A Nightmare on Stirrup Street

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 4
Chapter 12

Chapter 1

The alarm clock next to Pinkie's bed sang its annoying, jingling song at its usual hour that morning, just like so many other mornings before it. She lifted her leg aimlessly in the direction of the irritating sound and finally managed to silence it after a few attempts before inadvertently dragging it off the end table and onto the floor. The sudden crash jolted her awake. She dragged herself to the side of the bed to inspect the damage to the clock from her comfortable position. Right now, though, she couldn't have cared if it had shattered into a thousand pieces.

She sighed heavily and flopped her face back onto her pillow. For the first time in a while, she simply wasn't ready to rise, shine, or attack the day. The soft mattress, fluffy pillow and warm blankets beckoned her to stay, but she had prior obligations that morning that she had to keep. She did make a promise after all, and despite not being one of her signature Pinkie Promises, she was still sworn to it. Applejack had run behind a bit with the bucking that week thanks to a minor but bothersome injury and didn't want a repeat of what happened months ago when she cooked up a batch of baked bads or sent Rainbow Dash careening into the library. Pinkie and the others had agreed to lend her a hoof that day and hopefully get her back on track.

Still laying on her stomach, enjoying every extra second possible, she flipped her covers away and crawled out of bed. After replacing the clock onto the end table, relieved that it still worked, she dragged herself to her dresser and looked herself over in the mirror.

Pinkie was a wreck. She had thrown a party six days in a row prior to yesterday. The only reason she hadn't bothered to throw another the day before was that the Cakes wanted to take a day for themselves and had asked Pinkie to watch the twins for them. Thursdays were generally slower than most other days of the week and thankfully for Pinkie, that trend had continued. Trying to balance watching the twins and dealing with a steady stream of customers would have been more than even she could handle.

Even though it was relatively, mercifully slow during the day, the night had other plans. The Cakes were delayed on their return for a few hours and didn't get home until well after the moon was overhead. Pinkie had wanted to get to bed early to catch up on some rest but was forced to stay up later than she wanted watching Pumpkin and Pound.

She headed to the bathroom for a nice, hot shower. She silently prayed it would snap her back to reality, but after she had finished up, she didn't look any less exhausted than she had before. After toweling herself off, her hair poofed into its usual curly style and she forced a smile onto her face. It took more strength than she had and after a moment, the smile fell into an uncharacteristic frown, coupled with large bags hanging from her eyes. Feeling defeated, she carried herself downstairs.

A few minutes after arriving in the lobby and checking the store out one final time before heading out, Rainbow Dash entered Sugarcube Corner. She had a bounce in her step that morning similarly to how Pinkie typically does. Her cloud bed had been kind to her that night and she was raring to go.

"Hey Pinkie, what's up? Ready to head to Sweet Apple Acres?" Rainbow got a good look at the party pony and grimaced. "Jeez, you OK? You don't look so good."

Pinkie perked up as best as her groggy state would let her. "Sure am, Dashie! Just a little tired but I'll be fine."

Rainbow chuckled, "You, tired? Heh, good one, Pinkie! That's something I never thought I'd hear. I'm going to fly on ahead. I'll see you there!"

As the cyan pegasus flew away, Pinkie sighed. "The one time I'm being serious and nopony believes me," she mumbled to herself. With a large yawn, she headed out the door.

Even though the one closer to Sweet Apple Acres was Fluttershy, Pinkie was one of the last ones to arrive. The only one that took longer was Rarity, and not by much despite how much farther away Carousel Boutique was and how long it took the sophisticated pony to get ready. She even had to pick out just the right chapeau to bring with her to wear during lunch, lest the midday sun get in her eyes or make her sweat and cause her make-up to run.

Most of the morning, Pinkie drudged through her work, taking much longer to knock the apples from their branches than the others. They were too caught up in what they were doing to ask if she was alright, even though it was plain on her face. She even caught herself leaning up against a couple tree trunks asleep. Nopony mentioned seeing her in such a precarious position, so she tried not to think about it. She didn't want to let her friends down, after all. As lunch crawled closer, she hoped that the food Fluttershy brought would give her a little bit of a boost for the afternoon.

Applejack had eaten quickly and gotten back to bucking sooner than the rest. Rainbow Dash spent her lunch relaxing on a cloud she decided to run and grab when they stopped for a break. Twilight was going over the projected schedule and bucking route on some papers she brought. Rarity and Fluttershy sat and gossiped while they ate. The normally hyperactive Pinkie nibbled at her daisy sandwich without saying a word.

The orange earth pony had gotten a few more trees taken care of when the one she was working on cracked from the strength of her kicks. It was a deep and wide break, but the tree stood. The loud snaps got the attention of the others, including the exhausted Pinkie.

"Aw, shoot," Applejack sighed. "This was one o' the older trees in this orchard. It's so much larger than most o' the others, y'see. One of our most productive trees too. Ah've seen plenty o' cracks before, thanks ta all the buckin' we do ta these things, but not like this one. We'll probably need ta take 'er down. Poor thing."

"How long does it usually take to get a tree removed?" Pinkie asked.

"Depends on how deep the roots go really. Can take anywhere from a couple hours ta several. Bein' an older tree, it's more likely to take a while," Applejack explained, "but it should be OK for now. We still got a long way ta go before we're done buckin' these trees today, otherwise Ah'd say we take care of it now. But, me 'n Mac can take care of it tomorrow."

Pinkie took another look at the jagged crack in the massive trunk. "Well, I suppose. It's just that- " she tried to say before she was cut off by a twitchy tail. She forgot how tired she was upon seeing her tail going crazy. "Eep! Girls! My Pinkie Sense is tingling!" She looked skyward trying to spot what could possibly, randomly, fall out of the sky, but it had been a clear day so far. She turned nervously toward the tree and began to sweat.

"Pinkie dear, I trust Applejack's judgment on the matter. If she says the tree will be fine until tomorrow, then it will be fine," Rarity said. "She's been doing this sort of thing long enough, so she probably knows what she's talking about." The posh pony looked through the dense orchard and raised a hoof to her chin. Applejack obviously was more familiar with her acres of land, but trying to find the damaged tree the next day could possibly take more time away from actually removing it than she and her brother would like. With this in mind, Rarity had an idea and pulled off the bright purple bow adorning her hat, albeit rather grudgingly, and wrapped it around one of the lower branches.

Applejack and Pinkie were the only ones who noticed the unicorn's actions and didn't know what to make of it. "What's that for?" Pinkie finally asked.

"Well, I thought that the purple would stand out well against the sea of greens and browns and make it easier for Applejack to find the tree tomorrow when she and Big Mac come out here to dispose of it," Rarity explained, almost too proud of her idea.

"Um.. I guess that makes some sense," Pinkie admitted, rubbing the back of her neck uncertainly. "I still think we should at least pull it down. Just in case, y'know?"

Rarity chuckled at Pinkie's insistence, "Darling, Applejack and Big Mac will handle it. Don't worry so much!"

Suddenly, there was a soft ruffle from the grass behind the broken tree. Pinkie and Fluttershy looked around the trunk and saw a squirrel laying on the ground. It hadn't been there a minute ago. Fluttershy darted over to the critter with a gasp. "Oh my goodness! Are you OK?" She picked up her furry friend and checked him for any injuries. It pointed up to a small hole overhead in the middle of the trunk where three other squirrels were peeking from. Two appeared to be smaller than the others.

"Oh, is that your family?" The squirrel nodded its head. "Did you fall out of your hole checking to see what all the commotion was?" It nodded again. Fluttershy giggled, "Looks like your Pinkie Sense was right after all."

A tired grin found its way to Pinkie's face, "Heh, I guess so. Fluttershy, will you help me pull this tree down? Please? You've been listening. I'd rather not leave it like this." She was starting to wonder if it was paranoia or fatigue that was making her carry on about a situation that seemed to already have a solution.

"Well, I'm not as strong as Applejack or Rainbow Dash, but yes, I'll help. Just let me find a new home real quick for my little animal friends and I'll do what I can," Fluttershy said.

"But.. can't they just hang out for a minute somewhere out of the way?"

Fluttershy laid a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder reassuringly, "Don't worry, it shouldn't take long to find another tree with some shelter for them." The squirrel family skittered down the tree trunk and met up with the tiny father, ready to follow the yellow pegasus to wherever she led them.

Pinkie slouched low, frustrated that her words were falling on deaf ears. 'Why do they have such a hard time taking what I say seriously sometimes?' she thought to herself. 'I know I can be hyper and random a lot but still..' She tried to pay it no mind. Fluttershy did agree to help, which was more than Applejack or Rarity could say right now.

Rainbow was still lounging at the time, intent on taking a bit longer of a break than the others. She was the fastest mare in Equestria, so a few extra minutes wouldn't hurt anypony. Seeing Fluttershy leading a squirrel expedition gave her an almost mean idea. She and Pinkie agreed a long time ago not to prank Fluttershy, but they didn't say anything about her little friends. When she had an opportunity to sneak off unnoticed by the others, she sped away and returned a minute later with a raincloud. She hovered herself over her intended prank victims and readied herself.

Twilight was just finishing up her lunch, ready to bring her work over to Applejack and go over her papers again. So far, they had made fair time, but she felt they could do better and had spent most of her break drawing up some possible ways to shave some time off their chore. She lifted her parchments up and-

BOOM!

The sudden loud thunderclap made Twilight jump and accidentally fire some blasts of her magic in random directions, one of which nearly hit Pinkie. Unfortunately, it didn't miss the tree behind her that she was vigilantly guarding. The magic connected right on the crack and splintered some of the exposed heartwood, causing the rift to widen even further. Fluttershy's squirrels had darted away at the noise the second it happened. The two ponies looked up angrily at Rainbow and chastised her as she rolled on her cloud laughing at her own antics.

"Guys, come on! That almost hit me!" Pinkie yelled fruitlessly. All their bickering and scolding each other drowned out the pink pony's pleas. Her weariness started eating away at her patience. "Will somepony listen to me?!"

A few quiet crackles coming from behind caused Pinkie to freeze up and hold her breath. Any exhaustion she had completely disappeared in an instant. The breaking of wood under intense weight coupled with a loud, ominous moan spun her around and she screamed as the old tree started to fall toward her. A moment later, she was silenced. A sickening crunch, followed by the snapping of twigs and rustling of leaves on the ground, took everypony's attention away from what they were doing.

"Pinkie?" Twilight whispered nervously.

The five anxiously approached the fallen tree that their friend had asked repeatedly for help with, silently begging that what they were all thinking wasn't true. A few feet from the new stump, beneath the trunk, a single pink leg stuck out motionlessly. They gasped as one. Twilight's horn flared and she grabbed the large tree, trying desperately to pull it off Pinkie. It was still partially stuck on the stump and wouldn't budge. Fluttershy and Rarity were on the verge of hysterics, weeping openly at what they feared. Rainbow and Applejack dashed over and pushed at the connection with all their strength until it finally came apart. Twilight tossed the tree away the second she could, tears matting the fur on her cheeks. They finally saw their friend.

"Oh no..."

Chapter 2

Pinkie's funeral was held the following Monday morning after all the arrangements had been taken care of. It had been a bright sunny day that day. Those in attendance almost felt it appropriate in a way; she always brought sunshine to their lives even on the cloudiest of days. Spike, the girls, and Mr. and Mrs. Cake with the twins had all been there to say their goodbyes. They had wanted to get in touch with her family and tell them the terrible news, but Pinkie had rarely mentioned anything about them in all the time they had known her. However, they all knew how she and the Cakes felt about each other, so it was only fair that Cup and Carrot saw her off.

Twilight had informed the Princess and asked her and Luna to attend, but they were away for another two weeks on diplomatic business in the griffon lands. They apologized for their inability to see the Element of Laughter laid to rest and sent their deepest sympathies. Rarity and Applejack had ended up telling their little sisters what happened. They, and through them Scootaloo, wanted to attend but their elders insisted they still go to school that day and try not to think about it.

The walk back to Sugarcube Corner was very long and very quiet. The only thing that ever broke the silence was an occasional sob from one of her friends as they remembered various things she did that touched them in some way and the coos of the Cake twins sitting in the carriers draped around their parents' waists.

The girls had headed upstairs into Pinkie's room once they arrived at the bakery while the Cakes started setting up the store. Pinkie was gone but they still had a business to run, even if it was going to be exceptionally difficult for them for a little while, physically as well as emotionally. Twilight, Spike, and the others solemnly looked over Pinkie's belongings. While in the back of their minds they had to figure out what they were going to do with them, at the forefront, it just made things hurt worse. Every little trinket had a story to tell, and now none of them would have a happy ending.

Rarity was found standing motionless in front of the mirror on Pinkie's dresser, but she wasn't looking at herself as she usually did when graced with her own reflection. It garnered the attention of her friends one by one and they saw what she was looking at with tears rolling down her cheeks. It was a picture of the six of them sitting on the dresser, posing together at one of the many parties she threw. The white unicorn picked up the picture and hugged it tightly, tears forming again. They embraced each other and wept.

After a while, the girls and Spike headed downstairs to the lobby where the Cakes were standing by the counter, quietly reminiscing and keeping an eye on Pumpkin and Pound. The twins were in the kitchen on the floor, playing and laughing, ignorant to everything that had happened. The parents were a bit envious of their children that day. The little ones had no understanding of life and death, and by the time they grew up, it was unlikely they'd remember Pinkie unless they found some old photos and asked who the pink pony was.

The two groups gathered together and discussed what was to be done with her room and her things, including Gummy. Fluttershy decided to take in the baby alligator until he started growing teeth, if Pinkie hadn't pulled them out intentionally to prevent herself from getting hurt by an ill-timed bite. Leaving Gummy with the Cakes simply wasn't a good idea without his owner around. The customers would probably be just a bit weary of an alligator in the store and he could accidentally hurt the twins or vice versa.

Twilight sat up against the wall by herself in a funk. Pinkie was the first pony she met when she came to Ponyville, even if all the crazy pink pony did was dash away to put together a big party for her. Twilight had always had her nose in a book and thought it to be the most fun thing in the world before she came to town, until Pinkie showed her how to really enjoy life without even trying. Now it was gone and she had no idea what she was going to do.

As she tried to come up with an answer she could settle for, she felt an unusual, cold sensation in the air. It sent a shiver up her spine, yet no one else seemed to feel anything odd, judging from their lack of reactions. She almost swore she heard a voice whisper to her.

"Twiiii-liiiight..."

Her ears perked up and she scanned the room. It echoed in her mind as she tried to figure out who had just said it. It had to be someone in the room, she reasoned. Voices don't just appear out of thin air.

"Twiiii-liiiiight..."

It sounded like it came from the kitchen. She cautiously walked up to the swinging doors and opened them slowly. It suddenly felt like it had gotten colder. All she saw were the twins in the middle of the room playing pattycake and it sounded like they were singing a song.

"One, two, Pinkie's coming for you..."

Twilight blinked at the children, unsure if she had just heard correctly. Did the children just really.. say something? And about Pinkie? She turned and faced their parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Cake, I didn't know Pumpkin and Pound could talk yet. They're a little young for that, aren't they?" she asked. They carried on their conversation with Rarity, Applejack and the others without acknowledging her. "Uh, hello?" Twilight tried again.

"Three, four, better lock your door..."

She turned back to the kitchen and watched the twins intently. 'What in Equestria's going on here?' she thought to herself. She kept silent as the little ones continued their song. Her stomach twisted with each verse.

"Five, six, get your friendship fixed...
Seven, eight, gonna stay up late...
Nine, ten, never sleep again..."

