//------------------------------//
// Run 
// Story: The Word is Fear 
// by BronyWriter 
//------------------------------//

Blood, the blood was everywhere. 

Blossom weakly stumbled around, covered in both her own blood and the blood of the two ponies that she had stabbed. The blood pouring from the five or six lacerations on her face dripped into her eyes, blurring her vision and making it difficult to see where she was going. 

"Momma," she whimpered as one of her legs gave out and she nearly tumbled to the ground. "Mommy, I'm sorry!" 

Blossom began dragging herself forwards, unsure of exactly where she was headed. All she knew was that she had to get out of Ponyville. With three more deaths, she needed to get out of there. 

Blossom groaned as a dark mass appeared in front of her, taking up all of her vision. Something large was in front of her. Maybe it was a good place to hide for a while. She reached up and wiped the blood out of her eyes and realized what it was for the first time: The Everfree Forest. Barring predators smelling the blood, a real possibility, she would be safe there. 

Blossom shakily got to her hooves and began stumbling towards the forest. She just had to make it past the tree line, and she would be better off. Just a few yards more. Nothing to it. 

She had to wipe more blood out of her eyes, but the cuts seemed to be closing up. She was in too much pain to fully take advantage of some of the more basic healing spells she had been taught by Celestia's tutor while she lived in the palace, but maybe with a little pressure on the wounds and some sleep she would improve to the point where she could heal up a little bit. Still, the large scars she would undoubtedly have would serve as a reminder of what she had done for the rest of her life. 

"Gotta go," she mumbled weakly. "Can't go back to Ponyville ever. Hurts."

Blossom leaned against a tree and sat on her haunches. Just a few minutes of rest, then she could figure out what to do. However, before she could truly begin her thought process, what seemed like a door opened up in the tree and something that looked like a pony came out. At least, it looked like a pony. It had some weird stripes, though. 

The being gasped when it saw Blossom and reached a hoof out. "How is it that you have come here?" She walked a step forward and Blossom flinched back. "Please, my little pony, have no fear!"

"Hurt real bad," Blossom mumbled. "My face hurts."

The thing took another step forward to examine Blossom's face, and gasped when she saw the cuts that adorned it. "Please, dear friend, let me help you! Please come into my home so I can give you a healing brew."

"Okay." The being, Blossom vaguely recalled that it was a zebra, but she couldn't remember her name, pulled Blossom to her hooves and led her inside. She maneuvered Blossom over to a comfy chair and quickly grabbed a rag. "Place this over the worst spots," she instructed. "I shall begin preparing my pots."

"Stoppit," Blossom grumbled, taking the rag from the zebra. "Why do you have to do that rhyming thing?"

The zebra turned to Blossom and frowned. "Why do you perceive my rhyming as bad? Is there something about it that makes you sad?"

Blossom nodded and moved the rag to put pressure on a different cut. "It makes my head hurt. Sounds weird to me and I don't quite get it." Blossom squinted her eyes and examined the zebra who was putting herbs into a pot of boiling water. "W-Wait, your name is Zecorat or somethin' innit?"

The zebra smiled warmly at Blossom. "Close. My name is Zecora."

"That's right," said Blossom with a nod. "I remember you from when I lived here a while back."

"You are from Ponyville, child? I do not recall who you are."

Blossom chuckled as she scratched the back of her neck. "Doesn't matter who I am really. I'm on the move a lot, more so than I was a while back."

Zecora nodded and brought a bowl over to Blossom and placed it on a stool. "This mixture is just the thing," she explained. "I warn you now, it will sting."

"I'm a big girl, I can handle it."

Zecora shrugged and dipped a small brush into the white mixture. When the brush was covered, she motioned for Blossom to move the rag from her face, and she applied the mixture to the large cut on Blossom's forehead. Blossom inhaled sharply at the pain, but didn't flinch back. She needed this. 

