When Light opened her eyes she saw only darkness before her. It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, but soon she hoped they hadn't. She had been tied down in a sitting position, her forelegs where bound with heavy ropes and her back legs where on chains. Her mouth was covered by a cloth, and only her eyes where free from the bounds.
She turned to her left, and saw Palette tied the same way she was. Her beautiful silky main was messy and untidy, and her once strong wings where tied tightly by the base. She gave Light a pleading look and a whimper, her hoof pointing next to her.
Light craned her neck to her side, and her eyes widened with fear. Network was badly bruised, with deep cuts in his back and neck. He had more chains and ropes than they had and his mouth instead of having a cloth had a mussel, much like the one Pinkamena had when she was in CMSP, this was probably due to the size and strenghth of the stallion. Light desperately looked around for an escape, but it was useless. She felt despare taking over her and her eyes swell with tears.
She felt something strange, she could see her bangs covering her face now. Her once wild mane was now completely straight, it was the least of her worries of course, she was at the lair of a serial killer.
An oily voice seemed to apear out of nowhere. "He put up a good fight." Their captor said. "I don't usually need so much effort to control a pony. The pegasus wasn't a walk in the park either, but the killer's daughter? Now she was easy, too innocent I tell you." Who was he talking to? Light shifted her head trying to find the source of the calling.
"What?" Another voice said, it sounded weak. "Who ar-are you?" It was Heart Felt.
"Ah, My name? Oh well, you see, I haven't used my name in a while. " there was a deep chuckle. "I think I might be going insane, can you believe it?"
"My horn..." Heart Felt said. "My horn! Wha- what did you do to me?!"
Another deep chuckle followed. "Tsk tsk tsk," he scolded. "Haven't they taught you not to talk out of turn, prince Heart Felt."
"You sick bastard! Go to Tartarus!!" Heart Felt screamed with all his might. A sudden groan of pain and a smack made the two mares jump.
"Ah, there is a special place in tartarus for me. As for you, I'll be happy to make your death long and fun, how about that?"
"Please, just please, they have nothing to do with this." Another smack. Light could see Palette's eyes filling with anxiety.
"You are only the entree, the main meal is yet to come. " Light fought her bounds but it was useless.
"Please... Pallette... Not her, please..." Heart Felt was weeping, his pleading sobs sending a pain in Light's chest. Another Smack, Palette squealed.
"I have yet to finish with that horn, I only took out the magical part of it. Now it would only be fair to remove it all, am I correct." Suddenly a light flickered on. Light could then see just how terrible Heart Felt's situation was.
He was bound to a mettalic bed. The straps took hold of all his legs, and his alicorn wings where tied securely behind him. As for his horn, Light saw a cut just in the base, a trickle of dried blood resided in his faceco coming down his forehead. It was also the first time she got a good look at the killer, and could admit he seemed strangely familiar.
A speck of pink caught her eye as she made out a figure tied to the wall behind them. Pinkamena was still unconcious and her long, straight, pink mane fell over her face. It was hard to believe how Pinkamena had turned into a hostage all of a sudden.
"Good to see you're awake ladies!" The Canterlot Killer said cheerfully, his voice was the voice of a mad man. "Time to create magic, "
He pulled out a neat scalpel and examined it in the light. Palette's eyes widened as she fought her bounds, Light saw the cloth covering Palette's face drop and the mare's mouth open in a scream.
"No!" She pleaded. "Please! He is a prince! All Equestria will fall upon you if you hurt him! Stop!"
The killer stopped in mid air and sighed, annoyed. "Well my dear, that will just make me more well known, now won't it?"
"Please! I-I love him! " Light gulped back the tears as Heart Felt turned to Palette. His face was striken by guilt.
"Oh how sweet." Their captor said. "And the best part is that, it changes absoloutly nothing."
He walked and carelessly tied the cloth back into Palette's mouth. The mare fought, and did attempt to bite her attacker. As she did this he connected his hoof to her face, letting it aside as he walked by.
Light's fearfull stare had turned into a glare of rage. She wouldn't let her friends die, she just couldn't. She tried to struggle out of her ropes.
"Now, lets start with that horn shall we?" He tapped the shiny scalpel on Heart Felt's horn playfully. He then began to slice the horn.
Heart Felt screamed in pain, his head attempting to jerk away from his captor's grip. The scalpel went around the horn cleanly, yet blood oozed from the fresh wound into Heart Felt's eyes and cheeks.
"Hmm, the horn is too large. I'm going to need a bigger one..." He muttered to himself. He dropped the bloody scalpel and rummaged around until he found a large cutting knife. Heart Felt's eyes widened at the sight of it.
"Now this is used by hay farmers to slice the grain cleanly. I usually use it for the stomach and liver, but today is a special ocassion isn't it?" He smiled lovingly at the shiny knife and then at Heart Felt. He then inserted the knife inside the large insicion he had made around the horn. Light began to shake violently in fear at what she saw, and Palette was weeping.
He did the same thing with the scalped and rounded the horn, then placing the blade towards the base he pushed forward, letting the horn out. By now Heart Felt's screams had turned into roars and cries. Light could see the pain in his body and felt tears fall down her eyes.
