Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Try inhaling once more.

Inhaleexhaleinhaleexhaleinhaleexhale.

Blink blink blink.

Some days are so bad that by the end of them you need all of your brainpower just to perform basic bodily functions, thought Rarity.

And today was certainly one of those days.

She didn't understand it, it had started out so well! The final stitch had been placed in her latest masterpiece, The Cotton Harvest. It was a pure white dress that almost shone in the light as if Celestia herself had bent the laws of reality to create the best dress in the history of Equestria.

And it had all been ruined in one fell swoop.

It had started when a pair of rich ponies from Hoofington had come into her shop looking for a dress such as that one to wear to one of the biggest dinner parties of the year. Oh yes, the mare in question had wanted to look beyond fabulous so as to make all of her friends as jealous as she could. Well, The Cotton Harvest would have certainly achieved that if it had survived their visit.

For the couple brought their foals with them and, as they were such important clients, Rarity had broken her rule about foals not being allowed near her dresses for any reason whatsoever. She didn't even make clothes for foals, so what reason did they have to be around her dresses anyway?

Having said that, it would have not been a problem if the foals were well behaved and at first they actually were very well behaved. They were polite to Rarity, they didn't touch anything that they weren't supposed to, and they followed the rules very nicely. However, foals would be foals and it didn't take too long for them to become very restless as foals will often do in subdued settings. So, with a remarkable lack of foresight, the foals began wrestling with each other. Oh sure it was playful wrestling, but it was wrestling nonetheless and soon all three adults in the room were yelling at them to stop the nonsense right away before they did something foolish!

Too late. The foals wrestled themselves directly into the mannequin that displayed The Cotton Harvest and it toppled over with a loud crash.

Normally that wouldn't have been a problem because all Rarity would need to do would be put the mannequin upright and there would be no harm done. Even if there was a small tear, Rarity could have it fixed in no time and the couple would walk out of the shop with one of the best dresses that Rarity had ever created.

But it was the fact that both foals were carrying cups filled with strawberry juice from a local restaurant that made the situation go from 'irritating but tolerable' to 'I might just break the 'No Foals' rule again and I'm gonna enjoy it oh so much'.

She didn't, of course, as the couple would undoubtedly have told their friends where they were headed and if they disappeared then an investigations on the matter would lead to Rarity herself. She did not want that to happen. Ever.

Of course, the fact that the dress was totally destroyed and she didn't get a cent in damages would have been bad enough, but the day had actually managed to spiral downhill from there.

Firstly, she found that there was no food in her house to speak of, or at least, nothing that would have made a proper meal, which meant that she would have to go out to eat. Well, that's what she would have done if it wasn't a national holiday and all of the stores and restaurants in town hadn't closed after the breakfast rush. On top of that the apples from Sweet Apple Acres hadn't ripened yet so that option was out. Twilight was out of town so no-go there. Rainbow was working all day, Sugarcube Corner was closed, and Fluttershy was busy tending to animals. Yep, overall there was no food to be had.

But fate wasn't even close to done with her. Oh no, not by a long shot.

After discovering her utter lack of food, but eating the remaining half of the last hay bar she had found in the back of a cupboard, Rarity had decided to take a relaxing bath in the hopes that some of the stress of the day would wash away and she could breathe again. She had turned the knobs on the tub with her magic and, to her total surprise, they broke off and water began gushing out of the broken faucets like nothing else she had ever seen. It had taken over an hour to stem the flow, fix the tub, and clean up all of the water that had come out.

Overall, it wasn't one of her better days.

Rarity rolled over in her bed and looked at her clock to see what time it was. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the time. She was sure that there must be some sort of mistake, but she knew that it was accurate. It was only ten o' clock in the morning! The day had hardly begun and already so many horrid things had happened to her!

She buried her face in her pillow and began screaming as loud as she could. Admittedly it felt good to let her anger out through her screams but it did begin to hurt after a few minutes so she stopped. "This is going to continue to be a terrible day, isn't it?" she muttered to herself.

