“Hey Rainbow Dash, I’m sorry about last night… I didn’t mean to be disrespectful or anything and you were right… I don’t understand what war is like…” I apologized for the previous night. Pinkie Pie’s words had really gotten to me.

Dash only sighed and shook her head in disappointment to me, then opened her mouth for the first time in hours. “No, don’t be sorry, it’s not your fault, it’s mine. How could you have known? They sealed you away from the war, it’s not like you were hiding from it, hell the fact that you’re here now shows that you didn’t want to hide from it. It takes a lot of courage just to come down and choose this life over that one…” Dash complimented. Rarely did I catch her speaking in positive regard to anypony.

“I am sorry that happened to you though… I have a sister myself…” I commented with my head hung low.

Nodding, Rainbow Dash wandered back over to her usual spot and levitated a familiar flask to her lips. Taking a large gulp she placed the flask back in place. It was rather astonishing how much alcohol this mare consumed really.

Our silence was broken by the door being thrown open with a loud thud.

Almost instinctually, Dash drew her blade and took aim towards the intruder. Despite being constantly buzzed she had a set of reflexes and aim that served her true to her title. She may have not been the fastest flier anymore, but she was still just as quick as she once was.

The intruder showed nothing towards the gesture. She had a rather emotionless expression which was assisted by her sunglasses covering her eyes. A dark purple in color, it was impossible to see through them on our end. With a wild blue mane combed in a rather rebellious haircut she looked very tomboyish for a unicorn. Most tomboys I had met in my days were pegasus or earth ponies like myself. The unicorns were primarily upper class before the war, so it was odd to see one like this.

Her coat was pure white, but soaked in splats of blood left and right; clearly her trip over here wasn’t a peaceful walk through the ruins. Upon further examination of her body I could see that her cutie mark was a double quaver. A bit of jealousy overcame me as I remember my own empty flank.

“So, you really are still alive out here. I guess I can’t say I’m too surprised, after all if anypony could last out here in this hellhole it would be you. Long time no see though Dashie.” The unwelcomed guest spoke as she waltzed in making herself at home.

“I know you didn’t come here just to check up on me, so what do you want Vinyl?” Dash replied lowering her weapon.

Vinyl? This was the pony from the tapes from before? That meant that she and Rainbow Dash served in the Knights together.

“Why so uptight? I thought you’d be excited to see me Dashie, I mean what’s it been? Five, maybe six years?” Vinyl commented.

Dash held her gaze. Vinyl got the message that Dash wasn’t interested in catching up, and just wanted to get to the point.

“Twilight sent me.” She admitted shamelessly.

“Well you can go back to her, and tell her I said to go fuck herself.” Rainbow hissed.

“I’d do that gladly, but I think you should do that yourself when we go back together.” Vinyl smirked. Clearly she loved the idea of telling authorities what’s what.

“I hope you have something to back those words up…” Dash prepared to draw her blade once more.

Vinyl laughed heartily and threw herself onto the old couch with continued laughter. She turned back to us and grew what appeared to be an honest smile.

“I see you’re just as much of a hard ass as you were before, it’s refreshing to see really; however I can’t exactly force you to come back if you don’t want to. After all, you’re probably the only pony alive who could best me in battle. I may be crazy, but I’m not an idiot, I know when to pick my battles.” Vinyl replied.

Dash lowered her hoof and sat down to relax once again. Pulling the flask to her mouth again she slurped down another vile sip of the liquid inside. Placing the flask back onto the table she sat quietly for a brief few minutes; Vinyl did likewise.

“So you must have some other reason for being here then. You and Twilight would both know that you couldn’t drag me back there even if you tried, so why bother wasting your time coming here?” Dash asked breaking the silence.

“A certain point of interest has come up that we felt would be of relevance to you…” Vinyl came to her hooves and trotted over to the table and rudely poured herself a drink as well. She had little house manners, but it looked like Dash didn’t mind it.

“I’m listening.” She said in between sips.

“Trixie has kidnapped Applejack.” Vinyl said plainly.

Dash dropped her drink mid-sip. Her eyes grew more attentive as she leaned in with interest. “What did you say…?” She asked.

