...And Then There Were Eight
The once bright and cheerful castle had now become a sinister and twisted maze where any wrong turn could mean certain death. In this very castle, the frightened ponies were cautiously creeping through the halls to avoid being found. The thought of a killer on the loose was made much scarier considering that no one had any idea who could be the killer, nor where they could be. Any slight sound, any change in lighting, just the feeling that someone was watching them, these tormented the minds of each and every guest making every moment seem to carry on and on. The feeling of fear was causing everyone to think they saw things or overreact to every little thing. The worse part was that along with these happenings, everyone would have to fight for their lives until morning, being as there was no escape.
Twilight paced through the halls, racking her brain of any information as to who the killer might be. However, she was being consumed by a feeling of dread at the same time, making it hard to concentrate. No matter how she tried to take her mind off of the imminent danger, her thoughts always drifted back to her untimely demise. She knew that if she were ever going to crack the case, she would need help. Of course, as the saying goes, two heads are better than one. Yet at the same time, she knew that she would have a hard time trusting anyone since everyone is a suspect. In fact, her thoughts were getting so clouded that she was having a hard time justifying that she wasn’t the killer herself if she was going to be accused.
As Twilight continued to pace she heard the soft noise of hoofsteps coming around the corner. Not knowing what to do and having nowhere to hide, she, using terrible logic, decided to run past whoever was advancing, hoping to confuse or scare them. Taking a deep breathe, Twilight ran as fast as she can down the hall and around the corner. Unfortunately, the other pony decided to walk right in front of her path and the two collided. Both ponies landed on the ground with a thud after the collision. They groaned and held their heads as they staggered to a standing position. Twilight regaining focus, looked towards the other pony?
“Fluttershy?” Twilight groaned rubbing her forehead trying to numb the pain. “Are you okay?”
“I think so.” Fluttershy replied, wobbling a bit from her dizziness.
“Good, sorry about running into you.” Twilight said steadying her friend.
After a moment of silence, Fluttershy spoke again.
“Twilight, I’m scared” Fluttershy said shrinking back against the wall. “The killer is going to get me, I just know it.” she continued, now on the brink of tears.
“It’s okay calm down, calm down.” Twilight said hugging the frightened pony. “We have them outnumbered. There’s eight of us and only one of them.”
“We have no idea who it is though, it could be anybody, why it could even be…” Fluttershy said before pausing shortly.
“Twilight, are you the killer?” Fluttershy said getting ready to bolt.
“No, of course not.” Twilight said before realizing the issue with her statement, “But seeing as how I can’t prove it, and how you or anybody else can’t prove their innocence either, I suggest that whenever you see anyone, just be extremely careful, understand?” Twilight warned.
Fluttershy said nothing but quickly nodded her head in agreement.
“Now, let’s both keep going where we were going and just mind our own business.” Twilight said beginning to walk away.
Fluttershy nodded again and went on her way but was then stopped when Twilight spoke softly again.
“Also, this conversation NEVER happened.” Twilight said sternly as she walked down the hallway.
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Luna quickly walked the halls in search of the killer. Once the killer was revealed she would be ready to obliterate that messed up psycho who would dare hurt her friends and she would stop at nothing until she accomplished that. Luna was fuming as she searched frantically and the look on her face would confirm that, yet at the same time she was scared out of her mind. The fear of death had never phased her as that is something alicorns never truly have to deal with. In fact, felt like the weight of her own fear alone could suffocate and crush her to death. Just as she was about to take a pause from her search, a hoof gently tapped against her back.
“WHO GOES THERE!!! BY TARTARUS I SWEAR-” Luna shouted in her Royal Canterlot voice while turning around.
“Stop its just me Rarity, don’t hurt me ple-e-ease.” Rarity begged laying down on the ground.
“Oh,” Luna said looking down and the cowering figure. “My apologies Rarity, I guess I am just a bit on edge.” Luna said helping her friend off of the ground.
