It worked.
For whatever reason, they didn't even attempt to check the identity. They shot to kill.
Blossom pushed open the door to her run down shack that she had found at the edge of Manehattan. It was a perfect base of operations for her spree. She would have to find a new place when she went to wherever she was headed next, but that would hardly be an issue.
She bounced into the main room and saw her aunt reclining on the lumpy mattress she had laid out for herself. Rarity looked up when she came in and grinned at her niece. "So, how did it go?"
Blossom giggled and sat down next to a few rolled up scrolls. "They shot to kill. I doubt that poor mare even felt it."
Rarity eagerly sat up. "So, where are you headed next? Baltimare? Las Pegasus? Vanhoover?"
Blossom shrugged and unrolled one of the scrolls revealing a map of Equestria. She laid it out on the floor and placed a few small rocks on the edges to keep it flat. She cracked her neck and studied the map. "I could do another large city," she mused. "A smaller town would be excellent too. I'd have to do that one all in one night, though. Lessening the population of a town like Appleloosa will make it easier to catch me. I'd need to do all three in one night, then get the heck out of there."
Rarity trotted over to the map and looked over Blossom's shoulder. "Have you considered Ponyville? I'm certain that there are ponies there that could use a good slicing."
Blossom shook her head. "I already killed four residents last time I was there, I don't..."
Blossom was struck with silence, and her eyes trailed to the floor as she flattened her ears. "I killed my mom there too."
"Oh Blossom." Rarity sat down next to her and wrapped her in a hug. "I know that I was very protective of Sweetie Belle when I was alive, but what you did was very noble and generous." Rarity motioned to the map. "The ponies you kill in these towns and cities, well, you want to make them suffer. You want to instill fear in them so that their suffering is at maximum when they fall under your blade." She closed her eyes and nuzzled Blossom's cheek. "You didn't want that for Sweetie Belle."
Blossom slowly nodded and ran her hoof over the map. "I hurt," she whispered. "It hurt more than my face."
Rarity gave Blossom a sad smile and touched one of the bigger scars on Blossom's face. "You'll be okay, Blossom. I know it hurts now, but you have to kill the pain away. Tell me, don't you feel better after you've had a nice kill?"
"Yeah."
Rarity threw her hoof over Blossom's shoulder. "Well that's the key, isn't it? The more you kill the less it will hurt."
"She never wanted this for me," Blossom breathed.
"And that's why you protected her," Rarity pointed out. "Isn't she much happier in Paradise now? She's away from all of the darkness and pain of this world. She doesn't have to live in either of our shadows." Rarity's sad smile turned comforting. "She's free, and it's time for you to experience some of that yourself." Rarity tapped the map. "Let's begin the next round, shall we?"
Blossom wiped her eyes and looked back at the map. "I guess." She scanned it for a viable target and smiled when her eyes landed on one of the smaller towns. "And I think that I know just where to go."
* * * *
One week later
"Dodge City."
Princess Celestia glanced up from the latest Ghost report to see Beta and Zeta behind her. "That is where she is?"
Zeta shook her head. "No. That's where she was."
Celestia tightened her jaw and pushed the scroll away. "How many?"
"All three in one night," Beta replied. "She's probably long gone, but we're scouring the town just in case. The whole place is on lockdown."
Celestia nodded and got to her hooves. "Tell the guards to prepare my chariot. I want to have a hoof in the investigation. Luna can take care of things here. She needs the experience anyway."
Beta and Zeta bowed. "It will be done," Beta replied.
* * * *
Four hours later, Princess Celestia's chariot touched down in Dodge City. As she exited the chariot, the first thing that she noticed was how... empty the town was. Aside from a few guards, there was nopony on the streets. She looked confusedly at Zeta. "Where are they?"
"Hiding in their homes, which they won't have for much longer."
"Why not?"
