Chapter 1 (edited)

Dripping. Bed sheets stained in red.

  A figure's shadow loomed over the bed. Back crouched, It wiped a free hand onto the walls and bed spread, painting some of the remaining untainted spots in the room a faded color when it was done. Slowly making a fist, Its eyes moved from its hand to where a little boy laid, unmoving. Leaning closer, the figure tightly gripped a grotesque, bloody blade and grabbed a clump of the boy's hair. In a single rough motion, the head was quickly face-to-face with the figure. It brought the knife dangerously close to the boy's face, connecting the sharp edge of the blade between the lips of the boy's mouth. It paused, stared at the victim's face one last time, and grinned. It started. Cutting. Carving. Mutilating.

"Now I'll make you look beautiful.." The figure said in a deep, cracked voice.

It starts to cut outward from the edge of the lips to make a pair of perfectly curved lines, representing a large "smile".

"Why so serious, buddy?" It chuckled. "You should be happy. I saved you from the evils of is God damned world. Smile!"

It waited for a response, one it did not truly expect to get. Letting the victim's head limply fall back on the pillow, It simply stared, unblinkingly, toward the now "smiling" corpse.

The figure stopped grinning, hearing footsteps. It swiftly stood up, staring down at the bloodied corpse angrily.

"Now you will STAY happy." It growled, before turning around to retrieve another, slightly cleaner, but equally large blade. "Forever."

__________

-New York City

     Jeff was strolling down the dark slums of New York City, hiding his face in a seemingly "blackened" white hoody while keeping his hands on the grip of his ever sharp knives he keeps in the pockets of his hoody. Out in the slums, he fit right in. Everyone here has a secret. Secrets that are sometimes to DIE for. Naturally, people in this rough patch of the city keep to themselves, minding their own business in the fear of meeting "undesirable" company.

Jeff hears a radio playing in the background next to an old man sitting on an apartment door step.

"Emergency Report: Armed serial killer still on the loose. Dozens of confirmed victims have been reported of this mysterious and ruthless predatory psychopath. It is believed that he was last spotted in Trenton, New Jersey, yesterday after the discovery of the heavily mutilated body of a young boy in his own room. The body hosts multiple stab wounds in the chest and limbs. The corpse was also gashed open from the neck to the stomach. There is reason to believe the victim was alive when most of this happened. "

Jeff's smile grew under the shade of his hood, but continued to listen in.

"Most disturbing of all, though, is that the mouth was cut into the cheeks on both sides, resembling a big, demented smile. For privacy reasons, the name of the victim was not revealed to the press. The killer is described as a male, around thirteen to sixteen years of age, five foot seven, and is reported to have been wearing a white hoodie and black denim jeans. If anyone spots a person with this description or sees any suspicious behavior, please report it to the Crime Stoppers Hotline.

In other news, a power outage at the superbowl is causing outrage as-"

Jeff has lost interest in the radio. Yet, he finds amusement in something else. The old man, and everyone else who has been listening in, failed to notice the irony.

I am right here! He wanted to scream. A feeling of euphoria swept over him. He felt invincible, like no one could touch him. That no one could stop him...

All of a sudden, he started to laugh roaringly, causing onlookers to stare, some in confusion, others in annoyance.

_________

-Canterlot

"Exactly Where did you find them?"

"The victims were in their home, with the filly killed in bed. The parents were also believed to be killed soon after, probably after barging into the room to catch the suspect in the act. All three bodies were found in the filly's room, with no sign of them having been moved."

"What do you think killed them? Was it a pony, or maybe some bloodthirsty  beast?"

"W-We don't know. No portions were missing from the bodies to assume they were being eaten, and the stabs inflicted seem to have been done by a knife. Judging by the size and shape of the cuts, the weapon was most likely a large cerated kitchen knife, which, unfortunately, is found in most homes."

Captain Shining Armor collapsed, unable to process all that has happened.

"We do not know anything about the suspect at all?" Shining asked tiredly.

"Regretably, no." Investigator Crime Finder replied. "That is all we know. Nopony saw anything suspicious because the act was believed to have happened in the dead of night, according to the neighbors. The only possible witnesses, or at least the ones that can actually tell us something useful, were the residents of the house. Unfortunately, as stated before, they were all... disposed of.

