The Death of the Infamous "Flim Flam Brothers"by EVILRAINBOWDASHChaptersDiscovery InvestigationInvestigation/Zecora Surprising truthDiscovery Discovery It had been over a month since the Apple family had lost their once prized apple farm to the despicable "Flim Flam Brothers" The brothers had to admit that it had been one hell of a competition, but in the end, the Apple Family, even with the help of 5 other ponies, just simply could not keep up with the pure speed of the "super cider squeezy 6000" In the end the Apple family lost, thus they really had no choice and ended up moving to Appleloosa where they temporally lived with Braeburn, until they could earn enough keeps working on Appleloosa's orchard to someday buy their own place, or at the very least build one. Yes life was looking pretty bleak for the once proud owners of "Sweet Apple Acres" Just the fact that things would never go back to the way it was before......or would it due to the unknown events that were taking place in Ponyville at this very moment. _____________________________ Rainbow Dash was flying over Sweet Apple Acres for the first time since Applejacks departure, Nothing felt the same after Applejack left, and Dash especially hated that fact, not only did she hate that fact she also hated the Flim Flam Brothers beyond belief, she wished more than anything they would just disappear from the face of Equestria and never return, for they forced the one pony in Equestria that was almost, ALMOST as awesome as she was, to leave and Dash just simply could not forgive them for such a heinous act. and the thing was just about everypony in Ponyville felt exactly the same way, especially Pinkie Pie, she hated those bastards worse than anypony could possibly imagine, in fact her mane went straight for 2 weeks after Applejack left, She even went as far as pulling awful pranks on the two brothers, nearly killing them a couple times, well maybe not directly, but having an anvil fall on somepony's head isn't exactly the smartest thing to do in the name of pranking, even Dash had to admit that was a little bit too far. Dash let out a sigh of defeat and continued to fly over "Flim Flam Farms" as the two brothers renamed it. Dash cringed at the new name of the farm, and absolutely hated what those two had done to it. Applejacks once classical bright red barn had been torn down and in it's place stood three industrial looking factory buildings with ugly smoke stacks towering out of the top, shamelessly poring smog over the small village of Ponyville, the sight was just more than even the mighty Dash could take, she felt a tear start to form in the corner of her eye and quickly swiped it away. Dash turned around and started to fly the direction the would be the quickest to get her out of the monstrosity that was once the Apple families home, when something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. she quickly focused on what she thought she saw......"It, it couldn't be" she thought aloud. She landed right by the sight, and there hanging from the largest apple tree on the entire farm and just so happened to be closet to the house, hung both of the Brothers, dead with a tight noose wrapped firmly around their neck. Dash just stood there with a mixture of confusion, and even a slight bittersweet taste of...joy. "NO!" Dash shouted allowed. "I mean sure, I hate them, but I hardly think they deserve THIS!" Dash thought to herself as she continued to stare at their lifeless body's. Then that brought up the next question. "Who should I tell first? should I even tell anypony or just let these greedy carcases hang out here and rot" Dash pondered for a second then a sudden wave of realization hit her. "If I tell anypony, t-then they might think it was ME!" Dash started to panic at the thought and as if on cue she was all of a sudden tackled by three white Pegasai wearing the signature royal guard armor. "Rainbow Dash, you are hear by charged with the murder of these two unicorns, come quietly and there will be no trouble!" Her heart froze when the guard finished, how could they blame HER she just discovered the bodies of them, and had nothing to even do with their deaths, so then how could they just randomly jump to such large conclusions when there wasn't even any clues pointing to anypony as of yet, let alone HER! Normally Dash would not tolerate being captured let alone pined to the ground, but she knew full well that this was not just some measly police force, this was the royal guard she was dealing with! And any attempts to escape, or otherwise fight back could instantly be branded as treason. For the first time in her life, Dash used common sense, for she knew for a fact that she was innocent, all she could really do now is pray to Celestia that they could prove her innocence. ________________________________ Back at the library Twilight was happily studying away still a little shaken by Applejacks sudden departure when Out of nowhere, "BUUUUUURP" "Whoa, that was a big one" Spike blushed as a scroll of paper slowly floated to the ground. "ugh, I wonder what this could be" Twilight asked herself as she picked