The children slowly spun their heads and faced the unicorn. She could almost feel their large, empty eyes staring into the deepest part of her soul. She recoiled nervously as she registered what they said. They looked back at each other as slowly as they did Twilight and began to repeat the lines and play their game.

"One, two, Pinkie's coming for you..."

Twilight heard something to the right that was like flowing water hitting the floor. She glanced to the side and looked by the refrigerator. Blood had begun to leak out from under the door and onto the tile, pooling in front of the appliance. Her eyes widened in horror. She wanted desperately to run, but she also needed to know what was going on and took a step toward the fridge.

"Three, four, better lock your door..."

She tried to step around the blood massing on the floor, but it kept coming and coming. The skin and fur around her hind hooves darkened as she reached out to grab the handle.

"Five, six, get your friendship fixed..."

She opened the door and what she saw on the shelves made her heart race. She began to hyperventilate. Before her lay a torn, scuffed stetson, two cracked and broken horns, one lavender and one white, and a pair of gnarled cyan wings with a set of mangled yellow ones next to them. Blood ran freely from where they would have been attached to their owners, collecting at the bottom of the fridge. Even the normally rugged hat was stained red and the vile liquid dripped heavily off the brim.

"Seven, eight, gonna stay up late..."

She closed her eyes and let out a scream that could shatter glass as she slammed the door shut.

"Twilight! Twilight!"

She was curled on the floor by her friends, still shrieking in terror and hiding her head under her legs.

"Twilight! What's wrong, sug?!"

She blinked her eyes open and saw her friends standing over her looking concerned and bewildered. Twilight was visibly shaking and white as a ghost.

"Nine, ten, never sleep again..."

Her breathing was heavy and her pulse was racing. She darted her attention around the room trying to take in her surroundings. She came across the doors leading into the kitchen and looked below them. Still on the floor, she didn't need to lean over. The babies were crawling around, playing with some toys and laughing. Twilight got to her hooves quickly and slammed open the swinging doors. Nothing was out of the ordinary. No odd chills. No blood by the fridge. She couldn't bring herself to go look again though.

Twilight turned around and sat down hard, hanging her head in exhaustion. Her screaming fit had taken a lot out of her. Her heart rate was slowly returning to normal and her breaths softened, but she was still trembling.

"What was that about?" Rainbow asked the terrified unicorn.

She didn't know how to answer the question without sounding insane. Maybe after what had been happening over the last few days, her grief started to overwhelm her senses, but she couldn't bring herself to describe what she just saw in detail. She rubbed a hoof on her face and took a deep breath, shaking her head. "I-I.. I don't know, I.. I think this whole thing is just starting to get to me, is all." She sank her head and began to cry again. "I'm sorry, everypony, I need to be alone for a little while. Excuse me," she said as she ran out of the door, not waiting for a response.

"Twilight!" Applejack called out. She started to reach a hoof out to her friend but stopped when the last of Twilight's sobbing could be heard. She and the others hung their heads in sorrow. "We all miss her."

Chapter 3

After Twilight had run off, the rest of her friends decided that maybe it would be best to try and get their minds off the last few days as best they could. Applejack still had a farm that needed tending to, and Big Mac would be waiting for her. Whether or not he had done much work remained to be seen. Rarity had some orders that still needed to be filled and a snooty cat that needed care. Fluttershy still had her animals to look after, and Rainbow had her duties on the weather team. A short while later, they said their goodbyes to the Cakes and went on their respective ways.

Applejack replayed the experience in her mind most of the day as she fed her livestock and bucked what trees should could. Her unending stream of tears sapped much of her strength and a lot of the work she had wanted to do simply didn't get done. She couldn't even muster the will to remove the new stump the day after the accident like she said she and Big Mac were going to.

At the end of the day when all the tools had been put away and baskets unloaded, she found herself almost unconsciously walking toward where it all happened. Upon finding the grim reminder, she sat down brokenhearted in front of the ground that had been damaged by the impact.

She sat there silently for almost twenty minutes when she heard footsteps approaching. She saw a familiar red stallion beside her in the corner of her bloodshot eye. Her big brother sat down and put a leg around her shoulders, pulling her in close.

"How'd ya know where to find me?" she asked.

"Wasn't too hard to figure out."

A moment passed before either said anything else. "It's my fault, Big Mac," she cried into her hooves, "it's all my fault! It was my tree, my orchard. Ah shoulda just pulled the dern thing down and that woulda been it, but my stupid pride got in the way. Ah wanted to get every apple down so bad that.. that.. "

Her big brother gently rubbed her shoulder, trying his best to comfort her. "T'was an accident, A.J. Nopony's fault." She buried her face into his chest, and he let her cry as long as she wanted.

Applejack didn't say much after dinner that night. Granny Smith knew what she was going through and left her alone for the most part, as did Big Mac once they had returned home. She hadn't felt this horrible since her parents died and it took a while for her to move on after it initially happened. Even to this day, Granny would find her alone from time to time, crying over what seemed to be nothing, even on good days. But Granny knew what was going through her mind then, and it was happening all over again.

Apple Bloom had tried to cheer Applejack up by asking for help with her homework. Her big sister was generally happy to spend time with the filly, hearing about what she learned that day in school or what shenanigans the Crusaders were up to. Despite putting on a smile for Apple Bloom and trying to be gracious, her honesty betrayed her. Realizing that it wasn't helping like she had hoped, Apple Bloom decided it was best to let her big sister be. Applejack gave the filly a kiss on her forehead and headed upstairs to bed.

Applejack laid on her bed for a few hours, clutching one of her pillows. She took turns staring at the ceiling and out the window at the clear night sky. The clock by her bed said 10:20. Apple Bloom and Granny Smith were likely already in bed for a little while. Big Mac would probably be getting ready about this time himself. The silence was broken by her bedroom door creaking open. Her big brother took a step inside.

"How ya doin', A.J.?"

She sighed heavily. "A bit better Ah guess. Still hurts though."

He nodded his understanding. "We're here for ya. Ya know that."

She took a minute to collect herself. Nopony would have ever claimed Applejack was emotional, but after the past weekend, her heart had broken into a thousand pieces. "Big Mac, Ah.. Ah know Ah don't say it very often, but.. Ah just wanted ya to know that Ah love you. You 'n Apple Bloom 'n Granny Smith. Ah love you all," she said with tears building.

The big stallion smiled, "Ah love ya too, sis. Try 'n get some sleep, OK?"

"Ah'll try. G'night, Big Mac."

"G'night." He closed the door quietly and headed to his room.

A couple hours later, Applejack was finally fast asleep. The lock on the door to her bedroom suddenly, slowly, turned itself, preventing any outside access.

Applejack had been dead to the world for a few hours when she heard a sharp tap at the window. It jolted her awake. Another sharp tap grabbed her attention and she got up to see what was going on. She rubbed her half-closed eyes and looked outside. On the ground outside the house, she saw her pink friend. She closed her eyes and shook herself fully awake in disbelief. She looked again and saw nothing.

"Pinkie? Was..?"

Words escaped her and she burst open her bedroom door and almost tripped down the stairs. Did she really just see Pinkie Pie or was her grief-filled mind starting to crack? She galloped up to the front door, threw it open and gasped as she came to a sudden stop.

The pink party animal was standing right there. Her normally poofy hair hung lifelessly on the right side of her face. She wore a disturbing grin and was staring into the distance. Applejack tried to speak but nothing came. She jumped when Pinkie quickly fixed her dead stare on her.

"Heya Applejack! May I come in?" she asked with the same deranged smile, twisting her head slowly.

The orange pony mentally slapped herself out of her stupor. "Sure. Please come in, Pinkie." She trotted inside and Applejack closed the door behind her. She followed a step behind her pink friend and put a hoof on her midsection. Pinkie stopped and turned to Applejack.

"Listen, Pinkie.. Ah can't tell you how sorry Ah am for what happened. Heck, for anythin' Ah might have ever done to hurt ya."

Pinkie brushed away her apology, "Aw, nothing to worry about, A.J.! Water under the bridge now, right?"

"Ya still have no idea how happy Ah am to see ya right now," Applejack said, giving her friend a bear hug. Pinkie's hooves stayed on the floor. Her grin stayed as well. "Want somethin' ta eat? Ah'm a little hungry myself. Ah didn't eat much at dinner tonight."

"Okey dokey lokey! I am in the mood for something applicious!"

Applejack chuckled, "Well, ya came to right place, that's for sure." They headed into the kitchen together.

"Did ya have anythin' in mind that ya wanted?"

"I have something in mind, but it's a surprise! You know how fun surprises are!" Pinkie said with a bounce. "Oh! Let me get the oven. The recipe calls for a very specific temperature." She leaned over and turned the dial to 666°.

"Uh, isn't that a little high, Pinkie? Come ta think of it, Ah didn't know it could go that high."

Pinkie ignored the question and reached into the fridge. She pulled out various fruits and vegetables and tossed them unceremoniously onto the counter. Reaching into one of the drawers, she pulled out a knife and held it up for Applejack to see. The cowpony recoiled nervously. Pinkie hadn't let up with her unusual smile, and having a knife added to the mix made Applejack incredibly uneasy.

"I'll chop up the veggies too!" she said with glee. She turned to the food and aimlessly slammed the knife down over and over again, not even bothering to hold things in place. She barely managed to slice up the apples, carrots or anything else in front of her, other than the counter top.

"Uh, well, thank ya, Pinkie, but Ah don't mind doing it myself, bein' the host 'n all," Applejack said.

Pinkie slapped herself on the head, "A.J., would you do me a favor? I forgot the butter. Could you grab it for me?" She turned her empty gaze to Applejack. The orange mare scrunched back again upon seeing Pinkie's eyes. She didn't think the party pony had stopped smiling or staring and she was starting to feel creeped out.

"Sure, Pinkie," Applejack said. She stuck her head in the fridge and pulled out a fresh stick of butter between her teeth. She turned around to put it on the counter and bumped into a wall, falling onto her rump. She rubbed her nose and shook her head. The wall was white and glossy, quite smooth to the touch.

"Huh?"

She looked up and saw a familiar ceiling. It looked like the kitchen's. She stood up and looked behind her. The floor of this place was just like the wall, white and shiny. Wherever she was, there didn't seem to be any corners anywhere. Suddenly, a bunch of enormous chunks of fruits and vegetables started raining down on top of her. Applejack eventually got buried under a few layers and clawed herself out. She stood clumsily on top of the oversized bits of food. A large slice of butter landed on her head and slid off.

"Surprise!" Pinkie yelled from overhead. Applejack snapped her attention skyward and saw her friend, suddenly extremely large, staring down at her.

"Gah! Pinkie! What's goin' on, sug?"

"You're in a crock, silly!"

"Uh.. heh.. th-that was a good one, Pinkie. Ya really got me! You and those crazy pranks o' yours!" Applejack said with a fearful laugh.

Pinkie's abnormal smile slowly turned into an angry sneer. "Yes. Prank. Look at me laugh. Ha. Ha. Ha." She put the glass lid on top of the crock with her last sarcastic 'ha', opened the oven door, and slid the crock in.

"Pinkie! Pinkie!" Applejack yelled frantically. She climbed over the diced up fruits and vegetables to the wall and tried desperately to climb up. The smooth wall gave her nothing. She spun around and bucked as hard as she could repeatedly, but to no avail. She began to panic.

"Help! Help! Somepony!"

The food started to bubble and pop as the temperature began to climb. The butter leftover on Applejack's face and head started to cook as she tried futilely to scrape it off. Every new piece of food she'd land on as she ran back and forth trying to find some way out made her hooves sizzle, making her jump in pain. Any juices that squirted out and landed on her singed and burned her coat. She spun around, scared out of her mind, and realized there was no place to go.

"HELP!"

Apple Bloom stirred when she thought she heard something coming from her sister's room. She stretched, climbed out of bed, and headed into the hallway. She instantly heard her Applejack screaming from her room and raced the few feet it was to her door. She tried opening it, but it was locked.

"Applejack! What's wrong?!"

The screams continued without a response.

"Help! Help! Big Mac!"

Her brother came from his room and galloped up to Apple Bloom. Granny Smith slowly followed, complaining about the ruckus the little filly was making. Big Mac heard the screams and tried to open the locked door. When the knob wouldn't budge, he spun around quickly and bucked it off one of its hinges. He grabbed the fallen door and ripped it off the frame, throwing it to the side. Apple Bloom and Big Mac froze in shock at what they saw. Granny Smith finally heard the screams with the door off and came up to her family.

"Oh my gosh.. " the elderly pony said, seeing what was going on.

Applejack was rolling in bed screaming, clawing at the air, burning from head to hoof. She rolled onto the floor, the fire seemingly not lighting anything else.

"Do something!" Apple Bloom yelled.

Big Mac dashed back to his room and returned with a large blanket. He threw it over his sister to smother the flames. She finally stopped screaming. She had stopped moving as well.

"Applejack! Applejack!" the filly screamed, her eyes beginning to water.

Big Mac pulled the blanket off his sister. His mouth hung open at the sight. Apple Bloom and Granny covered theirs in horror. All of her coat and hair was gone, and what remained of her skin was charred and blackened.

The filly cheeks were stained by the river of tears that she let fall. "Applejack, no!"

Chapter 5

Yesterday had been a relatively quiet day at the library, filled mostly with reminiscing about Applejack and their adventures. While this alleviated some of the depression Twilight and Spike were both feeling over the loss of another friend, it didn't get rid of it by any means.

Twilight stubbornly laid in bed and ignored the sun when it came up that morning. She simply wasn't in the mood to leave the only thing that gave her any kind of real comfort in days. When she finally couldn't keep her eyes closed any longer, she rolled over and looked at the clock before dragging herself out of bed. 11:46. She had never slept in so late in her life. Still groggy, she walked over to Spike's basket and tapped its side until he stirred.

The dragon yawned and rubbed his eyes. He saw how late it was and jumped out of his basket. "Twilight! I-I'm sorry it's so late! I'll get- "

Twilight cut him off. "It's OK, Spike. I just got up myself," she sighed. She knew she still had errands to run and a library to run. She wanted to kick herself for not following her schedule more strictly, even with the extenuating circumstances. "I'm going to go shower. We can start on lunch after you've had one too."

After going through their morning wake-up routines, despite it being early afternoon, both of them still looked miserable. Their mane and spines were a mess, their eyes were heavy and bloodshot, and it didn't help Twilight that she slept on her neck wrong.

Spike and Twilight had just finished up lunch. The dragon gathered up the plates and cooking utensils to bring to the sink while Twilight looked through the fridge and cabinets, mentally putting a shopping list together that she would inevitably write down on a piece of paper anyway.

"I know I usually ask you to do the shopping while I stay here and do research, Spike, but I'd like to go today. I just.. I really don't want to be inside today. I love the library and all," Twilight explained, "but I wouldn't mind getting out and just.. talking with some ponies. With everything that's been happening recently, I don't think my books are going to be good company."

"Uh, sure, Twilight. That's cool." Spike had never known his parental figure to ever to spurn the idea of popping open a book before. He knew that she was hurting, but it had to be more serious than she was letting on. It made sense to him though. Princess Celestia had wanted Twilight to come to Ponyville to make friends. Now, another one was gone.

The unicorn had been trying and failing to think of a way to logically deal with such loss ever since Pinkie died. She had always wanted order and control over any situation if she could get it. Now, it felt like any control she may have had was being pulled out from under her without her being able to do anything about it. Even though she had always known that life can be random or unforgiving sometimes, for the first time, the idea was starting to scare her.

"I'd still like to go with you. I was kinda hoping to go see if Rarity was doing OK."

"Spike, I really hope you're not intent on going over to sweet talk her. Not after everything she's been through lately," Twilight said with disappointment.

