When darkness fell upon the town, something devious happened as others lurked around. Who was to survive in a town as deadly as that of Salem when revenge governs them and morals are so loose that do not exist?
(A Re-write of The Town Of Salem) Long ago in a town that sat near a forest. At that time, Celestia was unable to tame the horrors and dangers of the night. When darkness fell upon the town, something devious happened as others lurked around. There was only 15 remaining residents yet they only have days left. Who was to survive in a town as deadly as that of Salem when revenge governs them and morals are so loose that do not exist?
The decaying corpse of a pony hung, dangling on a rotting tree in the distance, the rising sun illuminating the crows that were perched over it, slowly picking at its meal. Dawn broke up the small huddle of townhouses, fifteen to be exact. One house opened its doors, creaking open. A muzzle peered out of the doorway, glancing around the area as more doors opened. The residents of the fifteen homes emerged, all brightly coloured and standing around a circular area, the wooden gallows in the centre. The first to speak was a dusty purple mare, her dulled orange hair pulled back tightly in a bun. “Good morning. How is everypony this fine morning?” She asked, sitting down on her backside.
“As fine as ever, Moria.” Another mare responded, her blonde hair hung in a ponytail which dangled behind her. She was quite thin compared to another pony beside who turned his head in her direction.
“Nice to see that everyone is alive.” The pony bitterly stated, crossing his arms across his chest. The dark grey earth pony glared at the gathered ponies before speaking again. “We all here?”
“I’ve got the list.” A pale pink pegasus stated, pulling out a scroll from under her wings. She unfurled it, the list dangling down. “Okay. Mercy?” The blonde unicorn nodded, locking eyes with the mare. “Phoenix?” The pegasus glanced around the gathered ponies until she heard a voice above her.
“Up here, Vine Flower!” She glanced upwards, a pale orange pegasus fluttering above her. Phoenix landed beside her, fluffing up his wings before sitting down. Vine Flower sighed, continuing calling names.
“Swift Lighting and Shadow Nexus?” A pair of dark grey stallions looked up, the first nodding.
“I’m here, you dumb mare!” The stallion known as Swift Lighting snapped, looking at his brother who sat beside him. Shadow Nexus pushed his brother sharply in the side. “Sorry.” He murmured quietly.
“Dove Wing, Mouse Pad, Cider and Misty?”
“I’m here!” Chirped Dove Wing as she preened her pure white feathers. The pale blue earth pony beside her looked up from her book, sheepishly grinning and waving a hoof before speaking.
“Sorry... I was reading.” Misty stated shyly, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. A drunk mare woke up nearby, spurting out nonsense. Cider lifted the bottle back up to her muzzle before collapsing in a drunken sleep. A small earth pony stallion rose his hoof. Mouse Pad was the smallest of the town’s ponies. The pale brown stallion always hiding away.
“Lucy? Feather Doe and Moria?” The three unicorns looked upwards, the pale purple one from before looking with a raised eyebrow. The white unicorn beside her speaking first.
“I’m here. Feather Doe is over there and Moira is right beside me. Scarlet is over there beside Doe Spots and Black Ink is sitting next to you. Can we go inside now?” She snapped, clearly bored.
“I agree with Lucy, the sun is already setting.” Moira agreed, raising a hoof and pointing at the disappearing orb in the distance.
“Fine. Fine. Goodnight everypony.” Vine Flower said, nodding. Slowly, ponies trickling back inside their homes, the wooden doors shutting behind them with loud thunks. The last to enter their home was Moira, glancing out across the now darkened town with a long look of worry and fear.
The thin mare slipped her head out of her doorway, glancing around slowly as she crept forward. She galloped across the courtyard, her hooves clapping against the dirt path. She entered another’s house, she shut the door behind herself with a pale gold glow of magic. She tore off her cloak, revealing her pale blonde hair as it cascaded down her neck. Mercy discarded the cloak on the floor, it landing in a heaped pile on the wooden floor. She walked down the hallway, entering another room. Gathered in the room were two other ponies, both sitting in chairs with their hooves placed on the wooden table. Lucy glanced up from the parchment on the table with a smile. “Ah, the Godfather finally arrives. What took you so long, cousin?” Lucy asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I was held up with supper. Who are we targeting tonight, cousin?” Mercy replied, taking her seat. She pulled the parchment forward, looking at it, intrigued.
“Scarlet?” She muttered out loud. “Alright. Off you go Lucy, do your job. Telling me if you fail to kill her.” She ushered Lucy out of the room with a wave of her hoof, turning to the other pony at the table. “Feather Doe, I suggest you go frame Doe Spots.” With that, the mare known as Feather Doe vanished in a poof of magic, teleporting out of the house. Mercy rose slowly from her seat, pushing the wooden chair under the table before picking her cloak up and draping it over her back. She did up the clasps before pulling the hood over her head. She left the house, slipping back into the night.
