Chapters Chapter 1: Invitations
The rain beat heavily upon the glass that separated Celestia's royal castle from the outside world, which had undeniably changed after a series of events that will haunt Ponyville and the surrounding areas for an innumerable amount of years. The Sun Goddess, her mane no longer holding it's usual vibrancy, looked forlornly out the window, and sitting upon the balcony was her little sister, weighed down with grief, Princess Luna. Though she could never prove it, it seemed, in her best judgment, that perhaps the rulers of all of Equestria were stricken with sadness more so than anypony else, save possibly the survivors, whose minds delved into the nearly unexplainable situations that had occurred in the refurnished, yet abandoned mansion, which sat atop a small cliff east of Ponyville.
The likeliness of anypony ever moving past this calamity is, quite frankly, slim to none. The happenings that had occurred in that house not more than two days ago is unarguably the worst thing that has ever happened to the small town, and possibly, all of Equestria.
And to think, the objects that had started it all, that had caused the whole disaster to transpire, were six pieces of parchment, all of which had the following message written in remarkably neat handwriting:
Congratulations!
You've been invited to a dinner party in your honor for your services toward Equestria. The party will be house in 3478 Brookemere Road inside a newly refurbished mansion and will take place in two days. We all look forward to seeing you there!
-The Party Master!
If they had known what was about to transpire in that house, they never would have even read the invitation.
***
If the six invited mares had grown up in downtown Manehattan, none of them would have ever considered showing up to the mansion, but they all lived in the quiet and friendly Ponyville, where it was unnecessary for locks and weapons. They lived in one of, if not the, safest places in all of Equestria; none of them gave it a second thought as they packed belongings, readying themselves for the party in their honor from an unknown host who went only by the name of The Party Master.
Not surprisingly, the six invitees, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, were all very eager to share their invitation with each other, and after a slight realization, they came to know that they had all gotten the same invite, which raised a few questions of a suspicious nature.
"I don' get it" Applejack stated, breaking the awkward silence that had befallen the group, and understandably so.
The new information started to dissuade them until logic finally showed itself through, not surprisingly, Twilight Sparkle, who then said, "Maybe it's in all of our honors. It says for our services toward Equestria, which we have all been a part of; in fact, almost every time, we were together when we saved Equestria. So it makes sense; we all gave services toward Equestria, and we're all being honored for it." They all voiced their agreements, apparently all satisfied with the explanation, and parted from each other, for the party was tomorrow and they needed their sleep. Applejack and Rainbow Dash retired to the farmhouse, Twilight to her library, Pinkie to the Bakery, Rarity to the Boutique, and Fluttershy to her cottage on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. With the hours finally waning and the moon high in the sky, they slept, quite peacefully, all eagerly awaiting whatever tomorrow had in store for them.
***
It was a normal, beautiful morning in Ponyville the next day as Princess Celestia raised the sun, letting it's warmth bathe the valley town in shimmering, golden light. Logic stood that because they were all invited to the same party, they all traveled together, and after a short while, they met at the outskirts of Ponyville, ready to travel. It had rained slightly throughout the night, and as they left the town, they left hooveprints in the soft earth. For most of them, it was the last time their hooves would ever touch the ground in Ponyville again.
With the road ahead of them, they ventured onto a path that had been formed after the years of hooves crushing the ground into a visible trail, and after some time, came across an abandoned shack, which they used to their advantage, and took a moment to rest their legs; for though they had walked little in matters of distance, the terrain was rather difficult to traverse and they found it necessary to rest. Searching around the shack, they found a small pond, in which they wasted no time indulging in it's cool, refreshing waters, and after some minutes had passed by, they journeyed on with theirstomachs full of water.
Their travel continued, much to the annoyance of Rarity, who whimpered about the traveling conditions and inquired toward Twilight as to why they hadn't asked the princess for a carriage. Twilight, who didn't have a real answer to the question, simply reassured her companion by saying, "Don't worry, Rarity, we're almost there." Rarity softly grumbled her hopes that Twilight was right, and sure enough, ten minutes later, after traversing a small bridge, it was proven that the purple unicorn was correct. They had arrived at what appeared to be their destination, and after some inspecting, their assumption was proven correct as they looked upon the house; for to the left of the double wooden doors were the numbers 3, 4, 7, and 8, in said order which, from what the ponies had recollected, was indeed the proper house number.
The mansion appeared to be three stories tall, and even through Twilight's extensive research, not much was known about it's origin. The records didn't even have a previous owner listed. It seemed pleasant enough, though. It was well groomed, for there were no hanging strands of moss, nor were there overgrown grasses; in fact, it was quite the opposite. The grass was freshly cut, the bushes, in contemporary shapes, were neatly trimmed, and the house itself looked impeccable. The whole area seemed to radiate with a sense of sophistication and security, which under the circumstances, was quite odd considering there was no pony to be found. Not a single other pony was in sight, which led to a bit of uneasiness coming from the group as each said there own version of the phrase, "Where is everypony...?"
