Hours Loom 2: Electric Boogaloo

The pegasus ran and hid behind the engine’s whirring mechanisms. He had been working on restoring power in the hopes of turning the lights back on, however, he had seen the masked pony and was forced to hide. He could see the killer checking every inch and corner but it had not seen him yet. As the masked pony drew closer to Mr. Shy’s hiding spot, it heard a noise and moved away. The pegasus gave a sigh of relief and poked his head out. He should have waited longer as the killer grabbed him immediately, throwing him to the floor by his hair. Another quick jab came from the knife, stabbing him directly in the spine. He screamed out in pain and fell unconscious.

Another sound echoing in the distance caught the killer’s attention, just as the first had. It decided to drag Mr. Shy with him, the knife still dug into a vertebrae. The killer dragged the pegasus out from the engine room, down the hall, and towards the resonating hoofsteps of an unsuspecting victim. A door slammed shut and the killer followed, listening for a moment before turning the metal knob. With Mr. Shy still in its grasp, the killer entered the room and could see two silhouettes huddled against the wall. It was the anchor room, the metal chains sat tethered next to the two ponies. When they saw the killer they began whimpering in fear.

The killer took the knife from Mr. Shy’s back and slit his throat, killing the pegasus. The killer shook the blade in their direction, sending blood spattering on the floor and at them. A trap was sprung as the masked pony stepped into the middle of the room. Twilight Sparkle and Maud threw the net from the shadows, landing on the masked marauder with heavy iron balls weighing it down. The killer fell to the ground under its weight. It tried to shake it off and cut the rope but neither worked. “What is this sorcery!?” the killer yelled in its strange voice.

“We did it!” Twilight Sparkle cheered as the four ponies surrounded the killer. “You’ll never get out of that! I placed a spell on it to prevent it from being destroyed. Your little game is over, Rarity!” She stomped her hoof, something was finally going good for them. Her horn lit up, revealing the costumed killer in full detail. Big Mac and Marble were startled to see the outfit so up close, especially the painted red eyes.

Maud reached down to grab the mask but the killer swiped at her and almost sliced her hoof. “What do we do now?” she asked.

“With the killer trapped we’re free to gather up the others and just wait for the boat to reach shore.” She watched as the masked pony struggled and squirmed. “We’ll need one of us to stay down here just in case she manages to get free.”

Big Mac nodded and raised his hoof. “Eeyup!” he said, volunteering.

“Then that settles it. Let’s head to the top deck. Big Mac, if something happens just run away,” Twilight advised. “Okay?” The stallion nodded in response and she motioned for the other two mares to exit. “I just hope everypony else is alright,” she said, staring down at Mr. Shy’s corpse.

Marble looked back at Big Mac, frowning as she exited the room with her sister. He waved to her but the dim light faded before she could see.

The trio of females rushed up into the crispy night air only to be slapped in the face with another dead body. Zephyr laid sprawled out and covered in blood, a single stab wound through the chest. As they made their way to the control room they discovered Spitfire’s bloody remains. Bruises and cuts had been strung about the body, but none of the mares wanted to get close enough to see how mutilated she was. With the waiter’s body still splattered on the deck, the cruise ship was slowly becoming a graveyard. Fortunately, the control room was empty like Twilight had hoped, nopony could enter without her allowed approval. Unfortunately, they had not found any of the other guests on their way up. At least, not living ones.

“Maybe they’ve hidden somewhere. Your parents may be down in the medical bay. I lost my mom on the third floor and haven’t seen my dad. Let’s grab the map from my room before we go searching.” The Pie sisters agreed and they began to walk back to Twilight’s room. Twilight checked her door once they arrived, forgetting it had been locked since that morning. When she lifted her wing to grab the key it was gone. “Great. I lost it somewhere, probably trying to escape Rarity. Who knows where it could be now.”

She jiggled the knob and thought to teleport in and unlock it from the other side, except Maud tapped her shoulder. “Not now, Maud. I’ve got a map just inside-” Maud tapped her shoulder again and this time she looked. The killer stood near the railing, holding a bloody knife. “She escaped!?”

They didn’t wait for the killer to move. The trio of mares rushed down the other side of the ship, passing stairs to the second level and the other sets of guest cabins. They ran all the way to the pool and huddled along the outside wall of the dining hall. “If the lights were on we could push the killer into the pool and throw in a speaker,” Maud pointed out. “It’s clear magic won’t stop her. We need a weapon.”

