The files that Solarspot had taken from the police station had sparked her interest, but after reading the first three, her the eagerness had started to fade. Every murder was more brutal than the last one, the methods ranged from stabbing to choking, to drowning. While reading the investigation reports, Solar found it surprising that they had ever caught the culprit, there was nothing in common between the victims, no motive, no eyewitnesses, each murder had happened at random times in random places. She closed the file of victim 8 and rubbed her eyes, she turned to look at the alarm clock on her nightstand. 1.34 AM
Solar yawned and picked up the last file, opening it. First thing she saw, was a picture of a gray earth pony mare without eyes. Her mouth was sewn up and her once white mane had been colored red with blood, a long incision ran from her chest to her stomach, exposing her ribcage.
Solar shrieked and kicked the file off the bed, she backed away from where it had flown and fell off on her back on the other side of her bed. She jumped to her legs and retreated to a corner, her heart beating rabidly in her chest. She took long breaths to calm herself and walked to the other side of her bed, she sighed and picked up the folder. "It's just a picture, it can't hurt you." She turned the picture around and placed it on the bed, opening the file again she started to read.

Last victim of Manehattan mass murderer was identified as Cinnabar, 22 years old.
The suspect was caught in the scene of the crime.
She was found after her neighbor had contacted the authorities; the neighbor had been concerned for the victim's wellbeing because he hadn't seen her leave the apartment for over seven days, he tried to contact her by knocking on her door. He was alarmed when a completely unknown pony to opened the door, he had made an excuse about needing ingredients for cooking. When the unknown pony had closed the door, he had hurried back to his apartment and called police.
Two officers were sent to check out the situation, 20 minutes after they had reached the destination, one of the officers requested immediate back-up.
When the reinforcements arrived at the scene, one of the officers was lying on the hallway, bleeding from multiple stab wounds. The second officer had succeeded in knocking out the suspect, but in the fighting, she had lost her left eye, broken three ribs and had dislocated her elbow.

The victim was still alive, when she was taken out from the apartment. She told the police that the suspect had drugged her, tied her to bed and tortured her. She perished from her wounds, on the way to hospital.

From the autopsy was later revealed, that the suspect had kept her alive for four days, her skin was full of small cuts with remains of salt in them. Cause of death, blood loss.

Solarspot looked up from the file, her face a shade of sickly green. She dropped it on the bed and turned around to run into the bathroom to vomit.

Solar walked to the confinement area, the two guards looked at her and walked over. One of the guards floated a quill in front of her, "Is this your pen?" the quill was coated in blood, its sharp end had bended and broken in half.

Solar stared at the pen, "Wha-What happened to it?"

The second guard shook his head, "The prisoner used it to harm himself, when we looked in at the morning, the whole cell was covered in..." the guard shivered. "Blood."

Solar walked into the solitary confinement cell, she tried to act normal despite the news she had heard. "Good morning, Kvetch." her voice wavered, cracking slightly.
Kvetch smirked, "Good morning Solarspot, any new questions for today?" his chest, legs and throat were wrapped in slowly reddening bandages. The once white walls of the cell were now slightly pink, only the roof still being white.

Solar shivered, the thought that he had managed to hurt himself to that degree with a simple quill, scared her. She felt a weak pinch of guilt as she observed the walls, "Why would you do that?"

He looked at her, visibly confused. "Do what?"

Solar pointed at the bandages, "Why would you hurt yourself?"

He glanced at his bandaged front legs, "I'm not sure, I guess I got bored."

Solar decided to change subject, "While reading the files, I noticed that none of your, 'targets' had anything in common. Why did you do it, was there a motive?"

Kvetch glanced at the clock, "How about this, you tell me the victim's number along with a name, and I'll tell you how it happened. It will make this a lot faster."

Solar inhaled deeply, trying to prepare her mind for the horrors she was about to hear. "Number 9, Cinnabar."

Kvetch smiled, "The last one."

* * *

A knock on the door pulled Cinnabar from her thoughts, she stood up and started to walk towards the apartment's front door, while walking she tried to remember if she had forgotten a visit from her family. She pulled the door open, finding herself face to face with a white unicorn. "Can I help you?" she asked hesitantly.

The unicorn smiled at her, "Why hello there, I'm here to deliver your mail."

Cinnabar eyed him suspiciously, "What happened to the previous post worker?"

The white unicorn's smile was replaced by a sad expression, "He got into an accident and broke his leg."

Cinnabar blinked, "He?"

The unicorn looked at her, seemingly confused before starting to smile. "Yes, she broke her leg, and I was sent to replace her." he pulled a small parcel from his saddlebag, "Here."

Cinnabar took the parcel, "What is this?" she opened the small box and saw a syringe. "What-"
Before she could realize what had happened, the syringe had shot up and pierced itself into her neck. She looked up to see that the unicorn's smile had widened, "Good night and sleep tight." his maniacal laughter was the last thing she heard, before everything went dark.

