The Curious Case of the Unicorn Twilight Sparkle

by The Rising Tide of Night

Rating: teen
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Original Character
Length: 18885

Ponyville has been plagued by terrible murders for the past few weeks. Why is Twilight Sparkle being interrogated as part of the investigation? And why does she look so guilty?

Ponyville has been plagued by terrible murders for the past few weeks. Detective Night Eye has been doing his best to catch the killer, but has been unsuccessful so far. It isn't until he gets a break in the form of Twilight Sparkle and her journal does he finally understand what's been going on in this little town.
The trouble is, why does Twilight Sparkle look so guilty?

Published 2014-02-21 16:00:06 UTC
Last updated 2014-02-28 18:53:42 UTC

Interrogation

Detective Night Eye leaned against the glass with a sigh. He stared through the two-way mirror into the dimly-lit interrogation room, trying to fathom the disheveled unicorn sitting there silently. She looked as though she had been hiding in a haystack, her mane a wreck of tangles and straw and her fur dirty and covered in bits of dead grass; in fact, that was exactly where she had been found after yesterday’s fiasco.

He glanced down at the journal he held in his hooves with some trepidation, feeling both a sense of excitement and a sense of dread. On the one hoof, he was certain that both the journal and the pony on the other side of the glass were the keys to solving the horrific crimes that had been plaguing Ponyville for weeks. On the other, he was afraid of what the contents of this journal meant for the filly in the room and her friends.

“Might as well get this over with,” he muttered to himself as he slipped out of the observation room. Pausing for a moment to get into character, he pushed the door open and stepped into the room.

The unicorn sitting in front of him flinched at the sound of the door opening, but continued to stare down at the table in front of her, as if inspecting the wood for imperfections. He remained silent as he approached the table separating them, content to let the force of his presence work its magic. He had broken more than one petty criminal just by staring down at them with his intimidating frame and piercing eyes.

Reaching the table, he paused and waited for the unicorn to look up at him. It was a while before her head moved; she seemed determined to ignore him as much as possible. When she finally lifted her violet eyes to look into his hard green ones, he slapped the journal down on the table in front of her, the harsh sound echoing through the small room. She really flinched then, nearly tumbling to the floor before catching herself.

A slight pang of remorse hit him at frightening the poor mare, but he didn't let it show. He was determined to get the answers he needed. This case needed to be closed so that ponies could sleep soundly in their beds once more.

“I found your journal,” he said quietly. “It took some digging, but we managed it.” Turning away from her, he sauntered over to the mirror on the wall. He knew that his partner was standing on the other side of the mirror where he had been only minutes ago, but he could only see his dark blue face framed by his jet-black mane.

“You didn’t make it easy on us, did you?” he called back to her, watching her reaction in the mirror. “Hiding it behind that horseshoe switch in the library bookshelf. We tore those shelves apart, you know. Had to rifle through every book there before one of my men accidentally stumbled upon the switch.”

He chuckled inwardly as her face flew up with an expression of horror and decided to give her a small respite. He wasn't completely unfeeling, after all. “Don’t worry; my men are busy re-shelving everything. Wouldn't want to leave the town library a mess, after all. It is a public space.” The relief on her face was almost palpable, and he decided it was time to bring her off balance once more.

His face set, he turned back to her. “I read that journal,” he said in a harsh whisper. “You knew exactly what was going on, didn't you?” He began to stalk towards her, eyes narrowing with each step, voice growing louder as he approached. She began to edge away from him, slowly pushing herself away from the table. “Even if you didn't know for certain, you obviously suspected who the killer was.”

His hoofsteps clicked to a halt as he reached the table. Her back was up against the wall, and she was trying to look anywhere but the journal on the table or his accusing face. “Well?” he shouted, causing her to flinch once more as he slammed a hoof down on the table. “ Aren't you gonna tell me why? Why you let your friends die? Why this town lost some good ponies?”

He heard a small sound, a sniffle that turned into a sob. Changing tack once more, he spoke much more softly, easing a tone of condolence into his voice. “It hurts, doesn't it? When you finally realize that it was your decisions that lead to their loss.” She nodded almost imperceptibly, tears trickling down her face as she continued to stare off into the distance.

He sat back, giving her a minute to gather her thoughts before speaking once more. “I know you've been through a lot. Heck, there aren't a lot of ponies that can see what you've seen and still be standing.” His voice hardened once more. “But you need to come clean. I need to know how this,” – he gestured with his hoof towards the journal – “came about, and why you didn't tell anyone what you suspected until it was too late.”

He watched her intently, scrutinizing her like a bug under a microscope. He could see that the thoughts were whirling around her head; she was shifting from side to side unconsciously, as he had seen many others do while they were deciding how much to tell him. The seconds dragged on and on, turning into minutes, but still he sat patiently on the cold, unfeeling floor tiles, waiting for her decision.

With a practiced eye, he saw the moment she reached a decision. He unconsciously leaned forward slightly as she stopped shifting and began to turn her head towards him. Looking him in the eye, anguish plain on her face, she opened her mouth as if to speak. Her mouth hung open for a moment, before she closed it and hung her head once more as her courage failed her. Under his sudden surge of disappointment, he barely heard her voice, almost missing the nearly inaudible words she spoke.

“I’m sorry.”

He kept his face blank, but the disappointment and frustration seethed under his skin. He stared at her for a minute longer, hoping for some indication that she would change her mind, but she just continued to sit there, tears running down her face, staining her fur. Giving in for the moment, he sighed, and leaned forward to collect the journal from the table. Depositing it in the pocket of his uniform, he turned to leave the room.

Pausing at the door, he looked back at her, seeing the combined weight of grief and responsibility lying on her shoulders, bearing her down to the floor. “I’m going to read this journal again,” he told her. “Go over it with a fine-toothed comb. I will figure out exactly what happened, whether I have your cooperation or not.” He waited for another moment to see if his words had any effect on the grieving unicorn, but she appeared not to have heard him. When no response was forthcoming, he pushed the door open and left the interrogation room.

Slipping back into the observation room next door, he turned back to the glass separating the two rooms, joining his partner in watching the unicorn. “See anything I might have missed?” he asked the sharp-eyed forest-green pegasus.

The pegasus glanced over at him, wings ruffling for a split second. “Unlikely,” he rumbled in his bass voice. “She’s clearly upset and won’t talk. I don’t think you’re gonna get much of anything out of her just yet.”

Night Eye let out a rumble of frustration. “Thanks, Sharpshot,” he grumbled sarcastically. “You’re a huge help.”

Sharpshot threw him a mock salute. “Anything for you, fearless leader.” They stared into the room for a minute longer before Sharpshot broke the silence. “I thought you already knew what happened. The journal was pretty detailed.”

Night Eye nodded. “Exactly. It was detailed enough to get a sense of what happened, yes. But there were a few things missing.” He glanced over a Sharpshot, and as his green eyes met the confused brown eyes of his partner, he began to elaborate. “We don’t know what really happened between the end of the journal and this morning. A few days are missing. But really, Sharpshot, the biggest thing missing was the ‘why.’ There was no ‘why.’ She could have saved her friends with a few words, but she chose not to.” He glanced back at the unicorn in the interrogation room, watching her as she slumped to the floor, hooves covering her face.

“I need to know why Twilight Sparkle chose to let her friends die.”

Night Eye sat at his paper-strewn desk, a pot of coffee in front of him next to that blasted journal. He had left the observation room not too long ago, leaving Sharpshot to keep an eye on Twilight Sparkle. He knew that she had the real answers to the mystery, but just maybe, if he went through the journal once more, he’d be able to figure out…

Well, he wasn't sure what, but it would be something, dammit.

They’d already solved the case, for all intents and purposes. The killer had been dealt with, by Twilight herself of all people, the injured were being tended to, and the dead were unfortunately still dead. Still, Night Eye felt that there was something else that was missing. He needed to know for certain that the killer was gone. All Twilight had said after they’d pulled her out of that haystack was, “It’s done, she’s gone, it’s done.” She’d done almost nothing but hysterically repeat those words the entire journey to the station, aside from a few mutterings about her journal, before clamming up after being left in interrogation.

Night Eye reached over and poured himself another cup of coffee. Taking a moment to enjoy the scent and taste of the bitter brew, he placed the cup down on his messy desk before eyeing the journal in front of him. Inspecting the cover, looking for any possible clue he may have missed, he read the title to himself once more: “The Journal of Twilight Sparkle, Volume XX.”

…Huh. How about that. He just realized that he had never asked how old Twilight was. Judging by the volume number, she was at least twenty years old, probably around twenty-three, and that’s only if she kept one journal for every year.

Putting aside idle thoughts of ages, he opened the journal, starting from the beginning. He knew from previous perusals that the important information didn't start until halfway through the current entries, but he at least scanned the first half, searching for anything that would give him an idea for the reason behind her actions.

The first half was a lesson in domesticity combined with a guide to modern historical events. Events that both he and everypony else knew very well. Everypony had heard the stories of the Changeling invasion, and the subsequent reappearance of the Crystal Empire, though reading them from the point of view of Twilight herself was an interesting experience, to say the least. Details had been recorded in a manner that would have made the most studious historian squeal with joy.

However, something about the way it was written set his teeth on edge. It wasn't the content that had him unsettled; it was the contradiction between how she had been acting and the emotion that she poured into her journal whenever she wrote about her friends.

The dichotomy was a little jarring. One point she was writing about the Winter Wrap-up, going into almost obsessive detail about how she organized everything, the next the writing took on a playful tone as she talked about Pinkie Pie’s latest party, or a visit to Fluttershy’s cottage to see some new animal. It definitely gave him some insight into her character: here was a pony who took friendship seriously, and while she was an Element of Harmony and willing to answer any call the Princesses gave, she would give anything to help her friends in their time of need.

It didn't make any sense when held up against the events of the last month.

Shaking his head, he slowly flipped though the journal, eyes flowing over the pages, until he came to the point he was after: the point where he was pretty sure all of this madness began. Settling in and taking another drink of coffee, he began to read.

The Journal of Twilight Sparkle - 1st Week

May 12, 3 LR

It’s been another wonderful day. Spike made breakfast for me as usual, a lovely plate of grass pancakes topped with maple syrup. My morning was spent unpacking some of the library’s latest acquisitions and getting them ready for sorting. It took me a few hours to make sure that everything was sorted properly, since Spike kept insisting that The Complete Works of StarSwirl the Bearded, Volumes 1-35 went in the Ancient History section, when they clearly belong in Magical Marvels. Naturally, being the one in charge, I made sure they were organized properly.

