The Gift Maker

Chapters

Prologue: An Old Friend
Chapter 1: Arrival At Ponyville
Chapter 2: Getting Information
Flashback: First Day At Camp
Maker: The Game Begins
Chapter 3: Filthy Emporium
Chapter 4: Tailing And Discoveries
Flashback: Crush's And Hoof Combat
Maker: A Present For Cakes
Chapter 5: The Second Victim

Prologue: An Old Friend

Hunter's Office

11:30 p.m.

Canterlot, Grey Quarter

I was sitting in my office drinking a fresh cup of coffee that I had got from Donut Joe's, after a long day of tracking down petty thieves and purse snatchers I was dead tired. My name is Lawful Hunter, I'm a private detective stationed in Canterlot's Grey Quarter. I've got semi - long hair, a dark tan coat, brown hair and brown eyes, and a magnifying glass for my cutie mark. I've been in the detective business for about eight years now. I'm fairly known around the neighborhood. I get small cases like burglary or missing ponies reports and the other trivial things.

I was about to head to bed when all of a sudden I heard a knock on my door, who the hell could be knocking at my door at this time? I thought, it was around 11:30 at night so it was kinda weird for someone to be out this late. I opened the door and saw an old friend of mine from my days at the royal guard, Lieutenant Divine Paladin probably one of the only ponies I ever got along with. A pretty big stallion and very muscular he was a Pegasus with a short white mane and yellow coat, emerald colored eyes. His cutie mark was a pair of wings with a lance.

I used to be in the royal guard for a good thirteen years. Started my way up to eventually becoming a sergeant and such. I quit eleven years ago for personal reasons and waited around two years before I started my investigating business.

“Hunter long time no see, how's my favorite buddy doing?” he asked rather cheerfully.

“Good I guess, uh come in then,” I was confused I haven't seen Paladin since I left the guard, what could he be doing here?

“Nice place ya got here, rather dull and kinda small but it looks nice,” he said

My office wasn't exactly one of the most impressive looking places, when it comes to the important stuff I'm usually organized but everyday items I can lose for weeks. I lived in the Grey Quarter, the most dangerous and cheapest part of Canterlot. Can't go one day around here without being mugged by some random stallion giving petty threats that they won't go through with. I've seen the type, scrawny guys that liked to look tough and try to be something their not, small fish in a big pond.

“Yeah thanks, Paladin what are you doing here?”

“What? I can't visit my best bud for a little chat?” I gave him a look that said “Not in the mood” and he gave a rather depressed sigh.

“Heh always business with you eh Hunter? Alright I'll get down to it, I need your help,”

“Wait, you need my help?” I asked confused. Here was a pony I haven't seen in over eleven years and the first time we meet after so long he needs a favor? I got a really bad feeling that this was not going to be fun.

“Yeah we need your help in a case for us,” Paladin said, a case? I thought.

“Paladin, I'm done taking orders from the guard, you have no idea how much I hated that job I don't care what the case is I'm not gonna be bossed around by asshole higher ups,” whatever the case was I didn't care for it, if it was any other pony I would had been interested, but the guard is where I draw the line.

Paladin sighed and just stared at the ground, I assumed he was trying to figure out a way to get me to take whatever job he wanted me to take.

“Listen Law, just please hear me out, I really need your help here. I know I'm asking you for something big after not seeing each other for eleven years but this is really important and you're the only pony who can solve this,” Paladin stressed, he was really desperate.

I sighed and thought hard about what to do. On one hoof Paladin was my friend and he never steered me wrong and always had my back. On the other hoof was that I would have to work with the royal guards and a lot of those guys could give two shits about their jobs. As much as I didn't want to I decided to hear him out.

“Alright, I'll listen but I won't guarantee that I'll take the job, okay?” Paladin gave the biggest smile I've ever seen, it was serial killer happy, dear Celestia was it creepy. He hugged me and said thank you at least eighty times. It was laughable but also really freaking uncomfortable.

“Okay, so earlier today at around 4:21 in the afternoon the royal guard was called in to investigate a murder in the town of Ponyville, the victim had multiple stab wounds and seemed to have signs of torture as well,” Paladin said.

“Okay and you need me for this why...?”

“Well the thing is, there's no evidence anywhere! No hoof prints, no blood trails, nothing the body was found in the middle of the town square and not a single pony witnessed anything! All we found was a note that was placed on the victim's chest, again no hoof prints or any way to determine its origin,” Paladin handed me a letter that was written in blood, I assumed the victim's blood

To the ponies of Equestria,

I am very happy to make your acquaintance, I hope you find my gift for you satisfactory as I have plenty more where this came from. Please do not be alarmed at the nature of this gift, the rest will be even better to give to you. This is only a taste of what I have to offer, who will help me in my next gift to you? Oh what fun we are going to have together I can't wait to find my next “helper”.
Sincerely yours,
The Gift Maker

The Gift Maker? I thought, that was probably the dumbest name for a murderer I have ever heard. Apparently he thinks murdering ponies are his way of giving somepony a present.

“Okay that was the weirdest thing I have ever read, was their anything special about the victim's death?” I asked.

“Actually yes, the victim was covered in Hearth's Warming Eve wrapping paper, kinda like those old mummy ponies,” Paladin said. This could be the case that I've been waiting for, but was it worth getting involved with the guards? I left them for a reason I don't have any reason to get on board for this. I needed to think more clearly about this.

"Listen Paladin, I need some time to think alright? Just give me an hour or two and I'll have an answer for you," I didn't want to get involved with something that I was just going to regret later so I needed to clear my head.

Thankfully he agreed, I stepped outside for some fresh air, or at least as fresh as you can get around here. The Grey Quarter was like Tartarus, dirty air, drunks littering the streets, broken windows and demolished houses filled the scene everywhere. I'm only living here because I didn't have enough bits to get a more high - end apartment in a more cleaner district. Canterlot was separated into four districts, The Grey Quarter where all of the poorer citizens live, The Silver Quarter where the middle class lived, The Rose Quarter for all of the nobles and rich ponies like Fancy Pants, and finally the White Gold Quarter where the Canterlot castle is located for all of the royal family.

I thought about the offer, I wanted to put my old life from the guard behind me, and now Paladin just had to go and bring back old memories. On the other hoof though, Paladin has been one of my best friends, he's always been a loyal friend and helped me out of many situations that I nearly didn't make it out of. Maybe I should return the favor. As much as I wanted to go back and tell him no, I decided to take the case, not for him or the guard, I'm doing this because I want to. I'm not doing this for anypony.

I arrived back at my apartment a rusty old building, but the landpony was a nice mare. I entered my office and saw Paladin sitting on my dusty couch and sprang to his hooves.

"So, have you though about it?"

"Yeah, I've decided to take the case Paladin,"

“Really? Hunter thank you so much! I promise you will not regret this, and don't worry the higher ups have given you full freedom to do whatever you deem necessary to solve this case. You will be given full cooperation from the guards and unrestricted access to crime scenes and other places civilians can't enter. Also you don't have to worry about taking orders they placed you in full control for the duration of the case.”

“That's what I want to hear,” I said, this will make my job much easier then.

“Your train to Ponyville will leave at 7:30 in the morning, here's your train ticket,” Paladin passed me a train ticket for my trip to Ponyville, I placed it on my desk.

“Alright Hunter, I've gotta go thanks again, and good luck to you,” Paladin exited my office and closed the door behind him.

Finally a high profile case! The Gift Maker, I had a feeling that this wasn't going to be a walk in the park, but I always liked challenge. Tomorrow was my first day on the job. Whoever this Gift Maker was, they were in for a surprise...

Author's Note

Well this is my first story, I'm somewhat hoping that its decent but most likely it will probably be bad. Any criticism and comments are appreciated so tell me what I did wrong and did right so I can hopefully improve upon this story.

