Stab
Rockhoof sat quietly before the second floor hourglass. He breathed out a sigh of contentment, letting himself feel at ease for the first time since the looping had begun.
Though he cared for each of his friends and enjoyed their company, Somnambula knew how best to relax him. They had spent the rest of the last loop just enjoying each other’s company, and it had done wonders to help him recover from the strain of the loops.
He felt really good.
Then he got hit in the back of the head with something and died.
Rockhoof came to once again with a gasp, breathing heavily as he regained his bearings. He’d never been murdered so directly before, and he didn’t even know how it had happened. He’d drowned, he’d been stabbed, he’d fallen to his death, and met any number of grisly ends over the course of the loops, but being murdered was a new one.
He looked toward the corridor leading to the guest bedrooms and was shocked to see a trail of faded bloody hoofprints leading further into the area. A quick size comparison with his own showed them to be roughly the same size.
This was new. Very new. And concerning. Whoever had made these hoofprints was similar in size to Rockhoof, could act differently within the loop, and was heading toward the next friend on his list. It was unsettling, to say the least.
Just what was in store for this part of the journey?
Following the hoofprints at a steady pace, his senses on high alert, Rockhoof wound his way through wide wooden corridors, taking care not to make contact with the blood. Doors were spaced evenly through the hall, their only distinguishable feature being a number embossed into the wood.
As he swung around the corner, he bumped into another pony. Both he and the stranger screamed and jumped away from each other.
“Ahhhhh— Flash?” Rockhoof asked.
“Ahhhhh— Oh, hey, Rockhoof!” Flash greeted.
Without any warning, Flash leapt forward and kissed Rockhoof on the side of his face. Rockhoof flushed in response.
“Good to see you,” Flash said.
“Flash!” Rockhoof exclaimed, flustered. “Ya need to give me more warning if you’re going to do something like that!”
“Sure, sure. Definitely.” Flash waved a wing nonchalantly as he failed to consider anything Rockhoof had said. “So, what are you doing in these parts?”
“Mostly looking for you,” Rockhoof answered.
“Oh, sweet. Well, you found me!” A wide grin.
“Indeed, lad.” A beleaguered sigh. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, I was exploring the second floor with Som, but then found these bloody hoofprints, so I began to follow those.” A manic gleam shone in Flash’s eyes. “I think they belong to a killer, so I’m tracking them.”
“There’s a killer in the mansion?!”
“Yeah!” Flash hopped in place, planting his hooves with a joyous expression on his face. “Been finding a bunch of dead bodies and blood in the guest rooms, so I figured whoever was causing it also made these hoofprints. I just know I’m this—” He brought two feathers up before his eye demonstrating a small distance between them “—close to catching them.”
“... You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Rockhoof asked.
“No!”
Rockhoof raised an eyebrow.
“... Yes,” Flash mumbled as he hung his head.
“Having fun playing detective?”
“Yeah!” Flash swung his head up with a happy grin then coughed and put on a more serious expression. “I mean, yes. It is very mentally stimulating tracking down this dangerous criminal.” He nodded.
“Right, so you’re following these hoofprints?”
“Yep.”
“Know where they lead?”
“Nope! But I have noticed that the blood prints have been getting fresher!” To demonstrate, Flash dipped a feather in the red liquid, then showed it off in front of Rockhoof’s face. “See!”
Bemused, Rockhoof replied, “You’re right. Great detective work.”
Flash puffed himself up proudly as he started to rub the excess blood off his feathers against the wall. Pride became confusion as he realized the red had stained and wouldn’t come off.
“You'll need something strong for that. Probably from Brook,” Rockhoof remarked.
“Great. That means I’ll have to wait several hours and have Meadowbrook give me the ‘disappointed mom’ look as she lectures me on proper hygiene. Again.” Flash whinnied in exasperation. “I could swear she has it out for me.”
