Let The Games Begin
“So, you ready to get started, Rainbow Dash? I’ve got everything all ready,” the pink pony said.
Dash psyched herself up. “You betcha, Pinkie. So what do ya got planed? We gonna prank somebody? I got a couple of good ones I’ve been thinking about. Or maybe you’ve got some stunts you think I should try? Or perhaps…”
“MAKING CUPCAKES!” Pinkie happily announced.
“Baking?” Dash was disappointed. “Pinkie, you know I’m not good at baking. Remember last time?”
“Oh that’s not a problem at all. I only need your help making them. I’ll be doing most of the work,” Pinkie explained.
Dash thought for about it for a second. “Well, alright, I guess that’s ok. What exactly do you need me to do?”
“That’s the spirit. Here you go.” Pinkie handed Dash a cupcake.
Dash was puzzled “I thought I was helping you bake.”
“You will be. I made this one just for you before you got here.
“So, is this like taste testing or something?”
“Sorta,” Pinkie said.
Dash shrugged and popped the pastry in her mouth. She chewed a bit and swallowed. Not bad.
“Ok, now what?” Dash asked.
“Now,” Pinkie informed her, “You take a nap.”
Puzzled, Dash opened her mouth but felt instantly lightheaded. A wave of dizziness washed over her, the world spun, and seconds later she collapsed to the floor.
One Year Later
Luna elegantly strolled into the throne room where her sister sat. Being the princess of the night, she usually felt it best to look as regal as possible, even when addressing her own sister, except in the mornings. She hated mornings. As of now though, it was the middle of the night, and to take a call from her sister at this time was unusual.
"What is it, sister?" Luna asked in a respectful tone. "Does something trouble you?"
Celestia gave Luna a somber stare. "The Element of Loyalty has been missing for a year now. I fear for the safety of my ponies."
Luna looked down at the floor, breaking eye contact. "I know how you feel, and I have had the same worries. I have been searching the dreams of all citizens for the past year, yet I have seen nothing to indicate any of them being malicious."
A sigh escaped past Celestia's lips. Her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, and her hair did not flow the way it usually did. It was disheveled and had lost its luster, a sign that she was stressed. Luna had seen this once before a thousand years ago, when Sombra had reign over the Crystal Empire.
"Sister, you should sleep. It is our turn to watch over Equestria," Luna assured. She walked over to her beloved sibling and pulled her into a hug. "I miss her, too," she whispered. She may not have known Rainbow Dash all that well, but she had to say something to comfort her sister.
"Oh, Lulu. Thank you so much," said Celestia. She buried her face into the crook of Luna's neck and pulled away to head out. "I'll go get some sleep. Again, thank you. I will be in my room if you have need of me."
As Celestia left the room, Luna stared ahead with a serious expression. She could only imagine the pain her sister felt. Now wasn't the time for sympathy though, for the citizens needed her this night.
Closing her eyes, Luna focused deeply, and soon she had projected herself into the dream realm. Small light motes flitted in the darkness, each flicker showing a glimpse of somepony's dream. All was peaceful in her domain.
But then, a cry for help met her ears. It wasn't coherent, but it was distressed, and that was enough for her to take action. As she approached the mote of light, it expanded so that she may freely enter.
Luna flew into the dream, and what met her eyes was a horror unlike any other. Visions of blood and organs filled her head, making her reel in disgust. Streamers of dried intestines, had been hung from the ceiling of a darkened room. In the center of the room was a rack, and upon it was a flayed corpse of a familiar blue pegasus, its eyes wide open and lifeless.
"Rainbow Dash?" She cautiously approached the body and noticed that Dash's insides had been surgically removed, leaving behind nothing but an empty shell. "What monstrosity would do this?"
A high pitched giggle startled Luna out of her thoughts. "And a little of this, and a bit of that, and some of this! Almoooost done!"
"Who goes there?" Luna called out, only to hear another giggle.
“Oh, Dashie! We had such a great time together! I just wish we could have had more fun!" A voice from behind Luna said.
Luna turned around and noticed somepony sitting in the corner of the room, shrouded in darkness. "Are you responsible for this?" She asked as she approached. The figure seemed to be rocking back and forth, and Luna couldn't help but notice... a tuft of pink from its mane. "Pinkie?" She asked, causing the figure to stop.
"You shouldn't be here," the pink mare said in a cheerful tone. Almost immediately after she said that, she lunged at Luna, knocking her out of her dream state.
Luna planted, sweat rolling down her face. "P-Pinkie Pie?" After a few seconds of panting, she shook her head. "It couldn't be... I must see for myself!"
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The darkness of night enveloped Luna as she lurked through the alleyways and the streets of Ponyville, making her way to Sugarcube Corner. The place had always seemed cheerful, even in the dark. Luna went over her thoughts as she came closer to the building.
If Pinkie really was the cause of everything that had happened in the past, then Luna would have no choice but to deal swift justice. An execution of somepony hadn't been done in Equestria for over a thousand years. Celestia, being the peaceful sister, had never been one to do these kinds of things, so the duty had fallen to Luna.
Time passed swiftly, and soon Luna was slipping under the cracks of the shop's door in the form of a shadow, her magic doing its work. She reformed on the other side, now inside. Not a single soul was in sight. This was good, though. The Cake couple couldn't witness what was about to occur.
Luna made her way up the stairs to the bedrooms, making sure to use her magic to make her lighter, so as not to creak the floorboards. As she passed by the Cakes' room, she could see both of them sleeping peacefully. All was going according to plan.
She finally reached the room at the end of the hallway. Pinkie's door was slightly open, making Luna's job easier. She snuck through the doorway, finding Pinkie's room to be... empty.
"Wh-What?!" Luna's eyes darted across the room, trying to find the pink pony. Suddenly, she felt something, or rather somepony, drop upon her back, slipping something over her horn and shoving a rag in her face. Luna struggled with all her might, but before long, she fell unconscious.
Some time had passed before Luna opened her eyes again. She was in a dark room, and she could hear the sound of dripping water. “Wha… H-Hello?” she called out. No answer. She tried to move, only to find that she was strapped to a wooden board, all fours spread out. When she moved her leg, it didn't budge. Instead, all that happened was she pulled her shoulder trying to move her foreleg.
“What is this!?' She thought. Luna tried moving her other limbs, but found they were all immovable. “Pinkie!” she called out. “Release me!”
She received a giggle in response. “All work and no play makes Luna a dull pony!” she said cheerfully. The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, but that didn’t make sense. She couldn’t possibly do that, could she? Angered, Luna focused through her horn, and suddenly received a jolt back into her and received a painful shock down the length of her horn. She cried out, mostly from surprise. "What…was that?" Confused, she tried the illumination spell again. She received the same painful shock. "Ow!"
“You can’t use your magic here!” said Pinkie. “I put a nifty little ring on your horn that blocks magic! Borrowed it from Twilight. Apparently she’s into some weird stuff!”
