Despite its size, it WAS supposed to be part of Chapter 16, Part 2. ...Way back at April Fool's day when I posted that. Sorry about that.
I have also added this text to its originally intended place in that chapter, and after I finish with the next chapter, I might DELETE this and post the next chapter here.
But for now, it will be here for those who read 16-2 and just want the new scene.
"Please…there was a package…" Rainbow Dash began to plead her case.
"WHAT package?" Twilight Sparkle's voice was harder than Rainbow had ever heard it spoken, and it made her flinch away. "Rainbow, you are still holding the weapon right there under your hoof! With Pinkie's tail wrapped around your fetlock like some sort of prize! What can any package ANYWHERE possible hold that would explain this? You're just trying to get me to drop my guard! You about to do it to Fluttershy before I came in, too weren't you!"
Rainbow looked down at the knife on the floor, as if noticing it for the first time. Stupid! I'm so stupid! She looked back up. "I didn't mean to…I'm sorry! I pulled the knife out of Pinkie, but I. Did. Not. Do. It. I…I forgot I had it." Rainbow stepped back off of the knife.
Almost immediately, a magical aura encased it and it levitated over to 'Twilight' and 'Fluttershy', away from Rainbow.
Sensing that it was better for her if she kept talking, Rainbow added a quick snippet. "The package had Pinkie's tail and a message from the real killer. I…thought I could save her. I took the tail with me because I didn't want to risk losing it…. It's a complicated story."
"I…I really don't want to believe you'd do this. She was your friend Rainbow! You always went around town getting into enough mischief to give the Crusaders a run for their money!" 'Twilight' grit her teeth and blinked, fighting away tears so she could scowl at her former friend some more. "Now, I'll ask again, WHAT'S with this Package you are talking about?"
"I-its at my house! I got the tail in a box along with a letter from the real killer! We can go there right now! You have to believe me!" Rainbow sobbed.
("Ah do, Sugarcube." Unheard by all, the Jackanapes nuzzled Rainbow Dash, or rather she nuzzled through her, having nothing to oppose her presence. "It ain't true, but that ain't yer fault. It ain't you who's lying. It's this whole twisted place!")
"Oh…how convenient. You claim there's evidence excusing what you've done back where we can't get it without letting you out of our sight." Twilight glared at Dash. "Just how stupid do you think I am, Rainbow?"
Rainbow swallowed, mostly to try and hydrate her dry throat. "You…you can't just ignore what I have to say! Check the basement of Sugarcube Corner! That's right here! There has to be something that's still there! There just has to be!"
"And that's another distraction, Rainbow. You could just be trying to silence us."
Rainbow voice cracked in exasperation. "Th-then WHY would I let you take the knife? Wouldn't it have made better sense to keep it or even attack you with it mid-sentence?"
"You could've just forgotten..." Twilight looked down at the weapon apprehensively. The her expression hardened and she looked back up at Rainbow. "There's still too much evidence against you! You must've done it!"
I…she's not going to believe me! That monster got me completely! She probably already emptied her basement of all the evidence, and now this Twilight and this Fluttershy will think that I'm her and she did it! I'm making myself…her…US look bad even as I stand here! But I can't think of what to say! The monster is going to get away! How do I explain that there are two Pinkie Pies? That…that I was invisible and there are two Rainbow Dashes? I gotta say something! Think Rainbow Dash, Think!
Rainbow sat there, gritting her teeth and shutting her eyes and she just tried to think as hard as she could. This didn't seem to work very well, and all of her desperate searching for a counter argument only ended in a headache. Twilight didn't look like she had very much patience left.
"Twilight, its…its just circa…circular…circumcised…" Rainbow couldn't think of the word, she was just feeling more humiliated by the second. I'm…I'm too stupid! Pinkie's killer is going to get away and I'll be blamed for her crimes and its all because I can't say one stupid word!
"Circumstantial evidence?" Twilight asked, still staring daggers at Rainbow.
"Y-YES, that! You just found me with the body…." Rainbow's voice was cracking, and it was becoming difficult to talk, but she held firm, trying with all of her might to keep from breaking down and crying. She took a sharp intake of breath when she found she didn't have enough air. All of the tension in her body was so great, she was forgetting to breathe.
