"So let me get this straight...we gotta kill Pinkie?!" Applejack half-shouted, a shocked look on her face as Scootaloo told her what was going on. Scootaloo shook her head and sighed, speaking with a frustrated tone
"No! Look, the orb's done something to Pinkie's mind, it's putting her in a coma to prevent her from taking it back to its...shrine, or resting place, whatever! The point is, the orb is manifesting all of Pinkie's negative emotions and putting them into some sort of...copy of her. It's the combination of all the bad emotions and depressive feelings she had for the last Six years! Don't you see!? If we can kill Pinkamena, we can save my mom!!!" Rainbow Dash scratched her chin and muttered
"Alright...well what are we going to do about the orb? If it made...um...Pinkamena or whatever, then it'll notice when she's dead, right? Won't it like...make things more difficult or something?" Applejack nodded and looked over towards her marefriend with a nod
"Ah reckon' that's what it's waitin' for. Ah don't think it knows we're here, and ah think we should keep it that way..." Scootaloo nodded and looked towards the window, sighing and muttering
"We're going to have to take them both out at the same time...if we go after the orb first Pinkamena might come after us...and if we go after Pinkamena the orb might disappear or do something...worse. Applejack, you and Rainbow Dash should go after the orb...I'll deal with Pinkamena." Applejack looked towards Scootaloo with concern and put a hoof on her shoulder, whispering
"Are ya sure you can handle that Scootaloo...? You know it's...not really Pinkie out there...you'll be able to do it...right?" Scootaloo gulped, grimacing a little and nodding her head. Applejack nodded and looked towards Rainbow, motioning with her head that it was time to go "Come on RD...let's break into a mansion"
~~~
Rainbow Dash scanned the walls around the mansion, sighing and shaking her head "It's useless...there's no way in for an Earth Pony, There's too many sentries!" Applejack put a hoof to her chin and thought a moment, heading over to one of the houses and tipping a barrel over, rolling it towards Rainbow Dash. The rainbow mare raised an eyebrow in confusion but suddenly let her jaw drop as she saw Applejack bring a board over next. Rainbow Dash shook her head adamantly, saying with a stern voice "Nuh uh, no, WAY! Applejack this is crazy!" Applejack looked up at her after she dug in the snow, finding a small enough rock to hold between her hooves. She gave Rainbow a small smile and whispered
"Trust me Rainbow, this'll work, once I get inside, I'ma go find that orb thingy, and I'll bring it back over to the crashed window. Once you see me, you fly on over lickedy split, and we can high-tail it outta there!" Rainbow stood looked a little worried, frowning at the prospect of Applejack going in alone. She mumbled, looking dejected
"W...why can't I go with you?" Applejack put the board over the barrel, getting it centered and replying
"Because Sugarcube...I need you to create a distraction out here. make sure noone comes snoopin' for me, alright?"
Rainbow Dash sighed, looking towards the ground sadly, Applejack walking over to her and tilting her head up with her hoof. She whispered gently "Hay...I'm gonna be ok...alright? Nothing's gonna happen to us...not again." Rainbow Dash looked into her emerald eyes and whimpered
"B...but I...I'm scared Applej-" She was cut off as Applejack leaned forward, pushing her lips against Rainbow's and sighing through her nose. Rainbow let her worries ease away as she wrapped her front hooves around Applejack and pulled her tightly into their embrace, kissing her back in full. They stayed wrapped in one another's hold for what seemed like forever, both of them wishing this moment in the snow could last forever. But alas, Applejack slowly pulled away, staring into Rainbow's eyes and whispering gently
"Ah love you Rainbow...we're going to be fine...ah promise ya" Rainbow Dash sniffed and smiled a little, whispering back
"I love you too AJ...come on, let's get you set up." Applejack trotted over, sitting on her haunches on one end of the board, the stone in her hooves. Rainbow Dash fanned out her wings and soared upwards, looking down at Applejack and sighing, praying that her dearest would be ok. She closed her wings and began her plummet, angling her rear hooves just right so she would land directly on the board. Her descent came to an abrupt stop as she landed perfectly on the board and launched Applejack upwards, sending her forward towards the mansion. The guards were scanning the ground, and the Pegasus guards had just moved out of the way of AJ's flight path, their eyes diverted away from her. She clenched her eyes tight and turned in the mid-air, her back towards the mansion. The crash that emitted from the window was near-deafening, the country mare crashing through the window and sliding into a wall. She wasted no time in getting up, dropping the stone on top of the shattered glass and looking for a quick hiding spot. She noticed a wooden wardrobe in one of the halls and dashed towards it, opening the oak doors and slipping inside quickly, concealing herself in a few winter coats.
