Officer Valor woke up early; the sun just barely shone through the cracks in the barricaded windows. Valor had slept lightly the night before, uncomfortable with being so close to the pony that only hours prior had attempted to kill him. He looked to his side to find Pinkie Pie still lying on the couch, sucking on her hoof and snoring lightly. He sighed in relief and felt a smile crawl on his face.

He grumbled to himself, cracking his neck loudly. Pinkie Pie let out an unconscious groan at the abrupt noise and returned to her slumber. A drop of drool fell from her mouth and fell onto the couch.

Valor rose to his hooves and glanced around the room. His eyes surveyed the staircase in the corner, Pinkie Pie on the couch, the front door and suddenly stopped on the water bowl from the day before. A visible amount of dust and dirt had found its way into the water, making look far less appetizing than he wanted to admit. His stomach growled noisily as he trotted over to the water and began to slurp the rest of it down his throat, ignoring the slightly thick consistency and bitter taste.

He felt a hoof nudge gently into his side, sending him jumping, the bowl in his hooves falling to the floor and spilling the remaining liquid.

“Hi Valor.” Pinkie Pie had a sad smile on her face. Her pink mane was still deflated and stuck out randomly over her face.

“Oh, uh, hey Pinkie. Feeling ok?” Valor stepped back from her a little and examined the part of her face that he had hit the day before. She had a bruise, but the damage was minimal.

“Yeah, everything’s… fine.” Pinkie’s blue eyes swept over Valor as if sensing his unease. The smile disappeared, replaced by a deep frown. “I’m really sorry about this… about everything.” She moved toward him, closing the gap between them. “I mean, after what I did to those ponies… What I almost did to you.”

Pinkie paused and wiped her eyes, several tears falling down her cheek.

“When you broke free, you could… should have killed me! Should have thrown me outside overnight or, or something! It would’ve been for the better…”

“What?” Valor asked, alarmed at Pinkie’s outburst. “C’mon, Pinkie, I know that you didn’t mean to do what you did. With the situation at hand here, you know, fucking zombies, if any of us don’t go a bit crazy, that’s when we have to start worrying.”

Valor reached out a hoof to Pinkie Pie who slapped it down, the frown deepening. “Valor, I killed ponies. I did it.”

“You weren’t in your head…”

“Stop doing that!” she yelled, a small stream of tears coming out of her eyes. “Don’t try to downplay what I did. You should leave me here or something. I don’t want to hurt anpony else.”

“Pinkie, you’re ok now.”

“How do you know? How do you know I won’t randomly go all crazy again!?” The look on her face was one of pure terror. She paced back in forth, waving her hooves in the air wildly. “If you bring me to my friends, I could kill them.”

“I won’t let that happen.” Valor tried again to put a hoof on her shoulder, comfortingly. She cringed under his touch and was reluctantly pulled into a hug. She wriggled free and looked down at the floor.

“If I do kill them, you’re responsible.”

“Pinkie…”

“No, listen to me. You won’t let me hurt them, right?”

Valor sighed. “Yes. I’ll protect them with my life. But you’re…”

“Will you kill me if you have to?”

A confused look crossed Valor’s face. He studied Pinkie’s face, noticing her serious expression. “I won’t need to.”

“Will you kill me!?” she screamed at Valor. Pinkie Pie stomped a hoof down on the hardwood floor and stared into the poilcepony’s eyes.

“…Pinkie, if that’s what it takes to protect everypony, then… then I will. Now please, you have to come back to the library with me. We need all the Elements to stop this.”

Valor turned to face the door, but Pinkie Pie stuck out a hoof and turned him back to her.

“You Pinkie promise?”

Office Valor smiled lightly and nodded. “Let’s get going. Celestia knows how long it’ll take to get back.”

He led Pinkie Pie to the front door and glanced outside, noticing that the area was still relatively clear of Trotters and corpses. He started outside; Pinkie Pie lingered in Sugarcube Corner for several seconds, staring into the eerily lit kitchen at the bloodstains on the opposite wall.

Don’t hang around with that loser. Stay here!

Oui madame! Help us bake!