When the mixture was applied, Zecora lathered it onto Blossom's other cuts. The smaller the cut the less it hurt, but Blossom noticed that the bleeding stopped whenever it was applied to the cuts. 

Finally Zecora was finished and she put the brush back in the bowl. "There, I think that will serve you well." She cocked her head. "But how did you come to be injured? Is that something you can tell?"

Blossom groaned to herself but decided to ignore the rhyming. She took a deep breath. "Penitence."

Zecora frowned and brought frothy cup to Blossom. Blossom took the cup in her magic and nodded to Zecora before taking a few sips. "That drink will replenish your strength," Zecora explained. "But... what do you mean by penitence?"

Glad that Zecora was no longer rhyming, Blossom finished the drink. The effects were immediate, and she felt almost as strong as she had when she had killed Silver Spoon. She looked over at Zecora who was examining her uneasily. Blossom sighed and lowered her gaze to the floor. "Have you ever heard of The Ponyville Butcher?"

Zecora slowly nodded. "I knew her well before she fell."

"She was a serial killer, yeah? Well, I'm her niece. I'm Sweetie Belle's daughter." Blossom weakly chuckled. "Or at least I was. Not too much left of me now."

Zecora took an uneasy step back. "Was?"

Blossom turned her gaze back up to the zebra. "I just killed my mother." Blossom stood up from the bed and advanced towards Zecora. "My Aunt Rarity was a serial killer, and I'm one too." Blossom's gaze fell on a scalpel next to a cutting board and she levitated it over to her. "You wouldn't believe how nuts I am." Blossom continued advancing towards Zecora, who was now whimpering in fear. "Nopony can hear us out in the forest," Blossom mused. "It's just you, me, and this scalpel."

With a snarl, Blossom lunged forward and dug the knife into Zecora's shoulder. The zebra fell with a scream and began thrashing on the floor. "Why?!" she sobbed. 

"Because I'm bucking evil!" Blossom growled. "My Aunt Rarity told me to kill ponies, and when I finally gave in I found out that I loved it!" 

At her declaration, Blossom's eyes widened and she fell onto her haunches. She leaned her head against a wall and shook it. "No... I don't love it. Not the act of killing itself anyway," she muttered. "I just like the feeling I get from it, I suppose. If I got that from something else then I'd do that something else, but it's the only way." Her eyes flickered up to the dying zebra who was still trying to gingerly pull the knife out of her shoulder. "I don't necessarily like the act of killing itself, but I need to do it. It's like how normal ponies have to eat, or sleep, or breathe. I need to do all of those things too, but I also need to kill."

Zecora pulled herself away from Blossom, but found herself backed against a wall. "Please," she groaned. 

Blossom sighed and used her magic to pull the scalpel out of Zecora's body. "I don't suppose that you have a potion that will make that need go away, do you? The mare looked around the hut. "I'm sure that you have something here that would poison me, but I don't really want that."

Blossom scooted forward and began running the flat of the blade against Zecora's leg. "But you and I both know how this ends."

"Please don't bring harm to me!" Zecora pleaded. 

Blossom scoffed and stood up. "That's not what I'm talking about!" she snarled. "I'm talking about my life! If you think about it, there's only one logical conclusion, one ending to the path I'm on!" A small smirk appeared on Blossom's face and she resumed stroking Zecora's leg with the knife. "My upcoming death is going to be very violent, wouldn't you agree? Unless I get to Shining Armor first, he's going to live a good, long life and die peacefully of old age." Blossom glared at Zecora and slowly began pushing the blade into the zebra's leg. "Meanwhile I'm going to be lucky if I make it to twenty-one! Even with my powers, I'm going to be cornered somewhere, and they'll have to get a mop to clean me up once the guards are done with me! Don't lie to me, you know I'm right!"

"Stop this!" Zecora cried, pain shooting through her leg. "I don't w-want to be ended here!"