Rarity sighed and decided that she had better get up or else she would go crazy just sitting in her room. She felt like designing a new dress today so that her morning wouldn't be a total waste. However, nothing could replace the hole in her heart that the ruined Cotton Harvest had left. Still, she might as well.

She hopped out of bed and went down to her workroom, closed her eyes, and fired up her horn. She didn't know why, but she felt like she needed to design her dress with her eyes closed. Instinct was a helpful thing to possess as a dressmaker and it had never failed her yet. She had designed some of her best dresses with her eyes closed, as a matter of fact, and she had high expectations for this one as well.

Within a few minutes, that tiny voice of instinct in the back of her mind told her that the dress was ready. She giggled in excitement, opened her eyes, and let out an ear-piercing shriek. What she saw before her was something that could only be described as a hideous mess and even that hardly seemed to do it justice. The stitching was something that she could see a mere foal topping if it hardly tried, she had somehow sewn vertical stripes unevenly on the shoulders, it had five legs instead of four and it already seemed to be falling apart.

Rarity simply stared at it for a few moments before she walked over to it, turned around, and bucked it against the wall. It hit the wall with a resounding crash and to Rarity's utter lack of surprise, the force of the mannequin hitting the wall knocked a large hole in it.

However, as Rarity examined the dress even more, she saw something that interested her: the entire dress was blood red.

She raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. She hadn't killed since Hayseed Turniptruck three weeks ago and she had not felt the slightest urge since then. Her conversation with Applejack immediately after the murder had drained her of all desire to kill, something that completely surprised her. Clearly she needed to kill again soon, as her subconscious had clearly just told her. The 'dress' she had just made had suddenly taken on meaning! Her mind was telling her to not focus on dresses for a while, but instead informing her that she had to kill again!

She used her magic to drag the mannequin over to her and when it was close enough, she placed her forelegs on the head of the mannequin and crushed it with one stomp. The feeling of plastic shattering under her hooves was oddly satisfying which only strengthened her resolve to replace it with an actual pony.

She kicked the ruined dress from aside and used her magic to pick up her saddlebag and fill it with the potato sack, a syringe, and a steak knife before heading out the door into the streets of Ponyville.

In a bizarre reflection of her mood, the weather in Ponyville was actually overcast and very gloomy. Why in Equestria would the pegasi schedule an overcast day on a national holiday?!

Oh well, at least it meant that almost everypony was inside relaxing and as such, they wouldn't be bothering Rarity too much. She had the entirety of Ponyville to herself, something that made her happy even if she couldn't find a pony to murder. Taking a walk in a town that reflected her feelings made her feel as if she wasn't alone in her thoughts, that the world sympathized with her because that's how it was feeling today too. It kind of felt... nice.

As Rarity continued to walk around Ponyville in search of a new victim, she was rewarded by the sight of a pony sitting on a bench with a notebook and a pen in her hooves. Rarity was delighted to see that she had never met this pony before and as such, she surmised that she must be from out of town. She would be absolutely perfect for Rarity's needs today. "Hello!" she greeted as she walked up to her. "How are you this, uh, overcast morning?"

The pony, a gray pegasus with a question mark for a cutie mark looked up at Rarity and flashed her a large smile. "I'm doing well, how are you?" replied cheerful pegasus.

"Oh I'm just wonderful, darling, simply wonderful." She returned the pony's smile and stopped just in front of the bench. "I must say that I don't recognize you. Are you from out of town?"

The pegasus nodded. "Yep, I'm headed off to a psychology convention in Trottingham and I decided to stop through Ponyville to do some research before heading over." She motioned in the direction of Twilight's home. "I heard that Ponyville has a wonderful library so here I am!"

"Psychology you say?" asked Rarity in interest. "What do you do with that?"

"Oh I'm studying to be a psychiatrist," she said, pointing to her notebook. "I'm currently observing Ponyville."

Rarity cocked her head. "But darling, there's nopony outside right now!"

The mare shrugged. "Every now and again somepony comes by and I ask them a few questions, but I kinda like the silence." The pegasus leaned back on the bench and stretching her forelegs. "Don't you enjoy just sitting on a bench in a completely deserted town, imagining that a plague of sorts has swept through it or something like that?"

