Decapitating Harmony

CHAPTER 4 - The Element of Envy

Princess Celestia was almost unable to speak when she was charged with formally announcing the death of a princess. The untimely demise of the beloved student and friend of many was as tragic as it was heinous. Thousands attended the funeral procession where Princess Celestia promised swift justice to the assailant. None of Twilight's friends could bring themselves to deliver a eulogy, but they all said their goodbyes to the closed casket.

Scroot silently waited aside the crowd as the procession came to a close along with the morning hours and many weeping ponies were filing out of the courtyard. Last to leave were the friends of Twilight Sparkle. Envoy approached Rainbow Dash and asked her to come with them to the Canterlot Detention Center for questioning to which she agreed.

Rainbow Dash entered an interview room which was bare, tan, and housed a single polished cherry-wood table with three matching chairs. She took a seat on the west side of the table and uncomfortably glanced at herself in the south wall's one way mirror. The low light from the cloudy sky was provided by two small privacy windows in the north wall. The investigators entered from the door on the east side of the room.

"Rainbow Dash," Scroot began, "How are you?" He asked dropping a file on the table and sitting next to Envoy.

Rainbow Shrugged, "Not so good."

Envoy's horn glowed and she opened the file on the table. The cover page read, 'Homicide: Twilight Sparkle'. Envoy began reading Rainbow her Mare-anda Rights. The blue pegasus was suddenly alert and surprised as Envoy placed a Mare-anda waiver on the table along with a quill.

Envoy concluded, "Do you understand these rights?"

Rainbow furrowed her brow at Scroot, "What is this?"

"We just want to ask you a few questions. If you're willing to talk to us, you're going to need to sign a Mare-anda waiver." Scroot replied.

Rainbow Dash bent down and gripped the quill with her teeth. She touched the dotted line with the point and Scroot stopped her.

"Don't sign that unless you understand your rights, Dash." He explained. She glanced at Envoy then the waiver before looking back at Scroot.

With teeth gritted on the quill she said, "I understand." as she signed. Envoy's horn glowed picking up the waiver and placing it in the homicide file. She dipped her quill while stacking a few sheets of paper readying herself to record their transcript. The light scratching of Envoy heading her report with the date, time, and location against the silence caused Rainbow Dash to begin sinking into discomfort.

The earth pony investigator moved the file closer to himself, flipped a page, and then looked up to Rainbow Dash who remained silent as she grew more uncomfortable. He drew in a deep breath, "Are you ready to begin, Dash?"

Rainbow glanced between the investigators as nervousness settled deeper. Something about them wasn't right, but she couldn't put her hoof on it. She adjusted in her seat and nodded.

"Okay." Scroot began, "Where were you on the night of Twilight's murder?"

"I was at home." Rainbow dash replied.

"Ponyville Medical University," Scroot said as he placed a reception log in front of Dash, "has you checked in at just before 3am."

"Well, I left to go to Twilight's house." Rainbow Dash recounted.

Scroot raised a brow, "At 3am? How did you end up at the hospital?"

"I ran into Pinkie Pie on the way there. She had some kind of episode that looked pretty serious, so I took her to the hospital." Rainbow stated.

Scroot had a look of pure disbelief, "An episode?"

"Pinkie Sense. It's..." Dash paused looking for the words, "She gets twitches. It's really hard to explain."

The investigator chuckled grimly, "Naturally."

Rainbow Dash cocked her head, "I'm sorry, did I say something funny?"

The scratching continued while Scroot placed the log back in the file and replaced it with a few photos of the blue hairs.

"Do you know what these are?" Scroot asked sarcastically.

Dash raised a brow examining the photos, "Hair?"

Scroot nodded, "Right. What color is this hair?"

Rainbow Dash shook her head beginning to suspect where he was going with his questioning. Tears welled and her voice shook, "You're wrong, Whinny."

"About what, Dash?" He asked leaning forward.

"That hair is not mine." She clarified.

"You're a pretty good flier, are you not?" Scroot asked.

