Griffon the Death Sentence

by neorenamon


The First to Go

by neorenamon

The Mane Six crossed a field towards a large cave on the border of the Everfree Forest. They all had their saddlebags on, and they looked like they were ready to do some spelunking.
"Remember," advised Twilight, "If Gilda truly is the Midnight Stranger murderer we're after, she'll be cornered in that cave. The most dangerous monsters are the ones that are cornered."
"We all have fought worse than her and still came home smell like daisies," said Applejack.
"I knew she wasn't the same from our time at flight school," said Dash as she looked at the ground, "but I still can't believe she's turned into... a serial killer."
"Still she was quite the Queen Meanie!" said Pinkie Pie.
"Yes, we remember that," sighed the violet unicorn, "and yet every victim was torn apart with claws. Not one monster has been spotted near Ponyville who could account for the killings. They were hunted down either on the borders of town, or late at night. This kind of thing required intelligent planning. The kind of hunt beyond a simple minded predator."
"Besides," said Rarity, "Predators would at least eat some of their kill."
"The only thing missing from the victims... were their heads."
"That just sounds so... horrible," whispered Fluttershy as she remembered her encounter with Gilda in town. The terror she felt when Gilda roared in her face.
"Well so far," noted Twilight, "The killer has managed to surprise every victim. Since we're wary of the killer, I don't think they can get away with that."
"Ya got that right, sugarcube!" exclaimed Applejack.
"Just remember that we're here to take the killer back to Canterlot alive. We're no vigilance committee after all."
"Ah hear ya."
The others nodded in agreement. So they walked forward until some odd scent came to their noses.
"What all is that?!" asked an alarmed AJ.
"Oh no," said Flutters softly.
The others looked in her direction as she cringed.
"That smell," she said, "I've come across it before looking after the critters of the Everfree Forest. It's the smell of a fresh carcass. The smell of death."
Rarity gulped as she listened.
"I wonder if it could be related?" mused Twilight as she headed off in the direction of the smell.
"Careful there sugarcube," advised the orange Earth pony, "The monster than dun this might be close by as well."
"Oh, we're all going to be careful," said Rarity as she glanced towards Rainbow Dash.
"What?!" she asked back.
They soon came across the headless carcass of a large bear.
"This here bear sure weren't killed fer tha food."
"It kinda looks like a monster," said Twilight, "but one interested in trophy collection."
"I know Gilda is competition driven," said Dashie, "but... this is nuts."
"We have no proof it was her who did this."
"Well who in tarnation else would it be?!"
"There's no point in hanging around here any longer," she said as she looked at the distress in the face of Fluttershy, "Let's keep going."
The others nodded as they moved on. Soon, they found themselves at the entrance to a cave. Judging by the size of the passage in, it had to be a pretty large one.
"Just remember to stay together and cover each other's backs," advised the violet unicorn.
The rest nodded. Being the bold ones, Applejack and Rainbow Dash went in first. Twilight and Rarity were just behind in case they needed to use their magic to support them. They were using their magic at the moment to provide light for the others to see by. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were in the back of the group. Soon the tunnel came to a split, with one going right and downwards while the other turned left and did not go up or down.
"Do we all go right or left?" asked Applejack.
"Maybe we should split up and look for clues!" offered RD.
"I said we need to stick together!" replied the violet unicorn.
"It's not like we're a bunch of meddling fillies," sniffed Rarity.
"Fine!" replied the rainbow pegasus, "I'm sure this downward sloping tunnel just has to be the spoooOOOoookier way to go."
"Oh give it a rest there, sugarcube!"
RD just bust out laughing.
"Darling," sniffed the white unicorn, "If the killer's here, should we be making too much noise?"
She clamped her hooves over her mouth as she looked at the others wide-eyed. Her rainbow mane tossed back with the jerking movement of her head. After a moment of silence, they began moving down the downward sloping tunnel.
