A hoofful of hours had passed as Celestia and Twilight trekked back through the Everfree Forest. By the time they reached the edge of the woods and found themselves in front of Fluttershy's now-empty cottage, it was well into the late evening. Twilight's stomach did somersaults when she saw the abandoned home. Only a few days ago, she caught a glimpse of one her closest friends laying in pieces on her floor. The scene was enough to make even the toughest ponies nauseous. She shuddered and barely managed to hold herself together.

Most of an entire day had passed and Twilight was starting to feel fatigued. Her hooves dragged along the dirt, leaving scrapes along the path, and her eyes started to droop. She could have passed out at any moment, but even at this goddess forsaken hour, she wanted to push forward. There was work to be done, notes and books to be found. Doubtless wherever Mordrid's old texts was their next stop.

Celestia noticed Twilight's condition and unfurled her wing, taking her in a comforting embrace. It had been extraordinarily difficult on the Princess reliving the horrors of the past when her parents were stolen away from her thanks to some dark spells and her former lover. As they walked, she eventually was able to regain her regal composure. Perhaps talking about it really was the best medicine. But, either way, the pain would likely endure for a lifetime.

"Twilight, my student," Celestia said, "I know this has been difficult on you, and it's rather late for you. I know you've pulled all nighters before, but never with such troubles on your mind."

"It's OK, Princess. I can handle it."

"Be that as it may, I would still like you to get some rest. The texts we seek are in Canterlot in the Starswirl the Bearded wing, hidden by a spell only Luna and I can see and cast. We didn't dare leave what he wrote and read out in the open, lest somepony else try to follow his dark path."

Twilight started to nod in understanding, but fatigue started to hit her again. Her head slumped, and she snapped back to attention, shaking off the cobwebs as best she could. Celestia bit her lip and laid down on the cool ground.

"Here, climb on. I'll fly real slow," she said, smiling warmly.

Sluggish, Twilight reluctantly did as she was asked. She was too tired and wasn't going to argue, no matter how much she didn't want to be treated like a little filly. Once she was prone on Celestia's back and comfortable, the Princess spread her wings and gently glided in the direction of the royal city. Once they arrived, the first thing she would do was get her faithful student to a cozy bed.

Far to the east, where ponies didn't dwell, a group of four half-lion, half-eagle creatures were gathered at the bar in a local club, shooting the breeze and laughing at the misfortunes of others whose names came up in conversation. They were rather loud and obnoxious, the throbbing music doing little to drown their cacophony. Several of the patrons sitting nearby glared in annoyance, wishing the booze they were guzzling down would do something to make the pain of listening to them go away.

"Hey, barkeep!" Gilda yelled, her words slurred. "Another round of cider here, and hurry the buck up!"

She was obviously more than tipsy and had snapped at some of the other customers earlier for no other reason than they got too close to what she believed at the time was her drink. Her friends got more than a kick out of it. In their own show of bravado, one of her male friends kicked a bar stool out from under a fellow griffon and almost got a beating for his trouble. The only thing that saved him was a friend of the victim restraining him and suggesting they go elsewhere. The other male swiped a glass and drank it down when another customer was distracted by a female at the end of the bar.

"Forget it, kid! You've had too many as it is, and you've all been nothing but a nuisance to my bar and my customers! I'm cutting you off!" the barkeeper shouted over the bass.

"Hey, I'm.. I'm a payin' cuts.. cuts.. I got money to spend too! Now gimme another!" Gilda said, slamming her claw down on the bar.

"If you don't stop acting like a lunatic, I'm going to have to ask you to leave!"

"Hey, buck you, ya.. ya dweeb! Who do ya th-think you are, anyway? You know what you are? You really wanna know? You're a f-f-f-frickin' loser!"

"Alright, that's it," the barkeeper angrily said. He turned to his left and waved over some large security guards who had been keeping an eye on the situation. Dealing with drunks was a fairly typical ordeal in a bar, and this would be no exception. "Get these four out of here," he instructed them.

With a firm nod, the lead guard took Gilda by the shoulders and his burly co-workers grabbed her friends. They thrashed and flapped their wings in protest.

"Get off me!"

"Easy, bro! What the buck?"