Suddenly something in Luna’s mind clicked as she realized her situation. Luna pushed Rarity into the wall and pinned her against it, using her left hoof to push against Rarity’s throat.
“Are you the killer!?” Luna said ready to snap Rarity’s neck like a twig.
“No...please...stop.” Rarity whispered as she desperately gasped for air.
“How can I be sure?” Luna asked keeping eye contact with Rarity.
“Because...If I was...you’d be dead by now.” Rarity said her face beginning to turn a light shade of blue.
Luna, thinking that was a good answer and realizing that she almost suffocated her friend, took her hoof off Rarity and caught the unicorn as she fell off of the wall.
Rarity after coughing and wheezing for a few moments as she regained the much needed oxygen regained her balance and stood up on her own.
“What the heck Luna?” Rarity said holding her throat as the pain subsided.
“I-I am so sorry Rarity.” Luna said putting her hoof around her friend. “I don’t know what came over me. I guess I am just on edge from all of this.” Luna said still hugging her friend.
“Who isn’t in this situation?” Rarity asked as she broke up the hug. “What are you even doing acting like this?” Rarity asked, still slightly in shock from what just took place.
“I’m trying to find the killer, same as everyone else. Only when I find her, she will wish she killed me first.” Luna said angrily.
“Who do you think it could be?” Rarity asked, hoping Luna had an answer.
“I’m not sure.” Luna sighed in defeat. “But she had to have been able to get a hold of a lot of Dragonsneeze and would have to have access to the cider to put it inside.” Luna explained to Rarity.
“Speaking of which, wasn’t Applejack in charge of the cider?” Luna said reviewing the evidence.
“She was, but you don’t really think she would be the one behind this do you?” Rarity said fearing the worst.
“Don’t forget that anyone’s a suspect Rarity, so be careful.” Luna said as she began her hunt again.
Rarity began to walk away from Luna before Luna spoke up again.
“Plus, if the killer has planned this night out as well as that poem would have us believe, then there will soon be a lot fewer suspects left to choose from.” Luna said without even turning back as she continued walking.
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While most of the group was unfortunately split up in the beginning, there were two ponies that trusted each other enough to stay together. Pinkie Pie met up with Applejack soon after the lights came back on and they didn’t part since. However, they made a deal to eliminate the threat of one of them being the next victim. The deal was that if Pinkie was the killer and attacked Applejack, Applejack would kick her into next week. If the opposite was the case then Pinkie Pie would just have the writer lock Applejack in a closet for the rest of the night…(wait what?). They also hoped that if one of them was next, the other could go get help before it was too late. Despite their best judgment, they were hardly silent as they kept on their walk. They talked about a variety of things, all of which were only a mere distraction from the obvious terror they were feeling inside. They had even discussed hiding somewhere and just waiting the night out, but both of them knew that sooner or later they would be found. So they kept walking and talking, nervously approaching every corner in fear of what was around it.
After what seemed like hours, they entered the main room again and, after a thorough check that nobody else was there, they decided to sit down and rest for a bit. They sat down at the table closest to the center and sat at opposite ends, constantly watching each other’s back.
“Do you think we’re safe Applejack, I feel like we should keep moving.” Pinkie Pie said, her eyes nervously darting back and forth.
“The way I see it, Sugarcube, we know that we are the only ones in this huge room, where as if we start walking again, we won’t know what to expect.” Applejack said trying to calm Pinkie Pie down, however to no avail.
“How could one of our friends do this to us?” Pinkie Pie said, fear beginning to set in.
Applejack tried to come up with a reasonable explanation to calm Pinkie again, but she couldn’t think of anything.
“Ah, don’t know.” Applejack sighed in defeat. “All I know is that I’m counting my minutes, cause I think I only got a few left.” She added, shaking her head.
Pinkie Pie opened her mouth to speak, but quietly shut it as the two sat in silence. Suddenly, an ear piercing scream was heard throughout the castle, and caused the two mares to bolt upright in their chairs.
“HELP! ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME!!!” The voice shouted.