After that, I had lunch with Pinkie Pie. It’s always difficult to pin her down for a proper lunch, but she was still grateful for my help with the incident with her duplicates (see entry for May 4th, 3 LR), so she made sure that she had the afternoon off from Sugarcube Corners so we could get together. We had a wonderful lunch over at the Watering Hole. I ordered the daisy and daffodil sandwich (my personal favorite) and Pinkie had the peony burger with hay fries. We had a great time talking together; she told me all about her last babysitting job for the Cakes, and I talked about some of my latest research (for full details, see Twilight Sparkle’s Research Notes, Volume LVI, Section 3). I’m not sure she understood a word of it, but she at least seemed interested. Maybe I can have her come by later this week and she can help me out.

You know, having lunch with her today really made me think about last week. She seemed a little down today. She hasn’t quite been her usual self since the Mirror Pool incident. I wonder if she feels like she let us down, or if she caused us too much trouble. Granted, those duplicates did manage to make a mess of things before I was able to send them back to the pool, but it wasn’t anything that we couldn’t recover from as a town, right? Or even as friends?

I’ll have to come up with something to help her remember that she is always the same Pinkie Pie, no matter what. Maybe my research will be just the thing to give her the boost she needs. If not, I can always see what my other friends think. We’ve gotten through things like this before.

May 13, 3 LR

Breakfast today was a simple affair. I decided to let Spike sleep in a little today, so I made myself a little oatmeal. The poor little guy has been working himself ragged lately, so I thought he had earned a little more rest. I’ve been a little demanding of him, to tell the truth, constantly sending him out on errands and tasks, in addition to all of his regular duties. Of course, I do have a certain obligation to keep him busy. He’s such a curious little dragon, who knows what kind of trouble he’d get into if he had a day off?

That was a joke, by the way. Sometimes it’s hard to translate sarcasm into writing.

It was nice to have the peace and quiet of the library to myself for the early morning, though. I was able to make a good amount of headway on my current research before taking a break. I think I’ll be able to have this report wrapped up by the end of the week and ready for the Princess by next Monday. If Pinkie Pie still wants to come by and see it, I’ll have to make sure I invite her before then. I’m not sure how much the underlying theories behind transfiguration spells will interest her, but she did enjoy seeing a frog crossed with an orange last week.

Scratch that. It might not be a good idea to bring that day up again so soon.

I had lunch with Applejack today. She very nicely invited me to come by the farm for some of their home-cooked apple treats. I always eat too much whenever I go over there, but it’s so hard to refuse a third helping of apple crisp. We had a nice chat during lunch. She told me how the harvest has been going (they’ve been working the south fields lately, with the early season apples). She’s also been wracking her brains to figure out a way to get rid of the fruit bats that have taken over their west fields. I did suggest talking with Fluttershy about them, but she was adamant that she would try a few things first before, and these are her words, “Imposing on our friend’s kindness.”

I had to laugh at that. Imposing on the kindness of the Element of Kindness.

I did bring the topic around to Pinkie Pie and her troubles. She did agree that she had noticed the same things that I had, and agreed that something should be done to help her out. Now we just need to figure out what to do about it. I think I’ll talk with the rest of the girls and see if they have any suggestions.

Spike and I had a nice quiet dinner, just the two of us, like most nights. He had been a little miffed that I had let him sleep in this morning, but I could see the gratitude underneath the complaining. It’s one of those things that sister/mother figures can do. He seemed a little surprised that Pinkie Pie was feeling down, but I don’t think he’s had much time to spend with her lately. Or anyone else, for that matter. Maybe my number one assistant does deserve a day off.

May 14, 3 LR

Back to the routine today. Spike and I were up at dawn, sharing breakfast before I got started on my research once more and he started his daily chores. I tried to be considerate of him and not be too demanding, but I think I overdid it again. It’s not my fault that these theories need a lot of books, scrolls, and ink. Besides, I just might be on the verge of a breakthrough in transfiguration! If my calculations are correct, it just might be possible to enchant a drink with a precast spell, causing the pony drinking it to turn into something else!

It would be a temporary effect, of course. Transfiguration takes a lot of energy to begin with, and the larger the target, the more energy needed. The problem would be getting somepony willing to be a test subject. I wonder if perhaps Pinkie Pie wouldn’t be interested. It might be just the thing to get her out of the dumps. I wouldn’t turn her into an orange or anything like that (I should probably leave out any mention of oranges). It would have to be a minor change to start.

I wonder if the type of water would make a difference. Perhaps if I were to try using some plain well water, then try it with some water with inherent magical properties, like the water from the Mirror Pool -

Scratch that. I should probably avoid that water, especially if Pinkie Pie is helping me. I’m trying to make her happy, not upset her any more. But still, if I could study the effects of that water just a little…

Maybe later, after the whole mess has had enough time to be nothing but a distant memory.

On a side note, I really need to make sure that I have a lunch date scheduled for every day of the week. I completely forgot to eat today, and it wasn’t until Spike grumbled loud enough about being hungry that I realized we had missed lunch. You’d think I’d have learned this by now. I felt bad for the little guy, so I ran over to Sugarcube Corners to get him a sapphire cupcake for dessert while he made dinner. The Cakes were more than happy to throw a batch together for him, and with Pinkie’s help I was in and out in less than half an hour.

It also gave me some time to ask Pinkie if she would help me with my experiments. She seemed really interested, so I asked her to come by Friday afternoon and we could begin testing the transfiguration drinks. She also promised me that she would come up with a really cool name for them by then. This could be a lot more fun than I had originally anticipated. I’ll have to come up with some good ideas for things to change in to.

Also, Spike really enjoyed the cupcakes, so a good time was had by all.

May 15, 3 LR

It’s always hard to sleep when research is progressing nicely. I was up before dawn again, but I didn’t let Spike sleep in too much today. They may say it’s good to let sleeping dogs lie, but letting sleeping dragons lie can be bad, especially if said dragon wants to get his chores done early.

I spent the whole morning double and triple-checking my work from yesterday, making certain that what I was about to attempt would be possible. After all, it wouldn’t do to get Pinkie Pie’s hopes up before dashing them. I think the library was knee-deep in paper and books before I felt satisfied enough to attempt a practice run.

Of course, the biggest thing was to figure out what to start with. It had to be something simple, so I had enough energy to try again quickly, and so that if the change didn’t fade for a while, I would be comfortable being seen outside of the library. After some deliberation (and some insistent input from Spike) I decided to change my mane to look like Rarity’s. I would be without my familiar stripes, but maybe the curls would be nice for a little while.

Spike grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen, and I cast the spell, making sure to firmly fix in my mind every detail I could recall of Rarity’s mane. It wasn’t too hard (Spike had been wearing his favorite Rarity shirt since I settled on what the change would be) and it didn’t even take that long. The water flashed a deep violet before turning back to clear.

Note to self: label the bottles after casting the spell. They all seemed to turn back to clear after a flash of color.

Satisfied that everything had been done according to plan, I picked up the bottle and took a drink. I could feel the magic running through me, a little tickling as the spell took hold. There was what I can only describe as a twist in my scalp, and I suddenly saw my mane change shape and color as it grew down my side, forming Rarity’s familiar curls.

I don’t think I can ever properly describe the feeling of a successful experiment. It’s like I’m walking on clouds while dancing with the pony of my dreams while eating a delicious cake while sitting with Princess Celestia…

Well, let’s just say that it feels really good.

I couldn’t help but admire myself in the mirror after the change was successful. Maybe I should think about getting my mane curled one of these days. Even though I knew it wasn’t my mane, it still looked really nice.

Remembering yesterday’s lesson about food, I decided I would pop out and see if I could meet Rarity herself for lunch while I sent Spike out on an errand. It would be interesting to see what she thought of my new manestyle. I did get some odd looks as I walked over to the boutique, along with a few double-takes. I had to chuckle at those.

It was nice to get outside once more and see my friends. I’ve been cooped up in the library for the last two days pretty much straight. That sort of thing never used to bother me, but it’s interesting how somepony can change once they get a taste of real friendship. The day was beautiful once again, just a handful of wispy clouds in the sky. I caught a glimpse of one low-hanging pile of clouds just on the edge of town. I was pretty sure that was Rainbow Dash taking her usual pre-lunch nap, gearing up for her post-lunch nap. I was tempted to surprise her as well, but decided against it. Maybe next time.

When I got to Carousel Boutique, I noticed Rarity was outside in the yard, talking with Fluttershy, who was holding Opal in a little basket. I guess it was Opal’s day at the groomer’s, since she looked even less happy than usual with her current situation. I greeted them as nonchalantly as I could, but I couldn’t help smiling at their astonished faces. Fluttershy just stared, but Rarity nearly went into full on panic before I could reassure her that I was not, in fact, copying her style, but it was a temporary magic spell, and that I was there to invite her to lunch.

It took a little convincing, but I managed to get both her and Fluttershy to have lunch with me. Luckily, Opal had been on her way back from the groomer’s, so Rarity was able to let her cat back into the boutique before the three of us left for lunch. I ended up telling them all about my research and this morning’s experiment, as well as explaining what I thought my experiments would do for Pinkie Pie’s mood. They both agreed that it would be a nice boost for her to get to do something fun. Fluttershy also suggested that we could throw Pinkie Pie a party in order to cheer her up.

It makes perfect sense, actually. A party would be exactly what she would do for any one of us if we were feeling down. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before! We just have to make sure it’s not a surprise party. We want to make her feel better, not bring out a recurrence of what happened when we tried that surprise party for her birthday. Both Rarity and Fluttershy said they’ll help out, and we can even hold it this weekend! I’ll have to get the others in on it as well. I’m sure Applejack and Rainbow Dash would be more than happy to participate.

We had just left the restaurant when I felt another twist in my scalp, and both Rarity and Fluttershy nudged me, gesturing towards my mane. I caught a glimpse of it in the window of the restaurant, and was a little disappointed (but not surprised) to see that my mane was back to my normal style and colors. I didn’t expect it to last too long (in fact, I’d designed it not to) but at the same time…

Ah, well. Maybe at my next spa visit, I’ll see if they can curl my mane for me.

May 16, 3 LR

Wow, it’s been a difficult day.

