Ten Little Ponies

Chapters

Ten Little Ponies
And Then There Were Nine
And Then There Were Eight
And Then There Were Seven
And Then There Were Six
And Then There Were Five... and Four
And Then There Was One

Ten Little Ponies

Author's Note

So... It's been quite some time since I've published anything. To those that remember me, I'm back! To new readers, welcome!
I've genuinely missed this, and I hope to keep the ball rolling with new stuff more often!

Now, for the story at hand. Being both an avid fan of MLP and Rooster Teeth, I thought it would be appropriate to make a pony version of Ten Little Roosters! I've never really written a mystery of this magnitude, so hopefully I didn't make it too easy or too hard. I hope you guys enjoy sleuthing through this!

Have fun!!!

Ten Little Ponies

The quaint town of Ponyville did not stir in the dormant hours of the evening. This was by no means out of the ordinary; Ponyville was a town with much rustic charm and hospitable residents. Seldom did excitement grace the city. The inhabitants maintained comfortable lives and were content to do so. While most of the city had tucked themselves away for the night, ten ponies found themselves occupying the dining room space of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle. They shared drinks and conversations alike. Rarity and Fluttershy spoke of the handsome young stallions in the town over white wine. Twilight Sparkle, Trixie Lulamoon, and Sunset Shimmer intensely discussed different aspects regarding the science of magic. Pinkie Pie pestered Applejack as the passive farm-pony took another hearty swig of her cider. Pinkie refused to consume alcohol of any nature and instead settled for a fizzy soda. Rainbow Dash and Gilda sat across from one another, neither uttering a word. Gilda was the only attendee having beer; she was never one for sophisticated liquors. Lightning Dust seated herself adjacent to Gilda without a drink.

“So remind me again Dash, why did you invite me to this dinner?” Lightning inquired.

“Twilight insisted we bring several ponies we’ve had troubles with in the past to a nice dinner as a means of ‘repairing relations.” Dash emphasized Twilight’s own words with air quotes. “I don’t really know why or how she expects this to work, but she suggested that I invite you and Gilda. Only the two of you, Trixie, and Sunset showed up. I didn’t anticipate a large turnout anyway”

Gilda lazily placed her now empty bottle on the table. “I’m getting another drink,” She turned her attention to Lightning Dust, “want anything?”

“Sure, why not? Champagne will do just fine.” The Pegasus pony replied after a moment of brief contemplation. Gilda left the table and headed toward the kitchen.

“Never pegged you for a champagne kinda gal.” Rainbow jabbed playfully.

“Eh, I’m not really in the mood for anything else.” Lightning sighed.

“Whatever floats your boat I guess,” Rainbow paused briefly before continuing, “I still don’t get it though, it’s not like I have a major problem with you. I mean yeah you did almost kill all of my friends with that tornado a while back, but it’s not like you meant to. That is unless you’re some psycho murderer.” Dash chuckled and lightly nudged Lightning’s shoulder from across the table.

“As if Dash,” Lightning retorted hastily, “the only pony here capable of being a psycho killer is Pinkie Pie.”

“And what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Dash questioned suspiciously.

“Something just seems off with her, like she’s not all there y’know?”

“That’s just Pinkie Pie, plain and simple,” Rainbow giggled, “maybe Fluttershy, she’s always so quiet, who knows what she’s scheming in that delicate little head of hers?”

“What’d I miss?” Gilda had returned with another beer for herself and a glass of champagne for Lightning Dust. The turquoise mare responded as she reached out to grab her glass.

“We were debating who here would be the most likely to go full blown psycho killer.”

“Forget I even asked.” Gilda rolled her eyes and grumbled under her breath. Lightning took a drink before grimacing in disgust. Her drink tasted odd, unlike any alcohol she’d ever tasted before. She dismissed the bitterness as an issue of the brand and drank on. She eyeballed her now empty glass and sighed.

Across the room, Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer couldn’t be bothered to drink their own champagne as they were bickering over the fundamentals of illusionary magic. Trixie simply listened with content amusement as she swirled her glass in boredom, never bringing it to her lips either. She elected to allow Twilight and Sunset to debate over a subject she had already mastered rather than providing input to either argument.

The evening conversations lasted for what seemed like hours, droning on with no clear purpose in sight until Twilight finally stood from her table, raising a dull butter knife to her glass and tapping it gently. All heads collectively turned in her direction. They awaited her speech with less than baited breath and feign interest.

“I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to everypony in attendance. Tonight’s occasion is one of peace and forgiveness. In our presence are those of whom we may have grown apart from, or perhaps got off on the wrong hoof with, but I don’t intend to let past transgressions trifle with future friendship. I would like tonight to serve as a catalyst for transformation in character and development of mutual respect. None of us are without questionable actions or shortcomings, but all of us are capable of change for a brighter future. To accurately illustrate my intentions I’ve prepared a presentation to watch before we proceed with dinner.” Twilight stated triumphantly, evidently proud of her planning and organization, her audience however, did not share in her fervor.

Rarity rolled her eyes with such theatrics that her whole head swiveled in apathy. “Because of course she did.” The posh mare groaned as she raised a hoof to her face.

A projector screen lowered from the ceiling as Twilight rolled the device into the middle of the room. A collective murmur of unease permeated through the dining room as Twilight struggled to get the projector working.

“Is this all really necessary sugarcube? I think we’re all grown enough that we don’t need some fancy presentation to lecture us on how to make friends.” Applejack voiced the concerns of everypony in the room as Twilight eventually gave up and sat dejectedly looking at the contraption.

“I just wanted tonight to go perfectly…” The princess exhaled.

“Who’s to say it can’t?” Pinkie Pie chimed in, “I’m sure we can make the most out of tonight. Everything will be just fine…”

In that instant, darkness consumed the entire room, only the peculiar sounds around the room could be distinguished as panic began to ensue. Screams could be heard in every direction, filling the space with a cacophony of noise. In the chaos, the sound of shattering glass followed by a brief scuffle could be heard. Frantic steps could be heard skittering across the floor toward and returning from the kitchen hastily before halting.

“Everypony stop moving!” Sunset Shimmer’s voice could be heard above the noise as a hush fell over the guests. “Twilight, can you hear me?”

“Yes, I can.”

“Try to produce some light with your magic.” Sunset ordered.

Twilight tried in vain to muster up a spell to cast light on the room but it was to no avail. “It’s no use, my magic isn’t working.”

“Come to th… think of it, m… m… my magic won’t work either.” A stammering Trixie exclaimed.

“Nor mine.” Chimed Rarity. “Can anypony locate a light switch?”

“I’m on it!” Lightning Dust announced. She cautiously made her way toward the outer wall of the room. Once she made contact with the wall, her hooves traveled along in search of the switch before finally touching it. “Found it!” The switch was already in the on position but she stilled attempted to flick the switch frantically anyway. “It’s busted; power must be out in the whole castle. Maybe a circuit blew or something?”

In the darkness, the projector sparked and buzzed to life, throwing the silhouette of a hooded figure on the screen. The light that emanated cast an eerie glow around the room, everypony except Lightning Dust appeared to be in the same spot they were in before the lights went out. The silhouette stood motionless, breathing coarsely as the ponies looked on.

“What the hell is going on Twilight?!” Rainbow Dash demanded.

“I don’t know, I’m not doing that.” She retorted.

An audible moan came from the figure on the screen as it cocked its head to one side, slowly, and then to the other. Its body appeared to be in a vegetative state as its head rolled about on slumped shoulders. The gradual crescendo of the throaty moan sent shivers down their spines until it died off into nothing but a faint and strained whimper. Its head finally snapping upright as it shrieked in agony. The scream lulled into a soft chuckle before the figure laughed exuberantly. It spoke,

“Greetings everypony, there is no cause for alarm, I assure you not yet…” The voice had been heavily altered and rang out with a deep metallic bellow. “Tonight is a special night, quite so Twilight?” The figures awareness of the situation alarmed the princess as she felt a lump rise in her throat. “Everyone came together, under one roof, for one purpose, just as I had planned, though not what you all have been told. I would know that myself of course, after all, it is why I invited you all here.” All eyes darted to the hostess of the evening. She began to sweat as tears streamed down her face.

“That’s not me! I swear! It’s a lie!” Twilight pleaded desperately.

“Likely story Sparkle,” Sunset Shimmer snapped. ”You did plan this entire evening, by yourself might I add.”

“Y’all hush now, it’s ‘bout to speak again.” Applejack interjected.

“Or perhaps I did no such thing,” the figure continued. “Perhaps I am merely an innocent bystander, forced to bear witness to a monotonous evening of reconciliation. Did you really think you could all be forgiven? What with the way you ran me out of town just for performing my show?” The meager and quivering Trixie was now the sudden attention of everypony’s ire. “Or perhaps not even that, maybe I was just growing weary of the constant negativity consuming this world. I just have to eradicate all the negative nancies who don’t know how to smile. Or was I pushed too far when I was wrongfully abandoned by my dear friend Dashie? Don’t you remember the good ol’ days back at the Junior Speedsters Academy? Or maybe I was finally fed up with all of your inadequacies. You all have done nothing but hold me back from realizing my dreams of soaring through the skies with the very best Equestria has to offer. Yes I know I’m shifting the blame, but regardless of which of you I may be, you all will learn the same lesson tonight… who can you trust? One of you shall meet your demise shortly and the rest will follow soon after. So now I leave you with two things to ponder: a question and a challenge. Who am I? Come get me.” The silhouetted figure vanished as the projector began to buzz and spark. Smoke billowed from the machine before exploding into minuscule fragments, showering the room and the ponies with hot metal shards.

Collectively, the entire room had been paralyzed with fear. The ominous message coupled with the bizarre sequence of events had been unsettling enough, but knowing that someone in the room was responsible made the tension all the more palpable. The lights flickered to life as order was restored. Rarity and Applejack made their way around the dining room, checking on the well-being of everyone, all the while Gilda eyed everyone suspiciously.

“I’ve had enough of this!” The vexed griffin huffed as she made her way towards the door. She attempted to drive the massive door open but it would not budge. This only served to elevate her already seething rage. “Who the fuck is messing with us!?” She posed her question to the shaken room with no immediate response. “Well somepony better start talking now before I lose my shit!”

“Shut yer trap featherbrain! You aren’t gonna put a claw on nopony if I got anythin’ to say ‘bout it.” Applejack retorted aggressively.

“Yeah? I’d like to see you try you farm hick!” Gilda pressed her forehead into Applejack’s to assert her dominance, but the farmer did not so much as flinch, only returning her own hostility.

“Both of you knuckleheads need to stop!” Pinkie Pie burst. “We don’t need to be mean to each other, we should be working together to get out of here safely.”