Their words were short lived; however, for seconds later, the double doors opened up, bringing light on the identity of the host. Fearing their eyes had deceived them, the group of six ponies had to adjust their vision, but even after the second look, the host's identity hadn't changed, for standing in the door way, was in fact, a small, purple dragon, who was unmistakably Twilight Sparkle's assistant, Spike, who now stood with a slight grin on his face as he said, "All this trouble to throw you girls a party and you won't even come in?" He had tried his best to sound displeased, but the little dragon couldn't help but laugh. And upon further inspection, the mares noticed that Spike was not the only one in the house, for standing behind him were multiple ponies from town, though it did not surprise them there were others; after all, it was a party...right?
***
It seemed as though Spike had thrown them a dinner party of sorts, which differed greatly from a Pinkie Pie Party, in formality and attendance. Among various other ponies, there were a few who stood out above the rest, which included the Mayor of Ponyville, the Great and Powerful Trixie (much to their surprise), Cheerilee, Ponyvilles teacher, and Dr. Whooves, all of which conversed amongst themselves.
"Spike, did you do all this?" Twilight asked her assistant.
"Well, not all of it, but it was my idea. None of us ever got to thank you properly for, you know, saving Equestria and all, so I decided to throw you a dinner party!" he finished with excitement.
"Oooh, a Dinner Party?" Rarity said with much enthusiasm, which was slightly ironic considering she had complained about going beforehand. Each of the invitees stated their thanks to the purple dragon, who accepted the praise with a flush of color in his cheeks, and went about the process of preparing the dinner; after all, it was a dinner party!
Unfortunately for the party-goers, the mentioning of dinner sent Pinkie Pie over the edge of happiness as she bounced about the area, loudly proclaiming her love of food and speaking in long, incoherent sentences that could never have been decoded. The happy pony giggled and hopped around the long table, defying the laws of physics, (Screw physics, she's Pinkie Pie!) as she momentarily stopped in midair, contemplating the meaning of, "Settle down, Pinkie!" which had escaped the mouth of the school teacher, Cheerilee in efforts to subside the party pony; however, her efforts were, not surprisingly, in vain, for the pink mare ignored the statement and continued bouncing.
Her friends watched their filly companion and slightly giggled; "Same ol' Pinkie Pie!" they all thought happily.
The ponies went about, conversing with their fellow citizens, with Rarity being the center of attention, as she always was at dinner parties. Surrounded by sophisticated ponies, expensive wine, and luxurious furniture, Rarity was in her element; this was home to her. She walked about, soaking in the atmosphere, discussing everything ranging from her past to her new line up of dresses, but soon, the festive talking had come to a pause as they were called to dinner.
The room was enormous, housing a table able to seat fifty ponies easily, which is a little over done considering that this was a somewhat private dinner party, as there were only 12 other ponies present, bringing the total guest count to 19. The rooms walls were lined with tapestries of all patterns and adorned with lit candles, glowing in defiance of the growing darkness outside. The floor, made of cured hardwood, resounded triumphantly as the many hooves walked across to take their seats. The dinner, which consisted of foods ranging from steamed vegetables and assorted hays and rice to desserts made of apples and other baked goods brought by Mr. and Mrs. Cake, was brought to the table, much to Pinkie's liking, and the ponies allowed themselves to indulge in the delicious aliments and drink. They conversed, laughed, and ate, letting the time slip by and about twenty minutes into the feast, Spike tapped his glass of wine with his fork, signaling the others to hold their tongues, and after a few moments of letting the crowd subside, he spoke, addressing the whole audience.
"Ladies and Gentlecolts, I would like to propose a toast, to these six mares who selflessly saved Equestria many times. I'd like to take this time to thank them properly, so here's to the Mane Six!" he exclaimed. The crowd accepted the task and raised their glasses with Spike, and after a small cheer, they all drank the sweet, yet bitter red wine in salute to the honored.
With their bellies full and their bodies worn down, it was agreed that the party should come to a close, and after cleaning the rooms and repacking their belongings, they all prepared to leave, and with bags laid carefully across their backs, the large group opened the door, ready and eager to begin the journey back home, but fate had a way of intruding, for as they walked outside, a strong gust of wind knocked them off balance. Dark storm clouds hovered over the valley, sending waves of air through it, creating a sort of wind tunnel that shot the harsh wind straight up to the house at the top; it seemed the large house had hidden them from the oncoming storm. Lightning flashed across the sky, sending the timid Fluttershy to the back of the group, with Rarity close behind her for comfort, shaking as she heard the loud crash of thunder against the stillness that followed the group.
