OK, I kinda lied in the last chapter; there'll be at least one more after this one. For now, though, here's this one.

Chapter 3: A Second Chance

"We're almost there," Gravehoof said as the group approached a large golden gate wedged between another pair of high cliffs. Rainbow blinked a few times, signaling she'd zoned out for the majority of the trip, most likely still thinking about her situation.

The walk along the path had lead the party out of the mountain chain they had been in and through a large flat valley, where Rainbow had gotten a better look at the oddly-colored sky. The realm's darkened sun shined on the valley from the sky and illuminated its dead grass and slightly-decaying trees, giving it a morbid, yet serene feel that actually made her feel...at peace. Eventually the valley became a chain of cliffs and plateaus, all leading up to the gate they currently stood at.

The Captain waved at a guard pony peering through a small window-like opening in the cliffs, and the gate was pulled open moments later. "The capitol is just through this tunnel," he instructed. The party resumed their walk, heading through the tunnel and out the other side to a high cliff-side.

"Whoa..." Rainbow said silently, staring off into the distance from the cliff. She could see the entire capitol of Marebus from where they were standing, lit by the sun. And it was HUGE. It seemed to span the entire horizon, being cut off in the distance by what looked to be some body of darkened water.

"Yes, a wonderful sight, isn't it," Gravehoof said proudly. "But, I believe we'll see it better up close." He then nodded in the direction of a large sweeping path to their right which looked like it went right down to the city. "This way."

Rainbow Dash snapped herself out of her stare and followed the party down the path.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Applejack raised an eyebrow as she approached the Library, which was surrounded by a lavender dome. As she attempted to walk up to it, she was stopped by the shield, which was apparently solid.

"Twilight," she called. The door to the Library opened as Twilight waved, letting part of the shield disappear so AJ could walk through it, returning the shield to full strength after she'd gotten to the Library door.

"Come on in, AJ," Twilight said as she trotted in, the earth pony following her. AJ noticed Rarity and Fluttershy were there as well, both had several stacks of books piled around them.

"What the hay's the barrier for?"

"I'm not taking any chances, Applejack. If Pinkie does decide to come back to town, she knows I know what happened, so she might come looking for me. I have to be prepared in case she does. And now that I've told you girls, you're at just as big a risk as I am. With the barrier up, no pony can pass through it unless I let them."

"I guess it's for the best, then. Sorry I couldn't get here sooner, Twi; looks like y'all started without me."

"I made sure to start as soon as I got back home; Rarity and Fluttershy showed up only a handful of minutes ago."

"What've we got?"

"Well, I've gotten our scenarios narrowed down to a few options," Twilight replied, going over to a whiteboard with notes and diagrams written on it. "First, Pinkie's being forcibly controlled magically from a distance; like the real killer is using her to do his deeds so that he doesn't get caught. Or, some other scheming of some sort. Celestia and I have been practicing spells like this; more or less to try to determine a range they could operate in."

"You've been practicing on Ponies," Applejack said, appalled.

"No, of course not, just on inanimate objects. The point is that both me and the Princess are having a difficult time concentrating the spell; her especially since she'd doing so from all the way in Canterlot. So our controller most likely has both a limited range and has been practicing this spell for almost certainly their whole life. I'd say the edge of Everfree is the farthest you could cast the spell from."

"So it's possible but really difficult," AJ said.

"Yeah, but I won't rule it out yet. The second option is possible blackmail or some form of forcible coercion. Like, for example, some pony put bombs all over ponyville and threatening to detonate them unless she kills these ponies for them. Or something similar."

"Sounds much more possible," AJ replied.

"It does, but the only thing is, when I confronted Pinkie, she...never showed any emotion for the things she'd done. No regret, remorse, guilt, nothing. Her face was completely blank. If she was being bribed or blackmailed, it would've showed. So I think we can rule this out," Twilight continued, erasing the column and then looking it over some more. "Well, then, lastly is...well, ghostly or...demonic...possession; speaks for itself. Some form of entity has possessed Pinkie's body and is using it as a medium to do its deeds; whether it be out of revenge, or what, I have no idea."

"Seems the most likely candidate. Would make the most sense."