“We were as surprised as you were. We hadn’t heard from her in years, since before the war even, we didn’t even know if she was alive, but by the time we found out Trixie had already claimed her for her own. Sent us some nice little threats about how she wants somepony from the Knights to meet her and discuss her demands for Applejack’s return. We figured since you would have personal interest in this situation that you’d be willing to offer advice on our next course of action.” Vinyl explained.

Dash was hardly listening. She was obviously still stuck on the fact that Trixie had Applejack as her hostage.

Banging her hoof on the table she stood up and stared down Vinyl. “Vinyl, you tell Twilight that I will go and meet Trixie myself. This is my fight, and I won’t have Twilight interfere.” Dash exclaimed.

Vinyl didn’t seem too surprised by Dash’s reaction, and then again she knew her fairly well I could assume. Her and Dash had a lot in common, but Vinyl definitely had a much cockier attitude than Rainbow Dash.

“I’ll deliver the message to her. I assume it’s going to take you a matter of hours to get to Fillydalphia to meet with Trixie? After all, you’re the fastest flier in Equestria.” Vinyl did the bragging for her.

“Only have one wing now. Flying is out of the question, I’ll have to go on the hoof-express.” Dash joked.

“When’d that happen?” Vinyl leaned in.

“It’s not important; the point is I’ll need about a week to get there and back. Do you think you could meet me back here when I return?” Dash answered.

Vinyl just nodded in response. An unusual smile played her lips, perhaps she was just pleased with herself for being able to get Dash to fight for them again.

“I’m setting out right away. Flare, I want you to stay here.” She commanded.

My ears perked up at the mention of my own name.

“Huh? Why can’t I come with you?” I protested.

“You’re tough kid, but you’re nothing in a fight against the armies of darkness, or Trixie for that matter. You’d only end up getting yourself killed and wasting yet another life to Trixie.” Dash explained.

She had a point, in a fight I was barely formidable, and that was with both the help of Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. I would not even last more than three seconds against a hardened soldier probably. I would get diced up in a matter of seconds, but it didn’t stop me from wanting to go with her.

“Dash, I wasn’t aware that you had a mate, you sly girl…” Vinyl smirked deviously.

“Fuck off Scratch; he’s from Skyvale. He’s just staying here because if he tried to make it on his own, he’d just get slaughtered and made into a quick meal. When we found him he was almost made into a snack by a bunch of savages.” Dash explained to Vinyl.

Thanks for the nod of confidence Dash.

“I need you to stay here though, Flare. I want you to watch out for Pinkie Pie. I don’t like leaving her entirely by herself; she’s not exactly safe that way.” She instructed.

Pinkie Pie’s safety? She was the best shot I had ever seen, and on top of that a ruthless cannibal. I would like to see the pony dumb enough to try and pull something with her. With her mental stability I think it would be reasonable to fear for one’s personal safety more especially when she was around; having her around put me at less ease than being alone sometimes.

“Keep her alive until I get back please.” Dash asked kindly.

I couldn’t refuse. I didn’t want to let Rainbow Dash down.

“Flare? Flare, get up.” A stern voice scolded me in my slumber.

Still half asleep I rolled out of bed and landed onto the hardwood floor with a crash. When I turned my body around to get a glimpse at who had awoken me, I was surprised to see Pinkie Pie standing over me.

Something about her was different though, her mane specifically. Instead of being the normal puffed up ball of cotton it usually looked like, it was completely straight. It fell over her figure a lot more gracefully this way, and to be honest it seemed to look better on her. She looked collected and put together, if she didn’t have such a serious face on right now.

“Pinkie…? What are you doing?” I asked with a yawn.

“There’s no time. Come with me right now, I’m in need of your assistance and we haven’t a second to wait.” She placed a hoof over my mouth.

I nodded and rose to my hooves without further questioning. She gestured towards the door, and ran directly outside without further hesitation. I followed, trying to keep low like she was doing. Stalking through the open land just outside of Ponyville she lead the way cautiously. She was acting very strange, and for Pinkie Pie that was saying something. For some reason she was being cautious and tactical now, rather than as she normally traveled with a free spirit and a carefree demeanor.

“Where are we going?” I finally asked after nearly thirty minutes of wandering around.

Pinkie turned and faced me. She gave a quick response then returned to leading us to our destination.

