Яarity

by Mist

Rating: teen
Tags: Main 6, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Romance
Length: 6122

Rarity learns that somethings just aren't explainable.

Winter is approaching in Ponyville, and all Rarity wants to do is work on her new winter garments, enjoy the holiday festivities and maybe even catch a chance alone with the pegasus she cares for most. That was before that day in early December when everything in Ponyville changed. Now it's a question of who a pony can trust, and who they can't.

Published 2011-10-24 12:54:47 UTC
Last updated 2012-03-28 14:50:13 UTC

Rarity

Яarity

By Mist

Before you read any further I would like to tell you that this is not a fabrication, but what really happened. This testament stands as documentation of my account of the events of the past few days to the best of my memory. Perhaps you can make more sense of it than I can. I have gone over it again and again, but I can't seem to make it conform to any kind of logic. It is my hope to set the record straight; let us hope this does just that and ends the confusion. With that in mind I hope you can understand what happened.

Frost had overtaken the once colorful gardens. White blankets cloaked the once green and amber vistas of the town. The ice crystals acted as a mirror though, instead of covering the beauty beneath them, they only magnified it. Everything looked that much more majestic covered in white beauty. If one rose with the Sun, only then did they have the opportunity to appreciate the wonders brought by the hoof of winter to its fullest glory.

The breath of winter didn't only bring pleasantry for the eyes, but also frigid air that would weave its way under one's coat and scratch at the skin. One's natural coat wasn't enough to protect from the freezing elements.

It's because of that fact however that I am grateful for this time of year. Harsh weather meant more consumers buying jackets, boots, hats, scarves and every other winter ensemble they could get ahold of; being the proprietor of Carousel Boutique, the best choice for garment shopping in town meant I would taste a portion of that business. It was safe to assume I was in high demand.

Business was one thing, but my heart was set on attracting the attention of a certain pegasus that coincidentally was one of my least visiting customers. She was always preoccupied with her training for the Wonderbolts, it was doubtful that she even noticed my attempts to avert her gaze to my direction. It didn’t help that she was so unconcerned about fashion that she had no reason to come to my shop unless requested. So many times would I make the excuse that I needed somepony to model for me just to get her to show up; although she hated it, she showed up every time. Nothing shy of the element of loyalty I suppose.

On this particular day however the shop was filled with potential buyers. Winter had just thrown perhaps the most violent storm to ever hit Ponyville in ten years our way yesterday. All the citizens were now taking precautions for another possible onslaught of snow and ice, and that meant keeping warm.

I had just finished assisting a customer when I noticed a certain pony of interest enter my shop. She flicked her mane violently to free it of snow and ice. It was interesting to watch the sparkling ice crystals flow around her.

Despite being freezing she was probably the only one that appeared to be sweating. She had the sweat of a hard day’s work about her, which was understandable; with the weather the way it was, the pegasi had to be working twice as hard.

“Rainbow Dash, it’s nice to see you again, darling. Is there anything I can do to help you?” I attempted to not sound nervous in my approach.

Dash brushed her mane out of her face and twirled her dark purple scarf around her neck. It was the same scarf I had made her last winter. My heart bounced knowing that she not only still had it, but actually wore it.

She had on a rather old looking beige jacket with the wear and tear of years of love upon it. A missing button here and there, and a loose thread or two were dangling from the sleeves. It looked perhaps a size too small for her as well, but she was able to slide it over her slender figure none the less.

“I guess I need a new jacket.” She shrugged.

That was an understatement. I was relieved that she had mentioned it as I was nearly biting my tongue off trying not to point it out myself.

“Well, perhaps I can help you find something that’ll compliment your features.” I smiled.

She rolled her eyes.

“I don’t need anything fancy; my budget won’t allow it anyways. I just want something that’ll keep me warm while I’m working.” She explained.

“No need to worry, I can give you a reasonable discount; we are friends after all.” I winked.

I saw her face turn to a smile for the first time since she arrived, it was pleasant to see her happy. Her face looked far younger than she really was, and her smile only complimented it more. She was always teased for having a baby face, and every time she’d get flustered and try to play it off like she didn’t care, but it only made her look that much younger and therefore cuter. We sometimes mockingly called her “Baby Face Dash”.