“You killed Rainbow Dash! How could you harm another pony?! She was your best friend!” Luna asked fiercely.
“Killed Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie let out a giggle, one that was higher pitched than usual. “Oh, silly! I didn’t kill her! She’s right here! With us!”
Luna went silent for a few seconds before asking, “What do you mean by that?”
Out of the darkness came a pony-shaped silhouette. It was unrecognizable at first, but as Luna narrowed her eyes and picked up the details, she realized the true horror that was in front of her.
There, in front of Luna, was Rainbow Dash, wings outstretched. However, that’s where the normalcy ended. Her eyes were a sky blue, same as Pinkie’s and she even had Pinkie’s trademark smile. Parts of her coat were rubbed off, showing the gray skin underneath, and some of the spots were covered in dried brown spots.
“Pinkie… is that… is that her skin?!” Luna asked, trying to hold back her lunch. Pinkie Pie had indeed been wearing the skin of her former best friend, Rainbow Dash, and was acting like nothing was wrong.
“Pinkie? Oh, no, silly! I’m Rainbow Dash!” she exclaimed excitedly. “And we’re going to have fun, just like Pinkie and I had!”
Luna’s mind flashed back to the dream, to when she had seen Dash’s corpse flayed open. “You… You’re a monster! You won’t get away with it! I won’t let you!” Her horn flashed brightly, but no matter how much power she put out, she was given back the same amount of power in a jolt.
“Oooooh! Good thing that ring was on! You could’ve hurt yourself!” Pinkie walked into the darkness momentarily and came back, pushing a large chest. “Don’t worry! We’ll get rid of that pesky horn soon enough! Then you’ll be safe!”
“P-Pinkie!” Luna thrashed in her restraints, but to no avail. She was trapped, and was at the mercy of a psychotic pink mare. “P-Please? Let me go…”
“Aww! You’re no fun!” Pinkied said as she opened the chest. “You’re acting like a little foal!” She put a hoof to her chin and thought for a second. “Hm… If you’re gonna be a foal, we should treat you like one!”
“Wh-What?” Luna blinked tears from her eyes, worried for her own safety.
“Is the little foal hungry?” Pinkie asked. “I have some goodies that’ll help!” She reached into the chest and pulled out an ominous-looking jar. Inside looked to be a mishmash of different fluids and paste, all kinds of colors swirling together, but the most prominent color was red.
“N-No…” Luna struggled some more, even know she knew it was pointless. Faust knew what was in that container.
Pinkie popped off the lid, humming to herself as she dipped in a spoon and pulled out a chunk of a rather fleshy portion of paste. “Here comes the traaaaiiin!” she said as she moved the spoon closer and closer to Luna’s mouth. Luna kept her mouth shut tight. If she kept it closed, Pinkie couldn’t do anything… right?
“Hm… Looks like the little foal needs some encouragement!” Pinkie pulled a knife out from the chest, before Luna could say anything, Pinkie suddenly thrust it into Luna’s side, making the princess cry out in pain. She felt like she was burning from the inside out. She struggled as she tried to move away from the pain but to no avail. As soon as her mouth opened, Pinkie shoved the spoonful into Luna’s mouth. “There we go!” The taste was absolutely awful, with high levels of iron in it. Luna tried spitting it out, but before she could, Pinkie slapped a piece of duct tape over Luna’s mouth.
“No, silly! You’re supposed to swallow!” Pinkie said cheerfully. “C’mon, little foal! You can do that, can’tcha? Do it for auntie Dashie!” Luna felt that if this game went on any further, she would go mad. Seeing no other choice, she forced down the chunks of paste, her stomach actively protesting and performing flips. Her face turned green as she suddenly started to vomited, the duct tape holding back most of it.
“SWALLOW!” commanded Pinkie, twisting the blade in Luna’s side and kicking her in the eye with a hoof, bruising the eye. Luna cried out again, her voice muffled. She forced down the chunks of paste and vomit, tears streaming down her face. Her mind with spinning as she tried to comprehend what was happening to her.
“There we go! Now isn’t that better?” Luna screamed at Pinkie through the tape, cursing her and lashing out with her horn, trying to at the very least stab the pink one.
“Now, Luna…” Pinkie said in a more serious tone. “You should be more thankful. Those little thestrals did their best to make this.” Luna’s eyes widened. Did she say… little thestrals? As in… bat pony children? “They wanted to show you how good a teacher you are!”
Luna’s eyes slowly widened as she realized… Pinkie had fed Luna her own students from night class, the one she had volunteered for the night before all of this. Pinkie had murdered them, and she wasn’t the least bit remorseful. Luna struggled against her restraints, making Pinkie shake her head in disappointment.
“You’re gonna make them sad,” said Pinkie, giving the captive princess a pouty look.
Luna gave Pinkie a glare that clearly said ‘Go fuck yourself.’ Inside, she was seething with a mix of rage, disgust and sadness. Rage at the pink one for committing these horrible acts, disgust from the grotesque meal she was forced to down, and sadness for the small thestrals.
Pinkie put the spoon and jar back into the chest. She then looked at the knife inside of Luna. With a happy grin, she bit down on the handle and began twisting it, making Luna scream through the duct tape. Pinkie pulled the knife out in one swift motion and spat it out from her mouth.
“Stop crying, ya big baby!” she said with a bit of laughter. “It’s just a flesh wound!” She leaned closely to the gaping hole in Luna’s side and sniffed at it, giggling. “Fresh batter! Just like Rainbow Da--”
She stopped, her brain trying to register the situation. “Wait… Rainbow? Dashie? N-No, silly. I’m R-Rainbow Dash!” she said to herself, trying to piece together a messed up puzzle in her mind.
Luna looked at Pinkie’s face, which showed a mix of feelings, from regret, to happiness, to confusion. Luna mentally chalked it up to Pinkie having possibly lost her mind years ago, if she had ever had one.
“I’m… going to go now,” said Pinkie with a blank stare on her face. “I need to think…” Absentmindedly, she reached into the chest and pulled out a syringe. Humming softly to herself, she tapped the end, making droplets spill out of the tip before she slid it into Luna’s fore leg.
Luna, surprised and scared out of her wits, struggled with all her might, but Pinkie kept Luna’s fore leg still.
“Shhhh… It’s okay, little foal. You’ll be asleep soon. Auntie D-Dashie will be back tomorrow to play some more…” She pulled out the needle and climbed up on the rack Luna was strapped to, looking her in the eyes. “Shush now, little one,” she said as Luna’s eyes slowly drifted closed.
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Some time later…
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A burning pain in Luna’s hind legs startled her awake. As she opened her eyes, flames filled her vision and she screamed in terror. Had she died and been sent to the deepest depths of Tartarus?
“Oh, stop! Don’t you want some breakfast? Lookie lookie! I made pancakes!” Pinkie turned down her flamethrower until the fire shrank into a tiny blue flicker. She held up a pan to Luna, the smell of buttermilk pancakes invading Luna’s nose.