Rockhoof, knowing that Flash was unaware of Meadowbrook’s early resentment of his relationship with him, replied nervously, “I’m sure she definitely does not hold any possible resentment toward you in any way shape or form that may have to do with your relationship with another.”
Flash placed a wing on Rockhoof’s shoulder and gave him an even look. Rockhoof could feel the sweat trickling down his brow at the obvious lie.
“Thanks for the clarification, buddy.” Flash grinned.
Rockhoof nodded rapidly.
“Now, let’s find that killer and bring him to justice!” Flash announced. “Follow after me, big guy.”
Charging ahead, Rockhoof followed close behind, winding through corridors as the numbers on the doors rose to the high double digits. After a short trip, they arrived at a slightly ajar door, with the hoofprints clearly leading inside.
Flash made a zipping motion with a feather over his mouth and jerked his head toward the door. Rockhoof nodded. They both quietly made their way toward the room, with Flash in the lead and Rockhoof behind him.
As they reached the door, Flash placed a wing over the wood and gently pushed it open, taking care not to allow it to creak. The room was dark, but soon lit up by light spilling in from the hallway.
Inside, piled atop a puddle of blood in a heap, were seven corpses.
More light filtered in as Flash and Rockhoof stepped into the room and opened the door further. Their features were obscured by the dimness, but one thing was clear – the method of death wasn’t clear.
“More bodies,” Flash remarked wearily. “Was hoping for the killer, not more victims.”
“Where do they even come from?” Rockhoof asked. “I thought we were the only ones in here.”
“So did I, but I didn’t recognize any of the other bodies. One second, let me turn on the lights.”
Flash flicked the nearby switch, bathing the room in bright light and revealing the pile of corpses to be none other than perfect, dead replicas of the pillars.
Complete silence followed.
“What the f—” Flash started.
Then they were both hit with a heavy blunt object and died.
Rockhoof came to back at the hourglass. He took a moment to process what had happened, then checked the floor leading toward the guest bedrooms. There was still a blood trail leading further into the area. A new consistency unique only to his experience with Flash.
He had been killed. Differently. And not by his own actions. He’d died immediately at the hourglass, then the next loop then in a random guest bedroom. That meant the killer could adapt.
That the killer might be the one causing the loops in the first place.
Galloping after the trail of red hoofprints, he followed them until he once more found Flash.
“Oh, hey, Rock—” Flash started.
“We need to find the killer!” Rockhoof yelled as he shook Flash back and forth by his shoulders.
“Oh—Kay—Then—Big—Guy!” Flash managed to say between shakes.
“I think they might be the one who trapped us here.”
“Oh, dang! Then we gotta catch him!”
“Aye. You’ve been following a trail of bloody hoofprints?”
“Yeah!” Flash answered with a rapid nods of his head then tilted it to one side in confusion. “Wait. How did you—?”
“Let’s follow the trail,” Rockhoof interrupted.
“Okay!” Flash agreed.
Rockhoof released Flash, then galloped after the hoofprints, with Flash following close behind. They ran past room after room, the digits climbing toward three until the trail stopped before a different room from the prior loop.
“Looks like the trail ends here,” Flash whispered. “We should— Rockhoof?!”
Busting open the door, Rockhoof charged into the room and flicked on the light. It was empty, just a typical guest bedroom suite with the trail ending at the threshold to the room.
“Where is it?” Rockhoof growled.
“Huh, weird,” Flash remarked as he joined Rockhoof inside the room. “Wonder where—” Rockhoof smashed his forehooves onto a nearby vanity table, shattering it into splinters. “Woah, buddy! Simmer down! We should try to investigate instead of going straight to pound town!”
“There’s a secret room in here,” Rockhoof stated confidently as he threw pillows off of the bed.
“How do you—”
“There just is!” Rockhoof tossed off the mattress, releasing a snort of frustration at finding nothing underneath. “It’s how this accursed place works! It’s so obvious that— aha!”