"I'm the best." She responded, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Scroot continued, "Twilight was getting a lot of attention over her wings, and her ability to fly. Was she outshining you a bit too much?"

Rainbow stood replacing her surprise with anger, "You've got to be kidding me? Are you saying that I was...?” She paused searching for the word, "Jealous?"

"So much for the Element of Loyalty." Scroot added.

Rainbow Dash walked to the windows, "This is insane. I can't believe you're accusing me! I came to you!"

"The Princess came to us." Scroot explained, "We have motive, your coat hair in her mouth, your mane hair at the dump site, hoof casts that match your hooves, and don't get me started on your alibi."

Rainbow Dash shot a glance back at them, "My h-" She stopped, "It's not my hair, there's no way!" She nearly shouted with tears rolling down her face. "She was my best friend. How can you honestly accuse me of doing that to my best friend?" Rainbow sat on the floor and continued, "I was at the hospital all morning. What's so murky about that?"

Scroot shook his head, "Based on the rigor mortis, her death was between midnight and 3am. That's up to 3 hours for you to cut her throat, dump her body in Ghastly Gorge, and return to the Library to clean it before Pinkie Pie caught you outside."

Rainbow stomped a hoof, "That's not true!" She sobbed.

"She caught you," Scroot added, "and you needed an alibi, so you cooked up a reason to take Pinkie to the hospital to create one. The only thing we can't figure out is the significance of the rocks you put in her throat."

Rainbow Dash shifted her eyes between the two investigators, "Rocks? I don't know what you're talking about. You think you have this solid case, but the real murderer is out there. You. Are. Wrong."

Envoy levitated a pair of leg shackles from her bag and floated them to Rainbow Dash who stood in utter disbelief as they were affixed to her hooves.

Scroot escorted Rainbow out of the interview room and stated, "Rainbow Dash, you are under arrest chiefly for the murder of Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Two Royal Pegasus Guards took custody of Rainbow Dash and booked her into the detention facility. She felt humiliated to stand behind the plaque bearing her name and her new inmate number as her photo was taken. She was fitted with a bright orange and white striped shirt and given a pink paper informing her of the date of her arraignment court appearance. Bright red stamped text read, 'Hold without bond' at the bottom of the page.

Rainbow Dash was led to a three by four meter cell which was white concrete from top to bottom and opened with a heavy solid wood door next to a plexiglas double paned window set into the north wall. The bunk was just a flat piece of steel welded into the west wall, and a stainless steel column was wedged into the west and south corner where the sink was built into the tank of the toilet that was also welded to the floor.

Hours passed as Rainbow Dash tried to mentally catch up with what had just happened. Fear kept her awake and also kept her from getting hungry. She was especially afraid that her remaining friends believed as the investigators did.

The cell door opened making way for Princess Celestia to enter, "Rainbow Dash." She said casually getting the pegasus' attention.

"Princess!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she bolted from the bunk and bowed.

"I am saddened to see you like this Rainbow Dash." Celestia stated.

"I haven't been here long, and I already hate it. I feel cooped up like I'm going to go insane in this place." Rainbow poured out. "Can't you get me out of here?"

Celestia somberly shook her head, "I can't, Rainbow Dash."

"Why not? You're the Princess!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Because of the evidence brought against you, I am forced to leave you here to navigate the legal system. As much as I want to free you, and although you are special to me, you are not special to the justice system." Celestia explained.

"Justice is blind." Rainbow Dash said with tears in her eyes.

"Unfortunately," Celestia continued. "I can't begin to explain to you the amount of heartache this is causing me, but your friends are fighting for you."

Rainbow Dash looked up, "They are? How?"

Celestia smiled, "I granted them the power to submit their own evidence and statements. I have made them detectives and they have joined the investigation despite Scroot Whinny's protesting."

Rainbow cocked her head, "He didn't want their help?"

Princess Celestia smiled at Rainbow Dash with reassurance, "No, he didn't. He thinks they will be harmful to the case, but I believe that, as an 'old bitch', I know better than him."