The dragon looked insulted, "Come on, Twilight, I can be dense sometimes, but cut me a little slack. I know she can't be feeling good and maybe she could use a shoulder to cry on or somepony to talk to, y'know?"

She regretted her presumptions and smiled warmly. "Well, that's a very mature thing for you to do, Spike. I'm proud of you."

He blushed slightly at the compliment, but his smile quickly faded. The idea of Rarity upset for any reason, even if everything had been normal recently, broke his heart, and he wasn't about to let the object of his affection be alone in her misery. Even if he couldn't fix everything all at once, he hoped that just reminding her that she's loved and cared for would ease the pain, if only a little.

Twilight jotted down her shopping list while Spike grabbed her saddlebags. She fastened them onto her waist and they headed to the market.

They didn't say that much to the ponyfolk they ran into while they did their shopping. The tower was approaching 2 o'clock, and while the presence of some foals running around and playing in Town Square would have probably brought a chuckle, Spike and Twilight didn't feel much like laughing. Spike put his claw on the unicorn's shoulder.

"Hey Twilight, would it be OK if I went over to see Rarity now? She does live right over there, after all," he thumbed in the direction of her shop.

"Sure. I'll meet up with you over there after I'm done."

He gave her a hug and walked off. Twilight smiled as he left, wondering if Rarity knew how lucky she was for somepony, dragon, whatever, to be so devoted to her. Twilight herself never had any special relationship with anypony. She had always been more interested in academics than finding a date. After seeing how happy Spike could make her friend, she sometimes wondered what it'd be like to be admired like that.

She turned back to her grocery list after Spike had disappeared from sight and continued her errands. Only a hoofful of things to go and she'd be all set.

Spike arrived at the door of Carousel Boutique and took a deep breath. The thought of seeing her beautiful face and delicate features started to make him grin like a schoolboy before he remembered that he wasn't here to act like a lovestruck puppy. Not today. It was possible she was still upset over Pinkie, but now that Applejack was gone too, she needed a friend. Remembering how Rarity was during and after Pinkie's funeral sunk his spirits a bit, but he told himself he needed to be strong for her.

He knocked quietly at the door and waited. She didn't come. He didn't even hear anything going on inside. He knocked again, and still there was nothing. He knew that most homes in Ponyville weren't locked, even at night, and tested the door knob. It turned without issue and he peeked inside, the bell over his head ringing as it made contact with the door.

"Rarity? You home?" No response. Maybe she was out, he thought.

He let himself in and checked around. Nothing seemed out of order. The lobby was as immaculate as it typically was, none of the dresses were anywhere but their hangers, the kitchen looked unused. He arrived at the stairs and figured he'd check her room. Maybe there would be an indicator of where she may be.

"Rarity? You up here?"

He froze in horror when he reached her room. His stomach turned itself inside out and it felt as if someone had reached directly into his chest and physically crushed his heart. She was sprawled out on the floor, a ponyquinn stand sticking out her back, the dummy itself laying on the floor beside her. Pieces of her back and legs were hanging off her body, and she was laying in a pool of dried blood.

He wanted to scream but nothing came. He walked to her body and fell to his knees, tears flowing down his cheeks and neck. He caressed her face, hoping to convince them both that everything was going to be OK, that this couldn't be real. He never even told her how he felt, not directly at least. He suspected she was aware when she saved him the embarrassment of admitting to having a crush on her when they were falling to their deaths so long ago, thanks to him and his greed. Even if she did know, he wanted to just say it to her so many times, without fear or interruptions getting in the way. Now he never could.

He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

Spike sat hunched over in front of his lost love, holding Rarity's head and lovingly stroking her cheek. He didn't even know how much time had passed when he heard the bell downstairs go off, and he didn't care.

"Spike? You in here?" Twilight called out. He didn't acknowledge her.

The lavender unicorn searched the downstairs area for her assistant. She decided to check upstairs when she didn't find him anywhere. His small purple form came into view as she reached the top.

"Hey Spike, what's.. ?" Twilight stopped herself short when she saw her friend. She covered her mouth and sobbed heavily, her eyes raining at the sight. "Celestia, no..."

She saw how devastated Spike was. Although she wasn't aware, he hadn't moved since he sat down in front of her. She walked up to him and put a hoof on his shoulders. He looked up with quivering lips and leapt into her chest, letting all his sorrow out. She fell hard on her rump and hugged him tightly. "Oh Spike, I'm so sorry," she sobbed into his ear.

The door to the Boutique opened and rang the bell a short while later. "Rarity!"

Twilight and Spike hadn't left each others embrace until the familiar, squeaky voice grabbed their attention.

"Sweetie Belle.. " Spike said.

"We can't let her see Rarity like this!" Twilight wiped her eyes and ran downstairs, running into the little white filly in the lobby.

"Oh, hey Twilight, what's up? Is Rarity here?"

The mare froze. She wasn't sure how to answer Sweetie Belle's question. She darted her bloodshot eyes around, trying desperately to think of something to say. She opened her mouth but no words escaped. Succumbing to guilt for attempting to lie to the filly, Twilight looked away miserably and nodded.

The little one saw the gloom on Twilight's face and started to worry. "What is it?" Sweetie Belle asked. She looked at the staircase Twilight had just come barreling down a moment ago. "Why do you look so upset? What's going on?"

"Sweetie Belle, I.. " Twilight tried to say something, anything, that could prepare the frightened child for what she wanted to tell her. The mare could only hang her head.

She didn't wait for an answer and ran past Twilight and up the stairs. "No, wait!" The filly screamed. The lavender unicorn dashed upstairs and found Spike struggling to hold Sweetie Belle back as she reached for her sister, sobbing and shrieking. Twilight grabbed onto Sweetie Belle magically and pulled her closely to her chest. Spike stepped up and laid his hand around her shoulders.

"How many outfits were you interested in, my dear?" Fancypants asked his wife.

"Oh, a full ensemble would be to die for, but I don't want to overwork her. Three or four gowns will be alright for now, sweetie," Fleur de Lis said.

The charming Canterlot couple approached Carousel Boutique. They had remembered meeting Rarity and her friends when they celebrated her friend Twilight's birthday at the Canterlot Garden Party, as well as at the rather eventful Royal Wedding. They learned where Rarity did her work after some asking around and took a holiday to speak to her about putting together some things for their wardrobe.

They stepped inside and took a look around. "How quaint. Very nice little place she has here," Fancypants commented.

Fleur perked her ears up, "Darling, do you hear something?" They went silent and noted a faint sound that seemed to be coming from upstairs. They approached the staircase, remaining quiet.

"It sounds like somepony crying. Somepony rather young," Fancypants observed. He took the lead and escorted his wife to the upper level where he found Twilight, Spike and Sweetie Belle huddled together. The two youths were pouring their hearts out onto the mare's chest. Twilight noticed the pair briefly and hung her head back down. Fancypants and Fleur spotted the fashionista's body behind them and gasped.

"Rarity?" He turned to his wife, "Stay here, I'll go for help."

Chapter 6

A few policeponies waited outside the door of the Carousel Boutique, preventing any customers or curious passerbys from coming inside. Twilight, Spike and Sweetie Belle were in the lobby talking to the same, gray earth pony detective, Private Eye, that stopped by the other day at the library after what happened to Applejack. Fleur de Lis and Fancypants were speaking to Private Eye's partner. The upstairs had been taped off to let the police do their work.

"Miss Sparkle, could I speak to you alone for a moment please?" Private Eye asked. The two went into the kitchen out of earshot of Spike and Sweetie Belle.

"I was hoping not to see you again so soon, Private Eye," Twilight said. Her ears hung sadly on her head and she had worn herself a bit ragged after crying for so long with her assistant and the little unicorn. "Well, at least not under these kinds of circumstances, I guess."

He nodded in agreement. "Could you tell me where you were the last few hours, please?" Private Eye had asked the same thing to her and her friends the day before when inquiring about Applejack. Twilight knew what was coming when she heard the question. She was a bit insulted that anyone could ever think she'd harm any of her friends, especially after they all saved Equestria a few times by now. But, at the same time, she understood he was just doing his job.

Twilight thought for a moment, replaying the day in her head, "Spike and I got up at about a quarter to noon. We had lunch and came to the market to pick up some things about an hour or so later. Spike asked if he could go see Rarity about twenty minutes or so before I found him here."

Private Eye removed the pencil out of his mouth after scribbling down some notes on his pad. "I remember talking with Spike the other day. Can you tell me what he's like in a little detail?"

"He's my assistant in the library. He's a hard worker, very generous and kind. Can be a little sarcastic sometimes but he doesn't mean anything by it."

"You said he came here ahead of you. Why is that?"

Twilight shrugged, "He wanted to see how Rarity was doing. He's..he really cares about her a lot. I can't even begin to imagine how much he's hurting over this." She looked at Spike and her heart ached.

Private Eye nodded and wrote down some more things. "How did Rarity feel about him? Any idea?"

"I know she liked him as a friend. I honestly don't know how much more than that though. But I've always kind of suspected it may be something beyond that," Twilight chuckled. "I don't think she would ever admit it though. She always wanted to keep up appearances."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she's a grown mare. He's a rather young dragon. I don't think she would've felt comfortable right away in such a relationship. She'd worry that others would see her as a.. a deviant or something," Twilight explained. The detective nodded and continued his writing. "Wait, are you thinking he had something to do with what happened to her?"

Private Eye raised his hoof trying to calm the angering unicorn. "Miss Sparkle, we know there was a struggle. Once we find some evidence at the scene, we'll be able to figure out who did this. Whenever we have a case like this, the spouse or coltfriend is usually one of the first ponies we take a look at. It's standard procedure, nothing more."

Twilight raised her voice, "I can tell you right now he didn't do anything. I've raised him since he was hatched and he's a good pony! You have my word! You can have Celestia's word when she returns!"

"Miss Sparkle, calm down," he sighed, "I don't believe he did it either. I told you the last time we spoke that I know about you and your friends and the Elements of Harmony. You don't do what you've done here in Ponyville without getting a little famous. But you also don't do what you did without making some enemies," Private Eye said.

Twilight listened as the detective shared his thoughts when the air suddenly chilled. She remembered this feeling. The last time she felt her spirit freezing like this was at Sugarcube Corner, the day of Pinkie's funeral. She heard the haunting sound of children laughing and she turned around to see the Cake twins playing pattycake.

"One, two, Pinkie's coming for you...
Three, four, better lock your door...
Five, six, get your friendship fixed...
Seven, eight, gonna stay up late...
Nine, ten, never sleep again..."

Screams of her friends, living and dead, bombarded her mind. She slammed her eyes closed and covered her ears as the panicky shrieks blinded and deafened her. Twilight's heart raced and sweat started trickling down her brow.

"Miss Sparkle? Miss Sparkle?" Private eye asked with a hoof on her shoulder and a quizzical look on his face.

She snapped back to reality in an instant, breathing heavily. "Huh? What?"

"I asked if the little filly lived here."

Twilight looked at Sweetie Belle. "No. She visits a lot because she goes to school at Ponyville Elementary, but she lives with her parents. I don't know where they are though. She could tell you."

"Alright. I'll send a couple of the stallions to take her home and give her folks the bad news," he sighed. "It's always the worst when children are caught up in the middle of things like this. My partner and I are going to talk to your friends after we're finished here." He tapped the pencil on his head, "What were their names again?"

"Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash," Twilight clarified. "They're.. they're the only other ones still around." Her heart sank and she sniffled, feeling tears welling up again. "Private Eye, could you do me a favor? Can you ask them to come see me at the library when they're done, please?"

"Sure," he smiled and headed over to his waiting partner.

Twilight sat in the kitchen and looked back to where Pound and Pumpkin were a moment ago. It was the third time she heard their song, but the first time she listened at all. 'One, two, Pinkie's coming for you,' she thought to herself. She repeated it in her head over and over. It didn't make any sense though. Pinkie was dead; the dead can't 'come for' anypony. 'Never sleep again,' Twilight then remembered. Did they mean that literally or.. ?

She felt like she was going crazy. Was what she was thinking really all that crazy though? Applejack and Rarity were gone now as well, and the six of them had seen some pretty crazy things together. Even if she her idea was correct, the question was 'why?'.

She needed to get back to the library. Despite telling herself at the start of her day that her books weren't going to be good company, she needed them again. She composed herself and walked up to Spike, who had been sitting against the wall by the stairs with his arm around Sweetie Belle, staring at the floor.

She sat beside her assistant and caressed his head. She hoped he'd understand what she was about to say. "Spike, I know you're going through a lot right now, but there's something.. strange going on, and I need to look into something. I need to go back to the library, but you don't have to come with me right away. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash will be joining me later and I'd like you to be there too."

Spike nodded as Twilight reached over and picked up Sweetie Belle and held her. "I'm so sorry, for both of you." The filly said nothing and just cuddled up to Twilight.

"Sweetie Belle," Private Eye said, kneeling beside them, "my name is Private Eye. My friends are going to bring you home and talk to your mom and dad, OK?" She looked up at the detective and sniffled. He put his leg around her shoulders and led her outside.

"Be strong, Spike. I'll see at home, OK?" He nodded and hung his head back down. With a soft kiss on his head, Twilight walked up to Fancypants and Fleur de Lis, who had been finished talking to Private Eye's partner for a while but looked to be waiting for the devastated unicorn. She caught their patient glances from time to time and had also wanted to speak to them.

"Miss Sparkle, our hearts go out to you," Fancypants said. "We are so deeply sorry for your loss. How are the young ones holding up?"

Twilight looked back at the heartbroken dragon, "Not so good. Spike.. he.. "

Fancypants glanced over his face from a distance, "He loved her." Twilight was taken off-guard that the Canterlot pony was able to figure it out so quickly. She frowned and nodded. Fancypants sighed. "I've seen that look a thousand times. Poor soul."

"It isn't odd to you that he's a dragon and she's a pony?" Twilight asked.

"Not in the least. Love is love. It doesn't care about appearances or silly little things like that," he explained. "I don't know how his love for her came to be, and ultimately, it doesn't matter. The fact that his story won't have a happy ending.. " Fancypants and Fleur looked at each other sadly, wishing they could somehow fix things.

"Miss Sparkle, if you ever need anything, let us know," Fleur spoke up. "We'll do whatever we can."

"Thank you. Thank you both," Twilight smiled. "If you'll excuse me, there's something I need to do back at home. Again, thank you, for everything." She left the Boutique and trotted back home, the eerie nursery rhyme repeating in her mind.

Books were unceremoniously sprawled all over the library floor. Hours had passed and Twilight's search hadn't seen much in the way of results yet. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash came over a while ago. Unsurprisingly, all they could discuss to pass the time was the bizarre events happening recently.

Rainbow addressed the bookworm, "Twilight, you asked us to come over to talk to you about something, but you've had your nose in books since we got here. What's going on?"

"I'm waiting for Spike to return. I really need to hear everypony's opinion on.. something," Twilight said.

"What's that?"

She searched for a good way to answer the question without coming off sounding nuts. The whole thing she had seen twice now was itself nuts, but she was always looked at as the headstrong leader of their group. She knew that if she appeared to be cracking under the stress, Rainbow and Fluttershy, especially, would likely follow right behind her. She owed it to them to look strong.

Twilight suddenly came across some texts in the book she had been looking through so feverishly that caught her eye. She carried it to the middle of the room where her pegasus friends were sitting. "It says here that- " She was cut off by the door creaking open behind her. Spike creeped inside, misery still written all over his face. He closed the door and dragged himself to the group. The pegasi glided over to comfort the baby dragon.

"Are you feeling any better, Spike?" Twilight asked solemnly.

