Author's Notes:

Edited on 06 Mar 2016

“Trixie, I’m grateful for what you told me, but I have to warn you, if the EIB found out that you talked to me, then they will come after you,” says Shining Armor as he puts a tape recorder in his safe.

“Why not convince Celestia shut them down if they are targeting innocent ponies?” asks Trixie, not really caring, she just wants to get out of the office. “You are the Captain of the Guard, after all. Isn’t that the next best thing to Royalty?”

“I tried, but she won’t listen. She’s been really reluctant to let me do an investigation into them. Especially after the Pre-Gala.”

“So, you’re doing this behind her back?”

Shining Armor hesitates. “Just be careful. If they come after you, you run and hide and don't look back. Don’t tell anypony where you are going. Not even Minty Sprinkles or your boss or coworkers. I’ll come find you.”

“How?”

Just then the door opens and Case Study enters, carrying a bag of food and a saddle full of paperwork, and Shining Armor smiles.

“I got my ways.”

Honesty Missing!
Applejack & MacIntosh “Big Mac” Apple
disappear from Ponyville Estate
__________________
By: Featherweight Light
__________________
PONYVILLE--- Ponyville has once again been struck with a tragedy. Two staples of the Ponyville community, Applejack and MacIntosh Apple, disappeared late last night from their home with little to no clues of their whereabouts. The Local Guards are coordinating a search effort with the citizens of Ponyville and the Equestrian Investigation Bureau to search for the Apples.
“Rest assured, the EIB is doing everything in its power to assist Ponyville and to find the cherished members of their community,” said Director Brisk Wind. “Apple Bloom Apple will be taken into EIB custody until we can find a suitable home for her or until her relatives are recovered.” Unfortunately Ponyville’s list of missing has grown over the past week. The Whooves also went missing a few days ago and their daughter, Dinky Whooves, was also taken into EIB custody. Despite best efforts by the Ponyville City Council and the EIB, paranoia has taken a hold of the once peaceful town.
“I don’t like it,” said somepony who wished to remain anonymous. “I don’t like the EIB here. I don’t like whatever that CDA hub is. And I don’t like that ponies that speak out against the Royal Government disappear within the next couple of days.”
The Apples and Whooves worked closely together to protest the increase in Royal Government mandates. More specifically on the issues of nationalized farms and the Special Talent’s Act, which led to Sweet Apple Acres’ change in management and encouraged Derpy Whooves to resign her position as head of the Ponyville Post Office and taking over management at the Cloudsdale Bubble Factory.

Continued on Next Page

Pinkie Pie rereads the newspaper article for the umpeenth time. Every word sends a shiver up her spine, and the whole thing stinks worse than an overflowing septic tank. On top of the uneasiness she’s getting from the article, her mane is also itching and her body is getting tingly. It has been doing it for the past hour and it leaves her ill.

Pinkie Pie looks over her shoulder and sees that Trixie’s door is shut. It has been for the past few days ever since Trixie had her meltdown and almost killed herself with pills. Trixie has not left her room for anything, save for the bathroom. She barely ate, did not leave to beat up any criminals and has yet to shower. She has kept herself locked in her room, mumbling about Sunshine, Brisk Wind and Singsong and ghosts. Every time Pinkie Pie has seen Trixie, she had been pale and her eyes kept shifting. On top of that, she has been a roller coaster of every negative emotion there is. One minute she is weeping, the next she’s screaming, and other times she’s cowering in the corner.

Pinkie Pie is not sure what happened between Trixie and Shining Armor, though, and every time she has asked in the past twenty four hours, she got a nasty tongue lashing about it. That usually followed by Trixie crying and begging for someone to hold her. In an attempt to keep Trixie calm, Pinkie Pie has kept the radio turned to Scratch FM. Right now a hard rock song is being played over the radio, but Pinkie Pie has not heard much from Trixie. In fact, she has been completely silent for a little while and Pinkie Pie is hoping that it is because she is sleeping. The uneasy tingles get worse the closer Pinkie Pie gets to the door, though, and she has to muster the courage to knock.