"Hey, let go or I'll kick your flank!"

Several nearby patrons cheered and whooped as the troublemakers were forcibly dragged from the establishment and tossed outside onto the street. The door slammed behind them, signaling the end of their night.

"Bah, screw that place!" Gilda shouted, waving a dismissive claw at the building. "We'll go somewhere else, right guys?"

"I don't know. I'm.. I'm kinda beat," the larger, gray colored male mumbled.

"Yeah, same," the other female said. "Getting late."

"You guys suck."

"Y'know, Gilda, if you're s-still up for some fun, we could go back to my nest," the smaller, beige male suggested, adding in a wink for good measure.

"Pffff, over my dead body, Leo," the loud griffon said. "Fine, if you want to call it, we'll call it. Most places are p-probably closin' anyway. Maybe we can score some beak candy tomorrow night or somethin'. Haven't had any in a while. Alright, I'll see you clowns later."

They said their drunken good nights and flew off rather wobbly to their respective homes. After several feet however, Gilda's head started to spin and she touched down on the cobblestone. Maybe she did have one too many that night. Whatever. She'd just sleep it off as she had before.

A cold wind blew, shaking her to the bone. Her feathers and fur stood on end. She rubbed her forelimbs, trying to keep in a bit of warmth. Suddenly, the howling wind seemed to grow a voice.

One, two, Pinkie's coming for you...

She spun in the direction it appeared to come from. Looking around, she saw nothing. She shook her head hard and rubbed her eyes. Perhaps her friends were right. Some sleep would be nice right now. But after flying only a few feet before getting lightheaded, she figured maybe it would be a good idea to stay lower to the ground until she got home. Lazily, she continued her journey.

Making a right turn a few blocks down the road, in her dizzy stupor, Gilda saw an incredibly bizarre sight. A pair of tiny foals were playing patty cake on the sidewalk in front of her. It sounded for a moment like they were singing.

Three, four, better lock your door...

The youngsters turned and stared at her with a haunting look in their large eyes. She blinked tightly and snapped her eyes back open. The kids were gone. Was the alcohol causing her to hallucinate? Her inebriation was quickly fading away, but the weird sights and sounds were turning her stomach. She felt like she could throw up at any moment.

"Yeesh, this is too weird. Come on, Gilda. Only about six more blocks to go and you can sleep off this.. whatever it is."

She crossed four more streets and heard the voices again.

Five, six, get your friendship fixed...

She stopped short again and looked around. No signs of them. Given the hour, it wasn't a surprise that there would be no one out. So, what was going on? Perhaps it was because her eyes were swimming around in her head. That had to be contributing.

"Who's out there? Show yourself! I'm not s-s-scared of you!"

When no response came, she snorted defiantly and continued on. She turned left and finally arrived at a dark gray house, landing by the door. Was she ever glad to be home. While the evening itself was entertaining, the last twenty minutes had been rather unsettling.

Gilda reached under the ragged doormat and found the key to the lock. She popped the lock open and replaced the key, hiding it where she always did. Grabbing the doorknob, she heard the singing again and froze up.

Seven, eight, gonna stay up late...
Nine, ten, never sleep again...

She angrily spun around, screaming. "What do you want?!"

"Hey, shut up out there! Some of us are trying to sleep!" she heard from a neighbor's window.

"Kiss my flank, you old buzzard!"

The 'buzzard' muttered something under his breath, and Gilda sneered angrily in response. Gritting her teeth, she threw the door open, walked in and slammed it behind her. Not even bothering to lock herself in, she stomped to her nest. She needed this night to be over with already. With a fluff of her pillow, she laid in the nest and slammed her head down.

"Friggin' losers, all of 'em.. " she mumbled as she quickly drifted off to sleep.

Ah, Ponyville.

How could Gilda forget? This was the place where her life suddenly started to go down the tubes. Her friend.. well, former friend.. Rainbow Dash pretty much just told her to get lost and never come back. But Gilda was the typical bad penny; she always had a way of turning up.

She marched down the main road in Town Square, causing mayhem where she went. An apple cart was ripped to pieces with a single swipe of her claw. The orange, stetson-wearing pony yelled and cursed at her. Unconcerned, she pressed on and noticed a somehow familiar yellow pegasus walking down the road with a furry white bunny on her back.

