Decapitating Harmony

by HardRockLlama

Rating: mature
Tags: Main 6, Gore, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Sad, Original Character, Princess Celestia, Sex
Length: 55829

Twilight and Spike go missing, and Twilight's friends and Princess Celestia can't find her anywhere. A private investigator from Celestia's past is contracted, and the investigation reveals evil that nopony saw coming.

When Rainbow Dash goes to Twilight's house early one morning, she finds that Twilight isn't anywhere to be found. The remaining five are unable to come up with any answers, and Princess Celestia sends the entire Royal Guard to search Equestria. When all of their efforts come up with nothing, Princess Celestia sends Rainbow Dash to an ornery and crass private investigator named Scroot Whinny to find her. He and his assistant, Majesty Envoy, begin a deep search into what is quickly recognized as the crime of the millenium.

(Story diverges at Season 4 Episode 4. Mature for crime scene gore, profanity, and some sexual themes and situations. Be warned, the illustrations can be pretty graphic. I've only done up to Chapter 6 with the illustrations so far as well.)

Published 2015-08-07 17:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-03-20 23:53:55 UTC

Chapter 1 - Raise the Alarm!

Night fell upon Ponyville in the passing hours while Rainbow Dash tossed and turned in her bed. She wasn’t sleepy, but she wished to hasten the transitory time before going to Twilight’s house. Her mind careened into the previous adventures that she enjoyed in the Daring Do series. Athletic as she was, she spent quite a bit of time reading and re-reading the tales of the A.K. Yearling books. In fact, she had read them so often in anticipation of the new release that she had nearly memorized every passage word for word.

She looked over to her pet tortoise, Tank, which was retreated inside his shell. He slept suspended by the tiny whirring blades of the helicopter strapped to his middle. Dash thought about waking him for a midnight flight lesson, but she decided to leave him be. She crept from her bed and bounced with each step on the cloud floor. She made her way outside and thought to herself that Tank would be alright if she went out for a brain clearing fly.

The sky was speckled with thin clouds and was brightly illuminated by the half moon over the dark blue grass and winding dirt routes which led north-west into town. Ponyville truly slept with light pollution only coming from the train station where commuters travelled to and from Canterlot during all hours of day and night.

Dash leaped from the porch and left behind a wake of rainbow as she zoomed south. She extended her hooves forward while accelerating, and she felt the wind scream through her mane. She ascended sharply and rolled downward in a fantastic display of acrobatics. A thought made its way into her mind that she wished somepony was there to see her tricks while she cut the sky southbound.

A streaming rainbow streaked above the Everfree Forest as the pegasus reached sonic speeds over Froggy Bottom Bogg. Sweat beaded and flew from her body while she squinted in the wind’s resistance. She approached Ghastly Gorge and came to a stop above the chasm. She observed its serene tranquility and the dead trees which stippled the bank of the canyon creek that lead to the moonlit Froggy Bottom Bogg’s eerie array of black swamps to the North West. Further North, past the Everfree Forest, Dash could make out the Ponyville train station lights reduced to a tiny dot like a single star resting in the heart of the town.

Dash wiped moisture from her forehead as she treaded air with a steady beat of her wings. She had to be kilometers away from home, and she wondered if Tank had woke up and found himself alone. She knew he wouldn’t worry, but she still figured that she shouldn’t stay out for much longer.

She came to the conclusion that, if she was going to make her soothing venture a success, she would need to perform an awe inspiring finale. So, she fired toward the moon and burst a few clouds on the way up. She arced backwards, folded her wings, and shot herself downward with the force of gravity. She tucked her head between her hooves and pointed them straight toward the ground as she sped against the sound barrier. She was struggling to see due to her eyes involuntarily squinting against the ferocity of the wind when she realized that the ground was coming up a lot faster than she expected.

Rainbow Dash fanned her wings and grabbed onto as much air as she could while kicking her legs in a futile attempt to stop. She extended her hooves to try and catch the earth, but she crashed into the dirt and bounced a few meters before slamming head first into the grove of flowers that grow along the bank of the gorge. Her body remained perpendicular to the ground for a moment, and then she collapsed and came to rest on her belly.

She spit a mouthful of flowers from her teeth and picked herself up. She craned her neck to remove the knot growing at the base of her skull. It wasn’t the first time she had wiped out, and it wouldn’t be the last. So, she dusted herself off and gave her wings a couple of good flaps.

“At least you guys are okay.” She said to them while taking flight back to her Cloudominium, “Maybe just a relaxing stroll through the sky would have been smarter.”

Her joints ached more and more, and the stiffness in her neck endured throughout her flight home. She set down on the porch and cantered to her bedroom where she found Tank still asleep in his hovering shell. Her back felt like it had been twisted in a taffy machine, her knees were sore, and her neck was tight, but she was able to get comfortable enough to doze. Unfortunately, she remained plagued with unrest in the silent darkness with no sleep to quicken the passing time. Eventually, Rainbow Dash decided that doing anything was better than simply watching the inside of her eyelids. So, she jumped from her bed, poised on her hooves, and stretched her back.

“I know it is a few hours earlier than Twilight and I agreed on, but I can’t sleep!” She told the sleeping tortoise. She paused as if he was going to respond, and Tank brought his head slowly out from inside his shell. Dash rubbed the back of his neck and scrunched her nose against his, “I’ll be back with the new one before you know it, buddy!”

Rainbow Dash galloped to the front door, albeit slowed by her aching knee, jumped into a spear, and rocketed herself straight toward Twilight’s home. Cloud genocide resulted in the wake of her speed as they were sucked into non-existence and destroyed by head-on collisions.

She was gliding above the rooftops of Ponyville when an unmistakable shrill caught the pegasus’ ears.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash, it’s Pinkie Pie!” The pink earth pony with a wild curly mane shouted from outside Sugar Cube Corner. Rainbow Dash dropped rapidly, dug her hooves into the ground, and skidded to a halt. She shook out her foreleg and reminded herself to take it easy on the knee.

“What’s up?” Rainbow greeted.

“You’re clearing the sky awfully early, you know. I think a little cloud cover is good in the morning. It reminds me of cotton candy breakfasts!” Pinkie Pie chattered so quickly that some of her words came out combined.

“Cotton candy br-…?” Rainbow shook her head and dismissed the statement, “If you just want to say hi, I’m on my way to Twilight’s and I’m trying to get there early.”

“Rainbow, it’s like, two-thirty in the morning. Why are you going to Twilight’s this early?” Pinkie asked.

“I couldn’t sleep. We’re going together to get the new Daring Do book.” Rainbow Dash smiled. “I’m sure she is as excited as me. So, I’ll be doing her a favor getting her up a few hours early.”

Pinkie Pie shrugged, “Okie dokie lokie.” And she bounced away toward Sugar Cube Corner.

“Wait.” Rainbow Dash raised a brow, “What are you doing up this early?”

“I’m making the secret punch.” Pinkie said. She turned around and leaned closely to Rainbow Dash’s ear. “I’m using a secret ingredient that is…” She paused and checked for potential eavesdroppers before whispering, “…a secret.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, “That’s great… See you later!” Dash flapped her wings and took off for a brief moment when Pinkie suddenly screamed in a voice that sounded like she had been electrocuted.

“WAIT!” Pinkie screeched.

Rainbow fluttered back down to the ground and wondered what that disturbed pony could possibly need at the hour. The utmost disinterest in making punch urged Rainbow Dash to pretend that she hadn’t heard the excitable pink pony and continue onward.

“Okay, I’m not really in a rush, but I kind of want to get going.” Rainbow said flatly before noticing that Pinkie Pie appeared frozen with a chilling expression locked into her eyes. Pinkie stared with such intensity that Rainbow Dash was sure something daunting was standing just behind her. Rainbow turned around and looked into the distance to see what Pinkie was so frightened of, but there was nothing. No ghosts; nor monsters.

“What is it?” Rainbow Dash asked, but Pinkie remained completely still. Rainbow brought up a hoof and poked Pinkie in the shoulder, but observed no consequences like time had stopped around her.

Pinkie’s rear legs gave out from under her, and she plopped on her rump which sent a small cloud of dust spiraling around them. Rainbow frowned and asked Pinkie again, “Hey, what is going on?”

Rainbow noticed that Pinkie’s ears were vibrating, her eyes were cocking outward slowly, and then Pinkie’s mouth unexpectedly dropped open which emitted a low gurgling sound.

Rainbow Dash was trying to block the idea of Pinkie Pie becoming so excited that literally explodes and takes the lives of anypony within the blast radius. That was becoming a more real possibility with each passing second until Pinkie abruptly stood and met Rainbow eye to eye. A sobering moment of clarity washed over her and she rubbed a sweaty hoof behind her ear, “Whoa. That was a doozy.”

“Are you okay?” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah, I think so. Did anything happen?” Pinkie said while shaking the dizziness.

“That was some hardcore Pinkie Sense. Should we get help?” Rainbow Dash lifted Pinkie’s chin with a hoof and looked into her eyes. She appeared to be okay, but Rainbow wasn’t a doctor.

Pinkie looked down, “I’ve never blacked out during Pinkie Sense.”

Rainbow Dash nudged Pinkie, “Come on, let’s get you to a hospital.”

***

Pinkie assured Rainbow that she was okay and probably didn't need any medical help while they walked south to Ponyville Medical University. The emergency room was nearly empty except one pony that was cradling his right foreleg calmly as he awaited attention. Their hooves clopped on the tile as they made their way to the receptionist. Rainbow Dash checked them in and they waited.

The hospital was the largest building in town, and it was the only building, other than the Ponyville Train Station, which remained in operation twenty-four seven. Each wing of the structure stretched west to east and all three had their own entrance on the north face of the building. Passages leading deeper into the hospital from the three main lobbies were lined with patient quarters, lecture galleries, and operating rooms. The trio of hallways convened in the southern cafeteria where students, doctors, and some patients could dine.

The white floors and walls of the ER lobby were accented with dull avocado colored couches, benches, and chairs placed in an ergonomic arrangement while faded emerald tiles marked the pathways that carved their way through the seats of the waiting area. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash sat next to a small end table which hosted a very simple ivory lamp with a green shade over an assortment of outdated magazines and trash novels.

Pinkie Pie made small talk with the stallion about his assumed broken bone and insensitively joked about him being put down. The pink pony’s idiosyncratically bubbly demeanor was unchanged. She seemed completely like herself, and after a long while, the two ponies made their way into an exam room. The doctor performed a battery of tests, but didn’t find anything wrong with her; thus, Pinkie was released with a clean bill of health.

As the pair left the hospital, Rainbow Dash hugged Pinkie Pie and said, "Well, it looks like you're alright. I was genuinely freaked out by your little episode."

Pinkie hugged her back and patted her on the shoulder, "With you to escort me here, and make sure of my health, even when you were in such a rush, pro-"

Rainbow Dash shot off the floor, "Daring Do!" Her eyes locked onto a clock that showed it was 6 AM. Rainbow flew out of the door and sped straight to the Golden Oak Library.

She weaved through buildings and trees and caught many waking ponies that had come out to enjoy the warmth of the sunrise off guard. She fanned her wings, caught a wall of air, and slammed her hooves into the ground. Her leg throbbed as she galloped to the door of the library and knocked.

"I’m sorry! I know I'm late, but do I have a story for..." Rainbow stopped as the door eased open from her knocking. She peered inside to the loft where Twilight's bed rests. No Twilight?

Rainbow Dash stepped inside and noticed an overwhelming smell of lemon scented cleaner that permeated the air. Rainbow thought to herself that she was right in assuming Twilight couldn't sleep because that egg-head had been up all night cleaning the library to bide the time. So much for dissertations.

She made her way upstairs and found Twilight's bed unoccupied and neatly made. The basket where Spike usually rests was also unoccupied but in a disorganized array of bedding.

Rainbow Dash raised a brow with suspicion and a tightening betrayal growing within her, "She went without me!" Rainbow exclaimed before she drew her wings and bolted out the door. She was carving a quick line between the dwellings of Ponyville on her way to the bookstore when a yellow blur suddenly popped up in Dash’s path. She broke right, clipped a bush with enough force to turn her upside down, and she crashed into the dirt. She slid on her head before coming to rest on her back while painful stinging and numbness on her forehead perpetuated the idea that her face had been torn from her skull. It just wasn't her day for flying.

A soft voice came from Rainbow's side, "Oh my! Are you alright, Rainbow Dash?"

The blue pegasus propped herself up. "I'm fine, Fluttershy. At least, I would be, if that traitor who represents the element of magic hadn't left without me to get the new Daring Do book!"

"She's not at the bookstore if that's what you mean." The yellow pegasus reassured.

Rainbow Dash twisted her face in confusion, "Well, she's not at her house."

Fluttershy shrugged, "I was at the bookstore for several hours tending to their garden. The owner asked me to try and draw in more humming birds. So far, no luck."

"You were there all morning?" Rainbow interrogated.

Fluttershy cowered, "Um... yes. I just left from there."

Rainbow shifted her eyes in thought while searching her brain for any possible location that Twilight could be. She was so wrapped in her brain that she didn't notice Pinkie Pie trotting to them.

"Hey, fillies!" Pinkie greeted.

Fluttershy waved and smiled while Rainbow Dash continued to churn her mind. She mentally selected locations and silently evaluated the likelihood that Twilight would choose now to go to them.

Pinkie jumped in alarm, "Uh, oh. Is it contagious?" She covered her mouth quickly with both hooves, "Do you have Rainbow Sense?!"

Rainbow picked herself up and joined the collective conscience, "What? No. I just can't find Twilight anywhere. She wasn't at home and she's not at the bookstore."

Pinkie Pie shrugged with her entire body, "Well, you were late, so she went outside to enjoy the beautiful morning and smell the flowers that grow behind the Library just as you arrived. Then, you must've left assuming she had left without you, and now she thinks you're super-duper luper late!"

The ponies stood in silence and took in the string of syllables spewed onto them. Rainbow looked at Fluttershy and realized that Pinkie Pie actually may have come up with a plausible scenario for once.

Rainbow Dash immediately made a beeline for Twilight's house and left her friends squinting through the dust. She flew through the doorway and landed in the middle of the library. She quickly found that Pinkie wasn't correct, and that Twilight and Spike remained missing.

She looked over the house and noted the ordinary cleanliness despite the couple of books left out from what could have been assumed as the previous nights before bed reading. Questions circulated in her mind as the gears tried to crank out an answer to the missing pony and her assistant. Abruptly, a wrench was thrown into the machine by Pinkie announcing her entrance.

"Twilight!" Pinkie shouted looking up to the loft. She stopped bouncing as she swiveled her head around the room. "Huh. She's not here."

"Where could she be?" Fluttershy asked the room.