Loud hoofsteps ran by her as several shouts were heard throughout the hall
"What was that!?"
"Did anyone see what happened?!"
"Look sir, a stone...probably the local fillies...dumb bastards." Applejack let out a silent 'whew!', her plan working so far. She waited for a good ten minutes before poking her head out, looking around quickly and slipping out, heading down the hall.
~~~
Scootaloo cautiously walked down the snowy streets of North Koltzan, knife in her mouth and her wings shivering. She was terrified, to be honest, knowing an evil Pinkamena was stalking her or crawling through the shadows around her. It was a deadly game of cat and mouse...each of them moving in circles around the town...waiting...watching...preparing to meet in a deadly battle of blades and blood. The Pegasus had been trying to calm her mind during her trek, trying to come to terms with the fact that she would have to, in some way, kill her own mother.
Could she do it? She knew that this Pinkie wasn't really her mother but...it was still hard to rationalize it. She let out a tiny whimper and a loud squeak as something crashed loudly in the alley in front of her. An empty garbage can rolled out into the street, stopping and settling in the snow. She stopped, staring at the metal can, shivering. Gulping, she took a gentle step forward, sweating a little and keeping her eyes on the corner. She slowly looked around the edge, her contracted pupils looking about quickly, darting back and forth and seeing nothing. She let out a sigh of relief, preparing to move back when an icy pain cut across her back and she yelped loudly. Jumping forward and turning, she gasped as she saw Pinkamena, hair poofy and her eyes wide and wild. She looked like she was panting, a bloody meat cleaver in her hoof the widest, creepiest smile she had ever seen in her life. Scootaloo looked over her shoulder and gave a loud 'EEP!', realizing that Pinkamena had left a slash mark going up her back, blood leaking down her side in a few lines. She turned and stared in horror as Pinkamena stood on her rear hooves, holding her cleaver up high and screaming
"HI SCOOTALOO!!!! ARE YOU READY TO PARTY!?!!?!"
Scootaloo screamed as she ducked, the butcher's knife soaring over her head with a sharp shriek of the wind. She turned and bolted, running down the alley way as Pinkamena's explosive, overjoyed voice boomed out behind her "WAIT! COME BACK!!! THE PARTY'S GOING TO BE FUN!!! WE'LL HAVE CUPCAKES AND BAKING AND EYEBALLS, OH MYYY!!!!!!" Scootaloo's wings were snapped to her side out of fear and pure adrenaline, her hooves carrying her forward faster than maybe even Applejack at her best. She huffed for breath, turning her head for just a moment to look behind her. She shrieked and ducked as the cleaver came spinning through the spot her neck had just been in like a disc. It hit the side of a house with a loud 'TWHACK', the black embedding itself in the wood. Scootaloo bolted to the left from the T-intersection, hearing Pinkamena rip her blade free of the wood and shout "DON'T YOU WANNA PARTY SCOOTALOO!? WE COULD HAVE SO MUCH FUN!!! YOU WOULD MAKE A GREAT SOURCE OF DECORATIONS!"
~~~
Applejack moved silently down the hallway, ducking back behind curtains and statues to avoid being seen by panicking guards. Apparently a rainbow-maned Pegasus was dropping rocks on them from the sky...giving Applejack the distraction she needed. She had gotten a chance to study a layout of the mansion when she slipped into a Janitor's closet as the guards rushed by, and thought that her best bet would be the Atrium near the center of the mansion. She poked her head out from behind the statue she hid behind and looked back and forth, galloping quickly towards the door at the end of the hall. She pushed it open and gasped, the Atrium opening up before her. It was a rotunda sort of room, the walls black as night and a few torches burning on the walls. What her eyes centered on however, was The Orb, sitting on a small pedestal in the middle of the room, raised on a short marble column.
