"...In other news, forensic evidence has determined that the killings on the Pie family farm were indeed homicide, and the killer is still on the loose somewhere. The closest town in the area is Ponyville, so be on the look out for any suspicious persons. If you think you have found the killer, do not approach, and call the Ponyville guard for assistac--" The radio clicked off as Applejack turned to her younger sibling.
"Young lady, this is serious, you and your friends are NOT going after that varmit, understand? You heard the radio. If you think you see him, her, or what ever did it, you call the guard got it?" Applebloom nodded and promised. "Good, now have a good day at school okay? Don't want to hear bout getting in another fight with Diamond and Silver, got it?"
"Got it sis, now I need to go! Ah'm gonna be late!" Applebloom gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Love you sis!"
"Love you too, Applebloom!" Applejack yelled back. Her brother, Big Mac came walking behind her chewing a stalk.
"Ya'know, Bloom's almost 15, you'd think her and those two would get along by now." She said absently to him.
"Eeyup."
"So why is it that no matter how hard she does something, she's almost always on the short end?"
"...Clash of personalities."
"Huh, go figure." Applejack said as she walked into the field. As she was about to kick a tree Mac turned to her.
"Ya'know what tomorrow is right?" He said with a chilling tone. She turned to him kicking the tree.
"How could I forget?" She said as the apples fell. It was almost 4 years now, the day that Laughter died, as some called it. It began when Applejack and her friends, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, and Fluttershy all went to a traveling carnival. Not just any old carnival though, it was Big Topps Traveling Carnival. Big Topp was a legendary unicorn famous for his illusions, and transmogrification spells, such as switching someone's eye color, making a unicorn into a pegasus and vice-versa, he even made himself invisible. Even Twilight was impressed by the magic display, but no one among her friends were more excited than Pinkie Pie. After she had seen them once when she was little filly, she had wanted to see them again, only she could never find them. Now, however, she was watching them again and she was giddy as a school filly.
...Then came the knife toss. When it came to tossing knives, no one was better at it than Sharp Eye. He was so good, he held the world record for tossing a knife so close to the other, it looked like it was one knife, albeit a thick one. Well, Big Topp and Sharp Eye wanted to show off their skills, so Big Topp was calling for a volunteer, and sure enough, Pinkie was the most giddy of anybody. They chose her, whether her being an Element or whether they wanted her to stop, and she came flying down. They strapped her on a spinning wheel where Sharp Eye would throw a knife and it would just barely make it by. Big Topp spun the wheel faster and faster until the fifth and final knife was about to be tossed. Sharp Eye lined up the throw and the wheel was spun to max speed, and then... A bright flash. He let go of the knife while someone flashed a camera in his face, and he missed his mark by several inches. Applejack briefly recalled the dull thuck it made when it pierced Pinkie's throat. Big Topp stopped the wheel to check on her, but by the time they got her out of the cuffs she was already dead. The worst part was the smile on her face. It was etched into everyone's minds. Especially Big Topp and Sharp Eye. Big Topp disbanded the traveling circus, and Sharp Eye was arrested by the guard for, at first, treason. However, Celestia saw this as an unfortunate accident, and gave him a very minor Ponyslaughter charge where he would spend 3 years in the prisons with a 30,000 Bit bail.
Nopony blamed Sharp Eye, or the camera pony, or even Big Topp. Instead they cursed the Fates, that these events unfolded the way they did. When her parents caught wind of her passing, they came before the Princess and begged her not to keep the daughters' body preserved. Instead, they wanted to do a proper "Pie Burial" as they called it. Applejack recalled the burial clearly as she kicked another tree. They began chanting, like in the old Earth Pony days, only this was slightly altered.
"Of heavens and of Earth we give unto thee,
Let this one pass unto you!
Of soil and dirt, may she be cleansed,
Let this one pass unto you!
Of Stone and Wood, of Fire and Water,
Let this one pass unto you!"