She closed her eyes and tried to imagine she was at home, in the table with her mother in her pink silk robe serving her pancakes. Sapphire was rambling about something again, but she didn't mind. Palette was working on a painting of ponies playing poker, and Network was smiling at her from behind his computer. All was well, all was well, all was welll.....
She snapped back to the sound of Heart Felt's screams. His blood mixed with his tears dripped into the floor and through the floor boards. Network lay next to her, unconsious, and Palette was shrieking madly. Light saw nothing ahead, only the blood of her friend. 'Please, Celestia, please, mom, someone. I need a miracle, I need hope, I need something. Please let me save them.'
At that moment, Pinkamena's eyes snapped open. It wasn't natural for anyone to wake up from a blow like that like she did. Pinkamena saw Heart Felt's bloody face, then her eyes drifted towards three figures. The mint-colored pegasus fought her bounds and her eyes seemed connected to the scene before her, by the looks of it the two ponies felt love for each other. A green stallion lay tumbled and heavily chained to the floor, he was unconcious and severely injured. A pink mare sat on the center, her eyes as wide and scared as her companion and her mane straight.
Pinkamena then turned to the stallion. Yes, she remembered him. How could she forget the little pegasus she once took care of. He had changed drastically though. His mane was no longer charmingly messy, but simply an insane and untidy mess. His beige coat was now stained with blood and was badly kept, his cutie mark wasn't that much of a surprise, it was a simple vanilla cupcake.
Pinkamena brought her eyes to his weapons, a large hay knife? She almost laughed, what an amateur. A meat knife would prove much more effecti- What was she saying? She had to kill him. When Pinkamena made a promise, it would always be kept.
She looked around the table until she siezed her goal, a simple scalpel. Her back leg bent forward, until her hoof was nearly touching the back of the scalpel. She gave a swift kick and the cutting utensil flew into her mouth. She gripped it tightly and extended it towards her cuffs. A long time ago when she was a teenager, she found out by accident that a scalpel could make a very usefull key. A scalpel actually let her free from CMSP, as a matter of fact. Those fools never expected a simple utensil from the forensics department go missing.
She heard the soft clank that ment she was free, and she dropped herself into the floor. The pegasus halted his actions, as he was about to open Heart Felt up, and turned his head towards her. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened.
"You escaped?!" He asked. Pinkamena raised an eyebrow and stared at Heart Felt.
"Even I'm not stupid enough to kill a prince, " after she said this she twirled the scalpel in the air and pointed it straight at him. The stallion stood in his hind legs ready to pounce upon her, but a swift kick in the stomach led him to step backwards. Pinkamena raced towards Light and the mint-colored mare. She cut the ropes holding their forelegs and unlocked the chains to their hind legs.
The pegasus inmediately raced towards the prince, undoing the straps holding his body and pulling him towards her. Light on the other hand stood in defense position next to Pinkamena, there was almost no diference in their eyes. Light raced forward, punching him in the eye and letting him back. He tried to get to her, but the pink mare avoided his hooves like a lightning volt and bucked him hard on the chest with both hind legs.
As they fought, Pinkamena carelessly and like the proffesional she was, took the hay knife, cleaned it with a rag that lay next to the other tools, and analyzed it making sure it met her standards. She took the knife in her left hoof and walked calmly next to the fighting duo.
A trickle of blood came from his mouth, he stared insanely at Light who was glaring a him with anger. He once again tried to charge forward, but the mare ducked as he leaped for her. The stallion landed stupidly against the wall and stood up again, he looked around and found the scalpel. He held it in his hoof and walked forward, Light didn't break."
He froze stared ahead blankly and staggered back. He spat blood and fell sideways, his scalpel landing centimeters from Light's hoof. Pinkamena stood calmy with the knife in her own hoof. Only a thin layer of blood was seen in the blade, she calmly sighed and rested the knife on the mettalic bed.
On the floor lay the injured Heart Felt, Palette's hooves holding his bleeding head. She stroked his mane and weeped softly.
He reached his hoof towards her, letting short breaths escape his lungs. He was losing a lot of blood, and fast. Palette's fur was now coated in his blood, but that was the least of her concerns. "Palette... Don't hurt Palette..." He kept repeating.
"Its okay, he won't hurt anyone anymore." She said softly, sounding like her mother. "Now now, its okay."
Palette tried to wipe the blood from his face, " Listen to me, its alright. Concentrate on my voice Heart Felt, don't fall asleep."
A burst through the door made everypony jump, Palette turned her tired and worn face towards the intruder, feeling a familiar sense of despair.
"What in Luna's name..." A female voice said. It sounded familiar, was it that investigator who arrived at her home when the cupcakes where found? "Heart!"
The mare leaned against the bleeding stallion. "Heart?! " she pleaded. "Its me your favorite cousin, Andromeda!"
The alicorn opened his eyes slowly and something sparked inside them. The mare turned behind her, to Light, Network and the body of the Canterlot Killer. Her main problem wasn't the still missing Pinkamena.
"All patrols to Sun Kiss corner as fast as posible. We have a code ember, I repeat, code Ember!" She said through her walkie talkie. "Don't panic, " she said to Palette. "Help is on the way."