Nothing Like Home

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Chapter 9

The three ponies rushed down the halls. Twilight remembered finding an entrance to the caves in one of Celestia’s studies. They ran as fast as they possibly could, Rarity still spitting out the entrails from Applejack’s organs. Occasionally, she still twitched from shock. Pinkie Pie looked at the other two. Seeing their spirits down, she ran ahead of them.

Pulling out her Party Cannon, she exclaimed,

“Let’s take him down with this!”. She smiled and rested her head on the cannon. “We can get through this!”, she sighed with no response from the other two. Rarity had enough.

“Don’t you get it you stupid bitch?!? Friendship helps nothing! Happiness? Joy? Partying? It has got us nowhere! Everything that has relied on to defeat our foes is rendered worthless now!” She grabbed Pinkie by her hair. “You are so fucked up in the head that you don’t get this! I don’t know what the fucking hell is wrong with you, but open your damn eyes!  Celestia was ripped to shreds right in front of us! Spike was eaten because we turned our backs on him unknowingly! Applejack was skinned without any effort from that beast! Rainbow Dash is probably suffering the same fate, and we left her there! Its over you dumb bitch! Can’t you fucking see?”

Rarity was gasping for air, gritting her teeth and shaking Pinkie Pie. Pinkie stared into space and something in her cracked. Her hair straightened out and her expression grew cold.

“It’s over”, she whispered.

“What?” Rarity said, surprised she got through to the dim-witted pony.

“It’s over! Didn’t you hear me you selfish skank?” Pinkie roared. “I get it now. I am done with you all! You mean nothing to me. If we are all going to die, I want to go say goodbye to those who actually matter. The Cakes are waiting at home. I should say my farewells.”

She started walking to the door. “Good luck rescuing the worthless scaredy cat”, she mocked.

“A broken pony?”. A voice came from the distance, followed by a heavy rumbling like an earthquake. “Oh sweet Celestia, you have bestowed upon me such a beauteous gift, even in the afterlife!”, the voice came again over the rumbling.

Around the corner of the hallway, behind the fillies, marched a large pony, straight out of an old horror flick. He towered over them all, shaking the castle while slowly trotting towards them.

“Allow me to introduce myself”, the voice came again. “I am Dr. Hoophstep! As a courteous gift from Father, I was graced with the presence of his life and his ability of creation. I created this big lug you see before us. Isn’t he a beauty?”

Hoophstep peeked from over the large pony’s head. “Say hello Ludolfus!”, he snickered. The large green patched pony opened its mouth, followed by a loud groaning. Hoophstep chuckled. “He is just so darn cute!”

He climbed down from the monstrosity and planted his hooves on the ground. Dr. Hoophstep looked like a mix between a Zebra and a Unicorn, with an outrageous mane and tail. He wore a black cape over a white lab-coat and a pair of green goggles. He showed a psycho and crooked smile to the fillies. “It is to my understanding that you wish to find the King! He asked me to bring you this book. You seemed to have left it behind in your travels, my darling.” He threw the book at Twilight. It opened in mid-air and glided across the floor, flipping to the next page in the book. This time it was not a poem. It was 4 words. They took up two pages and were written in blood. Twilight bit her lip when she read it and started to tear up.

“You are all fucked!” Hoophstep screamed. “I’m afraid I am not just a messenger! I am here to make sure you don’t make it to the King!” He squealed in happiness. “Ludolfus! Dispose of them!” He clapped his hooves together rested his flank up against a door.

Ludolfus bolted forward, putting holes in the floor and shaking the walls. He dove after the fillies. Pinkie and Twilight jumped out of the way in time. Rarity was not as fortunate as them. She was crushed underneath the weight of the FrankenPony. Her bones were reduced to meal. Tears started to well up in the doctor’s eyes.

“Such a beautiful melody”, he cried.

Ludolfus stood up, not bothering to brush off the blood that now stained his rotting coat. Rarity was lying beneath him, bones broken and muscles ruptured. She cried out in agony, trying to find something she could move. Ludolfus made a half smile and picked her up in his mouth by the scruff. He threw her into the air and caught her in between his teeth. Slowly applying pressure, he played with Rarity’s broken body, rolling her between his teeth like gum. He chomped down on her with a sense of satisfaction. Blood and guts leaked from his mouth, covered in purple hairs.

Ludolfus bellowed deeply, almost sounding like a laugh. He swung his head around looking for the other two ponies. He locked sight of them, and Pinkie was in her Party Cannon pointed at the monster.

“Are you sure this is what you need to do Pinkie? I’m sure we could f-”

“Shut up Twilight!” Pinkie interrupted. “I’m at the end of my rope, this needs to be done. My cannon packs enough punch that I can take care of this ugly thing. Just light the damned fuse and get your ass down into the caves. If someone needs to survive, it’s you and Fluttershy. You two deserve it”, she barked.

“Goodbye Pinkie!” Twilight screeched as she lit the cannon and sprinted for the stairs.

“Good show!” Hoophstep clapped his hooves again, smiling with a large maniacal grin.

“Run my little pony! You may be too late!” he mocked Twilight.

“I will fucking kill you, you dreadful... piece… OF SHIT!” Pinkie screamed. The fuse burnt out and the cannon fired off. Confetti covered the floor as Pinkie soared through the air. She smacked into Ludolfus’s skull and came out the other side. She came out covered in goo and blood. Still with a determined look, she ripped away the flap of skin on her face and aimed for the Doctor. He looked up at the pony who was flying towards him. “Oh dear”, he remarked before she landed on top of him. She bit and kicked, ripping off chunks of flesh, clumps of hair; anything she could get a hold of. She was so busy ripping apart Hoophstep that she did not notice the swaying FrankenPony next to them. The deceased Ludolfus came crashing down upon the two ponies, crushing both of them. Their guts squeezed out through their mouths like toothpaste out of its container. All that lay was their gurgling the remaining air that was being released from their lungs.

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