Kvetch watched as Cinnabar woke up, he walked next to her, floating a knife in his magic. She saw him moving closer and tried to get up, she was stopped by the ropes tied to her hooves. Cinnabar looked at him, panic rising in her, "Who are you!? What do you want!?"
Kvetch sat on the edge of the bed and leaned down, he rested his head on Cinnabar's chest and looked her in the eyes. "All I want from you..." the knife pointed at her left eye, "...is tears." the blade pierced through her eye, splattering blood everywhere.
Kvetch laughed while Cinnabar screamed in agony, he rose up from the bed and levitated the knife to her chest. "I'm going to enjoy this."

* * *

Solar wrote something on her clipboard, "From the files, I know that you tortured her by making small cuts on her skin and sprinkled salt over them, why?"

Kvetch scratched one of the bandages, "That's a trick I learned from my mother, these wrappings are really itchy."

Solar dropped the quill on the table, "So you were creating a scenario where you were your mother?"

Kvetch halted all movement and stared at Solar, for a moment the room was eerily quiet. He slowly stood up from his bed, "I wanted to create maximum amounts of pain, I didn't create a scenario or fulfill some weird fantasy." his voice was calm and deep, trickling with venom. "I, am nothing like my mother, she was a demon and I'm a pony."

Solar felt fear grow inside her, she pulled out another file, "Number 8, officer Trotter." her plan to distract Kvetch worked perfectly.

"That officer got close at apprehending me, I respected her enough to kill her quickly."

* * *

Officer Trotter was on her night patrol, she liked them more than day patrol, the streets were emptier during at night. While walking near the outer edge of the town, she noticed something on a small alleyway, a white pony was laying on his back, unmoving, his head was hidden under a brown hood. She turned to the alleyway and walked to the pony, "Hello, sir? are you alright." The pony didn't respond.
Officer Trotter knelt down to check if he had a pulse, she placed her hoof on his neck and felt a heartbeat. She stood back up, "I guess I have to carry you to the station." the white pony was levitated on her back. In the instant his chest touched her back, he pulled out a knife and floated it to her throat, "Good evening officer, it would seem you're lost." the blade made a small cut on her neck. "Please don't try to do anything stupid."

Trotter was sweating nervously, "Lower the knife and back away, you are threatening a police officer."

The white unicorn on her back chuckled, "I know, that's what makes this exciting. Walk backwards to the end of this alley."

She complied and started to slowly retreat, for her surprise, the unicorn felt very light. An idea came to her head, "I'm giving you one last chance to lower your weapon." the unicorn started to laugh quietly. Trotter braced herself and jumped back first against a wall, her assailant lost his grip on the knife. She turned around and pushed him against the wall, "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to a-"

"Shut the hell up!" The unicorn kicked her in the stomach, air escaped her lungs forcing her to let go. She quickly recomposed herself and pulled out her baton, she struck him on the back, causing him to fall to the ground. He shouted angrily and charged towards her, before she could stop him, he tackled her to the ground.
She shielded her head with her front legs and prepared for a beating, the unicorn picked up her baton and struck her to the chest with it.
Trotter could feel one of her ribs shatter, she started to cough violently. Her assailant lifted up the knife he had lost, "For a while you had the overpower, but you didn't take advantage of it." he dropped the baton. "Get up and fight!"

She stood up and lifted the baton, breathing heavily. "W-who are you?"

The unicorn smiled sadistically, "I'm what you call Manehattan mass murderer, a flattering nickname, really. But my actual name is Kvetch."

Trotter suddenly felt cold, in front of her was the one pony who had made the night feared again. She levitated the baton between them, "Y-you don't have to do this." tears started to form in her eyes.

Kvetch laughed, "I don't have to, but I want to!" he launched the knife towards her. She felt the blade digging into her shoulder, she screamed in pain and swiped her baton towards Kvetch. He lifted his left front leg and blocked the strike aimed at his head, she could hear the bone crack. He twisted the knife and pulled it out, stabbing it into her chest. Trotter fell to her knees in agony, her focus shattered, and the baton dropped on the street. She slowly lifted her tear-filled eyes to look at Kvetch, "Please, don't do this!"

Kvetch pushed her head against the wall, "You fought well, now, you will rest better." he placed his right hoof under her chin and his left hoof atop her head, he pulled her head back and pushed her chin sideways, snapping her neck.

* * *

A tear rolled down Solarspot's cheek, "I think, that this is enough for today."

Kvetch seemed sad, "I didn't want to kill her."

Solar stopped to look at him, "What?"

Kvetch sighed, "She was a fighter, not like those guards who pretend to be, she broke one of my bones and outwitted me. She shouldn't have died, but, she saw me and there was no other option."

Solar stood up and walked out of the door, mixed thoughts in her head.

Author's Note

9 Cinnabar

8 Officer Trotter

Who's next?