Rainbow Dash shrugged in disappointment and shook her head without answering the yellow pegasus' rhetoric. Where could that egg-head be? Had she the aforethought to wake that lazy dragon early enough to actually leave the house prior to Rainbow's arrival? It takes that girl so long to prepare for a grocery run it's not even funny. So, what caught her attention enough to leave without notifying her friends first?

The blue pegasus' goose egg growing on the right side of her forehead pounded like one of Vinyl's technical bass beats while the tension in her neck crawled up the back of her head. Her eyes squinted hard and squeezed her face into a knot of cognitive effort through the dull, warm sting in her chest and foreleg.

"She keeps a pretty tight schedule of activities." Pinkie began as she scrunched her face at the tiny print on Twilight's schedule. "Maybe she moved on to the next thing on her list."

Fluttershy sauntered to Pinkie's side and surveyed Twilight's convoluted ‘to-do’ list.

"Well... um... this says she's at the bookstore." Fluttershy said with a conquered expression. The next event which was to analyze a disquisition on the causation of migratory behavior in butterflies wasn't intended to begin for several hours, and it appeared that Twilight planned on researching entomology for a greater portion of the day. It was unnecessary to mention aloud that Twilight wasn't at the library reading about the regional climatic effects to aesthetically pleasing insects at the moment.

Pinkie Pie bounced to one of Twilight's magnifying glasses and began examining the residence. She exaggeratedly observed every crack in the floor and every speck of dust.

Rainbow Dash watched for a moment, "What are you doing?"

"It's simple. Twilight wouldn't have left home without something to tell us where she went. It's just uncharacteristic for her to up and leave." Pinkie reasoned.

Pinkie must be on her game today; another reasonable statement from the hyper-active pony that usually wastes her breath on nonsensical vernacular.

Rainbow Dash flew quickly to the door, "I'm going to Sweet Apple Acres. I'll ask Applejack if she's seen her. Fluttershy, you go to the Carousel Boutique and see if Rarity knows anything."

Fluttershy chirped in agreement before following Rainbow out of the library.

Pinkie stayed in the house and continued her disorganized search of the alicorn's home. A thought formulated beneath an image in her brain of frosting being squeezed onto moist red velvet cupcakes: She didn't always understand Twilight's version of fun, but she could definitely see Twilight reading about something really neat while waiting for the tardy pegasus and going out to immediately begin experimenting to see the author's results in real time. Losing track of her appointments due to more recent despite less appealing activities is something Pinkie could understand. She imagined crisp sprinkles falling regally into the frosting and becoming embedded into the sugary green fluff while she examined all of the open books in the house. All two of them.

Well, that was a dead end. Pinkie doubted Twilight feeling the need to test the efficiency of various insulative materials or purchasing the services of a contractor to facilitate the installation of hydroelectricity with any amount of urgency while Pinkie's imaginary cupcakes were shaped with generous amounts of fondant into tiny edible tree house libraries.

Pinkie thought maybe Twilight got hungry and left for take-out. She bounced to the cooler which, to her disappointment, had more variety than the Ponyville Cafe. So, that couldn't be it. Maybe Twilight became ill... but she couldn't be at the doctor, because Pinkie was just there with Rainbow Dash. Although, while she mentally sunk her teeth into the soft squishy miniature library, it occurred to her that it would be all the more reason to find Twilight curled up in bed.

Conversation outside caught Pinkie's attention, but she wasn't relieved to see only four ponies enter.

"Y'all find anything?" Applejack asked in her natural drawl.

Pinkies ears drooped and the imaginary cupcakes vanished from her mind, "No."

Rarity swung her deep purple mane from her face, "Is it not a possibility," she began, "that Twilight simply was called to Canterlot on short notice by Princess Celestia?"

Applejack answered, "Something that serious would require all of us, right? Elements of Harmony and all that?"

Rainbow Dash shook her head, "No. We gave up the elements to the Tree of Harmony, remember?"

"But, the elements are present in all of us." Fluttershy retorted.

"Arguing!" Pinkie exclaimed.

Rainbow Dash groaned in frustration, "I'm going to look for her!"

"Rainbow's right. I say we just get out there and ask everypony we see." Applejack agreed as she made her way to the exit and gestured for the other ponies to follow.

The group departed the library and left Pinkie to hold down the fort, so to speak, as well as let Twilight know that they were looking for her if she were to return. The four scouting ponies agreed to meet back at the library in an allotted time as they broke away to search Ponyville. They approached businesses, questioned travelling salesponies, and asked their friend's friends.

Fluttershy was the first to come back to the library. She sat in the middle of the floor with her head hung in defeat. Applejack returned without useful information just before Rarity entered the library and reported that everypony's response was invariable in that they may have seen Twilight yesterday. Rainbow Dash hovered into the library and said that her numerous flyovers of Ponyville, in conjunction with the interrogation of many ponies in town, yielded no results.

Uncomfortable indecision amongst all of the ponies formed an emotional rigidity that manifested the inability to move. Everypony was trapped in a motionless stumble over their anxiety as wordless conversation of their worst fears drained from them and was unknowingly projected onto one another.

"I'm starting to get scared." Fluttershy said.

"Let's not panic, guys!" Rainbow Dash demanded. She flew to the loft and gestured to her friends vehemently above them, "Remain calm!" Her eyes grew wide as she darted to each of the others and became more violently assertive in urging tranquility.

"Rainbow!" Applejack yelled while snatching the pegasus' tail and dragging her from the air. Rainbow Dash jumped up from the floor and grabbed Applejack on her shoulders with a pained expression in her eyes.

"I was supposed to stay here last night!" Dash said inches from Applejack's nose. "I didn't because she wanted to do egg-head stuff. If I had just gone ahead with that inevitably boring sleepover, she wouldn't be missing!"

"You could not have known she was going to go missing and, you never know, she could think that we are all missing right now. We just need to find her." Rarity explicated.

Silence fell upon them again as Rainbow Dash dropped her hooves from Applejack and collapsed onto her haunches. Guilt twisted the proverbial knife deeper into her heart.

Applejack studied her friends around her and saw their thoughts worn plainly on their faces. Anxiety quickly overcame their hopes that this moment would be the funniest story to Twilight when she walked into her home to find them all standing in her study space and staring at one another. Her element tugged at her vocal cords to say what they were all thinking despite the probability of causing more heartache.

Her voice quivered and nearly fell upon deaf ears over the screaming silence of discomforting imaginations run rampant, "We may have an emergency on our hooves, gals."

They all looked to Applejack who appeared to have read the tragic hopelessness straight from her friend's minds. They glanced amongst each other waiting for one of them to lift their spirit or crack a joke to reduce the weight of the room which Fluttershy had begun to believe was going to crush them into a mealy red paste at any moment.

Rarity looked away from everypony else and to Twilight's work bench settled in the far side of the loft near her bed with wet eyes. She began slowly up the stairs with weak steps as if she was making her way to the gallows. Rarity’s horn shined a blue aura as she encompassed a quill and parchment from Twilight's bench, and levitated them to herself so that she could begin an alarming letter to Princess Celestia.

Author's Note

Extreme Pinkie Sense is scary to see.

Chapter 2 - Investigator Whinny

They included all of the details of their search and the longevity of Twilight's absence in the letter to the princess. Rarity gave it a review and, after finding a teleportation spell among the literature of the library, floated the letter briefly in a blue cloud of magical dust before zapping it off to Princess Celestia. The five ponies made their way outside and stood in the mid-afternoon sun as they nervously awaited a response from the Princess.

A series of popping sparks in an incandescent array of magic dropped a sealed parchment on the doorstep of the library. Rarity pointed out the laugh they will all enjoy when they find Celestia and Twilight together, but her statement was met with further discomfort rather than the relief she intended it to bring as she opened the message.

The letter contained instruction for the ponies to await Princess Celestia's arrival, and her brevity only increased their unease while they looked to the northern mountain where the Princess's chariot was departing from the castle jetty. She wasn't coming alone evident the sea of shadow in the sky as the small army of Royal Guard pegasi followed the Princess's vehicle.

The ponies bowed as the chariot landed before them along with the Royal Guards who stood in formation exemplifying their power under the whim of the majestic 2,000 year old immortal Princess Celestia.

Celestia’s soft voice had a command presence in an awesome combination of compassion and rule as she instructed the Guards to fan out and ask everypony if they had any information about Twilight Sparkle's whereabouts. While the Royal Guards took flight in every direction, Princess Celestia turned her attention to Twilight's friends.

"Who was the last pony to see Twilight?" Celestia asked them.

Rainbow Dash went into it and included the unappealing activities that Twilight had suggested. Celestia listened to each of the others spill over as well while she submitted orders to hundreds of Royal Guards which began a massive search of neighboring cities and the questioning of thousands of residents.

As more and more reports returned without any leads, Celestia became uneasy as she struggled to come up with productive ideas. The last group's message returned from Applewood to the far west and further increased the situation's perplexity in providing no useful information.

Celestia gasped upon reviewing a message received directly in her magic grip.

"What is it?" Applejack asked her.

"It's..." Celestia was unsure of the words on the page and what they meant, "It's Spike."

They spotted two Royal Guards cantering in from the south. They were carrying something on a small cart in a determined pace. As they arrived, the ponies looked over the purple dragon that was lying unconscious on the cart. A leaf stuck under his right eyelid, dull scales and mud caked on his face and body furthered the appearance of his death.

"Where did you find him?" Celestia asked the guards.

"We were going to question the zebra when I spotted him in a bush just inside the Everfree Forest. Somepony tried to hide him." One Guard answered.

"Is he dead?" Fluttershy asked between sobs while tears poured down her face.

"No." Celestia said while giving a comforting pat on Fluttershy’s shoulder. She turned to the Royal Pegasi, "Guards, take him to the medical center and tell them to have their very best give me a full report on his condition."

"As you wish, your majesty." The guards answered simultaneously, and then they galloped away toward Ponyville Medical University with Spike.

Applejack hugged Fluttershy whom cried into her shoulder. Rainbow Dash's chest was constricted in the feeling of misplaced responsibility. Rarity stared at the departing guards and thought of what discovering Spike like that meant for Twilight while Pinkie Pie's mane slowly deflated into a lifeless heap. Hopelessness floated amongst them almost as tangibly as the dust in the air.

Celestia wallowed grievously in the dark scenarios that clouded her mind while Twilight's friends awaited reassurance or explanation, but she remained unfaltering in silent cerebral exertion.

Applejack broke the silence, "What can we do?"

The magnificent princess drew in a cleansing breath and retrieved a parchment from her chariot. The feather of the quill gyrated above the page as she said with her voice unwavering, "I must go back to Canterlot immediately." She choked on emotion, tilted her head back, and inhaled her sorrow. If the others could see her consciousness physically, she would be stomping her feelings unrecognizable with anger and frustration.

"You must go north." She continued with regained composure while rolling the page into a cylinder and sealing it, "There is a small cabin just outside of Ponyville which houses the office of Investigator Scroot Whinny."

Rainbow Dash cocked her head, "With all due respect, Princess, all you want us to do is deliver a message to somepony who never met Twilight before?"

Celestia nodded and floated her message to Rarity whom grasped it in her magic aura, "Yes. I trust you all completely. That being said, I am absolutely certain that if there is anypony in Equestria that can find Twilight Sparkle soon, it's Scroot Whinny. He is the best of the best."

The Princess carried herself with enduring sophistication although her mane flowed dimmer as she walked to her chariot. As she boarded, she warned, "Scroot Whinny has an abrasive personality, so be prepared to be met with unjust judgment and scrutiny. He means well, but has no concept of communication as you or I." She gave them an empty reassuring nod and departed.

* * *

They couldn't bring themselves to split up, but Pinkie Pie and Rarity eventually conceded in going to the hospital to stand by Spike's side. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy began trotting to Scroot Whinny's cabin while their shadows lengthened against the ground. Rainbow Dash watched the setting sun and noted to herself that it had been over 24 hours since she had seen Twilight. Fatigue was barely kept at bay with the determination to find her friend.

The area between Ponyville and Canterlot was largely unpopulated with square kilometers of grassy hills unfit for structure building. Following a narrow trail, the grass gave way to dirt and the earth leveled where they found a modest wooden house settled next to a lone oak tree that curled over the north east corner of the roof.

The walkway leading to the front door was well maintained gravel lined with neatly placed railroad ties. A sign, made with maple two-by-fours, was decorated with flowing paisleys burned into the wood and read Home and Office of Investigator Scroot Whinny. A trio of steps up to the raised porch led to the artisan glass and rosewood door where a small carved sign that read Come on in! We’re open! hung from the bronze doorknocker.

The three ponies filed into the office through the west entrance where they found the inside much unlike the exterior. The walls were covered in gray wall-paper and the auburn carpet accented the unpolished mahogany desk. The desk spanned from one edge of the room to the other and separated each half of the main room. The north wall sported a blackboard with indiscernible white chalk while the south wall appeared to be supported by a long table where neatly stacked papers hid the surface. The office had a pungent odor about it despite the cleanliness like a fresh bowel movement had been lit on fire a few days ago.

A small gray unicorn sat behind the desk, and behind her was a labyrinth of white file cabinets. Two doors, both with opaque windows, in the east wall led deeper into the depressing confine and were marked with small black print which read Investigator Whinny’s Office and Investigator Whinny’s Other Office.

The unicorn’s mane was cropped short while her bangs remained long enough to hang over her right eye. She stopped shuffling through papers with her magic to look up at the ponies entering the office. She gently brushed her bangs from her face with a hoof, sat up straight, and adjusted her dark red, long sleeved, button down blouse.

"Welcome to Investigator Scroot Whinny's Office. I'm Majesty Envoy, how may I help you?" She said and then she scowled at the hovering Rainbow Dash. "No flying in the office."

Rainbow set down, "Sorry. We're missing a pony; our friend."

"How long has the pony been missing?" She asked with emotionless demeanor.

The concerned ponies stated in unison, "26 hours."

"That was cute." The little unicorn said sarcastically as she levitated a plaque lying on the north edge of the desk and brought it to herself. She held it up to showcase that it read Missing Ponies Must Be Missing for 48 Hours before investigations begin.

"But, Princess Celestia sent us." Applejack reasoned while blinking and trying to subtly shake the smell from her nose.

Envoy's eyebrows furrowed, "The Princess?" She asked in disbelief. "Who exactly are we looking for?"

“Twilight Sparkle.” Applejack stated matter-of-factly, and she gave Celestia's letter to Envoy.

The unicorn raised both brows at the paper and leaned closer, "Princess Twilight Sparkle?"

They again answered in unison, “Yes.”

The unicorn stood and went to the door marked as Investigator Whinny's Other Office. She knocked, “Scroot? I know you just got your newspaper, but we just had three very important clients walk in.”