Then they began to cut her up, ceremonially speaking, Dragons and Griffons did this to honor heroes or to show the people the guilty's punishment. However when a Pony does this, to a family member no less, it is considered the highest honor that one can give, not only does it mean that you have been showed great respect, but you were also loved by everypony, family or otherwise. However, with the recent deaths of the Pie family, everypony in Ponyville was on edge. Some claim it was Topp coming back for revenge for ruining the show, some think Sharp Eye escaped prison and killed them. No one really knows, everypony's jumping at shadows. All though, whoever it was killed the strongest Earth Ponies this side of Equestria. Igenous and Maud could move a whole mountain if they put their backs into it. Marble and Cloudy Quartz were the best carvers, creating larger than life statues; even made on of Pinkie in Ponyville Square. Limestone, she and Pinkie, were the best diggers. Despite Pinkie's pudgy appearance, she could the tunnels better than Diamond Dogs, if she made the effort a competition.
Applejack stood there thinking back at the eulogy. Something about the circumstances, about they way it was presented. She knows some families have different burial traditions but the way the Pies did it... It was almost...
*BANG*
Her head snapped back towards the barn, as Big Mac came walking out with the scythe. "That's right... Lawn needs mowing..." She rubbed her head and chuckled a little bit. She was being silly, she was being paranoid on top of that. She looked back the tree, and gave it one last hard kick, making the rest of the apples fall in the baskets. She grabbed the rest of them and headed back inside.
Applebloom was slow on the back home, but she was making good headway ahead of Diamond and Silver. She knew this short cut through the Everfree, almost know kid took it, and there was no way those two would come here. However, that didn't mean it was just Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon bullying her. Soon she was stopped by one of the bigger kids, one of which was a member of Student Council. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? A little seedling trying to be a big girl walking home alone with a killer on the loose?"
"Can it, Sour Melon, I gotta get home." She said trying move past him, but the two goon blocked the path. She was pulled back to face him. At first his face was a scowl, but then a sly smile appeared on his face. "H-hey, fellas. I understand I'm pretty but I'd prefer lunch first." She said, getting a pit in her stomach. Melon's smile fell into a scowl once more, and this time grabber her shirt and pulled her closer.
"Oh, we're not gonna do that... We've got something more painful in mind..." He said as Applebloom fell on the ground he cracked his knuckles. As he wound up his punch, Applebloom closed her eyes from the impending pain. Only it never came, and instead she felt something wet hit her face.
"Ahhh... AAAAHHHH!!! MY HAND!!!" She opened her eyes in time to see Sour Melon be picked up by something behind him. "Down! Put me dow--EURG!" Applebloom and Melons cohorts looked in a fearful awe as the figure had a sickle in Sour Melon's gut. "P-p-please... I want to go home..." The figure moved the sickle around for a moment before ripping it out the side, making Sour Melon's insides spill onto Applebloom's feet.
"M-m-m-m-MURDERER!" Screamed one teenager, and he tried to run, only for the sickle to fly through the air and stick in his back. He fell onto his knees, reaching back to take it out, but before he could get a grip on it, the figure grabbed it and yanked down, unzipping his back. He screamed, and the figure reached down to his prone form. It grabbed what Applebloom had assumed to be his spine, and with some effort, pulled the thing out. Now it was just her and other cohort, as he was stuck frozen in fear. The figure slowly came closer, and soon, a dark pink hand lurched out of the shadow and grabbed his shoulder, yet he was still frozen. The sickle slowly reached around his neck, and very agonizingly slow, the point of the sickle stabbed though his throat, and the murderer turned the blade with the shape... and the ripped out the side of his neck. His head flopped to that side, and he hit the ground, the same look on his face.
Applebloom began to get up and soon the glowing blue eyes targeted her. She froze for a moment, and as the figure began to start for her, she ran and when she heard the sickle hid behind a tree and the sickle flew harmlessly onto the ground. See her chance, she grabbed the blood stained tool and turned towards the murderer. "Listen, I don't want too much trouble, but since you murder kids too... I guess I ain't got a choice, do I?"
H̸͎̟̜͕̹̲̣̬̽ė̹͕̻̻̫̼̤̯̮ͮ͑͋̊h̶͍̻̙͔̉ͨ̒͛͊͌̃̓̇e̞̗̫̤ͨ͢h̶̡̻̲̘̲̗͙̟͖̃̀͌̿̍͋̑͒ė̀ͧͮͨ̂̓͊҉̛̠̟h̶͇͎̻̬̘̙̺̙̄ͤ͐ͮ͌̂ͅĕ̸̜̲̼̖̬͈̬̼ͨ͋ͪ̂̉̽̚̚h̗̥̱̯͈ͪ̒̐̒é̸̛̤̰̟̟̪͍̼͖̿͠h͚̺ͧ̐̾̔͋͘͝ḛ̴̊̈́̐́ͨͫ̑̕h̦͚͕͔͍̻͍͎͔̒̔͐ͯeͦ҉̜͙....
