Four years had passed since the events in Ponyville.  Life had returned to normal, save for a few faded fliers posted with the words WANTED printed in bold letters with the faces of all the ponies that had committed the crimes.  After the six had disappeared following the escape from jail, it had taken two days for the police to search the bakery where everything had started.

Inside was clean and orderly, the tables were all lined up together forming a long buffet table, and in the middle of the table was a large platter of cupcakes, each one with yellow frosting and a small piece of candy that looked like a bunny.  Above the door the police noticed the banner, made out of pony hide and with the words ‘Life is a Party’ written in blood.

The police passed word of the events to neighboring towns and cities until practically all Equestria new about The Bloody Mares, as they were soon called.  

Times were not easy for they group.  They weren’t cut out for life outside city limits, and the wild proved to be more than they could handle, slowly killing them off one by one.  They started out fine as a traveling group, moving at night and sleeping resting and playing during the days, hiding in caves when they could.  Inside one cave they found a sleeping dragon and decided to have a taste.

Minkie was killed by a bite that cleaved their limbs off and disemboweled her when she went to ‘pull the lucky dragon tooth,’ quickly learning that dragons are much more flexible than they look and stronger than any pony could ever be.   With a lucky strike the rest of them stabbed the dragon in the head, not wasting any more time having fun.

Not wanting to waste anything she collected her friend and ground her into a batch of sweets, candying a few bits for her own pleasure later.

The dragon it turns out was almost inedible and ruined two whole batches of desserts because the mares were so sure the product would be amazing.  Derpy, it turned out, was allergic to dragon and chocked to death after eating a muffin in one bite.  They had a distasteful view of all dragons now, which is not uncommon in the world they live in.  

Inkie was lost when she tried to win a swimming race across an average sized river between she and Pinkie and was carried away by the current.  She was too proud to admit she was a poor swimmer.

Seeing their sister drown as Pinkie raced to save her with her own limited swimming skills steeled their nerves to the inevitable loss of life and friends that happens.  

Blinkie had gotten into an argument with Pinkamena over why Inkie died, accusing her of the death, saying she just wanted more ingredients.  Lunging at Pinkamena with a knife, only to be quickly overpowered and stabbed in the neck Blinkie fell into shock.  Wasting no time to laugh or have fun Pinkie went to work.

Blinkie was still alive when Pinkamena started carving her up.  Applebloom just sat and kept watch as her big sister peeled the still trembling flesh from Blinkie, her voice drowned out by blood that was filling her throat and lungs; suffocating her.  It was only them now.  

1.

‘The traveling bakers’

She wore a light brown cloak covering her whole hide, which was unusual given the time of year, early summer, but it was dismissed as being a personal style.  A dark pink color mare she kept her Pegasus wings under her cloak and her mane was flat and well cared for and it accented her warm and kind smile.  She wore a necklace that clacked and knocked under her cloak but it was hidden except for the brown tie string.

She and another mare - a yellow pony in her teens with a cutie mark of two apples on top of each other and a baker hat - were pulling an older looking covered wagon that obviously doubled as a very small house for the duo.  It bore a hand painted sign that, in red letters with red balloons, read “The Traveling Bakers”

They were beginning to be known as a great baking duo that sold great desserts at really low prices!  No one knew where they were from but it was obvious they weren’t doing what they did for the money, but more to see the joy in others faces as they nibbled their treats and confections.  They were always happy and joyful, doling out joy, jokes and compliments with every purchase.

Traveling from town to town and the occasional city in a rout that brought them to the same cities around the same time people began expecting their brief return; typically lasting only a few days before disappearing in the middle of the night.  

Traversing between towns had given the mares some confidence as they carried out their dark work.  The teenage pony looked up at her friend after a while of walking for most of an evening, seeing another blossoming berg ahead.  “Pinkamena, what are our supplies like?  I know we’re low on flour, Suge, but we got enough secret ingredient for this town, right?”

“Yeah,” the pink pony replied from under her cloaked head, “We’re good but we’ll need to make a withdraw before we leave town for supplies traveling.”  Her natural smile having become a nature frown, her brow slightly furrowed and her eyes half open; a darkness in them that made her into a new pony.  She decided they would camp out before entering the small town ahead.

Climbing into the worn looking wagon she smiled as she looked around at their small home.  It was tight, but home.  There was a small area stacked with a small oven and stovetop, surrounded by fire resistant cloth made from an unfortunate dragon they had crossed a while back.  Killing her had been a challenge and proved almost too much for the six.  

Removing her cloak she shook side to side slightly, feeling the material rub against her hide, the material of her old dress, made from cutie marks.  She looked a lot like her older sister Inkie now.  She had adopted her persona for traveling, trying her best to not be too excitable, lest she be caught.

She slid the custom dress off and set it on a mannequin, lightly brushing her cheek against the material it, taking a step back when the scent hit her, making her smile.  It smelt of blood, albeit slight: memories of her secret life flooding her memories.  Her last memory was of surrounding Fluttershy, all her sisters holding the Pegasus pony down, as she cut her friend open.

No games, no playing, no fun.  She had her chance the last time.  Her screams filling the bakery, as she watched her internal organs being removed and handed among the other ponies, she was given a shot of adrenaline into her beating heart to keep her awake.  They removed everything except her lungs and heart, to keep her alive as long as they could.

Fluttershy could still talk, weakly, and squeaked for mercy, receiving laughter instead.  They took a knife and removed her wings while she entered shock as little Babs Seed stood in the shadows watching, shocked at the horror in front of her.  This was more than she could handle.  And she tried to escape out the front door.

“STOP HER!”  Pinkie remembers calling out, as Derpy and Apple Bloom bolted for the tiny mare and tackled her, lifting her up and snapping her neck she dropped her to the floor.  “Oh wells, looksin like we don’t be playing with our newest friend now!  Bye bye, Babs,” Derpy said, as she looked at the mare gasping her last breaths, fear in her face as she faded, “What have I done,” she gurgled as her last words.

“She was stronger than that I thought.” Gruffly Applebloom said as she ran over to join the fray of carnage.  Another shot into Fluttershys still beating heart, making it race as blood left her body faster than they wanted.  Her eyes rolling up from overdosing on adrenaline she heard her old friend Pinkie say the last words she would hear, “Life is a party, and you can’t get away from a great party like this!” her cheerful voice fading into eternal silence.  

Turning Fluttershy into a large batch of cupcakes they left behind: and Babs into a small cake they took with them was the last time they would see their homes, they left late at night and took a long way around and through town, knowing the streets would be empty.  They walked past their old homes and lives and left taking only a small cart, pulled by Inkie, with a few baking supplies, knives, torture tools, straps and their cake.  

Shaking her head and hearing her necklace of unicorn horns clacking brought her back to the moment.  Pinkamena walked over to a large dresser with stickers of fun things decorating it.  She opened a drawer and took out a piece of candy, with an eye in it.  

She looked at it and said, “I’m keeping my eye on you, watch out for me too, Derpy.”

“I am watches over you, sister.” She cooed in a mocking voice, but a little shaky too.  

“Me too, Sis,” She exclaimed in a different voice, reaching into the drawer removing a candied piece of meat. “I’ve got you in my heart.”

Thanks Minkie!  I love you too.  

Her voice excited and bubbly as she held a conversation with her candied friends.  

Standing guard outside Applebloom listened in on another one sided conversation of her only remaining sister in blood.  She looked at the ground thinking of how they lost the others.  

It wasn’t a fun way to die, and none of them were happy with that.  All the other sisters died unhappily and boring:  There wasn’t any party, no fun, no sharing of jokes or games like when they were back in Ponyville.  Since then it had been three years they were alone.  They only had and needed each other, but the work was still lonely, and often she would cry to herself.

Applebloom often remembered her sister Applejack and the fun they had, and how even though Applejack was about to die, the love she gave to Applebloom was forever etched into her heart; but she’d never admit this to Pinkamena, out of fear what would happen.  

