The Mysterious Case of the Pinecone Killer (Revised Edition)

1

It was seemingly like any other day. The sun shined brightly over my head and the critters scampered among the wilderness. Last night's rainstorm had left the grass moist and dewy, and every blade glittered individually in the light. It was a beautiful sight to behold. Then, the sun became obscured behind some clouds, but I was sure that the Pegasi would clear them up by midday. I forgot about nature as I approached the herd of ponies gathered at edge of the Everfree Forest. I ducked under the yellow caution tapes and trotted over to the scene of the crime.

I quickly spotted the sheriff standing in the middle of the crowd and approached him. "How far gone is this one?"

"A day - maybe a day an' a half."

"Cause of death?"

“It's... it's strange. Take a look for yourself."

I lifted the black tarp that covered the corpse. Her body had been found in a ditch, not far from her cottage bordering the forest. It was obvious that this was the work of none other than the Pinecone Killer. Deep gashes tore across her body in random directions and black blood seeped out of them. Her body had been forcefully stuffed with pinecones through her mouth and her marehood. It was disgusting to even think that another pony could do something like this.

"Ponyfeathers!" I swore out loud. I turned back to the sheriff, "Do we have a lead?"

"Excuse me - just a moment." He held a hoof to his mouth as if he was about to be sick. "No, the trail's cold. Whoever the killer is, he's a professional. Nothing ever like - this has ever happened in Ponyville before."

I've been on the trail of the Pinecone Killer for about three years now. I've declared myself as an expert on him - I've reviewed every single one of his crimes ever since his first appearance on the radar. Speaking of which, the first victim was my wife, Annabelle. I came home that night from my private office to find her limp body hanging from the ceiling with a bloody heap of pinecones by her side. Since then, I've moved away from Trottingham swearing that I would bring justice to her killer. I've been traveling all throughout Equestria, searching far and wide for anything that could lead me to him. And still, I have nothing at all!

I looked back up to the sheriff. "Is there a reason anypony would do this to her?"

He seemed to be hesitant to answer. "Nope. Poor mare, everypony loved her dearly. I don't know how I'm going to break this to her friends. Excuse me, again." He turned his head to the side and doubled over.

"Get the Pegasi squad to scout a five-klick radius for anything out of the ordinary. Report anything to me immediately that can help at all."

"Gladly" The sheriff said as he quickly flew away.

Another dead end. All of the Pinecone Killer's victims would meet the same fate. They were brutally raped and tortured to death, and then they would have their bodies mutilated by pinecones. The body would be disposed of and be found in a few days, if not a week. This was the seventy-ninth mare who was found just like this. Yet, even still I'm no closer to finding out the identity of the bucking murderer.

Everypony in Equestria is frightened to death. They hide indoors even in the daylight, and some even refuse to leave their homes. I have to find this guy before he strikes again, if not for vengeance then for the goodwill of all these ponies.

I looked around if anypony in sight could see what I was about to do. The Unicorns were too busy magically brushing down leaves for any clues. The Earth ponies were sitting around gambling on which pony would be murdered next. When I was sure nopony could see, I lifted the tarp once more and looked at the decaying body. I pressed my hoof down on her head and images flooded into my mind.

Unicorns would call this ability magic, after all, they knew that some Earth ponies possessed strange innate abilities. For me, touching the bodies of dead ponies would allow me to see and relive their last minutes of life with vivid detail. I've learned about this ability, sadly, when holding and crying over the my wife's corpse. I've never told anypony about this power, fearing that they would think I was insane. I even questioned myself at times. Was it fate that granted me this horrible power? Or was I destined to use this gift to bring justice? Either way, it was my sole responsibility to carry out the investigation.

Time around me seemed to slow down to a standstill, and the mare's last moments played inside my head like a horror movie.

I stood in a field of posies and in one hoof was a basket half-filled with flowers. I was barely touching the edge of the Everfree Forest, which I know becomes especially dangerous in the evening. The sky was orange and red, and the sun was setting quickly.

