Twilight and Princess Celestia stepped out of Sugarcube Corner dejectedly. The hopes of finding a trinket of some sort that Pinkie Pie held dear had been dashed the moment they saw her old room empty of all its contents. Even though it hadn't been long since the party mare had died, the Cakes felt that selling or donating her things would help speed up the healing process. They loved her dearly, after all, and it still hurt to see her not bouncing around the bakery making all kinds of crazy, delicious things.

"So now what?" Twilight asked her mentor. "Where do we go now? I was sure we'd find something here."

"I suppose we could travel to her old home from when she was a filly. However," Celestia said, "I'm afraid I don't know exactly where it is nor would I know what to look for even if I did."

The unicorn thought for a moment and stepped back inside the oversized gingerbread house while the Princess waited patiently outside. It made sense to ask the Cakes if Pinkie ever mentioned where her rock farm home was. Surely it had come up from time to time. Shortly after, Twilight stepped back outside with a cautiously optimistic look.

"They told me her home was a bit southeast of Dodge Junction, about eight or ten miles from town," Twilight said.

"Then we had best get a move on. It's easily a day and a half travel by train. Hopefully we'll be able to find somepony who knows exactly where her old home is."

"Couldn't you just fly us there?"

"I'm afraid even at my top speed, it wouldn't be that much quicker. Your friend Rainbow Dash really was the fastest flier in Equestria," Celestia stated.

"Even faster than you?"

"Yes, my student. I also thought of using a long-range teleportation spell, but over such distances, the results can be rather unpredictable. We could inadvertently end up hopelessly lost in the middle of nowhere. The safest method is by train."

The lavender mare sighed, frustrated. "It just feels like it's taking longer than it should to get prepared for this ritual."

"Which is why we mustn't tarry any longer. Now, come. We have a train to catch."

It was ten after four when the next ride to Dodge Junction finally left the station. According to the signs posted, they should arrive at half past nine o'clock the day after tomorrow, provided there weren't any unusual delays. As long as the trip itself was a smooth one, the only real delay they'd run into is finding somepony who knew the whereabouts of the Pie family.

Twilight and Celestia hadn't said much to each other as they traveled. Most of their time had been spent looking out the window at the scenery and reflecting on the horrific events as of late. Periodically, Twilight would quietly repeat the mantra she studied, making sure she was able to remember it when the time to use it came. She, like her teacher, just hoped that this journey to Dodge Junction wasn't going to go as badly as things had at Sugarcube Corner. They had to find something to use.

The Princess watched calmly as the sun began to set a few hours later. She was pleased that Luna was able to manage both celestial bodies with relative ease. It didn't come as a surprise to her though. Both of them were immensely powerful and capable of incredible things. Besides, if she was capable of raising the moon for a thousand years on her own, then the Princess of the Night should have no trouble with the operating of the sun.

Once the bright ball of light had faded away and the skies turned a dark violet, Celestia's thoughts drifted to Pinkie Pie. With the night now upon them, it was possible that some ponies were about to head to bed soon. If only she knew where the pink mare would go next. Despite all her power, being able to see the future was beyond her limits. Even beyond the legendary Starswirl's. She needed to draw Pinkie away from her intended targets. The only question was how.

As the stars came out one by one, Celestia quietly retired to their cabin, still trying to figure a way to bait Pinkie Pie. Whatever she eventually came up with, she had to be subtle, but she also had to remember that she and Twilight weren't completely ready. A cautious approach was necessary.

Twilight had entered the cabin a short while ago, and not long after, had fallen asleep for the night. Celestia couldn't imagine what must have been going on in her mind. All the stress, the heartache. It reminded her of what she went through when her younger sister had become the twisted monstrosity that was Nightmare Moon and the actions that soon followed.

As always, Celestia cast her protective spells over Twilight as she rested. She was not going to lose her student and friend, no matter the cost. She continued to think of a way to get Pinkie's attention as the hours passed. It was proving to be more difficult than she originally anticipated. Celestia needed a carrot to dangle in front of the pink pony's nose, but what could it be?

An idea suddenly came to her. Based on what Spike mentioned in his letter, she reasoned that Pinkie wanted one thing more than anything else: Twilight. She hated the idea of using her precious student to lure Pinkie away from her rampage, but it was one of the only plausible options she was able to think of. It was a fair risk, but her spells masking Twilight's presence in the dream world could be modified a bit without entirely leaving her unprotected. If the unicorn were to find herself in trouble, the Princess could easily restore the spell back to its full potential and Twilight would be safe again.