“Trixie, are you okay?” asks Pinkie Pie.

No answer.

Pinkie Pie opens the door and sees Trixie is in the corner, staring at the Mare-Do-Well costume, eyes red and coat soaked in tears.

“You okay?” asks Pinkie Pie.

Trixie sniffles. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

Pinkie Pie sits in front of Trixie. “Of course I do. Why?”

Trixie shakes her head, and then she closes her eyes and trembles. “I don’t know. I hear Sunshine, but ghosts don’t go away with pills.” She forces a chuckle. “I’m going insane.”

“Trixie, it’s going to be alright, okay?” Pinkie Pie hugs Trixie. “It’s going to be sunshine and rainbows in the end, you’ll see. Whoever Sunshine is will soon disappear and you’ll be left with something a million times better than a warm summer day. You’ll see.”

Trixie tenses up and glares at the costume. “Sunshine and rainbows. That is what Pinkie Pie told you to say to Octavia, right?”

The itching and twitching gets worse, sending Pinkie Pie’s heart into a beating frenzy, and the itching and tingling gets worse, but still she nods.

“That’s right,” says Pinkie Pie carefully.

Trixie suddenly pushes Pinkie Pie away and backs out of the corner, towards the middle of the room, and stares down at Pinkie Pie, fuming.

“That pegasus thought you were Pinkie Pie, but I killed her. I watched her die, and now I’m wearing this suit. Her suit.” says Trixie.

Pinkie Pie tries to say something, but Trixie talks over her in a dangerous voice that demands answers.

“Why did she call you Pinkie Pie?” says Trixie.

“Mistaken identity,” says Pinkie Pie quickly.

Pinkie Pie has to use her hind hoof to scratch at her mane and behind her ear, because now the itching is getting intense and the tingles are more like dozens of sharp blades constantly poking her. It actually brings tears to her eyes, but Trixie is merciless in her interrogation.

“Who are you?” says Trixie, her eye twitching and horn flaring as she levitates the suit next to her. “Candy Associate. Trying very hard to get away from that pegasus. Brought to tears by the mentioning of Spike. Who are you, really?”

“I am Minty Sprinkles. Your parole officer and Candy Associate of Princess Celestia.”

Trixie throws down the costume. “DON’T LIE TO ME!”

Trixie steps towards Pinkie Pie, and she backs up, feeling nothing but sheer terror upon seeing Trixie’s wrathful sparks and her grinding teeth. Pinkie Pie holds up her hoof defensively, and now the itching in her mane and the tingling in her body is becoming too painful to ignore.

“Trixie, I need you to calm down,” says Pinkie.

“Calm down? Calm down!? YOU USED ME!” screams Trixie.

“It’s not like that!”

“Then what is like, huh? Tell me, because I would really like to know!”

“Trixie, I’m trying to help you.”

Trixie scoffs and runs her hoof through her mane. “Help? Yeah, that’s what they all say. Help. Help. Help. Help. Help. Everypony wants to help Trixie just so they can fuck her!”

Now Pinkie Pie’s body is really acting up. She is practically dancing in her spot and her eyes are darting to every noise there is. Is she hearing flapping? Cars pulling up? That can’t be right. It’s curfew. Her Pinkie Sense is going crazy now.

“Trixie,” starts Pinkie Pie.

“Yeah, I'll help Trixie. Let me just drug her and fuck her in a locked room, first!” rants Trixie.

Pinkie Pie runs towards the window, ignoring Trixie at the moment, and sees three EIB vehicles outside the apartment with ponies hopping out, all unicorns, wearing armored suits and carrying weapons. Then she notices a griffin land next to a unicorn stallion. They talk for a couple of seconds before the griffin flies off.

“And now I’ve been played like a fool by you!” yells Trixie.

