Chapters Firefly's suitcase was empty, and she had completely finished unpacking. Surprisingly, she had a talent for unpacking quickly, as she really wanted to go out and meet new fillies. Her family has moved towns three times now, and feeling homesick was but a distant memory. Firefly hopped down the stairs from her bedroom to meet up with her mom and dad, just putting on the finishing touches in the kitchen.
"The living room and the kitchen is done." Nightlight sighed, swiping sweat off of his head, but keeping a sturdy expression.
"Yes," StitchedHeart replied. "What now?" Firefly's face glowed.
"Ma, can I go out an' play with other fillies, please?" The young filly cheered. Stitched turned and glared at her daughter, looking at her up and down.
"Fine." She finally said, fixing up her mane. Firefly jumped, and ran towards the door, only to be stopped by Nightlight. He cleaned her cheek from earlier breakfast, and then moved out of her way. She then barged through the door and charged through Ponyville.
"Nightlight." StitchedHeart began, staring out the window. "What do you think? Do these ponies look good enough?"
"Yes." He said, proudly. "These ponies will do fine for our experiments." Stitched nodded.
"Then, I will find a beautiful pony. One that fits the picture for our daughter."
Walking through the streets of Ponyville, StitchedHeart looked left and right, examining each pony and observing mainly their coats, eyes and manes. She made a few mental notes, jotting down who is more prettier than the rest. Suddenly, she stopped in place, looking dead forward at the Everfree Forest. Frowning, she turned around, but not before drawing her attention to a mossy cottage. Tilting her head a little, she slowly walked towards the house and then peered through the window. She saw a yellow and pink pony tendering to some injured animals. All Stitched could think about was the pony's beautiful mane. She bet her coat feels so soft. Looking left and right, she darted away from the house, in hopes nopony saw her.
The door knob glowed a light purple. Nightlight knew Stitched had returned. She opened the crooked door and slammed it shut when she had stepped inside.
"Well?" Nightlight asked. "Found somepony?"
"Yes!" StitchedHeart squeaked. She seemed happier then she ever was. "She has an amazing mane, and I bet it feels SO soft!"
Nightlight chuckled. "Don't get ahead of yourself. We don't want you to mess up."
"If I remember correctly, her name is Fluttershy." Stitched told him. "I found a book in the Canterlot Library with everypony's name and address in Ponyville." Shoving a book in the blue pony's face, she proceeded to gently put down the clipboard. "How about you?" She asked. "Have you set up the basement?"
Nightlight nodded in response. "Set up with all of our equipment and machinery. It is ready for our first creation."
StitchedHeart almost squeaked. Clapping her hooves together, she imagined all of the stuffed pony teddies she could make for her daughter.
"Firefly will love it!" She announced. Within thirty seconds, she wiped the smile from her face and gave her husband a concerned look. "So," She muttered. "When do you think we should tell her?"
Nightlight looked up, worry on his face. Putting his hoof around her, he spoke softly. "Soon, dear. Soon."
Three hours later, Firefly carefully opened the door her house door, and poked her head through the slot she made.
"Ma? Pa?" She whispered. Surprisingly, Nightlight heard her call, and turned to see his daughter waiting at the door.
"Yes?" He called back. "What's wrong?"
"Um..." Firefly said. "I-Is it all right if I... Bring around a friend..?" She looked up and saw the angry look on her father's face, and stepped back a little. "I-If that's okay..?"
Nightlight sighed. "Go ahead."
Firefly flung the door open, and there stood a yellow and red filly. StitchedHeart just so happened to walk through the kitchen door, and saw the filly entering her house. She stood like a statue, gazing at the little filly's mane and coat.
She took down a mental note, and proceeded to ask, "Who's your friend, Firefly?". Firefly looked at her mother slowly.
"Applebloom." Firefly responded. "I met her near the town hall." She continued to walk towards her room with her new friend.
"She can come over whenever she likes." Stitched said, winking at her husband.
"R-Really?!" The young filly responded. Her face beamed at Applebloom.
"Thanks, y'all." Applebloom said, following Firefly to her room.
Once the two fillies had locked themselves in the bedroom upstairs, Stitched jumped at Nightlight.
"Her mane! Her mane!" She whispered. "It's perfect!"
"All right, calm down." Night muttered. "Don't get a head of yourself. We still have a lot of planning to do." Stitched nodded in agreement, then proceeded to levitate the clipboard that she set on the coffee table.
"I'll get to it, then." She steadily pressed a button that was hidden underneath a table that opened up the basement door. Once she had trotted in, she pressed another button that closed it.
In the basement was a surgical table with chains on it, and a long dining table scattered neatly with surgical equipment and toy-making materials, along with a book filled with spells such as weakening spells and transformation spells. On the wall was a board. She ripped a piece of paper from the clipboard with both Fluttershy's and Applebloom's name on it, and stuck it to the board. She had a lot of planning to do.
Chapter 2 - The Apple Filly
StitchedHeart came out of the basement with Nightlight and they both quickly closed the hidden basement door, in hopes that their little filly wouldn't come down and see it. Having everything planned, Nightlight trotted off to the Apple family farm.
Seeing the little filly Applebloom, Nightlight approached with caution, looking left and right hoping that no other pony was around. Looks like he caught her on a good day.
"Good evening, Applebloom." Nightlight greeted the filly. "How are you on this fine day?"
"I'm fine." Applebloom smiled. "What're y'all doin' here?" Nightlight grinned at Applebloom.
"Looking for you, actually." He said. "Firefly would like you to come over for some tea."
Applebloom had been friends with Firefly for only 3 days, but she was delighted to know that she wanted to hang out even more.
"I would love to!" She cheered.
Nightlight smiled softly and led the young filly to his house. Opening the door, Stitched gazed at the filly and got excited.
"Good evening, Applebloom!" StitchedHeart cheered. "Came for tea?"
"Yes," Applebloom said, looking around. "Where's Firefly?"
"I sent her out to get me something." Stitched replied. "She shouldn't be long. How about some tea while we wait?"
"I would like that." Applebloom responded, sitting on the dining room chair.
Nightlight went into the kitchen to prepare the tea whilst StitchedHeart kept Applebloom company. He grabbed three cups and a teapot, and prepared the tea. Afterwards, he opened the cupboard and accessed a secret compartment filled with dangerous herbs. He grabbed one jar entitled 'Sleeping Herbs' and then grabbed a herb and crushed it into one of the teacups, then stirred it in. Putting the jar back and closing the cupboard, Nightlight walked back into the living room carrying a tray with the three teacups on it, and placed the poisoned teacup next to Applebloom, then gave the other two cups of tea to himself and his wife.
Sipping the tea, Applebloom's face lit up. "Delish!" She grinned. "It tastes lovely, sir, thank you!"
Nightlight drank some of his own tea and set it down carefully. "So, Applebloom," He muttered. "How are you feeling?"
By now, the herb Applebloom drank would've been in her system. "Um..." She wheezed. "A little... Sleepy."
"That's possibly because the herbs worked quicker than I imagined." Nightlight sipped his tea some more.
"Huh..? Did you say... Herbs...?" But by the time she could finish her sentence, Applebloom flopped to the floor.
"Aw..." Stitched cooed. "She looks adorable when she's asleep."
Opening her eyes, Applebloom could see nothing but black. She was lying on her back, and when she tried to move, she found herself as stiff as a board.
"What in tar nation?!" She called. "Hello!? Is any-pony there!?" However, to no avail, nobody heard her. Struggling to move her head, she tried to look around the blackened room she was in. "I... I don't like this!" She yelled in her country accent. "Please, if this is a joke, it isn't funny, okay!?" Sadly, her call was only answered to a chuckle in the darkness. And then, silence. "H-Hello..?" Applebloom broke the silence. "I-Is any-pony...?"
"Morning, Applebloom!" The figure called out from the corner of the darkened room. She recognized the voice.
"StitchedHeart?" She whispered. "Oh thank Celestia! You've came to save me!"
The pink mare laughed. "'Save'? More like... Torture." She laughed even more, then cleared her throat. Another voice accompanied her.
"You love to cut to the chase, don't you, dear?" The male voice muttered. Applebloom recognized that voice, too.
"Nightlight?" Applebloom panicked. "What do y'all mean, 'torture'!? What in the hay is going on!?"
Stitched chuckled as Applebloom tried to slip out of the shackles.
"Oh, dear, you're SO confused, aren't you?" She smiled softly and turned on the lights to help the filly realise what is going to happen to her.
Applebloom looked at herself, seeing she was pinned down by leather shackles. She then turned her attention to a long table in the room. It was filled with tools, equipment and machinery, all set up neatly as if it was for a party. On the other side of the room were boxes with towels on the top of them, soaked in blood. Applebloom then directed her attention to the two ponies standing near an iron door. It was Nightlight and StitchedHeart.
"I don't understand..." Applebloom whimpered. "What're you gonna do to me..?" Stitched smiled softly and walked up to the crying filly.
"I'll show you if you want, Applebloom... But it isn't pleasant."