Chapter 1: Arrival At Ponyville

"No... I didn't"

"Save them..."

"Why?..."

"Help me..."

"What did you do!?..."

"Monster..."

Hunter's Office

6:21 a.m.

Canterlot, Grey Quarter

I hate waking up in the mornings. I was never really the type of pony to wake up so early. Usually I got up in the afternoon, stupid train just had to leave this early. I got all the basic stuff I needed during my stay in Ponyville. I got my ticket and left my office for Celestia knows how long. I keep having that same dream again. It's hard to sleep sometimes. Sometimes I stay up for hours because I can't go to sleep because of those dreams.

The train ride.... was uneventful. Being an Earth pony I liked to actually walk instead of taking trains or flying, I hate flying... a lot. I have an extreme sense of vertigo that I never recovered from. Every time I get on a chariot or every time I go somewhere high up, I’d just freeze up. I can’t even tell you how many times I screwed up at the royal guard by getting on top of roof tops to chase down criminals. Especially wearing that armor, it’s not exactly meant for maneuverability like that.

Within the hour the train finally stopped at our destination.

“Current stop Ponyville!” yelled the conductor. I headed out and decided to head towards the town square. I didn't want to waste any time by getting sidetracked.

I've never been to Ponyville honestly, all I know is that it's supposed to be a peaceful town that rarely has any trouble. “The epitome of harmony” I'd hear all the time from random citizens in Canterlot. I never believed them there's no such thing as a truly peaceful place. Despite what many other races think, Equestria has just as many problems as any other kingdom, we're just better at hiding it, that's all.

Marketplace

9:42 a.m.

Ponyville

I got lost during my walk, all these buildings look the same. It actually reminded me of my old hometown. Now I wasn't actually born in Canterlot so I'm not a city boy. I came from an old town far to the east called Rust. Now Rust was a small farm and mining community, and by small I mean you can't find it on any maps of Equestria. It's a really obscure town full of farmers and miners trying to find rare minerals and stuff. I used to help my parents with daily chores and all, but I never found the life interesting. I wanted adventure, you know like finding secret's not known to the rest of the citizens. I would investigate caves and explore the forest's around the town. It's actually how I got my cutie mark, I just went around and solved little mysteries like finding lost pets or items of importance. When I was of age I finally left Rust, I write to my family from time to time.

As I walked I took note of a few interesting building's that actually caught my eye. The first was a giant looking tree that had a sign that said "Golden Oak Library", I'd probably head there when I have some downtime. The second building was a shop that had all sorts of candy related items on it, the sign said "Sugarcube Corner", despite my somewhat serious attitude I love chocolate, I could honestly eat a mountain of the stuff. Finally I saw a building that looked like a carousel to which the shop was ironically named "Carousel Boutique". These places seemed interesting enough that I could hopefully find something worthwhile in them.

After walking around aimlessly for about 2 hours I decided to ask a local for directions to the town square, I found a pony who gave me the directions to the square.

Crime Scene

11:50 a.m.

Ponyville, Town Square

Upon reaching the square I was greeted by a member of the royal guard.

“You must be detective Hunter,” I nodded and followed him to the crime scene. The crime scene was packed with ponies trying to get a closer look and asking questions about what happened. Guards were stationed around the perimeter to prevent them from passing through.

I was met with the coroner named Dr. Seeker, an old looking unicorn with a silver mane and light blue coat, Grey eyes and an eye for the cutie mark.

“Detective Hunter pleasure to meet you,” Dr. Seeker shook my hoof.

“So what have you found out so far doctor?”

“Multiple stab wounds, marks on the neck and on the front and back legs. Victim seemed to have been strangled by the neck with a strong rope, and the legs seemed to have been severely burned. After which the stab wounds came next,”

“Damn, what a way to go,” getting tortured and then getting that many stab wounds, wouldn't wish that upon my worst enemy.

“There's also one thing I found weird,”

“How so doc?”

“Look here, these stab wounds are extremely clean. Normally knife wounds are messy and are placed indiscriminately, but these look like the killer knew exactly where to strike,”

“So that would mean the killer has surgical experience?” I really didn't like the look of this scene.

“Yes, these are professionally well done and the killer made sure he was careful in handling the body with extreme care. Not only that, but the body was also well preserved. After death it seems The Gift Maker had made sure the body would be clean and somehow preserved it to keep it from decomposing. Whoever this pony is, they are extremely intelligent,” Dr. Seeker added.

“Which explains the gift wrap, he wanted his “present” factory new,” This was probably on a whole new level of sick. Never in Equestria's history has a murder of this level been seen.

“Do we know the name of the victim here?”

“Let me see, I believe her name was a Ms. Roseluck, she ran a local flower shop here in Ponyville. Her last known acquaintance is a Ms. Daisy. I would suggest talking to her first after you've finished examining the body. When you're done I'll take the victim to Ponyville Medical Center and see if I can find out anymore information,”

“Alright, thanks doc,” Dr. Seeker nodded and went to consult some guards that were close to a tent nearby, probably the doc's temporary setup to examine the body out here.

I went over to the body and placed my hoof on the sheet covering the corpse.

"Alright, let's see what we've got here..."

Author's Note

Well it seems that this crappy story is finally getting updated. Took forever because of college and stuff. So yeah comment, like, dislike, tell me what I screwed up and how I can make it better. Also be sure to yell at me for killing Roseluck, I would yell at me too since she's one of my favorite background characters in the show. Also a big thank you to the awesome Grazy Pillowmare for helping me out with this story so far. Be sure to check them out. Because their stuff is way better than mine haha :)

Chapter 2: Getting Information

I lifted the sheet off of the body and stared at it. The girl was completely pale, she looked liked she’d been dead for a while. I began by first examining her head. A long strangulation mark was visible on her neck.

“Hmm, I’m going to assume that the strangulation was the cause of death,” I said, though why strangulation when the killer was just going to stab her anyways? After that I examined the front and back hooves. As Seeker said, they were severely burned and yet they don’t look like they were that damaging. Actually looking closely I saw a little bit of a cream like substance on one of the hooves.

I inspected it and found it to be ointment. So, this guy decided to apply this after burning her? What would be the purpose? If you’re killing someone then you are not gonna be taking care of them. I could understand after death since he wants to “gift” this to us, but not when the victim is alive. It’s kinda like a sick caretaker sort of feel I’m getting.

Next was the knife wounds which came after her death. One in the heart and one long looking slice in her torso that went up to her neck. Now that I was looking at her a little bit more I swear she looks like one of those stuffed animals you find at a toy store. I placed the sheet back on her body and went over to Seeker’s tent.

“Hey doc, I got a couple of more questions for you,”

“Alright, what is it?” asked Seeker.

“I noticed some burn cream on the victim’s hooves. I just think it’s kinda weird he applied that on her,"

“Hmm interesting, I have seen cases where the killer would care for the victim for a while, like a sort of caretaker due to mental instability, so maybe it’s the same case here,” I’m pretty sure killing someone on purpose already makes the guy mentally unstable for what he’s doing.

“Alright, I noticed that the girl looks pale, had you estimated a time of death?”

“Judging from body temperature, I’d say she’d been dead for a few days at least two to three days max. I’ll hopefully learn some more when I do an autopsy then I’ll let you know,” good, well then, time to interview the friend.

“I’m gonna go talk to the victim’s friend, she’ll probably have some info,” doc gave me the address for Ms. Daisy so I started heading there now.

Daisy’s House

1:10 p.m.

Ponyville

I knocked on the front door and was greeted by an earth pony mare. She had a magenta coat, lime green hair, emerald colored eyes, and two daisies as her cutie mark.

“Oh hello, can I help you?” she asked.

