Thirteen Little Ponies

by trombrony98

Chapter 2- Thak

By Thak

Twilight turned and addressed the crowd standing in the doorway. “As the newest Princess of Equestria, I feel it is my duty to get to the bottom of this, and figure out what happened here. I suggest you all return to your rooms.”

“But Twilight, what if there’s a killer on the loose and he comes for us while we’re waiting in our rooms? I don’t want to be the next pony on his list!” cried Lyra from the doorway.

Several of the ponies echoed the distraught mare’s sentiments, and soon the quiet house was filled with the incoherent ramblings of the scared occupants.

Fluttershy sobbed in the corner of the room, while Cheerilee did her best to calm the emotional Pegasus. Trenderhoof lovingly stroked the trembling foreleg of Granny Smith, who could only stare in horror at the lifeless body resting in the middle of the lounge. A still-crying Filthy Rich had been escorted to the beige sofa by Time Turner, who was doing his best to get the traumatized stallion to breathe.

The din of the room was not being helped by the ever increasing volume of the arguing Pegasi in the air. Thunderlane and Bulk Biceps were screaming at each other about what should be done, their voices rising along with their bodies. Each disagreement between the two led to them flying higher and higher in an attempt to assert their dominance over the other in a typical pegasus manner.

Twilight could only stare in horror as the chaos unfolded around her. Lyra had made a point of confronting the Princess directly, effectively ruining all chances of corralling the rest of the ponies into some semblance of order. The mint-green unicorn was yelling mere inches from Twilight’s face, and the thought had crossed Twilight’s mind to turn Lyra into a lyre, if only to receive some respite from the nagging.

Her train of thought was cut off by the slow moving pink pony crossing the room. Twilight watched as the normally excited, cheerful mare somberly approached the now lifeless body of Cherry Jubilee, a white sheet in her mouth. Where she got the sheet, Twilight had no idea, but the clean fabric accompanied by the deflated mane and tail of the once ubiquitous party pony sent chills down Twilight’s spine. She watched in silent fascination as her friend gently covered the former owner of Cherry Hill Ranch.

The roar of the room died down as one by one the occupants of the room noticed Pinkie Pie making her way towards the center. The harrowing image of the emotionless party enthusiast providing comfort to the one creature who didn’t need it struck them all to the very core of their being.

“Don’t worry, Ms. Jubilee,” said Pinkie, laying the white sheet over her one-time employer. “I’m sure there’s a nice cherry orchard where you’re at. And you don’t even have to sort them! They already come off the trees, ripe and ready to go! Why, I’m sure Granny Pie would just love to try one of your famous cherry treats. Don’t be sad, Ms. Jubilee! You don’t have to worry about anything anymore. You’re in a better place now.”

Pinkie sat in silence, staring down at the floor between her hooves. Tears streamed down her face, and occasionally a small sniff could be heard coming from the crying mare as she fought the wave of grief that threatened to overrun her.

“Why don’t we all return to our rooms?” said Twilight quietly. “Pair up, if you don’t feel comfortable by yourselves. I’m going to do my best to get to the bottom of this quickly.”

Silently, the ponies nodded one by one and exited the room. Fluttershy walked over and gave Pinkie a warm hug before treading upstairs.

“Mr. Rich, why don’t you come with me? I want to talk to you...privately,” said Twilight. She led the way out of the room, followed closely by the upset stallion.

Only Pinkie Pie and Time Turner were left in the lounge. Quietly, he approached the somber mare still staring down at the husk of Cherry Jubilee.

“Pinkie, are you alright?”

She turned and smiled at the brown pony beside her.”Don’t worry, Doctor Whooves. I’m sure Twilight will get to the bottom of this. She’s the smartest pony I know.”

“Pinkie, for the last time, I’m not—“

“I know that,” said the pink pony, giggling. “Even though you write those romantic novels about our favorite mailmare. You could just ask her out, you know. I’m sure she’d say yes.”

With that, Pinkie turned and bounced out the door of the room, humming to herself. Time Turner watched her go, the marked change in her behavior a relief to him. Though he didn’t know if it was a trick of his eyes, or a trick all her own, he swore Pinkie’s mane no longer lacked the vibrancy it had before; while certainly not as voluminous as it had been, her mane bounced along with her out the door.

************

Pinkie Pie paused in her bouncing when she reached the bottom of the stairs. Her mood had definitely improved upon leaving the room, and now that her mind was working again something struck her about what had just happened.

It wasn’t just the untimely death of Cherry that haunted her brain, though that had been a surprise. Maybe surprise wasn’t the right word. Shocker? Could be. It was definitely more than a stunner, but not quite up to the level of doozy yet. Surprise is a little too upbeat for the situation. Wake-up call? Not really. Bombshell doesn’t really apply either. Maybe I’ll see if Twilight knows a better word.

The thought of her friend brought Pinkie back to what had caused her to pause at the bottom of the stairwell. Not so much the alicorn herself, but rather what she said. More specifically, the way she said it.

“I want to talk to you...privately.”

There was definitely a hidden message in there somewhere, but Pinkie couldn’t quite put her hoof on it. She wasn’t naïve; she knew all about where foals came from and while there was a distinct possibility Twilight could be implying she wanted to see Filthy Rich for that purpose, Pinkie doubted it. It definitely wasn’t the right kind of mood, and there was no way a stork would be flying out in this weather.

