Unexplainable Causes

Chapter 3: The Victim

The large clock in the corner struck midnight, brining about a series of dark tones, filling the room with sounds of disparity from the false calmness of the building. The storm continued outside, crushing any hope of an early release from the hell the ponies had endured or would endure. Separate groups of friends cried amongst themselves, attempting to cope with the loss of life that had been so brutally taken.

      With the ponies all in one room, Twilight Sparkle, being the most organized of the group, attempted a head count for verification of attendance. There were nineteen total guests previously; however, because of recent circumstances, that number had dropped by one count, the death of Fluttershy bringing the current guest count to eighteen. She counted off, pointing her hoof in the general direction of the pony being referred to for confirmation. She slowly went up the number scale, accounting each pony as she saw him or her. She approached her goal number, saying aloud, "Fifteen...sixteen...seventeen..." She looked around, eager to find the missing pony that had eluded her counting, but she soon realized she had ran out of heads to count and her presence was being graced by only seventeen ponies, not eighteen, which in turn only brought more suffering and despair to her heart as she started going through the names of the attendees, trying to discern the name of the pony missing. Her heart stopped, for not only did she remember the name, but the name happened to be another of her closest friends. It seemed that Ratity was no longer accounted for.

***

     Rarity trotted cautiously down the dark hallways, trying to find her way back to the group. She had absent-mindedly been appreciating a tapestry that bore an embroidered symbol of what appeared to be Celestia raising the sun. The border was of a unique cross-stitch pattern that was reflected on a large scale to the red and burgundy colored background. The gilded border perfectly complimented the multiple shades of red on the tapestry. Rarity couldn't help but stare in appreciation of the magnificent example of how beautiful sewing could truly be. However, she soon found herself alone, trying desperately to find her friends.

      She soon found herself at an intersection, with hallways going in all four directions. She sat a moment, debating over which path would lead her to safety. She decided to take the left hallway, turning her body to face the new direction. She immediately refocused her vision to accept the new images, which in turn, blurred her peripheral vision, causing the dark form in the right hallway to appear nothing more than a flicker of darkness. She looked back behind her, trying to discern the odd shape only to find an empty hallway. Though there was no one there, the situation still put her on guard, and she asked, a little shakily, "Is there anypony there?"

      There was no answer, bringing both calmness and uneasiness from the young mare. She turned back to the hallway to the left and hurriedly walked down the passageway, stalked by a series of shadows and noises. Rarity instantly started in a sprint to try and get some distance between her and the cause of the series of unexplainable shades and sounds. Rarity's terror induced run took her down corridors and rooms that she had no recollection of. Though she could see no one behind her, she knew her stalker was close behind with a flurry of shadows and eerie noises left in their wake. She knocked over everything she could in an attempt to slow down the chase, breaking expensive vases and ruining paintings and artistic pieces of all kinds. She ran farther into the mansion and down corridors that were becoming more sparsely lighted the further she went. Her breathing became erratic and her heart was pounding as she blindly ran into a room at the end of the hallway. She looked about frantically for a place to hide, finally setting her gaze on a small alcove created by the diagonal placement of a large bureau in the corner. She hid behind it, shaking and at a loss for words.

      She sat there for some time, allowing her mind to relax and her heartbeat to slow. She sat and listened intently, attempting to discern whether or not it was safe to leave. Whatever had been chasing her, it seemed, had finally subsided. She slowly stood up, looking around for any trace of her stalker only to find the room completely abandoned, save herself. She walked out from behind and walked toward the door and was instantly met with a cloth covering her mouth by a small hoof. She gasped in surprise which turned to be her undoing as she heavily breathed into the cloth covered in Cloroform. Her eyes sagged almost immediately as her body started taking its effects. Her legs wobbled, her breathing slowed and consciouness slowly left her with an exasperated sigh and she remembered no more.

***

      Twilight Sparkle yelled in an attempt to obtain eveypony's attention, "Everypony! Rarity is missing! We need to find her before...before..."

      She couldn't finish the sentence, she couldn't accept the inevitable possibility as possible. She couldn't lose two friends in one night. Her mind raced into a stage of permanent alertness. She wouldn't let two of her friends leave her this night. With determination in her mind, she set up two search groups to search for the missing pony. One would search the left wing while the other would search the right wing for clues to the whereabouts of her their dear friend. "Come on everpony, we need to find Rarity!" Twilight exclaimed.

***

      "Quick, run and find the other group, tell them we found a trail!" Twilight commanded to Rainbow Dash, who instantly tore through the hallways in search of the other group. "I'm on it!" Dash replied in her usual determined tone. She sped off, leaving a contrail of every visible hue in her absence, a last flicker of beauty and sensuality from the contrast of the broken vases and torn paintings that littered the long hallway. Since the mansion had been refurbished, it stood to reason that the hallway had been ruined since their visit and that such vandalism to artwork would have only been a result of some terrible happening. Rainbow Dash returned with the rest of the group close behind, signaling Twilight to proceed with the investigation, who quickly led the group, assessing damage and drawing conclusions.