“You don’t need to do that; I don’t need anything that extravagant anyways.” She refused my offer.

“Nonsense, I can’t have my dear friend out in the cold looking like a ragged homeless pony. You need something that says ‘I’m Rainbow Dash, and I matter’, and my job is to help you find that something.” I insisted.

She stood in thought for a moment then finally gave in.

“Alright, but don’t go overboard please.” She said.

I had thought it was going to be a flawless day from there on. Not a single thing that I could think of could ruin this day. The shop was busy and active and I would have a chance to spend time with Rainbow Dash, it was seemingly perfect; I was wrong.

The door to the shop burst open with a snow covered purple unicorn entering. She appeared haggard and nervous. She clearly had just raced to get here with extreme urgency, something big had just happened, this much was certain.

“Twilight, what’s wrong?” Asked a confused Rainbow Dash from across the room. Clearly Dash didn’t understand it was rude to converse that way.

“It’s Pinkie Pie…” Twilight gasped.

She was struggling to speak in between breaths. Not the most athletic of ponies, a simple five minute run would be enough to exhaust the unicorn.

“What about Pinkie Pie?” I asked approaching Twilight.

Damn her, she ruined my perfect moment with Rainbow Dash.

“I was over near the forest heading to see Zecora. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first, but as I was walking, I noticed something sticking out of the snow. Curiosity got the better of me so I dug it up a bit, and there…” Twilight stopped and gagged.

She vomited violently all over my custom made rug. I wanted to scold her for it, but I had a feeling now wasn’t an appropriate time.

“Are you alright?” I asked placing a hoof on her neck.

“What did you find Twilight?” Rainbow Dash had approached herself now.

“Pinkie Pie… She’s dead… Somepony… They…” Twilight was in shock.

“THEY KILLED HER!” She blurted out.

I instantly regretted my previous selfish thought about her interrupting my time with Dash. How could this be? Murder? In Ponyville? Who would do such a thing? And to Pinkie Pie? What could Pinkie Pie have done to warrant such a thing?

“Someone killed Pinkie Pie!? No way! Are you sure it was her!?” Dash exclaimed.

“Positive, the body was a little mangled, but there’s no doubt that it was he-“ Twilight was interrupted by another stream of vomit.

“Why would somepony do something like this? Pinkie Pie would never give anypony a reason to kill her…” I thought out loud.

“I don’t know, but they wanted to be sure she was dead, that’s for sure… They nearly destroyed her body… I can’t believe this is happening…” Twilight quivered at her own words.

Murder, right here in Ponyville, and it was our friend who was killed. That was what started it all, that much is certain. It’s the only part that I feel I can pinpoint exactly. Pinkie Pie was killed, and nopony knew why.

The next few days would be hard on everypony in town. Most didn’t even leave their homes for those first two days. The streets were clear of almost all traffic; even the normally busy market district was void of anypony. Needless to say the shop didn’t receive much traffic for that time either.

Police had already begun investigating the matter and released some information to the public. Apparently whoever killed her wanted to make sure she was dead. She had been stabbed repeatedly with a jagged sharp object. This led them to believe that whoever killed her did so with a makeshift blade.

They believed that the body had been beaten with a blunt object shortly after death; clearly whoever killed her had a serious grudge against her, or was just completely out of their mind. I could only imagine how poor Twilight must have felt having to see the body of her friend laying there in the snow, especially in the condition that it was in.

There were no leads as to who had killed her, and no suspects. Pinkie Pie had no enemies, nor did she ever come into contact with any shady individuals that any of us had seen. The police had already come and questioned me about her a few days ago; unfortunately I wasn’t very helpful to them in finding her killer.

I still couldn’t wrap my head around why anypony would kill Pinkie Pie. I was curious as to what their motivation was. The police had already ruled out sexual abuse, but they didn’t want to divulge much more than that to me.

The shop had only one visitor today, Fluttershy; she had come to see how I was handling the situation.

“How’re you doing Rarity?” She asked in her usual timid manner.

Fluttershy seemed extra shaken by this event. She was always very easily startled, but I think this event caught her especially off guard, more so because it was somepony she knew.