* * *

The following day, after Twilight’s funeral and Rainbow Dash’s arrest, Scroot had moved the cabinets to accommodate a dull oak table placed in the middle of the main room of his cabin. He lined each side of the table with two of Twilight's friends seated across from each other and Envoy sat at the head watching Scroot pace in anger. They sat in silence awaiting Scroot to present evidence for their review.

He stopped at the end of the table and slammed his hooves on its surface. Fluttershy jumped while the rest of them just leaned away from him. He hung his head attempting to formulate sentences that weren't just long spiels of profanity. He finally looked up with his lips curled like he had just taken a bite out of a turd.

"Alright," He started, "So, you're detectives now."

"We've-" Applejack was silenced by Scroot holding up a hoof and looking away.

"One of you ponies felt the need, in the utmost childish display of retarded arrogance, to relay some choice words I used in reference to your precious princess; therefore, I have been instructed to apologize to you for calling that fucking cunt an old bitch." He drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes before insincerely continuing scornfully with mocking compassion, "I'm fucking sorry."

Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes, "You're just not a very nice pony. Do you know that?"

"Indeed," Rarity agreed. "We have tried to be kind and helpful, but you just do not appear to have the capacity to be courteous."

Scroot laughed, "I just don't put up with stupidity. It's not my fault that you all are naive idiots."

Majesty Envoy shook her head putting a hoof to her face. She was used to Scroot's behavior and had become insensitive to his hateful ways, but even she was beginning to understand that he was going too far.

Applejack began, "Alright, we need a plan."

"No shit?" Scroot asked.

Fluttershy stood pushing the chair away and causing it to fall over. She marched to the investigator and placed a hoof on his chest and said firmly, "Whatever high you're on, you need to come down and quick."

Scroot stood his ground, but he moved his head away from her with surprise.

She continued poking his chest hard punctuating her frustration and resisting the urge to yell in his face, "I've stood idly by watching you curse my friends for too long. We're here to catch the pony responsible, and if all you're going to do is moan and complain like a foal not getting his way, the real killer is going to go free laughing at our efforts."

She placed her hoof back on the floor glaring sternly into Scroot's eyes as he absorbed the yellow pegasus' words. He pressed his mouth into a thin line, looked at the floor, and nodded.

He returned eye contact with Fluttershy again with a malicious smile, "I bet you're a scream in the sack."

The group let out a collective scoff at Scroot while Fluttershy swelled with irritation.

"How can you be this way?" Pinkie asked rhetorically.

"You know what?" Fluttershy said gritting her teeth, "The murderer will never answer for their crime unless you change your B.S. attitude!"

Applejack raised both brows at Rarity whom also apparently found it surprising that Fluttershy had such an acronym in her vocabulary.

The investigator shook his head and asked mockingly, "What has you so convinced that Dash didn't do it? Because you're friends and you know each other's little secrets?"

Rarity answered, "We have come to terms with the possibilities. We're not here specifically to exonerate our friend, but that will be incident to the capture of the actual killer. Rainbow is just not capable of this."

"Not capable?" Scroot gestured in his disagreement, "When I was a beat cop in Manehattan, I went to a burglary call, and when I got there, the home owner had been beaten to death. The burglar had stomped this poor pony's face in and tracked his brains all the way outside. The next day, a friend that I had grown up with confessed to the murder. Now, tell me again what ponies aren't capable of."

Envoy raised a hoof, "Listen up. We have work to do." She pointed at Scroot, "Fluttershy is right, you need to realize that we need the help."

Scroot shrugged with a recoiled expression as if Envoy was turning her back on him in his hour of need. He inhaled dropping his shoulders and shaking his head realizing the voice of reason that Envoy was trying to be. "We've never needed help before." He said calmly.

"Scroot, this is bigger than we can handle. The faster you come to terms with that, the faster we find this pony." She said levitating a stack of files and arranging them on the table. "Take a seat, Fluttershy. Let's get started."

