Pinkamena: Redemption(?)

Chapters

The End of Pinkamena
Day 1 - Readjustment Period
Day + Evening 1 - New Game
Day 2 - Dress to Kill
Day 3

The End of Pinkamena

In the middle of the night, a young woman entered a grocery store in the middle of seemingly nowhere Her skin grew cold as she walked past all the displays of cheese and assorted meats, stepping into the back of the store. No one was there so there was no real reason to worry, but she still did her best to keep cautious.

She walked into the store’s giant meat locker, pushing past the hanging pigs and cattle and went even deeper back. The carcasses swayed as she passed them, the room getting colder and colder as she went. She saw the locked door at the end and unlocked it, stepping in.

Flicking the lights on, she looked up and saw her face. The face of a woman she had been laughing with only a short time before, a woman she had made unforgettable memories with, a woman who had made her depression more easy to manage at points.

Rainbow Dash’s face looked straight ahead, frozen and lifeless like it had been for the past few months. She looked right into the eyes of the woman that had killed her, Pinkamena Diane Pie.

“Hey Dashie, sorry for not being by in a while. It just gets so busy with work and all that.” Pinkamena said, approaching her and stroking her cheek. Dash didn’t respond. She was dead. “I’ve been putting out some really fine pastries though, and I think the Cakes are proud of me for how much my skill has improved.” She continued, pulling out some slices of pie wrapped in a napkin.

She ate the thing while her body shivered more and more, looking over the posed body of her former best friend. She had done a rather decent job in stitching up the cuts that had been made all over chest, as well as covering up the choke marks that were on her neck. The only thing she wasn’t happy about were the multiple lacerations on her back. She didn’t have enough materials to fix those… but since she let Dash keep her jacket on, they didn’t matter as much.

“It’s funny… Sugarcube corner is basically my place at this point. I don’t know if the Cakes don’t want it anymore, or if they want to retire early, but I never thought I’d be the one inheriting the place. It’s very quaint.”

She smiled, patting Rainbow Dash on the cheek before stroking it again. She liked feeling her face most of all. It felt truly intimate. “Listen, I gotta get going, but I promise, I’ll come back again soon. Just… stay cool, Rainbow.” She said, walking out and locking the door again.

She walked past all the hanging meat again and stepped out into the darkened grocery store. She felt her hair deflate as she grabbed a basket and started grocery shopping. She was lucky the man that ran this place was so seemingly fine with everything she was doing. She just wondered how long it could last.

She left her money in the register, letting them keep the change as she stepped back out into the night air. She would have to walk quick, she didn’t want her ice cream melting in the bag.

“Still nothing from Dashie?” Pinkie asked, placing down another stack of pancakes at the table.

Applejack just sighed, shaking her head. “Nope. No letters, no calls, not even an email.”

Rarity softly rubbed her back. “There there, darling. We’ll hear from her eventually, I’m sure of it. She isn’t the type to keep quiet when doing things… at least not for long periods anyways.” She said, before taking a sip from her tea.

“... I still can’t believe she would just go on her own like that.” Fluttershy said, softly picking at her food. “I thought she was happy here…”

Twilight took a big gulp from her mug, going through her book. “I just wish there was enough reason for us to send out a search party for her. But, the writing on the note was her handwriting.”

A silence fell over the table, before being broken as a toy horn went off. They all looked at Pinkie. “Heh… my bad for bringing it up. Come on, I’m sure she’ll show up or be seen at some point! Just give it another week and we’ll be hearing another farmer talking about how there was a rainboom out of nowhere!”

Silence seemed to return for a few seconds, before Applejack started laughing. “Hehe… yeah. Wouldn’t that be something? Randomly hearing about a giant rainbow explosion out of nowhere. Hoo baby, I’d kill for that.”

”Rainbow becoming a rural legend. I could see her do it, honestly.” Twilight added, the group finally smiling and laughing. Pinkie ran a hand through her hair, giggling as it slightly frizzed at this.

Ding ding ding ding ding-

“Hey! Anyone here or am I gonna have to get a meal myself?!” A loud and abrasive voice filled the back of the bakery as Pinkie got her apron back on. She gave an apologetic look to the rest of the table and walked to the front counter.

“So sorry about that. What can I get for you?” Pinkie asked with a smile as she looked at the customer. She saw as a woman with faded purple hair pointed at a display of frosted lemon doughnuts. She’d probably have told her, but the lit cigarette in her mouth was keeping that from happening. “Smoking isn’t allowed in here.”

“... sorry bout that. Soots! Go put this out!”

Pinkie then saw Scootloo run up from looking at the window display and hold her hand open, wincing slightly as the still lit cig hit her hands. “Hey Pinkie!” She said, before running out.

Pinkie quickly got the doughnuts in their bag as she looked up at the woman. “Anything else I can get you?” It was a bit more difficult to keep her more happy tone, but a rude worker would not look good for her.

“This place got any coffee? I’ll take the strong stuff if you do. Some apple fritters too.” The woman said, watching Scootaloo run out. “Don’t put it out on the grass! You’ll start a fire!” She shouted.

“...Maybe you could’ve done it yourself, if you’re so worried. The food would still be here 15 seconds later.”

“You don’t tell a starving person to wait longer.” The woman said, taking big bite out of one of the doughnuts. She dug around in her pockets, putting a twenty on the table. “I expect change when you have all the other stuff done.”

“... Yeah, yeah.” Pinkie muttered, getting the other things and putting them on the table. She started getting change as Scootaloo ran back in, the woman handing her one of the doughnuts. “Hey Scoot.”

“Hey Pinkie! Thanks for breakfast! Bet it tastes so good!” Sootaloo replied, before stuffing more than half the thing in her mouth and chomping down.

Pinkie only nodded, handing the woman her change. “Have a smile-tastic day.” It took real effort to force a smile out at this point.

“Come on Scoots, we gotta get you to school. Finish that thing up, cause I don’t need you being late again.” The woman said, softly hitting the younger girl on the back of the head as she ate, walking out.

“Yes mom!” Scootaloo gave another wave to Pinkie before running out after her mother, rubbing the spot that had been hit slightly.

Pinkie watched them walk off into the distance for a bit before making herself a cup of coffee. Scoots was a good kid. Shame that the one she looked up to so much was now gone…

She finished her drink and shook her head. She had a breakfast with friends to get back to after all! She couldn’t just stop pretending she was happy right now!

Pinkamena sighed as she finally laid back, feeling a warmth.

“There, does that help, dear?” Rarity asked, looking as Pinkamena’s head rested between her bosom.

“Kinda, but not really. I mostly still feel depressed, just a bit more relieved I guess.”

Rarity stroked Pinkamena’s long hair before doing the same to her cheek. “Oh, darling… seeing you like this, I hate knowing that it’s hidden away.”

“People want me to be the entertainer, it’s my talent after all, they don’t want a sad sack.”

Rarity simply continued to stroke her. “Still, you really should consider other ways of letting out these emotions you know. It can’t be good to keep everything all hidden away and staying in your room all day,” She thought to herself before perking up. “Have you ever considered a blog or the like? You can let anything you want out and not have to worry about that many people seeing it.”

Pinkamena simply waved her hand, dismissing it. “I don’t know. Maybe.” She closed her eyes. “I don’t deserve any of this. My job, my element, my friends, you…”

“Oh, don’t say that, darling. You’re an amazing and wonderful woman to be around, and you make us all feel better in the worst of situations.” Rarity always had a way with words that made Pinkamena feel good. “Now rest dear. You look so tired. Let me help you sleep.”

Pinkamena slowly fell alseep, feeling herself sink into her bed and the darkness surrounding her.

She dreamed of Rainbow Dash snapping her neck in their final struggle.

Pinkamena watched the outside of the small house from the bushes. The lights were still on in the kitchen, but there didn’t seem to be any sign of movement since she had arrived on the premises.

She had spent the last few days trailing and keeping track of the pattern and routine of Scootaloo’s dad. His number had come up and she wasn’t the type to half-ass this kind of stuff. Luckily, the town saw both him and his wife as horrid drunken leches that were raising a kid that was bound to grow up messed up. Of course, she probably would have a slightly better future if Rainbow Dash was still in it…

She shook her head, slapping her cheek to snap out of it. Now was not the time for moping. She just needed to get in, grab the guy and drag him back. No need for phony letters or anything, just a cloth stuffed in the mouth. But, again, tonight was different. Lights were on in the kitchen, when usually the whole place would be black by now.

After waiting another minute, she decided to just go in and get out as fast as possible. He probably just passed out in the kitchen trying to get a snack or something. She noticed the front front door was left unlocked and agape. “…This really isn’t right.”

Her instincts were telling her to leave if she wanted to keep going, so she entered the house as silently as possible. She could hear heavy panting from the kitchen. It was pained, exhausted. She slowly moved to the door frame, looking in.

A thick pool of blood had spread across the floor, pouring from a large number of cuts and gashes that had been made into the body of Scootaloo’s now deceased mother. Crouched in front of her was Scootaloo herself, body trembling as her hands tightly gripped the murder weapon, caked in crimson.

Pinkamena watched her heaving and gasping for air, guessing that the poor girl had thrown up. She took a step into the scene.

Scootaloo shot up, turning and looking ready to charge. “G-Get out! Get out get out get out!!!” She screamed, rushing with her eyes closed.

Pinkamena was able to quickly disarm her and pull her into a hug. “Hey hey, Scootaloo, it’s me. It’s Pinkie Pie. I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise.” She was speaking calmly, taking this all in.

“I-I…I just loved her back the way she loved me, Pinkie. S-she doesn’t have to love me anymore.” Scootaloo explained, trying to force a smile.

Pinkamena simply nodded, helping wipe the girl’s face of any clinging bits of vomit. The blood and tear stains would take much more to clean up. “I know the feeling. I did something similar to my mom, but it was more to put her out of her misery. Now, you’re no longer the miserable one.”

“Hehe… yeah?”

The young Pinkamena felt her hands grip the large stone as if it were her own heart. Her sisters and father were watching from the porch, so far away. Why was she the one to do this act?

Her mother looked so tired and frail. Her hands were shaking and grasping for things that weren’t there. “We have been blessed with such a beautiful day, haven’t we sweetie?”

Pinkamena watched the gray clouds that hung in the sky. It reminded her of how the sky looked right before she saw the rainbow. How she wanted that day again. To live in those moments where everything made sense, and she knew what happiness was. “Yes mother. The sun shines down on the farm, and we are blessed.”

“Will Maud read one of her poems later on? It is always good to see you two smile on a good day.”

“Yes mother…. please smile for me, mother. A miracle is about to occur. Your mind will be fixed once more and you will no longer ache and sweat.” Tears were streaming down her cheeks, as she watched her mother turn and look at her. She could only hope that that the prayers she and her sisters did nightly went somewhere, and that her mother would wind up there too.

The sounds of screaming can never truly beat the sound of a skull being crushed in. She couldn’t cry for long. Rain season would start soon, and her mother would need to be buried before that.

“Why were you here anyway, Pinkie?”

Pinkamena took a few seconds to think about how to respond to this question. No real point in lying to the girl now, she would know something was up with the weird new look. “Well… I was gonna do to your dad what you did to your mom. Do you mind if I do that?”

Scootaloo shook her head, before pausing. “Can I watch you do it?”

Pinkamena didn’t expect that, but she was more than happy to accept it. “Yeah, sure kid. See? You doing that to your mom was the best thing to happen. It’ll be alright. I promise.”

The two heard the sound of footsteps running upstairs and a door slamming shut. They made their way up towards the noise, only to hear a loud pop and a thud. “…Shit. Probably heard us.” She looked at Scoot, and then at the slammed door.

“Something bad happened, huh?”

“Yeah, but we can still have fun later. We’re gonna have to deal with all this, and I think I know how. Get all the booze you can and pour it over the living room carpet.”

“Yes Ma’am!” Scootaloo ran back downstairs, looking as if she wasn’t covered in the blood of her own parent.

Pinkamena walked into the bedroom and observed the damage. The man still seemed to be breathing, despite the large hole in his head. “Oh wow, too drunk to even kill yourself properly. That’s gotta suck, huh?” She laughed, smiling. “Well don’t you worry sir, I’ll do a good job of making your daughter happy, scouts honor. And, since I’m nice… I’ll let you burn to death while you’ve got that nice air hole in your skull. Take in lots of smoke for me!” She laughed again, hearing him groan as she walked out.

Tonight went better than expected.

Pinkamena slowly moved through through the basement underneath Sugarcube Corner. Her nose was still stinging and all she could smell and taste was her own blood. “You think… you can just get out easily?” She asked aloud, continuing on.

She would have to give Scootaloo a firm talking to about a good knot tying, to make sure something like this never happened again. She was still getting used to more important tasks besides draining, but that didn’t mean she could just half-ass her responsibilities.

She smiled as she heard the hum of her computer. She knew that she had turned it off, so this was all that she needed. She shuffled instead of taking steps, seeing the glow of the screen grow closer and closer.

“Please… if anyone can see this… help me… there’s an entrance in the kitchen, you just need to-”

‘Anonymous Asked: Paper or plastic?’

“W-what?! Please, help me somebody!”

“Oh, that’s rude Fluttershy! You should answer the question!” Pinkamena yelled, pulling a plastic bag over the other girl’s face and tying up the end. She couldn’t help but smile as she watched Fluttershy stumble around, trying to get it off. “Ah ah ah, not until you answer Flutters!” She tackled her to the ground, holding onto her hands as she wildly clawed and scrambled.

Pinkamena watched, her maniacal grin slowly fading as she watched her friend struggle for air. “It’s people like you that make my depression worse. People that try to ruin the good things in my life. Did you really think you could take me down?! Coming in alone and confronting me like you’re Rainbow Dash?! You wanted to take this all away from me! Take her away from me, you bastard!” She watched her slowly struggling less and less, not getting up. “You could’ve just been weak and afraid, not telling anyone. We could’ve still been friends. What’s friend missing, but two? You just had to try and ruin everything… and now you’re gonna die.”

Pinkamena rolled onto the floor, laying next to the dying Fluttershy. She could hear every breath slowing down. “… I never even had your number written to begin with. Not after Dashie.”

The room became silent as Pinkamena slowly got up, wiping her eyes. “Ah… That was something, huh?” She looked over at the camera. “And to answer your question, I use paper mostly but also make sure to reuse plastic when possible as to not waste it.” She looked back down at the now unmoving body. “I get the feeling I’m gonna get a lot of hate mail for this. But then again, it’s tumblr so that’s the norm. In the meantime, I got some stitches to patch up. See ya.”

She posted her response and closed the laptop, basking in the darkness for a bit. How the hell was she keep this under the rug.

Every part of her face stung. She hoped it wasn’t too bad. Probably nothing that a bit of rubbing alcohol and bandages couldn’t fix…right?

She looked down at the still body of Opalescence and huffed. “I told you to get off me, but you just had to be a drama queen. I hate the idea of getting you declawed, but imagine if you had done this to Sweetie Belle or worse. I hope you regret hurting me as much I did hurting you.”

Opal wasn’t moving. She wasn’t breathing. She wasn’t alive. “…Fine, be that way. I’ll be back for you.” She made her way over to her computer, opening it up and looking at the page shown.

“Oh, my darling… it has been far too long since we last talked.” She saw the post button at the top of the page. Blood trickled from her cuts as her camera turned on. It was only fair that she try and reach out to a friend in her worst moment.

Such a shame about what Opal did to her… she had been keeping it so smooth and clean for when her number came up.

Applejack slowly woke up to the sight of Pinkamena standing in front of her, with a big dopey smile on her face. “Howdy, cowgirl. Been what… months since we last really talked?”

Applejack struggled in her restraints, mouth gagged with a damp piece of cloth. “I know there’s a lot you want to say to me. I’m guessing you found the blog, or you just pieced things together. Either seems believable at this point,” Pinkamena continued, drawing closer. She ran her hands down Applejack’s chest. “But don’t worry. I’m not gonna kill you.”

Applejack was confused by this. “I mean, no point in it… is there? You vanish, everyone knows what’s up. Right now, they have a guess as to what’s going on… but they can’t confirm it. They aren’t brave enough,” Pinkamena pulled a bottle from the ground, taking a long drink from it. “You’ve been hitting this stuff a lot, huh? I get why, but man it looks like it’s just ruined you. More than your cousin did, anyways.” She laughed.

“I’m leaving you alive because it makes things fun. Why let you join Rainbow when I let you suffer? I mean, that’s what I do right? Let my friends suffer in pain,” Pinkamena took another swig before putting both hands on Applejack’s cheeks. “You’re not gonna see me again, AJ. But I’ll be seeing you. So live. Live and make things… interesting.” The two girls saw a flash of light, images flashing before them and passing through their minds at such quick rates.