At this point I had already started to detach myself from what happened. It was cruel to my dear friend Pinkie Pie, but was the only way I could really move on from the situation.

“I’m quite alright, dear. I’ve got my head mostly stuck in my work so I haven’t really thought about what happened too much at this point.” I replied.

“Oh, well I was just concerned at how you were holding up really… It’s really got a lot of the others pretty disturbed… I just wanted to be sure you were okay…” Fluttershy admitted.

She had always gone out of her way for others. Fluttershy would chop off her own wings if it meant helping one of her dear friends. Sometimes I questioned if she would be better suited as the element of generosity than me.

“Yes, well I just try not to think about it, and I get by. At this point I just want to move on and forget about it until they catch whoever did this.” I said.

“Oh… I understand…” She replied.

“Is something wrong Fluttershy?” I raised a brow.

Her demeanor had changed for some reason. Something in the past few moments had caused her to sink into what appeared to be a depressive state.

“Nothing at all… I’m just glad that you’re okay, honest.” She was clearly lying.

Deciding not to make any more of it I nodded and let her go.

“Hold still Rainbow Dash, I can’t get this perfect if you keep moving around.” I scolded the pegasus modeling for my new design.

Dash squirmed in an unpleased manner and did what appeared to be her attempts at restraining herself from moving any further. She wasn’t exactly the best model, but perhaps the only one with the slender body and appearance to work with a lot of the outfits I had in mind. Dash was in great shape, and as a result she was closer to the thin side than many of the other ponies in town.

“Sorry, you know how I get; I can’t stand to hold still for too long, I need to stretch my wings.” She complained.

I giggled at her playfully. She was adorable when she was complaining about something. It fit her personality, she was the group pessimist.

“I know, but we’re almost done here, so I just need you to hold still for a little longer alright, darling?” I smiled.

She sighed and nodded.

“So Rainbow Dash… Got any plans for this weekend…?” I asked nonchalantly.

“Not especially… I was going to practice some more… Why…? Do you have another dress that needs modeling?” Dash moaned.

“No, no more dresses.” I laughed.

Dash let out a sigh of relief.

“I was wondering if perhaps… You wanted to accompany me to dinner…?” A hint of nervousness escaped in my voice, I hoped she didn’t catch it.

Dash raised a brow in confusion.

“You want to take me to dinner with you? No offense Rarity, but I don’t think you’d get much approval bringing me to the places where you would normally go to dine. I’m not exactly the most sophisticated or well-mannered pony around…” She admitted.

“Don’t worry about it, I’d love for you to accompany me anyways, that is… If you want to…” I replied.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes locked onto my own. She held her gaze for at least a solid minute; I could feel myself sweating from her stare. Finally a smile came across her face.

“Alright, if you say so.” She said.

My heart felt like it just jumped out of my chest. I wasn’t expecting her to actually say yes.

“Shall you meet me here then?” I asked curiously.

“Yeah, I’ll swing by and we’ll go together.” Dash smiled.

“Sounds like a plan.” I replied.

I never really got along with Applejack as well as I’d like to, but when it came down to it, she was one of the most down to Earth ponies I knew. Despite our constant bickering towards each other we really did care about each other. She was just hard to crack open, and I was an open book; if Applejack had a problem you’d probably never hear about it until it was too late, but if I had one the whole town would know within the first ten minutes. I suppose at times she must have thought me to be a drama queen; I’d have to agree with her to an extent.

She and her brother Big Macintosh ran Sweet Apple Acres just at the edge of town. The two of them were responsible for a majority of the town’s apple supply, along with other various agricultural needs.

“So, why don’ y’all jus’ tell Rainbow how ya’ feel, sugar cube?” Her thick country accent always shined through when she spoke.

“It’s not that simple…” I rolled my eyes.

She bucked at another tree. Every apple fell into a group of baskets she had placed around it. Eying them up and down for a moment she gave a quick smile as to approve of her harvest before moving onto the next tree.

“Sure it is. Ya’ jus’ tell ‘er you like her.” Applejack said.

She made everything sound far more simplistic than it actually was. It must have been wonderful to live with her mindset.

“Well… We are going to be having dinner together this Friday…” I said.