I’ve spent almost the whole day working through my research plans (see Twilight Sparkle’s Research Notes, Volume LVI, Section 3 for further details), and much of the evening planning for Pinkie Pie’s party. Spike was kind enough to get the additional research materials I’d asked him for yesterday. I felt bad sending him out there by himself, and offered to get somepony to go with him, but he reassured me that he could handle himself for the short time he would be out.

Besides, if Pinkie Pie could handle a trip by herself, I’m sure Spike could manage without too much trouble.

Speaking of, I don’t think we give Pinkie enough credit. Party planning is difficult. There’s coordinating the decorations, the food, the games, the guests, and everything in between. Add in planning for everything that could possibly go wrong during the party itself and it gets to be a big mess. At least it’s an organized mess right now. I even have a flowchart.

Maybe I can get her to lend me her party cannon for a little while Saturday afternoon. That would take care of half of the setup.

On the plus side, I was able to catch Rainbow Dash in between her morning and afternoon naps. I swear, if that girl wasn’t as efficient as she is, the weather team would have fired her a long time ago for sleeping all of the time. At least she seemed excited about the party, and even offered to talk to Applejack for me. I told her I was planning for this Saturday, since I knew that we would all have some free time that evening. Good thing she said she’d help with hanging Rarity’s decorations. That should cut my party preparation time by at least a half an hour. If I can get Applejack to help with the food and the location, that will cut it by even another hour!

At least I’m ready for when Pinkie Pie comes by tomorrow

Ugh, slight change of plans. Applejack just stopped by. She said that while she’d be happy to handle the food and drinks, we can’t hold the party at the barn. Something about the CMC building a float for the Summer Harvest Parade in the barn, and she doesn’t want to make them move it yet. I guess we’ll just hold it here in the library. It just means that I need to revise the decorations (again…).

She did promise something special in return, though. Said it should make the party that much more fun. Well, whatever it is, I’m looking forward to it.

May 17, 3 LR

Well, today’s the big day. I’ve been spending the morning getting everything ready for when Pinkie Pie comes over to help me out. I’ve got so many bottles of water downstairs it looks like I’m prepared for a drought. Right now, I’m planning on starting with some small transformations, just some minor changes to her coat and mane, and moving up to larger ones. Everything should be temporary, and should only last a few minutes at most. I think I’ve figured out how to set the length of the spell effect based on how much effort I put into casting it.

At least I remembered to label the bottles after casting the spell. Wouldn’t want to get them mixed up now. I also made sure to keep my special research materials back in the refrigerator. That would be a bad idea to mix up as well.

Pinkie Pie’s here. Will write more later.

Wow, it’s amazing how late it’s gotten. It must be past midnight by now.

The experiments were a huge success! Every transformation performed just as I had expected, and lasted roughly as long as I had hoped (see Twilight Sparkle’s Research Notes, Volume LVI, Sections 3-4 for exact details). Pinkie had a blast as well, which really made me happy. She really enjoyed it when I changed her mane to look like Rainbow Dash’s, but with Rarity’s curls.

The coup de grace was when she drank a potion that changed her form to look like Cranky. I have to say, it was quite the sight to see Cranky bounding around the room with Pinkie’s energy and enthusiasm. That change only lasted for a minute, given that it’s much harder to make such a great change last, whereas changing somepony’s mane is simple enough that I could make it last much longer.

I’m not sure about the name she came up for them, though. ‘Trans Drinks’ just doesn’t sound quite right.

The only thing that I didn’t expect to find was that after casting the spell on the water, the spell will fade after a certain amount of time. The length of time seems to match the complexity of the spell; meaning that the more complex, the shorter the time. It seems like one of the inherent properties of water is a grounding force when it comes to added magic. This will warrant further study.

Probably the best part of tonight was telling her about the party we had planned for her tomorrow. The way her eyes lit up when I told her it was a ‘Celebrating Pinkie Pie’s friendship party’ almost made me worried I would be blinded from sheer enthusiasm. She almost tried to take over the party planning, but I managed to make her understand that we were doing this for her, and all she had to do was show up and enjoy herself. I nearly choked to death from the hug she gave me after that.

I can’t wait until tomorrow. It’s going to be so much fun!

May 18, 3 LR

It’s party time! This is just a quick note to make sure I get in an entry for today since I don’t think I’ll be able to get one in tonight at all. I hate it when I end up skipping days in my journal. It just looks… wrong.

I’ve been busy all morning, getting the decorations up and everything ready for the party. Rainbow Dash got here a little bit ago as promised to help me get things hung. She’s doing that even as I write this, and rather efficiently, I must say. That girl doesn’t waste a wingbeat.

Applejack stopped by early this morning before getting to her chores at the farm to drop off her surprise - a few cases of their special hard cider. She wanted to make sure that I got it stored away before Rainbow Dash showed up. Dash is great, but she’s a little obsessed with cider. Didn’t want to have it all gone before the party even started.

Looks like Rarity just arrived, which means I should get to playing the hostess. The others should be getting here soon. Here’s to a great night!

The Journal of Twilight Sparkle - 2nd Week

May 19, 3 LR

Well, that was an interesting night…

I’m not entirely sure how much I still remember. My head is killing me right now. I took some painkillers a little bit ago, but it still feels like there’s a revolution going on just behind my left eye. I will apologize if my writing looks a little off. The headache is making concentration a little difficult.

It started out great, I remember that much. Pinkie Pie got here last, like we’d hoped, and we managed to jump out and surprise her. Even Fluttershy got into the act. After that, we all settled in to have a fun time, having some cake, playing games, dancing, and just talking together. Then Applejack had me bring out the cider, and that’s when it all starts to get a little fuzzy. The Apples don’t mess around when they brew their cider.

I think it was Pinkie Pie (it had to be Pinkie Pie, who else would it be?) who suggested I show everypony else my new research. I think it turned into a drinking game after that. I remember that after the first few rounds of changes, everyone asked me to make them into something specific. I think Applejack wanted to be a dog… Well, that’s what she was changed into, at least.

I distinctly remember Rainbow Dash asking me to turn her into Daring Do. I think she ended up as a tiger instead. At least I didn’t turn her into Ahuizotl.

Fluttershy finally got to find out what it was like to be a tree. Speaking of which, I see she’s stirring over among everypony else. She still looks a little green. I really hope that the spell didn’t leave any trace leaves –

Nevermind. She just ran to the bathroom. Different kind of green, based on the noises I’m hearing.

I think Rarity wanted to be a phoenix… Is a flamingo close enough? At least she’s not pink anymore. I don’t think the spell mixed with the cider very well.

Looks like Fluttershy is out of the bathroom. Good thing too. I think the revolution moved from my eye to my stomach and is using chemical warfare. Don’t think I’m going to be writing much more

May 20, 3 LR

Remind me never to have more than one bottle of Applejack’s special cider ever again. I don’t think any of us fully recovered from Saturday’s party until late yesterday afternoon. Well, aside from Pinkie Pie. She was even more hyper and energetic than she had been the night before. I don’t know where she puts it, but it seems like the cider had almost no effect on her. I wonder if that pony’s alcohol tolerance would be something worth studying…

Probably shouldn’t. That could get dangerous quickly. Besides, it could just be that she drank more regular water or something during the party, when we didn’t.

At least today everyone seems to be back to normal. Pinkie’s extra energy is infectious. I’m glad that the party gave her the boost that she needed, and she’s back to her normal happy, energetic self. I’m a little disappointed that I won’t have my report ready for the princess by the end of today, but I know that my actual deadline wasn’t until this Friday. That’ll give me more than enough time to make use of my special research materials and devise a few new experiments. Besides, now I can include additional information regarding the effects of alcohol when combined with a transfiguration spell.

I did take some time this afternoon to take a walk through Ponyville. It was nice getting out and about and seeing everypony once again. I’ve been so busy with my research and the party that I haven’t really had a chance to just relax during the day for a while. Well, aside from my lunches with my friends, that is. Speaking of which, I need to get my lunch schedule set up once more. Don’t need another week without those breaks built into them. I did run into Applejack at the market, and she agreed to meet for lunch tomorrow, so tomorrow’s all set. I’ll have to chat with the rest of the girls and get some days set up with them again.

Spike and I have a nice relaxing time at home this evening. I made dinner tonight (I even managed not to burn anything!), a nice vegetable stir fry. I even gave Spike a small hoofful of gems for dessert for being such a great help this week, and for putting up with us Saturday night. He does tend to get left out of our parties, especially when Applejack supplies the drinks, but he’s such a good sport about it. Tomorrow will be business as usual with both the library and my research, so he deserves a little treat.

May 21, 3 LR

This could be a problem.

I can’t find the special research materials I had Spike gather for me. I mean, I can easily get more; it’s just that I don’t want anypony messing around with them.

I just spent the entirety of the morning searching the library, until I was forced to give up. They’re just not here. Spike has no clue where they could have gotten too, either. Maybe my friends know where they are.

Well, Applejack doesn’t have a clue. I met her for lunch today, like we’d planned. I had to be circumspect when asking her about it. I’m not quite ready for anypony else to find out what I’ve got planned. It might touch off a nerve.

She invited me back to the farm again, which I was grateful for. Her family’s home cooking is always some of the best. I know I’ve raved about it before, but every time I have some, I have to put something down about it.

She was a little apologetic about how out of hand the party had gotten, given that she had supplied the alcohol. I told her not to worry about it, and despite the following day, we all had a great time. She also said that she didn’t remember anyone going into the kitchen at any time during the night, which doesn’t entirely help. I had to beg off before she asked too many questions about what I was looking for, which I did feel bad about, but she seemed unconcerned.

After leaving the farm, I used my desire to set up lunch schedules with my friends as something of an excuse to ask them about my missing research materials. Fluttershy was closest to the farm, so I asked her first. She looked a little overtired, but other than that, she seemed fine. I’ll bet some of the animals are giving her a little trouble for spending the night after the party at the library. She didn’t have any idea about my missing materials, but at least she agreed to meet me for lunch in a couple of days. Hopefully I’ll have at least gotten some new materials by then.

I caught Rainbow Dash napping in a nearby tree; she didn’t know what I was asking about either. Lunch with her will be tomorrow afternoon.

Rarity was just as clueless, but otherwise seemed to be doing fine. I’ll meet her for lunch in three days.

