A lone earth pony mare can be seen walking through the empty dark city of Bolthoof. This mare was a pale yellow earth pony with a bright yellow mane and tail. The mare aslo had a knot for a cutie mark. If one were to look at her appearance one would say that she looked very attractive. At least by pony standards. On the mare's chest was a pony shaped medallion. Her eyes were a pale brown color. Those very same eyes were glancing around her surroundings warily. This is was due to the string of unsolved murders that plagued Botlhloof. For the last few months. Ponies of all kinds would be found dead in alleyways. So far the numbers of ponies killed were 19. This alone scared the residence senseless. If that wasn't enough each murder appeared to have happened in the dead of night. Not only that, but experts had theorized that there were likely more than one pony behind it. Based on the the conditions they found the bodies anyway. As such the local authorities have issued a curfew to lower the chance of any new murders happening. The residence aslo assured the public that they had thier best investigators behind the case. Unfortunately months have passed without the slightest hint of any new suspects. As such the residence began to slowly lose hope of the murders ever being solved.

The sound of hoof steps echoing behind her made the mare snap her head towards the direction the sound was coming from.

Nothing.

Turning her head foward the mare quicken her pace. As she did so she suddenly hears the sound of laughter. The laughter itself sounded numerous. If the mare had to guess at least five or six other ponies were following her. With that dawning realization the mare's quick pace turned into a full fledge gallop. The ponies were quick to follow.

"Were are you going little mare?! A Stallion's voice yelled. His question was answered when the mare quickly turned a corner.

The mare kept galloping. All while ignoring their taunting voices and sickening laughter. Turning another corner the mare was met with the sight of a brick wall. Turning around the mare met her pursuers face to face. She was met with a group of about five ponies. Two were unicorns while the rest were simple earth ponies.

An earth pony chuckles while stepping forward. He was a dark green stallion with a even darker green mane. His appearance alone was somewhat intimidating to say the least. Especially the way his eyes shined with madness. When he spoke he had somewhat of a New Jersey accent. "Awww looks like some pony might be lost." He cooed mockingly. The ponies beside him chuckled. It was clear to the mare by thier expressions alone they these ponies were out for blood. However with that being said she opened her mouth anyway. "What do you ponies want with me?" The leader laughed.

"Or nothing munch" he shrugged. "We were just wondering if could be so kind as become our next target." The mare gasped. Howver the action itself sounded somewhat hollow. "Your behind all the murders?!" The leader nodded. All though he felt that something was off with this particular mare. Regardless he decided to continue. Grinning madly he spoke. His voice turning into a manic sort of glee. "That's right! And your gonna become our next victim." As soon as the words left his mouth the leader let out a insane cackle. His followers were quick to join in.

That was until the mare formed her own mad grin as well.

"Pefefrct" she whispered.

The ponies paused.

They look towards each other in confusion. Lifting a brow the leader tilted his head. "Excuse me?" The mare glared at him. "You heard what I said!" She snapped. Her voice becoming somewhat bossy and harsh. Everypony else had to do a double take. The leader's confused expression morphed into that of a grin. "Oh I see, you just have a death wish!" He laughed. That's the only thing that made sense after all. "Well why didnt you say so?" The mare shrugged. "Because I don't" she stated in the same tone as before. However a enormous smile formed on her face. "In fact your just the ponies we've been looking for."

Silence.

Tilting his head once more the stallion looked at the mare as if she was the crazy one. "We?" He questioned. In response the mare laughed. It was a dark twisted laugh void of any humor. Just as the stallion opened his mouth the mare whistled. The noise itself praticily made every pony cringe in discomfort. Afther a few seconds the mare stopped. gritting his teeth the stallion pulled out his blade. He had enough dealing with this delusional mare. The stallion took a step forward. Intending to spill the mare's guts all over the ground. Howver it was in that moment that he heard it. What did he hear you ask?

The sound of laughter.

The sound itself chilled every pony to the bone. One of the ponies eyes went wide with realization. "Oh no" she whispered stepping back. A look of utter horror on her face. "What is it?!" The leader snapped. Howver just before the mare could answer a voice stopped her.

