“Hey there guys, DJ-Pon3 here, back from my break with some news! It seems that the Ponyville Weather Patrol has finally let out the big storm that everypony’s been waiting for, for what? Two months? Yeah that sounds about right. What do you care though? Well, you should care since the Canterlot Weather Patrol is going to be assisting our friends down there, and that means nature will have to handle our weather for the day! The horror!”

The disc jockey fakes a horrified scream before laughing her tail off. She resumes her business after her laughter dies down due to a scratchy cough and an equally scratchy clearing of her throat.

“Okay, kidding aside, I got some serious news for you about what's what in the rest of Equestria,” continues the DJ. “For starters, do not go to the Macintosh Hills. Ever since Sunshine Cloud's little cartel went bye-bye there's been one of those power vacuum things and the guards have been fighting a bunch of well armed crooks for the past few weeks. For the folks living up there, you're in my thoughts and prayers. More to come as the news gets rolling. Moving on!”

Some pages are flipped close to the microphone to give authentic rustling.

“In light of all that crazy shit that went down in Ponyville a couple of weeks ago, evidence surfaced of Ivory Scroll's poor sportsmanship,” says DJ-Pon3, mimicking a professional news anchor's tone. “It turned out that Golden Harvest was right when she accused Ivory Scroll of voter fraud to go with her long list of accusations. So, now an investigation is being opened by the EIB to look into this stuff while Ponyville does all that desperately needed rebuilding after those nuts shot up the quaint little town. You know who I'm talking about, right? League of Justice? Friends of the commoners and lovers of justice? Yeah, nothing says friend of the commoners and lovers of justice like shooting up a bunch of unarmed civilians and butchering a town icon in a warehouse! Assholes.”

There is a moment of silence

“And speaking of town icon, a memorial service is being held for Spike Sparkle on Sunday, but Twilight is still refusing to let Pinkie Pie in,” says DJ-Pon3, her voice heavy with extreme aggravation and disgust. “I mean, its bad enough that she barred her from the funeral, but now the memorial service to further honor Spike and his deeds, too? C'mon, Twilight, pull your head out of your ass. I know you're hurt, believe me, I know what it's like to lose a friend in a horrible way, but you should know that Pinkie would never ever hurt anypony or anyone. I'll say it again, pull your head out of your ass, clean the shit from your brain and figure out the truth before you lose your friend for good.”

DJ-Pon3 takes a moment to clear her throat in a raspy cough, and after she is done, she takes a breath, whoops, then takes another breath before muttering incoherently.

“Anyway,” she continues in a more somber tone, “friends are family, and everypony needs one, especially in a time like this. And that's all the preaching I feel like giving out today. Now, who's ready to listen to some TwoRepublics?”

Pinkie Pie silently watches the fires of the bakers oven in the basement of the Sugar Cube Corner with an umbrella hat on her lap. She is keeping her attention dedicated towards the oven, ignoring the howling wind and rumbling thunder that haunts the outdoors. The lights from the fire dances along the walls, stretching and contracting Pinkie Pie’s shadow and the shadows of other objects, and as the hellish display goes on, her mind races through all the things she had that she will now lose. All of her friends, her family, the parties she made for everyone's happiness. It is all going to buried, just like her. Just like Spike.

When her mind wanders to Spike, she lowers her eyes and strokes the umbrella hat, thinking about how his blood is on her hooves, just like the blood of all those innocents hurt and killed by that psychopath. If only she had not warned the guards about what was to come, if only she let Redheart do her job and remove a corrupt official, then none of this would have happened.

There would only be a funeral for Ivory Scroll, and maybe her corrupted deeds would have been exposed. But Spike would still be alive, the dozens killed would wake up and enjoy another day and those injured would be free of a harrowing experience.

'You shouldn't have butted in,' says the voice in her head. 'But, look on the bright side, at least you know that I was right all along about those fakes. We can move on to sunshine and rainbows, now.'

Tears roll down Pinkie Pie's cheeks and splatter on the hat and her hooves, and her body trembles as weak sniffles are left unheard in the dark as she thinks about how it all fell apart so fast. How everything she knew and cared about rotted away to reveal the ugly nature of reality that she tried to hide with her smiles and parties.

Her so called friends would rather remember Spike as a child than a hero, and her being the reason why he died instead of finding the truth.

They only wanted to see half the truth. No, not even half the truth. They didn’t want anything to do with the truth for the truth is not good enough for them. To them, Spike needs to always be defenseless, pure “Spikey-Wikey” and Pinkie Pie must be the reason for his death.

Because of her, Rarity nearly killed herself with alcohol poisoning, then blackballed her from her shop and life, just like Twilight forbid her from Spike's funeral and memorial services. All attempts to explain what happened had been met with rage and violence, most notably when Rarity nearly cracked her skull open with a sewing machine. And After Big Mac and Fluttershy were put in the hospital because of the League, she and Applejack’s friendship took a nosedive and landed on a solid rock. The attack against Big Mac and Fluttershy led Applejack to side with Twilight, and the only ones who continued to stand by her were Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

But with Rainbow Dash's new career, she could not stay long, and Pinkie Pie has a feeling that if her best friend stayed any longer than she had, she would have sided with Twilight, just like the others. As for Fluttershy, she is too kind to abandon anyone, but Pinkie Pie knows that underneath the timid pegasus' caring exterior is a little monster inside that has grown to reject her.

Pinkie Pie knows that it would have only been a matter of time before her two remaining acquaintances became her enemies. And it would only be a matter of time before the League of Justice hunts them down and kills them all to find her. So she knows she has no choice but to end this herself, unless she wants to be the one to bear the responsibility of more bloodshed.

With her plan now ready to go in motion, Pinkie Pie sighs heavily and leaves the Sugar Cube Corner to brave the storm outside, carrying with her, her umbrella hat and a note tucked inside.

Pinkie Pie heads over to Twilight’s house with her umbrella hat on, fighting the storm with every strenuous step. She keeps her face lowered to avoid the fakes she thought were her friends. Just passing each house and business makes her throat hurt more from the tears building, for they serve as a reminder that none of these ponies came to her aid. None tried to help her, and if they did support her, she never heard about it.

They are all fakes, all of them.

None of these so called friends truly cared. They only wanted her parties and treats. Just like Twilight and the other Bearers.

'Fakes,' sneers the voice in her head.

As soon as Pinkie Pie reaches the Golden Oaks Library, she feels like she is going to be sick. She has a disgusting feeling in her gut that tells her that she will have to face Twilight one last time, and with that thought, she swallows her sickly spit and moves to the door. Her hooves shake with her steps and her body shivers from the rain soaking through her coat. When she is under the protection of the thick branches that shield her from the rain, she takes a breath, then pushes against the door.

It's locked.

Pinkie Pie's ears droop and a confused whine escapes her as she tries again. The door shakes, but does not open, and when she presses her ear against the door, she does not hear anything on the other side. Realizing that Twilight must not want to speak with her, Pinkie Pie nods in understanding and places her umbrella hat in front of the door, hoping that no one would steal it and the note she has inside it. Then she takes a breath, blinks the tears out of her eyes, and whispers her farewells to Twilight's door. Then she turns and heads back into the storm, unwilling, but ready to play her game with fate.

Twilight Sparkle flips through the numerous files in Ivory Scroll's safe, located inn her office. The older earth pony sits in a chair, propped in a corner, watching the unicorn nervously as her expression shifts from disappointment, to anger, to disgust with each passing turn of a page.

“Twilight, I can explain,” begins Ivory Scroll meekly.

Twilight holds up he hoof, her scowl focused on bank statements that record a lot more money than a mayor should be making in a month. However, as much as she wants to get in the Mayor's face and demand answers, she knows it will be a waste of time. All the dates and numbers are in Ivory Scroll's safe, condemning her to a life in prison for years of corruption.

“There is nothing to explain,” says a stallion with a deep voice.

Twilight glances away from the records to see Ivory Scroll gulp at a muscular, unicorn stallion with a tan coat, a dark blue mane and a cutie mark in the shape of a key over an eye that is approaching her. He is wearing a pressed, dark blue suit and has a badge hanging down his neck. On the badge is a symbol consisting of a circle with olive branches on either, a hexagon in the circle's interior, basic gems color coded to each Element of Harmon at the hexagon's tip, and EIB in the center of it all. This is Lead Investigator Lock N. Key.