Purple magic surrounded one of the bloodied boxes as it was lifted into the air. Setting it next to her, the pink mare pulled out a filly-sized plushie, big enough to be someone's teddy bear. Applebloom inspected the toy closely, and then realised that it looked exactly like a stallion from Manehattan. Immediately, she saw blood stains on the teddy pony.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Stitched cheered. "The coat was so soft, and the mane was like cotton candy!"
"So this is what you do?" Applebloom snapped. "Y'all turn innocent ponies into gosh darn cuddle toys!?" Stitched looked at the filly strapped down before her in surprise.
"Well," She began. "They aren't for us, are they, honey?" Turning her attention to Nightlight, he nodded gently.
"No, we don't use them." He agreed. "We give them to our daughter." Applebloom's eyes widened.
"D-Does she know..." Applebloom whispered.
"Know what, dear?" Nightlight asked.
"Does she know what y'all're doing..?" Applebloom responded, hoping that she doesn't. Yes, it's bad that Firefly has teddies made out of real life ponies, but all she hoped was that her new friend did not know what they're made out of, or what her parents do, for her own sake.
"Oh, no, dear." Stitched laughed. Applebloom let out a sigh of relief.
"Although, we've been meaning to tell her..." Nightlight continued. "We think that her cutiemark might have something to do with these types of things. However, right now all she knows is that we make teddy bears."
A tear trickled down Applebloom's cheek. The fact that these two maniacs are going to turn her into a stuffed toy didn't exactly make her happy. "P-Please..." She begged. "D-Don't hurt me..."
StitchedHeart laughed until her chest started to burn up. Wiping a tear from her face, she looked down at the crying filly.
"Oh, don't worry, this'll only hurt A LOT." She laughed again, and then picked up a permanent marker from the table. The mare walked to Applebloom's side, and drew a perfect circle around her cutiemark.
"When I first saw your cutiemark, I got jealous." She admitted. "And I've always wondered what it looked like on a teddy." Going to the other side of the filly, she drew another circle around the other cutiemark. "If you behave, sweetie, we'll go gentle, and possibly end your misery faster." Setting the marker on the table, she turned to look at the filly. Applebloom was shocked and scared out of her mind. All she could do was sit, watch and listen as StitchedHeart gave a scalpel to her husband.
"I'm not the type of pony to get messy," Stitched went on. "So Nightlight does all of the dirty stuff. I only stitch and prepare. It's how I got my cutiemark." Nightlight took hold of the scalpel and went to the right side of Applebloom.
"This'll only hurt a lot, okay?" He said, before digging the tool straight into Applebloom's flank. She screeched in pain, begging and pleading for her life. Nightlight, blocking out the screams, started cutting around her cutiemark, until finally it became loose enough to rip out. Nightlight tugged on the loose cutiemark hanging on to Applebloom's body, and ripped it from her flank. The young filly yelped, tugging at the things that were keeping her down, in hopes that it'll loosen up so she could escape. She could feel the blood leaking out of her.
The pain died down, and so did Applebloom's screams. She was panting, drool rolling down her chin. She was still concious, which surprised her the most. Looking up at the two ponies, she saw that Nightlight was now on her left side, steadying the scalpel so it would hit the point where the black marker was.
"P-Please..." Applebloom panted. "L-Let me g-go..."
Stitched looked at her, and she felt a little sorry for the filly, so she trotted to the young one's side. Stitched started stroking Applebloom's mane. "It's going to be all right, Applebloom." She whispered. "You're going to be all right! Just imagine how happy Firefly will be when she sees a teddy of you!"
"But she'll get suspicious!" Applebloom wheezed. "She'll know something's happened when she realises I've gone missing!" Stitched chuckled, and carried on stroking her mane.
"We've got that sorted, dear. Don't worry." Applebloom felt a sharp pain on her left flank. She cried in agony as Nightlight once again ripped off her other cutiemark that she tried so hard to get.
Applebloom lied there, looking up at the ceiling, tears dripping down her face like a waterfall. She just wants to go home.
"Don't worry, dear, it will all be over soon." StitchedHeart giggled, picking up the permanent marker with her magic once more. This time, she drew a line down Applebloom's chest to her stomach. Applebloom gasped as Nightlight approached her with the bloodied scalpel.
"Y'all're going to dissect me?! Why don't ya just kill me now an' get it over with!?" StitchedHeart stroked the filly's mane once again.
"Oh, don't worry, deary." She cooed. "It'll all be over soon."
Nightlight carefully stabbed the top of the line Stitched drew and made a surgical incision so he could access Applebloom's organs.
The poor filly watched in horror as the crimson liquid leaked out of her, unable to do anything about it. She could feel Nightlight picking at her organs.
"We might want to hurry up the process." Nightlight suggested. "Firefly might be home from her walk soon." StitchedHeart nodded in agreement.
"Take out her heart first, end it fast." She laughed. Applebloom struggled to get out of her shackles.
"NO! Please, just let me go!" She screamed. Stitched smiled softly.
"Oh, don't worry, Applebloom." She reassured her. "You're going to a happier place!"
And, with one tug, Nightlight tore out Applebloom's heart. She gagged as blood trickled from her mouth and she felt like a million knives had been stabbed in her at once. Nightlight watched as the young filly struggled to breath, as she wheezed and gargled the blood in her mouth. After a few seconds, Applebloom went limp, and her face went pale. She had died.
Nightlight had just finished pulling out all of her organs and carefully removing all of Applebloom's bones. Afterwards, he unchained the corpse and lifted it over a bucket, squeezing all of the leftover blood into it. Then, he handed it to StitchedHeart, whom carefully stitched together things like the mouth and nose, and then stitched the cutiemark back on. Immediately, her horn fired up, casting a decomposing spell on Applebloom's leftover skin, and carefully removed her bow. She placed the skin and bow in separate buckets of clean water, and left it there to wash. Meanwhile, she cleaned herself of any blood with bleach. Even though it was painful, it was worth it. An hour later, she hung the skin and bow on the wall to dry. When it was dry, she carefully stuffed the body with fluff and put buttons for the corpse's eyes. After putting in enough stuffing, StitchedHeart sewed up the incision and put it in it's own box entitled 'The Apple Filly'.
Chapter 3 - Usual Suspects
Applebloom had been missing for ten days now, and police ponies suspected that the Light family had something to do with it. With a long history of missing cases on there backs, the family of three had always gotten off the hook because of some missing information. And, with that, Firefly was pulled into questioning due to being a friend of the 'missing' filly.
"Applebloom was a good friend." Firefly responded with tears in her eyes. "I went out to the apple family farm to meet her one day, and Applejack said she went missing. I told her I would keep an eye out for her. I thought she had probably gone for a walk or something..." Wiping a tear, she cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, I don't know anything else..." She hiccuped. "S-Sorry..."
Her alibi checked out, and so did the two parents. They told them that they were inside there house all day. The police ponies didn't bother getting a search warrant for their house. Firefly choked on some tears, and then muttered to her parents.
"Why do they always ask us about missing ponies, mummy?" She asked, in which StitchedHeart responded with a soft chuckle.
"Because the police are bad ponies. They always blame us for no apparent reason."
Firefly nodded, and hugged a rabbit teddy her parents gave to her. You can only imagine what that was made out of.
With her head in her pillow, Firefly stayed in her room, sobbing quietly to herself until she heard a knock on the door. Nightlight stepped into her room, holding a wrapped gift. She perked up, and sat on the edge of her bed.
"Your mom and I saw how sad you were..." He explained. "So we made you something to remind you of your friend."
By now, Applebloom was presumed dead, and the search for her was given up. So, Firefly frantically unwrapped her present. When she saw the life-sized toy plushie of her possibly dead friend, she could only respond with tears and a smile. Hugging the stuffed corpse tightly, she responded.
"Thank you, papa..."
StitchedHeart was in the basement cleaning up and planning for her next creation. Earlier, she put down a name. 'Fluttershy'. When she was exploring she found out that her mane and coat looked lovely, so she marked down her locations and where she takes her usual trips. She had also talked to her once, and noted down that she was 'a little shy'. After jotting down some more notes on the board, she pinned up a picture of the mare and circled it. Grinning, she put on her saddle bag and went out of the basement to meet Nightlight.
"Everything is planned." She informed him. "We will start the next toy tomorrow."
Firefly had been walking in the streets of Ponyville for a long time now, looking at the ground as she occasionally looks up to see ponies watching her. When she wasn't paying attention, she bumped into some fillies.
"Watch where you're going, twerp!" The pony yelled out. Firefly looked up to see a pink pony wearing a tiara. The pony grinned.you ." She snarled. "My daddy told me to stay away from you." Another pony walked next to Firefly.
"Why did he..?" She asked, glancing at the grey pony that had just came to her side.
"Because." The pink filly responded. "He says that your parents are murderers ."
"What?! No they're not! Your dad is wrong!" Firefly spat.
"Woah." The grey filly laughed. "This one's got attitude."
"But it's true!" She yelled. "They're not murderers!"
The two fillies laughed as they walked away, and then both of them yelled at Firefly.
Firefly sat on a park bench, whispering to herself, until two small shadows met her gaze. Looking up, she saw an orange filly and a white filly.
"So that's who they were." Firefly responded. The white filly nodded.