He spied a gap behind a nearby wardrobe that distinctly looked like the edge of a doorframe. Rockhoof shoved it out of the way, revealing an open entryway into a second room.
Inside, he saw a heap of bodies, each one a replica of the pillars, blood pooling from a variety of wounds. Just like the last loop.
“I knew it!” Rockhoof exclaimed excitedly as he turned back toward Flash. “Now, we just need to—”
Flash lay bleeding on the floor, wounds from his body staining the wood underneath. He had a shocked look on his face, his mouth frozen in alarm. Standing over him was a large cloaked figure holding a large shovel.
Before Rockhoof could react, the figure charged and smashed him in the face with the sharp edge of the blade.
He died.
As soon as Rockhoof awakened back at the hourglass, he raced off after the trail of bloody hoofprints. He made tight corners through the narrowed corridors, cutting red lines into his fur from the sharpened edges of the wall that seemed determined to slow down his progress.
“Hey, Rock— Are you bleeding?!” Flash exlcaimed.
“We have to follow the trail,” Rockhoof shouted as he raced past Flash.
“No, we need to— Rockhoof!” Flash burst into a gallop after him, quickly catching up and affixing Rockhoof with a glare. “We need to tend to those wounds! Leaving any kind of open wound in an unfamiliar environment—”
“Can lead to infection, aye,” Rockhoof interrupted with an annoyed sigh. “We can treat them later once we catch the killer.”
“We can treat them now. Stop, Rockhoof.” Rockhoof continued to charge forward, single-mindedly focused on following the trail. “Fine. If you won’t stop when I ask—”
Speeding ahead, Flash cut at a right angle ahead of Rockhoof and planted himself firmly in Rockhoof’s path. The giant of a pony dug in his hooves into the slick wood and drew just short of the pegasus half his size.
“Flash!” Rockhoof exclaimed.
“We’re bandaging your wounds,” Flash stated.
“But—”
“I. Don’t. Care.” Flash said, punctuating his statement with a growl. “It doesn’t matter how important what you’re doing is, getting you medical treatment comes first.”
“We don’t have time—”
“We will make time!”
“But none of this matters, Flash!” Rockhoof shouted. “These wounds, this place, the trail— it doesn’t matter!”
A look of rage passed over Flash’s face causing Rockhoof to flinch.
“Fine,” Flash hissed. “It doesn’t matter. To you. But to me, you’re hurt and that’s not okay. So, shut up before I have to make you!”
“I… I’m sorry, lad. I didn’t mean—”
Flash’s eyes widened in shock. “Rockhoof, move!” He shouted.
Before Rockhoof could process what was happening, Flash grabbed Rockhoof by the shoulders and pulled him forward. Rockhoof turned his head back to see in the direction Flash was looking, only to watch in horror as Flash stepped in the path of the sharpened shovel that had been aimed at his head.
He stumbled on the floorboards, tripping from the blood-slicked surface. Flash’s body fell to the floor with a loud thump.
“Flash!” Rockhoof screamed.
Then a second cloaked figure smashed his head in with another shovel.
Rockhoof stared numbly at the ground, the light-coloured wood taking on a reddish hue despite the lack of hoofprints. He turned toward the guest bedrooms, a trail of bloody hoofprints leading further inward, just as it had the last few loops.
He got up then followed the prints, head down, eyes focused onto his only lead to the killers.
“Hey— Wait, Rockhoof! Where—”
Corridor after corridor passed by, door after door, double digits turning into triple, then quadruple. All other activity in his mind ceased as he focused in on the only thing that mattered to him.
One set of hoofprints turned into two. Then three. Then dozens, as the wood of the floor became harder to see through the stark red of converging blood.
Follow the trail. Find the bodies. Get the answers. He didn’t need to think. He didn’t need to talk. He just needed to hunt. Then he would be able to get everyone out. Then the deaths could stop. The nightmare would end. He could finally—
“Rockhoof!”
