Adventures Are No Fun.

Glitter gently pet Screeche's soft mane. She didn't know what else to do. Her back throbbed with pain. In hindsight trying to tryin lift Screech was a bad idea. Second was grounded. Success was... with his friends?

Chaste sat on Screeche's back watching Glitter.

Screech hissed in her sleep. Her wings twitched. She jumped up gasping for breath. Tears ran down her face. "I am not a monster!" she snapped. She fell into Glitters chest. "I am not," she mumbled.

"Are you feeling okay?" asked Glitter.

Screech slid to the ground. Her eyes closed. "No. I am so ti-" She dropped off to sleep.

Glitter kissed her little filly's forehead.

Screech woke in Glitter's fore hooves.

Glitter sat staring off into the distance.

"Are you alright?" asked Screech.

Glitter didn't blink.

Screech leaned into her mother's embrace. She had grown so much since her mama last hugged her. She wondered if she would like her mama's hugs less now. Could Glitter replace her mother? Could she take away all of the pain and self loathing and replace it with hugs and pudding? Could Glitter fix her?

Screech shook. She hiccupped before she started sobbing.

Glitter held Screech tighter. "It is okay. I am here for you."

"I miss my mama," cried Screech.

Glitter squeezed Screech with all her might. "It is okay. I am here for you." She rubbed Screeche's back until she calmed down.

Screech wiped the tears off her cheek. "I am sorry."

"There is nothing to be sorry about," assured Glitter. "I miss my mom too." She sighed. "There is only one difference between grown ponies and young ponies. Grown ponies only think about themselves."

"Why were you sleeping out here?" asked Glitter.

Screech blushed. "My OCD was acting up. I feel better now."

"I will have you out of Cloudsdale soon," assured Glitter.

Screech and Glitter sat on the ground holding each other for a while longer.

Screech knocked on the dark oak door. She heard ponies moving around inside the house. She tried to be patient and count to ten. She knocked again when she reached four.

The door eventually swung open. A dark blue mare hovered so she could stare down at Screech. "Foreigners have no etiquette," she muttered loudly enough to be heard two rooms away. "I am busy." Note swung the door half shut.

Screech put up a hoof and held the door open. "Are you Doctor Note?" asked Screech politely. Her big smile showed off her fangs.

Note flew back two hooves. "I have guests over," she declared. "I am not giving you any money."

Screech hissed.

Note turned pale. "I will give you all the money I have on me. Just go!"

"I am not here for your money!" growled Screech. "I need a therapist. I tried to find you at your office. I followed your scent here. I know I am being rude but this is an emergency."

Note regained her color. "I can't help you. I am very busy."

Screech flared her wing. She cut clean through the door.

"I have an opening tomorrow at nine."

Screech smiled. "My brother will be there. Do the best you can for him. This is a matter of life and death." She turned to leave then turned back. "Just to be clear if you don't help my brother I am going to murder you."

"I understood," assured Note.

Screech blushed. "Good. I have trouble communicating sometimes. Doctor Red says when I have something to say I should state it in as clear a way as possible. That way everypony knows exactly what I need and expect from them."

Note nodded. She stared at her phone out of the corner of her eye.

"I am sorry. I know this is wrong, but I don't know what else to do. When I think about Second I can't breathe. When I try to not think about him I can't breathe. I know he needs help and I don't know how to help him. I don't like feeling useless. This is the only option I have. I can't do nothing while he suffers. Thank you for agreeing to help him." Screech trotted away.

Note grabbed the phone and called the police.

Screech looked up at a mannequin. The lights in Princess Faison were so bright she needed her sunglasses. "Would you mistake this thing for a pony at twenty hooves?"

Razzle shrugged. "What do you think of this dress?" She held up a silver dress covered in rhinestones.

Screech squinted. She could only see a bright light. "You are blinding me. It is darker outside."

Razzle looked up. "They must want us to be able to see the clothe."

The floor and walls were covered with shiny objects. Two disco balls hung from the ceiling. The store was more disorienting than a rollercoaster.

Screech covered her sunglasses with a hoof. "That is one possibility. I genuinely can not see what you are holding."