"I'm Sweetie Bell, and this is Scootaloo. We're friends of Applebloom." Sweetie said. Firefly lit up.
"I was a friend of Applebloom too!" She squeaked. "I'm sorry that she went missing, I only knew her for a short time." Scootaloo nodded.
"Us and Applebloom got our cutiemarks together. We're very close." A tear dripped down Sweetie's face as she nodded in agreement. "We help ponies get there cutiemarks."
"Really?" Firefly asked. "So you could help me? I was just called 'blank flank', and I don't really know what that means."
"It's mockery." Scootaloo informed her. "They're making fun of you because you have no cutiemark."
"Oh." Firefly slumped down.
"But we can help you get your cutiemark." Sweetie replied. "You can join our club." Firefly nodded.
"I would like that." She responded. "Thanks. I'm Firefly, by the way."
A slight breeze were blowing the leaves of the trees gently as a pink mare trotted down the streets of Ponyville. She was walking quite slow, yet in a bit of a rush. The sun was at its highest, and StitchedHeart hoped to get Fluttershy drugged by dusk. She came to a sudden stop as she found the yellow and pink pony giving a white rabbit a carrot. Stitched looked at her up and down, and then pulled out a clipboard and sat on a nearby park bench. She pretended to draw, occasionally looking up at Fluttershy. She wanted to make sure that absolutely no-one was around, just in case someone might get suspicious when she went missing.
"Good evening, Fluttershy!" Twilight cheered, landing next to the mare after flight. "How are you? Are you feeling okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine." Fluttershy whispered, after being nudged by the white rabbit. "Oh, uh... I mean... No, I'm not okay..."
"What's the matter?" Twilight asked, before putting her hoof around the pegesus that had just slumped to the floor.
"I'm... A little worried." She responded. "After the disappearance of Applebloom... I... Just don't feel safe..." The pony shuddered.
"Why wouldn't you feel safe, Fluttershy? I'm here for you, I wouldn't let anything happen to you." Twilight reassured her.
The white bunny moved away from the conversation to eat the carrot that Fluttershy had left on the floor. After a while, it looked up and saw StitchedHeart occasionally tilting her head up and eavesdropping on their conversation. Unimpressed, the bunny hopped over to Fluttershy and pulled at her mane. The mare that was almost in tears looked at the bunny, whom pointed at the suspicious-looking mare.
"What's the matter with that mare, Angel?" Fluttershy asked. "Don't you like her?"
StitchedHeart looked up to see the bunny making weird gestures at Fluttershy, but luckily she didn't know what he was saying.
"Angel, I'm trying to talk to Twilight right now..." Fluttershy sighed. "Can this wait for a moment, please..?"
Stitched sighed in relief and made a mental note:Fluttershy seems to have a pet bunny that might become troubling later if she brings it around for tea. I should probably tell her that Nightlight is allergic to fur or something. "
Twilight and Fluttershy began talking again after the rabbit had stopped pestering them. After a while, Twilight hugged the pegesus, and then flew off. Stitched overheard her say that she was coming back later with Applejack, so she had to wait a little longer. Three hours had passed, and the pink mare almost fell asleep on the bench. Stitched gave up, and wanted to go home. She was about to leave until Applejack and Twilight came out of Fluttershy's cottage. They looked as if they had been crying waterfalls of tears.
"Ah appreciate the talk, girls." Applejack muttered. "Ah must be goin' home now, but thanks, really." The orange country pony galloped away, clinging on to her hat so it wouldn't fall off.
"Goodnight, Fluttershy." Twilight said, taking off into the air.
Fluttershy was alone, which was a good thing. It was almost dusk, and StitchedHeart's plan was going slower than expected. Fluttershy closed her cottage door and the sun started to set. The pink unicorn wondered if it was too late to ask for tea.
Peering through the window, StitchedHeart saw the pegesus saying goodnight to some of her animals. It was getting a little dark, so Stitched just assumed they had an early curfew. Relaxing her muscles, StitchedHeart gently knocked on the door of the mossy cottage. Opening the door, Fluttershy was surprised to see the pink unicorn standing at her door, as she thought that it would've been Twilight.
"Oh-... Um..." Fluttershy squeaked. "S-StitchedHeart, is it..?"
"Greetings!" Stitched uttered. She didn't exactly know why she said 'greetings'. "I hope I'm not interrupting you, ma'am..."
"Oh, no! You're not interrupting anything...." She stuttered.
"Well that's good." StitchedHeart murmured. "I was hoping you could join me and my husband for tea... If it's not too late?"
It was quite late. The sky was a blend of rosy pink and creamy orange. Half of Ponyville were indoors and getting ready to sleep as the other half were packing up their goods from the marketplace, and the wind had slowed down to the point where you would think that there was no wind.
"Tea..?" Fluttershy had lifted her head up a little bit. She thought that making a new friend and having tea might soothe the aches in her muscles from over the past few days. "No, it's not too late... I would love to have tea with you and Nightlight!"
Fluttershy had heard the rumours about the missing pony cases on the Light family's back. Three missing ponies in Manehatten, five in Canterlot and two plus a filly in Baltimare. They had moved from town to town and as soon as they settled in another pony went missing. Fluttershy felt a little bad for these ponies, as she just assumed that they are always accused of these crimes, so making their acquaintance and showing them kindness might convince them to stay despite the 'false' police accusations. And with Applebloom going missing and the police ponies asking them about it, she thought that they were going to move again, so a little kindness might make them stay in such a nice town like Ponyville.
Fluttershy woke up feeling oddly relaxed. Her muscles were loosened and she felt happy lying there. That is, until she opened her eyes. She was confused when she saw a grey ceiling above her, since it wasn't the colour of her own house ceiling. Trying to get up, she felt a sharp tug which stopped her from moving. Looking to her side, she saw leather shackles clinging tightly on her skin. Fluttershy started panicking. The last thing she remembered was having tea with Nightlight and StitchedHeart. It wasn't until she remembered where she last was when she realised what had happened. Drugged, simple as that. Her sea-foam green eyes shot to the other side of the room to see the same ponies she had tea with standing in the corners of the room.
"I like it better when they sleep." StitchedHeart sighed.
"Yes, but it's so delightful to hear their screams." Nightlight chuckled.
All Fluttershy could do was pant and wonder what to do next. She didn't want to provoke them, since she had already caught sight of the sharp tools sitting inches away from her. Instead, she stared at them and struggled at her restraints.
"Hm? What's the matter, deary?" StitchedHeart asked. "Cat got your tongue? Anyway, you're a lucky one. Usually our patients have cutiemarks that are slightly crooked or something like that. You're cutiemark, however, is in a perfect place." The unicorn snickered.
StitchedHeart began drawing a line down Fluttershy's chest. The marker felt cold against her skin, but instead of flinching, she carried on wriggling her arm out of the shackles. Her bunny, Angel, had taught her a neat trick on how to slip out of chains and any other restraints. Finally, she can put his skills to use.
Nightlight approached the pegesus with a scalpel. Fluttershy cringed, trying to move her wings, which were also held down by leather material.
"It's leather... " Fluttershy thought. "It should be easier to break out of. "
Nightlight began cutting his way into Fluttershy's body. She twitched and fidgeted as the small knife cut through her skin. She managed to stop herself from screaming, just in case they might get angry. Instead, she built all of the pain into one of her arms and pulled with all her might. The shackle snapped.
It snapped.
Fluttershy broke free, and didn't think twice when she punched Nightlight straight in the face, almost breaking his nose. After doing so, tears ran down her face as she loosened the other shackle on her other hoof.
"Come on, come on, come on! "
She almost succeeded, until StitchedHeart grabbed the freed arm with her magic and slammed it onto the edge of the operating table she was on, breaking it immediately. Fluttershy screeched in pain as the bone in her arm had shattered, but she also screamed because of the fact that they would probably kill her instantly now. Fluttershy panted and screamed for her life.
"PLEASE!" She begged. "DON'T KILL ME!"
Nightlight strapped on the shackle and tightened it, making sure she wouldn't escape again, and tight enough so that it would hurt her broken arm. Then, he staggered to the next hoof and tightened it. He was slightly dazed after the punch, and had to sit down for a moment.
StitchedHeart snapped at Fluttershy, levitating a butcher's knife to her eye.
"Behave." She sang. "Behave, and I won't dig this knife so far into your eye and brain that you forget who you even are."
Fluttershy was panting. She could feel the organs in her flip upside down. Drool started rolling down her cheek, and she felt like she was going to throw up. She nodded in response, promising to behave.
Nightlight stood up and grabbed the hack-saw and started taking out Fluttershy's ribs. As much as she wanted to scream, she couldn't, since Stitched still had the knife up to her eye. It was so close that if she screamed, she would flinch. And if she flinched, the knife would go in her eye. She was scared, terrified. Then, she decided to speak.
"What was that?" StitchedHeart asked. "I'm sorry, you sound like a mouse."
"D-Did you hurt... Applebloom..?" Fluttershy stuttered. "Are you the reason why s-she's missing..?"
"Yep!" Nightlight bellowed, throwing the hack saw on to the table. "She was a whiny one, but she was better behaving than you."