Pinkie Pie was happier than ever, and it almost took me getting Applejack to lasso her before I could even talk with her, she was bouncing around so much. She talked nonstop during my visit, so that I could barely get a word in edgewise. She didn’t seem to know what I was talking about either. Lunch with her will be next Monday, though I’m not sure it’ll actually happen. I don’t know if she really heard anything I said.

I ended up spending the rest of the evening designing further experiments and starting on my research report for the Princess. Even if I can’t get more of my special materials, this still could be one of my best discoveries yet!

May 22, 3 LR

The report’s going great right now. I’ve been working at it off and on all day. I did end up giving up my search and sending Spike out for more of those special materials. He groused about having to go out there again, but I promised him a nice treat for being so helpful. It seemed to mollify him at least, since he did go in the end. Once he gets back later this evening, I’ll be able to get started on some of my other experiments, which will make a nice addendum to my report.

Lunch with Rainbow Dash was a lot of fun today, for the most part. We ended up having lunch in her house (I cast my cloud-walking spell, of course), and I brought along some food to share. Would it kill that mare to clean up a little bit, though? The kitchen was a mess, and the living room wasn’t much better. I guess that’s the trade-off for being ‘awesome.’ Your cleanliness habits go out the window.

We did have a great time chatting about the latest Daring Do book, though. Of course, her theories about the series are getting more and more outlandish, I swear. Ahuizotl is definitely not a robot being controlled by the long-lost tribe of Mareyans.

I mean, really. It’s obvious he’s being controlled by Dr. Claw, her griffin archnemesis.

Ugh, Spike got back a little bit ago from his errand. Turns out he nearly ran into a pack of timber wolves, and wasn’t able to get any more of the research materials. That’s ok. I’d rather have my number one assistant safe than have him become timber wolf food. I can still get him his treat for being such a good sport. Better get to that before he starts sulking again because he wasn’t able to find what I wanted.

May 23, 3 LR

A nice breakfast today – Spike threw together another round of delicious grass pancakes. Aside from his triple-decker fudge nut cookies, these have to be one of his specialties. I’m so lucky to have such a talented assistant. I guess he wanted to make sure that I had the energy needed for my work!

Well, since I wasn’t able to get any other research materials, I was able to finish up my final report on new applications of transfiguration spells. Fortunately, with all of the prework I put into the report yesterday, it was a simple matter of filling in the final blanks this morning, followed by double- and triple-checking all of my data (see Twilight Sparkle, Research Reports, Volume XXVII – Report #2467 for further details). Maybe if I have another chance later, I’ll file an addendum to my previous report. I know Princess Celestia will understand.

Spike very nicely sent it off for me just before lunch. One more project down!

I had lunch with Fluttershy today. We ended up meeting at the Watering Hole café, where we both had the house special – garden mix salad with a side of a delicious vegetable soup. We did have a good time together, but I’m a little worried about her right now. She looks so tired, and there were a couple of times where I could have sworn that she had fallen asleep in her chair. I asked her why she was so tired, and it seems that she’s been getting woken up in the night by loud giggling right outside her window for the last few nights.

She seemed to dismiss my concerns, but I’m worried. That much lack of sleep is certainly not good for anypony. I offered to come back to her cottage after lunch and see if I could help her so she gets some rest, but she refused, not wanting to be a bother.

That’s Fluttershy for you, always so concerned for others. I bet it’s the CMC trying to get their cutie marks in spying, or something like that. I’ll have to have a talk with those girls tomorrow if this keeps up. I’ll ask Rarity if she knows anything. She’s got a spa date with Fluttershy tomorrow, and of course, she might have an idea of what Sweetie Belle and her friends are up to.

If nothing else, I just might have to invite her over and make sure she gets a good night’s sleep.

May 24, 3 LR

Forget being a little worried about Fluttershy – I’m really worried about her now.

I met Rarity for lunch today and asked her how her spa visit with Fluttershy was. She said that she showed up looking exhausted and promptly fell asleep during her massage. Apparently the snoring was a little jarring. It still sounds like this… whatever it is… is still keeping her from sleeping well, since Fluttershy told her the same story she told me.

I asked Rarity about the crusaders, and she said that Sweetie Belle hasn’t been going outside at night that she’s aware of. She says she’s something of a light sleeper, so I imagine she’d notice if Sweetie was sneaking out.

That does it. I’m going over there tonight to see what’s going on. I’ll get to the bottom of this.

May 25, 3 LR

I… don’t know what to do now. She’s gone.

I arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage last night, and it was dark. Seemed a little odd, but it was early evening, and since she hadn’t been sleeping well, I figured she just went to bed early. I peeked in the windows, but couldn’t really see much. Fortunately, Fluttershy doesn’t lock her door often, so I quietly let myself in. Everything seemed fine in the main room of the cottage, but when I snuck upstairs to peek in on her…

It was chaos. Her room looked like Rainbow had done her patented rainblow dry in the middle of the room. The bed was overturned, her bedside table had been smashed, and books were strewn about. Her bedroom window was wide open as well. But aside from a handful of yellow feathers, I couldn’t find any trace of her.

I spent the entire night looking for her, and most of this morning after I told the girls and the police what happened. I’m exhausted, but I need to do all I can to find her. The girls and I will comb the entirety of the land from here to the Crystal Empire if we need to.

The Journal of Twilight Sparkle - 3rd Week

May 26, 3 LR

Spike’s been doing a great job keeping track of everyplace we’ve already searched. He’s got a map of the area up in the library, and he’s been taking notes and marking down places every time somepony comes by with new information. Unfortunately, most of what comes back is ‘no luck.’

Everypony’s worried. Fluttershy was never the most popular mare (aside from her short-lived modeling career), but she’s such a sweetheart and everypony knows her. Who would want to hurt her? Even Pinkie Pie has less of a bounce in her step than she usually does.

The police haven’t had much luck either. They’re doing their best, of course, but without any clues as to where she was taken, it’s hard to focus in any one location. Equestria’s a big place.

I can’t believe it’s only been a week since the party. We were having so much fun, and now…

May 27, 3 LR

We’re all holding up well so far. Everypony’s confident that we’ll find her; it’s just a matter of time. She’ll be fine, just wait and see.

It just gets harder and harder to believe that with every passing day with nothing new.

The girls and I have been spending much of our time in the library. With Spike’s map, it’s been our home base. It’s also been a constant reminder of our missing friend. At least we all have each other to lean on. Pinkie’s been doing her best to cheer us up as well. She’s been popping out from behind bookcases and from under tables, singing and dancing as much as possible. I know she means well, but I think that Rainbow is about to snap if she surprises her once more -

Rainbow just hit Pinkie Pie with a pile driver and looks like she’s about to flank drop her as well. Applejack’s trying to break up the fight, but it doesn’t look like it’s going well. Gotta go.

Bumps and bruises notwithstanding, we’ve survived yet another night. Rainbow apologized to Pinkie for attacking her, and Pinkie apologized for irritating Rainbow.

I hope we find Fluttershy soon. I don’t know if everypony will survive this otherwise.

May 28, 3 LR

Oh, Celestia, they found Fluttershy.

What was left of her.

May 29, 3 LR

I apologize for the short entry yesterday. I just couldn’t handle the thoughts of what happened.

Somepony found her remains in the Everfree forest, and the police brought me down to see if I could verify her identity. The scene was just horrible, like something out of a nightmare. I’m pretty sure I vomited at least twice. There was blood everywhere, and the only intact pieces they could find of her was a wing, a leg, and part of her mane. Or maybe it was her tail? It doesn’t matter anymore…

I’ve been crying all day. I’m not sure I have any more tears left anymore, I’ve been crying for so long. Applejack is in shock, and hasn’t said a word since the police gave us the news. Rainbow is so furious, it’s almost scary. She’s been flying around town; questioning anypony she can find with such ferocity that I’m afraid she’s really going to hurt somepony. Rarity has shut herself up in her boutique and won’t come out for anypony. The two of them were so different, yet they were so close, this has to hurt her even more. Even Spike’s broken up about it, though he’s been doing his best to be strong for me. I really appreciate that little dragon.

Only Pinkie Pie seems unaffected. Well, I suppose unaffected is a strong word. She’s the only pony who seems to have taken the news in stride. Oh, she’s unhappy, that’s certain, but she still seems to be her bouncy, smiling self. Maybe she’s just trying to cheer the rest of us up, like always.

I just don’t know right now.

The police think it might have been a wild animal that killed her, and scavengers that tore her body up. I don’t believe a word of it. I mean, yes, she was found in the Everfree forest, and it does look almost like she was… torn apart… but still, this is Fluttershy we’re talking about! The one who tamed a raging manticore with kindness, and who withstood the gaze of a cockatrice! Well, I guess it could be a timber wolf, but still…

I saw her room that night. This was no animal attack.

I’m going to get to the bottom of this.

May 30, 3 LR

Well, at least someone on the police force believes me. One of the detectives, Night Eye, agrees that this couldn’t be an animal attack. He did say that he’s been working the case, and that I should do my best to keep calm so he can do his job.

He also asked that Rainbow Dash stop accusing everypony of being the killer. I could sooner stop the sun from rising. Seriously, Celestia’s that much more powerful than I am.

I don’t know what he expects me to do, but I’m not going to sit idly by and wait while the pony that killed my friend is out there. I need to make sure that no pony else suffers.

It might be a few more days before I can do anything, though. I need to make sure my friends will be ok. I also need to pass on Night Eye’s request to Rainbow Dash. No guarantees on that front, though. I spent most of the day trying to comfort everypony, but it’s hard when you’re hurting just as much as they are. Rainbow wouldn’t even pause long enough to talk with me; she just flew on by on the way to her next target.

Applejack had gone back to the farm, to the solace of her family. I stopped by late afternoon to find her bucking apples with a determination I hadn’t seen since she tried to clear the whole orchard by herself. I think she splintered a few trees with the force of her bucking. I tried a few times to get her talking, but she would have nothing to do with it. Just (nicely, at least) told me to go away and let her deal with it her way.

What could I do? I left.

I tried to see Rarity, but Sweetie Belle told me that she wasn’t interested in seeing anypony right now. I was able to get Sweetie to promise to let me know as soon as Rarity was willing to see me.

Pinkie… was being Pinkie, somehow. I found her at Sugarcube Corners, working the counter like usual. She seemed… happy. Not happy, as in happy Fluttershy was… gone, but just generally happy. She talked with me in matter-of-fact terms, and seemed more interested in making me happy than discussing what happened. While I appreciated her attempts, I wonder if she’s just burying the grief in an effort to just be happy. I hope not.