Applebloom's vision went fuzzy, trying to understand the sound she just heard. There was no way it could be... "Pinkie?"
H͈͛̎̈́͠Ä̬̼̖͋ͣ̋̇̇ͮ͛͜Ḣ̸̢̹̣̭̭̮̪̻͑Ȧ̵͈̤̓̾ͥͩ̌͗͗̀H̸̶̹̯̅ͩ̉ͥ̓͜A̷̮͍̼̰̜̓ͫ̽ͫͫ̂͞͝Ḥ̸̡̧̞͈̥̏ͨ̏͌͌̓Ą̱̼͇͌̾͟͜H̢͇͍͚̆̄̑̓̔͊ͦ̚͟͡Ḩ̬͔̝̥̠̑̅ͧ̇̅̀A̗̝̖͈̹ͩ͊͒̅ͯͮ̀Ḥ̫̬͇̳̠͕̤̔ͬ͛ͤ̽̑̀͟͟ͅA͇͔̞̻͎ͤͫ̃̀͞H̴̹̫̘̭̟̋͂ͧͫ̎Â͋̆̇̾̎̔͏̧̱͇̥H̸̨͈̺̮͎̜̄͒̓Ā̡̻͔̃̓̉͜H̠̝̹̣̟̗͋̂ͫ̇ͫ̋̈́͑A̡̘̞̭̣̘̼̺͍ͬ̿̽̂͗̓̿̏
Applejack looked out the door, feeling concerned for her younger sibling. The sun was starting to go down and she normally knows she comes home around this time with her friends.
"Applebloom will be fine, AJ." Big Mac said. Since Granny moved on to green pastures, it was Applejack and Big Mac making sure she growed up. "Quit worrying, she'll be home. Now c'mon, we got to get to bed. Big day tomorrow." He said pulling her away from the door. He was right, she'd be home and in bed the time she woke up. She shut the door and walked up to her room. Opening the door, she walked to her bed and fell backwards looking at her ceiling. She sighed, hoping that she would be safe. Suddenly something tapped on her window, but she was too occupied to--
*tap*
Too occupied to--
*tap*
Too occupi--
*tap*
"CONSARNIT WHAT TO DO WANT!?" She screamed throwing her window open. When she looked something bigger was flying towards to window. Thinking it was a ball, she caught it and wound up to throw it back, but she froze. Something was dripping, and it was coming from her room. She noticed the 'ball' had a weight to it and when she brought it down to loo--
"Oh my GOD! BIG MAC!!!" She screamed dropping it in horror. Of course, she was kicking herself in the head. Or rather anyway other than there. Because it wasn't a ball. Applejack grabbed Mac while he was getting his night shirt on and dragged him into her room, crying the whole way. When he saw what was on floor, he resisted the urge, but not the desire, to vomit.
Whoever was outside threw Applebloom's head at them.
"G-Granny above..." Mac stuttered. Applejack was crying loudly, Mac holding onto her. "Call the Guards." Mac said as he and Applejack ran towards the phone. Applejack tried to dial, but was too shaky. Big Mac took the phone from her and dialed the number.
"Hello Canterlot Guard---"
"The crazy psycho just killed my little sister! I think he's still here!"
"The killer's there?! Okay sir, just stay on the line, we're sending help right now! What's you're name?"
"Mah name's Big Macintosh, my sister Applebloom just... Dear Faust... AJ! It's just a short trek, get some tools from the barn!" Big Mac said while still on the phone. Applejack nodded and looked outside to see if anyone was there. Seeing no one, she ran to the finding the scythe from earlier that day, and a pitchfork. As quickly as she could she ran back inside to the sounds of struggling.
"Mac! Hold on I'll help ya! I'm not losing another one!" She yelled shoving the pitchfork inside the assailant's back, only for the handle to break midway. Yet despite this, the killer did not cry in pain, or produce a grunt. They just stopped and turned towards the light revealing...
