Whatever Happened to Pinkie?

"Spike's dead. He's really dead."

"Oh, Twilight, don't...Please."

I have no will to do anything. Evening Light won. I didn't even know for sure I was fighting against him, and now he's murdered my oldest companion, the one who's been with me through it all. The floors of the palace are filling with tears and blood. I'm utterly demolished. How could he? How could he stoop so low?

I know what happens next. It won't be long before the Canterlot Royal Investigation Agency starts asking questions, before I'm accused, once again, of murdering those close to me. His blood is on my face, for crying out loud. I push my grief down. I have to handle this first. I'm not going to go through that again.

"Rarity, I need to ask you a favor, and it's a pretty big one."

Rarity walks over to me and puts a hoof around me. "Anything, darling. Spike was close to me, but not in near the same way as you, so I can't begin to imagine what you're going through. Anything in your time of need."

I sigh. Here goes. "I need you to help me clean up this mess, bury Spike, and lie about his death. Tell everypony you know he's on a vacation or something."

"Pardon?"

"I know it sounds awful but, look. I can't handle going through another CRIA investigation. When Misty went missing, I was the prime suspect, despite the fact that Evening Light almost killed me. The questions were never-ending. They wouldn't leave me alone until they were sure I didn't do it, and even then they kept me under custody. I...just can't go through that again right now, and even if I could, if they throw me in prison, I won't be able to stop this thing in time. I won't be able to find out the truth."

"Twilight, I don't know if I could do that. That's...that's wrong, Twilight."

Tears fill my eyes. "I know," I moan on Rarity's shoulder like a baby.

"Darling, darling it's okay. You won't go through this alone. I promise I'll be by your side through the whole ordeal. They will help us. Okay? They can help us catch Evening Light and make sure he doesn't hurt anyone else."

"They won't find him in time. We are dooming ourselves if we submit to them."

"You're a princess now. You can call off the CRIA."

I shake my head. "No. The CRIA operates outside of normal jurisdictions or authorities. Agents are given a pseudonym so that it is harder to track them back to their actual families. The CRIA could accuse Celestia of a crime if they wanted to. Celestia intended it that way to make sure beings like changelings can't just impersonate her and go on a crime spree."

"I have plenty of useful evidence against Evening Light. I'm not worried about us clearing your name in the least. Besides, they haven't arrived yet, have they?"

"I'm afraid that is not correct." Two stallions wearing black suits, red ties and black, mirrored shades stand in the doorway to the castle. The one on the left is creme colored with a grey slicked back mane and tail. He seems to be the senior of the two agents. The one on the right has dark brown fur and a yellow mane and tail, also slicked back.

"How are you here already?" Rarity asks. "This just happened?"

The elder agent speaks. "We were informed by several witnesses, including Celestia herself of the strange things happening in this town. Much of this information was supplied by Twilight herself in her letter. The fact we arrived right after a murder is an unfortunate coincidence. It does change the nature of things, though."

"Hold on," Rarity says, "You aren't suggesting?"

The younger agent speaks up. "Many of the things written in Princess Twilight's letter would have required a being with extraordinary magical ability to succeed in. There are few in Equestria who could match Princess Twilight's power. In addition, she has been linked to a previous case of a missing filly. She was never officially arrested due to lack of evidence, but she was one of two ponies present of the day, and the other Stallion went mad for grief of his missing filly. We aren't here to make baseless accusations, but she is a suspect."

I sigh. It's happening all over again. When will this nightmare end?

"Wait," Rarity says. "You want evidence? I'll show you evidence. There is a pony named Evening Light. I've been in his house."

I start at that. "What? Rarity? Why would you take such a risk?"

"The man has a hate shrine dedicated to Twilight, and guess who he's crossed off his list? Spike, and Pinkie Pie."

"Did you say Evening Light?"

"Yes."

The two agents look to each other and whisper a little. One of them produces a grimace.

"It looks like we have a second suspect. We will investigate the man's house like you request."

"However," says the younger agent. "First we must seal off this area and collect evidence here."

I jump in, perhaps unexpectedly. "Wait! Celestia wrote me a letter before Spike was killed. The killer wrote on the back of it, but I never had a chance to read the actual letter. Please, I need to see what Celestia wrote."