Scroot stood silently watching Envoy move a file before each of Twilight's friends as she began explaining the facts of the case. Immediately, Scroot noticed their cohesion tearing him between feelings of betrayal and admiration. They attentively listened to Envoy's presentation as she displayed photos and reports.

Pinkie Pie jolted in her seat and stopped Envoy, "Hold on."

They paused watching Pinkie's eyes darting as if physically arranging her words on the table.

Pinkie continued, "Midnight to 3AM? I was with Rainbow Dash at 3am." She froze and her eyes grew wide as an epiphany formed on the edge of her tongue, "That was the doozy."

Rarity looked surprised, "Pinkie Sense?"

Scroot furrowed his brow at Rarity, "What is that?"

Applejack answered, "Pinkie gets twitches. Her body tells her when something is about to happen."

Envoy sat up straight quizzically, "How?"

Pinkie Pie shrugged, "I don't even know. Nopony understands how it works."

"What is a doozy?" Scroot asked.

"When something big happens. I..." Pinkie sank in her chair, "...The doozy... it was Twilight."

Pinkie's friends consoled her in their understanding of how scarring it was to know that she experienced Twilight's death first-hoof. Moisture flowed from Pinkie's eyes as she slowly dropped her head placing her forehead on the table. "How could I let that happen?" She cried.

Scroot shook his head, "Alright, I'm not going to buy into this. Let's move on."

The other ponies angrily glared at Scroot. Denying their firm belief in Pinkie's outlandish ability was as if questioning whether or not the table existed in front of them.

Envoy shook her head at Scroot and slid a file to each of the other ponies. "Rarity, you go to the library and see if you can find anything we didn't. In the file is my report as well as photographs of the scene. What we're looking for specifically is anything out of place that you don't recognize to be like Twilight."

Opening Applejack's file with a flick of magic, Envoy continued, "You go with Scroot to the Everfree Forest and Ghastly Gorge. The idea is the same in your assignment. We're looking for anything we missed."

Pinkie Pie picked her head up from the table, "What am I supposed to do?"

"We have a sled locked in a shed out back." Envoy explained, "We haven't looked over it much. We want to find out where it came from."

Fluttershy sat up straight anticipating instructions from Envoy, "Fluttershy, we need somepony at the hospital to monitor Spike." Envoy gave Fluttershy a quill and a tablet, "A statement from him could blow this thing wide open."

Envoy paused taking a breath before she said to everypony, "I don't want to ask this of any of you, but somepony is going to have to look over the body."

"Somepony that knew Twilight well could tell us if something is out of the ordinary like a missing charm, necklace, or something to that effect. They would also be able to tell us what injuries are relevant to the case and which aren't; however, the main purpose is identifying the items that turned up in the autopsy." Scroot explained, "Twilight Velvet identified the body, but couldn't stomach questioning."

"I'll do it." Fluttershy said sheepishly. Her friends mutely urged her to reconsider, but understood the necessity of the task and remained silent.

Envoy nodded, "I'm certain it will help, Fluttershy, thank you."

The ponies departed from Scroot's cabin except for Pinkie that was let into the shed. Fluttershy was perspiring in the trepidacious task of laying sight upon her deceased friend while the other ponies galloped in determination to their assignments.

* * *

Rarity sauntered into the library ducking under the tape on the door. The house seemed empty and cold with a tremendously creepy affectivity.

She opened the file and skimmed the notes comparing them to the scene. Dread overcame her steps as the report led her up the stairs stopping her at the side of Twilight's bed. She stared into the covers and the pillow imagining the dark glows that hid themselves in the light. Sadness slowed every breath as she attempted to maintain composure. Her friend needed her, and she wanted to contribute to the case.

Recalling her statement about Rainbow Dash, she knew that the blue pegasus wasn't responsible. It wasn't even a remote possibility in her mind. She thought, 'Even if Rainbow Dash confesses, I'll never believe that somepony I knew for so many years would ever do such a ghastly thing.'

Unexpectedly, a force tugged at her hooves. She hovered in the air as weightlessness overtook gravity. She tilted her head in a futile attempt to look at her horn which was glowing brightly picking her up from the floor.