“Pinkie’s right, the only way we are going to get out of here is to come together and devise a plan. We should stick together until then. In the instance that this threat is real, I don’t want to risk not taking all necessary precautions.” Twilight reasoned to both bickering girls.

During this time, Rarity had taken it upon herself to investigate the room thoroughly, eventually finding a piece of parchment pinned to the wall with a kitchen knife. “Hey, everypony over here, come and look at this.” Rarity beckoned. Everypony gathered around the parchment as they squinted to see the message that had been scrawled on it.

“W…what does it say?” Trixie inquired, still shivering in fright.

“Let us have a look shall we,” Rarity cleared her voice and read aloud the note…

*****

Ten little ponies, all gathered to dine,

One kicked the bucket, and then there were nine.

Nine little ponies, the hour getting late,

One lost control, and then there were eight.

Eight little ponies, two already in heaven,

One betrayed by their element, and then there were seven.

Seven little ponies, one liked to play tricks,

One went up in smoke, and then there were six.

Six little ponies, still trying to survive,

One lost their mind, and then there were five.

Five little ponies, with murder galore,

One killed without a sound, and then there were four.

Four little ponies, yearning to be free,

One gave too much, and then there were three.

Just three ponies left, one died on the run,

The killer was killed, and then there was

One.

Rarity finished the sickening poem. Not a word was uttered after. The words on the parchment seemed to foretell their fates clear as day. The less than subtle notion that somepony was responsible for all of this was perhaps the most frightening part of it all.

“Are we all going to die then?” Fluttershy cried helplessly

“This is probably just some sort of drawn out, elaborate prank to scare us all, of course nopony is going to die.” Sunset Shimmer rebuked the timid mare mockingly, not buying into the notion that these grim messages were valid

“Well hardy har har, it’s fucking hilarious,” Gilda scoffed, not entirely buying into the notion that this was an elaborate prank either. “I say we just try to open the door again.” For once, the group agreed with Gilda and made their way to the opposite side of the room.

“OW! Shit!” Rainbow Dash’s knees buckled as a searing pain shot through her foreleg. She looked down to see shattered glass and champagne strewn across the floor underneath the poem on the wall. Blood dripped steadily from the gash in her hoof to the floor, pooling with the champagne to create a murky puddle. She grimaced as she removed the shard protruding from the underside of her hoof; her flesh clung to the glass as she pulled on it before it was finally dislodged. Trixie grabbed several napkins off of a nearby table to help Dash stop the bleeding.

“That must have been the glass that shattered when the lights went out.” Twilight deduced. “Perhaps the culprit dropped their drink in the dark while they were trying to pin this up.”

“Okay then, who was having champagne ‘fore the lights went out?” Applejack polled the room. “It wasn’t me, I was having cider.”

“Rarity and I were having wine.” Fluttershy replied squeamishly.

“Soda for me.” said Pinkie.

“I wasn’t drinking anything.” Rainbow said, still tending to her wound

Gilda simply pointed to her bottle of beer without saying a word.

“So that leaves me, Trixie, Sunset and Lightning Dust, but I was holding my drink to give the speech so it wasn’t me.”

“Well, then who’s drink is missing?” Applejack pressed on. The three mares scanned the room for their glasses.

“M…mine and Sunset’s glasses are s…still accounted for.” Trixie stammered.

Lightning’s heart sunk at the realization she had just made. “Mines… gone.” She mumbled. She felt light-headed and sick, she wanted to vomit. She had no explanation to give.

“You might wanna start talkin’ missy.” Applejack growled sternly as she and Gilda advanced toward the cowering Pegasus.

“Especially before one of us knocks your lights out.” Gilda added through gritted teeth.

“I didn’t do it! I swear I’m innocent! I know I don’t have an explanation for why it’s missing, but I swear to you it wasn’t me! Please, please believe me! You have to believe me!” Lightning screamed and trembled in genuine fear as she backed herself into a wall. She had nowhere left to retreat as the two angry mares were upon her. Applejack grabbed her by the arm and hoisted her to her hooves before wrapping her legs around the teal mare’s waist and slamming her to the ground again. Gilda grabbed both of Lightning’s forelegs and secured them behind her back as Applejack pressed her snout into the cold floor. She cried out for mercy, but nopony seemed to be willing to help her. Rainbow Dash didn’t quite feel right as she sat on the floor, watching this transpire. Something just didn’t add up here. She looked at her friends huddled together watching the scene with mixed looks of concern, apathy and anger. She looked back to Lightning Dust who was still being restrained and was writhing in agony as she wailed for help. Dash then looked at the puddle of blood and champagne next to her and remembered a crucial detail.

“Let go of her, she’s innocent!” Rainbow Dash finally spoke up, pulling herself off the ground finally.

“What are you talking about Dash? The evidence is clear as day.” Gilda argued.

“Is it though? Twilight once taught me that correlation does not imply causation. You both are too busy looking at evidence in the dark, not in the light.”

“What are you getting’ at sugarcube?” Applejack interjected.

“Lightning’s glass was empty when the lights went out; I was sitting next to her as she finished her glass. She never got up to get a refill. Now with all that being said, why then is the shattered glass on the floor surrounded by champagne? There is no way that could be Lightning’s glass, she is innocent.” Rainbow Dash concluded. Applejack and Gilda both relented and allowed the Pegasus to get up.

“I’m awfully sorry ‘bout that sugarcube. We’re all just paranoid and concerned for our safety is all.” Applejack apologized.

“Don’t worry about it, I understand.” Lightning finally composed herself. She wanted to be mad about being falsely accused and forcefully restrained, but they were only trying to do what was right. She would have done the same thing.

“But that still doesn’t answer the question why her glass is the only one that’s missing.” Rarity reminded the group.

“I can’t answer that one to be honest. But whatever the case may be, we need to get out of here before that poem starts to come true.” The group came to a consensus about leaving and brought their attention back to the door.

“I’ll bet I can kick that door down.” Applejack suggested.

“You couldn’t have done that to begin with?” Gilda complained.

“Must you always have such a sour attitude?” Rarity scoffed at the belligerent griffin.

“Look, I’m never typically in a good mood for starters, and secondly I’d like to leave this shithole so I don’t die. I think those are two very viable reasons to not be a ball of joy at the moment.”

“Both of y’all need to stop bickering, everyone please move aside.” Applejack approached the door and readied herself to buck it open. She turned and bunched up the muscles in her hind legs and unleashed a powerful buck that rattled her entire body and the room. The door jostled slightly but remained unmoved. Applejack shook off the pain and gave it another go, rearing her haunches and bucking harder than she ever had in her life. The shock wave numbed her legs and back as the door toppled over with a raucous thud that echoed throughout the halls of Twilight’s mansion. Once the dust had settled and the reverberations stopped, Applejack turned back to the group with a pained smile adorning her face.

“Ain’t nothin’ this mare can’t do. Yeehaw!” Applejack celebrated aloud her own accomplishment, both proud and relieved to finally be emancipated. The group collectively sighed with hopeful reprieve.

As Applejack moved toward the exit, the rumbling of some kind mechanism could be heard above the door frame. Everypony looked around in confusion at the strange sound. As Applejack turned back toward the doorway, a large wooden beam swung down upon her. It was as if time had frozen as the blood poured out and drenched the floor. Nails had pierced the farmer’s eyes and a sharpened metal rod had impaled her throat. Blood sprayed and gushed from her wound, dripping down her cheeks and soaking her coat. She had not made a sound as she twitched and convulsed, death overtaking her body. The limp weight of her corpse slumped and caused her to slide off of the pole. Her eyeballs popped out of her skull and her cornea’s snapped, leaving her eyeballs suspended on the nails. The pole came out of her throat and even more blood poured out as her lifeless body collapsed to the floor with a thud, blood flinging through the air before pooling around her.

Rarity rushed to the sink to expel her stomach contents as the rest of the group scattered about the mansion in a panic. Rainbow Dash stood still, mouth agape and tears flowing down her face. Her best friend was gone, killed horrifically right in front of her. So many emotions raced through her mind, but her survival instincts overrode them. She shook herself back to reality and wiped the salty liquid from her cheeks. She pressed on and ran past Applejack’s body without another glance.

Ten little ponies, all gathered to dine,

One kicked the bucket, and then there were

Nine.

And Then There Were Nine

Rarity could not seem to get her legs to stop moving. After noticing everyone had gone from the kitchen, she felt vulnerable and left in a panic. Her panting only increased as she continued to run; her head whipping about in every direction to see if anypony had been chasing her.

The sight of Applejack’s dead body had been ingrained in her mind, she would not soon forget such a horrendous sight, nor would she forget the acrid stench of her blood. It all had happened so suddenly, but the brief moment kept repeating in her mind, over and over again. She couldn’t shake the fact that her friend was dead and there was nothing she could do that would change that. All she could do now was hope to survive long enough to see the light of next morning’s sun.

After what seemed like minutes of aimless running, Rarity finally slowed to a brisk trot. She had to stay strong and alert. There was a killer among them and they could be anywhere. She assumed they were prepared enough to leave more than just one trap.

As Rarity’s mind wandered, she had failed to notice that she had all but lost her bearings. Twilight’s new castle was massive and troublesome to navigate. She stopped momentarily to take in her surroundings, plotting where to look for an exit. As she did so, she heard the sound of oncoming hoofsteps from around the corner. She turned around to see who approached, not knowing whether she should run in fear or stay out of curiosity. The gold and scarlet mane of Sunset Shimmer caught Rarity’s eye as the unicorn plodded along, seemingly without purpose.

Sunset Shimmer hadn’t noticed Rarity as she walked by so she was alarmed when the ivory mare called out to her. She whipped her head to see Rarity nearing toward her.

“I don’t want any trouble.” Sunset stated blankly.

“Nor do I darling, I’m merely looking for a way out of this place. It is much larger than I remember to be honest; perhaps you’d be interested in pairing up, strength in numbers right?” Rarity smiled awkwardly as a half-hearted chuckle emerged from her lips, trying to seem as innocuous as possible.

“Thanks… but no. It isn’t that I don’t trust you, but I’d rather not be picked off in bundles. Sorry.” Sunset left hurriedly without another word, leaving Rarity alone once again. She didn’t know whether to be offended or afraid. The brief encounter with Sunset did nothing to ease her nerves.

She ignored her doubts and pressed onward. Not much time had passed as she progressed down the wide corridors before she saw another figure advancing in her direction. Rarity squinted and was able to see a flowing rosy mane and a delicate yellow coat.

“Fluttershy dear!” Rarity called to her friend, her legs reinvigorated.

“Oh, Rarity! I’m so glad I found you!” Fluttershy wrapped her friend in a comforting embrace. “Are you hurt? Have you seen anything suspicious?”

