Hours Loom

Twilight made her way up the steps to the second floor, determined to find some bandages in the large room that was the multi-pony bath. It wasn’t a literal bathroom, more of a spa – she knew that – but she had prepared every room that had water with a first aid kit, just in case somepony slipped. Before she had even reached the bath, she stopped in the dance hall. The door was just barely cracked, but for a moment she thought something shined at her.

The door creaked as she slowly opened it, the shine nowhere to be seen. Instead, a body laid in the middle of the floor tied in rope. Horror filled her face as she bore witness to the gruesome sight, bile rose within her gullet. She stared down at herself, her own mangled corpse lay before her. Cuts and bruises, missing wings and horn, bloodied beyond that of how she looked now.

She placed a hoof over her eyes and shook her head, a piercing sound rutted against her eardrums. When she looked back, the body was gone. Instead, a shiny, broken disco ball lay shattered into pieces. The rope it was held with still wrapped around the shards.

“I… I must be going mad. Why do I keep seeing these things? What’s wrong with me!?”

Her rump flopped to the ground as she sat, wallowing in her self-pity. She placed a hoof over the towel, which was slowly soaking the blood beyond its capacity to hold. Maybe this is for the best, she thought. Maybe I should just give up now. The rope danced in front of her, begging to be strung up and tied into a noose.

“This murderer is skilled in getting around the castle,” she spoke to herself as she threw the knapsack down in front of her. “Maybe they’re playing some sort of trick on me, or maybe…” her voice trailed off. The mask and knife was levitated out of the sack and placed on the ground. She stared intently at the mask, wondering if she had the backbone to subconsciously kill all her friends.

“Did I take this off the killer, or was this already mine?” she whispered. “Maybe I’m seeing these things to pay for my own crimes?” The more questions she asked herself, the less answers she could come up with. “Nopony knows this castle better than me. Why would I want to kill everypony? This isn’t making sense!” She slammed her hooves down in frustration.

Minutes went by as she sat in silence, contemplating who the killer could be. It was then she heard a door latching closed. In an instant, she was up to her hooves and over to the door. Carefully peering through the crack, she took care not to make a sound. The hallway lit up as the bath’s door was opened, the silhouette of a pony waltzing out. After the door was closed, the latch once again sounded off.

She watched as the pony walked the other way, her eyes barely adjusted to the darkness just in time to see the white shirt and blue overalls turn the corner and disappear from sight. It’s not me, she thought over and over. I can’t be here and there, it’s not possible. I’m not the killer. Her heart raced, beating faster than ever before. I’m not the killer, I’m just insane. I’m okay with that.

After calming herself down, she wondered why the bath was lit up and why the masked pony had come from the room. How do they get around so quickly, she wondered. Careful not to cause the door to creak, she crept on the tips of her hooves over to the bathroom. Light penetrated the darkness as she opened the door, bearing witness to what was happening inside.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The unicorn and earth pony rushed into the last room on the left, turning and slamming the door shut then barring it with their own bodies. They heaved as hard as they could against the rampaging stallion that bashed from the opposite side of the frame. Over and over, he slammed against the door, trying with all his might to break inside.

“We’re not the bad guys, Shining!” Applejack yelled as she stood bipedal, her forelegs holding the door.

“I don’t think he’s the good guy, dear,” replied Rarity as she pressed her back against the wood.

They could hear gibberish from the other side, and then the slamming stopped. “Whew,” Applejack groaned as she still held the door. “I think he stopped-“

With another slam, the door swung open. Applejack flew backwards into a chest of toys, while Rarity slammed face first onto Spike’s bed. The stallion snorted and raged as he stood in the doorway, anger in his eyes as if his pupils had been set ablaze.

“I know it was you two! You’ve been killing everypony! Where’s Twilight!? Where’s my wife!?” he yelled at the two mares as they stood to their hooves.

Applejack glowered as she replied, “I don’t know about Rarity, but if you’re blamin’ me for these deaths, for Spike’s and Pinkie’s, then them’s fightin’ words.”