Pinkie Pie gazed at the dried blood and tray of knives lying scattered on the floor; she shook her head. “No. Not anymore”

She walked outside into the sunlight and quietly closed the door behind her. Valor was waiting in the distance, scouting the surrounding area for weapons. She slowly galloped toward him, Sugarcube Corner shrinking in the distance until it was a dot on the horizon.

“Shh, get back.” Valor waved a hoof at Pinkie Pie, who quickly moved behind a nearby building. The library stood about three blocks away, but in between them and it were several sporadically located groups of Trotters. Valor dove into cover, next to Pinkie Pie.

“Alright,” he began, peeking around the corner once again to memorize the layout. “This shouldn’t be too hard for us. I count six groups of Trotters, each having around…” he took a quick mental count. “Like twenty or so in them.”

Pinkie Pie nodded in response. She sat on the ground, waiting for him to continue. Tied hurriedly to her left hind leg was a small knife that had been scrounged from the skull of a Trotter. It was dull and rusted with blood, but she refused to have a weapon that could cause any serious damage to anypony she cared about, lest she revert to “Pinkamena.”

“If we move fast enough, we can easily run around the first three groups without having to fight off a single Trotter. But after that, we pretty much have to play it by ear. The rest will have noticed us and I’m sure they’ll cluster together. Just be ready to hack and slash at everything that comes near us.”

She nodded and rose to her hooves, stretching slightly.

“You sure this is a good idea? What if you’re wrong?”

“The Trotters are slow and stupid. You stay close and we’ll be fine.” Valor put on a reassuring smile.

“Not about that, but with me coming with you. What if this isn’t a good idea?”

“Pinkie, it’s too late to turn back. Everything will be ok, just come on.”

Officer Valor snatched a 2x4 off the ground and proceeded to walk out of his cover, Pinkie Pie following him reluctantly.

“Ok, on three. One…” Valor crouched down and narrowed his eyes. “Two…” He dug his hoof into the dirt and readied himself to take off toward the library. “Th…”

Pinkie Pie shrieked and hopped into the air, her tail twitching wildly. Valor turned rapidly and shoved her back behind cover.

“What the fuck are you doing!? You trying to get us killed?”

“I’m, I’m sorry! My tail was twitching.” Pinkie explained.

“What the hell does that have to do with anything?”

“It means that something’s falling from the sky…” Pinkie explained. She suddenly peered behind Valor, a horrified look on her face. “What’s that?”

Valor turned and saw three pegasi flying somewhat shakily at them.

“Oh shit. Pinkie, get your knife out. We have to get to the library now.”

Pinkie Pie unhitched her knife and put it into her mouth, galloping behind Valor. They narrowly avoided the first grouping of Trotters, the majority of them not even noticing Pinkie Pie or Valor until they were already out of reach. They moaned hungrily behind the pair as they stumbled in their general direction.

Valor looked ahead to find the second group of Trotters begin to turn toward them. At the head of the group was a brown unicorn, four arrows jutting out of his chest in an erratic pattern. It lunged forward but missed Valor entirely. It landed on the ground with a thud directly in front of Pinkie Pie. Valor spun around but found Pinkie had already dug her knife into the pony’s skull.

“Come on!” He grabbed onto Pinkie Pie and pulled her forward into a run in an attempt to avoid being surrounded. One of the Flyers dove down at the duo but was hit swiftly with Valor’s 2x4. It landed on the ground; one of its wings was broken at an obscene angle and fluttering randomly. Valor brought the wood down onto its head several time until he heard a sickening crunch. Above, the remaining Flyers circled overhead and screeched loudly.

Valor caught up to Pinkie Pie and successfully avoided any contact with the third group of Trotters. They moaned loudly and lurched toward the pair, but their awkward movements practically held them in place. A smirk appeared on Valor’s face as he saw the library in the distance grow larger, but it quickly faded when he saw that the remaining Trotters had already begun to form into a massive crowd.

Officer Valor stopped, panting heavily. Pinkie Pie stood beside him and looked around their surroundings. The Trotters behind them were still on their trail, but were making very little progress.

