Author's Notes:

Please, feel free to constructively criticize. Thanks for reading, pm or comment if you have any questions or suggestions, and if you see any errors such as grammar, spelling, or left off letters.

“Little bit more, come on, I hate doing this, but it’ll be worth it in the end.”

Pinkamena was sitting on a stool in her basement, with Rainbow’s body sprawled out in front of her on a table. After cutting her open, pulling out all her organs, effectively killing her, she had the idea of stuffing and stitching her up, basically taxidermy, but with a pony. She wasn’t doing this because she had any real connection to Rainbow Dash, any form of joy or glee Pinkamena seemed to express to Dash when she wasn’t torturing ponies, was nothing more than an act.

She only acted that way when she was torturing her ex-friend because she wanted to get the maximum amount of pain out of her, both physical and mental. She was going to do the same to the rest of her fake friends, both the act and the taxidermy. She only wanted to stuff the ponies she considered achievements, such as royalty, embodiments, powerful Unicorns, fast Pegasi, or other species, griffons would be a good example. Though she stuffed Gilda for financial reasons, griffons don’t die outside of their village often, as griffons are very territorial, so a griffon body is worth a lot of money on the black market, but she made a deal and kept the head.

“Ow! Dammit, what is wrong with me today?”

Usually, Pinkamena was very skilled and flawless when it came to these things, both from years of experience, and trial and error. But, ever since she killed Rainbow Dash the previous night, things have been different. She’s had this weird feeling in her stomach; it was tolerable to a point until she started on the body in front of her.

Then, the feeling got a lot worse, she couldn’t concentrate on anything, and her hooves became extremely shaky. She checked in with a doctor, but he said that there was nothing physically wrong with her, and while she knew she wasn’t anywhere near mentally healthy, she’s never felt something like this.

“Maybe I should wait for Bramble; he might know what’s wrong with me and how to fix it.”

Bramble Muk was a friend/associate of Pinkamena, about once a week, he would bring some supplies she ordered from the U.S.C, the Underground Supplies Center. If she wanted to keep doing what she was doing efficiently and quietly, she was going to need certain things. Cleaning supplies and such to keep the room and the tools clean and at their best, she would also need new devices every now and again, as her toys would try to break free and occasionally break them. And, of course, she would need parts to keep the number machine running. And last, but not least, she would need plaques for her trophies.

“Miss Pie? Can you let me in? I’m not a fan of the dark or tight spaces.”

Pinkamena had a secret entrance in her little dungeon; it would raise too many questions if all her visitors came into the basement the Cakes didn’t even know they had. It took about three months, and it was made mainly as an emergency exit situation, but it was well hidden.

She dug her hole from her basement all the way to the Everfree Forest, which she hid with a very cleverly placed tree, where it just looked like there was an owl or a squirrel's hole in the tree. When in reality, there was a button that activated a switch, which opened the ground colored tarp under some bushes. So far, the only ponies who know about it are her and her underground associates.

It started off as a simple escape hole, but then, after Pinkamena discovered the secret community, she decided it would be a good idea for her associates to come through that hole, and which they do.

Anything but the tarp didn't guard the hole, but at the end of the tunnel was a wooden door that could only be opened from her side, in case a wild animal or a pony discovered the hole, they wouldn’t be able to get in. Eventually, though, she wanted to replace it with a steel door, so if she ever did need to use it for escape, the cops couldn’t bust it down for a while and chase her.

“Yeah, hold on, Bramble, just let me get off these gloves.”

Pinkamena unlocked and opened the door, revealing the flank of a particular pony.

“Why Bramble, I didn’t realize you were so bold. All you had to do was ask.”

Pinkamena said in a sarcastic tone, as this wasn’t the first time something like this has happened. Bramble was a cute fellow, he had a brown mane, which was usually wavy if he didn’t have it combed back. He had a dark yellow coat and purple eyes; his cutie mark was a brown storage box being pushed onto another brown storage box. He was very skilled at lifting and carrying storage, he had a yellow horn, matching his coat. From what she had heard, both of Bramble's parents died in a car accident. When he got into the orphanage, he was assigned the job of putting things into boxes and taking them to their owners, ironically, that was his unique talent.

He later grew up to work at a nearby post office, which he spent most of his life until it was robbed. Then Bramble unintentionally helped them by telling them a better place to rob and a better way to do it; he grew up in a rough neighborhood where he both participated in and was the victim of many robberies. The gang liked the kid and decided to take him back to The Underground base, which, even though he knew it was bad, he couldn’t help but like it, and eventually he grew on it, and it grew on him. He never told the gang he didn’t mean to help them, but he grew to like them too, nonetheless.

He mainly just did the same kind of jobs he did before he joined the gang, but occasionally, he would come with gangs in robberies and muggings. Despite him appearing innocent and shy, if push came to shove, he can be quite the opposite.

“Oh! I-I’m sorry, Miss Pie, I didn’t mean to, please forgive me!”

He turned around from dragging the box behind him with a flustered face, which Pinkamena returned with a slight laugh.

"It’s fine, Bramble, just bring in the stuff I ordered. On a serious note though, I’d be more than happy to buck anytime you’d like.”

His face seemed to get even more flustered and red at that, which made Pinkamena’s smile widened even further, she was half serious. He began to stutter and babble as he tried to think of a response, he didn’t. He decided it would have been smarter just to shut up and bring in the box.

He couldn’t seem to get it through the door, as there was a lot of stuff in there, usually he could, but Pinkamena had ordered a bunch of things this time because she went a bit far with Rainbow than she first intended, which broke some of the tools, and may have started a slight fire when she used the electric switch for the first time in years. The fire didn’t start until an hour later though, the wires being so old and underused caused it to take longer to go through, but when it did, it created a bunch of problems.

“C’mon kid! I want to see what’s new this week! Here, let me help!”

The box was suddenly pushed straight through the door, making it stop when it hit the wall. Then came through the door a tall, buff stallion that Pinkamena can’t tell how she feels about, Grutch. She didn’t know his last name as he’s never mentioned it to anyone, or he just didn't have one. He had a blue mane with a red coat and green eyes, what made her hate him the most was that he always had his hair spiked up in the douche baggiest way possible. He was a very handsome looking stallion, as he had a perfectly curved chin and nice facial details, his cutie mark was a pony bench pressing one hundred and twenty pounds, oddly enough.

If it wasn’t for his personality and his 'dreadful' mane as Rarity would put it, Pinkamena would consider dating him, and she doesn’t think that of anypony. He was one of those weirdos that were obsessed with working out, which showed as he had huge leg and arm muscles, beyond the point of attractiveness. Pinkamena was strong, as she wanted to keep a daily workout routine, but even she would lose in a pure strength battle. Since the secret entrance was in the Everfree Forest, The Underground sent him as an escort to make sure nothing goes wrong.