Twilight interjected at this point. "And your knife covered in blood! Did you forget that time I surprised you from your nap and you pulled this on me? I recognized it immediately! You're the owner of the murder weapon! You…no, I shouldn't even still be talking to you. You're dangerous! GET OUT, RAINBOW DASH! GET OUT AND DON'T COME BACK!" 'Twilight' levitated the knife up into the air and pointed the tip of the blade towards Rainbow Dash.
My knife? Oh no. This really is THAT knife! The one Crazy Dash used! Did she almost go nuts on her Twilight one time? No wonder she doesn't trust me! This is hopeless! "Tw-twilight…please, I know who the killer really is. You won't believe me at first, but you owe me a chance to-AAh!" Rainbow pleas were cut off when the knife flew towards her and stabbed the floorboards dangerous near where she had just been standing.
"LIES!" 'Twilight' screamed at Rainbow Dash. "YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO SAVE YOUR OWN SKIN, RAINBOW DASH! "
Rainbow trembled at the volume of 'Twilight's' voice, her voice shaking. "Th-they AREN'T lies! Sh-she's still out there! Y-you're still in danger!" Rainbow attempted to readjust her stance so she could put her hoof down, when she stepped on something cold.
Rainbow Dash's brain narrowed down the list of things the "something cold" could possibly be in an instant, and within said instant, she felt her blood run cold and her stomach twist into knots.
"GET AWAY FROM PINKIE PIE!" 'Twilight' snapped, pulling the body of the earth pony away from Dash and towards her, dropping her beside 'Fluttershy', who squeaked in shock of having the dead pony positioned next to her.
"I, I, I…I didn't !" Rainbow tried to stammer out her words, but now that Pinkie's unmoving, cold, blood-covered, tailless, I-just-stepped-on-her-face-and-made-her-lips-pull-apart-a-little-wider-open-a-little-wider-so-I-can-see-that-tooth-she-is-missing, eviscerated cadaver was in full view again, the realization hit her already fraying emotional state like a sledgehammer.
Dead. Pinkie Pie was dead. No more parties. No more pranks. No more silly randomness. The nightmare she had on Gummy's birthday had become her reality. She went into this horrible place to save her, and she failed. She was Pinkie's only hope and She. Had. Failed!
"P-pinkie…PINKIE PIE! I'm *choke* I'M SO SORRY I'M SUCH A FAILURE!" Rainbow Dash officially lost it and galloped over towards the two living ponies, eyes blurring as she struggled to focus on the dead one she just had to hold again. She knew she had already checked, and that Pinkie was very clearly dead, but she just…she just…
"STOP!" 'Twilight' barked. She used her magic to seize a nearby end table and she immediately sent it flying, legs first, into Rainbow Dash. Rainbow half-screamed, half-grunted at being stopped so suddenly. 'Twilight' took one second to catch her breath and yelled "Get. OUT!"
The table took off at a breakneck speed, scraping the body of the shrieking pegasus who was tangled up in its legs along the floor. Rainbow made pitiful sounds and begged for her friend to stop. ….
…..She began making what sounded like a plea to 'Fluttershy' when she was hurled out of the door of Sugar Cube Corner.
The door locked behind her.
The length of her back aching from her bruises and covering her face with her hooves as gave out gasping sobs, Rainbow Dash tried to collect herself. She heard 'Twilight' say something about giving her 30 seconds head start, but she wasn't in any position to listen.
(The Jackanapes ran through the locked door, a worried expression on her face.)
From the ground, Dash grunted and lifted her head to scream at the door. "THAT ISN'T EVEN YOUR PINKIE PIE! I'M NOT YOUR RAINBOW DASH! THE REAL KILLER IS YOUR PINKIE PIE! TWILIGHT, OPEN THIS DOOR! Please….."
There was no answer.
("Dash…Ah know you can't hear me, but you need to hurry up and understand that the real Pinkie is still out there. …Ah hope. At least she ain't that thing in this building here…Wait…NO! Not another one! Shoo! Git! RD doesn't need to deal with you right now!")