“Not really, only Sunset Shimmer.” Rarity admitted.

“Where is she?” The concerned pegasus asked.

“Celestia knows where. The madmare would rather work on her own, for what reason I have no idea. She also seemed to be in quite the hurry, but I suppose that isn’t out of the ordinary. She didn’t seem all that concerned about leaving though, it was as if she had already accepted her fate.” Rarity reflected on her brief conversation.

“Not everypony operates the same under stress, I’m sure she has everything under control.” Fluttershy reassured her.

“What about you darling, how are you holding up?” Rarity inquired.

“I think I’ve calmed down enough, finding you really does help, but I’m still beyond frightened. I don’t want to die.” The sheepish mare embraced her friend once more and began to weep. Rarity had no words to share, only comfort to give. The two finally gathered themselves and proceeded to search for a way out.

For once in her life, Pinkie Pie did not feel happy. One of her childhood friends had been taken from her forever. There was a void within her now and it would never be filled. She felt lost, both physically and emotionally. She just wanted to go home.

The rooms seemed endless. She systematically prodded each door open to peak at their insides in hopes that someone or something would be on the other side that might be able to help her. Time and time again, she was disappointed by what she found, or rather by what she didn’t find.

The party mare sulked and trudged fruitlessly down the hallway, dragging her hooves along the cold tile floor. Her tears cascaded down her muzzle before plummeting to the ground. She briefly looked up to see how much further the end of the hallway was, she was greeted however, to a figure at the end of it. She couldn’t make out who it was, but she didn’t care at this point, she sought any form of companionship from anypony. Her legs picked up speed as she galloped towards the figure.

“Hey!” She cried out. The figure turned slowly to face the oncoming mare. As they saw that it was Pinkie, they turned and ran down another hallway.

“Wait up! Don’t leave me! I don’t want to be alone!” The Pink pony cried out as she rounded the same corner. She watched as the figure entered a room on her right and slammed the door forcefully. Pinkie cautiously approached the room before jiggling the handle. It opened with ease, revealing the strange contents within.

Pinkie was mesmerized by the large, clear container that seemed to encompass the entire area of the room. There were two large hoses connected at either side. Pinkie’s eyes followed the length of the hose to two metal canisters propped up in the corner. They had weird letters and symbols inscribed on them. She dismissed the canisters and examined the container even closer.

“What is this thing?” Pinkie Pie mumbled to herself.

“Why don’t you have a closer look?” Pinkie had entirely forgotten about the pony she had pursued into the room. The door slammed behind her as she was forcefully shoved into the container before it was sealed and locked. Pinkie was dazed and confused, but before she could make out who had shoved her into the cube, they had left. She pounded on the glass and screamed for help, but the chances of anypony finding her were futile. All she could do now was wait.

She aimlessly looked around the cube and the room for a way out, but there was nothing to be found, only a rolled up piece of parchment on the floor in front of her. She unraveled the scroll and read the note.

Hello Pinkie Pie

I’m so sorry to have to do this to you, but at the same time, I’m not

This all must be done, and it must be done tonight

Applejack’s death was the first of many

So instantaneous

So very satisfying

And knowing that I was in the room alongside you… watching

That made it all the better

As for you Pinkie, your death is a waiting game, and I know you like games

So of course I had to choose you as the participant

If luck be in your favor tonight, you may survive a bit longer

But the clock is already ticking.

The next one of your friends that walks through this door will send you to your doom

It will be so marvelous, I may just have to come back to watch

Or even do it myself

Either way, you will be at a loss for words when the time comes

Just remember Pinkie

Smile

More of Pinkie’s tears stained the parchment as she finished reading her death sentence. It hardly seemed fair, that she never even had a fighting chance from the start. Pinkie crumpled the paper in her hooves and set it on the ground.

She wasn’t angry, she wasn’t afraid, just tired. Pinkie Pie sat on her haunches and sighed before laying down, resting her chin in the crook of her elbow, closing her eyes quite possibly for the last time.

Twilight made her way to the main entrance of her home in hopes that it wasn’t locked like every other exit. All of the windows had been sealed from the outside as had the doors, she doubted the most obvious exit would be untampered with, but she suspended her belief for any semblance of comfort.

Her heart sank as the massive double doors would not budge. She slumped to the ground and buried her muzzle in her hooves. She felt the hopelessness well up in her chest as her fate seemed inevitable.

“What a cruel fate, to die in the place you call home, and to know it’s your fault they’re here…” Twilight sulked to herself almost prophetically before fading into silence.

“T…Twilight. How are y…you holding up?” Twilight turned to face the voice of Trixie Lulamoon. The blue showmare had taken a seat next to Twilight and bundled herself in her cape.

“Not great,” Twilight wiped the tears away that formed on her cheeks. “I would say I just want to go home but… I’m already here.” Twilight sunk into her arms as the words escaped her lips.

“I h…haven’t f…f…found a way out yet.” Trixie admitted dolefully.

“Why are you shivering so much? It’s not that cold in here is it?” Twilight probed harmlessly.

“N…no, I don’t really know why. I g…guess I’m s…still shaken up from earlier. I d…don’t handle stress very w…well.”

“Well, I can assure you everyone else will get out of this predicament safely.” Twilight tried to encourage the gloomy unicorn, not entirely convinced of her own words either. There really was no way out, but that wouldn’t stop the princess from fighting, no matter how grim the circumstances may be.

“I doubt it, y…you saw what happened to Applej…jack back there. Whomever is responsible is s…smarter than w…we think.” Twilight tried to push the memory of her friend’s brutal demise to the back of her mind. She knew her friend’s corpse was still in her kitchen, something about that made her all the more uncomfortable. She shook the thought and brought her attention back to Trixie.

“I don’t care who the killer is, we can and will make it out alive, I promise.” Twilight couldn’t tell if she meant that for Trixie or herself when she said it. But she felt as though she needed to hear those words. Anything to lift her spirits.

“That’s r…rather wishful thinking Twilight.” Trixie pulled herself to her hooves and brushed out her cape. “B…but thanks for the p…pep talk.” The magician disappeared into the depths of the mansion. Twilight found herself alone again and figured it wouldn’t be the last time.

Trixie left Twilight, not out of fear, but out of remorse. She didn’t want to feel as if she were being a burden to anypony, especially at a time such as this. Trixie had all but accepted the inevitable and simply meandered the halls in suspenseful trepidation. Her body would not rest from its quaking.

Her ears perked as she passed a peculiar door, she could have sworn she heard someone mutter from the other side. She brushed it off as nothing more than paranoia and continued further into the castle.

The lurking fear of a killer prowling the shadows hung over her head like a dark cloud. Part of her wished she had made amends with Twilight and her friends after the incident in Ponyville several years back. She never meant to be as insolent as she was, and to Twilight’s credit, her friends only did what they believed to be just. Trixie’s pride caused her to make poor decisions that hurt more than she could have ever imagined, but now was not the time to regret the past. Now is the time to focus on the present, and survive.

Lightning Dust, Gilda and Rainbow Dash managed to find one another rather quickly after splitting up and teamed up, finding strength in numbers unlike Sunset Shimmer. Not a single word had been shared between them since aligning; all three mares remained skeptical of one another after prior events. Despite a level of agreement among the trio, none took their eyes off of the others. They looked for any reason to be suspicious of one another in an effort to exploit the killer’s true identity.

They had dismissed all beliefs that an exit could be found and focused solely on investigating and confronting the killer. Whomever it was certainly would not be able to hold their own against the vexed coalition.

“Let’s face the facts here girls,” Gilda spoke up, breaking the tangible silence, “There is no way out of here, so I say we just wait for the killer to come to us. When we find them, we’ll fuck ‘em up. Besides, Dash shouldn’t be walking with that injury anyway.” Gilda finished, gesturing towards Rainbow’s bleeding hoof.

The Pegasus couldn’t agree more, her hoof had been in immense pain since she ran out of the kitchen. She hadn’t properly treated her wound as more blood seeped from the incision, leaving behind a trail of bloody tracks for the killer to follow. They agreed to stop and rest for a moment.

“How are you fairing Lightning Dust?” Dash addressed the jaded mare.

“Could be better, I’m feeling a bit dizzy though.” Lightning answered, her speech seemed uncharacteristically slurred.

“How much did you actually drink?” Rainbow asked suspiciously.

“Not much, certainly not enough to get me tipsy, just the glass Gilda got for me.” Lightning slurred even harder as her legs began to wobble.

“Yeah, that definitely would not be enough to get you plastered, no matter how much of a lightweight you are.” Gilda chimed in scanning their surroundings.

“Come to think of it, my drink did taste kind of funny. Can champagne spoil?” Lightning asked.

“Yeah, but it takes years, and the bottle still had fizz to it so it must have been fairly fresh.” Gilda added, dismissing Lightning’s theory. “I say we head back to the kitchen and look for something there, it is where this whole ordeal began after all.”

Rainbow Dash was reluctant at first, not wanting to see her best friend’s body in the state that it was in, but after several moments of contemplation, the group came to a consensus to search the kitchen. Dash hobbled alongside Gilda as the determined griffin supported Lightning Dust in her inebriated state.

When the group arrived, they were greeted with the sight and stench of Applejack’s corpse now stiff due to rigor mortis. Dash couldn’t bear to look as she walked around the mass of bloody fur on the ground.

The kitchen had remained unaltered from it’s original condition.

“I guess nopony else decided to come back.” Gilda stated.

“I don’t blame them.” Lightning Dust garbled as she went to take a seat. She laid her head in her arms and tried to get some rest while the others investigated.

Rainbow dash hobbled over to the poem on the wall with the glass shattered beneath it while Gilda inspected the drink bar.

Rainbow kneeled down to examine the glass on the floor. It was still surrounded by champagne and her own blood. “Try not to drink any of that champagne just in case it’s been contaminated.” Rainbow called out to Gilda without diverting her attention from the glass. “Why are you here? Who dropped you?" Rainbow pondered inwardly.

Her gaze then shifted to look at the prophetic poem on the wall. She scanned the lines in her head multiple times, trying to wrap her brain around the mystery of it all. “How could you have possibly known this would come true?” She asked the killer subliminally.

Gilda rummaged through the beverages until she found the champagne bottle. It was emptier than she had remembered from when she poured Lightning’s glass. She knew she had been the last one to touch it before the lights went out. She deduced that somepony else had to have tampered with it between then and now.

“Hey Dash, gotta sec? Come check this out.” Gilda called out. Rainbow Dash discontinued her search to join the griffin in her findings.

“Did you find something?” Dash asked as she eyed the bottle in Gilda’s clutch.

“Not quite, but something just isn’t adding up here.”