“Grutch! How many times have I told you not to do that! You could have broken some of the supplies or broke something here, what if you had woken the Cakes! Then they would find out about this, and we’d all be bucked!”

Bramble's face got red for a different reason this time; he takes his job very seriously. Grutch may have been one of the strongest ponies in The Underground, but seeing Bramble that angry at him was one of the few things that made him scared, even though Bramble couldn’t really do anything to him. This made Pinkamena chuckle, as despite how they seem to dislike each other, they actually got along quite well.

“Has anypony told you that you look cute when you're angry?”

Pinkamena said as she playfully kissed Bramble on the cheek, completely changing the tension in the room. Making Bramble's face flustered again and Grutch suddenly bursting into laughter, no pony would have guessed all these ponies were complete monsters. Grutch stopped laughing and started to wander around the room, and Bramble went over to check on the storage box to try to avoid the awkwardness.

“Pinkamena, I’m going to go ahead and check out what’s new. I’ll stay out of your mane for now, but tell me if you need a big, strong stallion to help carry the heavy stuff.”

Grutch had a morbid interest in Pinkamena’s trophies; he likes to walk around her basement and examine her victims, her tools, and everything that’s involved in her torture. But Pinkamena wanted to go over to Bramble, not because she thinks he needs help, but because she wanted to talk to him about the feeling in her stomach. She would ask Grutch, but then he would think she was weak and spread that around The Underground, basically destroying her reputation.

Bramble would understand more, and he probably knew more about it with his past. When Pinkamena walked up to Bramble, he was doing what he usually does. He was picking up the tools and such and putting them in their place and doing the same thing with the other stuff. Pinkamena went over to the other side of the box and began doing the same thing; she only ever acted friendly to members of The Underground. She could treat them the same way she treats everypony else, but she wanted to stay good with them. Bramble was different, she genuinely liked him, platonically. She only flirted with him for the buck of it, but she wouldn't mind bucking him.

“Hey, Bramble? I’m going to ask you something, and I don’t want you to tell anypony else, can you do that for me?”

He stopped for a moment and looked at her in disbelief, which she responded with a nod confirming she was serious. He nodded back and waited for her to start, continuing the picking up and placing of objects from the storage box.

“Recently, after I killed one of my victims, I began to feel this weird sinking feeling in my stomach. Like I was hungry, but I was full at the same time, it made me feel like shit. And whenever I started on the body, it got worse, a lot worse. My hooves were shaking; I couldn’t concentrate, I felt like I was going to puke all the time, but never did. I went to the doctor, but they just said there was nothing physically wrong with me, so I came to you, what do you think is wrong with me? I mean, other than being a mass murdering psychopath.”

For the longest time, he just stood there, frozen, as if he had just gotten news that he had cancer. He had a sad, pale look on his face as he had just been scared shitless, then he looked at her with eyes full of sadness, and anger.

“Wow, I knew you were messed up, but I didn’t think it was this bad. To answer your question, you’re feeling grief. You feel horrible because you had some connection with whoever it is you killed, you’re probably feeling guilty because you caused it. I really can’t believe you’ve never felt grief before, sometimes, I wonder how some of you are even ponies.”

Pinkamena had long stopped caring what other ponies thought of her; she didn’t even care about Bramble's opinion. What even remotely bothered her was that there was a chance that she felt something for Rainbow was stupid, she’s never felt anything for anyone before, but she'll indulge the thought.

“How do I stop it?”

His face seemed to get even sadder, as he appeared to recall sad memories from his colt hood.

The days on the streets, the years without parents, the countless nights of crying and suffering knowing that he will never see his parents again. All the horrible feelings nobody his age should have felt; all came rushing back from whatever emotional jar he had them in.

“No, you dumbass! There is no way to make it stop! You killed somepony that you had a connection with, a real connection! Something monsters like you don’t deserve to have; you probably haven’t felt grief before because you don’t have the mental capability to care about anypony but yourself! So, if somepony like me, who lost their parents before I even really got to know them. Didn’t get to stop the suffering of grief and pain, what makes you think a serial killer as you deserve to!?”

By the end of his outburst, he was nearly crying as the pain he once felt resurfaced, making him relieve the pain he hoped never to feel again. Tears threatening to come out the corners of his eyes, a look of anger and hurt in his eyes, something Pinkamena has never seen in his eyes before, yet seems so familiar to her. Grutch stopped his gazing and glanced over at them, but decided just to let them fight whatever it was they were fighting about, wasn’t his fight, wasn’t his problem.

“Bramble, I asked a simple question. I don’t need a recap of your life story or how you feel. Now, I apologize for bringing up your parents, but I’m not sorry, I got my answer. I’ll let you off this time, but the next time you yell at me like that, I’ll show you I’m no monster, I’ve fought monsters, and I’ve killed one. Remember Nightmare Moon? The monster that terrorized Equestria for centuries? I killed that bitch; I’m worse than any monster, I'm a demon."

It wasn’t entirely a lie, in a way, she did kill Nightmare Moon, sort of. It was more like she purged Luna of Nightmare Moon, which was the same as killing, right? Bramble’s eyes went from a look of anger to a look of fear, his brain going into instinct mode as his basic genetic code gave him the option of fight or flight, he chose flight. He got on the floor with his muzzle to the ground, sobbing and begging for forgiveness, saying he was sorry over and over again, it made Pinkamena feel like royalty, now she knew why Blueblood was so snobby.

“Buck me, is that who I think it is? Ah shit! The boys are going to freak when they hear this! Hey, Bramble! Quit your bowing and come over here, you’re going to want to see this.”

Grutch's wandering had eventually got him to Pinkamena’s current project, which is what caused his outburst. Her body was in the same place it was left: with both her arms laying down beside her hindquarters, her head slightly turned to the left and her mouth agape, her body remaining as lifeless as her eyes. It still frustrated the buck out of her that she didn’t get to finish, her body still cut open as hooks kept it that way.

Bramble did as Grutch said, getting up from his position in front of Pinkamena, no longer afraid or even angry. At the sight of what Grutch was looking, he had gotten straight up and run over faster than Pinkamena thought he could, then he stopped in front of the body to the left of Grutch.

“You know what that means right, Grutch? You owe me one-hundred bits! I told you that she would win, I can’t wait to brag about it to the rest of the guys who betted against her when we get back!”

Grutch grunted out of frustration, but turned his head around to a satchel tied to his side, and pulled out four bits, each worth about twenty-five each. Hesitantly dropping them into Bramble’s eager hooves, which after being dropped into his hooves, he put into a pouch on his left side.

“I just don’t get it though; she had an entire army at her beck and call! How did Pinkamena even get her out of The Factory? No employee is allowed out for any reason, plus she always had a bodyguard or two around her. This just doesn’t make any sense; it doesn’t matter. When Dr. Atmosphere and the rest hear about this, they won’t stop until she’s dead and you know that!”