Valor narrowed his eyes and bit down on the 2x4, welcoming the taste of blood from the splinters stabbing into his mouth. Adrenaline pumped through his veins.

“Stay close. One false step and we’re fucked.”

Pinkie Pie nodded and galloped in pursuit of Valor into the onslaught.

“We’ve waited long enough, Rainbow. We have to look for him now. It’s been almost a whole fucking day.” Dark Lightning paced around the foyer of the library. Several loud screeches from outside suddenly caught his attention. “Fuck.” He mumbled to himself.

“The library’s surrounded. You wanna get yourself killed?” She spat back at him, watching a hundred or so Trotters congregate outside. They all moaned loudly, hungrily, as if somepony was nearby.

“If you want to watch those corpses walk around all day, go ahead.” Dark growled at her, grabbing a crowbar in his mouth. “I’m gonna go out and look for the stallion who saved your ass.”

“Dark, please.” Twilight trotted over to him, frowning. “What if we need to protect this place? Without you we don’t stand a chance.”

“Without me, Valor’s as good as dead. Look at it out there!” He pointed out the window. “If he’s stuck out there, he could be pinned down in a building, or worse.”

“He knows what he’s doing. He saved Rainbow and you, didn’t he?” Twilight replied, calmly.

“I didn’t need saving!” He screamed at the purple unicorn who flinched back. Rainbow Dash turned her attention to the argument and watched quietly. “I joined him because he needed help. And for all we know, he needs help right fucking now.”

Twilight frowned at him and retreated back to the second floor of the library with Rarity. Dark Lightning turned to Rainbow Dash.

“Are you coming with me or not.”

“I’m sorry, Dark. But…” she sighed. “But I’m needed here. If you leave, Celestia knows who’ll protect Twilight and Rarity. I have to be here for them.”

He glowered back at her and grabbed the crowbar in his mouth. “Suit yourself.” He quickly exited the library, waiting for the sound of Rainbow Dash barricading the door. The Trotters outside met him almost instantly, shambling forward gracelessly.

“Valor, to your right!” Pinkie Pie screamed, dodging a green pony that bit at her. Its teeth grabbed onto her mane and pulled her toward it. She screamed in pain and pushed at the pony with her hooves frantically.

Valor turned abruptly and jabbed the 2x4 into the pony’s face. It let go and groaned loudly, scrambling after Pinkie Pie again. Valor hit the pony in its forelegs and shattered its knees. It groaned loudly in pain as it collapsed to the ground, a cloud of dust rising into the air.

“Thanks!” Pinkie Pie turned back to the library and continued galloping. Valor stood over the pony that stared back at him with dead eyes. He glowered at it and stomped down onto its head, savoring the crunch of bone against his hoof.

“You little fucker!” He screamed at the body as he raised his hoof again and thrust it back down onto the broken skull.

“Valor!?” Pinkie Pie stopped in the group of Trotters and punched at the ones closest to her. He snapped back into reality and saw that his forelegs were covered in blood. Pinkie stood in the distance, fighting off a tattered earth pony. She saw Valor swing the 2x4 at a nearby Trotter, sending it falling back into several others. He galloped to Pinkie Pie and rammed into a pony that was shambling toward her.

“We’re almost there. Don’t lose yourself now.” Pinkie Pie knowingly said.

They continued to the library when Valor suddenly saw a familiar pegasus smash a crowbar down onto a Trotter’s spine. A loud crack filled the air, the pegasus grunting with effort.

“Dark!?”

Dark Lightning’s head rose at his name and his eyes met with Valor’s.

“Holy shit, you’re ok!” Dark punched a hoof into a Trotter’s face with an audible thud.

“Pinkie, follow me.”

Valor and Pinkie Pie galloped toward Dark Lightning, who smashed the crowbar at every Trotter unlucky enough to be near him. A Flyer took notice of the pegasus and swooped down at him at an incredible speed.

“Dark!” Valor called out to the pegasus. Dark Lightning, however, had already noticed and summoned a bolt of lightning that struck the Flyer out of the sky. It landed in a charred heap, smoke billowing up from the crowd of Trotters.