The elder agent thinks for a moment. "Hmm. Well, we don't want to interfere with official business from the Princess, despite you being a suspect. Very well. One of us will retrieve the letter and read it to you."

"I understand," I say. "It's in the back room where I sleep."

The younger agent walks toward the room with the hammock.

"Interesting," Rarity says. "Both of your cutie marks just say CRIA."

The agent nods. "We are magically given these on missions to protect our identity."

"May I ask what your names are?"

"You can call me Agent Withers," He points in the direction of his partner. "Agent Saddle."

He hears a voice call back. "Withers, you got to see this,"

Withers nods in the direction of my bedroom. My face pales.

"Please, Mr. Withers, don't make me go back there again. Don't make me look at him."

Withers eyes me suspiciously at first, then his eyes soften. "You know, in this line of work, I have to be careful. I'm sorry Princess, but I'll need you to stay with me."

I nod and follow along. I close my eyes, because I don't need or want to see it again, but I can smell it. I can smell the disgusting rusty smell of Spike's blood. Tears begin to flow again.

Rarity puts her hoof on my back. "It's okay, Darling. It's...going to be okay."

I look up at her, Her face shows a ragged smile, but I can tell she's not okay. She is barely holding back tears herself, trying to be strong for me. I try to look at her and not the scene around me.

"He...he just told me yesterday that we were in this together." I said, tears streaming from my face. I'm surprised by Rarity. For someone known to be a bit dramatic, she's holding herself together quite well. She's doing it for me. She begins to sniffle as well, though.

"My Spikey-Wikey is gone."

Agent Withers returns to us. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have the letter."

I return a quiet nod. Agent Saddle reads.

"My Dearest Twilight. Thank you for informing me about Scootaloo. I put in a public alert immediately after I read your letter. It's been a few days, so I thought that I would take the time to update you on a few important events here at the castle. First and foremost, I am saddened to say that Luna has as of yet made no recovery and continues to be in what the doctors here call a coma. However, yesterday, something unusual happened while I was visiting her bedside. She sat up in bed, almost instantaneously and was, as far as I can tell, awake and lucid. She looked me right in the eyes and said, 'I don't have much time. Tell Twilight she has to destroy the anchor. That's the only way for her to fix this. She has to destroy the anchor, she has to-'

Then, just like nothing, she immediately fell back asleep. I'm not sure what it means, but I can't help but wonder if it is somehow connected to your situation or if it the ramblings of someone who woke from a dream. In either case, I hope it helps you out.

I also wanted to inform you that I am sending agents from the CRIA to assist in the investigation over there. Understand that they may investigate you as well, but that is part of their job and what they do. I don't need to remind you that I put them in the positions they have as a check on us as well. I have faith, however, that they will be vital in assisting you to find out the true culprits of these crimes, be they magical or otherwise.

As always, my greatest of blessings to you.

Most Sincerely,

Princess Celestia."

Anchor? I begin to wonder. What anchor? What's she talking about? Maybe there's more to this than just Evening Light.

"Is this filly still missing?" Agent Saddle looks at me.

I nod. "Yes. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and I spent the greater part of the day looking for her."

I hear a voice shout from outside of the palace. "Hey Twilight! I thought of some more places where we can look for Scootaloo. Maybe if we check-"

Saddle and Withers escort me outside the bedroom into the main room of the palace. They position us to block entryway to the door. Rarity follows. We see Applejack and Dash looking at us curiously.

Dash steps forward. "Twilight, what's going on. Who are these ponies?"

Withers nods. "Agents Saddle and Withers. CRIA."

"CR what now?" Applejack removes her hat and scratches her head.

"Dash, Spike is dead. They're here to investigate."

Dash freezes. "Wha? What do you mean, Spike's dead? That, that can't be r...Let me through there. Let me see."

"I'm sorry," Agent Saddle states coldly. "There's a crime scene. We can't let you p-"

Dash charges through them only to freeze a few steps later. She comes back pale. "H-how? Why? Did this happen?"

"We don't know yet," Withers says, "But we're here to find out."

"Oh sweet Celestia," Rainbow moves in place nervously. "What if it's the same creep that has Scootaloo?"

