"You asshole..." Pinkamena thought. "Why you do this to yourself?"

She caressed Mane's arm, who was back to the infirmary's bed back in a coma, again under control of the nurses and this time with a small squad of five keeping their eyes on him, just in case he would have another moment like they saw yesterday.

"I'm going for now." She informed the another ones present in the room. "Please take care of him."

Some of the guards nodded with a serious expression. Pinkamena left the infirmary and headed to her room and sat on the bed. The clock by the bedside table pointed midnight. A new day starting by the night.
She didn't felt like practicing a few shots with the sniper, neither a sparring session with Copper Spear. Since she arrived, she only took one walk around the city for her enjoyment. And It became really boring around there in the cult's hideout, specially with Mane in constant comas and stuck in the infirmary recovering from his 'magic bondage', like some started calling around the cult.

"Fuck It." She said, while checking her duo of knives and her scabbards by her waist.

The pink assassin left the room and headed to the main complex, and she encountered Sigil walking around with some maps under her arm.

"Hey. Going somewhere?" Sigil asked.

"I'm gonna take a walk around the city."

"Alone?" Sigil seemed surprised. "You know there's guards around."

"I can take care of myself, thank you."

"If you say so..." Sigil though for a moment. "An advice. Stick to the shadows."

"I was thinking about that. Thanks girl." Pinkamena turned around and headed to the exit.

She opened the secret door and left the abandoned building. The starring night was a sight to be beholden, even more with the dark streets without any street lamp causing any light pollution, allowing the sky to show her the numerous stars and their formations.
Pinka took the streets in her way to the city's center.

The streets were empty and silent, leaving her a bit uneasy but she was used to It somewhat. She knew she was leaving the falling apart streets of Jade District, when the buildings made of polished minerals reflecting the gleaming stars in the sky started to show up. And just like Jade District, they were empty as if the army imposed a curfew on the entire city, and It was easy to understand why.

"Thanks Mane... now the streets are empty for me. She smiled.

Sometimes a squad in the distance would show up in quiet paces, but they were easily avoided by just hiding behind a tree, dumpster or a dark hall.
She walked by the street where she witnessed the robbery and murder by a pistol for the first time, where also the first crime with a firearm in Equestria. The shop where she witnessed It was now closed in the future months or years, and the dust in the showcase windows could be seen in the distance at the lights of the street lamps.

Pinka looked inside, and the shelves were empty just like everything else in the store. She shed a tear for the soul that died there in front of her eyes. The memory of the shopkeeper getting his head exploding in blood and brain bits rushed through her mind, and the robber taking the money from the cash register and her purse.

"You son of a bitch..." She whispered when she remembered the things he told her when he took her as a temporary hostage in the Fox Hole tavern back in Jade District. But the memory vanished when she remembered the torture session the mugger suffered under her fury.
Remembering the bloodshed and ripping his intestines out while he was still alive made her smile, but a grin of pure evil.

She stopped for a moment and snapped back. Pinka checked the streets again and they were empty, with the buildings around her with most of the lights out except for some homes. The pink mare sat on the same rock bench she sat that day when the a guard questioned her before she ran away. She sat and thought deeply in her evil self that day.

We are not so different, Mane... You have your powers from evil identities, I have my serial-killer instincts. But It's so weird to put such bad thoughts to good use for the good of this world." She stayed for some moments, but she couldn't bring her enjoyment up, leaving her frustrated. "It's so boring without you..."

She returned to her stroll, observing the buildings illuminated by the moon, doing some sightseeing by the streets reading the slabs with the names of the routes, and rarely she would find a bigger slab in the middle of a crossroad surrounded by flowers and sometimes candles already worn out with time. Pinkamena took a closer look in one of them.

The text was almost the same for every memorial slab around the city, but with a difference of the action and the groups. Sometimes was the name of a battalion or a violent battle that took place in there. It's like the Crystal Empire was a city that lived under the shadow of that war, with statues and memorials in every park and corner.

Heading to the park and avoiding the occasional troops in stationing orders, she went to the park near the Crystal Palace, previous home of the dead tyrant and the future home of the next rulers of the Crystal Empire. She sat again on the same bench she and Mane stopped by the day they acknowledged where to go next. The memory of him bringing her cotton candy made her smile, reminding he was not a bad guy even if he was related to an evil character.

"I could eat another one at the moment... Better go back, they might get worried."

A clock in a nearby tower showed It was almost two in the morning. It sure was time to go back to the hideout, hoping to see Mane awake and back on his hooves.

She reached Jade District safely. But the feeling disappeared when steps were eared.
Pinkamena turned around and saw a group of five, and they weren't soldiers. The moonlight showed their white suits and the muskets at their hands, and they speed up their pace towards her.

"Fuck." She whispered and started running.

Her way got blocked when another group of five showed up from a dark hall and they pointed their pistols and muskets at her. It was useless to fight unless she wanted her body full of holes and covered in blood.

"Strip your weapons and no smart moves." Said one of them. "You are coming with us..."

The group from her behind approached with their weapons pointed at her too. She had no choice but to do It. Pinkamena grabbed her knifes and dropped them on the floor with tingling noises. They all surrounded her in a circle with the barrels around her body.
Looking around, there was no escape. They were well coordinated by aiming their guns to different parts of her body, so no ducking moves would allow her to escape.

"Don Topaz, uh?" She muttered. "What are you gonna do to me? If you're gonna make me guide you to the hideout, they will kill you all leaving no survivors."

"Don't worry, we are walking yes... but in a different way."

"What if I don't?" She dared to say, despite her current situation.

"Then we take you by force, obviously." The thug giggled.

A strong hit behind her head made her fall on the floor, leaving her dizzy and whimpering in pain. The same thug putted a hoof on her back forcing her down on the floor, and he landed another hit in her head while she fought back to get up. A third strike knocked her unconscious, leaving a small wound in the back of her head.

"I hope you didn't kill her..." Said one of them.

"Nah..." Said the attacker, while cleaning the stock of his musket. "She's still breathing."

"Alright, let's go back. Don Topaz is waiting, this will make him happy."