Looking back to her flank she rubbed the false colors off her real cutie mark and remembered how she got it.   The last words she knows her sister heard, “I Love you Apple Jack, bye bye.”  It made her heart ache now, but then it was just game.

Pinkamena often heard Applebloom crying and dismissed it, not as weakness but as her strength for them both, since Pinkamena wouldn’t cry:  not for pain or for death, she wouldn’t allow it.  She had to honor her playmates that way.  

Pinkamena was doing this for years before she let Derpy join in, even.  She can do it alone, she was sure.  Applebloom didn’t mind killing baking and eating/selling their playmates so she reasoned it was her lot in life.  Taking a bit of a blanket that was draped over the back of the wagon she covered her flanks and laid down, getting comfortable, listening to her sisters talking in the wagon, she smiled and drifted off to sleep.

It was a nice morning in the lazy town of Ponyberg.  The wagon squeaking and bouncing as people looked outside to see the unusual commotion.  Seeing it was the traveling bakers the children asked for some money and ran out to greet their favorite traveling proprietors of confectionary delights.

Stopping at the inn the mares pushing through kids, climbed in the cloth wagon and pulled out a small table.  Smiling warmly she asked them to calm down and line up.  Pinkamena hopped in the wagon and removed two large boxes.  She set them on the table and pulled a string that made the top flip back and the sides of the first box to pop off and fall to the sides.

The kids’ eyes were all wide as they were treated to a sparkling show of candies of all colors, some with objects in the middles, and chocolates decorated with all manners of hearts and shapes.  Pinkamena pulled the string on the other box revealing gummies, cupcakes and cookies.

Hardly able to contain themselves the Mares posted the prices and got ready.  Once the first colt grabbed a cookie there was a storm of clopping hooves and screaming youths grabbing anything they could and throwing money almost blindly, galloping away excitedly munching on their treats that were far better than anything they ever got at home.  

Collecting their money from the area the two started to clean up and Applebloom notices a little foal looking sad that she didn’t have enough money to buy something.  “C’mere,” beckoned Applebloom giving her a piece of candy and saying, “Now, don’t y’all tell anyone, ok?  We can’t be known for giving away free candy!”  

With a huge smile the little foal bolted away to join her friends and talk about the treats.  The adults were starting to come in line now, “Get ready, there Pinkamena, round two!”  Dropping two more boxes onto the ground she smiled crooked at her friend, took a deep breath, collecting herself.  

“Welcome one and all! Thanks for coming to ‘The Traveling Bakers’ latest delivery!  We’ll be here for a couple days so buy what we have and enjoy yourselves!  Just don’t forget to brush!”  Pinkamena beamed with a huge smile and bared sparkling white teeth, impressing all her customers, young and older alike.  

Quickly she started speaking, almost like an auctioneer:

“We have cakes, pies, and tasty treats to tantalize your senses and fluff your tails.  Your manes will shine with enough caramels and our taffy can’t be beat on this or any street!  You’ll die for our cookies that contain no dye and that’s no lie!”  Her voice joyful and almost squeaky; like the old days.  

‘She puts on one heckofa show.  I wonder who we’ll be leaving town with if we have to.’

Applebloom thought.  She scanned the crowd and saw the town sheriff in line and gulped to herself.  She kept smiling even though she was worried.  Even though she had passed hundreds of police and soldiers over the last years it didn’t become easier knowing what would happen.

Finishing up their final rush of the day Pinkamena left Applebloom to clean up.  “I’ll be right back, Bucky.”  Frowning Applebloom wasn’t a fan of her cover name, but she got it after an unfortunate bucking incident after getting drunk while camping after they started traveling.  It was rare for her to drink now especially after bucking a tree and getting a beehive on her back.

‘Pinkie was lucky,’ she thought ‘all the fliers had only her nickname, Pinkie Pie.  She gets called her full name Pinkamena, and no one is the wiser.  I’ve got two names to remember.’

Packing up the boxes and table she loaded them into the wagon and began organizing.  She began taking inventory of supplies and ingredients.  When she had to check the secret ingredient she closed the back cover completely, the temperature climbing quickly under the rising sun beating the cloth.

Opening a hidden trap door under the carpet they hid under the mannequin, she counted how much pony was left.  They salted the meat and would candy it to preserve it.  As she counted she noticed the numbers were lower than they should be.  She knew Pinkamena was eating them with her imaginary friends, but she wished she’d be more moderate in her eating.  

“She ate a foal worth this month already, sheesh.  What a hog!  How’s she still look’n so good eating all this junk food?  I wish I could eat a few pounds of candy jerky a week plus two full meals and a stew a day and not gain any weight.  Fuckin’ Pinkie.”  Her eyes widening her back legs trembled.  She quickly closed the trap door and covered it.  

She ran to a drawer and pulled out a bag and removed a bar of soap.  Much of it was worn away and it had some mares hairs on it, but she could waste any time.  She bit a small corner off and went to the back of the wagon.  Hopping out she was face to face with Pinkamena.  She started chewing and coughed, the distinct smell of their home made soap was evident.

“You said a naughty word? Didn’t you?  Didn’t YOU?” Pinkamena asked through clenched teeth and with a glare, her high pitch voice slightly rough.

Choking on a little soap that she breathed in when Pinkamena growled at her, she replied “No, I thought somethin bad, and bad thoughts are just as bad as sayin’ bad words, right?  Best nip it in the bud before it gets outta hand, sis.”  Spitting the soapy mix on the ground she kicked some dirt over it and looked at Pinkamena briefly as she thrust her chin into the air, she turned and started walking to the entrance; garnering a large respectful smile from the dark pink pony whose eyes brightened a bit in a way that rarely does in the real world anymore.  

Hopping up behind her friend, Pinkamena squeaked gleefully, “We have a room in the back!  It’s a slow time so we can have any room in the place and I asked for the most nicest room they have and we GOT IT! YAY!”  Hopping on the tips of her hooves almost twice her height, her cloak floating down after she landed, covering the lower ends of her exposed dress Applebloom had to grab her friend and pull her back to reality.

“When we’re in the room or the wagon or a mile away from any pony you can bounce like the old days, or you can take that darned under dress off and act like a crazy mare to your hearts content, if’n you don’t wanna get found out then keep grounded, Pegasus pony.”  Applebloom looked at her friend and glanced around at the locals who payed almost no mind to the eccentric out of towners.  

Pinkamena quietly led them to the room.  Using the room key she put around her neck she unlocked the door and they entered.  Applebloom, seeing a real bed screamed suddenly and startled Pinkamena who was accustomed to her sister being serious and thoughtful.

“A REAL BED!  NOT THE COLD GROUND OR A LUMPY WAGON!  C’MON PINKS, jump with me!”

Smiling, Pinkamena jumped on her bed and they began laughing and enjoying themselves like they hadn’t in what felt like months.  Pinkie started singing a song about cupcakes and her coat started to shine a hue lighter and she was excited to be having fun; until she looked at the closed door to their room.  

There was a poster of her old self, curly and bubbly, shiny coat and a huge comical smile.  A photo of her cutie mark was beside the photo.  ‘WANTED’ was in bold letters at the top.  After all the time had passed, they gave up on all the others and focused on the Pie sisters.  Applebloom and Derpy couldn’t be held accountable.

Applebloom stopped jumping on her bed, closed the shades and hopped over to Pinkamenas bed.  She pulled off the brown cloak and looked at her sister in her dress.  She admired the cutie marks that were so carefully sewn together to make it.  The wings of Rainbow Dash were the only wings she had, and her necklace, string made of dried hide strips from stallions holding six half unicorn horns loosely against her chest.

“Let me see that smile, Pinkie, lemme see it…  C’mon sis, I know its in there waitin to come out!”  Coaxed by Applebloom, Pinkamena slowly began reacting, reverting to her old bubbly self.  She was happy to stop being so melancholy and bland, so normal.  Before they knew it they were dancing around the room singing and dancing.  It was so much of a ruckus that the owner had to ask them to quiet down.  

