Romance and the Fate of Equestria

Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Two

In a grassy field outside of Fillydelphia, the massive event Venni had described was underway, every bit the indescribable amalgamation she had promised. On the outskirts of the event, a massive white stage was set up, surrounded by multicolored lights and backdrops depicting numerous cultures. But in a vast area alongside the main event's stage, thousands of ponies flooded the other attractions: a circus tent, various portable fair rides and carnival booths. Gorgeous dragon-shaped boats raced each other across a lake, while overjoyed young ponies skimmed across the lake's surface inside huge magical bubbles.

Venni led the way through the hustle and bustle, aware through sound rather than sight of the six pony friends expressing admiration of the various attractions they passed.

"Don't get too into it," she snapped, a quaver of rage in her voice. "We'll have plenty of time to do this kid stuff afterward, but let's focus."

All eyes turned to Twilight, who shrugged. "Don't look at me. Venni's in charge here. She knows what she's doing."

"Okay, then allow me to rebut," said Rainbow, turning back to Venni. "Are you sure there'll be an afterward? That we're not on a wild goose chase?"

Venni gnashed her teeth. "You know, as it happens, I don't have a whole lot of credentials, none actually, but I think one thing I am qualified to do is profile Crazyface. I've been hunting the guy, tracing his every move, since I was sixteen."

"That can't be all that long," Applejack said skeptically.

"I'm the same age as Twilight," Venni retorted. "And I can't imagine you being a day older. Those freckles make you look about twelve."

"Oh, I look twelve?" Applejack grumbled, looking Venni over.

"Please, Venni, could you not antagonize… anypony?" Twilight pleaded.

"I'm not interested in making friends or having manners," Venni said harshly. "Not today. Today I'm out for blood." She patted Applejack's shoulder. "Maybe another time."

Pinkie had been staring at Venni in fascination for hours. "You used to be, like, famous, right?" she asked, something she'd clearly been planning to say for quite some time.

"I don't like to talk about it," Venni snarled. "You grok?"

"Yes," Pinkie said in surprise. "I grok in fullness."

Venni looked grudgingly impressed. "Ah. Good to know."

"Still… living off of song royalties, that's gotta be pretty sweet," Rainbow said boldly.

Venni laughed bitterly. "Heh, no I don't. I've been on the road under an assumed identity for nine years. And since I was underage at the time, my so-called mother still gets all the residual junk."

"Oh," Rainbow said awkwardly. "Sorry. Well, I like your music."

"Thanks. So did I, until I had to perform it over and over and over and over and over…" Her voice faded into doglike growls before she regained her composure. "Singing's fine and all, at least I used to think so, but I'm really more into…" She trailed off. "Gardening?" she said, unsure. "I really don't know."

"Aw, don't worry," said Fluttershy, pouting. "You'll have plenty of time for gardening."

Rather than answer, Venni demanded of her, "What are you doing here anyway? I told Twilight not to bring you. It's not safe."

"I'm just here for moral support," said Fluttershy, shrinking a bit under Venni's intense glare. "If a skirmish breaks out, I'll stay on the sidelines, maybe run for help. That's mostly what I do anyway."

"Well, it's been charming getting to know each of you in all your quirkiness," said Venni with acidic sarcasm, "but I'm gonna… yeah, I'm gonna run on ahead to Palak's trailer. Take your time catching up… it's easier for one pony to navigate this crowd."

Without a look back, she vanished into the sea of ponies. Five pairs of eyes turned to Twilight once more.

"Let's spread out," Twilight said decisively. "We all know where we're headed, so let's slip through the crowd individually, just like her. She's right, it'll be faster than if we're all clumped together."

With a single nod, they all obliged, Rainbow taking to the air to navigate the crowds of pegasi, which were significantly less congested but still posed a barrier.

As Twilight made her own way through the masses, she did a double take as she spotted a clown. He wasn't particularly unique as clowns went, with his rainbow-colored afro, baggy yellow bodysuit, and four huge red shoes, but she was quite certain she saw something familiar in the shape of his face and the burning red of his cheerful eyes.