The horn slowly floated her around to the north side of the bed and set her down before pulling at her head toward the rug beneath the bed. She resisted as the unstoppable force brought her horn downward.

The horn made contact with the rug and zapped into lifelessness. Her head snapped up in the absence of the horn's pull and she carefully stared into the rug.

"Okay, you stupid horn, what is so important about the rug?" She said to herself. She trotted around the edge of the bed observing the rug from the other side. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. It was a rug. Although, the last time she was brought to something seemingly benign by her horn, she got her cutie mark.

She started back to where the horn had brought her when scuffs in the floor caught her eye. She stopped and looked at the curved lines where something heavy and hard was dragged across it. They curved away from the bed's legs and followed the same path back to where the bed rests.

Rarity inferred that somepony must have moved the bed. She cantered back to the north side of the bed and put her head against the frame pushing it. The rug followed underneath the bed and it predictably rolled out from under the legs with an abrasive grinding across the polished wood. She stood back from the exposed floor observing a single plank that had small cuts in one end and loose nails holding it down. She put a hoof down on it finding that it insecurely rocked. Upon contact, her horn flashed briefly startling her. "This is it?"

She tugged at the board with her magic and it popped from the floor much easier than she expected almost hitting herself in the face. She peered down into the rectangular hole where tiny cobwebs were broken and collapsed by somepony placing the knife on them.

The knife was small, no more than 4 inches, and the stainless steel blade followed through the center of the wood handle. Dried blood had trapped several short purple hairs matted and entangled in one another.

Rarity coughed and choked on the sickness growing in her esophagus. She closed her eyes and shook her head encompassing the knife with her magic and placing it into one of the evidence bags that Envoy had given her. The sticky brown blood grabbed onto the bag as she wriggled it into the plastic only furthering Rarity's need to vomit.

Dropping the knife into her saddlebag, she galloped downstairs. She collapsed at the door with her strength drained into overwhelming sobs as she buried her face into her hooves weeping without the ability to shake the bloody knife from her mind.

* * *

Scroot and Applejack jogged silently toward the Everfree Forest making their way to Spike's dump site. He puffed casually as each step attempted to pull the cigarette from his lips. The afternoon air was warm despite the cloud cover hovering below the sun as they approached the bushes where Spike was discovered.

"Hey, Applejack." Scroot stopped her.

"What?" She asked with distain. Her southern inflection more noticeable in her resentment.

"I'm sorry." He said dropping the cigarette and crushing it with his hoof, "I am trying not to excuse myself for the way I've treated you guys, but I have always had a bit of an anger problem. It's not that I don't think you all are great ponies that had a great friend, I just get frustrated at ponies that are all about sunshine and lollipops."

"So, you're saying that you hate happiness?" She scoffed.

"No... Well, maybe... I don't know. I just feel bad about the way I've been talking to you ponies because it wasn't right and ..."

Applejack interrupted him, "Stop, Scroot. Just stop." She shook her head, "I don't like you, I have never liked you, and I will never like you. You're a shriveled up old fool and just a curmudgeon to society. If you're really going to choose now to start acting like a pony-being, Rainbow Dash is more deserving of it; so, don't waste your apology on me."

Scroot nodded, "I understand, Applejack, but apologizing isn't really for your benefit. I thought it'd make me feel better to tell you that I was sorry.”

"Well, do you feel better?" Applejack raised a brow.

"I didn't realize how much an apology's worth to the psyche depended on its receipt." Scroot smiled. "In short, no, I don't feel any different."

Applejack sighed starting to sink into her 'love and tolerate' paradigm rolling her eyes at herself, "Alright, Scroot. I appreciate the sentiment. Right now, you've got to understand that I can't help but think of you as an enemy for Rainbow's sake."

Scroot nodded again and motioned toward the scene describing what he had found. She looked over the scene carefully and tried her best to see something new, but didn't find anything of any use.

"Are you expecting me to actually find anything?" Applejack asked.

"No, I'm not." Scroot said flatly. "Shall we continue down the road?"