“Tell me, Ivory Scroll, what compelled you to go against your oath? Was ruling a town not good enough for you? Do you love money so much that you would forsake all those who trusted you to disharmony?” says Lock.

“Investigator Key, I swear I did this out of the goodness of my heart!” says Ivory Scroll defensively.

Lock snorts. “There is no goodness in greed.” He then turns to Twilight and says: “Thank you for your assistance, Miss Sparkle. You are free to go.”

Twilight nods and the door opens up again, except this time a group of royal guard ponies walk in, with one donning a blue uniform with lavender and gold trim, and a golden sun pinned to his collar. Lock and Twilight turn, and Ivory Scroll shrinks further in her seat as the officer and his entourage walk in.

Twilight immediately feels her cheeks and ears warm up as the officer walks in, proud, but disciplined, with dark brown, gray streaked mane and tail combed and cropped to military standards, and his amber coat groomed to perfection. On his flank is a cutie mark depicting a sword going through a shield.

“Major Fuller, I was not expecting to see you here,” says Lock.

“I was personally asked by Celestia to assist in the investigation revolving around Mayor Ivory Scroll and her connections to the Grizelda Mob,” says Major Fuller, his voice as disciplined as his stature. His lips curl to a thin smile when he looks at Twilight. “Though, with her Most Faithful Student around, I think we will be having an easy time.”

Twilight giggles awkwardly and rubs the back of her neck as her face ignites at the sight of the well-built, older stallion. “Well, I-I won't be here much longer. In fact, I think I should go and let you guys finish your work since all I had to do was organize some files for them.”

Lock snorts disapprovingly and Fuller merely looks at him with a neutral expression.

“Investigator, until further notice, I will lead the investigation into Ivory Scroll's connection with the Grizelda Mob,” he says. He levitates an envelope from his uniform pocket and gives it to Lock, who carefully reads it and grows more agitated by the second. “The EIB will be put in secondary investigative positions unless authorized by Princess Celestia, herself.”

“Fuller, you know Brisk Wind won't like this,” says Lock, now sealing the contents back inside the envelop and giving the Major a harsh glare.

“Then she can take it up with the Princess.” Fuller turns to Twilight. “As for you, Miss Sparkle, I am thankful for your assistance, and, as Agent Lock has said, you are free to go.”

Twilight stares at Fuller, brain dead, and the older unicorn looks back at her, raising a brow slightly.

“Unless, of course, you would like me to send a quick message to Celestia to see if there is anything else she would like you to help with,” says the Major.

“That won't be necessary, Major. The two of us can handle everything else from here,” says Lock sourly. “In fact, I am sure Miss Sparkle would like to get home before the curfew kicks in. Isn't that right, ma'am?”

Fuller and Twilight both look at Lock, with Fuller's expression hard to read, but Twilight confused if she should be annoyed or thankful for the ill constructed warning of the new law. When the two stallions look at her, though, she grins nervously and takes a step back.

“Oh, um, right. Yes, I, uh, I should really be getting back home,” says Twilight.

“Would you like an escort back to your residence?” asks Fuller.

“No! No, no, no, that won't be necessary. I can actually teleport there, myself.” Twilight's now burns with the blush, and she clears her throat and looks at Lock in a pitiful attempt to hide it. “If you need me, send the mail to the Golden Oaks Library.”

“Dully noted. Leave, please,” replies Lock.

“Right. Goodnight, everypony.”

Twilight takes a breath, and with a bright glow of her horn, she disappears in a flash of bright purple, leaving the room free of her presence.

After Twilight disappears, Fuller looks at the spot where Twilight once stood, impressed how she managed to teleport without leaving a trace. However, he is not there to marvel at Twilight's ability, and he turns to Lock to say something, but ends up looking at a pair of guards when they make their idiocy known.

“Dude, she totally digs you,” snickers a yellow guard, nudging a black furred, red maned unicorn stallion.

The black unicorn grins slyly and pumps his hoof. “Aw, yeah~”

Fuller and Lock both shake their heads and turns to the Mayor, both muttering: “Imbeciles.”

Twilight appears in front of the Golden Oaks Library in a flash of light, and she is about to walk inside to get a nice cup of tea going, but stops in her tracks when she sees a familiar object lying in front of her door. Confusion settles in, and she frowns as she carefully picks Pinkie Pie's umbrella hat, wondering why it is at her home. Without taking her eyes off of the hat, she strolls inside, inspecting the object by turning it in her grip. That is when she sees a folded piece of paper tucked inside.

Twilight sighs, puts the hat on the table, and removes the parchment and carefully unfolds it. Her scowl breaks down to wide eyed shock when she sees a mouth-written note, dotted with tears that bleed the ink and shrivel the note. The words are shaky and hard to read, but as she reads it, her eyes get bigger and wetter and she brings her shaking hoof to her muzzle to stifle a tearful whimper.

Dear Twilight,

I know you hate me for what has happened, and I know no amount of apologies will ever bring Spike back. But before I go for good, I want you to have this umbrella hat as a reminder of our friendship before everything became rotten. I’m sorry for what has happened, and I can only ask that you try to forgive me and remember that Spike died a hero. I know that our friendship is over, but when I am gone, everything will be okay and you won't have to worry about you or anypony else getting hurt because of me. I will make it all right. I Pinkie Promise.

~Pinkie Pie

After reading that last line, Twilight drops the letter and collapses on her haunches, eyes squeezed shut and shoulders buckling from her quiet sobs fueled by guilt. Eventually, she curls up on the floor, weeping and holding her tail close to her face, with her world growing colder and dimmer at the realization of what she has caused.

“What have I done?” moans Twilight.

She sits on the floor, alone and sobbing, for a few minutes before she grabs the hat and hugs it close to her. Her tears drip and roll down its plastic top, and her hoof awkwardly rubs it as she silently condemns herself for her sins against one of her oldest friends. But as she strokes the hat, she notices the cup cake on the top of the colorful umbrella hat, and she blinks tears out of her eyes while sniffling and wiping her nose. She then stands up and stares at the hat, her gears slowly turning and picking up pace until a new task pops in her mind. A task she knows is a matter of life and death and that she cannot afford to fail.

Twilight teleports in front of the Sugar Cube Corner and gallops inside, slamming the door against the wall while doing so. She is met with a burst of warm air, and the lone patrons inside jumping in their seats. It is Filthy Rich with some pegasus mare half his age enjoying cups of coffee and hot chocolate, and they both glare at Twilight as she hurries over to the counter and frantically rings the bell.

“I'll be with you in just a minute!” calls Cup Cake.

Twilight fidgets in her spot, chewing on her lip and whining quietly, and when Cup Cake steps out of the back room, Twilight calls her, but she is met with a scowl and the pudgy mare quickly leaves. Twilight's jaw drops and she places her hooves on the counter, straining her neck to see where the mare went.

“Missus Cake, please! I need you to let me talk to Pinkie Pie!” shouts Twilight desperately.

Instantly after, hushed, arguing voices come from the kitchen, and stools scrape against the hard floor as Filthy Rich and his date get up to leave. The older stallion puts on a saddle with a folded umbrella and leaves first, pulling on a string to open up the umbrella and shielding the two from the rain.

After the two patrons leave, the argument intensifies and Twilight's ears droop with a wince when she hears Cup Cake ordering Carrot Cake to talk to her or else she will be “breaking off some horns”.

A few seconds later, Carrot Cake warily walks out of the kitchen and offers no pleasant greetings to Twilight as he goes towards the counter. Behind him, Cup Cake glowers at Twilight, making her feel small, and when their pegasus child peeks out of the corner, he gets scolded by his mother and ordered back into the kitchen.

“Um, we really don't want you here,” says Carrot Cake uneasily, bringing Twilight's focus back to him.

“I know, I just need to talk to Pinkie Pie right now. It’s really important that I do,” says Twilight with haste.

Carrot Cake shakes his head and Twilight gets a fresh, all consuming flame of sadness, guilt and worry. She never realized through the fog of her despair what she had done or caused, but now that she has seen the parchment and a prized possession of her friend waiting for her as a goodbye, she cannot take no for an answer. She must talk to Pinkie Pie before its too late!