Razzle cocked her head. She needed a moment to decide if her friend was being sarcastic. "This store was not made with bat ponies in mind. Do you want one?"

"I can't even see it."

"No the mannequin. I can buy it for you."

"I don't know. When I looked at it I thought of a horrible way to punish the ponies of Cloudsdale. I would need a lot of them."

Razzle smiled an ugly smile. "How can I help?"

"I need a lot of red paint just an excessive amount, six Wonderbolt uniforms, twenty mannequins and a known artist."

Razzle laughed. "This is going to be great." She picked up another dress. It looked like a pink light. "How much light does Laspegasus get? It is supposed to be bright."

Screech shrugged. "The Laspegasus rodeo is pretty bright. They put rhinestone on the cupcakes. Stich chipped a tooth on one. You will fit right in with that... dress?"

"I should get sunglasses just to be safe. What brand do you wear?"

"I don't know. My mama always bought them for me. This pair was given to me by Rainbow Dash at the Ponyville rodeo."

Razzle's mouth dropped open. "You are being serious!"

Screech nodded. "Do you want them?" She took off her sunglasses and offered them to Razzle. "I would prefer glasses that were not given to me by a Wonderbolt."

"I can't accept those," gasped Razzle. She took the sunglasses and put them on. She grabbed a pair of shiny pink sunglasses off a rack and placed them on Screeche's muzzle. "How do I look?"

"The same but with glasses on."

"I don't look cooler."

"I guess you do."

"How much cooler?"

"What?" Screech cocked her head. "A lot cooler."

Razzle shook her head. "I am embarrassed for you right now." She grabbed two dozen pairs of Princess Luna brand sunglasses. "You have to read The Journal Of Friendship."

"I read Twilight's entries. The others didn't interest me."

"I thought you hated alicorns."

"No. My princess is an alicorn. I hate Celestia. Twilight is okay."

Razzle chuckled. She trotted up to the checkout. "How much for twenty mannequins?"

Screech sat on the table she used to share with Melodie. She hummed a Feather Bangs song and sewed two strips of grey cloth together.

Glitter sat in a chair near Screech and looked at her headshots. She shook her head.

"You look great," assured Screech.

"I don't look like a model," stated Glitter.

"You don't look like a talent scout," corrected Screech.

"I appreciate the trouble you went through, but nopony is going to hire me."

"That is only true because you have not sent out your photos yet."

"I am going to send them out." Glitter took a deep breath. "Do I have to? I look... I can go back to accounting."

Screech focused on sewing her doll. "Do what will make you happy."

Glitter bit her bottom lip. "There can't be any harm in sending out my headshots."

Screech looked at the wall clock. "Where is Success? He should be home by now."

Glitter stared at her pictures. "He is with a friend."

"Which friend? Where are they?"

"I don't know."

Screech hissed. "Glitter! How do you not know where your son is?"

"Nothing bad is going to happen." Glitter looked up from her pictures and saw a fierce glare. "I will call his friends and figure out where he is."

Screech sighed. "Thank you."

Screech walked around Wonderbolt Park with Savage Gust. They took notes and carefully planned out exactly where to pour gallons of red paint.

Razzle trotted up to Screech. She kept her head down.

"Is something wrong?" asked Screech.

"No everything is fine," lied Razzle.

"I am not going to be able to focus on the project until you say why you are upset."

Razzle put on her prettiest fake smile. "Everything is fine."

"Oh." Screech took a deep breath. "I though you trusted me."

Razzle took a step back. "I do trust you. Nothing is wrong."

Screech nodded. "Okay." She went back to working on her project.

Razzle clenched her jaw. Against her better judgment she mumbled, "I lost the sunglasses you gave me."

"I can find them." Screech beamed with pride. "I can track anything by smell. I could find them if they were in Dodge Junction." Her ears flattened on her head. "If they were in Griffon Stone."

"I know where they are. They were stolen."

Screech bared her fangs. "Who stole from you!"

"Calm down," said Razzle softly. "They are just sunglasses."

Screech growled. "Who stole your sunglasses! If you make me search for them I will be even more angry."

"It is not a big deal."