Slowly, Rarity walked towards the angered stallion, rubbing her back as she stared at him. “Shining, please. I was with your wife a little while ago, and then your sister. They’re both fine, just calm down,” she pleaded.

He raised up on his back legs in an attempt to strike her down, only to be blindside by a tackle from the apple mare. His head slammed against the door, almost knocking him out in a single hit. She raised her hooves to strike him again, but he quickly rolled out of the way and into the hall. The dizziness of his head caused him to stumble as he stood to his hooves and returned to a defensive stance.

The earth pony snarled and dug her hooves into the floor. “Rarity, I think he’s the killer. It all makes sense,” she muttered to the unicorn.

“What makes you say that?” Rarity sharply asked as she drew close to her friend.

“Canterlot, he’s the one that held the barrier protectin’ the city from changelings, kind of like how we’re trapped in this castle. I also found him standin’ over the knife that was used to kill Spike. There’s no way it isn’t him, and him attackin’ us under the guise of these halfwit accusations, well, it just proves it! I know it!” she quickly explained. “Lock the door behind me, I ain’t lettin’ him get away with this!”

True to her word, Applejack charged the concussed stallion, tackling and sending him towards the opposite room. The door flung open as he smashed into the cabinet, his foreleg dangling against the tub. Blood dripped down his forehead and onto his muzzle, clouding his vision. He could barely make out the blonde mane of the pony that stood in front of him.

“I’m not beaten,” he said as he tried to catch his breath. “I’m not beaten so easily!” With the last word uttered, he kicked with both his back legs, slamming them against Applejack’s chest. She landed in the hall on her rump, too slow to stand and charge before he could slam shut the door. Shining laid his body against the door and pressed his back legs against the tub.

With all her strength, Applejack slammed against the door repeatedly, just as Shining had done to her. “You lousy varmint! Come out here and face me!” she yelled, attempting to coax the injured unicorn out.

Her repeated slamming yielded little use, finally giving up on breaking through. She slowly trotted back over to the room the two mares had run into and gave a knock on the door. A meager yelp echoed from behind the frame, followed up with, “Go away!”

“Rares, he ain’t goin’ anywhere. Come on out, let’s go find Twilight,” Applejack replied.

“No! I’m sorry Applejack, I tried to sound tough to Twilight, but I just can’t. I can’t go on anymore. I’m just going to stay here until morning,” her voice quivered as she spoke.

The earth pony frowned, but understood how she felt. The idea of locking one’s self in a room and waiting for daybreak was appealing. She called out once more, “Alright, you stay here. I’m gonna go find Twilight. If that horrid stallion attempts to break in, just give him a good ol’ blast of magic. Okay?”

After a few sniffles, the unicorn responded, “Okay. Be safe, my dear Applejack.”

She gave a quick smile to the door and began trotting off down the hall. She turned her head to look at the bathroom door, making sure it remained closed. As she passed Twilight’s room, a sound caught her attention. She slowly backtracked to the open door, listening for the familiar noise.

Leaning her head in, she caught a glimpse of the open balcony door. Rain pouring into the doorway and flooding the bedroom’s floor. She let out a gasp and rushed outside, just as lightning brightened the city of Ponyville beneath. The rain covered her in moments, drenching her blonde mane and orange fur. She turned back around to head inside, and then noticed the body that sat against the wall, soaked to the bone by the rain.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Light blinded the alicorn at first, as she peered inside the bath – candles lit and filled the area brighter than if the sun itself had poured through the ceiling. She made careful consideration not to let the door’s latch make a sound as she pulled the door shut. The pool was slowly filling with water, already up three of the four steps of the bath.

She quickly rushed over to a cabinet that sat on the opposite wall, near the pouring faucet. Throwing towels out of the way, she pulled out the first aid kit and plopped it onto the floor. Bandages, pills, and other medicines were all stuffed into the container. As she turned her head to look at her wing, she noted the faucet had been running the entire time.

