The Shadow of Death

Rainbow Dash leaned back on one of the couches in the rec room, watching as Soarin and Wave Chill battled it out in ping pong. She wasn't cheering, but instead watching with pleasurable interest as Soarin moved from side to side to keep hitting the ball as it traveled back and forth between himself and Wave.

Rainbow was snapped out of her daydream mode when something appeared in her peripheral vision. Rainbow looked over and saw Fleetfoot sitting beside her, holding a joint in front of Rainbow's muzzle. Fleet's eyes were very red at this point.

"Wanna hit?" Fleet asked. Her voice having gone from energetic to sounding rather drowsy and out of it.

"Fleet, How many of those have you had by now?" Rainbow asked with a smirk. Fleet rolled her eyes.

"Uh, don't worry you square, it's only my second joint." Fleet said before bringing the joint back to her lips and taking another hit. Rainbow rolled her eyes and let out a chuckle at how funny Fleet was when she was high. A cheer from the ping pong table brought Dash's attention back over to it. She smiled as she saw Soarin pumping his hooves in the air in victory over Wave Chill. Thunderlane and Spitfire were also cheering as they watched over to the side.

Wave Chill dropped the paddle onto the table before taking out his bag of weed. "Alright, I've lost three in a row. Time to get High!" Wave Chill said in defeat before turning and going over to the couch.

"Yeah! He knows what's up Dash!" Fleetfoot cheered from her spot on the couch. Soarin and Spitfire also walked away from the ping pong table. Soarin took a seat next to Dash on the couch and Spitfire walked over to the pile of board games on the counter. They had already played a few rounds of twister, now Spitfire wanted to move onto the big game of the night.

"Alright maggots, time to upgrade this party to the hardcore games!" Spitfire shouted, gathering the attention of everyone else. With all eyes on her, Spitfire held up the game...

"Monopony!" Spitfire yelled out dramatically. Dash was admittedly confused.

"Monopony? That's the hardcore game of the night?" Dash questioned. Soarin wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into an embrace and snickered.

"Oh, it's not just any normal game of Monopony." Soarin said in a sinister tone. Spitfire then unveiled a tiny brown bag and dropped it onto the table where it made the sound of jingling bits.

"We're playing with REAL bits." Wave Chill spoke up as he began to light his joint. Dash's eyes widened upon learning this and looked back at Spitfire.

"You get to keep any of the bits you win at the end of the game, but the loser has to do some kind of punishment." Spitfire explained.

"What's the punishment this time Spitty?" Fleetfoot asked. Spitfire chuckled.

"Haven't thought of one yet, I'll think of one after we finish the game." Spitfire said as she placed the game on the table and started to set it up. "So, who's playing?" Spitfire asked.

"I'm in." Dash said quickly as she stood up from the couch, practically dragging Soarin with her.

"I guess I'm playing too." Soarin said with a laugh as he and Dash moved towards the table. Fleetfoot then slowly stood up from the couch and slowly made her way to the table and sat down, her gaze now very far gone.

"I'll take a crack at it." Fleetfoot said slowly in her stoned state.

"I'll play." Wave Chill said as he sat at the table. Spitfire looked up at the others who had yet to join in. Fire Streak and Misty Fly were deep in a make out session on one of the couches, and Thunderlane started heading for the door.

"You joining Thunder?" Rainbow asked. Thunderlane shook his head.

"I'm not that much of a fan of Monopony, I think I'm gonna turn in for the night." Thunderlane said before letting out a yawn. Spitfire nodded at him.

"That's fine Thunder, if you see any of the others out there, tell them the party is still on if they want to join." Spitfire requested. Thunderlane nodded.

"I will, see you tomorrow guys." Thunderlane waved to everyone before leaving the rec room. Spitfire had finally gotten the board down and she looked over at Fire and Misty.

"Hey! Lip Lockers! You guys gonna play or dry hump eachother the whole night? If it's the latter, go get a room!" Spitfire yelled, sounding slightly frustrated with the two. Fire and Misty looked over at Spitfire after separating, their faces were flushed and their manes starting to get matted down with sweat. The two blushed, and Misty sat up on the couch, allowing Fire to sit up as well. The tension in the room had become awkward. Spitfire frowned as they just sat their feeling embarrassed.

"Well, an answer sometime this moon would be great!" Spitfire yelled. Fire and Misty flinched. Fire finally stood up and cleared his throat.