Luna finally noticed the piece of tape on her mouth was missing, as were any traces of vomit. Pinkie must have had removed it while Luna was asleep.
“Wait… it’s morning?” Luna asked, wondering how long she’d been out.
“Not exaaaactly,” replied Pinkie. “It’s really late at night. You’ve been asleep all day, so I thought, ‘Why not cook Luna some goodies?!’”
“Why would you do this?” asked Luna with a raised brow, wary of her pink torturer.
“Gotta keep ya alive somehow! If I don’t, then we wouldn’t be able to play all the games I have planned!”
“G-Games?” Luna squinted her eyes.
“Yeah! I made games specifically for you! We're going to have so much fun. I have so many games planned out all just for you. I'm so excited to get started.” Pinkie exclaimed as she flipped a pancake.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Well, everypony needs a lesson!” explained Pinkie. “I know I did when Pinkie played with me! She did it out of love, though! I’ll never leave her ever again!”
“You still think you’re Rainbow Dash?” Luna shook her head in disgust.
”I AM RAINBOW DASH!” Pinkie screamed as she turned up the flamethrower. Fire spewed across the room and lit up the dark corners, revealing several charred corpses and… was that a filly? Luna focused her vision, but she couldn’t for as soon as the light appeared, it flickered away.
“Who was that?!” Luna cried out, making Pinkie cease her tantrum. Pinkie’s lips curled up into a big smile and then she turned to Luna.
“That’s our surprise guest! She's going to be participating in our first activity,” said Pinkie as she ran into the darkness. Muffled screams could be heard from within the shadows, and they grew louder and louder as Pinkie pushed the tied up guest filly out into the dim light. She was light green, with beautiful blue eyes. Her mane was very well-kept, and her tail was rather short.
“P-Pinkie? What are you going to do with her?” asked Luna fearfully.
“This is your breakfast!” Pinkie replied, placing her hooves on the filly’s shoulders and pushed her forward.
Luna blinked and looked at the pancakes Pinkie had been flipping earlier. “Then… what are those for?”
“For me, silly!” answered the pink psychopath. She went into the darkness, and for a while, clicking noises could be heard. Corresponding with the noise, Luna’s table lifted itself up via some unseen mechanism and moved her so she was face-to-face with the filly. Luna was only mere inches from the guest’s head.
“Wh-Where’s my mom?” asked the filly, scared out of her wits. “How do we get out of here?”
“Shh. I’ll find us a way out of here,” whispered Luna. Before she could do anything though, Pinkie had returned, holding a pair of razor sharp false teeth. They looked similar to… Nightmare Moon’s teeth.
“You sure are lucky you get to have such a delicious meal! I’m full, so I couldn’t eat another bite!” said Pinkie as she shoved the teeth into Luna’s mouth. Luna tried to spit them back out, but they had been fixed with a super glue of sorts, preventing her from defying Pinkie.
“I won’t do it,” Luna stated matter-of-factly. “This sick game of yours shall not continue any longer.”
“When you were Nightmare Moon, do you think you would’ve done anything to make the night last forever?” Pinkie asked, grinning.
“What does that have to do with this?” Luna asked in response. “Are you trying to teach me something? Cease your games now!”
“Let’s pretend this filly is Celestia!” Pinkie exclaimed, rocking the filly’s chair back and forth violently. She eventually stopped and let the dizzy filly take a breather. “And you are the big mean snooty Nightmare Moon!”
Luna glared at Pinkie with malice. “You’ll pay for all of this!” Luna shouted. Pinkie just hummed a tune as she pointed the flamethrower behind the table before turning up the flame. Luna could feel the scorching heat against her back through the splintery wooden table. And the metal chains that held her legs down became even more heated, burning off some of her fur. She let out grunts of pain and snarled. The pain was increasing in waves, small lulls giving false hope of an end. Each peak robs her ability to speak. It's as though her blood has become acid, intent of destroying her from the inside out. All she could do is writhe, the occasional whimper escaping to echo off the walls.
“C’mon, big snooty! Bite Celestia! You want the night to last forever!” Pinkie let out a mock evil laughter.
“Stop it!” Luna cried. The filly looked at her with pleading eyes.
“P-Please don’t do it,” the filly said with a shaky voice.
“C’mon, Nightmare Moon! It’s playtime!” Pinkie aimed the flames at Luna’s front hooves, effectively burning off all the fur and sizzling the flesh. Luna screamed in agony as she felt the fire strip off her skin little by little.
“N-Never!” Luna cried through the pain. The filly was also crying at this point as well, tears flowing down her face.
“Oh, come on. Playtime is like riding a unicycle while juggling bowling pins covered in cookie dough! Once you learn, you never really forget.” Pinkie pulled the crying filly closer to Luna’s mouth. “You don’t want Mr. Blowtorch to tickle your hooves again, do you?”
Luna’s sobbing grew louder. She tried to hide her eyes with her ruined forelegs, trying to curl herself into a ball, but to no avail. “Please, please not this!” she cried. Through a bruised eye, she glanced at the filly, who was watching her through a film of half-dried tears.
“P-Princess! It’s me, Clover Thicket!” said the filly. “I-I was having a nightmare last week about falling off a mountain and you saved me! Remember?” Luna stared at her. Through the haze of exhaustion and suffering, she recalled a little green face, and frightened forelegs locked around her hoof.
There was a growl of flames behind her. One of her rear hooves ignited in searing agony. She screamed, trying to kick away the unbearable pain, accomplishing nothing but jolting her side wound open. Her thick, heavy chains held her fast, keeping her exposed hoof in the path of the blazing blue flame of Pinkie’s torch. She bled, and burned, until at last she cried.
Stars forgive me!”
She lashed out, and bit deep into Clover.
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The next night...
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Luna stared into the darkness, thoughts clouding her mind. "I'm a monster," she whispered to herself. The memory of Clover Thicket's lifeless body hanging from Luna's mouth made her stomach lurch. She couldn't sleep that night at all, for she felt like she didn't deserve it. She felt like she was trapped in a big void. A dark void. A never ending dark void that consumes everything, so that she was left feeling nothing. Empty. Nothing to subside her hollow soul that creeps in the shadows, away from any other form of life because it's emptiness is so consuming it cannot bare to pretend that everything is okay. But nothing was okay. She was trapped at the hooves of Pinkie who been killing innocent lives for who knows how long and now was doing the same to her. Even up to the point where Pinkie got Luna to kill a young innocent poor filly. Something that Luna never saw herself ever doing.
The humming of a certain pink torturer emanated from within the darkness, growing closer until Pinkie stepped into the light, still wearing the skin of Rainbow Dash. "I take it you enjoyed your meal last night? Super yummy, huh?"
Luna just stayed silent, the acts of last night weighed heavy on her soul. How would she explain this to Clover's parents? The thought of them breaking down after finding out what happened to their daughter... Luna didn't think she could go through that.