"Pinkie...?" She couldn't believe her eyes. Pinkie was standing in front of her, naked, with several stitches across most of body and her face was sown into a smile. She was holding Big Mac in a powerful headlock. "No, no you're dead. We all saw it... This... is a dream. I'm dreaming right."
"Applejack for fucks sake! Stop it and HELP--" *CRACK* Big Macintosh's head was suddenly turned the wrong way, and Applejack stared in horror as her eldest sibling fell dead in front of her.
"You..." That was all she could say as Pinkie reached back and pulled the head of the pitchfork out and held it in front of her.
I̠̪̖̤̬̟̥ͧ̃͂͒̈́́̎̒́͡ͅ'̡̝͔ͧ̐̅ͮ̅ͮ̈́́m̸̲͎̍͠͞ ̢̙͇̰͚̠̼̅͋͂̅̔́h͎̦̬̭̞͕̥͓͊̂͜o͖̭͉̭̝ͮͤ̇m̵̳͙̔̉̌̏͆e̛̤̅̓͌̑ͣ ̜̻̻̿͐n̵̘͈͓̺̦̪̭̦̂̏̈́́̿ͮͮ̀o͕͖͕̜̻̩͛͗̾͌̑̂̈́̑͘͜w̴͍̲ͬ͛͜͟ ̖̤ͮͦ̌̀͋̋ͮ̊͘͡A̸̛͍̣̺̹͉͇͖̙̓͑̑p̷̡̡͇͇̩͖̻̮͎̼̈͋pͨͤͪ҉̫̹̣͇̞͉͠ľ̶̫͚͂̉ͯ̑e̙̱͔͍ͥ̀̓ͤ̐͗̓ͥj̵̨͍̭̯̰͍̍̔̀ͦͥá̻̞̭̗̦̜̝̮́̈c͎̭̣̠͉̥͖̮̯̄̃͛͢͟kͤͫ̍̀̇҉̦̜̬͇̬̬̦.͒ͮ͋̋ͧ̍͗̇ͥ͏̡͈͢ͅ.͍̖̈͋.̼͓͙͒̎͌́̃ͥ̀.̛̜͈̪͖̰̱̿ͨ̈̈́̑ͤ̚ͅͅ ̶͎͕̭̜̺̖ͮ͆̅͋ͭ͊͆̌̎I̋̈ͩͮ̌̔̈́ͭ̿҉̺̦͡'̸͔̥ͧ͆̋̇̚m̨̻̱̗̝̞͔̹͂͂̇͆ͨ́͠ͅ ̘͊̿̆͢h̶͇̍̃͑ͩͦͦ̂͒ͣ́͞ǫ̨̯̑̍̿ͪ̈́̊̍m̱͗̑̾̕͡e̡̘ͮ̽ ̛͓͍̫̥͒̋ͭ̅̿̓̓n͍̄̾ͭ̇̔̈̀ỏ̞̘̭̱͋̔̽̓̔̊̎́w̢̏ͨ͆̌҉̝̫̱̫͎̟̗̮.̷͈̎ͮ͢ͅ.̼͐͆.̘̱̣̜̣͑̂ͯ̓ͧͪͭ͠
"Pinkie... Please, it's me, yer friend-- SHIT!" Applejack ducked out of the way just in time to see the pitchfork head sticking in the floor board. Pinkie tried, and failed, to pin her to the floor. "You're not Pinkie..." She plucked the head out the board, while at the same time Pinkie reached for it as well. Applejack proved quicker and soon Pinkie advanced on her, knocking her over. The fork shoved into the abomination's gullet, giving Applejack some leverage. Shoving her off, she ran into the kitchen and grabbed the largest knife they had. Pinkie laughed once more and saw that her hand was falling off, rotten meat stuck together by stitching finally busting apart. Using her other hand she threw off the other hand and took the fork head. Her glowing blue eyes locked onto Applejack and all the apple farmer could do is watch.