"Uh, plague?" asked Rarity. "Isn't that a bit macabre?"

The mare chuckled. "Not the best analogy is it?" She shrugged. "I guess I just like seeing the contrast between when the town is busy and when there is nopony in sight. I've been here for a few days now and I've seen what the town looks like when the weather is wonderful."

"Is the contrast interesting?" asked Rarity.

"Oh it most certainly is!" she said with a nod. "Haven't you ever just wanted to sit on a bench and see a completely deserted town, imagining what will happen when ponies fill the streets again?"

"Uh, no, I can't say that I have," said Rarity.

The mare smiled at her and patted the open spot on the bench next to her. Rarity walked over to her and sat down beside her.

The duo sat in total silence for a few minutes, just observing the world around them. Rarity strained her ears, wondering if some noise would break through the gloomy scene and interrupt the tranquil atmosphere but the world was dead. Indeed, it was almost as if a plague had swept through the town and Rarity and this lone mare were the only ponies left in existence. Rarity had to admit, it was pretty peaceful.

"It's magnificent in its own way, isn't it?" asked the mare.

Rarity nodded. "I've never quite seen anything like it. The town is just so... quiet, so peaceful."

The mare smiled at her companion. "By the way, I never did catch your name."

"Oh, of course," said Rarity. "My name is Rarity. I design dresses here in Ponyville."

"They any good?"

Rarity sat up slightly and puffed out her chest."The best! I design ensembles for the Grand Galloping Gala every year!"

The mare's eyebrow raised and she gave an impressed smile. "I'll bet that's exciting!" she said. "I'm Krissy by the way."

"Krissy," echoed Rarity. "What an interesting name."

Krissy grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Rarity cocked her head and studied the pegasus a bit more for a second. "I must say that you look rather young."

"That's because I'm seventeen," Krissy explained.

Rarity raised an eyebrow. Sure it was above her cutoff age, but she had never actually gone out of her way to kill a pony that young. Well, there's a first time for everything, and I really do need to kill today, thought Rarity.

The pair sat in silence for a few more minutes before Rarity was struck with an idea. "So Krissy, is this convention you are attending very formal?"

Krissy sighed and put her notebook back in her saddlebag before answering. "Aspects of it are. There is some fancy dinner where a bunch of famous psychologists stand up and tell themselves how awesome they are for hours on end." A grimace flashed across Krissy's face. "Come to think of it, there are three of those stupid things actually."

"Do you have anything fancy to wear?"

Krissy shook her head as she closed her saddlebag and scooted it closer. "Not really. I don't have the kind of money that would allow me to afford one at any rate. I was disowned about a year ago for not wanting to work on my family's orange farm, you see."

"Well, the fashionista in me simply cannot allow you to attend a fancy dinner without looking your best!" she said as she stood up. "You simply must come back to my shop to try some things on! I'll give you a huge discount on some of my best dresses!"

Krissy smiled. "Alright, if it wouldn't be too much trouble for you then I'm game."

Rarity returned Krissy's smile. "Wonderful!" With that she beckoned Krissy towards her shop, continuing their conversation as they walked. "So, how long have you been studying psychology?"

"Well, I think it's been about three years now. It all started for me when I saw some textbooks in my local library and checked them out on a whim. I just fell in love with the subject immediately and I got my cutie mark a few days later," she said.

"So could you analyze a pony's mind if you needed to?" asked Rarity interestedly as the duo approached Carousel Boutique.

Krissy chuckled. "I suppose I could, though not as well as some of the ponies that I'm going to meet this weekend. Why, do you want me to analyze you?"

Rarity shrugged. "I imagine that I would be an interesting case study," said Rarity as she opened the door to her store.

Krissy cocked her head. "Why is that?"

Rarity gave her a knowing smile. "Oh, I have some... interesting personality traits that a pony such as yourself would kill to dissect."

Krissy gave an amused scoff. "Like what? Are you some kind of psycho or something? That would be interesting."