Grutch pointed a hoof at Bramble, annoyed at his joyful face.

“Oh yeah I know, and I agree with you, this doesn’t make any sense. But that doesn’t matter because that wasn’t the bet! The bet was: if Pinkamena won than everyone who bet she would get the money from the ones who betted against her. It doesn’t matter if The Factory does kill her or not, she won, and that’s what matters!”

Bramble’s smile got even wider, while Grinch's face got even more annoyed and frustrated. Pinkamena, paying attention to the conversation as it involved one of her projects, had a perplexed look on her face, as she had no idea what they were talking about. The Factory? Dr. Atmosphere? She’s never heard of these before, was it some kind of underground slang? They certainly didn't sound like real names.

“Ok, what the Tartarus are you two talking about?”

They both shared a look of worry as they glanced at each other, not sure whether they should tell her or not. They then relaxed as they both agreed through nods that there was no harm telling her now, considering that one of the ponies they bet on was now dead.

“Ah, what the Tartarus, what’s the harm? So a few months ago, a few of the guys and I got drunk and started talking about things. Which whores were the best, the best fights we’ve been in, you know, those kinds of things. Then one of them started talking about who would win in a fight between you and Rainbow Dash with a reputation like hers, and that’s when it started. It spread all the way throughout The Underground, then the bets started. After everyone realized that eventually you two were going to have a standoff with the kind of relationship you two had, and then after only a week, almost the entire Underground had bet on one of you two. Nothing personal, but a lot more ponies bet on Rainbow Dash, considering what she had at her disposal and what you had, no offense.”

As he said that, he was rubbing the back of his head in either shame or embarrassment, while Bramble was sitting there quietly, ready to run in case she took him betting against her an act of betrayal and takes it out on both of them. But, instead of a look of anger or understanding on her face, the look of confusion just seemed to increase. This made the feeling of worry come back to their faces; this wasn’t any of the reactions they were expecting.

“Reputation? What are you talking about? Why would me and Rainbow fight? I killed her because her number came up, nothing more, nothing less. I have no idea what the buck you’re talking about.”

They both shared a look of realization as those words left her mouth, at that point, they knew, they bucked up. They assumed when Pinkamena joined The Underground, that someone would have told her about Rainbow, considering their relationship. But nobody had, it’s a miracle that considering the kind of reputation she had in The Underground, she hadn’t overheard it in a conversation. Either way, she’s going to know now.

“Pinkamena, nopony told you about The Rainbow Factory? I mean, it would make sense, considering you’re an Earth pony. But, I thought ever since you joined our little organization, someone would tell you. Rainbow Dash was a killer, she killed foals daily and turned them into rainbows. She was famous for the amount of brutality she had; she would occasionally hire some guys from The Underground to help keep the failures under watch. And I have to say, I’ve been there, it’s more bucked up than anything you’ve done here Pinkamena. Not because of the way they do it, but because of the industrialized process, they have it down to. ”

“But, I still bet on you! Despite literally everypony at The Rainbow Factory is completely insane, I knew you could still handle them with your experience. So, please don’t be angry with me.”

Pinkamena didn’t know how to react; there’s no way this was true, right? But then, when she was dying, Rainbow did say something about revenge despite being on her deathbed, though that could have just been her being angry. Could this be true? Could Pinkamena have killed the top dog in an operation that’s been going on like this? Was Rainbow secretly a killer, like her? And nobody told her! The feeling of grief, she’s learned to call it, left her stomach, and was replaced with a much more welcomed and familiar feeling, rage. It was mixed in with something else though, another familiar feeling that she’s only felt twice in her life, betrayal. The rage was stronger though, so she focused on that instead.

“YOU MOTHER BUCKER!”

Pinkamena rammed into Grutch, he was unprepared for this and was caught off balance, his back up against the table, with Pinkamena in front of him. Her left on his neck with her right hoof pushing his testicles against the table, not giving enough pressure to do anything permanent, but enough to let Grutch know she was serious. Bramble was slowly trying to back away while Pinkamena was distracted with Grutch, but she noticed this. She quickly picked up the scalpel with her mouth she had left on the table and threw it towards Bramble’s head, barely missing by inches and hitting the wall to the right of him, cutting a few pieces of his combed back hair.

“Next one won’t miss, you won’t get it as bad since you bet I would win, but you still didn’t tell me shit! So, when I’m done with this bucker, you better hope I change my mind. Now, let’s talk, shall we?”

She put a little bit more pressure on both his neck and his balls, making him whimper and too afraid to do anything.

“You knew! You bucking knew that she was doing this for probably longer than I’ve been in The Underground, and yet you did nothing! In fact, you probably started the bet and told Rainbow about my little pass time for your bucking entertainment; you’d probably get off on watching us kill each other, wouldn’t you? Well, by the time I’m done with you, you won’t be getting off on anything, it’ll make what I do to my usual victims look like I’m doing a bucking jigsaw puzzle!”

“Wait! Calm down! I can explain! Yes, I did spread the bet, and yes, I did it because I thought it would be badass, but not for the reasons you think! Until we started talking about who would win between you two, I didn’t even know you knew her! Whenever we worked for her, other than orders, she never really talked about anything else. I swear! And I was going to tell you and Rainbow about the bet and everything, but whenever word reached about the bet to Dutch, he told everypony not to tell either of you because he already had! I swear that’s what he said, ask anyone, they can back me up on this! So please, let me go?"

Pinkamena released some of the pressure, but just enough to where he couldn’t escape if he tried. She looked over at Bramble, who was nodding frantically as if to back up his story. With the way Dutch was and how he see’s things, it was possible for him to do that. Either way, she couldn’t take out her rage on them with the possibility that they were telling the truth so that she would let them off, for now.

Pinkamena backed up and let Grutch go, letting him getting back on his legs and rubbing his back. She then started to walk over to Bramble, who whenever he saw her coming towards him, began getting into a familiar bowing position and began to tremble. Then Pinkamena pulled the scalpel out of the wall beside him and tossed it back on the table, she then walked over to the door and began to walk out.

“Who the buck do you think you are!?”

Grutch had tried to sneak up behind her, standing up on his hind legs and started throwing down his left hoof in her direction. Pinkamena moved her head to the left and grabbed the bottom of his arm, and did a backflip over him while still holding on to his arm. When she landed, she jumped forward, ramming into his back, ending up with her on top of his back with his arm bent behind him. She then pulled it a little more, gaining a grunt of pain from Grutch, giving her a sadistic smile she always has when playing.