"Well, it looks like we're not going anywhere tonight. I wouldn't even fly through this..." stated Rainbow Dash.
"It'll clear up by morning, we'll just wait it out," Twilight reassured the group.
There was no way any pony could travel home, the terrain was difficult enough; add a storm, and the travel would be extremely dangerous, so with their convictions set, the group returned indoors, sheltered from the never-ending buffeting of wind and debris. Moments later, a powerful rain poured from the sinister clouds, enveloping the mansion in a blanket of incessant noise as the torrential downpour sealed the fate of the ponies.
"That's one heck of uh storm..." Applejack said softly, not really directing the statement at anybody.The others muttered their agreements and disbanded.
In this large of a mansion, there were bound to be plenty of guest rooms, which was proven correct as Spike led the group through multiple hallways, letting them pick their own rooms, and after a short while, the group separated and retreated to their rooms, looking forward to the night's end and tomorrow's beginning. Though they could not put their hooves on why, the guests at the mansion suddenly felt uneasy; the mansion that was once beautiful in the sunlight suddenly looked menacing in the storm. Perhaps it was instinct, perhaps it was inherent knowledge, but however one would explain it, it would have done them good service to heed their feelings.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash were the only ones to confront their feelings, and not surprisingly, the two lovers shared their grievances with each other, trying to find closure.
"Apples, something doesn't feel right..."
"Yep, I know whatcha mean. I can' figure it out none, either..."
"Well, at least we'll be outta here tomorrow, this place gives me the creeps."
"Aww, you scared er sumthin', Rainbow?" Applejack asked, teasingly.
"I'm not scared," Dash replied, quick to defend herself, "I just...I dunno..."
"It's ok, Dash. I know...now le's get sum shut-eye; the sooner we rest, the sooner morning will be here an' the sooner we can get outta here." With that, and a kiss, the two mares fell asleep on the large, exquisite bed that occupied most of the room.
The storm continued overhead outside the mansion, threatening the bond between the two with waves of loud precipitation, which seemed to radiate fear and discomfort. The ceaseless rain continued to slap against the walls, sending a barrage of resonance echoing throughout the halls of the mansion in an endless symphony of destruction.
***
Chapter 2: Let the Games Begin
Unfortunately for the guests, the morning would not come as soon as they had hoped, for their night was not truly over; in fact, it had only just begun. The clock read 11:26 P.M. according to the bright red characters that lit up the small clock located on the nightstand, which was next to the bed where Dash and Applejack resided presently.
Dash awoke with a start to a loud crash of thunder that had followed a bright, white flash of lightning which resounded throughout the long hallways of the mansion, causing the structure to rattle. She sighed, annoyed with the storm, and slumped back onto the bed, but try as she might, she could not fall back asleep. She rose from the bed, careful not to wake her partner, and paced around the room, trying to tire herself out. Another flash stole her attention and she turned to face the thunder, but was taken aback by a slight shuffle coming from another room. She listened intently and heard an indistinct sound she believed to be a slight scream, but she couldn't fully tell for the loud rumble of the thunder had rolled over the mansion, obstructing her hearing with a deafening smash of sound. She sat on the floor, debating the origin of the noise, wondering whether the sound was a genuine scream or just the house screeching. However, because of Dash's nature, she knew she'd have to investigate. She lightly opened the door and checked for others in the hallway, and after she knew it was clear, she let herself escape the room, quietly shutting the door behind her.
Blinding light flooded the antechamber, vividly brightening the access, bringing slight fear to the mare as she shuffled about, blinded by the sudden light and the just as sudden darkness. She fumbled across the burgundy colored colored rug, aimlessly feeling the wall, awaiting the feel of a doorknob, which she soon found and turned, granting her access to the bedchamber.
The alcove was set up similarly to her own, with a large bed stationed in the middle of the room, drawing to it the attention of all who enter. A large bureau sat complimentary to the left of the bedstead while an as large mirror sat upon the opposite wall, which would have given a reflection of the blind side of the room if it hadn't been completely pitch black. The whole room seemed to reek of uneasiness as Rainbow Dash slowly and quietly ambled into the room. The rain continued to beat on the side of the window, creating a noise resembling that of gravel being put in a blender,an awful sound indeed. Her ears reared back, trying to block out the noise as she approached the large canopy bed.
A chill raced through her body as she neared the bed; whether or not treachery was truly afoot, she could not tell, but her instinct kept telling her to turn and run, Dash; however, had other plans and crept even closer, eager yet, for a reason she couldn't explain, dreading every moment she spent in the room. She had reached the foot of the bed and stood there, collecting her courage. She whipped the canopy to her left with a sweeping motion, exposing, to her surprise, a completely empty bed. She stood back, recollecting her jumbled thoughts, and walked to the left side of the bed, where she unexpectedly stepped in a puddle of warm water. She quickly wrenched her leg about, trying to fling the moisture from her foot. Another loud crash boomed outside, making her step backwards on one leg in fear, which in turn promptly returned her flank to the ground with a heavy thud, which also, to her dismay, covered herself in the warm water that she had previously tried so hard to shake off. She knew this to be Fluttershy's room and in turn, justified the empty bed with the simple thought, "She probably got scared and ran off to somepony else's room...what a baby..."