They giggled like they were fillies again and apologized through the closed door to the owner, an older   stallion.  Throwing on her cloak again they left the room, locked it and went out to explore the town.

Walking out into the town the mares looked around and watched as their candy and cakes were gobbled up by the locals.  Having just enough supplies for two days of treats they decided to worry more about having fun than work.  They walked to the local store, smiling and beaming at the passersby and feeling bubbly with energy.

To see such energetic travelers cast off their professional appearance and be happy was inspiring and the children began hopping in the same fashion as Pinkamena.  They started bounding around her singing a local song about the grass and sun.  One of the colts dancing and singing tripped and fell, scraping his leg.  Surprised and still gleeful Pinkamena hopped on her back legs and squealed, “Oh no! Damaged product!  Let me help you up, are you ok?”  

Shocked, Applebloom jogged over to her friend, acting as though she was joking, and gave her a serious look to get down.  She fell to all fours and helped the colt to his feet, kissing his light wound.  While only a scratch a trickle of blood was exposed, and Pinkamena dragged her tongue across it causing the colt to wince.  

A worried mare ran over to the scene and asked if everything was ok, having seen the odd reaction to the injured colt fall over, what looked like a patchwork quilt under her dark cloak on an already warm afternoon and having heard what she though was ‘Injured product’ caused concern which was heightened by seeing a tongue wipe across the colts leg.  

Cautiously she walked between the colt and Pinkamena, guiding him away from her and telling the children to leave the mares alone.  Leaving Pinkamena a little displeased, having only gotten a small taste, her mind thinking of what kind of dessert it would go best with.  Her eyes finally coming back into focus on Applebloom, who was looking at her, scoldingly.  

With a grunt hidden behind a smile she had learned to fake naturally, they began bounding for the shop, alone and giggling.  Entering the shop they were not impressed, just a lot of the same as they had seen in every town:  Basic perishable local goods; beets, corn, beans, lettuce, and apples.  

Appleblooms eyes widened slightly and Pinkamena knew she was going to get a bushel of apples and fruit so she went to the personal care area to buy soap, a new towel for her and a few other essential traveling items for them both.  Tossing the new items in Appleblooms saddle bags they started back for the inn to get settled in.

As they walked they noticed a change in the air, the town wasn’t as jubilant as before, the fillies and colts didn’t rush them, and people weren’t chatting as much, more whispering.  The mares knew this feeling, and usually it was because of Pinkamenas impulsiveness.  

They knew what they had to do.  They just had to wait for nightfall to enact their plan.

Asking to set up a small area just outside town they began to dismantle their wagon, with surprising efficiency they set up a gazebo with balloons, streamers, and party favors, they invited the locals to a party!  Reluctantly the locals began showing up, the dark pink horse with her mane flat had a huge puffy curly tail and joyful exuberance that even most young colts couldn’t achieve.  

She wore a light green blanket over her back, hiding obvious Pegasus wings and showing the beauty of her shiny coat, her cutie mark was one large balloon with a cupcake on top.  A truly unique cutie mark that matched her personality.

“Welcome, welcome, welcome!  I’m so happy to see you, I can’t wait to get to know you and become friends.  I got a lot of stuff to sell and I know you’ve got money to buy, but we’ll take trades!  Sellers gotta sell and a mares gotta eat, right Bucky?”  

“Ya got that right sis, ain’t any better way to say it than that, let’s have a great party and get to know each other!”  Removing a thin pink cloth from the table she exposed all the rest of their dessert stockpile they had to sell, they had a light shining on the sweets that twinkled off the confetti and little silver sugar balls that adorned the table.

“One free cup of punch for every hoof,” giggled Pinkamena, offering a platter of cups to the guests.  Within an hour the whole town was present, and the party was going great.  Pinkie was the focal point and Applebloom was selling all their desserts to a growing ecstatic crowd.  They began telling stories of their travels and where they came from.  

Gathering around a campfire later in the evening, after the kids had started to go to sleep and mares took them home to bed, most returning; stories were passed around and friends were made, and remade.  A fatter older colt, the one who owned the inn, pulled a bladder of alcohol from his bag and took a drink; spit it in the fire making the fire roar and dance to the delight of many of the locals.

Pinkamena reeled back and jumped to Applebloom, and started sobbing to the surprise of the others.  Applebloom knew the act, she barely had to pretend to be surprised anymore.  

Putting on a worried face she embraced her friend she said, “It’s ok sis, its ok, it was just a joke, you’ll be ok,” looking at the group, “She lost her grandmaw in a fire back when she was little, don’t pay her no mind, she’ll be ok in a bit.”  It was an act they did a few times before, to gain the affection of the locals they’d each say they lost someone.

Offering Applebloom a drink of his homemade apple wine her eyes sparkled.  She took a small drink and felt it almost immediately.  The warm fermented apple filling her senses and bringing back memories of the family she left behind.  She took another drink, Pinkamena squeezing her tightly, growling softly, implying for her to not drink anymore and stick to the plan.

Applebloom drank two more mouth filling large swallows and passed the flask back to the next person, her vision blurring quickly, wine dripping down her chin; she was not alcohol tolerant.  Immediately becoming drunk and slurring her words, Pinkamena sat up, wiping a fake tear away, and trying to refocus the conversation and attention back to her.

After a moment of staring into the fire Applebloom tried standing up and tipped over to the mare at her left, hiccupping and looking dizzy.  To a flurry of laughter at the drunken mare made Applebloom feel offended hopped up, “Hey y’all, doncha be gettin all sour at me and bein mean cuz im different.  Its my lot in life to do what I done did!  I love you Applejack, Ahm sorry you’re gone, I’m sorry.  I miss you so much.”

Tilting and rocking she tried her best to stand up straight, wavering and wobbling and trying to talk, but all her words were slurred and mostly incoherent, she started sobbing.

The laughter all but stopped, Pinkamina hopping up and saying, “It’s ok Bucky, I’ll take you to bed reeeally quick and you’ll have SO MUCH FUN sleeping in our cozy wagon! OK?”

She slurred back, “I hate our wagon and I don’t like cupcakes, I wanna go home to Ponyville and sell pies there…” her voice trailing off as she was led away.

Smiling and bearing her teeth Pinkamena guided her inebriated friend to their wagon and let her get herself in.  Walking back to the fire she sat down, pulling the blanket over her whole body this time, smiling but somber this time.  

“She doesn’t drink and that’s why.  She lost her family too.  We were travelers and met in Ponyville about 5 years ago, she was selling apple pies, I was selling candies, and we hit it off,” looking into the fire thoughtfully she continued, “we started traveling together and that was the start of our sisterhood, we’re not really sisters, but we are now.  Her sister was one of the victims of the Bloody Mares, we found out a couple years ago when we stopped by Ponyville.  

It was a huge blow to her, and we haven’t gone back to Ponyville since.  But, we’re happy together, and I didn’t get a drink yet!”  Catching the flask as it was tossed to her a mare shouted, “Don’t go crazy too,” to a hail of laughter.  Pinkamenas smile had returned as she took a drink.  

The evening soon returned to a fun gathering with Pinkamena as the host.

Time to go

In the morning the towns people awoke around the burning embers, gazebo still standing but the food and desserts put away.  The aches in their heads from a night that they hadn’t planned for full of candy and alcohol was a pleasant way to wake up.  Growing stronger the group started to head home and smiled at each other, remembering the events of the night, and how much apple wine was drunk.

Pinkamena was awake early and had cleaned up almost all the mess.  Her hair was ragged and her tail was knotted with dirt across her body.  Pinkamena was happy and energetic, grabbing balloons and sucking out the air and speaking in silly voices directed at the waking locals; smiles were given to her as she was passed.  She began packing up the tables and packing them around the snoring mare in the wagon bed that had almost blown their cover.