The distinct whoosh of a toilet flush sounded just before the door opened and revealed an older gray-mane, tan earth pony whom was wearing a crisp blue dress shirt under a smart gray summer jacket. He bumped the hat rack between the doors and allowed the gray fedora to fall on his head over his right ear. The hat's black band matched his tie that was neatly folded into an Eldredge knot.

Scroot approached the desk and observed the ponies as they awaited introduction. He looked at Majesty Envoy and raised a brow.

"They said they were sent by Celestia. Princess Twilight has gone missing." She explained while gesturing to exemplify the importance and excuse her interruption.

Scroot Whinny nodded, "Huh. Ain't that some shit."

Rainbow Dash uncomfortably exchanged a look with Applejack who noticed Fluttershy's mouth agape. The words, "Such Language!" were practically written on her forehead.

With a voice like gravel, Scroot continued, "Well, I guess that's a case worth prematurely pinching one off for. How long has this Princess been missing?"

Majesty Envoy answered, "26 hours, sir."

"And Celestia sent you, huh?" He asked. "Where was she last seen?"

"At her Library in Ponyville." Rainbow Dash said.

Scroot nosed his way into his breast pocket and retrieved a short filtered cigarette, "I knew that old bitch was going to call in the favor. I was just hoping it'd be after I was dead."

Rainbow Dash recoiled in offence, "What did you just call the Princess?"

He nudged the unicorn. "Envoy, light me."

The tip of Envoy’s horn glowed a warm yellow. He leaned toward the horn, touched the tip of the cigarette to the light, and drew in a deep puff and then exhaled thick gray smoke. So, that's the smell: Cowpony killers.

"Don't get your mane all tangled." Scroot took a long pull from the cigarette. "Me and Celestia go way back. See," he exhaled more smoke, "When I was younger, I had myself a bit of a gambling problem. Old Celestia shut down the illegal casino in Dodge and admonished my debt because I helped her find some asshole named Tirek back in the day. Put that bastard in Tartarus and he's been there ever since."

Rainbow Dash still didn't like him for that. He should have shown respect to the Princess that bailed him out. She raised a brow at her companions and questioned their approval. "So, what exactly did you do to earn her 'mutual' respect?"

"It wasn't like I did much. I found out where he was hiding after his asshole brother ratted him out." Scroot continued. "Maybe that's why I still owe the favor."

Applejack scoffed, "Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Scroot chuckled, "I kissed your mother with this mouth. Listen, sweetie, I'm a retired detective for the Manehattan Police Department. I've seen some shit. I believe I'm entitled to a bit of linguistic freedom."

Rainbow rolled her eyes and met Applejack's gaze where a silent agreement of distaste for the investigator took place. Fluttershy's mouth was beginning to look dry.

Applejack shrugged, "We're just asking for a bit of respect with females being present and all."

Scroot lowered his head apologetically, "Oh, yes, absolutely."

Applejack smiled to Rainbow Dash and gave her a wink.

The investigator cleared his throat and continued, "Well, if y'all are done fucking around, can you take me to the missing princess's house?"

* * *

Reluctantly, the ponies brought Scroot and Envoy to Twilight's house. Each of them had the hopeful thought of Twilight being there when they entered, but their wishes failed to come to fruition. They led the investigator into the home while telling him everything they knew on the way there. Rainbow Dash did most of the talking as she told him about the Guards finding Spike, the events that took place before the disappearance, and Celestia's search of Equestria with the assistance of the Royal Pegasi.

Scroot didn't say anything upon arrival. Envoy stood aside and instructed the other ponies to do the same. He walked slowly and deliberately while his eyes scanned the library. He began brief tour of the house, went up the stairs, and took in all of the details of the home.

Envoy levitated a notepad and quill from her saddlebag as the investigator began to explain, more to himself than to the audience, "Assuming the obvious signs for reason of departure; ergo, a message by mouth, a note, or schedule, is not present, we need to find evidence of the subject's travels outside of the aforementioned locations as mentioned by the friends."

The quill wrote as fast as Scroot spoke, and Envoy recorded every word as he cantered down the stairs. Scroot squinted down at the floor left and then right. "There is inconsistent cleanliness. The upstairs is definitely cleaner than down here."

"Is that bad?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Scroot held a hoof up and shushed the pegasus before continuing, “At the conclusion of searching the home, we will need to canvass the surrounding area and identify potential witnesses.”

“Witnesses of what?” Dash asked.

The detective flashed an angry look at Rainbow Dash and said calmly, "Shut. Up."

"Look, I'm just trying to help." Rainbow explained.

"You're not. So, shut the fuck up, alright?" Scroot said while he pointed a hoof at Rainbow Dash to punctuate his desire for her silence.

"Hey, buddy! I'm had just about enough of-" Rainbow Dash was interrupted by Applejack grabbing the blue pegasus' rainbow tail and pulling her outside. Rainbow sat on the ground outside the library in a huff.

"Rainbow, listen." Applejack held Rainbow on either side of her face and stared seriously into her eyes. "We're under stress that we've never known before, but you need to cool it, okay?"

"Applejack, I'm dying for answers here. I need to know something. Anything!" Rainbow pleaded.

The orange earth pony shook her head in understanding, but disagreement. "Dashie, it ain't that easy. Complicated situations call for complicated answers. We're going to have to wait until the answers come to us 'cause this is one hog we can't chase."

Rainbow Dash frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean: If we start trying to force things together, we'll just get all confused." Applejack explicated.

Rainbow's eyes caught pink dancing in her peripheral and looked to see Pinkie sulking toward them. Her mane nearly dragged the ground when it was straightened like that. She stopped a few meters from them and looked up to meet her friends. Applejack released Rainbow's face.

Pinkie Pie's voice crept together words with less excitement than delivering a eulogy, "Hey, guys."

"Hey, Pinkie. How's Spike doing?" Applejack asked while fearing the worst.

"Spike just woke up. I was coming here to see if you were back so I could tell you. It looks like you're here, so..." She paused for a moment, "Spike's awake."

* * *

Inside the library, Scroot continued his search of the home and casually pointed out details while Envoy jotted down notes. He raised a brow at Envoy and looked for a sign that she had realized the same possibility that he did. She cocked her head which gestured her query without words.

Scroot looked up to the loft and surveyed its suspicious lack of settled dust, "I'm pretty certain we have a ponynapping here."

Envoy mutely surveyed her surroundings and tried to see Scroot's intuition, but nothing appeared out of the ordinary. She had only been working with him on small cases around Ponyville for a couple of years; therefore, she hadn't yet gained the ability to observe miniscule details presenting themselves so obviously to Scroot.

She pressed her lips into a thin line and said, "I'm not seeing it."

Pointing with a hoof, Scroot explained, "The loft has dust settled on the desk near the window, and yet the end table is spotless. The basket where the dragon sleeps is messy, but the bed itself is neatly made."

Envoy shrugged with the inability to make a connection, "So?"

"So," He began, "Considering Celestia had the entire Royal Pegasus Guard search all of Equestria, she can only be somewhere witnesses would not have seen her. That means that somepony is hiding her. I would assume against her will or they wouldn't have found Spike in the Everfree Forest."

"No, Scroot. How does the cleanliness mean she's been ponynapped?" She asked.

"It means that somepony tried to hide their presence, Envoy. They had to have returned and cleaned up the mess they made in the struggle while neglecting the rest of the house." Scroot explained.

Envoy shook her head, "I find it hard to believe that somepony could have overcome the alicorn known for her magical prowess."

Scroot's eyes darted across the floor as he slowly walked to the stairs, "It's unlikely; not impossible, but a crime was committed here, I'm sure of that."

Envoy found herself a bit intimidated by the circumstances. It wasn't very often they were contracted by members of the monarchy, but they had never been given an official document which granted them peace officer status with an arresting capability. She began to think that the stories Scroot spun of his past work with Celestia must be true.

"What would a pony do with a Princess?" Envoy asked.

Scroot laughed hard, shook his head, and dismissed the question as rhetorical.

Envoy’s eyes fluttered with irritation, "What?"

"Everything," He said. "You could demand bits, you could demand power, or you could just be looking for infamy."

Scroot became suddenly ensnared in a concentrated study of the floor in front of the first stair where he saw a tiny blue speck wedged into the corner. He leaned closely to it, raised a hoof, and waved Envoy to him.

"You see that?" He said pointing with his forehead. "Is that what I think it is?"

Envoy squinted and observed a jagged fragment of a brilliant blue flower pedal. She stood straight, "Poison joke?"

Scroot shook his head lightly, "Look at the veins." He pointed with a hoof and drew magnified squares over the pedal in the air. "Veins that cross over one another like that are only found in one plant in Equestria."

Envoy whispered, "Candy-lions?"

The investigator nodded, "That’s decidedly lucky. Black light me, and we'll see if there are any oils."

The unicorn's horn flashed red, and then decayed into blackness emitting a shadow of unseen materials hiding in the light. As if looking into a negative, small incomplete semi-circles marked a path up the stairs.

Envoy asked quietly, "Why is that lucky?"

"Those hoof prints are glowing green. That's candy-lion oils." Scroot said before returning to the floor and examining the shadow projected by Envoy's horn. She continued to take notes as they followed the hoof-steps up the stairs.

Scroot nodded without taking his careful gaze from the floor, “Candy-lion oils are resistant to destruction just like the pollen. So, even if the suspect showered, they'd leave it behind on hard surfaces like this."

As they arrived at the top of the stairs, Envoy could see the indelicate cleaning that was evident in the bits of sand on the rug beneath the bed among other signs. They swiveled their heads and tried to map out a path that the pony took through the loft, but the movement was so erratic that the hoof prints appeared as though molten emerald had been dribbled all around the bed. They observed the hoof prints fading away down the stairs as the source depleted its transferring material.

Envoy shifted her sight upward to the head-board of the bed and noticed a glow that looked like a sea of black tentacles reaching up the wall. Large blotches of dark glow covered the pillow and bed covers. A sharp gasp quietly struck her and alerted Scroot to her find.

Scroot shook his head while staring into the spots on the walls. He cantered to the end of the bed and craned his neck to see the large oval of glow on the floor beneath the bed. "You're in for a big case, Envoy." He drew a sobering breath and looked into Envoy's nervous eyes, "Ponies will be talking about this for centuries."

Envoy knew what he was saying and she knew what the black stains were. She began sinking into the feeling that their small time investigations office may be in over their head. Her career had been primarily spent on recovering run-away colts and fillies on bad days, and finding lost or stolen scooters and carts on good days. Never did she anticipate that one day, in Ponyville for Celestia's sake, that she would be investigating anything of this magnitude.

Scroot sighed, "We're not looking for Twilight Sparkle anymore." He shook his head grimly. "We're looking for her body."

Author's Note

Spike doesn't look so good.

Chapter 3 - Traumatized

Scroot Whinny had left with the others to rope-off the area where Spike was found, gather physical profiles of all the ponies who had been in the library after the murder took place, and compile their statements.

Envoy took down all the details of the home, and her hooves trembled with every note, every photo, and every collection of evidence. Somepony had died in that place; it made her nervous to be there alone. As she worked, she would find herself simply staring at the bed in wonder at the evil that somepony would need in order to kill before shaking off the feeling and continuing.

Envoy spent hours making sure that the notes reflected exactly what she was seeing. She mapped out the blood spatter and noted the perfect right angle cut into the pool on the floor which indicated that, after the blood stopped flowing, something was removed from that spot. She assumed it was a rug that was used to wrap the body. She took custody of the hundreds of hairs found inside the home all of varying color and length.

She paused once again and stared at the black glow of the blood pools where Twilight's life came to a violent close. It wasn't that Envoy was a stranger to death because both of her parents were deceased, but they had passed on peacefully in the comfort of strong medications and a hospital bed. Even her very special somepony from years ago who fell 5 stories to his death while washing windows in Canterlot didn’t compare. She was sad that he was gone, but not sad in the way he died like Twilight's poor friends were going to be. Twilight appeared to have gone slowly in a losing fight while Envoy's very special somepony impacted his brain against the cobblestone and died instantaneously.

Her cruel imagination began to churn images of how this bloody mess could have occurred. Twilight could have been beaten with a blunt instrument, and with each strike, the object would have splashed the wall, but the spatter didn’t quite match. The cast-off was thin and high-velocity which made a stabbing more likely. Envoy doubted the use of magic to handle the weapon due to the novice skill required to cast a shield spell which would have prevented the blood from splattering all over the place, but she couldn't imagine how an earth pony or pegasus could get out of the house without leaving a blood trail to the door. She blinked the images out of her head and made her way outside.

Scroot had given strict instructions that Twilight's friends were to be out of the loop in regards to the apparent death of the alicorn. He felt it more appropriate to break the news after they recovered a body, and even then, he was going to let Celestia do it. Envoy convinced him that he didn't have a compassionate way with words, and she didn't want to make the whole experience more traumatizing than it inherently was going to be.

Envoy groggily sauntered outside and stared into the dirt in front of the library as the sun began its emergence from the horizon. She was exhausted, but sleep wasn't going to come easy after the scene she had studied all night.

Suddenly, she realized what she was looking at: Two perfectly congruent lines softly pressed in the dirt, leading away from the house, and disappearing into the grass a few meters away. Envoy took photos and made note of the cart tracks while taking measurements to make a cast of the hoof prints. She followed the tracks south to the train station where they vanished into the sea of cart tracks in the heart of Ponyville.

She began to think that the tracks were unrelated, but they looked too fresh to be so. The train station was populated during all hours of day and night by twenty-four seven delivery and commuting; it didn’t make sense to parade a fresh kill straight through there. It was possible that the killer brought the cart there specifically to be lost in the disarray, but she couldn't figure out how the tracks simply ceased to be.

Packing her notes and evidence containers in her saddle-bag, Envoy started off toward the hospital to see what was holding up Scroot.

* * *

Scroot stood outside the hospital and took in the toxic smoke through the filter of his cigarette. The dragon wasn't going to be talking for a day or two at least. He didn't know why he kept trying to talk to Spike. The doctors had done all they could, and he was getting better, but the medical staff know so little about dragons that the whole process had been experimental and slow. Scroot swore that the next RN to tell him that they were doing the best they could, and that they were sorry, was going to get bucked in the mouth.

Nurse Redheart made her way outside, stopped next to Scroot, and looked over him as he smoked. Sensing his frustration, she turned her gaze to the dirt path which led north-east into town.

Scroot remained motionless and only showing signs of life when the cigarette would glow as he pulled in deep and let it out like an exasperated sigh. She turned back to him and opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but turned away again.

"If you want to throw yourself at me, you're going to have to be a little more forthcoming." Scroot said with the cigarette bouncing in his lips.

"What?" Redheart recoiled for a moment, "That's not why I'm out here."

"Okay, than why else are you here and not in there trying to get my Spikey-Wikey to start talking?" Scroot mocked Rarity's many pleas for the dragon to get better soon.

"I'm sorry, Scroot. I really am doing all I can." She said in an agitated tone.