The remaining Flyer swooped at Pinkie Pie, screeching loudly. She sidestepped the pegasus and tackled it to the ground. She grabbed its head and slammed it against the ground until she saw a pool of blood and its struggling had ceased.

“Took you long enough to get here.” Dark smirked at Valor and Pinkie Pie. He swung the crowbar and smashed a unicorns skull wide open, blood pouring out quickly.

“Ah, fuck off. You could’ve come to us, you know.” Valor approached a Trotter and brought the 2x4 down. The Trotter lurched forward, making Valor stumble and miss its head. The wood hit the pony’s back and shattered in two splintery fragments stabbing out of the pony’s back.

“Oh shit!” Valor jumped back and bumped into Pinkie Pie. She ignored Valor and bucked her hind hooves at a pair of Trotters. They flew backwards and lay in a crumpled pile. She smiled widely. “Dark! We have to get back to the library.”

Dark Lightning continued assaulting the offending ponies. His crowbar was dripping with blood and a pile of bodies had been forming at his hooves for a while. A unicorn missing half of its face slowly came toward him; shortly after, it fell to the ground with the crowbar wedged in its shattered skull. Another pony clambered over the body and met a similar fate, except that the edge of the crowbar found its way into the pony’s eye. Blood poured out of the hole onto the dead bodies and pooled beneath them.

“Dark!” Valor screamed again. He turned his head to face the policepony. “We have to go, now!”

“We can’t!” He shouted back over the sound of the groaning corpses. “They could break into the library. They do, and we’re all fucked. We have to shed some serious numbers first.”

With that he turned around and bucked a stallion with half of its neck bitten out. Its mutilated neck snapped loudly and its head toppled onto the ground, still opening and closing its mouth automatically.

“We don’t have any fucking weapons!” Valor shouted. He pulled Pinkie Pie away from the wall of Trotters and stood her between himself and Dark.

“Don’t worry, I got this.” Dark Lightning reared onto his hooves and threw the crowbar into the center of the group of ponies. He smiled, eyes glaring at the Trotters standing before him. He shoved them back, widening the circle that separated the trio from the Trotters.

“You stupid piece of shit!” Officer Valor punched Dark Lightning and knocked him to his haunches. “We have nothing to fucking defend ourselves now!” He kicked a hoof into Dark’s side.

Pinkie Pie grabbed Valor and pulled him back. Dark Lightning looked up, rage on his face.

“Valor, let’s get back to the library…” Pinkie Pie began pushing him in the direction of the door

“Don’t move.” Dark growled at them, gruffly. “I told you I got this.” He rose to his hooves and concentrated all his energy on the crowbar that sat randomly among the Trotters that closed in on them. The duo receded back to Dark Lightning reluctantly.

Just then a bolt of lightning shot from the sky and hit the metal crowbar. The area it had hit began to glow yellow. Several surges of electricity shot from the crowbar in random directions, arcing between ponies, each of them seizing and falling to the ground.

A surge shot by Valor’s face, narrowly missing him and Pinkie Pie. It instead struck a unicorn that had been quietly coming up from behind them. The electricity flowed through its body; the pony’s eyes expanded and eventually exploded, thick blood pouring from the holes in its face.

The majority of the Trotters were now dead; the several that remained standing moved toward them slowly and clumsily, tripping over the dead bodies in their paths.

“Dark, I’m… I’m sorry, man.” Valor trotted over to the black pegasus. “I should’ve just trusted you.”

Dark grinned in reply. “If you threw our only weapon into a group of walking corpses, I would’ve kicked your ass too.”

“Can we go now?” Pinkie Pie asked the two stallions, a smile on her face. “I wanna see Twilight and everypony!”

“Yeah, this is good enough” Dark Lightning shooed Pinkie Pie off who hopped happily to the library. He stood next to Valor and waited until she was out of earshot.

“What took you two so long?”

“We had some trouble at Sugarcube Corner. A horde blocked us in.” Valor rubbed a hoof against his head, wiping off sweat and blood from the previous fight.

“You’re lying.”

“What?” Valor tried to feign surprise at the pegasus’ reaction.

