//------------------------------// // 404 // Story: My Little Doubt // by Knackerman //------------------------------// "It feels like it has just been ages since I've seen it. The outside world..." murmured Rarity, enraptured. She and Twilight had let the light of their horns fade so that the room filled with the soft silvery glow of moonlight streaming through the gaps in the shelves. They could have only been in this pit for a handful of hours, but it felt like days. Even a hint of the outside world was enough to send a thrill through their hearts. Twilight, after setting Derpy's body down gently, helped Applejack clear away the old books and binders. After a little work, and with one at each side, they hefted the shelving out of the way. With the shelf at last out of the way, the window proved to be out just slightly out of reach for the little ponies. "Can ya fly up there Twi? Or do ya need me ta give ya a boost?" asked the farm pony. "I think I can manage it Applejack." With a soft flutter, Twilight rose slowly in the air until she was level with the window. On the other side of a few inches of glass she could just make out a starry sky dotted with a few scraps of clod. A forest bathed in soft light stretched out below the window, leaves wafting in a gentle breeze. "But that can't be...this can't be right." "What is it dear? is something wrong?" asked Rarity apprehensively. "Is the window stuck? I should think we could break it if that's necessary." "I don't think it would matter if we could break it or not," said Twilight pensively. As she watched the trees moved in the same rhythmic motion over and over again, like the waves of the sea. Though a few clouds drifted across the moon, they seemed to be replaced moment by moment by clouds that looked almost identical. Twilight reached one hoof toward the window. As her hoof touched the "glass" the image wavered and shook, twisting around her touch. She pulled her hoof away again and the image returned to its tranquil repetition. "It's not real. It's just another scrying crystal." As she said this, the image suddenly shifted to that of a face stripped of all its flesh. A horrible blood stained grin and eyes filled with madness and hatred hovered just in front of Twilight, laughing. Twilight screamed and fell back, forgetting her wings just long enough to fall heavily to the cavern floor. Abruptly the image and the light it cast winked out of existence, plunging the room into darkness filled with haunting laughter. Somepony was toying with them. "That's not funny. That's not funny at all," said Pinkie Pie backing slowly out of the room. Her eyes were filled with fear and uncertainty. "HELP!" screamed Rarity. "Can anypony hear me!? WE'RE TRAPPED IN HERE, PLEASE HELP US! PLEASE JUST LET US GO!" Rarity was weeping as she spun around in a panic, pleading for help that would never come or with their captor, it was hard to tell which. Perhaps even she didn't know. It was clear from the little giggles between her shrieks that she was swiftly dissolving into hysterics. "Just stay calm and stay together," said Twilight getting back on her hooves and lighting the room up with her horn. "Who ever is behind this is just trying to make us panic. If we keep our heads we'll be fine." Rarity suddenly shot a glare at Twilight so full of rage and despair it made her physically flinch. "Then open it!" Twilight just looked at her, unsure of what she was saying. "The door Twilight, the last door. There had to be a way inside for us to get here in the first place, so surely there is a way out. It has to be in the last room. So use your sigil and open...the...door!" "Now just hold on Rarity," began Applejack, inserting herself between the two more magical ponies, "Twilight's sigil is our last key. While it's true that if we're gonna find an exit, it's liable to be in that last room, there ain't no guarantee. All this hocus pocus we got goin' on around us, Ah'm inclined to think we ought to take our time checking this here room before we go gallivanting off to the next." "After all, when Twilight uses her sigil on that last door, she won't be able to use it to let Dashie out anymore." The others all gave Pinkie Pie somewhat dumbfounded looks. "What, have you all forgotten about her!? Or were you just hoping I had!?" "Pinkie!" gasped Rarity, surprised. "How could you say that?" The pink pony's head drooped. "I'm sorry, that came out meaner than I meant it to. I'm just worried about Dashie...and all of us, okay? I don't want anypony being left behind. Or ending up like..." she gestured to Derpy's slumped form just beside the door. "Me either Pinkie. It's just the only way we're going to be able to do this is if we work together. The killer wants us to be suspicious of each other and...well...honestly we shouldn't trust each other completely right now," each of Twilight's friends flinched and looked away as she said that. "But we should still probably do as Applejack suggests and check this room. There's tons of books and papers in here. Surely there's something in one of them that can give us a clue as to where we are or who might have done this." And besides, thought Twilight to herself, it's not like I actually have a sigil with which to open the last door or free Rainbow Dash either. This might be our only chance. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie busily began to rifle through the folders and books in the room. Most of the folders were full of old invoices for medicine, food, and other goods purchased, by somepony who had initialed only as C, from an undisclosed supplier. Whomever 'C.' was, they had gone through an alarming amount of disinfectant, painkillers, and a large supply of sodium hydroxide. This later component Twilight tried not to let her mind dwell on too much, but there were only so many uses one could have for that much lye and she hadn't seen any soap down here. Most of the books were just out of date technical books and manuals for bits and pieces of machinery. There were even one or two old architectural journals. None of it seemed overly helpful to their current situation. If their need weren't so dire, she would've relished a chance to read through such a varied collection. While the others struggled to glean anything useful from the glut of what increasingly seemed like misinformation, Rarity sat far away from all the dirty and dusty tomes, chewing her lower lip pensively. Though she'd managed to enchant a few crystals to suffuse the room with light, her mind was still dwelling on the laughter in the darkness. Laughter that had sounded almost familiar. Rarity let her gaze sweep over the room. She didn't like to think of it, but any one of her friends so diligently searching for clues could be the psychotic killer. It made her reluctant to cooperate with them, beyond getting her coat filthy with dust. As she tried to figure out which, if any, of her friends looked like a deranged murderer, her eyes fell on something that didn't quite belong. It took a moment for her to realize what it was, but unlike everything else in this room, the binder she was looking at seemed new and untouched by dirt or grime. Glancing up to see if any of her friends had noticed, Rarity stealthily swept the binder close and nonchalantly opened it. As she rifled through the binders pages, her eyes grew wide. "What is this?" wondered Rarity quietly under her breath. "What in the world is something like this doing down here." She flipped the pages back and forth frantically as if searching for something, anything that would make what she was looking at make sense. Then realization dawned. It wasn't what was in the binder. It was what wasn't. "What are you looking at Rarity?" asked Pinkie Pie curiously. Rarity had been so engrossed in the binder she hadn't noticed the pink pony staring her in the face. "AAAaaah ah...a, a very boring thing indeed! Hardly worth discussing," said Rarity, her scream turning into a rather hamhooved bit of subterfuge. "Just old technical papers and things, nothing important." "You look a little pale," said Pinkie Pie, her brow knitting with concern. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Rarity paused for a moment, and then dramatically draped her forelimb across her forehead. "Oh dear, now that you mention it I feel rather dreadful. I've felt terrible ever since that horrible business in the clinic. I've been wanting to go to the bathroom for quiet some time, and freshen up a bit, but I'm far too frightened to go by myself. Pinkie, would you be a dear and come with me?" As she made this request she batted her eyelashes pleadingly, though even with how terrible their predicament was, she still found a way to over sell the drama of her situation. "Sure I guess," Pinkie responded without a trace of suspicion. She turned to the others and called, "Hey guys, Rarity isn't feeling well so we're going to go to the bathroom real quick!" "Alright, but be careful," called back Twilight, her head still buried in a book of old invoices. "Try not to be out of each others sight any longer than you have to and don't wonder off by yourselves. We're safest in a large group, so hurry back." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Sorry for making you come with me dear," said Rarity from behind the bathroom stall door. Pinkie Pie was running the faucet to cover the sound of Rarity's business at the unicorn's request. Rarity might have been afraid, but she was still a lady. "Don't worry about it, it's completely fine. To be honest, I needed a little break too," responded Pinkie with a touch of sadness in her usually cheerful voice. The pink pony held one hoof beneath the flowing water. It was pleasantly cool to the touch, yet offered no real solace. If Pinkie were honest with herself, she'd realize it was because more than anything she'd love to have a bath. Everything that had gone on had left her feeling filthy. "We've been through an awful lot in a very short time..." She caught a glimpse of herself in the bathroom mirror. Almost all of the