Nightlight grabbed a fork. He started poking at Fluttershy's insides. The pegesus wanted to punch him again so badly, which you don't normally get from the element of kindness. But, she knows that the other elements will realise she's missing, and take the Light family down. Having your guts poked at does not give you a pleasant feeling, and Fluttershy felt ready to barf.
"You will regret this..." She muttered in an unfamiliar tone.
Nightlight and StitchedHeart paused.
"They will find out about this." Fluttershy continued. "And when they do, trust me, they will not rest until you are either dead or in prison on death row. My friends would search under every rock to find me, even if it includes under every house..."
The two ponies stood there in surprise. The shy mare they once knew, (or sort of knew), had turned into a dark and sinister pony. Fluttershy's voice went deeper the more she talked, making them think she was some kind of demon.
"Hehehe...." Fluttershy chuckled, as if she lost her mind. "Go ahead, poke at me. They will find out sooner or later."
And, with that, Fluttershy went quiet. Her pupils were dilated. She had dozed off, with drool dripping down her chin.
Nightlight shook his head, and continued picking at Fluttershy's organs. Once he had done this, he started taking some organs out, started with the stomach. He didn't use any tools to pick out the organs, he used his bare hooves. He ripped out the stomach as if it was nothing. As soon as he tore it out, Fluttershy's mouth started filling with blood, but Fluttershy herself did nothing. She didn't scream, flinch or even cringe. Her eyes remained unblinking. She knew she was going to die, so she thought that she might as well not sit through the pain.
All there were was the heart, still beating but at a slow pace. With her lungs gone, the heart slowing down each beat. Nightlight gripped the heart and pulled at it. The first tug didn't free the red beating organ, nor did the second. Everyone had always told her that she had a strong heart. This is not what they meant. After the fifth tug, the heart was ripped out, and Fluttershy's life ceased to exist.
Firefly had just woken up, and she stumbled her way downstairs with her favourite blanket and her Applebloom plushie. She felt drowsy, and her hair was all up in knots. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she sat in the living room on her blanket and played around with her pony teddy. After a while, she saw something above her eyes.
"Hi, I'm Butterfly, and I like to play with you! "
StitchedHeart put her voice in high-pitched mode as she said this, levitating a yellow and pink pegesus plushie above Firefly's head. Firefly gasped in excitement, grabbing the plushie and holding it close to her chest.
"Thanks mama!" She yelled, throwing the teddy in the air and catching it again.
Nightlight came out of the kitchen with a massive bruise on his face. Seeing this, Firefly sat up and carefully watched her father exchange a friendly conversation with her mother.
"Does it hurt?" StitchedHeart asked.
"Not really." Nightlight laughed. "We really need to be more careful next time."
"What happened?" Firefly yelped, hiding behind her 'Butterfly' plushie.
"Oh, daddy just fell down the stairs, honey." Nightlight responded. "Nothing serious."
Firefly chuckled. "Silly daddy!"
Nightlight had to have a bag full of ice on his face all day. StitchedHeart allowed Firefly to go out again, as long as she stayed away from other fillies. Firefly had secretly joined the Cutiemark Crusaders, in hopes that they would help her find her cutiemark. She didn't really know why her parents told her to stay away from fillies. Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell seemed nice.
Firefly wondered the streets as usual. The sky was bright as she saw a blur of rainbow pass by her. The filly stopped as she was almost tripped over by the speeding pegesus, who stopped to say her apologies.
"Sorry, kid." The mare chuckled, landing and tucking in her wings.
"It's no problem, ma'am." Firefly giggled, managing to regain her balance. Looking up, she saw a pony she had never seen before. "Um... Who are you?"
"The name's Rainbow Dash." The pegesus flew in the air once more. "And, uh, I'm kind of in a rush. I don't have time for talking."
"Why? What's the matter?" The filly asked, tilting her head.
"It's my friend," Rainbow Dash panicked. "I haven't seen her all week. I'm getting worried, she wouldn't leave without saying goodbye! And I checked everywhere. Ponyville, Cloudsdale, and even the Everfree Forest!"
"Oh..." Firefly gasped. "What's her name? I'll keep an eye out for her."
"Fluttershy." Dash replied. "She's yellow, with a pink mane. She's a pegesus, like me. Please, if you hear anything, even the slightest thing, give me a call, okay, uh...?"
"Firefly."
"Right. I'll catch you later, kid!" And off Dash flew.
Firefly skipped along Ponyville, keeping an eye out for any yellow and pink pegesi. She was heading to the Carousel Boutique to meet her two new friends, but on the way she thought about Fluttershy and Applebloom.
"This is the second missing pony so far. Why do ponies suddenly go missing when my family moves in? Is somepony doing this to torture us? We haven't done anything wrong... But... It's weird. The other day I got a new teddy from mommy and daddy... It was yellow and pink... And it was a pegesus... "
Before she could carry on the thought, she once again bumped into a pink filly. Turning around, Diamond Tiara saw Firefly, and smirked.
"Oh, it's you , the filly with murderers for parents." She bellowed.
"Oh, it's you , the filly that can't keep her mouth shut." Firefly snorted. She was willing to fight back.
"Still got an attitude, do we?" Diamond Tiara laughed. "You're pathetic."
"And you're not?" Firefly shivered. "You know that anger is a secondary emotion... It can't happen without sadness. Are you sad about something? Do you need to talk about it?"
Diamond Tiara smirked at Firefly, flicking her hair and started circling around her.
"Sure, like I'm the depressed one."
"I didn't say that-" Diamond Tiara punched Firefly in the nose.
The filly's legs shook as her nose started to bleed. Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell had just turned the corner, and just in time to see Diamond hurt her. Firefly almost fell to her knees, as she had never been hurt or punched before, and she was still quite young, so the littlest of pain could make her faint. The fact that she was afraid of blood made her want to collapse as soon as she saw her nose bleeding.
Diamond Tiara had left the scene, leaving Firefly crying. Scootaloo had come to her aid, as Sweetie followed behind.
"Don't worry, Fire, it's only a little bruise." Scootaloo reassured her, wiping the blood off her.
"Diamond's gonna pay for that!" Sweetie squeaked. "I'm gonna tell Rarity!"
In the distance, Nightlight was standing in the marketplace and saw the incident. Anger built up in him as he saw the bully run away. He frowned, and turned to head home, not even trying to help his daughter. He thought that the two fillies could help her, since he had work to do.
He ran into his house, stumbling a little from his earlier punch, and set the things he bought on the table where StitchedHeart was sitting. His wife saw frustration in his eyes, and put her hoof on his shoulder.
"Everything all right?" She asked in a soft, gentle voice.
"Firefly." He spat. "She punched her! The brat!"
"What? Who punched who? What happened with Firefly?"
"I saw it! The brat saw a chance and punched our daughter!" He started flailing his arms around.
"What!?" Stitched stood up and slammed her hooves on the table. "Who the heck punched our daughter!?"
"That bratty pink filly with the fucking tiara!" He screeched. He was obviously still a little dizzy, so he had to sit down and calm down.
"Diamond Tiara?" StitchedHeart yelled, remembering meeting her not long ago. "She punched Firefly!?"
Nightlight nodded in response, looking up at StitchedHeart. A vein had popped in her head and her face went red. She glared at the hidden basement door until her husband put his hoof on hers. He shook his head.
"That's a bad idea, Stitched." He sighed. "She wouldn't be missed, I know, but how exactly are we going to get her in for her to get drugged? She's heard the rumours about us being murderers, it'll be hard."
The unicorn nodded. "Then I will find another way to knock some sense into the little bitch." Her breathing started speeding up as she looked at her husband. He knew exactly what she was going to do.
Firefly opened the door steadily. She saw her parents drinking some green tea. She hopped to her room, avoiding eye contact with them. Nightlight realised that Firefly was trying to avoid her scars, but how long did she intend to keep it up? Bruises do not disappear overnight.
"Firefly!" He cheered. "Come over hear, join us for tea."
The filly froze in place and slowly turned around. Stitched turned and inspected her daughter that was moving towards the table. She saw the huge bruise on her face, from her nose to the bottom lip.
"Firefly, who did this to you?" She wanted to confirm the fact.
"A filly..." Firefly said in a crackled voice. "Her name is Diamond Tiara. Now I know what you meant by 'stay away from other fillies', heh..."
Nightlight hugged her daughter. Firefly tried to escape the embrace, but Stitched joined them so she couldn't escape.
"I'm fine, really." She sighed.
That night, StitchedHeart was hanging around outside Diamond Tiara's house, waiting for someone to appear. She wanted to make the filly pay, in any way possible, even if it means beating up her dad as a warning. Stitched's eyes darted towards the door as she heard a clicking sound from the door. It swung open, and out stepped the pink filly with a bag full of rubbish. She trotted to the bin and threw the bag in. Then, she turned to head back inside, only to be grabbed from behind by StitchedHeart.
The unicorn threw the filly to the ground and immediately overpowered her, beating at her face one punch after another. When the filly tried to get away, she simply used her magic to hold her down. Stitched kept beating, and beating, until her hooves started to ache. She spat at Diamond Tiara, and threw the bin at her with her magic.