"Yes, it would, and that's what I'm having the girls look into right now. If I'm right, then this is our most likely scenario, as it would explain her sudden change in behavior, and more than back up my theory that Pinkie wasn't in control of her own actions while she committed her crimes..."

Twilight was interrupted by a knock at her door. The unicorn immediately turned and ran over to the door.

"Hey, wait, I thought you said only you could let ponies through your barrier?"

"The guards and the Princesses have spells that can neutralize my magic," Twilight replied. "They're the only ones that can let themselves in."

Twilight opened the door to see a guard she'd seen from Sugarcube earlier holding what looked like a small bright-pink book in his hooves.

"This is for you, miss Sparkle," the guard said as he handed Twilight the book. "We found it some time ago, after you left. It looks to be miss Pie's diary. There's some...things in there you need to see."

"Thank you, sir," Twilight said, taking the book. She opened it and took some quick glances at the pages; specifically ones that were bookmarked by the investigators.

"As you can see, it looks to be a normal diary for the majority of the pages. Pinkie's daily thoughts, and what have you. But, you can see around a little over a month ago, her entries became...different. She started speaking of a 'realization' she'd made, that 'life is a party' and that she should celebrate it. She then talks of holding special 'parties' in celebration of this, and begins to list several ponies she would invite over for 'private parties'."

"These ponies...they're all ones who...disappeared..." Twilight said, making a realization of her own.

"Indeed," the guard said. "We've read through several pages; not something a pony with a weak stomach should need to read. She describes her...'parties'...in unfortunate detail."

Twilight nodded. "Thank you, sir, I'll do with it what I can," she said before turning to leave.

"Twilight," the guard said suddenly. "That diary is all we need to convict Pinkie of the murders. Add in your testimony as an eyewitness and she's as good as guilty. If you can't find out a reason for her sudden change of attitude, we may have no choice but to execute her for her crimes. If we can ever find her."

"I...I understand. I'm making progress with that. I'll inform the princess of anything I find that can help the investigation."

"Understood. The princesses have also requested that you all come and help set up the vigil for miss Rainbow Dash later tonight."

"We'll be there," Twilight said. "She...she would've wanted it."

The guard simply nodded and walked away, Twilight sighing deeply before walking back into the library.

"What'd the guard want," Rarity asked.

"He said Celestia and Luna want us to help prepare the vigil later. Also, he gave us this," Twilight said, putting the diary on the table. "It's Pinkie's diary; the guards found it and gave it to us to work with. I think it just gave us a breakthrough in our investigation," Twilight responded, waving a hoof to Fluttershy and Rarity. The girls walked up to Twilight as she finished writing some more notes on the whiteboard.

"Life is a party," AJ said questioningly after reading the new notes. "The hay does that mean?"

"See for yourself," Twilight said and handed the girls the diary. AJ read through the bookmarked pages and gulped slightly. "Uh...forget I asked." Rarity and Fluttershy read through as well and both grew uneasy.

"Oh dear..." Rarity said softly as Fluttershy simply hung her head.

"I think I know what direction to go in now," Twilight said as she erased the 'magical control' section off the board...

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Man, this place is huge," Rainbow Dash commented once she and Gravehoof had made their way down the cliffs and through the massive cityscape of Marebus. The Captain had let the guards go at the entrance to the city gates and was now personally escorting Rainbow through the center of the city.

"Indeed. Our city, our realm, has stood for many millenniums, becoming a place where the dead can come and live out their eternal afterlives in peace. It wasn't this large to begin with, though. You will be able to tell where the original buildings were in the city when it was first constructed. But, as more fatalities in the mortal realm happened, the more we expanded the city. In fact, we're just building a new addition to the city a little ways from here. The newest buildings are, of course, on the outskirts of the capitol, but I digress."

"How do you guys manage so many ponies," Rainbow asked.

"We have a set system in place that keeps track of when a mortal passes on; I believe this was already explained to you before we left. And, in all honesty, we rarely need to actually 'manage' the city directly since our citizens are so well-behaved. I'm not quite sure what it is, but it's as if they've...forgiven whatever the cause their deaths was and they're at peace with themselves and the mortal realm. Sure the occasional 'bad soul' comes around, but those souls are quickly taught their lesson and become productive members of our society."