"Say Twilight," asked Pinkie, "Is a tunnel like an underground road?"
"I guess so," she replied as she looked back, "Why do you ask?"
"I just found a fork," she giggled as she picked up a silver fork.
"If that wasn't such a horrible joke," Twilight muttered, "I'd say we found our first clue."
"How is that all'a clue?" asked AJ as she raised an eyebrow.
"Griffons aren't really known for using silverware," she replied, "Mainly bowls, plates and cups."
"So maybe Gilda isn't our killer after all?" asked RD.
"We can't be sure until we either capture the real killer, or take Gilda back to Canterlot to be questioned there."
"Besides," added Rarity, "I have seen griffons use silverware. They were the more sophisticated ones like Gustav La Grande."
"I think that all rules out Gilda," chuckled AJ.
RD shot her a quick glare.
"What?!"
They continued to walk down the passage in silence.
"Well lookie here," mused AJ, "Here's a silver spoon just layin on the ground an all."
They paused as if waiting for something.
"I coulda swore that Pinkie woulda said something like 'Somepony lost the silver spoon from their mouth' or 'now they all can't spoon their special somepony'." Applejack and the others turned around to realize, "Hey! Where all did Pinkie and Flutters go?!"
"Quick!" said Twilight, "Go back and look!"
They rushed back up the tunnel until they got back to the fork.
"Check the entrance first," said RD, "Maybe Flutters got scared and ran."
"But what about Pinkie?" asked Rarity.
"She must have went along to make sure she stayed safe."
"I wish she would have said something to the rest of us," muttered Twilight.
They got back to the cave entrance and found nopony in sight. Spreading out, they searched the area for any signs of the two, but all of the bushes turned up either empty or had small hiding animals in them.
"Quick!" called AJ, "We all gotta go back to tha fork in the tunnel and go the other way!"
So they turned and ran back. Soon they were going down the other passage. They came across a pink body in a place where the cave opened up. It was littered with pony sized boulders.
"Pinkie?!" said Twilight as AJ and RD got to her.
Applejack checked her neck with her hoof as she said, "She ain't dead."
"But she's got a lump on the side of her head," added RD, "Somepony rang her bell but good."
"Where's Fluttershy?!" asked Twillie.
AJ looked ahead and said, "The tunnel goes on past here. Flutters musta kept running that way."
"Wait," said Twilight, "Neither Pinkie nor Fluttershy see well in the dark. Maybe Pinkie just hit her head on one of these boulders while she was chasing after her."
"Ah reckon that could be too."
Twilight used her magic to put Pinkie on her back before they continued to follow the passage. But she saw something ahead that caused her to say, "Rarity, turn off you horn light a moment."
"Dahling, I don't see what..."
"Just do it now please," she said as her own horn went dim.
When Rarity stopped the glow of her own horn, they could see a dim green light ahead of them.
"Oh my," said the white unicorn.
The group moved closed to find a glowing rubber ball on the ground. By the time they got to the green sphere, the light was dying away. Then the unicorns turned their horn lights back on again.
"I've seen these before," she said softly as she poked the dying light with her hoof, "It's a magical toy that's become very popular at night parties. You squeeze the ball to make it glow for several minutes, and then you throw it around in the dark. A little too juvenile for my tastes."
"Maybe Pinkie threw it ahead to light the way?" offered Rainbow.
"Why didn't she all just carry it?"
"Cuz d'uh, she was chasing after Flutters and had to use all her legs to keep up."
"I reckon that all makes sense."
"We can just ask her when she wakes up," said Twilight as the group moved on.
Soon they found themselves in a much larger cavern full of stalactites and stalagmites. The minerals leaching down from the ceiling made them more than one color that shown in the light of the unicorns horns.
"C'mon y'all. We ain't here ta sightsee."
They moved on until they saw a horrifying sight. Fluttershy's body impaled on a large stalagmite. Her wings were out and limp, but her flanks were facing them.
"NO!" yelled Twilight as she rushed up to her body. When they got there, her head was gone and there was much blood pooled under it.
"Not poor Flutters!" gasp Applejack.