Chapter 2
Edited by: Lord of Nothing

Several bolts of lightning flash in the dark sky as the storm continues to power on. The schedule the pegasi were given said that it should be clear later on, but that didn't seem to calm down anypony one bit.

Where we once focused on Berry, his past, present, and the arrival of a mysterious guest, we now turn our attention towards a tree-library near the center of town. Inside, we see Twilgiht Sparkle, curled up by the fireplace, with a blanket drapped over her body to keep her warm, but still, she shivered.

With her arms holding her legs close to her chest, she couldn’t bring herself to stop thinking about what she'd seen at Sugarcube Corner. Her mind wouldn't allow her to un-see the bloody affair, where her best friend, Pinkie, was cut and covered in blood from head-to-toe, completely naked as Berry stood over her.

Twilight had found herself waking up too many times in the middle of the night, screaming wildly as she swore to Celestia that Berry sat waiting in the shadows. Even Dusk Shine, the seemingly emotionless stallion that he is, was momentarily brought silent by any mention of the event.

Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones that were damned to relive that night.
After the incident, the Cakes had to close up the shop for an indefinete amount of time to recover. Everypony in Ponyville felt sympathetic towards them, as they knew they would've done the same.

Also hearing about the night were the Princes and Princesses. They felt horrid, as, much like Twilight, they had grown fond of her five friends. They told the group to have faith in Pinkie, assuring them her recovery would be a quick one, and that Berry would pay for his awful deed.
However, back in the present, the party-pony was still stuck in Room 4A, and all that had happened to her male counterpart was that he was sitting in solitary confinement somewhere. Twilight knew that she should take care in the fact that Berry couldn't hurt her friend anymore, but she was still confused by the whole thing, as Berry had never showcased any violent tendencies before.

“I just don't get it..." says Twilight, using her magic to tuck the blanket closer to herself.

“Are you still worried about Pinkie?” said a voice from behind her, the figure laying a hand on her shoulder.

Twilight looked back to see Dusk Shine, a small smile on his face and a hot cup of tea in his hand. She nods, then grabs the cup around the handle before turning back and facing the fireplace.

"Yeah...” she trails off. “Oh, Dusk! If...If only we knew something was wrong between them, none of this would've happened!”

“Hey, Twilight, don't worry...” he says, turning her around and pulling her into a hug, his arms locking behind her.

“I’m sure Berry didn’t know what he was doing. You heard it just like me; the doctor said he was mentally unstable.”

He sighs, releasing the unicorn, his arms falling back down to his own sides.

The room falls quiet, save for the pitter-patter of rain against the window, and the sip Twilight takes of her tea. The fireplace cackles with heated life as the storm rages on outside, and Dusk makes it his new job to watch the stray embers that fly from the logs.

Twilight lets herself heave a sigh, and then leans into Dusk's body, placing her tea to the side as her head falls onto his lap. She stretches, letting the rest of her straighten out across the cold, wooden floor.

(Six months ago at Sugarcube Corner)

Everypony around the shop was having the time of their lives. Berry and Pinkie had really out-done themselves with this year's Hearts and Hooves Day party, which they held annually for all of Ponyville's loving couples, and one could clearly see that Twilight Sparkle and her friends were each spending quality time with their male counterparts.

Rarity and Elusive were busy acting lovey-dovey with each other.

Applejack and Aj (her male friend) were talking, but both could barely hear over the music playing.

Rainbow Dash and Rainbow Blitz were hoofwrestling, each boasting about how they were stronger than the other.

Fluttershy and Butterscotch were being quiet, as usual, but cuddling over in the corner near the locked register.

Finally, Twilight and Dusk were clumsily making their way through what was assumed to be the dance-floor.

“This party is totally awesome! Don’t think, Dusk Shine?” asked Twilight enthusiastically.

“I couldn't agree more!” he yelled, wanting to make himself heard over all of the activity. “I just wonder where Berry and Pinkie are!”

"What do you mean? They're right over...there..." she trails off, spinng all the way around, scanning the room for the two hosts.

"Oh, that's odd! I hope they aren't hurt!"

"Just don’t worry about them! I’m sure this is all part of a suprise or something!” Dusk says, a smile on his face.

She chuckles, "Well, alright! Hey, wanna dance?”

Dusk blushes and nods. Moments later, the two eggheads walk back into the crowd, and began to shake wildly to and fro.

The party went on for about three more hours, and, throughout the whole thing, there was still no sign of Berry or Pinkie. Twilight, Dusk, and the others were starting to get worried.

Rainbow Dash was the first to speak up, saying, "Where the hay are those two? They practically missed the whole party!”

Rarity looked over at her. "Now, Rainbow, I am sure they are just preoccupied with something else. You know how those two can get when they're left together."

“I know, but they’ve been gone for the whole party, and even you should know that the only thing that'd get between her and a party is like, death, or something."

Everypony was concerned about the two, but none of them felt like they had to say anything.
Twilight excuses herself to get some punch. Dusk Shine, being the gentlecolt he is, assists her with the simple task. On their way, they bump into Mr and Mrs Cake, who were making small-talk.

“Hello, you two. Have either of you seen Berry or Pinkie? We think something could've happened to them, especially since they missed out on their own party," said Twilight, looking between the husband and wife.

Mrs. Cake spoke for both her hisband and herself, saying, “That certainly is strange. Oh, the last time I saw them, they were headed down to the basement. From what you're saying, it sounds like they’ve been in there for a quite awhile.”

“That’s probably it. Where's the basement?”