“See, that’s perfect. Jus’ tell ‘er then. Y’all will be alone with ‘er, so it’s the perfect chance.” She replied.

“What if she doesn’t feel the same way?” I retorted.

“Then ya’ gave it yer’ best shot.” She answered.

It was questionable if Applejack even understood romance in the slightest, let alone my feelings. There were times I wondered if Applejack was even capable of understanding others.

“Say, y’all heard about the Mayor?” Applejack changed the subject.

“Yeah, she went missing, what of it?” I asked curiously.

Applejack halted her work for a moment and wiped the sweat off of her brow. She grabbed a glass of lemonade from the table sitting near me and took a few gulps. Placing the glass back down she began to speak again.

“Well, it’s sure got the whole town shaken up. Many are wondering if it has something to do with what happened to Pinkie Pie…” She answered.

“I doubt it, remember she’s just missing at this point, it’s not like they found her dead or anything, and I pray that no such thing happens.” I said.

Applejack sighed and smiled at me.

“I ‘spose you’re right. It’s too early to assume anythin’ I reckon. I’d be making one out of you an’ me, right?” She laughed.

“Say Applejack…” I started.

She turned to face me, but continued working.

“Who do you think… Killed Pinkie Pie…?” I said.

She stopped kicking at her trees and approached me. Her face had become more serious and stern looking. Her freckles squished together when she made a serious face it seemed.

“I been thinkin’ ‘bout that myself… I don’ think Pinkie Pie did no harm to nopony, and the police said they didn’t find any reason for it. No debt to anypony, no past lovers, no enemies, no kind of sexual abuse, no nothin’. It don’t really add up to me. We have a dead pony, and no reason for it…” Applejack placed a hoof on her chin in deep thought.

“The police said that she was dead before she ever had a chance to retaliate right?” I asked already knowing this to be true.

“Yeah, I heard that.” Applejack nodded.

“And she was killed with a jagged knife like object right?” I questioned.

Applejack’s brow rose with my questions.

“Yeah, what’s yer’ point, sugar cube?” She asked.

“Think about it. To stab somepony you have to be pretty close to them don’t you? And to stab them repeatedly you wouldn’t have thrown the knife, so this means that they had to have been pretty close when they stabbed her.” I explained.

Applejack seemed more confused by my explanation.

“Okay, but how does that change anything?” She questioned.

“Because… Don’t you think if some random attacker got that close that you’d be retaliating by that point? That or you’d have ran away.” I said.

“So Pinkie Pie was taken by surprise is what yer’ sayin’?” Applejack asked.

She was as thick as I’d expected her to be.

“Exactly, doesn’t that strike you as odd?” I asked.

“Not ‘specially, why?” Applejack said.

I met her eyes with my own.

“Pinkie Pie had to have known her attacker.” I proclaimed.

Applejack took a step back in shock. One could easily tell that she wasn’t ready to swallow this information without proper explanation.

“If you are going to stab someone, you need to get close to them, even if you’re concealing your weapon. Anypony would be hesitant to let a shady individual close enough to them to stab them, and if the individual was insistent on getting closer it would be grounds to run or retaliate. That didn’t happen though, the attacker was able to get close to her without any kind of suspicion and deliver the attack before she had a chance to know what was happening…” I explained.

Applejack leaned in closer.

“I ‘spose that makes sense… But why would anypony want to hurt Pinkie?” She questioned.

“That’s the part that I can’t figure out yet, but it is probably you, me, Twilight, Dash, or Fluttershy.” I said.

“What makes y’all say that?” Applejack seemed to get defensive, which one would expect in this situation.

“The police went right to questioning the five of us first, they must have some kind of evidence that connects us to the crime, or we’re the most likely candidates. Chances are they withheld the fact that Pinkie Pie knew her attacker from us because it would alert the killer they were onto them. The fact that we weren’t informed she knew her attacker only makes me believe more so that the police believe one of us to be the killer.” I replied.

“Even if that’s true, it’s not enough to say one of us killed ‘er.” Applejack reminded.

“It’s just a theory at this point, but I think it’d be wise to be cautious around the others…” I said.

“I’ll keep that in mind, sugar cube.” She nodded.

Something about this entire meeting seemed off to me.

Tonight was going to be a very special night.