“Are you going to tell me or make me figure it out on my own?” Dash prodded with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

“Well for starters, I’m certain there was more champagne in this bottle than when I used it…”

“Wait, so you were the last pony to touch the champagne before Lightning got sick from it?” Rainbow interjected.

“Don’t be throwing accusations around Dash. It wasn’t me; I’ve got nothing to do with Lightning’s condition. All I did was pour the drink, but I’m thinking somepony else has poured some out since then without us knowing. On top of that, if Lightning is feeling all loopy, shouldn’t the others be acting strange if they drank some?” Gilda concluded

“Maybe… if we find anyone else that was having champagne, we can monitor their behavior for anything weird. Maybe Lightning is just sick or something.” Dash looked around the room to find Lightning Dust but noticed that she had seemingly disappeared from the kitchen entirely, she also noticed that the poem was now on the floor and the knife had been plucked from the wall.

“Where the fuck did she vanish to?” Gilda spat fiercely. Both mares scanned the entire perimeter of the kitchen in search of their missing comrade before Rainbow Dash heard the sound of rapid hoofsteps approaching from behind her. Gilda and Dash whipped around to see Lightning charging at them brandishing the missing knife.

Gilda shrieked in fear and retreated to the back of the kitchen, abandoning Dash to fight on her own. Her injury prevented her from running so she stood ready to fight.

She waited until her assailant was within an arm’s length before ducking underneath the rampaging mare and hoisting her over her head, sending her slamming onto her back. She stood back up in an instant as if she had felt no pain.

“Stay still and die!!!” Lightning squawked.

“Gilda, get your ass over here and help me control her!” Rainbow yelled desperately for the cowering griffin. She rushed from her hiding place to aid the injured Pegasus. “Lightning, get a hold of yourself!” Dash shouted again toward their attacker.

Rainbow began to back away, pain shooting through her leg with each step. Lightning rushed at her again, preparing to strike before Gilda jumped in the way. The knife plunged through her paw sending blood specks onto the griffin’s face. She mustered up the strength to fight through the pain and wrestled the blade out of Lightning’s grasp before pulling it out of her own appendage. Pain shot through her arm like electricity.

The crazed mare saw nothing but a jumbled haze of lights and colors, her head was throbbing with incomparable amounts of pain. All she could hear were distant mutters before losing her balance and falling backward to the ground. Through her lidded eyes, Lightning could distinguish two blurry figures hovering above her. They were yelling at her and slapping her repeatedly, but she didn’t feeling the stinging pain on her face, only the thunderous pounding in her skull. The pounding of drums. Each beat of her heart, every pulse sent new shock-waves of unimaginable pain through her head.

She had to find a way to end the torture; she had to make it all go away. She staggered to her hooves, shoving herself past the blurry objects. Her legs buckled once more as she collapsed to the floor in a heap; her head slamming on the hard surface.

The new external pain temporarily quelled the internal pain that drove her mad before coming back even more fierce and intense than before. The moment of relief felt so good, she had to experience it again, over and over until the torture ceased.

She scraped herself from the cold floor and stumbled forward until she ran into a hard wall. “Perfect, this will do just fine.” She thought to herself.

She reared back and slammed her skull into the wall with as much force as she could muster. The trenchant pain felt like pure bliss as she continually rammed her head into the wall with renewed vigor. The cracking sounds that echoed about the room filled the soundless void in her mind. Blood poured down her forehead, drenching her face in crimson. It seeped into her eyes and mouth. It didn’t bother her much anyway. Her vision had gone black and her eyes felt as though they were being crushed in a vice. Her jaw slacked open as moans of pain and pleasure oozed from her throat along with her blood. She huffed for air as she prepared for her last swing. As she did, she felt her head seemingly explode. Her legs gave way beneath her and she crumpled to the floor before exhaling her last breath, satisfied.

Gilda and Rainbow Dash could only watch in perplexed horror at what they had just witnessed. Lightning Dust had not stopped until she was gone, as if she never felt it. Perhaps she hadn’t.

Rainbow had now witnessed both deaths that night and wasn’t prepared to watch any more. Her eyes were fixed on the lime mare’s busted skull, her brain clearly visible through the blood and skull fragments.

Rainbow gulped slowly and spoke. “I think we need to get out of here Gilda, this kitchen seems to be where shit starts happening and I don’t want to be next.” Rainbow Dash’s voice quivered in fear at her own safety. She hadn’t grasped the gravity of her predicament until now, and she truly feared for her life. Gilda however, had other plans.

“If you want to go that’s up to you, but I’m not leaving until I find something. I just know we’re missing something in here.” Gilda hurried back to the kitchen counter.

“Stay if you want, but I’m getting out of here.” Rainbow turned and left into the castle interior, hoping to never have to step hoof in that deadly room ever again.

Nine little ponies

The hour getting late

One lost control, and then there were

Eight

Author's Note

Hey everybody!

So I noticed that this hasn't really been received as well as I had hoped, it may have something to do with the subject matter and the graphic nature of it. I get it, gore isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if there is anything outside of that I can improve upon to enhance quality, please do not hesitate to let me know.

I'm always open to constructive criticism and I love hearing your thoughts.

Thanks all!

And Then There Were Eight

The duo of Rarity and Fluttershy traipsed along the endless halls of the castle, their confidence diminishing with each corner turned. Rarity did her best to not seem deterred externally, but her friend knew her better than that.

“Rarity, do you know where we are?” Fluttershy calmly asked.

“Why of course I do Fluttershy dear, don’t be absurd. My sense of direction is simply… impeccable.” Her eyes trailed to the floor as she scuffed her front hoof on the ground innocently.

“So what you’re saying is…”

“Okay we’re lost Fluttershy, completely and utterly lost.” Rarity interjected bluntly. She began to choke up with fear. “I just want to go home, every second we go on, the more anxious and afraid I become. I don’t know how much longer I can take it.” Her lip trembled as tears formed in her eyes making her vision hazy.

Fluttershy placed a hoof on Rarity’s back to reassure her. “I know you want to leave, I do to, I’m sure we all do, but you’re giving it your all and that is nothing to be ashamed of. I’m proud of you Rarity. You are braver than I could ever be. If I weren’t by your side, I’d just be huddled in a corner somewhere.” The Pegasus began to stroke Rarity’s mane as she hiccuped from crying. “We are going to be fine Rarity, I promise. We’re both getting out of here alive; I know you can do it.”

“I want to believe that darling,” Rarity said after calming down. “I really do, but I just don’t know what to do anymore. There is no way out and there is a killer among us.”

“You’re right, somepony is out to get us, but if we just stick together, we will find a way to get through this.” Fluttershy declared confidently.

“I don’t understand you sometimes Fluttershy, even when faced with insurmountable odds, you always seem to be thinking on the bright side of things.”

“It’s important to stay positive, that’s what Pinkie would say right now. If we all just decide to give up, then what’s the point of living? It certainly isn’t a life I want to live, not anymore. I’m tired of always being afraid of everything and relying on others to help when things get tough. I know I’m still not perfect and that is going to take a long time to accomplish, but that’s why I want all of us to make it out of this ordeal. I’m not done yet, and neither are you Rarity. So let’s keep our heads up high and stay positive.” Fluttershy concluded her speech triumphantly.

“Thank you Fluttershy, I really did need to hear that.” Rarity did not make eye contact with her friend. While inspiring and passionate, Rarity couldn’t shake how uneasy it made her for some reason. She didn’t want to jump to conclusions and perhaps her paranoia was getting the best of her. She shook off her doubts and pressed on without another word. Fluttershy followed suit as they continued their search for the other guests.

Sunset Shimmer seemed to be the only pony to maintain their composure in this crisis. She would much rather work alone. She couldn’t trust anyone, nor did she want to be found. Word can spread very quickly when in a stressful environment. She didn’t want the wrong pony to know of her whereabouts. She didn’t care how friendly or loyal anypony was, until she knew the pony responsible for Applejack’s death, she refused to work with anyone.

She had not stopped moving aside from her brief encounter with Rarity. She wondered if Rarity were even still alive. The unnerving part of isolation was not knowing who was still alive. For all she knew, it could just be her and the killer at this moment. She refused to believe the grim scenario and pressed on.

Despite her restless movement, the golden mare had kept her senses on high alert. There could be clues or traps anywhere. Her persistence was eventually rewarded as she found herself at the foot of a large spiral staircase. She didn’t trust the stairs of course. She had to tap into the mentality of the killer. If they were prepared enough to rig a simple door, surely they would be smart enough to rig the steps as well. It made practical sense. It would limit movement throughout the castle, making it easier to find victims. Sunset had to think rationally of a way to test the steps for any possible traps. She scanned the room for any useful tools. Only a solitary umbrella on a stand was at her disposal.

“I suppose this will have to do.” Sunset sighed as she grabbed the umbrella and tentatively prodded the first step. She waited a moment but nothing happened. She tested the second, third, fourth step, all yielding a similar result. She repeated the arduous process as she ascended the staircase.

Once she reached what appeared to be the midway point, her patience grew thin. She looked back, noting her progress and looked forward, noting how much further she had to go. She grew tired of going nowhere, she knew she was in a vulnerable state and needed to act quickly.

“Perhaps they got lazy.” Sunset gave herself an excuse to run up the stairs, ditching the umbrella.

She took a single step forward and felt the stair give way beneath her hoof. “Shit.” She exclaimed as she quickly ran upward to avoid whatever trap had been triggered, but that did not help. She felt a sharp and piercing pain in her foreleg. “AH!!! Fuck!” An arrow had been shot into her leg, becoming lodged immediately. She collapsed in pain and screamed. “Somepony help!” Pain rushed through her body with every movement. She heard the sound of hurried hoofsteps from above as a lavender cape came into view.

“Oh my goodness! Sunset!” Don’t worry, I…I’m on my way!” Trixie made her way down the other half of the stairs to Sunset’s position. In her grasp were some bandages and peroxide.

“Urgh, get it out!” Sunset grimaced, panicking at the thought that the arrow could be laced with a deadly toxin.

“Calm down S…Sunset. Be still and I will get it out.” Trixie grabbed the arrow just below the head and slowly began to pull it out.

“Ah! That fucking hurts!” Sunset screamed.

“It’s going to h…hurt Sunset, b…but you need to stay calm.” Trixie continued to pull the projectile out with blood spraying her coat and arm. The injured mare continued to shriek with agony. The magician held Sunset’s leg as she felt her leg muscles contract tightly around the shaft, making it harder to remove. Trixie gave one last tug before the arrow came out followed by a torrent of blood, she quickly placed bandages on the wound to stop the flow.