"Hrmm…" Twilight looked around, gauging the general position of her friends; those she could locate by sight were already out of shouting distance, considering the noise of the crowds. Steeling herself to the knowledge that she was on her own, she backtracked and cornered the clown, blocking his path.

"Hey there," she said in what she hoped was a menacing tone.

"Hello," he replied in a soft voice.

"So, a clown, huh?" she said casually. "Unnecessarily creepy, don't you think?"

"Ah, but am I a real clown or am I just somepony dressed up as a clown?" he said, with a slow, broad, terrifying grin. "That's the trick, isn't it? You'll never know."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Seriously, though, why? Just hoping to lend some honesty to that whole 'Crazyface the Clown' joke? Yeah. Venni told me you were never really a clown, and you know that, the joke wasn't even all that funny to begin with."

"That is a factor," Crazyface admitted. "I'm nothing if not honest about what I am and am not."

They stared at each other silently for several moments.

"Well, so nice of you to approach me just to chit-chat!" Crazyface said brightly. "Sporting of you. Now, I really must be going…"

"Stay right where you are," Twilight growled.

He did, smiling at her patiently.

"So, here's the score," said Twilight. "Venni hasn't spotted you yet."

"Venni? Who is… ah, you must mean Loli. Gewgaw, as she tells most folks." He laughed. "No wonder she's so lost and confused. Can't even pick a name and stick with it."

"You have… a choice," Twilight snarled, interrupting him. "You can surrender to me now and I can peacefully take you into custody before Venni can get to you. Or you can refuse to surrender, in which case I will point you out to Venni and she will unleash a lifetime of pent-up fury upon you. I don't think that will be pretty. Then if there's enough of you left to take into custody, well, we'll see. But that's where that one ends too."

"So you're saying we can do this the easy way or the hard way," Crazyface supplied.

"That's a good way to put it, yes," she agreed.

He grinned again, baring his teeth. "I do so loathe the easy way."

He backflipped into the air, in a single motion shredding his clown suit, leaving him in his natural state, apart from spiky eyeliner, a thin red line around his lips, and the fur on his face, already very pale, stark white.

He spun around again, on his heel, battering Twilight with the flat edges of his wings, the hole in his wing producing an eerie, unsettling whistling sound.

Twilight could feel the sharpness of his feather's edges; it was perfectly clear he was just toying with her. She built up some magic, but he rapidly scooped up something from the ground: his porous stone horn, hidden in the folds of his shredded clown costume. He jabbed the horn into Twilight's jaw and ran off in a cloud of dust.

Twilight doubled over in pain. She could feel the horn's needle on the inside of her mouth, and slowly slid it out with magic, leaving a tiny hole under her tongue.

She saw Rainbow Dash fly overhead in pursuit of Crazyface, and Fluttershy swooped down upon Twilight to help her to her hooves. "Are you okay?" she said breathlessly.

"Meh… I'm gonna need some ice cream," Twilight said flippantly.

Fluttershy looked terrified.

"It's just a tiny hole," Twilight assured her. "It'll heal."

"Go on then!" Crazyface bellowed. Glancing over his shoulder and seeing he couldn't outpace Rainbow Dash for much longer, he dove and pounded the ground, sending carnival-goers flying in all directions.

He zig-zagged through the crowd, carving a swath of destruction around the place, knocking over booths and blasting holes in their wood and metal with no more than strikes of his hooves and the wind from his wings, all while the sound of the hole in his wing drowned out every other sound in the entire area.

"Who else is going to try and stop me?" he roared manically. "You can't! I'm a ra-ra-ROCK STAR! Here to put the—"

He was cut off as he was surrounded by a powder blue aura. Rarity was levitating him in place, leaving him immobilized.

Crazyface's muscles bulged and strained, and quickly he succeeded with a mighty heave of his entire body, a spin that released him from the magic's hold.