Applejack was too in shock and awe of everything happening in her mind to notice that she was being cut down from her restraints, Pinkamena holding her head and swaying as she walked off, vanishing as quickly as she had appeared.

She couldn’t help but smile as she watched Rarity drink down the tea. “You like it?”

“Oh yes, darling. Anything you make is simply divine in taste.” Rarity replied, taking another long sip. “I don’t think I’ve had a tea quite like this one.”

“Special ingredient. I like to spice things up when I make tradition drinks.”

“Oh yes, you must tell me after we’ve finished up for the night. Mommy’s all lubed up and she has knife made just for you~” Rarity blew Pinkamena a kiss, winking.

Pinkamena simply shook her head, smiling. “No point in waiting, really. It was a whole bunch of sleeping pills. I plan on finishing with you soon, ‘mommy’.”

She smiled seeing Rarity’s face freeze up as she looked down at her cup, her hands starting to shake. “S-so, that’s how you’re going to kill me? In my sleep?”

Pinkamena shook her head. “I’m not gonna kill you, Rarity. You don’t deserve it. You deserve to rot away, sad and forgotten.”

“B-but why darling…? I… love you so much…”

“You’re a monster. Even more than I am. The way your perverted mind even humors the idea of hurting those that matter to you. You’re sick.”

“P-Pinkamena…I didn’t-”

“You don’t love. You enable me. You want me to continue. You want me to kill, to hurt, to maim… all for your own pleasure and lust. You gluttonous pig.” Tears were welling up in Pinkamena’s eyes. “I’m going away soon. I’m taking Scootaloo and leaving all of this behind. And frankly, Miss Rarity… I hope I never see you again.”

She started to laugh as Rarity slowly went limp, struggling to keep her eyes open. “You’re a monster, Rarity! I hope your least dream of me is everything you’ve ever wanted because when you wake up… you’re gonna finally face your consequences.”

Rarity passed out, crashing to the ground and spilling the remains of her drink onto the carpet. Pinkamena got up, looking at the spilled remains and smirked. Reliving herself into a tea cup wasn’t the best experience… but it was worth it.

Pinkamena thought to herself as she made her way down the path out of town through the woods. She was still reflecting on how she had comforted Scootaloo just a few days before.

“And know that, no matter what happens, I won’t leave you.”

She intended on keeping to those words. It was time they moved on from the town and found a new place to live. She knew it was getting more and more risky to stay there anyways. Rarity being taken away by the royal guards would likely lead to her being next. They’d find out who made the reports on Rarity and use it as their chance.

There was one thing she needed to do first. “So, you sure you don’t want to keep Sugarcube Corner?” She asked, looking back to Mrs. Cake as she followed along behind her, pushing a cart full of tools.

“Oh, don’t be silly dearie! That place is where you work and I’d just mess up everything! Best to start new, you know?” Mrs. Cake laughed, pushing ahead of Pinkamena.

Pinkamena simply shrugged, following ahead. “I guess…” That woman always was harder to read. She seemed to go head first into this new world of pain and death without a single issue, and seemed to love it even more than Scootaloo or Pinkamena herself. She watched the older woman going into a clearing, looking around. “We taking a break or something? Or are we close to the town?”

“I… I… oh dearie me…” Mrs. Cake seemed to be sweating a bit as Pinkamena approached.

She put her hand on the other woman’s shoulder, smiling. “I get it, you’re worried about your own skill. You’ll be just-” Pinkamena heard a twig snap and turned her head to look.

“I-I’m so sorry dearie… I was so scared, and I didn’t want you to know and to kill me.” Mrs. Cake was tearing up and slowly backing away. “Please, just don’t kill more of my family…” She was cradling her stomach.

“Put your hands in the air, now.” Several masked figures were coming out from the trees, dressed in thick military looking gear. They had weapons drawn.

Pinkamena simply looked back at Mrs. Cake and smiled, tears in her eyes. “… I would’ve done the same.”

“Pinkamena Diane Pie, on the orders of the Princesses, you will lay down and not resist.”

Pinkamena took a deep breath, before pushing past Mrs. Cake and running deep into the woods. She could hear the guards shouting out at her, chasing after her. Bullets were flying past her, ripping through the trees as she ran deeper and deeper in.

“Need to hide, need to get away…” Her mind was a mess and body moving on its own. Sweat was already pouring down her forehead as she stopped to catch her breath. She didn’t know how far she had run, or where the guards were. She couldn’t think.

‘Anonymous Asked: ur gonna die lol’

“...What? Where did-”

A bullet hit her in her right arm as she started to bleed out. She felt her heart rate increase. If these guys didn’t kill her, her heart bursting would.

So many thoughts in her head. Would they take her peacefully if she gave up now? Did Twilight know about this? Did Mrs. Cake tell Scoot-

No. No no no. Nonononononono!

“Scoot!” She found herself shouting out as her running speed increased. Scootaloo wouldn’t go easy if they came to take her. She would fight. She would bite and kick and scream and stab… and they had the weapons to nullify that or worse. “I won’t let you pigs hurt her!”

Gaps in her mind and vision started to form as she ran through the seemingly endless sea of trees. Her own thoughts were becoming blurred out by the sounds of static, the thousands and thousands of questions she was getting, and what sounded like an orchestra descending into madness itself.

‘Suffer for your crimes’ ‘Have you ever been scared like this before?’ ‘Do you miss Mommy?’ ‘Does it ever truly matter?’

She wanted to scream, but that would give away her position. It was like everything was deteriorating around her and it was all so loud… she needed something, anything to break through it all. She wanted a break of any kind, she needed a break of any kind!

“Commander, are you there? Anyone?” She heard the sound of radio coms crackling. One of the guards was nearby. It looked like they didn’t have a gun of any sorts on them. “Gun’s jammed up, switching to taking the target down with hand to hand.” The guard seemed to have a knife on them.

Tears streaming down her face, and blood trickling down her arm, she she slowly made her way towards the unsuspecting guard. She took a deep breath, and charged them from behind, tackling them to the ground.

They struggled for a bit, the combat knife falling out and them both grabbing for it. She felt it dig into her, slashing through her stomach and chest. Didn’t matter. She grabbed the knife with one hand and pulled at the guard’s mask with the other.

“Stand down and surrender!” The guard yelled at her, their mask coming off. Pinkamena looked into the eyes of another woman, their pupils a soul piercing red.

There seemed to be a moment of frozen time between the two, before she jammed the knife into and through the other woman’s throat with full force, hearing her groan and gargle as she got to her feet slowly.

The cut into her was bad, bleeding profusely as she stumbled ahead, hand covering the gaping gash.

This was the end. They had come for her.

She continued to stumble and stagger ahead, feeling her body barely keeping itself inside as her vision blurred. She was feeling light headed as she could make out the bright blurry light of what looked like a circle of trees ahead, with thick leaves covering the ground. “Scootaloo… I…I’m coming…”

‘I want to give you something I was never lucky enough to find at your age.’

Her breathing was slowing and she felt heavier.

‘A friend.’

Her tears stung her cheeks as she made her way to the middle of the leaves.

‘And know that,’

She feel to her knees, too weak to call out anymore as everything faded more.

‘No matter what happens,’

She collapsed onto the leaves, everything fading away.

‘I won’t leave you.’

She sunk into the leaves below her, them blowing away in the breeze as royal guards walked into the area.

Pinkamena Diane Pie also known as Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter and sadistic serial murder was declared dead half an hour later. Her death was ruled loss of blood and heavy damage to internal organs. Her body was later cremated to ensure that she was truly, truly disposed of.

Her head was stinging as she slowly pulled herself off the kitchen floor. She couldn’t remember the events of the past few hours as she looked around. The kitchen was connected to a living room, with there being couches and and a table in the middle of everything. She could see a hallway, and her body was drawn to it.

She walked, finding doors that led to a bathroom with a shower, a bedroom and a walk in closet. It was like everything was both where it should have been… and not in the right place at all.

At the other end of the hallway, there was a door in the kitchen. One that was locked and wouldn’t open. There were windows in the living room, that only showed painted brick walls. The whole place was bathed in a red light that told her it was night.

She slowly sank back onto her knees as she started to cry again, banging her fists against the locked door until they started to sting and hurt.

She let out a cry, though it sounded more like static than anything else.

She lost all concept of time in her hell. She would go to sleep when she was tired and wake up when she wasn’t. The windows always showed the brick walls and there were no clocks or calendars.

There would be food in the fridge and drinks, but they didn’t matter. She would hurt herself and they would do nothing to her. They would be days where there was a captive there, made to groan and wail like they were in pain, even if she just ignored them. They looked like people she knew a lot.

There was one time where everything change. She woke up in a suit, with Mommy restrained in front of her. She answered questions and hurt mommy a lot but it didn’t feel right. She could still remember the face of that damned cat as it burst from mommy, slashing at her chest and waking her up back in the room. It was had been right where she was slashed.

She was losing herself as she assumed the years melted by. She went through motions to keep going, but she knew she would burn out eventually. She could only hope that one day, there would be nothing when she opened her eyes.

Today was different. The red lights, they pounded down more. They were giving off extreme heat as she made herself food. It was bathing her in a warning light, her mind telling her something bad was going on.

She felt sensations coming back to her body as hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She heard the door open, close and someone walk over to the couch. She could hear herself breathe again.

“Turn around. Look at me.” A voice called out to her as she did so. On one of the couches was a woman, dressed up in a rather suit. Her arms were outstretched and her right leg rested on top of her left. “You look terrible, you know.”

“...” She slowly reached out for a knife on the counter.

The woman simply tutted, shaking her head. “We both know that it won’t do much. After all, if I was able to get in… who knows what else I can do.” They smiled, motioning to her. “Now, why don’t you come closer. A kitchen like that must be so cramped and spaceless.”

She slowly stepped onto the living room’s carpeting, feeling so hot and sweaty. “I…”

“I suppose I can just get down to brass tacks here: I’m going to help you.” The woman explained, leaning forward, resting her chin on her hands. “I’m going to free you from this hell hole, and put you somewhere new.” There was a sense of hostility and threat with her words, even when making no such things.

“...Why?”

The woman smiled, flashing teeth that looked like they could tear through flesh without delay. “I know someone tried it once before and it failed, but… I have good feelings about this one. As for the why, I don’t need to tell you anything, murderer.” She tilted her head back, letting out a horrid laugh, her hairstyle changing when she brought it back down. “If you do good enough… I might give you things that you want.”

“What… are you exactly?”

“You’re a religious woman, you can look it up later,” The woman got up, walking over to her. She towered over her, hands rubbing her cheeks. “Make things interesting, at the very least, dear. I hate wasting my own time.” She snapped her fingers as every thing began to rotate. Everything that wasn’t bolted down began crashing into the walls and just missing them. The woman smiled, letting go of her and watching her slide towards the door, smashing through it and continuing to fall.

The wind was stinging her cheeks as she fell, her body not able to tell what was up and what was down. She saw the door frame become smaller and smaller before being swallowed up.

And then, everything she saw was swallowed up in red, bright lights streaking across it. The sky was changing colors and it was full of shooting stars. It was beautifully horrifying scene taking place.

She then hit the ground and was forced to remember what pain felt like. She laid still for a few seconds, taking slow deep breaths as the cold air was on her face. She watched as pieces of furniture and silverware crashed to the ground next, shattering into pieces as they slammed down.

She slowly pulled herself to her feet, body shaking. Everything felt unreal. Her nose was bleeding and her body had so much energy in it. She could see a town in front of her, a town that was all to familiar to her. She bolted to it, still bathed in the light from the bleeding sky above her.

Her legs were moving on her own as pain surged through her chest, pouring and blaring. She saw that lights were slowly flicking on in windows and houses, people waking up to see what was going on. She didn’t let any of them see her as drew close to the library.

She pushed herself through the door and quickly slammed it behind her, being bathed in darkness once more. She could hear herself panting again and slowly calming down.

She slowly made her way through the darkness, knowing where to rest. She would explain in the morning and hope for the best. She smiled as she felt the softness of the mattress accepting her body as she laid down. It had been too long since she had gotten any real proper rest. She would figure everything out in the morning. But for now?

Just sleep…

A book hit Pinkamena in the side of the head and caused her to fall out of her bed. “Ow! What the-” She sat up, seeing the end of a golf club pointed at her.

“Who the hell are you, and why are you here? Are you my new probation officer?” Her attacker sounded nervous and trying to sound intimidating. Pinkamena saw it belonged to a young woman wearing a messy wrinkled top. She had on a barbed choker and her eyes were…a piercing red.

“I.. I know the woman that runs this place. I’m a friend of Twilight Sparkle.” Pinkamena explained, the woman looking even more confused by this. “What, did she move out or something?”

“Uhhh, yeah? Where the hell have you been? Are you high or something, cause I don’t need pot smokers here, I have enough shit to deal with as is. Get out.” The woman swung the golf club at her, with her jumping back.

“Fine fine, jeez I’ll leave! Though I’d probably kick your ass easily if I had any interest in it,” Pinkamena said, walking back through the library and towards the door. The place looked… a bit newer, bu she could think about that later.

She covered her eyes as the sun shined down on her. She slowly walked past others with her head looking mostly at the ground. She didn’t hear any whispers or murmurs or screams of fright. She was confused, but out of it. She was still adjusting to physical sensation at the moment so everything else still needed time.

She found herself shaking as she slowly came to a stop. She knew where she was. She didn’t know what was going on with everything else in the world, but she knew where she was standing.

She opened the door to Sugarcube Corner, walking in. So many people were talking, and the whole place smelled of pastries. She moved towards the counter. Conversations were coming to a stop as she moved past tables. She took one last deep breath and looked up. She wasn’t at the counter, but at a table. Everyone was looking at her, confused, including… herself.

“Oh… hello there?” The woman she assumed was Twilightt asked, slowly getting up. “Do you need something?”

Pinkamena watched herself bounce to her feet and run over. “Hi there, Miss Stranger! Love the pink hair!” Her voice sounded different, but only slightly. “Something I can get you? Juice, crepes, coffee, doughnuts? You look absolutely famished!”

Pinkamena could only nod, before noticing the eyes of two ghosts watching her, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy eyeing her. Rainbow Dash wasn’t dead. Fluttershy wasn’t dead. They were alive. They were happy. She was happy!

Tears started to flow down as she fell to knees and started to sob, all eyes on her. People were looking at her, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t home, but she didn’t care at the moment. She had been brought here for unknown reasons, but she didn’t care. There were so many questions she had in her head, but none of that mattered at the moment.

Pinkamena Diane Pie was finally alive again. Rainbow Dash was alive. Fluttershy was alive. And she was so, very very happy.

Author's Note

Merry Christmas, sorry for being gone SO long from this place. I still am working on Chapter 2 of Maud and Trixie, and MGG is now cancelled/reworked with elements form that going into this. I hope to be more consistent with work here and now that I have a lot of free time, I'll see what I can do.

Wrote this sorta messy story because my days in the grimdark tumblr side of this fandom never really left, and it allows me to really get in touch with my 'edgy' side. Hope it turns out... decent.

Questions might play a part in things at some point, but it'll be in a way where it doesn't bring everything to a screeching halt, you know?

Characters in this story are based on the 'Ask Pinkamena' blog by Crookedtrees, 'Lil Miss Rarity' by LilmissJay and 'Ask-Crapplejack' by CMH (Devnul). I can't link to them since they are all pretty nsfw stuff, but you can still look them up and support them if interested.

Until next time, and Happy Holidays!

Day 1 - Readjustment Period

Pinkamena slowly wiped her nose as she got up, noticing that her other self was holding out a box of tissues. “Thanks.”

The other Pinkamena simply shook her head and smiled. “Oh, it’s nothing!” she explained, giggling as she helped her up to her feet, “You must have had some rough dreams, but we don’t judge here. Some people need their good morning cry over breakfast to make everything alright.”

Pinkamena could see that the others were whispering amongst themselves or eyeing her up and down. “Feeling better?” the other her asked, not seeming to notice.

“Yeah… yeah, I think I-” Pinakmena then fell face-first into the table smmashing it, sending the assorted drinks and breakfast pastries flying. Even more eyes were on the now passed out body, with the other her moving in front.

“Sorry folks, but we’re temporarily closing up for a bit! We’ll be back to give you all the sweets you want by noon!”

Twilight looked over the passed out body again and again. Her body felt as real as anyone elses. “It could be possible that one of the mirror pool clones weren’t in the gazebo, but I’d have heard something, anything about it…”

Rarity washed off the girl’s face. “And you’re one hundred percent sure this isn’t just a girl with pink hair? I don’t mean to cast any doubt but colorful hair isn’t exactly a rare sight, and two of our friends happen to have it in the shade of pink.”

Twilight nodded. “If she hadn’t spoke, I’d be saying the same thing, but that voice… it’s undoubtedly pinkie’s. Just… how…”

“Maybe it’s just one of those cases where two people look exactly the same? Like all those celebrity impersonator types,” Rainbow Dash suggested.