up the letter with her magic and unrolled it. "Princess Celestia Dear Twilight Sparkle, I am sorry to inform you that your friend Rainbow Dash the element of loyalty has just been charged with the murder of both of the "Flim Flam Brothers" I request all 5 of your presence in Canterlot immediately the next day" Twilight froze after she finished, she could tell right away by Celestias unusually formal letter that this was serious, and with that she looked directly into spikes eyes and said. "Off to Canterlot" InvestigationDash was nearly board to tears, since she had been sitting in the dungeon in Canterlot castle for over 18 hours more or less waiting for any signs of movement outside the barred dungeon doors, she didn't even know that the castle had a dungeon, but she found out soon enough.The cell was simple, it had one basic bed that was made out of stone with a light sheet draped over it, and an old wooden bucket in the corner...which it's use was obvious due to the smell. She could hear the light dripping of water in the distance that seemed to have an eerie echo to it that to send a chill down her spine. just before Dash started to wonder if she was going to be down there forever she heard a sound which at the time was the most beautiful sound in the world at that moment. *CLICK* Dashes ears perked up at the sound as the barred doors slowly started to swing open. As the door swung open she saw the outline of 5 familiar looking ponies along with one guard. Before Dash could even think to react a pink blur tackled her and started relentlessly squeezing her nearly making it impossible to breath. "Oh Dashie I am SOOOOO glad to see you, did ya miss us, DID YA!? was it scary in here, are you scared, are there a lot of meanie pants down here!!!" Pinkie pie Started to blurt as fast as she could as she continued to squeeze Dash for all she was worth. "P-Pinkie PIE! you are K-killing me!" Dash grunted as she struggled to talk under the massive grip that was Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie Blushed slightly before releasing her grip on Dash and backing away to finally give her some breathing room. "G Guys I am so glad to see you! It was so boring down here, and the food was terrible" Dash finally said with a sound of relief in her voice. Dashes look suddenly became much more serious as she looked at all 5 of her friends and with a serious tone said. "I-I didn't do it!" Her friends look back at her with a puzzled expression plastered on their face. "Rainbow Dash, listen, we already know YOU didn't do it" Twilight said in a soft tone. "R- Really?" Dash cocked her head sideways with a look of puzzlement on her face. "Ah, come on now sugercube, we have all known each other long enough ta know even you wouldn't do somethin that reckless" Applejack Said with a smile. Dash was happy to see that all her friends trusted her and were on her side one hundred percent, She was also glad that she would finally get out of that cramped up cell, which intern led her to her next question. "S-So you guys did come down here to bail me out, r-right ?" Dash said as a look of worry spread across her face. "Why of course darling. we would never let you stay in such a retched place for long." Rarity said with a warm smile. Dash let out a sigh of relief, finally after 18 hours of what to Dash might as well of been Days, she finally was going to get out of that cell which she hated so much. "AWESOME, So...what now?" Dash asked as she was hovering in the air beside her friends. With that question twilight stepped forward and began to explain everything to Dash, Such as how Celestia wanted a meeting with all 6 of them in order to hopefully find the culprit. And with that they all was lead up to the throne room with the guard leading the way. _________________________________ When the 6 arrived at the throne room, they all saw Celestia standing there with a very unusual look on her face, or at least an unusual look for Celestia. She actually looked...sad, which gave the other 6 ponies standing before her a feeling of uneasiness. They had very Rarely ever seen the princess with such a look on her face, and to see the normally smiling goddess of the sun frowning in such a way was, very depressing in a way. "Rainbow Dash could you please come over here" Celesta said in her usual calming tone of voice. Rainbow Dash slowly began to walk over to the tall white alicorn, wondering why SHE was once again being singled out from the rest of her friends. When Dash reached Celestia, Celestia slowly lowered her head and put her horn to Dashes forehead and told her to relax. Celestia horn slowly started to glow a pale yellow and then the glow started to fade just a few seconds later, the white alicorn then raised her head back up and let out a slight sigh. "Good, Rainbow Dash you are innocent, just as I thought, although I am slightly disappointed in you" Celestia said an unreadable expression. Dash was a little bit taken aback by this, she knew immediately why Celestia was disappointed, but why didn't she trust her, Why did she automatically have to read her thoughts, without even asking