The thought was slightly ironic, for though she'd never admit it to anypony, except maybe Applejack, she was truly scared outta her mind. She stood up, shaking the water off her mane with a whip of her head, and slightly chuckled at the fear she had felt during the investigation, "It was just the house, no biggie!"
As if in reply to her thought, another searing hot bolt of plasma crashed into the ground, lighting the room once more, allowing the mirror to reflect the blind side of the room, which yielded terrifying results. The light of the scene opposite Dash was reflected by the mirror, sending the beam of multicolored light to the back of her retina, allowing her brain to process the scene reflected; however, her brain couldn't quite process the new information, for the scene that was reflected was a large lump, covered in red liquid, blued by the darkness of night, that sat motionless on the ground. Her brain strained itself, trying to decode the strings of information being thrown at her, causing her breathing to become erratic and her heart to skip. She felt a hard lump in her throat as she tried to force it down, letting a chill run up her back. Her ears flew backwards, her eyes grew wide, and her mouth became contorted by fear, bearing the shape of an open frown. She closed her eyes, letting them refocus to glance once more at the scene for positive confirmation of what she had just seen, but the lighting strike had subsided and when she opened her eyes, she was once more surrounded by darkness.
It took her a whole two minuets before she was able to will her body to move, to break herself from her fear. She couldn't be certain it was truly what she saw, there were too many factors that could've made it otherwise. Perhaps it was her mind playing tricks on her, perhaps it was bad interpretation of information. She couldn't definitively say, and though she was more fearful of her life than ever before, her curious nature, and her will to be sure of herself, drove her to move slowly to the opposite side of the bed. Her mind raced around explanations, trying to exclude the images of what she had seen; she quietly approached the opposite side.
She was there, at the opposite side of the bed, waiting for her mind to catch up, but to her dismay, it wasn't morning and there were no hues there to light up the scene. She stood there, over something she could not describe. As if in answer to the questions troubling her mind, the lightning once more flared across the sky, giving light to the situation at Dash's feet. She looked down to something her brain just could not register, something that she'd never seen or thought of. She stood there, frozen in absolute terror, staring at the cadaverous corpse covered in blood and gutted. Her heart and breathing stopped while her mind finally understood what was going on. She suddenly became hysterical, stammering and twitching. Her pegasus friend, Fluttershy, or at least what was left of her, was strewn across the ground. A large incision had been made from right above her pelvis to the top of her chin. Her internal organs were no longer internal. They had been cleared out, cast aside her body. She had been field dressed! Words failed her as she attempted to scream.
Dash wobbled on her legs in a clear sign of loss of balance, and vomited, spewing her nausea induced bile onto the already grizzly scene in front of her. She vomited once more, unable to keep in her bodily fluids. She looked at what was once her friend; she stared into the eyes of the now dead mare, feeling the pain she'd gone through while she'd died by her eyes alone. She tried to vomit once more, but found her stomach to be empty; she dry-heaved.
She immediately entered a mental stage that was well past just plain crazy or dumbstruck; her mind no longer operated at the normal rate acceptable. She became primal, instinctive. She no longer felt the pressure of objective logic pressing against her conscience. She no longer felt the tug of a higher intellect; she felt only her natural, instinctive response to danger. Her primal communication skulls lacked any traditional means of talking and consisted of but one sound. A scream, a call of terror and warning to others that danger was immenant. Her loud, anguish-filled screams were audible beyond the normal distance and proceeded to wake up everypony in the mansion.
Jolted from their dreams, the other inhabitants rushed to the source of the primal and terror-filled scream. Their minds moved over explanations from broken legs to fright from lightning, but none of them hit the mark; none of the others could have possibly anticipated the nature of the situation. They entered the dark room, with fear covering their faces, and became even more distraught than before as they witnessed the reactions being displayed by Rainbow Dash, especially Applejack, who raced blindly to her lover, took her in both arms and asked, "What's wrong, sugar cube!" To which Rainbow Dash answered with a simple spasm of terrified movement and sporadic jargon that not even Pinkie Pie herself could comprehend. She flew to the arms of her true love and buried herself in her forelegs; she started sobbing uncontrolably, sputtering out words of terror while her lover calmly replied in words of understanding and endearment, trying to relax the fear and tension that filled the young mates being. All she could really do was ask the question that ever pony else had been asking aloud and to themselves since their ears picked up the primal sound waves emmitted out of pure anguish, "What's wrong, Rainbow? What in tarnation has you so done wrong."