I try to encourage him. "We don't know that yet," I say. "AJ? Where is Pinkie?"

AJ shakes her head. "I don't...I can't rightly say. She's probably still at the Cakes. As soon as I showed her the b- AJ stops herself, the thing I found in the forest, she freaked out and locked herself in her room. It really bothered her. I don't really know why."

We hear yet another voice from outside the palace. "I do. Because I died. Evening Light killed me,"

We turn to see a grief stricken pink mare, flattened mane, eyes red from presumably crying. She let's out a tired sigh and looks at AJ. "And it wasn't the body that freaked me out, it was these," She holds out two metal pins in her hooves.

The agents look at each other, confused. "Body? What body?" Saddle says.

"Whadya mean, Pinkie? You're right here. He didn't kill ya." Applejack says.

"Yes, he did AJ. I don't know why I'm alive now. I can't explain it, but I remember everything he did. It wasn't a dream, Twilight. He actually did this to me."

I'm not sure what to believe anymore, but I know none of this makes sense and she needs me. "I believe you, Pinkie."

"Thank you, Twilight."

"I'm not sure I understand," Withers says, but please tell us everything you can.

"All I know is that I was out looking for a special rare flower in the forest to celebrate Fluttershy's birthday. This was about 6 months ago." She sniffles. "I remember getting conked in the head really hard by something and blacking out. When I woke up, I was tied to a tree. Evening Light was there, and so was Snails, but he looked like he really didn't want to be.

Evening Light, he looked at me, and said, 'So, I hear you like to smile.' He smiled at me too, except it wasn't a friendly smile. It was like the kind of smile a dog makes before it's about to bite you. He was scaring me. I nodded yes to his question, then asked him why I was tied to the tree. He ignored me.

'Because,' he said 'I found a way for you to smile all the time.' Then he,"

Tears stream from her face as she struggles to finish explaining. "He cut a smile from my mouth up to my cheeks on both sides. He laughed while he was doing it, just kept saying 'Smile, Smile, Smile, Pinkie.'

He...he made Snails help him. Snails didn't want to, but he told Snails he would cut him if he didn't. Snails was crying to. I hope he's okay. I feel really sorry for him."

"Is that everything?" Withers asks.

"No...he then untied me from the tree. I tried to escape but I guess he had already tied my hooves together because I tripped and couldn't move anymore. Then he took this machine...this awful machine. It buzzed with electricity. He strapped my head into it and took these," She holds out the pins, "And stuck them in my ears."

Rarity points at the pins and gasps. "That's what the nurse told me!"

"What nurse?" Says Saddle.

"Yesterday, I visited the place where Snails was being held. Turns out it was the same place that Evening Light was institutionalized. The nurse told me a story where Evening Light was strapped into such a machine but the nurse accidentally put the pins in his ears. She said he acted differently after that, and then she said the machine was stolen around 6 months ago."

Pinkie sighs, "So he wanted me to feel what he felt. He turned the thing on, and it was the most painful thing I ever felt. There was this awful, static, buzzing sound, and that's what I saw too. Nothing but static. I remember jolting all over, my muscles writhing, and twitching my body into unnatural positions and then, that's everything. That's all I saw."

We all stood for a moment in silence. Unsure what to do next. Trying to process what Pinkie just shared with us.

"This all sounds suspicious," Saddle says. "Where's the body now?"

"Well," AJ says. "It disappeared."

"Come again?"

"I know it sounds strange. I don't understand it myself, but after I took these," Applejack points to the pins. "The body vanished."

"It doesn't sound strange," Saddle says, "It sounds unbelievable. We're going to need to take all of you in for questioning."

"Wait!" An idea popped into my head. "Guys, I think I know where Scootaloo and Evening Light might be."

Withers raises and eyebrow at me. "Well? Go on."

"Evening Light has it out for me because he thinks I killed his daughter. It wouldn't surprise me if he took Scootaloo back to his old house where she was killed, to complete his revenge. He probably is expecting me to look for him there. We should go immediately to Canter-"

"No." Withers says. "If you are right and Evening Light is there, then you are staying here. In fact, we've set up a perimeter around Ponyville. Nopony leaves or enters without our permission first."