"Wait, what do you mean you...teach them their lesson," Rainbow asked, surprised.

"Our prison system is much stricter then your mortal system. We can literally stab a suspect in the stomach straight through during an interrogation and while they'd feel the pain of the stab, it won't kill them because they are, obviously, already dead. That would be redundant. Eventually the pain becomes too much for them and they confess, or what have you, then we let them go once we believe they've had enough."

Rainbow dash gulped slightly at the thought of having to go through their system.

"Don't worry, I doubt it'll ever happen to you," Gravehoof said as he put a hoof over Rainbow's shoulder confidently. "You look like a good pony to me." Rainbow smiled slightly as the captain retracted his hoof and continued walking, her expression relaxing somewhat as she followed the dark-furred unicorn once again.

"Where is the Palace, anyway," Rainbow asked.

"It's still a ways ahead; you can't really see it from here because the buildings in this area are so high and packed together," Gravehoof replied. "Once we get up here a bit further, though, it'll open up and you'll see it plain as day." Rainbow nodded and remained silent, just looking at the buildings around the area. It looked totally archaic, like the ancient Equestrian civilizations she'd seen in so many books; mostly in Daring Do books when the title Pegasus explored such ruins.

"You've been pretty silent the entire trip," Gravehoof said after a while.

"Yeah, I've just been...taking it all in still," Rainbow replied. "It's just...getting used to being dead, when I've still wanted to do so much with my life. And not having my wings...it's...they were so special to me. Flying was my life; I dedicated my time to being the best flier I could be, hoping that one day, I would be recognized all over Equestria for my talents. And, someday, I dreamed I'd get into the Wonderbolts because of it. But, now that will never happen. And...there's nothing I can do about it. And my friends...they're probably missing me so much right now. It's just...it's not fair..."

Rainbow was visibly upset right now, tears slowly forming around her eyes as she suddenly dropped to the ground and pounded it forcefully with her hooves. "Pinkie...it's because of her. I...I never would've known she'd do what she did. It was...there was no warning. I...I'd heard about the disappearances, and of her...seclusion, but...I didn't think it was her, I thought it was just coincidences. Then, when she called me over to have cupcakes, and...IT happened. I...I can't even talk about it, it was so gruesome, and the pain was...so excruciating, but...I knew the real Pinkie would NEVER do something that...that disgusting! Some pony was either posing as her and had her tied up somewhere, or, something was making her do it. I...AAAAUGH!"

The Unicorn stomped the ground again, this time actually crying silently. Rainbow was lucky there weren't any ponies around or else a crowd would've probably formed at her shouts. Gravehoof stood beside her silently as Rainbow got through her fit and eventually calmed down.

"Feel better," he asked expressionlessly.

"Kinda," Rainbow said. "I guess...I have to accept it now." She breathed in heavily again and signaled she was ready to go again. Gravehoof nodded and continued walking, Rainbow following closely behind.

They walked up the road a few more feet before approaching, as Gravehoof said, a large open clearing, a large fountain with a statue of what looked to be Marebus's ruler in the middle of it. Small shops and whatnot were included among the surrounding buildings, some stray carts full of merchandise were positioned around the area as well. Several ponies were standing around conversing about the day, which made Rainbow believe this was a big social spot.

"Wow, I'm surprised they didn't hear me," she said.

"They probably did but I doubt they'd care," Gravehoof replied and jerked his head slightly. Rainbow took that as him telling her to keep moving, which she did, following the general through the crowds of people as he turned right and headed right up a large flight of stairs. As they reached the top of the stairs, Rainbow then saw their destination; far ahead of them at the end of the path was a large silver gate, and ahead of the gate, perched atop a large outstretched cliff side was a charcoal-colored Palace whose sheer size rivaled that of Canterlot's. The size, coupled with the shine of the darkened sun illuminating the blackened outer walls and giving it a powerful glow, really drew attention and gave it an intimidating presence.

Gravehoof waved at another royal guard attending to the fence, who gladly opened the gate and signaled for the two to come in. "Coming," he asked Rainbow, who snapped out of her stupor and followed him up the walkway leading into the castle.