She was her sister, in every way as far as she was concerned, and as a good sister she wasn’t going to let her drink anymore.  Letting her sleep she reset the wagon and left a note saying she was going to the inn to get some real sleep.  

Upon arriving she went to open the door forgetting she locked it, reaching under her cloak she grasped for the key, it wasn’t there.  Rolling her eyes she didn’t want to go back to the wagon almost a mile away.  Walking to the owner’s room she opened the door without knocking and saw the old stallion holding a photo he took of her last night next to a wanted poster.

With a mere thought she ran into him, head butting him and knocking him into the wall, knocking some photos off their hooks and causing him to lose consciousness.  “Darn it, he was really nice too; Time to go I guess.”  She thought of the bed and had that she would have to explain it all to her broken hearted partner.

She tightly tied rope around his legs to bind him and another around his mid body and left a few feet of length which she used to tie his mouth shut, so tightly she thought he might wake him with pain.   She calmly closed the door, locked it with his master key, and left the inn locking it as she left, nonchalantly smiling at the neighbors that she passed.  Arriving at the cart faster than it took her to leave she hopped in and started shaking Applebloom, “Wake up, wake up.” She urged.

Slowly Appleblooms eyes opened to see her sisters worried expression, “What’s up darling? Did ya do something?”  “Time to go; the innkeeper.”  Nothing more needed to be said, they had happened across this before.  Hopping out of the back the world shook and turned slightly to Applebloom, who was still recovering from her consumption of cheap apple wine.

“That’s the last time ah drink, and ah mean it this time.”

“Hitch up sis, we’ve gotta go.”

“Okay, fine, fine. Time to go, ah get it.  We gonna leave or get him?  Do we have time to sleep in a real bed for a lick or two?”

“He’s tied up and ready to go.  We have all afternoon so let’s have some fun.  Its been a while since we had fun with our ingredients.  Then we have to go.  I’m sorry, but its gotta be this way.”

Smiling crooked they looked at each other, and focused the fun to come.  Hooking up to the yoke they pulled the cart behind them.

Returning to the inn, they parked with the back near the door.  They took a toolbox in with them, and went for his room. Opening the door she peeked in and saw the stallion sitting and trying to chew his binds, meeting eyes with Applebloom he had a moment of relief until he saw the pink mare come in behind too.  Shoving a dollop of frosting in his mouth Applejack smiled as the drug began making him immediately drowsy, they watch as he slumped over.

Jogging over to the bed Applebloom flipped the bed and moved the mattress against the window and the bed frame upright.  Pinkamena was locking the front door as Applebloom started rearranging the room.  She remembered they had nowhere to clean up so she went to the wagon quickly and removed a large trunk.  

The streets were lonely as nearly every adult was asleep or recovering and most kids were at parks or at each other’s houses.  It was a perfect day.  Returning inside she locked the door and dragged the trunk to the room, opening it and producing a blood stained tarp made of the hides of several ponies sewn together.  She laid it on the floor and set it up as they had a dozen times this year already; to catch anything that falls for collection later.

Both of them moved the bed frame to the back of the tarp and lifted the aging stallion and tied him to the improvised rack and began setting up for their day in.  They spend the next twenty minutes setting up for the harvest.

He awoke to the darkened room, wondering why the light was so low and why it was a shade or red.  He tried to move but his arms and legs were strapped with heavy leather bindings, he pulled lightly and felt stabbing pain in his wrists.  He looked closely, his eyes adjusting to the odd color dim light, he saw the bands were held closed by several inch long rusted nails, they pressed against his skin, lightly stabbing as he resisted.

From behind the frame Pinkamena emerged, her eyes shadowed by the light from above that was covered with a red cloth.  Bouncing in front of him she smiled as happily as she was the previous evening, she was back to her fun self, the Pinkie that had to hide was free:  Her fur was bright pink, and her mane was soft and curly, and she was wearing a dress made of cutie marks, hand sewn, with blue Pegasus wings on the back.  

He realized she wasn’t a Pegasus but had the wings of one.  Her cutie mark was covered by the dress but he didn’t care about that.  Opening his mouth he started to ask who she was, but suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his left flank, roaring his loudest as someone cut around his cutie mark with a blade.  

Walking around from behind his other cutie mark was cut, this time he bore the pain, watching the smile of the pink pony in front of him, clapping her hooves together she happily said, “Ooo, you’re strong.  I hope you’re as sweet as your are strong, or I’ll have to make muffins or bread.  

His eyes widened behind the pain as he realized what she said.  His hunch was right and he was going to be killed if he didn’t get away.  He didn’t want to be made into food.  These were some of the Bloody Mares, he had to get free and get help.  They had to be stopped.

He started thrashing and pulling against his bonds, nails cutting into his skin and forcing him to stop.  The pink pony nodded to the pony behind him, he believed to be Applebloom but couldn’t see her, so he was worried there were more in the plot.  He felt a stinging sensation as a filet knife worked its way under his flesh and removed almost all of his cutie marks, leaving them attached by a slight bit on top.  

“Think fast!” Pinkamena shouted as she grabbed and ripped them both loose from the meat in his legs.  He shouted in pain so loud the mares thought he might be heard.  Continuing, “Got your cutie marks!  My gosh, you’re old, this skin is all wrinkled and loose already and it just came off.” She began stretching one of them and put it to her mouth and acted like she was blowing a bubble.  “Pop!” She laughed.  A giggle came from behind him, and a yellow mare walked into the poor light.  

“What should we do today, Pinkie?” Applebloom asked.

“The same thing we do every day, have FUN!”  Joyfully replied Pinkie.

“I see he’s sad, lets give him some cutie marks, that made us happy when we were sad.”

Taking a scalpel from the tabletop to her side he hadn’t noticed before, that had several medical tools on it, and a hacksaw, made him nervous.  Pinkie approached him and slowly slid the blade under his flesh on his side.  He shouted again, this time he got an apple shoved in his mouth, “Shush, we can’t rush, or we’ll have to find another friend in town here that’ll be quieter:  Maybe that little colt that we got a taste of yesterday.”  

His eyes trembled, as he recalled hearing about the mare that licked the colt’s bloodied leg.  He thought it was just paranoia.  Resigning himself he stopped shouting and began whimpering, he chomped down on the apple, the juice raining down on his chin, he spat the apple out and swallowed what he could, the sweet taste filling his senses he focused on that.

Carving a balloon into his left side she passed the scalpel to Applebloom who drew an apple on his other side, she then connected the apple and balloons across his front with expert cuts just deep enough to not draw blood.  “Look sis! I done made our cutie marks come together!  Isn’t it great?” “Yes! Heheheeeeeee. I love it, our cutie marks were meant to be together!  Lets draw them together!”  

Pinkie grabbed a small but sharp knife and started to carefully carve her initials in his abdomen, Applebloom following suit.  Wincing and pulling away he choked back tears.  Stepping back they admired their work and looked at each other.  “Y’all wanna see our work?” Jabbing him with the scalpel she began carving under their artwork, rounding his sides and ending expertly where she started: Pinkie taking a filet knife started to remove the skin from muscle carefully.

The pain was excruciating: White hot pain filled his abdomen and he vomited slightly, mostly wine from the night before.  The pain pushed his mind to its limits, but he wouldn’t lose consciousness to these kinds of mares.  His body was burning with more stinging direct pain as the vomited wine trickled down his body.

Finally they finished, peeling the last of his flesh free and taking a step back, they turned it around to show him.  It was actually kind of impressive he thought; they had carved cutie marks into his hide, removed it and were showing it to him.  He weakly smiled and nodded his approval.  

Giggling they hopped up and down and locked arms and danced around humming, then they stopped and started singing ‘The fun never ends” looking into his eyes.  When the song was over they saw his listless expression and conluded he loved the song.  Gleefully Applebloom hopped over and pulled the red cloth off the light, exposing to him the true horror that he had been through.

