Hours Loom 2: Electric Boogaloo

The castle walls were dim and dark, reflecting nothing across the blue and purple surface. No lights were on, thundering and the clattering of rain could be heard hitting the shut window. The purple alicorn trembled at the bottom of the steps, crying and screaming surrounded her, halting her progress. Heat. Heat could be felt as the foyer became ablaze, forcing her to run up the stairs. She couldn’t outrun the flames. Her wings caught fire and melted down to the bone as she trampled up the steps. The flame burst around her, leading her down the corridor into the great hall.

Spike and the other Elements of Harmony sat around the circular table. As she entered and saw the group, she stopped, and the doors slammed behind her, locking her in and preventing her escape. She cautiously drew closer to the table. Blood blanketed it, pouring down into the laps of the ponies and dragon. When she went to speak, to call to them, nothing came out. She stuck out her tongue but it had been cut out. That’s when all of them turned their black eyes to her. They were not just black as if the pupils were dark or if their eyes had been removed and replaced with something black. No, there was simply nothing. A blackness that was like a void, empty.

In an instant, all the ponies slit their own throats, leaving the baby dragon to step up from his seat and walk to the center of the table. Footprints were made in the blood like snow. He raised his claw to her, wanting her to take his hand. As she drew closer to the bloody table, the doors flew open and flames shot in. She turned to look at the flames. When she turned back to the dragon, he was covered in flames. The bodies of her friends were burning into ash, except one. One was missing. She turned to the entryway once more. Princess Celestia came from the fires, unscathed and unburned. Twilight reached out, crying for her beloved mentor.

“You have to wake up, my dear Twilight,” Celestia said in a voice that wasn’t her own. “You have to wake up before-“

Before she could finish her sentence, a white unicorn the size of a house appeared from the flames behind Celestia. The purple hair from this unicorn entangled the alicorn mere seconds before the jaws came down, clamping down on her neck. With a swift tug, the head came off and blood spewed from the open neck.

From the blood came another. Rarity’s head pushed through from the gaping hole. “Hello, Twilight.”

The alicorn jolted from her sleep. The room was black and she screamed in terror. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Twilight!” a voice called from the darkness. “Twilight! Calm down!” the voice said. The light flicked on and she didn’t recognize the room. Her mother sat forward from a loveseat near the wall. “Twilight? Are you alright? You’re safe!” she soothed.

Twilight didn’t recognize the room but believed her mother. “Where am I? The last thing I remember…” A thud against glass echoed in her mind. “Where’s Maud?” she firmly asked, wiping tears from her cheeks.

“Maud’s the one that brought you up to us.” Twilight Velvet rose from her seat and came to her child’s bedside. “She took some of the others to go fish out the bodies from what you two found. I haven’t heard anything since then. What happened down there, Twilight?”

The memory of the corpses flashed in her mind and she shook her head. “I’ve got to get to the control room. Without Starboard or Porter, I’m the one that can fix the automated controls.” She began to get up from the bed only for her mother to hold her back.

“What you need is a shower, food, and a bit of relaxation. You can’t work on anything if your hooves are shaking from starvation.” Velvet slid her hoof down her daughter’s cheek, caressing the alicorn. “We need to get home and we can’t do that without you. However, you need to be at your best to fix the ship. Promise me you’ll do two of those things before you head to the control room.” She watched as her daughter shifted her eyes. “Promise me, Twilight.”

With a groan and a roll of her eyes, the alicorn made the promise. “Shower and food but that’s it,” she bartered.

Velvet kissed the alicorn on her forehead. “Alright, that’s good enough for me. They’ve turned off the other boilers, though. You’ll have to take a cold shower,” she said as she made her way to the door.

“That’s fine,” replied the alicorn. The bathroom light turned on. “I’ll catch up with you in a little while, okay?”

“Alright, dear.” The unicorn began to exit the room, already halfway out the door before her daughter called to her. “Yes?” she replied, sticking her head back in.

“I love you!”

“I love you too, dear.” Velvet smiled as she closed the door.