Curious as to what Twilight could have meant, she decided to make her way to Twilight’s room. Walking through the hall, she paused outside the doorway leading into Fluttershy’s room. The yellow Pegasus lay on the bed in complete darkness, and from what small amount of light the open door let in from the hall she could tell her friend had not stopped crying the entire trip up the stairs. Fluttershy stared down at her hooves, silent sobbing shaking the bed slightly. She only looked up when the light from the hallway was blocked by the pink pony’s frame.

“How ya doin’?” asked Pinkie.

“Oh, um, hi Pinkie,” said Fluttershy as she wiped away fresh tears. “I’ve been better. How are you?”

“I’m doing—“

The oncoming combo Pinkie felt was one she hadn’t experienced before. Sure, the individual warnings had been there; pinchy knee, twitchy tail, and even the dreaded ear-flap-eye-flutter-knee-shake had all happened in the past. Never had they come together in such a fashion, each one fighting to bring itself to the forefront of Pinkie’s awareness. To top it all off, a doozy was making its way up from the very core of her being. Something unexpected was going to happen, and it was going to happen at Froggy Bottom Bog!

No, wait, that was last time. This one’s gonna happen here. I only hope I can stop her in time.

“Um, Pinkie? Are you all right? Oh no! It’s your Pinkie sense, isn’t it? Is it bad?”

“Don’t worry Fluttershy! You’re perfectly fine! I just need to find Twilight. We’ll talk later.” Humming, Pinkie bounced down the hall towards Twilight’s room.

When she arrived, she raised a hoof to knock, but was stopped short by the sound of arguing coming from inside. Normally, this would have called for pressing an ear to the door to hear better; Twilight’s voice was raised loud enough that her normal spy maneuvers were not necessary.

“You were the only one present, Mr. Rich! You admitted yourself that there were no other ponies there!”

A muffled reply came from behind the door, though Pinkie could not make out what was said.

“You can’t expect me to believe that, Mr. Rich! Everypony knows you are shrewd when it comes to business, and there have been several rumors that you would do anything to get rid of the competition. I had my doubts, but in light of these most disturbing turn of events, I fear that they were right.”

Another muffled reply, followed by sounds of a crying stallion.

“No, Mr. Rich, I do understand. However, I have everypony’s well being to look after. I can’t let someone like you wander around, causing everypony to fear for their life.”

Pinkie inched closer and put her ear to the door. Twilight had lowered her voice, and she sensed a change in attitude now coming from the room. It was quiet; too quiet.

“I’m sorry to have to do this Mr. Rich. Just close your eyes. It will be over in a second,” said Twilight.

Surely she’s not—, thought Pinkie.

“Ahem. By the power vested in me as Princess of Equestria, I am left with no choice but to order your deta--”

“Twilight, stop!” cried Pinkie, banging against the door. “Don’t kill him! He didn’t do it!”

A magenta glow enveloped the door, and Twilight stood in the doorway, perplexed.

“Pinkie? What are you talking about? I’m not killing anypony! I was just going to detain him until the guards...”

Whatever Twilight said next was lost to Pinkie as she felt the twitches and shudders overwhelm her. The critical moment her Pinkie sense had warned her about had arrived. With mounting horror she saw the small set of wires hooked intricately up to the door. They wound themselves through several small pulleys running along the outside of the room, each one snaking back and forth across the ceiling before finally ending above the doorway in a hook.

A hook that had been attached to a rather large crate that was falling towards Twilight Sparkle with alarming speed.

There isn’t time, thought Pinkie. Using all the force she could muster, Pinkie Pie pushed Twilight Sparkle back into the room. The crate missed the Princess’ muzzle by a hair’s width as she saw her life flash before her eyes.

A sickening thud snapped Twilight back to reality, and with mounting horror she looked down on the deflated body of one Pinkius Piecus, crushed beneath the giant crate.

“PINKIE!” Twilight sobbed as she desperately tried to shove the crate off her friend. The clock in the hall chimed the hour as the sun set on the party pony’s life forever.

***********
To be continued . . .

Comments

[Gold4tune]

I feel that there should be a crossover here. I haven't read it but the story seems really similar to "Ten Little Indians" by Agatha Christie

[trombrony98]

5279527 In all honesty, I only derived the title from the book. Mainly because if I did much more, the whole plot would be given away. (And I also haven't read the actual book)

[Nightmares Madness]

As soon as I saw the title, my first thought was a game my mom played on pc in the 90's when I was little called the 13th. guest. IS this anything like that?

[Gold4tune]

5279611
Its definitely worth the read. One of my favorite books ever. Although, any Agatha Christie book is fantastic.

[trombrony98]

5279614 Not as far as I know. You do realize I wasn't even born until 1998?

[Nightmares Madness]

5279630 Well, honestly, no. I just saw the title and asked the question. But it is also a game that is really not as old as one might think. But it was slightly less popular than the Myst games. IF you still don't know what I am speaking of... Well the game is about 13 people who arrive at a mansion off in the woods. The only thing is, the last guest is late. arriving at like midnight. You play the game as the last guest and decide how everyone else died, while trying to stay alive yourself. You have puzzles to go through, one of which I recall the most is a graveyard cake that is you eat the wrong slices after going through a small story you are poisoned and die. The man who invited all 13 people was some rich dude who used to be a bum, then turned insane, and yea... everything I can't recall from then as its a bit hazy. Haven't seen the game since. Google it and see what its about.

[Cauchemar]

Well pinks is dead....soooo. No cupcakes? but I liked cupcakes...

[HudsonHawk]

5279614
This it?

[Actually leaving now]

5282701 Excellent theory!

[SudokuBrony]

5279630 I was born in 97!