Pinkie put on a serious face and quickly darted from corner to corner as she crept up on her target's home. Fluttershy followed close behind, stopping every now and then to make sure nothing was behind her. The street lights were casting large shadows that were keeping the nervous little pegasus on edge.

"There Shy, there it is!" Pinkie's whispers bordered yelling. She pointed out the house, it was a normal looking Ponyville home.

"Are you sure?" Fluttershy looked at the house, nothing set it apart from any of the others along the street.

"Yes look here." Pinkie held a torn page from an address book. Neighana Patel, 4660 N. Coltalina St. "See? This is it."

The two quietly snuck around back, pausing inside each bush. They looked up and into the back window. There they saw a creamy white mare crying into her hooves, sitting alone at a table. Pinkie inched closer, looking around to see if she could slip into the house unnoticed. Suddenly Fluttershy saw a huge  black stallion looming over her. She screamed and crashed into her friend while trying to dart away. The two startled mares tumbled into the street.

"Fluttershy! What the hay?!" Pinkie snapped at the cowering pegasus.

"I saw someone, he was right there a second ago!" Fluttershy pointed to the corner of the house.

Pinkie's eye twitched as she smacked her own face with a hoof, slowly wiping her expression into an angry frown. She pointed to the street light just around the corner to the left of the house.

"It was just your shadow! Are you really that..." Pinkie was cut off by the calls of a concerned mare.

"Are you two okay? What's going on out here?" A creamy white unicorn with a long brown mane called out to the two arguing mares laying on the dirt road. It was Neighana.

Pinkie sprung to her hooves. "Oh um, we're just..."

"Looking for my lost bunny." Fluttershy completed the thought.

"Yeah, here bunny bunny bunny!" Pinkie quickly leaped from bush to bush, pretending to search for a lost pet.

"It's freezing out here, come inside and have some hot tea."

Pinkie's eyes lit up, she looked around, the streets were empty, most of the lights in the houses were off. This was her perfect opportunity to get inside unnoticed.

The three walked back into the house, Pinkie was carefully surveying the surrounding area, making a hundred percent sure no one saw them enter the house. Fluttershy was simply relieved to be in the light. The cunning pink mare shook her mane and tail spastically for a second, allowing the warm air to fill her cold coat. She then looked around the house, they were definitely alone in there. She noted that the unicorn's horn could become a problem if she tries to subdue her, but a quick death wouldn't serve the purpose. This needed to be punishment, a painless death would be a reward.

"I'll be right back you two, I already had a kettle boiling." Pinkie watched her brown tail flip back and forth as she walked into the kitchen, she almost seemed... cheerful, much unlike the way she appeared through the window earlier.

"Alright, just so you know I like mine with extra sugar!" Pinkie yelled out, a distraction while she searched the room.

Fluttershy nervously shuffled her front hooves on the floor. This felt right when it was a big stallion trying to assault her friend, but this mare just seemed like a normal pony, and to top it off she was doing them a kindness by inviting the two into her warm home and offering them tea.

"Pinkie," Fluttershy whispered. "I don't know about this one, she seems nice."

Pinkie Pie froze, her tail drooping to the floor. "Nice?! Are you crazy?! She's a baby killer, that's the exact opposite of nice, its ec-in, which means super mean." Pinkie's loud whispering caught Neighana's attention.

"Everything okay in there you two?" She trotted back into the living room levitating a tray of tea cups and a steaming kettle. "I'm sorry everything's a mess in here, I'm still not done unpacking and honestly I didn't expect guests."

"Didn't expect guests? Why wouldn't you expect guests right after you moved into such a friendly town?" Pinkie quizzically pried, already knowing the answer.

"Well, you two don't know who I am do you?" The unicorn looked off to the side, setting the tray of tea on a coffee table. "Let's just say I've done something in my past that I regret."

"Oh, I know who you are." Pinkie smiled, now feeling like she's cornered the mare into a confession. "You claimed that a ghost killed your baby with a hatchet didn't you? I'm just wondering now, what exactly did you do that you regret?"

The stunned unicorn began to tear up. "I think you two should leave now."