"N-No... No magic was found on the bodies of the victims, and no traces of the suspect has been left to study. The suspect is believed to be very intelligent and experienced, as to be able to escape without being noticed or leaving any viable evidence. Interestingly enough," Finder claims,  "Our forensic team suspects the perpetrator to be a changeling, on the reasoning that nopony spotted an unfamiliar character walking around the area hours before or after the crime. We have some suspects, but none with a real base to be accused. The reasoning behind the murders are unknown, but if the suspect is in fact a changeling," Investigator Finder took a breathe, "It is reasonable to assume that the crime is linked to the failed changeling invasion from a few months ago."

Shining Armor flinched at the mention of changelings, looking up. What Finder saw, though, was not a confused face.

It was a look of hatred.

"I have personal experience with changelings, enough to know that this is definitely the act of one of them." Shining stated authoritatively, snapping at the investigator.

The changeling hive must have sent an assassin to  kill citizens and distract the royal guards,  Shining thought resolutely. We should focus on looking for the invading changelings taking advantage of the chaos, not on a lone assassin, who has probably escaped back to its hive by now!

"Investigator Crime Finder, I know what must be done."

__________

-Ponyville

It was a glistening day in Ponyville, where Fluttershy was caring for her many animals, as usual. Today was the day that she would clean out the excess mud piles for her pigs, which have gotten dry and crusty. She cares for her pigs, like all her animals, deeply, and making her animals happy is her pride and joy as an animal lover. The pig kennel faces the Everfree Forest, were the occasional wild animal would leak out of. Fluttershy, being as kind as she was, would always try to befriend any animal she encountered. Except dragons. Fluttershy was deathly afraid of dragons.

  Once in awhile, an animal Fluttershy has never seen before would find itself on the edges of the Everfree, where a quiet voice with a warm heart was there to welcome them. Fluttershy, being around animals all the time, naturally learned a few tricks from them overtime.

Fluttershy quickly learned how to copy many different bird calls, how to find food in the Everfree, even how to know if a predator was stalking her. This comes easily to a pony like Fluttershy. If an animal ever tried to attack her, she could always convince the animal otherwise, preferring to befriend rather than fight or run away.

  It was on this particular day, on her way to the pig pens, that Fluttershy felt a tingling, a strong one. A feeling, the type that signifies she is being watched by a "predatory animal". Fluttershy tenses a little, as she turns around. Yet as Fluttershy stares at It, she does not understand what she sees. In the background of the forest, she spots a black and white figure. The figure seemed to fluttershy as an animal taller than a pony, but smaller than a bear standing on its hind legs. This was not what Fluttershy worried about, though. Size of an animal never really made a difference to the animal lover, who cared for animals bigger and smaller than herself all the time.

What was eerie to Fluttershy, though, was the figure seemed to acknowledge it was spotted, but refused to move. It seemed content to staring, confusing the pegasus. What did it want?

For the record, the creature didn't seem scared, not in the slightest. Fluttershy just stared back, also not scared, but confused. Animals she had experience with would often run away, hide, or attack when they are spotted, but this strange one did not. She contemplated her next move, when all of a sudden the figure started running full speed toward her. Dazed and still, she stood frozen for a couple of seconds while the creature ran at speeds easily faster than what the average pony could muster. By the time Fluttershy thought to run, It already closed half of the distance between them. Fluttershy quickly launched to the air as fast as she could, being just over the creature's head before it jumped and slashed at her. Being incredibly lucky, the creature missed Its mark and only slashed a hind leg. Fluttershy, in adrenaline fueled panic, did not notice this and continued to fly as fast as she could, making her just a little slower than the the figure that was chasing her. She did not dare turn back in fear that she would find the creature still chasing from behind her, and quickly went high up to a comfortable hieght among the clouds. The creature did not seem to have wings, so the skies would have to shelter her for now.

     Fluttershy, finally calming down and resting on a cloud, decided she wanted to get a good look at the creature that was chasing her. She pokes her head from hiding and looks down at the ground. She was able to see all of Ponyville, but no strange creatures (other than the Ponyville pedestrians) in sight. It disappeared, out of thin air. Just a couple of seconds ago, Fluttershy could have sworn that the beast was still chasing her. She, losing her adrenaline fueled rush, figured it must have ran back into the Everfree Forest.

Minutes pass, as Fluttershy's heavy breathing turns back to a shallow, whispered rhythm. Fluttershy, thinking back to the occurrence, thought of why the strange animal attacked her.

"Some ponies... they don't like it when other ponies stare at them, so maybe this animal doesn't like it either!" Fluttershy exclaimed to herself. "I could have scared or threatened it by staring at it the w-wrong way."

"...I-I mean, no animal will attack somepony without a reason, right?"

Fluttershy decided. She would make things right by apologizing and befriend this mysterious, new creature.