Strange. She remembered that mare escorting a family of ducks the last time she visited Ponyville only because of her deliciously loud crying at the time. Whatever. A critter's a critter. Grinning wickedly, Gilda dug her claws into the ground and charged forward. The pink-maned pony jumped in fright at the sudden attacker, but Gilda wasn't interested in her. She leapt into the air and punted the rabbit off her back and over the rooftops. The pegasus broke down into tears as the griffon laughed.

Oh, it was a great day.

"Gilda!" a familiar voice cried out from behind. A polychromatic mane came into view from the surrounding crowd.

"You! What do you want?"

"Stop treating my friends like crap, Gilda!" Rainbow Dash scolded.

"Why should I? They're are crap! They're lame and pathetic!"

"Awww, that's not a very nice thing to say! My party was definitely not lame!"

Gilda paused, blinking. "What the heck are you talking about? You set up the pranks. It was your ridiculous pink friend that threw the party."

Rainbow's voice suddenly contorted and increased in pitch. "You're right. That was me."

The pegasus' colorful mane suddenly fell flat and grew an extra foot. The red stripe in her hair spread like water across the other colors and faded until everything was a distinct shade of pink. Her ruby eyes morphed into a bright blue, and her scowl turned upside down into a toothy grin.

The ponies watching the scene moaned and dissolved into puddles on the ground, and the surrounding area twisted and reshaped into the middle of Sugarcube Corner. Gilda's eyes burst wide as everything around her suddenly had a mind of its own. Her pulse started to race and she could barely catch her breath. She spat when she finally realized where she was and who she was with.

"You! What's going on? Wh-What are you doing?!"

"You were the guest of honor at the party and you left before it was over! Now we have a chance to finish things up right!" Pinkie said cheerfully.

Gilda's brow furled in anger. "I don't care about you or your stupid party! Now leave me alone, you worthless idiot!"

"But we haven't even played any games yet!" She approached one slow step at a time, her smile and hollow stare never fading. Once she was nose to nose with the enraged griffon, she stood on her hind legs and threw her forelimbs in the air. "It's going to be so much fun!"

"Stay away from me!"

With a lightning quick swing, Gilda slashed across Pinkie's stomach, spilling her intestines onto the floor. Amused surprise trickled onto the party pony's face. Gilda started to panic as maggots and worms started squirming out of the large wound on her belly.

"Hm. Well, that's looked better," Pinkie joked.

Gilda recoiled in horror. "You...y-y-you're a freak! Somepony get me outta here!"

In a flash, the griffon turned and bolted for the door. As she raced away, Pinkie nonchalantly reached down and grabbed her intestines, tying them into a lasso while humming a merry tune. Gilda threw open the door and tried to speed off only to suddenly have a disgusting rope wrap itself tightly around her throat.

"Gah! Agh! Take this thing –ngh!– off me!" she screamed as she was dragged back inside.

Once Gilda was at her hooves, Pinkie tossed the intestinal rope over a support beam overhead and pulled it down firmly, securing it to one of the tables that was bolted to the floor. The griffon was a few feet off the ground, kicking at the air and clawing at the tube around her neck. Her wings clumsily flapped about and started to lift her body toward the roof. Hopefully she'd be able to slip around the beam and get herself free.

"Now, now, we can't have you running off again. You'll spoil the surprise! Let's go ahead and fix that," Pinkie said.

The homicidal pony hopped over to one of the chairs against the wall and placed it behind Gilda's twisting body. With a jump, she landed on the seat and bit down onto her left wing, ripping a mouthful of feathers from her flesh. Streams of blood flew from the bony protrusions, landing on the floor and splattering against Pinkie's cheek.

The griffon shrieked in agony. Unable to lift herself further, Gilda fell limp and wheezed pathetically, strangled by the fleshy rope. Pinkie ripped one feather after another after another from her body until both wings were completely barren and soaked in a layer of red. The flowing blood dripped down her back and hind legs, pooling below her. She tried to scream and cry for help, but barely managed a whisper. Her heart felt as if it was about to pound out of her chest as her air supply quickly was diminishing. The scene was the same from her nest. She clawed and scratched at nothing around her neck. The off-yellow branches that composed her bed had been soaked red.

