint, which she then gave a deeper voice thanking her for the food.

Run. Run far away. Rainbow's inner conscience told her.

I can't do that! She's my friend...I think...

"Aaallrighty. What do you say we get on out of Creepytown and head over to Applejack's-"

But before she could properly finish her sentence, Pinkie pushed the bucket of turnips closer to her. "She's not going anywhere," Pinkie voiced for the bucket in a gruff voice.

"I most certainly am not. I'm having a wonderful time right here." Pinkie huffed.

Rainbow went around the bucket in an attempt to convince her, but she was now stopped by the pile of rocks. "You heard the lady! She ain't goin' nowheres, chump!"

At that point, all common sense seem to have left Rainbow Dash, and she responded to the rocks. "Who you calling a chump, chump?!" With a little touch by her nose, the pile of rocks fell apart.

...Did I seriously just try to intimidate rocks? she thought to herself. I think all the weirdness is starting to get to me...

"That's it, party's over. Come on, Pinkie Pie!" she ordered, flying over the guests and landing behind the pink mare.

"No!" Pinkie whined.

"Pinkie Pie, let's go!"

"I said 'No'!"

Now the pegasus began trying to push Pinkie towards the door.

"Ugh...what is wrong with you?! Why are you acting so weird?!" Rainbow questioned.

"I'm not acting weird! You are!" Pinkie countered.

Rainbow kept pushing, but it seemed that Pinkie wasn't moving an inch. Even through all the anger, confusion, and exhaustion she was going through at the moment, she was surprised at how strong Pinkie seemed to be. After all, Rainbow Dash was the athletic one! If anything, Rainbow should have gotten her to the stairs by now.

"You...have to...come with...me!" she grunted.

"No...I...don't!" Pinkie shouted, lifting her back hooves and kicking, sending Rainbow Dash flying into the table, destroying it.

Looking back, Pinkie could see that Rainbow Dash was trying to recover from the blow, as well as the fact that there was a bit of blood coming out of her nose. She didn't care at the moment. Rainbow was trying to take her away from her happy life, and Pinkie couldn't let that happen. Rainbow put a hoof up to her nose, looking at the blood on it, and glared at Pinkie.

"Okay, fine! You don't want to come, don't! See if I care!" she said, sprinting out of the room and flying back towards Sweet Apple Acres, leaving Pinkie huffing in anger.

Rainbow Dash simply couldn't believe it. Not only did her friend seem to change in attitude in the span of less than a day, but also kicked her and drew blood from it. She wouldn't expect any of this to come from Pinkie Pie of all ponies.

She's just a jerk! She seemed much happier staying with those...those...things! If she doesn't want to do anything with me or the rest of us, then she can just go die in a fire for all I care!

Don't you think that's a little much? You don't know what she's going through. It could be something else entirely...

Rainbow Dash wanted to give Pinkie the benefit of the doubt. She wanted to think that whatever was going through Pinkie's mind at the moment had nothing to do with her. She wanted to potentially make it up to her somehow, figure out what was wrong with her and how she could fix it.

But now, she was too caught up in her resentment and anger to care.

She reached Sweet Apple Acres and opened the barn door, greeted by a shout of multiple voices shouting "SURPRIIIIISE!" Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack were all standing in a line, ready to welcome Pinkie to her surprise party. But when they saw that only Rainbow was present, their smiles shrunk down into looks of befuddlement.

"Uh...where's Pinkie? Isn't she coming?" Twilight asked.

"No! She's not coming." Rainbow grumbled. "She was too busy hanging out with her 'real friends'." She put her hooves up in the air and made quotation-mark gestures as she said the last two words.

"Rainbow, you're supposed to bring her here no matter how busy she is!" Twilight stated.

"I concur." Rarity agreed. "This is her birthday party, after all! And..." Rarity then noticed something about Rainbow's face. "Um...why is there blood coming out of your nose?"

"Because she kicked me!" Rainbow shouted. "She was too stubborn to go, so I tried to push her out. But she kicked me into the table and did this to me!"

All the others adopted looks of shock. Pinkie? Pinkie kicked Rainbow? Although Pinkie liked to say she loved all her friends equally, they always got the sense that she liked Rainbow the most. Not that they minded that much, seeing as how she was kind to all of them regardless. But the idea of her committing directed violence against any of them, let alone Rainbow, was ludicrous.

"Well...maybe she didn't mean it?" Fluttershy suggested.

"Of course she did." Rainbow said. "She didn't seem to regret it."

Applejack put a hoof to her chin in thought. "Maybe she's just...not in the mood? Ah mean, maybe she just needs time to herself to sort out whatever she's got going on. Maybe having us around would just make it worse?"

"Maybe..." Twilight said. "I just hope that she's all right."

Rainbow sniffed, wiping her nose with a hoof, cleaning it of blood.

Pinkie watched Rainbow fly out of Sugarcube Corner with her eyes glaring, breathing heavily in frustration. But after a few seconds, her expression softened to one of anguish.

"Oh, no...what have I done...?" Pinkie mumbled to herself. It helped her to actually voice her concerns, whether somepony was around to hear it or not. "Did that...really call for a kick?"

Of course it did.

Pinkie's eyes went wide. This wasn't her inner thoughts or her conscience. It was the voice...it was back...

""N-No, it didn't! Rainbow Dash was my friend! I didn't have to kick her like that!" Pinkie shouted, trying to make the voice go away.

Friend? You're really calling her a friend after what she did to you? What they all did to you?

Pinkie groaned and rubbed her head with her hooves, trying to push the voice back, make it not so loud. "Ugh...no...I'm not going to listen to you. I got rid of you a long time ago. Maybe a treat will make you go away again." She started heading towards the stairs, making her way to the bakery to bake something for herself.

You liked it, didn't you?

The mare stopped in her tracks. Even though the voice didn't have a physical form, obviously, she could still feel as if it smiled.

I knew it. The pony that wronged you. The pony that avoided you, rejected you, made you feel like complete and utter garbage. Didn't it feel so satisfying to give her the kick she deserved?

Pinkie thought about how it felt when she kicked Dash and saw the blood coming out of her nose. Seeing such a terrible pony get the punishment she needed...she hadn't felt that way since she was a filly...

"Well...I guess it did feel kind of nice..."

The voice giggled deviously. You see? You've been so nice for so long, you've forgotten how it feels to deliver justice and release all that pent-up fury. And now that you've been reminded of it...would you like to do it again?

After considering it for a minute, Pinkie had to admit that the idea was enticing. She had spent almost her entire life making everypony else happy. Why shouldn't she indulge herself a little?

"...Yeah...Yeah, I would."

Wonderful. Now get out the equipment.

Seemingly following the voice's orders without thinking, she went to her closet and got out the secret box she kept in the far corner, where nopony but her could find it. Once she used the key taped on the inside of the closet door to open it, she found that the box still had the scalpel, the butcher knife, the hacksaw, and several needles and liquids of various purposes.

We've got work to do...

Author's Note

Words can't express how excited I am to finally be doing this story. I've always had an adoration for the darker sides of the MLP: FiM characters, and I wanted to pay tribute to them in the best way I could. I played around with doing analyses of the different ones I came across, but then this idea came to me: A fanfic that's both a unique story and a loving send-up to those darker characters. I've had to rethink and retool this story countless times just to make sure that all the characters, details, and themes were just right. Rest assured, I've got all the story and details planned out, and I'm intent on making it to the end. To my everlasting shame, an older version involved a self-insert.

...You can understand why I scrapped that idea.

Some of you might be wondering why I decided to have the first chapter be uploaded on Halloween. Well, admittedly, the story will be a slow burn to get to the really intense stuff. But let's just say...there's a reason that I chose this day to start this fanfiction.

Happy Halloween! :D

Chapter 2: The First Victim

"I...I don't know about this..."

"Trust me...it will all be worth it in the end..."

Pinkie was pacing back and forth in the kitchen, conflicted over what she was about to do. The voice in her head had reasoned that the best way to start her new life would be by delivering some long overdue retribution. It would only be a taste of what was to come, the voice explained. Whether that was good or bad, Pinkie didn't know...and wasn't really sure she wanted to know.

"But...but what if Twilight sees me? What if all my friends see me? What if they report me to somepony important?! What if I get sent to Tartarus?! What if-"

At that moment, the front door knocked, signalling the arrival of her "guest". Pinkie gulped nervously and headed toward the door.

"Do everything like you did before, and you won't have to worry about all that..."

Though still unsure, Pinkie thought that at this point, it was best to just take the voice's word for it. Taking a deep breath, she put on a smile and opened the door.

"Welcome back! Glad you could make it!" Pinkie greeted with a delighted tone.

"Yeah, yeah, lame-o. Let's just get this over with."

Gilda was standing at the doorway, looking disgruntled over having to travel all the way from Griffonstone just to see what her old foe wanted. A few months back, Gilda had visited Ponyville so she could catch up on old times with Rainbow Dash, who she had met at flight school. But seeing how Pinkie had tried to butt in and muck up all of that, Gilda had tried her hardest to make sure that nopony would interfere with her visit, sabotaging Pinkie's innocent attempts to hang out with them. In the process, Gilda also stole apples, pranked Granny Smith with her tail and making her think there was a snake slithering around, and made Fluttershy cry by roaring at the pegasus at the top of her lungs. Thankfully, due to a misunderstanding involving a celebration party and a series of pranks that Gilda happened to set off all of, Gilda was revealed to be a complete jerk and Rainbow chased her off, upset that she ignored Pinkie all this time. Even Twilight, who was concerned that Pinkie was just jealous, apologized to the party pony for jumping to conclusions.

And now this jerkish griffon was standing on Pinkie's doorstep once again.

"Well, what are you waiting for, silly? Come on in!" Pinkie exclaimed, moving aside to let Gilda inside.

Walking inside, Gilda looked around the inside of Sugarcube Corner, the memories of the party flooding back to her one-by-one, resulting in anger and resentment building up inside. "Now, dweeb, what was it that you-" Gilda said, taking another look at Pinkie and stopping herself. "Uh...did you do something to your hair?"

"What do you mean?" Pinkie asked, but upon instinctively reaching up to her mane to feel it, she realized what Gilda meant. Her hair was still straight rather than poofy. Though her smile faltered a little, she gained it back and giggled innocently. "Oh, silly me! I guess I forgot to fix my mane up this morning. Don't worry, I'll get it done in a jiffy!" Then, out of seemingly nowhere, Pinkie pulled her party cannon out and, without explanation, put her head inside the barrel and fired. The roof received some holes as a result of part of the blast going past her head, but when she pulled out, her hair was just as poofy as it was before Gummy's after-birthday party.

Gilda witnessed all of this with a bewildered expression, thinking about how odd this pony was. "Uh...okay..." she responded, deciding to file this event under "weird, lame ponies doing weird, lame pony things". "Let's get one thing straight; the only reason I'm even agreeing to...whatever this is in the first place is so I can see how much it fails. It'll be a good laugh. So let's just do it so I can get to work."

Pinkie tried just barely to maintain her smile amidst all this negativity.

"Good idea, grumpy-pants! I just wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings between us, so...I made you a cupcake!" Pinkie said, pulling out a plate with a cupcake on it from out of her mane. Gilda looked at it and narrowed her eyes, scoffing.

"That's it? That's all you wanted me here for?" Gilda asked, chuckling a little at how measly this "super-duper important" thing really was. "Wow, you're even lamer than I thought."

"Oh, it's not just a cupcake. It's the most extra-special uber-delicious cupcake I've ever baked! And not to toot my own horn, but...that's really saying something." Pinkie replied, smiling a little smugly at her own bit of self-aggrandizing.

Gilda looked at the confection for a few more seconds, then groaned. "All right, fine. I'll try it. I'm sure it'll taste terrible, though." She picked it up between her talons and tossed the entire cupcake into her mouth, chewing on it and gulping it all down at once.

"So...what do you think?" Pinkie asked, acting as though nothing was going to go wrong.

"Well...it wasn't bad, I'll give you that. But I don't see what's so...so..." Suddenly, Gilda felt a little dizzy, and her senses started seeming to fade away. Her vision slowly became more blurred, any sounds she picked up sounded more and more muffled, and she found it difficult to keep her balance. "What...what did you...put in...?" Before she could finish her sentence, she lost consciousness and collapsed onto the floor.