"Uh, we'll just excuse ourselves for tonight." Fire said. He rose a hoof toward Misty. She wrapped her hoof around Fire's and stood up. The two began to walk out of the rec room, getting different faces from the others. Spitfire gave them an aggravated glare, Wave Chill gave Fire Streak a "You lucky dog" kind of look, Fleetfoot was wiggling her eyebrows, and Soarin and Dash were just smiling and waving.

The two finally left the rec room and Spitfire finished setting up the board. She looked up to the other 4 sitting around the table and made a sinister grin. "Alright you pansies, lets start."

Fire Streak and Misty Fly quickly flew through the halls from the Rec Room to the dormitory wing, they ended up passing Thunderlane on the way, but left him alone, as did he to them, he knew what was happening.

The couple entered the stairwell and climbed up to the second floor where Fire's dorm room was. They eventually reached the door and opened it. Upon flipping on the light switch, the two were surprised to see that Lightning Streak and Surprise weren't already in there.

"Well, this is unexpected." Fire Streak said as he walked in and closed the door behind Misty. Misty then turned and wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled.

"But very welcomed." Misty said suggestively. Fire smiled and pushed his lips forward, pulling Misty into another make out. He pushed her back until the two fell over onto Fire's bed, beginning the next big part of their night.

Thunderlane saw Fire Streak and Misty Fly quickly speed past him in the hall as he walked to his own room. As he walked towards the dormitory wing he passed by several windows. He glanced outside and stopped his walk for a moment as he looked outside. The weather had grown VERY intense. Snow was beginning to swirl around the air and pile up on the windowsills outside.

"What is up with the factory tonight?" Thunderlane thought before continuing his walk to his room. He eventually reached the first floor dormitory hallway and turned to walk to the end of it. His room was on the third floor, so he needed to take the stairs. But as he trotted down the hallway, he heard what sounded like the clopping of hooves against the floor down the hall behind him. He turned to see who it was, but nopony was in the hall behind him.

"Lightning? Surprise? Windy?" Thunderlane called, wondering if it was any of the Wonderbolts in the compound but not at the party. Thunderlane shrugged after a few seconds and continued onward, eventually reaching the stairs.

Behind him in the hallway, the killer flew over the potted plant they hid behind and sighed in relief before moving to follow Thunderlane to his room.

Thunderlane finally reached his room and sighed as he walked inside. He didn't bother with the room lights as he trotted into the bathroom and closed the door to do his business.

The killer had followed him up to the third floor and watched him enter. They slowly approached the door and peeked through the keyhole, seeing the lights off, but a faint glow emitting from the bathroom. The killer then heard the sound of the shower turning on and decided to act.

They quietly opened the door and hovered into the air as they entered and gently closed the door. They turned to the rest of the dark room, almost pitch black if it weren't for the faint glow of the snowstorm outside. The killer quickly deduced which bed was Thunderlane's before moving underneath it. Once positioned under the bed, they unsheathed their knife and waited.

Thunderlane finished his shower, brushed his teeth and finally left the bathroom. He walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge of it. He let out another tired sounding sigh before swinging his hind legs onto the bed and laying his head back on the pillow. He stared at the ceiling, thinking about everything that happened that day, he woke up here at the compound, did the final practice run for the final show, went to actually perform the final show, and came back for the party. Now he had to think about what to do during the off season.

"Welp, I hope the next tour's gonna be better." Thunderlane mumbled aloud before slowly shutting his eyes.

The killer heard Thunderlane's mumble, and estimated where his mouth would be before they carried out their next nefarious deed.

The killer reached their hoof up and over the top of the bed very quickly and clamped it down over Thunderlane's muzzle. Thunderlane's eyes shot open in shock, but before he could move, the killer stuck their knife through the bottom of the bed just below where their hoof was above the bed.

The knife pierced the back of Thunderlane's neck and drove through until the tip of the blade emerged through the front of his neck. Thunderlane let out a few gargled whimpers that were muffled by the hoof covering his mouth and he made a few twitching movements before his eye's rolled back in his sockets and he became motionless.

The killer pulled the knife out from the bed and moved as a trickle of blood flowed through the new hole in the bed. They rolled out from under the bed and stood up. They looked down at Thunderlane's body, his mouth was partially open, his eyes were rolled back, and the wound in his neck was bleeding profusely, soaking the bed sheets with a deep shade of crimson.

The Killer grabbed the edge of the bed's blankets and pulled them up to cover Thunderlane's body, deciding to just leave it in the bed. They quickly and quietly left the room and closed the door.

They still had some lovers to kill...