Pinkie's downfall

Chapter 23

A beam of bright turquoise light shot from Cadences horn, blasting the wooden stage apart and snapping the ropes around Twilight and Pinkie Pie's necks. Luna leaped from the collapsing stage and flew towards the raging princess, black and purple armour materialising on her back,
"You didn't think this through, did you Cadence." It wasn't a question,
"I did, actually. And this -" she gestured to the two ponies lying limp within the mound of splintered wood, "This was the last straw."
"Very well." Said Luna calmly, as all hell broke loose beneath her. The hundreds of ponies that had stood like statues charged, their armour glinting in the moonlight, grasping swords and spears, axes and arrows, wielded by either magic or hoof. Those who had crowded around the castle to enjoy Equestrias first live execution for centuries now turned to the army of ponies running at top speed towards them, and prepared to fight themselves, with whatever they had; they bared their teeth, grabbed shards of splintered wood and prepared spells of pain.
  Lyra Heartstrings watched as her best friend came charging towards her, a spear clamped between her teeth, her once friendly eyes now full of anger.
  "Wait!" Lyra cried, hoping her friend was still inside this crazy warrior, "BonBon!" But it was no use, the pony jumped on top of her, and aimed the spear at her head.
  "Give me one good reason I shouldn't slit your throat right now!" She demanded,
  "It's me Bonbon! Your best friend!"
  "We are not friends." She snarled, "You made the wrong decision, I made the right one. There's nothing you can do about it now."
  "I wasn't the one who made the wrong decision."
  "This is taking too long," Bonbon said with a sigh, jumping off of Lyra, stabbing her with her spear, then running to join the carnage erupting around. The turquoise ponies golden eyes were wide with fear, pain and betrayal, as she slumped to the ground, blackness closing in around her.

The second the noose around her neck had loosened, Pinkie Pie was buried under a mound of wood. But she was a strong pony, and this wouldn't stop her from escaping. Oblivious to the battle now raging on around her, she dragged herself and the unconscious Twilight out of the rubble,
  "Twilight!" She tried to yell but her bruised throat could only produce a weak croak, "Wake up." The bloodied unicorns eyes flickered open and darted widely around,
  "Pinkie?" She whispered, barely able to utter a sound,
  "Twilight," the pink pony repeated, realising that her friend wasn't going to make it: she was covered with scratches and splinters from the wood, with a red line around her neck, the same as Pinkie and where her wings had been brutally ripped from her back, blood was seeping down her sides. It was this last injury that made her see that the ex-princess couldn't and wouldn't survive the loss of her wings.
  "I'm sorry." Pinkie said, her eyes filling with tears,
  "Why?"
  "For what I did."
  "It wasn't you."
  "I'm sorry." The two ponies sat in silence on top of the destroyed stage they should have been executed on, Equestria destroying itself around them. Many ponies were killed in the battle that raged in front of the castle but Pinkie Pie only noticed one; the death of the princess of friendship.

When Applejack saw the armoured ponies begin to charge towards those under Luna's rule, she joined them. They were right, and they were going to fight for that belief. And so was she. Emerging from her hiding place, the cowgirl began to pummel the nearest pony with her experienced farming hooves. It was only when the element of loyalty around her neck began to feel tighter and glow dangerously did she remember what she had been sent to do. The gem seemed to know exactly what she was thinking and teleported her to the pile of wood in front of Luna's castle. The sighs that met her eyes was even more shocking than the hundreds of ponies battling and killing each other around.
  "Twilight..." She breathed, "What have you done?!" Believing that the Pinkie Pie in front of her was the same as the one from her world, Applejack immediately blamed Twilights death on her,
  "YOU KILLED HER!" She screamed,
  "I didn't!" Protested Pinkie, still struggling to speak,
  "THEN WHY IS SHE -" before Applejack could utter another sound, she was unwillingly transported back to the human world by the jewel she was enslaved by.
  "Welcome back AJ!" A terrifyingly happy voice said, "How was your time in Equestria?"
"Why'd ya bring me back?"
  "Well, I assumed that since you'd found our good friend Twilight, you'd have brought her back with you." Pinkamena said, still falsely happy,
  "She's dead."
  "Applejack! I thought you represented the element of honesty! Whatever happened to that."
  "Nothing. Ah'm telling the truth."
  "Are you?" Pinkamena asked teasingly,
  "What ah'm telling you is the honest truth. She's dead."
  "Well then we'll have to continue without her," Pinkamena said brightly, leaning forwards on her chair, and beckoning Applejack forwards. Nervously, but still full of rage, the blonde girl obeyed, only to have the constricting necklace ripped from her throat, leaving a painful red mark.
  "Right then." The deranged girl rubbed her hands together like a cliche comic book villain, "I have something to tell you all." And with a click of Pinkamena's fingers, Applejack found herself within the magical forcefield.
  "Such a shame we are missing so many of you." She began, "But I guess in a way, it's fitting."
  "What?" Rarity asked shakily, rising from where she had sunken to the floor after hearing the news of her friends death,
  "You do all remember the elements of harmony don't you? Rarity, you were generosity, Applejack was honesty like I said and Dash, I believe you were loyalty."
  "Don't call me that." The rainbow haired girl growled,
  "Sure," said Pinkamena, still happy and carefree, "As long as you listen to me. I just want to tell you all that your elements of harmony don't match you anymore. You see, Rainbow, it's not very loyal to murder your friend is it? And Rarity, there's nothing generous about stealing a knife and refusing to give it back, just so you can escape somewhere. Applejack, you had to lie a lot in Equestria didn't you?"
  "No, actually."
  "There you go again, I know what you were planning to do. Even if you were to occupied with a pony battle to do so."
  "What are you talking about?" Demanded Rarity,
  "Equestria is at war. Didn't you know that?" Pinkamena still sounded absurdly joyful
  "How did you know that?" Asked Applejack suspiciously,
  "That doesn't matter. And anyway, I haven't finished!" She snapped, before resuming her demeanour, "Fluttershy would have killed you if you hadn't killed her first Dashie, that wasn't very kind really. And there's nothing even remotely magical about dying in a battle between common ponies is there? You just aren't the same anymore -"
  "And who's fault is that?" Rainbowdash shouted,
  "Mine, probably." Pinkamena admitted, "But who cares right? You've destroyed the elements of harmony! And Equestria will soon follow."