At that moment, Pinkie's smile went away and her jovial expression was quickly replaced by fear. "Oh, no...what have I done? I...I gave her too much! I killed her!" she shouted, sinking to the floor in shock and exasperation.

"Oh, hush. You didn't kill her. She's just knocked out. Look, see? She's still breathing." the voice reasoned. Calming down a bit and looking closer, the voice proved to be correct. Gilda's body was moving rhythmically up and down with her breathing.

"Well...okay, she's still alive now, but...but what about what we're going to do to her? She's gonna die, anyway!" Pinkie told the voice.

"Of course she will. But don't you think she deserves some harm? After what she did to you just for the sheer crime of wanting to hang out with a friend, don't you think some punishment is necessary?"

"Well...Rainbow did tell her off..."

The voice gave a little snicker. "And you think that was enough? Look at how she treated you just today! In my opinion, she hasn't been punished enough. Trust me, this is for the best..."

Pinkie Pie was at possibly the biggest crossroads she had experienced in quite a long time. On the one hand, she reasoned in her head, dealing with Gilda would make her feel bad afterwards, because she would never intentionally harm anypony, unless they were entirely evil and tried to take over or destroy all of Equestria. On the other hand, it would also feel like justice was finally being properly served, like Gilda would finally be getting what she really deserved after treating her and her friends as badly as she did. On top of that, Pinkie would feel a sense of power that she hadn't felt since she was a filly. She would feel like she was the true judge of the matter, that she reached the verdict herself, and dealt the recompense of her own volition.

Pinkie had to admit, the latter was definitely more enticing.

Dragging the unconscious griffon to the basement, Pinkie sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing."

"Of course I do. I'm your conscience, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. And consciences are always right...right?" Pinkie asked.

"Right." her conscience replied. "Now, it's been too long. Let me take over again."

Though reluctant, Pinkie relented and let her other side take control. Once again, her mane went flat and fell down the sides of her face, and her expression now had a smile, not one of traditional joy and delight, but one of cunning and a sense of justice.

"Ah...much better. Now let's get down to business..."

When she opened her eyes, Gilda thought she had entered some kind of nightmare. It took a few seconds for her vision to clear, but when it did...it still felt like she couldn't see anything. She was surrounded in darkness, and for the first time in a long while, she felt fear creep into her mind; uncertainty filling her thoughts as she wondered what in Equestria could be going on.

She tried to move, but found herself unable to do so. All her limbs as well as her wings were being held down by very tight restraints. Whoever was doing this definitely had some experience when it came to kidnapping and containing other creatures.

With nothing else that she really could do, Gilda resorted to the one thing she could: Scream for someone to help.

"H-Hello?! Is anyone here?!" Gilda cried out, though she tried to maintain her cool tone of voice and failed at it considerably. "I-If this is supposed to be some kind of joke, it's not funny!"

"Well, you've never been one to laugh at my jokes, anyway." a high-pitched voice said in the darkness.

"What? Who...who said that?" Gilda asked, looking around for the source of the voice. At that moment, a small light came on overhead, a simple lightbulb dangling on a string. It wasn't enough to completely light up the room, but from what it did show, Gilda could see somewhere in the distance a table full of medical supplies and sharp instruments. Her breathing and heart rate increased when she saw these, and then seemed to stop entirely when she heard hoofsteps coming towards her. The figure came into the light to reveal who it was.

"Y-You?!" Gilda expressed in surprise, gazing at the pink pony, whose mane was straight once again. There was also something about the smile she had on her face that made it extra unsettling; something...devious. "Uh...l-look, if this is all to get back at me for calling you a dweeb and a lame-o, then you win. Now please let me out of here!"

Pinkie didn't move from her position. In fact, she let out a little chuckle at the griffon's expense.

"Are...are you making fun of me?! Look, I-I'm sorry, all right? Now get me off this thing before I pulverize you!"

"Oh, it's much too late for apologies, Gilda. This has been long overdue for you..." Pinkie said menacingly, pulling out a scalpel from behind her back. The griffon looked at it with wide eyes.

"Uh...w-what are you going to do with that?" Gilda fearfully asked, sweat beads going down her face, her anxiety increasing with every passing moment.

Pinkie chuckled again. "What's the matter? I thought you were supposed to be all big and tough. Yet you're terrified of this little sharp thing? You must be more talk than I thought you were."

At that moment, Pinkie reached to her side to pull a lever that was just outside the circle of light made by the bulb. The table that Gilda was strapped to suddenly stretched her out onto her back, making her look up into the hanging light bulb. Pinkie's face came into view as the mare looked down at the struggling, terrified griffon. The sight of her foe being so helpless caused her to smirk.

"Now...I wonder what griffon meat tastes like..."

Before Gilda could properly process what she meant by that, Pinkie began making her first cut.

After Gilda's life was taken, Discord's statue cracked a little...

Chapter 3: Missing

A few days later, newspapers all across Ponyville contained the following in the "Missing" section:

Gilda, Griffonstone's local scone baker, aged 24, has been officially reported as missing. Last seen leaving her hometown,
she has since been unseen by anypony for reasons unknown. The last ones to come in contact with her before she left were her mother and father back home. When questioned as to what their daughter told them, they remarked that she simply told them she would be going on an errand. Upon being asked the specifics, Gilda would try to be as vague as possible. "She was stuttering her words, not even looking us in the eye. She looked like she was embarrassed about something..." her mother recounted. The father was sitting in his living room chair, a dead-looking expression on his face and refusing to speak, and thus could not be reached for comment.

"I can't believe this..." Twilight mumbled to herself, reading the newspaper while sitting on the bed in her treehouse. She had encountered Gilda before, of course, but she had always assumed that when she stormed out of Sugarcube Corner, that would be the end of it. But all of a sudden, this news hit, and...she couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Sure, Gilda was rude and crude and overall pretty jerkish, but Twilight had the sense that if they ever bumped into each other again, they would at least try to talk things out and make it up to each other. It was admittedly a stretch, but she could always hope.

Now she wasn't sure if that chance would ever come.

Just then, one of the doors leading into the room opened, and Spike, her baby dragon assistant, came in holding a tray of tea and cakes that he had made specially for Twilight.

"Oh, uh, hey, Spike." Twilight muttered distractedly, the news still reeling in her mind.

"Here you go, Twilight! Ginseng and honey tea, just the way you like it!" Spike exclaimed, puffing out his chest in a clear bit of self-aggrandizing. But then he took notice of Twilight's distracted and distant look, and his bold attitude was swiftly replaced by concern and worry for her. She had taken care of him ever since she magically hatched him out of his egg, and over time, he had come to see her as a sort of mother figure. Whenever he needed help and advice, she would be there to give it to him and vice versa.

Now appeared to be one of those times.

"Hey, uh...Twilight? Are you okay?" he asked, stepping towards her, his voice a little softer than usual.

Twilight, seeming to realize for the first time that Spike was really there, turned towards him and put on a not-so-genuine smile. "Yeah, I'm totally fine! Why wouldn't I be?" she responded, trying to sound as free of worry as possible.

But Spike was not one to be deterred so easily.

"Twilight, I know you. I can tell when you're worried about something. You can tell me anything. So what's up?" the dragon said importantly.

Sighing, Twilight relented. At times, she could really underestimate her #1 assistant. "Well...it's this news report. Apparently, Gilda's gone missing."

"Gilda...Gilda...oh! Wasn't she that griffon that kept sabotaging Pinkie Pie?"

"That's her, all right."

"She's...she's missing?" Spike asked, letting the news sink in. The most contact he had with Gilda was her pushing him aside just to have a bite of cake. That alone had put in him a negative first impression of her. But now that she seemed to be gone...he wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"I don't know what could have happened to her, but...is it wrong that I want her to be okay?" Twilight wondered.

"I...suppose not..." Spike replied.

"Ah...heh. But hey, you're a baby dragon. You probably don't want to hear about all this stuff. Maybe there can be something fun we can do today to take our minds off- oh!"

Turning the page, Twilight noticed an advertisement, which read as follows:

Sugarcube Corner's New Mystery Cupcake: The First of Many!

In experimenting with new and never-before-tasted flavors, we at Sugarcube Corner have created a variety of super-delicious yummy-wummy cupcakes, each of them with a unique taste never done before by us or any other bakery! What flavors are they, you ask? We can't tell you; it's a secret! Cupcakes to come out as they're ready, available for a limited time.

Spike looking over Twilight's shoulder to read this ad and adopted a huge smile on his face, licking his lips. "New cupcake flavors?" he asked excitedly. "Maybe this is what Pinkie's been busy doing all this time!"

"Yeah...maybe..." Twilight replied, narrowing her eyes a bit at the ad. "Something about this doesn't seem right, though..."

"What do you mean?" Spike questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh...I'm...sure it's nothing. Why don't we head over there now? No time like the present, after all!"

Getting up, the unicorn and dragon headed to Sugarcube Corner, Spike ready for some cupcakes, Twilight still trying to put her hoof on what exactly felt so...wrong about all this.

Rarity woke up that morning refreshed and ready after such a long night of beauty sleep, which surprised her, given how concerned she was about Pinkie after the disastrous results of her birthday party. She hadn't seen her at all in the last few days, and this lack of contact was starting to worry her, probably more than it should have.

Rarity couldn't explain it, but there was something about Pinkie's withdrawal that...ate at her, for lack of a better phrase. Pinkie was her friend, there was no doubt about that. But even then, the fact that the party pony hadn't contacted her at all recently felt particularly saddening.

Putting those feelings aside for the time being, she got up, brushed her mane to get it all nice and perfect as usual, then headed back down to the kitchen to get some breakfast. On her way down, though, a smell hit her nostrils; a burnt, smoking smell. Realizing what it was before she reached the kitchen, she sprinted the rest of the way to confirm her suspicions.

Her sister, Sweetie Belle, had tried to make her breakfast in bed again...and was failing miserably at it.

"Awww, Rarity!" Sweetie Belle said, exasperated. "You spoiled the surprise!"

Meanwhile, Rarity was using her magic to levitate the pots and pans away from the stove, trying to get rid of all the smoke filling up the house. She knew her sister always meant well whenever she tried to help, she really did. It's just that Sweetie Belle was so...clumsy.

"Sorry..." the unicorn filly mumbled.

Rarity nearly got angry at Sweetie Belle for burning all the food, her face contorting in such a way to try and contain it. Finally, she managed to put on a smile.

"That's okay, Sweetie Belle. I know you just wanted to make your big sister happy." she said, her voice straining just a bit to stay calm and neutral.

Sweetie Belle smiled in return, oblivious to the effort Rarity put in trying to stay composed. "No problem, Rarity! Always happy to help."

Despite herself, Rarity couldn't help but genuinely smile at her enthusiastic little sister. She had to admit, Sweetie Belle's attitude was kind of infectious. "In that case, would you help me by getting the paper? It must be in the mail box by now."

"Yes, ma'am!" Sweetie Belle replied, giving off a salute in the innocently serious way that only a child could, and sprinted off to get the mail. After a minute of Rarity fixing up the kitchen, Sweetie Belle came back with the newspaper. She was trying to use her magic to lift it up, but due to it being so underdeveloped at this time in her life, the most she could was lift it up a fraction of an inch. So finally, she gave up and resorted to carrying it in her forearm.

Rarity made herself a simple bagel with cream cheese on it, not really wanting to eat anything elegant just yet, and began reading the paper. When she reached the "Missing" section and saw Gilda, however, she felt that she lost a bit of her appetite.

Rarity was no stranger to ponies and other creatures going missing. She had read this section in every paper she got, curious to know what the current cases were. But this is the first time she could remember where one of them turned out to be someone she knew, if only a little. The fact that a case like this had happened to someone of her acquaintance(even if it wasn't exactly positive) only added to her worry, on top of that for Pinkie.

At that moment, being the drama queen she could often be, she started to think about worst-case scenarios.

What if something horrible happened to her? she thought, her mind racing with the possibilities. What if she got into an accident? What if she got hit by a stray bit of magic? What if an Ursa Minor, or worse, a Major got her? What if...? That last thought led to the worst one of all.

What if she was murdered?

Paranoia crept up her spine and settled into her mind, filling her with images of a serial killer prowling around Equestria, possibly heading towards Ponyville right now, and other things that she had never considered before when looking at the missing cases. Warily, she peeked out of the window, making sure that nopony was watching right now...

