"There! She's got her!" Celestia cried out, doubling her horn's glow.

Twilight fidgeted on the floor in front of her mentor and Private Eye, her legs wrapped around an unseen enemy. But the pair knew exactly who she was latched onto. The detective readied himself for the inevitable conflict. Did he ever want another shot at Pinkie!

As the unicorn was pulled out of her slumber, a form began to fade into existence on top of her, kicking and struggling. When Twilight opened her eyes, Pinkie Pie's body became whole.

"Let go of me so I can kill you already!"

"Get off her!" a familiar voice shouted.

"Huh?"

A set of teeth chomped down on Pinkie's tail and tossed her across the room. Dazed and confused, she glanced up to see an angry cop, a glaring Princess, and a weary unicorn sitting up and rubbing the wound on her neck. The pink mare stood and stepped back, not sure of what to do for the first time in a long while.

"What is this? What did you do?!"

As she inched away from the trio, her hoof bumped into something on the floor. She snapped her attention to the potential new threat only to gasp in surprise. Any rage she felt evaporated into heartache, and for a moment, her eyes began to water.

She picked Rocky up and gazed sadly at its smiling, crayon face, caressing it like a loved one's cheek. After a moment, it dawned on her where Twilight – and probably Celestia – must have gone. Her fury began to resurface at the revelation, and she turned to stare death at her enemies.

She was on Twilight before anypony could even react, her little rock still in hoof. "What are you doing with Rocky?!" she shrieked, wailing on the unicorn with her stone friend.

A golden glow overtook the maniac and tossed her to the side. Rocky slipped out of her grasp and was snatched away by Celestia's magic.

"Give him back!"

The Princess turned to Private Eye as Pinkie got back up. "We have to keep her off Twilight while she performs the spell!"

With a nod, the detective bolted at the killer, tackling her to the floor. But his momentum worked against him as she launched him right over her head. The combatants got to their hooves and came together again, exchanging one punch after another.

While the two earth ponies brawled, Celestia helped Twilight back to her feet. A trickle of blood leaked from her snout and a gash was starting to swell up on her lip. "Are you alright?"

She wobbled but was able to stand upright. "Y-yeah. I'll be fine."

"Remember, you mustn't stop performing the incantation once you've begun, even if something happens to me."

"I understand. Just...please be careful."

As the Princess set the offering down several feet away, Pinkie had managed to get the upper hoof on Private Eye, shoving him viciously into the wall. He collapsed in a heap but managed to grab one of her hind legs before she could go after Twilight again, bringing her down with him.

The star student watched as the two ponies fought. During the scuffle, Twilight happened to catch Pinkie scowling at her like a savage animal. Her eyes sank, ultimately saddened by what she about to do. But her old friend had left her no choice. She took a breath, steeled herself, and began to speak in the dead language. Her horn, her eyes and the stone all glowed vibrantly as she went.

"Konn'ach tolah vandun'ash jeena vool plent'esh."

Private Eye leapt up, taking Pinkie by a foreleg, and hurled her through the nearby door that led to the moonlit kitchen. Cautiously, the detective waited outside, not wishing to go diving headfirst into a room where he could barely see.

"Den'goranos xinthor na bensecht."

He planted his hooves, ready for whatever assault Pinkie may throw his way. Several quick scrapes of what sounded like metal raised an eyebrow. He took a step back but quickly jumped out of the way of a knife that flew mere inches past his head. "Whoa!"

"Thralen dah forchant, thral ulan ornakhin."

Several more sharp objects – knives, forks, anything Pinkie could find – forced Private Eye to dive behind the wall as they shot from the darkness. Even Twilight and Celestia had to watch their hooves as the weapons crashed to the floor and slid their way. Despite the momentary distraction, Twilight pushed forward.

"Amaalthos na menthek bin hortego ven."

With a path clear, a pink blur raced out of the darkness and headed straight for the biggest threat in the room. Before the Princess could even react, Pinkie had wrapped her legs around her regal neck and chomped down on her prominent horn. "Gaaah!"

Twilight froze at the shriek. She wanted to call out to her mentor or even rip Pinkie off her completely, but she knew she couldn't stop the spell, especially now. Seeing Celestia struggling only made things worse. The vicious, painful attack was preventing the Princess from using her magic to dislodge the psychotic pony. Swinging her head around and kicking at the pink mare didn't seem to be doing any good either.

Fortunately, the scuffle didn't last long. Private Eye had galloped a few steps behind Pinkie when she darted from the kitchen. Once he saw an opening, he grabbed onto Pinkie's waist and held on for dear life. The extra weight was more than she could handle, and she began to feel herself slipping.