"A little I guess," he shrugged.

"She was a lucky mare, Spike," Fluttershy reassured. The warm compliment made him smile slightly.

"Now that we're all here, what is it you needed, Twilight?" Rainbow asked.

Twilight finished skimming over the section she was reading and closed the book. "Please don't think I'm crazy when I tell you all what I think is going on. I've seen something.. disturbing.. recently, and I think it has something to do with Applejack and Rarity."

"What've you been seeing?" Fluttershy asked.

The unicorn took a deep breath and silently begged that her friends believed her, "I saw the Cake twins singing something.. creepy."

Rainbow smirked, "Twilight, you know the twins- "

"I know, I know! They're too young to talk, but they were. It was like a nursery rhyme or something, and the first line was," she gulped, "'One, two, Pinkie's coming for you.'"

Her friends were as perplexed as she expected them to be.

"Twilight, Pinkie's not with us anymore. She can't do anything," Fluttershy insisted.

"I know! That's what I was looking through while we waited for Spike. Things about.. the afterlife," Twilight looked away nervously. "I found bits and pieces about it in the other books you see on the floor, but this one here," she tapped the one before her, "had something in it that I think may explain things. At least, I hope. It's so hard to tell if these texts are just old mares' tales or if there's some actual substance behind them."

"What'd it say?" Spike asked.

"That sometimes, spirits of the dead stay among the living because they feel that something with their life isn't completed," Twilight explained. "When I heard the twins say that Pinkie was 'coming for you', I.. I started to think that maybe she's mad at us for some reason."

Rainbow frowned disappointedly, "Twilight, even if that stuff about spirits of the dead is true, why would Pinkie be mad at us? We were her best friends. She would never hurt us. If anything, she'd probably want to throw us a going away party."

The mild joke made Fluttershy and Spike chuckle slightly, but Twilight still looked worried. "I thought of that too. I just don't know what to think about this whole mess. It's just that.. the thing with the twins and then what I saw in this book.. " She slouched and rubbed her head.

Fluttershy laid a hoof on Twilight's. "It's OK, Twilight. This has been a rough few days. I, too, think that Pinkie wouldn't have any reason to be mad at us, but I don't think you're crazy."

"She's right, Twilight," Spike agreed, "we've all been under a lot of stress lately. It's probably just getting to you, that's all. But you'll pull through. You always do."

She sighed dejectedly. Maybe they were right. She reminded herself that she did have a tendency to blow things out of proportion. Private Eye did say earlier there were signs of a struggle at Rarity's. That could lead one to believe that somepony out there was after them. Maybe they'd been watching them for a while and took advantage of what happened to Pinkie, giving them the chance to go after them while they were weak or alone or something. Twilight was no longer sure if she could even believe her own ideas about the supernatural after repeating it to herself. But it still left her without any answers.

"I'm sorry if you feel I wasted your time, then."

"Hey, come on, Twilight. We're your friends. You'll always be worth our time, you know that," Rainbow comforted. The unicorn started to tear up. She was grateful that she had such great friends, even in the worst of times.

"Try and get some sleep, OK, Twilight?" Fluttershy pleaded. "We all could use some I think."

"I don't suppose you'd mind if I stopped by your places tomorrow just to.. check on you, would you? I'd just feel better if I knew you were both OK," Twilight asked.

"Of course not. You're always welcome at my cottage."

"Yeah, you don't need an invitation. Just some wings or a cloud-walking spell."

"Alright. Thanks for listening, girls." They hugged her and flew out for the evening.

Chapter 7

Fluttershy landed in front of her cottage and headed inside. Angel hopped up to greet her in his typical annoyed way when she opened the door. It was later than he expected her, and he was hungry. What did she expect him to do? Fix himself a sandwich? He tapped his foot impatiently and gestured to his wrist as if he were wearing a watch.

"I know you must be hungry, Angel. Twilight needed to talk to me about some things. About our friends.. "

Angel's irritation faded into guilt when she mentioned them. Maybe this one time he should stop being so demanding. He had seen how Fluttershy was the last couple nights. Even though it took her hours to finally fall asleep, he could hear her from her bedroom upstairs bawling late into the night. At first, it aggravated him. He was trying to sleep himself, y'know. But as the first night, the night after Pinkie died, started becoming morning, he started to feel bad for her. He knew she was a bit timid and could be overemotional about some things, but they never lasted literally all night long before. She told him the next day about what happened to Pinkie and, for what must have been the first time since she started taking care of him, he was sympathetic.

The other animals that stayed in her cottage with her had gone through similar emotional roller coasters over the last few days. Her crying was keeping them up during the nights as well, so they vacated their homes for quieter surroundings until Fluttershy had calmed down a bit.

She headed to the kitchen and threw together a nice salad for Angel. He could see that she was still feeling awful and was pleasantly surprised when she didn't take the easy way out of his late dinner and just give him some pellets. She made a small salad for herself and slowly poked at it.

"I don't understand it, Angel. All these terrible things that have been happening lately. Now there's only Twilight, Rainbow Dash and me left," she said, beginning to cry. "I don't know what to do!" She laid down on her couch and buried her head in a pillow. Angel hopped up and gently rubbed her leg, trying to comfort her, but tonight seemed to be going in the same direction the last few nights were. The bunny sighed and hopped to the door. He took one last look at the sobbing mare before heading out to sleep in his little outdoor house.

Fluttershy had fallen asleep a couple hours later. If she wasn't so fatigued from what she had been dealing with recently, she probably could have stayed up all night again crying. She was sprawled out on her couch, her cheeks matted and stained below her eyes. Her mane was unkempt and her coat unbrushed.

A long howl pierced the silence in the air and scared Fluttershy awake. "What was that?" Almost answering her question, another howl echoed in the darkness. She jumped up and locked her windows and drew the curtains, diving under the couch when she was done.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy! There's nothing to be afraid of!" a voice said from one of the animal homes overhead.

"W-who's there?"

A pink head with two large front teeth and a flat mane popped out of one of the little squirrel enclosures and looked at the frightened pony. Squirrel Pinkie skittered down the little staircase built specially for its occupants and stopped in front of the couch. Fluttershy stuck her head out and smiled.

"Oh, Pinkie, is that really you? You look.. uh.. different."

"Of course it's me! What do you think?" She spun around, showing herself off.

The pegasus crawled out from under the sofa and gave the pink squirrel a big hug. "Oh my gosh, you're soooo cuuuute!"

Pinkie slipped out from her grip, "Hey Fluttershy, have you ever wondered what it'd be like to be one of your little critters? I can tell you, it's kinda fun!"

"Oh, yes, Pinkie! I can imagine how nice it is to be able to run around free like they do and not have any worries in the world," Fluttershy sighed heavily, happily fantasizing.

"Well, come on! Let's go!" Pinkie cheered, jumping onto Fluttershy's head and ruffling her mane in front of her eyes.

She pulled the hair from in front of her face and she was in a large, beautiful meadow, the sun shining, the flowers fragrant. Birds flew overhead and sang their happy songs. Fluttershy looked at her hooves and saw they had been replaced with fuzzy little white feet. She looked over the rest of her body and grinned ecstatically. She had traded her wings for a fluffy, cotton tail and long floppy ears. Her long pink mane still remained. She ran her feet over her white, fuzzy body, just to see if this were real.

The pink squirrel dashed past her and she gave chase after her friend, laughing as they jumped around and rolled through the grass. Pinkie ran around and around Bunnyshy until she fell over dizzy. She giggled uncontrollably and sat back up, searching for where the squirrel went. Something was off though. She wasn't in the meadow anymore. It was much darker, and trees and bushes were scattered in her line of sight. She looked up and saw the sun barely peeking through the overgrowth. It almost looked like she was in..

She gulped nervously, "P-Pinkie? Where'd you go?" She hopped along slowly, trying not to make a sound. A bush in front of her rustled and shook slightly. "Pinkie? Please tell me that's you," she whispered.

A timberwolf jumped out in front of her and glared at its next meal. Bunnyshy shrieked and ran away as fast as her tiny feet would carry her. She ducked between the foliage, using her agility and small stature to outmaneuver the hungry beast. It was still on her tail though. The noise she was making and her heavy gasps for breath as she tried to escape made her easy to keep up with.

She came into a clearing and saw a small hole under a rock. She made a beeline for it as the timberwolf jumped out behind her and spotted her running for what she hoped would be safety. Bunnyshy jammed her upper body into the hole and scraped the ground with her hind legs. Just as the timberwolf clamped its jaws shut, she forced herself into the burrow completely. The wolf growled and clawed at the dirt around the opening.

Bunnyshy turned around and plopped onto her butt, grabbing her chest as she caught her breath. She suddenly felt a tickling on her back. She spun around in her cramped quarters. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she saw a snake flicking its tongue at her, wondering who this home invader was. She crawled backwards and a claw scratched into her back. The wolf buried its snout in the hole and grabbed her by the tail, dragging her out and tossing her like a rag doll.

She looked up at the predator as it bared its teeth and drooled in anticipation to its fluffy meal. She screamed as its mouth opened and barreled down on her.

Fluttershy snapped awake on her couch, covered in sweat. Her heart was racing and she was gasping for breath. She remembered what had been upon her a moment ago and looked at her back. Nothing. She hung her head, trying to calm down and stop herself from throwing up.

She went into the kitchen and turned on the sink to splash some water in her face and get the sweat out of her eyes. After cleaning herself up, she walked over to the mirror by her door to check her appearance. She still looked pretty scared but the feeling was slowly passing. It was just a terrible dream, right?

She sighed and laid her head on the mirror for a moment. She jumped in fright when she looked up at the mirror again. Pinkie was staring back at her with a disturbing grin. She looked behind and came nose to nose with the pink pony gazing right at her. The pegasus jumped again.

"Hi, Fluttershy! You look upset. What's wrong?" Pinkie asked with a frozen smile.

"Oh, Pinkie, it was terrible. I-I was a bunny and we were playing and I got lost and.. a-a-and.. "

"Aw, I'm sorry. You know what? You could use a pick-me-up, and I know just what'll make you feel better!"

"What's that?"

Pinkie put her hooves on Fluttershy's shoulders, "I'm gonna make you some chocolate!"

The yellow mare looked away awkwardly, "Um.. that's nice of you, Pinkie, but I'm not really in the mood for chocolate right now."

"I'll still make you some chocolate, OK?"

Realizing she wasn't going to win an argument against Pinkie Pie over anything sweet, she sighed defeatedly, "Alright. I guess I can have some later or something."

"That's the spirit!" Pinkie cheered.

Fluttershy smiled at her friend, who hadn't let go yet. They stood there looking at each other for a moment silently. The yellow pegasus frowned and cocked an eyebrow. "Um, Pinkie? I thought you said you were going to make me some chocolate now?"

Pinkie giggled, "I did, silly!"

Fluttershy continued to stare at her friend. "You haven't moved though."

"I know."

The timid mare was getting a little annoyed by Pinkie's game, glaring in irritation. "Well, if you want some help, we can go–" She tried to point to the kitchen, but suddenly couldn't move. She struggled against her unresponsive limbs, grunting as she tried to force something to give.

"Pinkie! What's going on?!"

"Tsk, I told you! I made you some chocolate!" She turned Fluttershy around to face her reflection and she started to panic. The pegasus had somehow become a delicious chocolate bunny. She whined and whimpered as she tried desperately to move.

"You know what you remind me of, Fluttershy?" Pinkie asked the reflection. "The Spring Harvest Festival! It's my second favorite holiday right behind Nightmare Night. All that candy...ohhh yeah!" Pinkie licked her lips. "Can you guess the best part about Spring Harvest Festival? Of course you can! The chocolate bunnies! It's always so much fun when you bite their little ears off!"

Fluttershy screamed as Pinkie lifted her chocolate body into her mouth and bit down on her bunny ears.

She laid on the couch yelling at the top of her lungs. Her ears suddenly broke off, bitten all the way through the bone. Jagged teeth marks remained. Blood poured from the wounds and covered her face.

Pinkie looked at the terrified bunny-shaped treat as she indulged her sweet tooth. Even in the dream, the thick red ooze dripped from where her ears just were.

"Oooh, cherry filling!" She continued chewing and crunched down on something, gasping in delight. "And nuts too! MMM! Delicious! But we're not done yet, Fluttershy! I still have to bite the head off!"

"NO!" she shrieked as Pinkie chomped down on her chocolatey neck.

Fluttershy's head rolled onto the floor, severed from her body, leaving spots of blood when it bounced. It came to a stop and a red pool collected where it laid. Every few seconds, new bite wounds appeared on her legs, her chest, her stomach, having broken through from one side of her to the other.

Chapter 8

It had been a restless night for Twilight. She tossed and turned in bed, thinking about what she found in her books and what her friends said. Could Rainbow, Spike and Fluttershy be right? Was she just being paranoid and there really was some psycho out there? Either way, half of the Elements of Harmony were gone now.

Breakfast that morning didn't help. If anything, it made her a little more sick to her stomach than she already was. Her nerves were shot and she felt like she could throw up at any time, so she decided not to eat much. Even Spike, who was normally quite the pig when it came to food of any kind, quietly nibbled on a serving that would leave Angel hungry.

After they had eaten, Twilight left Spike to clean up while she headed out to go see how Fluttershy was doing. She did tell her friends that she would stop by the next day, after all. She was hurting as much as they were, but that wouldn't be an excuse for breaking her word to them.

When she arrived at the quaint little cottage, it was abnormally quiet. Usually there were the sounds of the forest around and in Fluttershy's home: birds singing, squirrels and chipmunks running around, otters swimming, the usual. It was almost creepy to the lavender unicorn after what had been happening recently to her friends. She came up to the door and found Angel balled up in front of it, shaking like a leaf, and almost whiter than he normally was. He was staring vacantly at nothing and didn't even notice Twilight standing there.

"Hey Angel. Is Fluttershy home?" she asked.

Her voice snapped him out of his stupor and got his attention. He looked at the door knowingly and started tearing up. After a moment of waiting for a response, Twilight shrugged and stepped up to the door to knock. Angel grabbed her leg and shook his head nervously, as if to say that she shouldn't go in.

Twilight had seen the condition Angel was in before. Spike and Sweetie Belle looked just the same after the police had arrived at Rarity's the day before. It was a look filled with sorrow and shock. A hundred things flashed through Twilight's mind. She had to go inside now, even if she saw something she didn't like. She opened the door slightly and peeked inside.

"Fluttershy? You here?"

She gasped when she saw all the pieces, both internal and external, of the shy pegasus sprawled out on the couch and on the floor surrounding it. She only saw Fluttershy for a few seconds and felt the contents of her stomach racing up her throat. She dove back outside beside Angel and threw up in the bushes. After her stomach emptied itself, causing her eyes to water due to all the stress her body was going through all at once, she looked back toward the door and teared up further. After a moment, she sprinted off to the police station, needing to see Private Eye immediately.

"So, what do we got, P.E.?" his partner, Gumshoe, asked.

"Nothing," Private Eye said, angrily tossing the paperwork on his desk. "No witnesses. No prints, hoof, snout or what not. No feathers. No traces of magic. Nothing."

"So what's our next move?"

Private Eye thought for a moment, trying to come up with an answer that would make sense. These things had a procedure. They would find evidence of some kind that would point them in the right direction that would lead them to solving the case. Everything they had been looking into here was resulted in one dead end after another. He shook his head and shrugged.

Twilight kicked in the door of the police station and darted up to the secretary. She was panting heavily thanks to galloping most of the way there and from seeing what happened to Fluttershy.

"Miss Sparkle? What can I do for you?"

