The Lovely Bones: Afterlife of a Murdered Pegasus

Chapter 34: Scene of the Crime

Stormflower awoke to the strong aroma of blueberries. She pulled herself out of bed and trudged her way down the stairs. Sunkick and Scootaloo were in the kitchen downstairs munching their way through a stack of blueberry pancakes.

"Did you two sleep well?" Stormflower yawned. Scootaloo nodded her head as she continued to scarf down her plate of pancakes. "Those smell delicious!"

"They are! Have some!" Sunkick said as he pushed a plate towards Stormflower. She looked at the pancakes and, though the smell was definitely mesmerizing, she found herself absent of any type of an appetite.

"Sorry...I'm not hungry."

Sunkick and Scootaloo shrugged and continued to eat. Stormflower examined the pancakes and assumed that Mr. Cross was the one responsible for making them. She smiled and walked out a nearby door to examine the rock farm as a whole.

A refreshing breeze was blowing through the air. The plain of rocks and dirt seemed more welcoming to Stormflower in the daylight than it had when they had arrived that night. A series of light-gray clouds filled the sky which gave the entire area a somewhat grainy aura. Stormflower walked out towards the edge of the front yard and soon found the stone she had seen the night before. She approached the stone and knelt down a few feet in away from it. A small mound of dirt was situated directly in front of the stone and a series of words were engraved in the stone's weathered surface.

"Bellamina," Stormflower read. "April 4, 985 to June 5, 991. A beloved daughter and sister. May this young spirit rest in peace."

Stormflower stood up and patted the top of the gravestone with her hoof. It felt cold and rough under her hoof. She then pulled her hoof away from the stone and turned in the opposite direction. She scanned everything within reach of her eyesight until her eyes fell upon two stallions walking alongside each other in the distance.

"So where exactly are we going?" Joan asked as he and Edgar walked across the field of rocks.

"You've been asking a lot of questions. I think the appropriate place to answer these questions would be at the place where it happened," Edgar replied.

"Trying to leave me out, eh?" asked a familiar voice. Joan and Edgar turned around to be confronted by Stormflower's snarky face.

"Stormflower!" Joan exclaimed.

"You know, you two could have waited for me to wake up before going off to talk about secrets."

"It's not like that."

"Whatever. So where are you taking us."

Stormflower's eyes seemed to cut through Edgar's soul as he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I'm taking you two to the place where it all started," he replied nervously.

"You mean...the place where Bellamina died?"

"Yes. It's still there, even after all these years."

The three ponies fell silent and made their way into the dark forest that stood on the edge of the Cross Rock Farm.

Stormflower didn't care much for the interior of the forest. Hardly any light penetrated the leaves which resulted in them walking into an area shrouded in simulated nighttime. The walk seemed to go on forever until they reached what appeared to be a rundown shack. The shack was constructed of wood that was incredibly weathered and damaged. It also had a series of shattered windows and a doorway without a door. Joan began to approach the shack but Edgar held him back.

"It's not safe to go in there. It could come crashing down on you," he said. Joan nodded and stepped back.

"So this is where it happened," Stormflower sighed.

"Yes. Technically it took place underneath it."

"Underneath it?"

"Yes. There's a door in there that leads down into a fairly large basement. That's where...he killed her."

Stormflower instantly thought back to what Sunkick had told her about what their father had told him about the killer.

"Excuse me, Mr. Cross, who...who was the killer?" she asked. Edgar looked back at Stormflower and then turned back to the shack.

"I still don't know much about where he came from or why he did what he did. All I know is that his name was Rufus and that Bellamina was not his only victim."

"Are you telling me that this Rufus was a serial killer?!"

"Yes. He was a serial killer. Thankfully, he's locked up now in an underground prison."

Stormflower instantly thought back to a conversation she had had with Twilight and Aaron shortly after discovering the truth behind Rainbow Dash's horrible fate.

"So...what can you tell me about my sister's killer?" she had asked.

"It's hard to determine exactly who killed her," Aaron had said. "This is one smart killer."

"I've looked up some recent Ponyville police records," Twilight had said. "It seems that several ponies, mostly background ponies who aren't really known, have been disappearing. I can only conclude that these ponies suffered the same fate as Rainbow Dash."

"So...we have a serial killer on our hooves?" Stormflower had asked.

"Yes...it appears that way," Aaron had replied grimly.

Stormflower flashed back to the present. The air was starting to get somewhat chilly within the dark confines of the forest and she was beginning to wish that she was back in the grainy calmness of the farm.

"Are you both ready to head back?" Edgar asked suddenly.

"I guess," Stormflower replied. "Are you ready Joan?" The orange stallion didn't reply. He simply stood there, refusing to turn his gaze away from the shack a few yards away. "Joan?"

Joan's mind began to buzz like a be. Visions of lost moments and forgotten sorrows trailed back into his thoughts and wormed their way through his psyche.

"Where are they?! Where are they, Joan?!" asked a gruff voice.

"They're there! They're underneath the cabin!" replied the frightened voice of a young Joan. Joan began to shake. His vision became incredibly fuzzy. "Oh Celestia! Oh sweet Celestia! No! NO! IT'S ALL MY FAULT! I SHOULD HAVE NEVER LET THEM GO! OH NO! BELLAMINA! BELLAMINA! I'M SORRY!"

"Joan?" Edgar asked. Joan's eyes rolled upwards and he fell back. "Shit!"

Edgar caught the falling Joan as Stormflower gasped.

What happened?!" she asked, though the answer was already in her head.

"He's passed out for some reason. Come on! We need to get him back to the house!"

"Right!"

Stormflower helped place the unconscious Joan on Edgar's back and they carefully made their way back to the house. Stormflower turned back for a moment and glared angrily at the rundown shack that was once a scene of complete horror.

It's all connected, she thought. Everything started there.