I hope we’ll be able to make it through this and still remain friends.

May 31, 3 LR

I’ve been doing everything I can to figure out what happened. It’s been a hard battle – Night Eye keeps shutting down any questions I have, telling me to stand aside and let him do his work. I know I should, but she was my friend! Doesn’t that count for something?

If only I hadn’t used that time-travel spell for such frivolous purposes. Trying to warn my past self not to worry about the future seems kind of stupid at this point.

I suppose even if I could use the spell, I have no idea when it happened, so there would be no guarantee that I could even get to the right time.

At least something useful has happened today. I finally found my missing research materials. Well, at least the bottle they were being kept in. Spike found it under the refrigerator while we were doing a deep clean of the library and trying to keep our minds off of the building frustration. It was empty, though. It must have fallen out at some point and spilled everything.

Well, I guess that’s not really useful, but at least I found it. It did make me a little suspicious, though. Somepony had to have spilled it somehow. I think I would have noticed if it had been me. I asked Spike if he had spilled it and just not told me, but he looked honestly confused enough that I believed him when he said he had no idea.

The library is a public place, so I guess anypony could have come in and found it, but most ponies don’t go anywhere beyond the main library area unless I specifically invite them to. I’ll have to do some asking around.

The memorial’s tomorrow. I should get some sleep.

June 1, 3 LR

The girls and I held a memorial for Fluttershy today. It was a beautiful little service, attended by many ponies and many of her animal friends. Even Harry the bear showed up with Angel on his shoulders, both of them distraught. I tried to use some of the techniques I’d read about in mystery books and true crime novels to determine if the killer had shown up, but there wasn’t a single pony there who either was a stranger or who looked anything but grieving.

Probably the only exception was, once again, Pinkie Pie. Even so, she still looked unhappy and even deflated at times. The party supplies may have been a bit much, though.

We all cried together when her birds put on an impromptu choral performance that was simply beautiful. I’m still crying right now (apologies for all of the watermarks).

~~It was~~

~~I just~~

I need to go.

The Journal of Twilight Sparkle - 4th Week

June 2, 3 LR

Oh, Celestia, not again. Someone else is gone.

They found Junebug’s body this morning. Torn up on the edge of the Everfree. The crime scene looked too much like Fluttershy’s to be anything but the same killer. At least the rest of the police force finally believes that Fluttershy wasn’t killed by an animal anymore. Her friends are as broken-up as we were, so I’ve been trying to comfort them as best I could. At least Rainbow Dash apologized for accusing her of killing Fluttershy, though to be fair, I think she accused everypony in town.

Lyra and Bonbon said that she couldn’t have had any enemies. She was such a nice pony, and no one could find any real faults with her, at least nothing worth killing over. I did ask them if she had said anything odd before she was killed, and the only thing they could think of was that she hadn’t been sleeping well. Something about being woken up by giggling

June 4, 3 LR

I didn’t sleep much last night. I’ve got so much on my mind right now, it’s driving me crazy.

Spike keeps asking me if I’m ok. I’m doing my best to assure him that I am, but I’m not sure he’s buying it. I think it was after I had re-shelved the same stack of books three times that he finally got me to get out of the library and try to relax. Unfortunately, all I ended up doing was wandering town restlessly until I ran into Applejack in the marketplace. She offered to talk with me about what had happened, and apologized for chasing me away the other day.

We decided to head to Sugarcube Corners to talk with Pinkie at the same time. I’ll confess an ulterior motive to seeing her as well, since I want to confirm what I saw.

Overall, the talk went well, even with Pinkie’s somewhat distracting presence. I didn’t mention any of my suspicions, but I was able to ask Pinkie what she was doing out last night. She was surprised at my question, and denied being anywhere last night. Even Applejack seemed to take her statement at face value, so I had to accept what she said.

At least we were both able to get out some of our concerns and feelings. I feel a little bit better after that. I’ll feel even better if I can get Rainbow Dash and Rarity to open up to me as well.

June 5, 3 LR

I spent last night patrolling the town again. I had to wait until Spike was asleep before I could go out. I really don’t want him following me around at night right now.

I started out around Lyra’s house. I didn’t want to alert anypony, so I did my best to keep to the shadows and move quietly. It’s amazing how much easier it is to be stealthy when you don’t have a grumpy dragon and a bouncing party pony following you around. Fortunately, there weren’t many ponies around. I’ll bet they’re all nervous and keeping inside.

I didn’t see much, aside from the occasional policepony. There were a couple of times I could have sworn I heard giggling, but it turned out to be nothing.

I feel so on edge right now. It’s like I’m waiting for the other horseshoe to drop. I think I’m going to go see Rarity today after Junebug’s memorial and see if there’s anything I can do to calm myself down.

Well, at least I feel more relaxed. Not necessarily calm, but I’m physically relaxed at least. Rarity’s solution (like usual) was a day at the spa. It also allowed her to relax enough to open up more and talk about how she was feeling. I did my best to stay awake and listen to her. I nearly fell asleep during the mud bath; it was so warm and comfortably compressing.

~~I wonder if I’m not overdoing it. I mean, the police are out looking for the killer, right? Do I really need to go out on the prowl like some predator, keeping myself going night after night?~~

No, I need to do this. For Fluttershy and Junebug, I need to find out who committed these atrocities. I will push myself as hard as I can to do what must be done.

I’m going out again tonight.

June 6, 3 LR

Just got back a little while ago from an eventful night. I almost had them!

I decided to change up my patrol a little bit, and started from a different part of town. I even checked in her window on the way over to see if anything was amiss. She was there as far as I could tell. I headed over by Lyra’s house after that, and definitely heard some giggling. It definitely didn’t sound like I had expected it to. Giggling should sound like… fun. Like little fillies playing, or parties, or jokes. This giggle was just… wrong. It sounded like… cruelty, hatred, suffering.

~~Almost familiar~~

No wonder everypony who heard that giggling couldn’t sleep.

I was able to get close enough to see somepony standing outside Lyra’s window, peering in. I couldn’t make out any distinctive features aside from a long mane and tail. I knew that I needed to get closer to figure out who this pony was, so I tried to be a silent as I could. Unfortunately, either this pony had extremely exceptional hearing or happened to look in the right direction at the wrong time, for I was spotted and the pony took off into the night.

I chased them as best as I could, but I lost them outside of town in the darkness of Sweet Apple Acres. I never did get a clear look at them. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the sound of that giggling, though. It chilled me to the bone.

Right now I need to rest. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep soundly for a

Door. Finish later.

By the sun and the moon, no. It can’t be true.

Applejack

June 7, 3 LR

They came for me yesterday morning to tell me what had happened. Big Macintosh and Applebloom. Apparently Applejack had gone out in the middle of the night for some reason. They woke up to find her room empty and the front door standing open. Applejack’s a tough pony. No one thought too much about it until Big Mac had to go into the apple cellar to prepare room for the day’s harvest. That’s when he

When he found her.

He said it was bad. Worst thing he’s ever seen and he’s seen farm accidents before. The entire cellar was coated in blood and… things. Even her hat had been shredded.

I asked him if anything odd had happened the last few days. Nope.

~~I can’t think about~~

~~What if~~

I have to stop them.

Second Interrogation

Night Eye closed the journal, still no wiser than when he had opened it, the golden rays of the afternoon sun creeping across his desk. He hadn’t found anything that he hadn’t already read or deduced himself so far. And yet, there was a little nagging voice in the back of his head that kept telling him he had missed something…

Little references throughout the journal of things done in the past, but never mentioned. A certain phrase that had initially caused him to think nothing more than ‘obsessive-compulsive,’ but after thinking about it, seemed to be indicative of something else. He knew that the days following the end of the journal were missing. What if there were others?

He hadn’t paid too much attention to the dates of each entry, aside from the first one. He knew the rest of the necessary dates by heart. Fluttershy, found dead on May 28th, forensic spells indicating she likely died in the early hours of the 25th. Junebug, found dead on June 2nd, likely died early that morning. Applejack killed overnight between June 5th and June 6th. Lyra killed early morning June 10th. Rarity attacked early hours of June 13th, and Rainbow Dash attacked early hours of June 15th.

Skipping back to the beginning of the May 12th entry, he flipped through each one, concentrating on the date of each entry. Making a small note every time a date was missing, he came up with three missing entries: June 3rd, June 8th, and June 14th. He stopped where the June 14th entry should have been, and looking closer at the binding of the book, noticing two thin strips of paper still attached to the binding. It looked as though Twilight had carefully sliced out the pages holding that entry. A quick check of the other two missing dates revealed the same strips of paper.

He sat back, staring at the thrice-damned journal, rubbing his fatigued eyes. Twilight had the answers he needed. He was going to get her to talk, one way or the other.

He was just heading down the hall towards the interrogation room, journal back in his pocket, when Sharpshot stepped out of that very room, a concerned look on his face. Drawing up short, Night Eye called out to his partner. “What’s going on, Sharpshot? Anything happen?”

Sharpshot started, wings flaring slightly, and looked over at his partner. “Night Eye! I didn’t see you there.” He turned his gaze back to the door leading into the interrogation room and continued speaking. “Nothing’s happened. That’s what’s bothering me. She doesn’t seem to have moved much at all since you left her.”

He glanced sharply at him. “She’s still alive, right? Didn’t use her magic to kill herself or anything like that?”

He shook his head. “No, I can tell she’s still breathing. She’s just… numb, is probably the best way to describe it. I even offered to move her to a waiting room so she would be more comfortable, but she just ignored me.”

Night Eye considered this new information, hoof softly tapping the hallway floor. He had to do something to shake her out of her stupor. His mind raced as he considered possible methods of approach, turning them over and over before discarding them, until he hit upon what he thought would be the easiest way to get a rise out of her.

Smiling to himself, he turned towards the interrogation room, calling orders to his partner as he approached. “Sharpshot, I’m going to get answers. On the off chance she doesn’t talk, get a message to the boys at the library: They are to tear the place apart looking for” – he paused as he tallied up the number of pages he was looking for – “four hoofwritten journal pages, all in Twilight Sparkle’s writing. It’s more than likely they’ve been destroyed, but just in case, I need to see if she hid them instead. A bonus to whoever finds them and a box of Donut Joe’s donuts for the group when they’re all done. “

Sharpshot threw him a salute and dashed off to the front of the station. Night Eye, confident that his partner would get the message sent and be back into the observation room in a flash, opened the interrogation room door and slipped in.