Pinkie Pie grabs Trixie and looks her in the eyes. “Trixie, I know you’re a little upset right now, but we really need to get out of here. Like right now.”

Trixie bats Pinkie Pie’s burnt hoof away, causing her to wince. But pushing all pain aside, she looks out the window again and sees a griffin flying towards their window. And it’s picking up speed.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” sneers Trixie.

“GET DOWN!” barks Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie tackles Trixie to the ground right as a griffin armed with a small Gatling rifle flies through the window, showering both ponies with shards of glass. As the griffin skids to a stop, Pinkie Pie turns and close-lines him in the gizzard. The griffin falls flat on his back, disoriented, and for good measure Pinkie Pie she socks him in the head, knocking him out cold. Trixie looks freaked out with no signs of anger now and Pinkie Pie turns to her.

“Run!” yells Pinkie Pie.

Another griffin flies through the window and tackles Pinkie Pie to the ground. The griffin is quickly blasted off of her by Trixie's magic, leaving him slumped against the wall with a good sized indent behind them.

Pinkie Pie pushes herself up and shakes the pain away. “Put your suit on.”

Trixie nods, and with the help of magic, she is able to suit up very quickly, and once that is done, the two bolt out into the hallway, with Trixie's helmet clipped to her side and the Gatling rifle slung across Pinkie's back. But when they run into the hallway, the elevator doors slide open and four EIB ponies march out with their battle saddles aimed at them.

Pinkie Pie bites on Trixie’s tail, throws her back inside and then slams the door shut while Trixie uses her magic to barricade it with their fridge. Soon after there is thumping and the door starts cracking and the fridge slides forward, but Trixie’s magic is holding it in place.

A trio of griffins rush in from Trixie's room, but they are quickly acquainted with Pinkie's hoofs, leaving them sprawled out in a wrecked living room. Pinkie Pie, however, obtained a few injuries of her own, and she is hunched over, shaking with sweat and blood dripping off of her, and her back and injured hoof screaming.

“Trixie, do your super form thingy!” orders Pinkie Pie.

“I can’t!” cries Trixie.

“What do you mean you can’t!?”

“It only works-” the fridge starts getting pushed back by magic and Trixie yelps and tries harder to keep it in place while Pinkie Pie pushes against it. “It only works if I’m mad!”

“We just got sold out! That doesn’t make you mad!?”

“No! It’s makes me scared!”

“Oh, so me lying to you ticks you off, but getting sold out makes you scared!”

Trixie strains her magic to keep the fridge in place.

“Now is a bad time to argue, Minty!” whines Trixie.

“Unbelievable!” cries Pinkie Pie. “You got defense mechanisms! Use them!”

“What do you think I’m doing?”

Pinkie Pie growls and when bullets tear apart the door and barely miss Trixie, she pulls her down and glares at her with shrunken pupils.

“Being difficult,” says Pinkie Pie. She unslings her weapon, puts it in her mouth, and sprays the wall and door with lead. The agents outside swear and some bodies drop, but Pinkie Pie doesn’t know -nor does she care- if they were shot or just dove for cover. What she does care about, though, is the pain in her mouth. She angrily spits out the smoking weapon, mouth now bruised and bleeding. “Aaahow! Jeez, how can anypony shoot with their mouth?”

An EIB agent pokes her head through the hole and aims a pistol at Pinkie Pie, and she quickly jumps on top of the fridge and slams the agent’s face against it. The impact leaves a nice, bloody dent in tit and the agent falls to the ground without a peep. When that’s done, Pinkie Pie jumps off of the fridge, runs into the kitchen and grabs a fire extinguisher.

“I toss you, you shoot,” says Pinkie Pie.

“What?” says Trixie.