permission? To Dash this just didn't make sense. "Rainbow Dash, I do trust you, but I had to be 11O percent sure, and now I am" Celestia said as she gave Dash a warm smile. Rainbow Dash decided that in the end Celestia did have an obligation to keep Equestria safe, and that also means safe from any psychotic murders that might be wondering around the land. "So then, do we have any leads" Twilight Finally spoke up. "No, not yet, however we do know that it was in fact a murder and not a suicide, due to the drag marks leading out to where they were hung. We also think that something of magical properties put them to sleep, or knocked them out, and while they were unconscious, someone hung them" Celesta said with a shake of her head. Twilight was a little bit confused but also a little concerned, Celestia Had mentioned something with magical proprieties but not actual magic. With that one name came to mind, the only pony close to Ponyville that used magic but wasn't a unicorn. "Zeccora" Investigation/Zecora Investigation/Zecora "Zecora? Twilight have ya gone mad?" Applejack blurted out Twilight stopped for a moment to think. Why would Zecora have anything against the Flim Flam Brothers, it just didn't add up, even though just about everypony hated them she, hardly thought Zecora would ever be the kind of pony to harm anyone, right about then is when the most obvious answer hit her. What if it actually wasn't Zecora, but somepony else that manged to steal a potion from her.....What if, It was actually somepony IN the apple family. Twilight glanced over at Applejack for a second with a guilty look before quickly shaking those thoughts out of her head, she would absolutely REFUSE to believe that anyone in Applejacks family would committee such a horrible act, even if it was against Equestrias two most hated ponies. "HAHAHA, You think ZECORA, of all pony's in Equestria would even think of hurting let alone MURDERING somepony!" Dash let out with a mixture of anger and hysteria. "Rainbow Dash, listen to me, I REFUSE to take anything as fact until I have 100 percent PROOF of who did it, so...I'm not blaming anyone...yet anyway" Twilight Said staring daggers at Dash. Dash just let out a huff of frustration as she continued to hover over her 5 friends. "Butbutbutbut! We cant just throw Zecora in a prison cell with all the spiders, bugs and SCARRRRYY shadows, can we canwecanwecanwe!" Pinkie Pie let out rambling a mile a minute. "Yeaaaa, I kinda know somepony else that was in that same situation" Dash said sarcastically, letting everypony around her know that she was referring to herself. Celestia eyed Dash for a second before turning around. "I deeply apologize for the actions of my guards, and I assure you they have been reprehended" Celestia said with almost an annoyed tone. Celestia seemed to notice the distressed look on Twilight's face but seemed to shake of the notion shortly after. She knew something was troubling her, but she would speak with her in private later. "Rainbow Dash?" Dash looked over at Twilight with a look that said continue. "Do you think that you could by any chance fly with Celestia over to Zecora's" Twilight asked "Yea, sure no problem" Dash said as she proudly spread her wings and saluted. "You guys wait right here, we'll be back in.....I got nothing just wait here" Dash said And with that both the princess and Dash were off heading in the direction of the Everfree Forest. Celestia was stunned at how fast Dash could actually fly, she knew she was fast, but even Celestia, who had around 2000 years of flight experience was having a hard time keeping up, and before she realized it Dash was starting to land. "Here we are" Dash said proudly as she folded her wings and began to walk towards the small hut that was the Zebras home. Dash walked up to the hut and knocked loudly and waited a few seconds until the door slowly started to swing open. "Hey Zecora" Dash greeted as she waited for a response. "What brings you here, on this one fine day" Zecora said "Hey, do you mind if we com in?" Dash asked politely Zecora stopped for a moment, just then she noticed the princess of the sun standing beside Dash and immediately bowed. Celestia gave Zecora a warm smile. "It's quite alright, we just need to ask you a few questions" "Why of course, I would be more than happy, to have you in my hut" Zecora said in her normal rhyme type fashion. With that both Dash and Celestia entered into the Zebras hut. Inside it was the same as always, with shelf after shelf of potions lining the walls, and old antique artifacts slung across just about every inch of the one main room that made up Zecoras hut. "What is it that your majesty seeks?" Zecora asked as mannerly as possible, yet still using her rhythmic tone. Celestia giggled at Zecoras attempt at being formal, and with that began to explain the whole situation at hand, While Celestia was explaining everything Dash just stood their and nodded, as she pretended like she was actually paying attention. After a quick explanation Celestia stopped and gave the Zebra time to respond. "Most troublesome, is this fiend however, the answer is