Scroot looked at her with a raised brow and imagined what her head would look like on the concrete steps after he kicked it off of her shoulders. "I know." He said with a sigh while deciding to allow her pretty face to stay intact. "He's my only lead right now."

Redheart shrugged, "You never know if he'll remember anything. I'm surprised he's alive. That toxicology report was ugly."

"Don't jinx me, Redheart." He said as the thought of crushing her skull against the pavement with his hooves returned.

"I'm not trying to, Scroot. I'm just trying to let you know the reality of it. Poisoning like that destroys the brain." She explained.

"I know you don't know a lot about dragons, but how long do you think?" Scroot said. Het thought, We're at a hospital. If I peeled the flesh from her face, she would live.

"It could be hours, and it could also be weeks." She said with a small shrug.

Scroot nodded and thanked her for her services while coming to the conclusion that maiming her wouldn't do it. This bitch simply has to die.

Envoy approached them and nodded to Scroot without saying anything. Scroot sighed in a puff of smoke and wondered why Envoy wasn’t giving him the details of the home immediately.

"Well?" He finally asked while making his way to the smokers can by the dirt path and dropping his cigarette inside.

"I don't think you're supposed to smoke within 10 meters of the door." Envoy answered.

Scroot rolled his eyes. "I also don't think I give a shit. What did you find at the house?”

Envoy shrugged, “There's nothing really remarkable about the scene that you don't already know. There were cart tracks that lead to the train station, but I lost them there. That's something, I guess, but I'm not sure if they're related.”

"It's possible that the killer dumped the cart and didn't take them through the train station?" Scroot asked.

"I don't think so. Why would they dump the cart?" Envoy asked in return.

"To be less conspicuous." He answered.

Envoy cocked her head and asked, "How is carrying a couple of bodies less conspicuous than a cart?"

"If you're flying, Envoy." Scroot started back inside the hospital, "Our killer is a pegasus, and I'll bet bits to biscuits that they probably flew with the cart."

Scroot pushed open the door and sauntered back to Spike's room, but stopped outside as Envoy met with him with an incredulous look.

"Okay," She whispered, "then why dump Spike without her?"

"Weight." Scroot said simply. "Flying with a cart is risky because you'd chance losing your load. The dragon might have been throwing the distribution off or something."

She shrugged, "Why not just fly from the crime-scene?"

Scroot shook his head while trying to think of an explanation, "Maybe it’s because there isn't much from the train station to the Everfree Forest. There's a cottage and a couple of fields, but if you drop a body over Ponyville, what then?"

He started inside the room, but Envoy put a hoof on his shoulder, "I just don't get why they would take off in the busiest place in Ponyville."

Scroot shrugged again, "Because it's busy. If you're carrying something illegal, and you run into ponies, what do you do? You get out of there, right?"

Envoy raised a brow at Scroot, "Why can't the killer be a unicorn? Levitation is easy and carrying two bodies would be simple enough with a fair amount of training."

"I guess it's possible," He said as he motioned toward the room, "But I don't think so. The suspect is a pegasus."

They entered the room and found the five ponies sitting around Spike's hospital bed in silence. Spike's eyes lazily glanced among all of them. He looked up at Scroot without discern before continuing to shift his gaze around the room. He may have been awake, but he wasn't conscious.

Scroot took a deep breath and addressed everypony in the room, "We're going."

Rainbow Dash looked over with a furrowed brow, "Don't you have work to do?"

"We've been up all night gathering evidence, profiles, and clues. Envoy and I are going to get a bit of rest and be back at this in the afternoon, alright?" Scroot said. He was slightly offended, but he'd been going off on Rainbow Dash all night; even he was tired of it.

* * *

It was nice to finally be home after such a long day. Envoy's home was a modest and cozy one bedroom house which had exactly enough room for whatever she liked to do. She wasn't a complicated filly.

Envoy smiled at the pictures of her late very special somepony and asked him how he was doing while making her way to the kitchen where she left her saddlebag. A romantic soundtrack played in her head as she was reunited with her bed.

She pulled off her red button up, and carelessly tossed the shirt as she leaped into the bed and landed on her back. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes while awaiting slumber to overcome her consciousness; much like Twilight did before being cut open and having her blood sprayed all over her room.

Envoy's eyes snapped open. She rubbed her face and shook all thought out of her head. She turned over onto her side and tucked a hoof under her pillow which is most likely the position that Twilight was laying when her throat was slashed and left to struggle for breath through her severed neck.

Envoy tossed herself onto her back again and stared at the ceiling. She thought to herself that she needed to replace these images with something else to get to sleep. Food was the first thing that popped into her head as imaginary hay burgers floated around her. She could almost smell the fresh sliced tomatoes, seasoned hay bacon, and the buttery artisan roll. Her stomach gurgled with the feeling of emptiness that filled her esophagus in a nauseating way.

She opened her eyes again, "Damn it. Now, I got to eat something."

Envoy hopped out of bed, cantered to the kitchen, and put together a nice hot daisy with hay bacon bits, diced pickles, and mayonnaise on a slice of whole grain wheat bread. She scarfed the messy creation and washed it down with a few sips of lemonade.

She pulled open the bedroom door and stared down the bed because it knew that it was going to get the shit slept out of it. She galloped across the room, tackled the comforter, and wrapped herself in its warmth and safety becoming still and restful.

She wasn't full, but that hot daisy sure hit the spot. She didn't feel empty like a gourd anymore which was helping her drift away from the tyranny of reality. Of course, if she was still too hungry to fall asleep, she didn't really have any more food to eat much in the same way that Twilight probably just didn't have any more blood to bleed.

Envoy slid lazily out of bed again and cursed under her breath. She gave up on sleep and began to analyze the hairs and candy-lion palynology.

* * *

It was 3 o' clock in the afternoon when Scroot trotted up the drive to Envoy's tiny clapboard bungalow. According to his friends, he had a signature 'cop-knock' that made occupants feel like they were in trouble no matter what their relationship to the investigator. He rapped two firm knocks on Envoy's door and thought that he didn't understand the distinguished knock possibly because he had never been on the other side of it.

Envoy tugged the door open with her magic and stood in the doorway with a cup of coffee levitated by her head. Her mane was entangled and her coat appeared sticky in a disheveled display of sweaty concentration. Scroot leaned to peer inside and saw the spread of photos on the floor and notes scribbled over her easel in the unicorn's calligraphic print.

"Did you sleep at all?" Scroot smiled.

She raised a brow and didn't see the humor in her situation.

His light mood faded quickly, "I'm sorry, Envoy." He apologized. "I remember my first murder case. A foal had got to crying for too long so his mother gave him the pillow. I didn't sleep either."

She sighed as she began to explain what she had found. The hair was complicated due to a certain rainbow maned pegasus that was in the house after the murder, but Envoy managed to nail down that the killer must be blue; evident the coat hairs found on the bed covers. She explained that the killer was most likely female based on hoof size unless they were a small colt, and that the profile would remain too loose to come up with a solid suspect without a body or weapon.

Envoy continued, "The palynology is going to be the major incriminating factor in this case. I think it's too early to start pointing hooves, but so far, candy-lion pollen is our biggest lead." Envoy took a sip from her unpalatable coffee that had been cold for at least an hour.

Scroot nodded in thought, “Are you thinking of somepony in particular?”

Envoy sighed hard and pressed her lips into a thin line, “I don't know if there's enough evidence against her. Until we find something concrete, something at a scene which doesn't have a revolving door of ponies, I don't think we should bring it up to anypony.”

Scroot looked over her notes and gave Envoy time to shower and get dressed. He copied the easel onto his notepad and found himself impressed by Envoy's diligent and thorough work. Envoy emerged from the bathroom with her mane brushed, her coat cleaned, and wearing her tight-fit red blouse.

She let out a sharp sigh and said, “Let’s get to it.”

Scroot nodded, “Let's split up. You go to the hospital and see if Spike can give us a statement. I'll go to the area that he was dumped. I'll stop by the hospital in a few hours.”

* * *

When Scroot arrived at the scene, he immediately noticed the lack of candy-lions which meant that Twilight probably wouldn’t be nearby. Two bushes were disturbed where Spike had been dropped between them and the outsides of the plants had been pressed toward one another in an attempt to cover him up. Hoof marks in the mud showed where the assailant scooped the earth to further conceal the body.

He took note of the cart tracks that pointed deeper into the Everfree Forest. He thought, I guess they didn't dump the cart. And concluded that it was all the more reason to believe that the killer was a pegasus. He bagged a few rogue hairs that were embedded into the dirt and in the leaves of the bushes after taking photos of the scene in the daylight.

He followed the tracks and figured that the pegasus didn't want to risk dropping Twilight’s body into the Everfree Forest for fear of not being able to recover it. The forest was consistently habited by potion makers and other ponies attempting to gather various materials which naturally made it an unfortunate place to leave a body. He could only assume that the killer intended to return for Spike, but possibly was rushed during the heat of the crime.

The trail led to an imposing cottage decorated in hoof carved wooden masks that communicated foreign meanings. They were decidedly dark in appearance and looked more like a deterrent than the welcome they intended.

He approached the cottage and knocked on the door while announcing, "Investigations."

A zebra answered the door with a raised brow. It was apparent that she did not expect anypony to drop by that afternoon given her weary and inquisitive demeanor, "Hello, I am Zecora, Mister Investigator. I don't believe we've met before." She spoke in a cadence with a deep punctual voice that stressed rhyming.

"I'm Scroot Whinny and I'm investigating a disappearance of a pony in Ponyville." He explained while pointing to his small, silver investigator badge on his left breast under his jacket.

"A disappearance that calls for action indeed. I recently became aware of the missing pony.” Zecora nodded, “I consider Twilight Sparkle to be a dear friend. How do you think this investigation will end?"

He scratched the back of his head and searched for the appropriate words. "Unfortunately, I'm not sure."

She nodded again, "This I understand, Mr. Whinny, but what is it that you need of me?"

"Evidence has led me to the Everfree Forest and I may need a guide." Scroot said and then he gestured toward the south, "I'm looking for candy-lions."

Zecora exited the residence and closed the door, "If navigation of the forest is what you desire, I believe I have the knowledge and skill you require."

Scroot smiled, "Thanks, Zecora. Please keep in mind, until the investigation is concluded, anything we find is going to be extremely privileged."

"Rest assured that I am trustworthy. Anything we may see will stay between you and me." Zecora stated as they began to make their way deeper into the Everfree Forest.

They continued along the dank trail while Zecora casually noted the foliage that was around them along the way. They neared Froggy Bottom Bogg where a massive grove of small weeds grew under the canopy that blocked the sunlight almost completely. Scroot observed fearsome giant, thick vines which were outstretched into the tree branches. The vines were covered in irregularly growing spikes that were dripping with clear sludge.

Zecora gestured to the vines that lined either side of the path as they walked, "Beware of the Terror Spines with the deadly goo. One touch of the spikes would be the last that you do. The vines cannot move and will always stay still, unless something manipulates producing a kill." She said and then pointed to a dead cockatrice lying against the vines.

Scroot peered through the Terror Spines from the trail. In the midst of the bright green weeds and black vines, there was a blotch of tan and brown. He pointed out the dead owl, "How many of those do you see in this area?"

Zecora stopped walking and her heart sank, "That creature I have seen before. The pet of the pony we are looking for."

"So, I am right to assume that you don't have a whole lot of owls around here." He stated while he noted the dead pet and the location on his notepad.

Zecora became uneasy, "I was trying to remain in optimism for the princess we'd find, but I feel that this owl is a very bad sign."

Scroot sighed, "It's certainly not good."

They made their way further south through Froggy Bottom Bogg and out from under the tree cover where the enormous field of candy-lions grew. The trail was overgrown with the meter-tall flowers and led to Ghastly Gorge to the south-west. Just outside of the canopy, and just before the dirt gave way to the Candy-lions, the tracks that they had been following suddenly veered to the right of the path and conveniently pointed to a flat-bed sled hidden in the foliage.

He wasn't surprised that he had found the source of the tracks, but the fact that it ended up not being a cart was interesting. The surface of the sled was covered in large brown ovals where blood had soaked into the wood. He took photos and found Twilight's hair that had been caught in the splintered ends of the planks. The harness attached to the front was molded flexible rubber and had grasped onto several light blue hairs that presumably belonged to the killer pony that had pulled the macabre load.

Scroot looked to the cliff about a hundred yards from them with a sinking feeling. The area was untouched by ponies, secluded from civilization, and with kilometers of canyon stretching all the way to the San Palomino Desert, it was the perfect dump site for a high profile murder. He couldn't quite place what was so emotionally stirring about the scene because he knew what he was about to find. It was probably because he had resolved in his mind that he was never going see another gruesome murder victim again, and then this case fell into his hooves.

After taking a deep breath in preparation, Scroot turned to Zecora and said, "I think you need to stay here. There are hoof-prints that I want to remain undisturbed."

Zecora looked away and nodded. It was a valiant effort in lying about preserving evidence, but Zecora was too intelligent not to pick up the somber body language unintentionally displayed by Scroot. She pursed her lips and frowned in understanding of the situation that Scroot was prepared to walk into. The bright sun, the brilliant smell of the flowers, and the cool breeze did little to hide the death shrouding them in bleak darkness.

Upon approaching the cliff, Scroot observed crushed flowers on the edge where it appeared that something was placed on them and pushed off the bluff. His breath slowed while looking over the cliff. The embankment was steep with small bushes riddled throughout the side of the valley, and a slender tree grew sideways from the dirt and curled upward into the sky. The tree had a rug wrapped carelessly on its trunk that hung over several blemishes in the mud which marked the way down as if a line was drawn to point out the distinct purple shape resting in the shallows of the creek below.

All of the bullshit he'd been dealing with from impatient ponies that hired him for the most meaningless crap had hardened his senses and made him callous. Seeing Twilight revitalized the sobering part of him that he hadn't accessed in years, and he realized once again the truly fucked up shit that ponies could do to one another.

Scroot returned to Zecora, thanked her, and dismissed her from further assistance before travelling back to Ponyville to retrieve Majesty Envoy.

* * *

Envoy could see the ache in his heart as she bagged evidence and used her magic to safely retrieve the body of Owlicious from the deadly plants. Nurse Redheart took custody of the owl, and the sled was sent to their cabin to be locked away until they could take a closer look.

They made their way down to Twilight Sparkle, and they took photographs of the small amounts of blood spatter on the rocks where her body had crashed before coming to rest in the creek. Scroot went to observe the body while Envoy examined the purple rug that had been used to wrap the body. She found hair that probably belonged to Twilight and a single light blue mane hair embedded in the rug's fibers. She bagged all of them and joined Scroot at Twilight's side.