After Dash took several deep breaths, she picked herself off the ground, a frustrated expression on her face. The bruises that covered her body protested her movement, but she was too frustrated to pay them much heed. She looked at the door for a second, then grit her teeth, turned around, preparing to kick it down when suddenly she found realized that a young filly sitting on her scooter next to an empty white box had come into view just as she looked at the street in front of her.
("Aw…no.")
Rainbow Dash froze, her mind blank. She simply could not process how to react right at this moment.
"O-oh! Hi Rainbow Dash!" 'Scootaloo' grinned from ear to ear as she sat up straighter to and looked up from the cupcake she was eating to greet her idol.
The rainbow-dyed cupcake with sky blue icing with candy-clouds. It looked familiar. Dangerously familiar.
"…What are you doing with a table?" Scootaloo cocked her head to one side. Then she noticed the expression on Rainbow Dash's face. "H-hey…what's wrong?" 'Scootaloo' put down her cupcake for a moment as she looked up at Rainbow Dash in bewilderment. "A-are you…crying? But, you NEVER cr-"
"CUPCAKE!" Rainbow very nearly shrieked the word as much as spoke it. Her eyes widened in horror, remembering what became of the other Rainbow Dash.
"W-what? You mean, this cupcake?" 'Scootaloo' looked down at her treat. "Oh, I got about half a batch of them from Pinkie Pie before she left the shop, she said I could have them, and that they were tastier than her usual batch. I normally can't tell the difference, but I think she was right about these. I just couldn't stop eating them! I didn't even notice this was my last one…"
Rainbow Dash began to hyperventilate and tremble with fury. She swatted the cupcake out of 'Scootaloo's' hooves.
"DON'T. EAT. THAT." Rainbow stamped on the cupcake where it lay on the ground. She barely got finished when she felt a sudden twist in her stomach and she vomited up its contents, which was nothing but a small trickle of yellow fluid which scorched her throat.
'Scootaloo' looked shocked and hurt and more than a little frightened from all of this. "R-Rainbow Dash?" her little voice trembled.
"Pinkie. Pie." Rainbow's voice was scratchy and wheezy, but through the unnerving twitch her left eye was developing, she gave 'Scootaloo' a look of dead seriousness. "Tell. Me. Where."
"Rainbow Dash, you're scaring me." 'Scootaloo' shook before the not-entirely sane older pegasus.
"Its important, Scoots. Need to see her right now." Rainbow's eye twitched once more.
'Scootaloo' swallowed. "I…I last saw her-"
Just then, a loud noise made the two (three?) ponies jump as Twilight Sparkle's magically amplified voice filled the air.
"ATTENTION PONYVILLE! THIS IS AN S.O.S. AS WELL AS A WARNING OF PUBLIC SAFETY! THE WEATHER PEGASUS KNOWN AS RAINBOW DASH IS A KILLER! SHE IS HIGHLY DANGEROUS AND MUST BE APPREHENDED IMMEDIATELY! SHE IS RIGHT OUTSIDE SUGARCUBE CORNER, WHERE SHE HAS FLUTTERSHY AND I TRAPPED INSIDE! SEND HELP A.S.A.P.!"
Rainbow Dash felt her heart sink. 'Scootaloo' looked at her with an expression of absolute terror. Rainbow shook her head, and spoke in the quietest, most calming voice she could manage "No. No, no no, no…"
"AAAAAAAIIIIIEEEEEE!" 'Scootaloo' shrieked as she leapt unto her scooter and beat her wings to get away, not even noticing that she left her helmet behind.
"SCOOTS! COME BACK! PLEASE COME BACK! WHERE DID YOU SEE PINKIE? WHERE?" Rainbow called out to the fleeing pegasus filly. 'Scootaloo' rounded the corner, showing no signs of stopping or slowing down.
(And failed to notice that from out of nowhere, ANOTHER Scootaloo wearing her helmet, and seeming quite calm and completely undisturbed by the loud announcement of her idol now being an accused killer as well BEING RIGHT THERE IN PLAIN SIGHT, buzzed right passed her. The Jackanapes did notice this, and was puzzled. "What…wait…didn't she just-?")