“Behind that door over there, then take the stairs down," answered Mr. Cake.

Both of the lavender ponies thank the two, then head the eay they were told. Dusk Shine opens the door, and, as he did, the faint smell of disgusting, rotten filth infiltrated their nostrils. Twilight quickly pinched her nose.

“Oh, sweet Celestia! What is that smell?!”

Dusk Shine, catching a whiff, covers his nose as well.

“Ugh, it smells like somepony died in there. Who wouldn't have known about this?”

While they tried not to vomit, they heard what sounded like somepony laughing coming from the other side. They both look at each other, Twilight wearing a less serious look on her face.

"See?" she whispered. "They're just having a bit of fun on their own."

"I don't know. I can't hear Pinkie, just Berry."

Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Fine, we'll go down and check on them, but when you find out I'm right, you have to take me out tonight."

He smiled, feeling reassured, nodding as he contemplated where to go after the two of them left, just in case she was right.

Both descended the small flight of stairs. The sound of laughter grows louder and louder as approach the base.

Once they reached the bottom, they looked around the dimly-lit room, and could still hear somepony laughing, but this time, they heared another sound:

A groan.

Twilight blushes, then raises her hand to the doorknob, looking over at Dusk, silently preparing an excuse for the party ponies, should they see something they weren't meant to.
Slowly, she turns the knob, and the door seems to open itself, and, where once stood two purple ponies, now stood two white ones.

Pinkie was lying on her back, Berry straddling her waist, both of them naked and covered in each other's blood.

Pinkie looks as if she was about pass out from all the cuts on her body. Her eyes are cold and her eyelids droop, worrying the two unicorns that they might already be too late.

Twilight has her mouth covered and her eyes wide. Dusk Shine felt his whole body shake, both out of fear and rage.

“B-Berry? W-what are you...what is this?”

The party stallion looks up at his friend with dull, blue eyes that froze Dusk where he stood.

Slowly,, he looked back down at the mare beneath himself, pressing the sharp object in his hand to her throat.

Dusk took a step towards him.
“Berry, don’t you dare hurt Pinkie! Are you fucking insane?!”

Twilight takes her own step forward, making sure to stand behind Dusk, and holding her hands out infront of her.

“Please, Berry, this isn’t like you. Just...just put the knife down so we can sort things out.”

“Yeah, Berry. Like Twilight said, we can help you, and—”

“Berriswainer.”

Both Twilight and Dusk Shine exchanged confused looks. Dusk had known that Berry told him and the other colts his real name, but he had always wanted them to go with "Bubble Berry".
Berriswainer glanced back at his smart friend and smiled.

“My name is, and always will be, Berriswainer, not Berry.”

*SLICE*

And with it came a gush of blood, which spilled forth from the pink mare's throat.
Screams of bloody murder caught everypony off-guard, including the group of six mares and stallions that rushed in at the worst possible time.

Everypony in the party had to evacuate the building as the police came crashing through the door. Paramedics followed shortly after, and both parties left almost at the same time, Pinkie on her way to the hospital as Berry was gifted a free ride with two officers. The ten friends could do nothing more than watch in shock as the two chariots went away in opposite directions.

Fluttershy was absolutely mortified, but she had Butterscotch, and everypony knew that that was better than anything she could've received from them. He calmed her down enough for him to help get her back home.

The others also parted in due time, hoping to be updated on Pinkie and the status of Berry’s inevitable trial.

Twilight shakes her head, clearing the images from her mind. After the incident, she immediately sent to Princess Celestia, informing her of what had happened. No less than a day later, she and her friends had to come to Canterlot for Berry's trial. Since the judge couldn't send Berry to prison due to his “mentally” unstable personality, he was forced to place him in an asylum instead.

As for Pinkie’s condition? She's stable, but in a coma from the massive loss of blood. Twilight and the girls were very saddened to hear, but they had their lovers with them, and they knew that Pinkie wouldn't have wanted them to sit around and mope.

A riotous banging came from the front door of the library, causing both her and Dusk to jump. Dusk walks to the door as the banging continues. He opens it, and there, soaked from head-to-toe, stand Fluttershy and Butterscotch, huddled close together.

Twilight shot up, staring wide-eyed at the door, her mouth agape.

“Fluttershy?! Butterscotch?! What are you two doing out in the storm like this?!”

As she gets closer, towels in her hands, her shy friend runs to her and begins to cry.

“Oh, Twilight! It’s horrible, just horrible!” Fluttershy wails, hugging Twilight tightly as tears continue to run down her cheeks.

“What’s horrible? What’s wrong?”

“It’s... It’s..." she tries to say something, to warn her friends of what could become of them, but finds herself unable to, and Butterscotch takes over.

“It’s Pinkie,” he said, stepping infront of her. "We went to see if we could visit her, but when we got to the hospital, everypony was loosing their minds."

“What do you mean? What happened?” Dusk asked, panic rising in his voice.

Fluttershy managed to regain control of herself, saying, “Well, we asked a nurse if we could see Pinkie, and she said...oh, she said..."

"Spit it out!" Twilight yells, having quickly grown impatient after the pegasus trailed off.

"Pinkie's not in her room!”

Author's Note

Chapter 2 is finally up! Sorry to keep you waiting on this chapter. Thanks you all for your patience and liking the story so far. Also, I like to thank my editor, Lord of Nothing, for making the story more potential in on it. I kind of wish I could be a better writing since I really such a grammar though. -_-;

Chapter 3 is on a long progress since I've been working other stuff. So, until then, look out for chapter 3 coming soon. Enjoy!