not in front of you at this moment" Dash blinked a couple of times "Wait, What no! We already know it wasn't you!" Dash blurted out Celestia nodded in approval, before speaking up herself. "All we need to know, is if any of your potions have disappeared as of lately" Celestia finished. Zecora paused for a second deep in thought, trying to remember what had recently gone missing. "Wait here, if you will" Zecora Finally Said as she started to walk towards the giant shelf of bottles that were on the other side of the room. Dash And Celestia did just that as they heard clanking and shuffling all caused by the Zebras frantic searching. Fianally after some time the Zecora Started to walk back towards the two, looking slightly distressed. "It is as you said, the sleeping potion has disappeared" Celestia had a unreadable expression. All at once Celestias horn started to glow that same dim yellow color that Dash had seen when she was in the dungeon, before slowly starting to fade. All of a sudden Dash noticed Celestias entire demeanor change, her normally cheerful looked changed to one that Dash had never seen before, she...actually looked stressed out. "Princess, wha" Before Dash could finish her question, the door swung open and Celestia was already high up in the sky, with Dash trying hard to catch up, surprised by the princesses sudden speed. ______________________________ As the princess was flying hard to get back to the castle, she had a lot to think about. After she read Zecoras mind, it managed to confirm her worst fears, that if true, could permanently separate the mane 6, or at least one in particular. Surprising truthCelestia followed by Dash touched down by the massive double doors that lead to the throne room. The princess had a lot to think about at the moment. "P princess whats wrong?" Dash questioned cocking her head slightly hoping to get a response. For a moment Dash thought the question was just going to be ignored until the princes finally shook her head slightly and responded with a less than desirable answer than Dash was hopping for. "I assure you, I will explain my thoughts to you all once we get into the throne room" Celestia assured Dash with look of distress. With that both Celestia and Dash entered the throne room and were greeted by 5 other cheerful ponies that came to greet their arrival. "So, did you find anything, didyadidyadidya!" Pinkie Pie burst out in a fit of excitement. "Please tell me Zecora had nuthin ta do with it?" Applejack said hopping for the best. Celestia looked at applejack with almost a Saddened look on her face "No I promise you Zecora had nothing to do with it...at least not knowingly" Celestia replied in a flat voice before looking over at Twilight. The 6 ponies looked worriedly towards the princess, immediately knowing something was off, Celestia just didn't seem to be herself at the moment, and the atmosphere around the 6 ponies seemed intoxicating, as they waited for a reply from the white alicorn standing in front of them. Then with a hint of sadness the princess looked over at Twilight. "Twilight, may I have a word with you in...private?" "Princess" Twilight whispered "Please Twilight this is not the time to be arguing" Celestia said growing sterner in her words and giving Twilight a no nonsense look, that seemed to look right through her. "P-princess, whats the matter" Twilight whispered, just now realizing how stern her former teacher had become. "Please Twilight, just follow me, I can promise you that everything shall be explained to the other ponies in time, but for now I need just you" Twilight light out a slight sigh of mild frustration before completely giving into Celestias orders. "Fine" Twilight muttered as she looked behind and noticed a worried expression on the other 5's face..."Don't worry girls, everything will be fine" Twilight said in a soft tone, and with that Celestia gave Twilight a small motion to follow her, the two walked back towards the two giant double doors as Celestia used her magic to gently swing the doors open just wide enough for the two ponies to walk through comfortably. "Twilight, listen, I think I might know who murdered those two, but I am afraid it might not be exactly what you want to hear" Celestia said with slight bitterness that almost immediately gave away the gist of what the princess had to say "W-wait, you can't possibly mean what I think you do, can you?" Twilight said her voice growing shaky from the stress of the situation. "That's why I had to talk to you in private, I could not just single out Applejack that would Immediately tell her something was up" And then, Celestia took one final deep breath and spoke the words that Twilight so desperately wanted to avoid...."I think....In fact I am positive, that it was Applebloom" Author's Note I realize that this was an extremely short chapter, I have not wrote in a LONG time, so it may be a little rough to begin with, even though you may THINK that this particular fan fic is getting wrapped up, it's far from over yet, such as, how did Celestia automatically know who did it, or have such a strong hunch, and also, what will become of dear Applebloom or possibly even the CMC for that matter!