“But I need to talk to her right now, so can you please let me see her,” says Twilight desperately.

“That's not gonna happen,” says Carrot Cake with a shake of his head.

Twilight’s wet eyes narrow and her nostrils flare, loathing how ridiculous this situation is, and how stupid they are for not letting her see her friend.

“But you don't understand how important it is that I talk to her, so you need to let me see her right now!” yells Twilight furiously and slamming her hoof on the counter top, making the stallion flinch.

“Twilight...Pinkie’s gone,” says Carrot Cake.

Twilight’s annoyance is instantly replaced with pani, and her jaw drops with a whine of disbelief as she slides away from the counter, searching Pinkie Pie's surrogate father's face for deception. But there is none. He is sincere all the way through and on the brink of tears because of it.

“Wha-What do you mean gone?” stammers Twilight tearfully.

“She said her goodbyes and left about thirty minutes ago. I’m sorry, Twilight.” Carrot Cake says apologetically.

A vehicle that looks like a delivery mini-train travels cautiously through the storm, just outside the Ponyville construction site. It’s headlights illuminate only a dozen feet in front of it before the hard rain envelopes everything in a wet darkness, and the wipers do little to keep the window clear of the falling water.

Inside the vehicle, Trixie, Gray Muffin, Roar Shock, the zebra twins, and a few other ponies are patiently waiting for what’s to come. Wazza is driving the vehicle while Adanz is being his guide. The latter has a map in his possession and is quietly giving instructions on where to go.

All of them are wearing plain hooded ponchos, except for Gray Muffin, who is wearing his trademark attire. Trixie glances nervously at Gray Muffin and he gives her a quick, reassuring smile before staring off into space.

“How do you cope with it?” asks Trixie after a pregnant pause.

“Cope with what?” asks Gray Muffin, looking at Trixie out of the the corner of his eye.

“You know... Taking lives?”

Gray Muffin sniffs. “I forget about them,”

Trixie blinks in surprise. “So, you forget all of it?”

“No, not all of them," says her mentor with a shake of his head. "Some stick with you no matter how much you want to forget, and in a way, every life you take defines you, which is why we only go after those who do harm the innocents. Our methods are extreme, but because of who we target, we are not terrorists, but guardians of the innocent. A role that our government cannot or will not do, now.”

Trixie nods and looks out the front window. She can barely see anything, the buildings are silhouetted in the storm and there isn’t a soul in sight, and very few stores are open. It is so dark out from the storm that she does not even know what the time is, but she figures time is not a concern, otherwise they would have told her.

Besides, she also trusts Gray Muffin, Wazza, and Adanz with her life. She doesn’t really hold that connection with Roar Shock, though, but only because she hardly sees him and when she does he looks like he wants to kill her. Granted, Gray Muffin has that same murderous look most of the time, but it’s never directed towards her, and has isolated himself when he has shown signs of great impatience with her and her inability to grasp certain things. Plus Gray Muffin always takes the time to explain his actions to her, whereas Roar Shock murders her with his eyes and ignores her every chance he gets. Not that she minds being left alone by him, since she hates that psycho's guts, too.

“How nervous are you?” asks Gray Muffin suddenly, completely derailing Trixie’s train of thought.

Trixie gulps. “Very.”

“That’s good. When you’re nervous you are careful, just don’t let your emotions get the best of you. It’ll only draw things out and make it more painful than it has to be.”

Wazza stops the van behind the construction site and turns it off.

“We’re here,” he says casually.

“Team Three to Team One, we are in position,” says a stallion over the radio.

Shortly after, four more radio transmissions go through, and after Roar Shock gives his acknowledgments, he puts his radio back on the hook and looks at everyone cramped inside.

“Everypony, you know what to do. We'll meet up with the other teams on the Appleloosa Highway when our task is done, got it?” says Roar Shock. There is a series of “Yes, sir's” and Roar Shock turns to Gray Muffin and gives him a hard look, which is met with a quick nod, then he looks at his ponies with a thin, eager smile. "Let the purge begin."

The group exits the vehicle with great haste, Trixie squints her eyes, watching the ponies in poncho spread and disappear in the tired town with great difficulty. It does not take long for the assassins to disappear from view, and she looks at Adanz when he puts his hoof on her shoulder and gives her a reassuring smile.

“Don't worry, little pony, Mister Muffin will take care of you,” he says.

“A nice party will be waiting for you when you pass your test,” adds Wazza with a smile.

Trixie smiles nervously and nods quickly. “Okay.”

Gray Muffin opens the door, and seconds later, the equines inside are drenched in cold rain water and their ears are tormented by the hellish winds outside.

“Come, Trixie, we have work to do,” says the old earth pony.

Trixie swallows nervously, nods, then sulks out of the vehicle, trailing her mentor and looking uneasily at the skeletal monolith that will be marking someone's grave tonight. She glances over her shoulder when she hears a door close, and she stops to watch their transport drive away, and keeps watching it until it rounds a corner, completely out of sight.

Her ears droop, and she swallows and looks back at Gray Muffin, who is waiting for her by the gate. She forces another breath out of her lungs, then starts forward.

“Celestia forgive me,” whispers Trixie.

Twilight stammers and taps her hooves on the floor in a nervous dance while her mind races to figure out where Pinkie Pie went. Carrot Cake is now away from the counter and had flipped the sign to Close so nobody walks in. Not like anyone would be coming since curfew sets in in five minutes.

“You just let her go!?” cries Twilight, furious and distraught.

“It was her final wish. We tried talking her out of leaving, but she wanted to go. Everything she had, she sold or mailed or destroyed,” says Carrot Cake solemnly.

Twilight groans and begins smacking herself on the head with her hoof, getting a cringe from the older earth pony. “C’mon, Twilight, think! Think! Think! Think!”

When Twilight starts whining and clawing at her mane, Carrot Cake rushes over to her and forces her stop by calling her name repeatedly and grabbing her hooves. Twilight, now sitting on her haunches, collapses against Carrot Cake's barrel, shaking and whimpering.

“Please! There must be something!” cries Twilight. “Anything will help! Please, you have to help me find Pinkie before she hurts herself!”

Carrot Cake cringes, and after a moment of hesitation, he quietly says: “Well, Pinkie did say one thing before she left.”

Twilight gets a burst of hope and eagerly asks: “Yes! What did she say?”

“She, um... She told us not to follow her, or not to tell anypony where she went. Specifically you if you came by. Not that we know where she went since she didn't tell us in the first place.”

Twilight’s hope fades and her ears droop. “Oh.”

“I’m sorry, Twilight,” says Carrot Cake sympathetically while placing his hoof on her shoulder, “but Pinkie Pie just doesn’t want to be found... Especially by you.”

Twilight nods and turns to leave, but then a light bulb turns on in her head. A bright light bulb. Pinkie Pie doesn’t want to be found. Found as in locate. She doesn’t want Twilight to find her. Twilight as in unicorn. Unicorn as in magic. Magic as in spell.

“I got it!” blurts Twilight suddenly.

Her sudden outburst makes Carrot Cake jump slightly.

“Got what?” he asks curiously.

“I’ll find Pinkie and bring her back using the Locating Spell! Spell number sixty two!” says Twilight, her joy swelling in her voice.

“Um... Miss Sparkle-”

“Quiet, please. I need to concentrate.”

Twilight sits on the floor, closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and blocks out everything. A light purple mist oozes out of her horn as she focuses solely on the memories of her and Pinkie Pie. Like a film stuck on fast forward, she sees it all. From the very beginning when they first met with Pinkie Pie screaming and zooming off, to giggling at the ghosties in the forest and defeating Nightmare Moon and the adventures and parties after.

Then it goes into the roller coaster of emotions as the ups and downs of life becomes more defined, especially in the past ten years, leading up to the last few weeks.

When it goes to Spike’s death, his funeral, and the arguments between Applejack and Pinkie Pie and her just standing by, it becomes almost too painful to watch. But then it all stops when she sees what Pinkie Pie sees, a dark skeletal building building soaked in rainwater. A flash of lightning illuminates the sign: Future Sight of Equestrian Investigation Bureau Hub.

