[——— The three girls trudged through the snow silently. Pawnee and Pam had left Lightning and Lil’ Seb behind miles ago. They’d told the ponies to return home and had pointed them in the right direction. If they just followed the trail in a straight line for a few minutes, they’d be back at the barn. But the girls didn’t hold out much hope that the ponies would make it, because, as has been covered earlier in this book, ponies are incredibly fucking stupid. At this very moment, Lil’ Seb and Lightning were probably freezing to death or falling off of cliffs or trying to eat each other or some stupid shit like that. Fucking ponies.] “Hurry,” said Anna. “[I can feel the Other Side tugging at my very sinews. We’re close now.”] “Here, kitty, kitty,” Anna called [with vicious sarcasm. It was all starting to become clear in her mind now. The cat. Her friends. Her own death. Her new life. The detective pony. All was converging, all was colliding, all was rushing to a climax. A revelation trembled just past the threshold of her understanding, and here, where the birch forest of Wiggins and the chthonian depths of hell overlapped, Anna felt at the centre of an odd, religious instant.] “I hope that [hell has an open bar. I finished the last of my emergency flasks hours ago],” said [Pawnee. She had a serious problem. This was a cry for help.] Anna stopped bothering to [project even the slightest pretense of caring about these antics.] Anna pointed to the ground. [“This is it,” she said solemnly. “This is the point of no return for me; I can feel it. Once we cross over, I can never reenter the world of the living.” Pawnee gasped in shock; Pam just nodded. “I was ripped from this realm once,” Anna continued, “and it won’t let me escape its grasp again.”] “[I know I can’t change your mind],” said [Pam] sadly. “[I know you love Acorn more than you love life; and apparently more than you love me.”] “[Oh, Pam. You’ll always be the one that] got away,” Anna said[, voice shaking.] “[And Pawnee… Pawnee, you’re pretty cool too.”] The girls [and town were moved by this uncharacteristic display of emotion from Anna. The three girls held hands and took that all-important step forward. Nothing around them visibly changed, but they could all feel it. They were damned. Pawnee touched Anna’s shoulder and pointed at the ground.] “There’s blood in the snow,” said [Pawnee. “Just like the chapter title!”] Anna saw the blood, too. [Rage] gathered in her eyes. #DetectivePony #GettingNailed