The moon had begun its journey into the sky as Scroot and Envoy set up lighting to take photographs of the scene. Envoy swallowed emotion while looking over the body and appropriately tilting the flood lights. She had seen Twilight around town and was familiar with her without having felt the need to bother her. Of anypony that simply wanted to do some good in the world, Twilight was the last pony that deserved her fate. Envoy closed her eyes, quietly told herself to focus, and got back to work.

Twilight had landed on her back with her head hanging off the bank into the water and her right ear buried into the creek's sediment. Her left eye was wide open while her right was slightly closed, but both eyes were sunk into her skull with a dull film over them that appeared to hide the signs of life. Her mouth was agape and her throat was bulging from an object lodged in her esophagus. The multiple slashes in her neck were jagged and imprecise which indicated, unsurprisingly, that Twilight fought hard against her attacker. The alicorn princess had been nearly decapitated from the deep wounds that exposed her pharynx.

Envoy had never seen a dead pony before, which hadn't been dressed and cleaned by an embalmer, and the worst part was the bright yellow fat tissue squeezing through the cold muscle and leathery skin. The bones appeared fluorescent against the dark red flesh, and there were cuts on Twilight's fore-legs and hooves from trying to hide her face during the attack.

After photographing every inch of the scene and taking down hours of notes, Nurse Redheart arrived to remove the body for autopsy. Rigor mortis made the body awkward to move with her forelegs having relaxed from the condition while her lower half and center mass remained stiff.

Scroot told Envoy to note the onset of rigor being that the symptom of death gained full contracture at 24 hours after expiry, and then, the muscles would begin losing rigidity in consecutive order from smaller to larger mass. He further explained that they would be able to calculate, accurate to within a few hours, the time of death.

"Hey, Scroot." Nurse Redheart began as a few medical stallions carefully placed Twilight on a stretcher. "Your owl didn't die from the poison. He was asphyxiated."

"So, I was right. He was dumped there by our killer." He said more to himself than to her. He noted that the killer had enough planning power to kill the owl first to avoid the potential event of Owlicious waking Twilight during the crime.

The medical stallions loaded the body and left to the hospital with the investigators following. Envoy refrained from conversation and tried to give Scroot his space. She knew when he was upset that he doesn't speak which was torturous to her. She wanted to talk about what was going on in her mind because she believed it would help her feel better, but Scroot would shush her and that would be the end of it.

When they arrived at the hospital, they predictably found out that Twilight died from exsanguination due to lacerations of the carotid and subclavian arteries. Redheart pulled a few green stones from her throat, and blue coat hairs that were found in her teeth where, presumably, Twilight bit her attacker in defense.

Scroot walked outside, and then he nosed in his pocket for a cigarette while Envoy joined him at his side. He silently offered her a cigarette, but she declined with a mute wave of her hoof. She looked over him for signs of emotion. She had started sweating in the effort to remain silent.

Scroot placed his tiny tripod lighter on the ground, stepped onto the ignition, and brought a tiny flame to life. The golden light danced on the concrete with the fruit of Princess Luna's royal labor poised in the center of the sky.

"It's a hell of a thing." Scroot said flatly as he lit the cigarette. He balanced the lighter on a hoof and pushed it back into his pocket.

"I don't know how to feel," Envoy started, "I'm glad we recovered her body, but I think I feel worse than I did last night."

"Finding the body isn't closure, Envoy. It's putting the fucker that did this in a noose." He said while pulling on the cigarette and blowing smoke from his nose. His eyes were fixed on the horizon; every breath filled with toxicity.

Envoy watched the column of ash on his cigarette fall away from a slight breeze, and finally asked, "You alright?"

"I'm okay." He said through his lips pursed around the cigarette, "I'm just starting to put this together and I'm not liking it."

Envoy nodded, but resisted saying anything.

"The facts of the case," Scroot continued, “Around midnight to 3 AM, somepony entered Twilight's Library and used a homemade concoction on the dragon in an attempt to kill him. It can be assumed that the killer used the poison because the blade might have caused a ruckus, and awoken Twilight. It's also possible that the killer either didn't have enough poison to do Twilight the same way or that Spike was just collateral while Twilight was personal.”

Scroot paused to take a long, deep puff of the cigarette and continued with smoke billowing from his mouth, “So, then that somepony drove their knife into Twilight's throat, and in the struggle, Twilight bit her attacker and acquired the blue coat hairs found in her mouth. Eventually, Twilight succumbed to the blood loss and the killer loaded the two bodies on the sled because they assumed that Spike was dead. Along the way, the killer dumped Spike and the sled before shoving Twilight off into the creek. I would guess that just before she was pushed off, the killer got comfortable in the seclusion and put the rocks down her throat for some reason. That's also probably when one of the perp's mane hairs got caught in the rug… the same hair that would be coated in candy-lion pollen.”

"We can't be sure it was her, Scroot. No motive." Envoy shrugged.

"Jealousy. In the little bit I spoke with her, she was really proud of her flying." Scroot tossed the cigarette onto the ground and looked at Envoy, "Maybe she thought Twilight was getting a bit too much attention for the wings."

"Alright," Envoy reluctantly agreed, "Let's bring in Rainbow Dash."

Author's Note

Twilight doesn't look so good either

Chapter 4 - That Old Bitch

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

Chapter 5 - Spike

Envoy stood outside the hospital where Fluttershy was marching to the entrance with bravery just to lower her head and sulk away in tearful failure again and again. Envoy wasn't willing to put kilometers on her hooves following the yellow pegasus from the breezeway to the dirt path repeatedly. She had been consoling Fluttershy and offering words of encouragement to such an extent that her voice had become hoarse.

Fluttershy seated herself in the dirt, dropped her head into her hooves, and hid behind her long pink mane. She was crying again which compelled Envoy to comfort her; however, Envoy was done with words. There was simply nothing more to say. She patted Fluttershy on the shoulder and mutely conveyed her condolences.

Fluttershy wiped her nose and peered at Envoy from behind her mane, "You've seen her already?"

Envoy nodded.

"Did it look bad? I mean, does it look like it hurt a lot? You know... for a long time?" The pegasus' face was soaked with tears.

Envoy's gaze shifted to the ground as she nodded.

They had been on the front step of the hospital for over an hour, and Fluttershy was beginning to wear on Envoy's patience. Envoy was trying the best she could to be supportive and used much effort to hide her frustration.

"Is she...?" Fluttershy paused to brush the cascade of moisture from her cheeks. "Is she, um... disfigured?"

Envoy shook her head, "She isn't 'disfigured' per se, but she won't look the same."

Fluttershy closed her eyes, "Why? Why do I have to see her?"

"Chiefly, because the items found in the autopsy are kept with her body." Envoy said.

"Items?" Fluttershy brushed her hair away from her face.

"Yes. Rocks." Envoy gestured dispassionately, "They found them in her throat, and we're hoping they can be identified because we don't know why they're significant."

Fluttershy nodded with a look of determination which Envoy had now seen at least a hundred times. She watched Fluttershy stomp her way to the door, and was surprised when the yellow pegasus actually went inside. Envoy galloped into the hospital and fell into step with Fluttershy.

They met with Nurse Redheart who offered to lead them to the morgue at the end of the center passageway which was marked as the Intensive Care Unit, but Fluttershy reneged once again, “I think I’m going to see Spike first.”

Envoy agreed in understanding of Fluttershy’s apprehension and they were let into Spike’s room that was near the entrance of the ICU hallway. Spike snapped a glance at the entering ponies as if nopony had entered the room before.

Intravenous tubes were tucked under his scales and securely taped on his forearms. The pumps whirred and clicked while sounding quiet alarms to indicate whatever action they were performing. The drapery and pair of seats in the north east corner of the room matched the dark red ICU color scheme. Across from the bed on the west wall, a rosewood cabinet hosted a small bouquet of roses and a vast collection of Get-Well-Soon cards. Pinkie Pie’s contribution to the sentiments was an enormous assortment of foil balloons and various confections.

“Hey, Fluttershy.” The purple dragon greeted weakly, and he winced as he adjusted in the bed.

“Spike, you’re awake! I mean, you’ve been awake, but you’re talking!” She strode to his bedside with a wide smile. “I was beginning to think you’d never talk again!”

He smirked meekly with pain lurking behind his joyful eyes, “They told me that I’m going to be alright.”

“I would hug you, but you have a lot of tubes around.” She said while giving him a virtual air embrace.

His scales were in full color and his eyes were once again bright with the youthful readiness to take in the beauty of the world. Fluttershy almost couldn't tell that he was still recovering except for the anguished expression tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Spike studied Envoy with uncertain familiarity, “Hello. I’m Spike. Who are you?”

Envoy stepped forward, “I’m Majesty Envoy. I’m an investigator.”

Confusion furrowed his brow while he pursed his lips in thought, “Am I in trouble?”

Envoy smiled and shook her head.

"Where's everypony else?" He asked Fluttershy.

"They're helping Envoy right now. They will be so glad to hear from you when they're done. It will be so nice for everypony to have some good news after these last few days." Fluttershy smiled through her empathy of the ailment which hindered his movements and speech.

"What happened?" Spike became concerned.

Fluttershy was quickly overwhelmed by dread, and she hurriedly struggled to avoid being the pony that had to break the news to him.

"We were all here. Did you not hear us talking?" Fluttershy's voice quivered while the anxiety of being the bearer of bad news overcame her delight of Spike’s consciousness.

"Well, I could hear that you were talking, but I couldn't hear you, if that makes any sense." He explained while observing Fluttershy's worried expression. He glanced between the two ponies and settled deeper into unease, "Did something bad happen? Is that why you're here?"

Envoy began, “Over the last few days, we found out that somepony injected you with a poison…”

Fluttershy held a hoof up to Envoy, “Stop, please. Let me…”

Spike tried to sit up in surprise, "Poison...?" He was quickly restrained with the discomfort of movement.

“Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked while holding a hoof over his claw softly.

Spike sighed in exasperation, “They can’t give me any more pain medications.” He laid his head back and breathed slowly in an attempt to alleviate the anguish in his joints, “They said they think it’ll drop my blood pressure.”

Fluttershy's glassy eyes slowly tracked across the room to Envoy, "Can you give us a minute?"

The unicorn nodded and left without a word.

The two of them simply stared at one another for a few moments as Fluttershy’s tears collected along her jaw and fell onto the blanket. Spike took a breath in anticipation of the pain from movement before sitting up and cupping a comforting claw on Fluttershy’s cheek. He let out a soft groan through the sharp stabbing in his muscles while he wiped his thumb under her eye to clear the way for more tears to make their way down her chin.

"What's going on, Fluttershy?" He asked softly and managed a crooked smile.

She wrapped her forelegs around his back and laid him down slowly before involuntarily burying her face in his chest and uncontrollably sobbing into his warm scales. He worked a claw under her long mane and stroked the back of her neck while patting her back with his other.

"Talk to me. What's happened?" He said gently.

Fluttershy brought her head up with her eyes clenched, "Twilight..." Her emotion gripped her vocal chords shut.

Spike’s eyes were wet with sympathy, "Of all the ponies," He smiled, "I thought she'd be the first pony I'd see, but you're nice too."

Fluttershy chuckled through her tears with emotions flooding in a confusing disarray of the utmost happiness for the dragon and pure excruciation to the situation.

"Spike." She shook her head, "She's..."

The purple dragon felt like he was going to fall off the bed while awaiting an explanation for Fluttershy's sadness when suddenly an awful thought crept into his mind.

"Where is she?" He felt his fluids drain into the far recesses of his body causing his face to tingle and his blood to run cold.

"She's here." Fluttershy cried softly. "At the end of the hall."

"What room is she in?" He said while pulling the blanket off of himself and sitting up.

"Spike, you don't understand. The end of the hall is the morgue." Her voice came out shrill and muscled to form each shaky word.

"The m..." He collapsed onto the bed and stared into the ceiling. "She's dead?"

Fluttershy cried harder with her chest tightening in powerfully painful sobs. She was unyielding to her belief that each heave was bringing her ribs closer to being crushed under the contractions of her own muscles.

Spike's eyes leaked down the sides of his face and the moisture was sucked into the fabric of the pillow, "How?" He squeaked to Fluttershy.

She took several sharp breaths trying to control her weeping long enough to say anything. "She was murdered!" She sobbed.

"By who?!" Spike barked.

"Nopony knows." She was panting in emotional exhaustion.

Panic and disbelief darted in his eyes while a machine beeped incessantly to alert the medical staff of his elevated heart rate. His face was pinched in a tight knot as pressure built in his head like the unbearable sorrow was going to explode his skull. He shook his head vehemently and attempted to hold in the onslaught of anger, pain, and loss, but he suddenly burst into a violent wail and fell deeper into the bedding.

Fluttershy became motionless while watching him writhe in agony and hearing his chillingly woeful cries. Spike’s expressive sadness set within her a firm obligation to bring Twilight justice. She leaned onto him and gave him the warmest hug that she could, and he clutched onto her as if he was going to fall to his death.

“We’re going to catch them, Spike.” Fluttershy whispered delicately.

She pulled away and left him sobbing into his palms. She made her way out of the room and saw Envoy staring into space with empathetic tears in her eyes from having heard their exchange. Fluttershy tapped Envoy and said, “I need to see my friend.”

* * *

Rarity paid little attention to the tear drops dotting the dirt path below her hooves as she intently made her way to Scroot's cabin to enter the knife into evidence. She was so affixed on clouding the image of the deadly luggage in her saddle bag that she didn't hear Applejack galloping to her from behind.

"Rarity!" Applejack called.

Rarity stopped and looked back while wiping moisture from her cheeks. She sniffed the congestive mucus in her nose and swallowed without a moment's thought of how unladylike that was. She spotted Scroot limping far behind them.

Applejack slowed her gait and concern showed on her face, "Are you okay?"

Rarity nodded in Scroot’s direction, "Is he okay?" She deflected to avoid having to talk about the weapon.

"Oh, yeah, he just got himself a good whoopin' from Buck McGhiloucutty and Kicks McGhee." Applejack chuckled and lifted each of her rear hooves to explicate their names.

"You beat up the investigator?" Rarity raised a brow.

Applejack smiled and polished a fore-hoof on her chest, "It turned out to be a misunderstanding, but at least he knows now what ponies he's tusslin' with."

"Did you find anything out in the Everfree Forest?" Rarity queried.

"I believe,” Applejack started as Scroot caught up with them, "that the killer is a unicorn."

The two mares matched Scroot’s canter on his way back to the cabin.

"How do you know?" Rarity asked Applejack.

"She doesn't." Scroot interjected.

Rarity smiled at the investigator, "Are you sore in more ways than one, Scroot?"

"Look, honey. I can take an ass kicking in stride. You win some; you lose some." Scroot stated flatly. "I'm saying that what she found was circumstantial; not conclusive."

"So, it doesn't sting that a girl beat you up?" Rarity continued with a smile.

