Something wasn't quite right about the new restuarant. Twilight had sensed it the first time she had walked in.
For one thing, the whole place smelled like rotten eggs, and decomposing things. And for another, the staff was entirely too cheerful. Even more cheerful than Pinkie, if that was even possible.
They were cheerful like the equalized ponies had been before they had gotten back their cutiemarks; smiles so wide they could break their faces, polite to the point of dying if the customer asked, and said everything so cheerily as if they were always talking about world peace.
All of this unnerved Twilight tremendously, who was an especially deep thinker. She had been there a few times with her friends, but had never eaten anything there, still suspicious. Her friends agreed with her that there was something shady about the place (especially Pinkie Pie), and they normally steered clear of it.
Now, Twilight was determined to figure out what was up with Pony Restaurant. Geez, even the name was creepy! She was at the very same restaurant now, looking over the menu.
Hoof d'Oeuvres? Intestighetti? Eyeclairs? They sure have weird names for their dishes! She thought. I think I'll just order something, and then examine it.... Deciding this was a good plan, she called over a waiter.
"What can I get you today?!" the waiter screamed enthusiastically.
"Yes, I'd like the Unicorn On The Cob." she said simply.
"Why that's wonderful!" he said, writing the order on a piece of paper. "It'll be ready in a few minutes!"
"Thanks," she said as she watched the waiter run back to the kitchen. Twilight pulled a book out of her saddle bag: Daring Doo and The Wizard's Curse. She was on chapter twelve, and-
"Please no!"
Twilight jerked her head towards the kitchen. She had the closest table to the kitchen doors (also part of the investigation) so she could catch glimpses of anything that went on in there. Now, it seemed as if that was paying off; she tilted her head closer to listen.
"Have mercy!" this sounded like the voice of a mare.
"We have to feed our customers. You do understand don't you?" an eerily happy voice asked pleadingly.
"No, I don't understand why anypony could be a canni-"
Slap! Twilight winced as she heard the sound of someone being hit.
"NEVER use that word!" the sweet voice suddenly turned deadly. "We never use that word!"
"Please let me go-have mercy!" the mare was sobbing now. "Please-ahhgurgle" Twilight heard a sound as if the somepony was gurgling water, and then silence. The sharp smell of blood struck her. What the hay was that?! She thought, stunned. Twilight blinked. Had they just-
Right then the waiter burst out of the kitchen, and set her order on the table. Dismissing the nutty thought from her head, she bent her head to examine the glob they had stuck on a stick. It was a strange brownish-black, and it looked tough, though flexible. She sniffed it; it smelt like burned flesh. "Hmmm..." she murmured to herself.
Having a spur-of-the-moment idea, she called the waiter back just as he was about to head into the kitchen again. "Yes?" he asked.
"What exactly is in this?" Twilight asked, remembering that she had never seen any ingredients included on the menu.
She immediately saw prespiration appear on the stallion's face, and his smile faltered a bit. "Why do you want to know?" he asked answering a question with a question.
"Oh, it's just because I noticed you ponies never include the ingredients in the menu. It would be a horrible thing if I was poisoned, you know......" she said casually.
The waiter gulped. "I assure you, we're not trying to poison anypony! We just like to keep our me-our ingredients a secret."
Twilight raised an eyebrow as she noticed the waiter's slip-up. "You don't have to be nervous around me just because I'm a princess," she laughed, offering a wry smile.
"Oh, that's not why I'm nervous at all!" he whispered, and disappeared back into the kitchen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight sighed, as she waited for the restaurant to close up. She was in the alley behind the restaurant, hiding behind a dumpster. The suspicious alicorn had decided to explore the place by herself, away from the prying eyes of the employees. Hopefully, she would pick up a few clues.
She shivered, holding the jacket around her tighter. Even though it was just early September, it already felt like winter at nighttime.
"Okay, goodnight!" Two ponies came out the back exit, one of them locking the door. They loitered in front of the entrance.
"Close call with Princess Twilight, wasn't it?" A female unicorn she hadn't seen before asked.
"Yeah," Twilight recognized the voice of the waiter she had talked to earlier. "Good thing she has lots of other stuff to worry about than our little organization."
The mare sighed, her breath forming a small cloud in the air. "I hope we don't have to do her in." Twilight's heart pounded. What does she mean by that?
The stallion shrugged. "If that's what's nessacery to keep our business going....." An uncomfortable silence hung between the two ponies.
"Well, goodnight!" the mare said, breaking the silence. She started to trot away. "See you tomorrow!"
"Goodnight!" the waiter called, and walked around the right side of the building.
Twilight waited several minutes until the ponies' silloeghttes vanished, and she was sure she was alone. She climbed out from behind the dumpsters, and walked right up to the door. Using her magic, she undid the lock, and slipped inside.
Closing the door behind her, she used her horn to softly illuminate the place around her with magenta light. She was in a long hallway, that went two separate ways at the end. Thinking that the kitchen was on the right, Twilight turned that way.
She would soon regret that decision.
Twilight walked some more, and then came to a huge, steel, door. "I wonder where this leads to...."
She tried the handle; it wasn't locked. Twilight caught a whiff of something as the door swung open, but by then it was too late. She gasped at the sight before her.
It was a large rectangular freezer room. Twilight could have been surprised at just that since it only took a few refrigerators to store vegetables. But no, the thing that got her was what the room was filled with: dead bodies.
Some were stacked on top of each other, others just carelessly thrown on the floor. Unicorns, Pegasi, Earth ponies, (even a few foals) they were all here. Laying neatly on the floor, their throats ripped out, their coats bruised and cut, their eyes cold and lifeless.
Twilight was so revolted, that she let the light from her horn fizzle out. Almost immediately, somepony tackled her from behind. "Ahhh-help!" she cried, struggling on the ground with the mystery pony. "Let me go!"
The pony covered her mouth with her/his hoof, to muffle her cries. Twilight bit her, causing a cry of pain from the pony, and struggled out of her/his hold. Unfortunately, before she could get out of harm's way, a hoof bashed her violently on the head.
"Owah!" she exclaimed, and crashed to the ground, bumping into a stack of corpses. Something heavy fell on her. Twilight quickly kicked the body away, and dashed back to her hooves, her head and heart pounding.
The mystery pony flicked a switch, bathing the scene in light; it was the waiter. He was holding a large knife, with a crazed look in his eyes.
All Twilight could manage to choke out while holding her injured head, was a single word: "Why?"
He sneered, the knife flashing in the bright light. "We have to keep our business going," The stallion lunged forward, and plunged the knife into her heart.
Twilight let out a single, strangled, sob and collapsed to the floor, blood pouring out of her chest.
The waiter turned his back on the dying alicorn, licking the blood off the blade of his knife. "It looks like we have a new dish." he chuckled darkly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra walked into the restaurant, her stomach growling painfully. She had been practicing so hard on her harp, that she had forgotten to eat! The unicorn had dashed right into the nearest restaurant, afraid she was going to die of starvation (Lyra was prone to exaggerations).
She quickly found a booth, and looked anxiously around the room searching for an employee, clutching her stomach. Thankfully for her, a waiter trotted out of the kitchen. Spotting Lyra, he came over to her table. "What can I get you?" he asked happily.
The mint unicorn's stomach rumbled loudly. "Any suggestions?" she asked meekly.
"Well, we do have a special today!" he exclaimed.
Her ears perked up with interest. "What's that?"
A cold glint appeared in the stallion's eyes. "Alicorn Soufflé."