“Ooo, I’ve always wanted one of those! Surprised it took so long! Though she could really work on getting that hair puffed up! Las Pegasus doesn’t take just any look-a-likes!”

“Perhaps I can give a suitable explanation for this?” a voice echoed throughout the bakery as all the girls looked around. Discord walked in from the kitchen, cleaning his teeth with a toothpick, “Really Pinkie, your chocolate pancakes are a delight, I must get that recipe from you one of these days.”

“Aw, thanks! So, what’s her deal?”

Discord smiled, snapping as the girl was lifted up into the air. “Well, you see, I wanted to show you how much I’ve grown. I think it was only fair if I helped someone else out like how you all helped me,” he chuckled when he saw the girls all looking at him with some doubt, “I know, I know, it seems odd that a god of chaos, even a reformed one, would do such a thing… but this one interested me. You see, this is indeed Pinkie Pie. Just not a mirror pool clone or the like.”

“Then… what is she?”

“She’s from another universe! Or, rather… what used to be another universe. You see, I was enjoying a day to myself, making sure that all my cutlery was good and dull when I see her mindlessly floating by my window! She’s still in a slightly… zombitized state from it all, so you’ll have to excuse her adjusting to things,” a halo formed around his head as he explained everything.

Twilight examined her more, pulling her back down. “I see… normally, taking others from other universes could have dangerous effects, but… if she somehow wound up in your dimension, I suppose it could be seen as different circumstances,” she looked up at him, “still, you should have told me this earlier! I could’ve helped make her arrival here much less awkward.”

“Apologies princess, it’s just that you’re so busy with everything and I wanted it to be a surprise. Tell me, Fluttershy, did I do good on this? I mean, wouldn’t you do the same if you found an abandoned animal outside your place?”

Fluttershy blushed from being put on the spot. “W-why of course, Discord. I think you did the best thing you could’ve in this situation,” she said, softly elbowing Rainbow in the side upon noticing that she was rolling her eyes.

“Ooo, looks like she’s ready to wake back up!” Pinkie exclaimed, seeing the other her was stirring, rubbing her head, “Alright everybody, we gotta make sure to make her feel nice and welcome here!”

Pinkamena groaned as she opened her eyes. She felt a twinge of pain in her head and started to rub at it. “Ach… jeez that stings,” she adjusted to the light around her and saw them. Her old friends, looking at her and watching her. They looked concerned, but in a happy way. It was just her dreams- “I… uh, hey. Sorry about breaking the table. I can make up for it, somehow.”

The other her simply shook her head, smiling, “No no! Don’t you worry about it! We know all about you and you don’t need to pay for a thing.”

Shit. “You know about me…?”

The other her nodded, giggling. “Yep, Discord told us all about it!”

She looked, seeing a man she had never seen before was now with them. He had on a button-up suit that seemed to be made of several materials that all clashed with one-another. He gave her a toothy smile that showed off a large and sharp fang. “Ah, good to see you’re up,” he said, walking over to her, taking her hand. “There are a few things I need to update you on before I let you loose. So come with me, my dear!” with that, she was whisked away into the kitchen before she could let out another word.

Her head was spinning as she watched Discord multiply, sitting her down in a chair and shine a light down on her. “So, who sent you here? Celestia? Luna? Twilight not even realizing she messed up an experiment of hers?”

She held up a hand and pressed it against his face. “Give. Me. A. Second.” she hissed, before taking slow and deep breaths. She could feel tears welling up again, but she was keeping them back. “…I don’t know who sent me here. It was a woman in a suit that I had never seen before. I don’t even know if she was real,” she slowly regained her composure, sitting up. “What… are you?”

“Ah, yes. My name is Discord, I’m the spirit of chaos and disharmony, and it is a pleasure to meet you, alternate Pinkie Pie.”

“...Pinkamena.”

“Hm? What was that?”

“My name is Pinkamena Diane Pie. You may call me Pinkamena, you may call me Diane, but do not call me Pinkie or Pie or Pinkie Pie. Got it?”

Discord nodded, stroking his chin as all the other hims walked back into himself. “Not much to go off of with that description, though… if they’re powerful enough to bring someone from another universe here, then they aren’t just going to watch from a distance.”

“How much do you know about me exactly? How much do they know about me?”

Discord smiled, flashing his fang again. “They know nothing. I don’t know the full story, but from the vibes you give off… I get the picture.” He chuckled as he watched her tense up. “Don’t try anything, as I’m more than willing to step in if you try to hurt any of those lovely ladies out there. Hope to see you again, Miss Diane Pie,” With that, he got up, dusting off his shoulders and walking back into the bakery.

Pinkamena blinked a few times before getting back up on her feet and taking another deep breath. She was never actually gonna be ready for all of this, but she couldn’t just keep panicking. She was alive, and she needed to understand how things worked around here. She slowly made her way back out to the others and smiled. “So… hello there. My name is Pinkamena Diane Pie.”

Pinkamena let out a huff as she leaned against the exterior of Sugarcube Corner. Her stomach felt ready to burst from all the pancakes that she had devoured and she just wanted some air more than anything. None of this felt real. Why was she here? Why seemingly now after she had been stuck in her room for who knows how many years at this point?

She silently watched the clouds pass by, the sky being a clear spring blue. She could hear the sounds of the town around her as she continued to think and try to put things together.

She could hear the sound of ice clinking around in a glass behind her as she turned and looked. The woman from her room was standing there, almost towering her with a martini glass in hand and wearing black cashmere sweater. “Well well, there you are,” she said, walking closer with a grin on her face. “I was a tad bit worried that I had accidentally dropped you too hard or that you got hit by a shooting star.”

She wore a pair of thin rectangular shades, one lens being sea mist green and the other grape purple. Her skin was eggshell gray with softer white hair bangs on each side. “So, how are thing so far?”

“...Who are you?”

The woman frowned at this. “I wish people like you would have more interesting questions than just ‘who are you’ and ‘where am I’,” she leaned in close, pulling her shades down to show that the colors of her pupils matched. Her left eye seemed slightly bigger than her right which had a cut over it. She looked Pinkamena up and down, “what, did you hit your head or something?”

“... at least give me a name. I get the hint that you’re not gonna just leave me alone.”

The woman pulled back, rubbing her chin as thought. “… you may call me Minerva. Minerva Gethsemane if you want a full name,” she smiled again. “Now then, let me ask again: how’re things for you?”

Pinkamena glanced around. No one else seemed to notice her. Of course not. “This is all real, isn’t it? Not some fever dream that came from cabin fever or the like?”

Minerva shook her head. “Sadly, no. That’s much too cheap. This is real as can be, your second chance at life,” she took another sip from her glass. “And don’t think I’ll let you just get away with killing yourself either.”

“Of course not.”

“Now then. Why don’t you walk around, get some air. Get those old bones moving! I’ll be back to check on you later.” With that, she turned and walked off, heading towards the bakery’s back alley and vanishing into the shadows.

Pinkamena watched the darkened alley for a few long seconds before turning back around and looking at the rest of the town.

“Hey. You still need some time to yourself?” Twilight asked, walking over to her.

“Nah, nah. I’m good. So, where to first?”

Twilight smiled, with a look that said she already had the perfect place in mind.

“Are you sure this thing is gonna work?”

“If it doesn’t, we’re all gonna have to change our names and fake our deaths.”

Three figures looked through the glass shield into the hangar at their creation. Two of them seemed to be peering at their clips boards.

“If it means we actually get to do something besides all this boring trash, I’m fine with that,” the third figure explained, bored out of their mind.

“Oh, don’t be like that. Our work is important, and even if nothing happens, we’re still-”

‘BEGINING LAUNCH PROTOCOL, ALL PERSONNEL STAY IN BLAST ZONE AND LEAVE TAKE OFF GROUNDS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.’

“Wait, what?”

“Wait, what?! It’s not a testing day! That wasn’t supposed to be for another few months! Abort, abort!”

“Oh, this should be fun-” As two of the figure ran towards the consoles in the room, all three of them were blasted back, the glass shield shattering as thick purple smoke filled the room. Alarms and sirens were going off as a loud crash was heard and a giant hole was now in the hangar doors.

The sound of a door opening could be heard as the three figures looked up, seeing a fourth shorter one enter. Coffee was spilled all over the front of their shirt as they observed the damage. “… what the fu-”

“So, the old library was…”

“Destroyed, yes.” Twilight rubbed the back of her neck as Pinkamena walked around the wooden interior of the new one. “Thankfully, I’m just glad the plans for this new one went through. I don’t think this town would really be the same without it.”

“Yeah. Yeah. This is a lot to take it, I gotta admit. Sorry if I’m ruining any plans for the day, princess,” Pinkamena ran her hand over the wooden bookcases. “…Elements reference guide still under E?”

Twilight giggled, “Oh, don’t worry about that. Politics aren’t as chaotic as you’d think. I’d be more than happy to help you move in here today.”

“I’m good. I think. I mean, I’d have to go shopping for clothes and the like, but I can manage on my own for a bit. You go be with your friends, I’m fine.”

“Well, actually, you won’t be on your own while here. There’s someone else living here at the moment.”

Pinkamena already had an idea on who it was as she saw them enter the room.

“Princess Twilight? Is it my check in day already?” The woman with red eyes asked, before looking at her. “… You know her?”

“Grey Skies, this is Pinkamena Diane Pie. She’s uh… hard to explain. She’ll be staying with you for the time being,” Twilight said, walking between the two. “Pinkamena, this is Grey Skies.”

“Already met her earlier today,” Grey said, taking Pinkie’s hand and shaking it with a frown. Her name seemed to fit both her attitude and her hair, with it being tied back in a mini-ponytail. “Listen, I gotta get to work soon. A co-worker’s out sick and I don’t need any asshole nicking the goods. Don’t mess with my stuff and I won’t mess with yours, Diane.” And with that, she sprinted off past the two and out the door, jacket blowing in the wind.

“...She here willingly?”

“She crashed Applejack’s truck, her taking care of this place counts as her community service. She’s a nice girl, just uh… not the most social.”

“Ah. Well, I think I’ll just get acquainted to this place for now, go shopping later, that alright?”

“Of course. I’m more than sure Rarity would love making something for you. We’re all here if you need us or help. Welcome to Ponyville Pinkamena, we’re all happy to have you.”

And with the closing of the door, Pinkamena was alone once again. She started walking around the place, examining it. It was one of the first times in a long while she didn’t mind being alone.

After walking around the library’s large entrance, she went back to where she had slept the night before and laid back down on the bed. She felt heavy, and she felt tired. Her eyes slowly closed as she drifted off, ready for the possibility of waking back up in her own personal hell in just a few seconds.

Grey Skies sighed to herself and she ran her usual path to work. Of course the one day where she had to work for two people was also the day she found out that she was getting a new ‘roommate’. Probably just some kind of probation officer in disguise.

Looking ahead, she could already see her co-worker smugly grinning as she made it to the front door. “If you had told me the night before that Max was sick, I would’ve been here sooner, Melody.”

Melody Black simply stuck out her tongue as she stepped aside to let Grey in. “He let me know around the same time as I let you know. New shipment of CDs in the back. Got some vinyls too.”

“Anything good?”

“Eh, re-release of a platinum album, rap stuff. I think we did some colored vinyls though,” Melody explained as she walked behind the register and clicking a tiny remote, music starting to play throughout the store, “we’re halfway through the energy drinks, should I put in the order for more?”

“Get more of those coffee drinks too! Those sell pretty well,” Grey replied, pulling two chocolate soda’s from the fridge and giving one to Melody and toasting. “No Music,”

“No Life!”

And with that, work began at ‘Towering Records’. As the sign out front would tell any customers ‘It’s a wild thing’.

Sitting up in bed, Pinkamena wiped the sweat from her forehead. She had grown hot, and the covers weren’t doing much to help. Got out of bed and slowly made her way to the bathroom. She felt groggy.

Turing the lights on, she splashed water on her face slowly looked in the mirror. It felt like forever since she really gotten a good look at herself. Purgatory had a way of wearing down the senses. Her undercut was in need of trimming and cutting, it felt too rough and knotted at the moment.

Her facial scars seemed much more visible. She just kinda assumed that they would’ve become less so by this point… but that would mean having to come up with some kind of story for each of them. Horrible cake batter tasting accident would do the trick probably…

God, looking at herself, it brought back the feelings of self loathing. She leaned in closer, hands gripping the sides of the sink. “You don’t deserve this. You don’t deserve a second chance in the slightest,” she said to her reflection, a grim scowl across her face.

“Ooo, there’s that imposing figure I remember so well. You always looked so good when you stood in doorways you know. When the victim could only see you flashing a smile and all,” Minerva said, popping up behind Pinkamena, causing her to bang her head against the bathroom light, “though, I must admit… your old webcam did a terrible job at showing the real you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean exactly?” Pinkamena asked, rubbing the back of her head.

“Everyone just kinda assumed you were a normal sized goth girl. White too. But now that I can see you more clearly? You’re one lanky, hairy sonofabitch!” Minerva said, laughing to herself. She only grinned more seeing Pinkamena glare at her through the mirror.

“What the hell do you want exactly, or are you just popping in to insult me?”

“Well, I was just checking to make sure you hadn’t done anything stupid yet. I think we can begin soon… but I’ll let you get all cleaned up first,” Minerva turned, slowly walking out, “I’ll be in the entrance,” she snapped as an electric razor fell into Pinkamena’s hands, “here, on the house. Do at least consider shaving something.”

Pinkamena simply rolled her eyes as the taller woman walked off. She looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn’t that hairy. Rarity loved calling her looks “non-traditional beauty” so clearly she was appealing to someone.

Walking back to the front of the library, she watched as Minerva flipped through a book, tossing it back into place as she saw her approach. “Now that you’re all woken up and fresh, I think I can get down to business,” Minerva said, stretching.

“...” Pinkamena was ready for anything.

“I’ll be giving you a task soon, I expect you to get that task done. If not, it’s back to the room and I’ll make sure that you hate every second there more than you already did,”

“...And when will you give me this task exactly?”

“Very soon. You’ll know exactly when, dear. Behave til then!” with that, she vanished into thin air, leaving Pinkamena alone once more. Or at least until the door to the library opened.

“Yo, don’t mind me. Just getting my phone. Forgot it here,” Grey said, walking by and heading further in.

Pinkamena simply nodded, sighing as she closed the door behind her. She was still trying her best to comprehend everything. “Sorry about breaking in last night. Didn’t mean for that!” She called after Grey, walking to the doorway she had headed down.

“Yeah yeah, water under the bridge Diane,” Grey said, walking back, phone in tow. She sighed, checking the time. “and my break officially begins: now. You don’t need me to pick up lunch for you, do you?”

Before Pinkamena could respond, a note fell into her hand.

A Twister is coming. Save Ponyville from destruction. You have 15 minutes. Fail, and face erasure .

“...What’s that supposed to-” before Grey could finish her question, the two of them were knocked back by the front door being blown to pieces, bits of wood flying everywhere.

Slowly sitting up and looking through the door, Pinkamena could see the glowing barrel of a tank pointing right into the library. She felt a sharp sting in her right hand as she looked and saw a timer counting down from 15 minutes.

The tank quickly turned it’s barrel and sped off, with Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie quickly in tow. “U-uh hey… Grey? H-how long is your break exactly?”

“...F-fifteen minutes… why?”

The twister had arrived.

“Ooo, I’ve never seen a tank like that one before!” Pinkie eagerly said, skipping to keep up with Rainbow Dash. “Wonder who’s piloting it!”

“Man, and here I was hoping that today could just be a day where I could do some workouts and maybe chill by the lake!” Rainbow Dash complained, sounding more annoyed than anything else.

“Hey, knuckleheads! You can bitch and moan all ya want after we stop the giant war machine!” Applejack yelled at them, doing her best to find a spot to lasso onto.

The tank was unlike anything any of them had seen before, having more spacing in its armor with a heavy purple glow pouring out from it. The barrel was able to move around freely, seemingly not slow to control in the slightest, it moving rather quickly on it’s four extended treads.

“What the hell is going on?!” Pinkamena asked, catching up to the three.

“Hey again other me! Don’t worry too much, we’ve got this!” Pinkie said, waving as she pulled out her party cannon. “Dashie! I’ll launch you onto that thing!”

Dash smirked as she quickly leapt into the cannon, readying herself as Pinkie aimed and fired for the top of the rampaging machine. Though even she seemed to miscalculate the speed of the thing as she shot Rainbow more towards the front of the thing, causing her to grab onto the barrel of the tank. “Oops! Don’t let go Rainbow!”

“Yeah, I’ll try!” Dash called out, grabbing on tight as she was swung round and round. “…no, wait wait!” next thing she knew, she was being smashed through the walls of houses as buildings as the machine’s top spun round and round.