Rainbow took one more glance at the door to Sugarcube Corner…
Tears stinging her eyes, she looked back to the streets of Ponyville and ran off after 'Scootaloo', who just disappeared around a corner, with a grunt.
(Not noticing that she ran through the second Scootaloo in her mad dash to get to the first. She phased through the filly like she wasn't even there. The other Scootaloo went the opposite direct as Dash, and so, the Jackanapes decided that the best way to help would be to follow the thing that nopony but her could see.)
She flapped her wings, which still stung from being partially crushed under the legs of the end table, trying to lift herself off the ground as she caught sight of Scootaloo.
"Scoots! You have to help me! Come back! Come back! Don't run away!" Rainbow pleaded.
"No! Get away, Rainbow Dash! GET AWAY!" 'Scootaloo' shrieked.
Rainbow took flight, determined to reach 'Scootaloo'. Once she was in the air, she closed in on the filly and…
…and was sidelined by another pegasus ramming into her. "Get away from my baby, you MONSTER!"
"Oof!" Rainbow crashed into the ground, knocking the wind out of her. She steadied herself and tried to get back to her feet, but was head butted by the assailant. Staggering back and falling onto her side, Rainbow groaned, massaging her temples with her hooves. She looked up at her attacker, recognized the face from that one night she had to take Scootaloo home after she had stayed out way past her curfew and explain to her parents why she was so late.
"Mom?" Rainbow Dash heard 'Scootaloo's' distant voice ask.
The pegasus who was standing over Rainbow Dash with fuchsia-rose colored eyes that were drill holes into her very soul had a light khaki coat, a raspberry colored mane and tail in a slightly poofy style with streaks of cameo pink. Although her flank was quite out of sight from where Rainbow Dash was standing, she recalled that this mare had three white tornadoes as her cutie mark. It was Scootaloo's mother.
'Dizzy Twister' loomed over Rainbow Dash, regarding her silently. She was young for a mother, and smaller than Rainbow, AND had a reputation for being a little goofy, but she was the better half of a decade older than the cyan pegasus, and she seemed to be projecting a powerful vibe of an awful authority about her. Dash could feel in her bones how much trouble she was in.
"I wasn't…I wouldn't….I couldn't bear to see Scootaloo hurt too! I just needed her to-". Rainbow swallowed a lump in her throat, determined to speak clearly. "I know this looks bad, and I'm sorry I scared her, but please!" Rainbow put her forehooves together "Please let me ask her one question."
'Dizzy' looked up for a moment at something, then looked back down at Rainbow Dash for a moment before silently stepping off. Rainbow turned on her side, and watched as 'Dizzy' pulled a shivering 'Scootaloo' into a hug as she comforted her daughter. The pair showed no signs of leaving.
The smallest shadow of a hopeful smile spread across Rainbow's face, and her eyes began to water. Keeping her hooves clasped together, she spoke her gratitude that finally, somepony was giving her a chance. "You…you mean you will-?"
Just then, a lasso whirled through the air and looped around Rainbow's forehooves, snaring them together. Rainbow let out a small shrieking noise as her hopeful smile turned into a horrified gasp.
"It's alright, Dizzy. We'll be taking THIS ONE of yer hooves now. You go on ahead and get that filly of yers home." Rainbow turned in the direction of the voice. 'Applejack' came into view, followed by several other ponies from around town.
"Goodbye Rainbow Dash" came a voice on Rainbow's other side, back where 'Dizzy' had been comforting 'Scootaloo'. Rainbow turned back towards the mother and child. Scootaloo was standing a little closer to Rainbow. "I thought you were cool, but I guess you really aren't."