"Leave my daughter alone you daughter of a whore. If you tell anybody about this, I will personally find and kill you... And I will make it a long, and painful death..."
Diamond Tiara was left in the alleyway for hours. Cold, and unable to move. She was sure that one of her legs were broken. She was found at early dawn by her father. He took her to the hospital, and hours later she was still in shock. She wouldn't talk, and refused to eat. But it wasn't because of StitchedHeart's threat or because she beat her. No... It was because StitchedHeart had shoved a scalpel up her flank. Diamond Tiara had to stay in hospital for a long, long while. Plus, she needed surgery to take the scalpel out. Once it was out, it was covered in too much blood, so the police couldn't pull off any hoofprints. They wouldn't be able to if it wasn't covered in the crimson liquid either, since it was shoved in by magic, and not by hoof.
Chapter 7 - Decomposition
Nightlight had bruises on his face. StitchedHeart had bruises on her hooves. Firefly had noticed that.
It had gotten to the point where Firefly got curious. Two missing ponies, and each of them she had as a plushie. At first, she thought it was a coincidence. She was sitting in her room, staring at the two dolls, and then smelt something horrid. It smelled like rotting bodies. Firefly glared at the plushies as she held her nose to block out the smell.
The toys can't be the source, can they? Surely it was her imagination. Deciding to ignore it, she threw her Fluttershy plushie (or Butterfly, as she's told.) under her pillow and then gently put the Applebloom plushie in the toy box. Firefly was very organised, and having one teddy in the box and another under her pillow made her feel more relaxed. She pushed aside the thought of the missing ponies and went downstairs for breakfast.
She noticed straight away that Nightlight had fallen ill. He was coughing a lot and he had a fever. The punch to the face must've done some big damage. She ignored it, and sat at the table waiting for her breakfast. StitchedHeart walked into the dining room and set some nicely cooked eggs and bacon on the table. As she saw Firefly, she smiled softly.
"Morning dear." StitchedHeart cooed. "How was your sleep?"
"It was okay." Firefly replied quietly.
"How are you?" Stitched asked. "You know, after that little quarrel?"
"I'm fine. Perfectly fine." Firefly lied. She began eating her bacon and eggs, and then went to grab a drink from the kitchen.
StitchedHeart saw the kitchen to the door close, and then she poked her husband. Nightlight looked over at her wearily and coughed, managing to concentrate properly.
"She's lying." Stitched whispered. "She's not okay. That kid scared the living life out of her!"
"So then ask her about it." Nightlight sipped some orange juice from his cup. "Let her know that she can talk to us."
Firefly walked back into the kitchen holding a cup of water. She gently set it down on the table, and then climbed back on her seat. She began eating the remainder of her breakfast, occasionally looking up at her parents. They sat in awkward silence, and the only noise present was the crunching of the bacon that Firefly had shoved in her mouth.
"So." Nightlight broke the silence. "Are you sure you're all right, kiddo?" He coughed. Firefly knew he was really ill, since he never calls her 'kiddo'.
"I'm fine." Firefly held another piece of egg to her mouth. "But you're not, dad. Shouldn't you go to a hospital?"
"Your father's fine." Stitched interrupted. "We're just worried about you."
"Why?"
"Ever since the incident where you got punched, you've been quiet."
"Yeah." Firefly coughed. "You would stay quiet if someone punched you 'cause of your family ."
StitchedHeart and Nightlight remembered when Fluttershy fought back, and how she said that her friends will find them.
"I would..." Stitched sighed. "Wait, because of our family?"
"Mhm. Diamond said that you two were murderers, and I said that you weren't, but then she hit me."
"Murderers?" Nightlight shivered. "We're not murderers..."
"I know you're not." Firefly muttered, her eyes flicking between each parent. "She said you were."
"Don't believe brats , Firefly." Stitched spat. "They'll spread lies like the flu."
Firefly nodded, eating the rest of her breakfast and not leaving a single crumb on her plate. She flicked her hair out of her face and put her plate in the kitchen, then proceeded to sit back at the table to drink her water. Whilst she was drinking, she saw Stitched and Night whispering to each other. She wondered what about, but she decided not to get involved. Instead, she left the half-full glass of water on the table and went out to play. She was actually glad to get out of the house.
"Not murderers..? " She thought. "Yeah, right... "
Dusk had just started when Firefly got home. She snook in and overheard StitchedHeart complaining about her new 'project'. She was wailing at Nightlight, complaining about 'tactics'. Firefly decided not to eavesdrop. She might get in trouble. Hopping upstairs, she opened her door and flung herself on the bed. As her head hit the pillow, she heard a 'squishing' sound. Firefly sat up, and smelt the terrible scent again. Covering her nose, she poked the pillow, which made another squishy noise. She lifted up the pillow to see the Butterfly plushie moulding and de-attached. The smell was too much to bare as she covered her mouth and swallowed the puke. She screeched.
StitchedHeart kicked down the door of Firefly's room. She saw the small filly quivering in the corner. She threw up, drool rolling down her chin as she gasps for breath. Her mother asked her what's wrong, in which she just pointed to her pillow. StitchedHeart saw the decomposing body of Fluttershy, and stood there in shock. That wasn't supposed to happen... And then, Stitched realised what went wrong.
"I forgot to cast the decomposition spell... "
StitchedHeart called for Nightlight, telling him to take Firefly outside for fresh air. Nightlight ran in and grabbed the filly, covering her eyes so she wouldn't see the corpse again. When outside, Firefly threw up again, and then turned to her father who saw her in agony.
"What... Happened..?" She panted.
Nightlight didn't reply. He just hugged her, singing 'hush now quiet now' to her. It calmed her down... For a little bit. So many things were going through her mind, like the missing ponies and she asked herself if her teddy was a real pony. She didn't bother asking her dad, he might think that she was delirious. Instead, she panicked, breathing heavily. Nightlight told her to calm down, or she might throw up again. Firefly calmed down her breathing, trying not to think of why her doll was like that. Firefly thought of happy things, like that one time when she went to the park with her family. Or when she did community service out of the kindness of her heart. She remembered happy memories, and tried to wipe the image of the decaying body from her mind. But she can't hide the thought all the time...
StitchedHeart walked out of the house, looking drowsily at Firefly's crying face. She had taken care of the corpse by shoving it in a box in the basement. Everyone was tired, Nightlight especially. She hugged her daughter, and whispered lullabies to her so she would calm down a bit more. Once she had completely calmed down, the sun had gone down and the moon was up. The air was numbing and Stitched bit her lip, wiping an icy tear from Firefly's face and giving her a reassuring look.
"How about you sleep with mommy and daddy tonight, hmm?"
Chapter 8 - Another Victim
Lily, an earth pony with three lilies for her cutiemark. She was the next victim. She reluctantly agreed on having lunch with StitchedHeart and Nightlight, and she was reported missing almost immediately after she was drugged. Police had, once again, asked the Light family about the missing pony. Unfortunately for Lily, the police were more concerned about why everyone had bruises on them. Nightlight and Firefly had bruises on their face and StitchedHeart had bruises on her hooves. They took the three ponies in for questioning, to see if anybody had been abused.
Two ponies entered the room that Firefly was held in for questioning. One of them was a male pegesus in a coat called Puzzle Piece. He had a brown coat and a black mane. The other one was a female earth pony called Cold Clue. She had a blue coat with a black mane. The two ponies looked at Firefly, who was trying to avoid eye contact. They sat next to the filly.
"...Can I help you..?" Firefly muttered sarcastically.
"Firefly, I'm detective Clue and this is detective Piece, we're investigating what happened to you." Cold Clue told her.
"Seriously? You guys can arrest fillies?" Firefly cheered. Her face lit up.
"Fillies?" Puzzle Piece asked. "Your bruise... That was from a filly?"
"Yeah!" Firefly responded. "Her name is Diamond Tiara, she came up to me the other day an' punched me!"
"Huh..." Clue looked at Puzzle Piece and then exited the room.
"Sir, why did you take my parents into jail?" The filly asked the pegesus.
"They're not in jail, we're just asking them some questions." Puzzle replied.
In the other room, Nightlight was gently rubbing his face as Cold Clue entered the room. He sat up properly, straightening his back and crossing his hooves to look professional.
"Can I-I go home?" Nightlight stuttered.
"Not yet, sir." Clue sighed. "I need to ask you something... How did you get that bruise on your face?"
"Fell down the stairs, ma'am." Nightlight chuckled. "Stupid mistake, I know."
"Sir." She smiled softly. "You're safe here. You can tell me who did this to you."
"You think someone did this to me?"
"There are bruises on both yours and your daughter's face. And there are bruises on your wife's hooves."
Nightlight slammed his face on the table, sighing heavily. He looked up at the detective. He looked like a moody cat.
"Yeah, my wife fell down the stairs too. She landed on her hooves which made her bruise up massively." He rolled his eyes. "Why do you even care about an accident?"
"Your daughter was punched by a filly, did you know that?" Cold Clue asked.
"Yeah." Nightlight chuckled. "She's all right, and we had a talk with the parents."
