//------------------------------// // Chapter: 4- Photo // Story: Picture Perfect Pony Zero: Mothering Bell // by ReifuTD //------------------------------// Rarity shakes the visions off. She was still in the bell room. “Okay,” The mare speaks out loud to regain her thoughts. “I have a set of keys so I can try the attic now. But I should double check this room before I leave.” Inspecting the music box machine, to her shock Rarity finds one of Soul Dirt’s notes next to the pick gun. The unicorn puts the pick gun in her pocket. She reads the note. _ Soul Dirt’s Note 6 The Stag is a powerful beast. Some would call it a demigod. The Stag was once Lauren Faust's head. Losing the ability to make life IE being removed from the womb of the lower body. It turned into a mindless male creature that would force its life giving on others. The bell tower that once stood out back was to summon the Stag for a sexual sacrifice which seemed to occur every ten years. After the intercourse the Stag would later watch over its mate or mates until mating season was over. Then would fall to sleep again. The bell in the bell tower became known as the Mothering Bell. They would ring it every ten years to wake the Stag from its slumber early and near the end of mating season. If uninterrupted the Stag would have otherwise waken every twelve years. Waking it early and near the end of mating season was the way of the cult limiting the damage caused by the Stag. I believe it’s possible to get rid of the Stag demon by reuniting it with the body of the goddess Lauren Faust. Many things need to happen for this to pass. First and second, the prep, One must free the body from the laurel grove. Second repair the music towers to call the body to the foyer. Third the Mothering Bell must me rung to summon the Stag. This can be done by hitting the bell on the side with a blunt object. _ Rarity turns to head back down the stairs. As she passed the bed room door she hears it creek. First her ears flicked because of the noise then flipped back from the voice calling out. “Oh, Mother Belle,” Black Thorn playfully calls out. He takes a moment to look at the mare's butt then looks up at the back of her head. “Don’t throw your ears back at me!” He snaps, “Now get your pretty little ass over here.” Rarity grits her teeth. “Pretty little ass?” She looks at her camera and gets a wicked smile. “Okay you want my ass?” “Yes, come in here,” Black Thorn snaps. Rarity turns around allowing the stallion to see her from the front. He freezes at the sight of her. “M-Mother Belle is that Gem’s ruby?” Black Thorn points at Rarity’s broach. “This old thing?” Rarity looks down at the gem on her chest then gives the male a set of bed room eyes. “What if it is? Does it turn you on?” “Hell yes,” Black Thorn smirks as Rarity walks into the bed room. “Take the position,” Black Thorn order slapping the mare on the butt with his cold hooves. Rarity puts her forehooves on the bed. Black Thorn sniffs around her rear. The mare clamps her tail down like a vice. “What gives bitch!” Black Thorn snaps trying to pry the mare’s tail spine aside. “My undercarriage is longing for attention,” Rarity moans in a cat like voice. “Very well then,” Black Thorn smiles lowering his head to between the mare’s legs. Rarity fires a Zero Shot on the stallion. He shrieks and disappears. The mare found herself doing an unlady like snort and kicked at the ground were Black Thorn disappeared unable to hold back her satisfaction. As she walked down the hall a number of ghost mares appeared. Rarity readied the Camera Obscura. But the mares just gave her a pony salute and faded off. When she passed by the filly’s sleeping quarters, the Camera Obscura ticked. The was also the giggling of children from the room. Rarity peers in to see that a bunch of toys have been moved into a circle. She clicks a photo that revealed a bunch of small children playing. Rarity made her way back to the main part of the house. The kitchen was now covered in blood making the mare tippy hoof over to the stair case. She rushed up to the attic door and found that Mother Belle's keys unlocked it. The sounds of the crying infant could be heard as Rarity opened the door. The unicorn rushes up the stairs. It took her a moment to see the bloody bundle on the floor. Before she could make a move for it, something rams into her. Rarity recovers to see the deskinned body of a headless pegasus. The