"I'm heading out now!" Sweetie Belle's voice rang out, causing Rarity to jump out of the midst of her fear.

"Sweetie Belle, don't shout so loudly! You're going to give me a heart attack." Rarity said, holding her chest with her hoof.

The filly's ears drooped and she giggled. "Sorry. I'm just gonna go hang out with Applebloom and Scootaloo. Are...are you all right?" she asked, noticing Rarity's scared expression.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. I just...I think I'm gonna stay in for today. I don't...I don't feel well..." the mare responded, aloof to keep the filly from worrying too much.

"Oh, uh...okay. Um...see you later." Sweetie Belle said, leaving Carousel Boutique. She may not have been the brightest filly out there, but she wasn't completely stupid. She could tell something was wrong with Rarity, and she wanted to help. But given her expression, the filly thought this was a time best leaving her to her own devices...

After reading the article, Applejack thought it best to head to the barn's cider cellar.

She couldn't even remember the last time she had a drink. Applejack used to have cider any time she felt like it, for better or worse. She had tried going clean sober ever since that one night where she took things too far, and Applebloom...

Whether she was doing this to celebrate or drown out her sorrow, she wasn't exactly sure. She knew Gilda wasn't exactly pleasant, but she was willing to talk things out, at least...or give her a kick in the hindquarters. One of the two. She felt such a flurry of emotions reading about her disappearance that the mare, after a few minutes of long and hard thought, decided to break out the cider once again.

Ever since the incident with Applebloom, Granny Smith had put on a note on the door to the cellar, saying "Only adults allowed in here. Drink in moderation...especially YOU, Applejack." After the regretful night, Applejack resolved to not even touch cider again, but now she felt the need to at least indulge herself a little.

As soon as she felt the cider go down her throat, she felt a sense of happiness she hadn't felt in a long time. It was like picking up on an old hobby for the sake of nostalgia. The fiery liquid burned in her throat, but it was the good kind of burn that feels pleasant nonetheless. Thus, she felt the uncontrollable urge to drink more...

After about half an hour, she came out of the cellar and made her way out of the barn, swaying a little as she walked. Her vision was a little bit blurry, but not enough that she couldn't see where she was going. Her brain had seemingly random images racing through it: a griffon, the article, a bottle of hard cider, her hoof swinging down to-

Applebloom came around the corner just then, smiling without a care in the world. Seeing Applejack, she remembered that she had to tell her big sister if she ever went out anywhere, so she went towards her to do just that.

"Hey, Applejack! I'm just heading out to meet the other Crusaders, so I might...be..." The filly then stopped when she got a closer look at Applejack's face, one that she recognized. Applejack had a flushed expression, her cheeks rosy, her eyes half-lidded, and her hair a little messy. Worse, she looked angry...

"I'll, uh...I'll just go..." Applebloom said, heading off. The last time she saw that look on AJ's face was when she got too much into the cider and...well, she didn't like to think about that night.

Fluttershy was cowering in her cottage, with only her animal companions for company.

She didn't like reading the paper, since the news always had the tendency of being very...negative. With her being as shy and easily frightened as she was, it was much too easy for the latest headline to terrify her too much to even want to leave her cottage, whether it be a pony in another town that got arrested or a deathly dangerous animal lurking around. She loved animals, of course, but she also had her limits. So her bunny Angel had to be the one to read about it. With some coercing, he had her read the article, and she relented under the mindset that maybe it won't affect her THAT much.

With Gilda missing, however, it hit a little too close to home.

She wasn't even sure why she was so worried about the griffon. Gilda had flat-out roared in her face just for being in the way. But all the same, she couldn't help but wonder...

More than Rarity even in her most anxious times, Fluttershy tended to think the worst whenever something bad happened, and it was one of the reasons that it was very hard for her to come out of her shell. She felt self-conscious whenever she let pessimism get the better of her. As such, she had the idea that somepony had killed Gilda. No, worse than that, she was sure somepony killed her. Now, the pegasus had only one goal in her mind:

Protect her animals.

Fluttershy barricaded all the exits around her house with furniture that she had gathered. Once everything was covered, she sighed and sat down on the lone couch left in the living room, all the animals looking at her curiously.

"It's okay, everyone. There's nothing wrong at all. I-I just think it's best if we stay inside for the day...yeah, that's it..." she muttered, trying to calm both herself and the animals, not really succeeding in either regard.

Angel hopped up next to her and glared at her with a scowl, folding his arms. It was a look that told her "Don't you think you're overreacting a little?"

"Trust me, Angel. I know what I'm doing..." Fluttershy consoled, not exactly trusting herself.

Angel merely rolled his eyes and went off to his food bowl, waiting for his owner's freak-out of the day to pass...if it ever did.

Rainbow Dash was trying to keep her mind off of Gilda for the moment by keeping it on her job.

Much like her friends, Rainbow didn't like to think about all the terrible news going on nowadays. She could read about all kinds of gossip, of course, but when it came to actually terrible things happening to others, it was something she'd rather avoid hearing about, especially with how many fillies and colts were reported missing. The whole situation was confusing enough as it is for her.

Besides, she had a job to do.

Ever since she had started avoiding Pinkie Pie, she had more of an inclination to do her work than she did before. She had worked as one of the weather pegasi, having to move the clouds and cause rains as scheduled by the higher-ups. The problem was that she could be pretty lazy at times, not having the motivation to do any work, instead wanting to either nap or spend time with her friends, most notably Pinkie.

Nowadays, however, her work ethic seemed to improve. She was more inclined to be on time, do the tasks assigned to her, and help the other pegasi in doing the same. There were even points where she showcased her experience with leadership, actually guiding the rest. Despite everything going on with Pinkie and the recent news, her improved work life left her feeling overall pretty good about herself.

Later that day, her boss, Winter Weld, flew up to her with a rare smirk on his face. He was often very cold and stone-faced, preferring to maintain a hard expression so as to keep the workers in line. So when he came towards one of them with actual emotion on his face, they could tell that it was either good news when he was smiling or bad news when he wore a scowl.

Here, it at least seemed to be good news for Rainbow.

"Well, well, well." Winter Weld said, looking around to make sure nopony was listening, chuckling a little. "It seems I've underestimated you, Rainbow. I don't know what happened, but you've really stepped up your game lately. Not gonna lie, I was considering firing you, but now, you seem to actually be taking your work seriously for once."

Rainbow knew it was a compliment overall, but she wasn't sure how to exactly take it. Peppered in it, much to Winter Weld's style, were a few tiny insults and jabs thrown her way. But since she didn't want to antagonize her boss in any way, she accepted the compliment and replied "Well, thanks. I guess I am pretty great, aren't I?" Her bold and brash side peeked out a bit at that moment, but that only made Winter Weld's smile bigger.

"Indeed you are, Ms. Dash. In fact..." He looked around, making sure again that nopony else was around. "Can I talk to you in private?"

Rainbow was a little bewildered as to what exactly he wanted to talk about, but thought it best not to argue. So, though not without a bit of apprehension, she followed him around behind a particularly big cloud that was meant to be moved to the west that evening.

"See, Ms. Dash," he began, "I've been keeping a close eye on your performance lately, noticing all your improvements. For once, you're actually doing your job 100% of the time. But I think out of all of them, you've showcased a strong sense of management. You seem to know your stuff when it comes to leading the others. So...I have an extra special new position for you to take."

Pausing a bit for a taste of dramatic flair, he continued, "I think you'd be an excellent worker for the Rainbow Factory."

Rainbow was taken aback a bit, to say the least. She had heard about the Rainbow Factory before, of course, but had never gotten the chance to actually go inside. The Factory was only allowed to be seen on the inside by a very select few ponies, because what went on inside was apparently so secret that only the most qualified are allowed permission to peek into its doors, let alone take part in working there.

"You...You're serious?" Rainbow said, disbelief evident in her tone.

"Dead serious." Winter Weld answered, smirking once again. Ignoring her shocked face, he patted her on the back with a hoof. "Congratulations."

"Wow..." Rainbow whispered to herself, thinking about the chance to work in the Factory. "This is so awesome!" she finally shouted out.

"Sssshhh!" Winter Weld shushed, putting a hoof to his lips. "Yes, yes, I know it's a great opportunity, but nopony else must know. What goes on in there must not be known to anypony outside its doors."

Rainbow calmed down a bit and chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. "Sorry. Um...thanks, sir."

Winter Weld took a deep breath and smiled again. "You're welcome, Ms. Dash. Now, go head up to the Rainbow Factory. Your new position is effective immediately."

"Yes, sir!" Rainbow Dash yelled, but then covered her mouth with her hooves, blushing. "Um...yes, sir." she said quietly, and she began making her way to the elusive Rainbow Factory. She couldn't believe it. She was actually being given the chance to work at the Factory! This was an opportunity that very few were granted at all, and she had managed to earn it! As she made her way to the Factory, all bad news she had heard left her mind, and she just knew that nothing else could go wrong, and that no horrible things would hit her again.

How very wrong she was...

Author's Note

Lately, I've been hit with inspiration and a new drive to continue this story. Once again, let me know what I can improve on or what you liked about this story so far. I welcome any and all constructive criticism!

Chapter 4: Questioning

"Thank you, come again!" Pinkie said cheerily to the customer, handing her one of her new cupcakes. As she looked around at all the patrons taking pleasure in the new pastries, Pinkie allowed herself a little smile. As far as she was concerned, she should have listened to the voice long ago. Doing so resulted in a booming business day, and surely would lead to many more. Plus, she was making everypony in town just a little bit happier, and what could be wrong with that?

At that moment, the bell rang indicating another customer, and when Pinkie looked, she was ecstatic to see who it was.

"Hi, Twilight! Hi, Spike! I'm so glad you could come. You get to try some of my brand new, extra-special, super yummy cupcakes!" she greeted, pulling a tray of cupcakes out from behind her and holding it out in front of them. The frosting was colored with brown and white swirls, with a little touch of yellow at the top. Spike's eyes lit up upon seeing them and he couldn't resist licking his lips at the sight of them. Pinkie giggled at the dragon's excitement. "First one's on the house."

"Great, thanks!" Spike said quickly, grabbing two cupcakes and running off to eat them at a table.

"Well? Don't you want to try one, Twilight?" Pinkie asked. "They're freeeeeesh." She fluttered her eyelashes in an attempt to convince Twilight.

"Uh, no thanks, I'm not hungry." Twilight replied, holding up a hoof to emphasize her refusal. Pinkie shrugged.

"Eh, suit yourself." She put the tray away and began rearranging some of the items on the counter.

Twilight had several questions on her mind, of course, but she had trouble figuring out which one would be best to ask first. Knowing Pinkie, she figured that it would be best to lead in to the bigger ones, so she began with something simpler.

"So...Pinkie. You're looking...chipper. I assume that you're feeling better after what happened a few days ago?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Pinkie took a second before turning around and making a smile that was bigger than necessary. "Of course I am! I just needed a few days, that's all." she responded, giggling a little.

"...Rrrright." Twilight said awkwardly. "You know, Rainbow Dash is still a little upset over you...hitting her..."

At that moment, Pinkie's smile faltered for a few seconds, but she got it right back up. "Oh, she knows I didn't mean it. I'm sure she'll be perfectly happy to see me again in a few days!"

"Mmm, I don't know." Twilight stated. "I don't think she's the type to really let go of a grudge."

"Trust me, Twilight. I know her better than even Fluttershy does. It'll all be fine! So stop worrying." the party pony answered with an innocent smile.

The unicorn thought that Pinkie's answers would make things easier for her to understand, but if anything, they just made it harder. Why was Pinkie so quick to get over her anger, especially from what Rainbow Dash told them? Pinkie may have spent more time with Rainbow, sure, but Twilight was better at reading social cues than her, which was really saying something. Why was she trying to act so sure that Rainbow would just drop this?

The easy answer to this would have been to just write it off as "Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie", but for Twilight, the easy answer isn't always the right one, so she pressed on.

"All right, all right, I won't worry about it." she said, trying not to worry even as she said it. "So...new cupcakes, eh? What are they made of?" Pinkie giggled.

"I can't tell you that, silly!" she replied. She then looked around to make sure no one was listening in, and leaned in to whisper into Twilight's ear. "It's a secreeeet."