While undoing the towel, she turned the spigot off with her magic, wincing in pain from her notched tendons. As the towel dropped to the ground, she looked out into the bath and saw a bit of yellow in the water, surrounded by three grey accomplices.

This entire time she had assumed there was two, and the two killers would have to be good friends. It would make sense that it would be the two closest friends of the group. But this wasn’t the first time she’d been wrong.

Twilight didn’t think twice, diving into the water and paddling over to the cross of stones. She took a deep breath and dunked her head under the surface, attempting to comprehend the scene that reflected on the water above. The yellow pegasus was still struggling to hold her breath when she saw her friend. A smile broke on her face, causing more bubbles to be sucked out of her mouth.

The alicorn quickly went to work on the rope, casting a magic laser to cut the heavy line. As it slowly pierced the first rope, her magic failed to continue. The night had been long and her spirits low, the magic within her was all used up. She began to panic, forcing her to lift her head out of the water and catch a quick breath. With no magic, how am I supposed to undo this rope, she questioned herself as her head went under.

It was then, in that primal life or death moment, she decided to bite down on the rope and gnaw it in half. Fluttershy’s neck was released from the stones grasp, but she could not extend her head high enough to breathe the air above. Twilight quickly moved around without taking another breath of air, grabbing onto the second rope that constrained the pegasus. She quickly went to town, biting as hard as she could on the rope.

Without the cut from her magic, the rope took longer to break. When it finally did, she rushed to the surface and took another gasp of air, then returned to see how the pegasus was fairing. When she opened her eyes under the water, her vision was clogged by a dark red coloring. Her wing’s wound had been pouring out blood the entire time she worked to free her friend.

She trembled as she searched fruitlessly for the final rope, no longer able to see if the pegasus was still alive or not. Eventually, she found the edge of the rope tied to the boulder and gave it a few quick snaps of her teeth. As the rope broke she grabbed onto the harness of binding that entangled Fluttershy, dragging and pulling her out of the pool.

Fluttershy’s body plopped onto the ground, unresponsive to the air. “Fluttershy? Fluttershy!” Twilight called out, bluntly tapping her friend’s face. With no response, she feared the worst.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Shining Armor awoke bloody and bruised, his head ached from the pounding it took from the earth pony. He knew he got a few good licks in, but was unsure for how long he was out. He cautiously opened the bathroom door as he wiped the blood from his eye. When nopony seemed to be waiting for him, he crept out into the hall.

The door across was still closed, presumably the two mares locking themselves away to prevent another attack. He knew that if they attacked together they could overpower him. As he stood, contemplating his options, the sound of rain was brought to his attention. He could hear the pitter-patter of drops throughout the castle, but this frequency was different, as if they were right next to him.

He crossed the hall and stood atop the door that sat sunken into the floor, shoved off from the doorframe of Twilight’s room. For a moment, he wasn’t sure what he saw. Then, a flash of light painted the image into his skull, and he knew what it was. He rushed over to the bed, water splashing beneath his feet. The bed was covered in rainwater – some blown in by the storm that raged through the open door, and some dripped off by the pink alicorn that laid atop the sheets.

“Cadance? Cadance!” he yelled, placing his forelegs around her torso and neck. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry.”

She had been mutilated, in more ways than he could count. Her horn, severed at the base. Her hair, shaved off completely. But the worst of all was the two empty holes where her eyes used to be.

Anger boiled inside him as he held the ragged body. He knew he had to find who did this, and make them pay. They couldn’t have gotten far, he thought as he looked around the room, eventually noticing a dimly lit light coming from a crack in the door on the opposite side of the hall. He gently placed the body back down on the bed, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

“I’ll make them pay for what they did to you,” he said through gritted teeth, clenching his jaw.

No longer caring about his own life, he rushed and jumped over Twilight’s broken door, rushing through the hall and slamming into the guest room. He snarled as he looked for the obvious killer, a single candle barely lit the room.