"Are you kidding me?" I can't believe this. I practically want to smack the old stallion. "This is an opportunity to save Scootaloo's life and you aren't letting me look for him?"

"No," He says flatly. "At least, not you. You are still a suspect and we are not about to give you an opportunity to escape should you be the culprit. Besides, if he is after you, he's bound to return to try to get to you, which means we'll have a chance to apprehend him."

"Well then, who?"

"Agent Saddle will investigate the address in question. I will stay here with you. You may assist me in certain parts of the investigation, but you should know that we agents are equipped with tools to protect ourselves should you decide to use your magic."

Pinkie nods. "I'll stay with you, Twilight. Maybe we can figure out together how I came back to life."

Rainbow Dash looks over to agent saddle. "Please, take me with you. Scoots has been like a kid to me. I want nothing more than to bring him back."

"As far as I'm concerned, you're still part of the investigation. Everypony is a suspect until proven otherwise."

"Then you'll have the chance to speak with me during the trip. Please? I have to make sure she's okay."

Saddle huffs, rolls his eyes, and nods. "Just stay out of the way. I don't want you endangering yourself."

Rainbow nods. "Oh don't worry, I'm not the risk taking type."

"Not a risk taker! By all the apples in my orchard, listen to yerself! Look, I'm comin' too. I'm not about ta let ya get yerself killed. Besides, I owe that creep one for what happened to Winona."

Saddle rolls his eyes again. "Fine. Anypony else? Anypony at all?"

Fluttershy shrinks at the though of chasing down a known killer.

"No thank you," Rarity says. "I think I've gotten as close as I want to ever be to that Stallion."

Saddle mutters something to himself about it being a rhetorical question, and then, "Alright then you two, prepare your things. We leave in an hour. Twilight, I'll need that address."

"Of course."

"Fluttershy slinks back up to me. "So, Twilight, where do you plan to look first?"

"I'm going back to the Everfree forest."

"What?" She squeaks a little louder than she is used to doing. "You're going back to look for the body?"

"No, actually. I can't help but thinking that there's something else here, like we're overlooking something. I still have no idea what happened to Misty or why Pinkie is alive now, if what she is saying is true."

"So why go to the Everfree?"

"Because Zecora might have some ideas, especially since some of this seems magical in nature. Maybe he's getting help from a powerful magical being."

"I hope you're not referring to Discord," Her eyes look furiously at me. "He would never do such a thing."

"I'm not necessarily suggesting that, Fluttershy, though he has gone missing. It could be any magical being. But we have to rule out all possibilities, before I have to deal with another nightmare again."

"I'm afraid," Withers says, "I can't let you do that, Twilight."

"Why not?"

"Because I need your assistance in investigating Evening Light's house. How much do you know about forensics?"

"Oh, quite a bit. I have books upon books on the subject. Did you know, for example, that you can use bleach to disguise the presence of blood in a house? Oh, of course you do, you probably do this stuff every day, I-"

I stop myself. "This probably isn't helping me look innocent is it?"

He slowly shakes his head and grimaces. "Not exactly."

Rarity looks back at me, "That will take all day for you to investigate. How will you have time to speak to Zecora."

"We won't," Withers admits. "It can take a very long time to complete the investigation of a crime scene, and I still have this one to finish. I don't think you'd find anything from a magic zebra, but We likely won't get out there in time even if we did want to."

"I'll go," Pinkie says. It's the first time her hair re-inflates since this morning."

"You're going back to the Everfree again?" Rarity says. "Do you think that's wise, sweetheart?"

"I've been given a second chance at life. I have to know why."

"Well, I'm not going to leave you to do it alone. I'm going with you."

Surprisingly, Fluttershy steps forward. "I'll go too."

"Fluttershy? Really?"

She shrugs. "I know it's scary there, but my knowledge of animals may help you. Plus we're merely going to visit Zecora. It's not like we're going to go back...there," She shudders for a moment then brightens. "I need to make sure Discord isn't falsely accused of anything. Discord is my friend, and he's not behind this."

We all nod in agreement on our plan and once again go our separate ways. Myself, I pray that things go back to normal. I have to fix this. I have to make this right, for Spike.