Twilight's ear twitched at having Pinkie breathe those words into it. "Good to know." Then, taking a closer look at the cupcakes, she noticed something...familiar about them. She couldn't figure out what it was, but...

Suddenly, Pinkie's eyes went wide. "Oh, excuse me, I must have left the oven on!" She then went around Twilight to address the rest of the bustle in the shop. "Sorry, everypony, we're going to have to close early! I need to fix the oven!"

The ponies in the shop all groaned. "Aw, I was hoping to get two more of these!" one of the stallions exclaimed.

"Uh, I don't smell any burning." Twilight tried to say, but Pinkie talked over her.

"I know, I'm super-duper sorry, but I have to give you the best of the best, and I can't do that while the oven's burning." she said, putting her tray of fresh cupcakes behind the counter. Before Twilight could question this, the party pony began pushing her outside. "Go on, Twilight, you don't want to burn up, do you?"

Soon enough, all the ponies were outside, the door to Sugarcube Corner was locked, and the lights inside were all turned off. While the rest of the crowd dispersed and grumbled over having to be practically pushed outside, Twilight and Spike were both still trying to comprehend what just happened.

"Huh. I didn't notice the oven was burning." Spike noted, shoving the last of his cupcake into his mouth.

"It wasn't. There wasn't any smoke in the kitchen. I could see that." Twilight said matter-of-factly.

"Then why would Pinkie say it was?" Spike asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know. But what I do know is that she's hiding something. And I'm going to find out what it is."

The two began to make their way back to the treehouse, Twilight considering everything that happened today. It was clear to her that Pinkie had a huge secret, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what it was. With Gilda missing, Pinkie suddenly acting happier with barely a word to her friends and suddenly kicking them out, and those new familiar-looking cupcakes...

Twilight felt a light turn on in her brain, as if the pieces finally fit together, but she didn't know exactly how.

"Twilight? You've got that look in your eyes again. You realize something?" Spike asked.

"I think so. But I'll have to do some research before I come to any conclusions."

The baby dragon groaned. "So does this mean...?"

"Yep! It's time to go through the library!" the unicorn exclaimed, sprinting off towards her house.

Spike sighed. "Well, this will take a while..."

Once everypony was outside and the lights were off, Pinkie breathed deeply to try and calm herself.

"That was too close." she said to herself. It was then that the voice came back.

You're telling me. I thought you've done this kind of thing before.

Pinkie chuckled nervously, sweating a little. "I...I guess I'm a little out of practice."

Hmph. In that case, we'll have to bring you back into practice. We need to be more careful.

Suddenly, without warning, Pinkie felt a sharp pain in her head and let out a little scream before her poofy mane went straight again.

"Just leave everything to me..."

It was when she headed back to the basement to fix everything up that she noticed Rarity looking in the window with a shocked expression.

Author's Note

Hi! It's been a while since the last chapter, hasn't it? In case any of you thought I was abandoning this story, that is far from the case. Things have been popping up in my real life and I've been focusing on my YouTube channel for a while, but I'm back with another chapter! Hope you enjoy, and I'm feeling inspired once again to continue this story more often than I have before.

Chapter 5: The Scratch

True to her word, Rarity was trying her best to stay home for the day, letting the paranoia from the news cloud her thoughts. She attempted to take her mind off the whole ordeal by doing things that interested her: sewing, drawing up some new dress designs for her boutique, perusing all the gems in her collection, anything to keep her occupied. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake the reality of the situation from her mind, and the worst-case scenario kept creeping back up.

Surely, whoever's after them can't be after me, too...right? she thought as she made herself some tea. Oh, buck up, Rarity. You can't just stay holed up in the house forever.

She sat down at the kitchen table sipping her tea with her cat Opalescence curled up beneath her, considering the consequences, the warmth of the tea going down her throat helping her to calm down a little. Soon, she came to the conclusion that she couldn't think of anypony who would have any reason to go after her. She hadn't wronged anypony, so there wasn't that much reason to worry so much.

Oh, I'm just being a fool. Rarity thought, chuckling to herself. I'll just have to be a little more careful from now on, that's all.

Looking outside, she noted the beautiful weather for the day and decided that a little afternoon stroll would clear her mind. With one last sip of her tea, she headed out, making sure to lock the door and put the key under the mat. Once Rarity began her walk, she took a deep, soothing breath of the fresh spring air, filling her lungs with a pleasant sensation. Rainbow Dash must have really outdone herself today along with all the other weather pegasi.

After a few minutes, Rarity saw Twilight sprinting in her direction, and greeted her with a smile.

"Good afternoon, Twilight. How are y-"

"HiRaritycan'ttalkgottagobye!" Twilight said quickly, speeding past Rarity with barely a glance at her. Rarity was left looking back at the unicorn with a confused expression. Spike began running past her as well, and Rarity stopped him.

"Spike? What's going on?" she asked.

Spike turned around and, knowing who was speaking to him, blushed and looked bashful, as always whenever he interacts with his longtime crush. "Oh, uh, h-hey, Rarity." he said. "Twilight just figured something out, so I'm trying to help her. I don't know anymore than that. Uh, see ya!" Then he turned around quickly and sprinted towards Twilight.

Though bewildered, Rarity shrugged this off, jotting it down as Twilight suddenly having a burst of inspiration to do some research, and so continued her walk. It was just when she was getting Twilight out of her mind when she saw Sugarcube Corner, noticing that it was completely dark.

Huh? Sugarcube Corner shouldn't be closed already. she thought, raising an eyebrow in confusion and going towards the building to investigate. Upon reaching the front door, she saw that a sign had been placed on it, saying "Closed due to unexpected fires. Super-duper sorry!" Feeling a tinge of fear go up her spine, Rarity knocked on the door.

"Pinkie Pie! Pinkie Pie, darling! Are you all right?" she called out. She was greeted with nothing but silence and a gust of wind. Her frightened state only got worse once the news story passed through her mind again, and once again, the worst-case scenario came to her. She knocked even harder. "Pinkie! Please say something!"

Still no answer.

Well, if she's not answering, I can at least see if she's doing okay.

With the front door being locked, however, she had to come up with another entry point to utilize. Figuring that a window would do just as well, she wandered around the building and tried to look inside. Heading around the right side, she eventually reached the basement window.

What she saw left her utterly speechless.

She saw Pinkie, but she had changed in appearance. Rather than her signature poofy mane, it was now limp and straight, and her coat had a slightly darker shade to it. When Pinkie noticed Rarity and looked towards her, the unicorn could see that all the happiness and light in her eyes seem to have left her, feeling more cold and empty.

But this wasn't what left her speechless. It was everything inside the basement that drew a shocked pause.

A medical table lay in the center, with red stains here and there. The table had gears and a lever as if it was made to be tilted up and down. Next to it was a tray of surgical tools, many of which had similar stains on the sharp edges. And somewhere in the corner, just in her line of sight, was a dead body, mutilated and cut open. Worst of all, she recognized who the body was. It was Gilda, her face frozen in a terrified expression and her eyes left soulless and unseeing.

Putting the pieces together, Rarity slowly turned her head back towards Pinkie, her pupils dilating in horror with every passing second. "P-...Pinkie...?" she squeaked out.

Pinkie went toward her with an angry expression and put her face as close to Rarity's as she possibly could with the window being closed.

"You. Saw. Nothing." she growled, and closed the curtain.

Rarity felt as if her whole worldview was being twisted and warped more and more as she processed what she just saw. The idea of Pinkie being responsible for Gilda going missing and her subsequent murder was too much for her, and she ran back home as quickly as possible, only letting out whimpers as she did so.

Once she saw Rarity leave, Pinkie breathed a sigh of relief, then felt a surge of fury. "Do you mean to tell me that you forgot to close the curtain?!" she shouted.

I-I'm sorry! I could have sworn I did, but I...I guess I did forget...

Frustration coursing through her brain, Pinkie began rubbing her head with her hooves, trying to think of a solution. "Clearly, you're out of practice. Well, you know what they say: If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." she said.

Okay...but what about Rarity?

Pinkie smirked. "What about her?"

Well, she saw everything! What if she tells somepony and we end up in jail, or worse?! Going to prison doesn't sound like fun at all...

"Oh, please. She won't tell anypony." she replied, chuckling. "I know her type. She'll just cower in her home and be too afraid to say anything. She's worried that I might do something to her."

You...You wouldn't, right?

"No promises." Pinkie stated. "In the meantime, I've got to clean up the mess and take extra precaution. I don't trust you to not make mistakes after what just happened."

Though the voice didn't say anything now, Pinkie could sense that she was feeling guilty over the whole thing, as she should. When it comes to business, it's best to leave it to the professionals.

Rarity burst through the front door of the boutique and quickly shut and locked the door. She put her back to it and slowly dropped down, her heart racing and her body shaking all over. Now that she felt slightly safer than she did before, she took the time to process everything.

Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear. Pinkie's a murderer, she killed Gilda, she might come after me next, and maybe even Sweetie Belle, and... These thoughts all sped through her brain in rapid-fire succession, and it didn't make the situation any better. She felt a few tears leak out of her eyes and nearly broke down into full-on sobbing when the door handle was being turned. Rarity let out a shriek before the door opened.

"Rarity? What's wrong?" Sweetie Belle asked, coming through the door and gazing at her sister with an uneasy expression.

Rarity took some deep breaths before speaking. "Oh, Sweetie Belle, you startled me..."

"It sounded like you were in danger. Is somepony out to get you?" the filly questioned.

Rarity opened her mouth to respond, but reconsidered her response. She thought of telling Sweetie Belle outright what was going on, but there were two things preventing her from doing so. Pinkie would most certainly be after her now, so telling anyone anything, let alone Sweetie Belle, would mean more danger and more death to follow. On top of that, Sweetie Belle was just a little filly with a whole life ahead of her and full of innocence. The last thing she would need to hear about at her age was one of her sister's friends being a murderer.

"Oh, no, don't be ridiculous." Rarity said, laughing and waving a hoof dismissively. "It's just your big sister being paranoid again, that's all."

Though bewildered at first, Sweetie Belle shrugged. "I guess that makes sense." she said, heading upstairs to her room.

Rarity let out a sigh, hoping that Sweetie wouldn't have to know about what Pinkie was up to.

A few days later, the boutique was still closed and a storm was raging outside. Deciding that she wouldn't have the emotional capacity to handle working for a while, Rarity had closed the boutique down ever since her discovery, putting a sign on the front door that read "Closed for an indeterminate amount of time". Her business was important, of course, but there was no way she was going to be able to help it run when she was this distressed.

For the last few days, Rarity had kept herself secluded in her house, her anxiety overtaking her entire being. There were times when one or more of her friends had come by to ask what was going on, but Rarity had remained dismissive and vague, making excuses like her being sick and needing to find inspiration, and shutting the door on them. She couldn't risk Pinkie coming after her.

She was in her bedroom, laying on the bed and looking out the window at the evening storm. Rain was pouring down in all directions, splashing the glass and obscuring the outside view. Lightning flashed and thunder crashed at nearly regular intervals, making the mare glad that she had decided to stay inside. One of the things she hated most was having a wet mane from standing out in the rain, especially after having to do so on a dare from Applejack one time at a sleepover.

Rarity took this as a chance to contemplate Pinkie's secret in a fitting atmosphere. Above all else, she felt trepidation and fear encompass her, but by this point, she was getting used to it. Because of this, she became aware of something else that lurked beneath and that she had unconsciously been keeping buried inside her.

Desire.

She couldn't explain it, but Pinkie's actions helped awaken a certain...excitement that she had never known before, as if a sneaky beast had found its way into her and was now lightly growling to be let out. But what could be causing it? she wondered. There's nothing to be excited about. Pinkie's killing ponies and doing Celestia knows what with them!

And yet...

"Meow..."

Snapping back to reality, Rarity turned to the source of the noise and saw Opal lying on the floor in her cat bed. In her reverie, Rarity had forgotten that Opal was in the room. From the way her meow sounded, the cat was scared and unsettled by the storm. Rarity could see that Opal was shaking, and couldn't help but see herself from just a few days ago in front of her. Getting out of bed, she walked slowly toward the cat, trying not to startle her.

