Cracking the Elements of Harmony

“I’m telling you, something is wrong!” Pinkie Pie yelled at Twilight, nearly hitting her with a hoof as she pointed all around. “My Pinkie Sense is tingling; I know something bad is going to happen to Fluttershy!”

“She’s having a birthday party for Angel, what could possibly go wrong?” Twilight replied, looking at Pinkie with a mix of disbelief and worry. She hadn’t forgotten how eerily accurate Pinkie’s sense was, but couldn’t quite imagine what could go wrong at a birthday party for a bunny. There was nothing in the Everfree that could come out to get her without a ton of warning signs signaling its approach, the animals could defend her against any ponies wanting to harm her and even if something would go wrong, there were plenty of birds among Fluttershy’s friends; one of them could easily fly to the castle and warn them. But the determined look on Pinkie’s face told her to investigate the matter.

“Okay, calm down Pinkie.” She gently pushed her hoof aside, got up from the ground and walked to the door while talking to her. “Let’s go get the girls and-“

“NO!” Pinkie shouted back, startling Twilight. “Don’t you understand? We have to go there now!” With that, she rushed past Twilight through the door, pushing her aside and galloped as fast as she could to Fluttershy’s, leaving Twilight confused and slightly aggravated. That wasn’t called for, she thought as she brushed herself off and went about her original plan to gather the girls. Pinkie Pie – always overreacting.

Pinkie galloped in uncertain terror through Ponyville, completely ignoring the ponies who were greeting her left and right. Most didn’t take offense. They knew Pinkie well enough to know that she wasn’t angry at them or rude – they saw her determined look, although those close enough to see her expression paused for a second, being taken aback by the unusual sight of fear and worry in her eyes. But even they merely shrugged. Pinkie Pie was far too unpredictable for them to worry about her, so they went on their way, doing whatever it was they were doing before she came by.

Hold on Fluttershy, I’m on my way. Pinkie repeated to herself as if her friend could hear her. She could already see Fluttershy’s cottage in the distance ahead. On the other side of town, Spike had reached Rarity and was busy explaining to her the urgency of the situation which, in his mind, he had ranked somewhere between a cookie jar being discovered as empty and a book being put into the wrong place – but only if Twilight wasn’t there to see it. Not to mention there were other things on his mind as well, as was the norm whenever he was talking to Rarity.

“…so, Twilight asked me to come get you –“ he nervously looked around, as Rarity stared, listening to him and brushing her chin with her hoof, “if you’re not doing anything too important, of course!”

Twilight had taken the matter a tad more seriously, and was already talking to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who were busy one-upping each other in another one of their countless tests of skill, strength and stamina. Had it not been for Applejack’s honesty, Twilight would have long ago assumed that she used these kinds of competitions to set record times in getting chores done on the farm. Alas, the earth pony was far too trustworthy for a scheme like that.

“Ah, that featherbrain,” Rainbow sighed, wiping the face with her foreleg while hovering in the air, then throwing both forelegs up and nearly shouting, “It’s Angel’s birthday and she’s going to crash in there and ruin it!”

Applejack and Twilight looked at her with a mixture of disbelief and shock. Rainbow looked back at them and added the missing parts of information that had made her friends doubt her for a moment.

“Angel wanted to celebrate with his friends, not us – not ponies. Not for now at least. Fluttershy told me yesterday, right before she went on apologizing and asking if I’m okay with that and if I think any of us are going to be angry at her.”

That calmed Twilight and Applejack. They could just imagine Fluttershy being nervous after – probably incidentally – telling that to Rainbow Dash. That girl sure loves her little critters, Applejack thought, while Twilight merely smiled at how Fluttershy-like that was. No other pony in town would have been that sorry for not inviting her friends to a birthday party of someone who didn’t want their company. Not that she resented Angel. The little bunny had his moments, but deep down, he loved Fluttershy as much as she loved him and everypony knew it. But then she remembered Pinkie.

“Rainbow Dash, you have to get there before she does. I don’t know what’s gotten into her, but try to hold her off until we get there!”