Puzzle Piece came into the room. He gestured to Cold Clue to follow him, and she exited the room with her partner. Puzzle shut the door firmly.
"We have nothing to go on." He sighed. "We have to let them go, boss' orders."
"Are you sure we should let this one slide?" Clue asked. "They might be abused."
"They're all saying the same thing." Puzzle sighed. "We can't continue, and we can't brake them."
Four hours later, the Light family were released and they returned home. The three sat in complete silence at the dinner table. StitchedHeart had cooked some omelettes, Firefly's favourite. Nightlight had gotten half way through his dinner before he looked up at his daughter.
"What did you tell them, Firefly?" He asked.
"Oh, just that a filly punched me an' not you." She cheered. "They- um - tried accusing you of punching me!"
"That's it?" Nightlight sighed. "Nothing else?"
"Promise!"
StitchedHeart remembered about Lily, already turned into a doll and ready for her daughter. This time, the decomposition spell had been put on. She would never make that mistake again. Putting down her fork, StitchedHeart hopped off of her chair and went to the corner of the room where a table sat. She pulled a box from underneath the table and levitated something wrapped in a blanket. Firefly watched as her mother did this, crunching on her meal. StitchedHeart stepped towards Firefly, and slowly unwrapped the white blanket.
"What's that?" Firefly questioned, food still in her mouth.
"I felt bad for getting you a faulty teddy." StitchedHeart murmured. She told Firefly that it was 'faulty', and that sometimes teddies brake. "So, I made you a new one! Fresh and especially made for you, my little angel!"
The white sheet dropped gently on to the ground as StitchedHeart revealed a pony with three lilies as it's cutiemark. It had a lily in her mane and it had yellow buttons for eyes that shone from the light of the lamp. Firefly squealed, running towards the teddy, jumping and catching it, then landed on her back, cuddling the plushie.
"Thank you! It's not faulty, is it?" Firefly stood up, still clutching the Lily corpse.
"No, I made sure of it." Stitched laughed.
That night, Firefly was sleeping peacefully, holding the Lily and Applebloom plushies. Unfortunately, she was rudely awoken by a voice coming from no-where. She opened one of her eyes, looking around her darkened room. She wiped a bit of drool off her chin, and leaned upwards. She thought she heard a voice say 'help me', but when she listened again, she heard nothing. Firefly shrugged it off. It must've been her imagination. That is, until she had a nightmare about Applebloom. She heard her screaming and kicking, begging for her life, calling for Firefly to help her. She tried to reach out, but she was stopped by her parents. Nightlight told her to stay where she was, and StitchedHeart stabbed Applebloom with a scalpel. The nightmare woke her up once more. She sighed, wiping sweat off her head.
"Just a nightmare..."
Princess Celestia arrived in Ponyville not too long after sunrise. All of the villagers were up and ready by the time she had landed, and ponies had gathered in the town square. Celestia patiently waited as everyone slowly quietened down. She cleared her throat, then turned to look at her subjects with a stern look.
"There has been a change on how things works around here..." Celestia announced. "I have noticed that ponies have gone missing, so to prevent more ponies going missing, we have shut down all of the train stations. My guards will protect the perimeter, making sure no-one leaves. I know this might seem like an unnecessary precaution, but if we want to catch the pony that has been doing this AND find the missing ponies, we have to do this to narrow our search down."
The sound of multiple ponies groaning and moaning could be heard from the crowd that had gathered. Celestia nodded in response to their distress, and turned to look at five ponies behind her. Five ponies stepped by the princess' side, there were two earth ponies, one pegesus, one unicorn and an alicorn.
"One of the elements of harmony has gone missing due to these ponies." Celestia informed the citizens of Ponyville. "Here is how this is going to work... During the day, I will guard the village. At night, my sister Luna will take over my role. We will switch duties every morning and night. Hopefully we can catch the pony in the act."
Ponies nodded in agreement, thinking that the new system was a good idea. Since the recent missing cases were in Ponyville, it would be a good place to start. And with a Princess looking after them, they felt even more safe. The elements of harmony were also walking around, looking after the citizens. It seemed to be the best way to make sure that no one else goes missing.
StitchedHeart was in the crowd when the announcement was made. She wasn't impressed, not by the slightest. But she was impressed. Trapping the killer in a town and then catching them in the act. Yet she did realise a flaw... How would they know who the killer was if they take the ponies in their homes? Cameras? Does she follow them in? It didn't matter. Stitched was too hooked on her next victim: Colgate. She had always wanted to experiment with unicorns, and since she found Colgate's mane very attractive, she decided that she would be the next victim. Stitched just had to make sure that the elements of harmony and Celestia wouldn't see them.
"Tomorrow, at dusk. I'll come to yours." Colgate said. That was when she would come over for 'tea'. The pony didn't seem the slightest bit curious on why Stitched and Nightlight wanted her to come over. They had never talked to her, and she had only saw their daughter once or twice that week, and yet she didn't ask 'what's the occasion?' or 'is there some kind of catch?'. She, surprisingly, went along with it. Stitched thought that she would've at least asked 'why', considering the changes that had happened, but all she said was the time she would come. It seemed strange at first, but Nightlight thought that she probably felt safer now that Celestia was looking after everyone.
She really should have been more careful.
Dusk had just risen, and Celestia and Luna had started making a conversation as they rose the moon and lowered the sun. A gentle whisper of a breeze was blowing through the drafts in Nightlight's house. Colgate knocked on the door excitedly, hoping to make some new friends. StitchedHeart's horn lit up and so did the door knob. She opened the door to see the toothpaste pony standing there with a gift basket held tight in her magic.
"I hope I'm not late." Colgate giggled, stepping into the house once Stitched had gestured for her to come in.
"No, you're just on time." Nightlight informed her. He lowered his voice a little.
"Where's your daughter?" Colgate asked.
"Sleeping." Stitched chuckled, sitting down at the table. "You see, we have to send her to bed early. She's scared to sleep in the dark so we send her to bed at dusk."
"Clever." The unicorn said. She had put down the gift basket on the table in front of Stitched, and sat at the other side of the small table. "I got you guys a gift basket. Hope you like it."
"Lovely." The basket was filled with fruits and bath products. Stitched scrunched up her face, as she really didn't need many of the things given to her. She didn't even eat fruit. "Very... Nice?"
Colgate smiled. Nightlight had gone into the kitchen already to make the drugged tea. Looking out the window, he saw that it was almost dark. Crunching up the herbs, he paid close attention to the door just in case someone would walk in. He trotted out the kitchen with a tray of three teas, one with a blue cup and the other two cups were pink. He gave the pink one to the toothpaste pony, then sat down to drink his own tea.
"Crap." Colgate yelled, looking out the window once she drank some tea. Stitched and Night looked up at the unicorn to see what was the matter. "I forgot... We have to stay indoors at night. Absolutely no going outside until morning." She turned to look at the two parents. "Do... You mind if I stay for a while?"
"Not at all!" Stitched cheered. "We love guests. But this is the first time I've heard about that rule..."
"Yeah, Celestia had only just demanded it." Colgate responded. "It's stupid, I know. But we have to catch that foalnapper one way or another." She drank more of her tea.
"Yeah..." Nightlight sighed. "One way or another."
Colgate's head started to feel heavy. She had been up all day and hadn't had a rest since brunch. When telling StitchedHeart she was tired, the pink unicorn set up a blanket and pillow on the sofa for her to sleep on for the night. Reluctantly, Colgate hopped on to the chair and tucked herself into the sheets. Nightlight turned off the lights, and Colgate went to sleep surprisingly fast.
Waking up with restraints on your hooves is not a nice way to wake up. Colgate saw the basement room. This time, it was more messy. The walls were bloody and the boxes had been tipped over. They didn't get a chance to clean up after their last project. Struggling, Colgate tried using her magic to teleport her ass out of there. But she couldn't.
"Do you like your new accessory?" Stitched asked her. "I never knew that type of metal could stop you from using magic."
"YOU." Colgate yelled fiercely. "YOU have been behind all the missing pony incidents, HAVEN'T YOU!?"
"Heheh..." Nightlight smirked. "Now you know that they're dead and not missing, hmm?"
StitchedHeart did her routine job again. Drawing lines around the cutiemark, and then straight down the chest. Nightlight did his job next. He removed the cutiemark so it can get replaced, and he was about to cut down her chest.
"Why do you two do this?!" Colgate shrieked, still in pain from when Nightlight ripped out her cutiemark. Blood rolled down her chin.
"For our daughter!" Stitched sang, hopping around the place.
"Does she KNOW!?" The toothpaste pony asked, panting heavily.
StitchedHeart and Nightlight stopped for a moment to look at each other.
"I bet she would be disappointed in you!" Colgate screamed. "I bet she will hate you when you tell her! Or when she finds out for herself!"
"Shut up." Nightlight warned her.
"I bet she would call the cops! And what would you do then? Kill her !?"
"Colgate, I am warning you." Nightlight informed her. "Shut up."
"Why!? So your daughter won't hear me scream!?"
"Not the point."
"You pathetic welps !" Colgate taunted. "All I did was get you a gift basket and you try to kill me? MONSTERS."