I had spent the better part of the evening preparing. I must have spent at least four hours just deciding what I wanted to wear, and an additional two on my mane. I wanted everything to be perfect for tonight.

Eventually I had decided on a simple white gown with matching shoes, and a clean silk ribbon in my mane. I had stitched the ensemble together sometime last year but had only worn it twice. It was something I had designed for formal occasions, but when I didn’t want to be the center of attention. Rarely did an event like that occur, but tonight was one of them. I wanted Dash to be the center of attention tonight.

The butterflies had already started churning and moving violently in my stomach, my legs were shaking at the thought of me and Rainbow Dash being together tonight.

I nearly fell over when I heard the doorbell ring. Attempting to regain my composure, I approached the door in a casual manner. I didn’t want Rainbow Dash to think I was too eager to see her after all.

I was rendered speechless when the door revealed the pegasus behind it. Rainbow Dash had her hair in a proper ponytail, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen on her. It made her normally tomboyish appearance have that delicate hint of feminism that complimented her so well. She actually was wearing a button up shirt, which made me giggle inside a little bit. It was odd to see Rainbow Dash attempting to look like she was classy. The black shirt went well with her normally overly colorful appearance.

Glancing her over a second time, I even noticed two little lightning bolt emblems on her ears. Earrings! Rainbow Dash was wearing earrings! I had to hold myself back from just tackling her.

She was far less dressed than me, yet I felt so underdressed with her around. Her simplicity was what made her so complex.

“Hey Rare, you look great.” Dash smiled.

Rare. I wanted to giggle at the nickname given to me.

“You’re not too bad yourself.” I complimented with a bow.

“Heh, thanks. Shall we?” She smiled brightly.

“Of course.” I replied.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. I must have studied her figure so much that I could draw a flawless picture of her in my head in every possible pose that you could think of. There was just something about her that seemed to hold my attention.

“So Rare, any news on Pinkie Pie…?” Dash asked.

“Not since they found her, no…” I replied.

“Oh…” She lowered her head.

“Let’s not worry about it, and try to have a good evening.” I smiled.

Dash lifted her head and a smile painted her face once more.

“Right.” She said.

It was obvious that Rainbow Dash was bipolar to an extent. One moment she’d be sad and depressed, the next cheerful and over exuberant. All and all though she was normally quite the pessimist when things didn’t work out the way she planned.

“So, you’ve probably figured out… That I didn’t invite you here just for the sake of having a guest…” I changed the subject.

My heart started pounding harder and harder. It was now or never.

“I figured as much.” Dash said in between sipping her drink.

“I wanted to tell you something…” I said.

My brain immediately told me not to say it, to turn back and pretend I was just kidding. I started thinking about all of the things she could say in response if I told her how I felt. I wanted to just pretend I never said anything now, but it was too late.

“You can tell me anything, Rare.” She smiled.

Her smile was so comforting. It made me relax a little bit, enough to continue anyways.

“I’ve been… Thinking… About you that is…” I stuttered.

“What about me?” She questioned.

Her tone of voice seemed to be casual, so I hadn’t given her reason to be offended or concerned yet at least.

“Well… We’re friends, right?” I answered her with another question.

“Of course we’re friends, why wouldn’t we be?” She smiled again.

“Well… Have you ever…” I didn’t know how to finish.

“Have I ever what?” She asked.

“Wanted to be… More… Than just friends…?” I turned away gently.

I could feel my face burning. I was hoping that turning away from her direction would hide the red in my cheeks from her. I held my eyes closed tightly in fear of what she might say now.

There was silence. I opened an eye to see her. Her face had a shade of crimson on it.

“Well, I… Uh…” She stuttered.

“I guess I’ve thought about it...” She added.

I picked my head up to meet her; she looked in the other direction nervously. She was just as nervous as I was.

“Really!?” I questioned.

She flinched at my sudden outburst.

“Yeah, well… I’ve always thought you were… you know… Beautiful…” Her face was turning a deeper shade of red with each word.

“You’re not too bad yourself…” I felt quite bold at the moment.

Dash laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck.

“You don’t mean that… I mean what does a beautiful unicorn like you want with a simple tomboy of a pegasus like me? I don’t know anything about fashion, or jewels, or girly stuff for that matter…” She responded.