“The factory.” She said.

Seeing as it was Pinkie Pie I was dealing with, I decided not to bother trying to squeeze more information out of her, as chances are she had no idea what she was even talking about.

“Does this have something to do with the cabbages?” I asked jokingly.

She didn’t answer, she just kept moving silently. It wasn’t until we arrived at a rather large looking run down building that she opened her mouth again.

“Welcome to the factory, Flare.” She invited me inside.

This place smelled more rotten than anything else I had caught a whiff of out here in the ruins. I couldn’t help but gag and cough just getting near the place.

Pinkie extended a hoof to assist me up, and commented, “You get used to the smell after a while.” With a rather serious tone.

Taking her offer, I allowed her to pull me into the lair without caution. Even though Pinkie Pie was almost completely out of her mind, I still trusted her enough to not to lead me into anything that would be too dangerous. I made a slight miscalculation.

Inside the walls of this building was something I had never seen before, something that was worse than everything I had seen up to this point in the Equestrian ruins. Lined up against the walls were dozens of other ponies, chained in place unable to move farther than maybe a foot a piece. Most of them were covered in what was clear to be their own fecal matter as it was all over the floor around them.

It was obvious that many were beyond malnourished judging by how emaciated a majority of them were. Some of them were even dead lying on the floor, and some of those among the dead appeared to be rotting for probably a few days now.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, it was like a live slaughter house for ponies, and Pinkie Pie had brought us here.

Many cried and moaned upon our entry, Pinkie gave a nasty glare to the general direction of all the commotion then issued a threat.

“I suggest you all shut the fuck up, we have a guest here today.” She spoke in a normal amount of decibels, but her tone was far more commanding that it usually was.

A majority of them turned away and accepted her threat, a few just whimpered and broke down into tears.

The walls were filled with so many different kinds of ponies without prejudice. Unicorns, pegasus, earth ponies alike all lined up down those walls. Fillies, foals, mares, and colts everywhere, it was clear that no mercy was spared on anypony for any specific reason.

My mind quickly returned to the wretched stench that was filling the entire building. The mixture of urine and death was a unique smell that I could never forget.

One of the more rebellious ponies on the wall line up decided to take a stance against Pinkie, no doubt he’d regret it only seconds later.

“You fucking cunt! I’ll slit your fucking throat!” He screeched at her.

Pinkie halted and turned to face the colt. She approached casually while not breaking eye contact with him. You could feel the fear building from him more and more as she inched closer and closer with just a plain expression. The lack of emotion was far more intimidating than if she was expressing anger or rage.

“Say that again.” Pinkie was just as calm as ever.

The colt didn’t even breathe. He was trembling now that she was so close. Only a moment ago he was brave and ready to fight her head on, but now that she was right next to him he was cowering in fear. The only condition that had changed was her location; perhaps though he only lashed out from pure passion.

Pinkie jabbed him in the chest with her left hoof, and the moment he expressed the pain from the impact she clobbered him in the face with the right. Pulling a large stick out of her bag with her mouth she cracked it down on him repeatedly, aiming for the head every time. He would be beaten and scream in agony for several minutes before she would cease. The colt was left on the floor with blood leaking from his skull.

Leaning down Pinkie began to speak to him softly.

“That’s what I thought you worthless piece of shit. You’re here because of your own volition, and don’t think otherwise. Just remember every time that you try to be a fucking hero…” Pinkie kicked him in the throat before continuing.

“That you’re here because of you. It’s your own fault why you’re here, and nopony else’s. I have no sympathy for you, and I have nothing against ripping your fucking entrails out and STRANGLING YOU TO FUCKING DEATH WITH THEM!” She kicked him again, he responded with a grunt of pain.

“DO YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND ME!?” Pinkie yelled.

He nodded furiously.

“Good, I hope we don’t have to have this conversation again.” Pinkie rose up and gestured for me to keep following her.

I tried to block the scene I just witnessed out of my mind as we approached the back room. It was more homely in there than the rest of the factory. There was a table, a bed, and several appliances in this room. Despite it being old and covered with rust, it was fairly cleaner than the rest of the building. Pinkie Pie clearly had made a second home out of this room, and it looked at the very least, inhabitable.