Twilight Sparkle loved to see her mother smile, however, this time was different. With two ponies dead she wondered if a serial killer was on the loose. No. It was more like she knew a serial killer was on the loose. She had to take extra care to tell her loved ones how she felt, for it might be her only chance. As she turned the knob on the shower she wondered if it could be the return of something worse. I knew I should have checked every inch of the ship, she regretted.

After a quick rinse of cold against her fur, Twilight dried off and headed out of her parent’s cabin. They were closer to the dining hall than her lodging, and so she stuck to her promise. She had thought of just sneaking off to the control room, but her mother had been right. She skipped breakfast and lunch to search for the missing crew members, and her hooves were shaking from how famished she had become. When she got to the dining hall she found her mother speaking with Mr. and Mrs. Shy along with Granny Smith. Her mind immediately wondered where the others had gone.

“Twilight, get yourself some food. The chef made you a plate.” Twilight Velvet pointed to the kitchen and then turned back to the other ponies.

She waltzed to the large opening between the kitchen and dining hall, greeting Chef Savory as she grabbed the covered saucer. “Hey, you!” he called to her as she started to walk away. “You, ehh, you were the one to find captain and first mate, yes?” She nodded in response, to which he said, “You did good thing, finding them. I made sure to put extra serving for you, you deserve treat.”

“Thank you, Chef Savory,” she replied with a smile and took a seat. After lifting the lid, she dug into the steamed vegetables, listening in on her mother’s conversation. Granny Smith was the most vocal of the four, and she could barely hear the Shy’s.

“I’m tellin’ you it’s them! Them and their rotten daughter! They’d be here right now if it weren’t them!” Granny Smith must’ve been talking about Hondo Flanks and Cookie Crumbles. They were the only parents who had a rotten daughter. Possibly the most rotten daughter of anypony in Equestria.

She listened for a while before she noticed that something was missing. “Hey, mom?” she spoke up. “Where’s dad?”

“He went to get the others and bring them here. Maud and her parents are down on the fifth floor in the medical bay there. The other kids are searching for some of the crew,” she answered and turned back to the others.

Her worry of her father wasn’t subsided, but she had a job to do. She scarfed down the food so fast she got hiccups. She hiccupped the entire way to the front of the ship. It was already dark and the light of the control room wasn’t bright enough to see inside the compartment panels. She had hoped she wouldn’t need to look at the wiring within these compartments, however, the knowledge she gained from the captain hadn’t been helping. The knobs and levers she had been shown did very little. It was as if the automated system had been cut off from the rest of the mainframe, like a spine being severed, leaving the victim paralyzed but conscious.

It was an analogy that reminded Twilight of her sister-in-law. Her spine hadn’t been struck, but her achilles tendons had been severed. It took the surgeons many hours to repair what they could but she still hobbled when she walked. Of course, it didn’t help that her blindness prevented her from seeing where she stepped. Twilight often wondered how Cadance felt being so helpless. She had lost so much more. Her eyes, her horn, and her husband. Those were bad, sure, but it failed to compare to the greatest thing she lost that day. From all her wounds she had, she could not sustain the life that was growing inside her belly.

Twilight shivered at the thought. She had only lost a wing, and she would give up the other just to have her friends back. But now, she had to make sure no one else was killed on her watch. All the panels within the control room had been opened and she began looking over each. It wasn’t long before she discovered the main power that led from the automated system to somewhere below deck. She needed to remove it from the main power system and attach the auxiliary power. Whoever had damaged the automated system had cut the main power but they couldn’t cut the backup power.

Time passed quickly for the alicorn as she rewired the power. After a few challenges, she found a way to connect the automated system to the backup terminal. With the flick of a switch, the controls shifted and turned. She changed the dial to the returning coordinates and the ship began to move. Wind blew her hair as she walked out onto the deck. The vessel turned with little grace, rotating the moon around to the other side of the ship. After closing up all the panels, she wiped her hooves off and smiled. It was a proud moment for her, only to be ruined by the lights going off.

From bright light, to darkness, and then finally to a red glow. The main power had been turned off and the boat stopped once more. Running everything on backup power meant it could only run lights and basic systems or the automated system, but not both. Unfortunately for Twilight, the ship chose the automated system to be turned off. They were now stuck in the water until whatever triggered the auxiliary system was corrected.