The words stung Rainbow's heart, but she bit through her teeth. This was her last chance. She had Scootaloo talking to her. "Squirt…Twilight thinks I killed Pinkie Pie…at Sugarcube Corner. But you said you she was leaving to go somewhere else, didn't you? Aren't you…a little confused by that? Please tell me where she was going." Just then, 'Dizzy' took off to the air, carrying Scootaloo in her hooves. Rainbow pulled herself up and flapped her wings to try and follow them. "W-wait! Please come back! Scoots! SCOOOOOTA-AAH!" Her attempt to follow them was cut short as 'Applejack' pulled on the rope, looping its length around Rainbow's hind hooves as she went. "NO! LET ME GO! APPLEJACK, SHE KNOWS WHERE THE REAL KILLER IS!"
"NO MORE LIES!" 'Applejack' slapped Rainbow Dash across the face. "What really happened? Did Pinkie Pie beat you in a speed eating contest or something? Did she forget to praise one little trivial thing you did? WELL?"
Rainbow Dash lay on the ground silent and unmoving. Her head rested where it landed from being slapped.
"Nothin' to say for yerself? Fine. Ah always knew you were no good, but Ah never expected something like this." 'Applejack' sneered. "Ya always just lie around all day, expectin' adulation for some fancy flyin' and occasionally kicking a cloud somewhere! Pinkie Pie at least livened things up around town. And what even was that nonsense you were asking about Scootaloo? Were ya tryin' to say that Pinkie was still alive?"
Rainbow didn't say anything, and 'Applejack' couldn't see her eyes under her bangs. Not programmed to pick up the dangerously silent tension coming from the pinned pegasus, 'Applejack' continued ranting until an interruption it would register occurred.
"Because that's just….crazy! No, it ain't crazy… It's STUPID! Ah knew ya weren't the most creative pony in Equestria, but that's some new kinda stupid right there. Aren't you ashamed? Is that why you ain't looking me in the eye right now? Because-"
Rainbow looked up with a coy smile, her eyes still red from tears she had shed only minutes ago. "Hey, Applejack…you got something on your face."
'Applejack' lowered her ear towards Rainbow. "Huh? What are you mumblin' abou-AAAAOOOOWWWWCH!" She was cut off as Rainbow, who had slowly been contracting her body under 'Applejack', thrust herself off the ground and slammed her cranium into the side of the earth pony's head. 'Applejack
Rainbow didn't waste any time. She took off immediately. Her forehooves were still bound by the lasso, but she was free to hover above the crowd. "She killed my friend….SHE KILLED MY FRIEND!"
"She's getting away! Somepony stop her!" Rose pointed at the sky.
"Don't get in my way! I'm not even from your Ponyville, so I don't owe you anything! I might be too late to save Pinkie, but I can still avenge her! And I won't forgive anypony who gets in my way!" Rainbow shouted down to the mob below, seething with anger.
"She's going to go kill somepony else! The horror! The horror!" Lily shrieked.
"You're a bad pony…why are you doing all of this? Pinkie made the best muffins, or at least when Applejack wasn't helping her…" 'Ditzy Doo' fluttered up towards Dash…
"Not interested." Rainbow deadpanned, and swooped to the side to get around 'Ditzy', but was blocked as the other pegasus moved with her. Finally she gave 'Ditzy' a dangerous look. "I won't tell you again. Get out of my way."
"She was completely innocent! Sure she was a little hyperactive and quirky, but she was ray of joy in everypony's lives and just wanted to make ponies smile!" 'Ditzy Doo' sniffed. "How could you do it, HOW!"
Rainbow's expression softening just a little bit, but still determined. "That depends…one which Pinkie Pie you are talking about."
"You on the other hoof have been nothing but mean and…eggo-tistical! You're always huffing and puffing and taking offense at anypony over the smallest things! What, did you pick up on how much more we liked Pinkie than you? Was that why you did what you did, OUT OF JELLY-SY!"
Rainbow looked taken aback for a moment, but recovered with a vicious snarl. "SHUT UP, DERPY! YOU AND THIS ENTIRE WORLD ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENED TO PINKIE PIE!" She moved to tackle 'Ditzy' when suddenly she felt a mighty tug on the rope still tied around her hooves. "What the…hey!"
"Hold it right there, pardner!" 'Applejack' spoke through gritted teeth as she pulled on the rope. "We ain't gonna let'cha get away that easy!"