Applejack stared harder at the bushes wanting badly to find anything to show that investigator that she wasn't stupid. She walked to either side of the bushes, peered below them, and even observed the sled's tracks in a charade of diligent observation.

Scroot watched her trot back and forth for a few minutes and sighed loudly.

She stopped and looked at him, "You got a problem with my methods, detective?"

"Can we move on?" He asked without amusement.

She shrugged sarcastically with a hard inflection of strong distaste for Scroot, "I guess if YOU think we should, let's."

Applejack felt like he was wasting their time. If he didn't think there would be anything out there, why would he go through this facade? She thought, surely it wasn't at Envoy's command because she was a mare, and this stallion obviously favored doing business with ponies who had testicles. Certainly it wasn't to deliver his half-assed apology to Applejack, or he'd stop acting like the dick he loves so much. What was so great about being a stallion anyway?

Stewing in her recently acquired feminism, Applejack followed Scroot south to Owlicious' scene and Scroot explained to her about the Terror Spines' deadly poison. She weaved her head attempting to get a look behind the vines. She moved closer to them which made Scroot jump.

"Whoa, girl, those things don't fuck around." He warned.

"I ain't going to touch 'em." She said grabbing a fairly large stick from the side of the path. She continued with her teeth gripping the wood, "I'm just trying to get a better look is all. Call me childish, but I'm going to find something you didn't and prove to you, once and for all, that I ain't no dummy."

She swept the stick across the vines moving them and the lethal gel quickly crawled down the stick toward Applejack. Scroot darted to the orange earth pony turning quickly and bucking the stick accidentally catching her in the mouth. The stick flew from her teeth as she fell away from the Terror Spines bouncing her head off the dirt.

Applejack jumped to her hooves shouting, "Why, you little!" as she galloped at Scroot leaping into the air with a hoof brought back with intent on smashing him to pieces. He got up on two hooves with his forelegs guarding and swiped the attack away pushing Applejack further from the vines. She twisted in the air landing on her hooves and turning toward Scroot readying herself to make another assault.

"Wait! I didn't mean to hit you!" Scroot pleaded as Applejack ran hard to him jumping up on her hind legs throwing a heavy right hook.

Scroot swatted her blow and grabbed her around her middle pushing her over onto her back and landing on top of her. She bucked upward kicking him in the stomach and launching him over her head. He crashed into the ground on his side while she righted herself. He flipped onto his belly and held his hooves out pleading further for her to stop.

"Applejack, I'm sorry! Stop!" He was overcome with a hacking cough. She slowed herself walking to him and standing over him as he hacked.

"I guess all that smoking has caught up with you, Scroot." She said between panting, "Now, y'all best give me a good explanation as to why you done that to keep me from stomping you into the ground."

His throat roared in his congested fit of barking as he struggled to point at the stick which was completely engrossed in the vicious poison. She looked at the small log and raised both brows.

"Oh, so, you were trying to save me?" She said apologetically.

"Yes," He coughed again, "I wasn't thinking." He cleared his throat trying to shake himself of his newfound hoarseness, "I just reacted. I'm really sorry I hit you."

Applejack spat onto the forest floor and wiped the blood from her lips, "It ain't nothin'. You buck like a little filly anyway." She said logging in her mind the hypocrisy of her anti-mare words, but justified it with her satisfaction of her female power conquering the misogynist and literally adding insult to injury. It felt so sweet.

Scroot stood up still struggling to catch his breath and adjusted his hat left barely clinging onto his ear.

"Wait, if you can't move the vines with anything, how do y'all expect Rainbow Dash to get Owlicious in there?" She asked him leaning down to look at his face.

Scroot shook his head paying close attention to his breathing, "She had to have found a way."

"How did you get the little guy out?" She asked.

"Envoy used her magic." He said gesturing to the Terror Spines.

"You know what that means, right?" Applejack nudged his head up.

He grunted tapping his chest with a hoof, "No."

She smiled at her triumph over the esteemed investigator, "It means that your killer is a unicorn, dummy!"