The Cutie Mark Ripper

Twilight watches from her throne as the ones she holds dear walk into the room, all brave to come in after learning of shocking news: Her big brother, Shining Armor, Captain of the Crystal Guard and King of the Crystal Empire, her sister-in-law Princess Cadance, Queen of the Crystal Empire and Princess of Love, her niece Princess Flurry Heart, Princess of Hope, her current captain of the royal guard Gallus, and her faithful and top-ranking student Luster Dawn. Twilight gives a reassuring smile to the small group, “Thank you for coming on such short notice. As you read in my scrolls, There are 7 missing ponies. 3 Pegasi, 2 Earth ponies, and 2 unicorns, last seen in different places across Equestria. I have called you all here to help me find them.”

Shining Armor steps forward, his mane greying early due to stress, “Don’t worry Twilight. I’ll train the guard just like old times.”

“Except you’ll be working with Gallus here.” She gestures to Galus, “He’s been climbing the ranks since the last time you were here, big brother.” Galus looks over to Shining Armor with a smile, but not his typical smirk, but a genuine smile.

“Oh, I see. Well then, you better show me how things are run with a griffon in charge.” Shining says jokingly.

“And we’ll see how they react with the old unicorn coming back.” Gallus jokes back.

“Hey, he’s not that old!” Flurry Heart retaliates.

“It’s all good banter, sweetie. No feelings hurt.” Shining replies.

Twilight clears her throat, “Speaking of which, it has come to my attention that the moral in the cities the ponies were last seen in are at an all-time low. Ponies do not trust one another, early winter setting in, a clear sign the wendigos are circling.”

“Say no more, auntie!” Flurry Heart perks up, jumping up to fly in the air, “We’ll spread light and hope to all of Equestria!”

“I sure hope you do…” Twilight says melancholily, “With every passing day, those ponies are suffering, and I cannot let them suffer. Everyone except Luster is dismissed.” Everyone but Luster leaves the throne room, closing the door behind them. Twilight flutters down to Luster, who appears nervous, “Luster, you probably have the most important job of all.” Twilight wraps her wing around Luster to comfort her, “I didn’t want to scare Flurry Heart so I didn’t bring this up while she was in the room, but several leads have led me to believe that… Those ponies…” Twilight stops to collect herself, “Are dead.”

“Dead? What leads you to think that, your majesty?”

Twilight lets go of Luster, “Before I summoned you all here, I had to do some investigation into these disappearances, to figure out if they were connected. All I had was that they were all ponies, mares, 2 to 1 to 1 on each tribe. That isn’t a lot to go off of as you can imagine.” Twilight flies over Luster and lands four feet away from her, “But my gut told me they were connected somehow, and then, I found it.”

“What did you find?”

“This sigil burned into the ground of where they were last seen.” Twilight projects a sigil on the ground. A number wheel, with various numbers, letters, and symbols, “I decoded this symbol and realize it was a teleportation sigil, meaning whenever they burn, they teleport the pony to a set location.”

“But where?” Luster questioned.

“That’s the thing, Luster, I couldn’t track down where the original sigil is. Although… I did learn something gruesome about the families and their experience with this crisis…”

“And dare I ask what that is…?” There’s a hint of fear in Luster’s voice.

“They were... mailed the victim’s cutie mark.”

“Yeah? Like in… Glass jars? Didn’t you tell me once your first student had cutie mark magic?”

“It’s nothing like that Luster… Nothing like that. The cutie mark was never removed from the pony. But the skin the cutie mark was on was removed.” Luster gagged a little, “Oh I’m so sorry Luster. Maybe sending you on this mission isn’t a good idea…”

“No no, Princess! I can handle this. Please, continue.”

“Oh… Ok…” Twilight hesitates for a moment before continuing, “The skin the cutie mark was on was dried and shipped to the family of the victim, along with letters similar to this.” Twilight holds up a scroll and gives it to Luster. Luster opens it and reads it: ‘To the Star Family, I, The Cutie Mark Ripper, am gifting you one last piece of your lovely earth pony daughter, Sweet Star. I assure you none of her will go to waste, and that we both have one last piece of her before she disappears forever. Who knows, maybe you’ll find her again, but we will see. - The Cutie Mark Ripper’ Luster looked at the letter with disgust, rereading to understand what the letter could mean, and rolled it back up and a look of sorrow.

“Your gut may be right, Princess… But I don’t understand this part, ‘I assure you none of her will go to waste’ what does that mean?”

“This Cutie Mark Ripper must be referring to how she gets rid of the bodies, saving the cutie marks for whatever sick reason they have for doing this.” Twilight starts pacing around, “I don’t know why they are targeting only ponies, but that’s not the point. The point is, they are still on the loose, and we need everyone on deck for it.”

“You can count on me, Princess! I still haven’t made any friends but I’m sure I can solve this case.” Luster stomped her hooves on the ground.

“Thank you, Luster Dawn. But please… Remember the offensive magic you learned in school. I- It pains me to think you could become the Ripper’s next victim…” Twilight hugs Luster close, a tear coming down her face.

“Don’t worry Princess.” Luster let go and jumped forward with confidence, “The hammer of justice will rain down on the Cutie Mark Ripper!”

“I admire your confidence, Luster. And if you need anything, please don’t be hesitant to ask me.” Twilight climbed back onto her throne, “Not go. Every second wasted, another pony could be in danger.”

“You can count on her Princess!” Luster ran out of the throne room, ready to take on this new challenge.

Meanwhile, Spike looks over at Twilight as she does her breathing exercises, “You alright, Twilight?”

Twilight covers her face with her hooves, “It’s just… How could I have let this happen right under my nose? I’m the ruler of Equestria, I’m supposed to protect my subjects.”

“And you’re going your best. You couldn’t have known about any of this. Everything will be ok in the end.” Spike patted Twilight on the back and Twilight looked at him with a smile.

“Thanks, Spike, but I hope you are right. I hope everything will be ok in the end.”