"Finish it!" he yelled at Twilight.

She nodded and composed herself quickly. "Ammalthes na menthek Pinkie Pie todam beth."

As Pinkie's mouth gave way and she collapsed on top of Private Eye, Celestia stumbled and fell to a knee. Other than her horn feeling like it was on fire, she was alright. She winced as she rubbed at the burning spot, still unable to cast any spells.

With the Princess out of the picture for the moment, PInkie took hold of one of the detective's forelimbs and yanked at it with all her strength, ripping his shoulder out of its socket. "Nnnngh!" As she rolled off Private Eye and set her eyes on Twilight, the unicorn spoke the final line.

"Ammal thul menthek ilyana korvosh!"

Her purple eyes burst forth with a bright flash, but that wasn't the one that made Pinkie cover her eyes. The flood of light that erupted from her first little friend did that. As the intensity cooled, the rock broke down, little by little, into a stream of tiny glistening sparks of magic. They twirled around several times in the air before flowing like a sparkling waterfall toward the floor a few feet beyond the carnage. Gasping, Pinkie bounded at the display, swatting at it helplessly, almost tearfully, as the last bits of Rocky's crayon smile dissipated into nothing and followed its brethren.

"No! No no no no! Don't go!" Her panic turned back to hatred in an instant, and before Twilight could blink, she had a pair of hooves on her throat. "What did you do?! Bring him back! Bring him back!"

As the last of what was left of Rocky vanished, something rumbled from below the floor, making the deranged maniac pause. One large crack split along the panels, revealing a familiar stone door as it dug itself out of seemingly nowhere. All present except the still-woozy Princess gazed in shock at its appearance though Twilight was aware of what it was.

The same ancient runes that were found on the doorway to Tartarus came to life on this portal as well. With a long, loud moan, the doors opened inward and four sets of ghostly chains with shackles shot forth, latching themselves onto Pinkie's wrists and ankles.

A firm, unseen tug yanked Pinkie off and began to pull her inch by inch toward oblivion. A terrible wind kicked up, sucking itself into the gate, but only the murderer seemed affected by it in any way. No matter how much she fought, she lost two steps for every one she made. It wasn't long before Pinkie realized what was happening

The exhausted unicorn and the injured detective sat up. While Private Eye worked his way over to check on the foggy Princess, Twilight managed to catch eyes with her old friend. Despite everything that was happening, the same fury and hatred she felt for Twilight was still painted all over her face. Heartbroken over what she was forced to do, Twilight glanced away, unable to even look at Pinkie Pie anymore, as the end slowly came for her.

With only a few feet left, Pinkie spotted one of the larger knives she had thrown laying on the ground. She grabbed it and, fighting against the void with every last ounce of strength, hurled it at Twilight as hard she could.

Only one saw it coming.

A large white wing shoved Twilight out of the way. Its owner was not as lucky, and the blade plunged deep into Celestia's chest. Time suddenly slowed to a crawl for the horrified student as she watched her teacher collapse onto the floor.

As she fell, the doorway finished claiming Pinkie Pie and slammed shut with a thunderous boom. With its task complete, it burrowed back into the ground, repairing the floor back to normal and erasing any evidence of its existence.

Twilight and Private Eye rushed to the Princess' side. She winced as a soft purple glow carefully removed the knife and threw it away. Celestia's vision had already begun to blur and she could feel herself growing cold as her blood rapidly pooled on the floor. Even her normally flowing mane laid motionless.

She reached up to caress her student's tearing face one last time. "I knew you could...do it. You've...made me...so proud. Tell Luna.......tell...Lun......"

And with that, her hoof fell.

Pinkie slowly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. She remembered being drawn into some kind of gateway with chains around her limbs. After noticing the fires, the sulfuric stench and the cries of despair that wafted through the air, it dawned on her where she was.

"Tartarus? Really? They sent me to Tartarus? Be easier to get back to work than I thought!"

She motioned to tear open a hole to escape how she always did, but nothing happened. Annoyed, she tried again and again. Still nothing? Growing increasingly bothered, she spotted a nearby surface she could duck behind and hopefully pop up in some poor fool's nightmares. Unfortunately, some dirt in her face was all she got for her troubles.

"Huh? The heck's going on?"

An amused voice echoed from out of nowhere, turning Pinkie confusion into something she hadn't felt since she was alive: fear.

"Y'know, I really should give Celestia more credit. She always was good to her word."

A twisted fireball emerged from the ether in front of the earth pony, forming the demonic alicorn that ruled over the bleak world. He spread his bone wings and smiled wickedly as he closed in on her.