"I need to see Private Eye right away!" Twilight said between breaths.

"I'm sorry, he's busy at- "

"Fluttershy's dead!" she cut off the secretary.

"There's been another murder? Follow me then." She led Twilight to the door to the detective's office and stepped inside. "Sir, Miss Twilight Sparkle is here to see you."

Her visit surprised the detectives. Maybe she had some new information they could use. Celestia knows they needed all the help they could get with this case. "Send her in."

Twilight thanked the secretary as she closed the door behind them. She sat down and hung her head low. "Thanks for seeing me. I'll get right to the point. It's.. it's Fluttershy. I found her this morning and.. " she started to weep, "and she's dead."

Private Eye and Gumshoe sighed defeatedly. Twilight continued, "It was horrible. I had her and Rainbow Dash stop by my home last night and talked with them. I told them I'd check on them this morning to see if they were OK. She.. she was in pieces!" She put her hooves to her eyes and sobbed.

"Have you seen Rainbow Dash yet this morning?"

"No, I came straight here."

"Gumshoe, go send a couple of the stallions to check on Rainbow Dash. You know where she lives. Make sure they talk with her, get any information they can, if there is any. Afterwards, have them escort her to Miss Sparkle's place and to stay there until further notice. I want eyes and ears on that place at all times from here on out," Private Eye instructed. His partner nodded and was on his way. When the door to the office closed, Private Eye slammed his hoof on his desk and sighed, frustrated at recent events. After a moment, he looked up at Twilight, who had remained lost in thought, still shocked at the condition she found Fluttershy in.

"You said they were at your house last night. What happened?" Private Eye asked. Another interview. They were starting to get boring. Almost.

"The three of us and Spike talked about what was going on really. I.. I told them that I think I may have an idea what's happening."

The detective's ears perked up. What Twilight may tell could finally be a break in the case. "What do you think's going on? Anything you have will be great."

Twilight rubbed her leg uncertainly. She almost didn't want to say for fear of being thought of as losing her mind. "I think it's.. Pinkie Pie."

"Your friend who was killed several days ago at Sweet Apple Acres? What do you mean?"

"I-I saw Mr. and Mrs. Cake's twins singing about Pinkie after the funeral, and again when I spoke to you at Rarity's. It sounded like they were implying she was.. mad at us. I know it sounds crazy, but- "

"Miss Sparkle," Private Eye cut her off with a raised hoof, "Pinkie is gone. You know that. The dead can't do anything."

Twilight sighed, "That's what Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash said."

The detective calmly put his hooves together in front of him. "Miss Sparkle, I understand that you're going through a lot. If you need to talk to somepony.."

"No!" she snapped. "No, I.. I didn't think you'd believe me." She looked away embarrassed. Maybe she really was going insane.

"Listen, Miss Sparkle, even if it were true, I'd need to be able to prove it, show evidence. How would I be able to?" Private Eye inquired. She opened her mouth to respond but couldn't come up with anything. She looked away, defeated.

"You've told me you're a student of Princess Celestia's, is that right?" he asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Have you spoken to her at all since Pinkie's funeral?"

"No. I probably should have contacted her after Applejack died, but it seemed like it was just a freak accident," Twilight said. She mentally kicked herself for not thinking of the idea sooner. "After what happened to Rarity, I.. I.. "

"It's OK, Miss Sparkle. You've been through a lot. I know you told me she's away on official business. I'd like to get some Royal Guards watching you too. I don't know if we could afford any more stallions at the moment. We're stretched thin as it is," he explained. "Do you think you could convince her to come back? The Elements of Harmony are dying one after the other here, and foul play is obviously involved. I'd like to think she'd want to look into this personally, and I wouldn't mind talking with her myself. See if she has any information that you don't know."

Twilight thought briefly, "I can try. Asking her to drop royal business may not sit well with her."

"She'll get over it," Private Eye said. "I'll have a couple of stallions escort you home and wait with you until your friend arrives. I'll have them come back to the station afterwards. Nopony is to go in or out of your home until her Guards show up, if she allows them to help us, that is. If they're unavailable, I'll send over two more stallions of ours. It'd be the best I can do. They'd accompany you everywhere you went. I'm not taking any chances."

She nodded, wiping her wet eyes, "Thank you, Private Eye. I'll get Spike to send her a letter as soon as I get home. What about Fluttershy?"

"I'm going over there after we're finished up here."

The detective stood up and motioned Twilight to the office door, escorting her to meet with some of the officers in the station and explain to them what was needed.

Twilight and her escort arrived at the library and found Rainbow Dash and her pair of police waiting for them. Only about fifteen minutes had passed between the two parties coming together. Rainbow's bravado had been withering away as the last few days passed. Now with Fluttershy dead, Rainbow's mask completely evaporated. She had paced nervously the entire time she waited for Twilight, constantly looking all around for anything her troubled mind may deem as unusual or out of place.

"H-hey Twilight," Rainbow stuttered, "where've you been? Been waiting for you for, like, ever."

"Sorry, Rainbow. How you holding up?"

"OK, I guess," Rainbow lied. Twilight's escort nodded to Rainbow's and headed back to the station.

The last two elements stood there silently for a few moments, contemplating what to do now. One of the policeponies cleared his throat and opened the library door for them. "Oh, right," Twilight said with a heavy sigh. "I do need to contact the Princess. Spike?" she called out as she entered.

The dragon came down the stairs. "Hey, Twilight. How're you doing?"

Twilight and Rainbow looked at each other with sad eyes before turning back to Spike. "Fluttershy's dead," the unicorn said bluntly.

His mouth fell open at the news. He tried to speak but found no words. His eyes watered and his claws found his face as he sobbed uncontrollably.

"I need you to take a letter, Spike. We have to tell the Princess what's going on. I should have done so before, but I wasn't thinking clearly," Twilight said softly. He wiped his tears away as best he could, nodded, and grabbed a parchment and quill.

It was most of the day before they received a response from the Princess. She had been busy with her duties and was unable to read Twilight's letter right away. Once she had, she spoke to the griffon rulers and pleaded her case successfully. In approximately two days, she will have returned, but she had also sent word ahead to Shining Armor that he was to send two pairs of their best Royal Guards, one pair for the day and the other for the night, as quickly as possible to watch over them. As she read the letter, Twilight could feel Celestia's sorrow across the distance just through her words alone.

For Rainbow, being stuck inside and unable to leave on its own would have been dreadfully boring, and she would have let a pony know about it. However, she had been uncharacteristically quiet today, but Twilight understood. She also knew that, even though Rainbow was devastated by yet another one of their friends passing, the pegasus wasn't going to talk about it. Talking about what was bothering her, even if it was something ultimately trivial, was something Rainbow just didn't do.

The three of them stuck close to each other during the day, but few words were said. What else could be said at this point? A few times, Twilight had caught Rainbow on her side on the floor of the library, claiming to be napping, but the unicorn heard quiet sobbing coming from her friend. When it was mentioned, Rainbow would put up her usual tough front and deny it, claiming she was just snoring or holding back a sneeze or something else Twilight knew was a lie. She sighed heavily every time Rainbow dropped the subject, wishing the pegasus would just open up about it. She and Spike were feeling the same way and now was no time for her to act like she was on her own.

As the night approached, Twilight moved her bed downstairs so as not to be by a window. If there really was somepony after them, being next to a window, even if it were locked, was one of the last places she wanted them to be. She moved Spike's basket as well, in case whoever it was would try and use him against them in some way.

Rainbow started quietly getting ready for bed. Spike had already turned in a while ago, and the pegasus didn't want to disturb him. Twilight suggested they share her bed that night. If somepony was after them and somehow managed to sneak in, they'd have the both of them to deal with at once instead of just one at a time.

As Rainbow lifted up the covers, she paused and sat back down. "Twilight? Just in case, I.. I just want you to know that I'm really glad to have known you."

"Rainbow, don't talk like that."

"I'm sorry, it's.. you never heard it, but.. I'm scared, is all," the pegasus said, starting to cry.

Twilight, tearing up at her friend's sincerity, hugged Rainbow tightly, "It's OK. We all are. For what it's worth, I'm happy to have known you too." They smiled at each other and Rainbow crawled into bed, sniffling and wiping her eyes clear.

The unicorn went to the bookshelves looking for some more reference material about the afterlife and spirits. After Fluttershy and Rainbow had left the night before, she had immediately put her books away, figuring her friends were probably right and that Pinkie wasn't a part of this, what with being dead. Despite this, she still felt there was more to look over, just in case.

Rainbow hadn't closed her eyes just yet and saw Twilight pulling a few books out. "Still got a few things to read, huh?" she yawned.

"Yeah. I know you didn't believe me last night about Pinkie, and I don't blame you, but I never finished checking some things. I shouldn't be too long. I hope."

"It's OK, Twilight. I'm just happy to know you're here," Rainbow smiled.

The unicorn returned the grin, "You too."

"G'night Egghead."

Twilight chuckled, "G'night."

Chapter 9

Rainbow Dash was relaxing peacefully on one of her many cloud beds over Ponyville, basking in the warm rays of the sun. She didn't know how long she'd been laying there, and she honestly didn't care. She took in a deep breath and sat up, stretching her legs and wings. While she did enjoy napping frequently and sitting around, what made her her was flying. The freedom, the speed, the adrenaline, it made her feel more alive than anything in the world.

She opened her wings and sped off her floating mattress like a rocket, leaving her signature rainbow trail behind her. The cool air rushed through her mane and feathers as she put on an awesome aerial show for her fans as only she could. She sped through numerous clouds as she performed, the moisture tickling her skin. Several corkscrews, loop-de-loops, and spin-o-ramas later, she stopped short over the center of Ponyville and congratulated herself. She waited to hear the cheers from her adoring fans, who would no doubt be grateful for the awesome display she just put on for them.

Nothing came. She opened her boastful eyes and looked below, expecting to see a bustling populace going about their usual business in Town Square, but It was a ghost town. She hunched over and grunted in annoyance. She didn't know, or frankly care, why nopony was around. She needed to hear the citizens chanting her name. She wasn't just some nopony; she was Rainbow Dash, the fastest, most awesome flier - no, pony - in all of Equestria! What good would it be to show off from time to time if nopony was around?

One thing she knew better than anypony though, save for maybe Applejack, was that being so amazing at what you did, particular if it was physical in nature, made you work up one fierce appetite. She glanced over the abandoned town once more, shrugged, and headed to Sugarcube Corner to meet up with her favorite pranking pal. After being snubbed by the empty city, she needed to find somepony to mess around with to pick her spirits back up to where they had been when she started her high-flying acrobatics.

She entered the bakery upon landing, expecting to see the usual crowd that partook of Pinkie's incredible sugary delicacies on a regular basis, but it was empty here too. In a way, that was fine with her. It meant she got first pick of the treats!

Pinkie popped up from behind the counter, her big bright smile greeting the pegasus. There was something.. off about how the party pony looked though. Aside from her typically big, curly hair being draped down the side of her face, her blue eyes looked rather lifeless and strangely small. Granted, she knew that Pinkie wasn't with them anymore, but she had always figured all that energy would give her the means to be bouncing off the walls, wherever she may be. She did seem to be able to do the most unusual things at will. Why would being dead stop her?

"Hi, Rainbow! What's going on?"

"Hey Pinkie," she said warmly, "nothing much. Was just showing off a bit for the ponies at Town Square, except there weren't any ponies at Town Square for some reason." The pegasus looked away glumly, remembering the lack of appreciation and recognition. "What do you have to eat?"

Pinkie reached under the counter, her rump shaking in the air as she dug around, and pulled out a fresh tray of cupcakes. "How's this? Just made them!"

Her confectionery delights always smelled and tasted so good, and this batch was no exception. Rainbow gobbled up the entire lot and let out a satisfying belch. "Aah.. those were almost as awesome as me, Pinkie. How much?"

She waved a hoof dismissively, "No worries, I got ya covered."

"You sure? Wow, thanks! Hey, what are you doing later? Want to go pull some pranks?" Rainbow asked with anticipation.

"I'm not doing anything really. Being dead kinda leaves you with a lot of time on your hooves!" Pinkie quipped.

The joy in Rainbow's eyes melted into sorrow and she hung her head sadly. "Pinkie, I'm really sorry about everything that happened. I-I wish I could go back and fix everything," she said, holding back tears. "We were always so used to saving the day all the time, y'know? Then, this happens."

Rainbow sighed and glanced away regrettably, unable to even look at Pinkie as she poured her heart out.

"Meh, what are you gonna do? But I am in the mood for some pranks," she gasped, "and I have a great one in mind! You'll love it! It's a real killer!"

The pegasus perked her wings up, eager to have some laughs with her departed friend one last time. "Oh yeah? Who'd you have in mind? What're we gonna do?"

Pinkie innocently looked away with her shrunken, vacant eyes, "It's a surprise! But," she leaned in closely, "I heard earlier there was another surprise up in Cloudsdale, just for you!"

Rainbow cocked an eyebrow, "For me? What is it?"

"Oh, I'm not going to spoil it! Trust me, you'll just die over it! Go on ahead, I'll meet you there!"

"Uh, you do remember that only pegasi and ponies with a cloud-walking spell on them can walk on the clouds, right? How do you expect to meet me there?" Rainbow asked confusedly.

"Because I'm Pinkie Pie! Duh!"

Knowing better than to argue logic with the party pony, Rainbow just shook her head and chuckled, "Well, OK, I'll see you there I guess?" Pinkie Pie nodded and continued smiling, slightly creeping Rainbow out. The pegasus left the establishment and flew off in the direction of Cloudsdale.

The pegasus capital was as deserted as Ponyville was. She checked around everywhere looking for some signs of whatever could be considered a surprise, aside from the lack of ponies. She stumbled upon the entrance to where her idols, the Wonderbolts, routinely met and trained.

She took a step toward the doorway when Spitfire, Soarin', Blaze, Fleetfoot and Silver Lining stepped out. Rainbow smiled so wide, her cheeks almost cramped up.

"Well, the legendary Rainbow Dash! We were looking for you earlier," Spitfire said with a sly grin. "We didn't know where to find you, so we asked your friends to have you stop by. Looks like you got the word."

Rainbow's smiled changed slightly into a look of shock, "You were looking for.. for me?"

"Yep! We've been talking for a while, and we know what you're capable of. We'd be honored if you were to become the newest member of the Wonderbolts!" Spitfire offered.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!"

They laughed at her enthusiasm, "We had a feeling you'd say yes. Oh yeah, by the way.. " Spitfire began to say before she and the others started expanding like balloons. They burst into confetti and streamers in front of Rainbow Dash, turning her elation into utter confusion.

"Surprise!" Pinkie screamed, popping out of what used to be the Wonderbolt captain.

"Pinkie? Where're the Wonderbolts? What's going on?"

"Oh, they were never here. What'd you think of my prank? Super awesome, right?" she said, still beaming like she was at Sugarcube Corner.

Rainbow's mouth hung open, her recent joy totally replaced by depression. Tears started flowing down her cheeks, having witnessed her wildest dream smashed right in front of her. "That was your prank? That's no prank, that's just.. cruel! You know how I've wanted to join the Wonderbolts since the first time I watched them perform! Why would you do that?"

"Aww, you didn't like my prank," Pinkie said, disappointed. She continued to grin wildly instead of pouting at her failed attempt at humor. "That's OK! I'm still game for some fun!"

"I'm not exactly in the mood for fun right now, Pinkie," Rainbow snarled. "That hurt. A lot."

"I wasn't asking your permission," the pink pony declared, looking down her own nose at the rainbow-maned mare. Cloudsdale suddenly faded out of existence and Pinkie plummeted to the ground.

"WEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.......!"