“That’s exactly the reason I like you… You’re adventurous, spontaneous and… strong.” I said.

She smiled and turned to face me now.

“There’s just something about you that makes me feel… Safe… I don’t know why. I just look at you and…” I didn’t know how to finish my sentence.

“You feel your heart stop.” Dash finished for me.

My heart melted at those words. Who’d have thought Dash could be so smooth, despite how nervous she was.

I leaned in slowly, and noticed her do the same. My heart was banging against my ribcage viciously as we came closer and closer until our lips met.

There really was no way to describe her kiss besides that it was like nothing else I had ever experienced. It was a mixture of different things all at once. I felt happy, safe, calm, and excited all at the same time.

She took the lead; I had no objections. I let out a soft sound of pleasure at the experience before parting with her. When she and I both opened our eyes we both had a smile on our face.

“Well Miss Dash… For someone who claims to have no class you certainly know how to kiss a lady.” I teased.

She looked away and shrugged.

“Yeah… Well… Whatever…” She responded.

I loved seeing her embarrassed. The feisty and always wise cracking Rainbow Dash was at a loss for words; it was a sight to be seen.

She mumbled something I couldn’t hear causing me to lean in.

“What was that?” I asked politely.

“I said… Do you want to go back to my place or… Something…” She said.

Dash’s home was very interesting. I don’t think anypony had been to her home except for Fluttershy, but that was probably because it was made of clouds. I had to cast a cloud walking spell that Twilight had showed me just to enter.

“I’m just going to go and check my messages real quick alright? Feel free to make yourself at home.” She gestured towards the living room as she walked into the nearby kitchen.

I wandered into the living room without a second thought.

“I’ll only be a minute.” She called from the kitchen.

“Take your time…” I replied.

Curiosity led me to wander into the kitchen behind her. I examined the area around me carefully; she didn’t notice me in the same room as her yet.

I pulled a kitchen knife that had been left on a cutting board probably for days into the air. Examining the blade I realized it was dirty and dull, but it would have to do.

“Sorry, I’m really bad at this romantic stuff…” Dash admitted as she yelled back to the room she thought I was in.

“It’s quite alright, dear…” I responded.

Dash turned around to greet me with a smile.

“Oh, I didn’t see you slip in her-“ She stopped mid-sentence.

I jabbed the knife right into her chest. Red hot blood spurted out in every direction. The blood was so thick that it was even noticeable on her black shirt.

Without a second hesitation I started piercing her with the blade again and again. Her body threw more and more blood back at me. I didn’t even know that the body could even contain so much blood.

I pushed her over and jumped at her stomach with the blade, stabbing at her soft innards viciously before tossing the knife aside. From there I started digging into her chest with my hooves and tearing out anything I could find and throwing it across the room.

I can’t even remember if she ever screamed during this whole event. My ears just turned themselves off through the whole thing.

After about another minute of merciless tearing and clawing, I halted just sitting over her. She never saw it coming.

“So Fluttershy, have the police given any ideas on what happened to Pinkie Pie?” I asked sipping the tea that she poured for me.

“Well, I heard that they’re thinking it was premeditated, and that the last pony they saw her talking to was Twilight.” Fluttershy said.

I was already aware of this information. Twilight had stopped by Sugar Cube Corner the day before to place an order for some pies that she claimed she was getting for a party for her parents coming to visit her that week.

“They also said that Rainbow Dash and she had a conversation sometime after that about helping her practice for the Wonderbolts, though nopony saw them together.” I said.

“Putting Rainbow as the last one to talk to her before they found her dead…” Fluttershy stated.

“Well, allegedly anyways.” I replied taking another sip.

“Do you think that Rainbow Dash could have killed her…?” Fluttershy gasped.

“It’s possible, though not something I want to think about…” I admitted.

“Oh, how did your date with Dash go… Did you… Tell her…?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

“Yes, and I’m glad I did. She responded quite well, and it would appear as though she feels the same way. We’re probably going to go out again soon.” I smiled happily.

“That’s wonderful! I’m very happy for you two!” Fluttershy grinned.