"And now, my little pink nuisance," Mordrid said with glee, "what am I going to do with you?"

To say Canterlot was overcrowded a few days later was an understatement; half of the kingdom must have come out to say goodbye to Celestia. Even Cadance and Shining Armor came from the Crystal Empire when they got the news. It was only right.

A memorial was erected in the castle courtyard, and the Princess' body was buried beneath it. Luna was understandably distraught at the funeral. Only a couple years ago, Luna returned after being away from her sister for a thousand years; now, she wouldn't see her again. Since then, she had done her best to remain strong for the citizens. Even so, she had been found alone in her room by her guards more than once, crying to herself. None of them had the heart to interrupt her.

Twilight had felt numb more than anything. All that was left was her mom and dad, her brother and his wife. She didn't feel much like talking to any of them.

She had Spike buried next to Rarity. It's what he would have wanted. Before his funeral, which was scheduled the day after Celestia's, Twilight had made a special request – she wanted his tombstone to be placed up against hers, which wasn't a problem for the cemetery.

Only those who had gotten to know Spike were there to say farewell to him: Twilight and her family, the Crusaders and their families, the Cakes, and lastly Private Eye and his wife. Twilight stayed long after the others had left. When she was finally ready to leave, she levitated the item she requested from the fashionista's parents from her saddlebag – the fire ruby necklace.

Calling upon a spell she went out of her way to learn just for this, the necklace began to glow. Two narrow rectangles, one on each of the tombstones, also lit up. Gradually, the ends of the lavaliere made their way through the concrete and out the back. Once they were connected, Twilight adjusted the necklace to fit snugly in place. With one last flicker of her horn, she placed an enchantment on the pendant to prevent it from being stolen.

She hoped this would be enough for Spike to forgive her, wherever he may be. With her stomach turning and a new tear falling down her cheek, she headed home.

Twilight had gotten up early the following morning. Even with a full night's sleep, she felt utterly miserable. However, she had plans for that day. She had come to a rather easy decision before she went to bed the night before.

She skipped breakfast and headed out with the morning sun. Despite her belly being extremely angry at her, she couldn't care less. She had barely eaten anything since that tragic night anyway. As she dragged herself along, she glanced up at the star and felt her stomach drop again.

It didn't take as long as she expected to make her rounds. She stopped by Sweet Apple Acres, Zecora's home in the Everfree Forest, Sugarcube Corner, and Rarity's parent's home over the course of the morning to tell them the news – she was returning to Canterlot. Though they would miss her, none of them could really blame her.

Once she returned to the library, she sat down and wrote to Rainbow Dash's and Fluttershy's folks to say farewell. She wanted to leave as soon as possible, and while she could just use her cloud-walking spell to see them in person, trying to find them in Cloudsdale could very well take all day. Hopefully they wouldn't see this as rude. After she finished, she sealed them, stamped them and left them in the mailbox with the flag up.

Mercifully, the packing wouldn't take long. Aside from the photos that had been taken of her friends and family, she didn't have much that she wanted to take with her. Barely an hour later, she was on the way to the train station.

Twilight found herself usually wandering the castle aimlessly after she returned to the royal city. Sometimes she'd catch herself staring at nothing in the kitchens, in the archives, in Celestia's old room. The only thing she ever seemed to consciously gaze upon were the photos she brought with her. Even Pinkie would capture her attention from time to time, and memories of better days would always flood her mind.

That night, she happened to make her way to the throne room and turned to gaze out the window. She made her way to the balcony where she stood on hung over the guard rail and just stared out in the distance. The bright moon and twinkling stars did nothing for her. The normally breathtaking view of the valley didn't do anything either. It was like every other evening for her – cold.

She didn't hear the hoofsteps approaching from behind nor did she acknowledge the comforting hoof that Luna rested on her shoulder. The Princess of the Night – and now the Day – had tried numerous times to get Twilight to open up, to cry, to scream, anything just to help ease the pain, even if only a little. She hated seeing her like this even though she too felt just as hollow on most days.

Sighing at another failed attempt at reaching her, Luna leaned in and hugged the unicorn tightly. Twilight still remained motionless. She knew the Princess was just trying to help, but she wasn't interested. Nothing interested her anymore. Luna broke the embrace and left the broken young mare to her thoughts.

As the last of Luna's steps faded into the next room, Twilight slowly glanced down, a tear sliding down her cheek. The city below was bathed in the soft lunar glow as it was every night. At such a height, it almost looked...peaceful.

It sure was a long...long way down.

Author's Notes:

Hope you all enjoyed this trilogy of tragedy, folks! And for those wondering if she does or doesn't, that's for you to decide.