Flash tackled him in the side. Rockhoof stumbled from the surprise assault and fell to the floor, drenching his lower half in thick red liquid. Before Rockhoof could react, Flash flipped him onto his back and pinned him to the ground, corded muscle built from years of service in the military holding him firmly in place.
Rockhoof struggled against Flash’s hold over him. “Get off of me, Flash!” He yelled. “I-I need to— I have to keep— Get off! You’re getting in—”
Something cold and wet impacted against his face. He paused his escape attempts and looked up at Flash’s face. The sensation had been from the tears that fell from his eyes. “... Flash?”
“It’s just berry juice,” Flash said.
An uncomprehending blink. “What is?”
“The hoofprints. They aren’t blood. They’re just weird, thick, pulpy juice. I think it’s raspberry or strawberry, but I really don’t want to have to taste-test more floor gunk to confirm.”
“It’s… I’ve been following… why?!” Rockhoof exclaimed, thoroughly confused.
“I dunno, buddy.”
“Why would—” Rockhoof started before Flash collapsed onto his chest. “Flash, what’s wrong?”
“You,” Flash stated, his tone flat. “You wouldn’t or couldn’t hear me. Just kept following the stupid juice while ignoring everything else and I… don’t do that again.”
A moment of silence passed broken by a wet sniffle from Flash. Rockhoof rubbed the spot just between Flash’s wings soothingly. In response, Flash buried his face into Rockhoof’s chest fluff, grasping his sides with his hooves tightly.
“I’m sorry I scared you, pragma,” Rockhoof said softly.
“Yeah, well, just promise to talk to me when you’re mad at me next time,” Flash muttered.
“Mad at you? Flash, I was just trying to track down a killer.” Rockhoof furrowed his brow. “What would I be mad at you for?”
“... nothing.”
“Flash.”
“It’s nothing!”
Rockhoof glared.
“Okay, fine.” Flash released an exasperated breath. “I forgot about our anniversary.”
A blink of confusion. “That’s next month.”
“No, it’s this month.”
“No, Flash, it’s next month. Som reminded me of it before we ended up here.”
“Wait, really? Then what am I thinking of?”
“I have no idea what—” A dawning look of comprehension lit up Rockhoof’s face, which was then followed by a flat expression. “Flash.”
“What?! Don’t look at me like that! What am I remembering wrong?!”
“What were we doing together prior to announcing our relationship to the other pillars?”
“We were—” Flash’s face flushed redder than the juice around them as he attempted to bury himself further into Rockhoof’s fur “—right, that. That would be… yeah.”
“You can’t remember our anniversary but you can remember that?”
“I’m bad with dates!”
“In both meanings,” Rockhoof retorted.
“Hey! I come up with great date ideas!”
“And only the ideas. Som has to usually salvage whatever she can from the newest harebrained stunt you decided qualified as romantic.”
“We had a great time at the lake!”
“Fighting a sea monster.”
“That’s— I mean— Look, I’m a soldier okay! They teach us to make love and fight wars, not… think…” Flash trailed off as he became too self conscious of himself.
Rockhoof chuckled merrily at Flash’s antics. “You’re a mess, Mags.”
“Yeah, I am, but I’m your mess,” Flash said, then amended, “Well, and Som’s.”
“Because you’re such a hooffull, you need two dedicated partners just to keep you in check.”
“Yeah, I do, don’t I?” Flash snickered, then perked up his head as a thought occurred to him. “Oh, before I forget to ask, what happened?”
“What do you mean?” Rockhoof replied.
“You kinda scared me back there with how out of it you were.” Flash scooched closer until his snout was up against Rockhoof’s. “Was wondering what made you act like that.”
“Nothing important.”
“Really? Because that was a pretty extreme reaction for something minor. Got something on the mind?”
“I—”
Images began to flash through Rockhoof’s mind.