“You bucking idiot, pay attention muscle for brains. You may be stronger than me, but I’m faster, smarter, more experienced, and better at fighting than you. Now, you may be a mercenary, but I’ve fought, killed, and tortured in more ways and numbers than you ever will. Learn your place and don’t even consider trying to kill me, you’ll fail. I’m going to go and talk to Dutch, and if I find out your story is a lie, then you better hope timberwolves eat me because you certainly won’t be eating anything. I would break your arm, but I want you to do something for me. Since you’re so interested in my project, I want you to finish it for me. Make sure there’s nothing abnormal on or in the body, there are books on the bookshelf over there on the pony body and taxidermy if there’s anything you need to know. When you’re done, put everything back where you found it and leave the body there, if I find anything missing or destroyed, I will find you, and make you wish I'd killed you.”

Pinkamena got off of Grutch, releasing his arm in the process. He got up and began to rub his arm in a similar way he did his back. For a split second, he considered grabbing the scalpel and just slicing her up, but even if he did kill her, Dutch wouldn’t take it too well. So, he just went over to the table and sat on the stool and began to work on the body, mumbling things Pinkamena could barely hear.

“Stupid bitch……….. calling me slow……..buck her up.”

Pinkamena started to walk out the door, but stopped and looked over to the still shivering Bramble.

“You’re not off the hook, Bramble, I trust you more than I do Grutch, despite your opinion of me. I want you to stay here and make sure this incompetent dick doesn’t buck anything up. But if something does happen, it’ll be as much your fault as his.”

With that she left Grutch to his mumbling and Bramble to his trembling, Pinkamena was Tartarus bent on getting to Dutch and getting some answers, anyway she might have to.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Underground base, or more specifically, it’s disguise, was in multiple locations. The disguise was a somewhat typical looking bar, The Purple Star. There was one of these in each major town or city all across Equestria, in case a job or something is far away, it provides faster travel. It was an ordinary one-story brick building, with a wooden door and a purple neon sign for the title. There was no need for an open/close sign since the place stays open twenty-four seven. For both the bar and the customers. The main base though was in Canterlot, which is where Pinkamena had gone.

Pinkamena walked into the bar, gaining the attention of both new and old customers, the ones that weren’t passed out. None of them said anything though, as either the old ones knew the consequences of annoying her, and the new ones either heard or were told by the old ones what happens if they do. The bar was as big inside as it looked outside, the inside wall was the same kind of brick as the outside. There were a total of seven stools on the other side of the counter, which had three customers in them this night. On the other side of the counter, was a few shelves that were lined with bottles of alcohol, many Pinkamena couldn’t see the labels from where she was, but it was probably just the usual stuff.

The bartender was an old stallion that went by the name of Mack, the thing about him was, despite his age, he was always smiling. His face was the only place that didn’t have wrinkles, he always wore a white and blue shirt on, which made him look as old as he was. He almost never talked unless someone asked for a drink, or if he was just in a chatty mood. He had a blue mane with a charcoal black coat; his eyes were the same color as his hair, which he always kept combed forward. His cutie mark was a bottle and glass, but that was just a disguise used by the skilled unicorns The Underground had. It was a gun being shot and hitting the bull's eye; this would have been allowed if guns hadn’t been banned, this would have aroused questions.

He always kept a double barrel shotgun under the counter in case things got rough, but usually, they didn’t. Guns had long been banned in Equestria due to the guards and the populace not believing in the killing of other ponies, but that didn’t mean they weren’t used. The Underground knew both how to acquire and make guns, but they usually didn’t use them unless needed.

Pinkamena didn’t usually use guns; she never needed to. But, she knew how to use most kinds, and she was a good shot with them. She kept a desert eagle hidden in her basement as a desperate measure if times called for it, but she seriously doubted it would. In the daytime, there would usually be tables and waitresses, but they had left, plus they didn’t get as much service at night as they did in the day, so they didn’t usually need the tables. The tables, along with some extra stools, were all stored in a closet in the right corner, along with the waitress uniforms.

To the right as soon as coming in, was both the stallions and the mares bathrooms, which unbeknownst to most, is the entrance to The Underground. Pinkamena began to walk to the door, pushing it open some before Mack spoke.

“I heard what happened you know, don’t bother asking how because you know I won’t tell you. I think you’re going to want a drink because you won’t like the answers your questions are going to get you. Don’t worry about these guys; I spiked their drinks so they wouldn't remember the last five hours, then they'll pass out. On the chance your reckless ass came in here guns blazing. I’m old, not stupid.”

Pinkamena smiled to herself, not a sadistic or malicious smile like she usually gave. This was a genuine smile, like Bramble, Mack was one of the few ponies she actually liked, despite how much of an asshole he can be.

“Na, you know how I get when I’m drunk Mack. I appreciate the gesture, but I’m here for business, not pleasure. Though sometimes I get them mixed up, nothing wrong with taking pleasure in your business, am I right, Gunner?”

Gunner was Mack’s nickname when he was younger, Pinkamena didn’t know him back then, but she heard about it from stories. Apparently, when he was younger, he was a very skilled mercenary. He would only ever take jobs when it permitted the use of guns; he didn’t care whether or not the pay was well. He also had a reputation of never getting shot or injured in any way, but that’s not where he got the name.

He got his name from his talent with guns; he used every kind of gun from pistols to sniper rifles. He never used the same one twice; he always used a different gun for every job. There were rumors that he even made his own bullets, and that he never missed. He got his name from his marksmanship and efficiency with guns, both with his horn and his hooves, and how badass he was with them, Pinkamena just wishes she could have been there to see it.

“If you’re going to call me that, then shouldn’t I get to call you by your nickname, Cupcake Killer?”

“Touché, it's reasoning like this I like you Mack, but I got to go, and you need to make sure those drunks stay passed out. I may not have come in guns blazing, but I might leave that way, depending on what happens down there.”

Pinkamena pushed the door all the way open, going into the bathroom with a smile on both her and Mack’s face. It was a normal bathroom, with white tiles covering the floor, a line of sinks and mirrors opposite from the stalls. To the left of the stalls were several urinals, and the ceiling was a simple grayish roof.

“Miss Pie, I take it you’re not in here to actually do business?”

In every underground bathroom bar, was a bathroom attendant that both was and wasn’t what their job said they were. To normal ponies, they would act like a normal attendant. But if it’s a new underground associate, then a password was given to them. Both the password and the attendant were changed every day, in case of the scenario that somepony was secretly investigating them.

But each one was given a list of names that don’t need a password, these names either earned their way on there or just have been apart of the underground for a long time, she was the former. This attendant had a jet black mane which was combed back, his eyes were a dark red, while his coat was green. He wore a black and white suit, which made him look more like a butler than an attendant. She couldn’t tell what his cutie mark was since the suit had covered it.

“Clever, I’m here to see Dutch, let me in.”

“Very well, a please wouldn’t kill you, then again, a lot of things wouldn’t kill you. From your reputation, you’re ‘ a tough motherbucker to put down’ as many have said.”