“Detective Hunter, I’m helping the royal guard in an investigation miss, may I come inside and ask some questions?” she nodded and let me into her living room. Flowers were spread in different parts of her home, it smelled very fresh in here it was very refreshing. We sat down in two chairs and I started the interview.

“Ma'am, I’m sorry to inform you, but your friend Ms. Roseluck was murdered. Her body was found yesterday,” Daisy’s eyes widened and tears began leaking out. This was the part I hated, I was never good at comforting mares. I’m not emotionally insensitive or anything, but I’m not good at this stuff.

“Daisy I know this is hard for you, but you need to pull yourself together. We have a killer on the loose and he may kill more. So stop crying and help me,” thankfully that worked and she wiped her tears.

“Did Ms. Roseluck have any enemies or ponies that disliked her?”

“No, Rose was a very happy mare, she loved talking to ponies and was super friendly to everypony. There isn't a single pony in all of Equestria that could hate Rose,” I felt she was telling the truth so I moved on.

“How long have you known Roseluck?”

“Since we were little fillies. We met at school and became best friends really quick. I… I just can’t believe she’s gone,” Daisy sniffed.

“Was Rose acting strange at all when you last saw her?”

“N-no she was fine as always, it’s um very hard to bring her mood down,” Daisy stuttered there, she’s hiding something.

“Why are you lying to me Daisy? I’m trying to figure out why your friend is dead, so you better start talking or I can have you jailed for obstruction of justice!” I threatened, I didn’t like getting angry, but it needed to be done.

“Rose, she… she’d been drinking lately and coming back to her house drunk. Sometimes I’d have to walk her home. She told me she was at risk of losing her shop and her house, her bills were piling up and she couldn’t afford to pay. One night she came to me and showed me a bag full of bits. I asked where did she get the money from, she just said not to worry about it and that everything would be fine,”

“Do you know the name of the bar?”

“Yes, it’s called the Stallion’s Goblet, it’s down the street to the left. It has a big sign so you can’t miss it,”

“Last question, about the bag of bits, do you know where the bag is right now?”

“It should be somewhere in Rose’s house. She lived across the street from me right there,” she pointed to a red and yellow house straight ahead from here.

“Thank you Ms. Daisy, you’ve been very helpful,” I left her house and walked to Rose’s.

Roseluck’s House

1:19 p.m.

Ponyville

The door was opened, I walked inside and found the place was completely wrecked. Someone came in and was looking for something. I looked around and found a bookcase that was thrown on the floor with a hole where it once stood. The hole had a bag shape that I assumed was where the bag of bits was hidden. Rose made some enemies if they wanted to ransack her house like this but how does this connect to her death? Did she steal the bits from someone powerful and killed her? Did she screw someone over? Many questions went into my head and no answers came out.

There was nothing for me here so I decided to head to the bar and see if the bartender and patrons could provide information.

Stallion’s Goblet

1:30 p.m.

Ponyville

Pretty classy looking place for a bar I must say. A pretty fancy looking door with golden handles, a Canterlot style architecture, how the hell could anypony afford to come here? I went inside and went up to the bartender.

“Hey there what can I getcha?”

“Detective Hunter, I’m investigating the death of Roseluck,”

“Rose dead? Damn, I knew she was getting into too much trouble,”

“Was Rose a regular here?” I asked.

“Nah, Rose was the kinda mare that wouldn’t start drinking unless something really bothered her. She started coming in more frequently last week, I thought she’d kill herself with the amount she was consuming,”

“Ms. Daisy said that Rose came into possession of a lot of money, did she say anything here?”

“Only thing she mentioned was that she was gonna talk to Mr. Filthy Rich about something. If anypony needed money around here, they borrow some from Mr. Rich. A lot of ponies think that Mayor Mare runs things around here, but Rich he pretty much owns Ponyville. He’s a nice sort though don’t get me wrong, everypony loves Mr. Rich, he always donates to charity and helps out a lot around here. Only bad thing, is that bratty daughter of his, guy is too blind to see that his daughter is an asshole,”

“Okay, thanks for your help,”

“No problem,” I was about to leave when the bartender shouted at me.

“Hey! Get the son of a bitch that killed her okay? Rose was a nice mare, she ain’t done nothing to nopony,”

I left the bar and went to rent an apartment to stay during the investigation. After looking around I found a nice place that was pretty cheap, I got a sandwich from the fridge and went straight to bed. Was Rich the one who ordered Rose dead? The Gift Maker was a killer so maybe he works for Rich, maybe not but I needed to be sure. Tomorrow I’ll talk to Rich and see what I can find out.

Author's Note

Well another chapter done with, I got a few ideas as to where this story goes so we'll see. I still feel like this story kinda sucks, but screw it I'm still gonna write it. As long as one person still likes it, than I'll keep writing.

Flashback: First Day At Camp

Twenty six years ago...

I had finally made it to Canterlot, Rust was a nice place but I wanted more adventure in my life. I went to the nearest recruiting station and quickly enlisted in the royal guard. Today was my first day at the training camp. I had made my way over to the entrance and was looking for building C of the south wall. I found a senior officer and decided to ask him for help.

“Excuse me sir? Can you hel-”

“Excuse me? Where do you get off talking to me like that!?” shouted the officer.

“I’m sorry sir I just-”

“Oh your sorry? Well now, ain’t everything all freaking perfect now because you're sorry. Son I ain’t in a talking mood right now, so get the hell out of my sight before I break your damn teeth in!” with that the officer walked away. I wasn’t sure what caused him to act like that, and I hoped the rest of the officers weren’t all mean like that.

I spotted what seemed like a new recruit and went over to see if he had some clue to where to go.

“Hey buddy can you tell me where building C is located at?” I asked the stallion who smiled at me.

“Sure, actually I’m assigned to head there too, come on we can go together. The name’s Divine Paladin,” he raised his hoof to me and I shook it with a smile.

“Lawful Hunter, nice to meet you too,” we walked for a bit and found the correct building.

Upon entering we saw many different kinds of stallions and mares that were talking and goofing around in the bunkrooms. Each bunk was made to hold three ponies, one on the top, middle, and bottom. Me and Paladin got a bunk on the far west side of the room he got middle and I got bottom with a unicorn mare on the top of the bunk. Shortly after the drill sergeant came into the room.

“Attention!” everypony went deathly silent and became stiff as a rock.

“I am sergeant Ironside, your senior drill instructor. From this day forth you will be trained to become the elite of Princess Celestia’s royal guard. The training will be brutal, your spirits will be broken. Heck some of you will most likely quit and cry home to mama. There will be no handouts, no handicaps, and no help from anypony. You all will speak only when spoken to, do I make myself clear?”

“SIR YES SIR!” shouted everypony.

“Good, for today you all can mingle with one another to get to know each other. Learn each other well, because the pony next to you will make sure your flank is out of hot water. Lights out at 9:00 p.m. sharp. Rise and shine at 6:00 a.m. understood?”

“SIR YES SIR!”

“Carry on then,” Ironside left and everypony went about their business.

“Geez, what a tough place,” sighed Paladin.

“Well whatcha expect? They’re not gonna hold our hooves for this stuff.” I said.

“I know, I know just that well they don’t need to shout at us and make us feel like crap,”

Paladin told me a little about his life. He was born in Manehattan to a family of clockmakers and artists. He got his cutie mark when he defended a mare from some thug in an alleyway one night. Paladin isn’t usually the type of pony that I hang out with, but he’s actually a pretty cool guy.

It was getting dark soon and Ironside came back to the bunkroom.

“Alright everypony get your flanks in bed pronto! whoever’s not in bed by the time I finish counting from ten to zero, then one hundred push ups right here right now!”

“10”

“9” everypony was scrambling to get to their bunks.

“8”

“7”

“6” soon everypony was in their bed and Ironside stopped counting.

