Thirteen Little Ponies

by trombrony98

Chapter 5- spideremblembrony

By spideremblembrony

The clock chimed for what seemed the hundredth time that night. Booming in his ears like thunderclaps. They assaulted Time Turner as marched up the staircase to the upper levels of the house. Two deaths in one night?

He wanted to run. Every fiber of his being told him to get out of the house as quickly as possible. If it weren't for the bridge being washed away, he would have left long ago. He cursed his earth pony body under his breath. How he wished he could have the wings of a pegasus. That would have solved all his problems.

There was nothing to do but wait until Thunderlane had returned from his flight for help. But would it take him two hours to bring help? Time figured Thunderlane must have been caught in the storm and just decided to wait it out.

Making his way to the top of the staircase, he heard a slight rustling in one of the rooms nearby. His ears perked up, absorbing all the sounds he could. The hallway fell silent. Another few moments passed and the rustling was heard again along with a slight creaking as if something was being dragged across the floor.

He put his head against one of the doorways and gave another listen. In the room, on the other side, the rustling continued with a slight small sound coming from it. He couldn't make it out, despite his efforts. A muffled sound that was difficult to distinguish. Something was going on in that room.

“Hello?” he called out. In an instant, the rustling grew more rapid, more violent. “Is somepony in there?” Again, the rustling grew out of control. Through the chaos, he was able to pick up a muffled sound. The sound of a pony trying to speak. He placed his hoof on the door knob, turning it.

The door was locked. Time shook the door hard, hoping that the knob was simply stuck. However, the door remained firm. He took several steps back from the doorway. With a head start, he rammed his side into the door. The door thundered throughout the hallway as he collided with it.

It continued to stay firm and still. Time’s side began to tingle as he took another step back. Sets of hoofsteps came from the bottom of the staircase behind him.

He turned to see two other ponies coming to him; a school teacher whose name escaped him and a large, white pegasus he knew as Bulk Biceps.

“What is with all the commotion?!” the school teacher asked.

Time turned to the doorway. “Something is going on in that room.”

Cheerilee, as he finally recalled her name, turned to the larger pony, who simply shrugged. “Maybe they simply want some privacy,” choosing her words carefully.

He didn't know why. They were all adults. Perhaps it was because she was around younger children all the time. So, she had to censor herself constantly in the classroom.

Regardless, he knew that’s not what was happening. He just knew it. He shook his head. “No. Something is going on in that room! And we need to get in there!” He placed his hooves on the door, pressing against it. “So, help me open it!”

Bulk lightly pushed Time out of the way. “Step back.” As Time stepped away from the door, the large white Pegasus took several steps back. With enough distance, he rushed forwards like a bull at a matador. With his large skull, he rammed into the door, ripping it from the wall and sending it soaring into the room, sliding along the ground.

As the trio looked into the room, they stood agape. Rarity was in a chair, her hooves tied behind her and her hind legs tied together, a tablecloth wrapped around her muzzle. She screeched as she looked towards them. Her screams muffled out and difficult to hear.

Cheerilee rushed in almost immediately. “Rarity!” she ripped the cloth from Rarity’s mouth. “Rarity, what happened?!”

Tears came down Rarity’s face as she turned her head towards the floor behind where the door would open. “Look!” Just a few feet from the door, Lyra, as he knew her, laid upon the ground, a knife embedded in her back.

Blood ran like a river from the body. Time Turner felt the taste of bile coming from his mouth, gagging him. He turned away and found himself in the hallway, coughing, desperately hoping he wouldn't vomit.

He didn't notice what the others were going through or if they were still there. After taking several moments to catch his breath, he turned back to the room. Rarity had been untied and the large pegasus was working on untying the author. Trenderhoof, he thought he was called.

“What happened?!” Cheerilee asked. Undoing one of the restraints on Trenderhoof’s legs, Bulk removed the gag from his muzzle..

Trenderhoof took in a deep breath. “We were just … just talking…” His speech broke up with deep breaths, almost hyperventilating. “And then… the lights went out and… when they came back on…”

Cheerilee and Bulk finished undoing the last restraint on his body and helped him out of the bed. Cheerilee glanced over to Rarity. “The same thing happened to the rest of the house. The power went out in my room.”

The large pegasus nodded. “Same in the hallway.”

Time Turner didn't say anything, but the lights had vanished for a few seconds. He reentered to the room, taking in a deep breath, trying to ignore the sight of Lyra on the floor. “Somepony must have messed with the power of the building.”

Trenderhoof glared at him. “Yeah.” He marched straight to Time, getting in his face. “Maybe that somepony was you!”

Time Turner’s eyes widened as he took a step back. “What?! Me?!”

Trenderhoof pointed his limp towards Time Turner. “You would know about electrical power, wouldn't you? More than anypony here! How could it not be you?!”