Sunset squirmed erratically at the sight of her own blood and dangling flesh from the exit wound. She became queasy and felt like puking, but she took a deep breath and swallowed it back down. She had immediately looked away from Applejack’s death as she did not handle the sight of blood favorably.

“C…can you stand?” Trixie asked after she finished wrapping the bandages around Sunset’s leg.

“I guess I don’t really have a choice do I?” Sunset begrudgingly allowed Trixie to help her to an upright position. The two mares hobbled up the rest of the stairway before reaching the second floor and searching for a bathroom. The room in question was just down the hall from the stairway. When they reached the bathroom, Trixie helped Sunset to sit on the edge of the bathtub. Trixie turned on the faucet to the tub and began to fill it with warm water before rummaging through the cabinet for more supplies. She found a pair of facial scissors to remove the offensive skin that hung from Sunset’s leg after she temporarily removed the bandages. She uncapped the bottle of peroxide and offered her cape to Sunset.

“You may w…want to bite down on this.” Trixie suggested as she prepared to pour the substance over the wound.

Sunset Shimmer was vexed about the whole situation she found herself in. Now somepony knew of her location, and Trixie knew that Sunset was injured. If the killer found out about this, surely she would be an easy target. She also hadn’t ruled out Trixie either. If Trixie wanted to, she could kill her right now and get away without a trace. But the magician showed no apparent signs of malice. Sunset kept her guard up around her though; she was unfamiliar with Trixie, giving her even less of a reason to trust her. But she was the only pony that could help at the moment so her only choice was to play along.

She bit down hard on the cape as the cleaning fluid cascaded over her leg. The pain was not immediate, but when it set in, it felt like fire. The cape did not seem to help if only to muffle her screams.

After the pain subsided, she spat Trixie’s cape to the floor, much to the chagrin of its owner. Trixie retrieved her garment and adorned it as Sunset continued to gripe.

“Shit, that stings.” Sunset re-wrapped her throbbing leg.

“It helps, d…don’t worry. S…stay here and soak your leg in the w…water. I’m going to look for help and then I’ll b…be right back.” Trixie left before Sunset could protest.

“Don’t fucking leave me! I can’t defend myself!” Sunset cries rested on deaf ears. She did as she was told and cursed her fortune, slapping the surface of the water in frustration. She slumped and sighed. “Asshole.”

Twilight Sparkle had eventually overcome her depression and pondered other ways to get out of her home. Her magic still wasn’t working so teleportation was out of the question and Spike had been sent away for the evening so she couldn’t send a letter to the princesses. Perhaps her dragon companion would come back and find them. She doubted it though. He would be at Sweet Apple Acres until morning with Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. She doubted they even had that much time left anyway.

Twilight had never really stopped to take in the sheer vastness of her new abode. She trudged down one of the massive corridors with many doors aligning either side. Truthfully, she hadn’t explored every room yet so she wasn’t certain what to expect.

In the distance, Twilight could hear a faint muttering from behind one of the doors up ahead. It grew louder and clearer as she approached. She identified the door from which the muttering emanated and recognized the distinct voice within. She burst into the room to see a massive glass cube with a pony trapped inside.

“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted out.

“No! Twilight!” Both mares heard a faint click followed by a soft hissing sound stemming from the hoses attached to Pinkie’s cube.

“Pinkie, how did you get in their? And what is that sound?” Twilight began to panic and hyperventilate uncontrollably. Her friend was trapped in this encasement, on display like a deranged zoo animal.

“Somepony locked me in here! I can’t get out, help me Twilight! Please, I don’t want to die!” Pinkie pleaded as she wept uncontrollably. The smell of metal was now faintly present in her cube.

“Did you see who it was?” The worried princess questioned.

“No… haha, I don’t know… hahaha! Get me out!” The pink mare pounded on the glass over and over again.

“Why are you laughing at a time like this?!” Twilight’s panic turned to confusion.

“Hahaha… I’m not doing it… haha…. on purpose… make it stop!” Pinkie erupted into a hysterical fit of laughter. Tears streamed down her face as she couldn’t control her hilarity.

Twilight went to investigate the canisters. She read the symbols marked on the outside. It said N2O “Nitrous oxide… This is laughing gas!” Twilight announced her epiphany aloud.

Pinkie continued to expel undesirable laughter. Her stomach began to burn in pain from the constant contractions and she became light-headed. Her laughter had now dissolved into a disturbing mix of sobs and chortles. “Make it stop!” Pinkie screamed in fear.

“I’m trying, hold on!” Twilight turned the knob of the gas tank in an effort to stop the gas. Instead of tightening to seal the flow of gas, it snapped off entirely. “Damnit.” Twilight cursed under her breath. It didn’t seem as though there was anything she could do. She tugged at the padlock on the door and slammed her hooves against the glass, but nothing helped.

Pinkie collapsed to the ground as she continued to writhe and convulse in uncontrollable laughter. Her throat and abdomen hurt immensely as she did her best to suck in air, but the only thing in the cube was gas. Her head throbbed from the lack of oxygen in the box.

Twilight could only look on in disgust. This was cruel. Cruel and unnecessary; Pinkie could feel the constant pain overwhelm her system as her abdominal muscles began to cramp and spasm. The lack of oxygen coupled with the immense pain caused Pinkie to black out.

Twilight stared at her now unconscious friend in silent horror. Pinkie’s body continued to twitch and convulse as she shriveled into a ball on the floor of the cube. After several more moments, her body ceased to move. Pinkie was gone.

Twilight’s tears pooled on the ground in front of her. “Pinkie… why…?” Her emotions overcame her body as she sunk to her knees and bawled. Her cries did not go unheard as somepony stood in the doorway, looking in on the scene with a sickening smile plastered to their face. They let out a slight chuckle of their own. Twilight swung her head around to see the source of the noise, but was greeted by an empty doorway.

Eight little ponies

Two already in heaven

One betrayed by their element, and then there were

Seven

And Then There Were Seven

Ponies began to show up periodically, drawn to the sound of Twilight’s weeping. Rarity was emotionally distraught when she saw Pinkie’s lifeless corpse, Fluttershy attempted to console her without any luck. Trixie’s shivering had only increased and Rainbow Dash was pacing about the room in a rage induced frenzy. Another one of her best friends had been killed, she would be damned if another were to be added to the body count.

Twilight stood slowly and had calmed her breathing to speak through her tears. “I think it best to remain calm. Let us be rational about all of this, we need to face the reality that somepony else is probably going to be murdered soon. It is our job now, as survivors, to prevent that from happening.” Twilight counted the number of ponies in the room and gulped. “Is this everypony still alive?” She polled the room.

“N…No, Sunset Sh…Shimmer is upstairs in the bathroom tending to a wound.” Trixie stammered.

“And to my knowledge, Gilda is still investigating the kitchen. Lightning Dust is dead as well… I’d rather not talk about it.” Rainbow shuddered at the memory of Lightning’s self-inflicted demise.

“I’m sorry to hear that Rainbow Dash.” Twilight placed a gentle hoof on Dash’s shoulder to calm her nerves. “Why did you leave Gilda though?”

“I didn’t want to stay in that room, that’s where this whole ordeal started and that’s where two murders have already happened. It just fills me with dread to even think about now.”

“Okay then, did you happen to find anything in the kitchen while you were there?” Fluttershy peeped just above a whisper.

“Actually, we found a considerable amount of evidence. I was hoping to find you guys; maybe one of you can shed some light on it all.” The group opened their ears to what Rainbow Dash had to say and listened intently. “So the glass on the floor is definitely not Lightning’s, at least, Gilda and I were confident that it wasn’t. We still don’t know whose glass it was in the first place so that mystery is still on the table. My guess is that the killer dropped their glass when trying to put up the poem in the dark, and then they somehow managed to find and refill Lightning Dust’s glass while she was trying to find a light switch, I still don’t know how anypony could do that without magic, but they did. My other theory is that they refilled Lightning’s glass before they put up the poem and dropped it as a means to frame Lightning, knowing that she would be killed, making it so that we lose the killer’s trace, but that just doesn’t make any sense to me so I’m sticking with the first theory. We also confirmed that the glass had been refilled because the champagne glass was emptier. Gilda knew that because she was the last one to touch the bottle before the lights went out. That’s another reason I left, I just don’t trust her anymore,”

“W…why not?” Trixie asked.

“Well for starters, she was extremely adamant about leaving the kitchen in the first place which lead to Applejack’s death. She also was the one to give Lightning Dust the drink that killed her.”

“But wait, how do you know it was the drink that killed her?” Twilight queried.

“She said her drink tasted funny, and she didn’t have anything else tonight. The drink is the only thing I can think of that would possibly cause her to lose control.”

“But she wasn’t the only pony drinking champagne though.” Rarity pointed out.

“I had a glass with m…me, but I never drank any, and Twilight and S…Sunset were too b…busy having a deb…bate. They didn’t drink any either.” Trixie announced, confirming Rainbow Dash’s account.

“But I still don’t know if the whole bottle is contaminated or if Gilda just poisoned the glass when she got it. If it was the bottle, she may not have known about it.” Rainbow scratched her head perplexed.

“So how do we explain what happened to Pinkie Pie?” Fluttershy posed the question. She motioned her hoof toward Pinkie’s corpse, still shriveled and stagnant.

“That’s where I’m at a loss.” Rainbow Dash admitted. The group was silenced briefly as they thought about Pinkie’s case.

“I don’t know much, but Pinkie told me before she died that she encountered the killer directly.” Twilight announced. The room stood still with unease. Pinkie was the first to interact with their tormentor. She may not be the last.

The uncomfortable silence in the room reflected the collective moods of the survivors. Rainbow hated to be the one to break the hush, but there was more she needed to say.

“I think we need to consult the poem. Somehow the killer seems to know what is going to happen, when it will happen, and who it will happen to. They haven’t been wrong yet. AJ ‘kicked’ the bucket, Lightning Dust went crazy and ‘lost control’ and killed herself, and I think the next line said that somepony would be betrayed by their element.”

“That makes sense now, Pinkie was the element of laughter and the killer filled the container with nitrous oxide.” Twilight gestured toward the metal canisters in the corner of the room.

“Um, Twilight dear, Layman’s terms please?” Rarity asked for clarification.

“It’s l…laughing gas.” Trixie answered before Twilight could get a word out. Twilight only nodded.

Rarity raised a hoof to her mouth, “that is so cruel…”

“Rainbow Dash, do you remember what the next line said?” Twilight probed.

The rainbow maned Pegasus brought her hoof to her muzzle in thought. “Vaguely, I think it said something along the lines of ‘seven little ponies, one liked to play tricks’ which I can assume would be Trixie, Pinkie, or I…”

“I don’t think they were referring to P…Pinkie if that were the c…case. The k…killer already knew she would d…die.” Trixie stammered. “B…but how would they know who w…would be alive at this point?”