Once inside, Dash continued to be amazed as she took in the inside of the castle. Marbled tiles of charcoal, white, and gray made up the majority of the flooring, with crimson carpeting acting as a path through the castle. The walls were of the same mixture as well. The massive entryway was decorated with a line of columns adorning either side of the long rug underneath them, the carpet underneath leading forward to a massive door, several other smaller doors lining the walls on either side.

Gravehoof led the two forward to the large door and pushed it open, revealing the main foyer. A large statue of their ruler was in the middle of the foyer massive staircase stood in front of them, which was roped off and had a desk sitting off to its side with what Dash guessed was a secretary of some sort attending to it. She could see the stairs go up a ways before ending at a floor with a large door that looked somewhat important. The walkway became two more flights of stairs going left and right, becoming a catwalk that went around the foyer completely, several doors littering the path. The door that was directly behind them and on that floor was also very large, but this one looked extremely important because it had some sort of crest on it.

"That's the throne room," Gravehoof said, eying Dash's curiosity. "That's where you're going. I have duties to attend to, so I have to leave you here."

"Oh, this must be the Mare that was summoned," the secretary said once she'd glanced up from her paperwork and noticed the two standing there, unhooking the rope. "Go right ahead. His majesty has been waiting patiently for you."

"Good luck," Gravehoof said, departing. Rainbow gulped a little as she gingerly stepped up the stairs and slowly made her way around the catwalk and to the steps where the large double doors of the castle's throne room. Rainbow contemplated knocking, but the secretary said he was waiting for her.

"Well, here we go," Rainbow said, gently pushing one of the large doors open, causing a loud creak to echo throughout the foyer.

Rainbow stepped inside and was noticed firsthand that this throne room was different from the one in Canterlot. While Celestia's throne room was elegant and brightly-colored as most traditional throne rooms were, the one here in Marebus Palace was darker, more relaxed, and seemed almost like an office than a throne room. The room itself was of a more rounded design instead of a straight corridor like in Canterlot. The walls were a flat black, the floor a massive marble mural of the Marebus capitol. The ceiling was essentially a large domed window, being the primary light source during the daytime, a large chadelier extending from the very tip of the dome assumed as the way to light the room during the night time. A balcony took up the space of the back part of the rounded wall, most likely giving the spectator a view of the capitol. The final piece of the puzzle was the desk sitting in the middle of the room, a black chair turned away from the door and towards the closed balcony window, the pegusus making out some faint form of a head barely poking out from the chair.

"Um...hello, I'm...here," Rainbow said timidly as she continued to keep her eyes fixed on the chair and the infamous leader whose back was turned to her.

"...It's about time," he said in a deep, gruff, slightly raspy voice. "I trust Gravehoof kept you in good company..."

"Uh...yeah, he was pretty cool..." Rainbow responded.

"...Finest Captain I've ever had. But, this is not about him. This is about you," the pony said, some paper shuffling being heard. "I've reviewed your file; you've accomplished so much in your life in such a small time span. Three sonic rainbooms, best young flier winner, and an Element of Harmony, all achieved at such a young age."

"You know of the Elements," Rainbow asked.

"Of course. The mortal realm isn't the only place that your fame has reached. Several of my subjects hold the Elements' heroics in high regard; some even wish they were able to wield them. However, we're straying from the real topic. But before that, I believe I have forgotten my manners. I have not introduced myself yet."

The chair then suddenly squeaked, as Rainbow realized the pony behind it had now gotten out of the chair. She watched as the ruler of the land walked out from behind the chair and was breath-taken at his appearance.

His size rivaled that of Celestia's, possibly being even taller than her. His large horn and strong, large wings indicated his Alicorn status, his tail a fiery ethereal blue and his coat a deep charcoal. His cutie mark was barely visible, appearing to be a scythe from her angle. The thing that gave him his intimidating presence was that his body was mostly covered in heavy dark armor, not unlike that used by ancient Equestrians. His black helmet hid his face in the same ethereal blue as his tail and had two horns decorating the sides of it, his real horn sticking out of a spare hole and his mane of the same color as his tail as well blazing out of the back of the helmet. He wore a set of heavy black bards and armor that covered his whole body, looking almost like a soldier who had fallen in battle.