The first thing he noticed was that Sharpshot’s observation had been accurate. The interrogation room was exactly as he had left it hours ago. Twilight hadn’t moved a muscle, even when he entered the room. For a moment he thought that she had fallen asleep, but the ghost of a sob floated to his ears, and he saw the hitch in her breathing as she silently cried.

Hardening his heart as he began to put his plan into action, he approached the table separating them once more, his hoofsteps echoing in the tiny room. Once more, he stood there, looking down at her, his face expressionless. However, instead of waiting for her to look up at him, this time he slammed the journal down on the table without any preamble.

“I think I’ve figured you out, Twilight,” he said in a callous voice. “The reason you didn’t say anything was that you wanted your friends to die, correct?”

He knew he had gotten through to her when her ear twitched, swiveling his way. He continued speaking in that harsh tone, needling her. “Like I said, I read your journal. I even read between the lines. You couldn’t care less whether those so-called friends of yours lived or died, could you? It was obvious the way you refused to warn them of the possible dangers, even when you were almost absolutely sure of who the killer was.”

Her head perked up to stare at him, bloodshot eyes looking out at him from a face that was puffy and swollen from crying. There was a hardness in those eyes that hadn’t been present before as she spoke in a soft, choked voice. “My friends are the greatest ponies ever. They are the best friends any pony could wish for, and I care deeply for them. Don’t ever insinuate otherwise, Mister Night Eye.”

Night Eye’s face remained impassive, despite the fact that she was glaring daggers at him. “So you finally decided to rejoin the present?” he replied, leaning forward slightly. “If that’s the case, I have quite a few questions for you, Miss Sparkle.”

She lowered her head, but before she could drift back into her well of grief, he reached out and lifted her chin to look into her eyes. “I need the answers,” he said, speaking as emphatically as he could. “The only way I’m going to be able to be certain this case is truly closed is by you giving me those answers.” His face softened as he considered her situation. “I understand what you’re going through, Miss Sparkle. It’s been a difficult time for all of us.”

He remained silent for another moment, then asked, “Will you tell me what happened?”

She stared into his eyes. He could see the doubt, the fear, the relief, and every other emotion he could think of cross her face as she contemplated his request. Finally, she broke their gaze and nodded, staring down at the table. “I’ve kept this to myself too long,” she replied softly. “I’ll… tell you what I can. I’m probably the only pony who really understands what happened, anyway.”

Night Eye continued to maintain his stoic demeanor, but inside he was whooping for joy. “Thank you,” he said as he stood, moving towards the mirror. “Give me just a minute to get someone in here to record your story.” He gestured to his unseen partner, who appeared in the room a moment later. He gave Sharpshot the orders, then turned back to Twilight after his partner left. “While we’re waiting, can you answer me one question? Why did you remove those pages from your journal?”

She looked up at him, the expression on her face giving him the impression that she was struggling with whether or not to tell him the truth. Finally, honesty won out over deceit, and she hung her head with a sigh. “I was afraid,” she replied.

“Afraid?” he asked.

Still staring down at the table, she nodded. “Yes. I was afraid that if anypony read that journal and those pages, they’d realize what I’d known. What I’d kept from everypony. And I – I would…” She trailed off into silence, and Night Eye nodded in reply.

“You were afraid of being blamed for the deaths,” he finished for her. She nodded once more. “Well, from what I’ve read, you are almost as responsible for them as the actual killer was.”

Her face flew up, the look of horror obvious. He began to tick off the offending points, and with each one, he saw her ears fold back further and further until they were almost flush with her scalp. “You interfered with an official investigation, your vigilante wanderings probably disrupted more than one nighttime patrol, you ignored my orders to leave the case to me while withholding information that could have been useful, and I’m pretty sure the time you chased the killer into the orchard directly lead to the death of your friend.”

He paused for a moment before throwing her a lifeline. “However, your diligence in your searching probably resulted in the killer being caught much sooner than we could have hoped, and it sounds like whatever spell you cast has all but assured that the killer will not return. Given that you are willing to provide us with your full story and hopefully tie up the loose ends, I will not be pressing any charges against you. Cooperation tends to go far in my book.”

His eyes narrowed dangerously as her ears perked up slightly. “However, do not think that this gives you a free pass. If I ever catch you interfering with one of my investigations again, Princess’s protégé or not, so help me…” He left the threat unfinished as she nodded mutely, her emotions having been rubbed raw over the course of the day. At that moment, Sharpshot returned with one of their unicorn technicians, who was carrying a tape recorder. Night Eye gestured for the two of them to enter, and the technician set the recorder down on the table.

Night Eye looked over at Twilight Sparkle, who was staring at the recorder apprehensively as he pushed it across the table towards her. He cleared his throat, and her gaze slid to him. Pressing the button to start the recorder, he leaned towards the receiver and spoke clearly. “This is the statement of Twilight Sparkle, as related to the killings referenced in case PV2539, as received this date, June 17th, year three of Luna’s Return. Twilight, are you ready? Speak as clearly as possible.”

“Yes,” she replied.

“Very well. You may begin.”

Twilight's Statement

I guess I should start with the real cause of this. I mean, you’ve been part of the case since the first… death, so you know about those, and you’ve already read my journal, so you sort of know what happened and what I did. However, there’s a part of this that I’m pretty sure no other pony has figured out.

I’ll give you a quick synopsis of what happened leading up to the party, and where I’m pretty sure the real trouble began… Oh, I don’t need to do that? Ok, that’s fine. Suffice to say, then, that the party was just to cheer up Pinkie Pie. She was so down; we had to do something for her. The real problem was the research I was doing before all of this.

You see, I wanted to study the effects my spells would have with magical water. The only water I could think of at the time that I could easily get ahold of was from the Mirror Pond, so I sent Spike out to get me a bottle of that water. I know, I know, I said I wasn’t going to use it, but it was just too good a chance to pass up, you know? I just… wouldn’t tell any of my friends about it. Maybe later. Maybe never. I don’t know…

Anyway, Spike was able to get me some of the water, and I’d stored it in the refrigerator. I guess in hindsight I should have kept it somewhere else, but nopony usually goes into the kitchen without asking me, so how was I to know? Besides, I already had plenty of water out for everypony, so who would be looking for another bottle in the back?

I guess I should have realized that the spell combined with the water negated the normal effects of water on a pony’s body. Hey, can I make a note of that? I don’t think I recorded that anywhere…

Sorry about that. I get carried away sometimes.

Anyway, I think what happened is that while the rest of us were… passed out… the night of the party, Pinkie Pie must have woken up and gone looking for some water. She’s smarter than we give her credit for sometimes, I don’t think any of the rest of us thought to get any after the cider was opened. Based on what she said to me a few weeks after the party, she found the bottle I had and… drank it.

I guess the Mirror Pool has a different effect when somepony drinks it. Pinkie said it made her the happiest pony ever, and that’s saying something for her. She’s always happy, and it takes a lot to make her sad. I guess losing some of her best friends had that effect on her, since she asked me for more of that water later…

Sorry, I digress. So it sounds like what really happened when she drank the water is that the water created a duplicate of her. But since the water was unable to make a duplicate out of the pool, it ended up creating a duplicate of her from within her. She was split into two different ponies, with two different psyches. One full of excessive happiness, the other excessively cruel.

…I think we can all see where this is going.

Obviously, no one suspected a thing until Fluttershy… died. She talked about hearing giggling in the middle of the night in the days leading up to her death, but we never thought much of it. The only thing we considered was that she wasn’t getting enough sleep. Nothing about the sound itself! I didn’t even make the connection until after Junebug was killed!

If I’d just said something…

But then I heard the sound itself, and it was horrible. I had a hard time sleeping at night after hearing that sound. I even saw Pinkie Pie out that same night, but didn’t make the connection at all. How could I? She hadn’t told me about the water yet, and I still had no idea what had happened to it by then.

Of course, it wasn’t until after Rarity was attacked, and I was able to hear her story that I made the full connection to everything. When Rarity threw Pinkie out of the hospital room, screaming like that… Oh, Celestia, I thought… Two of my friends…

I’m sorry. I need a moment.

…

Thank you.

That’s when I truly made the connection. I had Rainbow Dash take Pinkie Pie back to the library and had her tied up. But when Rarity told me just what had happened between the two of them, I knew something else had happened. Rarity said she managed to slash Pinkie’s foreleg rather deeply, but Pinkie didn’t have any injuries. Well, aside from being thrown into a wall, but that was nothing.

Then Rainbow was attacked, and Pinkie was still confined in my home. That’s when I made the decision to go find her duplicate and end this all. I tried to track her down using a tracking spell and Pinkie’s hair, but it kept fizzling out – it wasn’t meant to track two individuals with the same magical signature at the same time.

I was finally able to get a lead on her by asking around to see if anyone had seen Pinkie Pie running around. It took a while, but I finally managed to narrow down her trail heading out of town and towards the Everfree. I was even able to find a faint blood trail on the pathway, probably from her wounded foreleg. I was so intent on following the trail and keeping an eye out for Pinkie that I didn’t notice just where the trail was leading me.

Finally, I found myself in front of Fluttershy’s cottage. Fluttershy’s cottage! How in the name of Tartarus could this horrible creature dare to use the home of Fluttershy, one of the sweetest, kindest, ponies I know, as a home! It was maddening, it was –

I’m sorry; I’ll put your partner down now. There we go, all better, right? Right? I’m really sorry; I don’t usually lose control like that.

Where was I? Oh, yes. The cottage. Nopony had been out there since you finished investigating the place, so it was a little run down. It felt… dead, like all of the joy and life that had been there had gone with Fluttershy. I guess in a sense it had. I opened the door and carefully crept into the cottage, hoping that I would be able to find her first. The main room had been demolished, the furniture torn up, her lovely decorations smashed, all of her books shredded...

Hey, I could have used those books, you know! No need to destroy them…

I heard a noise upstairs, but I had to pause before I went up there. There was blood on the stairs. A lot of it. Much of it old, but there were some new patches. I carefully tried to step around the blood, going up the stairs as quietly as I could until I came to Fluttershy’s old bedroom.