“You’re a bad liar. You look to the left whenever you’re making shit up.” Dark snorted and began walking back to the library, leaving Valor behind. “At least we know you’re not the Element of Honesty.” He shouted back over his shoulder.

Officer Valor stood still for a minute and watched Dark. He smiled and shook his head.

“Wait up!” He galloped to Dark Lightning and walked into the library, shutting the door behind him and barricading it.

Pinkie Pie crept up the steps in the library to the second floor where Twilight, Rarity and Valor slept. She had a twisted smile on her face and voices running through her head.

Do it! a voice screamed to her.

The world is sick, make it better… another hissed in her head.

Sometimes, we have to purge things from the world. Even if we love them. The voice sounded oddly familiar to Pinkie Pie. She jumped in fright when she realized it was her own. More than that, she had actually spoken those words aloud.

She found herself sitting over Twilight, a twisted smile on her pink face. An electric drill buzzed softly in her hoof. She placed it against her friend’s skull and prepared herself mentally.

3…2…1…

The drill spun quickly and dug into Twilight’s head, a small trickle of blood dripping down her sleeping face and onto the cold, wooden floor. After she was sure her friend had died, she pulled the drill out and looked down. Twilight’s eyes were still closed in a peaceful rest, but a large toothy smile was on her face. Suddenly her eyes shot open.

She sat up and stared at Pinkie Pie who retreated a few steps. Twilight’s eyes were becoming red with blood, small gooey chunks of brain dripped from the hole that was burrowed into her skull.

“That’s not fair, Pinkie Pie.” Twilight eyed her friend, the smile still on her face. “Rarity’s the sick one! She should’ve gone first!”

Twilight collapsed back onto her bed and stopped breathing. Her grin remained on her face and her eyes stayed wide open. Pinkie Pie slowly moved over to Rarity, feeling Twilight’s eyes follow her over.

Rarity moaned lightly in her sleep. She felt a massive amount of pain in her leg throughout the day and night and her injury was only worsening. Pinkie Pie frowned at the white unicorn and gave her a hug.

“I’ll make you feel better, I promise!” She reached under Rarity’s head and pulled out a pillow. She thrust it down over Rarity’s face and felt her body convulse in attempts to get air. She flailed her hooves wildly at the pillow but quickly gave up. Pinkie felt her body go limp and removed the pillow revealing Rarity’s smiling face, her eyes wide open and a toothy grin matching Twilight’s.

“Thank you, darling! I feel soooo much better now!” She cooed from between her closed teeth.

Pinkie Pie smiled. “Glad I could help!”

“I think Officer Valor’s been sad lately. Maybe you could help him too!” The white unicorn offered.

“He did seem a little down today…” Pinkie Pie brought a hoof to her chin and thought about the day before. “I bet I could make him smile!”

She suddenly found herself in the kitchen, a large knife in her hand.

“Oh boy!” She smiled and began trotting toward the steps back upstairs.

“Hnnngh…. Uhh… Fuck…” Valor slowly woke up. He blinked his eyes open quickly and looked around him, finding that the room was too dark to properly discern anything.

“Oh boy…” A voice from downstairs called out.

“Pinkie Pie?” Valor said softly so not to wake Rarity or Twilight. “Pinkie? Is everything ok?”

He stood up and trotted over to the edge of the stairs. He listened closely but didn’t hear anything but the occasional moan from a Trotter outside. He climbed down the stairs slowly, the stairs creaking under his weight.

“…Come on everypony, smile, smile, smile!” Pinkie Pie called out from her slumber. Rainbow Dash stirred in her sleep and punched Pinkie Pie lightly to shut her up.

Valor trotted over to Pinkie Pie and gently shook her awake. She jumped up, and began panting. Her face contorted from a sleepy smile to a sickened grimace.

“Oh Celestia, it was horrible!” she cried.

“Shhh, its ok.” Valor wrapped his hooves around her. “What happened?”

“Valor, it wasn’t a good idea to bring me back here…”

“Why? What happened?”

“I… I killed them… All of them…” She was still panting, tears furiously pouring down her face. She turned to face Valor.

“I have to tell them about everything...”