Princess Celestia was almost unable to speak when she was charged with formally announcing the death of a princess. 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.

The investigators silently waited aside the crowd as the procession came to a close along with the morning hours. Many weeping ponies filed out of the courtyard, and 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 while 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, but 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, Dash said, "I understand." as she signed.

Envoy's horn glowed, picked up the waiver, and placed it in the homicide file. She dipped her quill while stacking a few sheets of paper and readied 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.

Scroot moved the file closer to himself, flipped a page, and then looked up to Rainbow Dash who remained silent as she grew more uncomfortable. Scroot 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 3 AM."

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

Scroot raised a brow, "At 3 AM? 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 and looked 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 while examining the photos, "Hair?"

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

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

"About what, Dash?" He asked and leaned 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 and replaced her surprise with anger, "You've got to be kidding me? Are you saying that I was...” She paused, "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 3 AM. 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."

Scroot looked at Envoy and waited for eye contact before silently gesturing to Rainbow Dash. Envoy nodded, 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 her out of the interview room where two Royal Guards were standing by to accept custody of Rainbow Dash. Scroot nodded to one of the guards and said, "Rainbow Dash, you are under arrest for the murder of Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Rainbow Dash simply shook her head and stared at the cuffs on her hooves. She took a sharp breath and prepared to unleash a slew of profanity in Scroot’s direction, but she bit her tongue and sobbed quietly, “I just can’t believe this is happening.”

The Royal Pegasus Guards took 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 that informed 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 and pushed inside. The door was slammed shut with an echoing concussion that was symbolic of the proverbial bomb that destroyed her freedom.

The cell 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. A stainless steel toilet with a sink built into the tank was wedged in the south and east wall and was also welded to the floor. It was tiny, lonely, and cold.

Hours passed as Rainbow Dash tried to mentally catch up with what had happened. She listened to the other inmates in the unit speaking and eating their meals. She heard the detention guard yelling commands and announcements. It wasn't the noise keeping her from sleeping, the fear that her remaining friends believed as the investigators did kept her awake and also kept her from getting hungry.

Suddenly, the entire unit fell completely silent, all at once, as if Rainbow Dash had become deaf, and then the cell door opened and made way for Princess Celestia to enter.

"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 hate to see myself like this. I feel 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 agreed and then 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, but I believe, as an 'old bitch', I know better than he does."

* * *

The following day, after Twilight’s funeral and Rainbow Dash’s arrest, Scroot had moved the cabinets to accommodate the dull oak table that was 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. Envoy sat at the head of the table and watched Scroot angrily pace around the room, and they all silently awaited 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 and attempted 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 shaking his head.

"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 and scornfully continuing, "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 idiots."

Majesty Envoy shook her head and put 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 sardonically.

Fluttershy stood forcefully which pushed the chair away and caused it to fall over. She marched to Scroot, placed a hoof on his chest firmly, and said "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 to punctuate her frustration on his chest, but resisted 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."

Fluttershy placed her hoof back on the floor and glared 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 questioned.

"You know what?" Fluttershy said while 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.

Scroot shook his head and asked mockingly, "What has you so convinced that Dash didn't do it? Because you're bestest 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 and recoiled as if Envoy was turning her back on him in his hour of need. He dropped his shoulders and shook his head. "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 sort this whole thing out. Whether we strengthen your case against Dash or find reason to withdraw charges, it doesn't matter; we have work to do." Envoy explained, and then she nodded to Fluttershy, "Take a seat, and let's get started."

Scroot stood silently and watched Envoy move a file before each of Twilight's friends as she began explaining the facts of the case. They attentively listened to Envoy's presentation as she displayed photos and reports. Scroot couldn’t help but notice their cohesion which tore him between feelings of betrayal and admiration.

Pinkie Pie jolted in her seat and stopped Envoy, "Hold on." Pinkie's eyes darted as if physically arranging her words on the table, "Midnight to 3AM? I was with Rainbow Dash around that time." 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." Tears flowed from Pinkie's eyes as she slowly dropped her head and placed her forehead on the table. "How could I let that happen?"

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. 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."

The file in front of Applejack opened with a flick of magic, and Envoy continued, "You go with Scroot to the Everfree Forest and Ghastly Gorge. The idea is the same in your assignment. You'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. The priority there is to find out where it came from."

Fluttershy sat up straight in anticipation of instructions. Envoy gave Fluttershy a quill and a writing tablet and said, "Fluttershy, we need somepony at the hospital to monitor Spike. A statement from him could be huge."

Envoy paused and took a deep 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."

Scroot cleared his throat, "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 sighed and continued, "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." She tapped the table twice and said, “So, if there aren't any questions, let's get to it. I'll be with Fluttershy at the hospital, so we'll meet there when you're finished.”

* * *

Rarity ducked under the tape on the door and sauntered into the Golden Oak Library. The house seemed empty and cold with a tremendously creepy affectivity. She opened the file, skimmed the notes, and compared them to the scene.

Dread overcame her steps as the report led her up the stairs and stopped her at the side of Twilight's bed. She stared into the covers and involuntarily imagined 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.