“I-It’s—” Starswirl released his grip on Rockhoof’s shovel, falling into the embrace of the abyss. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t sound fine.” Flash frowned.
“I am, really.” Poison bubbled from Meadowbrook’s throat as she convulsed. Her body dissolved into ash as he held her in his embrace. “There’s nothing wrong with me, Flash.”
“Never said there was, just wanted to know what happened. But you’re kind of worrying me now.”
“You don’t need to—” Mistmane floated in the water, light bathing her in an ethereal glow. “I’m just antsy from being trapped in this house for so long.” Stygian was impaled on long spikes, a look of shock on his face. “I just need to— I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure that’s it?” Flash furrowed his brow in concern.
“Yes.” Som’s body became stuck between gears, the flow of red flowing out toward him. “No.” Som, locked in an expression of terror and distress as she fell. “Yes!”
“Okay, which is it? Is there more or—”
“I’m fine!” Flash’s body, mutilated. “Nothing’s wrong!” Flash, bleeding out on the floor from being wounded by the shovel. “I’m strong, I can just push through this!” Flash, killed by the hit that was meant for him. “I just— There’s just you and Styg then I can— It’s just for a little longer, and then—!”
Two wings encompassed him, blocking out his surroundings. Filtered light bathed him in an orange glow. Flash’s face was next to his. A gentle nuzzle and a look of sympathy through empathetic tears.
“Easy there, pragma,” Flash said softly. “You’re spiralling.”
Rockhoof took a deep, shaky breath, finally feeling the tears flowing down the sides of his face.
“What have I told you about fear?” Flash asked gently.
“I don’t know,” Rockhoof hoarsely whispered.
“Come on, buddy. You know this.”
“... Don’t let it control you. But—!”
“No buts,” Flash interrupted. “Never let fear control you, or any powerful emotion like that. Do you remember how to manage it?”
“I-I don’t…” A choked sob. “I can’t—”
“It’s okay, I’ll help.” A quick nuzzle. “You get to a safe place, then you talk it out, or you let the emotional high run its course.”
A shaky breath. “There isn’t anywhere safe.”
“... No, but this is probably as best it will get.”
“I cannae do not this right now, Flash. There’s too much—”
“You push yourself hard, Rockhoof. It’s an admirable trait, but one that has a rather nasty sharp edge to it. You’re not in a state where you can handle any more, and that’s okay.”
Rockhoof took another shaky breath, the emotions he’d bottled up beginning to surface from where he’d kept them locked tight.
“Let it out, pragma.” Flash pressed his head to the side of Rockhoof’s, rubbing affectionately against him. “I’m right here. It’s safe to let go. I’d never let anything happen to you.”
It was the last brick keeping the wall of Rockhoof’s emotions in check.
He clung tightly to Flash, a ship in the storm finally finding the semblance of a safe harbour. He cried. He screamed. He let all the agony and pain and suffering and time roar out of him as he allowed himself the release he needed. Horror and fear and stress began to ebb as he was reminded of the love he was afforded by one so dear to him.
As Strength recovered from his ordeals, as the loop came to an end with the chiming of bells, as several cloaked figures watched them impassively from afar, as a book rattled within a sealed vault, as the final guest of the house wandered through shelves of knowledge, and as the final act of a personal tragedy drew closer to its conclusion—
A red light began to glow in another part of the mansion.
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Poor Rockhoof
This goes on the priority list for reading!
You've got me checking daily for new chapters. Can't wait to see how this one resolves!
oh Otter, never change
oh no that is very unsettling actually
ahaha so true
love it when pegasi do stuff like this
Rockhoof is just perfectly very bad at this
yeah that would be my reaction, too!
somehow this is much more concerning than if it were just regular ol’ blood of the flesh and blood copies of the Pillars
ahaha
love this and so true actually
augh, love this!
love seeing what it is that makes their relationship work like this. also fascinated by the term “pragma” they are using, since i have never heard it before