The questioning; however, bore the same results as before, an utterance of incomprehensible syllables. Twilight Sparkle came bursting into the room, asking every pony to back up and give Dash some room, for because Dash had never been so hysterical, she knew instantly that something truly grieving was amiss. She entered the small bedroom, immediately blinded by the darkness of night, and was forced to light the room using her magic. She concentrated lightly, channelling the energy flowing through her body out to the point of her horn. The horn acted as a beacon, lighting the room before them to the scene that Rainbow Dash had just witnessed. She very quickly wished she hadn't for everypony else's reaction was much worse than that of the brave Rainbow Dash. Even the Great and Powerful Trixie was severely upset, for though she may have been humiliated, that doesn't mean she would've wished death upon anypony. Tears were shed and screams were heard on a massive scale. Nopony out of that small town of Ponyville would have ever even conceived the idea that one of their dearest and loved friends, one of the Elements of Harmony no less, could have ever been murdered, let alone completely caved out and butchered. Noponies reaction was anywhere near that of her closest friends; however, who just could not accept the details standing before them. Their friend, their dearest friend who had never wronged anypony in her life and who had always put others interests before her own, was gone forever from the world of Equestria and all who dwelled in its land.
Fluttershy is...was...one of if not the most loving ponies ever in existence; there wasn't anything possible that she could have done to deserve such brutality. The fact that someone so loving and peaceful could have been murdered in such a horrifying display of macabre was inconceivable by any means. Such horror and such pain was utterly uncalled for for the gentle mare, bringing forth only more pain and misery from her closest companions. The weight of death rarely sat on the conscience of the friends, making the matter all the worse now that death had greedily claimed the most loving creature in all of Equestria. Nopony deserved such a death, especually not dear Fluttershy. The grievances were overwhelming.
The ponies went into a fear induced panic, letting their instinct tug at their minds as they ran outside trying to escape the house, which they soon found to be inevitably impossible, for lightning had stuck the bridge, setting it ablaze while the incessant rain prevented even the most skillful flyer in all of Equestria from flying away to safety. The group ran back to the safety of the not safe mansion, wondering how something so beautiful and sweet could have been savagely carved and butchered in a manner nopony had ever seen.
Under normal circumstances, Rainbow Dash would have been the first pony to overcome her grief and do something productive; however, seeing the cadaver that had once been her beloved friend Flittershy was enough to keep her to her knees, and the burden fell upon the only pony who, though experienced tremendous grief, was able to keep her wits. She shakily addressed the group, "I...I uh...I guess we need to stick together and wait until the storm lets up. Celestia only knows what'll happen if we separate..."
Twilight let out a slight gasp in sadness as she continued, her thoughts no longer containing the same level of intellect as before, "Leave the bod-" she sighed and tried to continue, "Leave Fluttersh-" she tried once more to continue but lost the ability as she broke down into an uncontrollable fit of sobbing. Her mind had finally lost the battle. Luckily, Twilights words stuck to the group as they all congregated in the front room, unwilling to go off into the dark corridors alone.
A torrent of rain and wind suddenly entered the house, startling the group to near screaming, but as they looked toward the door, there was nopony there for their eyes to meet. Instead, at the stoop of the door, laid a small, folded piece of parchment under a smooth stone. Twilight cautiously approached the item, not knowing what to expect. She lifted the note from beneath the rock without trouble; however, and opened the note. The group shifted behind her to see what was written. Some had blank states, others had faces full of fear as the note read, "Let the games begin!"
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.
***
Chapter 4: The Abandoned
The terror induced shriek raced throughout the maze of ventilation; the circulatory system of the mansion that brought life giving heat and oxygen. As though stricken with a disease, the vessels carried the frightful scream throughout all parts of the house, brining it an unnatural, terrible life, making all other systems aware of the infectious, painful howl of anguish.
In the first waking seconds of the awful sound, the whole group in the room above froze all movement, from their hearts to their lungs. Speechlessly, they listened at their own peril, the unnerving sound of pain flowing through their bodies, filling them with distress and burden.
The scream brought more to action than simply the house; however, for in the deepest bowels of the mansion, a creature stirred, awakening to the horrid scream as its consciousness finally made its way back to her.
***
Her awareness had left her long ago as her consciousness was agitated into life by the terrible and unidentified crys of horrifying pain. In her grogginess, she paid no heed to the yell, her mind still in whirls in her present situation. Her forehooves were binded to a support beam of the mansion where she hung two feet from solid ground, leaving the rest of her body to dangle while her arms and wrists seized in pain. Her stomach burned in an agony not fully realized in her uneasiness and weariness. She tried to force the lids of her eyes open so she could see where she was, for all she remembered was falling asleep. Now she was here; wherever here was for her.