More bullets go through the wall and door, and one pierces Pinkie Pie’s shoulder, pushing her off of her spot and leaving her on the ground, screaming through her teeth with her eyes shut and her hoof pressed again the gory hole. Blood seeps out from under her hoof and more bullets go through the door and wall, forcing her and Trixie to lie on the floor with their hooves to shield themselves from the flying splinters. Soon the door is nothing but mere splinter hanging from hinges and the wall is nearly useless. The two trapped ponies can see the EIB agents outside, and show their respects to a fifth one that had just arrived. The newcomer is a stallion, and he doesn’t sound too happy about the situation.

“Be careful! They’re supposed to be alive!” barks the stallion.

Not wasting any more time, Pinkie Pie grits her teeth in response to her pain, grabs the fire extinguisher, and then chucks it.

“Now!” orders Pinkie Pie right as it goes airborne.

Trixie shoots an electric beam at it and the wrath of an exploding fire extinguisher in unleashed. All the ponies are blasted off of their feet. Some crash into the walls, others are tossed down the hallway, and from what Pinkie Pie has heard, someone is going to have a nasty fall if the shattering glass is any indication.

Pinkie Pie bites back her pain and looks outside and sees that the EIB agents are unconscious and that the window in the hallway is gone. She then taps Trixie on the shoulder, making her flinch.

“Let's get out of here before more goons show up,” says Pinkie Pie.

Trixie nods and follows Pinkie Pie out. Pinkie Pie winces with each step and when they enter the stairwell she can only think of colorful, profane phrases as she looks down the flight of stairs. Walking down those is going to hurt, plain and simple.

“You okay, Minty, or whoever you are?” asks Trixie.

Pinkie Pie forces and tries to look at the bright side of the situation as she looks over the railing, but she finds only one good thing about the situation. “Oh, yeah. I’ve had worse.”

Lock’s ears twitch when he hears the stairwell doors shut, and he groans and opens his eyes to see the mess. His agents are all sprawled out, unconscious, with a broken window leading outside. He looks outside and counts two dead agents below, laying awkwardly on the concrete below. Lock then levitates his pistol while arming his battle saddle and walks towards the door with his already deteriorating calm demeanor fading quicker. When he opens up the door he doesn’t see his targets anywhere, but he does see a trail of blood and begins his pursuit.

Trixie watches in awe and fear as Minty beats down a group of griffins easily. She shrugs off their scratches and bullet grazes with only the slightest acknowledgment of pain, and every squawk and cry of pain is met with a mad cackle from Minty that grows in volume and insanity. By the time the last griffin has been beaten to a bloody pulp, the hallway is destroyed with broken floors, walls and ceiling, mangled bodies are sprawled and the hanging lights flicker with sparks sprouting from their wires. As Trixie watches Minty breathing and dripping blood and sweat, the chuckles of a deranged pony linger in the air, and when she sits on the floor next to a twisted griffin and looks at the blood on her hoofs. Minty's shoulders buckle and her eyes and teeth glow in the flicking light, and against Trixie's beter judgment, she approaches.

“Minty?” says Trixie, her voice hoarse and shaking. “Minty, are you all right?”

“They can't hurt you, now,” says Minty in an eerie voice Trixie has never heard before.

“Minty?”

Minty Sprinkles looks at Trixie, still grinning, and Trixie gasps and backs up, wanting to scream and run, but she is too scared, too stunned to do so. The smile, the eyes, both of them form the same twisted smile Pinkie Pie gave her shortly before she murdered her in Ponyville.

“You and Pinkie are safe from the meanies,” says Pinkie Pie.

“No... No... I-I killed you! I saw you die!” cries Trixie fearfully.

Pinkie Pie starts walking forward with a sway, her creepy smile growing with each step. “Don't be afraid, Trixie. I am your friend. Would you like a party? Parties make everypony feel better.”

Trixie backs up into the stairwell door, and her heart feels like its going to explode from how fast it’s beating and she is sweating so much that her suit is clinging to her. Her ears droop and she lets out a little whine when the lights above Pinkie Pie’s head flickers off for the last time, yet her blue eyes are still seen clearly in the darkness.