"Uh oh! Looks like you need some motivation today!" Pinkie said, giggling. "Luckily, I brought just the thing tonight!" She reached into her chest of goodies and pulled out two long cords. It took Luna a few moments to realize what they were.
"These jumper cables are pretty handy when you wanna start up your easy bake confetti cake cannon without using the normal means. I really like how they make your whole body feel rejuvenated, too!" Pinkie let out a series of manic giggles.
After having her fit of laughter, she walked up to Luna and attached one cable to her horn, then she attached the second cable to Luna's right wing. The teeth of the cable biting down on Luna's sensitive wings made her flinch.
"Just let me go," Luna whispered weakly. Pinkie put a hoof to her ear.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" she asked with a wide smile.
"LET ME GO!" Luna screamed. "The stars damn you! Damn you to the lowest pits of Tartarus! I hope you burn! I hope you bleed! I hope you suffer! You are an abomination!"
"Aww! Why you gotta be a party pooper?" Pinkie shook her head, looking disappointed. "It's okay though! A little jumpstart and you'll be right as rain!" She walked the other end of the long cords into the darkness. "Now, where's that battery? HERE IT IS!"
Suddenly, Luna's body began to jerk violently. She opened her mouth in a silent scream, unable to let out any noise. It was as if something were messing with her voice. In fact, she couldn't do much of anything but shake. Eventually, though, it stopped, and Luna was left to breathe again.
"Hm... That wasn't the effect I was looking for," Pinkie's voice said from within the shroud of darkness. "Maybe a bigger battery?"
Luna's body immediately went into another fit of spasms. This time, she could feel pain, and could even smell the burning of her flesh. Through the agony, Luna could actually just barely let out a scream. Just as she felt her body was about to give out, the process ended. Her throat gurgled as she struggled to breathe, spitting blood. Her body was shaking as she began to sweat much to Pinkie’s pleasure.
"Ooh! I like this one!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Again!"
Unable to get a break, Luna's body once again went into the same electrical spasms as before. She could feel her heart struggling to pump blood. Her eyes began to feel heavy. She felt her body slowly giving up.
Was this it? Was this the end? Was she going to die at the hooves of Pinkie?
A scary but at the same time almost relieving thought to Luna. She would no longer be able to see her sister and her friends. She wouldn't be there for her sister and she knew how much this would crush her. All of her time in the dream realm would come to an end and she wouldn't be there for Celestia to laugh, joke around and just love her. She would be dead and the worst part would be that nopony would know how or why just like Rainbow Dash. But yet, at the same time she wouldn't have to suffer anymore. Pinkie Pie wouldn't be able to hurt her. Darkness crawled into the edges of her vision. She was ready to let go. She almost felt the sweet release of death, but then it all stopped, leaving her to pant for air in shock.
"You... you coward! Kill me!" she screamed. "End it! Please! I can't take this!"
"But then we'll never get to play again!" Pinkie argued happily. "Don't you want to keep playing?"
"No! No!" Luna's face became riddled with tears. The sound of the droplets falling to the floor echoed through the room. "Please! Make it stop!"
"Looks like you need another jolt!" said Pinkie.
Luna whimpered and whispered. "Please, no... Please, please, please, ple-"
Her entire body tensed up as another electric wave passed through. She screamed and writhed in agony.
"STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!"
A flood of tears came through as an electric shock from the wound went through her body. Her mind screamed out as the pain drove through her back. She started to become confused as the burning pain licked up her back like a scorching fire. She wept at her own suffering. Anger swiped through at this chaos; the pain was merciless without any way to escape.
After what seemed like hours, the jolts stopped, and Luna sobbed. "Please no. Stars, why?!"
Pinkie walked into the light, her mane, or rather, Rainbow Dash's mane, went straight and colorless. "You know why," she said in a serious tone. "You betrayed Equestria, you know. Think about it. Did you really think you'd get off that easy after we purged you with our elements?"
"B-but... I've learned my lesson!" Luna cried.
"Wrong!" Pinkie countered. "You didn't learn a thing! Do you really think that your actions don't have consequences? I knew you'd come here. I saw you in my dreams. It was the perfect time to do it. I could finally teach you your real lesson as I did with everypony else. Rainbow Dash, Gilda, those obnoxious fillies. Even Clover Thicket did bad things."
"Why did she deserve to die?!" Luna screamed, thrashing as best she could through her chains.
Pinkie stayed silent for a few moments. The silence becoming uncomfortable. Then, all of a sudden, a giggle escaped her lips, and Rainbow Dash's mane had become vibrant in color once more. "What were we talking about again?"
One Night Later
Luna’s sleep was filled with horrifying nightmares. The past few nights had run her ragged, and she was afraid she couldn’t take anymore without losing her mind. The despair was nothing more but a heady blackness; the ways forward she had through possible have vanished to black, not blocked, but like they were never there in the first place. Any hope that she had of ever escaping or seeing her loving sister again became meaningless. If her mind should linger on such ideas they started to feel like cruel tricks, as cruel as any desert mirage. The bonds she had, the ones that kept her heart beating, now felt so thin and even a terrible weight on her soul. Every moment in there was a moment closer to death, yet death always seemed to be out of Luna’s reach. She knew Pinkie had no intentions of killing her. But as much as she wanted to believe, she felt like death was her only way out of this... hell.
Luna looked up as Pinkie entered Luna’s field of vision, seeming to forever smile. “Wanna play a game?”
Luna’s eyes watered with tears. “Please, don’t…”
Pinkie bit her lip and giggled. “It’s okay! If you win this one, I'll let you go!” At that moment, Luna’s eyes grew wide with a glimmer of hope.
“Really?” Luna asked in a whisper. Pinkie nodded and pulled a book out of her toy chest.
“The thing is, you can’t scream through any of these options! If you do, you lose! And then I get to play with you for as loooong as I want!” Pinkie opened the book and shoved it into Luna’s face.
As Luna read the list, she spoke each torture. “Brain surgery, heart injection, full blood donation? P-Pinkie… all of these will kill me!”
“You haven’t read all of them yet!” Pinkie replied.
Luna looked over the list again and noticed something that made her blood run cold. “Take Clover Thicket’s mane inside you…”
Pinkie’s eyes grew wide, her smile even wider. “You wanna do it?” she asked.
Luna thought to herself for a bit. It wasn’t fatal. All she had to do was eat some of the mane… of a dead filly… that she killed herself. All she had to do was stay quiet and eat it, despite the fact that it was complete catabolism. She steeled her nerves, looked at Pinkie, and nodded.
“Great!” Pinkie exclaimed. Opening the chest, she reached in and pulled out a tuft of Clover’s mane and… a scalpel. Luna stared in disbelief.
“Wait… what’s that for?” Luna asked in fear.
“You wanted it inside you, right? What better way than to cut you open?” Pinkie asked as she took a marker and drew a dotted line down Luna’s stomach.
“Wait!” Luna cried. “This wasn’t part of the game! I thought I was supposed to eat it!”