Pinkamena couldn’t believe what she was seeing or what she was doing. Nothing felt real anymore. It was like seeing the rainboom overhead, being in the presence of Nightmare Moon, and feeling the element of laughter course through her body. Was she supposed to be the one that stopped this thing?! Or was she just supposed to help stop it?!

“Hey! Pinkamena, you got any ideas?” Applejack called out to her, snapping her out of her stupor.

“Try shooting me at the top! Let me get in and stop the driver!” Pinkamena called out, quickly getting into the cannon and prepping herself for launch. She hadn’t done a party cannon launch in ages, but it was worth a shot!

Thankfully, second time was the charm as she landed on the tank with a heavy thud. Her chest hurt like hell, but she had victims that kicked harder than that! Her hands could feel the indents of the hatch, but something wasn’t right… he top felt… weird. It wasn’t cold metal, but rather a weird warm putty like feeling. The top had been coated in some kind of synthetic material. It was almost like a fake skin layer or the like. “What the hell is this thing…”

She grabbed on tight as the top began to spin around again, now making her look ahead to see that a giant magical wall had been erected. She could also see that shining diamonds and other jewels were sticking out of the road with Twilight, Rarity and a few others that she didn’t recognize standing behind the wall. If the tank could at least be slowed down or stopped in it’s tracks, she could properly claw through this top layer and make her way in!

Then, the tank jumped high into the sky above the town. Pinkamena could see everyone get tinier and tinier as could easily make out the markings this thing had made around town…

She then lost her grip and fell from the tank, crashing through the roof of a house and hitting the ground hard. Slipping out of consciousness as her eyes slowly shut to pitch black.

“Hey, what the hell is going on exactly?!” Melody asked, helping Grey to her feet as she watched the tank zoom by the entrance to the library, with others behind it.

“I… I don’t know. That thing just blasted open the door to this place and then that new girl I told you about ran off after asking me about my break!” Grey explained, leaning on her for support. “…we need to find her, quickly.”

“What, why?! S-shouldn’t we just wait here away from the blast zone and let the elements deal with this?”

“I know we should do that, but I get the feeling that her asking about how long my break was means we don’t have much time! Come on, you got here on your cycle right?” Grey took a second to catch her breath, thinking more. “I’ve got an idea on what that thing is doing, I’ll explain as we look for her.”

“You better be right on this, Grey!” The two got on Melody’s yellow motorcycle and sped off, looking for Pinkamena.

“...Pinkie Pie? A-are you alright?” The voice Pinkamena knew she didn’t want to hear filled her head as she slowly sat back up, looking at seeing Scootaloo looking down at her. She looked older… as expected.

“Hey…” She glanced at her hand. 7 minutes left. Damn it. “Listen, Scoots, I gotta go. Nice seeing ya, talk to you again never for your own sake,” she said, getting to her feet and looking around. She was in the kitchen. She ran to a set of drawers and began rummaging through them.

“U-um, Pinkie, are you alright? I’ve never seen your hair look like that! What’s with the thing going through town? Are you gonna be alright?” Scootaloo was launching questions at max speed as Pinkamena rummaged through the drawers. She knew it wasn’t her Scoot… but she still missed this kinda stuff.

She smiled as she pulled out a nice and sharp looking kitchen knife, gripping it tight. “Best way to put it, I’m not your Pinkie. I’m dealing with what’s going on in town, and don’t you ever worry about me, kid. You worry about people that actually matter to you and everything will turn out just fine,” she said, running past and out the door, heading back towards the path of the tank. The thing seemed to be going faster, with Twilight and Rainbow Dash being the ones giving being on top of the thing a shot.

“A-are you sure you’re alright?” Scootaloo asked, watching all of this happen, before being pulled away by her aunts. Pinkamena watched the three run off to safety. She was just happy to see her with adults that actually gave a damn about Scoots.

“Diane! Get on!” Grey called out, sliding to a stop in front of her with Melody at the front. “You need to stop that thing, right?”

“Y-yeah!” Without another word, Pinkamena awkwardly saddled onto the bike as the three sped off… in the opposite direction that the tank was going, “Wait, what are you-”

“I think this thing’s going on a set path! If it’s getting faster, it’s easier to try and get it from the front than behind!”

“Either we get you on there, or you become like a bug on the windshield!” Melody added, kicking up the bikes speed as she drove next to the tank’s markings on the road. “So, you get on that thing one way or another, right?”

After a few long seconds, the tank was seen coming closer. Looking at her hand, she saw she only had a good five minutes left. Just as she was ready to jump… she was quickly lifted into the air and dropped on the top of the tank, seeing Twilight looking up at her from the front of the machine. “Hey, sorry your first day here is like this! This kinda stuff doesn’t happen in town that often, I swea-” she was then hit in the side of the head by the tank’s barrel and tumbling and rolling into the road next to them.

Pinkamena took a deep breath, looking at the skin-like top layer of the tank. She closed her eyes before opening them and seeing herself in front of a bare, heaving chest. She looked at the knife in her hand and smiled. Back to work.

Cutting and cutting, she easily got the layer away and into the crevices of a hatch. It took some pulling and heaving, but soon it finally popped open, basically sucking her in headfirst as she fell in.

“Hey, dumbass, what the hell do you think you’re do… ing…” Pinkamena trailed off as she saw there was no driver, but rather a large console bank of buttons and displays, with wires all connected to a large, pulsing, purple crystal.

She had no idea what was going on, but she didn’t have the time to try and think. She had to act on her instincts. She grabbed the crystal, pulling it away from the wires as hard as she possibly could. The buttons started changing colors and the screens were flashing warning signs, as she heard the tank’s cannon fire off more and more rapidly. She could feel fluids pooling at her feet. Just what the hell was this thing exactly?!

With one final pull, the crystal came loose, shattering into bits and causing the tank to finally come grinding to a halt. It also sent Pinkamena to go head first into some of the monitors… but hey, it was dealt with, right?

Looking at her hand, she was relieved to see the countdown was gone. She had done it… good. She rubbed her forehead, noting a slight cut from where it had hit the monitor. Nothing that would stick, thankfully.

She slowly pulled herself out from the hatch to see the others below, most of them seemingly arguing with a group of what looked like researchers?

“What in the name of Tartarus did you think would come from setting up a weapon’s research center near a town like this?!” Twilight asked, directing her question towards a svelte woman with bright blue hair and glasses.

“P-Princess Twilight, we didn’t mean for this to happen! I swear it! Cloudburst and I designed this thing to be tested in the desert, not in town! The launch happened without any manual input!” A young man with messy black hair explained, sweat pouring down his face in buckets.

“Maximus speaks the truth. This was never intended. We had reserved land ready to move this thing to when it started up out of nowhere. Our deepest apologies. We’re still still working out the kinks of self-sustaining magic, as you can clearly tell,” Cloudburst added, bowing her head in shame.

“...Self-sustaining magic? You were able to get a working prototype of self-sustaining magic?” Twilight’s anger seemed to slowly turn to interest and fascination as she pulled the two closer to learn more.

The third researcher watched this and rolled her eyes, scoffing. She slowly approached Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “Hey, you’re Rainbow and Applejack, right?” she asked, looking at them.

“Yep. You one of the people behind this thing?” Dash asked, several ice packs taped to various points on her body.

”Nah. I’m just required to be part of the group. Don’t do well in making tech stuff. I just test the explosions. Name’s Kickback. Can I request something from you two?” she asked.

The two glanced at each other before looking up at her, “uh.. sure, what is it?”

“One day, I wanna fight the both of you. With all your power.”

Rainbow Dash smiled at this.

Pinkamena slowly made her way past the three and saw Grey and Melody resting in the shade in front of the record shop. “Hey. Thanks for that.”

Grey shrugged, looking at the others. “Eh. I think I kinda knew I’d have to help with some kind of do or die event in this town.”

“It was either gonna be something like this or another bugbear attack,” Melody said, walking up to Pinkamena and shaking her hand, “Name’s Melody Black by the way.”

“Pinkamena Diane Pie. No relation to who you’re thinking of,” Pinkamena responded, slowly shaking it. Her mind was a mess with various thoughts and no idea how to respond to it all, if she was being honest. Nothing really felt real at the moment, and her body didn’t feel as much pain as it probably should’ve at the moment.

‘See, I can’t-!’ Music played from the speakers of the record store, getting her attention. An all-too-familiar voice started to play.

“Ladies and Gentlemen of Equestria, welcome back to Junk Garage, your premiere show of news, music and more!”

Pinkamena sighed to herself as she leaned up against the wall and slowly sunk to the ground.

“I’m your conductor at the top of the junk heap, Minerva. Let’s start with the big news, the halting of a rampaging tank in Ponyville just seconds before this show starts to air. Once again, I cannot say thank you to Princess Twilight and her friends enough.”

Cloudburst looked at the record store where the broadcast was coming from and scoffed, “trash heap is the nicest way to describe it…” she muttered under her breath.

“Looking at videos of the thing going throughout the town, I must say I’m amazed at how hi-tech it looks.”

“As we enter into the hot and crowded summer season, it’s things like this that remind me of how fast we’re moving. It may be too fast for some, even.”

“So as we move on ahead into unknown territory, I have but one question:”

‘Ladies and gentlemen, introducing…’

“Will you evolve and survive, or will you fail and perish?”

Pinkamena now was starting to get why she was brought back.

“We’ll be right back, after this word from our sponsor.”

Author's Note

Happy Pride, I'm back and hopefully can get more out soon.

Fun Fact: I had a hard time deciding which version of Twister to use/link to, so many good versions!

Day + Evening 1 - New Game

Minerva slowly got up from her chair, walking over to her phone. She was on a commercial break, and she needed to call in a favor. She scrolled through her list of contacts, mostly labeled as ‘losers’ and ‘assholes’, getting to the bottom and selecting a name.

She looked around her broadcasting room, smirking as she waiting for the pickup. So many photos of people she had talked with, assorted awards and keepsakes, and scratched and busted up blue megaphone among many other items.

“Ah, hey there! How’re ya doing?” She knew this would be a hard sell, so it was best to put on a few fake compliments. “uh huh, uh huh, sounds real rough. Listen, I need your help with something real quick.”

She began to walk around the studio, keeping and eye on the time remaining before she would be expected back on the air, “listen, I need you to come here and help me deal with someone,” she paused. “no, it’s not because I forgot, it’s because I have other interests that I have to tend to at the moment. No, listen. Listen. It won’t take long, I promise you. And, if you get yelled at… I’ll personally vouch for you, alright?” She listened to the other end, before smiling. “ah, great! I’ll text you the details. Tell me how it goes later. And hey, it’s a change in your normal routine, right?'

“Well, should we just close up the shop for the day?” Melody asked, watching as the crowd slowly began to dispatch.

Grey thought on it for a few seconds, before shaking her head. “Nah. At least one of these people is bound to check this place out,” she said, before looking over at Pinkamena, “Diane, you gonna be alright?”

Pinkamena nodded, watching the two head back into the shop, feeling a bit of the cool ac hitting her skin. She watched a few people follow suit, going into the shop to either get some new music or just cool down. She could see the tank people slowly walking away, talking amongst each other.

“So, adjusting to your first day in town alright?” Pinkamena turned and saw Pinkie happily skipping over. She didn’t seem at all phased with anything that had just happened.

“...I think so, but it certainly wasn’t easy,” Pinkamena replied, watching the sky. It was still somehow only the early afternoon. “I just wanna get some food or get some sleep or something…” she said, slowly starting to make her way towards Sugarcube Corner.

“Oh, sorry, but we can’t let you go just yet,” another voice called out to her as Pinkamena saw a teenage girl walk up to her. She had long black hair and seemed to be wearing some kind of odd looking hoodie. The girl looked her over a few times. “Wow, you really went through this whole day without a single piece of equipment on you, huh?” she asked aloud, smirking.

“... What exactly are you talking about?” Pinkamena asked as the girl dug around in what seemed to be a bag shaped like the head of a… pig?

The girl pulled out a phone and handed it to her. “Here. It’s basically a burner smart phone but it should do the job,” she explained as it turned on. The screen was a dark purple with the letters RNS on screen. A mini-skull with wings cackled as it activated. “You now have an official profile on the Reaper Networking Service.”

Pinkamena felt blindsided, barely understanding a word this girl was saying. “Sorry, who are you?” She looked over to Pinkie. “You know her?”

“Nope! A lotta people I’ve never met seem to showing up in town today, huh?” Pinkie asked, giggling. The cat girl just sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Name’s Shoka Sakurane. Not that it matters much. This town isn’t usually where I work,” Shoka explained, before placing a small pin in Pinkamena’s hand alongside her new phone. “and here’s your player pin. Don’t lose it.”

Taking a closer look, the pin was emblazoned with the image of what appeared to be some kind of red skull against a black background. “Consider yourself lucky, you get to use our brand new design for it,” Shoka continued, before looking over at Pinkie. “… Sorry, but I only brought one for lanky and gruesome over here.”

“So, what exactly is this thing for?” Pinkamena asked, still trying to comprehend everything.

“It’s best if I explain with your partners around. I’m gonna guess it was the two you rode the motorcycle with?”

“I guess…? I really don’t know what today is.”

Shoka simply shrugged. “Most don’t on their first day so at least you’re not alone. Come on, I need to explain this to the whole group,” she said, before walking past the two and heading into the record store.

Pinkamena let out a long, agitated sigh. “This is why I never left my room,” she muttered under her breath before following the younger girl in.

Minerva whistled as she poured herself a drink. Another break was on and she needed to cool off. Even with all the AC and the fans and everything, it could still get hot in the studio. She heard a knock at the door. “Yeah, you can come in. Notes or something?” she asked, not turning her head as she heard someone enter.

“It has been far too long since we properly got to talk, Minerva.” A man’s voice called out to her as she looked. A pale blonde man was standing at the entrance of the room. He had a feint smile as she approached. “I must say, you’re doing well for yourself.”

“Shiba. What do I owe the… pleasure?” Minerva asked, putting on an obviously fake smile.

Shiba simply continued to look around the room. “Oh, you don’t need to put on the act. You didn’t really think you could just borrow Shoka without anyone knowing, could you?” he asked, stroking his hair back. “Ayano would never let her go to another town all by herself.”

Minerva took a long, audible sip from her mug. “It was only for one little thing. I can’t really leave this job when I’m in the middle of a broadcast.”

“Oh, of course. I totally understand. I’m just saying that it’s better that she not be on her own. Especially in a place that’s as unique as this,” Shiba chuckled, looking at all the awards and photos. “Tell me, how long has this been going on?”

“Well, we just truly started back up today. It’s been at least… a month or so since there was a last full week and-”

“Does Leilani know a new game has begun?” Silence filled the room for a few long seconds. “How interesting…. I think I’m starting to get the picture here.”

“And what picture is that, exactly?”

“Starting a new game without telling everyone, trying to get one of my crew to help you without asking us for approval. Why, I’d wager a guess and say that you were going to try and convince Shoka to work with you for the whole week. Am I right, Minerva?”

She only tapped the sides of her cup as he laughed. “Apologies, but I can’t let you just take Shoka like that. Not only is she invaluable to my team as a whole and how they function, but Ayano would burn you right up!” He smirked, sitting down in her chair. “Let’s make a deal, since me and some of the others are here, how about we help you properly get this first day heated up?”

“What’s the catch?”

Shiba simply smiled, chuckling. “You can see for yourself when this day properly comes to an end.”

Melody watched Shoka flip through racks and racks of CDs while also making glances at her phone. “If you’re looking for something specific, you can just ask.”

Shoka shook her head, continuing to flip. “Didn’t even think they’d have a Tower Records out here,” she said aloud to no one in particular, before walking up to the counter. Pinkamena and Grey were there, watching her. “Right, so. You three are now new players in the Reaper’s Game. We’re happy to have you, I guess.” She put three blank pins on the table. “Since things work differently around here, we thought it would be best to start you off with blanks.”

Grey picked one up, looking at it. An image of a rabbit standing on an ice float appeared. “Woah.”

Melody took one, seeing what seemed to be a flaming music note on it. “Huh.”

Pinkamena picked up the third, seeing a knife cutting through a cake appear. “Fitting. So, what do these things do exactly?”

Before Shoka could answer, another woman placed a hand on her shoulder before stepping in front. She had on a shirt covered in images of what appeared to be tropical trees as well as having an iguana sitting rather comfortably on her shoulder. “That is for you to find out on your own,” she said, shooting an icy glare at Pinkamena. “All you should know is that by taking part in challenges for the rest of this week, you can win anything you desire. I think that should be enough to keep your interest.”

Grey let out an annoyed groan, the woman looking at her. “I feel like this is just some way of extending my community service.”