Krissy chuckled at her joke and Rarity copied her chuckle, opened her saddlebag, and pulled out the syringe. "Actually yes." Rarity's grin widened and before Krissy could do anything more than take a small step back, Rarity stuck the needle in her neck. Krissy's eyes went wide and she slowly tried to back away but the drug did its work and soon she was unconscious on the floor. Rarity smiled fondly at the sleeping pegasus. This one would be fun.

Krissy awoke twenty minutes later to find herself strapped down to a large table in a dark basement. She tried to struggle out of the straps but the leather held, if anything it seemed to go tighter the more she struggled, and eventually she gave up. She was definitely stuck here.

"Uh, hello?" she called out, hints of fear dotting her tone. "Rarity, are you there?"

"Yes, I'm here, darling," said Rarity from behind her.

Krissy gave a nervous chuckle. "Uh, what's going on here?" she asked, her mind debating on whether or not she should start struggling again. "Is this some kind of joke?"

Rarity walked in front of her and used her magic to place the table vertically before levitating her cloth covered tray in front of her. "I'm afraid not, darling." Rarity smirked at her captive. "No, this is very, very, very real."

Rarity's horn fired up and the basement lit up revealing the horrors inside. Krissy's eyes widened as she saw the pony pelts that adorned Rarity's walls as well as the cut off faces and the manes and tails. She let out an eardrum shattering shriek of pure terror. Rarity yelled in anger and her hoof connected with the side of Krissy's face. Krissy stopped screaming and began spitting out blood. "Don't yell," said Rarity simply.

Krissy coughed up more blood. "I think you knocked a tooth loose," she whimpered, the first traces of tears welling up in her eyes.

"Oh did I?" said Rarity. "Yes, I do that sometimes. I can remove it if you want me to. It'll just come out anyway at some point." Krissy clamped her mouth shut and shook her head as Rarity used her magic to pick up a pair of pliers. "Oh don't be silly, darling, it's no trouble at all! If you just open your mouth and hold still then it can be over much faster. Or I can use my magic to force your mouth open and I can take two, no, three teeth. How does that sound?"

A whimper escaped the terrified pegasus' throat and tears that had begun began falling from Krissy's eyes. She took a shaky deep breath and slowly opened her mouth. "That's a good girl," soothed Rarity. "I'll just be done in a second. Now, which one is it?"

"Third one from the back on the right," Krissy whispered. Rarity nodded and clamped the pliers over the tooth in question and with a single yank, the tooth came out. Blood began dripping from Krissy's mouth and she squealed in pain.

"You know what? I actually have a painkiller here, would you like that for your gums? I can close up the hole too, would you like that, darling?" said Rarity soothingly. Krissy nodded and Rarity levitated another syringe over to her before she injected it into Krissy's gums. She then used her magic to pack gauze into the hole which did a decent job of plugging it up.

"Why are you doing this?" moaned Krissy.

"You know what? That's for me to know and you to find out!" giggled Rarity. "You see, I've always been curious as to the exact reason of why I do what I do - scientifically speaking, that is - and you're going to help me figure it out!"

Krissy took a short breath. "You do it because you enjoy butchering ponies. You enjoy the feeling of power that you get when—"

Rarity cut her off with a scoff and a wave of her hoof. "Oh come now, darling, surely you can do better than that! I mean, you don't even know my back story yet!"

Krissy's eyes traveled to the floor and the first tear rolled down her cheek. "Why would I want to?" she moaned.

"You're a psychologist! You have a unique opportunity to study the mind of Equestria's only serial killer. Doesn't that interest you?"

Krissy turned her head and closed her eyes. "Are you going to kill me?" she asked in a horrified whisper.

Rarity snorted and rolled her eyes. "Of course I am, darling. What am I supposed to do, let you go?"

"It'd be nice," said Krissy.

Rarity shook her head. "Well I'm sorry, Krissy, but I simply can't. Even if I'd like to, and I don't, I still wouldn't." Rarity's ears suddenly drooped and she looked as if she was about to cry. "I... I didn't even do it for... them."

"Them?"