Other ponies were moving in, about to assist 'Applejack'. Rainbow, however, was through playing around. Taking off at top speed, she drug 'Applejack' through the dirt for a few feet before the apple farmer lost her grip and fell into the mud.
As soon as the traction on the rope slackened, Rainbow was momentarily disoriented by the sudden lurch of speed as the resistance she had been fighting against simply vanished, before rolling with it and ascending into the skies. She flew away from the crowd, out towards the woods that surrounded the town.
Alright…alright. I feel like shit, but there's no rush. I'll just hide in the forest and get this rope off of me while the heat dies down.
There's gotta be a road out of town or something, even if this version of Ponyville is different from how much of it is surrounded by forest…
I'm so sorry, Pinkie. But I'll get her. I owe that much to you. I'll get her if I have to hunt her down all over Equestria.
Back at Shadow Ponyville Town Hall, the Mastermind was still watching events play out on screen. She had also finished her popcorn, and was wearing the bag as a hat.
Meanie Pie smirked. "Well! I was willing to lock Dashie up and have her Scootaloo reflection come around and save her…." Meanie wore a sarcastic expression of dismay and raised her voice to an even higher pitch than normal. "Oh, Rainbow Dash, I'm sorry I didn't listen! You're right, it doesn't make sense! There ARE two Pinkie Pies! I never should've doubted you, you're my hero! Can you ever forgive me?" And then she lowered her voice to a gruff-but-scratchy voice to mimic Rainbows
"Why of course I will! I always knew I could count on you, squirt! Oh no. Squirt! Look out! NOOOOOO! Oh Celestia, why? I can't be responsible for another innocent dying! Why, why, WUHAHAHAHAHA!" Meanie Pie broke down into maniacal cackling. "Oh, oh…and then after I broke the neck, right in front of Dashie, who would be fumbling with the key, I would drink some of her-"
"H-hey" said a giggling voice from behind the couch, causing Meanie Pie to jump. Looking over her should, she saw Scootaloo leaning on the side of the couch for support. "What are you laughing about? Did something funny happen?"
Meanie Pie blinked for a moment. Then recognition hit. These are… Sweetie Pie's memories of Scootaloo. She has to stop jumping in on me like this. "Oh right. You. I promised some cupcakes, didn't I?"
"Yep!…So, what WHERE you laughing at?" asked 'Scootaloo' with a look of childish curiousity.
Meanie Pie dropped the package with White-and-lavender cupcakes onto 'Scootaloo's' back and spoke with a dry, uninterested tone. "Reflection #387, you will stop asking me unimportant questions, go to the north end of town, find the straight-maned Pinkie Pie, who should be around there, and only when you find her do you eat the cupcakes in front of her. Then, well, you know the rest."
'Scootaloo' dropped all pretenses of emotion and responded with a dull monotone and a blank expression. "Yes, mistress Shadamena."
"And be sure to cry if Pinkie takes then away from you. She gave them to you, after all, and after she made you wait for half a day before giving you some, too!"
"Yes, mistress Shadamena."
"There's a good filly. Now, run along." As 'Scootaloo' did so, Shadamena turned towards the screen, which displayed the mob that had nearly captured Rainbow Dash, now wearing blank expressions and standing around doing nothing. She didn't actually have to face anywhere, but it helped focus her mind.
Shadamena spoke with a serious and to-the-point tone that was rather out of character for her. "All of Rainbow Dash's reflections, everypony Dashie knows….patrol all of Shadow Ponyville up and down looking for her. Split into teams, and convenerge on her location if she shows up. Reflections #1 through 200, I want you to intensify your patrols around the northern end. Since Sweetie Pie cannot see you, you shouldn't interfere with the operations there. After an hour has passed, all of you just…you know what? Just vanish. Turn the lights on in your houses, but vanish."
Shadamena felt something like a great rumbling far off, all over Shadow Ponyville, as her connection with all the reflections allowed her to sense that her orders were acknowledged. The ponies on the screen shouted in unison. "Yes, Mistress Shadamena!"