Rainbow nodded and gave a half-salute before flying off at full speed toward Fluttershy’s cottage. Twilight and Applejack trotted to the castle, minds at peace that Rainbow would prevent the worse and that together, they would solve the mystery of the Pinkie Sense for this occasion. There would be plenty of future cases, no doubt. Spike was hovering by some unknown magic behind Rarity, his eyes having turned to large pink hearts, as they too made their way to the agreed upon meeting point. He tumbled to the ground as Twilight’s voice brought him back to reality. Before he could make sense of his new surroundings, he looked up from the ground to see two familiar ponies looking at him with huge grins on their faces. Rarity was the politest of the bunch, as always, merely forming a well-contained smirk with the corners of her mouth. He shook off the dust and picked himself up, letting out a few quiet laughs of embarrassment.

“Ready everypony?” Twilight asked.

“Ready!” The two ponies and one red-faced dragon replied. Twilight looked at Spike.

“I’m sorry Spike, but I need someone to stay here.” Seeing the inevitable protest forming in his mind, one claw already raised, she quickly approached him and added, “We’ll be right back, I promise. But I need my number one assistant to hold down the fort while I’m gone. Can you do that?”

Spike looked around for a moment with the eyes of a small puppy before shaking his head in determination and answering, “Of course, Twilight! You know you can count on me!” He knew that whenever the Elements of Harmony had to get together, even if it was for a small thing such as today, it was his job to make sure everything at home went smoothly. As the ponies ran to the rescue of their Angel’s birthday, he walked into the castle as if he really was the final guard of a besieged fort.

The trio of ponies walked at a brisk pace on the ever deteriorating road out of Ponyville. They were close to the edge of the forest that hid a part of the path when they suddenly noticed a disturbing sound. Twilight motioned them to stop and they listened. Almost at the same time, the three recognized what it was. Somepony’s crying! Rarity and Applejack glanced at Twilight. Without a moment’s delay they galloped as fast as they could to the source of the sound, only with every second they realized they were wrong. It wasn’t crying, it was outright wailing. The kind you rarely even see at a funeral. Somepony’s heart had been ripped out and stamped to the ground. “Come on!” Twilight shouted.

The end of a gentle corner revealed the entrance to the forest path that lead past Fluttershy’s house. They stopped in surprise and uncertainty of what they were seeing. In the middle of the road stood Rainbow Dash, wings folded back, head held high, as if she was looking at the tops of trees that surrounded her. Beyond her, they could make out a swirling pink body, convulsing in agony and releasing that awful wail that had brought them here so rapidly. Slashes of yellow became visible for moments at a time before being obscured by the two ponies ahead of them. As before, Twilight moved first; slowly, not knowing what to expect. Rarity was secretly terrified of what could possibly have happened, but managed to make her fear seem no more profound that Applejacks, who was more concerned than scared, but for some strange reason didn’t dare to jump ahead of her two friends, Twilight especially.

“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight gently asked, almost whispering, as she moved forward. With every step she took, the yellow striped appeared more and more often and remained visible for longer, only now she also noticed something else. The ground ahead of Rainbow Dash, the ground occupied by the twitching and suffering body of Pinkie Pie was muddy from the torrent of tears. She walked to her side, looking at her the whole time. “Rainbow? What’s going-“

Rainbow Dash wasn’t looking at the treetops. Her head was held high, but her gaze was fixed firmly on Pinkie Pie, eyes narrowed in fear and hopelessness, not wanting to comprehend the sight in front of her. She was grinding her teeth with barely noticeable movements, and every so often her head twitched lightly as she inhaled with force to prevent the snot from dripping out her nostrils. With all the willpower she could muster, she forced her body into a statue in a desperate attempt to control her shivering. Twilight turned back to ask Applejack for a helping hoof while she would go on to Pinkie Pie, but was greeted with the stone-slab faces of Applejack and Rarity looking past her. She quickly turned to Pinkie Pie.

