Taking Care of Animals

by Nicknack

Chapter 8

I don’t consider myself a violent mare. Sure, I know how to fight—the only farm girls who don’t grow up wrestlin’ with their brothers are the ones who don’t got any. But there’s a difference between know-how and doin’. Usually, I liked keepin’ my hooves clean, my ears open, and seein’ how peacably things could go from there.

All that vanished when Pink yelled “Surprise!” and jammed a knife into Earth Pony’s spine.

There weren’t time to look at Pony’s shocked, magenta eyes as she crumpled away from me, limp. I went for a weapon. If you’ve never been attacked in a movie projection booth, let me tell you—there aren’t many things good for hittin’ with. Best I could do was grab one of the film reels off the stack and whip it around in a two-hooved rage.

I saw that one in a movie once.

Course, it didn’t end great for me, neither. Pink dodged—landsakes, she was fast—and my swing kept me spinnin’. With my back to her, it took her all of a second to sling a white ribbon ’round my neck—or at least, that’s what I imagined it was.

“And don’t think I forgot about you, silly! We’ve got bobbing for apples, and your favorite: apple turnovers!”

I went cold, even as my throat clamped shut. Part of that fear made it easier to struggle hard as I could against that ribbon, but I was in the same death hold that over five dozen other ponies had been in by then. I gave it my all, but the harder I struggled, the harder my head throbbed, painfully, as everything drifted farther away, kinda soft-like.

The whole time, Pink kept musin’ about all the decorations of a party she’d set up for me. I was a bit preoccupied at the time, so I don’t remember the specifics. The important part was, she knew me, and even at the time, that didn’t sit right with me.

I kept slippin’ away until somepony yelled from far away. A blow landed, and Pink fell forward into me. I got the opportunity to steal a quick breath, and before she got her grip back, I smashed my head backwards. I felt a thick, solid connection, saw a few stars, but she let go of the ribbon long enough for me to scramble away and turn ’round.

Earth Pony was stabbin’ at Pink with what I thought was a bloody knife. Pink dodged, dodged, and then knocked it out of her hoof. When it clattered to the floor, I saw it was a cake-servin’ knife. Then, it occurred to me I there was a fight goin’ on, so I ought to make myself useful.

I ran into the fray right when Earth Pony threw a punch at Pink. She dodged into my tackle. I pinned her against the wall, but she slid down just in time for Earth Pony to put a mighty, splinterin’ dent in the wood.

The two of us turned to square off against Pink, who’d managed to get between us and the entrance to the booth. The three of us stared at each other for a moment—I was still tryin’ to catch my breath—and Earth Pony took off her coat. Her back had a pretty small wound she was bleedin’ out of, but it was tiny. That flimsy little raincoat of hers had somehow saved her life.

When she dropped it, it made a heavy-soundin’ thunk. I got a quick look at the inside of it, where she’d taped about a half dozen sheets of metal here and there.

Maybe that coat weren’t so flimsy after all.

That Pink, she giggled at us. Snapped my attention back to her, if I wanted to or not. She was somethin’ creepy. Her hair was streaked with dirt, her eyes were bloodshot, and—probably the worst of it—was her evil, skeletal smile.

She turned to Earth Pony and asked, “What’s the matter, Dashie? Don’t you want to come to the party?”

Like I said—somethin’ creepy. Took Earth Pony by surprise, too, by her wide eyes.

With a giggle, Pink flashed out the door to the booth.

“Son of a…” Earth Pony took off, three-leg dashin’ towards the door. I ran after her.

Down in the lobby, we were met by the owner of the theater; this time, he was splayed out over the concession stand and wearin’ a white ribbon. Mentally, I swore, but there weren’t time to grieve him.

For now, Earth Pony and I had an animal to take care of.

The streets outside were glarin’ bright when Earth Pony and I spilled out into them. We lost Pink for a horrified moment. I looked to the right, and Earth Pony shouted “There!” Without looking, I turned to the left—headin’ into the heart of Ponyville—and ran after my friend.

Once we had Pink in our sights, it was easy to keep on her tail. Very few ponies—I’d’ve guessed somethin’ less than two dozen in the whole town—were out in the streets. The ones who were gave our chase a wide berth.

When Pink led us through the deserted central square of Ponyville, Earth Pony shouted a new tactic at me: “Split up! Cut her off at the library!”

The library was on the other side of a row of businesses. Earth Pony kept takin’ the main road, so I turned and ran into an alleyway. Once I got there, overflowin’ trashcans and dumpsters lined the thin passage. I had to slow down to weave through ’em, and then I stepped in somethin’ squishy that made me slip up.

By the time I got out of the alley, Earth Pony whizzed through the intersection right by the library. I spat a curse and pushed myself even harder. Forget Pink; now I had to catch up with my partner.

It took some sprintin’ and heavy breathin’—not easy with a sore neck—but by the time we reached my old place of business, which was nearin’ the edge of town, I was runnin’ right behind Earth Pony. I had to give it to the girl—she ran fast for havin’ a broke leg.

“What happened?” she shouted over her shoulder.

“Alley obstacles.” I tried not to let on that I was gettin’ winded.

Earth Pony let out an exasperated grunt, but instead of cussin’ me out, she picked up speed. My legs were already sore—I had a workin’ mare’s endurance, but that was usually let out over the course of a day, not five minutes. I thought about Twilight, Rarity, and everyone else who’d been killed by that monster; that helped me push my legs through their achy flames.

It wasn’t enough.

Pink turned, headin’ deeper into Ponyville again. I felt helpless, like she weren’t interested in escapin’ through tactics and smarts. She could just outrun us, impossibly, forever.