I trotted around the edge of the forest, collecting flowers and fruits for the little critters back at home. I knew it was getting late, and that I should return soon; after all, Applejack reminded me to watch out for a murderer on the loose. But, Angel wouldn’t eat anything other than the special carrots which grow in a secret patch a bit ways into the forest. I glided carefully into the forest and soon found the carrots. I plucked two, one for Angel and one for me, and placed them in my basket. As I was placing them down, I heard a strange buzzing. In the basket, I spotted a small bumblebee which hid in between two petals.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Bumblebee."

The bee buzzed back, and flapped it's tiny wings excitedly.

"What's wrong little guy? Are you-"

I didn't have enough time to comprehend what happened next. Something blunt struck the side of my face and I fell down onto a bed of moss. The last thing I saw was the blood stained flowers scattered over the forest canopy and glistening crimson red in the sunlight. Then everything went dark.

When I came to, I was blinded by a bright light shining in my face. I tried to block it out with my hoof, but I couldn't move at all; my legs felt as if they were strapped to something below me. I faced the ceiling, and I could manage to make out nothing more than a few crude wooden boards. My heart began to beat twice as fast. Where was I? I could feel something dripping from the side of my forehead. But in my peripheral vision there was only a pool of deep red. I truly hoped it wasn't blood. No, it couldn't be, not that. Anything but that! I became nauseous thinking about the blood and turned away from it before I became sick.

Then somepony moved the light away from my face. After shaking the daze off, I could clearly see the room. It was made of solid wood, except for a single rusty metal sink in the corner. There was a small window near the ceiling, but it was boarded by several planks. A sliver of sunshine shone through it and it was the only source of light for the whole room.

The pony didn't answer. Instead, he calmly walked over to the sink and turned the tap on. He pulled out a rusted and jagged dagger from the basin and began to wash its length.
This is when I completely lost it.

"Help! Somepony help!" I screamed, wildly trying to pull myself away from the restraints. "Applejack, Rainbow! Somepony please hear me!"

I saw that the pony finished cleaning his tools and placed them neatly on a tray. He didn't show any hint of emotion as he sat beside me and waved each tool in front of me one by one. He scratched two knives against each other, sharpening the blades. I could hear the coarse metal-on-metal contact as the blades became razor sharp. I squeaked when the fiery sparks flew from the metal and landed on my coat.

"Please," I begged for my life, "please let me go."

The masked pony didn't listen. He threw the tools onto the floor angrily and climbed onto the table, menacingly unsheathing his stallionhood. No, not that! He began to rub it against my marehood vigorously and moans escaped my mouth involuntarily. He became even quicker and rougher, but then he stopped. I looked up, still panting, as he carefully pointed its tip vertically down me.

My eyes were in tears by now. I shouted at the stallion. "Please no! I-"

A sharp pain radiating from my lower half stopped me speechless. It was like no other pain I've felt before. It was as if a knife was jammed deep inside me and was jerked and twisted around. The pain was so intense I forgot how to scream.

He forced himself inwards, digging his entire length into me. I only screamed as he pumped himself harder and faster. I was immobile, trapped and held defenseless, as he finished to defile my body. He thrust once more and let out a great whinny. I felt something hot rush deep inside me in a torrent as he stood there, fully mounted into me.

After an eternity, I felt him exit my marehood. Every inch of my body screamed out in pain, but my body was shaking more from the shock of what just happened than the physical damage. I looked down cautiously, but I wasn't prepared for what I saw. Between my legs was a puddle of red blood which spread out from the teared skin. This had to be a nightmare. This couldn't be real, it just couldn't.