Through the shadows of the countless leaves on the trees above them, Twilight finally saw it. Pinkie Pie was still rolling around on the ground in great agony, only the whole time she was facing away from them. Every now and then though, as she uncontrollably threw her legs in spasm away from herself, it showed through. There was blood on them, all the way from the hooves up. Twilight forced her gaze forward, to the yellow creature in front of Pinkie Pie. There was blood on it too. She moved closer to Pinkie, not to talk to her, but to see the sight ahead of her more clearly. She could hear Pinkie’s exhausted voice screaming in front of her, the last effort of her body producing sounds the vocal chords were no longer able to fully create. But that was not what kept her silent or what had made her freeze in place.

Fluttershy was lying in a deep pool of blood just beyond Pinkie Pie. She was turned to the side, away from Twilight, the fur on her back stained by specks of dirt and leaves. The sight sent a jolt of energy through Twilight’s body, flooding her with adrenaline. She jumped and flapped her wings, despite the short distance to cover, feeling only the overwhelming need to see to Fluttershy. She landed near her bright pink mane, strands of it intertwined with tiny twigs. Her head was slumped forward, her eyes closed. She had pulled her legs inward, wrapping her belly with her hooves.

“Oh, no. Fluttershy!?” Twilight yelled as she leaned over her friend.

The scream brought Rarity and Applejack out of shock, but only the farm pony rushed to aid, running around Fluttershy and coming to a halt in front of her just as Twilight gently placed her hoof on Fluttershy’s cheek in a desperate hope of feeling her friend respond. Rarity was in a state of quiet panic, the only sign of it showing in her narrowed eyes and short, rapid breaths. A thousand fragmented thoughts and ideas flooded her mind and ephemeral visions flashed before her eyes as her subconscious tried to work out a proper course of action. Her instincts were telling her to help the sobbing Pinkie Pie, to rush to the aid of Fluttershy, to scream for a doctor, even to run away in terror. Each was a valid choice and each came with its own reasons to be put to number one priority. Her jaw twitched involuntarily and her eyes gently jerked around, not looking at anything in particular.

“Go get a doctor!” Applejack screamed at the two ponies left behind. Rainbow remained as still as before, showing no sign of hearing the scream, but Rarity did. She looked nervously at Applejack, as if she had been caught stealing from another pony’s saddlebag. “Go!” With that, Rarity awkwardly spun on her hooves and galloped with all her might to the town. With Rainbow clearly lost in shock, Applejack turned back to Fluttershy and leaned down to her, gently grabbing her foreleg with the same hope to feel a response.

As soon as Twilight’s hoof reached the gentle yellow fur, she felt her blood go cold. In place of the radiant warmth of the yellow Pegasus was a cold, moist fur. “No, no,” she murmured to herself as she gently pulled Fluttershy’s head out from the fetus-like position to see her friend’s face in full. But the head moved too willingly, the only resistance offered by the pebbles and dirt on the ground holding back the head. But it was what she saw a moment later that made her heart stop altogether. Her hoof slid down the back of Fluttershy’s head, nearly stopping on her mane, but an instant later, she hunkered down on all four hooves, closed her eyes and concentrated more than she had ever done before.

Fluttershy’s muzzle was covered in blood, caked at her mouth and nostrils. From there it had sprayed and flown onto her belly, her legs and her mane in violent patterns. Twilight charged up her resuscitation spells and enveloped Fluttershy’s whole body in a gentle purplish-white halo. The cloud began pulsating. “Come on, Fluttershy, come on,” she whispered.

“Twilight.” Applejack said with a heavy voice. She could already see what Twilight had missed, but Twilight was too deeply invested in what she was doing to hear her. “Twilight, stop.” Applejack’s voice was as even and low as she could force herself to make it in order to hide any trace of emotions, but a nervous raspiness at the brake between words would have revealed her true state to anypony close enough that wasn’t desperately trying to revive her friend. She tried once more. “Twilight. Please stop.” The word please brought Twilight out, the painful undertone of the way in which it was said resonating in her head. She looked at Applejack and saw tears forming in her eyes. “I don’t think –“ Applejack could hold it no longer, and a slow stream of tears erupted from her eyes and dripped to the ground. “- I don’t think we can help.” As soon as she said that, she covered her face with her foreleg and wept into it. Twilight released the spell and moved closer to Applejack. Before she could put her leg around her, Applejack pointed at Fluttershy. Only she wasn’t pointing at her head, but her belly.