Melody chuckled, patting her on the shoulder. “Aw, come on. This can’t be anything major. Maybe it’s just how they’re welcoming Diane here to town?” she said, smiling.

While the two were talking, Pinkamena was deep in thought as she looked at the two pins in her hand. Taking the past day or so in, it felt like she was stuck in a long dream and was destined to wake up at any moment. Would getting through a week be what fully brought her back to life? Was this Minerva’s goal all along?

“You’ve got a chance to figure this out coming up soon,” Shoka said, breaking her train of thought. “you’ll be getting your first task, right about…”

Pinkamena’s, Grey’s and Melody’s phones buzzed as a new message popped up on all three’s screens.

Silence the Noise in the town market.

The woman softly took Shoka’s hand and started to walk her out. “And with that, we’ll check back on you when you have this accomplished.”

“Later losers.” Shoka waved as they walked out.

The three looked at each other, wondering what their best course of action would be. They all somewhat wanted to doubt any of it was real… but the message Pinkamena had gotten before the tank attacked them seemed to line up with the message they had just gotten.

Melody stretched out her arms, attaching the pin to the front of her work apron. “Well, we can put up the ‘out to lunch’ sign up and get to the market in like five minutes if we go now.”

Grey did the same with her pin, stepping out from behind the counter. “Might as well get this stupid thing over with, I guess. Probably just shutting off some sort of boom box or something. You ready to get this done with, Diane?”

Pinkamena nodded, before walking past them out of the store and towards the town market. The other two watched her before quickly getting the sign ready to hang on the door.

Minerva watched Pinkamena’s group make their way to the town market, taking another sip from her mug. She was no longer in the mood for hard booze now that she knew Shiba and some of his group was palling around town. She should’ve just saved the explanation for what was going on for tomorrow.

Looked as her phone buzzed in her pocket, seeing a new text message. “You look well, Minerva. :)”

Looking around, she saw another rather pale looking man looking at his phone. The bright pink phone case with bunny ears and black hat made him stand out. “Ah, Kaie. Always happy to see you,” she said, walking over. “I’m going to guess that he’s also here as well if you tagged along.”

“Sadly, yeah. He’s here to make sure that the first challenge goes well. :(“ Kaie texted back, knowing exactly who she was implying.

“Isn’t that just great… well, I suppose all we can really do now at this point is just watch and wait, huh? Shame that the tank didn’t count. I made sure all the other players still had their pins! And I worked so hard to get it out here too!”

“You really went big in your first challenge, huh. :O”

“I suppose, but what better way to create a good first impression for the newbies, right?” She paused, thinking. “Tell me, did you hand out pins to anyone around here?”

“Maaaybe ;3”

“Well then, that’ll make my job much more interesting than it already was.”

Ponyville market looked about the same as when Pinkamena had last stepped foot in it. People were walking about with bags pull of fruits or flowers or small tiny knick knacks. The only difference is that she couldn’t feel as many pairs of eyes watching her nervously. For now, anyways.

Grey looked through the crowd and tried to listen. “…No sign of any speakers or anything. Not sure how we’re supposed to find or hear anything in this.”

Melody looked at all the people walking around. “Doesn’t even seem like a day where Vinyl Scratch would have a pop up concert either. Maybe we should split up?”

Pinkamena looked though the message one her phone. Something about it was off, but she couldn’t tell what.

“Hey, Pinkamena!” Pinkie called out, bouncing over to her. The rest of the elements were in tow, seemingly looking around the market as well. “Guess what? We’re part of this game too!” she said, happily.

“Oh, that’s nice. Again, I need to ask. Are your days usually this busy?” Pinkamena asked, trying her best to keep from letting out another sigh. Her want to isolate was growing more and more, but she knew she couldn’t just do that. Especially not if more people like Minerva were keeping watch of her.

“Eh? It depends on what we’re doing. Sometimes it’s just helping break up two friends fighting and then free to do whatever, other days it’s racing to stop power hungry threat number seventeen or whatever,” Rainbow Dash explained, arms stretched out behind her head.

“I do wish that man explained more of what our task is supposed to be. I’m not sure what noise we’re supposed to silence, since the market is always rather busy and noisy,” Rarity complained, scrolling through her phone.

Twilight nodded, doing the same. “There must be something we’re missing… do you three have anything?”

“If only that man who brought us into the game wasn’t so nice… I couldn’t muster up the courage to ask him any questions…” Fluttershy added as the two groups began conversing with each other, slowly getting more on Pinkamena’s nerves.

She looked more at the message, thinking. What the hell was she missing? She felt her hand’s grip on her phone grow tighter. The voices of others talking and the market around her started to fade out. “… focus…” she said to herself, before taking a long deep breath. Her player pin glowed and suddenly, the world around her looked different. Everything looked as if there was a tint on it.

“What the…” Looking at everyone around here, she could see what looked like word bubbles above their heads as they passed by. She could see something red in the distance. It looked like… a floating symbol of some kind of animal? “This is-”

Pinkamena was quickly snapped out of it by Grey shaking her on the shoulder. “Yo, Diane. You got any idea on what the hell we’re supposed to do?” she asked, looking up at her.

Pinkamena slowly nodded, looking down at the message one last time. “It’s not noise we’re looking for. We’re looking for Noise with a capital N,” she said, before running to where she saw the symbol.

The two groups quickly followed, not fully sure what she was doing, but it was a start!

After reaching the end of an isle, Pinkamena found herself in the exact area where she had seen the symbol. Somehow it was all coming together even though she couldn’t explain how. She took another deep breath as the world changed once more. Looking up, she could see the symbol floating above her. It looked rather beastly, with what seemed to be sharp fangs. “… Be ready,” she said out loud with no one in mind.

Melody looked at her pin as it gave off a small shine as Pinkamena reached out and touched the symbol.

GET READY!

Are you Ready?

Pinkamena, Grey, and Melody found themselves looking at the glaring gaze of what seemed to be a giant bear, though looking even more ferocious. Instead of having normal paws, its appendages looked as if they were make of sharp and twisted metal.

“What the hell?!” Grey asked, sweating heavily. The beast snarled, charging at them.

All three jumped back, the ground feeling smoother than usual. It was if everything was lightly coated in ice. “Hey, how the hell are we gonna take something like this down?” Melody asked, looking around.

Pinkamena looked down at her pin. It was glowing. The next thing she knew, a knife was in her hands. Adrenaline was rushing through her body as she took a long, deep breath. “We do this!” she cried out as she ran in close, doing a few slashes on the thing sending it high into the air with a literal uppercut.

‘Fear is nothing but illusion!’

“Yooo, that was sick as hell!” Melody called out, before looking at her own glowing pin. “Let’s see if we can…” She pushed out her hands as suddenly, music notes shot out, homing in on the bear Noise. “Aw yeah, we got this!” She looked over at Grey. “Let’s see what you can do, Grey!”

Grey looked at everything going on as if it were unreal. She was still sweating up a storm as the beast closed in on her. Her pin was slowly glowing as she stomped on the ground. “Get the hell away from me!” A trail of ice lead from under her to the beast, causing a large ice pillar to shoot up from the ground and straight into the beast, shooting it high into the air.

“Yo, Diane! Get it!” Melody called out, Pinkamena using the weightlessness she was feeling to launch herself into the air. Somehow, her using the pin was drawing her in closer as she did a few more slashes on the thing. It felt good being able to use a knife in a such a way after so long!

With a downward jab, she was able to send the beast crashing back down, with Melody skating in up close and firing off a few more rounds at the thing. It was almost done but not out. It quickly swiped out, knocking both Pinkamena and Melody back, slamming into some kind of unseen wall.

Grey ran over, slowly helping both of them back up as they looked at the creature. “Alright, no more messing around. Let’s finish this thing off and be done with it,” Pinkamena said, her teammates nodding.

“Let’s drop the beat!” Melody said, smiling as Grey focused her pin’s energy out, causing three icicle pillars out piercing right through the bear.

Just as it stabbed right through, it was like time had came to a halt. White light started to shoot out from the creature as it slowly dissolved and vanished into pure static, a small pin dropping to the ground in front of the three as everything slowly went back to normal.

NOISE ERASED!

As Pinkamena looked around, she could see she was right back where she had touched the symbol. She was a bit hyper from everything that had happened, but otherwise she was alright.

“That. Was. Awesome! I was awesome! You were awesome! We were awesome!” She looked over and saw Rainbow Dash eagerly hyping her team up. It had clearly been a while since she had been able to get this kind of action.

“Haha, babe you were so badass,” Melody said, pulling Grey into a hug and kissing her a few times. “The way you summoned those pillars like that! Gah that was so cool!”

“I don’t even know how I did it, honestly… I just kinda wanted it to get away from me, ya know? You and Diane knew how to kick that thing’s ass though,” Grey responded, her normal facade breaking away as she blushed.

Clapping filled the air. “Oh, that was some good stuff! I gotta admit, Minerva picked out a good batch of players this time!” An older man with a small gray bag approached them. He gave off the vibes of being an asshole.

Pinkamena watched him as he eyed her up. “… You one of her friends?” she asked, slowly crossing her arms.

“Ehhh, not really. More a co-worker in the way I share a building with her,” he explained, before looking around. “Gotta admit, this place ain’t like my normal place of work, but I guess that makes things more interesting. Nyeheh!”

He saw Twilight was approaching and bowed. “Princess Twilight Sparkle. I’ve heard a lotta good thing about you. Gotta a nice gig, running this whole place.”

“A-and you are? Did you have something to do with those monsters?”

“Normally, I do. But round these parts? I ain’t got nothing to do with em. Tanzo Kubo’s the name, and I’m just here to help make sure that youse all got recognition for taking all them Noise down,” he explained, walking over to the dropped pin. “Here, on the house,” he said, tossing it to Pinkamena. “You wanna make sure what you did today actually counts towards you winnin’? Make sure you collect them pins.”

Pinkamena could see the girls from the record store walking through the market, seeming to join him. She could also see Minerva watching from afar. She looked her right in the eyes and smiled, before turning and walking off.

“A land where the RG and UG are basically one. This’ll make for one helluva game…” Kubo whispered under his breath, before walking to rejoin the two girls. “Here’s hoping your Game Master is competent. If not, hope to see what else ya can do with that knife, Miss Diane.”

Watching them walk off into the distance, Pinkamena looked up at the sky. She watched the birds fly through the evening sky as her stomach grumbled. Man, today was longer than she ever thought.

“Welcome back to the Junk Garage. Today was one of those days, wasn’t it? First a wild tank goes through the town, and then new monsters pop up in the market. Life in Equestria, huh?” Minvera’s played over the speaker’s as Melody put a serving of cheese covered mashed potatoes down on Pinkamena’s plate. “Thankfully, The Elements of Harmony were once again able to help quell the danger before things got out of hand,” she continued on, happily.

“Though, people have been telling me that another group was there also getting in on the action. They don’t seem to have any titles as of yet… so maybe we’ll just have to think of one for them.”

Grey rolled her eyes as she put music on, continuing to eat. “Man, you always make so much good stuff,” she said, looking over at Melody. “Feel like such a big for always wanting more…”

Melody kissed her on the cheek. “Eh, don’t worry. I know what’s up. You’re just fine,” she said, giggling. “Man, today was the most action I’ve ever seen in my whole life I think.”

“Me too. Not sure if I’m nervous about what could come next, or interested,” Grey replied, looking over to Pinkamena. “How about you?”

“Me? Mostly, I’m just tired and need some rest. Good food though. I’ll repay you sooner or later for it,” she said, taking a few more bites of her potatoes and getting up and slowly walking to the guest room. Totally drained of energy and a brain full of thoughts, she needed a good night’s sleep.

She closed the door to the guest room and fell face first into her mattress. It almost swallowed her up it was so comfy.

She quickly drifted off, mind still racing over the fact that she was alive once more. Though, she had no idea how long that would stay true.

Ponyville. It looked so drab and desolate, with most of the houses and buildings having boarded up windows and covered in spray paint.

‘Where… am I?’

Carousel boutique was rotting, slowly being swallowed up by time and neglect. The cottage on the edge of the forest was slowly being reclaimed by nature. The path to the Apple Family Farm was slowly coming undone. A lone light shone from the top of the library.

‘Is this….’

Sugarcube Corner lay vandalized, windows smashed it and half of the roof caved in.

‘THE DAMNED RESIDED HERE’ was spray painted on the side.

‘Did she make it out in time… is she safe?’

People had come to destroy this place. The monster that resided there was dead, but they wanted to make sure of it.

In the skies above, the few that remained could see the clouds parting as a symbol formed above them.

It was finally time for the town to die.

Pinkamena lurched up in bed, drenched in sweat. It was the first time she had felt a fear like this in years. Her face was stinging. She slowly reached up and touched it, feeling a slight burning sensation. Looking at her hand in the moon light, she could see red on her fingers and palm.

Her facial scars were bleeding again.

DAY 1 - NEW GAME

END

Author's Note

So this series will have characters from Neo: The World Ends With You. There won't be spoilers for a while so don't worry about that, and with the rate I put things out it'll be long over before I get to stuff like that. If your comments want to talk about spoilers, please just save them for the end of the comment and maybe have a [Neo:twewy Spoilers] warning or the like before getting to it.

Also please play Neo: The World Ends With You. Please. It's really, really good and I can't recommend it enough. GOTY 2021 for sure. And buy the soundtrack, it's Godly.

Day 2 - Dress to Kill

Pinkamena cursed to herself as she slowly wiped the blood from her face in the bathroom mirror. Her whole face felt numb as if it was about to swell up and become a puffy red mess. It had been a long time since she had to deal with tending to her scar wounds opening back up, but she still knew what to do.

Still stung like all hell.

She could hear the sounds of crickets outside, them doing a bang up job at reminding her that it was some ungodly hour of the morning. She sighed, rubbing her eyes as she softly put her hand up against the X shaped scar on her lower jaw. It was not fun, getting a screwdriver almost stabbed into your mouth. Having to come up with why she had the thing took forever to think of.

She let the water in the sink run for a bit before splashing some on her face, feeling it slowly dribble down and hit the floor. “Ah…” she let out a sigh as she got another look at herself. Was she really the same woman who bravely decided to go off with a bunch of people she didn’t really know to try and stop an eternal princess of the night?

She pulled a towel close, wiping her face dry as she took another deep breath. She could think about the dream she had in the morning, she just needed to-

Her phone buzzed loudly, getting her attention.

‘Anonymous Asked: Sleep well?’

… Of course. “What do you think?” she asked, before feeling her cuts open back up again. “You freaks really can’t move on with your life, huh? Need to cling to that one blog you followed who knows how long ago,” she said, sighing as she grabbed a washcloth and put it under the sink, getting it wet. “Alright. Let’s get some out so I can go sleep in peace.”

‘Mayburry112 Asked: You picked out your next victim already yet?’

She cringed as she put the washcloth up against the X scar. “No, I haven’t. But, I don’t doubt that Minerva is just gonna give me a bingo spinner full of new numbers and just wait for me to break,” she responded, looking through a few cabinets for any kind of cream or healing ointment. “I really don’t need to start anything. I mean, with how different things are, I can guarantee that I’d be found out almost immediately before I even got to cut someone open.”

‘DreamingRapture Asked: Do you wonder what everyone’s been upto?’

She simply shrugged as she softly applied ointment. It was less of a burning feeling that she expected. “I’m gonna find out what happened to Scootaloo, no matter what. I need to see how bad I screwed the pooch with her. Everyone else? I could give a damn. I mean, Applejack was already one hell of a drunk when I last saw her, probably drank herself to death when she finally got to see her lover’s body. I don’t wanna see what Rarity’s doing after our last…” she sighed. “Interaction.” She looked around the bathroom, reflecting on the paneling and design of the walls, reminding her she was back in the library.

“Twilight’s probably still there, in the town. Reading the same books she’s had since she moved in, hoping that one day she’ll wake up from everything and we’ll all be back there. Ready to help her with her next friendship letter,” Pinkamena looked at herself in the mirror again. “I used to be the same.”

‘SuperWhoLock4Eva! Asked: Has your ass gotten fatter or was it always naturally that size?’

Yeah, that was more than enough questions for now. “I’m heading to bed. Stop visiting long dead ask blogs for enjoyment,” she said, turning off the florescent bathroom light and walking out into the hallway.

She slowly wandered through the hallways back to her room. The sounds of the night outside were becoming muted. Sleep was slowly sinking back in as the world around her almost faded away and darkness swallowed her up.

It was like she was back in the cellars under Sugarcube Corner, the countless nights where she would just let it take her all in, getting lost in the seemingly endless maze of black corridors and hoping she would never be found again.

But then, she could see a slight blip of light in the darkness. It blinked in and out, rhythmic. She broke from her stupor and looked, hearing the slightly muffled sounds of music playing

She focused her vision more as she could see Grey, sitting near a record player, softly nodding her head along to the beat as the sounds of a sorrowful accordion filled the air. She appeared to be topless, with her hands running over her stomach. Pinkamena didn’t get it, but she knew that this wasn’t really one of those moments where she needed to.