"My name is Exodius; I am the overseer of Marebus, the Equestrian Underworld. Gravehoof may have given you a small history lesson on your way here, so I will not get into too much detail. Now, onto my business. Rainbow Dash, I'm offering you something I almost never offer any average pony that passes into my realm; a chance to work for me, and, in turn...regain your mortality."

"W...W...WHAT," Rainbow asked, surprised and smiling slightly.

"Yes, you heard me right. Let me explain; if you accept my offer, you will become one of my many personal messengers. Your duties will be varying, from traveling across Marebus to deliver messages or whatever else I deem needing delivery, patrolling the castle for guard duty, watching the many gates to the capitol, or, in some cases, going to the mortal realm to retrieve souls that have escaped my domain."

"So, like, a ghost hunter," Rainbow asked. Exodius was visibly upset by that choice of word.

"Yes..something like that. Sometimes, my subjects attempt to return to the mortal realm for unfinished business; whether it be revenge, visiting a relative through a vision, or sometimes to cause...mischief. It's actually very difficult for a soul to leave this place on their own, believe it or not. Regardless, your job would be to round them up and bring them back here. They are then...dealt with accordingly."

Rainbow shuddered at the thought.

"Gravehoof informed you of our prison system, I see," Exodius said. Dash simply nodded. "Anyways, the ability to send you to the surface world so easily would require me to...revive you, yes. My spell that I would use would not only give you life, but it would infuse a powerful magical aura into you that will allow you to freely cross between the realms. However, it is also a spell that is extremely frowned upon in your world. Your Princess would hound me for the rest of eternity if she found out. Which is why I've only ever used it once."

"You talk to Celestia?"

"No, but we are aware of the others existence. I haven't actually spoken to her directly in ages. Our...views are fairly conflicting. But I digress. Now that I mention 'dear' Celestia, though, this leads me to my final stipulation; seeing as how you're the Element of Loyalty, this will be an interesting ultimatum. By agreeing to my offer, you will also agree to inherit the laws of Marebus as your highest form of code. Essentially, my laws, to you, are supreme law, and no other laws may supersede it. If your Princess decides to give you an order that conflicts with mine, you have the right to ignore it. Your undying loyalty will belong to me and my law."

"That sounds...yeah," Rainbow said hesitantly, her joy of being able to live now conflicting with her doubt of giving up her loyalty.

"My offer stands at that. It is purely an offer, and I'm not forcing you to do this. This is your decision alone, and don't worry about offending me if you decide to decline; I have several other candidates in the running besides you. I'll give you a few days to think it over. If I don't hear from you by then, I'll assume you declined. Now, then, I believe our business is concluded. It was a pleasure meeting you, Rainbow Dash."

"Yes, sir," Rainbow Dash said, bowing respectfully and beginning to walk away, going over Exodius's offer in her mind. Suddenly, she stopped just short of the door, standing there for a moment before asking hesitantly: "Is there anything you can do about my wings? Like, give them back to me or something?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot give you back your original wings; the damage has already been done."

"Oh...OK," Rainbow replied, beginning to walk out again.

"But, I can give you new ones," Exodius said. "At least, I believe I can. I don't want to fool you into believing that; I've never tried appendage restoration on anypony before. I've read about how special flying is to you, and I don't want to break your spirits even further."

Dash sighed heavily as she continued to stand just inside the doorway and weigh her options in her head. "I...I'm sorry if I'm intruding on you right now; I know you dismissed me and all."

"Don't worry about it. I gave you a tough choice."

"Yeah, you sure did," Dash said, huffing slightly. The pegusus moved out into the catwalk and sat down for several minutes, just thinking. Finally, after careful deliberation and consideration, Dash sat up with her decision and moved towards the doors of the throne room.

"Well, here goes," Rainbow thought. "I just hope I don't regret this."

The pegusus pushed open the door, seeing Exodius sitting back in his chair. "Exodius!"

"Well, made a decision already, have you," he replied.

"Yes. I...I accept your offer."

NEXT CHAPTER: Rainbow gets her first assignment, and (for real this time) the Vigil is held with two shocking attendees! Ah, I won't tell you who.

I really had to fight with this chapter, so my apologies if this seems really roughed out. The next one should be better, though.