The stallion didn't wait for me to recover; he took a rusted nail with serrated sides and jammed it into my forearm. This time I screamed wildly. I saw in horror as he began to drag the nail through my arm, shredding through bone and muscle like butter. I could hear the end of the nail scratching the back of the table, making a screeching clamor. The rusted sides of the nail disintegrated as it left a trail of broken metal fragments embedded in my arm. I prayed to Celestia for the pain to disappear. I thought of my friends, still hoping that they would come to rescue me.
The masked stallion made no sound. He stood on all fours and reached for something on the floor. My heart began to beat even faster, but also weaker. With every pulse I could feel the life draining away through the wounds all over my body. The room became freezing cold. I could no longer feel anything as the room became dimmer and dimmer.

Memories of my friends flashed in front of me. From that fateful event that connected us all to every single adventure we shared, I yearned to see them all just once more. But out of the five friends, I especially remembered one rainbow colored mare. In the last memory she and I lay together, with my head gingerly resting on her side. "Don't worry, Fluttershy, I'll always be here for you. Forever." I remember her covering me with her soft wings and falling asleep to the sound of her heartbeat. The pain vanished and the struggle was over.

Before I faded away from the world I could clearly see what he held in his hooves. A pinecone.

"Hey, you alright?"

I was laying in the mud with the sheriff staring down at me. "Yea, I was just..."

"A bit nauseous? It happens, don't worry. I've seen lots of terrible things in my younger days, but nothing ever like this - this crime is just terrible."

I stood up on all fours and brushed the dirt off myself. I must have been out for only a few minutes at most. I was depressed; I still had no leads.

"Here," the sheriff said, hoofing me a packet of papers and pointing his face towards Fluttershy's corpse, "this is everything we could find on her."

It wasn't much, only three or four pages. "Is this it? I mean, her whole life record?"

"It's nothing much. Her record is cleaner than Celestia's... but there's something here," he circled something at the bottom of the page, "that might help you out."

Last week, she had a run-in with a griffon named Gilda. Witnesses say that the griffon verbally assaulted her, and threatened to kill her. It's the only lead I've got for you.

"Thanks."

"No problem." The sheriff turned around and faced the other ponies, "Alright, we're done here. Everypony move out!"

I walked away from the crime scene while trying to put together the pieces of this mystery. On the last page of the report was a short description of the prime suspect: Gilda. She's been raised by her adoptive father near Cloudsdale for the majority of her life. She's worked in a factory that produces knives after she dropped out of flight school. Then she's just been wandering around job to job every month. Criminal record? Felonies, abusive relationships, and attempted murder. This griffon's a mess. And what's this? She lives in a cabin, homemade, right under Cloudsdale. I was excited. My first real lead in years! I couldn't wait until morning, I had to investigate now.

The sky behind me turned black. It was getting late fast, I quickly trotted away from the lights of Ponyville and towards Cloudsdale. It was only a few kilometers away, but I knew about the dangers of the Equestrian night; there were wild beasts that roamed the paths this time in the night. And of course, I didn't want to get caught by the killer myself. But, I've got to be brave and face the danger within the darkness. I galloped forwards, following the unlit pathway barely able to see the road in front of me.

"Hey! Hey you!" somepony yelled at me. In the light of the setting sun, I could see a cyan pony with a rainbow mane hovering above me. She had dark circles underneath her eyes, and she was panting heavily. "You! Have you seen a yellow pony with a pink mane around here?"

I knew that she was looking for Fluttershy. I couldn't be the one to break this to her, no, not now. "No. I'm very sorry."

"Where is that mare?" I could see tears in her eyes. "I've been worried sick ever since I saw her house torn up yesterday." She was trying her hardest to stay strong, but I could see that even her bravery was no match for the overwhelming pain. "I'll search all of Equestria twice if I have to." With a boom she bolted away, leaving a trail of rainbow dust behind her.

I knew that she would never be able to speak to Fluttershy again, or even see her the same way. It shattered my heart to pieces, seeing how even the strongest willed ponies struggled to keep from crying at the loss of a friend. I knew what Fluttershy meant to her. She was special. She loved her.

I swear, I will bring justice. For myself, for her, and for everypony else.