“You can't be Pinkie. I killed Pinkie. I saw her die. I saw you die!” whimpers Trixie.

“Maybe a game? Games are just as fun as parties,” says Pinkie Pie. “I personally like tackle tag. Maud loves tackle tag. Do you want to play tackle tag?”

Trixie shakes her head and Pinkie Pie pouts.

“You aren’t a boring old drag queen like Twilight are you? Or Rarity? Bleh. Those two are sooooo uptight, ” says Pinkie Pie. She sits on her haunches and nuzzles her bloody cheek against her hooves, poorly mimicking Rarity’s voice. “So much fashion. I must sew clothes, darling. Lots and lots of clothes are needed for my new line up: Pinkie is a Meanie.”

The lights flicker again and Pinkie Pie stomps on the head of a griffin that has the misfortune of groaning. The sickening stomp quiets the griffin, and from the sounds of bone crunching under her hoof, she probably ended their life.

“And Twilight and alllll of her studies,” continues Pinkie Pie now doing a poor impression of Twilight. “How many ponies would it take to subdue Pinkius Piecus? Must do more research. More. More. More studies and notes. Lots and lots of notes!”

“This can’t be happening,” says Trixie quietly.

Sunshine’s chuckle echoes in the hallway. “Oh, it is, darlin’.”

Pinkie Pie grins. “It is, best friend, and I want to play a game.”

Trixie blinks, but that gives Pinkie Pie enough time to knock Trixie through the door and on her back in the stairwell. She winces as her back collides with the hard concrete, and when her eyes get back to focus she sees Agent Lock approaching them from the top of the stairs, keeping his weapons trained on them.

“And I want to play it with you. So, what game do you want to play, Trixie?” asks Pinkie Pie, her crazy eyes locking onto Trixie’s. "Any game. Any game you want. I love games."

Trixie looks back at Pinkie Pie and tries to push her off, but has no luck. “Minty, Pinkie, whoever the hell you are, snap out of it!”

“Silly filly, ponies can’t snap. You need fingers to snap. Minotaurs have fingers, they can snap.”

“It’s over, Minty and Trixie, give up,” says Lock after cocking his weapon.

Trixie looks at Lock, overwhelmed with fear. “Lock, get out of here! Minty's-Mmph!”

Pinkie Pike puts her hoof on top of Trixie’s mouth and puts her bloody hoof to her mouth. “Shhhush. Shhhhush, Trixie. You'll scare him off.”

Pinkie Pie looks at Lock with that insane smile, making him take a step back.

“Hey there, strong guy, do you wanna play a game with me and Trixie?” she says.

“I want you to surrender,” says Lock.

Pinkie Pie snickers and gets up and cracks her back. When she crawls off of Trixie, she approaches Lock and Trixie runs down the stairs into the next level down. Seconds later she hears a struggle, gunfire and a body rolling down the stairs. Then comes the silence.

Trixie turns and stares at the door, her heart is threatening to burst out of her chest and her vision clouded with tears. She watches a silhouette of a pony appear in the foggy stairwell glass and she takes a step back as the shadowy figure stays there. Then the door is blasted open and Lock steps into the hallway, panting and face and neck sleek with blood, and he glares at Trixie with his weapons trained on her. Trixie’s eyes bulge and she dives into the hallway curve as bullets tear apart the area she was at moments earlier.

“Get back here!” yells Lock furiously.

Trixie scrambles to her feet and runs down the hallway, listening to Lock’s determined gallop after her. Trixie runs as fast as her protesting muscles will allow and right as she is about to go through the emergency exit, Lock fires a shot right into her leg. Trixie screams and falls to the ground, and when she tries crawling away, leaving a trail of blood in her wake, Lock stomps on her back. She cries out as she feels the hoof crack her vest.