“Sorry about that, the cattle can be a bit out of control at times, but if you don’t show them discipline then they might try to cause trouble; I try my best to avoid that.” Pinkie explained plainly.

She was very nonchalant about the fact that she nearly beat a colt to his death in the other room two minutes ago; she was laughing it off and calling it controlling her cattle. The fact that she referred to them as cattle was a bit more unsettling. At this point though, I just wanted to remain calm, I didn’t want to give Pinkie any reason to think that either of us should be alarmed about the situation.

“It’s alright…” I managed to get out.

That’s all I could say.

“So Flare, what do you want to drink?” Asked the pink mare as she searched through some bottles in her cabinet.

“We have water, and I think I might have a few sodas lying about, that is if you don’t mind them being a little warm. I know you’re used to that fresh stuff, but down here most of the sodas are about 6 years old, so I hope you’re okay with that.” She rambled as she offered me a drink.

“You’re not Pinkie Pie, are you?” I changed the subject.

She paused in her search, and turned around to face me.

“Yes, and no.” She answered.

“What does that mean?” I questioned further.

Sighing she gestured for me to take a seat at the table with her. I obeyed and sat adjacent to her.

“I’ve been referred to as Pinkamena, and I suppose that’s the name I’ve adapted to myself.” She began.

“Pinkamena?” I tilted my head.

“It’s Pinkie Pie’s proper name, but I suppose it fits me as well. Whatever you want to call me though, I am an entity inside of Pinkie Pie. I’m a creature that gives her the strength to do what she couldn’t do on her own.” She explained.

“So, like a split personality?” I asked curiously.

“Sort of, I suppose. I still have my memories of Pinkie Pie, and my emotions and thoughts come from hers.” She spoke with such a plain expression.

A second Pinkie Pie?

“So… When you got shot…?” I pointed to her forehead.

“Nah. I was like this long before that accident. To be honest I’m not entirely sure why I’m like this. Perhaps my childhood wasn’t all that great? Maybe my parents never loved me enough? Hell, I’d even submit to the idea that I was just born with a twisted mind. Whatever the reason though, I exist as I do now.” Pinkamena said.

It was hard to believe that anything before the war could happen to a pony to drive them this insane. What could have possibly been worse than the war?

“So what’s all this about then…?” I asked cautiously.

“Progress.” She responded simply.

I couldn’t gather any words to respond to that.

“It’ll make sense in time, but you’ll just have to trust me. You do trust me, don’t you Flare?” She gave me a rather innocent looking face.

I did trust her. I couldn’t explain why, but I just trusted her. Maybe it was the fact that she saved me when I first came to the ruins of Ponyville. Maybe it was me trying to see the good inside of anypony, but whatever the reason I trusted her, even as Pinkamena.

“Yeah, I suppose so, though the whole operation out there has put some doubt in me, that’s for sure.” I admitted.

“I can understand that. Like I said, it’ll make more sense in time, but I’m glad to hear that you trust me, not many do.” She gave a weak smile.

“You must be very tired, I woke you up to bring you here, but I suppose we can continue this conversation in the morning.” She added.

I nodded. I was a little dazed from being woken up, but I was wide awake after seeing what I did here. I wasn’t sure I could sleep again, especially in this place. Knowing what was just outside this bedroom was a bit too much to just go to sleep around.

“I’m not sure if I can sleep though…” I replied.

She patted a bed in the corner with her left hoof calling me over to it. I came over to it as she suggested and climbed into it. To my surprise she climbed in right next to me.

Pinkamena pulled me close to her and wrapped herself around me. She was a tad larger than me, which was expected as she was significantly older than me. There was a unique feminine scent to her, one that I had never noticed before; perhaps because I had never been this close.

“Maybe you can sleep better knowing that I’m here.” Pinkamena explained her actions.

She was right. I felt safer lying there with her.

“Yeah…” I managed to get out.

Neither of us said another word. Pinkamena and I would just lay still until we both drifted off to sleep.

This is a secret, but you’ll need two to figure it out. I’m making this one easy for you, but the second will be trickier to find. Look for it in Chapter 9. There’s a link that you need to use to get to the secret, and here’s the first half of it: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kZYm6g6vrCElgp951Zz