Elsewhile, a figure trotted towards a house, a black cloak covering their body. They slipped inside, the shinning knife in their hooves raised. The entered another room, a bedroom filled to the brim with books of many sizes and form. The pony bumped into a pile of books, catching the falling projectiles with their magic before it makes a noise. The cloaked unicorn piled them back up before finding a stallion asleep at a nearby desk. Mouse Pad lay on his hooves, his glasses falling off his muzzle as he let loose another snore. The figure plunged down the knife, the cool blade entering the stallion’s neck as he woke up in shock, he let loose a gurgle of screams, rapidly dying as he collapsed on the floor. The figure picked up the body, dragging it outside where they dumped it on the dirt road. They dropped a bloodied note and the stallion’s will besides the body. The Serial Killer turned their head, locking eyes with the pony behind them. Another cloaked figure stood there, gun raised. The Mafioso aimed the weapon, firing a single shot towards the pony before fleeing, turning back for a second to see if their target was dead. They weren’t.
“MERCY!” A loud voice could be heard, accompanied by banging on the back door of the mare’s home. Mercy rose from her bed, groaning in frustration. She opened the door to find Lucy standing there, panicked and fearful. She handed Mercy a slip of paper before running off, back towards her own home without an. Mercy rolled her eyes in frustration, glancing down at the note.
‘Scarlet was immune.’ It was written in hastily scrawled hoof writing. Mercy smiled, taking the note and pulling out some parchment, a quill and a pot of ink. She lifted the quill after dipping it in ink, she wrote out her own will, knowing full well if she didn’t there was always the chance of failure. Once she was done, she lowered the quill, rolling up the scroll before placing in on her desk. She trotted into her bedroom, blowing out the candle that sat on the bedside table.
The town shone in the morning light as the sun rose above it, bathing it in a golden glow as each resident opened their doors. Although, the first pony to open was greeted by a grisly scene. Misty held back sobs as she saw the corpse of a pony lay dead in the town’s centre. Crows were picking at it as an eyeball hung from almost completely broken tendons and the pony’s skeleton exposed as crows dug deeper, dried blood was splattered on the ground, organs spilling out. The mare screamed, causing more ponies to burst out of their homes.
“H-He’s dead!” Misty sputtered out, the others looking on in slight shock. Multiple ponies raised their hooves, signing the cross as a few muttered prayers.
“I thought we were used to this by now,” stated Swift Lighting, sitting down on his flank. Swift Lighting was a stallion of many things, mostly terrible things. At the age of forty-five, the stallion had looked down on the other residents for a long time. With a horrid personality and the displeasure of his female residents, he was often the cynical one. He had moved into town when he was a young foal with his now-dead parents when the town was first founded forty years ago.
“Shut up Swift Lighting!” Moira shouted, snapping her a stick under her hoof. Similarly to Swift Lighting, Moira was also cynical. Although, she was different from him in many ways. The mare didn’t enjoy the stallion’s presence as much as he did her’s.
Shadow Nexus trotted forward. Unlike his brother, Shadow was rather reserved, focusing more on the matter at hoof than trivial things such as disagreements. He tore the papers from underneath the rotting corpse’s hoof before reading them aloud. “As you have noticed, Mouse Pad has been found dead. His last will states that as the Sheriff, he was unaware of his duties in which he failed.” Shadow paused, shuffling through to the bloodied page. “This is a note from the Serial Killer. I quote, ‘I am here to rid this town of its ignorant citizens. You have all been warned. Tread careful, Salem.’”
“Mouse Pad didn’t deserve to die,” Scarlet sobbed out, looking at his corpse with a looming sadness.
Vine Flower just stared at the mare, suspicion rooted deeply in her rose-coloured mane. She was a wallflower. A silent witness who watched from a distance. She wasn’t confrontational, rather she would quietly take someone out rather than in public. But she had witnessed something and she had to break her moral code one day. “Scarlet killed Mouse Pad.” She sputtered out, covering her muzzle a second later.
“What?” Mercy had turned her muzzle towards Vine, confusion etched on the mare’s face. The entire town turned and stared at Scarlet, the white and red mare backing toward her home.
“GET HER!” Someone in the crowd shouted as the mare began to bolt. They rushed towards her, fear and paranoia overriding every kind of logic. They screamed and shouted, tugging and pulling on the estranged mare, desperate to seize her. “KILL HER!” “MURDER!” They rioted, dragging her up to the hill.
Surrounded by mares and stallions, the unicorn shrunk, raising her hooves defensively. “I didn’t do it! Vine Flower-”
“What would I have to gain from this?” The other mare proclaimed, waving her hoof around before pointing it accusingly at Scarlet. “All in favour of a lynching?”
The town proclaimed its agreement, those who didn’t were drowned out by the sheer amount of shouts and cries for death.
Doe Spots stepped forward, slipping the nose around the crimson coloured mare’s throat. Vine Flower flew up with the rope, pulling it through the thick tree’s branches as she tugged, the crowd cheering. The strangled gasps and desperate pleas of Scarlet were washed away by the sheer bloodlust the mob around her bellowed.
Parchment slipped from her frock, landing with a quiet thump on the ground. Black Ink slowly lifted it up, shouting to the crowd as minutes ticked by and Scarlet finally ceased to move. “Scarlet, as she will confess, was a serial killer, at least she planned to be. The rest of the will consists of notes that seem to be haphazardly written. ‘Cider, odd and unusual. Mercy. The Mafia discovered me.’”
“I do believe that concludes today's gathering. Good afternoon, everypony.” Doe Spots stated, turning away. Eventually, the crowd followed suit until Mercy stood on the hill alone, staring up at the corpse of Scarlet, a frown on the unicorn’s face.