“That doesn’t make sense to me either.” Rainbow Dash agreed. “It’s like they planned everything out so meticulously, but there is no way they could have known what would happen.”

“What else did it say?” Fluttershy beckoned Rainbow to continue.

“Um… I’m pretty sure it said somepony would ‘go up in smoke,’ I’m not certain what that means either. Maybe there is going to be a fire somewhere.” Rainbow theorized.

“Okay, I think we should split up in groups and find Gilda and Sunset Shimmer to figure this mystery out once and for all.” Twilight suggested.

“I’ll go and find S…Sunset, I promised I’d c…come right back.” Trixie volunteered.

“As much as I don’t want to go back, I need to know what else Gilda found.” Rainbow loathed the idea, but her curiosity got the better of her.

“Okay, I’ll accompany you to the kitchen. Rarity, Fluttershy, you two can go with Trixie to find Sunset Shimmer. When we find everyone, meet back at the main room with the map so we can settle this once and for all.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you darling, but why are you shivering and stuttering so much?” Rarity questioned Trixie innocently.

“Yeah, you weren’t like that when we were having drinks earlier.” Fluttershy added.

“I…I don’t know for s…sure. I haven’t been able to make it st…stop since Applejack died. Maybe I’m j…j…just scared.” Trixie answered nonchalantly.

“Oh, alright then…” Rarity felt uneasy between Trixie and Fluttershy. She never trusted Trixie to begin with, and Fluttershy hadn’t seemed phased by anything which was so uncharacteristic of her. She had no choice other than to go along with them and find Sunset Shimmer.

“How are you fairing Rainbow?” Twilight interrupted the stillness between them. They had slowed their pace to the kitchen tremendously as Dash’s hoof had continued to cause problems.

“About as well as you could expect Twilight, I appreciate the concern, but my hoof is the last thing on my mind right now.” Rainbow continued to hobble along, ignoring the glaring pain in her leg. With each step, her pain grew worse but she pushed the thought as far back in her mind as she could. She wanted to focus solely on finding Gilda before tragedy struck again.

“You really should take care of that Dash, I know it doesn’t seem like much, but you aren’t safe in your current condition.”

“I’ll deal with it later.”

“There may not be a later if that injury is constantly slowing you down.”

“Twilight, I don’t know if you know this or not, but I have one goal in mind and that is surviving. Yeah the injury sucks, but you forgot to take something else into account.”

“And that would be…?”

“My will to fucking live.” Rainbow kept her head down as she pushed forward. Twilight watched the pegasus walk away, momentarily stopped by her friends drive and determination.

“Perhaps I could learn a thing or two from you Dash.” She mumbled to herself before following her friend to the kitchen.

Sunset Shimmer had sat in the bathroom for much longer than she wanted to. She had no other option than to go out on her own. She was extremely vulnerable in a room with only one exit and an injury.

“Thanks a lot Trixie, prick” Sunset grumbled to herself. She took her leg out of the bath and wrapped it in fresh bandages before using the sink to hoist herself up. She almost collapsed as the pain from her leg reignited. She grit her teeth and pressed on. She exited the bathroom and looked left and right. She didn’t want to risk her leg giving out and suffering a dangerous tumble down the stairs so she turned to her right and began her search.

Gilda had all but driven herself mad scouring for more clues that would identify the killer, but alas there had been nothing to find. Surely she was still missing something, a crucial detail that would crack the case wide open. She believed her best bet was to continue to look around the drinks as she knew the killer must have been there at some point in the evening.

She perused the cabinets above the counter-top; it was the only place she hadn’t yet looked. She went down the line of cabinets, paying very close attention to the contents of each one. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as she noted different spices in one cabinet, baking supplies in another, and a wide assortment of oils in the one above the stove. She opened the last cabinet and found exactly what she was looking for or at least, something not normal for once. The cabinet was entirely empty except for a small jar full of a white powder. The label on the jar had small letters and numbers on it. She squinted to examine the characters on the jar. She could read PbHAsO4

“Not sure what the hell that means, but this is what killed lightning Dust, I’m sure of it.” Gilda reached to grab the jar of what she could only assume was poison to investigate it further.

Trixie, Fluttershy, and Rarity had ascended the staircase and headed for the bathroom. When they arrived Sunset Shimmer was nowhere to be found.

“I told her n…not to leave, where c…could she have gone?” Trixie was annoyed that Sunset couldn’t follow simple instructions.

“Perhaps she went to find the rest of us; I would certainly be frightened being alone with a killer lurking about.” Rarity sympathized with Sunset’s decision.

“I highly d…doubt that, her leg is severely d…damaged.” Trixie added.

“How did she get hurt though?” Fluttershy asked with genuine concern.

“She was coming up the stairs and she triggered a trap. L…long story short, sh…she got an arrow shot through her leg.”

“She couldn’t possibly have made it that far with an injury like that, let’s explore the rest of the upstairs level and find her quickly.” Fluttershy was never one to make an authoritative decision, but now seemed as good a time as ever to finally break out of her shell.

The girls split up in search for the crippled unicorn. Trixie didn’t bother though; she could tell Sunset was a stubborn and sturdy mare. Despite her concerns, she figured the mare would be able to take care of herself. The magician made her way back to the bathroom to see if Sunset had taken anything suspicious, only the bandages appeared to be missing. Trixie then began to rummage under the sink for anything else out of the ordinary.

“Find anything?” A voice came from behind Trixie as a mare stood in the doorway. Trixie, already anxious, jumped in surprise and slammed the back of her head hard into the bottom of the sink. She rolled onto her back, grabbing her head in pain. Her ears rang and her vision went fuzzy before coming into focus on a visibly upset Sunset Shimmer.

“Where have you been? We’ve been looking all over for you?” Trixie growled through a grimace, her head still throbbing.

“I went looking for you of course and give you a piece of my mind. You can’t just leave me like that with a murderer running around. There was no way I could possibly defend myself.”

“You’re right, I apologize. I was so caught up in Pinkie’s death. I went downstairs to look for the others and found everypony gathered around Pinkie’s corpse.”

“Hm, anyone else dead?” Sunset wondered

“Lightning Dust killed herself according to Rainbow Dash. Other than that, I believe everyone else is still alive. So now that means there are seven of us.”

“Okay, did you come by yourself?”

“No, Rarity and Fluttershy accompanied me and they should be around the upstairs area. We split up to find you, we should go look for them now.” Trixie got to her hooves with Sunset’s help as both mares hobbled out of the bathroom and into the halls of the upstairs level.

“How much closer to the kitchen are we Twi? Your house is massive and my hoof is getting numb.” Rainbow grew restless with impatience.

“Calm down Dash, the kitchen is just around the corner of the hall to the left. I want to get a good look at that poem when we get there. I’m usually pretty good at riddles and puzzles, maybe I can figure out who’s…”

“Shh!” Rainbow abruptly interrupted Twilight. “Do you hear that?” Both mares remained silent as they listened for the noise together.

“That’s somepony screaming!”

Gilda was struggling to maintain the fire that had erupted before her. When she pulled the jar out of the cabinet, she failed to notice the translucent chord of fly-wire wrapped around the neck of the glass. She had followed the path of the string to an unknown location before the burner next to her had ignited. When she went to turn it off, another jar had fallen from a makeshift hole in the cabinet above. The jar shattered on the flame and fire erupted before her, lapping at her face.

Now she stood panicked at the rapidly growing flame before her, unsure of how to extinguish the blaze. She reached for a nearby pot and quickly filled it to the brim with water. She chucked the water onto the inferno.

At that moment, the entire kitchen erupted in flames as tendrils of red hot fury engulfed Gilda and her surroundings. Her skin and eyes burned beyond comprehension as more flame began to swallow her up.

The searing pain of the flames that crawled over her skin felt akin to dragging a thousand razor blades along her flesh. The fire had reached her face and eyes; she could feel the fluids in her eyes beginning to boil as her vision faded to black. She was now completely immersed in fire.

Her skin crawled as it blistered and boiled, bubbling up before bursting with blood and puss. Her feathers had been burned off, exposing only her sensitive skin to the overwhelming fire. She writhed and screamed in torment, clawing at her face. Her skin peeled off beneath her claws causing blood to spill down her chest before boiling over revealing the bones in her face. The rest of her body began to char as Gilda’s world went black. Each passing moment resulted in pain even more unbearable than the last.

The billowing smoke burned her lungs as she desperately gasped for any amount of air. She coughed and hacked up blood before shriveling down to the floor, continuing to burn and char. Her screams had long since faded into nothingness behind the roar of the flame.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash stared in horror at what they had seen. The smell of roasting flesh was so repulsive and revolting, Rainbow had to hold back from regurgitating. Twilight fainted as Rainbow turned and ran from the scene. She knew it had been a terrible idea to come back.

The roaring and crackling flames slowly engulfed the kitchen, consuming the corpses of both Lightning Dust and Applejack. Twilight eventually came to as she felt the presence of another pony hoisting her onto their back.

Seven little ponies

One liked to play tricks

One went up in smoke and then there were

Six

Author's Note

Business is really starting to pick up! I hope you guys are catching on to the little details littered throughout the story and not just the poem. Both should be used in tandem to decipher the true mystery.

I've also decided that I will add a walkthrough of the whole story at the end. Yes the killer will have their evil villain monologue when they explain how they did it, but I will go through every little detail you may or may not have missed while reading.

As always, Happy Sleuthing!

And Then There Were Six

Despite their gumption, Trixie and Sunset Shimmer hadn’t made it very far in their investigation. Sunset was still heavily hindered by the injury she had sustained. Trixie had also developed quite the severe headache after slamming her skull into the underside of the bathroom sink. Neither mare let their circumstances deter them from regrouping with the others. Teaming up was not a sentiment Sunset enjoyed, but in her current state, it was her only option.

Every door they had opened in the upstairs corridor led to nothing substantial. The only door that remained belonged to Twilight’s bedroom. Nopony occupied the room, but the stature of the door held an eerie and ominous air about it. The whole vicinity had been unsettling to both mares, to the point where the fur on the back of Sunset’s neck stood on end in apprehension.

“Well, are you going in or not?” Trixie broke Sunset out her haze.

“I’m not so sure, I just don’t have a good feeling about this room. Paranoid or not, I’ll let you handle this one. Just let me know what you find in there.” Sunset’s reluctance struck Trixie as surprising. She seemed to be the most level-headed individual, lacking in fear or restraint. Trixie couldn’t help but speculate the development of her ally’s new demeanor.