Rarity nodded and turned the table around. Krissy saw a large blanket covering some sort of a pony shaped lump. Rarity used her magic and lifted up the blanket. Krissy had to hold back another shriek, lest she lose another tooth, when she saw what was underneath. Two ponies, a mother and her filly, were standing next to each other. They had been stuffed and preserved. The corners of their mouths had been sewn upwards so that their mouths formed a macabre smile and light blue buttons had been sewn over their eyes. The colors of their coats and manes had dulled a bit so they were a mere shadow of their former looks.

Rarity looked at the two of them and her pupils shrank to almost nothing. Her left ear twitched and she let out an insane giggle. "S-s-s-ee? N-n-now they c-c-c-an be tog-g-g-ether f-f-forever!"

Krissy shut her eyes tight, hoping that if she stopped looking at the stuffed ponies then they would cease to exist and the memory wouldn't be burned into her mind forever. She heard Rarity let loose a few sobs before she regained control. Krissy felt the table turn back around and she opened her eyes to see Rarity put the blanket back over them. Rarity took a few deep breaths to calm herself down before returning to her former demeanor.

She walked back over to stand in front of Krissy and cleared her throat. "If I didn't do it for them, then I certainly won't do it for you."

"You didn't want to kill them," said Krissy softly.

The psychotic mare shook her head and a single tear rolled down her face. "It was a huge misunderstanding," she said sadly. "By the time I realized that the mother was not the kind of mother that I thought she was I immediately wanted to let them go, but by then it was too late. I promise you that I made it quick for both of them."

"How noble of you," Krissy deadpanned.

Rarity wiped her eyes and glared at her victim. "Don't be sarcastic with me, darling, it is most unbecoming." Rarity used her magic to levitate her tray of knives in front of the table and adopted a more business-like tone. "Now then, what do you need to know to psycho-analyze me?" Krissy opened her mouth to say something but she closed it again when her mind refused to come up with anything to humor her captor. "Oh come now, surely you have something in mind."

"Why are you doing this?" whimpered Krissy.

"Well, I'm doing this to you because I've had a bad day. Does that answer your question?"

Krissy's eyes widened in horror. "You're going to kill me because you had a bad day?!"

"Oh but it wasn't just a bad day, it was truly horrendous!" said Rarity. "Imagine if you wrote a psychology book and then the carelessness of two foals undid all of your work and you had to start from scratch!"

"I still wouldn't go off and kill somepony!" screeched Krissy.

A small smirk formed on Rarity's face. "Well that's because you are not a serial killer, darling. I am, so that's exactly what I'm doing. Now are you going to psychoanalyze me or not?"

Krissy shook her head and averted her eyes again. "I wouldn't even know where to begin!"

Rarity sighed and picked up a hacksaw. "How about your hind legs?" she suggested. Krissy's eyes widened and she tried to struggle out of the straps once more. Rarity rolled her eyes and used her magic to hold her victim's left hind leg down. She placed the hacksaw in the middle of the front of Krissy's hoof and began sawing away.

When she was done, Rarity picked up the bottom half of the hoof and examined the inside. "I've never seen the inside of a hoof before. Huh, kind of an oversight in my opinion. What do you think?" asked Rarity. Krissy merely groaned in pain and she began weakly flapping her wings. Rarity looked at them with interest. "Did you know that I've killed a griffin before?" she asked. Krissy continued weakly flapping her wings. "Well it's true," Rarity continued, "and wouldn't you know it, I forgot to mutilate her wings! I mean, can you believe that?"

"Go to Tartarus," growled Krissy.

Rarity giggled and placed her hacksaw back on the tray. "You know what? That's exactly what she said to me too. In fact, I've actually gotten that quite a bit, but no matter; I have some wings to get to work on!"

Krissy squealed and began flapping her wings harder. "Please don't!"

Rarity sighed and scanned her tray. "While I'm doing that, I would like you to read the poster in front of you so that you know what not to say to me while you're down here," said Rarity. "I promise you that I've heard it all before and it gets irritating."

Rarity placed her hoof on Krissy's right wing and selected a steak knife from her tray. She aimed it directly on the main bone and used the knife to pin it to the table. Krissy screamed in pain once more, which made Rarity roll her eyes.

