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.