In her panic, Twilight rushed down the deck. Red here, red there. All she could see was everything in a red tint. She came upon the dining hall, praying that her parents had brought everypony back from below. Upon thrusting the glass doors open, she found that the dining hall was barren of life. “Is anyone here!?” she yelled. When no response came she turned to the doors that lead out to the pool, only to be confronted with blood seemingly trickling down the glass. She backed away, bumping into tables and chairs.

She rushed into the kitchen, slamming the door behind her and collapsing on the floor. “It’s happening. It’s happening again,” she muttered over and over, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her fear had gotten the best of her and her breathing became too rapid, too quickly. She slumped against the kitchen door, her vision going dark before she passed out.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Seriously?” Limestone screamed at the red light that spread amongst the hall. “I’m already getting a headache from this crap.” Big Mac and Marble hummed in agreement.

Zephyr opened another door to a guest room, calling out and hearing nothing. “Why’d we get stuck checking these halls? Why would anypony even be in here?”

“Would you rather have gone down with my sister to investigate the dead bodies?” Limestone asked, opening a door of her own.

He shook his head. “Only body I want to be with is yours.” The sensual quip caught glares from all three of the ponies. “What?” he asked as he shut the door.

“Honestly, I’d rather just hide Big Mac and Marble in a room, go and grab our families, and then bring them back to the room. Twilight and her folks can survive just fine and Spitfire and Soarin are both Wonderbolts! They can handle anything. I, however, will feel a lot safer when Maud is here.”

The pegasus wrapped a wing around her neck, pushing his face next to hers. “Don’t worry babe, I’ll make you feel safe ‘til your sis gets back.” He then let go and opened a room. “Though, the idea of leaving these two in a room while we grab our families ain’t a bad idea. Heck, if we grab Maud first she can haul Granny Smith over here no problem.” He turned his head to Limestone and whispered loudly, “Did you see her carrying Twilight Sparkle? She did it like it was nothing!”

Marble leaned into Limestone and hummed something short, to which Limestone nodded. “I’ve got to agree with my sister. The fact that you think carrying Twilight is a feat of strength shows how weak you are.” She gave a proud flex of a foreleg, attempting to tease the pegasus. “We haul rocks for a living. What do you do?”

His face almost touched hers as he came closer, grinning like a madmare. “I love strong, independent mares. There is almost nothing more attractive.” He looked over at Big Mac and said, “Right Big M?”

The red stallion looked at Zephyr, then at Marble. “Eenope.”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” Limestone growled at Big Mac, causing him to lean away from the angry mare. “You got a problem with strong, independent mares?”

Big Mac shriveled against the wall, fearing the mare half his size. She moved closer but was dragged away by Zephyr. “I think you may be on to something, though. We should stick your sister and Big M in a room and go grab our families. Even if there was a supposed killer on the loose, which just sounds ridiculous, then we should get the ponies we trust the most. Our families. Forget searching for the other crew members. Let them fend for themselves.”

“Fine. You two, inside! Now!” She pointed at the open door, room ninety-five. They both trotted in and she grabbed the knob. “Keep this door locked and we’ll come back with all of our families as soon as we can,” she said as she slammed the door shut, not giving them a chance to agree or disagree. When she turned to Zephyr, she saw that he was immobile as a one hundred-year-old stone.

The stallion stared down the hall through the mist-like red tint, his mouth refused to move to speak the words as if to be choked by brambles and thorns. When Limestone focused at where he stared, she saw it. It was there and then it was gone, a passing glance at the end of the hall. But she did recognize the outfit, especially the black mask. Without thinking, she rushed down the hall, forcing Zephyr to break his stupor and chase after her. When she got to the end of the hall, she turned to follow the way the mysterious pony had gone. However, there was hall after hall of almost endless doors that the pony could have entered.

They passed each hall, making sure whatever they saw wasn’t still out and about. When they came to the stairs, Limestone looked down the steps, hoping to see someone or something. “Are we really going down!? Why not up!?” Zephyr asked, his voice cracking as he spoke.

