Pinkie stood by the window, gently dabbing her long hair as she stared out into the forest that laid all around her. A blank stare that was filled with pain and wounds long gone. She still remembers the days and the nights filled with endless training, training to become the Machine she hoped to never become. A Machine that would take over the family when her mom and dad died, becoming the new leader of the family. A position she never wanted. A machine that made her family proud.

But as she chalked up all the kills she has made, she could feel something distant. Distantly and yet almost in her reach, was guilt. For years she has wished that it would hit her. Hit her, so she could feel the pain of killing so many. But she had killed so many that it was all just a numb feeling. A lost feeling of remorse, like the passing of the wind. But now it was as if it came in a flood. All those innocents screaming their long silenced voices. Their soulless screams of eternal torment.

She was not one to dwell on the past, but she was one for witnessing her dark deeds and feeling disgusted at herself. To take her mind off of it she summoned forth her Instinct and tried to sense any moving animals nearby. Deep within her skin she pulsated with the powers that she had since she was a little kid, growing in strength since a young age. She did sense some people. Their stance of walking was powerful and full of martial discipline. Their footsteps echoing with physical power. Pinkie knew just from their walk that these were the Royal Guards. They were getting closer than she thought. She thought for a long moment. At the edges of her mind she could feel Pinkamena trying to break free from her cage.

For so long she had been locked away and now she was trying to escape. Pinkie knew that it would come soon, but not now. Anytime but now. Pinkie rubbed the palm of her calloused hand, from years of grit and training. Pinkie thought even more for a second. She recalled her days she would hunt. She tasked herself with eliminating potential enemies of the family. Merchants, Private Investigators, Sheriffs, Royal Guard. You name it. She would eliminate them. The garb that she would wear was a medium length linen robe that opened at the front and sports tape around her hands.

She had stashed that garb in Zecora's hut. Just in case a need such as this one arised. And she could hear the siren call of the equipment she had left behind. Pinkie remembered as clear as day just where she had left it. She sauntered over to the back of the room and opened a cupboard where she stored the equipment. After lifting the linen robe that was folded neatly she took in a deep breath and put it on. Then she wrapped the tape around her palms and slowly moved it up her forearms. She felt the onrush of past emotions. The emotions that she thought she had buried when she had been with Rarity. She never had the guts to tell Rarity exactly how she felt, she never had the courage to do it. Of all the things she has done she could not tell her because she is scared of what she might think of Pinkie. Fearful of how she would respond.

The fall of evening into night was gradual and slow. Almost painfully slow, perhaps it was the canopy of trees overhead. Or perhaps it was the Everfree itself. Silver Bolt could never be too sure. If there was one thing that was for certain it was the fact that these convicts were worth it. If him and his regiment had to risk their lives and sanity to venture into the Everfree. Maybe it was just his over imagination. Or maybe it was the forest working its dark magic on his mind. Silver looked back at his fellow guards and they all wore the same gold armor as him, glinting fadedly in the dark shadows. He did not bring his full regiment out of fear of bringing too many, it was just two convicts how hard could it be to capture two convicts?

Although the shadows over their heads did not help ease the fear that was rising up him and his soldiers spines. The path ahead opened up and there appeared to be less brush. Distantly and faintly Silver could make out a loud crack in the air, something that he recognized. A gun shot. Just one. This sparked inner determination and new found conviction to capture them. Although he did go back to what Princess Luna had ordered him and his regiment to do,

I want you to find and capture Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Use lethal force to retain. And if necessary, kill.

Her cold words repeated in his mind. He looked back and said, "Okay this way."

They all stopped when they heard a faint rustle of leaves to their immediate left. They turned quickly to see what had caused the noise. Nothing. Another rustle to their right. Turn. Nothing. Silver looked back and saw one of his soldiers shaking and shivering in his armor. His breaths were short and uncontrolled. Silver said reassuringly, "It's okay Blitz, it's just the sounds of the woods."

He responded shakily to his commanding officer, "I know sir....it's j-just....I don't know sir...this place-"

Silver turned back in horror and heard a sharp stab of a dagger piercing through flesh. A sharp gasp escaped Blitz's dying breath. He fell forward and lied there, a crimson river leaking out of his back and spilling out on the ground. Silver had seen blood many times before but this was too much. This was no random strike, this strike was precise and made by a perfect killer. The stab placed just beneath the upper back and the lower back, straight through the heart. Blood pouring out like a geyser, Silver heard his regiment unsheathed their weapons and search around for the killer. The forest seemed darker than before, it seemed even more closed. Like the shadows were going to envelope him. Like the killer was at any moment going to come out and kill him. He slowly unsheathed his sword, while his eyes scanned his limited field of vision.

