Fires Spreading…

Help Them…

Why Didn't You Save Them…

You’re A Monster…

I shot up from the bed drenched in sweat, the nightmares were getting more intense. Ever since I came here to Ponyville they've been becoming more and more frequent. I just want to forget, I just want to start over. I went into the bathroom and took a quick hot shower, it helped me to relax and get my mind off of those dreams. After that I went into the kitchen and ate two slices of toast and two scrambled eggs. I’m an awful cook but at least I can make something that’s somewhat edible. While I was eating I realized that I never really looked at my apartment more. It was a medium sized place that was not too bad for the price. The wall coverings were peeling off and some of the paint on the ceiling was also coming off. One of the things I did notice was that there was a big hole in the bathroom that connected to the plumbing, don’t know how safe that really is.

Actually now that I look at it, I seem to notice that this place was super old looking. I've actually seen the insides of my neighbor's rooms and they all looked nice and clean, while I got the room that was old and decrepit. Maybe it’s just that they fixed it up themselves and I’m just thinking too much into this. Still, I think this place is a piece of crap. I blame myself for not raising my prices on my services. I walked into the living room and sat down. I placed a hoof to cover my head and sighed. I looked down to the coffee table spotting the robed stallions journal from last night’s stalking mission. So many questions raced through my mind and yet not a single answer for any of them. Whatever, those questions will be solved in time I suppose. For now I need to head to Princess Twilight’s library and show her this evidence. Rich is going to rot for a long time for this.

Golden Oak Library

10:34 a.m.

Ponyville

I knocked on the front door and hoped that Twilight was inside, wait why the hell am I knocking on the front door for? It’s a public library I could just walk right inside I thought. Just then the door opened and I was greeted once again by the funny looking dragon, Spike I believe he was called.

“Detective! Great to see you again. Uh, you do know this is a public library right? You didn't need to knock on the door,”

“No, really? I never would have guessed that,” I deadpanned.

“Whoa, what’s eating you up?” asked Spike.

“Sorry, had a uh rough night and didn't get any sleep really,”

“Oh, I know how ya feel, Twilight likes to keep me up sometimes when she pulls all nighters when Princess Celestia sends her things to study. I swear one of these days I’m gonna pass out, and she better not blame me for sleeping in the morning,” I kinda felt bad for him, oh well, least it’s not me.

“Speaking of Twilight, is she in today by any chance?” Spike shook his head.

“Nah sorry dude, she just went out to the market to get some groceries or something. I’m hoping she gets some gems from Rarity, oooh delicious gems…” Spike began drooling on the floor and I waved a hoof over his face to try and snap him out of it. Nothing worked, so I bonked him on the head.

“Huh, wha- what happened?” he asked.

“You were daydreaming there buddy, something about a Rarity and gems,”

“Oh, hehe sorry about that I get easily distracted by gems. One time, I turned into this huge angry dragon going around and stealing everyponies valuables,”

“Wow, how come you’re back to normal though?”

“Well, my friend Rarity was the one who helped bring me back. I had given her a fire ruby as a gift and she was wearing it as a necklace, seeing it jogged my memory and brought me back to my old self,”

“This Rarity must be very important to you if you gave her a rare gem like that,” fire rubies were really tough to find around here. Hope that Rarity pony hasn't got her home broken into because of it. I heard that there was a large group of Diamond Dogs underground just outside of Ponyville.

“Yeah she is. She is the most beautiful mare in all of Equestria, and don’t tell anypony but I have a huge crush on her!” a dragon loving a pony huh? I've heard a few ponies back in my days of the guard talk about pony and dragon couples in areas outside Equestria.

“Heh, that’s cute kid. You should probably wait a bit when you’re older, but I think that you've got a shot,”

“Really? You think so?”

“Yeah, I've heard of dragon and pony couples that lasted quite a while so I think you can make it work,”

“Wow, thanks man I really appreciate that,” he said happily.

“No problem, by the way, where does Rarity live?”

“She lives and works at The Carousel Boutique just down the road from here” ahhh, so that’s who owns that shop then. Perhaps I’ll pay her a visit and see what she’s like.

“Oh, Detective Hunter! I wasn't expecting you here so early,” I turned around and saw Princess Twilight with two shopping bag floating above her. Damn I wish I could do that.

“Hello Princess, I was looking for you but you were out. Thankfully Spike kept me company,”

“Well, it’s nice to see Spike making a new friend, especially a male one at that,” you know now that she mentioned it, where are all the stallions? The entire time I've been here I've only seen at least seven or eight stallions in Ponyville, I know that Equestria has more females than males, but this is ridiculous! Did this town population of mares keep the rest locked up in dungeons or something? Probably something to investigate on my off time.

“Spike, could you go and make us some tea please?” asked Twilight, Spike nodded and walked to the kitchen while me and Twilight went inside and sat down on a couch in the middle of the room.

“So detective, what brings you here? Are you looking for a book to read?”

“As much as I would love to I’m afraid not. I have gathered some evidence that needs your attention,” I gave her the journal and she grabbed it with her magic. She began reading the journal and her face went from shock to anger. She frowned and set the book down.

