A pain in the neck.

Three ponies trotted down the dirt path that lead to a small cottage on the edge of the dark and gloomy Everfree Forest. A forest full of deadly animals that anypony would fear in any circumstance, although they may say that they are fearless, no-pony would dream of living on the edge of that dangerous place. These three ponies were the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' yet have their cutie marks and seem a little old to crusade for a mark they already have, but no-pony questions this, a small group of ponies who crusaded when they were younger but stopped a long time ago. Applebloom had a bag with some useful items in it, varying from a simple book to a complex toolkit ready for any situation. Scootaloo had a guide on looking after animals. Sweetiebelle had a small gift for the occupant of this home. They all reached the door and tapped their hooves on it, a familiar yellow pony with a pink mane welcomed them inside, Fluttershy had asked for the fillies to help her with the animals since some new ones needed some special attention. Sweetiebelle gave Fluttershy a book, this book contained the details of every animal in Equestria , the skeletal structure, the diet and more information. Flutershy thanked Sweetiebelle and pointed to the kitchen, clearly indicating that the animals needed food, the three ponies soon got to work at making food and served every animal in the room with the correct food.

A few hours passed and there was a knock at the door, and shortly after that, Fluttershy appeared to open the door. The three ponies heard a creek as the door opened and the a 'Hel...' as Fluttershy was cut off mid-sentence, at this point there was a loud slice and the door closed. The pony figure at the door collapsed and the former Cutie Mark Crusaders rushed over to assist the older mare, a thick red liquid poured from a wound in the mares neck, but the ponies were too late, the body of the kind mare was already looking pale and her eyes were just white. The wound looked just like a large paper cut. The Cutie Mark Crusaders started to cry and this was to continue for several hours...

Several hours later there was a knock on the door and the fillies were careful when they opened the door. A rainbow maned mare was hovering at the door 'Hey Scoots! Is Fluttershy inside?' asked the Wonderbolt.

'She is but I don't think that she can talk' Scootaloo replied.

'Wait, is everything OK in there Scoots? All three of you look like you have been crying.' asked the Pegasus in a concerning voice.

'We have been crying and no, there is a problem, take a look' the group replied as they opened the door to reveal a red puddle around the body of what was a yellow Pegasus. A shocked look appeared on Rainbow Dashes face. There was silence for what felt like an eternity, there was a tense atmosphere around the ponies, waiting for somepony to make a sound, or show any signs of life. Tears could be seen starting to drip down the Wonderbolt as she landed and placed her flank on the ground. The small streams turned into waterfalls as a loud cry became apparent. It was quite a lengthy amount of time before Rainbow Dash asked 'Who did this?' she repeated this many times and each time the question was said louder. Finally the crusaders answered with 'We don't know, a pony knocked on the door and slit her throat then trotted off after closing the door.' Rainbow Dash flew off after hearing this and the crusaders were alone again.

Little did they know, this is not the end, this is only the start...