Scroot groaned with a complete lack of entertainment, "Girls can really fuck shit up, Rarity. In my line of work, I have seen many fellow officers under estimate a female suspect and get their asses handed right to them on a silver platter."

"Have you ever had your flank kicked by a girl before?" Rarity prodded further while her lighthearted smile broke into a playful grin.

Scroot quietly trotted next to them and tried to reduce his irritation. He knew it was just a friendly ribbing, and he also wanted to stay true to the apology that he gave Applejack.

He finally answered, “No, Rarity. That was a first.”

They cantered silently, save for Applejack’s discreet sniggering, when suddenly Rarity realized that she was smiling and her feelings were bright. Despite the circumstances, she had managed to have a light moment in the shrouding darkness, but this realization brought guilt with it which then wrestled the smile from her face. She felt wrong for being happy in the wake of her friend’s death.

"Did you find anything in the house?" Scroot asked.

"Yes." She said simply.

Applejack and Scroot jogged silently while awaiting elaboration, but Rarity remained mute.

"What did you find?" Applejack finally asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." Rarity stared intently forward in a hopeless effort for them to change the subject.

"Rarity, we're a team now." Scroot explained, "We need to know what you've found however unpleasant it may be."

"I found… it." She said while beginning to sink into dismay again, "It was in the floor underneath the bed."

Scroot bounced up the steps to the cabin, pushed open the front door, and held it for the mares. Rarity hurried around the front desk, took off her bag, and tossed it carelessly onto the table.

"The thought of it makes me ill. Just look for yourself." She swallowed hard to keep down her emotion as well as her lunch.

"Rarity," Scroot began as he unclasped the fastener with his teeth, "Communication is the key in a team effort."

"I found it." She coughed as she lifted the knife from her saddlebag with her magic and averted her eyes.

Scroot looked over the knife that was floating in Rarity’s incandescent magic grip and he nodded in approval. "This is good, Rarity." He said slowly. "This is very good."

Applejack stared at the blade like she was watching an oncoming train and preparing to be pulverized into a red mist. The blood had dried in chunks where bubbles were unable to escape the viscid material and bits of flesh had been interwoven into the matted fur on the blood soaked handle. Applejack’s lip quivered as she finally took a breath and broke sight of the tool which delivered Twilight's demise.

Scroot squinted at the wood handle and noticed tiny dimples arranged in rectangular shapes near the top and bottom, "Wait a second, this could be big. Turn it over." He said.

Rarity looked up to the ceiling as she slowly spun the knife in the air with her magic.

A crescent shape, which stretched from the top of the handle to the blade, thinned from the molars to the incisors and widened again. It was a perfect imprint of the user's mandible.

"Those are teeth marks." Scroot said aloud.

Rarity looked at Scroot with surprise, "Does this exonerate Rainbow?"

"It may put the nail in the coffin," Scroot shook his head. "Not matching Dash is circumstantial, but if it does match, she's in trouble."

Applejack stomped a hoof, "That makes no sense! How can something be bad for Rainbow if it is true, but not good if it isn't?"

Scroot took a deep breath and felt like he was explaining basic facts to a foal, "Because if you can prove she was in contact with the murder weapon, it's bad for her. If you can't, then it doesn't mean anything. She could have used it, and not left these teeth marks."

Applejack rolled her eyes, "What does circumstantial mean to you?"

"Look, I'm not trying to be the bad guy here." Scroot said, "I'm just telling you that the vines are explainable because she could have dropped Owlicious in from the air, and the teeth marks are explainable because not everypony that uses a knife bites the shit out of it."

Rarity's magic vanished and the knife clattered against the table, "What do we need to do to make this not 'circumstantial'?"

Scroot rubbed his face with a hoof in exhaustion. The ache in his stomach from Applejack’s assault hadn't quite faded away and all of the questioning wasn't aiding his personal goal of being nicer to them. "Find a suspect and match them to the knife."

"Tell us how?" Applejack demanded.

"You're a detective, Applejack!" Scroot growled while poising his hoof towards her. He clenched his teeth and reeled back his irritation before adding calmly, "You must detect."

Rarity gestured sensitively, "Scroot, we simply don't know where to start.”

Scroot let out a long slow breath, "There isn't a set of rules, Rarity. You don't have a formula for this kind of thing. You chase leads until you can't find anything else, and then you build a case on what you have."

The mares exchanged a quizzical look and hoped to derive inspiration from one another, but both found nothing. Scroot grabbed the bind of a newspaper from the adjacent desk and started toward his 'other office'.

"I need to think." He said.

"Just give us somethin' to do, Scroot. We're tryin' to help." Applejack stated just as Scroot was closing the door.

"You have helped. You will continue to help. For right now, I need you both to leave me alone for at least 20 minutes so, in the midst of this chaos, I can grab me a shit, please!" Scroot pleaded in an almost desperate voice.

Rarity shifted on her hooves, "By all means, Scroot." She glanced briefly at Applejack, "We're not going to hinder you from pooping in peace." She said as eloquently as possible.

He dipped his head and said, "Thank you." And then he closed the door.

* * *

The sled was pretty much a dead end. There was nothing that Pinkie could see that wasn't already noted in the report and she felt like she had been at it for hours. She felt like she was given an unproductive assignment.

There was a copper identifier that had been scratched nearly unreadable except four letters, 'Tedd' and a few numbers, '012' on the outsides of the destructive etching. Pinkie surmised that whatever pony defaced the plate was hoping it couldn't be identified.

She wrote down the text and carried her note into the cabin to find a directory. Rarity and Applejack were standing on either side of the table where the meanie had scolded them for being detectives. Although the flank chewing wasn't fun, Pinkie Pie had never felt haughtier than in that moment. I got you in trouble. I got you in trouble! She thought.

"Hey, fillies." Pinkie greeted as she closed the door behind her.

"Howdy, Pinkie." Applejack nodded, "You got any leads for us?"

"Maybe." The pink earth pony said plainly as she began her hunt for the directory. Luckily, the forty-fourth drawer she opened had a current one. Rarity followed behind with her magic and closed the file cabinets.

"What do you have?" Rarity asked.

“I don’t know.” Pinkie chirped while placing the book on the table. She flipped through cart rental and retail and found a promising advertisement for Teddy’s Transportation in Northern Apple Loosa. The logo on the page had striking resemblance to defaced plate on the sled. Pinkie Pie nodded mutely and cited an 'A-ha!' to her friends.

"What do you got, Pinkie?" Applejack leaned in as if closing the distance between them would aid Pinkie’s conveyance.

Pinkie looked up slowly and raised a brow while perched on the precipice of her find, "I don't know." She said profoundly.

Rarity dropped her shoulders and felt less than exhilarated by Pinkie's detective genius.

Applejack rolled her eyes while meeting Rarity's gaze, "So, what do we do, Rarity? Go to Colgate's Office and start pulling dental records?"

Rarity shrugged, "If the pony that used this knife even went to Colgate's office, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of records to go through. We'd be comparing teeth for days with the relatively good chance of ultimately coming up with nothing."

"I got it!" Pinkie exclaimed and shifted her glare to the directory. "Teddy's Transportation is where the sled came from. They'll know who the last pony to rent the cart was!"

"How do you know?" Rarity asked pointedly.

"There's a plate on the back of the sled. It looks just like this logo!" Pinkie declared while tapping on the book.

"Well, there you go." Applejack nodded. "We got ourselves a lead, Rarity."

"Excellent!" Rarity stamped. She went to Scroot's ‘other office’ and knocked, "Scroot! We have a lead!"

Scroot's muffled voice emerged from behind the door, "That's great. Go away!"

Pinkie bounced, "We go to Apple Loosa, and we'll know exactly who-dun-did-doed it!”

Pinkie grabbed the top of the page and tore it from the book, "Come on! We're going to Apple Loosa!" She said as she dashed out of the cabin.

Applejack followed quickly, but stopped at the and doorway looked back at Rarity whom hadn't moved. "You coming, sugar cube?"

"I think I'm going to stay," Rarity gestured for Applejack to continue onward without her. "Scroot will need my help with something, I'm sure."

"Alright, then." Applejack nodded and closed the door behind her.

Rarity knocked again on the bathroom door, "Scroot. You okay? I wasn't trying to make you mad."

"I'm fucking fine, Rarity. Jeez!" Scroot shouted over the flushing toilet. He swung open the door, “I’m really trying not to be an asshole anymore, but when my asshole needs relief, I just want to be left alone.”

"I'm sorry, Scroot. Should I just go with them?" She suggested in an attempt to remedy his rage. She backed away a few steps to distance herself from the flatulent smell emitting from the room.

"No." He shook his head and pulled the door shut, "I'm sorry, Rarity. You're going through a rough time, and you don't need me being an ass to you."

"It's okay." She nodded. "What can I do to help?"

Scroot gave a small shrug, "Nothing, honey. When you get to be my age, you can't force it. You just have to let gravity pull it out."

She recoiled, "No, pertaining to the case."

"Oh!" He laughed. "I'm sorry. We could go back to the house, and you can show me where you found the knife."

She shuddered, "Ooh. I don't think I could ever stomach going back in that house ever again. I'm going to have to burn that saddlebag knowing what's been in it."

Scroot sighed exasperatedly and shook his head, "Let me look things over, and I'll find something for us to do."

Rarity looked at her saddlebag and then back to Scroot whom was rooting through a file cabinet to piece something together. She knew he wasn't going to come up with anything that they hadn't already by simply skimming some notes, but she appreciated his effort.

Maybe, she thought, that ass kicking was exactly what he needed. He appeared more patient and more humble. Even in his recent outburst, he didn't try to justify himself, he just apologized and even explained sincerely why he was sorry. He was right, though. She did feel like she was on the brink of bursting into tears at any moment, and his yelling and cursing wasn't helpful.

"Scroot," She started and nearly fell short on what words to choose, "Have you ever lost somepony?"

He glanced over to her and tried to see the subtext of her question. He watched her blink the moisture from her eyes as he replied, "Yes."

"Who?" She asked incredulously.

Scroot blew air and shrugged, "My parents, I'm a widower, and many friends. I'm fairly old, Rarity. I've seen many ponies pass in my time even with the exception of the murders and accidents I worked when I was a cop."

"How did you get through it? All of the death?" She stepped closer to him as he closed the file cabinet and took a seat at the table.

"I don't know. Time just kind of did its thing. My wife's death was pretty traumatizing, but I got over it eventually." He said while gesturing into the air to exemplify his the-world-keeps-spinning mindset.

"How did she die, if you don't mind me asking?" Rarity politely queried.

"A taxi driver lost control of his cart down a hill and hit her while she was crossing the street in Manehattan." He gestured with a hoof to the adjacent chair, "Now, if you don't mind me asking, what is this really about?" He made his voice soft and his sudden genuine concern was heartwarming to her.

Rarity took the offer for a seat and slumped over the table with her chin resting on her hooves. "I just feel wrong. I apologize for the laugh we had at your expense earlier, not for your sake, but for Twilight's. I feel guilty for continuing life without her." Rarity brushed her long mane from her face and returned the hoof under her chin "Wasn't it hard seeing all of that death? It didn't make you feel terrible knowing all of those ponies were dying around you?"

He smiled in a misplaced attempt to brighten her, "At first, it was hard, but I got used to it. Dead ponies became numbers, and I was a professional at detaching myself from the cases when I came home." The smile faded, "When it was somepony close to me, I was a professional at pushing my emotions deep inside when I went to work."

Scroot stood and continued, "What I found out eventually: Nothing is going to seem to help now. Every time you laugh and every time you do something amazing, you're going to immediately think about how you'd love to share that moment or achievement with your friend. When I made sergeant, I was alone in my house, wishing for a clairvoyant to burst in and tell me how proud my wife was of me."

"That doesn't make me feel better, Scroot." She sighed with a pained smile.

"Honestly, I'm not trying to tell you what you want to hear because that's not going to help you." He explained while projecting a very real desire to lift her spirit. She began to find his gruff voice interestingly soothing.

Rarity mustered a chuckle, "I know. Everypony keeps telling me, “It's going to be alright,” and, “She's in a better place”, but all of that seems to just make me feel worse."

Scroot waved a hoof towards her expressively, "Of course it makes you feel worse. The fact is that you're not alright right now, and the best place for Twilight is right here with us; fuck all of that existential bullshit."

He calmed himself and continued, "I don't want you to be sad, Rarity, but I know you will be. Eventually, over time, you'll see the time you had together as a blessing. Right now, her passing will feel like a perpetual missed opportunity, and you'll just have to ignore the idiots who've never lost somepony close to them. They'll spew those recycled phrases of obligatory pity, but you'll just say, 'thanks' and then forget them."

Scroot nosed in his pocket for a cigarette and made his way to the exit, "I'm going outside for a smoke. I got to clear my head."

"So, I'm just waiting for time to help me?" She attempted to simplify his long winded speech while following him to the entryway.

He shrugged as he sucked the flame into the cigarette from the lighter on the porch, "Grieving is not a concrete process that comes in stages." He blew smoke while leaving his lighter on the ground, "You'll be sad about it for a while, you'll be over it for a while, and then you'll be sad about it again. You never really stop grieving. You just get more used to that particular sadness."

As his profane words and animated vehemence settled deeper in her mind, she began to feel at ease. Somepony else understood what she was feeling, and she found comfort in knowing that the guilt which had tormented her was shared in some capacity. He didn't look so old, but he certainly had the wisdom which was developed with age.

She took a deep breath and shoved more emotion aside as she began to think of something productive to do. She watched a warm smile spread across Scroot's face in reassurance with a small trail of grey smoke drifting away from the cigarette. He dipped his head and let his hat fall on the wood floor next to a small ceramic ash tray that rest on the natural finish porch.

Without the brim of the hat over his features, his eyes looked younger and his dark blue iris appeared sharp and controlled in the cloudy light. His mane was full and the color nearly matched his jet black tie woven into that stylishly convoluted knot. His five ‘o clock shadow underlined his strong jaw, and his powerful stature was exemplified by his rigidly pressed sport coat that was perfectly accented by his crisp, baby blue dress shirt. In the midst of her depression, she found herself suddenly flush with attraction to the older pony. She fixed herself on his smoking habit knowing that if it weren't for that disgusting vice of his, she probably couldn't help herself.

She stated flatly, "I'm going to go see Spike."

He nodded and carefully rested the cigarette on the edge of the ash tray, "I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but I'll figure something out.”

Scroot turned to Rarity and put a hoof around the back of her neck. He warmly looked into her eyes as he drew a deep cleansing breath and a compassionate smile flicked the corners of his mouth. She closed her eyes, pursed her lips, and was caught off guard by the friendly hug from the investigator.

“I know it’s hard, but feel better for me okay?” He said. He released her, immediately bit down on the butt of the cigarette, and took a deep pull without further comment. Rarity nodded mutely, and she started south toward town while praying that Scroot’s eyes had been closed, too.