Rainbow caught herself as the ground vanished and hovered there, watching the city disappear in front of her. She gasped, realizing in an instant that her flightless friend was falling and snapped her head down. She was nowhere in sight.

"What the..?"

"...eeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEE!" Pinkie slammed onto Rainbow's back from out of the blue, knocking the wind out of her and causing them both to fall several feet before she was able to right herself. Pinkie sat up on her friend's back as if she wore a saddle.

"What the hay, Pinkie?!" she yelled.

"What did you expect? It hurts when heavy things land on you," Pinkie retorted.

Rainbow wasn't sure what hurt more now, Pinkie landing on top of her or the knife she just twisted. Sorrowfully, she looked away. Physical pain will always eventually go away. The other kind, not so much.

"Aw, come on, Dashie! We're still gonna have some fun! Now, show me what you got! HEEYAH!" she cried out, slapping Rainbow on her flank. The pegasus took off with sudden breakneck speed, her wings seemingly having a mind of their own.

"Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinkieeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Twilight sat at her desk with a few books on the floor next to her. The candle she lit was mostly gone at this point. The circles under her eyes were starting to get heavy and the bed was looking inviting. She hadn't found any new information to help her determine if her suspicions may hold any water.

Rainbow suddenly lifted into the air, the blanket flopping onto the floor. Twilight spun around and noticed the bundle laying by the bed. The flapping of wings overhead grabbed her attention. The cyan pegasus was laying on her side, her back to the unicorn, hovering in midair.

"Rainbow? What're you doing?"

She didn't answer. Curious, Twilight trotted to the other side of the bed. She did a double-take when she came face to face with her friend. Her eyes were closed and she was snoring peacefully.

"Woohoooooo! This is awesome, Rainbow Dash! I understand why you love it so much!" Pinkie yelled over the rushing wind.

Rainbow struggled against her wings, but to no avail. No matter how hard she would try to stop flexing them, they refused to listen. "Pinkie! What did you do to me?! I can't stop!"

The pink mare laughed, "Isn't it great? But I know you can go faster, Dashie! You're the only one to ever perform a Sonic Rainboom! Come on, let's see it!" She leaned forward with her tongue hanging out. She squinted hungrily, grabbing onto Rainbow's ear and cocked it back and forth. It locked into place on the back of her head and the pegasus' speed increased dramatically. Their bodies coned and shattered the sound barrier, blasting a ring of colors into the air and leaving a rainbow in their wake. A similar pink trail left by Pinkie's mane dragged above it.

"YEAH! GOGOGOGOGOGOGO!"

Rainbow's sleeping body suddenly flew to the other side of the room, crashing into a bookshelf. The loud noise jolted Spike awake.

"Gah! Wh-what was that?!" he cried in panic. A body whooshed past his head and he ducked quickly. He looked up and saw Rainbow Dash flying around the room recklessly, knocking over everything it came into contact with that wasn't nailed down. She was clawing and kicking at the air, unconsciously trying to hold onto something.

"Twilight, what's going on?!"

"I don't know! She's asleep!" the unicorn yelled. "Rainbow! Wake up!"

Spike tossed his basket aside and ran upstairs to the balcony. He tried to jump on the sleeping mare as she flew by, but was knocked away head first into a wall as he collided with her. Twilight ran over and helped him up. He may have a bump the next day, but was otherwise alright.

Pinkie looked down as the world below her rushed by in a tiny blur. She patted Rainbow on the back of her neck. "OK, Dash, this is just awesome, don't get me wrong. But I know you have more in you! You're the most awesomest pony in Equestria after all, right?" Pinkie cocked her ride's other ear around and locked it into place next to its twin. Rainbow's body exploded with even more speed.

"Piiiiinkieeeee!" Rainbow struggled to scream thanks to the excessive air friction. "I've.. never.. gone.. this.. faaaaaaassst! Sloooow.. doooooown!"

"No way!" Pinkie giggled. "We're sharing a moment! Isn't this exciting?!" Pinkie was unaffected by the ridiculous speed.

Rainbow's cheeks and eyelids flapped violently as she raced across the sky. Her wings were working so hard it felt like they were on fire. The skin on face started to tear against the wind. Bristles from her feathers began to fly off. Strands of her mane were pulled loose and caught on Pinkie's body. She nonchalantly yanked them off and let them go. The strain on her skin and body made Rainbow wince and grunt in pain.

Twilight grabbed onto Rainbow's out-of-control body with her magic, trying to pull her to the floor and stop her from destroying the entire library. Despite having some of the most powerful magic in Equestria, the pegasus still bounced off everything in the building.

Twilight's focus was interrupted by something warm and wet splattering against her cheek and then her chest. She wiped her face and found a string of blood on her hoof. She looked on her chest and found yet another blob of red staining her coat.

She gasped and watched her cyan friend in horror. Every crash into the wall and every dash across the room left a trail of thick red droplets. Unbeknownst to Rainbow, she was groaning and crying out in pain as she darted around the library.

"Help! Somepony help!" Twilight yelled.

"Heeheehee! This is so cool!" Pinkie squealed. "Let's have some more fun, Rainbow! What do ya say?"

The rocketing pegasus was gritting her teeth too hard to respond. She could almost feel her eyes being forced into the backs of their sockets. All of the friction had been holding her eyes open to witness the terrifying rate of speed she was moving at. Her heart was beating almost as fast as she was moving. While Rainbow enjoyed moving like a bullet sometimes, this was too much even for her. The air started tearing away at her eye and their lids, blinding her with her own blood.

"I'm gonna take that as a 'yes'," Pinkie said. She leaned over Rainbow's head and looked her square in her saturated eyes. "I remember a super fun game I used to play with the Cake twins. Wanna know what it is?"

Pinkie sat back on Rainbow's back and suddenly slapped her pink hooves over the cyan mare's eyes. "PEEKABOO!"

"Pin.. kie.. STOP.. !"

The party pony yanked Rainbow's head around, forcing her to turn as if she had reins hooked up to her mouth. Pinkie laughed and carried on as she forced Rainbow to act as her own personal roller coaster. After several loops, twists and turns, the pink mare had her fill of fun for the day.

"OK, Dashie, I'm gonna go. It's been awesome hanging out with you! I'll see you real soon!" Pinkie let go and her straighten mane poofed out into a make-shift parachute. Rainbow spun her head around to see what happened to her insane friend, fighting the speed so as not to snap her neck as she looked. She finally saw Pinkie high above her, waving goodbye with the disturbing grin that never left her face.

Rainbow slowly pushed her gaze ahead of her. It only took her a second to see the ground rapidly coming at her, too fast for her to react in time. Her eyes shrank and she screamed.

The cyan mare's rampage came to a screeching halt as her entire body abruptly folded into itself like an accordian. Every bone shattered and blood squirted out violently from every orifice she had. Her broken, crushed form fell lifelessly to the floor like a beaten rag doll, landing with a sickening squish.

Spike and Twilight grabbed onto each other and screamed.

Chapter 10

The policeponies, one earth and one unicorn, that Private Eye had requested watch over Rainbow Dash and Twilight stood outside the front door to the library. The two assigned pegasus Royal Guards positioned themselves on the highest balconies on opposite ends of the tree. Nopony would get past their sights.

A cry for help broke the silence of the quiet evening. It was coming from inside the library, in the main room downstairs. The policeponies heard the commotion and grabbed the doorknob, but it refused to turn. The unicorn officer surrounded the door with his magic, trying to throw it open, but no matter how hard he tried, it still wouldn't budge. It almost felt like something was forcefully preventing him from magicking it open. They looked at each other perplexed and called for the help of the guards. The earth pony jumped to the window when they landed.

His mouth fell open when he saw what was happening inside. Rainbow was darting around the room uncontrollably, banging into everything. Even as she crashed into various bookshelves and the roof, she wasn't showing any signs of being in pain. Red drops and lines painted the floor and suddenly splotched onto the window in front of him. The thick liquid ran down the glasses slowly, and he was immediately aware that he was seeing blood.

The Royal Guards pulled at the knob on the door as their companions did to no avail. When it wouldn't open, one spun around and bucked at the door. He held back as much as he could so as not to potentially careen any of it into the occupants inside.

A moment later there was a loud shriek. The pony at the window gasped and his eyes shrank to pinhead size.

The earth pony leapt in front of the door and bucked it as hard as he could. It splintered into pieces and they tore the door apart. Rainbow's destroyed body laid on the floor in front of them. The gruesome scenario left them all frozen in shock and completely speechless.

Twilight and Spike were curled up in each other's grasp in front of what was left of the speed demon, shaking in horror at what just happened to the last of their friends.

All four of her guards stayed inside with her the rest of the morning. As soon as day broke, the earth pony excused himself to rush back to the station and inform Private Eye what happened earlier that night. He had seen firsthand what happened to Rainbow Dash and wanted to give the detective the news. The reports of the incident were going to look a bit incongruous and an eyewitness may help give it some credence, as outlandish as it may sound.

Twilight and Spike didn't move from where they were found, nor did they say a word. Their empty, traumatized gazes never left Rainbow's corpse. The guards had wanted to move Twilight and Spike away from the scene, as they couldn't disturb it without ruining any possible evidence chain, and ask them what happened, but neither of them acknowledged anything else in the room other than their friend. The entire world could have been exploding around them and they wouldn't have cared. For all intents and purposes, it was.

About an hour later, Private Eye arrived at the entrance to the library. He ran a gray hoof through his dark brown mane slowly, his recent frustrations at the case growing stronger with each passing day. At this rate, his mane was going to be as gray as the rest of him by the end of the week. He saw the pair on the floor, in the same position as they were when Rainbow suddenly burst at the seams, and went over to them. He saw spots of dried blood still on their coat and scales.

He rested a hoof on Twilight's shoulder and opened his mouth to voice his apologies but nothing came out. He had already said it to them twice before after the incidents with Rarity and Fluttershy. What more could he say at this point? He hung his head and grimaced, disappointed with himself that he had been unable to keep her friends safe after telling her he would.

"Miss Sparkle, Spike.. if you need anything at all.. " Private Eye tried to say. He wasn't sure if they heard a word, as they didn't respond in the least.

He went over to one of the officers looking over the room for any signs of whoever could have been there. The policepony who spoke with him at the station earlier told him everything he witnessed from the window. There wasn't any reason for him to lie to the detective, but the story seemed over the top and bizarre. Ponies don't just do what Rainbow did. There had to be some detail that was missed.

Private Eye interrupted his unicorn coworker's investigation and whispered in his ear. Twilight and Spike were a mess. He asked the officer to take them upstairs and clean them both up. Hopefully a quick shower will snap them out of their stupor, and staring at Rainbow wasn't going to help matters in that regard.

"Miss Sparkle," Private Eye said, approaching the grieving pair, "we'll get you cleaned up. The both of you." He laid a hoof on her shoulder. She didn't respond. The two police looked at each other with heavy eyes. Private Eye lifted Twilight to her hooves and his colleague picked up Spike. The little dragon came to slightly and dug his claws into his carrier's neck and sobbed. Twilight's hooves dragged as Private Eye brought her up the stairs to the bathroom for a shower.

Private Eye stayed to help Twilight scrub off the blood and sweat that spotted her coat. He had originally intended to leave her be to take care of things herself, but reconsidered after having to physically lift each of her legs into the tub for her. She obviously wasn't in the right frame of mind at the moment, and leaving her to her own devices after such a horrific turn of events downstairs could have resulted in finding another body in the bathroom if he had returned to his work.

The hot water cascading down her body broke through the numbness, even if it was only a little. She hung her head slowly and silently let tears fall from her eyes, masked by the water falling onto her face.

The policeponies were finished a couple hours later after scouring the library from top to bottom, looking for anything that could help the investigation. Like at Carousel Boutique and Fluttershy's cottage, there were nothing but dead ends. They took Rainbow's body away and cleaned up what they could when they were finished looking for evidence.

Private Eye sat Twilight and Spike down near the window where the bed would normally be. They slouched and stared at the floor. "Miss Sparkle, is there anything you can tell me about what happened earlier?" he asked.

Nothing.

The detective frowned and caressed her foreleg, "Listen, it's not typical procedure but I'm going to let you be for now. I need to get back to headquarters and go over what we know. If you need anything, you know where to find me, OK?"

Nothing.

He sighed and headed downstairs where his compatriots were waiting. "Alright guys, let's head back. There's nothing more we can do here." Twilight's four guards were asked to accompany Private Eye back to the station to fill out some reports and then return to their post.

Spike and Twilight sat together against the wall for a few minutes after the door closed. The agonizing silence was broken by the devastated sobs of a brokenhearted mare.

Spike had gotten something to eat after a while. He was as distraught as Twilight, but he needed to get something in his stomach. Despite everything, he was still a growing dragon. His mentor hadn't moved from her spot, hunger or exhaustion be damned.

He returned upstairs with his plate of food and sat beside her. He offered her something to eat, but she just shook her head and thanked him anyway. It was the first thing she had said since Rainbow left them. She put her leg around Spike and cuddled him closely, kissing him on his head. A small smile graced his lips.

"Twilight.. let's say I believe you with this whole Pinkie thing. What are we supposed to do?"

"I.. I don't know, Spike," she looked away fearfully. "I guess I look through whatever I can get my hooves on and try to find an answer. I didn't bother looking earlier to see if there was a solution to the problem. I was more interested in what the problem itself was. I know Celestia will be here tomorrow and she may have some ideas, but I can't wait. I'd really appreciate it if you helped me with this. There's so much to go through."

"I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but I'm exhausted. I don't suppose I could rest a bit first?"

Twilight realized they hadn't slept all night and it was already close to noon, thanks to all the police activity that morning. The idea of sleep made her blink heavily, but she shook her head violently, trying desperately not to succumb to the sandman. Spike had never pulled an all-nighter like she had before and she knew, even though they had both just experienced a waking nightmare, he did need some rest.

"For a little while, sure. Just.. when you're up, can I ask a favor from you?"

"Sure, anything."

"Please make sure I don't fall asleep until the Princess arrives. Do whatever it takes, OK? Promise?" Twilight begged.

"Two straight days without sleep?" the baby dragon asked.

"Please?"

He knew the futility in arguing with her and sighed. "OK. I promise," he said softly.

She smiled sweetly, "Thanks, Spike. I should be alright as long as I keep my mind distracted. With all these texts I need to go through, that should be easy enough." She didn't want to admit being scared out of her mind was also going to help keep her awake. She suspected her assistant was aware of her fear though, based on his obvious look of concern.

She was the only family he had ever known. All of their best friends were now gone, and he didn't want to lose her too. His short life would have been completely destroyed if that were to happen. Hearing her panicky questions made his stomach knot.

The morning became afternoon, and the afternoon became night. Spike had slept a few hours before Twilight woke him up. She was beginning to slip and wanted him awake, just in case she needed a good slap in the face or something.

She had scattered books all over the library floor, and had come across the same articles from the previous night referencing the afterlife several times. Unfortunately, none of them had more than a description of such events. Answers on how to deal with such things weren't to be found. Perhaps the authors or ponies referenced in the script didn't have any issues like what they had gone through.

Spike helped go through more of the texts that remained on the shelf and sat beside Twilight the entire time, making sure to keep an eye on her current state. She had large, sagging rings under her eyes and her mane had become straggly over the course of the day. She hadn't had anything to eat either, despite Spike trying to convince her to keep her strength up.

"I'm going to go grab a little something from the fridge. You're sure I can't get you anything?" Spike asked.

"I'm sure, thanks," Twilight replied. As Spike got up to head to the kitchen, Twilight pulled him close, nuzzling him with her cheek and tearing up. "I'm sorry you've had to go through this. You've been so strong through all this for a pony your age. I just want you to know that no matter what happens, I love you, Spike."

