The Lovely Bones: Afterlife of a Murdered Pegasus

Chapter 20: A Hunt Begins

Sunkick awoke early the following morning. He trudged his way out of the bed he was occupying in Rainbow Dash's house and made his way outside. The air was slightly refreshing and the sun was cloaked behind a veil of dark clouds. Sunkick lowered himself to the ground and began making his way to town. He had to go and speak to Twilight Sparkle. Stormflower had told him the previous night that Twilight had finally returned to Ponyville and she had brought along a small group of investigators to look into the case of his missing sister. He needed to inform them of his contact with her. It could prove to be very important in the grand scheme of things.

There was hardly anypony out at the moment, for it was somewhat early in the morning, but Sunkick didn't mind. At the moment, he wasn't in the mood to be caught up in a large swarm of ponies. Sunkick strolled down the road until he noticed something. Somepony was watching him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her. She was sitting over on a nearby bench. She was a pink pony. Her hair was long and straight and her eyes were dark and sunken in. She had yet to realize that she had been discovered by her prey so she continued to stare. The stare gave Sunkick the creeps. There was definitely something wrong with this pony. He wanted to turn around and bluntly ask her why she was staring at him but he decided against it. He took a deep breath and slowly began walking again. He turned his eyes forward and focused on getting to Twilight Sparkle's house.

It didn't take him long to arrive at the small library which served as the home for Twilight Sparkle. Sunkick walked up to the door and stopped. He turned his eyes away from the door. She was still there. The pink pony had followed him. What the hell did she want? Sunkick gulped and knocked on the door. He waited anxiously as the pink pony continued to eye him from behind a nearby tree. The door opened and the lavender unicorn known as Twilight Sparkle answered.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Twilight? Twilight Sparkle?" Sunkick stuttered.

"That's me."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Sunkick. Stormflower probably told you about me already."

"Oh! I remember! Well. It's nice to finally meet you. You know, you have more of a resemblance to Rainbow Dash than Stormflower."

"Yeah. Can I come in?"

"Sure!"

Twilight stepped aside and Sunkick entered the library, his eyes still glancing back towards the tree that concealed the pink pony.

"Do you want something to eat or drink?" asked Twilight.

"Sure. I'll take anything really," Sunkick replied. Twilight nodded and disappeared through a nearby door. She returned a few moments later with a tray of toast, orange juice, and fruit.

"I hope this will suffice."

"Definitely."

Sunkick eagerly began eating some toast as Twilight sat down across from him.

"So what did you want to talk about?" she asked.

"Firstly, I need to tell you that somepony was following me here," Sunkick choked.

"Who?!"

"Some creepy pink pony."

"Pinkie Pie? Why would she be following you?"

"I have no idea. She was extremely creepy. I mean with that straight, mangled hair, that dark stare, and especially those clouded, sunken eyes!"

"That doesn't sound like Pinkie Pie at all. She's normally very vibrant and welcoming. Maybe she's sick."

"Last time I checked she was hiding behind a tree outside."

"Hmm. That's certainly strange."

Twilight walked over to a nearby window and looked out. The tree sat calmly outside with no signs of anypony standing behind it.

"She must have left then," Twilight said as she walked back to her seat. "I wonder why."

"Anyway...I need to tell you something else," Sunkick continued.

"What else?"

"It's hard to explain but...a few days ago I think I made a telepathic connection with Rainbow Dash."

"Telepathic connection? How? You're a pegasus. The only ponies in history who could pull that off were unicorns, albeit very powerful unicorns at that."

"Trust me, I'm still finding it hard to believe. I remember being alone in the living room. Suddenly I felt like I wasn't alone anymore. Then I saw this blotch of air that looked abnormally cloudy. I approached it and I began hearing a voice from inside my head, but I could also physically hear it! It was a pretty faint voice but I could hear it nonetheless. Then she touched my cheek and my cheek became really cold. The air around me also became really cold. It all disappeared once my parents broke my concentration."

"Strange."

"I think my sister is in a lot of trouble, Twilight!"

"I would think so!" said a booming voice. Twilight and Sunkick turned towards the staircase. Aaron was standing there, a curious smile etched onto his face.

"Have you been spying on us this whole time?!" Twilight snapped.

"Yes. Ponies tend to open themselves up more when they're talking to anypony other than an investigator."

Aaron casually walked over to them and sat down beside Twilight.

"So what do you think?" Sunkick asked.

"I'd say that we need to start our hunt as soon as possible. I also want to look into this Pinkie Pie character more. From what you've said, Sunkick, I can deduce that she's hiding something. Maybe even the fact that she's killed-"

"Enough! I will not have anypony, even an investigator such as yourself, talk badly about any of my friends! I know Pinkie Pie. She would never hurt anypony even if somepony tried to make her do it! I know her!" Twilight snapped.

"If you know her so much then can you explain why she was stalking Sunkick?"

"We don't even know if it was Pinkie Pie! Anypony could have been following him!"

"Exactly how many pink ponies are in this town?"

"A fair few I would say."

"She's still a possible suspect. I'm going to be visiting her later today."

"I'm coming with you!"

"Fine then. Just don't try to stop me from doing my job."

Aaron took an apple from the tray and walked back up the stairs.

"Well he's a friendly character," said Sunkick with a smile. Twilight chuckled and slightly shook her head.

"He may be a blunt brute but at least he's determined to solve this case and find your sister," Twilight said.

"Let's just hope that she's alive when he finds her."

The unicorn and the pegasus fell silent. Upstairs, Aaron sighed and slowly closed the guest room door.