Chapter 2: Eleven Alive, Eleventh Hour

Most of the ponies gathered around the corpse. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were being comforted by Cadence and Applejack as the others examined the remains.

Spike was laid out on his back surrounded by some of his gifts. His eyes were rolled back in his head.

In his mouth was the gift of Applejack. The large wooden bone shoved down his throat, 'Spike' was barely legible with how far it was thrust down his throat. There were no burn marks on the wood, suggesting it was placed postmortem.

If it wasn't the timber than choked him to death, it was the lacerations across his chest. Three cuts on each side of his chest resembled sharp claw marks, but too deep for any animal. The blood from the cuts had turned his cloak a violent red.

"Who could do such a horrible thing to such a little dragon?" Twilight asked, tears filling her eyes.

"SSPPPPIIIIKEEE!" Rarity cried out as Fluttershy held her. "WHYYYYYYY!"

"Please, you must all move away from the body. I know you're upset but this is a crime scene now. We'll need to call the royal guard immediately." Shining commanded as he moved everyone out to the hallway.

"Cadence, could you please escort everyone to the castle entrance?"

Cadence gave Shining a look as if he was crazy. "You want me to leave you here? Something in here did that to Spike, I'm not letting it happen to you too."

Shining's concerned look turned to a fierce adrenaline fire in his eyes.

"That's why I need to get you and Twilight out of here. You two are Princesses and we MUST get you to safety – which is anywhere but here." He replied.

"But what are you going to do?"

He walked back into the Great Oak Hall. "I'm going to see if there is any other evidence, and I'm going to check the castle to see if I can't find the one responsible. They couldn't have gotten far."

Cadence nodded and started to walk back to the group. She turned her head to him and mouthed 'I love you'.

He mouthed it back and turned back to the crime scene.

"Alright everypony, we're going to be moving back to the entrance to try and escape. We first need to get all of you to safety, and get the royal guard involved."

Cadence tried to seem tough and direct in her approach, but it was clear that she too was visibly shaken. Not as visibly as Rarity and the CMC, but the situation was not something she was expecting.

She led the ponies out of the hallway and to the entryway. Twilight remained in the back, still trying to comprehend what had happened.

Twilight's heart and brain conflicted. The images running through her brain were grotesque but she had to figure out what had happened to her best friend.

She was trying to find the reasoning behind why the wood wasn't burnt, why the cuts were so uneven, and what could even give a purpose as to why it had happened at all.

They arrived at the castle door. None of them spoke a word to each other, nor could they speak over the volume of Rarity's crying.

"Twilight, I need you." Cadence yelled from the front of the group.

Twilight trotted to the front with her head held down. "What is it?"

"You and I will blast the door open with magic. Even if it is blocked by some sort of lock or magic, it's still a wooden door and wooden can easily be broken through." Explained Cadence, believing to be right.

Nodding in agreement, Twilight backed up and aimed her horn at the door. Cadence stood next to her as the ponies watched with bated breath from the background.

Cadence and Twilight formed their magic missiles together, shooting it towards the large wooden door. As it reached the wooden door, it bounced back, returning the blast towards the ponies.

"WHAT!?" Screamed Twilight.

"Everypony, get down!" Cadence turned and yelled.

The magical blast hurled itself towards Scootaloo, but Rainbow Dash immediately rushed to her, flying and pushing Scootaloo out of the way. While she didn't take the blast directly, Dash's right wing was crippled.

She collapsed on the floor in agony, wrapping her wing around herself, pressing it against her chest.

"Rainbow Dash!" The other ponies yelled as they rushed to her aid.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" A panicked Twilight, apologizing for the spell. "The whole castle is protected by magic, or something! It's some form of barrier!"

"I'm fine! Relax!" Dash got up and extended her wing, then quickly retracted it. "I'll need to go to the hospital to get it looked at, but I'm just glad Scoot's is okay."

Scootaloo ran up and hugged her. "I'm so sorry Rainbow Dash, thank you! I'm really sorry!" She said with tears in her eyes.

Rainbow held her close. "Don't worry kid, I'd never let anything bad happen to you."

"Now how are we gonna get outta here?!" She said as she stood up. "Isn't there something we can do?'

Cadence and Twilight were out of ideas, but knew they couldn't freak out the other ponies. One guest was dead, another injured, and they were trapped. Panic is the last thing they wanted.

"Let's wait for Shining to arrive then we will move to the… What's the most secure room, Twilight?" Cadence turned and asked.