She then picked up a skinning knife and began slicing the skin off of the wing. Krissy thrashed about the entire time Rarity was skinning her wing, wailing like a banshee.

"Please stop thrashing about dear, you're making me lose my concentration," said Rarity.

"Good!" screeched Krissy.

Rarity grinned. She liked it when her victims had spirit. She placed the knife back on the tray. She had made some good progress on the wing. "You know what? I want you to ask me to kill you."

Krissy cracked one eye open. "Why would I do that?"

Rarity tapped her chin with her hoof thoughtfully. "Well because the pain is unbearable or something like that. I'm trying to break your spirit, you see. I like spirit, but defiance can get annoying after a while, don't you agree?"

Krissy whimpered and squeezed her eye's shut. Rarity chuckled and leaned on the table. "It's tempting, isn't it, darling?" She moved her muzzle closer to Krissy's ear. "One small sentence and it's all over."

"Go to Tartarus," Krissy spat.

Rarity shrugged. "Very well. I think I'll cut off your other wing then."

Krissy flinched and her other wing began beating rapidly. Rarity picked up her butcher knife and slammed it into the base of the wing. She pulled it out to see that she had made excellent progress and the wing was already half off; not to mention the fact that it wasn't beating anymore. With one more blow the wing severed neatly and fell to the floor. Rarity picked it up and examined it. No, not good enough for her wall.

"I can keep this going all night if need be," said Rarity. "Just say the words and I'll slit your throat."

Krissy didn't respond. She merely sobbed in terror and pain while still weakly trying to get out.

"Don't you want the pain to end? Don't you want me to kill you?" said Rarity.

"I... I..." Krissy whimpered but hung her head. "Do it."

Rarity grinned happily. "Do what?"

"K-k-k-kill me," Krissy moaned.

"Say the magic words," said Rarity.

Krissy groaned. "Please. Please kill me now."

Rarity placed the butcher knife back on her tray and sighed. "No."

Krissy's head shot back up. "N... No?!"

"Yes, 'no'," said Rarity. "As I've said before, I'm interested to see you psychoanalyze me. I mean, yes you're only seventeen and all but I would like you to give it your best shot!"

"I... I can't!" she bawled.

"Why in Equestria not, darling?" asked Rarity.

"I... I... I don't even, I just..." Finally, it was too much. Krissy wailed as she completely dissolved into tears.

Rarity looked at her uneasily and placed her knife back on the tray. "Uh, Krissy darling, are you o..." Rarity stopped her question. The poor thing had just had her wings mutilated or removed so no, no she was most certainly not okay. Krissy was weakly struggling to get out of the straps and openly weeping. "Oh darling please don't cry, it'll be okay soon! This won't last forever. I just want to talk to you about my mind!" Krissy did not stop crying and Rarity went over and stroked her mane. "Oh I know that this hurts, darling. I can get you another shot for the pain; would that be okay with you?"

"Please just let me go!" Krissy wailed.

Rarity sighed and ceased stroking her victim's mane. "You know I can't do that and I wouldn't even if I could. Now do you want the shot for the pain or not?" Krissy nodded and Rarity used her magic to fix up a syringe with anesthesia and inject it into Krissy's left foreleg. "I've given you enough to dull the pain, but not so much that you'll be completely out of it," she said. Krissy merely turned her head away from Rarity as the pain medicine took hold.

After a few minutes, Rarity turned her head back. "Are you feeling better?"

Krissy scoffed. "Physically yes, mentally, not a chance."

Rarity smiled. The pain meds were also designed to relax Krissy and it seemed to be doing its job. "Well at least you aren't in as much pain as before right?" said Rarity. Krissy mumbled angrily but Rarity ignored it. "Now then, I still want us to have a psychological session, if you will, before the meds wear off so we should probably get started with that, don't you think?"

"Why is that so important to you!?" she groaned. "You already mutilated me, why not just finish the job?"

"Well if you were like this, wouldn't you be curious to know what a psychiatrist would think about you?" asked Rarity.