       The litter and artwork carnage became more and more frequent as the group proceeded to follow the trail through a maze of corridors and even up a a flight of stairs as the lighting became less and less frequent. They followed the trail for a little over four minutes before they came face to face with a single door at the end of a long hall. The floor was as blocked as ever with pedestals and even a few benches standing in the path toward the room. The group carefully proceeded to the front of the door, careful not to break anything further than it already had been, partly out of habit and partly out of fear of alerting whoever was trying to kill them. They approached the door with their hearts full of fear and uneasiness. They didn't know what to expect behind the door blocking their view. Twilight turned the knob and called out, "Rarity, are you in there?" With no answer emanating from the room, Twilight quickly pushed the door open, letting it crack against the wall and rebound.

      The room was unlit like the rest and Twilight was forced to focus her magic once more , this time slightly more reluctant considering last time she lit a room, she had exposed the dead body of her beloved friend to the whole attendance. However, this encounter didn't hold the same results, for as the light flooded the room, allowing a solid picture to be sent to her brain for processing, she found it to be vacant of anypony. The group searched the room only to find it empty. Their only solid trail was now cold. They had no more leads. 'Where's Rarity' Twilight thought to herself.

***

      Rarity's consciousness slowly come back to live as her eyes open slightly, trying to understand her surroundings. With her head feeling heavy, she tries to lift it in order to properly see, but with her consciousness still barely in sight, her head fell back down, forcing her to look at the ground. She saw her hooves tied to the wooden frame of a bed that was lying against the wall behind her in an upright position. She felt a sudden, primal panic as she writhed about, trying to free herself from her bonds, which turned to be inevitably fruitless. She was bound to the bed and ultimately to her fate; and she knew it, brining about melancholy feelings while her morale sank into an inescapable darkness as the realization slowly set in. She was going to die. Hot tears flowed down her face in torrents as her feelings took hold of her mind. She sobbed in uncontrollable fits of despair. A disgusting and detestable odor flowed through her nasal passages as she breathed heavily, her body requesting more oxygen in her instinctive state of mind.

      Her strength slowly started to return to her and in curiosity, she raised her head, letting her eyes gain a new series of visions, letting her become more aware of the terrifying situation she found herself in. Sitting in front of her toward her left side sat a metal tray which held multiple tools for medical procedures, but it her case, for her own dismemberment. Though she knew her fate to be inescapable, she couldn't shake her feelings of ultimate terror as she let loose a scream that may have bested Rainbow Dash's in her fit of anguish. Her face red from straining her delicate voice and covered in dried and fresh streams of tears became contorted into a fearful expression that challenged anypony's. Her screams echoed throughout the room filling her ears with her own terrible voice crumbling under fear. The room seemed to mock the situation with high contrast; the room was adorned with multiple paintings, fresh hardwood floors, and was absolutely unblemished, save the overturned bed frame.

      She noticed the deathly odor once more, forcing her to gag on her own need for oxygen. She looked about the room, trying to find the sense of the terrible smell, to which she regretted as a multitude of slaughtered pig carcasses covered in a large, yellow-dyed piece of leather lay in a makeshift pile to her right. She recognized it immediately as the same carcass that had inhabited Fluttershy's room, which then begged the question, if that wasnt Fluttershy, then where was she? Unfortunately, she hadn't the time to ponder as she was taken aback atthe grotesqueness of the scene. She vomited at the sight, feeling suddenly guilty as she looked into the dead eyes of the animals. She forced herself to look away, unable to bear the sight any longer though the rank scent still invaded her mind; however, she stopped noticing shortly after as a dark form made its way into her vision. She froze, unable to breathe as she finally met her future slaughterer. The pony was dressed in a full black outfit old and torn with use, revealing slight patches of a dark brown coat. The mysterious murderer proceeded toward the tray without a glance or a word. An unpleasant silence befell the two as the pony seemed to inspect each instrument of torture, which was quickly broken by Rarity who fitfully tried to coerce her release. With sorrow in her voice and hot rivulets on her face, she pleaded for the darkly-clad pony to release her. To her consternation however, the murderer completely ignored her pleas. The pony picked up a scalpel from the tray and slowly and deliberately stood in front of the defenseless Rarity and said, "Pray to whatever god or goddess you trust. I'm the gateway to your hell!"

      Her mind raced, her consciousness entering an excellerated stage under the motivation of inevitable death. In seconds, her mind thought with absolute clarity and precision as she focused her energy, trying to access her magic to release her bonds, but the sharp sting of the surgeons tool shattered that concentration, flooding her body with unbelievable suffering as the blade easily cut through her coat and skin, leaving a trail of blood running down her leg. She screamed in agony as her skin burned in pain, setting fire to her nerves with small explosions of infliction rocketed through her body, causing her muscles to seize. The screaming; however, only worsened as a dark desire filled the heart of her captor, sending them into a blood-lust frenzy. The red eyes of her murderer were ablaze with hatred and contempt, void of mercy and compassion. Blood-driven, her executioner raised the blade from the cut, giving sweet release to Rarity, who continued to cry in immense and torturous affliction, and in a single overhoof motion, brought the  cutting edge to the center of her chest, piercing the soft skin as the knife penetrated her body, scraping the bone on the way down. Rarity let out a piercing scream in not only endless torment, but despondency. Her cries travelled about the room, sending wave after wave of sound vibrations through the ventilation shafts, taking and sending the sounds throughout the whole manor while the house seemed to screech under the tremendous power behind her tormented cries of anguish and distress.

***