Twilight’s eyes snap open. “I know where she is.”

Before Carrot Cake can formulate a response or a question Twilight’s horn lights up again and she disappears in a ball of bright ligh.

Twilight appears in the construction site in the same ball of bright light that violently pushes water and loose materials away. She doesn’t know where Pinkie Pie is in the desolate place, but she knows she has to be close. When the chill from the rain sets in Twilight shivers and shakes the dew off her coat and proceeds with search for Pinkie Pie. She doesn’t have to look far, however, for Pinkie Pie is in the other room staring out the window, mane soaking and flat, and her stature tense as if she is waiting for something or someone.

“Hey, Twilight,” says Pinkie Pie glumly without looking at her.

Twilight stops in her tracks and Pinkie Pie turns around; as soon as she turns around lightning flashes behind her, lighting up the place like a camera flash, followed by the rolling thunder. Both mares look at the storm in all its terrifying beauty for a couple of seconds before looking back at each other.

“You shouldn’t be here,” says Pinkie Pie.

“What are you doing here, Pinkie?” asks Twilight as she carefully approaches Pinkie Pie.

“I’m doing what I said I would do in the letter. I’m going to make things right.”

“Look, Pinkie, I don’t know what you’re up to, but let me help-”

“I don't want your help.”

“But, Pinkie, I want to help you. I'm your friend and I don't-”

“Oh, so now you're my friend!” snaps Pinkie Pie, her whole attention on Twilight and her teeth grinding with her snarl as her legs quiver.

Twilight takes a step back, she also thinks she deserves that for how she had been treating her friend for the past week, but no one is ever prepared for it.

“Now you want to listen to me? Now you want to be, like, 'Oh, Pinkie, we're bff's forever and every other ever!'? What changed, Twi!? What! CHANGED!? 'Cuz I'm still Pinkie Pie! I still got Spike killed! His death is still my fault, you made that super clear, just like Rarity and Jackie and Flutters and Dashie! All of you fakes made it crystal clear that you hate Pinkie!” screams Pinkie Pie viciously and without taking a breath.

Twilight looks down and Pinkie Pie glances up, they both ignore the roaring wind and heavy rain that is soaking them and the construction site.

“Pinkie, I’m sorry... We're all sorry,” says Twilight softly. She steps forward and extends her hoof pleadingly. “But, please, stop whatever it is you’re about to do and come back with me to the library. We-We can talk it over. All of us. You, me, Applejack, Rarity-”

“NO!” interrupts Pinkie Pie with a stomp. Twilight stops talking and Pinkie Pie marches over to Twilight with a furious glare and each step being just as angry. “You had your chance to let me talk and give my side about what happened to Spike, but you guys didn't want to hear it. What makes me think you want to hear it now?”

“Pinkie, if you'll just listen to me then I can help you!” says Twilight desperately, tears flowing from her eyes and her hooves on Pinkie Pie's shoulders. “I'm sorry about what I did. I know the others are sorry, too, but you need to let us in so we can apologize and fix this before its too late. Just please come back home with me. Please, let me help you!”

Pinkie Pie shrugs Twilight away and takes a few steps back, her frowning lips trembling and eyes brimming with tears. “It's too late. You showed me your true colors. Now get out of here before you get hurt, either by me or the guys coming to get rid of me.”

Another bolt of lightning flashes by, illuminating the tears in both mares' eyes as they stare at each other. On one side, Twilight looks at the friend that could bring a smile to anyone, broken and doing the one last thing she hopes will make everyone smile again. On the other side, Pinkie Pie glowers at Twilight, lips sealed shut and her nostrils flaring from her ragged breaths that shakes her body.

Twilight can see the pain clearly in her friend's eyes. A pain that she caused because of her sorrow and her unwillingness to listen. Something she has condemned others for, for their ignorance of letting their emotions get the best of their judgments. Now here she is, paying the price for her hypocrisy.

Twilight steps forward cautiously and extends her hoof pleadingly to the broken Element.

“Pinkie, please come back,” whimpers Twilight.

Pinkie Pie's hoof snaps to the doorway behind Twilight. “Go!”

Twilight jumps back, shaking and sniffling, and Pinkie Pie's furious look breaks down into sadness as she slumps to the concrete floor, tears making her pleading, blue eyes glow in the storm. Her shoulders buckle and tears platter to the wet ground, her whine barely heard over the wind storming through the construction site.

“Please, be a friend at least once and let me make this right, like I Pinkie Promised,” begs Pinkie Pie weakly.

Twilight opens her mouth, but closes it when Pinkie Pie squeaks out another broken plea. Twilight swallows the lump in her throat, nods and takes a step forward, but Pinkie Pie recoils and points to the door. Twilight stops, looks at the doorway, then back at Pinkie Pie, and nods reluctantly before walking away with her head down and guilt as her companion.

After Twilight disappears, Pinkie Pie pushes her wet mane out of her face and lets out a loud sigh before sniffling and wiping her eyes of tears. A couple of minutes later, a pair of ponies appear, and Pinkie Pie recognizes them as Trixie and Gray Muffin, thanks to memory and lots of reading regarding the League of Justice.

She studies each of the ponies in front of her, muscles twitching and eyes flicking to every part of them for signs of the attack she knows will come. She sees a pistol holstered on Gray Muffin's hoof, and the trench coat and fedora he is wearing along with his disciplined steps gives him the appropriate appearance of a noir-eque assassin. Trixie, on the other hand, is sulking and shaking under her drenched poncho.

“You guys must be the ones who get to kill me, today,” says Pinkie Pie with a wry smile when they are a few paces away from them. She brushes her shaking hoof across her barrel like she is brushing off lint and notices how both of them tense, and her smile grows just a bit bigger from this. “I think this weather is appropriate. Dark. Rainy. Miserable.”

Gray Muffin snorts and Trixie levitates her poncho off, shaking more so than before and looking like she is going to be sick. She looks at Gray Muffin with big, pleading eyes and drooped ears, but all he does is nod and motion her forward. Trixie gulps and walks towards Pinkie Pie, and in turn, the Element flashes a big grin corrupted by her tears at the unicorn.

“It’s been awhile hasn’t it, Trixie?” says Pinkie Pie.

“I’m sorry, but I don't think we've ever met. I only heard of your deeds... And great parties,” says Trixie meekly, now stopping just shy a few feet of her.

“Oh, we met that one time when you brought your show to town. I thought it was cool what you did with all those lights and fireworks and tricks. I would've loved to have you come back, but after what happened with the Ursa and your cruddy luck, I didn't think we'd meet again, but we did under a very cruddy scenario. That's pretty sucky, I think.”

“Enough stalling. Pinkamena Diane Pie, you have been brought here today to atone for your crimes against the commoners as a defender of corruption,” says Gray Muffin.

Pinkie Pie nods carelessly with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “Yeah, yeah, I got that last time your justice loving pals threatened to execute Fluttershy and Big Mac if I didn't do this.” She then rolls her shoulders and neck, and shakes her muscles loose of tension. “Buuuuut, in my defense of the whole corruption thing, I was trying to be a good citizen since last I checked assassinations are kinda illegal.”

“Save it!” snarls Gray Muffin. “You were supposed to be a guardian of the commoners, not of corruption! But you have obviously been twisted, and tonight, you will die, either by Trixie's hooves or mine!”

Pinkie Pie looks at Trixie and flashes a wide grin. “Okie dokie lokie! What are we waiting for, then? Let’s get this shindig rolling!” Then she lowers her body with her back end raised, and eyes narrow as she licks her toothless smile with anticipation. “Your move, Trixie-Trix.”

Gray Muffin backs up until his eyes glow in the shadows, and as this happens, Pinkie Pie wags her tail and splashes some water around by pawing the floor while Trixie braces herself. Despite Trixie's apparent determination in her coiled body, Pinkie Pie can see the terror in her eyes and see her body vibrating the water off her coat. She can see a faint glow on her horn, too, and notices her leg is twitching for her to move.

“Remember your training, young grasshopper,” teases Pinkie Pie.