“Trixie Lulamoon, you are under arrest by the authority granted to me by the Royal Government of Canterlot and the EIB,” says Lock. “Your crimes against the state will no longer go unpunished.”

“I was trying to help!” cries Trixie painfully, shifting her legs and wincing when her shot leg gets a surge of pain.

Lock kicks Trixie on her back and presses his hoof down on her chest. She gasps and she feels the air get pushed out of her, but it is while she is on her back that she notices Lock's unprotected part of his body.

“Vigilantism is terrorism, Lulamoon, and for that you- GRRRK!”

Lock falls over and curls up, holding his precious gonads, and Trixie rolls to her hoofs and bites back her tears as she limps towards the door. However, Lock pounces on her again, and her body is squished between him and the floor. She starts screaming and thrashing and clawing on the floor to escape Lock as the thoughts of Sunshine having his way with her invade her mind.

“No! No! No! No! Please, no!” sobs Trixie, panicking and screaming louder even more when she feels Lock press against her.

“Ooh, now that’s kinky,” snickers Sunshine as he walks in her line of sight, grinning. “A hero and an officer of the law, t’gether fer some steamy fun. Mind if I join?”

Trixie screams and slams the back of her head against Lock's muzzle, getting a yelp of pain from him and him losing his grip on her. With him no longer holding her, she bucks him off, uses her magic to pick him up, and then she throws him against the wall. He grunts and plaster rains down all over him, covering him white and splinters, but when Trixie tries to escape again, she feels a tingling cloud wrap around her. Her eyes bulge and everything becomes a blur as she becomes weightless and gets a face full of ceiling panel. Splinters scratch her face and her landing on her back knocks the wind out of her, leaving her shifting on the ground, on her back, coughing and groaning with ringing ears and blinking blood out of her eyes.

“Resisting arrest is a felony punishable up to two years in the dungeons,” says Lock, his steps following his voice.

“Get up and fight, Trixie,” urges Sunshine. “I wanna see some action!”

Trixie groggily pushes herself to her feet, only for magic to lift her up, slam her back into the ceiling, and when she hits the floor she gets tossed into the wall, leaving a pony sized. She coughs blood as drywall and other bits of debris fall around, and over the ringing in her ears and thumping heart, she can hear Lock demeaning her.

“So, this is the one who killed Laughter and became the champion of vigilantism?” says Lock.

Lock stomps on her side and she cries as she curls up; the armor did next to nothing on his stomp. The power of his stomp has cracked the suit and left her ribs cracked.

“I guess you really are just a nopony with something to prove,” says Lock.

Trixie's vision suddenly turns red, and she growls through her gritted teeth and she stands up, panting and ignoring the burning pain in her legs and the poking feeling in her chest. Lock goes for a swing, but she blocks it and uses a telekinetic blast to knock him into a door. The door nearly snaps in half, but he quickly recovers and when he tries to shoot her with his battle saddle she zaps it with a lightning bolt, blowing the weapon clean off. Lock coughs and staggers with smoke rising from his burnt clothing and skin, and before he can recuperate, Trixie punches him to the ground.

Lock scramble back up and tries to use his telekinesis to knock Trixie back, but her horn lights up as well and two balls of energy mold into one in between them, mixing their aura's into a strange blob. Both unicorns grunt and strain themselves as their blob grows and pushes away anything in its range. Debris is pushed across the floor, and it, the walls, and the ceiling groan and sprout fresh cracks that snake out across every solid surface.

Trixie grits her teeth and closes her eyes for concentration, trying to think of anything she can use against Lock. And when she opens her eyes she sees her opponent diverting some of his magic to aim his pistol at her.

Trixie steps forward, and with an enraged scream she flicks her magic to the ceiling, which guides Lock’s magic up with it. The result is the ceiling exploding outward, and then collapsing on top of both of them and covering everything in debris and dust.