Discovery Discovery It had been over a month since the Apple family had lost their once prized apple farm to the despicable "Flim Flam Brothers" The brothers had to admit that it had been one hell of a competition, but in the end, the Apple Family, even with the help of 5 other ponies, just simply could not keep up with the pure speed of the "super cider squeezy 6000" In the end the Apple family lost, thus they really had no choice and ended up moving to Appleloosa where they temporally lived with Braeburn, until they could earn enough keeps working on Appleloosa's orchard to someday buy their own place, or at the very least build one. Yes life was looking pretty bleak for the once proud owners of "Sweet Apple Acres" Just the fact that things would never go back to the way it was before......or would it due to the unknown events that were taking place in Ponyville at this very moment. _____________________________ Rainbow Dash was flying over Sweet Apple Acres for the first time since Applejacks departure, Nothing felt the same after Applejack left, and Dash especially hated that fact, not only did she hate that fact she also hated the Flim Flam Brothers beyond belief, she wished more than anything they would just disappear from the face of Equestria and never return, for they forced the one pony in Equestria that was almost, ALMOST as awesome as she was, to leave and Dash just simply could not forgive them for such a heinous act. and the thing was just about everypony in Ponyville felt exactly the same way, especially Pinkie Pie, she hated those bastards worse than anypony could possibly imagine, in fact her mane went straight for 2 weeks after Applejack left, She even went as far as pulling awful pranks on the two brothers, nearly killing them a couple times, well maybe not directly, but having an anvil fall on somepony's head isn't exactly the smartest thing to do in the name of pranking, even Dash had to admit that was a little bit too far. Dash let out a sigh of defeat and continued to fly over "Flim Flam Farms" as the two brothers renamed it. Dash cringed at the new name of the farm, and absolutely hated what those two had done to it. Applejacks once classical bright red barn had been torn down and in it's place stood three industrial looking factory buildings with ugly smoke stacks towering out of the top, shamelessly poring smog over the small village of Ponyville, the sight was just more than even the mighty Dash could take, she felt a tear start to form in the corner of her eye and quickly swiped it away. Dash turned around and started to fly the direction the would be the quickest to get her out of the monstrosity that was once the Apple families home, when something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. she quickly focused on what she thought she saw......"It, it couldn't be" she thought aloud. She landed right by the sight, and there hanging from the largest apple tree on the entire farm and just so happened to be closet to the house, hung both of the Brothers, dead with a tight noose wrapped firmly around their neck. Dash just stood there with a mixture of confusion, and even a slight bittersweet taste of...joy. "NO!" Dash shouted allowed. "I mean sure, I hate them, but I hardly think they deserve THIS!" Dash thought to herself as she continued to stare at their lifeless body's. Then that brought up the next question. "Who should I tell first? should I even tell anypony or just let these greedy carcases hang out here and rot" Dash pondered for a second then a sudden wave of realization hit her. "If I tell anypony, t-then they might think it was ME!" Dash started to panic at the thought and as if on cue she was all of a sudden tackled by three white Pegasai wearing the signature royal guard armor. "Rainbow Dash, you are hear by charged with the murder of these two unicorns, come quietly and there will be no trouble!" Her heart froze when the guard finished, how could they blame HER she just discovered the bodies of them, and had nothing to even do with their deaths, so then how could they just randomly jump to such large conclusions when there wasn't even any clues pointing to anypony as of yet, let alone HER! Normally Dash would not tolerate being captured let alone pined to the ground, but she knew full well that this was not just some measly police force, this was the royal guard she was dealing with! And any attempts to escape, or otherwise fight back could instantly be branded as treason. For the first time in her life, Dash used common sense, for she knew for a fact that she was innocent, all she could really do now is pray to Celestia that they could prove her innocence. ________________________________ Back at the library Twilight was happily studying away still a little shaken by Applejacks sudden departure when Out of nowhere, "BUUUUUURP" "Whoa, that was a big one" Spike blushed as a scroll of paper slowly floated to the ground. "ugh, I wonder what this could be" Twilight asked herself as she picked up the letter with her magic and unrolled it. "Princess Celestia Dear Twilight Sparkle, I am sorry to inform you that your friend Rainbow Dash the element of loyalty has just been charged with the murder of both of the "Flim Flam Brothers" I request all 5 of your presence in Canterlot immediately the next day" Twilight froze after she finished, she could tell right away by Celestias unusually formal letter that this was serious, and with that she looked directly into spikes eyes and said. "Off to Canterlot"