pegasus had one of her hooves missing. Rarity lifts the Camera Obscura. The Dullahan takes to the air. It gets behind her and puts it’s hoof on the white mare’s back. Rarity screams as she felt the life drain from her body. The unicorn mare kicks free of the wight causing herself to trip and tumble down stairs. The Camera Obscura slides down the hall stopping a few feet in front of her. As Rarity got up picking up the device as she did so, the door slams behind her. “Well that was a failure,” Rarity brushes off her dress. “Hehehe, Loser,” Gipsy’s voice comes from behind Rarity startling the pony. The mare spins around Camera Obscura at the ready. After a moment of nothing, Rarity sighs and puts her thoughts together. “Didn’t Soul Dirt's notes say there were other ways to weaken these things? Come to think of it my exploration of this area was cut short.” Rarity walks down the hall and tries to open the first door she found. The door was locked and with a newer lock so Mother Belle’s keys wouldn’t work on this one. Rarity uses the pick gun on the lock instead. The room appeared to belong to one of Photo Finishes assistances. A cork broad was up on the wall with a note and some news paper clippings. The clippings appeared to be copies of originals. _ Rosa Rose note Given the strange goings ons here I decided to put together a collage of notable events I could find related to the house and the ponies that lived within it. I came across other events but those are more connected to Laurenville then this house. I’m keeping them in my safety deposit box at the New Laurenville Bank to reduce my clutter here. _ Clipping from the Lauren Leader marked 35 years ago Stag Home manor was found abandoned yesterday. At the time the only residents of the manor was Superior Gem and Southern Belle. Both of which disappeared without a trace. _ Clipping from the Lauren Leader marked 45 years ago Mother Belle died today giving birth to a unicorn. As you may remember the mare known as Mother Belle was put in a magical coma after suffering from third degree burns over most of her body in a fire at her home known as Stag Home manor. This accident also crushed her legs witch had to be amputated later. It wasn’t until much later that it was discovered that Mother Belle was pregnant. Many think that a Black Thorn who was married to Mother Belle’s sister Superior Gem might have been the father. This was due to his sudden disappearance after the news of the pregnancy came out. _ Clipping from the Lauren Leader marked 60 years ago Smilie Cloud and Humble Home died today after a chariot drove by Smilie Cloud herself fell out of the sky. Fall was labeled driver error. As you may know, Smilie Cloud was the weather pegasus in charge of the Mount Faust area. Humble Home is the heir to the Lauren Faust shrine. He was also put on trial for the murder of his family but was acquitted by Equestria’s highest court. _ Clipping from the Lauren Leader marked 85 years ago The pony known as Humble Home is put on trial today. He is accused of killing his entire family during a ritual at the Lauren Faust shrine. At this point the Lauren Leader would like to note that many of the members of the senior staff of this paper was ordered to step down by Lauren Leader's parent company Equestrian Press due to their acts of slander and bias and was replace by ponies hoofed picked by Equestrian Press themselves. We who are in charge now hope to bring you a more fare and unbias reporting. As you may have heard for years the ritual sacrifices been going on at the Mount Faust shrine. It appeared that one of the sacrifices named Flyfoot was the lover to Humble Home. Unable to allow her killers to be unpunished he turned violent on his kin. _ After reading, the light of the Camera Obscura turns on. The device starts vibrating and the light grew brighter. The room had changed to somepony else’s room. It was a young colt’s room. He was hiding under a blanket with a pegasus. The pegasus was at that age where she wasn’t quite a mare but she wasn’t a filly either. “Could you read the story again?” The colt snuggled up against the pegasus with the pink feathers cutie mark. “Okay, once upon a time in the magical land of Equestria.” The pegasus reads from a book. “There was a very magical unicorn that wished to have a piece of the silver river that appears in the sky every nigh-” The colt suddenly kisses her on the lips. “Humble