SHE was there. Pinkie Pie. The duplicate, at least. Should I call her Pinkie Pie number two? I guess that works as well as anything. Anyway, Pinkie Pie two was there. Sitting in the remains of Fluttershy’s mattress and blankets, covered in dried blood, whimpering like a wounded animal as she stared at her foreleg. I saw the cut that Rarity had made. It was a deep and ragged one, and must have hurt like mad. She was clumsily tearing up Fluttershy’s quilt, probably trying to make a new bandage since I saw an old bloody one on the floor next to her, alongside a long, sharp knife.

As I tried to approach her, readying my spells, I saw her ear twitch three times, and she suddenly looked over at me. Damn that Pinkie sense of hers! If she hadn’t had that twitch, then I might have been able to bind her up without having to see those eyes…

Her face was hideous. A twisted shadow of the normal Pinkie Pie, her teeth bared in a rictus grin, dried blood spattered all over her cheeks. Her eyes… her eyes were the worst. I never want to see eyes like those ever again. That giggle was bad enough, but those eyes… They’re going to haunt my darkest nightmares forever. Please don’t ask me to say what I saw in them. You’d never sleep again.

Those eyes pinned me in place. I couldn’t move from the sheer intensity of them. I barely noticed that she had stopped trying to bandage herself and had stood, reaching for her knife, until it was almost too late. Once that blade flashed in the sunlight, the spell was broken and I saw the danger I was in. I tried to cast my spell on her, but she somehow was able to dodge before she started towards me.

I’m not ashamed to say I almost fainted right there. I’m pretty sure I left a puddle on the floor as I scrambled back, falling down the stairs. I’m glad I had the presence of mind to tuck myself in so that I didn’t break anything. It took me a moment to get my bearings again after landing on the bottom, but I was able to get up and get my spell ready as she rushed down the stairs. She had just turned the corner when I let loose with my spell, catching her right in the chest as she launched herself at me, knife shining in her hoof.

The hard part was when I realized that the spell didn’t work.

Well, it almost did. It puffed her up like a balloon for a moment and spun her around in a circle, just like it had with all of the other duplicates. But then it dropped her back on the ground, back to normal. Then I got another look at those eyes, and just as I thought it couldn’t get any worse, she did it.

She giggled.

It was that same giggle I had been hearing those nights, that horrible, cruel giggle, somehow made that much worse by seeing where it came from. It was that giggle that chased me as I turned and ran from that cottage as fast as I could. I ran up the path into town, hearing that giggle behind me the whole way. I didn’t want to turn back and look for fear of seeing those eyes once more, since I knew that if I did, I would be paralyzed and she would be on me in a flash. I think I passed a few ponies on my way back – I honestly couldn’t tell you. I was too focused on getting away and I wasn’t really seeing where I was going.

I finally got back to the library and slammed the door behind me. Immediately I felt ashamed of myself for that. What if Pinkie took out her aggressions on some other pony since she couldn’t get to me? I couldn’t take that chance anymore. I had to face her, and I couldn’t let her get to anypony else.

I opened the door and let her into the library.

I think that actually worked to my advantage. I don’t think she was expecting the door to open by itself. She flew into the library, caroming off of the table in the center and slamming headfirst into a set of shelves. The old Pinkie Pie might have shaken off a hit like that, but this one just flopped to the floor unconscious.

At that point, I was at a loss. I was expecting a fight with a twisted shadow of one of my best friends, not a comatose body on the floor in front of me. I will admit I was a little irritated. I mean, that’s how it always goes in the stories, right?

You’re right, ok, I get it. I got off easy. Stop glaring at me.

Anyway, I closed the library door and cast a binding spell on her. I still didn’t know what to do with her just yet, so I levitated her body down into the basement where I do many of my experiments. I also blindfolded her. If she woke up again while I was trying to figure out what to do, I really didn’t want another look into those eyes.

At this point, it was evening and I was exhausted. I made sure that Pinkie two was secured as tightly as I could manage and headed back up into the library to check on Pinkie one. She was still secured up in my room, looking confused but oddly happy. At least Spike had managed to get her some food before leaving to go stay at the hospital like I’d asked him to. I wanted him there in case Pinkie got away from me and tried to finish Rainbow and Rarity off again. He’s a tough little dragon.

Anyway, she was sitting in my room, her leg bound to the bed with a tough chain. As soon as I entered the room, she started bouncing in place, the clanking of the chain contrasting with the happiness in her step. I looked at her face, so bright and happy, and for a second I saw the Pinkie Pie of old, before I looked into her eyes. Her eyes were as vacant and blissful as Pinkie two’s eyes were horrible and frightening. At that point, I just couldn’t handle it anymore.

I broke down and cried.

I can’t tell you how long I cried there, listening to the sounds of the bouncing chains and Pinkie’s hooves hitting the floor of my bedroom. Long enough that the sounds eventually stopped as Pinkie finally got it through her addled brain that I just wasn’t happy. It was a little while after she stopped bouncing that I finally mastered myself enough to try the spell once more. Maybe it would work this time.

Well, it didn’t. The same thing happened. Nothing changed.

There was only one more thing to try, but at that point, I was too exhausted to even contemplate the amount of effort it would entail. It was probably a stupid thing to do, but I grabbed the blanket from my bed, went downstairs, and fell asleep on one of the reading couches. Or tried to, at least. It seemed like every time I started drifting off, I saw those eyes in my mind and there would go any chance of sleeping for the next hour. I don’t think I truly slept more than half an hour total that night.

Finally, morning rolled around, and I gave up on getting any more sleep. After dragging myself into an upright position, I headed upstairs to my room to get Pinkie one for my last attempt at restoring her to normal. She came willingly as I unwound her chain from my bedpost and guided her downstairs into the basement. Pinkie two was right where I had left her, bound and blindfolded, making animalistic noises as her muzzle turned this way and that, like she was trying to catch a scent.

She must have smelled us as we approached, since she immediately turned her head in our direction and stopped, a feral grin spreading across her face. I shuddered at the sight of that, extremely glad that I couldn’t directly see her eyes. Unfortunately, my mind was extremely adept at superimposing those eyes on the blindfold, and I couldn’t look at her for more than a few seconds before I would mentally make the connection between the two.

It’s amazing I managed to spend most of the day down there with the two of them without going completely mad.

I tried every spell I could think of to fix things. I tried the duplicate reversal spell. I tried a disenchantment spell. I tried a counterspell. I even tried my failsafe spell, which just… failed. Nothing worked. Nothing at all. They stayed exactly where they were. By the time I had run through everything, I felt defeated. Hopeless. A failure. I’m supposed to be one of the brightest unicorns of this age! Everyone says so! But I couldn’t save my friend!

I just couldn’t…

…

…

Sorry. I’ll continue.

…

I finally made a mistake.

I don’t know exactly what happened, but something I did caused Pinkie two to get loose from her bindings. I almost didn’t notice; I was so wrapped up in my misery. But I caught the movement out of the corner of my eye, and the movement was wrong. She was loose, and she was coming for me with those eyes and that feral grin.

I panicked, I know. I teleported out of that basement as quickly as I could and up into the library. I stopped there, shaken to the core, trying to catch my breath when I heard the sounds. The rhythmic clop of bouncing hooves on the floor, the jingling of the chains, followed by the most animalistic roar I had ever heard. Some more… horrible sounds. Then a sudden squelching, as if something large and wet had impacted on the floor. Many, many more wet sounds.

I really didn’t want to look. I really didn’t. But I wasn’t given a choice.

The basement door burst open, and she stood there, covered in blood and… other things. I had a brief glimpse of the ghastly trail she had left behind her before I panicked once more and ran out of the library. I heard her following right behind me, the hard clop of her hooves stampeding across the library floor. It felt like death itself was following me.

I ran as fast as I could, away from the library. I knew she would follow me. Somehow I ended up in town during midafternoon market, this horror right on my tail. I skidded to a stop as I saw all of the ponies in front of me, and for a brief moment of forever, we all just stared at each other. Then I heard her coming up behind me, and I turned around, determined to keep her from anypony else. Time stopped as she launched herself at me, blood coating her pink fur, her mane fluttering in the wind, teeth bared in an expression of pure, twisted delight, and horrible eyes locked onto mine with the promise of painful death. I cast the first spell I could think of to get rid of her, the very first spell I had cast on her.

This time it worked.

She swelled up into a balloon, spun around in the air, and flew away in a burst of magic, back towards the library.

The only thing I can think of is that when she killed Pinkie one, the spell finally had somewhere… wet… to send her to.

At that point I felt something break inside me. She was gone. It was finally over. I’m pretty sure I was caught between laughing hysterically and crying like a foal in the middle of the market in front of all of those ponies. I felt trapped and free at the same time, and the panic started to set in. I couldn’t go home and I couldn’t stay there. I ran once more, away from everything, from everypony, from my memories, from those eyes and that giggle. The only thing on my mind after that was she was gone. It was the only thing as I ran, the only thing that mattered as I hid under that haystack, trying to escape everything that had happened.

I lost track of how long I hid there. I didn’t even know night had fallen until you pulled me out of the haystack and told me that I had been missing for an entire night and most of the morning.

I guess that brings us back to here.

…

I’m sorry.

Returning Home

Night Eye reached out and turned the tape recorder off. He looked up at the shaking unicorn in front of him, watching the shudders ruffling her fur. Tears had matted the fur under her eyes, tracking down her cheeks as she had told her story. He could still see the residual fear in her eyes from her experiences as she fought to control her emotions.

Silence permeated the interrogation room as Twilight fought for her composure. Even the unicorn technician, a veteran of recording confessions, knew enough to remain quiet for as long as necessary. Finally, she swiped a hoof at her eyes and looked up at Night Eye. He turned and nodded to the technician, who collected the tape recorder and notes and left the room.

As the door closed behind him, Night Eye looked back to Twilight. “Thank you for sharing that, Miss Sparkle. I appreciate your willingness to open up to us.” He stood, offering her a hoof to help her stand, which she took hesitantly. “If I may ask, what did you do with those missing pages from your journal?”

“I… I burned them. I’m sorry, Mister Night Eye.”

A half smile appeared on Night Eye’s face as he thought of the disappointment he would face when his men learned of that fact. “Ah, well. I’ll still owe them a box of Joe’s finest,” he murmured. Twilight gave him a curious look, but he waved it away. His face became serious once more as something she had said during the statement returned to him. “Miss Sparkle, you said that Pinkie… two, was it? Pinkie two had killed Pinkie one in the library basement, rather gruesomely as I recall, is that correct?”