Trixie freezes and blinks in confusion, which is all Pinkie Pie needs to launch herself forward and slug the unicorn in the chest, sending her off her hooves and landing on her back with a good sized splash. Before Trixie has a chance to get up, Pinkie Pie gallops over to her and body-slams her, making the unicorn's limbs and head jerk up with an explosive, painful gasp. Pinkie Pie then pushes her body down harder against Trixie's and presses her hoof against her neck and leans in close so their muzzles are almost touching, with droplets of water rolling down Pinkie Pie's muzzle and splashing on Trixie's face.

Despite Trixie's gags and best attempts to push the earth pony off, Pinkie Pie's natural strength keeps the unicorn pinned. Though she does not want to kill Trixie, she still feels her heart rate picking up and her eyes dilating as a twisted smile stretches across her muzzle and her soaked mane feeling more flattened by the second.

“You aren't remembering your training,” snickers Pinkie Pie grimly.

Roar Shock hums to himself as he marches towards the towering structure of the Town Hall, keeping the firing bit in his mouth and ignoring the downpour soaking his face and wings. Not a soul is in sight and that is just the way he likes it. The lights from the building are far and few in between, but when he sees light shining through the curtains of the Mayor’s Office, his marching turns into an eager trot with a wide smile growing. When he is close enough, he sees two guards standing under the balcony roof in a pitiful attempt to stay dry, but with the crazy wind they are still getting wet.

Roar Shock slows his trot down to a regular walk and locks his eyes on the two guards, which are staring at him suspiciously, with one speaking into his radio. He keeps going, though, and one moves to the stairs and points his hoof at him.

“This area is off limits! Turn back now!” orders the guard.

Roar Shock responds by shooting two electric beams at the guards, leaving his poncho singed and a cannon barely exposed from under his wing smoking as the two guards collapse with smoking holes in their chests. The first shot knocks the farthest guard into the wall while the second one sends the closest rolling down the stairs, where he splashes into the mud, motionless and wide eyed. When Roar Shock walks past the corpse in the mud he nods halfheartedly to him and charges up an electric ball from the cannon barely.

“Sorry, gentlecolts, but I got a date tonight,” says the pegasus.

Then he reduces the door into a cloud of flaming splinters and smoke with his charged weapon and strolls inside, whistling and unloading a barrage of thin electric beams that cut down the disoriented guards inside.

Trixie slugs Pinkie Pie's temple, and the earth pony rolls off, clutching her head, then Trixie scrambles to her hooves and tackles the earth pony into a pillar. The Element seethes as her back impacts the concrete structure, and with both mares on their hind legs, Trixie brings her hoof against Pinkie Pie's head again and again and again, and keeps going until she collapses on the ground. Trixie goes back on all fours, panting and shaking as she feels the blood of her victim staining her hooves, and she watches Pinkie Pie quiver and cackle on the wet floor.

“Oh, pain is beautiful,” giggles Pinkie Pie madly as blood slithers down her head from the cuts she got from Trixie's beating. She looks at Trixie and flashes a maniacal, toothy grin, with her teeth and bright blue eyes shining in the darkness and the fur around her eyes darkening. “Why don't we share the pain!?”

Trixie gulps and tries to take a step back, but as soon as her hoof leaves the floor, Pinkie Pie lunges at her and she feels weightless in a spiraling world. Seconds later, she lands on her back with a loud thud and an explosion of pain all over back, ribs and the back of her skull. Trixie's are shut and she seethes from the pain, and when she opens her eyes, Pinkie Pie lands next to her and stomps on her gut.

Trixie curls up with a yelp of pain, then her mane is grabbed by Pinkie Pie's teeth and she cries out in pain as she is tugged back on her hooves. Immediately, her heart works a million beats a second and her throat contracts as her lung and eyes burn from the chokes and tears of panic. All she can think of is when Sunshine grabbed her by her mane and then had his way with her in the locked room.

“No! No, please no!” sobs Trixie, her hooves scrapping into the rough floor and vision blurring with tears as hairs from her mane is ripped from the roots.

With a vicious growl, Pinkie Pie throws Trixie into a drywall. Her head goes through it, but before she can even finish a cough, she is yanked out and slugged in the face by a pink hoof. Her vision flashes white with the pain, and she falls to the floor, coughing and sputtering dots of blood all over her muzzle and floor. She tries crawling away, but she hears Pinkie Pie walking after her with her steps matching the beats of her panicked heart.

“Oh, this don't look good darlin',” says a voice that sounds too much like Sunshine.

The voice freezes Trixie in her tracks, and her blood freezes as her eyes snap around the shadows in search of her rapist. When her eyes lock on a dark figure with red eyes staring at her, her remaining breath goes into a terrified whimper. Then she feels Pinkie Pie pounce on her back and wrap her hoof around her neck and violently yank her head up, choking her of air and crushing her bones and windpipe.

“Do you really think I'll just let you kill Pinkie?” sneers Pinkie Pie eerily into Trixie’s ear, over the unicorn's strangled breaths.

“Get off of me!” screams Trixie hoarsely, feeling terrified from Pinkie Pie's imitation of Sunshine.

She bucks her back against Pinkie Pie give her some space, but when that doesn’t work, Trixie channels some energy through her horn and burns Pinkie Pie’s hoof to the point where it looks like a smoking, burnt hotdog. Pinkie Pie cries out in pain, releases Trixie and waves her smoking hoof around madly. Trixie then wraps Pinkie Pie in a cloud of sparking energy, polluting the air with the scent of burnt fur and hair, and she throws Pinkie Pie into the ceiling, then slams her back down on the floor.

With the first cycle, part of the ceiling tile fall around the mare and clatter around her when she is slammed to the floor.

Trixie does not give Pinkie Pie a chance to stand or breath, for she still keeps her wrapped in her magic and throws her against the ceiling and floor five more times before finishing with a hard slam that leaves cracks on the floor.

After the final round, Trixie falls on her haunches panting and shaking with tears rolling from her bloodshot eyes as she stares at Pinkie Pie. The Element is completely still, face pressed against the floor and her limp mane covering all but one closed eye.

Seconds of silence pass, and Trixie sighs with relief, glad that the task is done, but her relief turns to mortified shock when she sees Pinkie Pie shift on the ground.

“Ow...” groans Pinkie Pie slowly, her voice no longer on the insane tone, but light like when they first started. She looks up at Trixie, face bloody and covered in scratches, and she winces as she pushes herself up, which prompts Trixie to backpedal with her jaw to the floor and ears ready to fall off from how far they drooped. After shaking herself off like a dog, she continues.“You sure play rough, Trixie.”

“How are you still alive!?” cries Trixie.

Pinkie Pie flashes a bloody smile. “What can I say? I'm full of surprises. Speaking of which-”

Pinkie Pie becomes a blur of pink shades, and before Trixie can even blink, there is a strong pressure in her chest with a pain snapping across her ribs. Trixie is once again airborne, and while she is going through the air, Pinkie Pie slams Trixie into the ground, and grazes her cheek when she brings her burnt hoof down for a punch that cracks the floor next to her head. However, Trixie has a sinking feeling in her gut that the pony known as Mare-Do-Well missed on purpose just to toy with her before she kills her.

“Are you ready for more of them?” taunts Pinkie Pie.

Ivory Scroll shrinks behind her desk, shivering with fear while the exchange of gunshots and dying screams of the guards echo down the hallway. Then it all suddenly stops with the last electrical buzz and thud of a falling body.

The black and yellow guards in her office look at each other nervously and when Fuller motions them to look at the door as he levitates his pistol, they do so nervously. They don’t hear anything outside, there is only dead silence. The yellow guard shifts his position slightly and the black one creeps forwards with his weapon at the ready. Then he steps on a loose floorboard.

Immediately a thin beam of electricity burns through the door and strikes him in the throat. He gags and falls to the ground, pushing his hoof against his injury and Fuller orders the Mayor to get down as the yellow guard sprays the door and walls with bullets.

After his spray, the guard breathes heavily while waiting for a response, but the response never comes. Not even a thud from a body falling.

Ivory Scroll gulps and slides further behind her desk, and she screams when the door is suddenly reduced to burning splinters and the yellow guard is flung off of his hooves, burnt to a crisp. Fuller dodges the flying corpse, but takes two rounds in his chest that knocks him to the ground. He starts wheezing and shifting weakly on the ground when Roar Shock strolls in with a satisfied smile, and the pegasus puts another shot in the unicorn, making him jerk, then fall limp with his eyes closed.