She sighed, wishing Luna wasn't so busy being stuck with her workload all day and night. Her dreamwalking abilities would come in extremely handy with such a situation. At the same time, Celestia didn't want to put her sister in harm's way. She had to deal without her by her side for a thousand years. The thought of never seeing her again would be too much for the ancient alicorn.

As Twilight slept, Celestia's horn glowed faintly so as not to disturb her, the protective spells hard at work. Taking in a deep, nervous breath, the Princess eased up on her magic, her horn fading slightly, leaving the room illuminated almost solely by the full moon's light shining in through the window.

A tan-colored, older stallion sat in his dark green rocking chair, reading the paper he picked up from town earlier in the day. It was the evening edition. It always was. Being as far out of town as he and his wife were made it virtually impossible to get an early morning newspaper, but at least he was still relatively in the loop. An odd headline caught his attention and he had been reading through the article carefully.

Apparently the previous evening had been rather interesting as well as the early afternoon that day. Clyde had heard about some tale with the Appleloosans and a nearby buffalo tribe fighting about something and later on making amends a while back. Seems that, according to the story in the paper, the buffalo chief was found dead in the sheriff's office and the sheriff himself was the only suspect they had. Unfortunately, the following day, the officer was found disemboweled and hanging from the bars of his jail cell before his trial even began. The old stallion was happy that such things didn't happen around his rock farm or in Dodge Junction. He wondered as he read who could have done such terrible things.

The warm glow of the fireplace on the other side of the room helped to alleviate the concern he felt as he read. For some reason, it had been chillier than it was supposed to have been for most of the day, and that evening was practically stone cold. It almost felt like a chill blew threw the quaint cottage despite the windows being shut. The fur stood on end on his forelimbs briefly and he shivered as his off-white wife stepped into the room and sat on the adjacent chair.

"Strange cold we're having today," Sue said. She undid the blue and white striped scarf she was wearing and rubbed her small glasses clean.

"Mmm," was all Clyde responded with. He was never much for talking.

A quiet moment passed before the mare spoke up again as she enjoyed the fire.

"I don't know about you, dear, but I wouldn't mind having an extra hoof around the farm tomorrow. Been rather exhausted lately. The south side has some particularly large rocks that need to be worked on and I'll be honest, I don't look forward to it," she stated bluntly.

"Was nice when the girls were still around. Hard workers."

"Indeed. Well, all except Pinkie after that one day. Granted, it was still a pleasant, if not unusual, day. But she did get her cutie mark, so that was nice." Sue paused, unsure if she should ask what she wanted to. She threw caution to the wind. "Do you ever think about them, Clyde? The girls, I mean."

"Occasionally. They have their own lives now. Couldn't keep them here even if we wanted to," he said mundanely as he turned a page.

"I suppose so. I do hope things turned out OK for them."

"I'm sure they're fine."

Sue shivered hard and hugged herself tightly as another gust of unseen wind swept through their den. If Clyde was feeling chilled, he sure wasn't letting on.

"Dear, it's getting a bit late. Do you want to turn in? We do have to get started early tomorrow, you know that."

He glanced at the clock and blinked in mild surprise. "Hm. Guess you're right. Go ahead and get ready. I'll put out the fire in the meantime."

Clyde folded up the paper and set it down on the end table next to his rocking chair while Sue retired to the bedroom. Grunting, his old bones aching in the cold, he trotted up to the fireplace and grabbed the bucket of water next to it, gently pouring it onto the burning wood. He made it a point in his mind to clean it up tomorrow after the chores were done. It was too chilly to do anything like that tonight, and he was getting tired. Once the last bits of fire melted out of existence, he replaced the bucket and headed to bed where his wife lay waiting to say goodnight. He couldn't deny that, right now, the blanket looked and felt great. A few minutes after getting comfortable, the couple turned and fell asleep.

Sue looked over to Inkie and Blinkie after swinging her pickaxe down on the rock in front of her. She and Clyde were breaking up the rocks on the west field while the two grey fillies were shifting the ones just to the north, pushing them along on the ground in the direction of their parents. The kids never could figure out exactly what the purpose of the whole routine was. There were rarely ever any gems found in the stones, and if any were, they were unceremoniously tossed away like trash.