Pinkie snickered to herself. “Silly! It would digest too quickly! With my way, you’ll be tied to her forever and ever! Or at least until your body rejects it somehow.” She took the scalpel into her mouth and pressed the cold blade to the top of the dotted line before sinking it in as if it were butter.
Luna stayed silent at first, and only a few grunts of pain escaped her throat. As Pinkie stared Luna in the eyes, she slowly dragged the blade down Luna’s stomach, cutting it open easily. Luna couldn’t help but scream at this point. It had only been a few seconds, and she had already lost the game.
However, that didn’t stop Pinkie from finishing the procedure. She took her hooves and dug them into Luna’s cut flesh, spreading it apart to reveal her pink insides. Intestines were neatly folded together, and without a second thought, Pinkie took the tuft of mane in her hoof and shoved it in between the folds of intestines.
Luna continued to scream in agony and disbelief. She could feel every inch of Pinkie’s hoof rummaging around inside of her, shifting her organs, but not detaching them. Pinkie then smiled and pulled her hoof slowly back out, relishing the warmth of Luna’s body.
“You know, if you weren’t so dependent on these things, I’d use them as streamers! Maybe even blankets since they’re so warm!” Pinkie said as she pulled the last of her hoof out. Luna just continued screaming, her mind nearly gone at this point. It didn’t matter if she heard what Pinkie had said. She just wanted to die.
Pinkie took a thread and needle out of the chest and began stitching up the screaming alicorn. “Oh, shush, you. No need to be a crybaby! You've already lost!” she said as she finished up. “You’re so lucky to have somepony to be with you forever and ever and ever and ever and… well, EVER!”
Luna let out deep sobs and looked down at her stomach. It had been crudely stitched together, almost threatening to release her intestines at any moment.
“No more! Please!” she cried, closing her eyes and looking away from Pinkie. “I’ll do anything! Anything!”
“Shh.” Pinkie put a hoof to Luna’s lips. “It’s okay now! I’m sorry you lost, but look on the bright side! You get a consolation prize!” she pulled a purple round pill from within her mane and shoved it down Luna’s throat. “This will make reality just fall away! I take it all the time! Happy dreaming!”
Before Luna could figure out what Pinkie meant, she noticed that the pink one’s face started to melt. Both Rainbow Dash’s and Pinkie’s skin fell away, revealing the muscle underneath.
Pinkie spoke in a deep, demonic voice. “You look better already…” She then reached a hoof down her own throat and pulled out her insides, effectively turning her inside out. Her heart, lungs, and intestines could be seen, snuggled against her body, not even falling away. The heart was still beating, the lungs still expanding and shrinking, the intestines twitching in random places.
Luna let out another scream at the horrifying sight. “Get away from me!” she screamed.
She struggled and found that her chains were gone. In fact, everything was gone. There was nothing but white everywhere. Luna’s breathing became erratic and her body tensed up. She couldn’t run at all. She could only walk slowly, feeling as if she was in a pool of sticky syrup.
From out of the whiteness came a familiar figure. One that was such a comfort to Luna that she cried. Celestia had appeared before her, wings outstretched as if welcoming her into a hug. Luna accepted the offer and buried her face into her sister’s chest.
Unfortunately, it didn’t last long, as Celestia asked Luna a question. “Why did you do this to me, Nightmare Moon?” The wings surrounding Luna became tighter and tighter, suffocating the younger sister.
“Celestia?” Luna asked, confused beyond everything else. Pulling out of Celestia’s chest, she saw that Celestia’s face had turned rotten, eyes having shrivelled up and fallen out from her sockets. Pieces of bone and flesh could be seen underneath the dried skin.
Celestia lunged forward and dug her decayed teeth into Luna’s face, making her scream in fear and pain. Luna tried her best to pull away, but Celestia’s hold proved true, keeping Luna in place.
“Sister! What are you doing?!” Luna asked, crying. “Don’t do this to me!”
Luna kicked at Celestia’s body, but nothing would make her let go. Luna then tugged as hard as she could until she managed to get away, but at a cost. Her face had been ripped clean off, muzzle gone, teeth showing, and blood dripping down her body.
Luna let out a scream, and everything quickly went black.
The Next Night
Luna awoke to the sound of a haunting melody, one that was sung by her tormentor.
“‘Cuz all I really need’s a smile, smile, smile…” Pinkie would sing as she looked around in her chest of goodies. “...from these happy friends of mine…”
This mare was twisted, Luna thought to herself. She noticed her mouth was covered with duct tape, no doubt to keep her silent last night. Raising a brow, she stared at Pinkie, who had pulled out the skull of a gryphon.
“What are we going to do today, Gilda?” asked Pinkie to the skull.
Moving the jaw of the head up and down, Pinkie made a voice mocking Gilda. “Gee, I don’t know. It looks like she’s all tuckered out from last night. That dweeb screams like a little filly.”
“C’mon, Gilda! Think! We could do all sorts of things! We could play pranks, we could sing songs. Roast marshmallows… roast marshmallows… that’s not what Rainbo-- I mean, I would say.”
Pinkie pulled Gilda’s skull closer to her face. With a mock voice, she spoke once again. “Aw, shucks, dweeb. Don’t be so confused. Rainbow Dash didn’t even know who her real friends were when I first showed up. Of course, you don’t know what you’d say!”
“Yeah! You’re right!” Pinkie nodded quickly, trying to reassure herself. Suddenly, without looking at Luna, she turned the skull to face her. “Uh oh. She’s awake. And she’s eavesdropping! Rude, don’t you think?”
Luna’s eyes widened a bit. How did Pinkie know she woke up without even looking? Pinkie turned to face Luna and smiled. “Hello! Pardon my friend here. She’s a little mean sometimes. And she’s quick to accuse!”
Pinkie tossed the skull back into the chest and put a hoof to her chin. “Hm… what will we do today? What do you think we should do?”
Luna squinted her eyes and just gave Pinkie a death stare. If she could kill by looking alone, Pinkie would be dead one thousand times over.
Pinkie giggled and reached forward, tearing off the duct tape from Luna’s mouth. Luna gasped and groaned at the pain of the duct tape ripping off some of her fur and skin.
“So silly of me!” said Pinkie. “I forgot you can’t talk through my mind like Gilda can! We have a special connection!”
“Has anypony ever told you that you’re insane?” Luna asked with a scowl.
“That’s what everypony says when we play together,” replied Pinkie, “but after I’m done playing with them, they don’t say it anymore. In fact, they rarely talk at all!”
“And I suppose you’ll be ‘playing’ with me until I’ve passed?” Luna bared her teeth. She really wanted to hurt this filly. She was, in Luna’s mind, an abomination that needed to be dealt with.
“Hm… Well, since you’re a princess and all, I think our playtime should be longer and even more special!” exclaimed Pinkie. From the chest, she pulled out a hammer, and this alarmed Luna to quite a degree.
“What do you plan to do with that?” asked Luna fearfully.