Krissy snarled at her captor and fixed her with a frankly terrifying glare. "I already told you, you do it to feel powerful when you feel powerless!" \\

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Oh come now, that's the diagnosis that the ponies of yesteryear gave The Canterlot Killer. Surely in the interim three hundred years psychiatry has advanced? I know you can do better than that."

"Okay, why do you think you do it?" she asked.

"Well, I can tell you that I started when I murdered three schoolyard bullies when I was a filly," she said.

Krissy's eyes widened in horror. "You've been doing this since you were just a filly?!"

Rarity smiled and nodded. "Oh sure the first kill was self-defense since they were going to beat me up and I hit the leader on the head with a rock, but the other two weren't. I did those because I could," said Rarity.

"Well... did you hurt small animals before then as a filly?"

"Oh, never, darling! I haven't ever hurt an animal," she insisted. "Don't be stereotypical. I assure you that I am not like any serial killer in Equestrian history."

"So the first kill was self-defense and you got a taste for it," said Krissy.

"I suppose you could say that, darling," said Rarity. Krissy closed her eye and groaned. "Oh dear, are the pain meds wearing off already?"

Krissy shook her head. "No, I'm just trying to get my bearings here. Okay, why did you kill the other two foals? The first one was both accidental and self-defense, if your story is true, so why the other two?"

Rarity tapped her lower jaw with the tip of one of her knives. "Well, I think that I did it in the heat of the moment. Really, you should have felt what I did when I killed that first foal! Oh, it was like raw power was coursing through my veins and at that moment I could do anything, kill anypony! I think a lot more ponies would be serial killers if they experienced that feeling."

"So yes, It's like you said, I guess I got a taste for it."

"How did you kill them?" asked Krissy.

Rarity giggled. "I repeatedly bashed the second over the head with the same rock I used to kill the other one and then I bashed the third one in the head and buried her alive."

"Why so brutal?" asked Krissy.

Rarity cocked her head. "Beg pardon?"

"I mean, did you have to bury her alive? Couldn't you have just done it quickly and painlessly?" asked Krissy.

Rarity frowned and mulled it over for a moment. "Well I suppose that I could have."

"But you didn't want to. You wanted to make her suffer."

Rarity shrugged and began idly organizing the knives on her tray. "I suppose I did."

"You wanted to have power over her, to show that you were the one in control."

Rarity ceased organizing her knives and looked back up at Krissy. "Uh... I suppose if you want to think of it that way then—"

"So what I said before is true, you do it just to feel powerful," said Krissy.

Rarity glared at Krissy and angrily picked up a knife and pointed it at her. "Wrong, darling, wrong! I mostly do it for protection for either myself and my friends. I always make sure that the pony deserves it!"

Krissy's expression hardened into a glare. "What did I do to deserve this?!"

Rarity examined Krissy and noted that her breathing was becoming more labored. "Are the pain meds wearing off?" When Krissy didn't respond, Rarity shrugged. "Well it's like I said, I had kind of a bad day."

Krissy shot her captor a disgusted look but didn't comment on it further. "You said that you kill to protect your friends. Can I get an example?"

"Oh, um yes, of course," said Rarity, putting the knife back down on the tray. "Well, do you see the pelt on my wall over there? The one splattered with paint? Well, she called herself 'The Great and Powerful Trixie' and she did some very nasty things to my friends and myself as well."

"She bullied them," said Krissy.

"She most certainly did," said Rarity.

"So you killed her."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "I think that we can reasonably assume that, yes."

"You know that nothing you have said has proved me wrong, right?" said Krissy.

Rarity raised her eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You kill to feel powerful," said Krissy. "You first killed after a moment of extreme helplessness and you realized that it was a way to have ultimate power and control. You kill ponies that bully your friends because you don't want them to experience what you had to go through. You feel helpless when you see them treated that way so you—" Krissy gasped in pain. The meds were wearing off quickly now. Krissy took a few moments to regain her train of thought. "You kill so you regain control of a helpless situation."

"N... no that's not true, darling!"

"Why not?" asked Krissy. "Why do you kill then if not for that reason?"