He casually tipped Rarity over, then changed direction rapidly and drove through the crowd like a drill. "I'm here to put the—"

Rainbow tackled him, but he flipped her over easily, rising into the air.

"Let me SPEAK!" he bellowed. He lifted Rainbow and punted her over the heads of the crowd, who at this point were quite terrified, hushed and unmoving.

"That's right, y'all!" Crazyface announced, flapping higher above them. "It's Crazyface, here to put the 'sex' back in 'convicted sex offender'!"

Somehow aware of Applejack sneaking up on him, he dropped himself to the ground and casually backhanded her with ferocious force.

Applejack spat out a mouthful of blood, and was horrified to see one of her own teeth in the resulting puddle.

And now, Crazyface was rolling head over hooves, bowling over the crowd, most of them already backing away fearfully.

"That's right!" he sang shrilly. "Good clean fun for kids!"

He blasted through the security surrounding a metal trailer near the event's main stage, then burst through the trailer's wall, bypassing Venni without even glancing her way.

"NOOO!" Venni snarled.

A second hole appeared in the trailer wall, Crazyface clutching the tiny Palak Paneer in his arms, terrified and struggling. He held her tightly and flapped into the air. "That's right, darling!" he said thirstily, smelling her mane. "Stop struggling. It's time for you and me, right here, in front of everypony!"

"No!"

A huge stone hurled through the air and clipped Crazyface in the stomach. He dropped Palak, who was neatly caught and lowered to the ground by Fluttershy, who quickly melted back into the crowd, who were either craning their necks up at Crazyface or looking around for the source of the huge flying stone.

It was Venni, who had somehow produced a decent-sized catapult and was reloading it with another stone larger than her head, of which she had a huge pile.

"My dear Loli!" Crazyface said in delight. "Where do you get all these wonderful toys, and how do you fit them into those tiny pockets?"

"Extradimensional storage space is part and parcel for the whole pop star deal," Venni replied, not looking at him. "A necessity for quick hair and wardrobe changes. Seemed only natural to repurpose it."

She fired the catapult again. Crazyface smirked and didn't bother attempting to dodge the stone. His eyes bulged in shock when the stone changed its mid-air trajectory ever so slightly and caught him straight in the gut. The stone tumbled to the ground, narrowly missing Palak, who scampered off.

"Yeah, that's right," Venni called. "Pretty good aim for a catapult, huh?"

He turned his back on her.

"DON'T—" Venni screamed at the top of her lungs, "RUN—FROM ME—AGAIN!"

He slowly rotated in the air, turning back to face her in genuine shock, his smile gone.

"Stand and fight me," she said, her voice ragged as ever. "Nine years you've been running from me… and running in general for much longer than that, I'd wager. How about you act like a real stallion for a change?"

"Oh, darling, you already know I am a real stallion," Crazyface said sweetly.

"I know no such thing," she spat.

"Well, you would know. One never forgets one's first time, after all…"

"Are we going to banter for the benefit of this audience?" Venni snapped, gesturing to the silent, huddled crowd. "Or will you just let me take you down already?"

"Oh, please. You can't scare me with your little—AAAAAGGH!"

Two cords had shot out of the pockets around Venni's wrists, latching onto Crazyface's heart and electrifying him painfully.

"Nnnrrggh!" He fought through the pain, pain that would have immobilized any other pony, to fly down and attempt to attack Venni hoof-to-hoof.

She struck him across the face, knocking him backward to the extent of the cord's length. He flew at her again, and she intercepted the attack with a punch one more.

Applejack leapt into the fray, tossing her own tooth ahead of her, to deliver her own straight punch to the side of Crazyface's head, crunching the tooth in between her hoof and his skull for no reason but to cause him more pain.

"Agh!" he screeched.

Twilight burst out of the crowd. "Come on!" she commanded in a clear, carrying voice. "Everypony on him all at once! He's not getting away this time!"

The electrical current had ceased, but he was still attached to Venni, who slowly began to coil the cords around her wrists to pull him closer and closer. "I've… still… got him!" she said gleefully.