She nodded, confused. He pressed on in the face of her uncertainty. “When my men and I were scouring the library for your journal, we saw no indications of any death there, let alone one as horrific as you indicated. Care to explain?” He saw Sharpshot’s ears perk up at the question, but ignored his partner in favor of watching Twilight’s response.

Her confusion only deepened, but turned quickly to pondering. “I… don’t know for certain. But I guess that perhaps when I cast the spell on her it caused them both to disappear after they recombined? I may have to make a note of that…” She saw the look on his face as her statement trailed off, and she folded her ears back. “Sorry,” she finished lamely. A flash of fear crossed her face as she considered an alternate reason for his question. “You… you believe me, don’t you?”

He paused for a moment before answering, his face expressionless as Sharpshot watched the exchange. “I believe that you are telling the truth,” he finally replied. She sighed in relief, and he gestured for her to exit the interrogation room, Sharpshot leading the way. As they walked the quiet hallways of the station, he glanced over to her and asked, “Would you like to visit your friends now?”

Her ears drooped, but she nodded, anxieties building. Taking a deep breath, she slowly let the air out, trying to calm herself as the blood suddenly started pounding in her ears. “Yes, I want to see my friends.”

Night Eye nodded. “I’ll have somepony escort you over to the hospital then. I need to make sure my men finish putting your library back together anyway.”

She nodded once more, a faraway look in her eyes. “Yes. That would be nice, thank you.”

They arrived at the front desk, and Night Eye proceeded to make the arrangements for one of the officers to escort Twilight to the hospital for as long as she needed, and then to escort her back home. She tried to brush off the second escort, but he simply gave her a look and she quieted down. Later, as they watched Twilight and the officer leave the station, Sharpshot turned to his partner and proceeded to make an uncannily accurate observation regarding the entire situation, one born of years of experience in the Equestrian underworld.

“Man, she’s messed up.”

Night Eye let out a small snort of laughter before his expression became somber once more. “Yes, you’re right, like usual. This entire ordeal took something out of her, and I get the feeling we might be seeing her sooner than we both would like.” They both turned to make their way back to their respective desks as Night Eye muttered to himself.

“I just hope it’s not in the way that I fear.”

The cool evening air flowed over Twilight as she made her way home from visiting the hospital, her officer escort pacing her on one side and Spike walking on the other. It had been an exhausting but nice visit with Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow herself had been doing just fine, as she had just needed a few stitches and icepacks after her fight with Pinkie two. Rarity was still under observation for her horrible wounds, and the doctors wanted to make certain that nothing developed an infection, especially considering how deep some of the cuts had gone.

Both of them had listened to her story with apprehension, disgust, and some measure of pity. She had done her best to tell them the truth, but had omitted some of the more gruesome and difficult details she had already shared with Night Eye. It had been hard enough going through them the first time, let alone having to relive the experience yet again.

Rarity had been fighting the effects of her pain medication the entire time Twilight had been speaking, but had finally given in and had fallen asleep shortly after she had finished. Rainbow had offered to continue to stay after seeing just how exhausted Twilight was and had sent Spike home with her to make sure she was able to get some sleep. The pegasus had felt torn between her two miserable friends, but in the end felt certain that Spike would be able to take care of Twilight, just as he always had.

As she approached her library home, gazing up on the welcoming lights shining in the windows and the two officers stationed at the entrance, she felt a mixture of fear and relief. She was about to step back into the place where the whole nightmare had both begun and ended, and she found her steps starting to slow the closer they came to the familiar door. She wasn’t aware that she had stopped moving until she noticed that both Spike and the officer had turned around with questioning looks.

Spike waddled back to join her, grabbing her shoulder and giving it a tug. “C’mon, Twilight, let’s go. I’m sure you wanna get some sleep, don’t you?”

She looked down at him blankly for a moment, then shook her head to clear her thoughts. Of course there was nothing there to worry about. The ordeal was over. And really, she was exhausted. Perking up slightly, she allowed herself to be led past the watching officers, through the door, and into the library proper. She turned to thank her officer escort, who simply gave her a lazy salute and left her and Spike to their own devices.

She looked around the library, as if seeing it truly for the first time. Night Eye had been as good as his word. Every book had been re-shelved, as he had said (not everything was in its proper place, but that would be a job for tomorrow). The floor had been cleaned and the table in the center had been moved back to its proper place. There was even a small fire in the fireplace, which felt heavenly after the walk through the cool night air.

Spike offered to brew up some calming tea for her, which she accepted with a smile. She slowly made her way up the stairs towards her bedroom as Spike rushed off into the kitchen to get the tea going. He knew that he would probably have to add some sleeping weed to her evening tea for quite some time after tonight.

Twilight slowly pushed the door to her room open, and froze as her eyes landed on her newly made bed. For a brief second, she had thought…

She looked again. Nopony was there. It’s just nerves, she told herself. I’m probably going to be seeing things like that for a while yet. Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she moved into her room, leaving the door open behind her. She knew Spike would be up in a few minutes with her tea and didn’t want to make him have to open the door while carrying her drink.

She flopped onto her bed, not even bothering to pull back the covers. Glancing up at her window, she used her magic to open it a crack and let some air into the slightly stuffy room. Rolling over so that she was facing her door, she smiled as she heard the click-clack of Spike’s claws on the wooden stairs as he came up to her room, tea tray at the ready.

He smiled wanly at her as he set the tray down on her nightstand, seeing the pain in her eyes vying with the smile on her face as she lay there. He hesitated for a moment, then quickly leaned forward and gave her a peck on the cheek before turning and hurrying out of the room, closing the door behind him. She watched him go, feeling the love behind the small gesture, before pushing herself up into a sitting position and picking up her teacup. Sipping the warm drink, she tasted the familiar bitterness of the tea leaves mixed with the slight tartness of the sleeping weed, and sent a silent thank you to her number one assistant for looking out for her once more.

As she finished her drink, she glanced out of the window once more, listening to the sounds of the night as they floated through the open window. Setting her cup down on her nightstand, she briefly considered pouring herself another cup, but decided against it as she felt the exhaustion catching up with her, amplified by the soothing effects of the sleeping weed. She lay down, settling herself onto her pillow, and was just about to allow herself to drift off when another sound drifted in through her window that promptly froze her blood.

Giggle…

The Journal of Twilight Sparkle - Final Entries

June 9, 3 LR

We’re getting too good at organizing memorials.

We had one for Applejack today. Rarity and Rainbow were silent the entire time. I think they’re scared. I know I am. Applebloom and Granny Smith were crying, while Big Mac tried to be stoic for them. I did my best not to point out the tears that were running down his cheeks the whole time.

I didn’t see Pinkie Pie anywhere. Considering our conversation yesterday, I’m not surprised. I’m worried, though.

I still can’t be certain who’s doing it. I definitely have my suspicions, but I haven’t told anyone. I need more time. But I can’t wait too long. Who knows who’ll be next?

I should have gone out last night.

June 10, 3 LR

Lyra was next. Luna damn them to the deepest pit of Tartarus, Lyra was next!

And I was out there! I should have known!

As if to taunt us, she was found on the edge of Sweet Apple Acres. It took hours to find all of the pieces. They were even up in the trees.

Why can’t I stop them? ~~I know~~

I’m so tired. It needs to end. I will be out there tonight. And tomorrow night. And the night after.

I will find them. The police can’t do anything. Not even Night Eye.

June 11, 3 LR

Spike’s getting suspicious of me. He knows I’ve been overtired lately, and he was up early this morning before I got back. I tried to put him off by telling him I just went for an early morning walk, but I’m not sure he bought it.

I can’t tell him what I’m doing or what I suspect. I don’t want him to get hurt.

I can’t tell anyone.

I think I made some progress last night.

I heard the giggling. It seems to concentrate on the outskirts of town, which fits the pattern. Fluttershy lived on the edge of the Everfree. Junebug’s house was over by the river near Fluttershy’s. Applejack lived on the farm, away from the town. Lyra was right by the road to the farm.

I think I can catch them tonight. I’ve got a sense of where they’re going to be next, but if I don’t hurry then somepony else will die.

There’s no time.

June 12, 3 LR

Damndamndamndamn

I almost had them!!!!!

They must know what I’m doing. It’s the only way she could have escaped me.

Tonight.

S o t i r e d

S p i k e ?

June 13, 3 LR

Well, the good news is that even though my ‘number one’ assistant betrayed me by putting sleeping weed in my food yesterday morning, causing me to sleep through the whole day and night, no one was killed.

The bad news is that even though no one died, that doesn’t mean no one was hurt. The killer attacked Rarity last night. I thought I told her that her boutique was near the edge of town?

Didn’t I? The killer is moving faster and faster now.

She was slashed up pretty badly, but it sounds like she’ll live. Minus an ear, an eye, and much of her mane and tail. She’ll have some pretty bad scars, too. We’re sitting the hospital waiting room right now waiting for the doctors to patch her up as best they can. I can’t imagine what she must be going through right now, but once she wakes up from surgery, I need to talk to her and find out what she saw and how she chased them away.

I got some sleep finally. I guess that counts for something. Rainbow tells me I’ve looked like death warmed over lately. Pinkie’s starting to develop a twitch. I guess all of this unhappiness is short-circuiting her brain.

The doctor came back a little while ago. Said that she’ll live, like they thought, but she’s still unconscious right now. It’ll be a while before the anesthetic spells wear off. We’ve been trying to avoid discussing how we’re going to break the news to her about her new appearance, but I think we all know it has to happen.

The doctor thinks that she’ll wake up later this evening. They want to keep out any visitors for now so she doesn’t become overwhelmed.

I’ll go out tonight again. In order to protect my friends.

I need to stop this.

June 15, 3 LR

Rainbow was attacked last night. She had stayed with Rarity in the hospital, along with Sweetie Belle. It’s a good thing Rainbow was there otherwise both Rarity and Sweetie might be dead now.

Rainbow will be ok. She just got a little beat up and sliced a couple of times, but she was able to chase her away.

I just don’t get it. There are two of them? I didn’t know the water would work that way when drank.

On the other hoof…

One is excessively happy. The other is excessively cruel. A psychological split into two separate bodies?

However, if it is related to that water, I know how to handle it. I still remember that spell.

That’s what I have to do. I have to scour the town until I find her and cast the spell. I’ll leave some instructions for Spike and then I need to hide this.

I don’t know how long this will take, but I’ll do it. It’s my fault as much as anypony’s.

I’m sorry, everypony.