Fluttershy's, who had been presumed dead, consciousness came in stronger, giving her new awareness as her mind finally started to register the sounds of anguish engulfing the room, which even in her incomplete consciousness brought revulsion to her mind. Such pain, such horrible pain flooding her entire body, in sound and feeling, infecting her with the searing, horrid angst that had swept through the house. Her ears immediately identified the wails as her dear friend, Rarity.
Rarity! Her dear friend! What was happening to her? This isn't the first time the young mare had heard Rarity's whines and yells of deep angst but these were far more defined than the irrelevant and dramatic situations of the past. These were terrible, and unbearable primal screams of the deepest pain she'd ever heard. Her muscles seized in pain as a wave of unbearable feeling tore through her stomach. A silent, stream of hot tears fell from her face as she imagined the awful things that must be happening to her beloved friend and at the pain she herself felt. She could only imagine the cruelty that her friend was enduring. She wished she could take her place; she wished the screaming would stop, for it was more terrible than the seizing and cringing pain she felt.
Tears flowed freely down her yellow-coated face, hot with a depression no one could imagine. She felt the sharpness of a hot blade being wrenched in her, making her cringe at the thought. She sought only to wake up from this terrible nightmare that had taken hold of her consciousness, she wanted it to stop; the scream that haunted her mind and forced her to imagine the bastardization of civility and peace and live the torment her friend was experiencing. She clenched the muscles in her face, the only thing she could move at this point, hoping to at least deaden the sound, but her efforts bore no results as the piercing scream still engulfed her spirit, suppressing it in a blanket of awful guilt and smothering it in an unrealized want for an end.
An accompaniment to the dreadful wavelength came in a low, steady rhythm. A sound she knew, for it sounded like rain, but this sound was less frequent, and much thicker, creating a continuous echo of a heavy splatter. The sound; the uninterrupted, continuous sound complimented the highly pitched shrieks of pain and misery with heavy, almost melodious ripples of sound waves, resembling that of a leaky tap that fauceted something thicker than water. She could stand the unknown origin of the sound no longer as she looked about her, taking note of multiple drainage pipes running accross the ceiling, but much to her dismay, none of them bore any semblance to the thickness that fell upon the floor. The sound fell lower, toward the direction of the ground. Hanging her head in disbelief, she tried to block out the sound, but was instead met by another surprise. With her body being paralyzed in all but her face and arms, Fluttershy could only look in horror with her remaining bits of strength at her stomach, nearly vomiting as the poor mare gained new sight to the long cut that had been carved across her, blood dripping out of meter. Her eyes once more became lined with tears as her mind, at the sudden realization if the origin of pain, sent more jolts throughout her body, registering the pain on an unimaginable scale. Her mind was on fire, trying to understand what was happening while she forced herself to calm down, for her increased fear and heart rate only brought an exponential amount of pain. She looked around now that her head bore slight strength to move.
Her eyes fell to a blackboard in front of her, unto which there were multiple sentences under the heading of Coniine. She relaxed, trying to put her body in a more comfortable stasis for reading. With her eyes refocused, she read, 'Coniine paralyzes muscles by blocking the nicotinic receptor on the post-synaptic membrane of the neuromuscular junction causing a flaccid paralysis.' She blinked indifferently at the sentence.
It took Fluttershy many confusing moments to decode the medical jargon into a simplified statement she could understand, and as that understandment slowly presented itself, her eyes started to widen in sudden fear at the realizations coming to her. She seized once more in reaction to a wave of pain that ripped through her. She read on, her heart starting to race and her mind in a state of disfunction, 'Symptoms of paralysis occur within a half hour, and death may take several hours.'
Death...
Her timid mind could only fall over itself as it tried to discern the meaning. She knew what death was, but to have it upon her...
Death is absolute, the only absolute in a moving and changing world. You can fix anything, change anything for the better, for the worse, for anything. Everything can be helped, everything can be stopped, and for a lovingly complacent pony to undergo such an exposure to madness, hysteria, and death was utterly inconceivable to the untainted mind. Everything had always been able to be helped, to be cared for, to be changed, until she came upon such an absolute that held no alternative. Though she understood her fate, her mind just couldn't accept it. She was sure she had the deadly neurotoxin in her system for her next reading was completely applicable to her situation, 'As the central nervous system is not affected, the person remains conscious and aware until respiratory paralysis results in cessation of breathing. The muscular paralysis is an ascending flaccid paralysis as the lower limbs are affected first. '
She read in a new understandment as her mind became accustomed to the medical terminology. She suddenly understood why she couldn't feel her legs; why her stomach, which had a large, bleeding cut across it, could no longer react to the waves of pain; the neurotoxin paralysed from bottom to top. It would work its way up to her lungs until she asphyxiated and died.