The others came to Twilight's call; Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity lunged at Crazyface from all directions, trying to hold him, strike him, hurt him any way they could.

As they clubbed at him fairly ineffectually, Venni continued to pull him forward, while something extended from the pockets on her shins: thin metal arms, which expanded into a pair of huge circular saws, which buzzed slowly toward him as she reeled him in.

He strained against the cords, twisting powerfully and angling, successfully using Venni's saws to cut the cords that bound them together. He bashed his front hooves against the saws, angling them to cut Applejack and Rarity, who narrowly avoided them.

Growling, Crazyface pounded his hooves against the saw's blades; rather than his hooves being shredded, the saws shattered.

"Hang on," Crazyface said calmly to Rainbow, who was retreating to regroup. He grabbed her around the middle with one arm, and with the other, he pinned her wing to his body and snapped it.

Rainbow let out an indistinct, dazed peep, and fell down onto her side, her feathers angled in odd directions.

"That'll do," said Crazyface. "Next time, then." He shot off into the air, a straight vertical ascent.

"No, no, NOOOO!" Twilight shrieked, misfiring a powerful beam of energy at him.

But just as Crazyface seemed out of their reach, a great black vine covered in both thorns and roses burst from the ground and wrapped around his midsection, pulling him down.

"What the…" Crazyface muttered.

"Imelda!" Twilight gasped.

Struggling and confused, Crazyface looked around, until he was pulled face to face with a tall tan-furred unicorn, her horn alight with velvety red energy. Casually, she slapped him.

The crowd remained silent, breathless now.

"Thank you, Imelda," Twilight said softly, relief flooding her voice. "You've helped us take down one of Equestria's, if not the world's, most dangerous criminals."

"Did I?" Imelda said with interest, looking him over. "Hmm, I thawt ey wuz just a clown."

Twilight blinked in astonishment for a moment, before realizing she was kidding. Twilight's face broke out in a grin and she burst out laughing.

"Venni, no!" she said sharply mid-laugh.

Venni was perched atop Crazyface's back, one of her wrist-blades drawn and pressed against his forehead. She looked up in surprise. "What's that?" she said innocently. "No? No, don't slice his face clean off?"

"Remember what we've talked about before?" Twilight said, speaking clearly as though to a child. "Justice, not vengeance?"

Venni sighed. "Oh, all right. If it were anypony but you saying that, Twilight…"

"I know."

Venni jumped to the ground, taking no notice of Imelda. "Where's Palak?" she demanded. Not waiting for an answer, she trotted off to search for her.

"So, who again is this goy?" Imelda asked, prodding Crazyface.

"He's called Crazyface," Twilight replied. "he was one of the three who, just recently, was raiding your dad's art gallery. That trio have been using mind magic to get away with robberies for decades. Nasty, nasty con artists and thieves. Oh, and Crazyface here happens to be a serial pedophile as well."

"Whoa," said Imelda, wincing uncomfortably. "That is some bad sh—"

"Hebephile," Crazyface interrupted.

Twilight glared at him. "What?" she demanded.

"Hebephile," he repeated. "A pedophile is attracted to pre-pubescent children. Eurgh, a disgusting perversion, ought to be wiped off the face of the world! No, a hebephile is one who, like myself, is attracted to young ones in the alluring throes of puberty." He grinned broadly at the very thought. "Everypony is a hebephile! We're all biologically hardwired to seek out the young, the fertile. But the world takes their own repressed sexuality out on me because I'm the only one brave enough to admit it about myself!"

"Just… just shut up," said Twilight, rolling her eyes.

"Touchy, touchy, hrmmm…"

"Where are your friends?" Twilight asked him pointedly.

"Haven't got any friends. Perhaps you refer to Skipp and what's-his-name? Same place they've always been, I'm sure. Getting it on in the treasure hoard, I expect. I have no reason to believe they've even noticed they're living without me."

"Hmm," said Twilight. "Interesting if true. We'll find out soon enough. There are ways of forcing truths out of you, I'm sure."