She continued her walk back to her room, the music guiding her. She fell into her bed, eyes becoming heavy as she sunk back into slumber.

The three girls awkwardly ate their food, not saying much to each other. “Something happen last night?” Melody asked, looking at Pinkamena. “your scars didn’t look that red yesterday, did they?”

“They opened back up, had to get them all cleaned and washed. Used to happen all the time, nothing new,” Pinkamena explained, before shoveling a spoonful of cereal in her mouth.

“So that’s who I heard walking around last night,” Grey said. “Hope it’s nothing serious.”

“Like I said, it’s happened before. Nothing new, so don’t worry yourself about it.” An awkward silence filled the air. “So… how’d you get on probation or community service or whatever?”

Grey let out a loud huff before looking aside. “It’s not like I intentionally did anything wrong. I was helping a friend-”

“A ‘friend’,” Melody did air quotes before being glared down by Grey.

“I was helping them with doing some valet work for tips. They drive up to me in a truck and say they need my help with something. Next thing I know, I’m an accomplice to car jacking,” Grey sighed. “Of course, it just so happened to be Applejack’s truck and we crash the damn thing.”

“Did no one believe that you had no idea that your friend was gonna steal the truck?”

Grey simply motioned to her skin. “What do you think?” She checked her phone before getting up. “Come on, Mel. Let’s get going, don’t wanna be late.”

Melody smiled, getting up and quickly kissing her on the cheek. “Hey, at least you get to be this place’s ‘caretaker’ as punishment. Not that bad a job, right?”

Grey rolled her eyes as they headed out of the kitchen. “See ya later, Diane.” The door slammed shut and once again, Pinkamena was along.

At least, for a good minute or two.

She looked up from her bowl as she saw Minerva with a cup of coffee in her hand. “Hangover?” she asked, flashing a smile. She was wearing more casual wear, with her wearing a light t-shirt that depicted an image of a man’s head with butterfly wings on either side of him. She noticed Pinkamena eyeing it before looking at her for context. “You probably wouldn’t get it. Just supporting a crew that I like, you know? Anyways, how’s being alive for over twenty four hours feel? Good, bad, disappointed, hype?”

Pinkamena simply drank from her cup of milk. “I don’t have much to say to you. I know I won’t get anything out of it. It isn’t fun having to deal with a tank and then fight monsters,” she scoffed. “I’m not like the people here. I don’t have years and years of action and adventure under my belt.”

Minerva smiled, moving a chair next to Pinkamena and sitting down, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “That’s the fun thing about the Reaper’s Game. You don’t have to be like the elements of harmony of this world. You just need to have a pin and your body’ll move to the beat, if you catch my drift. You still have to put in the effort, of course.”

“And if I don’t want to take part in this?”

Minerva shrugged, before taking a sip from her mug. “Well, if this isn’t to your liking you have options. I could just send you back to your room and never tell you anything about the people you Fucked over,” she put a real emphasis on the ‘fuck’, “ and let you eternally rot knowing you can never know…. I could also put you someplace else, if you like.”

“Like where, exactly?”

Minerva smiled. “Well, there’s this great little town I know that I could send you to instead. It’s on the ocean, got a nice baseball stadium… but, the thing is there’s a good chance you’d be hunted down and killed there!” She said, putting her hands up in a surprise motion. “People that kill, such as yourself, get put on a ranked list. Anyone kills the ranked member, they take their place. Based on your body count, I’d put you… right around number 3. So, you know… any random asshole with a weapon they won online could kill you at any moment. And like you said, you don’t have years of action and adventure under your belt, right?”

Pinkamena took a long chug of her drink. “… I’ll stick with this stupid game for now. So, when’s the next mission?” She looked as her phone vibrated.

‘Look decent for once. Fail, and face erasure. - The Reapers’

“I’ll go easy on you today, after all, yesterday was rather hellish, huh?” Minerva said, getting up and heading to leave.

“You the one behind the questions I got last night?” Pinkamena asked, not looking back.

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“... never mind.” Pinkamena heard the door slam shut and sighed. Maybe she could head back to bed for a bit and just sleep for an extra hour or two.

‘How is your morning going, listeners? I hope it’s going alright. Weather calls for things to be nice and clear, with no signs of storms for miles. While I’m cooped up in the booth for most of the day, I hope that all of you outside are having fun and looking fresh! But enough from me, let’s get some music playing from the top of the trash pile, shall we?’

Ponyville already looked to have recovered from the events of yesterday. Most people were going about their business, talking to people next to them or on their phone, rushing to get to their jobs or children to school.

Pinkamena walked past the people running by, thankful not many were really giving her that much of a look, even with the scars. Her hands stuffed in her pockets, she made her way through the market square and headed towards the shopping district.

She was hoping that this town was still the same layout wise as hers, with the clothing stores being more near the Town Hall. Everything still felt so surreal to her, from being back among other people, to Minerva and the people she seemed to be working with, to being paired up with the person that killed her… she was starting to get why she got those questions last night.

Her train of thought was broken as she walked face first into a wall. Looking up, she could see that it wasn’t a wall, per se… rather a large number of black barbed chains, forming a barrier of sorts. She put her hand against it, feeling its rough and scratchy texture.

Looking around, she could others passing through it without issue and not even seeming to notice. “Sorry,” a voice called out. Looking, she could see a figure standing nearby wearing a crimson red hoodie and a hat that covered their face. “I’m not allowed to let you pass this way. Sorry,” the figure said, looking at her.

“And what if I really don’t want to take the long way?” Pinkamena asked, getting closer to them. “I wanna get this stupid task over with,” she explained, doing her best to sound semi-intimidating.

The figure just continued to watch her, staying in their relaxed pose. “Listen, don’t kill me over a stupid wall. I’m just another Support Reaper, couldn’t even fight you if I wanted,” they said, before pointing to another street. “You wanna get to your destination? Take the school route.” They weren’t gonna budge on this.

Pinkamena sucked in her pride and walked past them, muttering under her breath as she started her way down the new route. What the hell even was this game.

She slowly walked down the long, dirt road. It would circle around the school house and get her right where she needed to be. She just hoped everyone was already in the schoolhouse by now and there wouldn’t be any awkward interactions.

She walked the long dirt path, glancing at the trees as the sounds of nature took over the ones coming from town. It was just her, the road and the environment.

She let out a long sigh before closing her eyes, mind drifting off as she began to daydream to fill the time.

Grey tapped against the counter as she watched customers shop. After yesterday, it was nice to just have a few hours to herself that were more calm. She looked at the pin attached to her work apron and pulled it off, looking at it.

She still didn’t get how something like this was able to give her and her girlfriend powers… or what the hell this game was… or who Diane was really. God, this was a weird week, and she wasn’t even halfway through it yet!

“Yo, you still thinking about stuff too, huh?” Melody asked, leaning over as they tapped Grey’s shoulder. “Pretty cool abilities we got, huh?”

Grey shrugged, half heartedly. “Hell if I know. I mean, my heart was pounding in that fight yesterday. And with that tank too… you get what I’m saying, Mel?”

Melody nodded, pulling their glasses off and started cleaning them. “I do, I do. I always get you. I guess I just… am enjoying the moment. Always wondered what it’d be like to be able to do all that cool stuff I see Princess Twilight and her friends do,” she said before pausing. “…and it helps keep you away from your other ‘friends’, so you know. Big win there.”

Grey huffed and crossed her arms. “Oh my god, you’re not gonna let up on this, are you?”

“I’m allowed to be mad that you still hand out with the woman that got you on probation in the first place! They never even apologized or anything! That’s bullshit.”

Grey rolled her eyes as she saw a customer approach. “Newest album. Good stuff from what I’ve heard,” she said, as she scanned it.

“Oh yeah, I got that like, the other day. Good music to listen to if you wanna just peace out and build model kits for a few hours. Though, I’m more partial to their recent EPs,” Melody added as she got a bag and stamp card ready. “Four more purchases here and you’ll get 10 bucks off on the sixth. Don’t skimp on it, dude.”

“Thanks for shopping at Tower Records, hope to see ya kick it here again sometime.” They watched the customer leave, before Grey turned to Melody. “Don’t start this back up with me, Mel. I can deal with assholes on my own, ok?”

“Yeah, yeah. I worry cause I love ya,” Melody responded, before giving her a quick peck on the forehead. She looked at her phone as it buzzed. “New shipment arrived in the back. Gonna go unbox it. Be back in like… fifteen or so.” She started making her way to the back of the store, throwing on a pair of headphones.

Grey let out a quick sigh as she went back to looking at her pin. She blinked a few times as Mel’s words dawned on her. “Wait, did she make a pun-”

Pinkamena looked around at all the stores in the area, not really vibing with any of the types on hand. They were all so bright, colorful, ready for adventure and fun. They weren’t her. Of course, that might not have even mattered in the first place. Who knew whatever the hell Minerva considered decent in terms of fashion and appearance, especially with the free razor she had given her.

She passed store after store, looking through the seemingly endless patterns of tops and bottoms, shoes and socks. “This really sucks,” she muttered to herself, walking out of another store empty handed.

She stayed where she was for a few minutes, before getting ready to circle the shops again to see if there was anything that at least looked decent.

She cringed and clenched her fists as she heard the sound of a scooter’s wheels slowly come to a stop next to her. She eyed her side, before quickly looking ahead again as Scootaloo stayed next to her. “Oh, hey Pinkie. Feeling any better after you crashed through my roof?’ she asked, her voice sounding older than the last time Pinkamena could remember talking to her.

“...Just doing some clothes shopping, Scoots,’” she finally got out, before walking ahead of her. She gritted her teeth as Scootaloo followed. “You know, I’m not feeling so hot at the moment. You mind just leaving me be for now?” she asked, trying to keep from just bolting off.

“Clothes… clothes… you tried asking Rarity for some?” Scoots asked, flashing a grin at her. Apparently she didn’t hear her request. “I’m sure she’d give to you for a lower price.”

“Rarity is a grown woman, she’s busy,” Pinkamena explained, pace speeding up by by bit. She could see a store ahead, and headed towards it. She just hoped Scoot would get the message. “Listen, Scootaloo. I don’t mean to be mean, but can you please just give me space? Like I said, I’m not feeling so hot and have to get something important done. Also, I’m not your Pinkie Pie. I just want to get this done with, get what I’m saying?”

Scootaloo nodded, before looking at the store she was going into. “Oh, alright. Think I get it. Best of luck, I guess. Especially here,” she said, before getting back on her scooter and riding off.

Pinkamena watched her riding off, cursing under her breath. Minerva was probably enjoying watching her squirm and suffer like this. She shook her head, before walking into the shop. “What the hell kind of name is ‘Jupiter of the monkey’?” she asked herself, before looking at her mission for the day again. “No more wandering. Let’s get this done and over with.”

Somehow, this was the only store that seemed to have clothes that matched her measurements and unique size.

In the changing room, she looked at herself. She had been able to find a pair of pink sweatpants that looked too comfy to pass up, along side a nice blue crop top and a clear, plastic top that just… spoke to her. She modeled herself a bit, looking at her front and back. “Yeah. Yeah, this is some decent stuff,” she said, smiling.

It then dawned on her that she didn’t have any money. “Well… shit. How am I supposed to-”

Her phone buzzed as she looked. A notification said that she had just recieved a rather large looking amount of cash.

‘We can talk after you make your purchase’ - M.

Her smile turned to a scowl. “Of course it was,” she said as she changed back to her old clothes and headed for the counter.

After making her purchase, she headed back out. She could see Minerva sitting on a bench nearby as she regretfully made her approach. “You need to look at clothes I bought or what?”

Minerva simply snapped her fingers as Pinkamena was back in her new outfit in a flash. She looked her over a few times, before pushing her specs back up. “I suppose that can work, though I see you didn’t appreciate my gift from yesterday.”

“I wash, I rinse, I clean. I’m allowed to chose what I do and do not shave,” Pinkamena responded. “And besides, that wasn’t part of today’s mission. Are we done now? Can I go?”

Minerva leaned forwards in her seat. “The game works differently around these parts. Your teammates have other responsibilities to attend to. Can’t have a game just be you,” she said, thinking on her words. “I’ll have to look into this, but for now… let’s throw one last challenge your way before this day is done, alright?” She flashed a grin as she snapped again, before getting up and walking off. “Don’t half-ass this!”

Pinkamena looked around, not really sure of what to do. At least, until she saw Rainbow Dash approaching her. “Of course, of course…” she muttered.

“Hey Pinkamena. You get your mission for today done as well?” Dash asked, eyeing her up. “Nice threads.”

“Thanks, and yeah. I did. You alone for the day too?”

Dash nodded. “Yeah… everyone had stuff to get done, so I thought I should be the one to do it, ya know?”

Pinkamena nodded, looking around. Something felt off. “… Hey, I don’t think today’s mission is over yet. I was told there’d be one last challenge.”

Rainbow Dash nodded at this, before looking around as well. “Yeah, I hear ya. Would be disappointed if it just ended before getting to fight at Noise,” she said, cracking her knuckles. “Wanna team up for whatever comes our way?”

Pinkamena knew there was only gonna be one accepted answer here. “Yeah, sure. Why not? Helps us deal with whatever the task is-”

“Good, cause here it comes!” Rainbow said, with Pinkamena looking and seeing a symbol charging right at them. They braced for impact.

GET READY!

Are you Ready?

“Aw yeah, let’s show em who’s awesome!”

A giant scorpion stared the two down, a giant stinger resting on its back . “Heh, that’s the best they can throw at us? This’ll be easy!” Rainbow said, sliding around the thing as she charged up her energy.

Pinkamena simply rolled her eyes at this, a knife appearing in her hand. She needed to study the thing before she could consider striking.

Rainbow smirked as she let her energy out, charging into the thing with a powerful looking kick and sending it flying. “Come on, it’s open!”

Pinkamena felt herself get an adrenaline boost as she ran in close, getting in a few slashes at the thing. Her eyes widened as she watched the stinger start to swing around in the air, blasting off a thick purple smoke. “Dash, back up!” she shouted as she jumped back, watching her get covered in the stuff. “You alright?!”

Dash slowly trudged out, coughing. Her jacket was coated in purple dust as she began to cough and cough. “Yeah, ack, I’m fine… just give me a minute…” she said, charging up again.

The scorpion was back on its feet as it scuttled at them, firing its stinger at Pinkamena as she quickly slid out of the way. She was gonna have to take the heat from this thing for a bit while Dash recovered. She watched as Dash charged into the thing again, unable to send it flying this time. “Let me handle this!” she called out to her.

She watched as the scorpion fired at her again, side stepping as she charged in and slashed and slashed. Her body felt so alive when she was able to get so upclose personal. She could see the stance of the Noise weaken as they got closer to bringing it down.

“Pinakmena, I got an idea! Get on my back!” Dash called out, bending over. She was looking better and the smile on her face showed she was in full Rainbow Dash mode at the moment.

Pinkamena bolted over, jumping on her back as quickly rose up into the air. The scorpion held its tail back, aiming to fire at them.

It fired at them, Rainbow boosting Pinkamena into the air above the tail. “Now!” she called out, charging at the thing and launching it at her.

Pinkamena unleashed a full flurry of slashes and swipes at the thing, cutting right through it it. She could feel her energy in the pin running out, as she charged up for the finishing blow.

She cut clean through the scorpion, slicing it into two as light burst from its pieces, before evaporating into nothing as she landed on the ground.

Noise Erased!

The two collapsed to the ground, panting. They were both exhausted from that fight. Poison was one hell of a draining effect. “Heh, not bad. You really are another Pinkie, you followed my plan instantly…” Rainbow Dash said, slowly getting herself back up.

Pinkamena just continued to huff. She took Dash’s hand as she helped her to her feet. Looking, she could see a pin in place of where the Noise had been. They walked over, looking at the thing. “Here. Take it,” she said as she tossed it over to Dash. “with a plan like that, you deserve it.”

Rainbow snatched it up, looking at the pin she was wearing as it started to glow. A quick flash and it had changed. “Oh yeah, I’m getting even cooler thanks to this game! This. Is. Awesome!” she said, laughing. She put the Noise pin in her jacket’s pocket, laughing. “Well, I gotta get going. I’ll see ya later, Pinkamena. We should do this again sometime.”

“Yeah… yeah… see ya.” Pinkamena replied, before sighing and started making her way back to the library.

Minerva watched from a distance, smiling at the results. “Interesting. Perhaps, it’d be best to bring more players into the mix,” she said, laughing as she walked off.

“Yo, Diane,” Grey called out to her as she walked in, holding a bag of fast food with her. “Picked up stuff for tonight, if that’s alright,” she said, plopping the bag down on the kitchen table.