A knife went straight through Colgate's heart. After choking on her blood for a while, her face went pail, her limbs went limp, and her face slumped to the side. Drool and blood leaked out of the poor unicorn's mouth. StitchedHeart stood above Colgate's dead body, her face red and her eyes stuck in an angered expression. She looked ready to remove the knife and jab it into someone's neck until they stop breathing. Nightlight had never made her angry before, but now he knows what triggers her.
StitchedHeart remained upstairs whilst Nightlight stayed in the basement cleaning up the blood. Colgate's body was too damaged and bloodied to make into a doll. Stitched stared down at her hooves, still covered in blood. She trotted to the sink to watch it off. Whilst cleaning her hooves, she muttered things under her breath to calm herself down. Her face was still red. She heard a door close from upstairs, and when she turned around she saw Firefly cuddling her Applebloom plushie standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"Mama?" Firefly murmured, rubbing her eyes. "What're you doing up? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, dear." Stitched replied. "Go back upstairs and go to bed."
"What's that on your hooves?"
"Nothing. Go upstairs." Stitched repeated.
Firefly did what she said, going upstairs and throwing her body on to her bed. She tucked herself into her blanket, but stayed awake. Stitched grabbed bleach from her cupboard and rubbed it furiously on her skin. It began to burn, but she didn't really care. She got blood on herself many times before, so she was used to the pain. Looking back behind her with now perfectly clean hooves, she saw Nightlight coming out of the basement. Closing the door behind him, he turned to look at his wife.
"Got it out of your fur?" He asked, tilting his head.
"Just about." Stitched sighed.
"What happened down there?" Nightlight whispered. "We wasted fresh meat!"
"I know, I over-reacted." She responded lightly. "But she was really pissing me off."
"That's no excuse! Control yourself!"
"I will. I'm sorry." She lowered her head. "Cleaned everything up then? What's next?"
"In the morning we will pick out a new victim." Nightlight suggested. "I was thinking that brown stallion with the hourglass cutiemark?"
"He does have a nice coat." StitchedHeart smirked. "Yeah, I'll pick him up at sun high."
"Sounds like a plan."
Another missing pony. Even with a princess guarding the town, some how a pony still went missing. A meeting was held in the town hall, the ponies participating where princesses Celestia, Luna and Twilight, and the elements of harmony... Or what was left of it. Mayor Mare and Spike was also called to the meeting. Every-pony entered the meeting room with straight faces, except for Pinkie Pie. They took their seats and began discussing the important matter.
"Another pony is missing." Luna started. "I do not know how the foalnapper managed to do it. I swear that I had my eyes opened the entire time."
"We all did, Luna." Celestia spoke softly. "But we need to take more drastic measures."
"Did anyone, y'know, see where Colgate went anyway?" Dash asked, hovering over the table and refusing to sit down.
"I'm afraid that I didn't." Twilight sighed. "But I do recall her telling me that she is going to have tea with a new friend."
"An' you let her go?" Applejack raised her eyebrow. "Why?"
"I thought it was just an innocent tea-party..." The purple alicorn confessed. "I didn't know... I'm sorry."
"Don't blame it on yourself, dear." Rarity said. "We must stay as positive as we can. For Fluttershy."
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "I just wanna catch these stupid ponies. Fluttershy better not be dead!"
"Don't say that, Rainbow." Applejack yelled. "She ain't dead, an' neither is mah sister!"
"We cannot jump to conclusions." Mayor Mare sighed. "I'm sorry, but even if we do find out who did this, there might be a high chance that we find our former friends... Dead. I'm sorry, but for now we must concentrate on finding the culprit."
Sighing, the other seven ponies agreed with the Mayor. They had to face the facts. It was a high possibility that their friends would be dead. Why would the kidnapper keep them alive? They have nothing in common, and no skills that could bring down an organisation or something like that. If they did find them dead, they would just have to put the killer on death row. Every-pony was thinking on what could have happened to Colgate, even though there was a high security. No pony had any clue until Pinkie Pie politely raised her hoof.
"Yes, Pinkie?" Twilight asked. "What is it?"
"I think I might know where Colgate went off to!" Pinkie blurted out. "I saw her go into this house where the new family lives in!"
"New family?" Luna asked.
"Yeah! The Light Family! They've from place to place for ages now!"
"Pinkie, where else have they been?" Celestia questioned.
"Lots of places! They have even been to the places where the other missing ponies went missing! Crazy, huh?"
"Why didn't we notice this before?" Twilight gasped. "They have been in the towns when ponies go missing! The police said that they have convincing alibi's, but they must of not told the truth!"
"Y'all're saying that the Light family are the ones kidnappin' ponies?" Applejack slammed her hooves on the table. "Then they better 'ave kept Applebloom n' Fluttershy alive... Or else I'll give 'em something tah think about!"
"Are you sure that they are the ones behind this, dear?" Rarity stated. "They have a filly. I don't think they would kidnap ponies whilst a filly is living in their house."
"Maybe." Twilight rubbed her chin. "But there is also the possibility of their daughter being behind this too."
"You're sayin' that a filly would help two ponies kidnap others?" Applejack raised her eyebrow.
"It's a possibility." Celestia responded. "They could have forced her."
"It also explains why Applebloom was the first one to go missing in this village." Luna continued. "They were friends, weren't they?"
"Yeah..." Applejack admitted. "But I still don't think that a filly would help. I think that she just don't know."
"That is also a possibility." Twilight nodded. "But, either way, we have to go to their house. We have to go with everything we got. Police, magic, etcetera. They're probably armed and dangerous."
"We have to get to that house, now! Before they think of getting anyone else!" Mayor Mare yelled.
StitchedHeart stood up from her chair when Doctor Whooves had collapsed on her floor. She grinned widely. Nightlight went towards the table that had the secret button that opens the basement door. His hoof was hovering inches above it until he heard a loud and obnoxious knock coming from his door. His head jerked towards his wife as he signalled for her to hide the knocked-out pony.
"Police! Open up!" A muffled pony voice yelled from the outside.
"J-Just a second!" StitchedHeart shouted back, dragging the Doctor's blacked out body across the living room, and edging towards the door of the kitchen.
"Police! Open up! Now!" The pony warned. "Or we will force our way in!"
Nightlight could hear helicopters above his house. He gritted his teeth and trotted backwards towards the kitchen door. He looked furiously around for a place to hide, and then realised that Firefly was upstairs sleeping. She will wake up and probably see the passed out horse.
All of a sudden, the door was busted down. StitchedHeart did the first thing she could. She held Doctor Whooves tight to her chest and levitated a knife towards his throat. She was going to take him hostage.
Doctor Whooves drearily opened up his eyes. He was tired and felt a little bit numb, but when he tried to get up he felt a tug on his chest. Looking down, he saw a hoof around him and a knife to his throat. His eyes widened, hooves shaking. His eyes bolted to see who his captors were, and, to his surprise, he saw the two ponies that had offered him tea. The Doctor jerked his head to find a place to run if they ever loosened to grip, but he saw that the only exit was a door that StitchedHeart was sitting next to. Nightlight made sure that Doctor Whooves couldn't move. He saw that the unicorn was talking to some ponies that were outside the door.
Stitched had a dazed look in her eye. Her hair was messy and her tail went stiff. She looked like a mindless zombie as she spoke to the other ponies from the other side of the door. She blinked once every two minutes, keeping her eye on her hostage. Nightlight only held the Doctor so he wouldn't escape, but he wasn't the one holding the knife. That was StitchedHeart. She levitated it near his throat so whenever someone pisses her off she could threaten to stab him.
"You're too late." StitchedHeart began. "You're all too late to save anyone."
"What does that mean..?" Twilight asked from the other side of the door. "What did you do to all the ponies you kidnapped?"
"Dead." Stitched laughed. "All of 'em."
"Ah don't believe ya!" Applejack spat. "Tell us where you hid 'em!"
"A few are in our basement." The pink unicorn grinned. "But the rest are with our daughter."
"So she's also behind all this?" Dash yelled.
"No." StitchedHeart shouted. "Leave her alone, she did nothing wrong. She's upstairs sleeping, but I guess not any more due to the loud helicopter noises. She wasn't apart of this, she didn't know."
"But if some are with her, how doesn't she know, dear?" Rarity asked.
"Go upstairs, find the basement, see for yourself." Stitched replied.
Some police ponies looked at Twilight, who signalled for them to follow her. A group went upstairs, and found a door that had Firefly's name on it. Twilight carefully opened the door and slowly crept in, only to be greeted with a small filly looking out the window at the helicopters. Turning around, Twilight saw that she had just woken up due to the messed-up mane. All of a sudden, she looked down to see what she was holding. An Applebloom plushie.
"What's going on..?" Firefly stuttered sleepily.
More ponies barged through the door and crowded around the tired filly. The police paused to see the teddy. It frightened them as much as Twilight was. They gently grabbed Firefly and took her downstairs. Looking in her room, Twilight found more plushies that looked like ponies. She shook in fear as she walked down the stairs. When she got to the bottom, a group of police ponies had already found the basement. Twilight walked up to the kitchen door to talk to Stitched.
