//------------------------------// // Victim the Third // Story: Griffon the Death Sentence // by neorenamon //------------------------------// by neorenamon Now they were down by two: Fluttershy and now Rarity were gone. Their heads collected as sick trophies by most like Gilda the Griffon. "Dagnabbit!" cussed AJ, "She dun killed two of us an we ain't even seen her yet!" "Well no one still alive has," replied Twilight. "Well this time we all is gonna stick together no matter what!" "Agreed," she said as she looked around, "Still no blood trail we can follow." She turned to Rainbow as she asked, "Has Gilda ever planned something to this level of detail?" "Yeah," she replied, "But that was back in the Flight School days when we pranked the bullies and the bad flight instructors. It was never anything mean spirited." "Ponies change," she said looking down. "I guess so," she sighed, "but I never imagined she could become... a monster." "Well we still can't prove Gilda did it," she replied, "There's still a chance it's somepony else." RD nodded glumly. "Ah still feel kinda bad about leaving the bodies just lying here." "There will be plenty of time to properly inter them both once we're done here," said Twilight. "Ah reckon so," she said as she looked down and away from Rarity's body. "It looks like this passage just loops back to the main cavern," she noted as she looked at the outgoing tunnel to the side. "Then the killer is probably not very far away," said Dashie. AJ and RD took the lead around the passage as they indeed looped their way back into the main cave. Twilight and Pinkie followed along as the unicorn's horn glowed to light the way ahead. Soon they came back to the tunnel that lead them into the large cavern area in the first place. "Maybe the killer doubled back to stash the victims heads in their creepy trophy room," suggested Dash spookily. "This here ain't the time fer that, sugarcube!" "Well if I didn't have humor to fall back on, I'd been totally out of my mind with terror," said Pinkie, "I think Dash is using that as a coping mechanism as well... that and her false bravado." "My what now?!" asked the rainbow pegasus as she stared at Pinkie. "Nothing to see here!" she replied, "Just move along!" She snorted before she started walking again, and Twilight just face-hoofed herself. "Sometimes I all jus don't get ya, Pinkie," sighed Applejack. "I hear that so much!" she replied. "The thing that bothers me most is that Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense hasn't gone off once even though there's been two murders," mused Twilight as she walked. "That is sooo strange!" "Almost too strange," said AJ as she looked at Pinkie suspiciously. "What?!" "Uh... ya got some sandwich left in yer teeth there," she lied. Pinkie took the toothpick from the sandwich and picked her teeth a moment. Then she rubbed them as she asked, "Did I get it?" "Yeah. Ya got it." "I never saw anything," muttered RD. They came back to the fork in the tunnel. "Oh look," said Pinkie as she looked down, "Another fork!" "What is this," moaned Twilight, "A running gag about forks in the underground road?!" "Of course not silly!" she replied, "Everypony knows a fork can't run!" Everyone but Pinkie groaned loudly as she put the silver fork into her mane. "And why are YOU collecting silverware?" asked RD. "I don't know really," she replied, "Just have this Pinkie Sense kind of feeling I'm going to need one later." "Ah-huh," said AJ as she narrowed her eyes, "And ya don't have those with you now?" "Oh, nothing that's pure silver!" she replied happily. "Expecting a weretimberwolf attack?" asked Twilight as she raised an eyebrow. "Ya never know!" she answered as she bounced down the downward sloping passage. "I'll asked the Headless Horse about that when we see her," muttered Twilight. "Woo! We got a joke out of Twilight!" AJ and Dashie resumed the lead as they headed further down beneath the surface. They soon came upon another fork in the tunnel, but there was no fork left in the fork this time. Twilight moved up until both ways were lit by her horn. Suddenly, a voice from the left said, "Hey dweeb." AJ dashed off towards the voice, but Rainbow suddenly sprint off down the other passage. "Horsefeathers!" cussed Twilight, "We're split up again!" Pinkie took a glowball from her mane and pressed it down in her teeth to light it up. "Look," she said through her teeth, "You get after Dashie and I'll go after Jackie!" Twilight nodded as she sprinted off after the blue pegasus. She travelled a while in the twisting passage before she caught up, and every once in a while, she could have sworn there was a brown feather on the floor. She soon came to her stopped at a shaft leading even deeper into the ground, but it looked like a tight squeeze for one the size of Gilda. "I'm sure Gilda must have come this way!" swore Dash as she looked back. "Hey, where's Pinkie and AJ?" "Ugh..." she panted, "They ran off after Gilda's voice. It came from the other direction." "What da what?!" "Perhaps it was an echo," she mused, "Those can be misleading in a place like this." "Who knows who long it would take to squirm down this shaft," she replied, "We better go back and check on the others first!" Twilight nodded as Dashie led them back the way they came. It took more time since they weren't running now. Soon they passed the fork in the tunnel. Then they heard Pinkie calling out for help. It was the same thing over and over, and soon they could hear her clearly. "Help!" she called, "I've fallen and I can't get out!" They stopped at a place where a hole was just off to the side of the tunnel. The light showed Pinkie at the bottom of a small pit, but it was apparently too steep for Pinkie to climb up from. "I'm so sorry," she said, "I tripped chasing Applejack and fell down this hole!" "Well I don't see anything more than a few bumps and bruises," replied Twilight, "We better get moving if you're up to it." "Oki doki loki!" she said as she bounced along. The tunnel opened into another cavern, but much smaller than the last. "AJ must have been nearly blind when she ran in here," said Twilight, "I hope she's alright." But the light from Twilight's horn showed otherwise. "OH NO!" screamed Twilight, "Not Applejack too!" This time, her headless body was hung from a large stalactite by her hind legs and her own rope. The blood was still seeing from her headless wound. But another pool of blood was a few yards away. "OH NO!" said Pinkie. "That monster!" screamed RD. "She's mocking us!" said Twilight, "If she took the time to do this to Applejack, she must really be getting cocky!"