InvestigationDash was nearly board to tears, since she had been sitting in the dungeon in Canterlot castle for over 18 hours more or less waiting for any signs of movement outside the barred dungeon doors, she didn't even know that the castle had a dungeon, but she found out soon enough.The cell was simple, it had one basic bed that was made out of stone with a light sheet draped over it, and an old wooden bucket in the corner...which it's use was obvious due to the smell. She could hear the light dripping of water in the distance that seemed to have an eerie echo to it that to send a chill down her spine. just before Dash started to wonder if she was going to be down there forever she heard a sound which at the time was the most beautiful sound in the world at that moment. *CLICK* Dashes ears perked up at the sound as the barred doors slowly started to swing open. As the door swung open she saw the outline of 5 familiar looking ponies along with one guard. Before Dash could even think to react a pink blur tackled her and started relentlessly squeezing her nearly making it impossible to breath. "Oh Dashie I am SOOOOO glad to see you, did ya miss us, DID YA!? was it scary in here, are you scared, are there a lot of meanie pants down here!!!" Pinkie pie Started to blurt as fast as she could as she continued to squeeze Dash for all she was worth. "P-Pinkie PIE! you are K-killing me!" Dash grunted as she struggled to talk under the massive grip that was Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie Blushed slightly before releasing her grip on Dash and backing away to finally give her some breathing room. "G Guys I am so glad to see you! It was so boring down here, and the food was terrible" Dash finally said with a sound of relief in her voice. Dashes look suddenly became much more serious as she looked at all 5 of her friends and with a serious tone said. "I-I didn't do it!" Her friends look back at her with a puzzled expression plastered on their face. "Rainbow Dash, listen, we already know YOU didn't do it" Twilight said in a soft tone. "R- Really?" Dash cocked her head sideways with a look of puzzlement on her face. "Ah, come on now sugercube, we have all known each other long enough ta know even you wouldn't do somethin that reckless" Applejack Said with a smile. Dash was happy to see that all her friends trusted her and were on her side one hundred percent, She was also glad that she would finally get out of that cramped up cell, which intern led her to her next question. "S-So you guys did come down here to bail me out, r-right ?" Dash said as a look of worry spread across her face. "Why of course darling. we would never let you stay in such a retched place for long." Rarity said with a warm smile. Dash let out a sigh of relief, finally after 18 hours of what to Dash might as well of been Days, she finally was going to get out of that cell which she hated so much. "AWESOME, So...what now?" Dash asked as she was hovering in the air beside her friends. With that question twilight stepped forward and began to explain everything to Dash, Such as how Celestia wanted a meeting with all 6 of them in order to hopefully find the culprit. And with that they all was lead up to the throne room with the guard leading the way. _________________________________ When the 6 arrived at the throne room, they all saw Celestia standing there with a very unusual look on her face, or at least an unusual look for Celestia. She actually looked...sad, which gave the other 6 ponies standing before her a feeling of uneasiness. They had very Rarely ever seen the princess with such a look on her face, and to see the normally smiling goddess of the sun frowning in such a way was, very depressing in a way. "Rainbow Dash could you please come over here" Celesta said in her usual calming tone of voice. Rainbow Dash slowly began to walk over to the tall white alicorn, wondering why SHE was once again being singled out from the rest of her friends. When Dash reached Celestia, Celestia slowly lowered her head and put her horn to Dashes forehead and told her to relax. Celestia horn slowly started to glow a pale yellow and then the glow started to fade just a few seconds later, the white alicorn then raised her head back up and let out a slight sigh. "Good, Rainbow Dash you are innocent, just as I thought, although I am slightly disappointed in you" Celestia said an unreadable expression. Dash was a little bit taken aback by this, she knew immediately why Celestia was disappointed, but why didn't she trust her, Why did she automatically have to read her thoughts, without even asking permission? To Dash this just didn't make sense. "Rainbow Dash, I do