The expressions of the two ghosts turned grim. "It's better if you just see it for yourself." Beta and Zeta beckoned Celestia onwards, and it wasn't long before the source of the problems became clear. In the center of the small town was the remains of a building. It had been set on fire, and there was a small crew of townsponies sitting next to a bunch of buckets which had been used to put out the fire.
That was not what Celestia cared about. What she focused her attention on was a trio of ponies under white sheets. "Her victims," Celestia whispered.
Beta nodded. "Yes. We recovered them from the wreckage. It's not pretty."
"Do we have any idea who they were?" Celestia inquired.
Zeta nodded. "As a matter of fact we do." The three ponies trotted up to the sheets, and Zeta pointed at the closest one. "Her name was Cherry Jubilee. She was the owner of this building which used to be a cherry processing plant." He motioned to the other two bodies. "They were night guards as far as we can tell." Zeta sighed and shook her head. "They weren't trained to take on a deranged murderer. If you'll permit me to hazard a guess, I'd say that she took them out in under an hour. They were lucky if she was that quick."
Celestia picked up on the implication and lifted up the sheet with Cherry Jubilee under it. Her eyes widened and she took a step back. The corpse was horribly burnt from being in the middle of the fire. Her mane and tail had been burn off in the fire, as well as a decent portion of her fur. To complete the picture, there were several large gash marks all over the body. Her left front hoof was missing and both of her ears had been cut off. Her stomach and face were covered in gash marks and to complete the ensemble, her face was stretched into a silent scream, revealing a few missing teeth.
Celestia covered her with the sheet once more and closed her eyes. "I take it the others aren't much better."
"I'm afraid not, Princess. What's worse is that if I'm familiar with her M.O., these ponies were alive when she did this to them."
"How is the town taking it?" Celestia questioned.
Zeta sighed and sadly glanced back at the town. "To be honest, Dodge City will become a ghost town in a few short weeks. The cherry orchard was the main source of income for a good ninety percent of the ponies here, and now that it's gone those ponies are all out of a job. Of course, that's on top of the fact that a The New Nightmare just killed here. They'd leave even if the orchard wasn't out of commission."
"Most of them will probably head out to Manehattan if I had to guess," Beta chimed in. "With Blossom having already hit it, it's the safest place to be right now."
"Ponyville potentially as well," Celestia muttered. She sighed and looked back to the burning building. "I will sent aid to this town at once. I will not have Blossom's actions destroy its economy. If they feel they need to leave to be safe, I will help them there as well. It is imperative that they have a home to return to when this is over."
"Of course, Princess," said Beta. "Shall we get the other four down here?"
"No, they are needed to scour the other cities to see where she may have gone," Celestia replied. "We have guards watching the train stations, correct?"
"Of course," Zeta confirmed. "No train leaves without every passenger being checked."
"Good." Celestia took a deep breath. "I want you to study a map of Blossom's activity. See if you can't discern a pattern."
"Yes, Princess." Beta bit her lip and shifted uncomfortably. "But I've been considering other options to catch her as well. Some more... uncivilized means."
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."
Beta cleared her throat. "Well... with her mother dead her only family is her father, sister, and step-mother, correct? If I understand correctly, she is still close to her sister. She could have easily killed her in Baltimare, but she didn't."
"What are you saying?"
Beta took a deep breath before responding. "We foalnap Comet and use her as bait to catch Blossom."
Celestia gasped, but stomped on the ground and flared out her wings. "I will not stoop to Blossom's level just to catch her!" she snarled. "She is only eight years old! To do such a thing would cause her much mental harm!"
"Would it be worth it to potentially save the lives of dozens of ponies?" said Zeta quietly.
"No." Celestia's eyes narrowed. "You are not to do such a thing. I order you to forget that option, is that clear?" The two Ghosts nodded and Celestia folded her wings. "Good. Now do as I ask and try to discern a pattern to Blossom's kills."
The Ghosts bowed. "Right away, Princess."