After shooting the Major, the pegasus smiles at Mayor Ivory Scroll and powers his smoking canon down.

“Ivory, Ivory, Ivory, how pleasant to see you again after all these years!” says Roar Shock, his demented voice ringing in the chamber.

Ivory Scroll backs up, crying and stammers incoherently as Roar Shock walks towards her with the lust for blood in his gleeful expression.

“Love Joy, is that you? What happened to you!?” stammers Ivory Scroll, now backed into a corner.

“Don't you remember? You killed him by the lake all those years ago when you took her from me,” says Roar Shock, his tone becoming more grim and his steps heavier. “Now, tell me this, Ivory, do you remember her name? Or the names of all those you ruined because of your deal with Grizelda?”

“I... I...”

Roar Shock snarls and stomps the floor. “You don't even care enough to know their names!?”

"Please, you-you don't understand! Nopony else has to get hurt! Just let me explain!" cries Ivory Scroll.

“That's what all you filth want!” growls Roar Shock. He stomps towards Ivory Scroll, eye twitching and wings flapping as her cries of mercy and begs of an audience are blocked by his overworking heart. “What you took from me and the good ponies of Ponyville will be be paid for in your blood and the blood of everypony in your administration. And now-”

He lunges at Ivory and she screams in terror and pain as he slams his hoof against her face, sending her crashing to the ground. She whimpers and tears drench her cheeks as the pegasus lifts his hoof up from her bloody face to reveal to her eyes the two crossing omegas inside the circle in the bowl of his hoof.

“Now Tartarus awaits,” growls Roar Shock, his showing signs of graying and the symbol on his hoof becoming outlined in a red haze.

Then he slams his hoof down.

Trixie jumps away from another one of Pinkie Pie’s insanely fast attacks and shoots a lightning bolt at her. The earth pony sidesteps the attack and kicks a small tool cart at Trixie. It slides across the floor and hits Trixie’s legs when she tries to jump over it, causing her to roll over the top and land on her face on the floor, leaving a nasty feeling in her legs and head. As Trixie blinks the stars out of her eyes, she is flipped on her back by Pinkie Pie, and then her head is trapped when the Element places her hooves on either side of Trixie’s head.

Pinkie Pie and Trixie are both breathing heavily and are covered in cuts and bruises, and blood drips on Trixie's face from Pinkie Pie's muzzle. But in spite all the damage she’s taken, the pink mare is still going strong while Trixie can feel herself getting worn out.

“Playtime’s over. You have to stop them,” says Pinkie Pie hastily. “Push me off.”

“What?”

“Zap me!”

Trixie shoots a bolt of lightning into Pinkie Pie’s chest, sending her crashing into a scaffold. The scaffold splinters on impact and covers Pinkie Pie in a clutter of broken wood and supplies. Trixie gallops over to Pinkie Pie and brings her hoof down on her, but she blocks it surprisingly well with an X across her barrel, and the Element flashes a begging smile at her while doing this.

“Trixie, I know you're not really a bad mare. You don't belong with those jerks,” whispers Pinkie Pie urgently. “I’m pushing you off now.”

Before Trixie’s mind can comprehend what Pinkie Pie told her, the Element of Laughter pushes her off, then tackles her as she tries to regain her footing. They both fall over the edge of the floor and land on a series of scaffolds multiple stories high. The scaffold they landed on snaps loose and and falls down on another one, and both mares frantically try to escape the cascade of falling materials that resulted in their trip down.

Pinkie Pie’s maneuvering is surprisingly graceful as she hops from one piece to another, but Trixie's is sloppy. Her hooves barely grip the scaffolding as she slides down, and almost falls off when a paint bucket barely misses her head and splashes its pink contents all over her mane and body. When they both land on the floor, four stories below where they originally were, Trixie lands awkwardly and trips over herself while Pinkie Pie lands with the grace of a pegasus and disappears somewhere, virtually untouched by their journey down.

Trixie shakes the disorientation away and her ears droop and her muscles lock as she sees an avalanche of debris falling towards her. Her senses return just in time right before she’s about to be crushed by building materials and tools, and she closes her eyes and pushes all the materials away from her in a blue shock wave. She opens her eyes and watches with a mix of pride and wonder as the tons of construction materials are pushed completely back and crumble to the ground or tumble over the edge dozens of feet where she’s standing. The noise is so loud that surely the town will be woken up by such a ruckus.

Though, the cheer and applause from Pinkie Pie catches Trixie off guard, and she whirls to her side, wide eyed to see Pinkie Pie standing next to her.

“Wow! That was cool, Trixie!” says Pinkie Pie gleefully.

“Ah! What the hell!?” yells Trixie.

Pinkie Pie jabs at Trixie's, making her yelp in pain and stumble back, all while she cheerfully says: “Boink!”

Trixie promptly slugs Pinkie Pie in the mouth, and while she backpedals, hoof to her bloody mouth, Trixie pounces on her and they both roll around near the edge, dealing vicious blow after vicious blow to each other. When they come to a stop, Pinkie Pie is on top, one eye shut with a bruise oozing blood above her eyebrow, and Trixie is below, also bloody.

“Promise me you’ll stop them,” begs Pinkie Pie hastily over the howling wind.

“What? I’m the one that has to kill you,” says Trixie, confused as to why Pinkie Pie is trying to get her to stop her new family, even though they have been nearly successful in beating each other to death.

“Its a funny world, isn't is? The victim asking their killer do to something for them. It's got a dramatic ring to it.” Pinkie Pie hawks a glob of blood over the edge and smiles at Trixie. ”But enough chit-chat. You gotta kill me. I gotta die. Everypony will be happy except for you, because you aren't a killer. Not yet, anyway.”

Trixie grunts and squirms under Pinkie Pie's grip, but the earth pony shushes her and presses harder against her so their stomachs are pressed against each other and their limbs and tails are intertwined.

“Ahahah! Not so fast, Trixie,” chides Pinkie Pie. “Trust me on this. I promise, no I Pinkie Promise you, when you kick me over the edge, you will realize how evil your friends are and how expendable you are to them.”

“No, they are my family! They kill only evil ponies and I'm helping them make Equestria better!”

Pinkie Pie's eyes narrow and flash sinisterly in the dark with the lightning. “Spike was innocent. So were all those ponies and guards your chumps gunned down. Your family killed my friend and-” Pinkie Pie presses her hoof down on Trixie's neck as her mane flattens and a vicious snarl wrinkles her bloody face “-the only reason you aren't dead is because you didn't kill Spike. Now, today time to choose the song you're going to dance to, Trixie. Kick me off.”

Trixie looks past Pinkie Pie, still squirming and choking for air, and she sees Gray Muffin approaching from the shadows with a pistol in his mouth. Pinkie Pie's eyes flick to the older earth pony, and she snarls and looks back at Trixie.

“I said. Kick. Me. Off,” hisses Pinkie Pie.

Trixie gulps for air.

“You need to stop those fakes from ruining everything! Now, kick me off!” orders Pinkie Pie.

Trixie sees Gray Muffin take aim, and something clicks that tells her to obey Pinkie Pie, and she grits her teeth and uses every ounce of strength her hips and hind legs have to buck the mare off of her. The Element flips over the edge without another word and silently plummets to her death, and Trixie falls limp and coughs painfully. Moments later, she sucks in a large amount of air before resuming her scratchy coughing fit while rubbing her neck and looking over the ledge.

She barely sees Pinkie Pie lying on her back on a pile she can't quite make out, but her victim is motionless and her eyes are closed, and last she checked, falling from a few dozen feet is a great way to die.

Seconds later, Gray Muffin steps next to Trixie, weapon now holstered, and offers her his hoof. She looks at him quizzically, blinking tears out of her eyes and still taking in gulps of air. After he motions her to grab it, she does let him help her up.

“I was getting worried,” says Gray Muffin. He then flashes a thin smile after doing a quick look over at her collection of cuts and bruises, and the massive pink stain covering her body. “It looks like you will be needing a shower and some soup when we get back.”

