Storm Stripe winced as Pinkamina smiled at him. She knew he was coming? Well, she DID give him the invitation. But where was the party? Before, he had thought he was just early, but now, a sick, nervous feeling had come over him. As if reading his thoughts, Pinkamina spoke.
“If your wondering where all the other “guests” are, there are none. I sent an invitation to you, and you alone.” Storm Stripe was beginning to sweat, but he tried his best remain calm.
“W-well, it’s not much of a party with just two ponies. How come you didn’t invite anypony else?”
Pinkamina’s smile faded, replaced by a blank stare. “Even if I did send them invitations, there’d be less ponies than last night. I knew you’d be the only pony who’d be nice enough to come to two straight parties in a row. You being here proves that.” She got up off the bed and trotted over to Storm Stripe, staring into his eyes. “And now your going to do me a little party favour.”
At this point, Storm Stripe had lost his nerves. The only thing keeping him from running out the door was his curiosity of just how much Pinkie Pie had changed. It was like she was a completely different pony. He swallowed hard, and spoke, his voice small and trembling.
“A-and what would t-that be?”
Without a word, Pinkamina trotted over to her bed, and pulled a long, rolled-up poster from underneath. She unrolled it, and placed it down in front Storm Stripe, who stared curiously at it. It was a poster advertising Vinyl’s club. At the bottom were a crowd of Ponies, hooves waving in the air, and at the top Was Vinyl, scratching away at her Turntables. Storm Stripe was confused, but Pinkamina was the first to ask a question.
“You work as a bartender here right?”
“Y-yeah, but how do you know?”
Pinkamina smiled coldly. “Didn’t I tell you? I know everypony in Ponyville.”
Her words were cryptic, but Storm Stripe suddenly had a thought. The invitation, the depressed Pinkie Pie, the poster of Vinyl’s club. For the first time since he had entered the room, Storm Stripe smiled.
“If you wanted to go out with me, you could have just asked!” He was expecting a shy, embarrassed response from Pinkamina, but what he heard instead horrified him.
“No, we’re not going out. Your going to tonight’s party at the club, and you’re going to kill everypony in there. Try not to leave a mess when you do it.”
Storm Stripe’s eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open. He found himself unconsciously backing up towards the door. He tried smiling, but his lips were quivering. He managed to choke out a question, despite his rising fear.
“W-why?”
Pinkamina replied calmly. “I’ve seen Twilight go into that place a lot. I never figured her to be the kind of pony who went to clubs, let alone stumble out of one completely drunk. It didn’t bother me, until I found out that she spent last night at Vinyl’s club instead of at my party. It looks like she doesn’t need to be my friend when there are so many other ponies for her to hang out with.”
“T-that still doesn’t mean...”
“If she would rather spend time with a bunch of drunken party ponies then with her real friends, then I guess she won’t mind dying with them.” Not waiting for a response, Pinkamina pulled something else from under her bed. It was small knife. She trotted back to Storm Stripe, and dropped it in front of his trembling hooves. “And that’s where you come in. The parties already started, so get moving.” Pinkamina lay down on her bed, and stared at Storm Stripe. He looked down at the knife in horror, but regained enough consciousness to question her.
“What if I don’t want to do it?”
Pinkamina smiled, and produced a small photo. “If you don’t, then I just might invite somepony else to a “Private” party.” Storm Stripe squinted at the photo, but then retracted in horror as he saw his best friend smiling at him. It was a photo of Bright Wing. Tears were forming in his eyes, and he clenched his teeth together to keep himself from crying out.
“P-please! Don’t hurt her!” He was visibly crying now. “Please....” He shut his eyes, trying to force back his tears and the image of his best friend, alone with Pinkamina. For a while, he stood there, sobbing, but he eventually stopped and raised his head to look at Pinkamina. His face was a mixture of sadness and frustration.
“I’ll do it.”
Without another word, he placed the knife underneath his folded wing, and trotted out of the room. Pinkamina listened as he went downstairs, opened the front door, and slammed it. She smiled to herself, and closed her eyes to sleep.
Storm Stripe slowly made his way to Vinyl’s club, thinking about what Pinkamina had said to him. He wasn’t a murderer. He hated the thought of anypony being hurt, let alone dying. But at the same time, he didn’t want anything to happen to Bright Wing. How she had even found a picture of her was beyond his understanding, but tried not to think about it. He arrived at the double doors in front of the club, and could hear the music playing loudly, threatening to blow the door off it’s hinges. Storm Stripe considered turning around and leaving, but he feared what Pinkamina might do if she found out. He took a deep breath and pushed the doors open, concealing the sharp knife underneath his folded wings. This would be a night to remember....