Ten Little Ponies

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