He returned the hug and smiled, "I love you too, Twilight."

She released him with a kiss and he went inside. She turned back to her book after he went out of sight. As her eyes ran over the words on the pages, her head started to droop. She snapped herself back to attention, shook her head and continued reading. Her eyes slowly closed again and pulled her head back down with them. When it fell as far as her neck would allow, she jolted herself awake again. She slapped herself in the face and rubbed her eyes hard.

She glanced out the window and saw Luna's beautiful glowing moon and twinkling stars illuminating the otherwise dark night. The beautiful peace and serenity made her smile. A big yawn, long stretch and deep breath later, she blinked her half closed eyes a few times in succession. A familiar voice called out in the darkness.

"Hey, Twilight."

Chapter 11

Twilight's stomach knotted when she heard the greeting. She instantly recognized the voice.

"Pinkie!"

She was still in her library when she was spoken to. She stood up, frozen in place, and looked around the room. She didn't see anypony, but she knew. She started to tremble, looking around for a hiding spot. She didn't care at the moment if she would have been able to simply duck and cover from who she had been recently suspecting was killing everypony. Just the temporary idea of safety was all she suddenly wanted.

"Spike! Spike! Wake me up!" Twilight yelled.

Pinkie's echoing voice seemed to come from the entire room, "He can't hear you, Twilight. And he can't help you either."

Several books from the shelves came alive, floating off their cubbyholes and into the middle of the room. They spoke with Pinkie's voice and she continued, "I see you figured it out. That doesn't really surprise me. You were always the smart one. And now you have no idea what to do. I love irony, don't you?"

Twilight began to tear up, "Pinkie.. you were our friend. How could you do this?"

"You of all ponies should understand, Twilight. I sat there telling you all how dangerous it was, and you ignored me," the books explained. "Sound familiar? I admit, there were a few times where I didn't listen to you, but in the end, nothing bad ever came of it. Even at your brother's wedding, I didn't believe you. We were lucky though. Plenty of ponies could have been killed, but they weren't. But, it was just the six of us a week ago. There were no games, no end-of-the-world stuff, no letters to the Princess.. "

The largest book met Twilight face to face, "..and everypony's negligence cost me my life," and pulled back into the group.

Twilight hung her head glumly, "You're right, Pinkie. I'm.. I'm so sorry. Everyday, I.. I wish I could take it all back. I wish I- " she perked up. "Wait a minute! Pinkie, please, I think I know how to fix everything. Th-The Starswirl the Bearded wing in Canterlot, remember? The time spell?"

"Right, because that went so well the last time," Pinkie deadpanned. "I don't know why you're so afraid of what you know is coming. All of your friends miss you so. It'd be like a reunion of sorts! We could have a party!"

Four of the books behind the 'leader' cried out together in the voices of her other friends.

"Twilight, help!"

"Get outta here!"

"Wake up, Twilight!"

"You've gotta wake up!"

The books opened their pages wide and the words bled onto the floor, pooling into a singularity, causing Twilight to shrink in terror. Out of the black ooze, Pinkie's body formed and changed into her traditional colors. The books fell lifelessly to the floor. She glared angrily at the horrified unicorn.

"Pinkie.. please.. you're one of my closest friends! I don't want us to fight or anything!"

"Don't worry. We won't," Pinkie said coldly. "Now, come here and give me a hug."

Pinkie's body melted and lunged at Twilight, a few drops of her pink liquid form rubbing onto the unicorn's hoof. She screamed and jumped back, turning and running up the stairs, accidentally knocking over her candle in the process. The book she was reading caught fire and it quickly spread through the wood library.

The ominous ooze followed along a few steps behind her. Twilight reached the top of the stairs and winked away off the balcony and onto a safe spot on the floor, leaving the crawling pink slime halfway up. Dodging fire and coughing from the smoke, she threw open the door and darted outside.

"Aw, is that it? I was hoping for a little more out of you, Twilight!" Pinkie said mockingly.

The lavender unicorn took one last look at her home. It was going up in flames and smoke was becoming visible through the windows. Everything she knew was being destroyed, at least in the dream, just as her old life with her friends had been. She turned and ran as fast as her legs would carry her.

It was nearly pitch black outside. She kept going into the unknown, not caring where she went, as long as it was away from her tormentor. As she galloped away, she tried to think of some way to jolt herself out of the dream and back into the waking world. She came into a small clearing lit by a single, large moonbeam after who knows how long. What could have been ten minutes of running may have passed after only a few seconds to Twilight. She stopped dead in her tracks and gasped at what she came across.

Before her in the dirt laid six tombstones in a row. An apple, a diamond, a balloon, a lightning bolt, and a butterfly were carved into five of them. The fourth was blank, but she knew immediately what she was looking at. She slowly backed away a few steps before a towering figure approached from behind the graves in front of her. Her mentor, Princess Celestia stepped into the light. The centuries-old alicorn glared disappointedly at the young mare.

"Princess! Help me, please! Wake me up, get me out of here! Please!" she begged, shaking like a leaf.

Celestia stared silently at the unicorn for a moment, unflinching. Finally, she squinted and spoke, "You have failed me," and slowly leaned in close, her soothing voice merging with Pinkie's, "my faithful student."

She retracted her head and began fading away in front of the panicked unicorn.

"Princess! Wait! Please, no!" Twilight yelled, her voice trembling as she reached out for her teacher, who finished disappearing. Tears rained down her cheeks once she realized that she was alone. She slowly lowered her hoof to the ground and looked at the bare tombstone hopelessly.

An orange leg sprung from the ground and grabbed onto one of Twilight's back legs. A white one grabbed the other. A yellow leg and cyan leg both burst out of the dirt and grabbed onto the terrified unicorn's front legs. Finally, a long, pink leg stretched out in front of her and wrapped itself around her horn.

She started to struggle when she felt her hind legs sinking, but she wouldn't budge from the grips. Her pulse raced and she started to hyperventilate. Her back legs disappeared, and her waist soon followed.

"No! No!"

She tried to blink out of their grip with her magic, but Pinkie's hoof prevented her from doing so. Unicorn's horns were rather sensitive and their magic could be disrupted, after all. Her forelegs and chest slid into the dirt. Her neck slowly submerged and she desperately, futilely stuck her head into the air, grabbing onto one last breath. The soil filled her mouth and her lips vanished from sight.

Shards of a broken plate sat in a pile just outside the kitchen. Twilight laid spread out on the floor in front of the last book she was reading. Spike was standing over the sleeping pony crying, shaking her with what little strength he could muster as her rate of breathing increased with each passing second .

"Twilight! I'm sorry, Twilight! Please wake up! Please! Twilight! Twilight!"

He suddenly gripped his stomach, feeling something wanting to come up. "Oh no! Not now!" He tried to keep it down, but a green burst of flame, along with a letter from the Princess, escaped his mouth. A small bit of the fire brushed against Twilight's shoulder and she screamed out in pain, snapping her eyes open. She grabbed onto her chest, trying to slow her breathing and her pulse.

"Twilight! You're awake!" he yelled in relief, grabbing tightly onto her neck. Twilight slid a hoof between them and gently pushed him off. He was choking her almost as much as the grave was a moment ago in her dream.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, Twilight! You said to make sure you didn't fall asleep, and I made a promise, and I- " She cut him off with a wave of her hoof.

"It's OK, Spike," she managed to squeeze out between breaths. She pulled him back toward her and hugged him gently, finally calming down. "You picked a heck of a good time to wake me. Now that I know what's going on, I wish I wasn't right about what's been happening."

He cocked his brow, his interest piqued, "What do you mean? Was it.. was it really Pinkie? You saw her?"

She nodded heavily, not wanting to believe it either. But, she couldn't deny what she went through. One of her best friends tried to kill her, and it was undeniable that she had gotten to the others. She turned her attention to the scroll laying beside them and smiled. "I'm going to have to thank Princess Celestia too when I see her. What's this letter say, anyway?" She unrolled it with her magic and read the note, welcome surprise overtaking her.

"Well?"

"It says here that she and Luna should be back here sooner than expected. They've foregone any rest in a hurry to get over here as quickly as possible. According to this, they should be back in a few hours at the most." Any fatigue she had went away instantly. Finally, some real help was right around the corner. Once she explained what she saw to her teacher, she hoped an answer to their dilemma wouldn't be far behind. Celestia may be immortal and incredibly wise, but that doesn't guarantee she'd have the solution to everything, and if she didn't, perhaps Luna would have some ideas.

"Spike, do you think you could stay awake the rest of the night until Celestia and Luna arrive?" Twilight asked.

Her assistant thought for a moment, "I should be able to. I'm pretty awake thanks to that nap from earlier."

"Good. I know this is going to sound a little, well, strange, but I'm still exhausted. Now that I know how to wake up in an emergency, I was hoping you could sit by me and, if I look like I'm in trouble again, burn me awake like you did a few minutes ago," she explained. "Once they're here, I'm sure they can probably put some kind of spell on me that will allow me to rest without any kind of worry, if such a spell exists, that is."

The little dragon smiled, "Sure thing, Twilight. I won't even bother to get a snack or anything. I will grab a couple Daring Do books to keep myself up, though. Those are always real page turners!"

Spike went to the bookshelf and pulled out a few of the popular adventure novels and laid himself next to the unicorn. He reached across her body and grabbed the candle for himself. If she was going to be napping until the Princess got there, he may as well keep the light out of her eyes. He opened the first book up and received a kiss from his mother figure for his trouble. His cheeks burned red for a moment and they smiled at each other. A moment later, Twilight was passed out.

Spike was a third of the way into the third book when there was a knock at the door. It could only be the Princesses at that hour. He checked on Twilight, who had fortunately slept undisturbed until then, and opened the door, finding the royal alicorn sisters in front of him. He welcomed them inside, bowing as they entered.

They knelt beside the sleeping unicorn and spoke directly into her ear, hoping for a response. With a startled jolt, Twilight lifted her head and saw the most welcome sight in the world. She leapt at Celestia with every bit of strength she had.

"Celestia! Luna! You're here!" she yelled with tears forming.

"Yes, my student. You're safe now," the Princess said, returning the gesture. She released Twilight, who held onto Luna immediately afterwards.

"Twilight, we're so sorry for everything that's happened to you recently," Luna said. "If there's anything you need, anything at all, just say the word and it shall be done."

The unicorn chuckled quietly, "That letter you sent had some great timing, I'll just say that. If it had arrived any later..well, I probably wouldn't be here right now." Her happiness at seeing her royal friends faded at the thought.

"Then it true, what you said in your last letter? Pinkie has been responsible for your friends' deaths?" Celestia asked.

Twilight hung her head and nodded solemnly, remembering what had been stolen away over the last several days. "She tried to kill me earlier too. Spike accidentally burned my shoulder when you sent your letter. It woke me up. Otherwise.. "

Celestia wrapped her long neck around Twilight comfortingly. "It's OK, my faithful student."

"You.. you mean you believe me?"

"Yes, I do," the alicorn said. "We've all seen and dealt with some unusual things. While I've yet to hear of anypony murdering another from inside their dreams, if you said it's happened, then I'm inclined to believe you. I learned a lesson myself after the Changeling incident."

"How do you propose we approach this, sister?" Luna asked.

Celestia lifted a hoof to her chin, and looked at Twilight. Her student still looked rather tired, given the baggy, bloodshot eyes she had. "Well, first of all, I believe Twilight here would like to get some sleep. We can discuss things in detail once she's better rested."

Twilight yawned in agreeance. It had been a rough night for her, needless to say. "I do think we need to let Private Eye know what's going on. He's the detective who's been looking into the deaths of the others ever since Applejack died. He hadn't been able to find anything, and he didn't believe me when I suggested it was Pinkie Pie. Not that I can blame him. I barely believe it myself, and I just went through it all."

"Then we'll go speak with him first thing in the morning," Celestia insisted. "Now, you and Spike get some rest. I can cast a spell to keep an eye on your sleep patterns."

Almost as soon as Spike had finished getting comfortable beside her, Twilight fell back to sleep.

"I'm sorry if I'm having trouble believing you, Princess Celestia. It just seems.. crazy, I suppose," Private Eye said. "But if you say that what Miss Sparkle said was the truth, then there's little reason for me to doubt her at this point. It's not like you of all ponies would go around making up stories. How did you slip away again, Twilight?"

The Princesses were taken aback a little at Private Eye's disbelief, but considering his position, it was understandable. His job required hard evidence. Suggesting something supernatural was the culprit put him in a precarious position, and he could end up looking as nuts as most of the ponies he brought in if he were to tell his superiors such things.

"Spike here burned me on accident, here in the real world. It hurt like heck and it was enough to shock me awake."

The detective put a hoof to his chin, "Well, I can't exactly report this kind of thing to the papers. They'd probably skew it and make me look crazy, and even if they didn't, we don't need a panic on our hooves."

"It's best that this be kept as quiet as possible," Luna suggested. "Fortunately for you, if something like this were to happen, you could wake yourself up. We're not sure just yet where Pinkie is going to go from here. While she probably still wants Twilight, she may go after others for whatever reason, including you."

"And what would I do to wake myself up if I'm already asleep?" Private Eye asked. "Why didn't your friends wake up when they were being butchered?"

Celestia interjected, "I've read fictional stories where a character kills or injures himself in a dream to make himself wake up. Perhaps the same thing applies here. Since Pinkie was the one performing these acts, it may not have had the same effect. Though we can't be sure if that is the case, it's worth a try if you were to fall victim to one of her traps."

Private Eye shrugged, "I guess. I hope it doesn't come down to it, but we'll see. So, is there anypony else that you can think of that Pinkie may have a reason to go after? I may be able to keep an extra set of eyes on them until we get to the bottom of this."

Twilight, Spike and the Princesses sat in his office for a few hours, going over who they could remember in Ponyville. It was hard coming up with any faults that could drive Pinkie to want to harm any of them. She was friends with everypony in town, but they realized they had to throw that notion out the window. That Pinkie was gone; only this doppelganger was left.

Private Eye, as did the others, hated the idea that he'd just have to wait for anymore bodies to show up at his door as time went on. He volunteered himself to do some undercover work with Gumshoe, who'd probably need a bit of convincing as well, while they searched on their end for any answers on how to deal with the ghostly menace.

He planned to follow those who were closest to Pinkie for a few days and determine if there was any reason for Pinkie to want to attack them. If they could be in danger, they'd assign some guards to watch them covertly. If they seemed OK, he'd move onto the next pony, and so forth. It was about all they could do at the time until a better plan came along.

"Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, detective." Celestia said with a smile.

"No, thank you, your highness," he said with a bow. "I hope I can help you put this to bed, so to speak. I'll let you know if I find anything through Spike here. If that's OK with you, squirt."

The dragon smiled, happy to be able to lend a claw against the monster who took Rarity away, "Of course, whatever you need. Twilight?"

"It wouldn't be a bad idea to keep in touch while we all work on this. Stay with Private Eye and do what he needs of you, Spike. I'll come to get you when this is all done," the unicorn said. They hugged each other goodbye, silently hoping they'd see each other again as soon as possible.

After the Princesses and Twilight departed the police station, Celestia turned to Luna, "Little sister, I'd like you to oversee the rising of the sun and moon until further notice, as well as any royal business in Canterlot. There's a place I have to go that may help us. Twilight, I'd like you to accompany me."

"Of course, big sister. I'll begin right away." The dark alicorn hugged Twilight with a smile, "Good luck, little one," and flew off toward to royal city.

"Where are we going, Princess?"