" itsy bitsy spider went up the waterspout" a feminine voice sang. That alone caused every pony to step back.

"Then came the rain and washed the spider out."

"It's them" the mare whisperd. She cast glace towards the pony they cornered. Only to see said mare chuckle quietly to herself.

"Along came the sun and dried up all the rain.

The voice continued. Pretty soon everypony heard hoof steps coming towards them. They didn't have to wait long as a pink hoof came into view. Said hoof was immediately followed up by it's owner. Everypony stared as a pink mare with a long pink mane materialized from the darkness. Her bright blue eyes praticily shined in the dark. There was something about said orbs that disturbed everypony to thier core. The mare herself had grin so large that it was praticily impossible. The mare's pink mane was so long that it nearly touched the ground with every step she took. However what surprised them all was the fact that the mare wasn't alone. Besides her emerged a light grey earth pony. Said earth pony had a light grey mane and tail. Not only that, but in her mouth the mare held a sharp looking knife. The grey mare's light purple eyes praticily gleamed with anticipation.

" and the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again" the pink mare finished. It was in this moment that they were able to see the mares cutie marks. The pink mare had three knives sliced into a cake as her cutie mark. While the other mare had three purple gems stones. "Stutter wheel who are they?!" The leader snapped. His body was tense as he stared at the two mares in question.

"The Smiley face killers" Sutter Wheel answered. The mare's eyes consumed by fear.

"Awww you know us" Piink mare cooed. Micming the Stallion's earlier tone. In reponse the green earth pony smirked. He realized right than that they still had the advantage. "In case you didn't notice there's five of us and only two of you." In response the mare laughed. The sound itself wasn't pleasant. In fact said laugh was distrubing even for a insane pony to hear. Calming herself down the mare grinned at him. "Aren't you forgetting something?" The Stallion's eyes went with realization. He looked towards the white mare from earlier. Only for said mare to have a knife held tightly in her mouth. The stallion relaxed. From looking at her he could tell that she hadn't done anything. Witch in itself was a wasted opportunity. Oh well not everypony was as smart as he was. Looking back at the pink mare his smirk returned. "We still outnumber you, plus we have two unicorns on our side."

The pink mare merely grinned in reponse. In her eyes was a wordless demand.

Count again.

The stallion did so. Only for his eyes to widen as he realized they were two ponies short, and what made it even worse was the fact that they were the two unicorns he referenced earlier. The rest of the ponies aslo realized this. They began to frantically look around for thier comrades. The stallion was confused. Looking at the white mare once more he realized that she hadn't even moved. Turning back his attention towards the pink one he glared.

"How?"

In response the mare cast her gaze upwards. Following her gaze everypony gasped in shock.

Thier above thier heads were the unicorns in question. Only they hanged limply on each side of the alleyway. A thick length of rope tied around thier necks. If that wasnt enough they aslo had a wide smile carved onto thier faces. As everypony widened thier eyes in shock a sound reached thier ears.

The familiar sound of laughter.

The sound itself was devoid of any sanity.

As soon as the laughter started it stopped. Only to be replaced with a voice. A voice that made thier blood turn to ice.

"Insects are eating my insides" the voice whispered. It sounded as if it was coming from directly over thier heads. "Spiders whisper to me in my sleep." Suddenly the ponies heard a thud coming from behind them. Turning thier heads they spotted a pony standing beside the white mare. Said pony was completely black in color. His cutie mark was a pony in a straight jacket. if that wasn't enough his hooves were completely drenched in blood. Slowly the stallion looked up at them. It was then that they noticed his mixed colored eyes. However what terrified them most was his expression. His face and eyes were completely devoid of any and all emotion.

"In the darkness the hangned mare speaks."

Suddenly the his expression changed. His blank look was replaced with one of boiling rage.

"STOP LOOKING AT ME!" He roared. Only to pause and lower his head. "Your bad ponies" he whispered. A smile knowing smile on his lips. "Bad ponies go to hell just mama and papa."