Lock loses all concentration on his magic and brings his hoof to cover his nose and mouth, coughing sickly, while Trixie ignores the burning in her lungs and eyes and charges Lock. By the time Lock sees Trixie leap for him she is already on him and does three quick jabs and one hard buck that sends him skidding backwards on the messy floor.

Much to Trixie’s surprise, Lock doesn’t stay down long. While Lock coughs and recollects himself, Trixie puts on the helmet, and when Lock sees Trixie glaring at him from behind the goggles, he wipes the blood from his maw.

“Impressive. But that still won’t won’t save you,” says Lock.

Trixie roars and charges him with her horn sparking, and he quickly yanks out his pistol from the debris with his magic and fires three shots. The first shot grazes her shoulder, the second blows a hole in her hat, chipping off a piece of her horn, and the final bullet rips through her hoof, squirting the area with her blood. Trixie screams in pain as she tumbles end over end and lands on her face, but not without zapping Lock first. The bolt of lightning strikes him in the chest and sends him flying backward, and he falls with a grunt and black smoke rising off of his chest.

Trixie sobs out of anger and pain as she pushes herself up and glares at Lock. Her whole body is wobbly from her injuries and her blood oozes through her mask and costume, leaving red dots all over the floor. Even her horn is seeping grayish magenta magical blood from the chip and covering her forehead and face.

Lock is lying on the ground, motionless, and the reek of burnt flesh and cloth is leaving a bad taste in her mouth. Trixie wants to make sure that Lock will not be getting up anytime soon, but the door opens up and more EIB agents rush in while two more griffins break through the windows to the hallway. They waste no time in shooting at her.

Trixie shoots off a couple of lightning bolts, which proves to be a horrible idea as it leaves her feeling like someone shattered her skull with sledgehammer and leads to her getting more grazes and another bullet in her leg. Trixie swears up a storm as she limps into the emergency exit stairwell, and her enemies continue to shoot at her with their seemingly endless supply of ammo.

Once inside the stairwell, Trixie collapses from the pain, and her vision clouds with tears and blood as she crawls away from the door. The bullets shatter the glass and tear the door dozens of new holes, and Trixie tries to grab the stair railing for support, but her blood soaked hoof slips and she tumbles down the stairs, coming to a hard stop when she hits the wall on the bottom. She pushes herself up and forces her body to move, leaving streaks and dots of red as she limps outside. Once outside Trixie sees genuine EIB mini trains and she collapses against the wall from shock. Shining Armor had been right, and now Minty is dead and she is dying from the EIB betrayal. She honestly does not know why she is surprised, though, but she does not want to think about it since survival is more important than being surprised at her own surprise.

With the pause taken, Trixie feels a cold, heavy weight ease itself on her, and she once again wills her weak, broken body to move. A part of her wants to stay and fight to avenge her roommate and closest thing she has had to a friend in a long time, but her intelligence is telling her that she is as good as dead if she fights them in her condition. So she limps away in the darkness of the alley and does not look back.

Lock once again finds himself groaning and under a lot of pain. His chest feels tight, his jaw hurts, and his neck stings where Minty bit him. As he groggily inspects himself, he is helped up by a group of agents while the two griffins they arrived with stand around, looking bored.

“Sir, the Night Guard is on their way with SWAT,” says one of the agents.

“Where’s Trixie?” demands Lock after shrugging the agents away.

“She got away,” says one of the griffins.

Lock growls and looks at the agent that told him of the Night Guards. “When will they arrive?”

“We estimate less than ten minutes,” replies the agent.

Lock sniffs, wipes some blood off of his face and then turns around and shoots both of the griffins in the head. The agent jumps back and he looks at all of his agents while the griffins crumble to the ground with holes in their heads and bloody circles splattered on the wall behind them.

“Kill all the griffins. Alibi is that we were trying to save Trixie Lulamoon and Minty Sprinkles from Gilda’s muscle and things took a turn for the worst. Leave it at that,” orders Lock.