She sighed heavily and sneered ever so slightly, "To a place I had wished to never return to to speak with a.. thing I had wished to never see again. But unfortunately, it's the first place that came to mind to search for an answer. I must warn you now, however. This will be a place unlike anything you've ever seen, and probably ever will see."

"Wh-what kind of place is that?" Twilight cringed.

"Where evil eventually goes."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Chapter 4

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stepped outside the school when the final bell rang. Apple Bloom hadn't attended that day. It wasn't like her to miss class, and even though they were all still upset over what happened to Pinkie, they would have figured Apple Bloom would still show up.

"Where do you think she's been all day?" Scootaloo asked.

"I don't know. We should head to Sweet Apple Acres, see if anypony over there knows."

They entered the apple orchard and stopped briefly at the clubhouse. Nothing but the games and toys they left inside. They continued on to the Apple family's home and heard Apple Bloom sobbing through the front door. They peeked inside and saw Granny Smith sitting in her rocking chair in the living room with Apple Bloom in her lap, crying her eyes out.

"Oh, hello girls," Granny Smith said, barely audible.

The two fillies crept up to the old pony. "Apple Bloom, what's wrong?" Sweetie Belle squeaked.

She barely was able to speak through her sobbing. "It's.. it's Applejack. She's.. " She couldn't bring herself to finish. She was her big sister, Ponyville's toughest pony. Her mentor, her idol, her friend.

Granny sighed heavily, "There was an accident or somethin' last night, girls. Nopony understands what happened. Big Mac ran into town 'n brought the authorities early this mornin'. They didn't find no signs of break-in or nothin'. She just.. she's gone, girls. Ah'm sorry."

The little ones sat there staring in disbelief. Who could have done such a thing? Nopony's ever wanted to hurt Applejack. Their eyes watered as the situation sank in.

"Big Mac is probably still in town. We need to make arrangements for the poor dear. Probably place her with her folks. Would only be right," the elderly pony continued. Apple Bloom leaned her head against her grandmother's chest. She'd been crying so hard for so long, she was running herself out of breath. Nopony could blame her for being so distraught, and hearing mention of her parents just made things worse.

"Applejack's friends are probably aware of what's happened too. The police wanted to talk to 'em, see if they had any answers," Granny said.

"Ah'm sorry, girls," Apple Bloom managed to say through her tears, "Ah don't think Ah'm gonna be very good company right now."

Sweetie and Scootaloo hung their heads, wishing they knew how to fix things for their friend. The three of them could always depend on each other for just about anything. Crusading, sticking up for one another, helping with homework, whatever the situation was. Before Pinkie Pie, they never had to deal with death before. Not personally, anyway. If Apple Bloom wanted to be left alone, as her best friends, they were going to respect her wishes.

"We understand, Apple Bloom," Sweetie Belle said. "If you want anything, you know where to find us, OK?" The upset filly nodded, hiding her face in her hooves.

Sweetie motioned to the door and the little pegasus quietly followed.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sat in the clubhouse, leaning against opposite walls. Neither had said more than five words in the fifteen minutes after arriving.

The orange filly finally broke the silence with a heavy sigh, "I don't suppose you want to do anything."

"Not really."

"Yeah, same. Was going to say we could try some crusading to get our minds off things, but without Apple Bloom, it's not the same. Wouldn't be fair either if one of us got a cutie mark without her. She'd probably feel kinda betrayed," Scootaloo grumbled.

"Yeah, she wouldn't want to hear that right now either. Not after all this," Sweetie Belle slouched. "I almost want to go see Rarity, but if she's already heard about what happened here, I can imagine how she'd be."

"What do you mean?"

Sweetie put her hoof on her head, imitating her melodramatic sister, "'I vant to be.. alone!' I don't need to deal with that right now."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes, "Do you really think she'll act like that?"

"That's how she usually acts when something's bothering her."

"Did she do that after Pinkie died?"

Sweetie Belle thought for a moment, "Well.. no. She stayed up in her room most of the day. I heard her from downstairs. I went home after a little while. Kinda figured she didn't want to be bothered." She rubbed her leg, wondering if she had made a mistake that day. Applejack had helped Rarity and Sweetie Belle become much closer after the Sisterhooves Social, and doubtless the fashionista was eternally grateful to the workpony. Granted, they didn't see eye to eye when it came to some things, but they were still close friends.

"Look," Scootaloo suggested, "how about we go see Rarity and if she's being insufferable, we'll go someplace else. Deal?"

"Alright," Sweetie Belle sighed.

Sweetie Belle slowly inside Carousel Boutique, bumping the door gently into the bell overhead, with Scootaloo right behind her. They heard a faint sobbing coming from upstairs, followed by a familiar 'Com-i-i-ing!' after a moment. The greeting didn't seem to have the usual spunk it does. Rarity stepped onto the first floor and saw her little sister with her pegasus friend.

"Oh, hello Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo," Rarity greeted them. "Oh dear, I must look absolutely dreadful. I'm sorry, girls. How was your day?"

The unicorn's hair was a disaster, her white cheeks were stained grey from tears that she had obviously been shedding, and her make-up was smeared under her eyes where she tried to wipe away any indication of her misery. Just the fact that she didn't bother to try and gussy herself up for what may have been a customer showed the fillies that she was taking Applejack's death almost as hard as Apple Bloom. Not that she'd ever want to admit it.

"Not so good," Sweetie Belle moped. "Apple Bloom wasn't in school today, so we went over to Sweet Apple Acres to see if somepony knew where she was. Granny Smith told us that something happened to Applejack." The little ones hung their heads.

"You heard then, huh?" They nodded. "The authorities stopped by here earlier this afternoon asking me if I had any idea about what may have happened. They said they had no leads. I.. I just can't figure out who would do something to her, or why. She was one of the sweetest mares a pony could ever know."

"Yeah, that's what Granny Smith said," Scootaloo commented.

Rarity walked up to the heartbroken fillies and sat down. She pulled them in close and hugged them tightly. "Listen girls, if you promise to behave, I'll let you stay a little while. It's been slow today and I was thinking of closing up shop a little early. I really don't want to deal with demanding customers. Not after the last few days."

"We will," Sweetie Belle said honestly. She and Scootaloo weren't about to put on their usual innocent act today.

"Thank you, sweetheart. I would like to be alone tonight before I turn in, but until then, it'd be nice to have some company," Rarity sniffled, stroking her sister's mane. "Come on. Let's go get a snack or something. Try and take our minds of this whole ordeal."

It was unsurprising to Rarity that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had kept their promise and behaved. As much as she tried to conceal it, Rarity was devastated by recent events and the girls could see right through her facade. They didn't need to add any more stress to the mix, such as leaving a big mess that needed to be cleaned up like they usually did.

Rarity helped the youngsters with their homework and quietly played with them for a little while before it started to get late. On their way out, she squeezed them both tightly to her chest, not really wanting to let go. Rarity knew they needed to head home, but the silence that permeated the Boutique during the day before they had arrived allowed no real distractions from her sorrow, save for the occasional customer. She tried to come up with some new designs to take her mind off things, but that failed. She tried to put some dresses together for a client. That failed too. Hearing the voices of ponies she cared about was about the only thing that stopped her from having a breakdown that day.

"Sis.. we kinda need to go now," Sweetie Belle smiled.

"Heh, yes, it is getting late. I'm sorry, girls," Rarity said, letting them go. She nuzzled their heads with her own. "Be careful on the way home, OK?"

"We will. G'night Rarity," Scootaloo said.

"Night, sis."

Rarity waved goodbye and her heart sunk when the door finally closed. She was alone again. She sighed to herself and made one last round through the Boutique, tidying up the kitchen where it needed and straightening out any of her displays that may have required it before heading upstairs to prepare for bed.

She looked like she hadn't slept in a week as she went over her reflection in the mirror. It was usually a big production getting herself straightened up before she turned in, but tonight, she couldn't have cared less. She hoped it wouldn't be a recurring theme as time went on. It wouldn't have been considered beauty sleep if she went to bed looking as terrible as she did. But, there were more important things right now and she cast aside her concerns for her own well being tonight. She dragged herself to bed and, thanks to how emotionally taxing the last few days had been, drifted off to sleep almost right away.

The sun shined brightly in the windows her of inspiration room. Every gem that she had attached to her brand new designer clothing line sparkled and winked in the light. It couldn't have been a more glorious day if Celestia herself appeared and gave Rarity the keys to the kingdom. She opened a window and took in a deep breath. The scents of fresh cut grass and newly awakened flowers filled her lungs and lifted her spirits. Today was the day she was going to create a masterpiece of fashion that would immortalize her in the minds, and hopefully closets, of Ponyville and Canterlot's elite.

She went to her work station and began drawing up some blueprints, each one more amazing than the last. This one! This is it! She lifted up her genius and gazed at the paper in awe. There wasn't a moment to lose! She went to grab a roll of fabric and heard somepony whisper for her.

"Rarity!"

She turned around. The room was empty. The only things that could be mistaken for ponies were her ponyquinns, and they didn't feel much like talking, well, ever. She shrugged and returned to her work.

"Rarity! Come on, aren't you going to say hello?"

Confused, she turned to the window. Was someone maybe calling out to her from the ground? The voice did seem to be coming from that direction. She looked outside and saw nopony.

"No, silly, you walked right past me! I'm not outside."

Even more befuddled, Rarity started heading towards the stairs. She took only a few steps and was in the center of the room when the muffled, yet somehow familiar, voice spoke again.

"Oh oh! Too far! Back this way!"

She was starting to get irritated by the childish games. She headed back towards the window one step at a time.

"There! Stop! Hi!" Rarity stood in front of one of her ponyquinns. Was she going mad? Was this some practical joke someone was pulling?

"What's going on? Who's there?"

"Aw, Rarity, I know you remember me!" Suddenly, a pair of large blue eyes popped out of the ponyquinn's head that she stood before and stared almost menacingly at her. A slow, wide grin, partially hidden behind stitches where the display's mouth could have been, followed. Several long threads grew from the top of its head and casually draped themselves over the right side of the ponyquinn's face. The bright sun outside faded into obscurity and the window slammed closed.

The unicorn jumped at the sight. It suddenly hit her whose voice it was. "P.. Pinkie? Is that you, dear?"

The ponyquinn relaxed its legs and the metal spoke it sat upon melted into a puddle, lowering its passenger to the ground, before slithering away on its own. The white fabric that created its skin turned pink and the threads thickened and morphed into her flattened mane. Her tail popped out of the former dummy's rump and Pinkie walked up to the nervous Rarity, the party pony's ever present smile never fading.

"Hi!"

"Gracious, Pinkie, you scared me half to death. But it's nice to see you again," Rarity smiled.

"Well, I was scared all to death, so, it could be worse, right?"

Rarity hugged her deceased friend, "I don't know if this is just a dream or if I'm losing my mind or what, Pinkie. I just hope that, wherever you may be, you're doing alright. We all miss you so." The unicorn frowned when she thought of what happened the night before. "Now Applejack's gone too. Since last night."

Pinkie gently pushed Rarity off. "Aw, Applejack's fine. Trust me. But I'm here now, with you! We should do something fun!"

The fashionista's smile returned, "Of course, Pinkie. What would like to do?"

Pinkie looked around randomly before spotting Rarity's masterpiece on the table, snatching it up and pulling it to her face. "Oooh, that's really nice, Rarity! I gotta tell ya, I've always wondered what it was like to make something that a pony could keep for longer than a meal. But I never really knew how to make a dress at all, let alone as beautiful as the ones you make!"

"Don't sell yourself short, Pinkie. Your treats were always amazing and you know it," Rarity chuckled.

"I have an idea! How about I make a new dress and you tell me what you think? I remember what you had to do when you made mine for the Grand Galloping Gala," Pinkie suggested.

Rarity clapped her hooves together, "Ooh, that sounds wonderful! Let's go ahead and get started!" She turned around and headed toward the rolls of fabric before she felt a hard tug at her rump, falling hard to the floor. Pinkie had a hoof on her purple tail.

"Um, could you get off my tail, sweetie?"

"No."

"Beg your pardon?"

"If I get off your tail, you'll be able to get away!"

She darted her eyes back and forth nervously, "Um.. get away? W-What do you mean, Pinkie?" Her unflinched smile and unblinking eyes were already making Rarity uneasy. Hearing her friend talking about 'getting away' made her sweat.

Pinkie tapped her chin, "Let's see, if I remember right, you want to make sure your fabric is nice and smoothed out before you stitch it together, right? Just tell me if I'm doing something wrong!" The metal liquid the ponyquinn stood on reappeared and crawled up Pinkie's leg, forming an iron. An ominous puff of steam flew from the holes.

Rarity eyes reduced themselves to the size of pinheads, "P-Pinkie, w-what are you doing?"

Pinkie ran the scalding iron over Rarity's legs, her flank, her back, her sides, the top of her neck. Rarity shrieked in agony as her skin blistered and burned into a sickening shade of pink. The smell of singed coat invaded her snout and almost made her gag. At first, her legs desperately tried to grab onto the floor and sprint away. But as Pinkie continued to drag and steam the instrument over her body, her muscles began to fail her. Every time she tried to move, thanks to the severe burns, it was nearly unbearable.

Even gasping for breath proved to be excruciating. "Pinkie! Why are you doing this?!" she pleaded with eyes watering.

Ignoring the question and satisfied with the first step of her creation, the iron melted itself down and retreated. Pinkie trotted over to the rolls of fabric and cut out several uneven shapes. She snatched a needle and thread from the workstation.

"Now we can put the dress together!" Pinkie slapped the fabric onto Rarity's cauterized skin, causing her to scream again. The thread tied itself into the needle's eye and Pinkie stabbed it through the cloth and into the unicorn's right back leg. With each prick of the needle and yank of the fiber, her wails slowly became one long scream.

Rarity's internal struggles landed her on the floor of her room. Her exposed, tortured skin was left with a series of holes on her affected leg and flank. Blood trickled down like a red river. Another set of punctures appeared out of thin air around her other legs, then her sides, and finally her back. She was hollering so loud, her throat started to crack.

"There we go! Those are some really pretty colors, don't you agree, Rarity?"

She laid there, barely able to move, with pieces of fabric physically attached to her flesh, thick puddles of blood forming on the floor. "Sweetie Belle! Spike.. Spiii-hi-hi-hi-hiiike..." she sobbed helplessly.

"Awww, little Spikey-Wikey isn't going to see you wakey wakey! Here! Let's take a look at you." Pinkie lifted Rarity up onto all fours and stood her up as straight as her legs allowed. Even standing still or shivering in pain just made everything hurt more.

"Hm.. wow, this is harder than I thought. I don't like it at all. Let's try again!" Pinkie grabbed the fabric and ripped it off piece by piece, causing Rarity to screech again. Bits of her skin here and there tore off, connecting some of the puncture wounds. Other pieces of her skin were completely removed, exposing the tissue underneath and causing heavier bleeding. All her strength spent, Rarity's legs slid out from under her and she flopped onto her belly. Her eyes began to roll into the back of her head.

Pinkie gasped, "Oh my gosh! I think that's it!" She hoisted Rarity to her hooves again and marveled at her work. "It just needs one more thing," she said, tapping her head. The idea hit her. She stepped up to Rarity and pulled a purple bow out, tying it to her horn.

She hopped around the broken unicorn with glee. "Yay! Beautiful! Now all we have to do is put it on display! Thanks so much for all your help, Rarity!" The metal liquid congealed below Rarity and shot into the air, driving itself into her stomach. It jolted the last breath out of her body. The once beautiful Rarity's head slowly lowered and her eyes finally closed.

Chapter 12

Find the sequel here! Hopefully you will enjoy!