Trixie chuckles nervously and nods, her hoof rubbing the bruise on her neck, and she slowly trails Gray Muffin to the hallway when he tells her that they will be regrouping. However, thinking about Pinkie Pie's words and the massacre surrounding Ponyville, she stops and lowers her eyes to the floor, shivering from the cold rain beating against her. Shortly after, Gray Muffin stops and looks at her with a raised brow.

“Is something wrong?” he asks.

Trixie swallows, unsure how Gray Muffin will react to this, but after taking a breath of courage and another look at the floor to get her question in order, she looks at her mentor, ears drooped and eyes wet.

“Gray Muffin... sir, what happened in Ponyville? What happened here with Terra?” asks Trixie.

Gray Muffin silently stares at Trixie, and when he walks towards her, she takes a step back, gulping fearfully and tensing for whatever confrontation will come. However, what she gets is a sigh.

“Terra is believed to have died at the hooves of Captain Sparkle and Pinkie Pie after she went on a rampage here,” explains Gray Muffin. “She killed and injured those who were not targets, one of which was Spike Sparkle, Twilight Sparkle's surrogate son and a well admired member of this town. His death -and the dozens that came with him- should not have happened. But they did, and now we have to deal with repercussions of her actions while fighting to restore Equestrian purity.”

Trixie stares at Gray Muffin in absolute shock. Partially because of his easy confession, but also because what she was told was true. She feels a bit uneasy, now, about this situation. If someone like Terra can be sent on missions and kill so many innocents just for fun, then how many other bad eggs does Roar Shock let loose to deliver justice? How many of their victims were truly innocent, but target just because the League fell behind on a purging quota?

Trixie flinches when Gray Muffin puts his hoof on her shoulder, and she takes a step back when he calls her name. Seeing her step back brings a glint of pain to his eyes, but she does not care. She does not know if she can look at anyone in the League the same way again. She does not know if she can look at Gray Muffin the same way again.

How many innocents did he kill? Has he ever been on a rampage that killed those who did not deserve it in the name of justice?

Trixie's legs start to wobble and a teary lump forms in her throat as her eyes glaze over, and she takes a step back when her mentor steps forward again.

“Trixie, you need to understand that what Terra did was unacceptable, and she would have been punished had she not fallen,” says Gray Muffin. He then looks at the growing town shrouded in rain and deflates slightly with a deep, sad breath. “It was tragic what she did, and I warned Roar Shock of how unstable she was, but he would not listen.”

“And what about when you guys threatened to execute the other two ponies Pinkie Pie mentioned?” asks Trixie.

Gray Muffin hesitates. “I do not know what happened with those two, for I only know what I am told and what I see. I do not know what Roar Shock did or why, but I can only hope that your demons do not do to you what they have done to him, to Terra. Or to me.”

Roar Shock strolls out of Ivory Scroll’s office, his hooves, face and poncho splattered with the dead mare's blood, and the gray and red glow fading from his eyes and hooves. He turns around to marvel at the gruesome scene where the Mayor’s barely recognizable body lies in the middle of the floor, where her blood has seeped out and soaked itself into the carpet and is spreading further along the floor. Not only is the office covered in the Mayor’s blood, but her collection of alcohol has been splashed around the room, with some parts puddling up an others dripping down the walls and curtains.

Roar Shock sighs in bliss, aims his cannon at a puddle of alcohol, then says: “Justice has been served.”

He then shoots the puddle with a ball of energy and a large wave of hellish fire instantly spreads throughout the office, engulfing the corpses and the furniture in a matter of seconds. He squints his eyes when he sees a flash of green light appear from the office, but before he can investigate, a sudden burst of flame that erupts from the source makes him jump back. He curses under his breath, but his shock quickly changes to an anxious chuckle and runs his hoof through his mane.

“That was fast,” he says to himself, and then he takes a breath and trots down the hall while the flames spread out like speeding vines, ensnaring and dissolving everything it touches. He decides it is a good idea to gallop out when sparks start popping out from exploding lights and circuits and parts of the ceiling collapse in an inferno with the whole building groaning.

At the construction site, Gray Muffin sees the light from the fire at the Town Hall shine like a beacon in the storm, and Trixie easily sees it when she realizes what he’s looking at.

“It looks like Roar Shock completed his task, as well,” he says.

Right as Gray Muffin turns around, time seems to slow to a crawl and his eyes widen when he sees a flaming beam flying straight towards Trixie, much like how a dragon's flame would incinerate its target. There is no time to think, only react, and his legs spring into action, catapulting him to the mare.

“Get down!” barks Gray Muffin.

He barely reaches Trixie in time to push her down, but the flame strikes him in the chest and engulfs his body in a flash of searing pain with power that pushes him across the ground and rams him against a wooden pillar. The impact nearly snaps it in half, and it shakes loose some construction supplies, covering him with wood and plaster. More pain erupts across his shoulder, ribs and back from the abuse, and through his wheezing and pulsating vision he can hear and see Trixie screaming for him with her hoof outstretched from her spot on the ground.

Gray Muffin coughs, tasting copper in his mouth, and he grinds his teeth, seething from a sharp pain in his chest when he pushes some wood aside, worrying too much about Trixie instead of the smoke rising from his burnt jacket and fur. As Trixie gallops towards him, another unicorn steps out, fur bright white and her mane, tail and hooves engulfed in flame, turning the water around her into steam.

“Behind you!” cries Gray Muffin hoarsely.

Trixie looks over her shoulder, and yelps and dives for cover when the attacker shoots at her again, this time blowing apart the floor she stood on just seconds before. The resulting explosion flings Trixie in the air, and she turns head over tail before landing halfway on a scaffolding. The wooden platform shatters and Trixie spins and lands on her stomach on the ground, resulting in a splash with debris and paint equipment falling around her. She remains motionless with her eyes closed and more blood dripping from new cuts on her face and body.

“YOU KILLED PINKIE PIE!” screams their attacker.

Panic starts to infect Gray Muffin as Trixie's eyes flutter open with her hoof weakly sliding across the concrete floor. A flare explodes from the attacker, dissolving wood in fiery embers and burning metal until it is red hot and bending, Gray Muffin grits his teeth again and stifles a cry as he pushes the rubble off of him. It feels like his muscles are tearing apart and his bones feel cracked, but he is determined to get up and get Trixie out. He will be damned if more of his ponies die on his watch!

As soon as he gets up, his heart thumps hard and slow in his chest and his breathing is sharp and ragged, but that does not stop him from picking up a piece of broken concrete with his hoof.

“YOU KILLED SPIKE!” yells their attacker.

Trixie's eyes are fully open this time, and her ears droop and her mouth falls wide open as she tries to back up without standing, but it does nothing but make the flaming mare advance quicker. The fiery mare yanks away a hot piece of jagged metal and aims at Trixie, and right as she is about to throw it, Gray Muffin chucks the concrete piece at the mare's head. There is a crack, a howl of pain and the crude weapon she had goes off course, barely missing Trixie and disappearing over the edge as the newcomer stumbles.

“Run!” orders Gray Muffin.

Trixie stands up on shaky legs and is about to run to him, but before she can do that, or before he can order her to go in another direction, his vision is blinded by a flash of white, then darkness comes in.

Trixie stares in disbelief as Gray Muffin flies over the edge on fire with other pieces of flaming debris. Where he once stood is now almost completely gone. All that remains is an edge of glowing, jagged metal and smoldering concrete.

“No,” chokes Trixie. She shakes her head in disbelief, her breath quivering with her body as tears roll down her cheeks. She swears she can hear a taunting laughter echo in her ears, and she grits her teeth as her blood boils and the lust for vengeance takes a hold of her. “No. No. No, no, no, no! No!”

Trixie slams her hooves on the floor, cracking it with a powerful shock of energy and she wails at the top of her lungs and whirls around to meet the one who killed Gray Muffin. She narrows her glowing eyes at the mare whose fur is white like hot metal and her flaming mane and tail whipping at the air. When the attacking unicorn's horn sprouts a fireball, Trixie launches an electric beam at her, striking her in the chest and sending her down the barely started corridor.