Pinkamena shrugged as she went through it. “I mean, sure. Melody out getting stuff?”

“Nah. She’s sleeping back at her own place tonight. She likes to alternate,” Grey explained, pulling out a basket of chicken. “I’m gonna be in the tv room. Hope the mission went well,” she said, before walking off.

Looking through the rest of the bag, Pinkamena pulled out a medium thing of fries and a rather small looking cheeseburger. “Hmph. Gotten smaller since the last time I got anything from that place,” she said, before sitting down with her meal.

Her phone buzzed. She grumbled.

‘Gattogirl asked: Like the new outfit?’

“I mean… yeah. It’s been a while since I got to buy myself any new clothes. After I a while with Scoot, I stopped going out regularly. I stuck to the basement mostly and wore whatever I could find on hand. Only really got clothes to make sure Scoots looked decent, really.”

‘Anonymous asked: How was working with RD?’

She took a bit bite from her burger and chewed loudly.

‘Anonymous asked: thoughts on Grey and Melody?’

“They’re alright. Grey’s any other moody girl with issues, and Melody is a gay nerd… still should probably ask Grey if she has a sister or something. Think she might’ve been the last person I killed, and also she was the one that basically killed me. So, yeah. That’s real fun.”

‘Dreamingrapture asked: Were you always this carefree about body hair?’

“... I mean, not at first no. I think it was after the gala when I got more lassiez-fare with it all. Started to worry less about how people would respond to my natural features, I guess. Rarity didn’t seem to mind…” she thought on that. It had been a while since she had seen her Rarity. Yet she could still imagine her touch easily without issue. She had no idea if it was because she missed her or if it was due to deep scarring and trauma.

Probably a mix of both, if she was being honest with herself.

She picked up her phone, browsing the RNS for a bit. “Any Social Media that has an ask function is a disaster,” she muttered to herself, looking at a few ‘aesthetic’ photos before shoving the phone in her pocket and walking towards the bathroom. She needed a shower.

Grey sighed as she pulled her hair tie out. Another day done, who knows how many left before she no longer needed to worry about something like her parole officer and could finally be free of all that stress.

She tossed her top off and looked at herself in her bedroom mirror. Had she put on more weight? Mel would always say she wasn’t, but she knew she was. “Grah…” she muttered, before walking over to her closet. Lighter clothes and pajama pants always made her feel at least a bit less self-conscious about every single thing she did.

As she got changed, she could see her pin glint at her from the clothes she had discarded. She still didn’t get how any of this worked. She was just born a normal girl like most people in this town, but she had been able to use ice yesterday like it was nothing.

Diane was a weird one too. It was surreal, sharing a place with someone who had broke in, but she seemed to be… alright, at least. Willing to give her space and not make things unnecessarily awkward.

Her phone buzzed and she scooped it up, answering. “Yo, this is Grey.”

“Ey, Grey,” a butch voice said from the other side. “How’s it going for you tonight?”

“You know how it is, Cinder,” Grey responded, flopping back into bed. “Work’s alright, life’s stressful, music’s good. You?”

“Bout the same for me, I guess. Life near the bay goes on as usual. Not the same without you,” Cinder explained. Grey simply rolled her eyes at this. “How about I come down this weekend or the next, huh?”

“I mean, if you want to. But, I got things I’ve gotta deal with still. Mel would absolutely lay into you if she saw you get within 500 yards, especially since my parole isn’t over yet.”

Cinder let out a long groan. “How many times is she gonna keep getting on your ass about that? The past is in the past, right? And like, I promised I’d do better. You forgive me for getting you in that mess, right?”

“... yeah, totally. Listen, Cinder. I’ve actually got a ton of stuff to deal with this week and weekend, so let’s talk about meeting up next weekend or something, ok?”

“Yeah. Yeah, fine. I guess that’ll do. You can always tell me if I’m being an issue or anything, aight?”

“I know, you tell me every time. Night, Cinder.”

“Night, Grey.”

Grey hung up and pinched the bridge of her nose. “God, I can do with another week without her making things harder,”she said, putting her phone aside. She sniffed the air, sitting up.

She made her way to the living room section of the tree, seeing Pinkamena sitting on the couch with a bowl of popcorn next to her. “…Is this gonna be ice breakers or something?”

Pinkamena shook her head. “Nah, not really a fan of those. Just thought I’d make myself some, and am willing to share if you’re interested,” she said, watching her.

Grey simply sat herself down next to her, grabbing a handful. “Thanks. And… sorry for attacking you with the golf club.”

“Why does this place even have those? You don’t look like the type of girl to go golfing as a hobby.”

“Twilight gave it to me cause she thought that golf would be a good way to help pass the time when I wasn’t working. I hate golf,” Grey said, the two laughing.

The night was able to close on a thankfully calm note.

The radio station’s recording room’s lights buzzed and hummed while Minerva flipped through a list of index cards. “Let’s see… let’s see…” She would pull a card out, look through it and then quickly put it back. “No no, these will never do,” she said, putting the cards back in a desk and pulling out a new set.

She began to eagerly flip through it, eyeing up the various details that flew by. “Oh… oh yes, this will do. This will do nicely,” she said, pulling two cards out. “Tomorrow’s mission, I’ll make sure it kicks things up. What happens when we add a defeated number 6, and a long rested number 1?” she asked allowed, a grin crossing her face. “Why, a deadly killer7~!”

As the night came to an end, the sky filled up with shooting stars as it began to change colors.

Day 2 - Dress to Kill - END

Author's Note

Hey there again, back with another chapter for this fic, but this time two to make up for not having a regular schedule. Still not fully sure where there's such a large number of dislikes on this fic, but hey, here's hoping people that read this stuff like it!

Also, play Neo Twewy, it's a sick ass game and I love it so much.

Day 3

Day 3

The early morning sun was looking as nice and warm as it had always been. Applejack smiled to herself as she watched it for a bit, slowly coming up over the horizon. Farm work was always going to be exhausting and back breaking, but being able to see the sunrise always made for a great start. Along with a good, strong drink of course.

She slowly made her way to the barn, ready to get the animals out and grazing. Once she got that over with, she would be able to dip into town for a bit, and hopefully spend time with the others for a while.

“Rise and shine, ladies and gents! Food’s looking especially good today, so I don’t want any of ya missin’ out on this!” she called out as she opened the barn door, ready for the usual stream of animals to make their way past her. But… there was nothing.

“Huh? Something wrong? Someone sick or something?” Applejack asked, looking in. Her eyes widened at the sight before her. “W-what in tarnation?!”

“oink.”

---

Grey was a bit surprised when she saw Pinkamena eagerly working in the kitchen, a plate of food already laid out on the table. “Oh, morning Diane.”

Pinkamena quickly glanced back, before sprinting over to the stove. “Morning. Thought me making breakfast would help patch up any remaining worry you might have about me,” she said, pulling bacon from a frying pan and putting it on a plate and moving it to the table. “Worked with what I had, so it’s your basic pancakes and bacon stuff. If you want other stuff, I can go grocery shopping at some point,” she continued on, eyeing Grey as she slowly took a seat and looked at her meal.

“Wow, thanks. You didn’t have to do all this, you know, Diane,” she said, picking up a piece of bacon and biting into it. Her eyes widened at the first taste. “W-wow! This is… you didn’t have to go all in like that!”

Pinkamena simply shrugged it off as she started moving pans and trays to the sink to wash off. The truth was that while she did do this as a sign of desperately needed good will, she mainly did this because she loved to cook. It was one of the few things that had kept her from completely shutting down while locking in her personal purgatory, and was probably the only part of her old life that she still wanted to keep around. “Just eat,” she said, before taking her own plate of pancakes and biting into it. Yep, she was still good at this.

As the two ate, they could hear a slight commotion outside. It was like a mini-stampede was going on. Walking over to a window and looking outside, both were shocked at the sight.

Pigs. Lots of them. Pigs of various sizes and colors were running around, all of them going in every which way. The thing was, they didn’t look like normal pigs. They had strange looking patterns covering their bodies, and instead of ears and legs, they had strange looking materials, akin to jagged metal.

“... Pig Noise?” Grey asked aloud, before her phone went off. She quickly picked it up, putting it on speaker phone. “Mel, you see what’s going on outside?”

“Right on the money! What’s with all these things? They’re almost everywhere…” Melody lamented, the sounds of squeaks and oinks coming from her end.

“No idea. You think these things are gonna destroy the shop?”

“With how much they’re just running around, they’re at least likely to make a mess. Can you meet me there as soon as possible?”

Grey nodded. “Yeah, see you there in a bit,” she said, before hanging up and looking over to Pinkamena. “Thanks for breakfast, Diane. I can pick up diner for tonight,” she said, running to get her work apron.

Pinkamena simply watched the pigs run past for a bit, before walking over to the kitchen’s radio and turning it on.

“-here at the Junk Garage are issuing a special challenge for anyone in town to play! All you need to do is get a player pin down at the station and take down as many of these piggies as you can. Or, if you’re lucky, get the one gold pig, and win it all in one go. Though, that fast little porker isn’t gonna let just anyone defeat him.” Minerva’s voice was doing a good job of making her sound especially punchable for the morning.

Right on cue, Pinkamena’s phone buzzed as she looked at it. “Defeat the single boar made of solid gold ore. Upheaval rule is now in effect. Teams lower in rank can earn double or even triple the winnings for taking it down.”

“...Since when was this a team thing with points?” Pinkamena asked as Grey walked past her, in full work outfit. “This whole things is our next mission. There’s a gold pig that we have to find.”

Grey sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “Damn it, this is a group thing huh… well, I can’t skip out on work… if the hunt’s still on by my break, me and Mel’ll join you. See ya later Diane,” she said, before quickly running out the door and almost tripping on a pig on her way to the store.

Pinkamena sighed as she went to get her pins. She just hoped this would be able to go quickly.

How was finding a bright yellow pig, as well as fighting a much of pigs in general, this hard?!

Pinkamena cursed to herself as she felt her knife slash against one of the pigs, and watch as it simply did nothing. She saw a lightning shape flash on the pigs body as it quickly scurried off, leaving her all by her lonesome again. “I hate this,” she said aloud, looking at her knife pin. It seemed the thing was finally becoming dull to her, in terms of skill. No elemental effect to it was really doing her in, it seemed.

She had been able to take down five or so early on, but now she was scoring nothing. And with no sign of the golden pig, this felt like a challenge she was going to lose.

She sighed, trying her best to calm herself down, thinking of what could be done to help remedy this thing.

“Oh man, you’re doing horrible at this.” Pinkamena turned her head, looking to see Shoka watching her. She was recording with her phone. “And here I thought Minerva had actually been able to pick up a decent player.”

“Didn’t see you yesterday,” Pinkamena responded, catching her breath.

“Like I told you before, this isn’t my normal city. I just thought that I’d stop by to see how the game’s going over here since it’s pretty boring in my city,” Shoka explained. She had a smug look on her face. “Seems you haven’t grabbed any new pins or anything since I first gave you that starter. You do know that you’re supposed to change it up when you can, right?” she asked.

“I only learned these things can change yesterday, and my mission yesterday was focused on getting myself new clothes. I’m not exactly fully aware of how this whole thing works,” Pinkamena retorted, snorting. “I’ve fought five of those pigs earlier, and this thing hasn’t changed yet.”

“Those things don’t get you anything good. Just some small cash. If you want to really help get stronger, you have to fight actual noise,” Shoka explained. “Since I’m feeling nice at the moment, I guess I can help a loser like you learn the ropes,” she said, snapping as a large puffer fish like Noise appeared in front of the two.

The giant fish started to attack almost immediately, launching a flurrying of sharp looking quills at the two as they quickly dodged out of the way. “Let’s go in for the kill!” Shoka commaned, Pinkamena annoyingly nodding as they charged at the thing.

She watched Shoka’s fighting style as they took the now defenseless enemy down. Despite looking to be only a teenager, the kitty girl was giving off a lot of powerful energy as she blasted the thing with shots of energy. Was there an aura around her?

After a while the thing turning to static and disappeared, a purple pin dropping to the ground. “And there we go. A new pin for you to use to your own enjoyment,” Shoka explained, tossing it to her. It looked similar to the pin she currently had on, but had bolts of electricity surrounding the knife. “Different pins have different attributes to them. It’ll help your team in the long run to switch it up when you can.”

Pinkamena pocketed her old pin and attached the new one on. She watched as the knife she was holding onto began to crackle. “Anything else I should know?”

“Larger, harder noise drop better pins, usually. I guess you can always try to fight them if you’re feeling lucky. Or if you have a death wish, I don’t really care either way,” Shoka said, beginning to go through her phone.

Pinkamena thought on something before turning to her. “If the game in your town is so boring, why don’t you consider joining this one then? You’re easier to deal with than Minerva, and you’re actually explaining this stuff to me. Hell, you could even join me if you wanted. I don’t think I’m gonna be able to this stuff all by myself.”

Shoka didn’t glance up from her phone as it chimed. She began to quickly text. “Tempting offer, but I don’t work with low promise losers like you. Ask again some other time and maybe I’ll consider it.” She looked up at her. “A few new players have joined the game, all by themselves. Maybe you’ll bump into them during this,” she said, walking past Pinkamena. “One last thing, loser. Think about a team name for your group. Makes it easier to look at your accomplishments when you’re done for the day,” she said. “Later, loser.”

Pinkamena watched her walk off, before sighing again. “Alright, let’s find some pigs,” she said, heading off in her own direction. Were there more pigs or was she just seeing things?

“Come on people, if you want a soda, you know that you have to pay for it!” Grey shouted, watching people awkwardly crowd around the store’s fridge, grabbing for drinks. This pig hunt thing had gotten a lot of people in town out and about, with it becoming a mess outside. Tower Records was one of the places people had been flooding, to rest or work out a strategy thanks to how big the place was.

“If you really want take home the win, maybe you need the right music!” Melody called out, pushing a stand of discounted CDs near the customers. “We got a bunch of sales going on, with both old and new releases. Make yourself your own hunting mix tape and see if that gives you the boost you need.” She paused, thinking, before quickly adding. “Get half off your drinks when you buy two CDs!” she shouted, the two girls watching as the crowd began to spread out throughout the store to find any music to buy. Melody winked at Grey as she joined her behind the register.

“You’re good at this stuff,” Grey said, smiling.

“Oh please, it’s just taking the chance when an opportunity arrives, you know?” Melody replied, as the door to the shop opened and someone walked in. “Hopefully, Pinkamena’s been able to find that gold pig and we don’t have to worry about it over our break,” she continued, looking at the time.

Grey nodded, watching everyone throughout the store. “I’ll just be happy when this stupid hunt ends period. This is a nice crowd, but barely are gonna buy anything. We’re probably losing money on drink sales something from this,” she said as the figure approached them at the register. “Welcome to Tower Records, you looking for something in specific?” Grey asked as they looked.

“Yeah,” the figure said, grabbing Grey by the collar. “You two,” they said, throwing her out the front door and onto the ground.

Somehow, Pinkamena had ended up on the edge of town near the swimming pond. She just needed this as a reason to get away from all the chaos that was going on. There had been more pigs popping up, and more and more people were joining in on the hunt. It was total insanity, even for someone like her.

She slowly took a seat and let out a slow deep breath, feeling like it would best to just cut her loses and let someone else catch the stupid pig, if it was even really out there.

“oink.”

Her ears perked up as she heard the sound of a singular pig. Looking up, she could see the golden pig, watching her from nearby. “…Well then, guess this is it,” she said, slowly getting to her feet and summoning a knife into her hands.

Immediately at the sight of the knife, the pig’s eyes widened as it bolted off in an opposite direction… only for it to fall into the nearby sand. “What the…” Pinkamena said, slowly walking to where she had seen the pig fall in.

She suddenly could feel another presence nearby as she looked around. She watched as a woman stared at her from a distance, crouching near the edge of where the pig had gone. “Hey, did you do that?” Pinkamena called out to her.

The woman slowly stood tall, slinging a shovel over her shoulder. She smiled as Pinkamena got a good look in at her. She had short, black hair and pale skin, with it only being offset with what looked like peach colored eye shadow. Everything she wore was camo colored, including the gloves she was wearing. The only real clothes that she had on seemed to be a bra and bottom. Everything else seemed to be just pockets… and a rather large amount of grenades. In place of her left leg was bone white prosthetic one.

Pinkamena’s grip on her knife tightened as she watched the woman. “Tell me…” the woman called out to her, her voice having hints of an accent. “Do you like fighting?”

Pinkamena thought on it. “…I suppose I do.”

“Do you like killing?”

She could feel the hairs on her arm stand up at this. “… It’s the only way I could truly live, for a while.”

“Do you like fear?”

“... I can’t say.”

“Do you… accept death?”