Blood was pouring from his wounds, his abdomen on fire, blood clotting and trickling down his legs.  Looking down to the left he could see the instruments they were using on him, to the right were buckets, covered in rust and dried blood.  “Hey darlin’, attention here where its deserved!”  Snapping his head to Applebloom he flinched from the pain.

Looking at him with youthful exuberance Applebloom picked up the hacksaw and bounded for him, he hardly had a chance to think of what was happening before he felt the blade cutting through his right knee.  With almost no effort his leg was removed, blood quickly leaving his body.  “3 minutes.”  Pinkie said.

“Ya know, back in the day we had a medicine that would make this not hurt, but that’s hard to get when you’re running round like we are.  You’re gonna wish you got some before too long, but it’ll be over soon.”

Applebloom went to his left knee and did the same.  The weight on his arms was extreme as the nails dug almost an inch into his skin, stabbing into his bones, the only thing holding him up at this point.  

“Uh, 1 minute 45 seconds.”  Pinkie said.

Pinkie came out of nowhere with a hammer and pounded the nails deeper into his arms, blood gushing from where his lower legs were.  Quickly they laid the frame down and Pinkie hopped on his lower belly, cutting off some of the blood flow, prolonging his passing.  

“1 minute 30 seconds,” Pinkie said.

Applejack moved up his body and sawed off his arms at the elbows and he began thrashing, trying to grab anything with phantom limbs and moaning, too much pain for him to speak or to utter a real word.  

Smiling at Applebloom Pinkie said, “45 seconds, time to hurry!”  At the same time Pinkie began cutting his abdominal wall, “I’ve got my ‘EYE’ on you,” she giggled as she ripped him open and grabbing quickly his organs saying what each would be used for.

“Kidneys are for muffins, lungs are cream puffs, ooo, liver it too.  I’m gonna find a way to just be kidneying around while I make apple wine in this bladder!  No drinks for you!  This spleen says ‘taffy’ all over it, “she said as she put his spleen in his mouth, “Taste the salty sweetness?”  He gagged and his stomach started to spasm, she cut it out before he could make a mess.  “Look, Haggis is where its at!  Look, all this intestine is all messy, I’ll have to clean it out and make sausages!  What have you been eating?”

He died with the taste of his blood in his mouth, Applebloom collecting the pieces that Pinkie was dropping and putting them on her body where they would go if they were hers.  Laying down she placed all his parts across her body and looked at the blood pooling around her, coloring her body an off orange color.  

Looking down, Pinkie admired her sister, never having been able to see herself she imagined that she must have looked that cute a few times.  After a few minutes of rolling in his entrails and guts Applebloom got up and began collecting the parts, putting them into a bucket.  Shaking she felt blood running down her body from her mane, which was soaked.  Smiling at each other they regarded their handy work and started cleaning up.

It took only an hour for the two of them to clean his organs and much of his muscles into various buckets and bags.  Rolling up the hide and pouring the blood into two separate buckets.  They were shocked at how efficient they were now, two hours start to finish.  He had only lasted 20 minutes.   They took a shower separately, the clean one taking out parts and bits and then the other making sure everything was as clean as they could make it, save for the smell of blood that permeated the air.

They gathered his tradable valuables into a small case and put it into their wagon.  Resetting everything to how it was before, except for the now bloody carcass of a stallion that laid haphazardly on the floor, his limbs scattered close to his body.

Packing up the last of their belongings they returned to begin baking in his kitchen.

A large platter of goodies was left on a platter on a table outside the Inn that night and the wagon was gone, a single light burned in a room, and people lined up to eat some muffins, topped with red sprinkles shaped into a heart on each one.  A small letter that said, “Thanks for your hospitality and we can’t wait for the next time!  Enjoy these as a gift and we’ll keep you in our hearts!”  

While the group was eating the muffins they smelled fire.  The inn was burning before anyone could react, an older mare guiding the foals to a safe distance.

Tried as they could they couldn’t stop the fire, taking into account the owner was missing and quickly concluding he was in there, possible having had started the fire after another afternoon drinking something that matched the exquisite flavor of the muffins.  

Even though tragedy had befallen their little town, they all longed for more sweets, anxiously awaiting the bakers return.

The rain was coming down heavily and the cart was moving ahead slowly.  Applebloom was sleeping in the back, the heavy cart being slowly pulled ahead by Pinkamena; her hooves stomping with each step she wanted to get as far away from the town of Ponyberg as possible.  Already miles away and with no reason to believe they were being followed; she pressed on.  

Nothing was going to stop her and she was never going to be caught, she smiled between pants, she was going to die an old lady in a rocker chair made of bones, wrapped in the hide of princess Celestia out in the country, a house with a roof of tanned hides and skulls.  The interior decorated for the greatest party every, with dozens of her playmates taxidermied and posing, forever happy.

Losing her footing she fell chest first into the mud.   She felt the dirt and mud coating her body, the weight of the yoke heavy on her back pushing her deeper, she pulled free and stood in the cold rain, thunder could be heard in the distance.  

‘How long would it be until the real Pegasus’ showed up and clean up the clouds?  We’re close to the Everfree forest, they probably won’t be coming.  I like the rain.” Looking up she enjoyed the water washing away the dirt, she felt her troubles going too.

Walking around the cart making a quick lookout she slipped the cloak off and felt the rain wash her clean.  Closing her eyes she lost herself to the sensation, sound and scent of the area around her.  She hopped into the wagon and laid down.

She rolled over and opened her dresser, removing her family, frozen in candy.  She began to play with them and work out her problems, after a short time feeling better she hugged her sisters and put them all back into their spots.  Turning over she looked at her dress.  She checked to make sure she was alone in silence and lifted the front flap, exposing Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Twilights cutie marks.

She had kept them and sewn them into her dress without any others knowing, and rarely looked or thought about them.  A couple nights ago, when Applebloom had gotten drunk and made a scene, Pinkamena had started to miss her old life.  She didn’t want to finish Twilight anymore, after finding out she was mentally broken, she knew her work was done with her.

Maybe she could… No.  She couldn’t go back just like that.  But, to see her old friends’ homes, and see what happened to the city.  After so much time she was sure she could blend in with Applebloom and make a walk through, just once.  And they could see their old sugar cube corner!  The bakery that had meant so much to her: did they tear it down, or did they leave it to rot?  MAYBE IT WAS A MUSEUM!  

A triumph to her work and the work of her sisters.  They could have decorated it with red paint and moved the downstairs up and any dead ponies in town were used to decorate the walls.  She smiled and giggled.  It wasn’t possible, but the thought made her happy, she started kicking her feet and rolling around.

Sitting up, Applebloom grabbed a bushel of fresh food.

“Yum yum yummy yum in my tum tum! This is so good.  Is this from the shop?”  

“Yeah, you know they were such a nice town.  It was a good time, Pinks.  Only…”

Stopping her meal and finishing her mouthful she looked up, to the top of the wagon and reached over, pulled a string and opened a small vent-window and looked at the stars.  “Let’s go home for a day or two.  We’ll be safe, and stay covered.  I’ll stay calm and you just be you.  We’ll sleep outside town in our wagon and limit ourselves explore only.

Looking at each other with a kind of excitement they both smiled.  Having spent years together they had developed a language without speaking.  Looking at Pinkamena Applebloom cocked her hear to the side, “Where’s your necklace? I haven’t seen you take it off in months.”

Shocked, Pinkamena grasped at her neck and felt her bare coat and her eyes widened, than she darted for the door nearly knocking her sister over.  Her eyes darting around the ground, she began hopping around and digging, trying to recall where it could have fallen off.  Joining her Applebloom began searching as well.

For almost an hour they scoured the area; the darkness of a rainy night obscuring their view they slowly retraced her steps, focusing on where she fell, trying to gently dig into the moving soil.  Hanging her head Pinkamena slowly walked into the back of the wagon and lay down.  For the first time in years, she began to sob.

The clothing she had handmade were her most cherished objects.  A piece of each victim was memorialized in her clothes and she would remember them and how they died in respect.  Now, how would she remember the seven she killed?  Six horns and the flesh necklace, would she remember them in a year, a month?  Would their memory fade sooner?  