what are you doing?” The pegasus pushes the colt away. “Flyfoot please,” The colt looks at the young mare wide eyed. Flyfoot pauses for a moment then hesitantly kisses the colt back. The room turns back to normal and Rarity shakes her head to shake off her vision. She leaves Rosa Rose’s room. The next door was also locked and had to be opened with the pick gun. The room smelt of flowers and had many foreign artifacts. “Help me,” A mare’s voice calls out. Rarity flinches and looks around. She spots a piece of paper on the bed. _ Emiko’s Journal This mountain area reminds me of my homeland of Nipponi. From what I heard the ponies that founded this area are from that part of the world. You can’t tell anymore by looking at them but one can sense it though. Speaking of I was curious about that shrine in the back and left to explore. It appears to be locked tight. Soul Dirt says that the doors are talisman locked. The key had been long lost. _ Rarity walked to the next room. Again this had to be unlocked. She gasped at the sight of the bloody bodies. Photo Finish, a pink pony and yellow Nipponi lay on the floor. All of them looked like they were turned inside out soaking in their own blood. Rarity had to dash out into the hall to throw up. A ghostly figure of a pink pony sat crying trapped in a glowing pentacle. A dry dirty rag was at her feet. “W-what happen here?” Rarity asks the specter. “Blood, blood everywhere,” Rosa Rose cries. “Sweetie, look at me what happened?” Rarity demands. “I-I was doing something,” Rosa Rose stares off. “Do you know who I am? I can’t remember it's hard to remember.” “Rosa Rose,” Rarity answers, “It’s me Rarity, we met when Photo Finish came to Ponyville.” “Oh, Ponyville nice,” Rosa Rose pauses, “I th-think.” The pink mare points at the body of herself on the ground. “Who is that, I recognize everyone else but I don’t know who she is.” “That’s no one dearie,” Rarity scoots herself to cut the body from the view of the ghost pony. “The unicorn said it would work,” Rosa Rose sobs, “Oh, Celestria, the blood the pain. He said if we summoned the child we could trap both it and mother.” Rarity looks at the rag on the floor. “The Mini Stag and the Dullahan” “The Stag himself then came,” Rosa Rose snuffles, “He called himself our god. My goddess, I think he raped me," Rosa Rose starts crying, "All of us he had his way with all of us! After that beast was done he said he couldn't risk letting us live. So much blood.” “It’s going to be fine,” Rarity told the pony. “No, it’s not, I know something’s wrong with me,” Rosa Rose snaps. “I think I can end your pain,” Rarity adds. “Please do,” Rosa Rose begs. Rarity takes her picture with the Camera Obscura. The pony spirit disappears. The Camera Obscura’s light turned on over the bodies of Photo Finish and Emiko. She takes a picture of them. Ghostly images of the respective ponies appeared in the photos. A book titled the “Summoning the Dead” was on the floor witch Rarity picks up. It explained a series of spells that could help call certain spirits. Something that most unicorns could perform with help. Rarity thought maybe she could cast it by herself. A piece of paper was between the pages. _ Soul Dirt’s notes 7 I have identified the name of the ghost I’ve called the Dullahan is really a pegasus named Flyfoot. I believe they chosen pegasus specificly so that when they behead them that the body would match up with the headless body of Lauren Faust. The only way the Dullahan to be put truly to rest is to reunite her with her head and child. My research showed that the head was most likely sealed away in the shrine. Too bad I can’t get in there. After some time after his trial was over Humble Home used his magic to seal the shrine keeping all the spirits within. Maybe if I had more time I could find the talisman key. I have to make do with summoning the child and the body. The body appears to have inherent mothering instincts. Hopefully that is enough. _ “So, it appears I should check this shrine out,” Rarity remarks after reading the note. “Twilight taught me some things, I might be able to do something.” Rarity heads back down stairs. “Please stay away,” The marshmallow unicorn heard and caught a glance of Humble Home as she walks down stairs. But the ghost was gone. Rarity walks over to the back door. She puts her hoof on the door. “You’re making a mistake,” A female voice whispers as Rarity steps outside.