She approached cautiously, tipping her hat off for a moment to reveal a white cloth she tied into her mane. Slipping it off her head and reapplying her hat, she prepared to cover the orb with the cloth. As she reached towards it however, a hoof smacked her hand away, causing her to fly back. An elderly looking colt had approached, his coat a faded grey and his mane a little darker. Applejack kept her distance, circling around the column as the elderly colt spoke
"I believe you are trespassing in my home Miss...you do not have any right to be galloping about on Lord Alexi's estate! I will never left you steal from me my precious artifact!" Applejack snorted steam through her snout and spoke with a venom in her voice
"That there orb ain't caused anythin' but trouble, and ahm walking out ah here with it!" Lord Alexi raised an eyebrow as he scoffed, sizing up the country mare.
"You? Take away MY precious darling? Like I would EVER DARE to let your inbred hooves touch my glorious glass, you hic'!" Applejack glared daggers as she pushed the brim of her hat forward, uttering with supreme anger in her voice
"That does it...put em up asshole..." She let out a shout and charged Lord Alexi, the colt running towards her as well with equal vigor and dove, both of them colliding and rolling about, bucking and punching. Applejack swung with her right hoof, catching the lord in his snout and turned, bucking him full force in his stomach with her back hooves. Those who know Applejack knew if you ever got in the way of her super-power pony buck...that somepony was just plain askin' for it. Lord Alexi flew backwards, clutching his stomach as Applejack rushed forward, ready to deliver another buck with her mighty hooves. However, it was in this moment that Alexi chose to rush forward, one hoof clutching his stomach, but the other extending outward and clothes lining Applejack, hitting her square in the throat. She fell on her back, holding her throat and retching.
Alexi scoffed and trotted over to one of the near windows, opening it a tiny bit and shouting
"GUARDS!!! Hurry up out there! Put that Rainbow bitch down and take of this imbr-" He was silenced as two swift back hooves smashed against the back of his skull with a sickening crack. Alexi flew forward, smashing through the window and spiraling downwards with a horrendous scream. Applejack coughed, sitting on her haunches and holding her throat, still retching a tiny bit. She heard the beat of wings and the crunching of glass, her eyes darting up quickly, her hooves ready for more. She dropped them however, sighing in relief as Rainbow floated through the door, landing and running up to her, shouting
"Applejack! Are you ok? Oh baby you're hurt!" She put a gentle cyan hoof on her throat, looking at her with an intense feeling of worry. Applejack shook her head, speaking with a very hoarse voice
"N...nuttin' too it! We gotta...g..get that orb!" Rainbow Dash pushed her lips against Applejack's gently for a moment, pulling back and whispering
"Shhh....save your voice, I'll grab the orb"
~~~
"HOLD STILL DEAR, IT'S HARD TO CUT YOU IF YOU RUN!!! YOU SILLY FILLY!" Pinkamena cackled, laughing in hysterics as she swung her butcher's cleaver erratically, one of her swings clipping Scootaloo in the leg. The orange mare yelped and started to limp, hobbling around another corner and trying as hard as she could to keep away from her. She didn't know how she was going to kill Pinkamena now. She rushed out of the alley and gasped, looking around her frantically. She was standing in a walled off courtyard, her only escape route behind her. She heard a tiny giggle and she started to turn her head slowly, her pupils contracting with fear. Her eyes shifted to the right to look down the alley and froze. Mere inches from her right eye, a pink eye was staring directly into hers. "Boo!"