"I kill for protection, not control. I was protecting my friends from Trixie's cruelty!"

"Who were you protecting from me?" asked Krissy.

"Well... I—"

"Yourself," said Krissy. "You said that you were having a bad day, right? You didn't have control over your situation so in response you decided to gain control over something by killing. You're addicted to the power that you feel when you hold another pony's life in your hooves."

A feeling of unease started to creep up in the back of her mind but Rarity did her best to suppress it. Surely this mere foal didn't know what she was talking about. No, she couldn't know what she was talking about.

"Let me ask you something; do you think that what you are doing is noble? Have you ever thought that?" asked Krissy. The pegasus began slightly writing in pain.

Rarity looked uneasily around her basement. "Well no, but I—"

"But nothing," snarled Krissy. "You are no better than those schoolyard bullies, you're worse! You said that you think that you are a unique and special case but you're not! When you get to the core of the issue, you kill for the exact same reason as The Canterlot Killer or The Fillydelphia Butcher or The Monster of Baltimare! You do it to feel powerful!"

"Shut up," growled Rarity.

"Your case is so simple based on what I've heard that any psychiatrist would have you completely figured out in five minutes. Heck, I did it with no wings, a mutilated leg, and looped up on pain meds."

"Shut up!"

"You have no new mental diseases, no split personalities waging war in your mind, no unique aspect of your brain that would make your case special! You're just a pathetic pony who gets scared when she feels powerless and so she decides to gain ultimate power over a pony by holding his or her life in her hooves. There are thousands of ponies just like you out there, you just happen to let it out by killing."

Each word stung the unicorn like a knife through her heart and she began weeping. No, she couldn't cry like a little foal! This amateur obviously didn't know what she was talking about! She was just making things up to get back at Rarity for... well... cutting off her wings and such.

Still, no matter how hard she tried she could not stop crying. She backed up against the wall and sat down on the floor, sobbing openly. "You're wrong," she muttered. "You're wrong, you don't know me. I'm not like that."

She heard Krissy beginning to thrash about and groan in pain now. The meds had certainly worn off by now. The room was silent for a few minutes, save for Rarity's sobs and Krissy's groans of pain. "M-mercy isss a f-f-form of p-power too," Krissy stuttered.

Rarity wiped her eyes and glared at her victim. "I suppose you want me to let you go," she murmured.

With a lot of difficulty, Krissy shook her head. "N-No. I know y-y-you won't. Please just m-m-make it quick."

Rarity stood up and walked over to her tray. She picked up her skinning knife and turned back to Krissy. "Is that all you have to say about me, darling?" she asked. "That I just do this to feel powerful?" Krissy nodded which prompted a sigh from Rarity. "Well, it was a valiant effort, I suppose, but I guess that you really don't know what you are talking about. So, as punishment for an incorrect diagnosis..."

Rarity leaned in close to Krissy with the skinning knife and placed the knife on her right foreleg. Krissy tensed up and tried moving the leg out of the restraint.

"No! Please, don't do this!" she screamed. "Please just make it quick!"

Rarity shook her head and began slicing Krissy's foreleg with the knife. "I'm sorry, but you had your chance to actually give an effort for what I asked you to do," she said. "You clearly just spouted off a bunch of textbook knowledge instead of actually trying."

"No!" Krissy screamed. "Why w-w-would I do that?"

Rarity shrugged. "I don't know darling, I don't know."

Rarity finished slicing her foreleg, grabbed the sliced flap of skin in her teeth and pulled as hard as she could.

An hour later, Rarity walked back upstairs after washing herself off. She sighed. It seemed that she would have to find a real psychologist if she wanted to get a real diagnosis of what she was. Krissy clearly didn't know what in Equestria she was talking about. Rarity killed to protect her friends, not to feel powerful!

Then why did she kill ponies like Hayseed and Krissy? They were innocent of that crime and as far as she knew any crime in general.

She shook her head and pushed those thoughts out of her mind. No, she wasn't that simple! Her motives were far more complex and interesting than Krissy could possibly imagine! She couldn't be read that easily!

So why did she feel that Krissy knew more about her than she expected?