“Well, when I was living with my parents and sisters, we would use hammers to break rocks. Sometimes we would find neat things inside, like gems! Of course, you’re made of flesh, so I’ll have to think of a way to… aha!” Pinkie reached into her trusty chest once more and pulled out a collar. Upon the collar were ominous symbols that seemed to glow in the dim light.
“What are you doing? What is that?” Luna tugged a little at her straps and chains but remembered how tight they were before ceasing.
Before Luna could protest, Pinkie wrapped the collar around Luna’s neck and tightened it, not quite choking Luna, but still making it rather tight and uncomfortable. “Shh. Watch this!” She raised the hammer and swung it down on the kneecap of Luna’s foreleg, shattering it and making a sickening noise that would make timberwolves flinch.
Luna screamed in agony, tears filling her vision and streaming down her face. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
“Look, look, lookie!” said Pinkie, pointing to the kneecap. As Luna looked at it, the kneecap slowly brought itself back together, fixing itself and removing all trace of damage save for the blood. In fact, all her wounds, from the stitches to her eye, to the open side wound, were all healed.
“What in Tartarus?! The collar?! It... NO!!!” Luna looked at Pinkie’s smiling face in horror. She was about to go through the worst possible torture imaginable.
“That’s right! It’s a healing collar! And now we can play ‘smash the rock’ as many times as we want!” She raised the hammer again and brought it back down on Luna’s kneecap once more, shattering it again.
Luna let out a howl, and before she could curse at Pinkie, the pink filly brought down the hammer on another kneecap, then another, then another, shattering all four kneecaps. Luna sobbed and begged through mumbled words, for her brain was too busy processing the pain for her to speak normally.
The knees all healed fairly quickly, and Pinkie once again brought down the hammer on all of them. This would go on, over and over and over again. With each healing, a crack! With each regeneration, a smash! All the while, Pinkie laughed her usual laugh, the kind she always had. The bubbly laughter from when she and Rainbow Dash would hang out together.
Pinkie suddenly stopped, her swing halfway paused. Luna tried to blink away the tears, to get a better look at why the pink one had stopped, but she couldn’t. She could only hear the gentle sobs of a broken filly.
“Dashie?” Pinkie put her head in her hooves and tried to hold herself together, but in her mind, she was falling to pieces. “Why did you pick Gilda over me?”
Pinkie thought back to when Gilda had first visited Ponyville. Rainbow Dash had chosen to play pranks with Gilda instead of Pinkie. In the end, Rainbow had learned her lesson, but the mere act of her choosing that birdbrain over Pinkie had pushed the preppy pink pony over the edge. “You chose her over ME!”
Luna had finally blinked away the tears with Pinkie pulled out the same syringe from before out of the chest. Although this time, it had been filled with a green liquid.
“I think… playtime is over. I can’t take it anymore…” Pinkie said as she walked closer with the needle. “You just keep bringing out these feelings in me…”
Luna, understanding what Pinkie meant. At first, she stood still and closed her eyes. She was prepared for this. She was almost glad that it was going to be over and she wouldn't have to suffer any more at the hands of Pinkie. She was ready to die. The pain with too much for her to handle and with what she had done to that poor filly she didn't even know if she could even live with herself.
Maybe she did deserve to die after all.
She must have if she got stuck with this. But as she was just ready to give up, she thought about her sister. She thought about all the good times and memories that they both shared. She thought about how much time and effort Celestia put into helping Luna. Like helping her catch up on what she missed to help her cope with what she did as Nightmare Moon. Her sister believed in the best of Luna and showed her how much Luna was willing to fight.
She thought about all that Rainbow Dash might have been through. She died with no one knowing what had happened and with her family and her closest friends wondering and missing her. She couldn't let her death be in vain. She couldn't let all of Pinkie Pie's victims' deaths be in vain. She had to fight for them... for Rainbow Dash. She couldn't give up. Not now. Not when she knew the truth. Adrenaline began to kick up within Luna and she struggles harder than she ever had struggled before. She knew that Pinkie was going to put her to sleep for good this time. Luna forced herself to put out as much magic as she possibly could, all the while receiving back jolts of the same energy. However, she kept going. This was her final chance to escape, or at least wound her tormentor. She wasn't ready to die. She wasn't going to let her win. She wasn't going to give in to her. She had to make this work.
Pinkie leaned closer and closer with the needle, ready to puncture Luna’s leg, but as soon as she stuck it in, the ring on Luna’s horn shattered, and a large blast of magical energy shot Pinkie out of view and into some dark corner of the room.
“You shall not harm anyone else!” Luna cried out, her horn’s magic undoing her straps.
Luna carefully pulled out the needle, making sure none of the liquid got into her system. Anger boiled deep within her system, as hot as lava. It churned within, hungry for destruction, and she knew it was too much to handle. The pressure of this raging sea of anger that she was forced to suppressed for days now. But now she was going to make Pinkie Pie pay for what she did to her and everypony else that she took and killed.
Luna went by the same chest that Pinkie Pie how to use the last few days and looked through it herself. She slowly pulled out a long knife with her magic and dragged it as she got closer to Pinkie Pie.
“You...you have made a grave mistake… you’ve messed with the night!”
A groan came from the dark corner, the magic obviously having done some damage. From out of the shadows limped a bloody Pinkie Pie, most of Rainbow Dash’s face having been seared off, and some of Pinkie’s own skin had partially melted.
“No f-fair. You cheated. You are a naughty filly!” Pinkie said shakily. “Auntie Dashie’s gonna have to punish you!"
Luna held the knife up to Pinkie's throat. "Admit defeat, and I’ll make your end swift.”
Pinkie simply giggled in response, making Luna raise a brow. “You...” Pinkie reached a hoof into the partially melted flesh of Rainbow Dash’s face, “are a bad filly!” From underneath the skin, Pinkie pulled out a knife and quickly threw it at Luna, striking her in the leg. Luna released Pinkie out of pain, and before Luna could do anything else, Pinkie had already vanished into the darkness.
Luna flashed her horn and illuminated the room, revealing every corner and crevice, but Pinkie was nowhere to be seen. However, Luna could see where Pinkie’s exit was. It was a small trap door wide open. She grabbed the knife she used on Pinkie just in case she needed it and squeezed her way through the small hole and was met with the moonlight. Luna looked around, partly to see if Pinkie Pie was still around.
The first thing that she noticed was that she was in the Everfree Forest. She looked behind her and noticed a small house; only one storey tall and maybe 20 or 30 meters squared. It stood alone off to the side of the path about halfway between it and the forest's edge. Though Luna couldn't really see from the inside, it looked like it'd been abandoned for years.
"How could she have hidden this place so well from anypony?”
As Luna rose to her hooves, she noticed a fake patch of grass on the ground next to the trap door opening. “Ah, that’s how. She covered up the doorway with this.”
