Descent into Madness

Manus lay in his bed, stabbing a scalpel into his cutie mark. He stared at his ceiling, shedding tears of pain and agony. His cutie mark of a red and blue balloon was covered in scar tissue. “No longer applies,” he murmured. His cutie mark came to be when he realized that he made ponies happy and smile. Since his first murder, he has realized that his talent has failed. He removed the knife from his flank, and dropped it into a cup on his nightstand. He sat up, and poked his new cuts. He winced a little in pain, but kept poking at it. “It’s so quiet in here…” he said flatly.

With a burst of magic, he turned on a radio located in the corner of his room. “In other news,” a news pony announced, “a local pony was rushed to the hospital this morning, almost dead from an attempted suicide.” Manus lay back down, and rolled his eyes. He blocked out the radio, and levitated the skull of a mare over to him. “Oh Zippy,” he said with a smile on his face, “ponies don’t know what real pain is. The ignorant brat probably had some terrible reason to try to end her delicate life, like losing a colt-friend. I’ve lost more than any pony else. Friends, family, everything; except for you.” He booped the end of her muzzle bone playfully, brought the skull to his chest, and hugged it.

“Cosmic Dust, a unicorn mare, nearly died from a knife wound in her gut,” the news anchor said. Manus’ ear twitched at the news detail. He put the bone aside, and sat back up to listen to the report. “We caught up with the stallion who rescued her this morning, and here’s what he had to say: ‘I woke up to the sound of screaming next door, and rushed over to see what was wrong. After a few knocks on her door, I kicked it in, only to find her lying on the floor with a knife in her gut. I tried to help her, but she never responded. I called the paramedics, and they rescued her. I’m glad I got there when I did. She’s so kind, it would’ve been awful to see her gone.’”

Manus stared at the radio. “She’s alive...” he stated. “She’s alive, and she knows what I’ve done! This is horrible! I should’ve killed her myself! Of all the things that could happen, this is the worst possible thing!” He darted up, and trotted to his bathroom, ignoring the pain in his flank. When he got there, he stared into the mirror. He took in his features. A tan coat, a disheveled dark brown mane, and red eyes. Closing his eyes, he punched his mirror, shattering the glass plane, and sending glass shards into the bottom of his hoof. He picked the shards out, shedding small amounts of blood. “How much have I changed?” he asked. He dismissed the question, and trotted back to his bed.

With some anger released, Manus took a deep breath, and began to plan his next move. He floated Zippy’s skull in front of his face, and began to talk to it. “What do you suppose I should do, Zipps? Should I hide? Should I end all of them? What do you think?” he questioned the skull. For a few minutes, the room was silent. However, in his twisted mind, the bone was spewing a flurry of information and ideas. “Great idea! Go finish the job! It’s so simple, yet effective. This is why you’re my only friend,” he exclaimed as he hugged it. “But, we need to figure out a little more about our little…target,” he said, stroking the crown of the skull.

Manus peeked his head out of his front door. It was a cloudy day, with no ponies out to see him. He walked to pick up the daily newspaper, titled “Mare Dodges Death”. He walked back inside, carrying the paper with magic. The paper was unwrapped from its plastic cover, and Manus began to read aloud to Zippy’s skull. “’Cosmic Dust, a 32-year-old unicorn mare, was discovered near the verge of death this morning.’ Yes, yes, we know. Let’s skip ahead,” he said. “’She is currently residing in Ponyville’s E.R., resting from emergency surgery. Unfortunately, her mental state is unstable, as she is no longer able to respond to anything said or signed.’ This is a good sign, Zipps. We have a chance. ‘No pony knows who or what caused this horrible incident to happen. But one thing’s for sure, the police are on the lookout for any suspects.’” Manus jumped with excitement, and hugged the skull.

There was a knock at the door, and Manus stopped his shenanigans. “This is the police. We have a few questions to ask you,” a deep voice called from behind the door.

“Uh… I’ll be there in a second,” he responded. He hid the skull away, and placed his knife behind his door, just in case the police wanted in. He trotted over to the door, and answered it. “Hello, officer. How can I help you?” he asked. Half of his face was covered by the door, and the officer raised an eyebrow. “Yes…” the cop said a bit hesitantly. “We received word that you were one of Ms. Cosmic’s closest friends, and we’d like to know if you know of any pony that would carry some kind of grudge against her.”

“No. She was kind to every pony. I can’t imagine why this happened,” Manus looking at the ground.

“Mind if search if I search the perimeter? I’m sorry if it seems like I think you’re a suspect, but I am not allowed to leave without an inspection. It’ll be brief, I only need to check the back,” the officer said, gesturing to the locked back gate.

“Sure. Go ahead. I’ll unlock the back,” Manus said. The officer nodded, and approached the back gate. Manus unlocked the gate, and opened it, but grabbed his scalpel from behind the door at the same time. He watched the cop from inside, ready to silence him if any evidence was found.

Manus waited for the cop to finish his inspection. After a few minutes, the che walked out. “Thank you for your cooperation. I would’ve thought that you’d be a bit more difficult, you know, since you’ve become a shut in,” he said with a smile on his face. Manus nodded, locked the back door, and shut his front door. “Phew,” he sighed. “I was worried I’d have to kill him.” He looked at Zippy’s skull, and chuckled. “I’m sure no pony would’ve found his body. But a missing cop would’ve surely made me a prime suspect. You wanted me to kill him… Sometimes, I think you’re more bloodthirsty than I am.