"Oh, Opal, it's okay. It's just a storm, it'll blow over." Rarity said soothingly. Opal, however, didn't appear to listen and kept herself curled up, mewing distressingly all the while. "Opal..." Rarity said again, reaching toward the cat. At that moment, Opal began growling lightly. "Opal?"

With a loud howl, Opal opened her eyes, stood up, and scratched at Rarity, leaving three claw marks over her left eyelid.

"Ow! Why, you little..." In a fit of blind fury, Rarity smacked at Opal, sending her flying towards the wall and smacking against it with a loud, sickening crunch. Opal fell and landed limply on the floor, not moving a muscle. Rarity felt her anger ebb away over a few seconds, and her rage was replaced with extreme concern.

"O-Opal...?" she squeaked. The cat didn't move, not even a motion of breathing indicating that she was alive.

Rarity took a few steps back instinctively, putting a hoof to her mouth in shock.

I...I killed her...

At that point, several questions came to her, each of which was even more unsettling than the last.

How could I do such a thing? What do I do with the body? Do I tell the police? What if Sweetie Belle finds out? What if my friends find out? What do I do about my cut? And...

Why do I feel wet below my haunches?

This last question caused her to look down towards her private area, and that's when she knew her suspicion to be true.

She was aroused.

For a few seconds, Rarity couldn't put her hoof on exactly what could be causing her to become aroused now of all times. It couldn't have been killing Opal because she would never cause harm to any creature unless they absolutely deserved it. Opal was just acting on instinct.

But then she remembered the scratch Opal had given her, and she put a hoof to her left eye. Bringing it back out to see it, the wound was still letting out blood. The only positive is that the eye itself wasn't cut, so she could still see out of it. But once she focused on the wound itself, a tingle went through her haunches, and her arousal increased.

It was then that Rarity realized that her getting cut open was making her hornier than she had ever been in her life.

Disbelief and horror taking over, she took the blanket from her bed, threw it over Opal's body, and ran to the bathroom, locking herself inside. She looked at herself in the mirror, inspecting the wound on her eye.

What is wrong with me...? she asked herself, feeling her arousal go down her back legs.

Discord's statue cracked a little more.

Author's Note

From this point on, the story's heavier topics will be getting more of a focus than before. And for the Mane Six, things will only get worst from here...

Chapter 6: The Rock Farm

"Oh no oh no oh no oh no..." Rarity mumbled to herself, pacing around her room, Opal's body still covered by her blanket. She had healed her cuts as best as she could, but it didn't do much good to make them go away. There were still three visible lines across her left eye, and ponies would no doubt ask what happened. Thankfully for her, Opal scratching her was a valid excuse.

The main thing worrying her right now was what to do with the body.

Everything that happened to Rarity, from the scratch to her sudden arousal, put her in a frenzied state of mind, and several different ideas kept popping into her head. She could bury it in the backyard or throw it in the dumpster, but somepony would most likely see her. She'd thought of cremating the body, but threw that idea out the window the second after. Rarity was too much of a softie to burn an animal's body, dead or not.

"Rarity! What's going on?"

Rarity jumped at the sound of Sweetie Belle's voice. Sweetie Belle. How could Rarity forget about her? No matter what she did with Opal's body, there's no doubt that Sweetie would notice. The little filly adored Opal and loved playing with her whenever she could...and when Opal wanted to, of course. Rarity would have to come up with a good excuse for why Sweetie couldn't see her anymore. After all, with her being such a young filly, why trouble her with thoughts of her pet being dead? The door opened and Rarity turned around to see her walk in.

"Rarity? Is something wrong?" the filly asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

About a second later, Rarity came up with the best excuse she could think of.

"Oh, Sweetie Belle. I'm sorry to say, but Opal is sick." she said to the filly.

Sweetie Belle gasped. "Opal's sick? Can I see her?" she asked in worry.

"Uh, well, you see, even I'm not supposed to. It appears to be very contagious, so she has to stay covered until she feels better." Rarity answered to the best of her ability.

"Oh...okay..." Sweetie replied, a sad expression on her face. Rarity took notice of this and tired to lighten the mood.

"B-But the good news is that she's going to feel better sooner or later. It's just going to take some time, that's all." she said, chuckling nervously.

"Oh! Well, that's good, then!" Sweetie Belle squeaked, her sadness disappearing in an instant. Rarity was so glad that Sweetie was easy to make happy. "I'll go make her a get well card!" Before Rarity could respond, Sweetie sprinted out of the room.

During the whole conversation, Rarity's heart had been beating furiously in her chest, but now she sighed in relief, glad that she could keep Opal's true fate hidden under her blanket. Now that that was taken care of, she could get back to how to deal with the body. Just like before, each of her ideas was worse than the last one.

Soon enough, however, her mind began drifting towards what she saw in Pinkie's basement.

It shocked her to see it, no doubt about that. She would also freely admit that she was terrified. But then she started to think about if she were Pinkie's next victim. One would think the idea would make her hyperventilate with sheer horror.

But it didn't. It only brought back her lust.

Rarity had just discovered her sexual interest in receiving pain, and felt a desire to receive even more. To be cut up and injured by Pinkie was too good a thought for her to dismiss right out the gate. At the moment, no other thought brought her more delight and pleasure. It was at that moment that she realized how she actually felt about Pinkie, and why she had been more worried about her than her other friends had been.

Before, Rarity had had a crush on Pinkie for as long as she knew her. Now that she knew Pinkie's secret, she had fallen in love with her.

With this newfound discovery, Rarity looked back at Opal's body and put a hoof to her chin, thinking...

Over the next three days, Twilight had been hard at work in her library, looking into things that Spike couldn't guess at. He'd tried asking her what her deal was, but every time, she had shooed him away so that she could get done as quickly as possible. In the meantime, Spike was content to read his Power Ponies comics and spend time outside the treehouse. Whenever he went outside, it was usually just to explore Ponyville and casually greet his friends that he came across.

Every time, he made sure to go past Rarity's boutique, but he was disappointed that Rarity herself wouldn't come out, only being able to see her silhouette in her bedroom window. He'd knocked on the door, but Sweetie Belle was the one to answer, and when Spike asked what Rarity was up to, she told him that her big sister was very busy at the moment. Spike asked what she was busy with, and Sweetie merely shrugged, indicating her mutual lack of knowledge. He supposed it was some new secret dress design, which, given Rarity's track record, was sure to be excellent.

On the third day, Spike came back to the treehouse after one of these walks and was greeted with Twilight running towards her in excitement. "Spike! I found it!" she cried happily.

Spike jumped at the sudden noise and began rubbing the inside of his ear with one of his claws. "Geez, warn me next time you're gonna do that..."

"Sorry. I just finally found what I was looking for! I knew that I read it somewhere, but I couldn't for the life of me remember where."

"What did you find? Are you gonna tell me what's been going on?" Spike asked.

"Come here and look." Twilight said, motioning with her hoof for him to follow. She led him into the separate room on the other side of the house, which housed even more books than she could fit in the main room. On the desk sitting near the window was a huge book that appeared to be an archive of newspapers that had been collected and put together for an authentic look at the history of places all over the world.

"You see, Spike, I've been thinking about Gilda and all the other missing cases that have been popping up recently. I've been keeping an eye on the papers, and there have been more missing ponies than usual. And I think Pinkie has something to do with it..." she said, sounding as if she didn't want to believe it.

Spike could concede with that feeling. "Wait...Pinkie? Really? Are you sure you're not jumping to conclusions again?" he questioned.

"I thought I was, too, but I remember reading something about a similar situation long before I even met her. It just took me a long time to figure out where, but I've found it. Take a look at this page here." Twilight pointed to one of the pages in the book that it was turned to.

Spike jumped up on the stool and looked at the page. It was an article from a few decades ago about another pony that went missing without a trace. He didn't have the inclination to read the entire article, but the picture managed to catch his attention.

"Wait...is that...?"

"Mm-hmm. Pinkie's old rock farm." Twilight stated matter-of-factly. "And the more interesting part? The missing pony...is her father."

Twilight and Spike would have taken the rest of their friends on the train, but for one reason or another, they couldn't. Pinkie would have denied anything that might have happened to her father, anyway, so she wouldn't have been much help. Rarity was still staying secluded in her boutique, hard at work on what had to be her new design. They received no answer from Fluttershy's cottage, not even her animals to give an explanation. Applejack was working extra hard on keeping her apple farm up and running, and Twilight took note of her bloodshot eyes. Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen.

So the two had to go by themselves to Pinkie's rock farm. Luckily, the train route passed just by it, so there wouldn't be too much walking to be done. As they sat in the booth, Twilight was looking out the window, watching the landscape speed by as the train chugged to its destination.

"I'm sorry, Twilight, but I seriously doubt that Pinkie has something to do with these missing ponies." Spike said, the skepticism coloring his tone of voice.

"Well, maybe she isn't involved with all of them, but some of them I'm sure of." the unicorn replied.

"And you really think her family would know anything about it?"

"Spike, you've seen the article. Haven't you wondered why Pinkie hasn't mentioned anything about her father at all in the whole time we've known her? It can't be a coincidence."

Spike sighed. "Maybe...but I won't believe it until I see it."

Hours passed without another word being spoken between the two, but the skepticism and worry stayed floating in the air like a pesky bug that wouldn't go away no matter how hard one swatted at it. As the train continued, the land passing them by slowly shifted from the lush green grass and beautiful trees of Ponyville to the dry, dead-looking world of the outskirts. Neither Twilight nor Spike wanted to admit it, but it made them feel depressed just looking at the lack of life. Soon, the train began to slow down, and a voice came over the loudspeaker. "Passengers, we have arrived at the rock farm. Repeat: We have arrived at the rock farm."

Once Twilight and Spike got off the train and got a look at the rock farm, they were comparing it and the picture they saw in their heads, and noticed that it didn't seem to have changed at all. The farm itself was very old and ancient-looking, as if it was built during the Middle Ages rather than a settlement that could have been built today. The field in front of it was empty save for, predictably, rocks that scattered the place here and there, sure to be moved later in the day. The windmill was just as dreary and plain-looking as ever, spinning only slightly due to the light breeze.

"Huh. You'd think there'd be something different about this place by now, right?" Spike said, puzzled.

"Yeah...but these are very tradition-centered ponies. Maybe they don't want to change things, that's all." Twilight remarked.

Once they reached the front door, Twilight knocked on it. They heard hoofsteps behind it, and when the door opened, they were greeted by a mare with a silver coat and dull-blue mane and tail. Her mane had a bun in it, and she had glasses the likes of which you'd see on a stuffy librarian.

"Yes? How may I help you?" she said.

"Uh, hi. I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is my dragon assistant, Spike." Twilight introduced, Spike nervously waving at the mare.

"Greetings. My name is Cloudy Quartz. What are thou doing in my homestead?"

Wow, they really ARE old-fashioned. Twilight thought.

"Well, we were wondering...do you know Pinkie Pie?"

Cloudy Quartz raised an eyebrow. "You mean Pinkamena Diane Pie? Yes, she is my daughter."

Twilight smiled. "Okay, great! Because, well...we have some questions about your family."

Twilight noticed that Cloudy's face took on a bit of apprehension upon hearing that. "Well...I suppose I have answers for thee. Come on into my humble dwelling." she said, moving aside to let them in.

Twilight and Spike came in through the door one at a time, and got more of a sense of how old-fashioned these ponies were. The inside of the rock farm was very rustic and unrefined, looking like the plainest house one could ever own. What few decorations there were were rocks chipped down into unique shapes, which helped give the place a tiny bit of identity. Other than that, the wooden chairs and table, the fireplace, the furniture, and even the colors of the walls gave the rock farm just as dull a look as the outside of it. If it weren't for the ponies inside, it would be completely lifeless.

The unicorn and dragon had gotten a bit of information on Pinkie's sisters from the stories she told, but seeing them in real life made them feel like Pinkie was embellishing how interesting they were. They all had dull colors, and each one was quiet in their own way. One of them had a very stoic expression and a short purple mane and was toying with a tiny rock smaller than her hoof. Another had very long gray hair that covered one of her eyes, and was sitting in the corner not wanting to talk to the new arrivals. The third had somewhat mussy hair and a perpetually angry expression. She was tapping on the wood of the table, supposedly trying to keep her mind off the guests interrupting her peace and quiet. According to what Pinkie told them, these were Maud, Marble and Limestone respectively.