She wasn't for sure what else to do so she took this opportunity and ran. Pinkie Pie didn't seem to be around, so now was her best chance to get away. Luna didn't know where she was heading to. She didn't even know which way she was supposed to go. But it was all she knew that she could do. She ran and ran. She didn't stop for anything. She needed to get away as far as possible. It felt like hours of non-stop running. Of not knowing where she had been or where she was heading to until finally, she came upon what looked to be a path which led right straight into Ponyville.
Luna trotted on the pathway until she was out of the forest and headed to Ponyville. There was only one place she knew that she needed to go. And that was to put an end to Pinkie Pie's little game once and for all. A part of her did debate that maybe she should go and get help but she feared that Pinkie Pie would either get away or kill somepony else before somepony could stop her. Luna wasn't going to let her take another life. The only place that Pinkie could go would go would be Sugarcube Corner.
Going anywhere else could risk exposure for her. Luna knew she wasn't going to take that risk. Once in Ponyvillie, it didn't take her that long to reach the bakery. She trotted up to the door and found that it was unlocked. She knew that Pinkie was in there. She opened up the door and saw Pinkie sitting on the floor, groaning slightly in pain. Luna trotted in holding the knife with her magic as she approached Pinkie.
"This... isn't how... you p-play the game...” Pinkie Pie whimpered.
Luna rolled her eyes with a huff and grabbed Pinkie in her magic, lifting her off the ground. “Damn you and damn your stupid game!!!"
She stabbed the knife into Pinkie Pie causing her to scream loudly in pain. But that didn't stop Luna. She kept stabbing her over and over and over again. Despite Pinkie Pie screaming, she never stopped. She was going to make sure that she knew her pain. That she knew what it felt like. Luna wasn't sure how many times she did it but when she finally stopped Pinkie Pie's whole body with now covered in blood.
She started to cough up blood and smiled. "Are you going to finish the game now? Kill me? Just like you killed Clover?"
Luna hesitated to answer for a moment as the memory of Clover's death hit her. She shook off that feeling for a moment and used her magic to lift the knife up. She was going to silence that mare's mouth for good. "Yes... but only this time, I'll make sure you suffer more than she did."
"That's... all I... needed to hear..." Pinkie giggled, causing Luna to stop what she was doing.
“There she is!”
Luna turned around to see several armed guards and Celestia as they surrounded them. Luna dropped the knife and backed away. It was then that Luna noticed that she was no longer wearing Rainbow Dash’s skin, but still bloodied, her face having been half melted and now slowly bleeding to death on the floor.
"Sister!? What are you doing here?!"
"Twilight had informed me of hers and Pinkie Pie's concern for you after you went missing. Rightfully so. Pinkie had asked me to meet up with her here to discuss it..." Celestia said.
Luna's eyes wide open when she said that. She knew what was really going to happen. Pinkie had plans to take Celestia just as she had taken her. Obviously, her escape must have ruined that planned.
"I show up here and what do I find? My own sister stabbing one of the elements nearly to death!" Celestia said in disbelief and
anger.
“I... I... I told you that she was responsible... for all the... missing ponies! L-look what s-she d-did to me, Celestia!”
Pinkie curled up in a ball and she coughed up blood. She closed her eyes as she began to lose consciousness.
Celestia’s eyes narrowed as she looked over her sister. “Lulu… how could you?”
Luna’s eyes widened. “What?! Sister, wait! It’s a trick! She deceives you!”
Celestia walked forward, getting closer to Luna as she spoke. “You have committed a great crime. I can’t believe you would do this to my ponies. Is it true?”
Luna stepped back, but Celestia grabbed and held her firmly in a magical grasp. Luna tried to move, but it was useless. Celestia had a thousand years more experience, too, so fighting back was out of the question. "Somepony get Pinkie Pie to a hospital. She needs to be treated quickly."
“Sister! You don’t understand! She… she kidnapped me!” Luna protested, tears streaming down her face.
“You expect me to believe that after what you said? Did you really kill an innocent filly?” Celestia, also crying, shut her eyes tight. Luna realized that they heard her confess to killing Clover.
Pinkie had set her up. “You’re even lying to me…”
“Sister…no. It wasn't like that...” Luna tried to find the words she needed to comfort her sibling, but she could find any. She couldn’t even find a real defence. Here she was, only slightly wounded thanks to the collars, while Pinkie had half a face left and was dying of blood loss. Of course, somepony would mistake Luna for the attacker. Especially after admitting to such a crime as Luna just did.
“Spare me your words,” commanded Celestia. “Your trial begins in the morning...”
Morning
Luna had been sat down in front of her sister in the throne room. On both sides were two crowds of ponies, most of them shouting obscenities at her.
“Murderer!” one cried out.
“You killed my daughter!” yelled another.
“They’ll never get their lives back!” shouted a third.
Luna tried to block out all the comments, but each word burned into her mind, reminding her of all the ponies Pinkie had taken. Here Luna was, though, taking the blame. One pony threw a rotten tomato at Luna’s flank, making her flinch. She couldn’t even bare to even look at who had done it.
Celestia raised her wings, hushing the crowd as only a true princess could. She cleared her throat a bit before speaking softly.
“Today, we gather here to pass judgement upon… my own sister. Last night, it had been discovered that Luna was responsible for all the mindless slaughtering of… of my little ponies.” Celestia attempted to hold back her tears, but it was pointless. They streamed down her face in protest.
“Sister... please listen to me!” Luna begged.
“SILENCE!” Celestia’s voice rang out, echoing in the room. As the echoes subsided, she continued. “I have no choice but to ask my ponies… their opinion on what Luna’s punishment should be. She has taken away from the community, and so it is the community who will decide."
“String her up!” a pony shouted, prompting a roar from the rest of the crowd. They all started chanting.
“STRING HER UP! STRING HER UP! STRING HER UP!”
Luna looked on at the ponies in horror. Her stomach reeled as she heard their words of hatred. “No! Please, no! I didn’t do it!” She turned back to Celestia and threw herself into her chest. “Sister! You can’t! You can’t let them do this!”
Celestia froze as Luna leaned against her chest. Celestia inhaled, kept her breath, and stepped back, away from her sibling, signalling the end of their relationship. Luna’s heart broke at the gesture, tears staining the floor.
“Sister! SISTER!” Luna tried to fly after her sibling but was suddenly caught in a familiar purple aura of magic. She turned around to see none other than Twilight Sparkle, looking saddened and disappointed.
“After I helped you…” Twilight said through tears. “...you killed one of my best friends…”
“Twilight! You have to believe me!” Luna cried. “You of all ponies would understand! Pinkie! She did this! She’s framed me!”
Twilight looked onward at Luna with suspicion, and then she shook her head. “I’m sorry. I can’t believe you.”
“What must I do to prove to you that I’m innocent?!” Luna asked, having run out of tears at this point.
A guard walked up to Twilight and whispered in her ear, making her flinch.
She stayed silent and carried Luna out of the throne room, the guards following her as she spoke. “It’s time for the execution… I’m sorry. It’s already been decided.”