"It is a big deal! You knew how I would react. You told me knowing I would be furious. You want them back badly enough to tell me they were stolen. Who stole them?"

"Treble."

"I thought she was pretending to be your friend."

"She still is."

"I have never stolen from one of my friends. Not even Wild. You two keep working on the project. I will be right back." Screech took off running.

Razzle chased Screech. She lost sight of her friend in seconds.

Screech stared up at Cream Puff Café. She could not reach the cloud the café rested on without flying.

Razzle limped up to Screech. She pulled a muscle in her left hind leg. She gasped for breath.

Screech fought the urges to run in circles and bite somepony. "I hate this town. I hate it so much."

Razzle took a minute to catch her breath. "Please don't do anything you will regret."

Screech held her lasso in her forehooves. "I will not do anything Treble does not make me do."

"Treble is not making you sit here instead of working on your big art thing."

"Yes she is."

"How?"

Screech whipped her tail across the ground. "By stealing your sunglasses."

"I know where she lives. We can go talk to her after you have calmed down."

"I want to talk to her now."

"Plea-"

Treble and four other ponies flew away from the cafè.

Screech threw her lasso catching Treble by the tail. She pulled the filly to the ground (clouds) with ease.

Treble screamed all the way to the ground. She rubbed tears out of her eyes. "That hurt. What is wrong with you?"

"Give Razzle back her sunglasses now!" snapped Screech.

Three fillys landed beside Treble. They tried to look tough.

Treble scoffed. "I don't know what you are talking about."

Screech flared her wing. She sliced into Treble's wing. "I will heal you when you give Razzle her sunglasses back."

Treble passed out at the sight of her own blood.

One of the fillies took off. The other two fillies tried to stop the bleeding.

Razzle looked away from Screech.

"What?" asked Screech defensively.

"What?"

"You want to say something."

"If I wanted to say something I would sat it."

"You are thinking something." Screeche's voice started to shake.

"I think all the time."

"You are thinking I am a horrible pony. You think I am a monster and I should be ashamed of myself."

"That is not what I am thinking."

"Good. I am not a monster. This was not my fault. I was just behaving the best way I could given the circumstances. I would not have hurt her under different circumstances." Screech felt her stomach twisting into knots. She fought the urge to vomit. "It is Treble's fault. She forced my hoof."

Razzle didn't respond. She stared off into the distance.

"Well?" snapped Screech. Tears of guilt built in her eyes.

"Well what?"

"Tell me I am justified," pleaded Screech.

"I was thinking Melodie would be mad."

Screech felt het stomach catch fire. She covered her mouth with both hooves. Vomit ran down her forelegs. She grabbed the bottle of water out of her saddle bag and rinsed out her mouth. She bit Treble's wing. The taste of blood nearly made her vomit again. Her head hurt. Her skull felt like it was filled with twitter mites.

Treble opened her eyes. Despite the dry blood on her feathers her wing was not even sore.

"Treble, I am sorry for hurting you," said Screech. She poked the ground with a hoof. "That was not okay. I immediately regretted my actions. You did not deserve to be hurt. I am sorry."

Treble jumped up and flew away as fast as she could. Her friends followed close behind.

Screech sat on the ground and stared at the dried blood. "Thank you."

Razzle put a foreleg around Screeche's shoulders. "This is what friends are for."

Moss returned with the sunglasses.

The sun rose over wonderbolt park. In the soft glow of the early morning light ponies, cut to pieces, were spread across Wonderbolt Park. Hoof deep puddles of blood covered the ground. Entrails were tied like bows to the benches. Wonderbolts stood proudly among the carnage covered in so much blood only small glimpses of their uniforms could be seen. Birds splashed around in the red paint and perched on the mannequins.

Savage Gust stood among the bodies with Mud Hound. "This work of art is called 'Requital, We Need To Talk'. I made it with the help of an anonymous citizen."

Razzle looked out over the park. "You think this prank is going to get you an audience with the Chief Justice?"

"It is an art piece not a prank," said Screech. "No pony in town will be able to ignore this."

"I thought you were just trying to hurt the ponies of Cloudsdale."