He went over to one of the urinals and pulled the lever, doing the same to three others, which seemed to have no order. Most likely, it was morse code, and if the levers were pulled in a certain order, then somepony on the other side opened the door, which is exactly what happened. A few seconds after the attendant pulled the levers, the wall across from her seemed to go back in time as the bricked pushed backward, revealing an ancient looking wooden door.

Pinkamena opened the wooden door, which revealed a very long flight of stairs that appeared to have no end. It had lights every now and again to allow whoever was traveling to see where they were going, but it was a very long walk as The Underground was called The Underground for multiple reasons, the main being it’s main base is deep underground.

“Here, hold this watch, tell me how long I’m down there for, I’m curious how deep underground this place is exactly. Over the years, I’ve gone down plenty of times, but I’ve never actually figured out how deep it is.”

With that, Pinkamena started her long walked down a seemingly endless journey; she had the watch on her from earlier when she wanted to time how long it would take for her to finish with Dash, she never got to find out. It took a lot of effort to hold all the anger she was feeling up to this point, she really just wanted to kill the next pony she sees, but if she wanted answers, she couldn’t do that. What took even more effort was getting down all the stairs, which took longer than she thought. She wasn’t counting, but if she had to guess, it took about one hour to get to The Underground.

At the bottom of the stairs was two large double doors, which could be both pulled and pushed open. Unlike the first entrance, no guards were making sure no regular ponies got in. Because even if there was, it was doubtful they’d get this far without any of them knowing. Pinkamena quickly pushed open the doors, that rage she had been trying to conceal starting to resurface.

The Underground was the opposite of the bar, in the nighttime, there were tons of ponies here. Some drinking, others trading gear and weapons with each other, some even fighting just for the buck of it. In the daytime, almost nobody was here, they were either out on jobs or dealing with personal affairs. The room was almost twice the size of the bar, with a much bigger counter on the opposite side of the room from the entrance. It had a lot more varieties of drinks and options, which was matched with the number of stools in front of it.

The room was littered with wooden tables that each had six matching chairs in them; some had ponies in them drinking their hearts out, some of them tossed over as fights had started for a variety of reasons. There were several waiters and waitresses around the room either taking and delivering orders or trying to stop some of the fights. It was like this almost every night, so they had long gotten accustomed to these kinds of things, most fights were just scraps, so nopony really got hurt. But if it got life and death serious, they were told to take it somewhere else, which they usually did.

The wall was a tough stone that was painted a dark red, which matched with the floor. The bartender down here was much younger than Mack, but she was also less experienced. She was a yellow mare with a blue and black mane, which looked like she spent most of the day with a curling iron. She was a pegasus, as her wings were spread out as she had to fly up to get one of the higher bottles. Her name was Butterdrop; her cutie mark was covered with the clothes she was wearing, probably didn’t want every stallion staring at her. Other than the bathrooms on both sides of the counter, there were many rooms in the base. There was the traveling room, which led to a room with multiple tunnels, each tunnel having a wagon, which was pulled by four Pegasi, each of them was very fast, as they can prove.

Then there was the armory, which was used to store weapons and armor and such, this was also where customers put their weapons if they didn't want to trade. Then there was the workroom, where in the daytime, there were clients, papers on the walls offering jobs, and a few TVs kept on the news channels in case something happened in Equestria that was related to a job they needed to know about. There were also multiple ponies in there that had details and information on multiple jobs, in case one wanted to know more, these ponies also watched over the clients.

Then there was the prep room, where ponies went before jobs the make sure they had the proper guns and equipment; they changed into clothes if necessary. They cleaned and practiced with their guns, and found other ponies who may want to go with them on jobs. This room is directly connected to the armory, in case what they need was left in there. There were also rooms for anypony that didn’t feel like going home that night or had a ‘friend’ with them, but those were rarely used.

Then there was Dutch’s office, which was exactly where Pinkamena wanted to go. It had the same door as the other doors did, except this one had the word Dutch carved in large letters on it. Like the other rooms, there was no way to tell whether or not someone was in there, as there were no windows or do not disturb signs. There wasn’t even any way for her to tell if he was at The Underground, she was just entirely assuming.

Pinkamena walked towards the bartender, ignoring the whooping and shouting, both towards her and around her. She was attractive, she knew it, it was obvious with all the attention she got from both mares and stallions. These ponies knew the same thing the ponies in the bar knew that they get bucked up if they bother her. But what made these ponies take their chances is what Pinkamena did every month. Once every month, Pinkamena would come down to here and choose a stallion or a mare, whatever she was in the mood for.

She wasn’t a whore or anything like that; she just did it because she enjoyed sex, a lot. Her urge for sex was as strong and abnormal as her urge for blood. She assumed she was good, as she could go for a good three hours, and she usually left whoever her partner was passed out when she was done. She couldn’t usually find anyone who could keep up with her, but when she did, she usually lost track of time.

“Where’s Dutch?!”

Pinkamena said blatantly, making the bartender bump her head as she seemed to be getting glasses for one of her customers. Making her rub her head whenever she lifted it up from the counter, then her eyes shrank back in fear when she saw who it was.

“Oh! P-Pinkamena! I didn’t see you there, would you like a drink or something?”

Before Pinkamena could say anything, a stallion sitting on the stool to the right of her spoke up. He had a gray coat with a purple mane and yellow eyes, his cutie mark was what looked like a purple rock and a bomb, probably a demolitionist, he was an Earth pony. He reminded her of her father, which made her even more pissed off.

“Hey girly! Somepony else is here, so wait for your bucking turn.”

He said rather rudely, though he was drunk so Pinkamena didn’t pay much attention to him.

“Look, I’ve already had to deal with one asshole today, so why don’t you get your drunk ass out of here before I get you out.”

He was both frustrated and drunk from a long day at work, so he didn’t take that insult very well.

“Why you arrogant little slut!”

He jumped up out of his stool and went to hit her; she wasn’t expecting this, she just wanted to talk to Dutch. When she saw the blood dripping from her muzzle, all that rage she was keeping bottled up, it all came out at that moment. He went to hit her again, but she grabbed his arm and put one hoof on his shoulder and swung him around, slamming him into the counter. She grabbed the nearby bottle Butterdrop had pulled out, and slammed it against his head, shattering it into tons of pieces that went everywhere.

She then slit his throat with the remaining parts of the bottle and threw his body onto a nearby table. She didn’t usually kill outside of her basement, but this time was an exception. At this point, everypony in the room stopped what they were doing and stared at her, as she was panting from the rush and pleasure that gave her, she noticed this and turned towards them.

“Well!? Any other volunteers wanna buck with me today!?”

Everybody went back to what they were doing, too terrified to say anything to her. Then she turned back around to a petrified Butterdrop, looking like she was on the verge of pissing herself.