Marble hummed in agreement and ran the length of the pool. She dared not look at the chef as she made her way to the other glass entrance. She skidded to a stop as she came face to face with the masked murderer. “Hello, Marble,” the killer said as it grabbed the silent mare by her mane, slamming her face to the ground. Twilight and Maud had stopped at the chef. They attempted to pull a knife down. When they heard the voice they immediately rushed around the side to help the youngest sister. They had gotten there too late as the killer had gotten her by the throat with the knife firmly pressed against it. “What’s the matter you two? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” it remarked, then its painted red eyes shifted to Maud. “Well, one of you at least. Come on, Maud. Show us a frown, some tears. Beg a little for your sister’s life.”

Twilight slowly stepped to the killer’s left, leaving Maud where she stood. “Look, it’s me you want. Just let Marble go and I’ll take her place. You’ll have finally won. Isn’t that what you want?” She tried to think of a plan as she spoke.

As Twilight got the killer’s attention, Maud pulled Boulder from her shirt and whispered to him. She had to wait until Twilight fully held the killer’s attention. “If I wanted just you I would have killed you in your bedroom the first night, Twilight. I would have slit your throat and watched your blood run cold just like I did for Big Mac. You should have seen the look on his face when he realized I wasn’t actually trapped.” The killer laughed a high-pitched, noisy laugh.

Marble squirmed and cried as she was held. It was at this moment that Maud sent Boulder flying like an arrow at the killer’s mask. Marble was released and she scattered away, but Boulder was caught midair. The killer turned to face Maud as if to show a frown or grimace, but the mask held no expression. Boulder hadn’t been caught by the killer’s hoof, no, it was caught by the killer’s telekinesis. Maud’s mouth fell open and her eyes went wide as the killer stared into her soul.

Instead of sending the pebble back at Maud, the killer tossed him over the ship into the water. “Sink like the rock you are.” This enraged the earth pony. Her expression went from its blank face to a slight frown. Maud charged the killer, slamming a hoof into the mask and sending the rock-killer to the ground.

As Maud laid into the killer, Twilight rushed to Marble’s aid, hoping the mare to be alright. The mare had passed out from freight. She turned back to see the fight and was horrified with what she saw. If catching Boulder hadn’t been enough proof, raising Maud into the air and slamming her on her back was. Rarity was a truly powerful unicorn and seemed to have gotten stronger over time. Twilight had to try something to save the earth pony. Her horn lit up and she fired a stream of magic at the masked pony. She held the stream of energy on the murderer but they had shielded themselves. The killer wasn’t moving as Twilight attacked, giving enough time for Maud to get out of the way and rush back to the alicorn’s side. “Get Marble into the kitchen and find a knife! My magic won’t stop her but she’s no god! Find something – anything, that might kill her!”

Maud nodded and hoisted her sister onto her back, leaving the alicorn to deal with the killer. She carried Marble past the glass doors and into the kitchen, dropping her sister near the door. Quick as a rabbit, Maud rifled through the drawers, leaving them open as she searched. The lack of light had made it impossible to see the blades but she could feel the insides of each. Spoons, forks, potholders, larger spoons, skewers, a drawer full of aluminum foil. Her search was in vain as the knives had all been used to pin up the chef on the outside of the hall or stored elsewhere.

She had taken too much time to search. The killer opened the door with a passed out Twilight on its back. “Looking for this?” it asked as it plunged the knife into Marble’s skull with such a force that a crunch rang out. Maud stepped forward and was about to charge before the killer commanded her to stop. “You don’t want little Twilight Sparkle here to die too, do you?”

It was pointless to try to fight with Twilight in harm’s way. She had to get the alicorn to safety before she ended up like Marble. “What do you want?” Maud asked, gritting her teeth.

“March out to the pool,” it demanded.

Maud did just that. The killer held the knife to Twilight’s throat as Maud exited the kitchen and stepped into the dining hall. She was marched out the doors underneath the chef, forcing her to step in the blood. The killer pointed to the right as they exited, at the short side of the pool. She walked all the way over and halted before turning around. When she did she caught the sight of the other end of the pool. Her parents had been tied up and hoisted over the railing, above the open sea. They wiggled in their ropes and muffled cries as they hung upside down.

“How did you manage-”

The killer dumped Twilight’s body to the ground, interrupting the earth pony. “Do you want to play a little game, Maud? It’s a real fun game. Pinkie used to love games.”

She had no choice but to nod.

“Good. Here’s the rules. If you can get to the edge of the boat before your parent’s rope are cut and they are tragically sent drowning into the sea, then you and them get to live! However, if you don’t then they die!” the killer explained with a piercing, howling cackle.