Twilight shuddered as she saw what looked like several small lacerations on the part of Fluttershy’s belly that was no longer hidden behind her legs. Fearing there were more, she gently pushed aside the right hind leg to see the extent of the damage. The moment the view was clear, her eyes widened and her pupils narrowed. Her jaw fell open a fraction. They weren’t lacerations, they were punctures, and Fluttershy’s belly was full of them. Some even had small jagged pieces sticking out of them. More were mixed in with the blood on the ground.

What are these? She thought as she immediately blocked the thought of Fluttershy’s death before it had a chance to form. The defensive mechanism would allow her to remain optimistic and objective for the time being. She reached out with her hoof and rolled a piece on the ground, trying to get it unstuck from the nearly solid blood, but the piece crumbled into it instead. She furrowed her brow, not quite sure of what she was seeing, then looked for another piece. This time, she used her magic to first warm the blood up before cautiously hovering the piece from the ground. The blood dripped down its side into the pool below as Twilight brought it to eye-height.

It was a strangely shaped rock – no, not a rock, a lump of something. Something she had seen before. She rotated it, but still couldn’t quite put her hoof on what the familiar shape was. There was only one thing left to do. She focused her hold on the lump to two points along the longest axis of the lump and gently bent it. Then bent it some more, until the lump split in two with a barely audible crack. Something fell to the ground from its split center.

Crumbs? Twilight turned the inner sides of the levitating lump toward herself, looking suspiciously at the red-tinted inside of a cookie that had appeared before her. The blood had soaked the baked dough, but the center was unmistakably cookie-like. She looked at the ground around her and stomped at a few other lumps. They all disintegrated under her hooves. She dug at one of the crushed bloody lumps on the ground and, sure enough, through the caked blood came the sight of white and golden crumbs. Did cookies do th- She looked at Fluttershy as she formed that though and in an instant forgot everything about the pastry.

“Fluttershy. Fluttershy, no!” As if a blinder had been taken away from her eyes, the full realization of what she was looking at hit home. She collapsed to her flanks, threw her forelegs over the dead body of Fluttershy and wailed without pause. Applejack, who had already gotten some of the sorrow out of her system, took a step forward and hugged Twilight over the back, quietly sobbing into her mane. The sound of Twilight’s near scream awoke Rainbow Dash from her stupor.

She took a hard look at the sight in front of her, noting her crying friends, huddled over the dead body of Fluttershy, then moved her stare back, onto the convulsing body of Pinkie Pie. Then she began to move. First, one foreleg lifted and placed half a step ahead. Then the same with the hind leg. A whole step followed, then another, each with swifter movement, until she was towering over Pinkie Pie, not letting her out of sight the whole way there. Pinkie Pie looked at her, no more tears left to spill from the bloodshot eyes. She didn’t say anything as Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof over her face. She didn’t move away as the first blow hit her. Before Twilight and Applejack had even raised their heads fully to see what was happening in front of them, Rainbow was already pummeling Pinkie Pie as hard and fast as she could, her mouth showing more disgust and hatred for the pink pony with every blow, her eyes narrowed in anger.

“Dash!”

“Rainbow, what are-“

Both mourning ponies shouted out at the same time and rushed to end the violence. Applejack jumped right over her dead friend, landed between Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie and, the moment her hooves touched the ground, jumped again, directly into Rainbow Dash, knocking her down. Twilight also jumped, taking flight and landing next to Pinkie Pie. She was breathing heavily and covered in blood. There were tears and cuts all over her face, one lucky – or not so lucky – punch from one of Rainbow’s sharp hooves having created a long gash right under her right eye, missing it by a fraction. Her bottom lip was cut nearly in two. As Applejack shouted at Rainbow and Twilight lowered her head to look her in the eyes, Pinkie Pie coughed up a small amount of blood onto the ground. Mixed in it were several of her teeth. She heard Twilight speaking to her and touching her, but she did not grasp what she was saying, the world having been reduced to a blur of hazy shapes and slow sounds. It would take a few seconds for the healing spell to close the wounds enough for the blood to stop flowing, although it could never heal them completely.