"Art can do many things," said Screech. "When I was decapitating one of the mannequins I though of a promise I made my brother. I hate keeping promises."

Only one hour after the project was complete ponies were creating piles of mannequins and pouring oxidizers on them. One pile was already on fire.

Screech sat by her recently fixed front door. She poured tiny plastic beads into a pony shaped doll through a hole in the head. The doll was half the size of an actual pony.

Second walked through the front door.

Screech jumped up. She stopped just short of tackling her brother. "How was therapy? How do you feel? When are you going back?"

Glitter placed a wing over Screeche's mouth. "One question at a time."

"It was a waste of time," grumbled Second. "I am never going back."

"Oh." Screech looked at the floor. Tears filled her eyes. She choked for breath.

"It was not a complete waste of time," said Second. "I do feel a little better."

Screech wiped away her tears. "Really?"

Second nodded. "Thanks I guess. I don't hate knowing you care about me."

Screech hugged her brother. "I love you too."

Second hugged his sister back.

Screech sat in her closet. She took a deep breath and kissed her hoof made Melodie doll. (She tried practicing kissing her Luna plushy but felt wrong.) She felt horrible, dirty and disgusting. She had to fight the urge to bite her own hoof. She learned to fly with a prosthetic wing. She would learn to like kissing.

A sharp knock came on the front door.

Screech smelled somepony she knew. She opened the door and bared her fangs. "Commissioner, are you here to get your flank kicked?"

Commissioner barely spared the bat pony a glance. "Your little trick worked. Chief Justice Requital requested I escort you to her private estate for a meeting. The old crow has always had a soft spot for foreigners."

Screech could not tell if Commissioner was being honest or just taking the opportunity to insult her. She sniffed the air. There were no other police nearby. "Alright." She cautiously followed Commissioner to the good side of town. The walk took hours.

Screech expected Requital to live in a mansion the size of a farm. She did not expect her to live in a normal house with flowers in the yard and a little blue fence.

Requital sat on her porch in a rocking chair and knitted a winter hat. The light blue mare only looked a few years older than Glitter. Small streaks of grey ran through her gold mane, but her face was as smooth as a foals flank.

"Quit staring and talk to her," barked Commissioner.

Screech hissed at Commissioner before slowly approached Requital. She sat in a rocking chair across form the older mare. "Hello."

Requital smiled. "Hello dearest." Her voice was soft. Her smile genuine and warm. "I am happy you are here."

Screech could not help but smile. She blushed from the attention. "Thanks. I want to ask you a favor."

Requital nodded. "Ask me my dearest."

"That judge. The really bad one you are going to have executed. Could you send him to jail for life instead?"

Requital furrowed her brow. "I would like to kill him."

"So would I," assured Screech. "Murder is wrong. More importantly it would hurt my brother."

Requital let out a long sigh. "I don't know."

"If you think about it this is your fault too. You have been chief justice for hundreds of years. You created the conditions for somepony like him to do what he did."

Requital smiled. "I know. Imagine you are a little filly who lives at the base of a mountain. Your entire town is two hundred ponies. Half way through summer it starts to snow. You watch through a window with envy as the other children have fun. The temperature drops twenty degrees every ten minutes. You put on your warmest clothe. Soon you can see your breaths. As the temperature continues to drop you decide to start a fire. It continues to get colder. You have never started a fire but you assume it would be easier if you were not wearing mittens. Luckily you are too cold to consider taking your mittens off. You manage to get your fire going as your breaths begin to freeze the inside your mouth. You worry you did something wrong or that your god hates you. The fire is not hot. You stick your hooves inside the fire hoping to feel something. You do. Your blood starts to thaw. You hear banging on your front door. One of the children you saw playing in the snow is still outside. The floor between you and the door is forming ice crystals. You look at the thermometer beside your wood stove and realize how cold it is. You realize every winter you were only ten degrees from certain death. After a few minutes the banging stops. You keep the fire going for two days. You don't eat. The short trot to the other side of the kitchen feels like a death sentence. You certainly don't sleep. After two harsh days it finally happens. You run out of wood. You only had enough to last sixty hours. As your fire starts to fade you have two choices. Strip the wood from your walls or accept death. Stripping your walls will keep your fire going but it will let the cold in. Your death will be quicker and more harsh but it will come minutes later. You would strip your walls, but you don't have the strength. You trot to the other side of the room to grab a box of crackers. You pour the crackers onto the floor and throw the box into the fire. As you eat your last meal you can only think one thought. I don't want to die."