Author's Note

Chapter 6 - The Reveal

The jail was in lockdown for the night, and all of the inmates were confined to their cells until breakfast time which began at exactly 6 AM and ended at exactly 7 AM. At that time, the inmates were confined to their cells once again for the facility count. Everything was strictly regulated and told everypony exactly when to eat, when to play, and when to sleep. Because there were no clocks in the cells, the nights were unforgivingly long and cold.

Rainbow Dash lay uncomfortably on the nylon mat and stared at the walls where she had taped the papers that she had received from her lawyer at the discovery hearing. All of those reports which outlined her guilt stirred anger in her heart. She constantly and desperately tried to come up with an explanation as to how she would have come to be falsely accused. She was tired of thinking about it, but there wasn't much else to do at night.

She hadn't made any friends in the jail and had barely left her cell to get food. The other inmates had made it abundantly clear that she was lucky to have avoided a cell-mate, known colloquially as a 'celly', in the few days she had been there. Rainbow felt fortunate to be allowed the opportunity to perform necessary bodily functions without the presence of another, but she was becoming lonely. Not lonely in the traditional sense that she longed for an interpersonal relationship, but she just wanted somepony to talk to that was relatable in some way.

All of the ponies in Dash's unit were thieves, liars, and con-artists, and they simply didn't have the capacity to share with another pony. Their lies had become such a part of their identity that they had no choice but to believe their own dishonesty lest they lose a part of themselves. It was the consistent self-gratifying empty boasting that she found so detestable about them which pushed her to keep to herself.

Rainbow Dash was beginning to make peace with having yet another sleepless night as the words of the reports ran through her head. She was trying to calm her mind as well as block out the sound of the cell-mates having sex in the adjacent cell. She noted that their activity sounded consensual, but she was still hugely uncomfortable of it. She didn't have an issue with homosexuality, but sexuality in any capacity within the walls of the jail was considered rape because inmates have a legally reduced capacity for consent; thus, the jail motto was, “No means no, and yes is not allowed.” It was against the rules, and she felt like she should report it, but the report wouldn't do any good. It would most likely only get Dash beat up by the numerous inmates whose favorite phrase was “Snitches get stitches.”

Rainbow shook her head of all thoughts, turned onto her side, and closed her eyes. She just wanted to sleep. She didn't want to think about how confusing forensic palynology was. She didn't even know that was a thing, but according to that report, she had been in the area where Twilight's body was dumped. Rainbow strained her mind to figure out how she had gotten candy-lion pollen in her mane.

A sudden penetrating image flashed across her vision; Ghastly Gorge. She sat up quickly in shock of her recollection of a certain brain clearing flight. She mutely remembered the wipe-out into the candy-lions which thusly secured her position as primary suspect. Her mind raced through how she was supposed to explain that the outlandish coincidence was exactly that. She focused so hard that she became insensitive to the confined lovers' soft moans that grew into wails of pleasure. They certainly caught the attention of everypony else, except the sleeping detention guard, as other inmates were quietly calling for them to keep it down.

Rainbow fell back against the mat, having forgotten about its hardness, and thudded her head against the steel below the nylon. She thought deeply through the new ache in her skull for a way to communicate with her friends and put their brains to work. She needed help conveying that she was at Twilight’s dump site, and yet completely innocent.

She rubbed behind her ear with a hoof and stared at the ceiling some more. She worried about sending a letter through conventional mail because the guards read everything that leaves and enters the facility to control contraband and monitor gang activity. She felt like she would be signing a confession if she admitted it on paper. It was hopeless. She had never felt so alone and helpless in her life.

Rainbow turned onto her side and desperately avoided talking to herself. She figured that lying in her bed and chatting herself up would be the first step to going crazy, but all the thoughts running through her mind only exacerbated the soreness of her head. Although, the dull pain that was ringing in her ears was welcomed as it drowned out the sound of the neighboring inmates climaxing together.

* * *

The morgue was smaller than Fluttershy anticipated, but the ghoulishly unnerving feeling of casualty hidden behind the chrome doors certainly met expectation. The florescent tubes above Fluttershy and Envoy did little to lighten the disparity.

Redheart asked them both to stand still as she applied a small amount of cream to their upper lips. It smelled powerfully like mangos, but its soothing scent had no effect on Fluttershy's racing heart. Nurse Redheart explained that it was to mask the bodies' odor which also wasn't soothing in any way.

They made their way down the thin corridor that was almost too small for them to walk three ponies wide. Fluttershy eyed the drawers with the tiny white name plates on the drawers, and she could almost see all of the lost friends and family through the cold stainless steel. She had a brief moment of mortality and thought of the statistic she would inevitably become at the conclusion of her life.

Nurse Redheart gripped the handle of the door marked 'T. Sparkle' and pulled the drawer outward as if revealing the contents of a file cabinet. A bleached white sheet covered Twilight's body and made her appear like a specter that was waiting to show them the errors of their past, present, or future.

The nurse curved a hoof over the cover to pull it back when Fluttershy collapsed on the floor, buried her face under her hooves, and shouted, "Stop! Stop! I can't! I just can't see her like this!"

Envoy knelt down and attempted to peer through Fluttershy's hooves, "Fluttershy, we need you. I know this isn't easy, but you're helping her."

"What good am I?" Fluttershy clasped her hooves tightly against her face and cried, "I'm not going to be any use. This isn't going to work!"

Envoy stood and shrugged at Redheart, "Sorry, Nurse. We're not trying to waste your time. Just give me a few moments with her."

Redheart nodded and the room became silent except the clopping of her hooves on the linoleum floor as she made her way out.

Envoy Fluttershy and sighed, "I'm sorry, but this is important."

"I know." Fluttershy stood with her eyes closed, "I have to do this."

Fluttershy’s eyes peeled slowly as she made weak steps to Twilight's side and stared intently at the sheet that covered her lost friend. Envoy watched Fluttershy struggle from across Twilight's body and awaited a sign to continue.

“Are you ready?” Envoy finally asked while poising a hoof on the sheet and preparing to uncover the body.

“No.” Fluttershy said, but she looked to Envoy and hesitantly nodded.

Envoy reached over Twilight and carefully folded the sheet back to Twilight’s chest. She watched Fluttershy take in the sight of Twilight’s lifeless face.

A quiet gasp struck Fluttershy, but she bit her lip and tried to keep herself composed. Her shallow breaths echoed in the morgue and she tried to say something, but a barely audible squeaking came out. She attempted a deep cleansing breath, but she just closed her eyes so hard that she trembled and forgot to breathe. A sudden hard sigh hit her in the mouth and a bit of drool spat out onto the floor.

“Besides her injuries-” A halting hoof was held up to Envoy's face.

“No, no, no...” Fluttershy gasped out. Her chest swelled and contracted again and again until her nausea began to subside, and she opened her eyes again. She blew air, took a moment to dry her face with her wing, and her voice voiced only consonants, “Okay, I'm sorry. Go ahead.”

Envoy continued softer, “Besides her injuries contributing to the cause of death, do you see anything abnormal?”

“I don't see anything.” Fluttershy said slowly. “I'm sorry.”

“That's okay.” Envoy assured as she levitated a notepad, “That just means that the injuries we found were all sustained during her final moments.”

Fluttershy stared at her friend's closed eyes and sunken features. Twilight's mouth was pressed into a thin line which led to the exposed lower teeth on the left side of her face. She appeared peaceful in a state of rest, but the abhorrent gashes in her throat and face burned Fluttershy's mind and urged her to look away. Despite that, Fluttershy began to find a peculiar sense of ease and closure in sight of Twilight’s tranquility.

Fluttershy put a hoof on her friend's shoulder, “Twilight... You were the best friend anypony could have. We're going to take care of Spike and everything is going to be okay.” Fluttershy leaned down and softly kissed her cold forehead.

After choking back sympathetic emotion for a few moments, Envoy moved a plastic sack with three small green rocks into the light, "The examiner found these." Envoy sniffled, "We aren't sure of their significance, but we're hoping that you had an idea."

Fluttershy shook her head before realizing what they were, but then she was paralyzed by shock, "Those… Those are one of Zecora's doorstops."

Envoy wrote quickly on the levitated notepad, "Zecora the zebra?"

Surprise overtook Fluttershy's grief and was quickly replaced with betrayal followed by anger. "That... that..." Her thoughts crammed words into Fluttershy's mouth so quickly that she couldn't choose any of them when she suddenly shouted, "That BITCH!"

Fluttershy immediately galloped as fast as she could out of the morgue and exited the hospital in flight to Scroot's cabin with speed that would make Rainbow Dash proud.

* * *

Teddy's Transportation was a large dirt yard outlined with cedar privacy fencing. Held within the grounds were hundreds of carts of varying size and style. In the northeast corner of the compound, a single wide trailer was parked next to the chain link entry gate. A dilapidated steel license plate hung from the storm door by aluminum twine with 'Office' spray painted on the displayed reverse side.

Pinkie Pie and Applejack stepped into the trailer where a dusty mahogany desk rested in the center with a blue earth pony sleeping behind it. His gold mane was short and spiked in the front which misrepresented the shoulder length hair lying across the back of his neck. He had his rear hooves settled on the calendar in the center of the desk, his forelegs wrapped around his middle, and his chin rested on his chest. In his slumber, he had begun to drool on his navy blue button up work shirt on which 'teddy' was embroidered in white on the left breast.

Applejack raised a snide brow at Pinkie Pie before ringing the bell on the desk loudly.

Teddy didn't jump or otherwise react unexpectedly, but simply opened his eyes and glared at the ponies before him. He dropped his hooves to the floor and rubbed his face as he yawned. He allowed his forelegs to fall into his lap tiredly while looking over Applejack and Pinkie.

“I'm sorry.” Teddy said in a heavy southern drawl. “The foal's been fussy overnight. Is there somethin' I can help you with?”

“Yessir.” Applejack nodded, “We're investigating a cart that may belong to you.”

Pinkie Pie raised a hoof, “It's actually a sled.”

Teddy opened a drawer in the desk, balanced a binder on his hoof, and presented it to the mares. “This is our log. I know I might not've given the impression of bein' diligent, but it's up to date.” He allowed the book to fall on the desk. “What's this all about, anyway? If I'm allowed to ask. I hope we ain't in no trouble.”

Pinkie shook her head, “We're not investigating you, silly. We're just trying to figure out who was the last pony to have your sled.”

Applejack stared into the log book and her heart thudded against her chest in anticipation of the information she and Pinkie were about to uncover. Pinkie glanced at Applejack a few times before taking initiative and nosing open the binder. The date of Twilight's murder headed the page in bold red text over an arrangement of small rectangular fields in which the renter's name, the cart's number, and the projected return date would be written.

Three carts had been rented that day. The one that hadn't been returned was numbered 30012 under the name “B&N Frisky.”

“I assume you're here for thirty-aught-twelve.” Teddy began, “Did Charlie hire y'all? 'Cause I don't want no investigation over a missing cart on the company bit. We got insurance for that.”

“Nopony hired us, sir.” Applejack said without looking up.

“Well, gosh darn. Y'all just helpin' a neighbor out?” Teddy smiled. “I sure appreciate chya.”

Applejack intently stared at the name on the page and searched her head for a face to put to it. She thought so hard that she hadn't realized she had said it aloud several times.

“Don't hurt yourself, girl.” Teddy said. “That name there's what fancy folk call a pseudonym.”

Applejack became panicked, “A fake name?! Why in the hay would you let somepony put a fake name in your log?”

Teddy held up his hooves to Applejack calmingly, “Simmer down, now. I only did it because that filly was stirring up quite a scene.”

“How did you know it's a fake name?” Pinkie asked with a raised brow and suspected that Teddy knew “B&N Frisky” prior to doing business with them.

“Everypony knows that crazy broad.” Teddy said matter-of-factly. “She came in here with a terrible disguise declarin', 'Pay no particular attention to The Benign and Negligible Frisky!' Which is funny because everypony that was here has mentioned her at least once a day since.”

Teddy laughed while closing the book and putting it back into the desk, “Then she said she wanted a sled. It's spring! I asked if she wanted one of the cheaper carts. You know, with wheels!?”

He leaned back in his chair and kicked his hooves up again. “And you know what she says? Get this, she says, 'The Benign and Negligible Frisky doesn't trust wheels.”

Pinkie Pie stopped Teddy from continuing, “Who is she?”

Teddy gave them a look as if they were asking him what color the sky was, “You seriously don't know.” He let out a surprised chortle and then answered...

* * *

Ponyville was winding down quickly with ponies in their homes performing some before-bed chores and a few parents hustling colts and fillies to bed for the night. The sky had been cleared to make way for the moon to shine upon the sleeping town as the sun descended. The air was sweet, crisp, and cool except around Scroot's head where the hot thick smoke floated away from his nose.

Scroot was deep in thought while he wandered without direction down the main street of Ponyville. Doubt shrouded every piece of evidence and everything he believed he knew about the case. He didn't want to admit he was wrong without something hard to prove it, but he had begun to exclude Rainbow Dash from the murder.

He crossed his eyes to look at the burning filter just beyond his nose before dropping the butt and extinguishing it with a hoof. He stood for a moment to watch the peaceful neighborhood and shook his head at the thought of the residents being subjected to the first major crime in their blemishless history.

A stocky black unicorn was pulling a cart slowly down the north-bound side of the street and levitating trash bags from the houses he passed. His stake-bed cart was black polished oak and was much nicer than one would think a trash bin would be. Three ropes were tied around the four-by-four stakes; one around the top, one near the middle, and one just above the bed of the cart. The aluminum placards on both sides and the rear had bright green, block lettering that said "TRASH" on them. If the garbage pony was out doing his rounds, than it must have been later than Scroot thought.

“It's a hell of a thing.” The garbage pony said. His voice was strangely effeminate.

“Ain't it?” Scroot said nonchalantly.

“You're that big wig investigator?” The trash unicorn asked. His voice was soft enough to be mistaken for a mare. It was mostly surprising because, although he wasn't as big as Bulk Biceps, he could give that muscle head a run for his money.

Scroot nodded and then nosed in his pocket for another cigarette, but instead retrieved the empty box. He mutely cursed to himself for having forgotten to grab his other pack.

“You had Rainbow Dash arrested.” The black unicorn said flatly.

Scroot looked up and wasn’t unsure where that was going. Rainbow Dash was a good friend to many ponies in Ponyville, and her arrest made Scroot not too popular around town. The seasoned investigator had a few tricks up his sleeves which may help him with a pony his own size, but he was pretty sure this unicorn would swat him like a fly.

Scroot proceeded cautiously, “Yeah, I did.”