They missed their younger sister. For whatever reason, in the dead, grey home they lived in, she was a bright shade of pink. Well, bright enough. There was still a faint dim quality behind the color of her coat though. But after she got her cutie mark, she was a lively, cheerful little pony, something the family never understood or experienced.

"Come on girls, pick up the pace," Clyde shouted. "We got half the farm to go still."

An eye twitched for them both and they glared at their parents from behind a small pile of rocks they had accumulated. They looked at each other and sat down out of sight, giggling and laughing out loud suddenly. This piqued the older couple's curiosity and they walked to where they heard the commotion. When they arrived, they blinked in surprise. Their daughters had changed into a pair of babies playing patty cake and somehow talking despite their obviously young age.

"One, two, Pinkie's coming for you...
Three, four, better lock your door...
Five, six, get your friendship fixed...
Seven, eight, gonna stay up late...
Nine, ten, never sleep again..."

Sue took a step back at the freaking sight when Pumpkin and Pound Cake turned and glazed over them with large, empty eyes. The children turned back to each other and repeated their song.

"C-Clyde, I don't like this."

He stared motionlessly at the peculiar pair before speaking up. "Yeah. What's going on? Where're Inkie and Blinkie?"

The husband and wife called out for the kids, unaware of the large number of rocks rolling into a pile behind them. The stones spun around in a circle as the stash grew bigger in size, coalescing into a giant round boulder. When it finally reached its intended massive size, it began to roll at them. The rumbling on the ground caught Clyde's and Sue's attention, and they shrieked in panic.

They turned back quickly at the babies, but the little ones were nowhere to found. After a second of confusion, Clyde and Sue forgot about the mystery children and made a mad dash for their cottage, the enormous boulder turning pink as it closed in on them and growing a pair of huge blue eyes. They could have sworn they heard a familiar laugh as Clyde opened the door, let his wife sprint in and slam it closed behind him.

Their eyes shut tight as they braced themselves against the door, waiting for the inevitable, but nothing came. Shaking, they slowly opened their eyes as they held their breath. They glanced out of the corners of their eyes toward the door, wondering what was going on. Relieved that the bizarre incident seemed to be over, they sighed in relief. That relief slowly disappeared when they noticed they were somehow back in their bedroom, even though they went in through the front door. With a quick look around the room, they also found that there was only a single window in the room, high over their heads, letting in a faded beam of moonlight.

On the bed before them, they saw a pair of figures laying on their sides, facing away from each other. Stepping forward, Clyde and Sue gasped when it became clear who was in front of them. It was them, sound asleep. Suddenly from the other side of the house, a grinding noise, like metal scraping against the wood floor, faded into existence just loud enough for them to hear through the door, coupled with what sounded like hoofsteps. With each passing second, it got closer.

In a panic, Clyde reached for the doorknob to lock it, but the knob faded away. The couple backed up and hit the foot of the bed, but were too terrified to try and move. Not that they had anywhere to go.

The bedroom door was encircled by a faint glow of light that leaked in from an unknown source. The scraping sound halted just outside, and a final pair of steps reached the entrance. A shadow of the intruder's hooves leaked in from under the lip of the door, and the couple's stomach turned, fearing what was about to become of them.

With a loud creak, the door came open, revealing a welcome sight to Clyde and Sue.

"Pinkamena? Pinkamena Diane Pie, is that you?" Sue asked, cautiously optimistic.

"Celestia, it is you, Pinkamena! Err, Pinkie! How've you been? What are you doing here?"

She stared at them, a numb look in her eyes. For once, the party pony wasn't smiling. A silent fury burned from her core, and she showed it clear as day on her face. The pickaxe she was dragging on the floor helped drive the idea home.

"Hi, mom. Hi, dad."

"Dear," Sue said, nervously smiling, when she noticed the tool, "wh-what are you doing with that? You scared half to death!"

"Funny you should say that. What I want to know is why you're smiling. We don't smile here on the Pie Family Rock Farm, remember?" she asked harshly.

"That was a long time ago, Pinkie," her father spoke up. "W-We've been through some things, a-a-and..."

