Ten Little Ponies

by Forefront1

...And Then There Were Three

        Scattered, in the dark, alone. Three ponies shook violently in fear as they crept through the darkness, while another hunted them down in silence. Every hoofstep echoed through the halls as the castle was absolutely silent. Every breath exhaled seemed as if it was a shout, every set of teeth chattering like the cracking of bones. The victims felt as if they had lost everything, however, the nightmare was not over yet.

        At one small corner of the castle, the kitchen door slowly creaked opened. A figure, shadowed in darkness sneaked in a pushed the door shut, not making a sound. The figure then quickly slipped over to a set of drawers and grabbed the handle. Slowly pulling the drawer open, the figure looked into the drawer with an evil grin. The figure quickly grabbed a small knife from inside the drawer. Testing the sharpness of the blade, the figure dragged it across the countertop, leaving a thin scratch on the surface. Just as quickly as she had entered, the figure left the kitchen, loudly slamming the door shut.

        Applejack’s eyes darted back and forth to the four hallways around her. She had just walked into an intersection of hallways in the center of the castle and was unsure of her next move. Not that it really made a difference, the castle was pitch black and she couldn’t see two feet in front of her. Yet that was also what made her nervous. She couldn’t remember how she had got there, or how to get out. She could be wandering the halls for hours and still be going in a circle. As much as she wanted to make a choice, she at least knew that if she didn’t move, she couldn’t get lost.

        Suddenly, Applejack could hear the faint sounds of hoofsteps slowly coming towards her from down one of the halls. Freezing in place, Applejack tried to figure out which direction the hoofsteps were coming from. The faint noise seemed to surround her and approach her from every hall. Turning around in circles, Applejack tried to pinpoint the direction of the sound, but the inky darkness of the castle made it impossible to know for sure. Holding her breath, Applejack picked a hallway at random, and ran.

   
Princess Celestia rarely had a reason to fear. She had lived for thousands of years, she had defeated tyrants and monsters, plus death wasn’t even a consideration. Mortality changed all of that. She was no longer the great leader she was, she almost just a simple earth pony with a useless horn and no where to fly. She wondered if this was what it was like for Luna on the moon. Alone, trapped in endless darkness, not knowing if anything else was out there.
Celestia continued walking down one of the many hallways she had walked down earlier that night, yet it seemed so strange and unfamiliar. Feeling the sensation of something watching her, she quickly turned her head to make sure that she was alone. Seeing nothing behind her, she sighed and continued on her way.
As she continued walking she noticed something odd. The sounds she was making, her hoofsteps and her breathing, seemed to almost repeat right after they were made. Celestia, hoping that she was just imagining things, held her breath and did not move a muscle. To her surprise and delight, there were no more noises. She let out a sigh of relief, as she began walking again.
Suddenly, there was a loud thump on the ground behind her, almost as if someone tripped. Celestia did not stick around to find out however, she sprinted away from that hallway as fast as she could, leaving her pursuer, hopefully lying on the ground.

        Pinkie Pie anxiously paced the halls looking for a safe place to hide. She knew that if she would stay out in the open, she would be found. I just have to make it until morning she kept telling herself. But, no matter how much she denied it, she was not okay. She needed some place, any place, to hide.

         All of a sudden, a figure turned the corner from down the hall and Pinkie Pie froze in place. It was too dark to see who it was, but Pinkie did not want to find out. Quickly, her eyes darted up and down the hallway looking for a way out. Just as she was about to give up hope, Pinkie spotted a small table right outside one of the doors. She dove under it as quickly and as quietly as she could, bit down on her hoof to keep quiet, and waited.

        The figure down the hallway slowly began walking towards Pinkie Pie. Every hoofstep it took was agonizingly slow and seemed to drag on forever. Tears began to well in Pinkie Pie’s eyes as she was overcome with fear. Eventually, the figure stopped right in front of the table. Pinkie Pie simply stared at the hooves in the dark, still unable to determine who it was. Her heart was beating so fast she felt as if she could pass out. Pinkie Pie was sweating and holding her breath, begging for the pony in front of her to leave.

        After a few more moments of remaining still, the figure walked away at a normal speed. Pinkie Pie waited a few more seconds and took in a slow deep breath. She then fell back against the wall and took a few moments to compose herself and gather the courage to start moving again.

Fluttershy couldn’t believe what was happening. She never could have imagined that she would ever be in this sort of situation. Her friends, almost all of them dead, and she was still being hunted. She cried silently as the fear continued to crush her. She then let out a small yelp as she heard a door slam shut from somewhere in the castle. She then shrank back against a wall, hoping that whatever or whoever made that noise would just leave her alone.
She continued to cry, just wanting to be back home away from this horror. She couldn’t take it any more. She knew that even if she made it out alive she would be scarred for the rest of her life, never able to sleep again, knowing that she would be haunted by nightmares of this unfortunate night.
She continued to cry and shiver for a long time, as she awaited the inevitable. She’s going to find me. I’m going to die if I don’t shut up! She thought to herself. Just then, her suspicions were confirmed. Fluttershy was quickly thrown back into reality as the sound of heavy hoofsteps stopped down the hall. Fluttershy jumped to her feet and saw a dark figure standing a mere few feet in front of her.
“YOU!” Fluttershy yelled.
The figure did not respond.
“You’ve killed my friends for the last time. I am going to stop you here!” Fluttershy screamed, overcome with anger and fear.
The figure once again did not respond.
Without another thought, Fluttershy lunged forward at the unmoving figure and was ready to attack. Just as she reached the figure, she screamed as a sharp pain came from her chest. Fluttershy was pushed back and held her chest with her hoof. Feeling a cold liquid with her hoof Fluttershy looked down. To her horror, a knife was sticking out of her chest and had already caused a lot of blood loss. Fluttershy felt sick and dizzy as she collapsed to the floor. She gasped for air as her eyes rolled back into her head. With one final breath, her body went limp as a pool of blood continued to grow. Standing above her lifeless body the mysterious figure began to chuckle and smiled with a malicious grin.