"Why do you think that? Weren't you going to offer us some tea?" Pinkie's smile widened and her eyes locked with her target's, she knew now for sure that this mare deserved to be punished. Fluttershy watched and listened patiently, waiting for Pinkie to make a move before even considering doing anything herself.

The cunning pink mare walked up to the steaming kettle, carefully gripping it with her teeth. "Mind if I pour myself a cup?" Pinkie spoke with the handle in her mouth, muffling her words, but still quite understandable.

"I'd rather you didn't, leave before I call for help." Neighana protested.

"Oh, okay then." Pinkie swung the piping hot water into Neighana's face. She yelled out in pain, frantically wiping the scalding hot water off her eyes. Her horn began to glow as she made eye contact with a quickly approaching Pinkie. Before she could let any magic off, Pinkie forcefully stamped her hoof onto the unicorn's horn, sending an intense wave of pain through her head.

"Tie her up Shy, I'll make sure she doesn't use any magic for now."

Fluttershy quickly began searching for something to tie the restrained pony up with. She flew into the kitchen and glanced around; nothing of use. She flew into the back of the house, the laundry room had a rolled up clothesline; perfect. With a few quick knots, the unicorn was effectively rendered helpless. Pinkie had shoved a rag in her mouth and tightly tied part of the rope around her face, holding the gag in place.

"There we go, nice and quiet now." Pinkie chuckled and gave Fluttershy a nod of approval.

Muffled cries escaped from the bound unicorn, tears were rolling off her cheeks.

"Shh, don't be such a cry baby, we haven't even started punishing you yet. Speaking of that, I need you to talk to me about something. I have a few questions that might actually help you die happier, it'll feel good to get a few things off your chest, trust me."

Fluttershy walked up right beside Pinkie and smiled at the sobbing mare, she rested her wing on Pinkie's back, encouraging her to continue.

"If you scream, I'm going to kick your teeth out, be warned." Pinkie walked up to Neighana with a bright smile and pulled the rag out of her mouth. She just sat there, sniffling and trying to think of a way to reason her way out of the situation.

"Question one, why did you kill your baby?" Pinkie was harsh and straight to the point.

"I.. I didn't I swear!" She tightly closed her eyes and looked away.

"Bzzt, wrong answer." Pinkie giggled and walked up to her again, then violently slapped her across the face. "Now lets try that again."

Neighana's mouth was bleeding now, and she searched for the proper response that might save her life.

"I couldn't control myself, I just wanted it to stop crying, I lost control of my body and attacked it. I already got mental help, please, don't you think the loss of my baby is punishment enough?"

"Hmmm," Pinkie placed a hoof on her chin, "nope." She then gazed into the terrified mare's eyes. "Question two, why did you come back to Ponyville, knowing what you did hurt everyone around you?"

"I didn't have anywhere else to go, I'm sorry!" Neighana cried out.

"I guess that's a good enough answer, what do you think, Shy?" Fluttershy closed her eyes and shook her head in disagreement.

"I don't even know where I'm going with this question thing anyway. Well, this one's important, how did you kill him, did you chop him up into bits, or did you give him one swift blow to the head?"

Neighana began to cry uncontrollably once again, her answer was nearly completely incoherent. "I jus.. I hit em.. I didn' mean.. I jus.. I'm so sorry."

"Stop that, I have no idea what you're trying to say. Did you make any of that out, Shy?"

"Mhm, she said, I just started to hit him with the wood hatchet my husband left on the kitchen counter, I didn't mean to kill him, I just wanted him to stop crying, I really have no idea what came over me or how I let myself lose all control like that. I'm so sorry and I wish I could trade places with him, he didn't deserve to die." Fluttershy smiled and put her nose in the air, then immediately cowered down once she realized that she seemed to be boasting.

Pinkie just looked at Fluttershy cock eyed for a moment, then went back to her mission. "Okay, so you want to trade places huh? I can't do that for you, but I can at least put you in the same place. That's close enough, right?" She smiled.

Pinkie trotted off to the other room, leaving Fluttershy alone with her.

"Hey, I can tell you're not like her, please, let me go, I don't deserve this."