Approaching her sister, Applebloom lay next to Pinkamena and let her emotional wall down, and together they cried, for a long time they cried.  They awoke to warmth around them, it was after sunrise, the rain had stopped and the wagon was warm and cozy.  Neither mare knew which was awake first and neither wanted to move, they had cuddled together and had truly felt love like they never had before for each other throughout the night.

Sitting up Applebloom yawned and looked up at the open vent the clear blue sky above.  Looking down she took Pinkies sight in, a beautiful naked pink mare, soft hair and panting as she lay in the warming wagon.  Both stared at each other for a moment, recalling the night.  

Applebloom went out the back and stretched, lowering her head she felt her back crack and from under the cart she saw the necklace.  Her heart jumped and she dove under the axel and grasped the necklace and yanked it, hearing a crunch her heart sank again.

Slowly tugging it out four horns came out and only shards of the others popped up.  Slowly backing up she was leaving the undercarriage as Pinkamena was exiting, naked and her hide shining a bright pink, her mane soft and light, her eyes opened wide and she screamed in joy louder than she had in years, echoing for miles and causing Applebloom to jump, hitting her head and dropping the necklace.

Her ears ringing she stumbled out from under the wagon standing on her hind legs he held her head with her arms and tried to regain her equilibrium.  Suddenly she was tackled and knocked to the ground, her mind reeling she felt Pinkamenas mane in her face, she was being squeezed so much she started to lose her breath.  

“Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you Applebloom!  You’re the best sister ever and I’ll never forget this I’ve never been so happy and I love you and thank you thank you thank you!”

“Ughhh, whacha doin Pinkie?”

“You found my NECKlace!  YAY!”

“Oh, yeah, “she started gathering herself, “Most of it anyway.”

“I don’t care, you FOUND it!  My necka-necka-necka-lace!”

After a moment Applebloom pushed Pinkie off of her and saw the mare bright pink, and extremely happy.  Her eyes large, her mouth small and her beaming white teeth sparkling as she held her necklace to her chest.  There was an obvious change in her; Applebloom didn’t know how to react yet.  

Looking at Pinkie she noticed that for once she was actually naked.  No dress, no bows or pins in her hair, no necklace: even the paint on her cutie mark had rubbed off the during the night and she never let anyone see it anymore.   She was truly a gorgeous mare.  Applebloom felt a strange feeling seeing her sister revert back to her old self.

Picking up pieces of the broken horns Pinkie hopped into the wagon singing ‘The fun never ends.’  Seeing the cover open partly she knew pinkie was going to bake something?  She stayed on lookout, time passed slowly.  The sun was high overhead when she emerged wearing her necklace.  Two candy orbs hang from the necklace where the broken ones were.  

‘She candied them and put them back, that’s actually really smart.’  Applebloom thought.  Often forgetting Pinkamena was quite clever at times.  

“Whelp, what’s the plan, Pinks?  We going to Baltimare like planned?”

“Ponyville.”

“…Ponyville?” Gulped Applebloom.

“We’ll go for one night, just to see the old places.

Five days had passed before they made it through the forest.  Making it to the fat outskirts of town they camped out and first thing the next morning they left, taking only their cloaks and some snacks and a couple knives, hidden in their saddle bags.  

Covering the cart with foliage they set out.  Glad to be leaving the accursed forest .

The sun had set and the town was quiet.  Approaching slowly they entered town and began making notes of where the police and patrols were … only to find none.  They went down the side streets and noticed a lot of closed signs and boarded up windows.  It looked as though the town was dying, if not completely dead in some areas.

Disregarding their earlier plan to stay hidden they cautiously entered the main road.  There were no police, the station sat dark with broken windows and the door was off.  The lights were not working in some street lamps and there was a sense of gloom in the atmosphere.  Walking down a sidewalk the saw the library in the distance, it looked disheveled.  

The leaves were brown, the windows were broken and it looked like no one had lived there in a while.  They had heard Twilight went crazy but wondered where Spike was, he was supposed to watch the library.  

They made their way to the bake shop.

The shop was obviously closed, having not been maintained since they had left.  They went in, the door creaking heavily and dust falling on them, making them cough from under their hoods.  They entered and looked around.  Oddly the banner was still over the door and the table was still setup.  One cupcake was left on the table with a plaque that read,

To all the victims of the Bloody Mares:

You will be missed

You will all be loved

You will all be avenged

Looking at each other they contemplated what that meant.  They looked at the secret door to see it closed and they approached it.  Pressing the button a bright flash of light nearly blinded them before the door popped open.  They went on guard, brandishing their knives.  

No one was there.  

What was the light then?  Keeping the knives in their mouths they opened the door with a heavy creak and they started down stairs.  It was pitch black when they got to the bottom.  They went to turn on the light but there was no power so they couldn’t see anything, but the smell reminded them of home.  They smiled and turned to go upstairs, bumping into a wall.  

“That’s a might odd, I coulda swore the stairs was here, Pinks.”

“It should be, sis.  I lived and worked here for years and the stairs should be right over here.”

“Maybe on account of its so dark we got turned around, lets just feel the walls around here to get out.”

“Hmmmm.  Okay!” Chirped Pinkie.

“Ya know, Pinks, I like you when you’re all happy like this.  Its like when we was younger and you’d always make everyone happy all the time.”  She smiled recalling their intimate night the previous week.

“Doncha think you feel better like that too?”

…

Silence.

“Pinks?”

Her voice echoed.  Only her hooves could be heard and she started breathing heavier, “PINKS? Pinkie? PINKIE PIE? Oh Celestia, where are you, I don’t like the dark, where are ya!?!?”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” screamed Pinkie, giving her sister nearly a heart attack, bringing her to tears she scampered away as the shout echoed, mixed with Pinkamenas psychotic laughter, Applebloom ran into the middle of the room clamoring over several soft in the room.

“C’mon silly beaver, it was just a joke.  Where’d you go to?”  Heavy panting and breathing echoed as Pinkies shrill voice reverberated off the walls.

“Eh, Pinks?  We need to get out of here and get some light, I think something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean, silly?”

Sensing her sisters sincerity she thought that this whole thing was feeling a bit odd.  Suddenly her tail twitched, she tried to listen to the darkness at what could be wrong and saw a blinding flash of light, then everything in the room went dark again before she could adjust to the light.

She awoke some time later.  She looked around there was a light source coming from somewhere, she tried to focus her eyes against the shift in light and saw movement in the distance at the far end of the room.  Looking at the center of the room she saw what looked like a small pile of bodies.  

She tried to move but couldn’t.  Her limbs tightly but poorly strapped at her hooves.  ‘Not bad, I can’t slip out, but I’m not going to be hurt just laying here.’  Asking aloud,

“What’s happening?  What’s going on?  Who’s….” She chuckled out loud. ‘So that’s what they felt’ she thought to herself.

The world coming back into focus for her she saw the outlines of at least five ponies in the center of the room, the looked like fresh kills but they were done by some pony inexperienced, the cuts were jagged and the coats had cuts on them that ruined most of their uses.  While most were earth ponies there were a couple of Pegasus, she could tell from the wings, still attached.

She heard a faint squishing sound and a whimper in the distance, straining her neck to the far corner she could see someone working on another mare, the silhouettes dancing and muffled screams from the victim.  Smiling evilly she imagined the cuts, and the blood splattering the walls, the intestines spilling on the floor from the shadows’ movements.  

There was a sparkle of purple light as the shadows came into view then disappeared.  Shocked and sickened Pinkamena:  Applebloom was dead, tortured and disemboweled by her once best friend Twilight Sparkle.  There was a glow around Appleblooms body, then it was dark again.   Twilight opened her wings and flew over to the pink mare.