“That’s what I like to see. Now then, lights out!” he switched off the lights and left the room.

So, my first day at training camp was pretty uneventful right now, but I just know that more exciting things are gonna come during my time here. Hopefully I make a good impression on these officers. Well then, let’s see what tomorrow brings for us.

Author's Note

Well this is the first flashback side chapter of the story. These are meant to be short and just provide back story to Hunter and how he met Paladin and all that stuff. These will be posted after the end of any chapter that has Hunter going to sleep at the end. Don't expect these to be any good compared to the main chapters due to how short these are gonna be.

Maker: The Game Begins

Unknown Location

9:45 p.m.

I wiped the floor of blood from my previous guest. I didn’t want my new helper to be frightened, we don’t want that now do we? I went over to the guest room to check up on my most esteemed guest. I opened the door, a nice green room with red polka dots all over. I looked toward my guest sitting in the chair. She looked marvelous.

“How are you doing this fine evening?” I asked my guest.

“Mmmmffh!” she was never one to make sense when she talked.

I went over to my workstation and inspected the knives on my desk. Pure steel these knives, they can cut through just about anything. Next I inspected my scalpel, this was useful for when I perform the operation. I then went over to my stuffing room and took note of my supplies. I was running low on stuffing. I would need to get some more cotton soon from Filthy Rich’s store. I went over to the kitchen and fixed a daisy sandwich for my friend.

I entered her room and took off the gag that was placed on her.

“You son of a bitch, when somepony finds me you’ll be sorry!”

Ah, I love when they put up a fight. I began trying to feed her but she bit my hoof. Obviously she was not going to cooperate with me. I went over to my medicine cabinet and took out my syringe and sedative. As I grew closer she began to squirm, like a little worm that lost its way. I grabbed her hoof and injected her with the sedative. Soon she began to relax, and everypony was happy.

I went to my medicine cabinet and got some disinfectant and bandages to wrap around the bite mark. I closed the cabinet and looked at the mirror. I don’t know why though as the mirror is covered with duct tape. I cannot stand the sight of the pony that I see in the mirror. I’ve tried my hardest to figure out who they are but it never rings a bell. Not that I’d associate with them anyway, disgusting and ugly creature it was.

I went over to my living room and started catching up on reading the Ponyville Express newspaper. It was typical news, special bake sale at Sugarcube Corner, Political power struggle in the griffon empire, but then one article had caught my eye.

Royal guards have hired a private detective named Lawful Hunter to oversee the investigation of the Gift Maker serial killer. The killer is responsible for the death of Ponyville’s own, Roseluck. All citizens of Ponyville are advised to share any and all information to detective Hunter about Ms. Roseluck’s death. Princess Twilight Sparkle says that she is making sure that all resources are focused on capturing this evil murderer…

So, they finally got somepony to investigate this hmm? Lawful Hunter, he might actually make this amusing. I was always bored when nopony could find me. Even with the hints I’d dropped. Ponyville isn’t the first place I’ve killed in. Oh detective Hunter, what fun we are going to have with each other. There on the next page was a dark tan looking stallion, who looks old to be honest, maybe around his late forties.

My grandfather clock chimed and that meant it was time to perform the operation. I walked to my friends room and saw she was starting to wake up.

“Ah, good you’re awake. Come now my dear it’s time to begin your surgery,”

“What! Surgery, get away from me you freak!”

“Come now my dear, I’m going to make you beautiful, I’m going to make you perfect,” I grabbed her and began to head towards the operating room.

“Let me go you ugly bastard!” that struck a nerve in me and I slapped her. I do not condone hitting a lady as I did, I actually rather find it a despicable act and mares should be treated with respect, but nopony shall belittle my image.

“I’m ahem sorry for that my dear, but I’m afraid that you were mistaken about my looks. Now come along now,” I quickly placed her on the operating table and placed the restraints around her.

I then slowly closed the door, wouldn’t want the screams to be heard from the neighbors now? Hehehe...

Author's Note

The first of the second set of side chapters for this story. These chapters shall be titled Maker to show that the POV will switch to the gift maker killer. These will follow after the flashback chapters. Like those, these will be a little more shorter than the main chapters.

Chapter 3: Filthy Emporium

“Get out!”

“Where is she?”

“Coming down!”

“Monster…”

Hunter’s Apartment

10:01 a.m.

Ponyville

I woke up groggily from my sleep, the dreams were getting more intense everyday. Even more so now since I came to Ponyville. Filthy Rich’s store doesn’t open for another hour so I decided to walk around town to pass the time.

Golden Oak Library

10:06 a.m.

Ponyville

Walking around I stood in front of the town’s local library. I haven’t read a good book in awhile, Canterlot’s bookstores and libraries usually only had romance novels and I really was not interested in those. I’m more of a horror/sci fi kinda guy. I entered the library and was greeted by a small looking lizard thing.

“Hey there! You’re that Hunter guy right?” asked the purple lizard.

“Uh, yeah that’s me little lizard,” the little guy seemed to take offence as a frown placed itself on his face.

“Why does everypony think that I’m a lizard? I’m a baby dragon!” a dragon? Holy Celestia, is he even allowed to be in here?

“Spike? What’s going on down there?” a voice came from the stairs above us and sounds of hooves came down the stairs. In front of me, was Princess Twilight Sparkle! I quickly bowed to her and she giggled.

“No need to bow to me detective Hunter, I’m not really comfortable with all of the royal stuff yet. Please just call me Twilight,” I rose from my spot and nodded my head.

“So, how goes your investigation?”

“Right now my current lead is on Filthy Rich,” this seemed to shock the princess.

“Filthy Rich? What does he have to do with this?”

“Apparently, the victim went to him for money, and a witness saw Roseluck with a big bag of bits. Her house was ransacked so I’m assuming that maybe Rich had ordered someone to either teach Rose a lesson, or to kill her,”

“Hmm, it is known around town that Rich gives loans to ponies that are a little short on bits. I can’t though see him ordering someponies death,” I figured that either Rich was genuinely a nice guy, or that’s just a front.

“You know if you want you can look at the records of loans ponies took from him. With the amount of money he gives away, the mayor and I decided to keep a records book to keep track of it. Me, the mayor, and Rich all have a copy and make sure that it’s up to date.” Twilight levitated a ledger to me and I inspected its contents.

I scanned through the list of names from the book. Daisy’s name was on the list, taking out a ten thousand bit loan! I found Roseluck’s name and discovered that she took out a three hundred and fifty thousand bit loan from Rich! That’s a lot of money, no wonder somepony wrecked her place, heck I’d kill for some money like that.

I closed the ledger and hoofed it back to Twilight.

“Thanks for your help Twilight,”

“Of course! Anything you need I’ll be more than happy to assist you. While you’re waiting, why not read a book? The store doesn’t open for a while now so you can kill some time reading,” that was what I came here for anyway.

I browsed her selection, she had everything here! I noticed the entire Daring Do collection was there. I wasn’t a fan of the series, but my little cousin was a huge fan of the books. She’d sometimes visit and talk about them for hours on end to me. I did enjoy hearing her talk about them though, she is a very passionate mare.

I settled on a horror story called “The Void” and sat down to read the book.

Later…

The book sucked. So many plot holes! A grandfather clock chimed in another room and that was my cue to leave. I bid Twilight and Spike farewell and headed off to the store.

Rich’s Super Emporium

11:21 a.m.

Market District, Ponyville

The store had a clean air to it, the tiles and walls were a clean white, and the walls colored yellow. I walked around for a bit hoping to find a manager’s office or something. I accidentally bumped into somepony and knocked them to the ground.

“Oh crap, sorry about that,”

“No problem good sir, it was an accident,” said the stallion. I offered a hoof to help him up and he took it into his. I noticed a bit of blood and saw him wearing a bandage.