Blossom sighed and pulled the knife out, tapping the blade on her head. "I guess since you did heal me up then I should repay you in kind. I was probably gonna die before I found you and you saved my life. Now, I'll be merciful." Blossom leaned in next to Zecora's ear. "It'll be quick," she whispered.


*  *  *  *


The royal chariot landed in the middle of the town square, both goddesses riding on it. Celestia's sun had not been raised even an hour, and already there was much to do. 

It couldn't be true. She had not fallen that far, it was impossible. 

The two princesses departed from their chariot and beelined straight for Carousel Boutique. Both hoped that the rumors they had heard were false. Reports could be exaggerated and fabricated. Just because Blossom had killed one of her guards and crippled the other didn't mean...

A crowd had already gathered around the home of Sweetie Belle. Despite the best efforts of her guard and some police officers, the crowd was closer to the building than they would have liked. Even so, they moved to clear a pathway for the princesses. 

They were met by Shining Armor, and they exchanged grim looks. It told Celestia everything she needed to know, but she refused to believe it anyway. She scanned the group of guards, and her eyes landed on a unicorn mare about Blossom's size. "Sergeant Quick Charge, may I have a word with you?" she called out. 

Quick Charge turned to her princess, and a look of fear crossed her face. She did not disobey and she sank to her knees in a bow. "Princess Celestia, I--"

She did not finish her sentence. Celestia engulfed her in a magical glow and levitated her in front of her face. "When you were accepted into the guard, who was your commanding officer for your first mission and what was that mission?"

Quick Charge squealed in fear, but opened her mouth to respond. "M-My c-commanding officer was Gale Shadow and the mission was a border dispute with the griffons!"

Celestia sighed and put Quick Charge down on the ground. "I'm sorry, my little pony," she said gently. "With Blossom's powers, I have to be sure." 

Quick Charge shakily nodded, and pushed herself up to her hooves. Celestia turned to Shining Armor. The stallion looked as though the weight of Equestria had been placed on his back, and in a way it was. He was charged with protecting the entire nation from a serial killer who could change her appearance.

Celestia took a step towards him and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "What is the report?" she said quietly. 

Shining Armor closed his eyes and bowed his head. "Wind Gust was stabbed through the head. He died instantly. His partner was stabbed through the hoof all the way and through his right knee. It'll be months, maybe years, before he walks again, if he walks at all."

"And what of Sweetie Belle?" Luna questioned. 

Before Shining Armor could respond, the three of them heard a commotion in the crowd. They turned to see the source and saw Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Apple Seed pushing through the crowd. "Where is she?" Applejack said wildly. "Where is Sweetie Belle, is she safe?" 

"Blossom wouldn'ta killed her ma!" Apple Bloom whimpered. "S-she ain't that far gone, is she?" 

As if on cue, the door to Carousel Boutique opened up and two unicorns walked out with a stretcher between them. A large sheet covered a motionless pony, obscuring the victim completely save for one part. A white foreleg dangled limply out from underneath the sheet. 

The Apples simply stared in shock as any doubts that Sweetie Belle was dead were forcibly removed from their minds. Indeed, Celestia and Luna weren't breathing as they tried to process what they had just seen. The complete silence was broken when Apple Bloom collapsed onto the ground with a wail of sorrow. She began sobbing loudly, and Apple Seed sat next to her mother, holding her in a comforting embrace, but sobbing herself. Applejack merely stared silently at the ground for a moment before looking up at the royal sisters. "Ah hope you find her first, Princess," the mare growled ominously. "If Ah ever see a hint of that mare anywhere near Ponyville, there won't be enough left to bury." 

Celestia didn't respond to Applejack's words. She merely turned back to Shining Armor. "Captain, I want you to send an order out to every single police officer, soldier, and guard throughout Equestria." Celestia paused as her emotions temporarily took control, but she forced them away. "The unicorn mare Joyous Blossom is to be given no quarter. If she is seen, she is to be slain on sight. Show no mercy."