Pinkamena paused, before looking straight at her. “It’s the only true way my story can end. And I’m going to assume, that the same can be said of you, as well.”

The woman’s smile grew. “It is the only true outcome for those such as ourselves. Our growth is stained with the blood of others,” she said, looking down at the pig. “Taking this pig down, is how one wins for the day, right?” she asked, pointing her shovel down at the thing.

“It is. You must be one of the new players, right?” Pinkamena asked, moving towards her. “It seems that the only way for this to end, is for you to show me what all those grenades you have are for, huh?”

“There is no other,” the woman explained, grabbing a handful, tossing them at her.

Pinkamena could feel the heat as she dodged out of the way, a pillar of flames filling up the air. She felt her knife crackle with energy. This was going to be a long day.

Grey was panting as her and Melody kept their distance from their attacker. She was a deadly looking blonde, with every bit of clothes that she wore being red and white. Even her arms had red lines painted on them. She had an energy to her that just wouldn’t quit.

“You can keep your distance as much as you want,” she called out, stretching her arms out, “you know that I can close the distance easily.”

Grey simply growled, using her pin to shoot ice pillars up from the ground. The woman was able to dodge out of their way, dashing at them and ready to strike.

The two dodged out of the way, Melody firing music notes at her and actually hitting her a few times. “You know, the target for today is a pig! Hell, we’re not even going after the damn thing!” she shouted at the woman, watching her turn and quickly high kick at her. The speed and reflexes this woman had were almost unreal!

“I was only told to take you two down, and that’s what I’m going to do. I don’t care about any of these stupid pigs,” she explained, continuing to kick at Melody as she dodged and dodged. “Shame that you two aren’t any kind of expert,” she lamented, as she grabbed Melody, ready to throw her.

Grey shot an ice pillar up between the two, the woman letting go before it hit. She then quickly fired another ice pillar up from under her feet, knocking the woman back. “Yeah, well, I never asked to be in this stupid game either, so I want nothing to do with you! I’m already dealing with a parole officer up my ass, so if you can just stop with this stupid task!”

The woman simply got up, quickly dodging behind Grey as she punched her twice and knocked her down the ground with a harsh kick. The way she held herself, the way she could move… what was this woman?

Melody watched from afar, cursing as her pin recharged. “Damn it, she’s too fast on her feet…” she muttered, before her eyes widened as saw her pin begin to glow. “A mutation…” she said, watching as the image on her pin was now that of a boom box. “Yeah… yeah, that’ll do it. Hey, jackass!” she shouted out, the woman looking at her.

“Listen to these funk fresh beats, courtesy of one Melody Black!” she shouted, before putting her hands out. A large circle opened up in the ground under the woman and Grey, as loud music music started to play out from it. Their sound and impact was so heavy that it sent the woman flying up into the air, helpless to get out. “Grey, give it all you got!”

Grey, getting back up on her feet, nodded as she felt her pin glow as she charged it up as much as she could. “Hope this helps you get the hint!” she shouted, sending a gigantic pillar up from the ground as Melody stopped the music, dropping the woman to the ground… having her be only a few mere inches away from the pillar.

The woman slowly looked up as the two stood over her. “Listen… you can attack us again if you wish, but neither of us really want to impale a random stranger today… maybe if you take down the golden pig, you can get the same result as if you killed us. Is that alright with you?” Grey asked, the two watching her response.

The woman slowly sat up on her behind, wiping the sweat from her brow. “… Alright, I suppose that can work, I guess. No point in wasting time on people who don’t even know how to properly fight anyways,” she lamented, before getting up to her feet and checking to see if her boots had been damaged. After seeing so signs of dirt, or blood, she looked at the two. “So. Where’s the third one?”

Pinkamena’s body felt tired and sore at the moment, and yet she didn’t want to stop. This woman in front of her, this woman knew what she was doing. She had never been the type to view her work as something greater, and wasn’t the type to being into things like a ‘hunt’ or those types of mentality… but this was making her truly feel alive.

Her knife struck down against the woman’s shovel, sparks flying as she tried her best to back the woman up, knowing there just had to be more than one hole in the area.

“This skill, it has been too long since I have faced one with it,” the woman said, wining the clash and knocking Pinkamena back with a hearty swing. She then pulled tossed a grenade to her feet, watching as Pinkamena moved back even more… to fall right into one of the holes she had dug.

Pinkamena’s eyes widened as she saw a number of grenades drop into the hole with her. Thankfully, adrenaline was doing a damn good job of keeping her going, helping her climb out just as they all went off. Looking at the woman, she could see that they were both tiring out from going at it like this. And neither would have weapon access forever.

She charged at her again, dodging grenade after grenade as she closed it. “Sorry, but I’m taking that stupid pig this time!” she shouted, swinging again at the shovel as her opponent guarded. She used this guard to kick the shovel against her chest, knocking the wind out.

Pinkamena let a few more slashes out, feeling her knife disappear as the woman fell to her side. Pinkaemena was left standing, she had one.

”Alright, that was… something,” Pinkamena said, slowly looking over to the hole where the pig had fallen in to. “I’ll ask after I’m done with this.”

The woman slowly sat up, slowly grabbing a grenade. “Truly, a shame. Another loss, immediately… I suppose there is no point in delaying the next part.”

Pinkamena watched her, confused. “What are you-”

The woman put the grenade into her mouth and pulled the pin, a smile on her lips.

In a split second, Pinkamena felt heavy fear, anxiety and dread wash over her at the realization. Before she could fully comprehend what was going on, she used all the force she had left in her body to swat the grenade out from her mouth. It went flying into the pig hole.

“Oi-”

A pillar of flames erupted up from the hole, a small amount of what looked like golden dust and smoke wafting up from the hole.

Pinkamena was heaving, with sweat rolling down her forehead. “What the hell was that?!”

“I lost. Loss is fatal,” the woman explained. “You did not need to step in like that, interfering with my fate.”

“...I wasn’t in the mood to see or be covered in your exploded brain bits,” Pinkamena responded, slowly calming herself down. She didn’t even know this woman, why did she just step in like that?!

“Hey, are you guys alright? What the hell was with all those explosions?” Pinkamena sat up, seeing Grey and Melody running towards them. There was a blonde woman with them, but she didn’t seem as interested in what just happened.

“Long story,” Pinkamena responded. “But, the good news is I took care of the stupid pig. I think. Who’s the new girl with you?”

“Jeane,” the blonde said, stepping forwards. “seems like I would’ve had more fun with you.”

“And this is…” Pinkamena looked to the woman as she slowly pushed her off.

“I am Holly Summers,” she explained, getting to her feet. “She did put up a fight that I was not ready for,” she said to Jeane. She slowly made her way over to the blonde. “I will assume those two did not provide the fight you were looking for.”

“Bingo. Were you the one that killed the pig?”

“It was my grenade that did the creature in.”

“Hey, sorry to cut in, but were both of you sent to hunt the pig, or take us down? Cause you said you were looking for us!” Grey shouted, pointing at the two as the got angry.

“We were given the chance to do either. We went for both,” Jeane responded, looking around the area. “That woman pulled us into this. Where is she?”

Pinkamena already knew who did this, able to tell both women suffered the same annoyances that she had… so at least she wouldn’t have to go it alone, right? “…If you two are talking about who I think you are, she’ll be here soon. We got the stupid pig, so that’s gotta mean her game is…” she trailed off as she could see others approaching. “Damn it.”

“Hey, what the hell happened?” a young man shouted, seeing the bits of golden dust that still lingered in the air. “I-is the hunt over? Who won?!”

Grey and Melody watched him, before sighing. “I think it’s over Max. The golden pig’s done. Is that why you weren’t in for work, cause of this stupid thing?” Grey asked.

“That prize the trash heap lady was offering sounded huge! I don’t wanna work at a shitty record store for the rest of my life!” he responded, growing more visibly angry and humiliated. Things were starting to feel off.

“I know many of you must be upset that you didn’t win, and I do agree that the golden pig was maybe a bit cheap,” Twilight explained, trying to calm everybody down as she moved to the front of the growing crowd. “but, who knows, maybe there’ll be another just like this one soon! We should all just take a deep breath and wait for the results and-”

“Where’s the Goddamn pig?!” Max shouted, rushing towards the princess as a glowing energy blade emerged from his hand.

Before he could get his first slash in, he was quickly grabbed and tossed to the ground. Jeane stood above him, cracking her knuckles. “We took the pig. We got the points. Do you understand that yet?” she asked, watching as he slowly got to this feet and scurried away from her.

“W-well, if you have the pig… we just gotta take you down, right? Come on boys,” he cried out, three other guys forming around him. “Let’s take these ladies down!”

“Ladies and gentlemen, those listening in and watching!” Pinkamena scowled as she could hear the joy in Minerva’s voice. “Today has taken an unexpected change! We’ve shifted from a pig hunt, to our first Equestian Slam! Who could’ve seen such results happening?!” From the tone of her voice, she did.

“Damn it Max, what the hell is wrong with you?!” Grey shouted, her and Melody getting into fighting position.

Pinkamena looked over to Holly. “You gonna help me in this?”

Holly seemed to dig in one of her pockets, pulling out a pin of her very own. “I suppose I can see where this goes. And I would be a horrible partner if I were to let Jeane take them all on by herself.”

“On your mark!”

“We’re gonna take the prize, no one stands in the way of these boys!” Max shouted, him and his crew’s pins glinting.

“Get set!”

Pinkamena could see Twilight and the others grouping up as well, another group of angry pig hunters ganging up on them.

“SLAAAAM!”

Get Ready!

Are you Ready?

“Still just a bud…”

The group watched as Max tried to rush in again, Jeane uppercutting him and slamming him back down to the ground with a powerful kick.

Another member of his group stood his distance, smirking as he pointed at the blonde. A large looking beam of red energy fired at her, knocking her back. A man next to him held his hands up, a giant bus appearing over his head.

“Oh what the hell kind of game is this?!” Grey shouted, fruststated as she had a giant pillar of ice appear under the two, knocking them aside as the bus went flying and vanished into nothing.

The fourth man started running, firing off blasts of what looked like ice, as he began to panic.

“Ah ah ah, not letting more cheap shots in during this thing!” Melody said, putting her hands out as another sound circle opened up on the ground, sending him flying into the air. She looked back to Holly and Pinkamena. “One of you two, go for it!”

“I have an idea,” Holly said, pushing her shovel head against the ground. “Get on.”

Pinkamena stepped on, unsure of what would happen next. She wasn’t expecting Holly to use the thing to basically catapult her to the floating target. But, she wouldn’t let the moment go to waste! She launched into a fury of slashes, sending her victim flying back and hitting an unseen barrier. He was then hit again and again by number of rockets, sending him the ground.

Holly smiled as she looked at her pin. “This, this shall do for now,” she happily said, before looking over to Jeane. Her partner and Max were still going at it, the two trading blows and slashes. Holly kept her sights on him, numerous targets appearing on him as she used the last of her pin’s energy at the moment to fire another barrage at him.

Jeane was more than happy to knock the stunned fool back after the assault on him finished. “What a joke.”

“An unfunny one at that,” Holly added.

Pinkamena felt the last of her remaining adrenaline slowly running out as she charged at the guy blasting energy. Extremely hot, but not a total defeat if she got hit by it. She would just have to tank right through it near the end.

“Damn it, we’re not gonna loose!” he shouted, firing right at her… only for an ice pillar to trip him up, and right into an attack from Pinkamena.

“People like you really need to learn how to shut up more.”

Grey rolled her eyes and scoffed, before quickly bolting out of the way as a phone booth nearly dropped on her.

The guy was laughing, summoning a large car as slid across the ground, getting closer. “I’m not gonna let you do something really stupid!” Melody said, blasting him up into the air. A missile barrage was able to help make sure he didn’t try again.

“This battle is near it’s end,” Holly added, everyone looking to see as Max was getting back up. The rage in his face grew as a summoned a larger energy blade into his hand.

“Hey, losers!” The group turned to see Shoka watching from the sidelines. “You’ve worked together enough to do a mashup and take em down! Or are you gonna drag this out longer than it should?”

The group nodded in agreement, a plan already firm in their head.

Max tried to rush them, but Melody easily lifted him into the air. An ice pillar grazed his side, sending him spinning wildly. Leaping into the air, Pinkamena and Jeane were able to give him a take down in a beating of aerial punches and cuts, the two moving away as another missile barrage helped make sure he didn’t get back up.

Threat Muted!

Clapping filled the air as Minerva approached the group. “Oh, that was truly fantastic! Didn’t think it’d get to this level of excitement and passion so quickly! You probably brought in some big numbers! And only on day three, this is such good stuff!”

She only chuckled as she felt death glares that were being shot at her. “I’m also happy to see that you’ve met up with the two new players. I mainly hoped that them being here would mean that Pinkamena over here wouldn’t have to do things by her lonesome for the rest of the week.”

“I’m not going to stop working at my job over some dumb game!” Grey said, before looking over at Max. “Though… I think someone might be able to cover for me and Mel for the rest of the week.”

“What’s the prize? We took down the pig, so we won, right?” Jeane asked.

“Well, you see, it’s different for actual players in the Reaper’s game, you know,” Minerva explained. “You’re still the top team on the board, and this victory adds up in the end. It’s gonna be harder for another team to sweep the top, but there’s still four days left, I suppose. Who knows what could happen next!” she laughed, before looking over to Shoka. “I must say, are you considering that offer I gave you?”

Shoka simply shrugged, going on her phone. “Shibuya gets so boring with this current set of players. Thought I’d come over here to see how it was going, and to see if you were going to keep messing up.” She smirked.

“Well, it’s best you get back there soon, hm? Hate for either of us to get in major trouble this early on, you know?” she said, before turning to leave. “I must go and congratulate the other team that won today! They’re on the other side of town, and I’d hate to keep a magic user waiting, you know?” She began to walk off, before stopping and turning her head. “So, you pick out a team name yet, Diane?”

Pinkamena looked at all her teammates, and thought on it. She smiled as the perfect name came to her head. “Yeah, I got one.”

Dinner was mostly uneventful. Grey’s kitchen was desperately in need of a restock, so it was decided that the welcome meal for the new members of the team would come tomorrow.

The prize from the pig hunt wasn’t a total bust, as Jeane and Holly were given complimentary rooms at a nearby inn to stay at for the rest of the game, though that probably would’ve been given out even if they didn’t win.

It was another quiet night, with Melody staying the night once again. Breakfast leftovers made for a decent dinner.

Pinkamena looked at herself in the mirror as steam slowly began to fill up the bathroom. None of Holly’s attacks had left any kinds of serious marks. That was a relief.

Her body was feeling weird. Like she could feel life slowly making its way back to her, but also like there were still parts missing. She sighed, shaking her head as she stepped into the showers. Cleaning her body scars usually helped clean up her mind in times like this.

Meanwhile, Grey and Melody snuggled in bed. Today had sucked all of the energy out of them, and it was probably best to turn in early in case things got even worse tomorrow. After being attacked by a co-worker and his weird friends, it was nice to know that you at least had your girlfriend.

Meanwhile, Holly and Jeane got set up for the night in their room. Both didn’t say much to the other as they got comfy in their beds, turning on the tv to drown out the silence.

There was a lot the two needed to talk about, but neither felt in the mood to do so at the time being… but there was something nice about not being alone this first night back.

Shoka looked up at the giant castle of friendship as she pulled out her phone. If this was the town’s equivalent to the 104, it desperately needed a redesign. She heard it ring a few times before the other side picked up. “Yeah, it’s me. I’m fine. Today went well actually. I know, right?”

She listened to the other side for a bit, before responding. “Seems like it’s only just Minerva running things for now. No signs of Leilani or anyone else at all. I think she just started this herself and hopes no one notices. Though if she broadcast the last part of today, I doubt it’ll be for much longer.” Shoka paused, listening. “The two new players she added aren’t from here either. They’re both foreign, but I can’t place from where. They’re part of Pinkamena’s team. They even got themselves a team name now.”

Shoka smirked as she glanced over to the lights at the tree house going out for the night. “I think they’re showing potential. Def should focus on them. Their name? Oh right, it’s…”

Day 3 - Killer Remixes - END

Author's Note

I deliberately hid the title of this chapter to go along with the team name reveal. I think it's clever. I wrote these two chapters to try and see how I could write action scenes as well as see if Neo's combat could be replicated in writing. Probably not the best, but I'm working on it. Feedback and comments are greatly appreciated for this kinda stuff!

Anyways, this chapter went up at the right time because the awards for the Game Awards 2021 have went up and neither Neo: Twewy or No More Heroes 3 have been nominated for anything and that is just a crime against all things decent. To spite them, I am going to write for characters from both series that I love and wanted to get more attention! That'll show them!

And yes, questions are always open for anyone of the Killer Remixes. I'll try my best to put them in at moments that don't break the flow or anything, so ask away!