trust you, but I had to be 11O percent sure, and now I am" Celestia said as she gave Dash a warm smile. Rainbow Dash decided that in the end Celestia did have an obligation to keep Equestria safe, and that also means safe from any psychotic murders that might be wondering around the land. "So then, do we have any leads" Twilight Finally spoke up. "No, not yet, however we do know that it was in fact a murder and not a suicide, due to the drag marks leading out to where they were hung. We also think that something of magical properties put them to sleep, or knocked them out, and while they were unconscious, someone hung them" Celesta said with a shake of her head. Twilight was a little bit confused but also a little concerned, Celestia Had mentioned something with magical proprieties but not actual magic. With that one name came to mind, the only pony close to Ponyville that used magic but wasn't a unicorn. "Zeccora"
Investigation/Zecora Investigation/Zecora "Zecora? Twilight have ya gone mad?" Applejack blurted out Twilight stopped for a moment to think. Why would Zecora have anything against the Flim Flam Brothers, it just didn't add up, even though just about everypony hated them she, hardly thought Zecora would ever be the kind of pony to harm anyone, right about then is when the most obvious answer hit her. What if it actually wasn't Zecora, but somepony else that manged to steal a potion from her.....What if, It was actually somepony IN the apple family. Twilight glanced over at Applejack for a second with a guilty look before quickly shaking those thoughts out of her head, she would absolutely REFUSE to believe that anyone in Applejacks family would committee such a horrible act, even if it was against Equestrias two most hated ponies. "HAHAHA, You think ZECORA, of all pony's in Equestria would even think of hurting let alone MURDERING somepony!" Dash let out with a mixture of anger and hysteria. "Rainbow Dash, listen to me, I REFUSE to take anything as fact until I have 100 percent PROOF of who did it, so...I'm not blaming anyone...yet anyway" Twilight Said staring daggers at Dash. Dash just let out a huff of frustration as she continued to hover over her 5 friends. "Butbutbutbut! We cant just throw Zecora in a prison cell with all the spiders, bugs and SCARRRRYY shadows, can we canwecanwecanwe!" Pinkie Pie let out rambling a mile a minute. "Yeaaaa, I kinda know somepony else that was in that same situation" Dash said sarcastically, letting everypony around her know that she was referring to herself. Celestia eyed Dash for a second before turning around. "I deeply apologize for the actions of my guards, and I assure you they have been reprehended" Celestia said with almost an annoyed tone. Celestia seemed to notice the distressed look on Twilight's face but seemed to shake of the notion shortly after. She knew something was troubling her, but she would speak with her in private later. "Rainbow Dash?" Dash looked over at Twilight with a look that said continue. "Do you think that you could by any chance fly with Celestia over to Zecora's" Twilight asked "Yea, sure no problem" Dash said as she proudly spread her wings and saluted. "You guys wait right here, we'll be back in.....I got nothing just wait here" Dash said And with that both the princess and Dash were off heading in the direction of the Everfree Forest. Celestia was stunned at how fast Dash could actually fly, she knew she was fast, but even Celestia, who had around 2000 years of flight experience was having a hard time keeping up, and before she realized it Dash was starting to land. "Here we are" Dash said proudly as she folded her wings and began to walk towards the small hut that was the Zebras home. Dash walked up to the hut and knocked loudly and waited a few seconds until the door slowly started to swing open. "Hey Zecora" Dash greeted as she waited for a response. "What brings you here, on this one fine day" Zecora said "Hey, do you mind if we com in?" Dash asked politely Zecora stopped for a moment, just then she noticed the princess of the sun standing beside Dash and immediately bowed. Celestia gave Zecora a warm smile. "It's quite alright, we just need to ask you a few questions" "Why of course, I would be more than happy, to have you in my hut" Zecora said in her normal rhyme type fashion. With that both Dash and Celestia entered into the Zebras hut. Inside it was the same as always, with shelf after shelf of potions lining the walls, and old antique artifacts slung across just about every inch of the one main room that made up Zecoras hut. "What is it that your majesty seeks?" Zecora asked as mannerly as possible, yet still using her rhythmic tone. Celestia giggled at Zecoras attempt at being formal, and with that began to explain the whole situation at hand, While Celestia was explaining everything Dash just stood their and nodded, as she pretended like she was actually paying attention. After a quick explanation Celestia stopped and gave the Zebra time to respond. "Most troublesome, is this fiend however, the answer is not in front of you at this moment" Dash blinked a couple of times "Wait, What no! We already know it wasn't you!" Dash blurted out Celestia nodded in approval, before speaking up herself. "All we need to know, is if any of your potions have disappeared as of lately" Celestia finished. Zecora paused for a second deep in thought, trying to remember what had recently gone missing. "Wait here, if you will" Zecora Finally Said as she started to walk towards the giant shelf of bottles that were on the other side of the room. Dash And Celestia did just that as they heard clanking and shuffling all caused by the Zebras frantic searching. Fianally after some time the Zecora Started to walk back towards the two, looking slightly distressed. "It is as you said, the sleeping potion has disappeared" Celestia had a unreadable expression. All at once Celestias horn started to glow that same dim yellow color that Dash had seen when she was in the dungeon, before slowly starting to fade. All of a sudden Dash noticed Celestias entire demeanor change, her normally cheerful looked changed to one that Dash had never seen before, she...actually looked stressed out. "Princess, wha" Before Dash could finish her question, the door swung open and Celestia was already high up in the sky, with Dash trying hard to catch up, surprised by the princesses sudden speed. ______________________________ As the princess was flying hard to get back to the castle, she had a lot to think about. After she read Zecoras mind, it managed to confirm her worst fears, that if true, could permanently separate the mane 6, or at least one in particular.
Surprising truthCelestia followed by Dash touched down by the massive double doors that lead to the throne room. The princess had a lot to think about at the moment. "P princess whats wrong?" Dash questioned cocking her head slightly hoping to get a response. For a moment Dash thought the question was just going to be ignored until the princes finally shook her head slightly and responded with a less than desirable answer than Dash was hopping for. "I assure you, I will explain my thoughts to you all once we get into the throne room" Celestia assured Dash with look of distress. With that both Celestia and Dash entered the throne room and were greeted by 5 other cheerful ponies that came to greet their arrival. "So, did you find anything, didyadidyadidya!" Pinkie Pie burst out in a fit of excitement. "Please tell me Zecora had nuthin ta do with it?" Applejack said hopping for the best. Celestia looked at applejack with almost a Saddened look on her face "No I promise you Zecora had nothing to do with it...at least not knowingly" Celestia replied in a flat voice before looking over at Twilight. The 6 ponies looked worriedly towards the princess, immediately knowing something was off, Celestia just didn't seem to be herself at the moment, and the atmosphere around the 6 ponies seemed intoxicating, as they waited for a reply from the white alicorn standing in front of them. Then with a hint of sadness the princess looked over at Twilight. "Twilight, may I have a word with you in...private?" "Princess" Twilight whispered "Please Twilight this is not the time to be arguing" Celestia said growing sterner in her words and giving Twilight a no nonsense look, that seemed to look right through her. "P-princess, whats the matter" Twilight whispered, just now realizing how stern her former teacher had become. "Please Twilight, just follow me, I can promise you that everything shall be explained to the other ponies in time, but for now I need just you" Twilight light out a slight sigh of mild frustration before completely giving into Celestias orders. "Fine" Twilight muttered as she looked behind and noticed a worried expression on the other 5's face..."Don't worry girls, everything will be fine" Twilight said in a soft tone, and with that Celestia gave Twilight a small motion to follow her, the two walked back towards the two giant double doors as Celestia used her magic to gently swing the doors open just wide enough for the two ponies to walk through comfortably. "Twilight, listen, I think I might know who murdered those two, but I am afraid it might not be exactly what you want to hear" Celestia said with slight bitterness that almost immediately gave away the gist of what the princess had to say "W-wait, you can't possibly mean what I think you do, can you?" Twilight said her voice growing shaky from the stress of the situation. "That's why I had to talk to you in private, I could not just single out Applejack that would Immediately tell her something was up" And then, Celestia took one final deep breath and spoke the words that Twilight so desperately wanted to avoid...."I think....In fact I am positive, that it was Applebloom" Author's Note I realize that this was an extremely short chapter, I have not wrote in a LONG time, so it may be a little rough to begin with, even though you may THINK that this particular fan fic is getting wrapped up, it's far from over yet, such as, how did Celestia automatically know who did it, or have such a strong hunch, and also, what will become of dear Applebloom or possibly even the CMC for that matter!