"Please tell me that Fluttershy is alive...." She whispered through the crack of the door. The rest of her friends' eyes widened.
"Fluttershy..?" StitchedHeart muttered. "Find out for yourself ."
Rainbow Dash looked towards the basement door and saw a couple of more police ponies come out of it. They looked at Dash and shook their head. Her face went red. She slammed her hooves on the door, yelling at the two ponies in the kitchen.
"WHERE IS SHE!?"
"They ain't found her yet?" Nightlight asked his wife.
"No. Remember, I threw out the remains?" StitchedHeart responded.
"R-Remains!?" Rarity squealed. "What..."
"Yeah, I forgot to cast the decomposition spell on her remains and she rotted under my daughter's pillow." Stitched giggled.
Rainbow Dash stood still. Her face was expressionless. Twilight looked to Applejack to make sure she wasn't looking at Firefly coming down the stairs. The apple pony was stressed, focusing on nothing but the door. She really wanted Applebloom to be with her. Twilight put her hoof on her friends' shoulder, and shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Applejack." Twilight murmured. "We found Applebloom, but...."
Applejack slammed her hoof on the wall before Twilight could finish. "She's alive , Twilight. Ya hear me!? Alive!"
"Denial, denial, denial." StitchedHeart chuckled. "You ponies are so full of denial. Applebloom is oh so well dead. You should've heard her screams... They were so cute, like a little mouse."
"Shut up!" Applebloom warned her.
"Twilight, dear, may I speak with you for a second?" Rarity asked.
"Sure." Twilight nodded.
The two ponies stood outside, looking out on all of the police forces and helicopters. A crowd had started to build with cameras and angry ponies. Twilight turned to her unicorn friend and sighed.
"We're not anywhere near getting them out, are we?"
"Probably not, dear." Rarity raised Twilight's chin. "But that doesn't stop us from trying. I have a plan."
"A plan? Finally." Twilight felt a little bit better now that someone has came up with something.
"They have a daughter, right? Firefly?" Rarity suggested. "Maybe she can help us bring them out..?"
"You're suggesting we use a filly to draw out two murderers!?" Twilight yelped.
"Well, they are her parents. Besides, if she doesn't agree to doing it, we'll try to get Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell to convince her."
"That is a good plan..." The alicorn admitted. "Fine. At this point, I'll do anything it takes to not get another pony killed..."
Firefly had been taken to the police station. She was left in a room filled with toys and drawing materials to play with, and all of her teddies had been taken away from her. She was bored and confused, and a little tired. Her mane was still in knots and her eyes kept drooping to the ground every time she'd try to look up. Suddenly, the door to the room flung open, and out stepped Cold Clue, a detective that Firefly had met a few days back.
"What's goin' on, ma'am?" Firefly said, wearily. "I wanna go home now..."
"I'm afraid you won't be going home any time soon..." Clue informed her. "...So you have no idea what's going on?"
"All I know is that I heard helicopters and then was dragged out of my home, and then they took my teddy away!" Firefly complained.
"I'm sorry." Clue sighed. "But I'm going to have to tell you the truth."
"Please tell me."
"Your mother and father..." Cold Clue began. "They're murderers. They slaughtered innocent ponies and turned them into... Well, into your teddy bears. We found the basement and the remains of each pony. We had even found Fluttershy's remains in the trash. I'm so sorry you had to hear this from me..."
Firefly rushed to the bin, throwing up in there almost immediately. The fact that she had been sleeping with corpses made her dazed and confused. Her parents were good ponies.... Why would they turn ponies into teddies? It was sick and cruel, and Firefly had lost all love for the two ponies that had raised her.
"Those monsters..." Firefly muttered. "Why would they do that..?"
"They said that it was for you." Cold Clue looked to the ground. "Sorry."
"Don't be sorry!" Firefly spat. "They were the ones that murdered my friend! And more!" Anger filled the poor filly's eyes.
"We need y-your help." Clue sat down next to Firefly. "We need to draw them out. They have a pony hostage. They will kill him if we don't get him out soon. Do you understand what we're asking of you?"
"I'll help." Firefly puffed up her chest. "I don't like what they're doing. They'll listen to me!"
"Thank you."
Upon returning to the house, Firefly had an emotion of justice on her face. It was scrunched up, as if she wanted to yell at her parents. Everypony stepped aside so that the little filly could go near the door. After she had sat down next to it, she gently knocked on the door and put her ear against the crack.
"Mama?"
Stitched and Nightlight raised their heads. "Firefly!?"
"Firefly, they're tricking you." Nightlight yelled.
"Is it true?" She asked quietly. "Are you two..."
"It's true, but you shouldn't trust the police." StitchedHeart interrupted. "They're using you!"
"When were you gonna tell me?"
"We thought that your cutiemark had something to do with this like ours were." Nightlight pointed out. "We were gonna tell you soon. I promise, we were!"
"Okay..." Firefly raised her voice. "But why kill innocent ponies? Applebloom was my friend... And you made me sleep with her corpse!"
"I... I'm sorry." StitchedHeart sighed. "We didn't..."
"If you're really sorry, then release the pony." Firefly yelled. "Let him go!"
"Can't do that, sweetie." Nightlight's voice cracked. "You know that."
"You can." Firefly frowned.
"I don't want to get caught, dear." StitchedHeart informed her.
"You're already caught!" The young filly snapped. "You're surrounded and the only way out is through this door!" She slammed her hoof on the door.
Stitched sighed. "You're right. But..."
"Please, ma.... Come out..." Firefly slumped to the floor.
Nightlight felt really bad. He loosened his grip on the Doctor, before letting go of him completely. Stitched's face looked to the ground. As she played with her hooves, she used her magic to open the door for the pony. Once he had ran out of the room, half of the police force ran into the kitchen and slammed the two ponies on the ground, handcuffing them. They were taken away, but not before having one last glance at their daughter, who scowled at them and turned her back.
The jail was cold. The two ponies had two separate cells, isolated from any other pony in the prison. Nightlight sat there, rocking back and forth, slowly going insane. They had been put on a death sentence, and Nightlight didn't like the place he was in. It was five months until they kill the both of them, and he did not want to wait. Looking over at the corner of his bed, he saw an opportunity to take the easy way out. The next day, the newspapers were filled with stories about Nightlight killing himself by smashing his head multiple times on the corner of his bed. He bled out and suffered blood force trauma to the head. No pony could save him in time, as he was found dead in his cell. When StitchedHeart found out about her husband, all she could do was laugh. She was put on suicidal watch.
Usually, everypony in Ponyville greets new visitors with smiles and a party, and sometimes an after party, but when the new family moved into the town, they just stared. Something about this stallion, mare and filly seemed... Weird. Some ponies might say that they get a 'strange vibe' whenever they see them. These new ponies were called Nightlight, StitchedHeart and Firefly.
Nightlight trotted into Ponyville as if he's been there before, with the sun unable to reflect on his blue coat. His mane matched the colour of
StitchedHeart wasn't an earth pony like Nightlight. She was a unicorn with a nice pink coat and a purple mane. Her hair was neatly tied up with a bit hanging from each side of her face. Her deep blue eyes kept an eye on her daughter as she levitated her bags and suitcases with her
Firefly was the only one that didn't seem weird or creepy to the Ponyville villagers. She always wore a smile as she hopped and skipped her way through the town, and her hair and tail were messy. She had a nice purple coat, and her mane was both blue and purple. She wore a pretty little blue bow in her hair and wore several, multi-coloured bracelets, along with an orange heart necklace. Her green eyes looked at the nice villagers, and she waved at all of them without second thought.
Now, Princess Twilight heard about the 'bad vibes' ponies were getting from this family, and she said that there was nothing to worry about.
A viscous storm was brewing outside of the orphanage. The building looked like a huge brick with windows from a distance, and it was torn and frayed. The roof was broken down, so fillies that were unlucky enough to sleep on the top floor had to have rain poured down on them. Every bed was a cold block of stone with a thin sheet on it that didn't even cover half of your body, and the pillows had almost no stuffing in them. Firefly had to live in this confined place since she had no other home to go to.
She was one of the lucky ones, being able to sleep in one of the lower floors and not on the top floor. Every room had a draft, so all she could do was shiver as she tried stretching her blanket to cover her whole body. She wriggled in her bed as she desperately tried to block out the sound of the thunder from outside. Firefly had heard about the news of her father, that he killed himself. She knew he was a bad pony, and that he was on death-row, but why would he kill himself? She wasn't aloud to visit her mother to get answers, and she didn't want to see her ever again anyway. She was just glad she was locked up.
Another sound of thunder hit the orphanage, waking up half of the foals and fillies. Firefly sat up and looked around at some of the startled kids. She already knew what the punishments were if you are awake after ten-o-clock, so she got out of her bed and went to comfort some of the children. She didn't know them all, but she knew their back-stories, so she knew what made them happy. Firefly found out that she was good at humming lullabies, since she couldn't have her mom sing them for her, so she sung a lullaby tune to help them get to sleep. It worked, to her surprise, and she climbed back on to her rock bed. She silently hummed her song, and fell asleep.
She dreamed of escaping the orphanage...
Another note: I haven't seen from the season 5 finale to season 6.