Chapter 3
Ponyville was a scramble, but not in the usual hustle and bustle way. That morning, of the news of Fluttershy's disappearance, and discords defeat, had caused a mass panic in the town. Many mares and stallions were packing up their possessions to leave on the soonest train.
Twilight was standing by the train station with starlight, watching the various ponies packing up and heading into the train. She had been warned of this, but couldn't figure out what it was about. And now, a second friend has been removed from her sight. Her thoughts were cut off as starlight began tapping her on the shoulder. The train conductor had walked up to twilight and was speaking.
“Sorry, I've had a lot on my mind recently. What did you say?” The train conductor nodded in understanding. She had a charcoal cost, wearing a standard uniform over it. Her cutie mark was a conductor's hat with train tracks crossing it.
“That's alright miss, I'm use to it.” The conductors voice had a thick accent to it, one that twilight didn't recognize. “I was sayin we're ready to head out, and I promise to bring all these ponies back safely once this blows over.”
“Thanks you. That helps my nerves a little.” The conductor made her way to the front of the train, blowing the horn to signal departure. And with that, the train went off down the track.
“Do you really think this can just blow over?” Starlight asked, pulling out the notes from the last two messages.
“No, I doubt it.” Twilight mentioned, heading out from the station. “But one way or another, I will make sure to find out whoever is doing this, and make them pay.”
At the tinkerers home, he sat in the living room watching the TV that was in the room. It was tuned to an anime website, playing the latest upload of SAFIRE. He sat eating his usual breakfast, buttercup by his side.
“Tink, I need to talk to you.” Jade walked out from her room and stood behind the couch, looking down at the two as they watched. The tinkerer turned his head to look at Jade.
“Can't it wait till this episode finishes? I want to see how this episode goes.”
“No, it can't.” jades voice told him that she would interrupt him If he didn't listen. So the tinkerer sighed, pausing the episode and finishing his breakfast. He made his way around the couch and stood facing her, buttercup taking the dishes to the kitchen.
“What is it you want to talk about?” he got up from the couch and stood before Jade. Jade felt nervous, despite her robotics and alicorn power, the tinkerer still had a cold presence.
“What happens when I pass out, what REALLY happens? Once may be a coincidence, but twice is suspicious.” Buttercup seemed to grow nervous on the couch, but the tinkerer stayed calm, looking into jades green eyes.
“Project friendship is a plan I had worked on for awhile now. I needed a soul to get the mechanics working, but that only partially gave the body life. To properly fuel the body, I needed a second soul, which ended up being you.”
“I, I don't see how that relates to my question.”
“You were never meant to be apart of this, my original plan involved someone I loved a long time ago. It's only through you 'passing out’ that she can work on the plan.”
“I'm still not following. What does that have to do with what I'm asking?”
“If you still can't follow what I'm saying, then perhaps showing you would be better.” The tinkerer went out from the room into the restroom, followed by the two mares. Buttercup stood outside the door while the two looked at the mirror in silence. Then, the tinkerers hoof began to glow bronze as he held it to the mirror.
“Speculum: revelare interiorem spiritum meum” the glow absorbed into the mirror, and soon the image began to shift. Instead of jades normal body, a different pony showed in the mirror.
She was clearly built for military. Having a dark green coat and a body much bulkier than an average unicorn. She had fiery red eyes and wore military garb. The mane and tail were a muddy brown, and all over were specks of mud from a time long ago.
“This, is general Jewel Flame of the 1st solar army. Not many ponies know of this, but the crystal empire used to lead attacks on ponyville and it's towns. She was one of the first members of an army that drove back the threat.
That was, till the crystal empire was sealed away by the elements of harmony. The army was disbanded afterwards, leading to several ponies not being able to live normal lives. She found me, and I decided to use her talents for the plan you are now apart of.”
Jade looked at the pony in the reflection, then looked at herself. Was she really just a fluke that lives with this spirit inside of her? Was this the only reason she was cared for by the tinkerer?
“I… I need to sleep on this.” Jade walked out of the restroom to the bedroom, sinking into the couch and falling into a dreamless sleep. The tinkerer looked at his own reflection, wiping away a silent tear, and walked back to the main room to finish his show.
The train that had left ponyville was now in the mountains, the afternoon light showing on the train as it passed through the uphill weaves. The ponies inside continued to bide the time, waiting for the train to reach its destination.