When she took a turn down an alley, we had to split up just to keep an eye on her. That time, I took the main road, but I didn’t gain on Pink when she reemerged on the other end. Earth Pony billowed out after her; now, she was runnin’ behind me.

Over the wind in my ears, I heard Earth Pony let out a cry of desperation. I knew how she felt. All that we’d been through in the past few days—and heck, she’d been on that case for years—and it was gonna come to an end because she couldn’t catch the monster she was chasin’?

My hooves fell slower ’n heavier. We were almost right back at the movie theater by then, but I knew I couldn’t keep runnin’ anymore. I slowed down, hatin’ myself, and tryin’ to will my miserable legs to keep movin. Darn things wouldn’t listen.

Earth Pony ran past me, tears runnin’ down her face, and it was all I could do to keep up with her. She was mumblin’ something. I couldn’t make out most of the words, but I heard when she said “Twilight”, “Rarity”, and “Letting everypony down”.

I ain’t got an explanation for what happened next. Or, maybe I do, but at the time, I thought I was gettin’ delirious from lack of oxygen. Earth Pony’s cutie mark started glowin—at first, I thought it was the sun. But when they were glowin’ a bright, prismatic light, I knew somethin’ strange was goin’ on.

The light spread all around Earth Pony, formin’ a weird, rainbowy cocoon. I slowed down, but she kept runnin’, even when she weren’t more than a glowin’ blob with legs. I heard her say two final words:

“No. More.”

Then, she exploded.

I shielded my eyes at first, but when I looked where Earth Pony had been, a huge wave of rainbow light blasted out in a shockwave. It hit me like a rock, easily stronger’n any of the demolitions equipment I’d ever used in the quarry.

Once all that faded, a rainbow trail hung in the air, almost like light, ‘cept it was solid. As I stared, tryin’ to figure what that shimmerin’, beautiful color trail was, it started to fade. I ran to follow it, forgettin’ my earlier exhaustion.

Or maybe it’d just left me. As I started runnin’, I stepped over Earth Pony’s now-empty leg cast.

The trail led straight to Sugarcube Corner, of all places. When I got there, I could have followed the rainbow indoors. I didn’t need to. Up on the roof, Earth Pony had Pink backed against the edge.

Course, I had to do a double-take. Earth Pony, along with a gaze that spoke nothin’ short of pure murder, was sportin’ a pair of butterfly wings. That weren’t to say they were delicate. The things were sharp blades that crackled like lightnin’ and shimmered in every color of the rainbow.

They fit her perfectly, like a raw, elemental version of her personal drive and passion for the ponies she cared about.

“You got nowhere to go!” Earth Pony shouted. “Just give up!”

Just to make sure of that, I took up position on the ground below her. If she wanted to try jumpin’ off the roof, I could at least slow her down ’til Earth Pony flew down.

Pink didn’t seem too bothered. She just giggled.

“You’re under arrest, in the name of the Equestrian Bureau of Investigation. Pending investigation and trial—”

“Dashie…” Pink’s sing-song voice was shrill and sharp. “When’d you get so serious?”

Earth Pony’s eyes shot wide again, and instinctively, I knew it was a dirty trick. “Pony, look out!”

She reacted just in time, flappin’ her fancy new wings and dodgin’ a tackle from Pink. I ran ’round the building to cut her off again. Tryin’ to guess the whims of a madmare wasn’t exactly the best tactical position to be in, but it was easier ’n chasing her.

Earth Pony dropped her elbow down on Pink, hard. A couple of shingles broke off and fell towards me, so I had to dodge to keep watchin’ the rooftop spectacle.

Pink twisted her neck, lookin’ up at Earth Pony, and then down to me. Those blue eyes pierced me like knives, even when I saw an all-too-pony sadness flash through them. “And Applejack—”

I still didn’t know how she knew me, but hearin’ my name turned my stomach to ice.

She kept talkin’ to me. “How can you stand by when everypony’s just pretending things are what they aren’t? Isn’t that like lying?”

I got my wits back around me enough to shout up at her. “You’ve killed way too many of my friends for me to give half a darn ’bout whatever you’re goin’ on about.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Killed them? I just sent them to the party!”

Earth Pony threw a hoof into Pink’s side. That knocked the words out of her, and Pony shouted, “Enough, you sick freak! You’re going in a cage where you belong! No escape!”

Once again, Pink chilled me with a laugh. Only this time, it was less creepy because it was innocent-like, and more because it sounded exactly like the laugh I’d expect from a mare who’d killed over five dozen ponies in the past three years.

“Oh, Dashie, there is always an escape!”

Then, she leaned up and pulled Earth Pony into a kiss.

Pink slipped away from a wide-eyed, grimacin’ Earth Pony. As she ran, she laughed maniacally, headin’ to the far end of the roof—the one with a weathervane. I ran around to cut her off on the ground.

When I looked up again, Pink was wearin’ a white ribbon like a scarf. I puzzled over where she’d pulled it from, but only for a moment. She tied one end around the base of the weathervane, then she looked down straight at me.

“Sorry, Applejack. But now you and Dashie can’t go to the party with me!”

I just stood there with lead hooves, on the verge of tears I was so helplessly confused. She jumped off the roof, and her body twitched—just once—when the ribbon went taut with the dull thrum of an evil instrument and a thick, wet crack.

Over the past few days, I’d seen enough death to last me a lifetime. In time, the memories of Twilight’s and Rarity’s corpses softened and almost became bearable.

But with Pink, her death will probably haunt me to my own grave. She died a babblin’ maniac, and even though her limp body swayed like a ghost, her face stuck in a bright-eyed, wide-toothed grin. To me, it looked like she were laughin’.

Comments

[Alondro]

So.... what's Discord been doing all this time?

This does come after his reformation episode, after all.