“What are you doing!?” Applejack shouted at Rainbow Dash at close range. She had pinned her down the moment they landed, crouching on her hind legs with her own and holding her forelegs down with her hooves. Rainbow Dash had tried to resist at first – an entirely natural instinct – but the moment she saw Twilight leaning over Pinkie Pie and using her magic, she stopped and kept still. She didn’t even hear Applejack’s first shouts, although she knew they must have been about the same as the ones she was forced to listen to now. “Why did you do that?!” Applejack was still looking at her as if she wanted her dead. Before she could spit the next question out, Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“She did it.” She quietly said, almost in contempt of the pony it was referring to. Applejack fluttered her eyelids, trying to understand what she had just herd. “She did it. Ask her.” Rainbow continued in a cold, low voice devoid of any emotion and revealing only that she was glad she had given to Pinkie Pie a small taste of what Fluttershy must have gone through. She looked at Applejack without regret, only a determined stare that said It had to be done. But the look of aggression and hate was long gone and Applejack knew Rainbow wasn’t about to jump on Pinkie again, so she released her. They both stood up without saying a word. As soon as she stood up, Rainbow tensed her muscles and straightened her pose, letting Applejack know she had no intention of moving. Applejack turned, first with her body, then with her head, to the two ponies behind her and looked at Pinkie Pie.

“What did you do?” Applejack’s question was genuine this time, marked only by a note of fear of the answer. She had asked calmly, but when no response came, she took a step forward and was about to raise her voice.

“She can’t hear you right now.” Twilight intervened. She then looked at the statue-like Rainbow before looking back to Applejack with a questioning look. But Applejack had other things on her mind than to explain why Rainbow had attacked Pinkie or – perhaps more importantly – why she was now standing silently behind her, observing what was going on.

“Cut it.” Twilight nudged her head, not quite sure she understood what Applejack wanted her to do. So Applejack looked her straight into the eye and repeated with clenched teeth. “Cut the spell.”

“I can’t do that-“

“Twilight, drop the spell.”

“But she’s hurt! She’ll-“

“She’ll talk.”

The short answer cut through Twilight’s arsenal of logical answers to any debate. She knew now there was nothing she could say to change Applejack’s mind, so she looked at Pinkie and sighed. “Okay.” Her horn stopped glowing and Pinkie Pie was soon free from the wrap of energy she was incased in. As Applejack was about to ask the question, she felt movement from behind. The moment she turned, she saw Rainbow Dash already walking by her and in a first-response move, she threw a foreleg out to the side to at least slow her progress as Twilight looked on in fear. But instead of pushing her leg to the side or tackling her, or even flying over her, Rainbow Dash merely stopped, although once again looking directly at Pinkie Pie.

“Tell them what you told me,” she said in a harsh voice. Pinkie Pie threw her head back, her eyes again trying to tear up, with no success. There still hadn’t been any time for her to feel the pain of the beating she had received. The pain she was again feeling was still the same as the pain she was feeling when the others had found her. “Tell them.” Pinkie Pie began mouthing something as Applejack and Twilight looked at her, but it wasn’t nearly loud enough or distinct enough for her to be understood, her slashed lip made sure of that. “Tell them!” Rainbow stomped at the ground and yelled, sending shivers down Twilight’s spine.

“I… I did it.” Pinkie slowly and quietly said, straining with each word as more blood came out of her mouth. Twilight’s and Applejack’s eyes widened, while Rainbow Dash stood as still as a statue next to Applejack. Pinkie was looking up as she said it again, her voice breaking as her lungs contracted and expanded in spasm from all the crying. “I did it. I killed Fluttershy.” And with that, the floodgates opened. Pinkie Pie started thrashing her head around on the ground while relentlessly screaming with all the breath she could muster. Between the unintelligible garble the watching ponies could only distinguish a few repeating words. “I killed her… so sorry… so sorry Fluttershy… why I did…” After a moment’s hesitation, Twilight stepped forward. Before Applejack could utter the plea, not to harm her, Twilight had already done what she felt was necessary.