“You okay? What happened to your hoof?”

“Ah this? I was chopping onions, but uh went a little too fast. If only I was a unicorn, being an earth pony is good and all, but makes it harder having to use exclusively your hooves to grab objects like knives,” I had to agree to that.

“Ah where are my manners, allow me to introduce myself, I am Stitch Heart. Pleasure to make your acquaintance,”

“Lawful Hunter,” his eyes beamed and widened upon hearing my name.

“Ah so you are the detective everypony is talking about! I must say I expected you to be shorter. Though those newspaper photographs are alway a few sizes inaccurate,” wait, when did somepony take my picture? I don’t remember that. Anyway I looked more closely at Stitch he had a yellow coat, white short mane, he also seemed to have Heterochromia iridum, green in one eye, and purple in the other, his cutie mark was a needle going through a heart.

“Well I must be off, it was a pleasure meeting you detetive Hunter,”

“Likewise, Mr. Heart,”

“Please Mr. Heart was my father, call me Stitch,” he chuckled and walked away.

After our goodbyes I headed towards the back room and entered Filthy Rich’s office. A medium sized brown office that was really clean, a portrait of an old stallion hung above right behind Rich’s chair, I assumed it was his great grandfather or something. There he was sitting in his chair doing paperwork was Filthy Rich. Rich looked up at me and smiled.

“Hello there, what can I help you with?”

“Mr. Rich I’m detective Hunter working for the royal guards. I assume you heard about Roselucks death?” Rich gave a sad look.

“Indeed I heard, a nice mare she was, I always bought my daughter some roses from her,”

“Would you mind answering a few questions for me?”

“Of course not, please sit down. Would you like some coffee?”

“Please,” I said.

Rich quickly whipped up two cups of coffee and set them down on the table.

“I’ve heard from two ponies that Roseluck was going to see you about money issues?”

“Yes that’s correct, Rose was in heavy financial debt and asked me for my help. I of course agreed and gave her a modest sum to help her out,”

“Hmm, Princess Twilight mentioned that you, her, and the mayor had a ledger of loans taken out?”

“Yes, with so many ponies borrowing money we needed to keep a more detailed record of bits borrowed,”

“May I see your ledger?” I asked, Rich nodded and pulled out a book and passed it over to me.

I opened the book and looked for Rose’s name. Upon closer inspection I noticed something strange. In Twilight’s ledger Rose took out a three hundred and fifty thousand bit loan. Yet in Rich’s copy it says she took over eight hundred and seventy thousand bits. Was the information inaccurate?

“Why is Rose’s loan higher in your ledger than in Princess Twilight’s? Here she took over eight hundred thousand yet the princess’s is only three hundred thousand?” Rich sighed and gave a frown.

“You see, the princess and mayor decided that there was to be a set amount of bits one pony was allowed to take out. The limit was at four hundred thousand, anything higher than that was to be declined immediately. Rose came in one night and begged me to give her more money. She was desperate and I couldn’t just say no. So I just gave her more money and lied to the princess and the mayor about how much she took,”

“I see, and had Rose payed you back before she died?”

“No, I’ve… had some men look for it at her home, Ms. Daisy was kind enough to give us a key and allowed us to check her home. So far nothing had turned up,”

“Alright, that should be all Mr. Rich have a good day,” I left the store, I didn’t trust Rich he paused during that explanation I stayed around the joint until closing time and followed Rich behind the store.

Rich’s Super Emporium

8:34 p.m.

Market District, Ponyville

Rich was waiting rather impatiently behind the store, a few minutes later a stallion wearing a robe came out from the alleyway nearby. I listened to what they were saying.

“Did you find the money?”

“No sir, we wrecked the whole place, the hole behind the bookcase was already empty when we discovered it,”

“That damn mare, what about our “friend” have you heard from her?”

“No sir, we lost all contact with her after Roseluck was killed. We know for a fact that she didn’t do the job,”

“I’ll bet that son of a bitch took the money, never trust a hitpony especially one who is known to betray her employer’s,” Rich grew angry over this hitpony that supposedly robbed him, now I had another pony of interest. Whoever this pony was they were hired to kill Rose, but the Maker got her first. I’m also going to need evidence to get Rich arrested for even paying for someponies death.

“Search everywhere, we need to find her now!”

“Yes sir,” Rich left shortly after.

The robed stallion was heading back to the alleyway, I decided to follow him. Let’s see what we can find out here...

Author's Note

Well than, another chapter finally finished. This one had to be delayed a bit due to a certain game wasting my time *cough, borderlands 2, cough* anyways I hope you all enjoy, hopefully...

Chapter 4: Tailing And Discoveries

Alleyway

8:56 p.m.

Near Rich’s Super Emporium, Ponyville

I began tailing the robed stallion to hopefully some hideout or something that might give me some clues. I stayed back a bit so I had less chance of being seen, the guy stopped and I ducked behind a garbage bin. The stallion turned around and shortly resumed walking. Why do these guys always have a sixth sense when I’m tailing them? Do they know for a fact that somepony is following them?

We passed through the streets and then past town hall. The streets were completely empty, only sounds of crickets and an owl could be heard. The night sky looked nicer today than usual. Princess Luna must had been more inspired tonight, the night was always a favorite time of mine when I’m not sleeping that is I thought. We went to the outskirts of Ponyville and into the fields. Where the hell are you taking me? I thought, we’ve been walking for a good while now. Eventually we stopped at an old building that looked run down, the windows were boarded up, the wooden door had pieces missing, the brick work looked cheap.

Rundown Building

10:31 p.m.

Outskirts, Ponyville

He went inside and the door made a long and loud creaking noise, it was like the ultimate clichéd bad guys hideout when I looked at it. I snuck around to the window and took a peek inside, there were two other ponies in robes besides the one I was following, Heck is this? The order of the hooded ponies? Looks like a cult I thought. They each had a colored robe now that I looked closer. The one I was following had a black robe, the others had a dark purple and a dark blue robe.

“So, what did the boss want?” asked the blue robed one, this one was a mare, judging from her voice.

“We need to find the hitpony and get her to tell us where she’s hidden the money. Boss is mad, figure that he’d want to kill her himself,” said the black robed one. The blue pony looked like she gave a frown.

“And just how does he expect us to not only find her, but take her on as well? She’s a professionally trained killer for Celestias sake! She could be anywhere and easily take us out!” said the purple one, this one was also a mare. So, two mares, one stallion huh?

“No worries, I’ll think of something when the time comes, for now let’s go search around the Everfree Forest, that be the one place I’d hide if I wanted to disappear to,” said the black robed one. They were coming out so I hid on the other side. The purple one continued to complain as they were walking.

I slipped inside to find some clues. The inside was even worse, pots and pans scattered around, dust and cobwebs everywhere, apple cores littered the ground. They had a broken down furnace, I’d imagine the winter to be very harsh on them. I went into another room that held three beds, each had a blanket and sheet that matched their robe color. Next to each desk was a drawer, I opened the blue ones first, there was nothing inside. The purple one had a picture of a pegasus filly she had a light brown mane with a purple coat and blue eyes, no cutie mark though. Finally was the black robed stallions who I assumed was the leader of the trio. Inside was a journal, I began to read it.

Rich has us looking out for this Rose mare that borrowed money from him a few weeks ago, wants us to go find her and see if she’s ready to pay it all back. Gotta say, what an idiot to take that much, eight hundred thousand bits! No way in tartarus is she gonna pay that stuff back...

Next page…

Girl says she’ll pay Rich back soon, boss was not happy I’ll tell ya, he threw a chair and smashed the window. Rich is not a patient man I’ve seen this before. If she don’t pay, she gonna wind up dead…

Next Page…

Rich did it, he hired some hitpony to take out the girl, don’t know this mare’s name, only known as The Shadow because apparently she’s a master of stealth or something, yeah “real” fucking scary, sounds like something a five year old would make up...