Largo emerged from the crowd, wearing a red and white sweatsuit. "Will that be all?" he rumbled.

"Mr. Largo?" Twilight said, surprised despite Imelda's appearance. "Goodness, what brings you two here?"

"We just happened ta be around," Imelda said, shrugging. "It's a big event, y'know…"

"Well, thanks for the assist," said Twilight, admiring the rose-covered vines. "We owe you."

"No," Largo said firmly.

"No?" Twilight repeated in confusion.

"My daughter and I will always owe the six of you," he said seriously. "No favor is too large to ask. Never forget that."

Twilight smiled in appreciation. "Okay, Mr. Largo. Thank you ever so much."

Princess Cadance elegantly touched down from above.

"Cadance?" Twilight blurted. "Whoa, small world. What… what are you doing here?"

"Well…" Cadance glanced over her shoulder, where a group of royal guards were dispersing the crowd. "I got your letter about what you were up to, and I thought I might as well tag along. Guards, take this pegasus into custody!"

Magically, several unicorn guards conjured shackles for Crazyface's legs and wings, and Imelda obligingly pulled away the vines that bound him.

"Yes, by all means, take me away," Crazyface mocked. "I'm sure there'll be no major regime changes that'll get me out of wherever it is you're taking me. It's not like they're saps who'll still hold onto some loyalty to me. Nope, nothing like that, nothing whatsoever. And LADY…"

He strained against his bindings, turning his head toward a mare who was standing protectively in front of a young colt.

"You can ease up on trying to protect your son," he told her condescendingly. "I'm not into colts. What the hell do you take me for? Not all child molesters are gay. Horrible stereotype, you're really doing terrible harm to my reputation, I don't appreciate that."

"I don't suppose somepony could gag him or something?" Cadance said irritably.

One of the unicorn guards obliged, encasing Crazyface's muzzle in a metal cap.

"Okay, yeah," Cadance said, satisfied. The guards continued to cart Crazyface away. "Hello, Imelda."

"Hey, Princess," Imelda replied. She was dutifully not acknowledging her father's presence, and he was likewise melting back into the crowd as though he was uninvolved. Wordlessly, Twilight, Cadance, and Imelda all turned their attention to the wounded Rainbow Dash.

"Heard from Aunt Celestia?" Cadance whispered to Twilight as they worked.

"Sure have," Twilight muttered back, smiling. "They're coming home. Although more slowly than they planned, apparently. What's that about?"

"Apparently, they've got a surprise for… somepony," said Cadance, shrugging.

"Yeah. That is excellent."

"Indeed."

Applejack examined her detached, slightly-cracked tooth. "Pretty much intact," she remarked. "Should get right back into my head with a little magic. You reckon, Rarity?" She offered it up to her. "Think you could fix this?"

Rarity winced at the sight of it. "Not my area of expertise. Getting a tooth back into place involves a lot more than just beautification. Twilight could probably manage, but she's not trained in it. You should probably see a dentist. Do we have a unicorn dentist in Ponyville?"

"Meh, I'll figure it out," she said, shrugging and tucking the tooth into her hat. Glancing around, she spotted Palak Paneer, huddled in fear against a fence.

"Oh! Palak!" Rarity gasped.

"Hey!" Applejack called out. "Hey, the entertainment is traumatized over here? Is there some sort of parent, guardian, anypony responsible for this girl?"

Palak shook her head slowly.

"On your own, huh?" Applejack said grimly. "Well." She knelt down and brought Palak into the warmest hug she could muster. "Doing all right?"

Palak shrugged.

"I know," said Applejack, with another grim smile. "Not the first close call with that guy I've witnessed. But it's over now. You're gonna be okay."

"Hey, Palak."

It was Venni, approaching with uncharacteristic shyness. "Mind if I ask you something?" Like Applejack, Venni knelt down to Palak's eye level, tucking her legs beneath her body.

"I used to be a pretty big pop star when I was your age," said Venni, looking deeply into Palak's mismatched eyes. "Do you… do you like dancing?"

Palak nodded enthusiastically.