“But aren’t we working with the griffins to help?” asks an agent.

“No, and if anypony so much as hints at otherwise to anypony then there will be consequences. Now, let's go.”

The agents nod and reluctantly follow Lock outside when he orders them to follow him. Outside the griffins and agents are sealing up the EIB truck and Lock whistles for everyone to give him their undivided attention. The griffins and agents look at him and Lock aims his pistol at the nearest griffin and fires.

Trixie leans against a dumpster and thinks of passing out right then and there. The pavement is comfortable anyway. Then there is a single gunshot. Then there are more gunshots and her ears stand up as she uses the dumpster for support. The gunshots sound like a small battle, and as quickly as they came, they are gone.

Trixie slumps to the ground. Her legs feel like jelly, the pain in her horn makes her want to crawl in a hole and die, and she feels like she’s going to be sick. But as much as she would like to mope and think about how her situation sucks, she knows she cannot stay. And when she hears the sirens and sees the lights of Night Guard vehicles speeding towards the apartment, she disappears into the alley, leaving a bloody smear on the dumpster.

Vinyl Scratch, a.k.a. DJ-Pon3, a.k.a. “Tenant Who Needs To Pay Rent”, is sitting inside her sanctum, listening to her music and projecting it for all to hear. All of the radio equipment a pony could possibly dream of is stacked in this dimly lit room. No pony’s radio is safe from her scanners, no music update is left unchecked, no news left unheard, no pony without entertainment from Canterlot all the way to the Frozen North and the edge of the Badlands. But not only is there every type of radio equipment on the market in her possession, she also has an overabundance of reminders of who her sponsors are. Ranging from posters from energy companies, to figurines belonging to toy lines, and empty bottles of alcoholic beverages and energy drinks. And to finish off her decorations, she has a gift from the Lunar Society. It is a navy blue flag with the white, upside crescent moon with wings that she has hanging on the wall behind her bed.

“Now if I could just win the damn lottery,” mumbles Vinyl Scratch.

It is true she has a lot of money, but keeping the station up to date with every bit of information is expensive. From maintaining contacts with other stations, to scheduling talks with agents to see what’s going on with celebrities, and, of course, keeping her scanners a secret from the government. All that leaves barely enough money money for rent and food.

When the song ends, Vinyl Scratch wipes some of her mane out of her bright red eyes and leans towards the microphone.

“You guys liked that, didn’t ya? Of course you did. These guys are rocking out the music industry! But now it’s time to stop rockin’ and time to put you guys to bed.” Vinyl Scratch flips a switch, puts the dial to “Loop” and sweet, soft music starts playing over the radio. The music is so heartwarming, so soothing, that she almost passes out right on the spot. “Here’s a lullaby called ‘Hush Now’, sung by Equestria's kindest mare. Sleep tight everypony.”

As the music plays through the speakers all over her abode, Vinyl Scratch yawns and climbs on her flimsy cot, pulls her ratty blanket over herself and shuts her eyes for a good night’s sleep. But her rest barely lasts a few minutes before it is disturbed by a weak knock on her door. At first she tries to ignore it, but when the knocking persists, she gets up with a grumble, grabs a bat with her magic, and approaches the door.

“I swear if its the tax man or landlord...” grumbles Vinyl.

She looks out the peephole and sees no one, but the knocking continues. That is when the DJ realizes that it’s coming from the side door. She huffs, puts the bat away and after digging through a field of paper cups, crumpled paper, and half eaten sandwiches she levitates a double barreled shotgun from under her cot and cautiously approaches the side door. The knocking stops and Vinyl Scratch peeks through the peephole to see absolutely nothing.

“So, they wanna play that way, eh?”

She puts on her glasses and flings open her door with her shotgun at the ready. She doesn’t see anyone around, but she does notice bloody hoofprints sliding down her door and when she looks down her jaw drops, for lying on the ground, lying in a pool of blood, is the one and only Vigilante.