Suddenly, the train began to slow down, and then stop. The ponies inside looked out at the place where they were, and saw the expanse of rocks below them. The conductor soon got over the intercom and told them the situation.
“Sorry folks, rocks blocking the tunnel. Please stay inside the cabin till the cleanup crew comes from canterlot to help. Please be patient with us.”
The passengers groaned there displeasure, not hearing the subtle clicks of locks being activated. The ponies in the cabin soon began to fall asleep, as an invisible gas began to fill the cabins. Soon, all the passengers were sound asleep, and the conductor removed her disguise.
“Alright Fangorn, you're up.” Keros spoke, flying out of the train with her dragonfly wings and landing on a smaller cart. “I will go ahead and tell the word about the 'accident’ here. Good luck” with that, she resumed her disguise and went down the tracks on a small handcart.
Above the tracks, the dragon flew down from his perch on the mountain, and landed at the kaboose of the train. Inside the cake family, along with a few other ponies, were fast asleep. He grabbed the cakes and began to fly off with them. the family still asleep from the drug they had inhaled.
Before he left, he shot a fireball at the engine of the train. The impact causing an explosion that destroys part of the track, and causing the train to fall into the ravine below. No one inside felt the impact of the spiked rocks when the train landed, killing all on board without a sound.
“What a waste of life. But it's all business” with that, he flew off to the tinkerers home with his prize.
Jade walked down the silent streets of night time ponyville. The night time air was cold and slightly wet with dew. She made her way to sugarcube corner, the place with her next target, cloaked to conceal her look.
She had spent the afternoon thinking on what she saw, and had decided to ask for freedom on this mission. Surprisingly, the tinkerer was fine with the idea.
“Just remember, when the time comes, you can't hesitate. If you do, I'll call up flame, so don't disappoint.” So here she was, about to face the next of her targets, unaware of what to expect. She eventually made it to the doorstep of the sweet shop, and went inside.
The door was unlocked, despite the time, and she stepped into the empty halls of the restaurant. Seeing that the kitchen was empty, she made her way to the upper floor of the building. At the end of the hall, she saw something she didn't expect, a single strawberry cupcake.
It was placed on a stool, as if it were being used for bait. Rolling her eyes, Jade made her way to the small item, picking it up with her hoof. Before she could take a bite of it, a large thump sounded behind her, causing Jade to freeze.
“Ohh, the killer actually has fears. Good to see!!” Jade slowly unfroze, and turned to see who was behind her. She saw a pink pony, who seemed similar to pinkie pie, but had a paler coat color and a flat mane and tail. She turned to face the pony and saw that she was holding a cannon in front of her.
“Someone like you, threatening someone like me? Funny.” Jade tried to hide the fear in her voice, with minor success. Pinkie tilted her head in a twisted smile. Then gave a small chuckle in response.
“You're right, it’s kinda funny. It would be more funny IF YOU HADN'T KILLED MY FRIENDS!!!” Jade flinched at the strange shift in pinkies voice. But she stayed focus, looking at the cannon in front of her.
“I hope you don't plan on killing me with balloons and confetti pinkie. Cause even you know that's dumb to try.”
“Hehehe, well OF COURSE that would be dumb. That's why I put something SPECIAL in this blast. LOOK FOR YOURSELF.” Jade tilted her head to look into the cannon. Inside was a large cake, black and hardened to be intentionally inedible. It was filled with various metal objects, ranging from sharpened spoons to whisks twisted into a sharp point. She pulled her head back and looked at pinkie with her best poker face.
“Since you've been SO RUDE as to make my friends go away, I figured I'd do the same for you. I spent ALL DAY making this special dessert for you. I hope you enjoy it, BECAUSE IT'LL BE YOUR LAST MEAL IN EQUESTRIA!!!” Pinkie began to laugh at this, her whole head twisting back as she maniacally laughed at Jade. Has the loss of her friends really caused that much grief?
“Alright pinkie, if this is my last meal, I want to get in some final words first.” Pinkie stopped her laughter and looked at Jade, her face now unbelievably calm as she waited. But instead of talking, Jade quickly kicked the cannon, rotating the barrel to face pinkie now. She then used her magic and lifted it into the air, aiming the cannon right at pinkies face. The pink pony looked in shock at the sight, then at Jade.