"Really? Oh, that's great. Do you like being in the… the public eye?"

She nodded again.

"You're sure?" Venni pressed. "It's just us. There's no one to catch you saying that you don't like it. Do you really?"

She nodded again, looking a bit concerned now.

"You're absolutely—" Venni said urgently.

"Venni," Applejack cut her off. "Venni, she's sure. Why don't you want her to like it?"

"I just… had to be sure," said Venni, flinching away. "I didn't care for my singing career, and I know a lot of teen celebrities feel the same. Granted, show tunes on a little stage in a hundred-seat community theater, sure, I liked that. But bubblegum pop in front of a crowd of thousands, being known by name no matter where I went… it's enough to make a young girl lose her mind and never want to be seen again.

"Singing was only supposed to be a hobby before I was forced to make it a job. I used to make some really nice flower arrangements, I'll have you know. I haven't in… so long…" Her eyes turned to Palak's cutie mark, a pair of exotic, bright purple curly-toed shoes. "But you, you're a dancer. That's who you are."

Palak nodded again, smiling.

"That's… that's good," Venni said slowly. "And good is… not bad. Listen, if it ever becomes too much for you, the crowds, the lights, the fans… you get out of there, all right? You run, move somewhere out of the way, change your name, change your look, whatever you have to do to get out of there and… just be you. Okay? Better that than letting the celebrity job eat you alive. But if you're happier than me, who am I to judge? I hope your career's awesome."

Palak nodded and attempted to hug Venni, who leapt backward, appalled.

"Hey, Venni!" Pinkie trotted forward, her expression pleading.

"Yeah?" Venni said, her eyes heavy-lidded as she looked her over.

"Listen, I'm sorry I brought up the whole Loli Pop thing—"

"Don't say that name!" Venni snarled. "…Please," she added, with a toothy grimace clearly intended to be a winning smile.

"Sorry," said Pinkie, wincing. "Um… it's just, I… there's been something I've been thinking, that's been on my mind ever since I saw you again."

"That so?" Venni drawled.

"Yeah. Walk with me."

The two of them made their way into the slightly-damaged fairgrounds.

"See, I'm kinda deeply involved right now in the, ah, Cupcakes movies…"

"Cupcakes?" Venni said, blinking. "Surely you don't mean the Bonny Blu novels? They're making those into movies?"

"Already did, last year," Pinkie confirmed. "We're in the middle of adapting Songbird right now."

"Wow," Venni breathed. "Those were my favorite books when I was a little kid… which is telling, really. Kind of a red flag, when you think about it. So, you're involved? In what way?"

"Oh, I'm Bonny Blu," Pinkie said innocently. "The second Bonny Blu. The first actress quit."

"Ooooh!" said Venni, impressed and looking Pinkie Pie over. "I can see that."

"Yeah… you're not the first," said Pinkie, shrugging it off. "But I've read all the books in preparation—there's still just six books, right?"

"Far as I know."

"Well, we're gonna adapt one of them every year, and there's talk to me taking over as director starting from the fifth one… kinda crazy how deep into this I'm getting, actually. I just really want to keep the fans happy in every way I can. And I've been thinking… you know Pomegranate?"

"Pomegranate," Venni muttered. "That's book… three?"

"Four," Pinkie corrected. "Book three is Soap."

"Right, Soap," said Venni, nodding. "That's a good one! Bonny's in prison, in solitary confinement, but still manages to torture and kill ponies." She chuckled. "It's fantastic."

"Mm-hmm," said Pinkie, nodding back vigorously. "Yup, peak of the series' creativity for sure. But Pomegranate, that's the one where Bonny starts training an apprentice, and she's all small and young and cute and… well, I look at you… and all of a sudden, I'm thinking…" She tilted her head, peering at Venni. "Well, I can really tell that you used to be a performer, first of all. You've got so much presence. And from pictures of you I've seen on your album covers, when you were a filly, I bet you're still pretty cute under that mask."