Pinkie took the head and rammed it into her wrist stump. She held it there for a moment until a small purple rune circle appeared and began fusing the head into her stump. Stopping short of the middle, the magic that was used had given her what was now essentially a large metal claw. Applejack gave a shaky breath. "Now, that just ain't fair..." She backed up and Pinkie stood back up and tested out her new hand. She looked back at the corpse of Big Mac and laughing gleefully and slamming her hand into back. Pinkie began tearing with her new hand pulling out, then tearing back in. Applejack, having enough rushed her from behind and stuck the knife into the back of her head. Pinkie reacted by grabbing her wrist and with a sickening snap, threw her over her head and crashing into the mantelpiece. The large antlers dug into her back and the fall back down wasn't too fun either.
Applejack's vision was a little blurry, but she could see the knife blade was sticking out of Pinkie's mouth. The Pink Demon stared at her, tower over her and grabbed the knife blade and tore it forwards out of her mouth. Now gripping the handle of the knife, she knelt down and raised the knife up and stuck down and missed slightly, nicking Applejack across the face. She raised her fist, punching her in the face making her lose balance and a hold on the knife. However as she was falling Applejack saw the faintest glow inside her throat, right where Sharp Eye's throwing knife had hit.
Applejack didn't know a lot about necromancy, but she was sure that if she destroyed the phylactadoesit, it should destroy the creature. She looked around and saw the scythe sitting behind Pinkie as she got back up and let out another giggle. Charging the apple farmer, she she tried to rip her with her claw, but Applejack ducked under and grabbed the scythe, having little time to line up a proper swipe, she let loose a scream and swung with all her might. The blade made contact, and ripped through the neck, making Pinkie's head fall off. Her body convulsed, and her claw reached out, and soon it fell onto the ground, the purple light now dimming, before going out completely. Applejack didn't stop however and kept stabbing the corpse, making full sure it was dead, or at least deader.
She felt satisfied when she could feel her broken wrist. The adrenaline wore off, and soon everything hurt. Her ankle must've been broken too because walking on it hurt, the aforementioned wrist was shattered. Her back was most likely broken too. She wandered outside and opened the barn door with her good arm. She wandered inside before falling onto the ground. She rolled onto her back, which was a bad idea, but now she was stuck. She started to cry, thinking about her family that was slaughtered. She couldn't run the farm be herself...
Suddenly the door creaked. She looked, and her body began to shake. Pinkie was standing there, head in hand, but no longer smiling. "Applejack... That really hurt." She said in voice more akin to her sister, Limestone. She held herself by the hair as the metal hand slowly reached for Applejack.
"No.... No! LEAVE ME ALONE! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Applejack screamed. Then a new voice chimed in.
"Oh, but you did." Applejack looked up and saw a figure sitting on a hay bale, staring down at her. "Remember me? Maybe this will ring a bell? 'Come one, come all to the wheel of DEATH!' Sound familiar?"
"B-Big Topp?"
"Aye, the one and only. After the show, I was furious. They arrested Sharp Eye, and everyone shunned me. Even my own family! So... I broke into the forbidden archives hidden inside of the castle, and found the best thing since then. A book about forbidden necromancy, and lucky for me... The Pie Family already did the hard part."
Applejack's eyes widened. She knew something was off about the burial! But... "You said the hard part? What was the hard part?" She never got an answer, just a smug look. He looked at Pinkie before snapping his fingers. Pinkie reached back and pulled the scythe out of her back and dropped it. She placed her head back on as the rune circle fixed the damage. She grabbed Applejack by the throat and began laughing again.
"I'm gonna make you smile, ear to ear AJ!" She said, reaching with her claw...
"The royal guard arrived at the Apple family farm, Sweet Apple Acres, to find a gruesome scene. The eldest Apple, Big Macintosh, was found dead and the head of the youngest, Applebloom, was found in a separate room. Applejack, still remains missing but investigators are..... We're just getting news that Applejack has been found... Dead. The killer is still at large, and with now two Elements of Harmony gone, we pray that these dark times soon lift."
The royal guards that flocked Sweet Apple Acres walked into the barn to find the most gruesome sight they had seen. Applejack's head was on a platter, eyes rolled back and bloodshot. Her body was mangled, sticking on various different tool, but her face was the most unsettling, as it had large cuts on the corner of her mouth, reaching to the back of her head. Soon, they noticed, there was a note.
A smile is just what you need!