“You’re, you’re, an Alicorn now? It’s so great to see you again!  I’m glad you aren’t crazy anymore.” Choked Pinkamena.  Looking at the glowing horn of her once friend approaching her, illuminating the floor as she sped closer.  The bodies in a pile briefly coming into view, poorly cut up and still baring their cutie marks Pinkamena snorted at the sloppy work.

Readying herself for a long winded talk and explanation on what was happening Pinkamena steadied her gaze.

Twilight’s horn pierced Pinkamenas shoulder. Yelping in pain she breathed in some of her attackers hair, coughing instantly.  Purple and black hair filling her sight, she felt the horn twisting in her arm, she screamed loudly.  Shocked by the sudden attack.

“What kind of game is this?  I can’t play if I don’t know the rules!”  

Another gust of wind and the purple pony spun in a complete circle, stabbing through to the table.  Then a bright flash of purple light engulfed her and she was gone.  Catching her breath she looked at her arm, to see nothing was wrong.  No hole, blood or even a scar.  What had happened?  She was still strapped to the table, there was a purple light, filling the room, but no magical mare casting it.

The room filled with moderate light as though there were light bulbs everywhere, floor walls and ceiling.  It was an impressive spell.  The only area that was dark was Appleblooms corner and the mare herself; shaded by magic.

“From her perspective you’re blacked out too,” the mare had said while slowly turning in the room.  “You took a lot from me, and I have so much to thank you for.  You opened my mind and gave me more power than I knew what to do with.  Celestia gave me a gift, you’ll see later, Pinkie.”

Obviously saving time by talking to them both and wasting no time to ask or answer questions.  

Stopping to look at Pinkamena she illuminated her face.  Pinkamena was awestruck.  Twilight was obviously disturbed, never having recovered from the psychological torment she had received.  Her eyes were wide and slightly misaligned.  

Her mane was messy and her fur was missing patches as though it was rubbed off, her wings were not well kept and there was an odor on her that was obviously from not having washed in a very long time.  Shadowing her face she flew to the other mare, apparently showing her the same.  The torture began again.

Screams and moans of pain were evident in the secret darkness, the shadows crossing and  finally it looked like applejack had died again.  A faint purple glow again encompasses her friend and the dark mare flew at Pinkamena again full speed.  Preparing herself for another stab she braced herself, a gust of wind stopped the Alicorn inches from her face, her cold stinky breath attacking Pinkamenas nose.  

“I’m a good friend, right?  Applebloom said I was a bad pony and said bad things about me.  I punished her.  You’re my friend, right? Like the others?”

Her horn glowed and called several taxidermied ponies over to her.  “Look, the gang is all together again.”  Wide eyed Pinkamena looked, even she felt disturbed at what she saw.  Twilight had put the pieces of Fluttershy back together and patched her with several other ponies to fill any missing gaps.  Rainbow Dash had dark blue wings, Applejack, who was long dead was put together with patchwork from what looked to be a half dozen ponies.  Rarity was mostly intact, having her body sewn back together, but she was rotten from not being cleaned properly.

All their cutie marks were hand pained in blood and looking at Twilight she noticed that she had cutie marks too, but they were mismatched: One was white, the other yellow.  The yellow one had a red cross with a stethoscope, The white one had…

“Oh my, is that…  is that cutie mark, Princess Celestia’s?”  

“Yes, she visited me every day, then every week,  then she missed a week.  I used my magic to go see her in the castle and she was weak.  She was a bad friend to me and didn’t deserve her cutie marks.  So I took one.

Using her horn she summoned a filet knife and brought it to Pinkamenas cutie mark.  “Got your cutie mark.” She grinned as the blade stabbed far too deeply into Pinkamenas thigh, roughly cutting the meat in her leg to the bone.  Rounding and cutting at a sharp angle she sliced her leg open and removed a huge chunk of meat.

Quickly and roughly she tore the mark out. The pain was terrifying and it filled her whole body with pain.  She threw up, feeling dizzy and mumbling incoherently.  She was slapped and gained some sense back, looking up she saw the shadowed face and glowing horn.

“A good friend shares their goodies, right Pinkie?  Now I have your cutie mark and you have mine.”  

“My name is Pinkamena.  Pinkie Pie is dead.”

“You are a good friend, right?”  

“I’m your bestest friend EVER!” Pinkamena shouted with glee, ignoring the pain for a moment.

Grinning crookedly and trying unsuccessfully to align her eyes, she rolled the meaty cutie mark into a roll and flung it into Pinkamenas mouth.  This time Pinkamena didn’t giggle or chew or smile, she tried to shake it out.  She felt disgusted and horrified to have to eat her own flesh.  She began to panic for the first time.

She was supposed to die old and in a house made of the flesh from her playmates.  She wasn’t supposed to be caught and killed.  Gagging and starting to feel dizzy the spell was stopped and the meat fell to the floor.  Landing, Twilight walked to the table Pinkie knew all too well.  Knowing all the tools she knew what was to come.  Taking a butchers knife Twilight began hacking at Pinkamenas chest, cutting her poorly and deeply, slicing her belly open spilling her organs onto the floor.

Pinkamena couldn’t think, the pain was all encompassing, looking down she saw herself bleeding slowly and chuckled.

“3 minutes 37 seconds.”

“Days, maybe more.” Twilight said without looking up.  Inspecting her friends innards that were still pulsing.

“3 minutes 28 seconds.”

“Days, maybe more.”

“3 minutes 19 seconds.” Pinkamena stated, choking, sounded frustrated.

“Days, maybe more.”

“Stop that,” she growled. “ You don’t even know what I’m talking about!”  

Holding the old rusted dull butchers knife in her teeth Twilight looked up, her horn glowing and her eyes yellow.  The wound on her leg sealed and recovered, her cutie mark  missing.

“OOOOO, what a witch you’ve become!  We should play together and  you can make the games last for a long time!”  Taking the knife, Twilight slashed Pinkamenas throat then flew eye level and held Pinkamenas head, looking into her eyes as she faded into darkness.  “I’m a good friend, right?”

Pinkamena awoke to see the bloody mare in front of her again, she was fine again.  “I didn’t kill Princess Celestia, I’m a good friend.  All my friends are here!  See, there they are all lined up and watching us have fun.  Like friends, we’re playing a fun game you made.  Look at our friends, aren’t they happy to see us?

That’s right Applejack, Applebloom is having fun, too.”  She flew over to the taxidermied ponies and began having a conversation with them, whispering with them like it was a filly game of secrets.  Watching Pinkamena wondered if she looked as silly talking to her sisters.

“Yeah!  That’s a great idea Rarity!” Twilight said while taking off, flying to the torture table, grabbing two newer knives.  Raising her knives and she began cutting and peeling the flesh from Pinkamenas back, the blood curdling screams causing even Twilight to squint and for her concentration to wane, making the cuts even more deep and painful.  

Twisting her head she saw what was happening, the Purple mare was removing the pink mares tail.  Losing all rational thought Pinkamena tensed as her bones were chipped and cracked, screaming pain from inside her body as her tail was pulled out, she felt her bones popping from her spine and she froze, locked in pain, unable to breathe even.

Twilight stopped kicked the tail under the table in front of the paralyzed mare stabbing her with the knives in her lumbar then casting the healing spell.  Her flesh healing around the knives.  “We’re good friends!  I like your friendship.  It’s like magic to me, I feel so much more power with you here.”  Twilight ripped the blades from pinkies body, tearing flesh, cutting muscle and chipping her bones.

“I’ll be back soon.” She whispered as she clopped to the other side of the room.  Feeling cold blood run down her back legs, she could only think of the pain at the moment.  ‘This is not as much fun on this end,’ she thought as she gained her senses back.  

Looking down, seeing her tail she laughed, “It’s so cute, I hope I can strangle her with it.”

The decorations were all gone now except some bones, laying randomly on the floor.  The room looked so bare.  Pinkamena couldn’t wait to redecorate it, starting with a purple drape and Alicorn wings as a centerpiece on a table made of her bones.  Her skull would be a vase for a beautiful set of wild flowers.  