The wet, blonde hair shifted as it turned to focus on the rampaging stallion. The earth pony stood over a white shirt, blue overalls, and a black mask, all freshly dampened by rain water. Her mouth failed to speak as she stared into his furious, teal colored eyes.

“You!” he screamed with such force that it shook the candle’s flame.

“Shining! Your wife, she’s-“

He slammed into her before she could even finish the sentence, no longer willing to listen to the earth pony. “I’ll KILL you!” he yelled as he slammed his head against hers. With all his might, he grabbed the top of her mane with his teeth and yanked her towards the bed, slamming her ribs into the wooden hoofboard.

“Shining, stop!” she yelled, placing a hoof out in front of her. “I’m the Element of Honesty, I’m telling you the truth. You’ve got to listen to me!”

“My wife is dead because of you!” He lifted the wet, plastic mask off the ground and shoved it in her face. “I’ve got all the proof I need, I’m finishing this right here and now!”

The stallion then raised up on his back hooves to slam down on the earth pony, but she quickly retaliated – shoving her head into the unicorn’s stomach and sending him flying onto the dresser. As he came down, the candle shook off and landed on the ground, darkening the entire room.

“She’s not-“

Before she could even start the sentence, he rose to his hooves and tackled her once more. Through all the commotion, they failed to notice the third pony that stood in the door, silent as a mouse during their battle. The two ponies fell onto the bed as Shining managed to pin her down, placing a hoof onto her neck.

“You idiot,” Applejack grunted through choking breaths. With all her might, she sent her back hooves into his stomach, sending him sailing backwards onto the floor. She gasped for air as she rolled off the bed. Still breathing heavily, she finally yelled, “She’s not dead!”

As he stood bipedal with his hooves on the comforter – attempting to climb the hoofboard to fight once more – her words sent a chill down his spine. “Wh-what did you say?”

~*~*~*~*~*~

She pressed the pegasi’s chest over and over, careful to time the beats to what she remembered from her training. “One, two, three, four, five,” she counted, hoping that she could resuscitate her dear friend. Every ten seconds she would place her head against Fluttershy’s chest, attempting to hear the beating of her heart once more.

Do I blow into her mouth, she thought to herself. It’s been too long, I don’t remember if I should or not. As her counting went on, she became more and more desperate, finally giving in to holding Fluttershy’s nose and breathing into her mouth. She did this over and over, hoping each time the pegasus would spit up water.

As she continued, she became more and more frantic, finally beating on Fluttershy’s chest like a rampaging wildebeest. Tears filled her eyes as it became clear she had failed, but just as she had given up hope, the pegasus choked and jetted the water from her mouth.

“Fluttershy! You’re alive!” yelled the alicorn, wrapping the yellow pegasus in a hug just as she spat more water. “Oh, sorry.” She gently held her head in her forelegs, beaming with tears streaming down her cheeks. “I thought I had lost you.”

Through heavy breaths, Fluttershy replied, “Yo-you saved me Twilight? I-I thought I was a gone f-for sure.” She closed her eyes for a moment, smiling as she squirmed her body against the warmth of the alicorn. “Thank you Twilight.”

“Do you know who did this? Did they have their mask off?” she asked as she looked up at the pool of water. Her gaze turned back to the first aid kit that lay across the bath, as she waited to hear an answer.

The silence confused Twilight, causing her to look down at the pegasus once more. Fluttershy had opened her eyes, but the smile she had turned sour, creating a bleak and terrified expression across her face. The fear in the reflection of her pupils sent a shiver down Twilight’s spine. “Flu-Fluttershy?” she worriedly asked.

Before she could fully turn her head to see what the pegasus was staring at, a knife whipped down in front of her, almost cutting her muzzle. Blood splattered onto her cheek and chin. She slowly twitched her head back down, only to bear witness to the gushing and spraying of blood that poured from Fluttershy’s neck. Her forelegs became stained red as the knife was lifted out, leaving an open hole in her throat.

As Twilight stared down in horror of what had just happened, her forelegs still wrapped tight around the dying pegasus, she could hear the heavy breathing coming from inside the plastic mask.