“Just think for a moment Sunset,” Trixie tried to rationalize her approach. “If Twilight is behind all of this, then surely there will be something in her room to incriminate her right?”

“Or exonerate her, only leaving us with more questions.” Sunset countered.

“Maybe so, but I can’t see how it isn’t her. She knows this place better than anypony, and she invited all of us here under one roof. Call it a little on the snout, but nopony else would be capable of all this in such a short span of time. Nopony could have been here to set everything up, nopony could plan ‘sequential’ murders without knowing who would show up, it’s just not possible Sunset. Don’t give her the benefit of the doubt. Look, I don’t even know what to believe anymore, and quite frankly I just want to get out of here alive.”

Sunset couldn’t refute anything Trixie was saying, it all seemed to make such perfect sense when chalked up to the basic information, but something still didn’t sit right. All the while Trixie was speaking, Sunset noticed another glaring oddity.

“Hey Trixie, what happened to your stutter, it’s gone completely?”

Trixie was caught off guard by the off-topic question, but now that it had been brought to her attention, she became aware of her restored speech. Trixie had stopped paying attention to her stammering articulations, but now that she was cognizant of her dialogue, she found it strange yet relieving.

“Good observation, maybe banging my head fixed me right up,” Trixie hid her concern behind a half-hearted chuckle as she slowly opened the door to Twilight’s quarters. “Either way, it was getting quite annoying…” Amid her distracted banter, Trixie hadn’t seen the thin wire suspended a few inches above the floor she had stepped on. The door behind them shut instantly before the room began to fill with a sweetly scented gas.

“Oh fuck…” Sunset mumbled as she became light headed before collapsing next to Trixie.

Twilight’s vision cut in and out and she couldn’t make out her surroundings, but she did have the wherewithal to know that she had been hoisted onto the back of somepony. She vaguely remembered being picked up and carried for a bit before slipping out of consciousness again. Her throat ached to speak out to her carrier, but the smoke she inhaled left her croaking for words.

In that moment, she wasn’t sure what to feel. Was this pony the killer, whisking her away to a secret location to end her life, or an innocuous passerby concerned for her safety? She didn’t see where Rainbow Dash had run off to before passing out.

“Dash?” Twilight moaned almost inaudibly.

The pony underneath her didn’t respond to her, perhaps they hadn’t heard her meager and weak voice.

“Who are you? Where are you taking me?” Her carrier stopped in their tracks but did not acknowledge Twilight’s inquiries. She could feel the labored breathing and racing heartbeat of her transport, perhaps they were nervous about being caught, how long had they been carrying Twilight? Her ride continued to make their way down the corridor as they had done before, still anonymous to the lethargic Twilight.

Though not mentally present enough to deduce a positive identity, Twilight was able to muster up enough common sense to make an educated guess. She noticed the pattern in the way this pony walked, steady, albeit labored, but otherwise unimpeded by a limp or injury. She knew the extent of Rainbow Dash’s injury, so she ruled out the Pegasus. She’d also surmised that it couldn’t be Sunset Shimmer according to Trixie’s account that she had been injured. She knew Fluttershy would be much too weak to carry Twilight’s full weight at all, let alone for an extended period of time, even with a surplus of adrenaline. That left only Rarity and Trixie, but why?

Twilight finally regained feeling in her body and was able to make small movements, wriggling slightly until she plopped painfully onto the floor. Though her body was lacking any significant amount of energy, she mustered up the strength purely through instinct alone to crawl her way in the opposite direction, attempting to put as much distance between herself and her abductor. She thought her efforts to be futile knowing surely she would be recaptured in a matter of moments, but when she turned to see if she was being pursued, the pony had gone. Twilight felt a surge of relief ripple through her body as she struggled to her hooves. She knew she needed to go back to the kitchen. Despite everything that had already transpired there, she knew she needed to go back and thoroughly investigate everything for herself.

“Rarity! Rarity please answer me! Where are you?!” Fluttershy beckoned in a panicked flurry. She had lost sight of the unicorn in their search efforts. She mentally reprimanded herself for being so aloof as to not notice her friend’s disappearance. She had investigated every room in her appointed section of the upstairs corridor with no luck.

Her mounting anxiety escalated with each step she took. Despite the echoey nature of Twilight’s castle, all was silent save for her own hoofsteps. Dejected and with no other plan, she turned around and headed back to the bathroom, the last place she had seen anypony, and hoped for somepony to be there.

Rainbow Dash had become uncharacteristically short of breath after having run away from the fire. She cursed herself for selfishly leaving Twilight behind in her fear.

Her leg throbbed with renewed pain once she stopped and had time to think about her situation. Even though she had removed the shard of glass that had been lodged in her hoof, the incision it made had been wide and surprisingly deep. During her sprint, she had agitated the wound once more and it started to bleed profusely; leaving bloody tracks along the floor.

“Fuck, maybe Twi was right,” Dash grumbled to herself. “I need to clean this out.” Rainbow Dash didn’t know where the downstairs bathroom was located but she vaguely remembered everyone talking about the upstairs bathroom at the top of the staircase, so she chose to go there instead.

“I’m getting real tired of this shit.”

Twilight had recovered enough to stand and walk back to the kitchen. The fire and smoke had cleared from the room suspiciously quick and hadn’t appeared to spread outside to any extent. She paid no mind to that and continued her investigation.

The kitchen reeked of burning fur, flesh and blood. She fought the urge to regurgitate and swallowed heavily. She glanced over to the wall where the poem had been hung. It hadn’t been damaged too much by the fire and was still readable. She looked over the poster several times, analyzing it thoroughly.

“Okay,” she began aloud. “So, Gilda went up in smoke, that much is obvious, which means there are only six of us left. Myself, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Trixie, and Sunset Shimmer. I haven’t seen anyone in a while so that may have changed, but for now I will assume everypony is still alive. How could the killer possibly know all of this ahead of time? They’ve been correct every time thus far, unless they can somehow see into the future which would mean only someone capable of magic would be the killer, but that also doesn’t make sense considering nopony has been able to use their magic since this ordeal started. So that puts me back at square one. Think Twilight think, okay I’ll leave the killer mystery behind and focus on the next immediate question, who is being targeted next? Perhaps if I stay in here, I can avoid being killed ‘on the run’, or maybe I could ‘give too much’ by revealing any information I find, oh but then maybe I’ll be killed ‘without a sound’ by not sharing any information… oh this is all so perplexing…”

“You think too much.” Twilight was startled by the familiar voice behind her. She spun around to see who had joined her in the kitchen but was met with a sinister smile and a hoof to the side of her head. Another hoof connected with her face, knocking her to the ground in a daze. Her vision blurred over like before as she felt blood drip from her snout and into her mouth. She spit out what she believed to be a tooth before attempting to erect herself. Her assailant stamped her head into the floor with an audible thump, knocking Twilight nearly unconscious. Twilight could hear her attacker open a door in the distance before being dragged by her mane in the same direction. Twilight could feel her head being shoved into something cold and frigid followed by what felt like a door resting firmly on her neck. Twilight concluded that her head had been stuffed into her refrigerator, though it was too late to do anything about it as her attacker reared their hind legs and bucked at the door with maximum force. Twilight felt her esophagus collapse under the immense pressure of the impact, rendering her unable to scream for help. The killer giggled with glee as they repeatedly bucked at the door again and again until they could hear Twilight’s neck snap under the force. Twilight’s body twitched for a final time before going limp.

The killer, not entirely satisfied, gave one last hardy kick to the door. Twilight’s lifeless body slumped out of the refrigerator, her exposed arteries gushing blood. The killer carefully opened the refrigerator door, cautious to avoid any blood and retrieved Twilight’s decapitated head, noting their victim’s final expression was one of agony and fear.

They chucked her head across the floor, it rumbled softly as it rolled to a stop by Lightning Dust’s charred corpse, more blood flinging about. Twilight’s blood had finally stopped flowing and pooled around the dead mare. The smell of copper wafting about the kitchen reached the killer’s snout as they grinned with sick complacency.

“Time to clean up.”

Six little ponies

Still trying to survive

One lost their mind

And then

There were

Five

And Then There Were Five... and Four

Rarity woke from her stupor extremely groggy. She had very little memory of the last several minutes. She vaguely remembered investigating one of the guest bedrooms upstairs before blacking out and waking up here, strapped to a cold, metal table. She couldn’t even make out the room around her as it was consumed by pitch black darkness. Her legs felt numb and tingly, as if being constricted by some sort of vice. Everything about her predicament was uncomfortable.

Panic settled in as she realized all too late what this meant. Her dread was only vindicated by the sound of a door opening behind her. Rarity writhed and screamed to no avail before calming herself down. She refused to believe this was the end, but the pony entering the room made no effort to save her. Methodical hoofsteps could be heard bouncing around the empty room ominously. Rarity shivered uncontrollably due to the icy cold restraints and her immeasurable fear.

Rarity was unable to move her head to see the pony in the room with her as her head was held stationary by a metal strap across her forehead.

The mysterious pony’s hoofsteps became louder until they came to a stop behind the jittery mare. They made their way around to the side of the table and propped their hooves up onto it, gazing over Rarity’s writhing figure. Rarity, only able to look straight up, still could not identify her captor. Rarity heard a faint giggle before they hopped down and proceeded to the back corner of the room. The sound of squeaking wheels overwhelmed Rarity as she began to weep openly, screaming for mercy. The figure reemerged from the corner, wheeling a cart with a strange contraption sat upon it.

Flexible plastic tubes protruded from the device and were connected to two rather large syringes. Beneath the cart was a large acrylic container, similar to that of an aquarium fish tank. The cart came to a halt only inches away from the table as Rarity awaited her inevitable fate, but the hoofsteps went away. The door behind her opened and closed once more, leaving Rarity alone to writhe in desperation. Her efforts only bruised her legs further.

“Fuck.” Rarity, sighed then wept for what felt like hours before finally closing her eyes in defeat. “I quit.”

Fluttershy proceeded with caution along the upstairs corridor. She was completely isolated and hadn’t seen nor heard anypony for quite some time. This was far past the point of unsettling.

At last, she finally reached her destination. The bathroom door had been left ajar with no sign of anypony having been back here. The frail Pegasus fell to her haunches in defeat

“I just want to go home…” She whimpered, hardly above a whisper.

Before she could register what was happening, she felt her mane being wrapped around her mouth and throat as she was forcefully hoisted into the air and toward the bathtub, full of bloody water. Her head was plunged beneath the surface, water spilling out over the floor and out into the hall.

Fluttershy couldn’t scream for help, only thrash about in a desperate effort to save herself, but it was no use, she was too weak to ward off her attacker. She took in mouthful after mouthful of the coppery water, her vision fading and her body growing numb. With one last twitch, her body gave up.