Fluttershy smiled and looked at the desperate mare. "It's okay, it'll all be over soon. Are you... scared? I'd be scared if I were you." Fluttershy's eyes never broke contact as she watched the panic rise up in the terrified unicorn's expression.

A moment later Pinkie returned with a small hatchet tightly gripped in her mouth. "Is this the one you killed the little foal with?" She spoke with a mouthful, only partially comprehensible.

The tied up mare closed her eyes and tried to hide her face from the coming impact. "Please, I'll do anything you want, just please don't kill me."

Her plea fell on unwavering ears, Pinkie trotted up to the mare and delivered a fearsome blow to her mouth with the flat blunt end of the hatchet, splitting her lip and sending a couple blood-soaked teeth bouncing across the hardwood floor.

"Oops, hehe, wrong side." Pinkie Pie smiled and winked at Fluttershy, who covered her mouth as she giggled.

She swung the small weapon again, this time slicing the skin on her target's chest. The mare began to scream out in agony, begging anyone who was nearby for help. Pinkie quickly shoved the white rag back into her mouth and tied it in place. It quickly became a deep red as it soaked up the blood from Neighana's mouth.

"That's better, no more yelling for you, you'll spoil the party." Pinkie picked the hatchet back up off the floor, and continued her punishment. With a swift swing, she shaved a chunk of flesh off her shoulder, causing the unicorn to fall over on her side and desperately flail around in an attempt to get away. Pinkie laughed quietly as she watched this horrible mare get what she deserved. With a couple more quick chops to the chest, Neighana began to spasm spastically due to her heavily fractured ribs and overwhelmingly agonizing pain.

"This is fun, you wanna try?" Pinkie held the axe out in her mouth to Fluttershy, who grabbed it nervously with her teeth. She walked up to the broken, bleeding pony. With a deep breath she swung the hatchet down, straight into the mare's leg, just above her hoof. Fluttershy was startled and let go of the weapon when the injured mare began to cry out again and flail her hoof around in an attempt to dislodge the hatchet.

"Good going Shy, you got the dang thing stuck, now what?" Pinkie rolled her eyes.

Fluttershy cowered for a moment, feeling guilty, but soon decided to correct her own mistake. She waited for the right moment, then grabbed the handle in her mouth and began yanking on it. It was tightly stuck in the mare's thick shin, but she continued to yank on it until the blade came loose. After pulling it out, Neighana tucked the hoof underneath herself in an attempt to keep it safe from further injury. Pinkie walked up next to Fluttershy and looked down at the broken pony. She kicked her bloody ribs, rolling her over and revealing her deep leg gash.

"Ew, that looks nasty, you can see the bone and everything, yuck." Pinkie took pleasure in mocking the wounded mare, then she stomped on the injury, feeling the bone split beneath her powerful hoof. Neighana began to writhe across the floor once again, tightly wrapping her other leg around her split shin, screaming out into the rag and desperately crying. After a few minutes of agony, she fell asleep, or passed out due to pain or fatigue.

"Well I guess the party's over huh?" The pink mare looked over to her friend, Fluttershy nodded.

Pinkie planted the hatchet deep into the unconscious mare's neck and began to clean everything up, she left all the evidence of a murder behind, but eliminated any and every sign that either of the two had ever stepped hoof in that house. She picked up one last tiny yellow feather off the floor and declared the house clean. With that, the two mares quietly crept out the back door, and trotted back to Fluttershy's house, making sure to stay low and out of sight.

"You can stay here again if you want Pinkie, I'd like to not be alone, especially after what happened tonight." Fluttershy bashfully hinted at her subtle request.

"Sure, I'll stay if you want, Shy. Your bed's a lot softer than mine anyway, and those soft wings of yours make the best blanket ever." Pinkie smiled wide and gave her friend a warm hug.

Fluttershy blushed and returned Pinkie's hug, then trotted off to bed. It was much later than she had realized, and her lack of sleep was catching up with her. Pinkie felt the same as she curled up in bed next to Fluttershy.

"I think today went well, what do you think?" Pinkie quietly asked with her eyes closed.

Fluttershy wrapped a wing around her friend. "I think so too, I can't wait to see what we do next."

Next Chapter: Elementary, My Dear Sparkle Estimated time remaining: 35 Minutes