He heard another sharp scream and the clatter of armor against the ground. Silver turned letting his sword of glittering silver to show and shine even in the dim light. He turned and saw another of his regiment fall to the ground. He saw a leaping shadow and tried to follow it but it disappeared into the other shadows around him. Two down and he brought only fifteen. And he was the only patrol sent out. He turned to another one of his regiment and said, "Send word back to Captain Armor! That we have-"

The three he was referring to dropped almost instantly. Silver cried with fury towards the tops of the trees, "Damn it...COME ON YOU SICK SON OF A BITCH!!!"

Ten left and they gathered around Silver Bolt. Silver raised his sword and said still seething with anger, "Keep tight ranks. Wall formation, circulus!"

They raised their golden spears and fear in their eyes. Silver raised his sword and listened. He heard a voice and it said, "Six rookies. Three have family back in Canterlot, a pretty wife and maybe some kiddies. That leaves nine that actually know what the hell they're doing. Five are dead and bleeding on the ground. Most of you were pulled from being your run in the mill citizen but asked to pick up a weapon to defend Equestria. I have fought thousands with a mile long list of more experience. So after all of this I only have one question for all of you..."

There was a pause in the voice's words and Silver shuddered as he heard a whisper that chilled the nape of his neck. The sound of a woman that promised him nothing but death as she whispered, "Are you afraid of the dark?"

Magic is reserved for those who were born with the innate ability to manipulate energies around them, forming them into spells or into material things. Many can manipulate shadows and even turn invisible. Pinkie was none of those. She was just gifted in the art of killing, the natural ability to kill. She did all of these tricks because of her Instinct. The sergeant tried to turn and run but Pinkie stabbed him in his right hamstring, paralyzing his movements. She left her knife inside his leg and kicked him to the ground.

His soldiers turned to see their leading officer lying on the ground in pain. In their moment of confusion Pinkie disarmed one and took their spear. She pulled back and thrust it deep inside the guard. Finding the perfect spot in between plates and rending perfectly through flesh. She wrenched it out and cracked the opposite end against another guard's head. She felt a sharp pain stab through her shoulder, she grunted at the pain and looked at the source of the pain. A spear head pierced through her shoulder, freshly dripping with her blood. Faster than lightning she slammed the flat of her hand agains the spear head and broke off the head. She pushed her shoulder off of the broken stick and while turning around she slashed the guard's throat.

Two went to impale her but being faster than they were she dodged out of the way and slammed her arm against the guard's waist, taking him down with her. She thrust the spear deep within the fallen soldier and bashed the butt of the spear against the other's face and knocking him to his knees in quick response. He pleaded while he was on his knees, but before he could say anything she tabbed him right in the face before hand. Blood splattering against her. She pushed it forward and the body fell limply to the ground.

With the veterans dead, that left six rookies. Pinkie made quick work of the rookies, not even standing a chance against her. Tumbling and dodging out of their inexperienced strikes. Snapping a few of their necks and impale the others with their own weapons. But she did not leave unscathed. A wound in her shoulder, one over her thigh, and another over her back. Pinkie held the cracked off head of a spear in her hand, tightly gripped. She through it to the ground as she caught her breath. She had never expended so much energy before. Without relying too heavily on her abilities. She would not waste her energy on some of the royal guards. Covered in blood and other bodily fluids that she had killed, she turned her head at the sound of grunting.

It as the leader of the little company, inching along to flee. Pinkie stomped her way over and pulled out her knife, eliciting a sharp cry of pain stopping his movements. Pinkie grabbed him by the chest plate and lifted him off the ground. Pinkie stared deep into his fearful eyes. She moved her hand to a grip around his throat. She said, "Bringing fifteen? Come on I knew that the Princesses underestimated me, but by this much? Frankly I'm hurt."

Her voice became a sharp sting and she tightened her grip around his neck. She continued, "You should have brought the rest. You do not face a normal person."

She brought him closer to her. She crackled dark pink lightning over the surface of her skin and her eyes as she whispered, "You face the harbinger of hell itself."

She slashed quickly over the sergeant's throat and threw his body away in one swift motion. She stood up tall, her stained robe billowing in the wind. She said to herself cleaning off her knife and continuing on back to Zecora's hut, "More food for the wolves."

Author's Notes:

Sorry about the late chapter update, I had to go on a writing binge to push out Rondo of Blood. There are still at least two pieces of writing that I still had to write before I released Rondo of Blood but I'll write those when I don't have so much on my plate. I have this fic, Wild Fantasies, Rondo of Blood, and Ashes to Ashes. Why do I overbear myself? Seriously? What the hell is wrong with me? There are a few things that I will be abandoning, Heaven and Hell for one thing. I just kind of lost my will to write it. It was not what I had in mind of a prequel fic to Children of the Night. Aria of Sorrow Series was supposed to be waited on.

Anyways, sorry about this large wall of text, I had a lot to talk about. Oh and in case any of you were wondering, the song is THis Is Gonna Hurt by Sixx:A.M.
And I will see you guys next chapter!
~Sylus~