"Good. Now…." Shadamena trailed off. She whispered under her breath a question so quiet that nopony should be able to hear with their ears. "Scootaloo? Scooty 387, are you still here in the Town Hall?"
For a moment, Shadamena just sat in silence.
Now, something one should note about Pinkie Sense is that it can't predict the future with any level of specificity. Something's going to fall, Somepony is about to swing open a door, Something scary is about to happen, "DO A BARREL ROLL!", Something bright and multi-colored (or bald) went this way very fast….but never something as helpful as say: "Somepony is hiding from you in close vicinity at this very moment."
However, it CAN alert you that you are not alone.
And now that Shadamena thought about it, even though it might've just been a little itch, she hadn't felt QUITE alone for some time now.
Shadamena got up, she headed towards the exit to her room…and felt that she was not only "not alone", but she was feeling significantly Less Alone than she had felt sitting on her couch.
And then, she started to feel a little bit More Alone. She snarled like a beast and ran in the directions that made her feel Less Alone.
"Who are you? Is that you, Sweetie Pie? Did I take my eyes off of you for too long? Come out, come out, where ever you are!" It can't possibly be Shadash…
"OH CRAP, OH CRAP, OH CRAP, OH CRAP, OH CRAP, OH CRAP, OH CRAP, OH CRAP…." Shadash cursed as she grabbed the closest weapon she could find in the closet she was hiding out in: ….a coat hanger.
She tried to steel herself for the coming onslaught, mostly just hoping Shadamena would just get here and find her already, but silently hoping that maybe she would think whatever tipped her off would've just been her imagination. She was only really sure of her plan when Shadamena didn't know she was coming. What all COULD that creepy "Pinkie Sense" of hers do?
The moments ticked by, not quite in silence as she heard the hoofsteps running this way and that, things being knocked over. All she could see was darkness, and she didn't know what any of the sounds she was hearing meant.
"Come on out...come on, it'll be fun. I'll make you cupcakes~!" Shadamena called.
Shadamena took her by surprise last time, but now that she was on the move and looking for her, glimpses of what her Shadempathy had told her about Shadamena were returning. She shuddered. She really should just bust open this door and confront the freak, but she had no small amount of doubt that Shadamena couldn't just teleport behind her and bash her over the head with a blunt instrument she pulled from her hammerspace. And then she would wake up and Shadamena would take her sweet, sweet time introducing Shadash to a new definition of pain.
Shadamena had a very special "aura" to her. While Shadow Sparkle could actually touch you even if you were just a shadow and SHE was just a shadow, Shadarity had a smile than made Shadash shiver, and Shadowshy
"Here pony, pony, pony~! Be a good little cupcake and come ouuuuut~"
She looked down at her pitiful coathanger. What the hell am I supposed to do with this? Give her an abortion? Damn her for being the first one in and being the only one able to create stuff.
…Hey, wait. I don't hear her anymore.
After several moments of deliberation, Shadash opened the closet door, pointed her coat hanger in every possible direction of attack, saw the entrance to a stairway to the top floor of the Town Hall.
Wait…what if she's up there, lying in wait for me?
Suddenly, she heard a crash coming from downstairs. "YOU WON'T ESCAPE FROM ME!"
Well, that solves that. Without another thought, Shadash sped up the stairs into the highest floor of Shadow Ponyville's Town Hall, slamming the door behind her.
The Jackanapes ran through the streets of the twisted Ponyville, alarmed that after all this time, she had somehow been SEEN. She knew that, despite actually having a face this time, this was NOT the real Pinkie Pie, and was the one behind this. And those disgusting things she had said about doing to Scootaloo…the way she was manipulating that mob on the screen to hurt Rainbow Dash. But it was more than that. Something about this pony was giving her a really bad vibe and making her skin crawl. She didn't really want to touch this thing that looked like Pinkie Pie.
And now it was chasing her. Yelling something about cupcakes.
…or rather she had been. The Jackanapes had noticed that things had gotten distressingly quiet in the last few minutes. Looking back, she saw that Creepy Pie was no longer right behind her.