She silently sobbed, unable to accept her fate, wishing anything could happen to prevent her inescapable future. Her dried rivers across her cheeks became newly wetted at her eyes' dams broke once more, letting the hot tears revive her sorrow. Uncontrollably, she cried, sobbing as her mind slowly became aware of her imminent death. She was going to die! Alone...
There were more sentences underneath the heading, but she could no longer find the will to learn more about the cause of her soon to be realized death. She knew no other emotion than utter anguish and grievance, each being accentuated by warm tears, nearly silent cries, and pain. She wanted nothing more than the sounds to stop; the terrible screams of her dear friend and the incessant fall of her own red blood upon the concrete floor and the unendurable pain that rested in her being. These sounds and feelings filled her to the brim with emotion until she felt she would hear and feel no more than this for the rest of her waning life. But she was proven wrong; her ears, though she thought she could hear no more, intercepted something that came through the concert of carnage.
A third accompaniment tore through the ventilation shaft, which was immediately identified by her as Twilight Sparkle as the lavender mare suddenly yelled out, "Don't worry, Rarity! We're coming!" which brought a flood of happiness and relief the likes of which nopony had ever known! Her friends, her dearest friends' voices rang in a sort of triumph throughout the stubborn house of death, sending wave after wave of goodness to battle through the sounds of the evil. Her friends had never failed her, her friends were always there to help her. And her friends always triumphed over any obstacle thrown at them. The magic of friendship had guided them through everything. Fluttershy knew it would see them through this, too. She listened with a newfound vigor, finally able to ignore the continuous screams and dripping of her own blood and finally held control of her pain receptors, for her stomach no longer bore any semblance in pain as it had before.
She heard multiple assurances for Rarity's safety as multiple voicings were heard from Twilight and others, each in different frequencies, insinuating that each group was in a different proximity. As for why the group would split up, the only logical explanation that would suffice her curiosity was that they had split up to cover more ground. She pleaded in nearly silent whispers and tears to Celestia for their safe return. She knew deep down; however, that her friends would win this terrible battle; that they would save Rarity; that they would save herself. More words of endearment rang about her ears regarding the safety of Rarity, to which resulted in a lingering feeling that the young mare immediately dismissed; her friends would never favor the safety of one over the other...
These were her friends! After all they'd been through, she knew they didn't have the heart to favorite the safety of Rarity. She didn't know where the feeling originated from, but it was negated just as quickly as it had come. She tried to excuse her feeling with her fear and emotional pain as justification, but no matter how hard she pushed the fear induced feeling away, it seemed drawn to her mind like a parasite; her mind was the host. She silently cried once more
"Rarity, we're coming! Where are you!?"
"Rarity?! Rarity!"
She could hear the anxiousness in Twilight's voice when she screamed her assurances to a dying Rarity, who's screams were slowly withering away. But Fluttershy still held high hopes. Friendship wasn't easy but it was definitely worth fighting for and always triumphed. They would save Rarity, and Fluttershy was happy to have her saved first. She cared a great deal for her beloved friend.
Don't worry, Fluttershy. They'll come get you when they have time.
She believed what she told herself, but for a reason unknown to her, she held a slight doubt. She trusted her friends with her life and couldn't bear the thought of doubt on her friends. She forced her feelings into the deepest parts of her heart, letting it roam about in curiosity and eat away at her goodness. For the first time in her entire life, she felt completely alone...perhaps even abandoned.
Her feelings suddenly became slightly twisted as she tried to understand her friends. They sent words of endearment and comfort to Rarity...they searched for Rarity...
Was it true that perhaps her friends had abandoned her? She tried with all her might to suppress such ridiculous feelings. Her friends would never abandon her! They had always been there for her in her weakest moments, why did she doubt them now? It seemed their efforts were based solely on the discomfort of Rarity, but what about her? What about Fluttershy? Had they become sick of her?
She suddenly became aware once more of the sharp pain painted across her body. The stabbing and slicing feeling ran across her nerves like a tidal wave of pain. She started accepting it.
You were always weak and helpless. You couldn't rely on them forever! This is what you get; your lesson in complacency!"
Her thoughts kept sending mixed messages. She agreed with the terrible thought, but at the same time she couldn't accept it as truth! How could her friends even think of such a thing? How could she even think of such a bastardized realization against everything she stood for? She found no answers to these questions that tormented her consciousness as though she was interrogating herself. She cried uncontrollably, unable to produce an answer that sufficed her tormenting mind. Her mind condemned the rest of her being, throwing accusation after accusation at her own conscious, trying to get it to forsake her being and realize what was happening! Two people were dying and only one was being saved. She was alone, forsaken. Her friends cared for her safety no longer. They were too busy saving a pompous, snobby boutique store operator to help out a friend that had always cared for them and never held a shred of doubt pertaining to their actions. After all she had done not only for them, but for the community as well, her former 'friends' leave her here to die! What kind of true friends were they! They left her to die, completely helpless.