curl had gone out of her hair now. Was it the dry conditions in the cavern? Or was it her mood? Why was it she felt so sad, but her reflection seemed to be smiling back at her? "So, so much." "Still, I have to imagine that this has worked out the worst for you," replied Rarity as she exited the stall. "Here you were planning this fantastic party for all your friends and instead it all ended up like this. Some cruel prank, perpetrated by a monster skulking in the dark. It's so unfair after you went to the trouble to send us all invitations." "Yeah..." said Pinkie wistfully, turning off the faucet, so that only the steady drip, drip echoed inside the tiny tile room. "Saying this was all just bad luck would kind of be unfair to all of you, though. Especially to those who've...who've died. If I had known things would turn out like this, I would've never invited all of you back to Ponyville for my birthday." "For your...really? I confess, I'd forgotten. So that's what you think this was all about?" asked Rarity, her voice hollow and strange. "Well of course. I invited everypony here for mine and Gummy's birthday," said Pinkie Pie turning to face her friend. As she did, she just caught a glimpse of something sparkling in the crystalline light. A thin sliver of polished metal that curved ever so slightly just above Rarity's head. She'd never forget the way Rarity looked at that moment for as long as she lived. Her face, usually so beautiful and meticulously cared for, was now distorted by fear and rage. "Liar!" was all that Rarity said before she brought the scalpel down hard, sending a spurt of Pinkie Pie's blood gushing up and staining her panic twisted face crimson. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A scream of pain and fear rose and rebounded off the cavern walls. Even distorted by distance, Twilight and Applejack immediately recognized it as Pinkie Pie's panicked plea "Twilight, Applejack, somepony help, HELP!" As quickly as it had risen, the screams were suddenly silenced. Throwing down the books they had been looking through, the pair rushed out into the hall, only to find a bloodied Rarity waiting for them. "Rarity, what happened!?" demanded Twilight. "What's going on!?" As Twilight's eyes had a moment to take in the sight of Rarity's normally pristine self, she saw the splotches of blood staining her coat. Without looking at her friends, Rarity reached out with her magic, and slammed the bathroom door. A magic rune flared on the surface of the crystal door, sealing itself into the wall, and essentially locking it so no pony could go in or out. No pony that is, except for Rainbow Dash, the filly who had originally opened it and thus bound it to her sigil. Rarity turned slowly, her eyes in shadow beneath her magnificent, blood dripping mane. Twilight swallowed hard before asking again, "Rarity...where's Pinkie Pie? Don't tell me that you just..." "Here," said Rarity suddenly, shoving the new looking binder in Applejack's direction, "read this." "Why won't you answer me?" asked Twilight. "What happened to Pinkie Pie!?" "Just read it!" exclaimed Rarity, shouting angrily. Applejack flipped open the binder and hesitantly, keeping one eye on Rarity, Twilight joined her. They were all there, each of her friends had a file. Each had several pages of background history, biometric data, even a list of their personal tastes and private fears. There were also old newspaper clippings and extensive genealogical record detailing the backgrounds and various close relatives of each of her friends. It was all there, every last detail...except for one thing. "Looks like you see it too," said Rarity, her horn glowing brightly. "In all those pages, in all that data, why isn't there a single page about you?" It was true, there were a few bare bones mentions of her name, but Twilight Sparkle wasn't represented in this dossier. "How should I know?" asked Twilight. "Maybe there's another binder somewhere or..." Twilight was cut off as something sharp suddenly pressed against her throat. A rusted scalpel, its blade still wet with Pinkie Pie's blood, pricked ever so delicately against her carotid artery. Rarity's magic held it there, her eyes boring into Twilight's own. "What are you doing?" Twilight tried to move away, but the blade held firmly against her throat, "Cut it out Rarity!" "That seems like an exquisitely bad choice of words Twilight, so for the moment I shall do you the favor of ignoring them. Of course, that's only if that's who you really are." Rarity quipped, her eye lashes fluttering ever so slightly. "Don't worry about Pinkie Pie. She's safe and sound, locked in the bathroom. Rainbow Dash can let her out once we've settled things here. That is, if it's safe enough to let her out. I have a feeling she's quite mad." A manic grin spread across Rarity's face. "But enough about her, why don't we talk about you? Why don't you just give it up now? Why don't you just admit that the "Changeling" that you were so quick to have us hunt for has been you all along?"