Venni's eyes opened and closed slowly as her jaw started to slack. "Are you… are you offering me the role of Pomegranate?"

"It's just a thought," Pinkie said softly.

"…Wow," Venni muttered. "Gosh… being in the public eye again, I don't… but Pomegranate! But… but I still…"

"Still wanna get some use out of all the crap in your pockets," said Pinkie, nodding kindly. "I get it. I really love that stuff. It's pretty cool. I like to carry around more stuff than is physically possible too!" She reached into a nearby crowd and pulled out her party cannon.

"Ooh," Venni commented, barely audible.

Pinkie tilted her head curiously again, smiling this time. "You've gone all quiet. You okay?"

"I just… I never imagined…" Venni muttered.

"Right?" Pinkie said gleefully. "I kinda picked up the idea from Princess Luna. She's making a movie too. She's always looking out for ponies who aren't actors… to act… which is usually a bad idea, but she does it right, somehow. I kinda wanna try it myself. It's not up to me, I'm not directing the fourth movie, but I can at least recommend you."

Venni didn't respond.

"There's no pressure," said Pinkie. "We're still in the middle of making the second one. You've got a good year and a half to think it over."

"Year and a half, huh?" Venni pondered. "Could this really all be over for me in a year and a half? That sure is a nice thought."

"Isn't it?"

It was Twilight, slipping out of the crowd and joining them, aiming a kindly smile Venni's way.

"This could be over for you right now, if you really wanted," she said.

"No, Twi," Venni said firmly. "My quest's not over. It's great to have Crazyface out of the picture, but… he stopped being my target the moment you sat down and listened to my story, and I saw how hurt you were. I'm after Vorpal Blade. I'm not gonna rest until I've got him for you."

"Rest, Venni," Twilight urged. "Rest with me and my friends. Just for a while. Then… yeah. Go after him. I know better than to think I can stop you. But maybe… take a week off or something before you go?"

"A week off?" Venni said uneasily. "A week… not hunting?"

"Come on, 'week off' isn't a dirty word," Pinkie said, nudging her with her hoof. "Or… two dirty words. Personally, I take weeks off, like, four times a month!"

"What… what do you do with time off?" Venni said blankly.

Pinkie pouted. "It's been a long time since you've had fun, isn't it? Well… just as a place to start, I'll tell you what my plan was when I found out our next mission would take us here." She produced a large cardboard box filled to the brim with large brightly-colored spheres, which sloshed and wobbled with the slightest movement.

"I was gonna take this box of water balloons, and smuggle it onto the ferris wheel, and, uh, you know," Pinkie said modestly.

"Oh, hell yes," Venni gasped, grinning broadly. "We absolutely must do that!"

Pinkie grinned. "You wanna come with me?"

"O-okay!" Venni stammered, positively bursting with eagerness by now. "You bet, yeah… let's do that…"

Pinkie and Venni ran off in the direction of the ferris wheel together.

Twilight laughed as she watched them go. "Ah, Venni. I wondered why I loved you so much. That explains it… you're not the only unhinged maniac I know."

Cadance fluttered down, settling in the grass next to Twilight.

"Justice will be done," Twilight said, more to herself than Cadance. "It has to. Vorpal Blade will be stopped, and then… my Venni will have a normal life."

She considered, then chuckled and turned to face the princess. "Well… blow me down. If that isn't the real reason I want Vorpal Blade taken down. I don't care anymore about how he hurt me, and I'm not afraid of his schemes either. I just want Venni's quest over. We're one down, the princesses are on their way back home… this can all be done."

"'Blow me down'?" Cadance repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, shush."

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Endnotes

This was where I was gonna put the second of the three hiatuses (hiati?) planned to be scattered throughout Part Three. Again, official hiatuses are not a thing that's gonna happen as long as I'm updating so infrequently anyway.

But notably, much like I stuck a little hiatus right after the Bazaar story arc, splitting Part Two into two halves, this too is the end of Part Three: Act One. It is December 11, 2016, and we are, more or less, at the Part Three halfway point! Oy, took me long enough.