“You saw it, I saw it. I’m not letting that thing get away! Now shut up and come on!” she growled in reply, grabbing him by his loose hairs and dragging him down with her.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The fur and hair had been completely stripped of the body and the skin had been scorched to a dark red with lines of pink strung about. The lines were where the skin had been pushed together, preventing water from entering and boiling the outside areas. Where the eyes had been the sockets had puffed up, creating a wall of flesh within the bone of the skull. The loosest of skin had been burnt away, such as the lips and genitals.

Whether it was the captain or the first mate, Igneous couldn’t say. He zipped up the body bag, sealing the corpse safely away from the outside air. It was unsightly to even look at but he knew what it meant, they had all known what it meant. “We’ll need to gather the others and hide in a single room.” Cloudy and Maud looked at him and nodded. “Cloudy, go get the girls. I’ll grab the Wonderbolts. Maud-“

“I’ll find Twilight and her family. I know where they are.” She then unraveled the map on the marble counter. “I’ll go up the sideway, there’s a path that opens up on the right side of the control room from the third floor. I’m sure she’s already there.”

“You have more experience with her than I.” He nodded. “Keep her safe.”

The three then split off from the large medical bay, ascending in different directions. Maud trotted quietly up the steps, listening for voices, noises, and anything else she could hear. The red tint of the lights grew brighter the closer she got to the surface. As her head popped up from the deck, she found herself closer to the control room than she had expected. From her stairs, she could see where they had boarded, halfway down the deck. To the opposite side was the bright red control room, vacant of life. She drew around the steps and walked along the outside, hoping for the alicorn to be hiding close by.

Panels had been shifted and there were screws littering the floor with tools recently used. Quick as a scared mouse, she rummaged through a container of tools, lifting out a small flashlight from the chest. Twilight can cast magic, she won’t need this, she surmised as she stuffed it down into her shirt, saving it if the need were to come arise. With no trace of where the alicorn had gone, she stepped out onto the deck, wind brushing her hair forward in the process. It blocked her eyesight for a moment, but she saw it. The black mask, white shirt, and blue overalls.

She shoved her body back into the control room, ducking below the window and out of sight. She did not know if the killer had seen her or not. A quick glimpse revealed the masked murderer to have vanished, or perhaps had not been there at all. Whether it was simply waiting for her to make a move or not, she couldn’t say. Nor could she stay trapped in the control room forever. A quick burst in her steps and she rushed to the opposite side of the boat. She ran down this right side of the deck, hoping the masked pony wouldn’t hear her hooves clopping against the wood. It was a large ship, but it was also eerily quiet. The sound of waves slapping the ship had been the only occasional noise emitted.

When she got to the walled off section outside of the dining hall, she stopped and caught her breath. Her nerves shook like a pulsing violin, though, no expression of worry showed on her face. If it really was the return of the unicorn who murdered her sister, if it was the return of Rarity, then she would need Twilight’s help. Twilight had defeated the unicorn before, barely, and with the help of Applejack. But time had passed and Rarity had been out there, plotting her return. That could mean she had grown immensely powerful, she thought. All the more reason to find Twilight Sparkle.

Her eye peered cautiously round the corner, studying the pool and the tables that sat around it. The water seemed as still as the sky’s zenith. She crept low, pushing her body to the ground as she drew from the corner. Using the tables as cover, she kept crouched as she moved to the dining hall, the pool to her left. It was there she saw it. She stood in front of the pool, staring up above the doors of the dining room. Blood had trickled down the glass and flooded the floor in front of the entryway. She had always been quiet with her words but this silenced her completely. Her face still failed to express itself, but her body trembled and shook.

Five blades and a sliced open stomach. Four knives for each leg, piercing and keeping the body pinned. The fifth dangled in the open cavity, along with the large intestines and other organs. The fat, jelly-like body of Chef Savory had been preserved like an art piece on the wall. But it wasn’t the gruesomeness that disturbed the oldest Pie sister. She remembered the pictures the photographers had taken of all the corpses in the Castle of Friendship. Her mind would never forget the worst picture, the one taken of Rainbow Dash’s dead body. It had been painted up just the same. Pinned to a wall and ripped from sternum to pelvis. Except, one had a message and this one had nothing. Perhaps the body itself was the message.