Final Page…

Girl was found dead today, but it ain’t the shadows doing. Paper says some guy named “The Gift Maker” killed her. First the shadow now the gift maker, is this town full of a buncha kids or something? Guys like me don’t need no dumb name to sound intimidating when they ain’t. I bet I could take the shadow and the maker at the same time. They don’t scare me…

I got what I needed, I took the journal with me and left the building. Well, not only can I get Rich jail time for hiring an assassin, I also got a name or at least an alias for this hitpony, The Shadow. I got a feeling that our paths will cross soon enough.

Hunter’s Apartment

11:31 p.m.

Ponyville

I got inside my apartment and made myself a daisy sandwich and got some apple juice. This was an exhausting day and I needed to get some sleep. As I neared my bed I noticed an envelope on top of it. I opened it up and out came a letter and I began to read it.

Dear Detective Hunter,

I am hoping you’ve had a most excellent day, I’ve heard about you in the newspaper and did some digging to find your apartment. I must say when I found out that you were investigating me my heart was filling with excitement! I’ve been so bored as of late, that I could not have any fun. But oh with you here, now the fun can begin, soon another gift will be brought to you and with it, a clue to find my next “helper”. Do not disappoint me Mr. Hunter I am expecting great things from you.

Sincerely

The Gift Maker

I began sweating after I finished reading the letter, the bastard knows where I’m staying. Not only that, he was treating this like a game! Oh I’ll be sure not to disappoint you you sick fuck! I placed the letter on my kitchen table, maybe the doc can get somepony to analyze it for prints. I got myself ready for bed and drifted off to sleep...

Author's Note

I know where you live, and I know who you are! Well this was fun to write, old Hunter ain't safe from the Maker anymore now. Anyways hope you all enjoy and if not well then.... I'm sorry.

Flashback: Crush's And Hoof Combat

Twenty Six Years Ago…

It’s been a few weeks since I first started training. It’s been very brutal, the instructors expect nothing but perfection when doing drills and practice scenarios. Out of the eight hundred recruits from the first day, only eighty are still left including me and Paladin. Graduation is only three more weeks, I just gotta push on through, I will make it through, I must. We began the day by doing some drills to make sure we’re still in shape, push ups, laps around the base, and going through the obstacle course. We had finally got a break and Paladin and I headed towards the mess hall.

“I’m so sore! I’m going to just sit down and not get up for the rest of the day,” Paladin complained,

“Hey at least we’re not doing hoof combat right now, we both know how much you suck at that,” I joked. Paladin pouted and looked like a little foal, somehow he always makes me laugh at how childish he acts.

“Yeah right, I bet I could wipe the floor with you!” he said.

“Dude remember last week? Ten to zero ringing any bells?” he frowned,

“Y-you just got lucky, that’s all, the sun was in my eyes so I couldn't see where to strike!”

“Uh-huh keep telling yourself that buddy,” I patted him on the back which made him more angry, I have to say getting him mad was too much fun.

We entered the mess hall and got in line for our food. Paladin got a huge fruit salad and a glass of apple juice. I took the hayburger and hay fries with a glass of water. We sat down at the far end of the hall as it was our usual spot. A few other guys joined us, I didn't really bother to learn their names because honestly they were not interesting, which is funny because they sit with us everyday. We started eating and talking and in walked her.

Paladin noticing this, gave a sly smile.

“So you still haven’t asked her out yet? What happened to the great and brave Lawful Hunter? Can’t even ask a mare out?”

“No, I’m just afraid of her seeing you and running away, we all know that you’re bad luck when it comes to girls,” I responded.

“Dude that was just one time! So what if I accidentally sent that one girl to the hospital by dropping two tons of armor on her… I still have to get a lawyer,” I counted five total accidents that Paladin had when it came to girls, and it usually involved dropping something really heavy on them because he wanted to show off his strength.

The mare that we we’re talking about was a pegasus mare named Sky Shot, she is the best archer in the entire base, and she besides the instructors is the only pony who can beat me in hoof to hoof combat, no matter how hard or how much I train she always beats me. She had a light grey coat with a red mane and tail. Her eyes were a dark sapphire blue, her cutie mark was a bow and arrow with wings. I never really got the courage to talk to her. I’ll give Paladin this one, I am afraid. I don’t know what it is about her though, my thoughts were interrupted by Paladin attempting to get my attention.

“Hellooooo! Equestria to Hunter, come on back from sexy fantasy dream land to the real world!”

“Wha-what? Sorry, what were you saying?”

“I said when are you going to stallion up and go talk to her?”

“Soon, very soon. I’m just waiting for the right moment is all,”

“Uh-huh yeah, and will that happen during this lifetime, or when we’re all dusty bones in the ground and we’re ghosts having fun in the afterlife?”

“Um, at this rate probably the latter,” I said.

“Well, at least you’re honest,” just then sergeant Ironside came and yelled out.

“ATTENTION!” everypony immediately stood and saluted.

“Today, we’re having a hoof to hoof battle in two hours. Winner of this event will not have to do drills for a week, the losers will not only get one week of non stop drills, but they will also be held in the rain, since all of next week will be a serious storm that will most likely kill you,” everypony including myself groaned at the punishment.

We headed outside to the circle of champions as they called it. The drill instructors like to boast about ponies who previously underwent the circle, one stallion in particular was our very own Ironside.

“Alright, first match will be between Hunter and Sky Shot, I know how easily she can whoop your flank so this is just to entertain me before the real fights begin,” what a dick… jerk never liked me anyway, calls me a suck up,

Me and Sky went to the middle of the circle, in these fights it’s always no holds barred only restrictions are no magic and you can’t attack with wings, they can fly but not to attack. Sky had a smirk on her face the kind that said “I've already won” I stayed serious, or as serious as anypony can get when they face a mare they like in a fight. Honestly, I was sweating like crazy. I could never beat her, I wanted to win more than ever.

“Let’s make this quick, I've got things to do for next week,” Sky said.

“Right, well you’ll be eating those words when I’m through with you!” an empty threat, she chuckled.

“Yeah right. Come on big boy, let’s see if ya got any better!” we got into position.

“BEGIN!” yelled Ironside.

Immediately I ran straight to her hoping to quickly tackle her down to the ground. Unfortunately she swiftly evaded my attempt and I got a face full of dirt. I charged again and threw the first punch, she blocked and countered with a hoof to my stomach. Let me tell ya, she hits hard for a pegasus. I got up and attempted to give a strong buck to her head, she flew out of the way. Never have I seen anypony with speed like her, she was as fast as lightning. She dived down and kicked me with her back legs in my face, which sent me straight to the floor.

“Give up?” she asked.

“In your dreams!” I tackled her and began pulling blow after blow to her, she managed to escape and pinned me to the floor. She quickly grabbed my right hoof and began to pull on it, she was trying to make me submit. I used my back legs to kick her in the back and was able to return the favor. I changed positions and grabbed her back hooves and did a hold on her. She gave a frustrated groan and tried to escape from the hold.

After a few minutes she was able to brake the hold and kicked me in the chest, she jabbed two times with the third I was able to block. We traded blows for a while before she did a well placed uppercut to my chin. It was over, I couldn't get up I was tired from the fight and Ironside called it.

“Well, that was better than what I was expecting. The winner is Sky Shot!”

“Not bad, Hunter. Better than the other times you fought me,” she began to walk away but I quickly stopped her.

“Hey Sky!” I called out.

“Yeah?” here goes, moment of truth.

“So like… you wanna hang out later or something?” she tilted her head to the right and studied my face to see if I was serious. My heart was bounding faster than a speeding comet. She soon smiled.