Her killer stepped back, surveying their work with a giggle of malicious satisfaction.

Five little ponies

With murder galore

One killed without a sound

And then

There were

Four

Rarity pried her eyes open once again. They had been glued shut by her dried tears. The familiar sound of the door and hoofsteps behind her signaled the return of her captor, still silent.

They approached their cart and picked up one of the syringes, examining it before bringing it to one of Rarity’s forelegs. Rarity squirmed and thrashed about, but it was no use. The needle made its way into her vein, now plump and throbbing due to the tourniquet like restraints.

Her dark red blood flowed freely down the tube and into the acrylic tank below. The killer grabbed the other syringe and repeated the process on Rarity’s other foreleg.

Rarity could only lay there, helpless, as the life was literally drained out of her. Her body felt cold, inside and out, tingling with numbness as her outer extremities lost all feeling entirely. Her heart began to pump harder and faster to compensate for the lack of blood being pumped to her limbs, but this only hastened her death. Her breath became shaky and her vision blurred into nothing before finally blacking out entirely. Rarity never came to again.

Four little ponies

Yearning to be free

One gave too much

And then

There were

Three

And Then There Was One

Sunset Shimmer finally regained consciousness as the gas in the room dissipated. She could breathe normally again. She pulled her fatigued body to the still unconscious Trixie and roused her awake.

“Trixie, wake up, we need to get out of here.” Sunset pleaded, nudging the showmare’s body with her head. Trixie remained still, seemingly lifeless. Sunset was reassured by the slow rise and fall of Trixie’s body, indicating that she was still alive. She appeared to still be under the gas’ lingering effects as she mumbled to life incoherently.

Sunset hoisted Trixie onto her shoulders and limped out of Twilight’s bedroom, despite the immense pain in her leg still present from her injury.

Rainbow Dash trudged up the stairs as best she could, wincing at every step. She passed an umbrella on her way up the stairs. It was speckled with blood. She found it strange but pushed the thought out of her mind. Her priority was cleaning her leg and finding her friends. Though, she wasn’t even sure how many of her friends were still alive, or if anypony was still alive at all. She eventually reached the zenith of the staircase and hobbled to the already lit bathroom.

Trixie became too heavy a load to carry on Sunset’s leg, so she set the magician on the floor and began to drag her by her cape.

Sunset Shimmer wasn’t even entirely sure where she was going or why she had been roped into looking after the comatose mare anyway. She just wanted to leave.

Rainbow Dash approached the bathroom, taking note of the water puddled outside the entrance, and walked in. She froze in terror, jaw agape at the site of Fluttershy’s lifeless corpse draped over the edge of the tub. It was clear she had met a watery demise.

Dash felt sick again as she backed out of the bathroom slowly.

Sunset Shimmer felt her legs beginning to tighten with exhaustion as she fought for breath through a mouthful of Trixie’s cape. She didn’t know how much longer she could keep pulling Trixie, she had yet to come to.

Trixie was left in her own thoughts; her world went blurry and everything sounded distorted and distant. Her head throbbed with every beat of her heart. The feeling was akin to being pounded in the back the skull by a hammer. It was unbearable.

She could tell that she was being dragged across the floor by somepony. She could barely make out the sun-kissed mare moving her along, she knew it was Sunset Shimmer.

“No, not this time, I won’t let you kill me, not when I’m this close.” Trixie mumbled beneath her breath.

Sunset Shimmer could faintly hear Trixie trying to speak behind her. She didn’t catch what she had said but didn’t bother asking her to repeat herself, it was likely just nonsense.

Rainbow Dash continued to back away cautiously from the bathroom door until she bumped into an unknown figure behind her. She tripped over it and stumbled to the wet floor. She shook herself off and looked for what had tripped her up.

Her eyes met the lifeless form of Trixie being carried across the floor by Sunset Shimmer. Rainbow’s eyes widened in shock.

“It’s you!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she ran, not wanting to look back.

“Wait! It’s not what it looks like!” Sunset confessed. She spit out Trixie’s cape and ran after the frightened Pegasus.

Rainbow Dash ran despite the immense pain shooting up her leg. Sunset felt the all too similar pain.

Rainbow reached the staircase and haphazardly descended the steps in a painful flurry. As she hobbled down, her hoof stepped on something that wasn’t a step. Her leg buckled as she began tumbling down, catching sight of the umbrella she had disregarded earlier bouncing its way down with her.

“Oh fuck!” Dash grimaced through clenched teeth.

Sunset Shimmer halted at the top of the steps; watching in horror as Rainbow Dash plummeted down the steps like a rag-doll. Time seemed to slow down in that moment as the umbrella reached the bottom first with the pointed metal tip facing upward.

Rainbow’s screams were silenced as the tip pierced her throat. She choked and spasmed; blood spraying from her neck. Watching the Pegasus struggle to figure out what was happening to her made Sunset’s stomach churn with horror and grief.

As the last vestiges of life left Rainbow’s body, Sunset Shimmer made another stark realization.

“Wait… that means…” Sunset slowly turned to see the malevolent smirk painted across the face of the heaving mare behind her, blood-lust emblazoned in her gaze.

“Three little ponies, one died on the run.” Trixie giggled menacingly through gritted teeth, eyes wide with rage. Sunset faltered backward and fell to the ground in shock.

“It’s… you…”

“Bingo!” Trixie exclaimed. “I’m the killer Sunset, it only took you so long to figure it all out.” Trixie mocked the fallen mare’s ignorance.

“But, why? I don’t understand.” Sunset asked, tears pooling in her eyes.

“Think of it like one giant, show stealing magic trick where I make nine ponies disappear… forever!”

“But… but I still don’t understand, how? How did you know? How could you have known? It’s not possible!”

“Guess you’re a lot dumber than I thought Shimmer. Since you have nowhere to run this time, I may as well monologue for a bit.” Trixie cleared her throat and began.

“Twilight invited me to the reconciliation banquet, so I devised a flawless plan to exact my revenge on her and her pathetic friends for humiliating me all those years ago. It’s just unfortunate that you, Gilda and Lightning Dust had to be roped into such an affair, but of course there was no way I could leave any witnesses, you understand. And I used the convenience of Twilight’s abode to throw the blame to her once this was all said and done. I did point all of that out to you before we went into her room, didn’t I?” Trixie scoffed with cocky fervor.

Sunset thought back to what Trixie had said.

“She knows this place better than anypony, and she invited all of us here under one roof. Call it a little on the snout, but nopony else would be capable of all this in such a short span of time. Nopony could have been here to set everything up, nopony could plan ‘sequential’ murders without knowing who would show up, it’s just not possible Sunset.”

“Once all those pieces fell into place, the real plan could begin. I rigged Twilight’s projector with my tape and an explosive, then cut the lights which simultaneously activated a temporary barrier around the castle preventing all unicorns from using magic for a short period of time. It was quite a gamble hoping nopony would try using magic again until my plan was finished. And I’ll admit it was a bit clumsy of me to drop my champagne glass when putting my little poem up, which I wrote myself might I add, but I took Lightning’s glass and refilled it quickly, placed it where I sat, and acted surprised when the lights came back on. And of course, I was quick to throw the blame off myself.”

“Well, then who’s drink is missing?”

“M…mine and Sunset’s glasses are s…still accounted for.”

“That’s all it took to clear my name and turn everyone against one another. After that, everypony began to pick themselves off according to plan, making it harder for you to unveil my identity. Oh, and all that stuttering, well it certainly wasn’t out of fear, I was just so excited that everything was going to fall perfectly into place this time.”

“What do you mean by ‘this time’?” Sunset asked, perplexed.

“Shush up, I will get to that soon enough. And of course I was going to say it was from stress and anxiety, I had to cover up my emotions somehow. As if I, the Great and Powerful Trixie would ever get ‘stage fright’ during a performance.”

“But you breathed in the same gas I did when we got knocked out…”

“Such a noisy audience you are, just shut up and let me finish!” Trixie asserted, stumbling slightly as she did so. Sunset noticed this brief falter.

“You see this lovely cape here?” Trixie twirled less than gracefully before shaking her head, letting the garment flutter behind her. “It works great as a makeshift gas mask. So while you were incapacitated, I was able to pick off the rest of tonight’s guests with ease. After I finished tidying up, I came back to the room just in time for you to wake up and ‘save’ me.” Sunset Shimmer started to notice a slight slur in Trixie’s speech and decided to keep her talking.

“B…but, how could you have predicted everything so accurately? How were you able to set everything up?” Sunset pried, with faux desperation.

“Fine, if you must know. Once I caught word that Twilight Sparkle had discovered time travel, I studied assiduously to master the skill. Once that was learned, it was just a matter of trial and error, fixing my mistakes, changing the order, until I finally… got it right.” Sunset needed to capitalize on Trixie’s noticeable decline in awareness. She just had to stall a bit longer.

“But your poem?!” Sunset blurted out.

“Hm? What about my poem?”

“It’s not finished yet. You specifically wrote that the killer would be killed…”

“And you will be!” Trixie cut the unicorn off aggressively. “Every! Single! Time! Every time I made it this far, every time I thought I had it right, it was you! You were the one to always figure me out! You were the one who always caught me in the act! You were the one who ‘killed’ my chances at success, time and time again! But now?! Now I will be the one to kill you!” Trixie began to sway, her eyes lidded as if she were a drunkard.

“This is it!” Sunset Shimmer thought to herself. “But if I caused you such a problem, why not get me first?”

“Because Sunset, I couldn’t, I never found an opening. But then, if I had, this moment… right now, wouldn’t taste as sweet. Just face it, I won, I have finally won…” Trixie could feel the pressure building in the back of her head, throbbing with pain, but it didn’t matter now. She was going to kill Sunset Shimmer. “You can’t possibly stop me now… not when I’m this… close.”

Trixie began to stumble and sway, nearly losing her balance entirely. The pain in the back of her head was becoming a nuisance in her shining moment. Sunset noticed the color beginning to fade from the magician’s face.

“I… will… win…” Trixie collapsed to the floor suddenly. She lay limp across from Sunset Shimmer.

The lone survivor picked herself up and limped over to the killer, checking for a pulse. There was nothing. Trixie was dead.

The killer was killed

“Your pride was always going to be the end of you. You just couldn’t help yourself, always trying to put on a show, no matter what. But this is the final act Trixie. You lose.”

And then…

Sunset Shimmer walked the halls of the castle, grief in her heart. What would she do now?

She approached the front door and, using her magic, forced it open, light cascading into the foyer as the sun rose over the horizon.

The warmth felt good on her skin. She held back tears and fought the urge to break down and cry. Instead, she wiped her brow and looked toward her new future.

She was finally free.

She had won.

There was one