Th mare's trail is marked by a mix of blue bolts and red flames, and stops when it reaches the end of the hall, blowing out a cloud of rain and debris that shrouds everything. Trixie does not care about the choking atmosphere, though. She marches straight ahead, seething and burning everything he hooves touch with the whips of electricity. Along the way, she hears the laughter return and her heart spikes when she sees a silhouette of a pegasus with red eyes trot next to her.

“There she is! There's the feisty mare I fell in love with,” snickers the shadow that carries Sunshine. “Are ya gonna finish her like what ya do to all yer other enemies, my love?”

Trixie tries to ignore the voice, but it bounces in her mind, from one in to the other, and back again in a hellish roulette. When the shadow slithers past her to get to the other side, she growls and picks up pace.

“Although, from one lover to another, I wouldn't get too close to her. She seems a little upset,” warns the shadow.

Trixie does not have a chance to heed the shadow's warning, for right after he says it, she is enveloped in an aura of purple and red and flung into the ceiling. Trixie yelps as her back breaks through the panels and she hits the other ceiling before landing on her stomach on the floor above where she originally came from. However, she barely feels a thing, and she quickly pushes herself up, now surrounding herself with a bubble of electrically charged clouds, and she uses her magic to grab an assortment of building supplies and tools and has them orbit around her like satellites.

There is a burst of energy not far from her, and the mare that killed Gray Muffin appears. Trixie snarls and stomps her hooves, shooting more sparks and zaps the area around her.

“COME ON!” roars Trixie.

The attacker's horn glows and all of Trixie's satellites vaporize in a flash of red, and all Trixie can do is widen her eyes in shock before the attacker teleports in front of her, hoof extended for a punch. It is at that moment that Trixie recognizes the face behind the murderous snarl, and only one thought comes to her mind: 'Oh, shit.'

There is an explosion of flames and electricity shrouded in flaming and charged clouds, and Trixie's world spins to a blur as sh rolls and bounces across the floor with flying rubble. She comes to a stop after skidding on her back a couple dozen feet, her cloud shield now reduced to clingy vapors.

She seethes and rolls on her stomach, the pain still minimal, but the shock of what is going on very much dominant on her mind. After barely getting on her hooves, Twilight teleports in front of her again, hoof engulfed in flames and coiled for another strike.

Despite the panic from her situation, Trixie still watches the hoof carefully and feels as though time slows down for her as her eyes trail the incoming attack. At the perfect moment, Trixie slides out of the way, wraps her hooves around Twilight's hoof and with a war cry, she stands her hind legs and flips Twilight on her back.

The flaming mare lands with a loud and Trixie creates an electric orb in her hoof and slams it against Twilight's stomach. The air is forced out of her target's lung with a pained gasp, and both supercharged mares fall through the floor with a ring of debris falling around them.

The fear from Trixie dwindles from her victory, and in its place looms pride and with it, the return of justice for what Twilight did to Gray Muffin. And with what she did to her all those years back when she ruined her life in this very town that is being purged of corruption by her new family. With these thoughts, a sinister smile stretches across Trixie's muzzle and the protective cloud barrier reforms around her.

“Hello, Twilight, do you remember Trixie?” snarls Trixie, her eyes glowing so intensely that her pupils have become shrouded in its light. She grips Twilight's hoof harder, ignoring the heat building against her body as she bends the hoof in a direction it should not go and ignoring the pained growls from Twilight as the bones crack. “Do you remember ruining my life!?”

Twilight vanishes in a flash, then reappears just as quickly and tries to blow Trixie away with a ball of flame. Her cloud shield holds, but the power of the attack pushes Trixie back, despite her digging her hooves into the floor.

“My turn!” yells Trixie.

She takes a deep breath, and reels on her hind legs before stomping the floor and shooting a thick beam of raw power at Twilight. Trixie's opponent puts up a shield, diverting the attack in every which direction it can go, snapping and burning apart the floor, ceiling, walls and support pillars in an amazing display of blue and white lights. Pieces of the construction site start collapsing around the two mares, groaning and screaming with the breaking metal and crumbling concrete, but Trixie stands her ground. She actually takes a step forward, brows scrunched and teeth exposed for her vicious growl and screams when she puts more power into it, blinding her and thinning out her storm cloud barrier.

Trixie smiles gleefully when she sees Twilight's shield shrink and her position falter. She can feel her own heart racing and a mad cackle escaping her with tears of joy as a realization comes to mind. She will finally beat Twilight.

After all these years of Twilight being praised as a hero and Trixie being driven into social exile because of two idiots, she will finally have her revenge! She will finally show everyone that Twilight Sparkle is not as great and powerful as she seems! A traveling magician ridiculed to ruin by the actions of the Element of Magic will finally prove you do not need to be trained by a goddess to master magic!

She will be great and powerful, once more. She will finally matter again!

Trixie takes another step forward, uncaring of the floor dissolving around her, panting and sweating from her energy use and laughing at the changing fortunes. However, like all good things in her life, this one comes to an abrupt end.

Twilight stops moving back, and stands her ground, straightens herself out, and to Trixie's horror, the Element starts absorbing her attack into her shield. Twilight's eyes glow bright gold through the flames, sparks, haze and debris, and Trixie swears she sees a pair of small wings made of flames extend from the mare.

Trixie's eyes widen and tears flow down her face as the looming defeat wraps around her throat and heart, squeezing her of air and life.

“No,” whimpers Trixie, then she breaks down in tears and sobs wrathfully as she marches forward, past the falling rubble and stumbling a bit as the floor breaks apart around her. “No, Trixie- I-I can't be defeat by you again! I can't! I CAN'T!”

It is at that moment that Trixie's attack is sucked dry in the orb shield around Twilight, and a second of silence there is a shock wave and a sonic boom from Twilight that tears apart everything like a chainsaw on a stack of paper. The force pushes Trixie off of her hooves and sends her tumbling through the air with chunks of the construction site.

Twisted metal beams, chewed up concrete, broken wood and everything else used to build the structure is pushed in every direction from a rainbow colored, circular explosion. Trails of flames fling in all directions, sending the burning debris crashing through roofs and breaking the ground on impact. Through the deadly shower, a single pony flies out and hits the ground with a loud crack and a shriek of agony as she bounces and skids across the ground, leaving a trail of blood.

When Trixie stops, she is by a small clock tower that is on 5:05, with a sign under it saying “Broken”. Not too far from her is Golden Oak's Library on Magic Street.

Trixie lies on the ground, fading back to her normal form, whimpering and shaking and choking on tears and blood. She coughs out blood, broken mentally and physically, and she feels a sharp pain in her neck as she cranes her neck to see the construction site collapse on itself in a screaming inferno.

Some sirens echo in the distance, and Trixie lets her head fall to the pavement, feeling cold from more than just the rain washing the blood from her gashes. She feels weak, every bone feels broken or cracked in someway, and her breathing is like trying to find air through a wet towel while her world becomes dimmer.

Excruciatingly long seconds of pain and despair of failure pass before Twilight appears in front of Trixie, and she looks up at the Element with eyes burning red and face soaked in tears and blood. Twilight stares down at Trixie, frowning and her body somewhat back to normal. Her mane, tail and hooves are still glowing from the remnants of the flames, but she mostly has her lavender colors back.

“Why, Trixie?” says Twilight, her voice bitter, but her teary eyes and the lump being swallowed showing the pain. When Trixie answers by looking at the ground, watching her blood seep into the road to be assaulted by the rain, Twilight limps forward and stares harder at her. “Why did you kill my friend?”

“I just wanted to matter...” whispers Trixie, her weak voice cracking and her heart beating slower as fresh tears wash the blood from her face.

Twilight looks at Trixie wordlessly, and a moment later, a unicorn stallion in a suit steps next to her with a group of ponies in white outfits that have red crosses on their shoulders near him. Darkness now bleeds quicker into Trixie's eyes, and the cold and fear becomes all she can feel, now.

“I'll take her from here, Miss Sparkle,” says the unicorn stallion.

“Thank you Agent Locke,” says Twilight, her voice now a faint whisper and the environment almost completely dark.

Agent Locke nods, and the last thing Trixie sees before the darkness claims her is the unicorn approaching her and the group of medics following close behind.

Author's Notes:

Edited on 05 Jan 2015