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// Chapter Nine (Atom Smash) 
// Story: The Quills and Sofas Exquisite Corpse 
// by The Red Parade 
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For a moment the entire hall was silent, every pair of eyes in the room glued to the blade, none so more than Pinkie’s as the blade hovered an inch above her left pupil. She was going cross eyed just to look at it.

So it came to everypony’s surprise that she was the first to recover. Letting out a breath Pinkie moved her eyes from the blade and looked past it, up and meeting Vapour Trail’s own. 

“Thank you.” The pink pony whispered, and when she saw that her words did little to appease the irate pegasus threatening to make her world monocular she added: “This isn’t what it looks like, okay.”

Vapour couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Really? After all you have done you are trying that line!?” She spat down at Smiling Mask. The worst monster and most revered hero of her foalhood revealed to be the same pony. It would take a lot more than a few simple lies and excuses for her to stay her blade. So why hadn’t she thrust down already? Surely Equestria would be a better place without this monster, wouldn’t it?

Seeing as the pony above her was losing the initiative Pinkie started to relax a bit. She also remembered that she had stashed eye-patches all over Equestria in case of emergency, so if Vapour stabbed her it wouldn’t be that bad. Sure it’d hurt, but only for a while, and then she’d look cool, like a pirate.

“Look, let me explain…” She began.