“Where’s. Dutch?”

Butterdrop's mouth opened and closed as she tried to say something, anything. But she was too scared to get anything out but a squeak, so she just pointed her hoof at his office. She went over to the door of his office without hesitation and kicked it down rather loudly, and nobody said a word to her.

“No, please, come on in Pinkamena, it’s not like you had to ask or anything.”

Dutch wasn’t the leader of The Underground; they didn’t have a leader. He was the guy who kept things working and organized, and occasionally, he would call a bunch of ponies together and talk about a problem that may have been going on. He had a bright red coat with a dark gray mane; he wasn’t old, he just had natural gray hair, which was always wavy. He almost always wore a hat, which currently he was. He was a unicorn; he wasn’t very good at spells, he was better at moving multiple or heavy objects if he needed to. She’s never seen him in combat, gun or hoof to hoof, but from what she can assume, he had some experience, or he wouldn’t have gotten where he was. His cutie mark was a clipboard and a pen, she had no idea if that was his actual cutie mark or not.

His office looked fairly normal, it was about the size of two bathrooms and was in the shape of a rectangle, with his desk at the end. The walls were darker gray than his hair, while the roof and floor were both dark blue. To the right was a shelf full of books, to the left of the shelf was three or four filing cabinets that each had five drawers. To the left of that was a collection on his wall, his favorite weapons such as a sword and an assault rifle, a few diplomas he most likely stole, and a picture of him and his family, the one he didn’t have. They had died a long time ago; he just wanted to keep the picture for sentimental reasons, despite him having scratched out their faces.

At the end of the room was his desk, which he was sitting behind in his black leather chair, which surprisingly didn’t make any noise when he moved in it unless he tried. On the left was a desk lamp, which had a pencil cup in front of it, to the right of that was a sign made out of glass and a no smoking sign. It had a quote on it that Pinkamena couldn’t tell who the quote was from, as it didn’t say who said it. ‘If violence is never the answer, then why to make guns?’, this quote obviously happened after they banned guns. In the middle was a black book, which he used to read when he was bored, among other things. He was currently closing it and putting in one of the many of the desk drawers, he probably knew of Pinkamena’s destructive reputation both by rumor and experience, this isn’t their first encounter with one of them angry.

“I am going to tie you up, cut open your stomach, and fill you with rats, so they eat you from the inside out you piece of shit! I thought we set conditions for when I joined, no assassination attempts, no hits, no orders, no giving out my information to anyone, and no lying! You broke the agreement you buck!”

Pinkamena slammed her hooves onto Dutch’s desk, making the pencils bounce out of their cup and back in. Dutch’s face still had the smile on his face he always has, that smile that makes it seem like he knew something nobody else did.

“Technically, I didn’t lie. You never asked me,’Hey Dutch, is my best friend a part of a top-secret organization that has been an ongoing conspiracy for years, and that anyone outside of it knowing about it but a select few could cause a mass murder?' No, you didn’t, so I never lied.”

He said, with an ever so sultry and sarcastic voice, one Pinkamena quickly learned to hate. She knocked over his pencil cup, making the pencils toss in multiple directions over around the room. His face remains the same, not even flinching at what Pinkamena did, which infuriated her further.

"Don’t pull that bullshit with me, Dutch! Knowing something like this and not telling me is just as bad as lying! So if you don’t bucking tell me everything right now, you can consider this little relationship we have over!”

The smile on Dutch’s face was replaced with a grim look; he realized that if he didn’t take this seriously, it could prove to be a serious problem shortly. He put his hooves under his chin, as the tension in the room suddenly became much more intense.

“Fine, you want the story? Since Rainbow is dead now, I don’t see a problem with it. But I’ll warn you now, if you tell anyone even one slight detail from what I’m about to tell you, we’ll go public with your reputation, got it?”

Pinkamena nodded her head, not wanting to say anything at the chance she might unintentionally change his mind, then this would have to get quite violent.

“One thousand years ago, when Celestia banished Luna to the moon, she encountered a problem. Since Celestia had to be both the princess of the sun and the moon, she didn’t have time for such things as assisting with weather production or crime control. But the issue was, back then, the ponies at the weather factory didn’t know how to make certain weather, such as rainbows, which was something not required, but just among the many things they couldn’t produce. They had all the right training, tools, numbers, intelligence, everything they needed, except for one thing, Spectra. As you know, magic isn’t restricted to Unicorns, both Earth and Pegasus ponies have magic. Earth ponies use their magic for physical abilities and farming, while Pegasus use their magic for a multitude of things. It’s how they fly, stand on clouds, how they manipulate weather, how they build things out of clouds, they use it for basically everything they do, this came to be known as Spectra. After a few months of research, they discovered the only way they could make the weather they usually did was to use Spectra.

At the time, there was no way to remove Spectra safely from Pegasi, except killing the pegasus. The way they made it before was Celestia would give a certain amount of Spectra while remaining unaffected, with her being an Alicorn and all. After realizing this, the ponies knew that it was either sacrifice Equestria for ponies or sacrifice ponies for Equestria. During those days, any Pegasus that failed the flying test, had their wings removed and were banished from Cloudsdale. This caused crime, as most of the failures grew disturbed and were mentally traumatized from the experience, the hate and pain festering in them as they grew, turning them into monsters, causing an increase in gangs, rape, murder, robberies, and many other crimes. So, they made a deal with Celestia, if they were allowed to ‘use’ the failures to make the weather Equestria needed, it would effectively lower the amount of crime in Equestria, saving thousands. She then came to the same conclusion they had, sacrifice the minority for the majority, or sacrifice nothing and lose everything; she came to the same decision they did.

A device was then started on later that day, one they already had schematics for. It was called The Pegasus Device, it was used to extract Spectra, and it works to this day. This conspiracy has been going on for a very long time, so long it’s not even known if Luna is aware of it with her recent return. Celestia can’t go back to producing the weather because this has been going on far too long to stop it now, so, she allows it to continue knowing that stopping it would also cause another age of crime that may not end. The reason it’s called The Rainbow Factory is that Spectra is the same color as rainbows, also because it’s the name that fit the best. Every employee that unintentionally signs up with this conspiracy is forced to give up any life they have, and not allowed to leave, ever. Except for Rainbow, considering she is-was an Element of Harmony, they didn’t really have much choice. If they can’t handle the bloodshed or necessary murder, they’re forced to work to the point of insanity. Not a single one of them is sane, and if they are they won’t be for long.