"Have a seat." Cloudy Quartz said, gesturing to the living room couch. Twilight and Spike obliged, sitting next to each other. Cloudy took her seat in one of the spare chairs in front of them. "Now, what did thee want to discuss?"

Twilight shifted around in her seat. "Well, might as well cut to the chase. Um...what happened with your husband?"

The effect this simple question had was instantaneous. Maud's pupils became slightly dilated and stopped playing with her rock, which according to Pinkie was named Boulder. Marble squeaked and began shivering in the corner she was sitting in. Limestone practically slammed her hoof on the table and glared at the two in fury. Cloudy Quartz closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I had an inkling that that's what you were here for. Well, you'll be disappointed to know that we refuse to discuss it, especially with strangers."

"Please, we need to know what happened. We could all be in danger if we don't know!" Twilight exclaimed.

"No excuses." Cloudy said explicitly.

"But you don't understand. Pinkie's been acting really strangely and the rate of ponies going missing has been skyrocketing!"

Cloudy Quartz was about to say something, but stopped. Her stern nature faltered in place of vulnerability. "Did...Did Pinkamena have straight hair?"

Caught off guard by this question, Twilight answered regardless. "Uh, well, she...uh, Rainbow Dash, another friend of ours, said that she had straight hair last time she saw her."

"And...has she been selling new pastries?"

"Yeah...why?" Twilight inquired.

Cloudy Quartz simply sighed in defeat and responded. "You want to know what happened to her father?"

Twilight and Spike looked at one another and leaned toward Cloudy, ready to listen.

Chapter 7: Life as a Filly

If there was one thing Dad understood more than anything, it was the value of a hard day's work.

For as long as she could remember, Pinkamena Diane Pie had been working on her family's rock farm, having been brought up to do so since she was out of babyhood. Every day from sunrise to sunset, she and every other member of her family had to farm rocks, whether it be mining for them, using them for the food they eat, or having to move them to another part of the field. Pinkamena never really understood the importance of the last task, but since it came from her Dad, she knew best not to question it.

Other ponies may have found it weird, but her family did indeed eat rocks as part of their diet. When Marble asked why they did when normal food would have sufficed, Mom said that rocks had minerals inside them, which, according to her, was much more beneficial for the workload they had to do. It was a good thing that Dad wasn't around when Marble asked the question. He tended to get rough when his daughters asked too many questions.

Pinkamena, as well as her sisters and parents, were never familiar with the concept of "happiness", even though they had heard of the concept from passersby and the occasional visitors. The work they had to do was relentlessly tedious, dull, and boring, and even when they weren't working, the farm they lived in was so dull and uninteresting that it didn't really matter. Maud seemed to be the only one who didn't mind, but then again, her face was so stoic and unfeeling that it was difficult to tell how she was feeling at any given moment.

One particularly dreary day was going about as normal as usual. Pinkamena was tasked with moving rocks to the other side of the field while her sisters and mother were out mining for more. Lost in her yearning for a more exciting life, even sighing to herself due to sheer boredom, she was shocked when an explosion occurred in the far distance. The sky then filled with a culmination of all the beautiful colors that the filly could think of, a shockwave of all kinds of hues going across the sky and over the rock farm. The force of this wave nearly knocked Pinkamena over and even affected her hair; what was once straight, limp and nearly covering one eye was now a poofy, curly cavalcade on her head. She didn't have time to think about that, however, because the result of the shockwave made itself apparent in the clear blue sky: a gorgeous rainbow.

Throughout her entire life, the filly never thought she would get the chance to see such a thing; she had heard of rainbows only in the few books she had read, and even then, the descriptions were more vague than anything else, set on being as poetic as possible. But seeing one for the first time made her figure out why. The beauty of this phenomenon was impossible to specifically describe to the point where doing so pretty much demands flowery words consistent with most poetry. The colors, the contrast between each of them, putting them together in spite of that...

It was enough to make Pinkamena smile for the first time.

Seemingly against her will, her face split into a wide smile, pure joy and glee spreading across her face. She could feel her heart beating very fast due to the sheer excitement of the experience, her breath caught itself in her throat as she took in the sight, and overall, she was at a total loss of words.

The rainbow disappeared after half a minute, the image burned into Pinkamena's brain where it would stay forever. Looking around to see if her family had witnessed the event as well, she was disappointed that they were gone. They were most likely now in the distant cave off the borders of the farm, mining for whatever rare rocks they could find. There was no way they could have seen it from there. But that didn't stop the filly from wanting to share her new feelings with her family. She didn't find it in herself to run up to them to do so; there was no way she could describe such...happiness properly.

The next best thing? Throw a surprise party for them.

It had been quite a few hours since she had begun preparing everything, but at the break of dawn, she finally had it all ready. In the farm's silo, she had set up quite the extravagant party set-up, not that she was one to brag. Pinkamena was just about to go out and get her family when she heard Mommy's voice come from outside.

"Pinkamena Diane Pie! Is that you?" the voice called out. Pinkamena, smiling as big as possible, sprinted to the door and saw her Mommy, Daddy and sisters all making their way to the silo.

"Mom! I need you and Dad and the sisters to come in! Quick!" she shouted, quickly going back inside to wait for their entrance. Once the door opened and all of them came inside, the filly turned the light on and allowed them all to see her hard work. "Surprise! You like it? It's called...a party!"

The shock that everypony felt was evident on all their faces. Daddy's mouth hung open, his pipe falling to the ground. Mommy's eyes were as wide as the filly had ever seen them be. Marble and Limestone had both happening at once. Even Maud's eyelids were brought up a bit, a rarity for a pony as stoic as her. In what felt like no time at all to them, the little pink filly had decorated the inside of the silo with tables with party covers, paper plates and cups, a pitcher of punch, streamers that hung from the ceiling, and balloons of various colors tied to each chair.

Pinkamena noticed that her mother was looking fearfully at Dad, which brought a worrying sensation across her body. Mom often hoped that Dad wouldn't have his rough moments, but it became more apparent that this was going to happen again. Dad's face slowly adopted more of an angry expression, until with nothing more than a grunt escaping him, he began tearing all the party decorations down.

"Stupid...ungrateful...disrespectful..." he grumbled, visibly upset at the very prospect of such an abomination as a party coming to his house. As he tore everything down, Pinkamena was cowering away, her ears down and fear growing in her heart the more dilapidated the place became. Finally, he turned around and glared down at her with white-hot fury in his eyes. "Why did you put all this up?" he growled.

"I...I-I just wanted to-"

"Where did you get all these decorations?"

"I, uh..."

"Did you have to spend our money to get them?!"

"W-Well..."

With that, he nearly roared, and he smacked her cheek with his tough hoof. The filly let out a short scream, and reaching up to her cheek, felt a bruise starting to form where Dad had struck her. Tears starting to fall from her eyes, Pinkamena looked up at her domineering father, who was now breathing heavily to calm himself down.

"W-...Why...?" the filly squeaked out.

Without a change of expression, Dad brought his face as close to hers as possible, the stale smell of rock soup coming from his lips. "Let me explain something to you, little filly. I have enough trouble to deal with trying to keep our farm running without wasting our money on frivolous things like this. We barely make enough to pay the bills, much less for food. I'm just stopping a problem before it even starts. If you do this again, we could go bankrupt and our family will be ruined."

Pinkamena could feel her heart breaking with every word he spoke. Ruin the family? And it would be all her fault? She didn't want to think about such a thing, let alone have it actually happen. Her poofy hair reduced back to being straight and limp at that moment, the happiness she felt earlier seeming as far away as it could possibly be. Without another word, Dad went back outside and headed back to the farm. As the filly watched her father leave, she saw her mother hugging each of her sisters at once and silently sobbing.

Pinkamena's father got rough, and it was all her fault.

It was then that she first heard the voice.

Kill him.

As the day went on, work went on as if nothing had ever happened, every member of the family trying to repress what occurred that morning, but it was simply impossible, just like every other time Igneous Rock had gotten rough. Cloudy Quartz valued all the times that she could comfort her daughters in the face of such malice, and she took it upon herself to fix up Pinkamena as best she could, making the bruise as invisible as possible, though even her best efforts did little to accomplish anything. That's how it had always been, and until tonight, that's how it would always be.

Once night fell upon the land, the landscape was hit with a hard thunderstorm, rain pouring down and thunder booming in their ears and making the place at least a little bit more miserable than usual. Cloudy Quartz, in her own bed in her own room, tried her best to go to sleep despite all the noise, but it proved to be impossible.

It wasn't too long into the night when she heard Igneous make a strangled scream past the thunder crack.

She had heard him scream before whenever he got rough, but it was always with anger, never with such...terror and pain. Cloudy got up to her hooves to investigate what was going on. If she were honest with herself, she couldn't care less for what happened to her husband. But if an intruder made their way into the house, then it would be her duty to protect her daughters in a desperate time.

She ran to Igneous' bedroom, where the scream came from, and she herself felt more terrified than she had ever been in her entire life.

Standing above Igneous' body was Pinkamena, her silhouette apparent against the moonlight pouring in through the window. Due to the rain, the scene was given an eerie wave, as if it were a ghostly apparition that was about to fade. But it was too real to be such a thing.

Pinkamena had killed her father.

She stood above him with a knife in her hoof, the instrument of death dripping with blood, and Igneous' throat slit cleanly across. A pool of blood was spreading out across the floor, his eyes open with cold dread, no longer any life in them. The filly that committed the deed looked around at her mother, her pupils dilated and an innocent smile on her face.

"P-Pinkamena...what have you done...?" Cloudy whimpered, falling to her haunches with her legs shaking.

"The voice told me to kill him, Mom." the filly replied, as casually as if one were discussing the weather. "He's dead now. The pain can finally stop..."

"...and so, we had to send her to the nearest psychiatrist we could find. I knew it would be a good amount of money, but I didn't care. We needed to get her as much help as possible. She was eventually diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, and she had to be kicked out because of how dangerous she was. Not even the best medications could help her."

Twilight and Spike were left aghast at the story they had just heard. Of all the things they had expected, this was the furthest from their mind. Pinkie, willing...to murder? It seemed like a stretch, but with all the evidence piling up...it certainly started to seem plausible, no matter how much they didn't want to believe it.

"So...she's murdering ponies and other creatures now?" Twilight asked.

"Considering what you hath told me, it certainly sounds like it." Cloudy replied, looking down in sadness.

"Well...Igneous deserved it...right?" Spike questioned.

Cloudy opened her mouth as if to refute this claim, but stopped herself, sighing. "I...I guess so...but still...I didn't think one of my own daughters would resort to something like that." With that, she fell silent, sipping her drink and clearly not wanting to discuss it anymore. Twilight noticed this and stood back up to her hooves.

"Well...thank you for the information. Don't worry. We'll try our best to help her. Come on, Spike. Let's go." Twilight said, and when she turned to the dragon, he was holding his arms up for her to carry him, his face showing genuine terror. Twilight forgot that he wasn't the type for scary stories, real or fictional. He was just a baby dragon, after all. Twilight levitated him onto her back, his claws digging into her back, and began heading out the door.

"Ms. Sparkle?"

Twilight turned her head to peer at Cloudy Quartz, who was holding her head up slightly.

"...Be careful." Cloudy said.

Though a little taken aback at first, Twilight nodded her head and headed out the door.

Author's Note

Back from the dead! I've been procrastinating this for way too long. My goal at the moment is to get a few chapters out for the month of October to celebrate Halloween. I can't guarantee, but that's what my main throughline is right now. Let me know what you think in the comments and what I can do to improve!

Chapter 7: Father-Daughter Troubles (Life as a Filly Re-Written)

Author's Note

Due to a continuity error being made apparent to me after the chapter "Life as a Filly" was uploaded, I feel the need to account for it by re-writing it and making it more consistent. While writing it, I didn't take into account the fact that Cloudy Quartz was telling the story, so having most of the flashback through Pinkie's perspective doesn't make sense. I really should have caught this in the writing process, so this is a re-written version with that in mind. The original version won't be deleted, but this, as far as I'm concerned, is the fixed version.

Starting with the night of Igneous' fate, the ending is kept largely the same, though you'll notice that the diagnosis given to Pinkie is "insanity" rather than "split-personality disorder". This is because, upon further research, what Pinkie's experiencing doesn't constitute as the latter. This has also been accounted for.