"There we go! Now we can get started with a game everypony likes to play!" Pinkie reached behind herself and pulled out a three-foot long stick from nowhere between her teeth. "Piñata!"

Donning a blindfold and smiling wickedly, the pink menace smashed the stick into Gilda's ribcage. Loud cracks erupted from her torso, indicating her bones had snapped. The griffon yelled as loud as the noose let her. Another swing broke a hind leg. After a few missed attempts, Pinkie connected with Gilda's side again, mostly in the flesh. The next smacked into the side of her neck, leaving a stinging bright red welt. The stick then connected with her forelimb and her face, slicing her forehead open.

Gilda's talons desperately clawed at the rope as she hung on for dear life, despite it slowly slipping away. Her eyes began to water as the pain worsened with each brutal thrashing and air continued to become a more and more precious commodity. With a last bit of strength, she managed to scratch through the loop and fell hard to the floor. The sudden rush of oxygen into her system made her dizzy. Her body quivered as every nerve burned.

The thump at her hooves made Pinkie remove the band around her eyes. Her eager smiled fell into a sad pout. "Aww, we weren't even finished yet! That's OK though. We have another game or two we can play!"

Barely, Gilda managed to lift her shaking head and look into Pinkie's menacing blue eyes. She wiped the blood from her face and tears rolled down her feathery cheeks.

"P-P-Please.. !" was all she could muster.

"Oh! I know what you're gonna say! 'Please, Pinkie, can we play Pin the Tail on the Pony?' Well, of course we can, silly! We just need a tail, and I know just where to get one!" she prattled on with a happy bounce. "But first, I need to put the rope away. Don't think we'll need it anymore!"

The pink mare trotted over to the table anchor and undid the knot in the intestine. Once she pulled it together into a ball, she stuffed it unceremoniously back into her gaping wound and it sealed itself shut, appearing as if it never existed.

After patting her now uninjured belly, Pinkie proceeded over to the beaten and broken griffon. She bit down on Gilda's tail, planted her hooves on her golden flank and pulled back with all her might. Gilda wailed as little by little, the skin separated, then the muscle and sinew, and finally the vertebrae snapped apart, sending Pinkie somersaulting backward. Shockwaves of agony shot straight up the griffon's spine. Her limbs convulsed from the excruciating pain. Gilda couldn't even move enough to grab futilely at its source in an effort to make it stop throbbing uncontrollably. Her screams could have shattered glass.

Outside her home, three of her neighbors were banging on the door, calling out for an answer. Her howls and shrieks woke up half of her block. They flew from window to window, trying to get a glimpse of what could be going on inside. Once they found her, bloody, screaming, wingless and now tailless, one dashed off to the authorities while the others broke in. They tried yelling and shaking her awake, but nothing seemed to work.

In the phantasmal Sugarcube Corner, the murderous pony sat up with her trophy between her teeth. She spat it onto the floor and picked it back up, looking carefully at the hint of bone sticking out.

"No fair!" Pinkie cried out. "There's no pin on this at all! Oh, this simply won't do! Hmmm."

She rubbed her chin, deep in thought, her eyes facing the floor. Suddenly, something grabbed her attention and she beamed with joy. With a quick snatch, Pinkie took a feather in her hoof and stared at the quill.

"That's it! Weee have a piiiii-iiiiiin!" she sang. "Though this isn't really a tail. Oh well! Details."

Pinkie cantered up to Gilda's head and sat down. The exhausted griffin gazed up at her. Gilda's vision was beginning to blur. She twitched involuntarily as her strength began to leave her.

"Boy, wasn't this fun? I do so love parties! But, I think it's time to go. I just can't come up with any more games to play! I gotta tell ya though, Gilda. It was a bad idea to challenge me to a game of Pin the Tail on the Pony. Nopony's ever beaten me before! Anyway, hope you had fun, because I sure did!"

With that, Pinkie raised the feather and drove the tip down hard between Gilda's eyes, killing her instantly. Her head flopped onto the floor, her suffering finally over. The insane mare bounced around the body, thrilled with the outcome.

"Yay! I won I won I won I won! See? I told you nopony could beat me!"