Before long, they were in the Canterlot Castle Gardens, where a stage had been set up. Luna could see the noose dangling from the sturdy overhanging wooden pole. She started to struggle, but to no avail. Twilight’s magic was too strong, as she held Luna tightly. The crowd of ponies gathered around the stage, all shouting angrily.
“STRING HER UP! STRING HER UP! STRING HER UP!”
In the crowd, Luna could see Pinkie Pie, smiling as if she had just received her birthday present. She was going to get away with it.
But then suddenly, at that moment, Luna remembered something from long ago…
One thousand years ago…
An angry Starswirl slapped Luna’s desk with his ruler. “No! No! No! A hundred times no, Miss Luna! That’s NOT how you perform a memory spell!”
A young Luna looked at Starswirl with a frown on her face. She was sitting in a large classroom, full of all sorts of magical objects and books containing hundreds of spells. “But, Mister Starswirl, I’ve tried so many times!”
Starswirl stroked his beard and thought for a few moments. He sighed and looked at his young student. “If you can’t pull a memory out of yourself, then perhaps you can pull one out of Celestia. I know it seems more advanced than what I’m trying to teach you, but I have had experience with these kinds of situations. Sometimes fillies and colts can perform more advanced spells, but fail at the simplest ones.”
“No way, I’m not letting her do magic on me! What if she messes up and I get amnesia?” A pink-haired Celestia said, her forelegs crossed on her desk.
“Not to worry, my princess,” assured Starswirl, "I trust your sister’s abilities. Shouldn’t you do the same? You only have each other, after all.”
Celestia looked at her younger sister and sighed. “Alright. Fiiiiiine… I get her dessert tonight, though.”
“Not if I make you forget about it with this spell first!” Luna said teasingly, making them both giggle.
“Okay,” said Starswirl, interrupting the sister's conversation, “now… concentrate on a certain time and place. Once you have that down, imagine a tug on her brain.”
Luna turned to her sister and closed her eyes, focusing her magic, and without hesitation, a strange cloud flew out from Celestia’s ears. It was as if Luna had an inner talent for looking into another pony’s memories.
Within the cloud, Luna could see random bits of imagery from their previous dinner. They had had a wonderful three layer bean dip. She could see all the details precisely as they happened yesterday.
“Woah…” Luna looked onward in amazement.
“See? I knew you could do it!” Starswirl applauded. “You just needed to try a different route. I’m very proud of you!”
The Present Day
Of course!
Luna shook herself out of her flashback and realized what she needed to do. She focused on Pinkie, and as her horn glowed, from within Pinkie’s ears came a pinkish cloud. As the cloud hovered over the crowd, it expanded, and images from Pinkie’s devilish past could be seen. Every single detail, from the first filly to Rainbow Dash, as well as the time she tortured Luna, could be seen as clear as day. Some of the ponies in the crowd began to retch and reel back from the horrifying visions.
“These are Pinkie’s memories!” shouted Luna. “She did these things! Not me!”
The crowd of ponies grew furious.
“The party planner?” one asked.
“Oh my Celestia! She foalsat my children a week ago!” another exclaimed, eyes wide.
“She tried to get us to execute the princess! That would’ve been a tragedy!” a third cried out.
Pinkie began to sweat nervously and attempted to leave, pushing her way through the crowd before they could recognize her. She had just been on the edge of the crowd, but before she could make it out, a golden aura of magic had enveloped her body.
Celestia walked up to her with a serious expression on her face. “I almost executed my little sister because of you. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Pinkie struggled frantically, trying to free herself from Celestia’s grasp. “N-No! We still have so many games left to play! This was the best game yet!”
Celestia motioned a wing to her guards. They then stepped forward and took Pinkie in their magical grip.
As they carried Pinkie away, she shouted, “Luna! Wait! Tell them we were just playing! THE GAME’S NOT OVER!”
Once Pinkie was out of sight, Celestia turned to her younger sibling and wrapped a wing around her, pulling her into a hug. “Lulu, I’m so sorry… I should’ve listened to your side of the story. Can you ever forgive me?”
Luna looked away from Celestia, tears filling up her eyes as her voice broke. “Y-Yes…” She buried her face into Celestia’s chest and sobbed. The nightmare was finally over.
Three Days Later…
Luna walked down the hallway leading to the dungeon, feeling relieved that she had cleared her name. She thought back to the moments of torture that Pinkie had put her through. How many fillies had Pinkie foalnapped? Had she done this outside of Equestria? How many did she do this too? These questions were to be answered as soon as Luna reached Pinkie’s cell. Celestia had done everything in her power to make it up to Luna. She had even ordered the local chefs to make massive tubs of ice cream. The ice even had to be imported from the mountains. Luna felt lucky to have a sister such as Celestia. However, things had been a little shaky between the two sisters. Luna was still made at Celestia for not believing her and nearly had gotten her killed. A part of Luna didn't know if she could ever forgive Celestia for that. How could Celestia not believe her own sister? Luna knew that Celestia loved her and felt really bad about it but what if she was killed? Pinkie would have gotten away with it and kept killing. As for Celestia, Pinkie had told her of Luna’s "deed" as she was being interrogated.
At first, Celestia didn’t believe Pinkie, but after hearing of this, Luna shamefully admitted it, Celestia became a bit disturbed. Her own sister, killing a pony, would forever make Celestia a bit wary. However, that didn’t mean she didn’t love her sister. She knew Luna regretted and it wasn't fully her fault but just the thought sickened Celestia, knowing what Luna did. She would still care for her, but possibly keep an eye on her at all times from then on. Celestia feared that a part of her could never look at her little sister the same way again.
“You really did that?” Celestia asked her little sister.
“That I did,” Luna answered, looking down at the floor. “It was not a choice I wanted to make. I regret every single moment of it. And if I could, I would take it all back.”
Celestia’s eyes were filled with suspicion, then sadness, then a bit of fear. “Was it quick?”
Luna nodded. “I ended it as quick as I could. However, she most likely felt extreme pain throughout the whole ordeal.” Celestia flinched as Luna responded.
However, none of that made her feel better after she had visited Clover Thicket’s parents, breaking down in front of them and telling them what had happened. The father was furious. The mother couldn’t even speak, for her tears had silenced her. The father had even attacked Luna before being fended off by the guards. Luna would have to live with the guilt for the rest of her life, which, unfortunately, would be forever.
As Luna entered the dungeon, her eyes were met with a horrifying sight. On the ground had been strewn the bodies of guards, all dismembered, their entrails hanging from the ceiling like streamers. Blood dripped to the floor in a steady rhythm.
Luna rushed to the cells, checking every single one of them. All the prisoners had either been ripped apart or had been strangled by their own intestines. Luna couldn’t hold in her lunch at the sight of it all.
After emptying her stomach, Luna rushed to Pinkie’s cell, only to find it filled with the piled up bodies of guards, It was hard to tell exactly how many Pinkie had murdered. On the pile of dead bodies was a single note with writing scribbled across it.
“Ludum Dare...Let the REAL games begin…”