“Time for us to plaaaaaay.,”  Twilight sang as she approached Pinkamena joyfully and smiled a crooked smile, showing her chipped and rotting teeth for the first time.  “I won’t eat another pony, only food from the land.  We, all in the city, only eat what we grow.  See, it’s not safe to eat the food of others, you never know what’s in it.  You know, could be mom or dad; could be your best friend.  But I trust you; we’re friends, you’ll eat my food, right?”

Smiling weakly, feeling the pain in her back, she was feeling hungry and instinctively nodded.  Gleefully Twilight hopped up and down, casting a spell and moving the pile of corpses revealing a hole in the ground, covered and supported by various bones from the corpses.  Raising the skulls and bones revealed a small garden.

“See? I grow the food with my friends and I eat it, now you can eat with me!”  She sent a piece of something flying at Pinkamenas open mouth; it tasted of dirt and was slimy.  She gagged and tried to spit it out, but she couldn’t open her mouth. “Swallow it up!  Yum yum yum.”  She punched Pinkamena in the stomach, “SWALLOW.” She Screamed, repeatedly punching her in the abdomen.

Pinkamena screamed in pain; blood, dirt and slime leaked down her throat.  Pinkamena was not enjoying this, and began to feel sympathy for her former playmates.  Swallowing the odd ball of slime pinki felt disgusted and started to throw up, her mouth still magically sealed the mess flew out of her nose, spraying several feet ahead of her.  

Casting another healing spell the purple mare healed the wounds in her back again.  

“I love knowing how to heal.  When I took princess Celestia’s cutie mark she tried to hurt me.  I learned it.  I healed us both and got away.  Now I use it on my friends all the time.  That’s how they stay alive from what you did!”  Turning to Rarity she cast the healing spell; Her friend twitched, her mouth started moving but no words came out.  

Her hide was dry and stiff, she looked like she was alive briefly, then stopped moving again.  

“See, I’m a good friend.”

Horrified for the first time, Pinkamina stared at Rarity, ‘did she really move?  What was happening?  What madness is this?  How can she be so powerful?’

Several days had passed since the torture had begun; not once had the sisters seen each other.    Now, two of each of the taxidermied friends faced each of the victims.  Pinkie had started to lose her mind and was beginning to talk with the taxidermied ponies, often seeing them move at random, ‘Fluttershy, you can’t be serious, I can’t make cupcakes with trees!  That’s just crazy.  No Applejack, that doesn’t make sense, you’re being a silly filly.”

The scent of her bodily waste piling below her, filling her senses, Pinkamena was beginning to become uncertain if she was alive or dead.

Twilight was leaving for hours at a time and the dark and silence was all encompassing while she was gone.  What was she doing out there?  How was Applebloom? Was she okay?  Was she really here?  Was she thinking about her?  

“What is going on here, Twilight?  I’m your friend, you should let Applebloom go!  She’s innocent.  I made her join me; you can save her from me, just get her away! Twilight, sweetie.  Please?”  Silence was her answer.  She repeated herself consistently for the next few hours, or so it seemed.  

Feeling the heavy slap of something wooden against her face awoke Pinkamena, who felt her bones crunching in her cheek, she drooled and a couple teeth fell out of her mouth.  Only a few teeth remained.  Giggling she smiled.  “Hey, I missed you.  Let’s play a new game today, I get to be you and you get to be me.”

“How long has it been since you saw your wicked tongued friend?  Did you know she had such a bad mouth on her?  She said awful things about me.  Even after I took out her tongue.  Her mouth was still bad so I took her jaw.  I think it’s time you did see her, so you can see what a bad friend she is.  I wasn’t as kind to Applebloom as I was to you though.”

“Wait, I get to see Applebloom?” Pinkamenas voice cracking, a smile forming in her broken face.

With a nod of her head she began dragging the shadowy figure closer, the mystical shadow still covering the object.  With an intentional blink the shows dissipated.  Screaming in terror Pinkie tried to close her eyes but she couldn’t stop looking.  She began to throw up but couldn’t even do that.

Gasping and panting, the once beautiful yellow mare was fileted open, her flesh nearly all removed and her lower jaw was hanging, held on by a strip of skin.  Her internal organs were strung out and suspended on hooks and hangers attached to the table she was stuck to.  Her ribs were rearranged  outwards that held her chest open and her beating heart was visible.  A mystical yellow glow surrounded her body.

Her remaining eye locked onto Pinkamenas face. She gurgled some words, her eyes begging for release.  

“See, I wasn’t as nice to Applebloom.  She wasn’t a real friend.  She hurt us.  The six of us were supposed to be the guardians, the defenders.  She took them away from US Pinkie, I’m keeping her alive until she apologizes to us and gives us our friends back.”

Shrieking and pulling at her tight bonds Pinkie began to feel her bones cracking and her hooves starting to bleed.  She fought with a strength she had never had before.    Twitching her head Applebloom seemed to say ‘no, stop, please.’  Pinkie had finally snapped.  

“You monster, I’ll kill you, I’ll disembowel you and drink all your blood.  Death will be a wishful dream by the time I’m done with you.  I’ll teach you how to have fun playing this game, you’ll never be more fun than me.  I am going to decorate the library with your families and wear your head as a hat.  I’ll rip your horn off and shove it down your throat and strangle you with your wings!”  

She continued for a moment longer, venting all her anger, frustration and pain at the magical pony.

Never having heard Pinkie swear shocked them both, Applebloom most of all who gurgled in surprise, blood oozing out of her slack jaw, magically going back in.  Stopping her fight Pinkie fell flat, her mane was dark, her hair was flat.  Her eyes sank to the floor, she stopped fighting, and the last of her strength was nearly gone.  

“I love her, please.  She’s my sister.  I need her to live.  I love her, in a way you can never know.”

Appleblooms heart started beating faster; it was so obvious even Twilight took notice.  She placed her hooves on her head, “I had a plan, I HAD A PLAN.” She screamed at the dark pink mare.  “Argh, I need time to think, I’ll be back!”

She vanished in a light purple glow.  Leaving the two sisters to look at each other in the light she hadn’t dispelled.  Pinkamena looked at her sister and began to sob.  Slowly at first then into a full bawl, she wanted to fight but her bones and skin were broken from her last thrashing and it only made her cry more.  She couldn’t look at Applebloom because she felt too much pain for what had been done to her.  

Applebloom was unable to convey any emotion or feelings, save for a few bloody tears that left her damaged eyes and left her wincing at the burning pain they left as the slid down her broken face.  After Pinkamena had cried all her tears she looked at her sister, the only thing she loved more than herself in the world.

Looking at her Pinkamena asked a simple question, “Do you want to die, Applebloom?”  Without a moment hesitation, she replied yes, A series of nods and bloody bubbles leaving her throat hole.  Wincing and bracing herself Pinkamena yanked against all the bonds, tearing her flesh, until one arm was loose, practically tearing off her hoof in the process, the pain was already numb to her, as she did the same to her legs, she dangled by her right hoof only.  

Falling to the floor after the weight causer her last hoof to pop off.  She had lost two hooves and was losing blood and could barely stand, but she knew she’d survive.  

“3 minutes,” she said, smiling at Applebloom, knowing she would live but trying to reassure her friend.  “I love you, you are the world to me, and I’ll always keep you inside me.”  Tears welled in both their eyes as pinkie bore the few teeth she had left and chomped the beating heart of her friend, tearing holes in it until it was free.  

Watching as the magic spell was slowly healing the open wound where her heart was; sealing the arteries closed, going back in and chomping and swallowing until she was full she fell to her knees, the pain too much to stand anymore.  She watched as the blood stopped flowing from her only sister.  

Hours passed, before Twilight reappeared, looking at the broken pink mare covered in blood, sitting in a mix of her own feces and the blood of the friend she just killed, her own blood clotting in her broken hooves.

Smiling crookedly and peering with distant eyes Twilight asked, “I’m a good friend, right?”