“Yeah sure, why not. Pick me up after drill ends,” after that she left. I just stood there dumbstruck. Not noticing Paladin approaching me.

“Dude you finally asked her out huh? About damn time, though now I owe some guys some bits I bet on…”

“She said yes… she actually said yes…”

“Uh yeah she did, so you wanna head on over back to the mess hall for a quick bite before drill or…”

“She said yes… she said yes…”

“Right, well uh I’ll come get you later then alright, so just stay there for now I guess,” I just stood there with a goofy smile on my face.

“She said yes… she said yes…”

Author's Note

Well this was a strange change of mood in the story. I suck at writing action scenes so forgive me if it seemed pretty lackluster. Also don't worry, the romance between Hunter and Sky ain't gonna be a focus point in the story, though that might change later on or something. Plus I'm not gonna have any sex stuff in this so I won't be adding that tag unless I think it's necessary or something. Anyway hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for another Gift Maker P.O.V. chapter coming hopefully soon. Oh yeah almost forgot, Happy Halloween everyone!

Maker: A Present For Cakes

Unknown Location…

I returned home after dropping off my letter to the detective, I am positively excited! A merry good chase between us is exactly what I’m looking. My new gift is coming along nicely now, I was able to procure some stuffing from Rich’s store, so many kinds of stuffing they had. Many in different colors including a rainbow stuffing as well. Though I just went with the simpler normal one, the colored ones looked lower quality than the one that I bought.

Finding the detective’s apartment was a pretty easy task, I was able to stumble upon the information when two royal guards were walking and talking about the detective. I followed them and they revealed what apartment building he was staying at, including his room number. Getting in was easy, the door to his room was locked of course, but stealing the master key from the landlord was simple. Really, they should not leave their keys out in the open like that, at least put it in a locked safe or something for Celestia’s sake! They were just hanging there begging to be taken. After entering the detective’s room I placed the letter on his bed and locked the door and instead of taking the key back to where it belonged, I decided to steal it and use it whenever I deemed it necessary.

I don’t have to worry about them trying to track me down from the letter, I had a dear friend of mine remove all traces of any and all hoofprints that were stained on the letter. It would have made the game end too early if they found me that quick. I opened my fridge and had an apple that I bought from the apple stand that farm mare ran, what was her name? Apple Pie or something like that? There were too many of those apple ponies around Equestria that I can’t keep up with all of them. I know she’s one of those Elements of Harmony that I keep hearing about. I wonder if she would be a good helper for me? Hmmm, best not, don’t want to draw too much attention towards me.

Taking somepony that important would cause way too many problems for me. I’ll just stick to the locals then. A shame really, that apple mare is really beautiful, I bet I could make her even prettier if I took her. I entered my workshop and admired the work that I had done so far. On the operating table lay the mare that is to be my next gift. I plan on leaving her in front of Sugarcube Corner. I have been to that shop many times, the Cakes are lovely though I’m not fond of the pink one. I find her annoying and irritates me to no end. If she wasn't an important pony I would have taken her next.

The mare’s eye looked so pretty when they are grey, plus now she is behaving more than she did when I last talked to her.

“Hello my dear, sorry I’m late I had little business to take care of,” silence filled the room as I listened to my sweet mare.

“Oh don’t worry about that, you are going to Sugarcube Corner, you’ll get all of the cupcakes and muffins you could ever want!” she was always silent nowadays, they always are.

“Yes I believe so, now then come my dear let’s get you into your new home shall we?” I picked her up and placed her inside my gift box and placed my letter on her chest. I closed the lid to the box and began wrapping her up, blue and silver wrapping paper with a yellow bow tie to complete the box. I attached a nice little tag on the box that said,

To: Mr. and Mrs. Cake
From: The Gift Maker
Have a wonderful day!

I placed the box on my back and headed out to Sugarcube Corner. The streets were empty at this time. Everything was so quiet, I looked up and admired the stars and moon, Princess Luna really outdid herself today. As I walked I saw detective Hunter following some stallion in a robed cloak. I was not sure what the detective was planning but it was none of my business. At least for now it wasn't. I continued on and finally was at Sugarcube Corner. The door opened and I quickly hid behind a wall.

“Now Pinkie dear, please don’t forget to lock the door this time,” said the voice of Mrs. Cake.

“Don’t worry Mrs. Cake, there’s nothing to worry about when I’m in charge of door duty!” said the pink menace.

“That’s what I’m afraid of…” mumbled Mrs. Cake.

After they went back inside, I checked the door and sure enough it was locked. The pink one actually did something right for once. I placed the box on the front steps and walked away. In the morning they shall wake up and see the very generous gift that I made for them. I can only imagine the happy faces and smiles that will be plastered onto their faces when they open up the box.

I began walking back to my home and along the way, I began to sing a tune I had just came up with.

An eye for an eye,

A leg for a leg,

I can be the one who gave you that smile,

I can be the one who spilt the guts on you,

A smile for me and a smile for you,

Still like a statue with eyes like a sick bird,

Oh the joy I feel when I see you die,

Author's Note

Yay I'm not dead! Well hope you enjoy this chapter, I tried to make the song lyrics sound creepy and stuff but I probably failed at that. I couldn't really come up with anything that was creepy for the maker to sing. If I am able to think of something better than I will replace it. Anyway pay attention to the song though, that let's you know that the pony singing it is The Gift Maker or if he is around.

Chapter 5: The Second Victim

Fires Spreading…

Help Them…

Why Didn't You Save Them…

You’re A Monster…

I shot up from the bed drenched in sweat, the nightmares were getting more intense. Ever since I came here to Ponyville they've been becoming more and more frequent. I just want to forget, I just want to start over. I went into the bathroom and took a quick hot shower, it helped me to relax and get my mind off of those dreams. After that I went into the kitchen and ate two slices of toast and two scrambled eggs. I’m an awful cook but at least I can make something that’s somewhat edible. While I was eating I realized that I never really looked at my apartment more. It was a medium sized place that was not too bad for the price. The wall coverings were peeling off and some of the paint on the ceiling was also coming off. One of the things I did notice was that there was a big hole in the bathroom that connected to the plumbing, don’t know how safe that really is.

Actually now that I look at it, I seem to notice that this place was super old looking. I've actually seen the insides of my neighbor's rooms and they all looked nice and clean, while I got the room that was old and decrepit. Maybe it’s just that they fixed it up themselves and I’m just thinking too much into this. Still, I think this place is a piece of crap. I blame myself for not raising my prices on my services. I walked into the living room and sat down. I placed a hoof to cover my head and sighed. I looked down to the coffee table spotting the robed stallions journal from last night’s stalking mission. So many questions raced through my mind and yet not a single answer for any of them. Whatever, those questions will be solved in time I suppose. For now I need to head to Princess Twilight’s library and show her this evidence. Rich is going to rot for a long time for this.

Golden Oak Library

10:34 a.m.

Ponyville

I knocked on the front door and hoped that Twilight was inside, wait why the hell am I knocking on the front door for? It’s a public library I could just walk right inside I thought. Just then the door opened and I was greeted once again by the funny looking dragon, Spike I believe he was called.

“Detective! Great to see you again. Uh, you do know this is a public library right? You didn't need to knock on the door,”

“No, really? I never would have guessed that,” I deadpanned.

“Whoa, what’s eating you up?” asked Spike.

“Sorry, had a uh rough night and didn't get any sleep really,”

“Oh, I know how ya feel, Twilight likes to keep me up sometimes when she pulls all nighters when Princess Celestia sends her things to study. I swear one of these days I’m gonna pass out, and she better not blame me for sleeping in the morning,” I kinda felt bad for him, oh well, least it’s not me.

“Speaking of Twilight, is she in today by any chance?” Spike shook his head.