Time shook his head. “No. I didn't do this! I swear.”

“Stop it! Both of you!” Rarity screamed through her tears. The whole room turned their attention to Rarity as she sat crying on the floor, Cheerilee’s hooves wrapped around her. “How can you fight like this?! There has been a murder!”

Trenderhoof shook his head. “This time an escalation in violence.”

Time Turner tilted his head. “What are you talking about?”

Trenderhoof rolled his eyes and turned back to Time Turner. “Because somepony doesn’t seem to want to admit it, I’ll point out the obvious.” He made his way to Lyra’s body. He gave a deep sigh as he stood over her, as if to silently apologize for what he was about to do. “She was killed by knife.”

Time Turner shook his head. This moron thinks I’m responsible. And yet, he has to explain the obvious.

The large pegasus was left scratching his head. Time Turner hoped that he didn’t follow the stereotypical ‘big guy, small brain’. His concerns were swelling ever larger.

“But what does that mean?” the large pegasus asked.

Time Turner rubbed his forehead. “It means, she died by somepony stabbing her.”

Trenderhoof completely ignored Time Turner’s comment. “It can tell us a lot, Bulk.” He looked at the knife wound once more. Examining it closely, kneeling down to get a better look. “There seems to have been hesitation in the stabbing.”

Time Turner’s eyebrow rose. He heard Rarity whisper something to Cheerilee. He couldn’t make out what, but he didn’t care. He was far more interested in hearing how Trenderhoof would come to the ridiculous conclusion that he was the killer.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Time Turner finally asked.

“A lot, actually.” Trenderhoof replied. “It tells me that the pony who killed her was having second thoughts doing so.”

Time Turner looked away, his mouth slightly open. “Wait, are you saying that Lyra was killed … by somepony she considered a friend?”

Trenderhoof shook his head. “Looks that way.” He stood up, placing a hoof on his chin. “Think about how Pinkie Pie and Cherry Jubilee were killed.”

How could Time Turner forget about those deaths? Especially when they were mere hours ago. He didn’t know Jubilee very well, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel some kind of hurt when she was murdered.

Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, he knew all too well. Tartarus, who didn't know Pinkie Pie? She made it her personal mission to get to know everypony in Ponyville. Even the most recluse pony was not immune to her. No matter how hard they tried. She always wore that smile on her face. That same smile she wore everyday like a piece of clothing she could never leave without.

It was Pinkie Pie who first introduced her to the mailmare of his dreams. Not that he would ever admit it. He was far too timid for her. And she far too beautiful for him.

Trenderhoof’s voice broke Time Turner from his own thoughts. “Jubilee was poisoned and Pinkie Pie set off a trap.”

“A trap meant for Twilight,” Time Turner corrected.

“Regardless!” Trenderhoof stated, glaring at Time. “Their deaths were more immediate. More thorough.”

Time put his hoof on his chin. “So, what does this have to do with me?!”

Trenderhoof marched towards him. “Poison and traps are work of an earth pony!”

Time clinched his teeth together and pointed his hoof towards Trenderhoof. “Well… maybe, you killed her!”

Trenderhoof’s head tilted back in shock. His eyes widened and his mouth was left open. “I was left bound and gagged! How could I have done it?!”

Time growled under his breath. “Maybe used your unicorn magic to kill her and tie yourself up! Then blame someone else to throw off suspicion!”

“That’s enough!” Cheerilee shouted. “Both of you!”

Time Turner turned his gaze away from Trenderhoof and marched out of the room. The nerve of Trenderhoof. Blaming him. Of all ponies. Of course, he could almost understand why Trenderhoof would act like this. He and Rarity had both been through something devastating. He wouldn’t have been surprised if he acted the same way.

But he didn’t do it. And that was that. His mind started to contemplate who might, however.

He heard Cheerilee’s voice in the background of his mind. “We are not going to get anywhere by blindly accusing one another without evidence.”

She was right. Time Turner knew that. He needed something to go on. Something about the killing that would give him more of an idea who did it.

He turned back to the room as Cheerilee began to escort Rarity out of the room. “I’m going to take Rarity back to my room. She can rest there.”

Time nodded as he watched Trenderhoof and Bulk leave the room, meeting him in the hallway. Trenderhoof gave him a disapproving glance. It was interrupted by Bulk placing his hoof on Trenderhoof’s shoulder and nudging him forward.

Bulk turned towards Time Turner. “We are going to meet downstairs. You coming?”

Time silently nodded. However, he waited for Bulk and Trenderhoof to leave for downstairs. With them out of his hair, he reentered the room where Lyra was killed. He was no detective, but he had hoped to find something about the identity of the killer.

As he combed through the carpet, stained by the river of blood, nothing came to him. He examined the chair and the rope used to restrain Rarity. Nothing. He even looked into the bed where Trenderhoof was held. Still, there was nothing.