She was always an overly emotional character, but had a heart of gold. I don’t think it was possible for Fluttershy to show negativity towards anything.

“Speaking of Rainbow Dash, where has she been? Nopony has seen her for the past two days…” She changed the subject.

“I don’t know, though I’m sure she’s just been so busy she hasn’t checked in with anypony. You know how Dash gets.” I reassured.

The next few days were spent working vigorously on a new set of dresses. I had received inspiration in a dream one night and didn’t want to sleep again until I made that dream into a reality. I had slaved away at the sewing machine for the past three days with only coffee to keep me from blacking out onto the floor. I wanted these dresses to be flawless.

My work however would be interrupted by a certain purple unicorn entering my shop.

“Rarity, have you seen Rainbow Dash? I just knocked on her door and she didn’t answer. Nopony has seen her for almost a week now.” She said.

I halted my work and approached her.

“Can’t say I have, we went out to eat last Friday, and I haven’t seen her since.” I said.

“I’m worried, ever since Pinkie Pie and the Mayor well… You know…” She looked away shamefully.

“Say, did they ever find the Mayor?” I changed the subject.

“No, that’s the strange part. I remember her coming to my library to check out a book, but that’s the last I saw of her. Before that though I heard she went to talk to Applejack… Or was it Fluttershy…? I can’t remember…” Twilight was deep in thought.

Something in my mind clicked at that moment. Twilight was connected to all of the crimes in town. She was the last one witnessed to see Pinkie Pie before she died, then she also found the body near the forest. Twilight was also the last one to see the mayor, and the mayor came to her library right before she went missing, and now she is claiming that she went to Dash’s house where she’d been missing for the past few days. There was a great chance that Twilight killed Rainbow Dash as well.

Twilight clearly knew something about the crimes going on in Ponyville, there was no mistaking it. There were too many coincidences to call it bad luck on her part.

“Say Twilight…” I said quietly.

“Yes?” She asked.

Instead of an answer I pounced on her. She struggled violently but I held her down as best I could. She was stronger than me, but I had the advantage of being able to throw my weight upon her.

There was no time to grab a weapon, so I used the first thing that came to mind: my horn.

I smashed my head into her repeatedly, piercing her with my horn again and again. She screamed and struggled with each jab, until finally she ceased.

“Sorry to bother you on your day off, I just really needed a jacket, you know how the weather outside is…” Fluttershy bowed her head.

“It’s quite alright dear; I think I have just the jacket for you.” I replied as I approached my clothing racks.

With my magic, I levitated a small blade used for cutting fabric from the floor. I took extra caution to make sure Fluttershy didn’t see it.

“Say, did you hear anything new about the murder?” She asked.

My grip on the knife grew tighter.

“Actually… Between you and me… I think Twilight is responsible for them…” I admitted.

She paused with a confused look upon her face.

“Twilight was the only one who had access to Rainbow Dash, the Mayor, and Pinkie Pie when they were murdered. Twilight was the only pony who could have killed them without any of them seeing it coming…” I brought the knife to my hoof.

“There is no other explanation… Twilight killed them all… But I’m about to let you in on a secret Fluttershy…” I pivoted to face her with the knife in hoof.

“I KILLED TWILIGHT!” I proclaimed.

Her response was rather unexpected on my part.

“There are a few problems with your theory…” They said.

I didn’t allow myself to let go of the knife.

“Pinkie Pie and the mayor were never murdered, and I’m Rainbow Dash, so obviously I haven’t been murdered…” She laughed.

“Impossible… Twilight… Twilight killed you all! I saw you die… How are you…” I was stuttering left and right.

“What are you talking about? You are Twilight.” Rainbow Dash explained.

My hoof was trembling with the knife. I had it gripped so firmly I could feel it leaving an imprint in my hoof.

“Anyways, great joke Twilight, but we have to get moving if we want to see Rarity, you promised you’d come over and celebrate the two of us getting together.” She smiled brightly.

“Rarity…?” I asked.

“Yeah, come on.” She nagged.

I dropped the knife. A loud clatter echoed through my ears as I did so.

“Right, I did promise that didn’t I?” I grinned.

The two of us left on our way to the Carousel Boutique to meet with Ponyville’s local fashionista, Rarity.