“Surprise.” With that, Jade pulled the trigger on the cannon, the blast making a powerful blast and knocking pinkie through the floor. The cannon itself was embedded into the ceiling briefly, before falling through the hole it made to the second floor.
Jade walked down to the second floor, and grimaced at the sight. There say pinkie, her body pinned to the floor with her array of blades, with bruises and cuts along her body. Her face was stretched into a wide grin, with small pupils and light breathing. Before Jade could reminisce on this, the earpiece she had buzzed to life, the tinkerers voice coming through it.
“You surprised me Jade. I didn't think you'd actually take her down, let alone to this degree. Now, start a grease fire in the kitchen, and bring her body back to the house.”
“Sir?! That doesn't sound…”
“Did I stutter? Get it done before someone comes by and you get seen. That's an order!!” Jade flinched at his harsh words, but went to it. She quickly began a fire in the kitchen using cooking grease and the oven. She then levitated pinkies body and made her way out the back door. She had tears in her eyes, but whether or not it was from sadness or the smoke, she didn't know.
The tinkerer sat on the balcony, waiting for Jade to come in with her prize. The preparations for the next invitation were ready, and he had to get the pink pony to finish the work.
Jade flew in a few moments later, carrying pinkie with her. He smiled at the sight, and motioned for his assistants to take the body. They quickly grabbed the body and rushed back to work on the package, while the tinkerer walked up to Jade and kissed her on the cheek.
“You did well on this assignment. I wished it could have been done smoother from flame, but you did it great as well. Just make sure to listen and not judge my commands next time.” he made his way back inside, but stopped when Jade didn't follow.
“I don't want to do this anymore.” The tinkerer frowned at jades words, but stayed silent as she continued. “It was one thing to be a tool for your plan, I had no choice in that. But to kill ponies? I can't keep on like this.”
“You act like you HAVE the option to leave. You're apart of this, and have already gone too deep to go out. Even if you wanted to leave, you couldn't. Now come inside, we have your next assignment to discuss.”
“Alright, sir.” Jade walked into the living room and listened as he began discussing the plan. She only partially listened, as her mind went back to what he had said. She wanted to escape, to live without the orders and fear. But where would she go? And the ponies she has already killed, if unintentionally, could they be something she could forget?
Twilight woke up to the sound of banging on her door. She had spent the day writing down the various ponies that were left in ponyville, and needed to get some sleep. But the desperate knocking at her door made her get up anyway. Starlight stood outside the door, a she wore a somber expression on her face.
“it seems our secret killers struck in the night. We need to go down to sugarcube corner.” Twilight quickly got out of her bed and grabbed her saddlebag. And heading to the balcony, the two flew off towards sugarcube corner.
Twilight landed near the building with shock. The place was almost completely burned down, with half of the building charred beyond repair. Pegasi were already on the scene, removing the rain clouds they had used to put out the flames. More ponies had gathered around to see the remains of the building, and twilight turned to the leader of the fire brigade.
“Was anypony inside the building?” She asked, a bit of panic in her voice.
“No ma'am, the building has been abandoned for awhile now. We searched inside and couldn't find any bodies.” this made twilight even more nervous. Once again, she has lost a friend and no evidence of there whereabouts. But that also means she'd be getting a present from the killer.
Twilight flew back to the castle with starlight. And sure enough, a package was there on the doorstep of the castle. Twilight brought it inside, and she placed it on the table before opening it.
The two ponies jumped in surprise as the box shot confetti into the air. A happy party tune began up, and out of the small box arose a multi layer cake. It stood 10 layers tall, with small figurines and a single note placed on the topper of the cake.
It was expertly crafted, the top most layer being a eclipsing sun and moon, twilight's cutie mark just underneath. Each subsequent layer was modeled after each of her friends, with three more layers based on the crystal empire, the residents of ponyville, and the dragon lands. Had it not been from the killer, it would have been the most intricate cake ever designed. Twilight grabbed the note from the top of the cake and read it.
Another of your friends has fallen to our wishes. Yet, the power of friendship doesn't seem to be making things better. However, to show we aren't heartless, we made this cake to comfort you in your time of grief. Keep the models, they were made for you. Signed, your secret admirer.
Twilight crumbled the note and incinerated it with her magic. All these deaths, and yet she isn't any closer to finding the culprit! Starlight had used the knife to cut the various layers of cake, and sure enough, each was flavored by the favorites of the pony it represents. Twilight walked back to her room, wondering when this will end, and when she will be next.