And for those who have been wanting to see other characters get the spotlight, the next few chapters should satiate your appetite. ;)

Chapter 7: Father-Daughter Troubles (Life as a Filly Re-Written)

If there was one thing that Cloudy Quartz understood more than anything, it's that Igneous Rock was not a stallion to be talked back to.

The two had been married to each other for roughly fifteen years by now, and the time when they felt happy with each other felt like a lifetime ago. She could faintly remember the flowers he sent her, the love letters she would write him, and the songs they would sing to each other. It truly was a romance straight out of fairy tales and love stories.

But as their lives went on, it became clear to Cloudy that Igneous prioritized work above everything else. Even if it didn't end up accomplishing much in terms of changing the world, as far as Igneous was concerned, work was the most productive way to live life, and anything to get in the way of it was to step in the way of further for a better world.

With each daughter they birthed, every one of them was raised the same way: work all day and don't question authority. From Limestone all the way to Pinkamena, this philosophy never failed to prevail in the family. Cloudy didn't show it, but she was against this mindset on a fundamental level. Yes, work is important, but it shouldn't take all priority over family, love, relationship-building, and everything important on a personal level. If it were up to her, she would actively object to this belief and try to help her husband see her side of things more clearly.

Unfortunately, he tended to get rough when talked back to in any way.

Given no other option, Cloudy resolved to fighting back in her own subtle ways, those that her husband had remained ignorant to through the time they've had fillies to take care of. Sure, Igneous was deadset in trying to teach his daughters the value of work and how it betters the world, but when she was sure he wasn't aware, Cloudy did her best to instill, no matter how subtly, to her daughters that personal relationships are also important, and that it's the choices you make that matter just as much as the work you put into your job. She did so by telling them stories before bedtime, singing songs, and trying to give positive lessons about life and how to treat each other. Though it wasn't quite enough to get out of Igneous' dominant circle, it was better than nothing.

If only it kept Pinkamena from committing such an infamous crime.

One particularly dreary day was going about as normal as usual. The family had been tasked with either moving rocks or mining for more. About midway through the day, it was time for her and her daughters to head to the nearby cave to start the mining process. Due to feeling sleep-deprived from being forced to wake up early today, Cloudy treated the process as just another day, not really paying much attention to the fillies that followed her. As such, when they heard a massive booming sound from across the world, the mare felt herself shake out of her trance-like state and looking back at her daughters. It was then that she noticed something missing.

"Wait. W-Where is Pinkamena?!" she cried, panic starting to creep its way up her body. Limestone, Marble, and Maud all tried to find her in their immediate vicinity in the vain hope that they just foolishly missed her among them, failing to do so. Cloudy gathered all of them onto her back and began sprinting back to the farm. The terror going through her dissipated almost immediately when she saw Pinkamena standing in the field with a huge smile on her face. She didn't even care that the filly had big poofy hair rather than the limp, straight hair that she normally had. For Cloudy, just the fact that the filly was safe was enough for her. It sounded like a bomb had gone off somewhere, and to think that she had lost one of her daughters because of a horrible mistake...she didn't think she could take it.

Throughout the rest of the day, Igneous, Cloudy, Limestone, Marble and Maud were all aware that Pinkamena had been very busy lately. Igneous was under the assumption that she was still out there working, and was proud that she was taking after her father. Cloudy nearly wept at such a concept happening despite all her hard efforts. But when daybreak hit the next morning, they heard raucous sounds emerging from within the farm's silo. As they went outside to investigate, Cloudy yelled over the noise, "Pinkamena Diane Pie! Is that you?" Right after she finished her sentence, the pink filly popped her head out of the door, lively and upbeat music trailing out from behind her.

"Mom! I need you and Dad and the sisters to come in! Quick!" she shouted, quickly going back inside. The others were all visibly confused aside from Maud, and they headed inside to see what the matter was. Right upon opening the door and the light being turned on, they were shocked at the sight. "Surprise! You like it? It's called...a party!"

The shock that everypony felt was evident on all their faces. Igneous' mouth hung open, his pipe falling to the ground. Cloudy's eyes were as wide as it was possible for them to be. Marble and Limestone had both happening at once. Even Maud's eyelids were brought up a bit, a rarity for a pony as stoic as her. In what felt like no time at all to them, the little pink filly had decorated the inside of the silo with tables with party covers, paper plates and cups, a pitcher of punch, streamers that hung from the ceiling, and balloons of various colors tied to each chair.

Cloudy was peering warily at her husband, aware of his history with ponies going against his line of thinking. Sure enough, in a matter of seconds, her prediction had come true. Igneous' face slowly adopted more of an angry expression, until with nothing more than a grunt escaping him, he began tearing all the party decorations down.

"Stupid...ungrateful...disrespectful..." he grumbled, visibly upset at the very prospect of such an abomination as a party coming to his house. As he tore everything down, Pinkamena was cowering away, her ears down and fear visibly growing in her heart the more dilapidated the place became. Finally, he turned around and glared down at her with white-hot fury in his eyes. "Why did you put all this up?" he growled.

"I...I-I just wanted to-"

"Where did you get all these decorations?"

"I, uh..."

"Did you have to spend our money to get them?!"

"W-Well..."

With that, he nearly roared, and he smacked her cheek with his tough hoof. The filly let out a short scream, and reaching up to her cheek, felt a bruise starting to form where Igneous had struck her. Tears starting to fall from her eyes, Pinkamena looked up at her domineering father, who was now breathing heavily to calm himself down.

"W-...Why...?" the filly squeaked out.

Without a change of expression, Igneous brought his face as close to hers as possible, the stale smell of rock soup making the filly's nose wrinkle slightly. "Let me explain something to you, little filly. I have enough trouble to deal with trying to keep our farm running without wasting our money on frivolous things like this. We barely make enough to pay the bills, much less for food. I'm just stopping a problem before it even starts. If you do this again, we could go bankrupt and our family will be ruined."

With every word he spoke, Cloudy could see her daughter looking more and more broken, her poofy hair reducing back to its naturally limp and straight fashion, making the deflating sound of a balloon that has its air going out. Without another word, Igneous went back outside and headed back to the farm. The mare couldn't help but silently sob and comfort all her daughters in her usual fashion, trying to reassure them that things were going to be okay, though even she was losing faith in that at this point.

As she gathered them all in an embrace filled with anguished tears and tangible love for one another, Cloudy became faintly aware of a change in Pinkamena's expression. Seconds ago, she seemed just as depressed as the others, but now it was more blank than anything else. As if she had something else on her mind far away from what was going on right now.

It wasn't too long into the night when she heard Igneous make a strangled scream past the thunder crack.

She ran to Igneous' bedroom, where the scream came from, and she herself felt more terrified than she had ever been in her entire life.

Pinkamena had killed her father.

"P-Pinkamena...what have you done...?" Cloudy whimpered, falling to her haunches with her legs shaking.

"The voice told me to kill him, Mom." the filly replied, as casually as if one were discussing the weather. "He's dead now. The pain can finally stop."

"...and so, we had to send her to the nearest psychiatrist we could find. I knew it would be a good amount of money, but I didn't care. We needed to get her as much help as possible. She was eventually diagnosed with insanity, and she had to be kicked out because of how dangerous she was. Not even the best medications could help her."

Twilight and Spike were left aghast at the story they had just heard. Of all the things they had expected, this was the furthest from their mind. Pinkie, willing to murder? It seemed like a stretch, but with all the evidence piling up...it certainly started to seem plausible, no matter how much they didn't want to believe it.

"So...she's murdering ponies and other creatures now?" Twilight asked.

"Considering what you hath told me, it certainly sounds like it." Cloudy replied, looking down in sadness.

"Well, Igneous deserved it...right?" Spike questioned.

Cloudy opened her mouth as if to refute this claim, but stopped herself, sighing. "I...I guess so. But still, I didn't think one of my own daughters would resort to something like that." With that, she fell silent, sipping her drink and clearly not wanting to discuss it anymore. Twilight noticed this and stood back up to her hooves.

"Ms. Sparkle?"

Twilight turned her head to peer at Cloudy Quartz, who was holding her head up slightly.

"...Be careful." Cloudy said.

Though a little taken aback at first, Twilight nodded her head and headed out the door.

Chapter 8: Protect The Animals

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 9A: The Ripple Effect

TEoD Theme Song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpSXc1sLa2k

Apple Bloom was dreading the prospect of going to school. And it wasn't for the usual reasons that most fillies her age gave.

She may have been regularly bullied by the resident "mean foals" Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon for her lack of a cutie mark, but at this point, she had grown numb to any venom that those two ever spat at her. It also helped that her fellow blank-flank friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stood by her in any tough situation she found herself in. Nor was it even that she necessarily hated school itself, per se. She had nothing against her teacher Ms. Cheerilee, and the other students in her class were perfectly friendly in their own right.

No, the reason that school was something she found herself dreading had to do with a certain secret she had to hide from the others she went to school with. Ever since the disappearance of Gilda, Apple Bloom noticed her sister had been acting...off lately. She seemed more quickly irritated, spoke in slight slurs, and seemed to want to spend far more time alone than normal. Concerned for her older sister's well-being, Apple Bloom decided to look around the farm for her and ask her if she was doing okay, a decision she soon came to horribly regret.

At the moment, Apple Bloom peeked inside the schoolhouse shortly before the school day began, her eyes concealed by a pair of sunglasses. Her goal at the moment was to ensure that nopony saw her enter and to keep an overall low profile. She was normally able to do that okay, until the end of the day when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon would inevitably gang up on her, and today looked to be no exception. All she saw inside the classroom were a few fillies making small talk with one another and Cheerilee preoccupied at her desk with some papers.

Perfect, she thought to herself as she rounded the corner to enter the door. Just nopony see me...

"Nice shades, blank flank!"

Sighing beleagueredly, Apple Bloom slowly turned around and looked towards the source of the voice. Sure enough, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were approaching her with cocky smirks adorning their faces, eager to begin their teasing earlier than usual.

"Are you trying to start a fashion statement or something?" Silver Spoon condescendingly asked. "It's not even sunny outside today!"

"Or are you hoping that your 'special talent' involves wearing completely unmatching shades?" Diamond Tiara added with a laugh.

But to the shock of the two pristine fillies, Apple Bloom didn't respond with a retort or much of anything at all. Instead, she just sighed and turned around to make her way into the classroom. It seemed as though she was making an effort to ignore them, which they did not take kindly to, quickly stepping in front of her path.

"Hey! We're talking to you! We expect you to address us when we speak!" Diamond Tiara exclaimed crossly.

"And just what are you wearing these gaudy shades for, anyway?" asked Silver Spoon, who reached out to attempt to grab them off Apple Bloom's face. In response, Apple Bloom immediately jerked her head back and slapped Silver Spoon's hoof away, causing her to gasp, appalled.

"Why, I never! How dare you disrespect me like that! I like, just had this painted too!"

"I'm not in the mood today, so just leave me alone, okay?" Apple Bloom grumbled, shoving her way past the two and making her way to her desk.

Silver Spoon scoffed, rubbing her slapped hoof. "Can you believe the nerve of that blank flank? She has no right to just ignore us like that, let alone lay a hoof on ponies with actual cutie marks, right, Diamond Tiara?"

Diamond Tiara didn't respond at first, instead seeming more unusually concerned at what exactly just happened. Apple Bloom's current behavior was very uncharacteristic of her, and that combined with the shades she didn't seem to keen on explaining made for a very suspicious situation. As much as she hated to admit it, she was at least somewhat concerned for what exactly was going on with Apple Bloom, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it sooner rather than later. Before she could properly respond, however, the school bell rang, and the remaining students shuffled inside and took their seats, Diamond and Silver following shortly after.

"Okay, my little ponies! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Let's start the day off with roll call," Cheerilee announced, reading off a sheet of paper. "Apple Bloom?"

Apple Bloom recoiled at the mention of her name, resenting it being at the top of the list alphabetically. Wanting to get things over with as soon as possible, she half-heartedly grumbled, "Here..."

Taking notice of this unusually dour tone of voice for the usually more chipper student, Cheerilee glanced up from the paper and noticed the shades Apple Bloom was wearing for the first time.

"Um, Apple Bloom? Why are you wearing those sunglasses indoors? You know those could be distracting to other students," she scolded.