Scootaloo screamed and jumped away, Pinkamena laughing hysterically and crying tears...tears of blood. "Oh!!! OH Scootaloo, you're so FUNNY!" She started to approach the orange mare slowly, a wide grin and savage eyes set on her face. Scootaloo backed up, her knife still tucked between her teeth. She held the blade up, shaking as he squeaked
"S...stay back! I'll cut you!" Pinkamena simply laughed before galloping forward, screaming
"SILLY FILLY, YOU CAN'T CUT ME, IT'S MY JOB TO CUT YOU!"
Blades clashed as Scootaloo directed her knife up defensively, blocking the meat cleaver with a ringing of metal. She shoved the blade off, moving to cut Pinkamena but receiving a buck in the side, sending her sprawling away. She had just enough time to stagger up and hold her head up as Pinkamena's cleaver came down, crashing again into Scootaloo's knife. Pinkamena brought the cleaver up and swung to the left, hitting the blade so hard that Scootaloo couldn't keep her grip and the knife flew over towards the entrance to the alley, landing in the snow. Pinkamena started to laugh even hard, tears of blood flowing from her eyes and her eyes manic and filled with thoughts of insanity. She suddenly let out a cry of surprise as Scootaloo tackled her full on, the both of them tumbling in the snow and rolling about, swiping at once another. Scootaloo tried to pin Pinkamena down, hitting her across the face with her left hoof, but was suddenly thrown off by a quick shove, Pinkamena rushing forward with her cleaver and swinging. She caught Scootaloo in her right side and let out a cry of delight as Scootaloo screamed in agony, falling backwards and holding her bleeding side. She tried to crawl, dragging herself through the snow, the white of the falling spectacles turning into a sickening red as blood oozed out between her hooves.
Scootaloo cried, tears flowing from her eyes as she tried to get away, tried to crawl, just to live. She felt a hoof against her side and in the next moment she was flung onto her back, her legs pinned as Pinkie straddled her, her cleaver raised high up in the air. Scootaloo looked up with fear, and regret, knowing she had failed and broken her one final promise to her mother. Just as the Cleaver started to come down, Pinkamena's head jerked forward a moment as a loud 'THUD' echoed across the courtyard. Pinkamena stared down at Scootaloo for a moment before slowly tipping to the left, her cleaver dropping and her body hitting the snow, a knife sticking out of the back of her head.
Pinkie Pie stood near the front of the alley, her head still bowed from the momentum she used to hurl Scootaloo's knife at her own darkened self. She limped over to Scootaloo, sitting on her haunches and pulling her severely wounded daughter in her arms, tears brimming in her eyes. Scootaloo looked weakly towards her mother and whispered
"M...momma? You...you're awake?" Pinkie nodded, smiling a little as she said
"I had to save up my strength...use what I could of it to find you...I didn't want you to have to face her alone...I'm so sorry baby!" She nuzzled Scootaloo's face, crying hot tears of sadness as Scootaloo weakly held her back, her own tears slowly dripping down her face.
~~~
"Just hang on, we'll make it....we'll make it sweetie!" Pinkie groaned, trudging through the snow with Scootaloo on her back. It was just then that a pair of voices shouted
"Pinkie Pie!!!" Turning her head to the left, Pinkie saw an orange and a cyan mare running towards her. She sighed happily before shouting
"Applejack! Dashie!" The two mares approached, Rainbow Dash smiling with glee at first but quickly frowning as she stared in horror at Scootaloo, draped across Pinkie's back.
"S...Scoots?" Pinkie gently sank to her belly, turning to Applejack and with an urgent tone, spoke
"Applejack, please...please take Scootaloo to the hospital...I know you have questions, I'll answer ALL of them! But please, I have to finish this, this needs to end once and for all! Rainbow Dash you come with me, ok?" Rainbow Dash nodded as Applejack slowly sank to her own belly besides Scootaloo, letting Pinkie gently shift her daughter onto the country pony's back. Pinkie got up, nodding to Applejack to nodded back, rushing down the street towards the hospital. She watched the country mare's form disappear around a corner and she sighed, feeling a comforting hoof on her shoulder. Pinkie turned and nodded her head to Rainbow Dash, turning to leave, but stopping for a moment to look back, whispering to the wind
"Please...hurry!"