Rainbow Dash is the craziest, which is partly why she’s their manager. She would even occasionally throw in a failure into the Pegasus Device voluntarily, but she’s been insane long before she was their leader. Not too long ago, there was a doctor, don’t really remember his name. But he found a way to extract Spectra without harming the Pegasus safely; he was rewarded with his hooves being cut off. She said that if anypony tried to tell Celestia the news, they would receive the same punishment. They haven’t had a single escape or incident in or including an employee of the Factory ever since it started, until now apparently. And that’s it, that’s the story you wanted! The story of how your best friend had been lying to you longer than she knew you, the story of how incredibly you’ve bucked yourself by killing the leader of the oldest organization out there. What’s that thing you said to me? ‘Not telling you about something as big as this was just as bad as lying.' Well, Rainbow Dash did exactly just that for much longer than I did, so what are you going to do? Kill her? Oh wait, you already did!”

Dutch began laughing hysterically, for no real reason. Mainly just to buck with his favorite pony to mess with, which didn’t work. Pinkamena just sat there, with no look on her face. She was staring at a spot in the middle of the desk, not so much as flinching. Her eyes were not moving except for the occasional blink, not showing emotions of any kind. Eventually, Dutch noticed the awkward silence and stopped laughing. Looking at Pinkamena with a look of confusion and worry, she’s never stayed this quiet for any amount of time as long as he’s known her.

“Pinkamena? What’s wro-“

“I’m…going to go now, I think I need some time off, don’t bother me for a bit.”

Her voice was raspy and hoarse like she was trying her hardest not to let out all her emotions right then and there. She got out of the chair and slowly walked to the door, the lifeless look on her face still there. Dutch didn’t say anything, as he didn’t understand what she was feeling. For as long as Dutch has known Pinkamena, she never showed that she even felt emotions. She never expressed guilt or regret, never showed grief, as it seemed there was nopony she cared about. As far as he knew, the only emotion she ever showed was anger.

He’s felt grief before, and he knows the kind of pain it can cause. But he wasn’t like this when he was grieving; he very much showed his emotions. There were five stages to grief, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, they aren’t always experienced in that order or over a specific amount of time, but eventually, they’re bound to happen.

If Pinkamena was experiencing grief, which was incredibly unlikely considering the kind of pony she was. Most likely, she’s going to feel anger first. It’s possible to experience some of the stages at the same time, but when she does feel anger, Celestia helps anyone around her. Considering how angry she is on a daily basis, if other emotions are mixed into it, it would take the entire Canterlot Royal Guard to stop her.

“Dutch?”

Dutch raised out of his seat, not noticing Pinkamena had left the door open, which she most likely didn’t do on purpose. Butterdrop was in the open doorway, with a letter in her mouth.

“Yes, what is it?”

Butterdrop walked into the office, dropping the letter onto his desk. It was an ordinary white letter, except it didn’t have any return address on it. It only had a cloud with a rainbow coming out of it, which immediately caught his attention.

“There was a courier here when you were talking to Pinkamena; he said for this message to be only read by you and you only. Didn’t say who it was from or anything, he just dropped it and left.”

Dutch’s eyes turned to pinpricks; this could only mean one thing, which was impossible.

“Thanks, please shut the door when you leave, and make sure no one bothers me, I’ll be busy for the rest of the night.”

Butterdrop did what he asked and shut the door as she left, with a confused look on her face as she wondered what caused such a mood swing. He almost never rushed anyone out, unless he had a ‘guest.' And sometimes not even then, there aren’t a lot of things that could cause him to be like that, except…her.

Butterdrop got a chill down her neck, that mare terrified her. But she had orders to dish out and fights to stop, so she pushed the thoughts of that terrifying mare to the back of her head, not knowing how close her assumption was to the truth.

Dutch sat down slowly, his mind running a million miles an hour trying to think of ways this was possible. The only time letters were sent from The Factory is if Rainbow Dash wanted something, and only she could write them. That was the agreement they came upon, if The Underground was to be destroyed and Dutch was the only survivor, he wouldn’t be allowed to contact The Factory in any way.

The same goes if The Factory were to be destroyed, or if Rainbow were to die, as it would be at that point mistrust would begin. Rainbow Dash made sure if she were to die, that nobody would even try to communicate with The Underground in any way, she had ways of convincing. But how did this letter get sent? Did she write it beforehand and have it sent to Dutch if she died? No, she would have no gain from that, at least none he could think of.

He decided just to stop confusing himself and read the letter, which he did very slowly. As he unfolded the paper slowly and began to read it, his eyes began to dilate slowly as they went back and forth reading the paper. His mouth was slowly becoming agape with every word he read, a response to the shock the words were giving. After he finished reading the letter, he slowly put it down and leaned back. He had a blank look on his face, as he was trying to process what he just read. Then when he did, the room was then filled with laughter once again, but for a different reason this time. The first time was just to change the tension in the room; this time was just for the pure admiration of the genius he just read.

“That crazy bitch! I can’t believe she’d pull a stunt like this! Damn, it really will be anyone’s guess who’ll win this. Well, I’m just glad we don’t have to choose a side, she probably wants to do this on her own because of her pride or something stupid like that. This is going to be great; I can’t wait to see how this turns out. I’ll tell a select few just in case things go haywire, but if Pinkamena finds out about this…”

Dutch leaned forward and focused his attention on the letter, and realized he had to get rid of it before anyone wanders into his office and starts asking questions like a certain mare did. He picked up the letter and tossed it into a shredder he kept beside his trashcan, and began to put the scraps into the trashcan and then covered them with trash. He then put his hooves behind his head, tipped his hat over his eyes, and went to sleep knowing something only him and one other know about, and the joy of knowing the showdown ponies have been dying to see for the last few months was going to happen.

Pinkamena had finally reached the top of the staircase, but she had not really been paying attention to how long it took. Her face hadn’t changed from when she left Dutch’s office; she didn’t know how long she was going to feel like this.

“Ah! Miss Pie! I held on to your watch as you said, you were down there for three hours, ten minutes and eleven seconds!”

She stopped her trudging a little in front of him, not really caring in the slightest how long she had been down there. She slightly turned her head in his direction, and spoke with a voice that held no emotion.

“Not my watch, took it from one of my ingredients, you can keep it.”

She walked out of the bathroom, leaving the attendant with a confused look on his face. The bar was still basically the same as she left it, except everypony was asleep but Mack, he still had that smile on his face. He said nothing as Pinkamena slowly began to walk out of the bar, staring at the ground not looking up a single time, sometime through this Mack had lost the signature smile on his face. When Pinkamena walked out of the bar, she immediately noticed that sometime when she was inside, it had started raining really badly. So bad there were puddles on the ground that splashed passersby when a chariot ran over it, just another day in the streets of Canterlot.

The rain was getting more and more intense as nearby ponies had umbrellas, and there were lots of chariots going through the streets, not wanting to deal with the traffic or wanting to be seen at all, Pinkamena decided to go through the alleyway to the left of the bar. It led to a series of alleyways that if traveled right, led to the train station. All Pinkamena wanted to do was go home, make sure those two idiots didn’t mess anything up, and try to figure out just what she was feeling. She wasn’t really feeling anything right then, she just felt… empty. No rage, no sadness, no grief, nothing, just numb.

