Rose Twine didn’t feel sorry for the mare above them on the platform. She knew she should have been feeling some sort of pity, just like everypony else. All the others behind her were huddled close to the old town fountain, eyes glazed over with undecipherable emotions. The sky looked like they must have felt. But she felt hardly anything.
The mare on the platform was so despicable that Twine didn’t want to remember her name. Her ivy green eyes were the only thing imprinted on her mind. If looks could kill, everybody in Coltchester would have dropped dead long ago. Twine shuddered every time their gazes met.
“Mares and gentlecolts,” the mayor announced, her voice a bird’s song through the air like her name suggested, “may I have your attention. Due to the various crimes of Ms. Stones, she is to be beheaded at the strike of twelve.” The mare stared out into the crowd with furious cat’s eyes.
Adultery, theft, and murder were some of the “various” crimes she had committed. To be more specific, she had raped and killed Twine’s parents and stole everything they owned from their house and safe. After that, Twine despised the color green.
Twine turned her attention to the clock tower at the edge of town. You could almost hear the ticks as each hand inched closer and closer to the top. Just a few moments until the ivy eyes would hopefully close for eternity. She softly counted down so no other pony could hear. Whispering to herself must have made her seem ill, but she didn’t mind.
The bells from the tower shook the earth below her hooves.
Dong Dong
A stallion dressed in black grabbed the rope in his mouth. The mayor stepped back. The ivy eyes quivered.
Dong
Ponies around Twine were terrified, sad, and hateful. The filly was silent. All that was heard were the quick, shuddering breaths of ponies and the bitter wind through her ears.
Dong Dong
With a tight yank of the rope, the blade slide down the wooden bars of the guillotine. A last minute reaction came from the ivy green eyes, and they seemed to scream out in sorrow and agony. Twine narrowed her eyes. What a coward.
Dong
But she was too late. Blood glazed the ground and blade as the mare’s head rolled. Everypony but Twine gasped. Sticky red liquid continued to pour out of where her neck should have been connected with her pale body. Her stomach churned.
Dong Dong
Twine continued to stare, but the rest of the town began to disperse. Even the mayor had left, leaving the mare’s head on the platform. There was no basket to contain the blood. The soft wood under the head just soaked it up until most of it was a deep maroon. There were drips on the grass beneath the platform as well.
Dong
She stared into those ivy eyes for the longest time by herself before hesitantly turning and walking down the cobblestone to her house. Twine’s head pulsed and she quickly felt feverish, but she had no idea why. She wasn’t afraid of blood anymore.
Dong Dong
With Twine’s parents gone, the house felt as empty as ever. She guessed it was her house now. Nopony wanted to take her in, even though so many ponies were friends with her parents. Twine had to accept the harsh fact that she was living alone from there on out.
The first thing she realized she had to fix was the blood staining the couch. She figured she could go and get some water from the well and a sponge to clean up as much as possible. Blood washed out of furniture, right? The cream filly left for water before the feelings she hid for so long escaped.
As she trotted down to the wishing well, the memories of what had happened flooded her brain.
The door was wide open when I came home, which was odd. My parents never left the door wide open. If they were leaving doors open, something must be wrong with them. But I didn’t have time to shut it as I came in, for my head was overwhelmed with the scene in front of me.
A cloud white mare with long minty hair stood over my father’s body. Next to it was already my mother’s, freshly cut and flopped onto the couch like a sack. When the mare noticed me there, there was panic in her shocking ivy eyes as she grabbed her bag of items and shoved me to the side as she left. Behind her were red tracks.
“Father!” I shouted, running to his side, careful not to slip on the floor. “Father, are you okay?” He just shook his head. He didn’t look okay. His chest was wide open, just like the door. It was a stupid question. I cried, “Say something!”
His thick, raspy voice stumbled over words. “Take care of yourself, precious.” Blue eyes never closing, he slipped into eternal sleep.
I didn’t scream, or cry, or even say anything after that. All I did was gallop to the mayor’s office in a frenzy.
Twine shut out her thoughts once she made it to the wishing well. It was old and weary, with the rustiest bucket in the world. The rope was torn to shreds from all sorts of storms, and the stones at the base were coated in moss, both new and old. Twine almost didn’t want to get the unhealthy water, but she remembered it wasn’t for anypony to drink anyways and grabbed the bucket.
She stared into the waving water at the bottom. It certainly looked gross; she was glad she didn’t have to drink it. River water was much better, in her opini-
Ivy eyes glared back at her. Twine realized the water was a rusted color, and not just from repeated dips of the bucket. The decapitated head of the mare was floating in the water.
“Why is her head in here?” Twine muttered to herself. “That’s just...” Apparently the mayor was too lazy to put the head somewhere better. The water would be poisoned if she left it in there, and it would be unsafe to drink. Not wanting anypony to get sick, she sighed and lifted it with the bucket.
The ivy eyes continued to stare at her, and the stench of death and blood filled her nostrils. It wasn’t a pretty sight. She didn’t especially want to take it, but she felt like she had no other choice. It was a gut feeling.
She tried to sneak it under her stomach, ultimately failing, and hurried home before anypony noticed. There was nothing out there, but you never knew in that kind of town. Gossip was the rage then.
Right after she entered the house, Twine threw the head at the stained couch and hoped it didn’t break or roll off. Then she freaked out. “What do I do with it? I don’t know how to dig graves and I’m not putting it in my yard and I’m not putting it back in the well, I-”
“You could put me on your wall with a plaque.” The feminine laughter echoed through her house, and she flipped around to the head. Ivy eyes unblinking and completely still. Twine shot icy daggers at it, then returned to freaking out.
“This is so gross! Why did I put the head in my house? I’m such a-”
The voice returned, this time more piercing and chilled. “Don’t you ignore me, you foal!”
Twine looked at the head again. The ivy eyes were glowing in fury.
“Oh...”