“That sounded like Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie said jumping out of her seat.
“Well what are we waiting for? We have to help her!” Applejack said triumphantly as she too got up.
The two mares rushed out of the room and down the halls as they frantically searched for Rainbow Dash. However, Applejack did not realize how fast she was running compared to Pinkie Pie and soon outran her to the point that they were hopelessly separated. Pinkie Pie tried to keep up, but the dozens of rooms and hallways, got her lost and she soon realized that she was all alone.
“Applejack, can you hear me?” Pinkie called out to her friend.
There was no response, and Pinkie Pie feared the worst for her until she was reminded once again why she left the main room in the first place.
“Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie Pie shouted.
Again, no response.
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“HELP ME! PLEASE!” Rainbow Dash screamed, quickly flying through the corridors.
“The killer’s behind me! Anyone, please help!” She screamed again, tears streaming down her face.
She knows what she saw. A few moments ago she was walking down a hallway and turned a corner and saw it. There, in a darkened hallway with a flickering light, stood a shadowy figure. The moment Rainbow locked eyes with it, she knew for certain that That figure, was the killer. There was nothing but, violence and blood lust in its gaze. Just as Rainbow began to walk away slowly, the light went off for a moment and when it came back on, the figure was gone. Rainbow knows that it saw her and it was coming for her. So she ran. Of course, running to Rainbow Dash means flying at breakneck speeds. She flew down hallways and in and out rooms to try and shake the pursuer.
“HELP! ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME!!!” she screamed for help, hoping someone would be near.
After no response and no help, Rainbow called out again.
“HELP ME! PLEASE!”
Rainbow continued darting through the castle going as fast as possible. She hadn't heard anything behind her so she decided to check. As rounded the next corner she quickly looked down the hallway she had just flown down. To her relief the hallway was empty. Rainbow was about to stop flying and take a breather since she had lost it. Rainbow just then looked in front of her and her eyes went wide. She tried to stop flying but it was too late.
Ropes, dozens of them, jutting out from the wall blocked her path. Rainbow Dash was going too fast to stop and she ran right into all of them, getting completely tangled up. Fearing that this was a trap to slow her down, Rainbow frantically tugged at the ropes to get free, hoping to get away without being found. She had gotten completely caught up, there were ropes around her wings, her torso, and her hooves. She pulled at the ropes to detach them from their hangers on the wall and it appeared to be working. Except, there was one lone rope that she forgot about.
Right under her neck, was a rope that extended from the bottom left of the corridor to the top right, and Rainbow had completely missed it. As she was about to free her wings, her hoof got stuck under this rope so she yanked it out of the bottom hanger. In response, the rope flew across the room and wrapped itself twice around her neck. In horror, Rainbow tried to undo her mistake, but it was too late. The hook of the hanger got caught on the other end of the rope closer to the top, just out of her reach. Then the trap gave way. The ropes holding her up finally broke off of the hangers sending her body and wings downward. The rope around her neck, tightened, causing her to choke. She tried to fly, but couldn’t handle the pain and the dead weight of the ropes. She tried to pull the rope down to the ground, but it was fastened to the ceiling too well. Giving up, Rainbow felt the last few breaths of air leave her body as her eyes rolled back and she let death take her. After a few minutes the rope around her neck gave way and sent her lifeless body crashing to the ground with a thud.
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Pinkie Pie walked out of the room she was in and down a hall. As she turned the corner she was surprised to find the lights turned off. Looking across the hall she found a light switch and turned it on. There, down the hallway lying on the ground was a sculpture that had seemingly been knocked over. Pinkie went over and propped it up against the wall and took a moment to look at it. It looked like an amateur art project, it was simply the sculpture of a very bland, average looking pony. However, one notable feature was that the eyes were made out of two glass lenses that somewhat reflected the light.
“Wow, Twilight, nice creepy sculpture.” Pinkie muttered to herself as she continued to look for Applejack.
One died from a fright,
and then there were eight.