His frustration grew with every inch of room he examined. Finally, he gave up and left the room. Hanging his head down as he stood in the hallway, still not closer to finding the identity of the murderer.

“Penny for your thoughts, deary,” a weak voice came from his left.

He looked down the hall to see the elderly Granny Smith trotting towards him. He gave a slight smile, but it only lasted a second. “There’s…,” he started, but he was hesitant to tell that there was another murder. He wasn’t sure how her old heart would take it. “Just this…” He needed a subject to talk about, but what. His mind simply spat out the first thing he could think of. “This mare that I like. But… she doesn’t know I exist.”

He mentally berated himself for not coming up with anything else clever. If he was as smart as he claimed himself to be, he would have come up with something better than that.

Granny Smith gave a slight chuckle. “I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you. You are just too shy to talk to her, aren’t you?” He glanced away, hoping to get his mind of Lyra’s death and instead on the mare of his eyes. “Have you ever tried talking to her?”

Time Turner was almost offended by that question. But as he looked back on his previous experiences, he never really talked to her. Never talked to her as if she were a friend or somepony he had known for a long time. Instead, he was always too busy with his work. Always concentrated on something else.

“Let me tell you a little secret from an old woman.” Granny Smith placed her hoof on Time Turner’s shoulder. “Girls like to laugh and they like a stallion who is confident in themselves.” Time Turner looked away. She gave him a slight pat on the back and continued on her way.

Time Turner gave a smile. If they made it out of this, he would talk to her. Not as somepony who delivered his mail, but as somepony he would want to ask out.

But first, he had to get out of this alive. And to do that, he had some more investigation to do.

Suddenly, a slight creak came at his ears. He noticed it was coming from above him. It was only for a second, but that second was all that was needed to convince him to investigate. He glanced upward as he trotted down the hallway. He knew an attic must have been somewhere nearby.

Only a few feet from Lyra’s doorway, the attic door stared back at him. The string hung down begging to be pulled.

He reached upward and dragged the door open, the ladder extending to the floor. Climbing up, the ladder creaked loudly. He glanced behind him to make sure he wasn’t followed. The truth is he wasn’t convinced that Trenderhoof did it.

Trenderhoof may be a self-centered jerk, but he didn’t seem to have it in him for murder. At least, not from what he could tell. Besides, he didn’t look strong enough to contain three unicorns at the same time.

Now, Bulk on the other hoof. He was the perfect size and strength. And his stupidity is the perfect cover. All that was needed now was a motive. Why kill Lyra? Or Cherry Jubilee? Why try to kill Twilight?

As he arrived at the top of the steps, he quickly glanced around. The dust coated the various items around it like snow upon the ground. Lampshades of all shape, sizes and colors, boxes piled high with various writing on them, each stating their contents in black ink.

He trotted through the dust filled ‘wonderland’ and turning his head from side to side. He mentally debated with himself if being up here alone was a good idea, considering the murders that just took place not mere hours ago.

His thoughts became distracted when he saw a strange looking device. He couldn’t be certain what they were or what they were built for.

One such device was a large box shaped like a mare. He placed his hoof on the front knob and pulled it open slight. Inside scattered throughout the box were large metallic spikes. Their once metallic shine now covered in brown rust.

His whole body shook at the very thought of finding himself in one of those. He glanced around him to see another such device. Whomever their host was, he seemed to be interested in methods of punishment.

Suddenly a thunderous gong echoed throughout the entire house. Time Turner tumbled backwards nearly stepping into the torture chamber. He quickly regained his footing enough to stumble and grab a large wooden rod at the end of the room.

He took a breath of relief as the gong echoed again. However, the rod suddenly clicked and tilted downward. It wasn’t a rod at all. A lever? he thought. But for what?

A moment later, a scream came from down below. Like a thunderbolt, he rushed his way down the ladder. As he glanced into the hallway, he noticed one of the doors was still open. He rushed into the room. Laying on the bed, blood dripping into the sheets, was Granny Smith, impaled on the falling chandelier.

And standing over her, covered in blood, as the gong struck once more, was Granny Smith.

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

Comments

[Cromegas_Flare]

I may read this latter. Sounds interesting.

[Yoshi89]

Ooh...this just got interesting.

[Cauchemar]

What dastardly devil has committed such dark and deadly actions? I look forward to finding out.

[Actually leaving now]

Hehe, finishing off my chapter of this story right now!

[MrShmoodlePuffs]

Did Time Turner just accidentally kill Granny Smith? (the lever dropping the chandelier maybe?)

[Nickel Alloy]

Let's see. They've gotten Cherry Jubilee, Pinkie Pie, Thunderlane, Lyra, and Granny Smith. Seems like an odd group.