This was unnerving for Apple Bloom, who hadn't yet thought of an excuse to bring up in a situation like this. She ended up coming up with a weak lie off the top of her head and hoped against hope that it would work.

"Oh, uh...y'see...my...my eyes have been really sore all morning! Yeah, I think they're really sensitive lately for some reason. Allergies, maybe. I'm just wearing these to go easy on my eyes for a few days. Too much light might make 'em worse. You understand...right?" she asked, grinning sheepishly.

Cheerilee cocked an eyebrow at this excuse. She had never heard of somepony's eyes being so sensitive that they were required to constantly wear shades to alleviate the pain. And yet, just because it was something she hadn't heard of didn't mean it wasn't necessarily true. And she didn't want to pry into the personal issues of one of her students too much, so she decided to let it slide.

"Well...alright then. Just take things easy, okay?" she requested, before resuming roll call. "Aquamarine?"

The rest of the school day went by mostly seamlessly, with nopony else pressing Apple Bloom about her shades. The school bell rang, signaling the end of the day, and once Cheerilee announced the homework for the night, the students began filing out of the classroom. Silver Spoon was quick to join up with Diamond Tiara, who seemed more focused on something else at the moment.

"So, do you want to do our homework together at my place? My mom can make scones for us!" Silver Spoon suggested.

"What? Huh?" Diamond Tiara asked, being taken out of her thoughts. "Uh, yeah, sure. That sounds good. I'll meet up with you there, okay? I've just got something quick to do here first."

Satisfied enough with that answer, Silver walked out of the building, and Diamond scanned the crowd of students looking for the one she wanted to talk to. Shortly after, she found Apple Bloom straying from the crowd, once again seemingly trying to go unnoticed. Diamond quickly made her way to the filly in question, once again blocking her path.

"Okay, you're hiding something," she accused, to which Apple Bloom groaned in exasperation.

"What do you care?" Apple Bloom asked, trying to make her way around Diamond, who persisted in not letting her pass.

"So you ARE hiding something! Tell me. You may have everypony else fooled with that whole 'sensitive eyes' bit, but I'm not falling for it. I want to know."

"No you don't! Just leave me alone!" she snapped, running around her bully and making a beeline toward Sweet Apple Acres.

"I won't tell anypony! ...And I won't laugh!" Diamond called out, which caused Apple Bloom to stop in her tracks. Quickly making her way back to Diamond, she brought the two under a tree and looked around cautiously.

"You promise you won't tell nopony?" Apple Bloom asked.

Sighing, as it went against her gossipy nature, Diamond relented. "I Pinkie Promise I won't tell anypony," she said, crossing her heart, and sticking a hoof in her eye. "I just want to know at this point."

Apple Bloom had to admit that while she initially wanted nopony to ever figure out what had happened, there was a possibility that telling somepony who promised to keep it a secret might make her feel at least a little bit better than she was currently feeling. Plus, when else was Diamond Tiara going to be nice to her? With a deep sigh, Apple Bloom slowly removed her sunglasses, and what lay underneath caused Diamond to gasp aloud.

"Oh...my...what happened?! Your eye is black!" Diamond whispered.

Quickly shushing her, Apple Bloom hung her head down and nodded. Indeed, her left eye was a dark shade of black, swollen completely shut and throbbing intermittently. "Yeah...I know..."

"Well...how'd it happen? Did you bump into a door, did an apple fall on you from a tree?"

Shaking her head, Apple Bloom replied, "No...what happened was something else...It was yesterday, 'round this time as a matter of fact..."

"Applejack? Applejaaaaaaaaaack?"

Apple Bloom had been looking in practically every noteworthy location on the farm for her sister, who she simply could not find anywhere, no matter how hard she looked. Even asking Big Mac
and Granny Smith if they knew where she was produced no results, and after an hour, she was about ready to give up. It was then that she remembered one place that she hadn't checked yet, and it was a place she tended to block from her mind, as it was associated with a particularly traumatic memory of hers she didn't like revisiting. This time, however, she was concerned with the well-being of her sister, and overcame her reluctance to figure out what was going on with her.

Making her way to the farm's cider cellar, she found the door to it closed, as usual, but did hear an array of sounds coming from it. What sounded like pouring liquid, some big gulps, and the occasional hiccup. Apple Bloom had an idea of what was going on here, and despite her deepest fears, opened the door to confront the pony inside.

And indeed, it was Applejack, a half-filled cider mug in her hoof that spilled a bit when she turned to face Apple Bloom. Her eyes were half-lidded, her hair was messy, and even her hat was crooked. Her attitude and awareness at the moment fared no better.

"Wha...whuzzuh...who's there, uh...Apple Bloom? What're y'all doin' here? Only grown-up ponies are allowed in here!" Applejack slurred, taking another long swig out of her mug.

Such a display was enough to leave Apple Bloom quite distraught. Not only was her older sister completely drunk on cider, and not only was she completely ignoring the warning outside the cellar made specifically for her, but her demeanor scarily resembled that of the last time something similar like this happened, that traumatic memory she hated revisiting. Nevertheless, she approached Applejack warily in spite of her nervousness.

"What am I doin' here? What're you doin' in here? You know you're not supposed to be in here without Granny Smith or Big Mac watchin' over you!" Apple Bloom scolded, to which Applejack scoffed.

"I can take care of my...myself," Applejack stumbled out. "And I can certainly handle my own cider!" she added, hiccuping after. Cocking an eyebrow at this, Apple Bloom further closed the distance between the two, and put on a more concerned look.

"Applejack, I'm worried about you. Ever since Gilda went missing, you've been acting crankier, and the family's getting worried. There's apples that need bucking, animals that need feeding, and if Big Mac or Granny Smith find out you've been drinking in here-"

"They ain't gonna find out!" Applejack interrupted, before her expression turned into one of anger. "Unless you was plannin' on tellin' 'em I was here..." she muttered, as she put down her glass and began slowly walking towards her little sister. This was quick to intimidate Apple Bloom enough into backing away from her increasingly agitated older sister, despite some of her steps being off-balance due to her inhibited senses.

"I...I wasn't gonna tell them. I just wanted to say-"

"What? That you told them already? You did, didn't ya? Bet they're on their way here right now because of ya, ain't they? Ain't they?!" Applejack demanded, backing Apple Bloom into a corner.

"N-n-no...I...I..." Apple Bloom started, tears starting to form in her eyes and her voice becoming shakier. "You're scarin' me, Applejack. I...I want my big sister back..."

Despite being thoroughly drunk, Applejack was at least somewhat lucid enough to recognize that Apple Bloom was genuinely fearful of her in that moment. Her anger ebbed away after a few seconds, and she bent down to Apple Bloom's level to look her in the eye.

"Alright...maybe I have been drinkin' a bit excessively lately," she admitted, with another hiccup. "Truth is, sometimes even your big sister gets scared when somethin' crazy's goin' on in the world. I'm sorry I scared ya and I'm sorry for not actin’ like myself lately. I promise I'll try to-" she started, before she was interrupted by a noise at the cellar door that caused both sisters to turn their heads towards it. It sounded as though somepony was trying to make their way into the room, given the sound repeated every few seconds. This caused Applejack to assume the worst, and for her anger to immediately return.

"After all I said and apologized for...y'all LIED to me?!" Applejack roared.

"No! I swear I didn't-"

"Don't play dumb with me! Some Apple you turned out to be..." she muttered. Those words in particular really stung Apple Bloom; if her sister ever said something, it was practically guaranteed to be the truth, and it made her feel even worse about herself than the situation she was in already was.

"Applejack, I..."

"Just go. Lemme enjoy one last drink in peace before they put an end to this..." she resigned, making her way back to the bar.

"Please, Applejack-"

"I said GET OUT!" Applejack bellowed, raising up a hoof and striking Apple Bloom in the face, knocking her straight to the floor with a cry of pain. As the filly laid sprawled on the ground, it didn’t take long for her to realize that she was only able to open up one of her eyes, as the other was starting to swell shut and sent a burst of pain through her body whenever she even lightly touched it. This combined with being physically struck down by her older sister, her role model throughout her entire life, and not even the first time this had happened at that, was enough to cause Apple Bloom to start crying to herself.

Paying this very little mind, Applejack stumbled back to the bar and poured herself another glass that she quickly downed before blacking out and collapsing on the floor.

Meanwhile, Applejack's pet dog Winona was outside the cellar door, scratching at it and occasionally whining, not having been fed by her owner in a good while.

"...So...Applejack really just...hit you like that?" Diamond Tiara asked, abject horror in her eyes.

Now with fresh tears in her eyes herself after having retold the story, Apple Bloom nodded. "Yeah...ain't even the first time neither...but the first one I could cover up with my mane..." she explained.

"Well...we've gotta tell somepony about this! She can't just abuse you like-"

"No!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, though returning to her more hushed tone after. "If word gets out about this, then Applejack would get in real big trouble, and if they take her away, we won't be able to keep up with running the farm anymore! And...she'd only just get angrier at me..."

Diamond Tiara was completely floored by everything she was just told. She had always viewed Apple Bloom as nothing more than a blank flank with no future and never in a million years would've guessed she was being abused by her older sister. It made her feel bad that she chose to pick on her so often during school, doubtlessly only contributing to the inner turmoil she already had to deal with at home.

"I just...I don’t even know what to say. If I'd known, I wouldn't have-" Diamond started, before being interrupted by a scoff from Apple Bloom.

"Yeah, sure. You'd have just picked on somepony else instead. Not like you ever have to deal with anything like that in your life..." she retorted bitterly.

Diamond Tiara was taken aback by this response, and while she normally would've immediately fired back, right now she was conflicted on how exactly to respond. But given the circumstances, it only seemed fair that she be honest with Apple Bloom too.

"...That's not entirely true..." she whispered, eliciting a look of doubt from Apple Bloom. "My family isn't all it's cracked up to be either. They've never done anything as bad to me as...well, that, obviously," she said, referring to Apple Bloom's blackened eye. "But my parents are always so insistent that I follow in their hoofsteps that they don't allow for any input from me and what I want whatsoever. And if I fail at anything in their eyes...it's like they don't even consider me their daughter..." she trailed off, looking despondent.

Apple Bloom wasn't entirely sure how to take this information. On one hoof, she couldn't help but feel sorry for Diamond, and she seemed sincere enough that she wouldn't be lying in this
moment. On the other, she was still her bully at the end of the day, and she still harbored some resentment for her.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that...but that don't excuse the way you've treated me and my friends for the past few months..."

"Oh, I know it doesn't! And I'm honestly, truly sorry that Silver Spoon and I ever ganged up on you three. Truth be told, after this, I don't think I ever want to pick on any of you ever
again. After what you just told me, I think we may have more in common than we realize..." Diamond Tiara hinted at. This caught Apple Bloom's attention, who raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Are you sayin'...?" she started, to which Diamond Tiara nodded in response.

"Yes. I'd like to be your friend...Apple Bloom," she firmly stated, reaching out a hoof as a peace offering.

Apple Bloom's one good eye widened in response. Diamond had rarely, if ever, referred to her by her real name, and she even less frequently offered a genuine display of amicability towards her. But perhaps she was right. Maybe the two of them had more in common than they initially thought. And what she was offering was certainly preferable to having her continue her bullying. It might have seemed like a long shot, but it’s not as though she had much to lose at this point. Tentatively reaching out her own hoof, she returned the hoofshake.

“I would like that a lot, Diamond Tiara,” Apple Bloom replied, a faint smile making its way to the corner of her mouth, the first one she had given anypony that day.

Diamond Tiara beamed back at her newfound friend. “Oh, that’s great to hear! Thank you!” she exclaimed. “Well...I don’t want to take up too much more of your time today, but I’m glad we could have this discussion. I look forward to seeing you in class tomorrow!” she said with a wave as she walked off towards Silver Spoon’s house.

“Me too! See you then!” Apple Bloom returned with her own wave. As she walked back home herself, with her shades back on, she found that her mood was elevated to a point that it hadn’t reached in a good while. It felt like somepony was actually concerned for her well-being in these uncertain times, and while she would’ve never guessed somepony like Diamond Tiara would be the one to actually show that genuine concern, she was happy to accept it. It gave her some much-needed hope for the coming days.

Maybe things’ll change for the better around here, she thought, upon returning to the farm.