//------------------------------//
// Rationalizing the Irrational 
// Story: The Definition of Insanity 
// by ThePopeMobile100 
//------------------------------//

Fluttershy fled into the dark, dank forest known as the Everfree. As she ran, she could feel branches of the foliage scrape across her coat and other things matting to her once pristine, now bloodstained, coat. Her eyes were barely open as she ran and cried at the same time. The tears would occasionally wipe some of the blood away from fur. Even if she could open her eyes fully, it would do little good due to the little light there was and everything seemed even more menacing to the small pegasus.

She ran and ran, losing her sense of direction in only a matter of minutes. Sure she had seen some messed up stuff during Discord's escape and once again at the wedding. She had seen death before. Of animals and pets that she tended to was the most of it. An occasional family member whose time came naturally made Fluttershy sad, but she understood that nopony lived forever.

But this, this was new. She had heard of war in the past and that they were often violent, but there hadn't been one in the past three hundred years. The thought of taking another's life was inconceivable to her, especially an innocent. What she saw was something that hadn't been seen in Equestria in over a thousand years. The cold blooded murder of her close friend was impossible for her to rationalize. There was no point to it. What frightened her worse was how easy this monster made it seem. He laughed as she tried to save her friend, she remembered that much.

And now she had this madman chasing her with the intent to brutally murder her and there was nopony in between the two.

She eventually needed a slight break. When she stopped to catch her breath, it dawned on her that she didn't have a clue what to do. Survival was something new to her, or anypony in Ponyville. Survival, like any task, required the appropriate skills to survive in any environment. Skills that Fluttershy didn't have. She mentally cursed herself that she hadn't gone camping with Applejack more. Even if she had though, there never was any life-threatening danger.

The situation came crashing down on Fluttershy and the gravity of failure. To lose this game meant a fate worse than death. The monster pursuing her wouldn't rest until she submitted and embraced her death. What she didn't know was that that wasn't at all what Vaas wanted. His reasons and methods were still unknown to her.

Fluttershy had to keep moving and she knew it. Thoughts could come once she had established a safe area. So she ran as if her life depended on it.





Shining Armor had an exceptionally lazy day at the office. The day had been full of some paperwork and a couple of forms to sign, but nothing too strenuous. Well except when he got hit in the back of the head with a book that a pegasus decided to throw at him. That was strange. Other than that, the only exceptionally strenuous thing that he had planned to do was his wife that night. 

He was finishing packing up for the night when a knock on the door sounded.

Shining let out a small sigh, "come in."

A solar guard private by the name of Pansy came into his office.  Once he shut the door, he threw up a smart salute, "sir I have a message for you."

A message? Good, it must be from the search and rescue mission. "Don't just stand there, tell me already."

"Sir, I was told to to summon you to the throne room."

Shining sighed even louder this time and had to stop himself from facehoofing. "You could have just told me that the princess wanted to see me."

"Sir, that would have been disrespectful of your rank."

Damn recruits, the only thing they do will is annoy me with all their formalities. "Dismissed."

The private threw up another salute before turning around sharply and removing himself from the room.

Shining sighed. "Well then, I better see what she wants."

Fast forward ten minutes because the author is too lazy to write about the walk to the throne room.

Shining opened the huge double doors to the throne room in an over-dramatic fashion to express his annoyance at being summoned right when he was about to leave. Of course, Celestia didn't seem to notice it or care. The solar princess radiated the brilliance and beauty of the Sun that stunned those who wished to bask in it. Shining was immune due to his days of close proximity to the princess.

He gave a respectful bow to the princess before rising. "You summoned me?"

Celestia kept her poker face, making it impossible to tell what she wanted easily. "Yes, I have a task for you. One of great importance to the safety of Equestria and your sister's."

Shining Armor's ears perked up at the mention of Twilight. "What is the trouble, princess?"

Celestia looked to the attendants. "Leave us."

Within minutes, the throne room was empty save for the princess and the captain. "Shining Armor, I won't keep you any longer than I have to so let me get straight to the point."

Shining held his silence.

"Yesterday afternoon, a being was discovered in the Everfree forest. It's origins are unknown, but from what we were able to gather, it is...unstable. It has a violent temper and an intelligence that is far above average."

Shining's face held confusion. "Princess, what do you mean unstable, and what average intelligence?"

Celestia still held that same facial expression. "Its intelligence is above average for a pony, which means its sentient. What I meant by unstable is that it is completely insane."

"Then why is this a threat to Equestria? It is still in the Everfree right?"

"Yes it is still in the Everfree, but it abducted the Element of Kindness and while we're still waiting for the medical report, our first impressions tell us that she was harmed far more than physically. We were able to rescue Fluttershy and she is to be escorted at all times. Her cottage is to be under constant surveillance. What I want from you is to track this animal down. I would prefer it alive, but if that proves too difficult, then dead will do just fine."

Shining's face was stone, his determination as strong as tempered steel. "Just point me in the right direction."





Vaas was having the time of his life. He had some scared little pony running from him into the forest, thinking that he was chasing her. He shot it's boyfriend thing and laughed as she tried to save him. The pony was crying all over the place and ran right where he wanted her to.

Now, he had access to her house that she was stupid enough to lead him to. Vaas had all the food and water he needed. The local waterlines kept him hydrated, the local wildlife kept him fed. Sure they weren't that filling, but Vaas wasn't too keen on the idea of eating hay. He was finally able to kick back and relax for a while, at least until they found the body.

His fun ended when there was a knock on the door. Vaas stopped doing what he was doing and started to gather his stuff, figuring that it was the fuzz. There was more frantic knocking. followed by a voice "Fluttershy, open up. This is Lieutenant Steel of the Canterlot Royal Guard. Open the door."

Vaas smiled as he prepped his grenade. He was sitting at the top of the staircase, waiting for the door to open. An eternity happened before the door came down.

A second later, Vaas threw the grenade through the now open door and into the crowd that had gathered outside the door. Oblivious to the danger, a couple of the guards were distracted by what they thought was a rock. Lieutenant Steel was the first through the door and the only one too see Vaas grinning at him. They stared at each other for two seconds before an explosion shook them out of the staring contest.

Steel dropped to the ground from the concussive force of the grenade and glanced back up at Vaas only to see him running away. He tried to stand, but there was something in his leg. He looked at it to see a shard of the broken door about the size of his horn sticking out of his back-left leg, leaving him out of commission for the next while.

Vaas for his part, sprinted through a back room and jumped out of the two story window and intercepted a pegasus guard in the air. Using the guard to soften his landing, Vaas hit the ground with the pegasus under him. He smiled as he quickly drew his knife and shoved it through the undercarriage of the guard's mouth and into his brain. The guard died immediately and Vaas withdrew the knife milliseconds later.

Now with the local authorities well known to his presence, he ran into the Everfree. The last, best refuge for criminal scum.