"Shut it," Pinkie angrily said, cutting him short. She stepped inside, scratching the pickaxe against the floor like claws on a chalkboard, and pushed her parents over the edge of the bed onto, and into, their own bodies. The motionless husks absorbed their own images and snapped awake, immediately spotting their demented daughter.

"Pinkie, what's going on?!" Sue cried out.

In an instant, a series of vines and branches swung out from under the bed and wrapped themselves around their limbs, digging in tight. They grunted and struggled against the insanity, desperately, and fruitlessly, trying to get free. As they fought their restraints, Pinkie's right eye began to twitch. She shook her head, getting rid of the unusual spasm. Pinkie never felt that before. She glanced away, confused, but decided it was best to ignore it and focus on what she came here for.

"You're still laying in bed right now. This is only a dream. You can keep telling yourself that all you want, but it won't help you wake up," she informed her parents.

"Wait. How are we both in the same dream? That doesn't make any sense," Clyde said.

"I arranged it. I wanted to see you both. Particularly the look on your faces when I..." She tapped the pickaxe. Another spasm hit her cheek.

"What?! Why?!"

Trying to hold back her hatred, she squinted angrily and gritted her teeth behind her lips. "Because I was born here. You never allowed me or my sisters to smile. To laugh. To be fillies and do what little fillies do. No, instead, we worked ourselves to the bone doing some ridiculous job that had absolutely no meaning to anypony! Perhaps if these rocks had gems in it, like how somepony I knew used to find them, then maybe it would have made sense, but no. They were just. Rocks. You never had any idea how much I hated and resented you for everything you did!"

"B-But you were so happy after you got your cutie mark!" Sue said frantically. "What about that? Was it never real?!"

"Oh, it was. But my hatred remained nonetheless, buried nice and deep. There were a couple of times where it even came out to the surface despite the cutie mark. And to think, if you had been intelligent, caring parents, it likely would never have happened. Heck, for all we know, I might still be living –and I emphasize living–"

Her parents gasped in shock, realizing what she was saying.

"...on the farm. Perhaps I would have even been OK with pushing around your stupid rocks like an idiot. But that's neither here nor there anymore. Tell me, dad, do you still bring home the evening paper every night like clockwork?"

After slowing down his horrified breathing, he squeaked out a "yes".

"I'm willing to bet there was some.. interesting activity going on in Appleloosa recently?"

The old stallion stared at the maniac intently, his thoughts going a mile a minute. Bit by bit, everything sank in and his mouth fell open in disbelief.

"You. It was you, wasn't it?"

"Clyde, what's she talking about?"

"Yes, Clyde, what are you talking about?" Pinkie parroted.

"The murders. I-In Appleloosa."

"What? Pinkie, you didn't!"

With a slow lick of her lips and a gentle caress of her pickaxe, Pinkie smiled for the first time that night. Sue wept as her daughter wordlessly confirmed her father's suspicions.

"Heeeeey! Don't feel bad. In just a few moments, we'll have ourselves our very own little family reunion, aside from my sisters. But they won't be harmed. They didn't do anything," the pink mare said, twitching again. She turned and stared at her panicking mother and father.

"Pinkie! We're sorry!"

"Please don't do this! We only wanted you–"

The couple screamed as Pinkie lifted the pickaxe over her head, ready to drive it into them, when she quickly lowered it back down and looked off into the distance, fascinated by something she sensed. Her smile grew wider and she chuckled to herself. Pinkie's sudden pause gave her mom and dad a bit of hope that she had come to her senses.

"Hmph. I knew she'd slip up sooner or later. But.. she seems to be shrouded or something. Must be Celestia's work, put a protective spell on her or something and it must be fading. Still, I seeeee yoooou, Twilight!" She bit her lip and bounced with glee. "Oooh, this night had suddenly turned out even better than I expected! As much as I'd like to stick around and, um.. reminisce, I kinda have to go. But this mood I'm suddenly in? It makes me want to sing a song! And I know just the one!"

She leaped onto the bed and swung her pickaxe into the air, slamming it into her parents' bodies in sync with the words.

"I've been working on the rooock farm
All the live-long daaaays!
I've been working on the rooock farm
To take your life awaaay!

Can't you hear the ponies screaming
Oh so early in the morn?
When I feel that I am finished
You'll wish you weren't boooorn!"

Clyde and Sue stopped screaming almost immediately.