“Nah sorry dude, she just went out to the market to get some groceries or something. I’m hoping she gets some gems from Rarity, oooh delicious gems…” Spike began drooling on the floor and I waved a hoof over his face to try and snap him out of it. Nothing worked, so I bonked him on the head.

“Huh, wha- what happened?” he asked.

“You were daydreaming there buddy, something about a Rarity and gems,”

“Oh, hehe sorry about that I get easily distracted by gems. One time, I turned into this huge angry dragon going around and stealing everyponies valuables,”

“Wow, how come you’re back to normal though?”

“Well, my friend Rarity was the one who helped bring me back. I had given her a fire ruby as a gift and she was wearing it as a necklace, seeing it jogged my memory and brought me back to my old self,”

“This Rarity must be very important to you if you gave her a rare gem like that,” fire rubies were really tough to find around here. Hope that Rarity pony hasn't got her home broken into because of it. I heard that there was a large group of Diamond Dogs underground just outside of Ponyville.

“Yeah she is. She is the most beautiful mare in all of Equestria, and don’t tell anypony but I have a huge crush on her!” a dragon loving a pony huh? I've heard a few ponies back in my days of the guard talk about pony and dragon couples in areas outside Equestria.

“Heh, that’s cute kid. You should probably wait a bit when you’re older, but I think that you've got a shot,”

“Really? You think so?”

“Yeah, I've heard of dragon and pony couples that lasted quite a while so I think you can make it work,”

“Wow, thanks man I really appreciate that,” he said happily.

“No problem, by the way, where does Rarity live?”

“She lives and works at The Carousel Boutique just down the road from here” ahhh, so that’s who owns that shop then. Perhaps I’ll pay her a visit and see what she’s like.

“Oh, Detective Hunter! I wasn't expecting you here so early,” I turned around and saw Princess Twilight with two shopping bag floating above her. Damn I wish I could do that.

“Hello Princess, I was looking for you but you were out. Thankfully Spike kept me company,”

“Well, it’s nice to see Spike making a new friend, especially a male one at that,” you know now that she mentioned it, where are all the stallions? The entire time I've been here I've only seen at least seven or eight stallions in Ponyville, I know that Equestria has more females than males, but this is ridiculous! Did this town population of mares keep the rest locked up in dungeons or something? Probably something to investigate on my off time.

“Spike, could you go and make us some tea please?” asked Twilight, Spike nodded and walked to the kitchen while me and Twilight went inside and sat down on a couch in the middle of the room.

“So detective, what brings you here? Are you looking for a book to read?”

“As much as I would love to I’m afraid not. I have gathered some evidence that needs your attention,” I gave her the journal and she grabbed it with her magic. She began reading the journal and her face went from shock to anger. She frowned and set the book down.

“This is disturbing news indeed. I- I can’t believe that Rich would do something like this. He may have not murdered Rose, but just by hiring the assassin he’s committed a serious crime,”

“Yeah, that guy just gave me a wrong feeling when I talked to him,”

“Something I’m curious about is this shadow character, it’s pretty obvious that she took the money if Rose was killed. I doubt the Gift Maker would need that many bits unless he was going to skip town or something, even then a train ride out of here isn't that expensive,” Twilight said.

“I heard one of the robed ponies saying that she might be hiding inside of the forest outside of Ponyville,”

“Hmm, the Everfree Forest would be a good place to hide as not many ponies go inside of there, only my friend Fluttershy goes in there as well as our friend Zecora who has a hut inside of the forest,” okay that gives me two leads, I’m hoping one of them might have seen anything strange.

“Where do those two live exactly?”

“Fluttershy lives a little on the outskirts of Ponyville, she has a cottage near the river surrounded by animals, she lives the closest to the forest just north of here. Zecora lives in the heart of the forest, we made little way signs that we use to safely get to her home and back without trouble from the local creatures,”

“Okay then, I’ll talk to them and see if they have seen anything out of the ordinary,” Twilight nodded.

“Right, since they are the only ones who go in and out of their, chances are they might know something worthwhile,” Twilight and I continued to chat for a bit, I was still tired and I didn't really feel like getting up right away. Then all of a sudden we heard knocking on the door.

“Ugh! I keep telling everypony that this is a public library, why in the wide wide world of Equestria do they keep knocking? Twilight opened the door and was greeted by a royal guard.

“Princess Twilight I- oh good detective you’re here too,”

“What’s going on, did something happen?” asked Twilight.

“We need you both to come to Sugarcube Corner, there has been another murder,” Twilight gasped and ran straight to Sugarcube Corner, I frowned and began walking towards the location so he made his move already huh? Wasn't expecting it so soon, alright Maker let’s see what you've got I thought.

Sugarcube Corner Crime Scene

10:56 a.m.

Ponyville

I arrived at the shop and saw reporters everywhere trying to get in to take a closer look. Twilight was talking to two ponies in front of the shop, I assume that they are the owners.

“Is Pinkie Pie okay?”

“Yes, she was the one who discovered the body and yelled. She’s locked herself in her room and won’t come out,” said the blueish mare. Twilight noticed me and waved me over.

“Detective this is Mr. and Mrs. Cake, they own Sugarcube Corner,”

“Nice to meet you,” I said,

“Very good to meet you too dearie,” said Mrs. Cake.

“I hope you can help us out, our shop has never had anything like this happen before,” said Mr. Cake.

“Alright, so what exactly happened here?”

“Well, I was just waking up and getting ready for work. I started heading downstairs and all of a sudden I heard Pinkie scream. I rushed downstairs to see what was going on and I saw her curled up crying. There was a big gift box on the front door and when I looked inside I saw… I saw t- the body of poor Derpy Hooves,”

“Derpy Hooves ma’am?”

“Derpy is the towns local mailmare and part time weather pony, she lives with her daughter Dinky Hooves. She is one of the most kindest ponies in Ponyville, why would anypony hurt her?” explained Twilight. Poor little filly, getting orphaned at such a young age.

“Where is her body now Mrs. Cake?”

“The coroner took her to Ponyville Medical Center to do an autopsy,”

“Okay, do you still have the box?”

“Yes we do, it’s on the front counter over there,” Mr. Cake pointed to a colorful looking box on the front counter next to the register.

“Alright then I’ll take a look and I’ll see if I can get Ms. Pie to come out and talk,” the cakes went back inside and headed upstairs while Twilight and I went inside to investigate.

“So what should we look for?” asked Twilight.

“Anything, notes, hoofprints, something out of place or broken,” Twilight searched around while I headed towards the box. There was nothing inside that I could find, it seemed like a regular old gift box. There might be more when I've talked to Pinkie Pie and the coroner.

“Let’s go upstairs and try to talk to Pinkie Pie,” I said to Twilight.

“Right, hopefully she’ll listen to me, Pinkie’s one of my best friends I can’t relax knowing she’s sad like this,” we started heading up the stairs and I hoped that Ms. Pie was calm enough to give us some new information.

We reached the top floor and headed towards the end of the hall. Twilight said Pinkie’s room was the last door to the right. We walked and passed by the cakes who were playing with two little foals. One was a pegasus and the other a unicorn. Wait what? How, but the cakes are Earth Ponies, how did they get... you know what nevermind. We reached Pinkie’s door and knocked. No answer.

“Pinkie, it’s me Twilight can I come in?” still no response. I turned the door handle and was surprised to learn that the door was unlocked. I thought Mrs. Cake said she locked herself in?

I opened the door slowly and was greeted by darkness. We couldn't see anything inside of her room. I gulped and we went inside...

Author's Note

Yep, uh yeah I killed Derpy... I'm sorry, also before someone asks no, no Cupcakes or anything I'm not gonna make Pinkie turn into a crazy killer. So yeah, uh sorry for killing one of my favorite characters.