Nevertheless, she knew what it meant. Rarity had returned, this was proof enough. Nopony could have done something like this without having done it prior. After soaking in the scene for a moment, she rushed down the left side, past the other entrance of the dining hall. Twilight was important to defeating this wretched monster, but it would be pointless if she could not keep her family protected first. As she ran along the deck, trailing closer to an entrance to the second floor, she heard a muffled noise. She stood as still as the corpse in the fifth-floor medical bay, waiting to hear something more. Another whimper came from one of the cushioned benches that sat against the railing.

With a hint of caution, Maud drew close to the supposed noisy seat, waiting for another whimper. When it came, she threw up the cushion, revealing a pony crying out underneath. The white clothing and tan fur, she had seen the pony earlier in the day. “Who are you?” Maud questioned.

The maid sluggishly rose from the container, sobbing and whimpering as she did. “I-I’m Gale Wind,” she answered as if unsure of her own name.

“Have you seen anypony else?”

Gale began to sob harder, choking back her desire to completely break down. “I-I-I saw Chef… Chef Savory. H-He, uh, he got… He was…”

“I saw him. He’s dead. Rarity has returned,” Maud informed her. “We must find Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the passengers.” The maid nodded in agreement, wiping the snot from her nose.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sweat dripped down Soarin’s brow as he lifted the dumbbell. One, two, three, four, he counted. It wasn’t a large gym but it was enough for him and Spitfire. Many of the ships amenities were meant to be open as the cruise went on but the gym was open day one. He hated working out, but he loved watching Spitfire. “I’ve been thinking,” he said as he returned the dumbbell.

“Uh oh. That can’t be a good thing,” she sarcastically remarked. Spitfire raised her head above the pull-up bar, held only by her wings. She then switched to her forelegs before dropping to the ground. “Alright,” she said. “Let’s hear it.”

“You fly back to the mainland and tell them about what happened. If there is a killer on board, I’ll protect the princess and her family.” He drew closer and toweled the sweat off his muzzle. “It’s probably one of the crew that killed those two. No sense in jumping to conclusions. Right?”

Spitfire slammed back a water bottle, pouring the liquid down her throat. She gasped as she finished, and asked, “And if it is Rarity? What then?”

His mind wandered for a moment and his face shifted to anger. “If it is her… Well, she killed Rainbow Dash. I’ll serve up some justice for her memory. That or I’ll die trying.”

“I will not lose another member of my team, Soarin. Not to frivolously die when they could be saved and be doing something far more important. Rescuing the ponies on this boat is top priority, more so than getting revenge. Do I make myself clear?”

His look grew stubborn. “You are the fastest flyer in the Wonderbolts, Spitfire. There is no one else faster than you.”

“Speed doesn’t matter when we are at least a day away from shore. You have the endurance of a bull.” She grabbed the side of his cheek, brushing down his neck. “I’ve seen it in more ways than one.”

“We have no time for that, Spitfire.”

“Do you think I don’t know that?” she said. “I would keep you by my side if I could rely on Zephyr or his parents. However, they are weak flyers and you are strong. You are the only one I can trust to do this, I have to send you away.”

She saw the anger raging in his eyes, but in a flash, they were gone and he understood. “I know,” he said. “I was hoping I could convince you but it seems you’ve convinced me.” He grabbed her by the neck and pushed his own into her. “Just a little more exercise and a short rest after, okay? I want to be by your side a little longer. I don’t know what I would do without you, Spitfire.” He nuzzled his muzzle into her hair, nipping at her neck. “I am glad this boat has a gym, otherwise, I’d be relying on you for a workout.”

Spitfire pushed him away, smiling. “I’ll give you a long, hard work out once we are back in Cloudsdale. Though a short one wouldn’t hurt, I suppose...”

His muzzle pushed into hers, kissing her lips with an intense ferocity. They slowly began to get more intimate before a click sound interrupted their fun. Through the red tint, near the door of the gym, they could see the outline of a dark, shadowed pony standing at the door. Soarin began to move closer, trying to get a better look at the mysterious figure. But Spitfire stopped him, grabbing a back leg and saying, “Soarin, don’t. It’s… her.”