What? …Where'd she go? Did Ah lose her? Come to think on it, Ah ain't sure she actually saw me, at least she wasn't too keen on looking directly at me. Where'd she go?
The Jackanapes slowed down, and stepped cautiously, looking all around.
"P-Pinkie? You still around? Ah don't know if y'all can hear me as well." The Jackanapes' voice.
All she got was silence.
"Alright then. Ah guess Ah'll just head back to Zecora and the gang and tell them what Ah've seen. Ah ain't gonna let ya keep lyin' to Dash about Pinkie bein' dead. We'll save the both of them, ya hear!"
Silence.
"Ah guess not." The Jackanapes picked up the pace, and rounded a corner, starting to believe that the crisis was in fact over. She had to make it back to Zecora. She had to-
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUHHHHH!"
Just then, she saw a glint of light reflecting off of a silver surface as a meat cleaver came swinging her way, accompanied by the banshee screech of a horribly disfigured pony's face. Her eyes had no pupils! Her eyes had no pupils! THECLEAVERTOREINTOAPPLEJACK'SFLESHAND-
"YYYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Applejack awoke with a start. "Get away! Get away!" She thrust her hooves at the air around her…
When her breathing and heart rate slowed, she realized that she was in the middle of Zecora's hut, with four other residence still caught in a deep trance.
"Well, Ah guess now Ah at least know what Ah'm up against…"
"Huh? There's nopony here." She looked around. "And now it feels like I really am alone. What gives? Is my Pinkie Sense on the fritz? Maybe I drank too much and now I have too much Sass."
She looked up at the pegasi darting all across the sky, searching for Rainbow Dash.
"Right. I guess I still have an endgame to plan." She took her of popcorn bag-hat in a somber fashion. "I need to hurry up and throw my 'Farewell to Sweetie Pie' party. Or to you, Dashie, although I really don't think Sweetie will be strong enough to fight you when you meet her next for her to beat you. And I've got plans for you, anyway. Oh yes. Happy, exciting plans!"
Malevolent giggles filled the streets as the pink pony trotted back to the Town Hall, leaving the paper bag to fly off of her head and float gently down to the ground.
A/N: Well, guys. I'd like to say that I never expected THAT to take as long as it did.
The biggest problem is that unlike earlier chapters, I can't quite get a feel for the scenes in chapter 16. Music doesn't help either because I don't actually have a track list that suits the general tone of where we are in the story or what the characters are going through.
I'm not pleased with how this scene turned out, even having spent a month and a half on it. There was something about it that just seemed more visceral in my head, but I couldn't find the words to put it
Getting Skyrim in the middle of April also was kind of a drawback…
Actually, there were a lot of ideas that I wanted to throw in there which sounded visceral and awesome at the time, but which just wouldn't come out when I tried to write them.
I DO think that this is mostly a "Chapter 16" thing. Hopefully I'll get back on schedule soon enough. I'm just out of practice of writing up one of these without stopping after five minutes.
Quoted from .com-
"Dizzy Twister is commonly featured in Ponyville and Cloudsdale as a background pony. She makes her first appearance in Friendship is Magic, part 1 in the town hall, awaiting the start of the Summer Sun Celebration.
She participates in the Running of the Leaves in Fall Weather Friends as contestant #1 and gets visibly worn out by the end. The camera cuts to her and two fellow, panting contestants as Twilight Sparkle explains her running strategy to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. In Feeling Pinkie Keen, Dizzy Twister, along with Merry May, pulls the trailer that drops a myriad of objects on Twilight. In Lesson Zero, she answers the Mayor's question about what the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Big Macintosh are fighting about, and proceeds to fly towards the commotion with a wide grin on her face. Later in the episode, she attempts to grab Twilight's doll from "Wind Whistler"; their fight causes the doll to fall to the ground near Rainbow Dash, which precipitates Twilight explaining her actions to her friends. In Hurricane Fluttershy, she is one of the ponies causing the first tornado's collapse; exhausted, she strays from her position and crashes into another pony, which causes a chain reaction."
I also saw a lot of Dizzy in "Super Squeezy Cider 6000"