The green stallion shook his head. Discarding the unicorns it was still a even fight. As such he felt confident that they would be able to win. However just as he thought this somepony screamed.

"I DON'T WANNA DIE!' Stutter Wheel wailed.

The stallion could do nothing but watch as the purple pony tried to make a break for it.

Right towards the two mares.

Just as the grey mare prepared to lounge a pink hoof stopped her. The pink mare shook her head letting the pony run past them. Upon receiving a confused glanced she grinned. "Let's see how far she can get.' The grey mare blinked befor rapidly nodding her head. A sadistic smile forming on her face. "

"Le-lets discus this" the leader stuttered. All his earlier confidence was now no were to be seen. It was as if the gravity of the situation finally dawned on him. Looking back he saw that the ponty he had left was just as terrified as he was.

"I'm s-sorry."

In reponse the black stallion snapped.

"YOUR SORRY?!" He roared. His entire body shaking with rage. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF SORRY! NO PONY DOES!" suddenly he relaxed. His engaged expression turned into a childlike smile. His voice a eerie calm,"But you'll understand the meaning soon enough every pony does."

"Alright!" The pink mare clapped her hooves. The action caused them to jump. "Enough talking." The mare pulls out a large butcher knife. Were exactly did it come from no pony knew. The mare cackled raising the blade for all to see. Her expression being a mixture of excitement and righteous fury. When she spoke her voice was cold and unforgiving. "Now I want to hear you scream." "Scream just like the ponies you ruthlessly murdered." "Scream just like the families who realized that they will never get to see thier love ones again." "Scream so the demons in tartus can get to hear your cries of mercy."

She brought the knife down,

And scream they did.

Sutter Wheel galloped as fast as her legs can carry her. The purple earth pony knew that if they catch her she was as good as dead. Looking back she saw that no pony was following her. At that realization hope bloomed in her chest. If no pony was following her that meant she had a good chance of escape. Witch aslo meant that she was gonna be able to live for another day. A small smile began to form on her lips. She was going to live. She was going to see her family one last time.

"Insects are eating my insides."

The mare's eyes widened in fear.

"Spiders whisper in my sleep."

Looking back Stustter saw nothing but vast empty street.

"In the dark the hanged mare speaks."

Looking back the mare froze.

Standing a few feet away from her was the same black stallion she saw earlier. Said stallion wasn't even looking at her. Instead he slowly rocked back and forth. His gaze blank and unfocused.

"She speaks the truth without a hint of a lie."

Stutter screams. Turning the purple mare starts galloping towards the direction she came from.

"She tell me were all the bodies lie."

Suddenly the mare felt something perice her back hoof. The pain was so sudden that it immediately made her lose her balance.

"Under the ground sick and rotten."

Sobbing the mare tried to get her hooves back under her. Only to flinch as she felt a sharp pain on her back leg. Glancing at it the mare realized that a knife had periced straight through her cafe. It was in that moment that pain suddenly intensified.

"They whisper to her begging to be forgiven.

Sutter sobbed. Trying and failing to get back onto her hooves. Meanwhile the black stallion slowly approached. His expression unchanged.

"Wishing for one more chance to go to heaven."

With no other choice Stutter Tried to painfully crawl away. "Help me!" She walled. "Somepony for Celestial sake please help me!"

In the darkness Stutter saw the forms of three ponies coming towards her. A sense of relief flooded the earth pony. However that relief was short lived. Walking towards her were three blood coverd mares. The very same mares that Stutter tried to run away from. Said ponies had large sadistic smiles on thier faces. In that moment the earth pony knew for a fact that she was going to die.

"However in truth there was no such place."

Stutter screamed as the stallion ripped the knife out from her four leg.

"For there was only darkness and despair."

The stallion rolled her over. With no other choice Stutter stared as he raised the blade into the air. A hint of a smile forming on his lips. "I'm sorry" the mare whispered closing her eyes.

"For those who decided to hang the hanged mare."

Sutter gasped as the blade periced her heart.

Author's Note

What do you think?