“That doesn’t sound like a game I can win. You’ll just use-”

“Magic? No. No magic. I won’t even throw the knife. What do you say? Will you play?” Without answering, Maud began running down the long side of the pool. “And she’s off! Will she make it in time folks!?” the killer yelled but didn’t move from the spot they stood.

Maud knew it was a trick, somehow, but she didn’t expect what was coming. Another masked pony stepped out from the wall near her parents and walked to the rope. Maud skidded to a stop, taking a moment to look at this new pony and then the other. This second killer cut the rope and sent her parents into the depths below. There had been two all along.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Twilight Sparkle closed the book she had been reading. It was her favorite novel. A pony had been trapped with witches and went along a road to meet a superb sorceress. As she got up to put the book back on a shelf she could smell smoke. She looked around and saw no open flames amongst her tree home and no smoke overhead. Spike sat dreaming in his bed like usual, so he couldn’t be the cause. Deciding not to wake him, she trotted down the steps and the smell of smoke worsened. She opened the door to the Golden Oak Library and stepped outside into Ponyville. The night air filled her lungs and the smoke followed. She walked out, turned, and then looked up. Fire had engulfed the tree branches in a matter of seconds. When she tried to run back inside to save Spike, the door shut on her face. No matter how hard she tried it wouldn’t budge.

Rarity’s voice called out from behind her and she turned, facing a darkness of fog that had begun to overwhelm the town. The tree had already started to collapse in on itself. Fear forced her to run around the side and attempt to fly. Her wings were nothing, not even stubs. She was unicorn again, forced to run as hard as she could with the fog chasing after her. It chased her all the way to the foot of the Everfree Forest. She didn’t stop running once it backed off, instead she continued on. Voices echoed around her. Some she recognized, others she wished she hadn’t. When she got further into the forest she stopped to catch her breath. “I’ll rip your heart from your ribs!” Rarity called out, it sounded close.

She started running again, unsure of where the voice was coming from. Stomping followed behind her, getting louder and louder with each passing second. In an attempt to hide, Twilight found an open tree trunk barely big enough to fit her. She squeezed into the gap and sat in the darkness. The stomping came closer and closer but then further and further away it went. She gave a sigh of relief before the floor opened up below her and she fell into darkness.

The darkness surrounded her as she screamed herself awake. Her horn lit up and she found herself in her cabin aboard the ship. She couldn’t move anything other than her head. She was paralyzed. It was as if something sat on her chest and sucked the air right from her lungs. A few seconds passed, then a minute. Nothing seemed to be happening until the door to her room swung open. Darkness was in the doorframe. Not even her horn could light up such a dark void.

A pony stepped out from this incredible darkness, a pony she hated to see. The white fur and purple mane brightened the room, and her blue piercing eyes stared at the immobile alicorn. “Twilight. Twilight. Twilight.” Rarity moved slowly, edging herself towards the end of the bed. “What a predicament you’ve found yourself in, thinking you were dealing with me.” Her words were jumbled to Twilight and made no sense. Why was she here and what was she doing? “I have no need to kill the families of our beloved friends. You’re the only one I want.” A knife appeared in Rarity’s grasp, along with a grin on her face.

Twilight opened her mouth to speak but nothing came. She struggled and cried, hoping to break free from whatever had been cast on her. “Shh, Twilight. It’s alright, darling.” Rarity hopped onto the bed and sauntered atop the alicorn, laying her body on Twilight’s chest. She lowered the knife down, slicing at Twilight’s face and creating deep gashes. “Do you really think it’s me? Come on, Twilight. You know me better than that.”

With her words spoken, Rarity vanished along with the rest of the room. Twilight was wrapped in darkness for a moment before she heard another voice. It was Maud’s voice, but she could not see her. Another spoke and she realized where she was. Her eyes opened in time to see Igneous and Cloudy drop into the ocean, forever lost to the sea. Maud spoke to the killer and looked to the other. That’s when Twilight realized what Rarity had meant. Two killer ponies. Two killer ponies she knew.

Her magic snapped the ropes that tied her and she rose up from the ground like a rabbit jumping a downed tree to escape a fox. She grabbed onto the killer that was closest to her and bit down on their shoulder. As the masked pony screamed in pain, Twilight lifted the black mask straight up into the air, throwing it overboard in the process. It was revealed who one of the killers had been, the moonlight shining down on their open head. Maud and Twilight stared as the unmasked pony shook their head, letting the purple and white hair flow.

“Well, this is a problem,” Twilight Velvet remarked.