Screech stared at Requital. She could not find any words. After three minutes she said, "I am sorry that happened to you and your home. Does that mean you will spare him?"

"No. Pegasi killed my entire town to build a ski lodge. I dedicated my second life to making pegasi suffer. I know I made the conditions for pegasi to do horrible things. I made those conditions on purpose so they would do horrible things to each other. Now I can punish them for doing those horrible things."

Screech snapped the arm rest off her chair. "I don't use this word lightly. You are a monster."

Requital laughed. She laughed. "Yes I am. So are the pegasi. I never forced any hooves. They like things this way. I have been chief justice for three-hundred fifty years. To benefit themselves they would have to benefit other ponies. They would rather have everything be horrible for everypony than help others."

"I noticed," said Screech out of gritted teeth. "You could change that. You could push them in the right direction instead of holding them back." Her teeth hurt.

"I know, but I would rather punish them."

Screech took a deep breath. "I hate it here. I hate myself. I hate you most of all." She could not allow herself to cut Requital's head off. "You are evil. I will depose you."

Requital laughed again. "You are a child."

Screech bared her fangs. "I am Screech Stormchaser. I can't always tell right from wrong, but I could forgive myself if broke half the bones in your body."

Commissioner grabbed his walkie-talkie.

Screech hid her fangs.

Requital just smiled. "I will spare the pig's life. I suspect your grandmother did a better job with you than she anticipated. When you are an alicorn you will truly be unstoppable."

Screech hissed. "You are friends with Munificent. That explains a lot. I can't be an alicorn."

Requital raised a brow. "Why not?"

Screech rolled her eyes. "Because I have one wing and OCD and I am violent and because... I... am me."

"So? Princess Luna was Nightmare Moon. Celestia didn't build this country from the ground, defeat Queen Chrysalis and her changling army several times and ruling for three thousand years without getting a little blood on her hooves. You think she does not know how I have run Cloudsdale for the past three-hundred fifty years? You don't have to be perfect to be an alicorn. You just have to be worthy."

"If you have to think I am worthy then I don't want to be an alicorn,' spat Screech.

"I don't think you are worthy. Not yet. Keep striving to be worthy and in time you will be."

Screech hopped off the rocking chair. "I will be back to stop you. If it takes one hundred years I will save Cloudsdale from you."

Requital smiled. "I don't doubt you dearest. It will take one hundred years."

Screech sat at the still broken kitchen table. She poked her salad with a spoon. She should have been happy Second deigned to eat dinner with his family. She was distracted by thoughts of Requital.

"I have good news," announced Glitter. "I got a job in Monacolt. We are going to live with your grandmare for a little while."

"That is in Horseshoe Bay," said Screech. "I could take the train to from Baltimare to Ponyville and see my friends." She could not get as excited as she wanted. Leaving would be admitting defeat. Staying would accomplish nothing.

"You could move back to Ponyville," said Second. "Mom only adopted you so she could keep this house."

"Would you rather live in Monacolt with us or in Ponyville with your friends?" asked Glitter. She looked pale. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.

Screech bit her bottom lip. "Ponyville with my friends. I am going to Monacolt anyway."

Glitter smiled.

"What kind of model will you be?" asked Screech. "Magazine? Runway? Don't say nude." She went back to poking her salad and feeling weak.

Glitter pressed her lips together. "Well... I am an accountant. I will be working for an ice cream shop."

"Did you send out your headshots?"

"Not yet. I will after we settle into our new home. We leave in three days."

"How do you think Success is going to react to the news?" Asked Second.

"This house is falling down around us," stated Glitter. "Any pony who didn't want to get out of here would need their common sense checked."

"Success does not live here," said Second. "He lives with his friends."

"I will tell him," interrupted Screech.

"Better he hates you than me," said Second. He smirked.

Screeche's heart nearly burst with joy.