“This is disturbing news indeed. I- I can’t believe that Rich would do something like this. He may have not murdered Rose, but just by hiring the assassin he’s committed a serious crime,”

“Yeah, that guy just gave me a wrong feeling when I talked to him,”

“Something I’m curious about is this shadow character, it’s pretty obvious that she took the money if Rose was killed. I doubt the Gift Maker would need that many bits unless he was going to skip town or something, even then a train ride out of here isn't that expensive,” Twilight said.

“I heard one of the robed ponies saying that she might be hiding inside of the forest outside of Ponyville,”

“Hmm, the Everfree Forest would be a good place to hide as not many ponies go inside of there, only my friend Fluttershy goes in there as well as our friend Zecora who has a hut inside of the forest,” okay that gives me two leads, I’m hoping one of them might have seen anything strange.

“Where do those two live exactly?”

“Fluttershy lives a little on the outskirts of Ponyville, she has a cottage near the river surrounded by animals, she lives the closest to the forest just north of here. Zecora lives in the heart of the forest, we made little way signs that we use to safely get to her home and back without trouble from the local creatures,”

“Okay then, I’ll talk to them and see if they have seen anything out of the ordinary,” Twilight nodded.

“Right, since they are the only ones who go in and out of their, chances are they might know something worthwhile,” Twilight and I continued to chat for a bit, I was still tired and I didn't really feel like getting up right away. Then all of a sudden we heard knocking on the door.

“Ugh! I keep telling everypony that this is a public library, why in the wide wide world of Equestria do they keep knocking? Twilight opened the door and was greeted by a royal guard.

“Princess Twilight I- oh good detective you’re here too,”

“What’s going on, did something happen?” asked Twilight.

“We need you both to come to Sugarcube Corner, there has been another murder,” Twilight gasped and ran straight to Sugarcube Corner, I frowned and began walking towards the location so he made his move already huh? Wasn't expecting it so soon, alright Maker let’s see what you've got I thought.

Sugarcube Corner Crime Scene

10:56 a.m.

Ponyville

I arrived at the shop and saw reporters everywhere trying to get in to take a closer look. Twilight was talking to two ponies in front of the shop, I assume that they are the owners.

“Is Pinkie Pie okay?”

“Yes, she was the one who discovered the body and yelled. She’s locked herself in her room and won’t come out,” said the blueish mare. Twilight noticed me and waved me over.

“Detective this is Mr. and Mrs. Cake, they own Sugarcube Corner,”

“Nice to meet you,” I said,

“Very good to meet you too dearie,” said Mrs. Cake.

“I hope you can help us out, our shop has never had anything like this happen before,” said Mr. Cake.

“Alright, so what exactly happened here?”

“Well, I was just waking up and getting ready for work. I started heading downstairs and all of a sudden I heard Pinkie scream. I rushed downstairs to see what was going on and I saw her curled up crying. There was a big gift box on the front door and when I looked inside I saw… I saw t- the body of poor Derpy Hooves,”

“Derpy Hooves ma’am?”

“Derpy is the towns local mailmare and part time weather pony, she lives with her daughter Dinky Hooves. She is one of the most kindest ponies in Ponyville, why would anypony hurt her?” explained Twilight. Poor little filly, getting orphaned at such a young age.

“Where is her body now Mrs. Cake?”

“The coroner took her to Ponyville Medical Center to do an autopsy,”

“Okay, do you still have the box?”

“Yes we do, it’s on the front counter over there,” Mr. Cake pointed to a colorful looking box on the front counter next to the register.

“Alright then I’ll take a look and I’ll see if I can get Ms. Pie to come out and talk,” the cakes went back inside and headed upstairs while Twilight and I went inside to investigate.

“So what should we look for?” asked Twilight.

“Anything, notes, hoofprints, something out of place or broken,” Twilight searched around while I headed towards the box. There was nothing inside that I could find, it seemed like a regular old gift box. There might be more when I've talked to Pinkie Pie and the coroner.

“Let’s go upstairs and try to talk to Pinkie Pie,” I said to Twilight.

“Right, hopefully she’ll listen to me, Pinkie’s one of my best friends I can’t relax knowing she’s sad like this,” we started heading up the stairs and I hoped that Ms. Pie was calm enough to give us some new information.

We reached the top floor and headed towards the end of the hall. Twilight said Pinkie’s room was the last door to the right. We walked and passed by the cakes who were playing with two little foals. One was a pegasus and the other a unicorn. Wait what? How, but the cakes are Earth Ponies, how did they get... you know what nevermind. We reached Pinkie’s door and knocked. No answer.

“Pinkie, it’s me Twilight can I come in?” still no response. I turned the door handle and was surprised to learn that the door was unlocked. I thought Mrs. Cake said she locked herself in?

I opened the door slowly and was greeted by darkness. We couldn't see anything inside of her room. I gulped and we went inside...

Author's Note

Yep, uh yeah I killed Derpy... I'm sorry, also before someone asks no, no Cupcakes or anything I'm not gonna make Pinkie turn into a crazy killer. So yeah, uh sorry for killing one of my favorite characters.