When Rarity finally returned from the town, doctor and nurse in tow and panting from exhaustion, she saw a strange sight in front of her. Twilight was lying on the ground next to and partly on Pinkie Pie, holding her firmly and gently stroking her with her hoof, with Pinkie crying with muffled sounds into her fur. Beyond them, Rainbow Dash was standing as stolid as a Royal Guard, looking at an angle to the two ponies in front of her, the only sign of emotion visible being the sharp look with which she was keeping an eye on Pinkie Pie. She didn’t avert her eyes even as Rarity and the doctor came into her field of vision. To her other side was Applejack, hat in hoof, looking down at Fluttershy and quietly crying, but the tears having dried some time ago.

Rarity was nervously pacing around, biting her right hoof whenever she paused as the doctor spoke to Twilight. She was the most in control of herself, with Applejack occasionally interrupting their talk with details of what had happened, but otherwise staying silent and looking at Fluttershy. She didn’t dare looking at Pinkie and was secretly afraid of looking at Rainbow Dash. The former was lying silently on the ground, not far away from the small patch of her own hardened blood. She was staring at it as if it held the power to hurt her in ways nopony could imagine. The doctor had already collected the few knocked out teeth he could find from it and had tried talking to her, to no avail. Rainbow Dash was still standing as a statue, keeping everypony in her sight but focusing on Pinkie Pie, ready to chase her down and kill her if necessary should she attempt an escape. She replied to every question the doctor had asked, after seeing to Fluttershy, in the shortest, most direct way possible, leaving no doubt about who she was blaming for Fluttershy’s death but not wasting a word to describe what had happened in any more detail than strict facts.

As soon as the doctor had declared Fluttershy dead and before he had moved on to Pinkie Pie, he sent the nurse back to town. She was to summon the Royal Guards from Canterlot, as Ponyville’s small size meant it lacked an outpost. And even if it had one, the act of murder was not something that Mayor Mare – the usual judge in resolving local disputes – had the authority to rule over. Only Celestia could do that, and even then it was an act that would only happen once in a few decades in this peaceful land of Equestria; usually as a drunken fight gone horribly wrong. Ponies just didn’t kill other ponies in cold blood. Unless they were deeply insane.

As the rush of desire for action to help the downed ponies wore off, the doctor was also starting to realize the gravity of the situation. With Pinkie Pie wrapped in dressings and Twilight trying to calm her down and with Applejack and Rainbow Dash standing tensely, each keeping an eye on one pony in particular, only not the same one, there wasn’t much for the doctor to do but to tend to the only mare present that showed any real sign of distress.

Rarity was still pacing about nervously. If her behavior wouldn’t change for the better soon, she risked having a nervous breakdown, so the doctor approached. He talked to her, trying to find the right words to calm her down, but struggling to say anything that would pierce her emotional shield. And what would he say if he were to reach Rarity – what explanation could he give her and what would he say to comfort her? Without rationally recognizing it, the failure to get through to her was making him happier by the second. It kept him focused on somepony’s problem, keeping his mind occupied with something other than the murder. All he had to do now was to continue trying to talk to her.

Two Pegasi Guards appeared, mid-flight from Ponyville, towing a sky-chariot with the white nurse in it. They landed on the path, annoyed expressions on their faces. They didn’t even look at the group of ponies in front of them, but slowly unstrapped themselves from the chariot with quite a few unnecessary movements, as the nurse jumped out of the carriage and galloped over to the doctor. The Guards weren’t amused by the whole situation.

They had been dragged out of Canterlot, with its crisp mountain air and with nothing to do but to pose for the local elites, by a report of murder, only to have a nurse in Ponyville blabber incoherently about the death of a bearer of an Element of Harmony, the attacker – also a bearer – and even Princess Twilight. At that point they knew this was a false report, and a poorly thought-out one as well. Only their royal duty, and the fact that their wasted time was going to add to the penalty for the nurse that had made the report, made them follow her lead to the edge of Ponyville. And it was only when they automatically followed the nurse with their eyes as she tore past them, that they realized she might have told them the truth after all.