As Pinkamena was walking through the alleyway in thought, she didn’t notice the sound of hoof steps in nearby puddles. It wasn’t until she could see something move out of the corner of her eye did she notice that she was being surrounded, there were two ponies in front of her and one behind, blocking both ways of the alleyway. All of them were wearing the same thing, black tights that seemed to cover everywhere on their body, except for their eyes. Their eyes were blocked by what looked like a mask inside the costume; there were tiny holes so they could see, but not very well. What made Pinkamena confused, is that all of them were Pegasi, all of their tights had an outline of wings on each side.

All of them slowly started to close in on her, their bodies tense as they were prepared to jump her any moment.

“Look, I know what’s going on here. So why don’t you just tell me who sent you so we can talk this out, this has been a terrible day for me, so I would recommend you stop.”

They didn’t; they didn’t even flinch when Pinkamena threatened them. They suddenly stopped a few inches ahead of her, and they didn’t say anything as they just sat there. The silence seemed to last for hours, but most likely was just a few seconds, the tension in the area increased by the second. Pinkamena stayed on her guard, as did the other three ponies. Then the one on her left suddenly sprang forward, not using his wings as the area was too enclosed to be able to fly properly. He tried to ram into her, but she had moved to the left and kicked his hoof, making him fall and smash into the dumpster.

The one beside him had taken this opportunity to perform a sneak attack, which almost would have worked if there wasn’t a puddle right under Pinkamena. She elbowed him in the face which caused him to stumble back, but he sprang back quickly and kicked Pinkamena in her stomach, knocking the wind out of her and making her clutch her stomach. The one that came in from behind had tried to tackle her, he succeeded and began to hit her. He continuously tried to hit her face, but he only got two tries. Pinkamena had picked up a bottle right beside her and hit him in the face with it, effectively getting him off her.

As he sat there clutching the side of his head, the one she kicked into the dumpster got up and began to run towards her, as the one that had hit her came up behind her when she got up and was keeping her in place. He had started to fly, as he thought if he flew straight he wouldn’t crash into anything, but Pinkamena knew a way out of this. She had forced her body down to the ground, smashing the head of the one that was holding her. She picked him up and threw his body towards the one that was flying towards her; all this happened too fast for him to see, so he had no time to stop. The body slammed into him, making him slam into a nearby wall, crippling both of his wings. She turned her attention to the one beside her who was trying to crawl away. She got on top of his back and put her hooves around his neck, and then snapped it, making his body stop and stay on the ground. Through all this, Pinkamena’s face didn’t change once, not smile when she killed him, or a look of anger at being hit, she just had on the same face she had when she came in.

She slowly walked over to the pony who was groaning, as both his wings were crippled and he couldn’t move with his colleague's unconscious body on top of him. She moved the body off of him, and got on top of him herself. She pushed his body against the wall and broke off his right wing, nearly making him scream if she hadn’t put her hoof on his neck.

“Now, I’m going to ask this one time before I rip off the other one, who sent you?”

After a few seconds of him groaning in pain, he began to laugh, and seemed to be smiling as he looked at Pinkamena.

“Go ahead, rip off my other wing, won’t make any difference. Nothing you can do can match what she does to us on a daily basis, so go right ahead. Beat me until you can’t move your hooves anymore, torture me any way you like. But nothing you can do to me, to US, will make us tell you shit!”

She didn’t like that answer very much, so she took his advice and began to beat him. Over and over again, not even taking a break to ask questions. That’s when they started, the flashes and emotions. She didn’t know why, but she began to remember times she spent with Rainbow, when she was putting on her act.

“Hey Rainbow, before we can be friends, we need to have trust! After all, you can’t have friendship without trust, or it wouldn’t be a friendship! So how about we tell each other our secrets, mine is I have a bunch of party stuff hidden in multiple places in Ponyville! Just in case an emergency party or something, what’s yours?”

Pinkie and Rainbow were in a field; they had begun talking recently whenever Rainbow had come into Ponyville, they had seemed to get along really well.

“Well, the only secret I have is that I have a secret love for pets, other than that I’m secret free!”

“Really? Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Pinkie Promise?”

“Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Rainbow did the gestures required for a Pinkie promise, which made Pinkie smile. They continued with their conversation, the memory slowly fading away. Pinkamena’s hits had gotten stronger, as did the rain. Her face suddenly became wet as water started coming down from her face, not all of it was from the rain. She wished she had still felt empty, as Pinkamena was suddenly overcome with grief and anger. Then another memory started, a very recent one.

Rainbow was strapped to the table, as Pinkie had started cutting her flanks.

“AHHHH! W-why are you doing this? I thought we were friends!”

Pinkie had stopped her cutting and looked at Rainbow, with one of the biggest smiles on her face Rainbow had ever seen.

“We are! That’s why I’m doing this! Dash, you’re my friend, and nothing either of us could say or do is going to change that. You should be glad; I’m going to turn you into one of the best cupcakes this town has ever seen! Your death is going to bring countless smiles to lots of ponies faces! For the rest of my life, I’ll remember you Dash; sadly you can’t say the same.”

“Y-you’re a monster!”

Rainbow said with tears of anger and pain rolling down her face, which just made Pinkie smile wider and continue her work. Pinkamena had stopped hitting the body in front of her; she had killed him long ago. His body was just a mush of blood and bones; she had just continued hitting him to try to let out all her emotions. She was overcome with so many emotions, rage, hate, betrayal, guilt, depression, but most of all, she felt grief. She’s never felt pain this intense before, neither physical nor mental.

It was impossible to take; it was just too much for her. This was the reason she felt so empty before, because it took her a while to process all these emotions. Pinkamena stood on her hind legs and looked straight into the sky. Tears were rolling down her face faster than she could count, she couldn’t tell if her face had more tears or rain on it. She let out a loud primal scream of pain; she didn’t care who heard it or if anyone found her. She just wanted to let it all out, but the screaming didn’t help. Nopony heard her as thunder had covered the sound of her scream of emotional pain, nopony knew the horrible thing that happened just a block away from them. Pinkamena just stood there for a while, until she put the still alive pony into the dumpster and walked out of the alleyway.

The bar was exactly as she had left it a few seconds ago, with all the occupants passed out except for the bartender. Pinkamena sat on one of the empty stools, covered in tears, water, and blood. She had a face that didn’t even show a fraction of what she was feeling, but any passerby could tell she was grieving. Mack didn’t say anything as he didn’t want to bother her, he just stood there with the smile still absent on his face. Pinkamena spoke with a voice full of pain and an unrecognizable tone.

"I-I, I think I’ll take that drink now, Mack.”