Helpless...
What kind of a friend was she ? It was true, she'd admitted her weakness and helplessness before, and in her complacency, she'd become accustomed to acceptance of her weakness. She begrudgingly understood their reasoning. She could hold them back no longer as she accepted the premise that had followed her all these years. She was a burden. And in all the history that had passed between the group, she knew she'd never truly helped anypony in the group but on a few occasions. She had felt as though she'd helped them with everything, but in truth, she'd barely even been noticed.
She was worthless now. In a house full of chaos and murder and awful happenings, kindness held no place in anypony's heart, only survival. And she accepted that. She knew everything about animals and ponies were no exception, for when in danger, all animals fall back to their instinct of survival. Rarity isn't as worthless in terms of survival as she was. Rarity wasn't as afraid of anything as much as she was. In terms of her friends survival, Rarity was more suited to become useful than Fluttershy was; and even though she had accepted that, it filled her with a grief more painful than anything she'd felt before.
Emptiness...
Loneliness...
Abandonment...
She could put no one word forth in description of this horrid emptiness inside of her soul, she had to put many: empty inside; totally lonely; completely abandoned.
Though she hadn't realized it, her emptiness was caused not only by her departure from her friends as she though, but also her departure from life, for Fluttershy was beginning to bleed out. Her stomach no longer caused her body pain as her nerves no longer sent the electrical impulses as the blood for her life-giving cells ran out of the slash.
Her thoughts couldn't find themselves as the stumbled, trying to discern the thoughts into coherent messages for her conscious. Her mind spun around her thoughts, causing her to become nauseous. She vomited, relieving her mind the spinning sensation that seemed to engulf her body. She wanted nothing more than to hear her friends once more; for them to accept her weakness once more and comfort her. She wanted to see but one more living being, to hear one more sound, but her mind no longer registered these simple and impulsive actions. She vomited one last time, unbeknownst to herself, who hadn't even realized her body had expelled her stomach fluids in an attempt to calm her center. She cried, not truly knowing why. Though she hadn't experienced any feeling like this before, even in her traffic congested thoughts, she knew what was happening. She was dying, which after all the pain and misery she'd endured, she felt indifferent towards. Perhaps she was willing to accept her death and was slightly curious.
So this is what it's like to die... she thought to herself. Others may have called in courage that she wasn't afraid of her inevitable fate, but in fact, she pushed her fear away with a logic perhaps only those about to die could truly understand; she didn't fear her fate simply because she accepted the fact that it was inevitable. She no longer feared the unknown because it would serve no purpose. She couldn't escape her fate and chose not to waste time and energy worrying about it.
Her eyes dropped in a sudden exhaustion that swept over her body like a heavy blanket of a sort of relief. Though she accepted her death as inescapable, she still felt so empty inside and so abandoned. Though she understood their reasons for abandonment, she just could not grasp the concept of having the capacity to abandon her friends simply because she'd never abandoned them, even if she was useless. She clenched her eyes as renewed streams of hot tears ran down her face. She felt her body slow down gradually as her thoughts suddenly became restful and her heart beat slowed down to a pace unsafe for almost any creature. Though her body was at rest and her thoughts had calmed, her mind was still torn between acceptance and disbelief. She began a cycle of thought that began with her anguish and ended in her indifference though she could not explain why.
The screams she wanted so desperately to cease finally met an end as they died away in its last utterance of pain. It seemed either Rarity had been saved or she was on her last breath; then the screaming ceased, not that Fluttershy could tell, for her brain no longer registered sound of any form as it devoted its last remaining power to stabilizing her vital and critical organs, which served only to prolong the inevitable death the young mare would soon face.
Her mind slowed to an almost stop as it started to register less and less of her thoughts, creating a pool of incoherence. She no longer heard her heart beat as it became weaker with every beat, lessening the amount of life in her body every second. Her mind no longer possessed the amount of blood necessary for her continuation into life. Her mind's last registered thought rested upon her terrible unbecoming pain and emotional agony. Abandonment and deceit of her most trusted 'friends'. Her heart, heavy with grief, felt light in mass as the last drops of blood left her body, sending her heart in spasmodic movement to which her brain would have normally registered had there been enough blood to do so; she hadn't even noticed that she'd fallen into a cardiac arrest. As she took her last breath of the taken for granted oxygen her body needed for life, her last thoughts were those she never thought she could've felt; pure contempt, though toward what, she could no longer define as her brain shut down;. Her heart no longer pumped the absent blood. It was still, unmoving, finally welcoming the absoluteness and coldness of death as the last flicker of life in her eyes left her, leaving her with the desolation of the point of no return, sending her soul to the deepest, darkest reaches of oblivion, restless, forever to wander its hell it had created for itself in its own despair.
***