"Unfortunately… The Great Oak Hall. There's only one entrance and no windows. We could also try my bedroom, perhaps just to get some rest and call out from the windows for help in the morning."

"Alright, we'll wait for Shining and then…" Cadence was interrupted by clacking. It had started to rain and was hitting the windows. Thunder could be heard ever so lightly in the distance.

"As much as I'd hate to say it, I think we may want to go with the latter. Even if we get out, there's no telling if we'd be able to make it somewhere else safely." Fluttershy commented on the situation while still holding a distraught Rarity.

The ponies looked at one another with worried faces and understood their predicament.

In that moment the lights started to flicker. As it went pitch black screams could be heard. The lights turned on for a second only to reveal Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all running off in different directions into corridors and up the stairs. Twilight was only able to catch a glimpse as the lights darkened, she yelled to them, "Girls! Wait! It's not safe!"

"Twilight?! What's happenin'?!" Applejack yelled to Twilight in the darkness.

"I-I don't know!" She replied as she lit up the area with her horn.

"The girls! Where are the girls?!" Applejack moved into Twilight's light, frantically searching for any semblance of the three foals.

"I'm going after Apple Bloom!" She said as she ran off chasing after one of the silhouettes.

"We have to go after them!" Rainbow Dash said.

Twilight moved her light over Cadence.

She was cowering on the floor, covering her eyes, and whimpering.

Twilight looked at the other girls.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were standing together, one in obvious pain and the other emotionally unwell. Pinkie was comforting Rarity who had stopped crying long enough to understand the situation.

"Rarity, could you use your horn to light the area, and stay with Cadence while we go after the girls?"

She nodded to Twilight and her horn lit up, she wiped the tears from her eyes and sat next to Cadence.

Twilight looked back at the remaining three. "Rainbow and Fluttershy, you go down the right hallway. One of the girls headed that way and there is a storage closet not too far in with candles."

"B-but shouldn't we… stick together?" Fluttershy suggested.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "I'll protect you Fluttershy, and we need the light. We can't just sit here all night. I have to find Scoot!" She stamped her hoof.

Fluttershy knew she would regret it if she didn't try to help and as such agreed with Rainbow.

"If you find one of the girls bring her back here immediately candles or not. I don't want them to," Twilight paused for a moment. "end up like Spike."

Pinkie Pie and Twilight turned away and both teams of ponies headed in their assigned direction.

'If only I could see. If only I knew this place better. Oh Apple Bloom, where could you be?!' These were the thoughts rushing through her mind as she rushed through the castle.

Applejack managed to get deep into the castle, finding the moderately stocked library that Twilight had been organizing ever since the tree library had exploded.

"Apple Bloom! Anypony!"

A light was shining at the end of the other side of the library. She decided to investigate it further as it could be one of her friends, or the killer themselves.

Rows of bookshelves both empty and full were to her left and right.

The pony had their back to Applejack as she crept up onto them.

'It could be one of my friends. I best not hurt them.'

She reached her front hooves back and slammed the pony right in the cutie mark, knocking them to the ground.

"Woah hey hey!" The male pony stumbled to get back up.

The pony quickly turned around for fear of being hit again, only to reveal it was Shining Armor.

"Oh gosh, I am so sorry. I wasn't sure who it was so I just thought I'd put you on yer rump." She quickly apologized.

Shining stood up and shook off her apology. "Look, I found this." He lit up the area in between two of the bookshelves, revealing a small bloody knife. It was the same that was used to cut the cake.

"Oh mah stars! Grab it and I reckon we can use it to defend ourselves!"

He shook his head. "It's evidence. If I touch it we could be tampering with who used it last. Even if it was magic we can still gain the residue of the last pony who used it. Let's tell Twilight about it, but no one else. We can't let anypony try to destroy evidence."

"Why on this green earth would we not tell everyone else? Why would somepony from our group want to destroy evidence?"

He held his head back for a moment. "Because there is no one else except us in this castle." He looked her straight in the eyes. "I guarantee it."

Applejack stepped back, trying to comprehend what he said. "If… if you're sayin'… Then I…"

She turned away. "I gotta find Apple Bloom!" Sweat dripped from her brow.

She sprinted off more determined than ever to find her sister, and no darkness was going to stop her.

"Wait! At least let me light the path! We'll be safer together!" Shining called out to her, taking a few steps after her then stopped.

'But what if she's the killer?'

He turned his head back and lit up the knife, a deep frown on his face.

'Better safe than sorry.'