Rarity recalled her statement about Rainbow Dash. She knew that Dash wasn't responsible. It wasn't even a remote possibility in her mind. Even if Rainbow Dash were to confess, she would never believe that somepony she knew for so many years would ever do such a ghastly thing.

A sudden unexpected force tugged at her horn, and she began to hover in the air as weightlessness overtook gravity. She tilted her head in a futile attempt to look at her horn which was glowing brightly and 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 her head toward the rug beneath the bed. She resisted, but the unstoppable force brought her horn downward anyway.

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 trotted around the edge of the bed to observe the rug from the other side, but nothing appeared out of the ordinary. It was just a rug, but the last time that her horn dragged her to something seemingly benign, she had gotten her cutie mark.

She had 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 she put her head against the frame and pushed it. The rug rolled out from under the legs and abrasively slid across the polished wood floor. She stood back from the exposed floor and saw a single plank that had small cuts in one end and loose nails holding it down. She put a hoof down on it and found that it was insecure. "This is it?" She asked her horn.

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

The knife was small, no more than 10 centimeters, and the stainless steel blade followed through the center of the wood handle. Dried blood had trapped several short purple hairs that were 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 while 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 which furthered Rarity's urge to vomit.

After dropping the knife into her saddlebag, she galloped downstairs. She collapsed at the door and buried her face into her hooves with all of her strength drained into overwhelming sobs.

* * *

Scroot and Applejack jogged silently toward the Everfree Forest. He puffed casually while each step attempted to pull the cigarette from his lips. The afternoon air was warm despite the cloud cover as they approached the bushes where Spike was discovered.

"Hey, Applejack." Scroot stopped her.

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

"I'm sorry." He said while 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...” Scroot quickly answered with a scoff. He initially thought that she had asked the stupidest question he had ever heard, but he took a moment to think about it. Every time he saw somepony smiling for no particular reason, he couldn’t help but to think that pony must be a fucking jackass. He blew air and continued, “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; just a curmudgeon to society. If you're really going to choose now to start acting like a decent 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 gave a pained smile. "In short, no, I don't feel any different."

Applejack started to sink into her 'love and tolerate' paradigm and rolled 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 he motioned toward the scene and began to describe 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. "Shall we continue down the road?"

Applejack stared harder at the bushes. She wanted almost desperately 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, "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 a dick. What was so great about being a stallion anyway?

While stewing in her recently acquired feminism, Applejack followed Scroot to the Owlicious' scene, and Scroot explained the Terror Spines' deadly poison. She weaved her head in an attempt 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 and then grabbed a fairly large stick from the side of the path. She continued through 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 and the lethal gel quickly crawled down the stick toward Applejack. Scroot darted to her buck the stick, but he accidentally caught her in the mouth. The stick flew from her teeth as she fell away from the Terror Spines and bounced her head off the dirt.

Applejack quickly jumped to her hooves, “Why, you little…!” She cut herself off while she charged him. She leapt onto her hind legs and brought back her hoof with intent to smash him to pieces.

Scroot retreated a few steps and shouted, “Whoa! Wait! I didn’t mean-”

She didn’t stop her attack, and he couldn’t back away any further lest he step into the Spines. Scroot stepped into the attack, dipped his head under her right cross, and pushed her down with his left shoulder. She rolled onto her hooves and galloped hard toward him again. He readied himself to deflect another punch, but Applejack dug her right-front hoof into the ground, pivoted on it, and put Scroot in the line of fire of her rear hooves.

Scroot rolled to the right. Applejack’s legendary buck barely missed his left ear as he got back on his hooves. He pushed forward into the right side of her flank as she was regaining her balance and tackled her. She rolled onto her back under his thrust, and Scroot landed on top of her. He put his hooves on her shoulders to try and pin her down, but she just used that as leverage to throw her rear hooves into his belly and launch him over her head.

He crashed into the ground on his side while she righted herself. Scroot turned his upper body to get back to his hooves, but he was powerless against the pain his hip. His body lazily collapsed onto his belly, and he held a foreleg up to Applejack, “Please, stop, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you.”

Scroot was suddenly overcome with a hacking cough while Applejack approached and stood over him.

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

He struggled through his coughing fit to point at the stick which was completely engrossed in the vicious poison.

Applejack raised both brows, "Oh, so, you were trying to save me?" She said apologetically.

"Yes," Scroot coughed again, "I wasn't thinking." He cleared his throat 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 blood from her lips, "It ain't nothin'. You buck like a little filly anyway." She said while logging in her mind the hypocrisy of her anti-mare words, but justified it with the satisfaction of her female power conquering the misogynist. Adding insult to injury felt so sweet.

Scroot stood up, still struggling to catch his breath, and adjusted his hat which barely clung onto his right ear.

"Wait, if you can't move the vines with somethin’, how do y'all expect Rainbow Dash to get Owlicious in there?" Applejack asked.

Scroot shook his head and paid 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 while gesturing to his imaginary horn.

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

He tapped his chest with a hoof, "No."

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

Author's Note