The unicorn's horn glowed a cold green that matched his crew cut mane, and he raised a pack of menthol 100's from the outside pocket on his saddlebag, “You really think she did it?” A thin white cigarette, encompassed with the green magic, floated to Scroot, and the unicorn took one out for himself as well.

A nice gesture from somepony with an apparent distain for the investigator that pointed a hoof at Rainbow Dash, but Scroot wasn't going to turn down free nicotine. He pressed his pocket for his lighter but only felt his chest underneath his coat. Scroot twisted his face and pictured his lighter which was sitting next to the ash tray on his porch where he had left it.

“I did.” Scroot said. “I'm starting to think I got the wrong pony.” He paused and felt stupid for having to say, "I need to borrow your light."

"You need me to smoke it for you, too?" The unicorn chuckled. He pointed his cigarette up toward his horn with his lips, and a pop, like a tiny bolt of lightning, struck the tip of the cigarette and lit it.

Envoy knows that spell, but she only used it once, and it took two weeks for Scroot's eyebrow to grow back. Before Scroot could decline, a flash blinded him for a moment, and he jumped so hard that he nearly dropped his lit cigarette.

“There you go, buddy.” The unicorn smiled.

Scroot blinked a few times trying to rid himself of the jagged spots covering his vision, “Thanks.”

“The name's Grand Overture. Most ponies just call me Randy.” The unicorn extended a hoof.

“Scroot.” The investigator replied, and he shook hooves with Randy. Grand Overture, Scroot thought, and he absent mindedly leaned to look at Randy's cutie mark and saw that it was a simple white bass clef.

“You checking me out, Scroot? I don't swing that way.” Randy laughed.

“It's just, with a name and a cutie mark like that; I just wonder how you got the garbage gig.” Scroot said without reaction to Randy's joke.

“It pays the bills.” Randy said simply. “I can play the ever loving crap out of a bass guitar. The musicians around here are into that electronic junk or classical.”

Scroot raised a brow, “What's wrong with classical?”

“It's not metal. Besides, those classical ponies are real snooty.” Randy took a long pull on his cigarette.

Scroot shrugged, “Why not go to Manehattan? There's a pretty decent rock scene around there. I crashed many a party and arrested many a rocker pony when I was a cop.” Scroot nodded and thought, good times.

Randy blew smoke while shaking his head, “I had a band in Manehattan quite a while ago. I had to quit and come to Ponyville for my mother's sake." He exhaled hard, "I couldn't put her in a home.”

Scroot smiled, “Noble. Especially if you guys were any good.”

Randy sucked on the cigarette again, “We were good, too. They got signed right after I quit and the producers gave them some studio bassist jack-off. You may've heard of Two Hoof Death Buck, but they're nothing like we used to be.”

“I've seen articles about that band in the paper every once in a while, but that metal shit is just noise. I've never given it a listen.” Scroot said. “I prefer... music.”

“I see,” Randy laughed. "Sonic violence is the whole point.”

“That doesn't make it any more appealing.” Scroot shrugged. “Those metal-head ponies are some fucking strange folks. I wouldn't get involved with that crowd if I had a fifth leg growing out of my ass.”

“Sure, I wouldn't deny that, but that crowd's also got some hot and freaky mares, though.” Randy smiled.

Scroot shook his head while blowing smoke, “I wouldn't fuck any of them with a ten foot dick.” He said. “I don't stick my dick in crazy.”

Randy took another puff from his cigarette while he looked Scroot over, “I'm guessing you lived in Manehattan. You came to Ponyville to get away from crazy?”

Scroot shrugged, “These ponies are good folk and half-way normal.”

Randy laughed hard with a grey cloud wafting from his throat, “Normal?!”

“Yeah.” Scroot nodded with a small shrug. “What's not to like about them?”

“Don't get me wrong, Scroot. They're likable, but normal? Please.” Randy's horn glowed as he adjusted his saddlebag. “Seriously though, what part of this populace is normal? Like the other day; I was doing my rounds, and I see this idiot pulling a sled in the middle of the night.”

Scroot froze and his cigarette fell from his lips, “A sled?”

“Yeah, over by the train station. So, I asked her if she needed help because, you know, it's the middle of spring, for Celestia's sake, and she was having a tough time on the dirt.” Randy recalled.

Scroot's face remained frozen and he said, “Uh huh...”

“She screams at me to get away from her and proceeds to pick up the entire cart with her magic and take off with it in a dead sprint. I've never seen such a pretty mare so sweaty.” He laughed.

“Uh huh.”

“So, it's teetering in her magic, you know, 'cause it's got to be heavy, right? She drops it, tries to drag it, and then picks it up again trying desperately not to lose the load. It was hilarious!”

“Uh huh.”

“She runs off and I'm left thinking, Boy, this town has got some strange ponies in it. And the truly crazy part is; that kind of thing happens daily. Just plain and simple weird stuff.” Randy concluded while beginning to realize that Scroot isn't laughing, smiling, or reacting in any way.

“Where was she going?” Scroot interrogated.

“I don't know. South?” Randy shrugged.

“What color was she?”

“Blue,” Randy answered suspiciously, “Why?”

Scroot cantered to the Randy’s side, pulled the cart’s release with his teeth, and dropped the harness to the ground.

Randy looked down at the harness and then back up to Scroot, “What the hell?”

“You need to come to my cabin right now.” Scroot commanded.

“Dude, I don't swing that way.” Randy said with genuine concern.

“No.” Scroot waved his hoof dismissively, “I need you to submit a statement.”

Randy recoiled and raised a brow, “What for? Am I in trouble?”

Scroot explained slowly and concisely, "That pony, with the sled, is the killer I've been looking for.”

“How do you know?” Randy asked.

Scroot shook his head, “I can't explain it to you, but I need you to tell me everything you saw and everything you know about that pony, Randy. You may be the key to solving this case.”

“I don't know much about her.” Randy shrugged, “Her name is...”

* * *

Fluttershy head butted the front door and scattered splinters from the broken frame onto the floor. The door swung open and slammed into the inside wall as she leaped over the front desk, madly pulled files from the cabinets, and threw them onto the table. She laid out the dozens of photographs of the hair found at the scenes. She shuffled through and arranged all of the blue ones in front of herself. Her eyes were wide in a half-crazed examination of the photographs as she carefully scrutinized every detail.

Rarity gasped at the broken door as she entered the cabin, “Fluttershy, dear. What happened to the door?”

Fluttershy shot a glare of insanity to Rarity and shouted, “It doesn't match Rainbow!”

Rarity looked over the wood on the floor, “Scroot is not going to be happy about this.”

“The hair in these pictures is clearly deep cornflower!” Fluttershy stomped a hoof on the floor, “Rainbow Dash is cerulean!”

Rarity nodded, “You're preaching to the choir, Fluttershy. I know Rainbow is innocent. You're acting a little crazy.”

“What you don't understand is that cornflower is exactly what I thought the hair color would be before I even left the hospital.” Fluttershy explained. She stared back at the photographs and her eyes shifted quickly among them, “I was just confirming it.”

Rarity made her way to Fluttershy's side and patted her, “What did you find at the hospital?”

Fluttershy closed her eyes, took a deep breath through her nose, and let it all out through her mouth. She did it once more, calmed herself, and said, “I know who did this.”

“You, what?!” Rarity exclaimed. “Who? Who?!”

“Celestia’s mercy!” Envoy shouted upon seeing the destruction at the door. “Scroot is going to be pissed! What the hell?!”

Fluttershy looked up to Envoy, “Oh, I'm really sorry. I just got excited.”

Rarity stepped between them, “Fluttershy, who did this?”

Envoy poked the jamb and watched it lazily dangle from one remaining screw, “This is ridiculous! I stand up for you when Scroot is around. Are you just testing my abilities to keep him from killing you all?”

Fluttershy craned her neck to see Envoy around Rarity, “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

Envoy shook her head and blew air, “Being sorry is good and all, but we’d better start coming up with a damn good story to explain this.”

Rarity grabbed Fluttershy’s face, “Fluttershy, who did this?”

“I did.” Fluttershy admitted. “I really am sorry. I should have used the knob.”

“Don't we have Timberwolves around this time of year?” Envoy rubbed her chin. “We could say you were being chased.”

Rarity turned to Envoy and pointed a hoof at her, “Envoy, please stop talking!” Rarity quickly turned back to Fluttershy and hadn’t realized that she had begun shouting, “Who killed Twilight?”

Fluttershy said, “Oh! No, that wasn’t me.”

Rarity's face turned bright pink as she stifled frustration, drew in a cleansing breath, and said calmly, “I know, dear. Who did?”

Fluttershy tried to hold back the tears as she said it, but her efforts weren't recognized. Through the squeeze of Rarity's hooves on her face, she said...

* * *

At that very moment, three ponies, in three separate locations, were led by three different series of events to unknowingly state in unison, “The Great and Powerful Trixie.”

Author's Note

The multiple points of view all coming together at the same time, works well in my head, but I'm not sure about it on paper. I like it, so I left it.

Chapter 7 - Rock Farm

The early morning sunrise had cast dark shadows across the town while birds sang to welcome the day. Scroot groggily punched the power switch of his coffee pot while looking over the messy office. Files were still laid out on the table and the front door had been wired shut with twine. He went back to the bedroom and thought; it’s too early to deal with that bullshit.

He opened his dresser and laid out one of nearly a hundred of his black ties. They were barely discernible from one another, but each tie had its own hoof stitched design hidden in the dark color. He held it down on the end-table with a hoof as if it was going to escape, and he folded it expertly into his famous Eldredge knot. It was an exercise that his wife had given him when he was a police officer. She told him that if he was unable to tie the knot before shift, he wasn't mentally sharp enough to go out and contest with criminals.

He slipped the tie over his head, flattened it under his collar, and then took it in his teeth to tighten it. The coffee maker gurgled as the final drips of the black liquid disturbed the vessel's contents while Scroot made his way back out into the main office. He pulled one of dozens of stark white ceramic coffee mugs from the cabinet below the coffee maker and poured the strong drink into his cup. He glanced at the plastic sandwich boat that he'd taken home from the Ponyville Café and that he left next to his coffee brewer. It was filled with packets of cream and sugar, but they had remained untouched for several years. He thought to himself, I'll throw it out tomorrow, much in the same way as the previous day, and the day before that, et cetera.

Movement in the window next to the front door caught Scroot's eye, and he looked up mid-sip. Speaking of bullshit, Envoy waved, pointed at the door, and mouthed for Scroot to open it.

He announced loudly, “Nopony's home!”

Her little smile fell from her face, and she stared flatly at Scroot. She brought up a hoof slowly and gave a hard, definitive poke toward the door.

Scroot smiled and left his coffee on the table. He fiddled with the twine for a moment and pulled the door open, “You're up early.” He said as Envoy invited herself into the office, “Coffee?”

“Sure.” She said as her horn glowed to simultaneously straighten up the office, put files in their place, and pour herself a cup of coffee.

“Did you get a report from Pinkie and Applejack?” Scroot leaned to the table and took another sip of his coffee.

“Ugh!” Envoy recoiled away from the mug, "This is like year old motor oil.” She said while emptying the coffee back into the pot.

“Pinkie and Applejack, Envoy.” Scroot said and trotted to the front desk. He retrieved a fresh carton of cigarettes, tore open the box and tossed a pack onto the table before returning the carton to the drawer.

“They got very detailed statements from a few ponies that saw Trixie rent the cart from Teddy's Transportation.” She said while moving the harsh coffee aside and starting a milder brew.

“That's good. I was sure they'd fuck it all up.” Scroot said, and then he removed a cigarette from the pack.

“They thought they would too, I guess. Pinkie interviewed Teddy and was very thorough. We know where he went to primary school, his favorite color, and the way he likes to eat spaghetti.” Envoy explained while spooning coffee grounds onto the filter. Scroot walked to Envoy and mutely held the cigarette towards her horn. She lit it for him as she filled the reservoir with water, closed the lid, and flicked her magic over the power button.

“So, how does he eat his spaghetti?” Scroot asked and then pulled deeply on the cigarette. That first puff of the day from a fresh pack mixed with the dark coffee on his palette was the best part of life.

“He's a slurper.” Envoy chuckled.

Scroot nodded and had a smile pursed around the cigarette.

“More importantly, Pinkie gave us another lead.” Envoy said as she brought a few packets of sugar to herself with the magic.

“What's that?” Scroot said as he sat down at the table. A bit of ash floated down into his coffee, but that didn't stop him from taking a drink anyway.

Envoy slid an ash tray next to Scroot’s coffee mug with her magic, “Trixie used to work on that rock farm, east of here, when she was forced to take a break from the travelling magician stuff.” Envoy said while also taking a seat as her coffee brewed.

“Travelling magician?” Scroot laughed, “In a world where unicorns use magic to wipe their asses, why would anypony be interested in a magic show?"

Envoy smiled, “She felt ostracized after she got bested by a better unicorn.”

Scroot leaned down, placed the cigarette on the ash tray, and then took a sip of coffee, “Somepony showed her up, huh?”

Envoy leaned in with a raised brow, “Guess what particular somepony.”

Scroot looked up from his coffee. He already knew what the answer was, but he still felt the need to ask, “Who’s that?”

Envoy leaned back and crossed her hooves, “None other than our Twilight Sparkle.”

Scroot nodded mutely and began settling into a strange emotion that he didn't feel very often. As the evidence built, Rainbow's innocence became more apparent. He felt a deep-seated regret for making the decision to have Rainbow Dash detained.

“That sounds like probable cause, Envoy.” Scroot finally said.

She poured a cup of coffee from across the room with her magic. The sizzle of the coffee still dripping and boiling on the burner was silenced when she returned the pot. The mug floated to her as she watched Scroot stare into his own cup.

She took a sip from her coffee and asked, “Are you okay, Scroot?”

“I just feel bad for Rainbow.” He said.

“It’ll all be okay eventually.” Envoy assured. “We’ll go up to Canterlot when the District Attorney’s Office opens and withdraw the complaint.”

“Admonishing her from the crime is great and all, but I still fucked up.” Scroot shook his head, “How am I supposed to ask her forgiveness for taking the last four days from her?” He stared at the floor as his cigarette slowly smoldered away with ghostly gray ash clinging to the end of it. He almost appeared shaken.

Envoy furrowed her brow and set her cup down on the table. “The fact that you’re this worried about her feelings makes me believe you’re coming down with something.” Envoy said. “Should I get a thermometer?”

Scroot rolled his eyes, “I’m not sick.” He tapped the butt of the cigarette to release the ash into the tray before picking it up and drawing on it. He sighed in a cloud of smoke and shook his head again. “I think I’m turning gay.”

Envoy let out a half-chuckle and half-scoff, “Why would you say that?”

Scroot sighed again, “These ponies are getting to me. I have a respect for Applejack, Rarity makes me smile, Pinkie Pie has been very helpful, and Fluttershy is ballsy. I’m starting to like them.”

“Enjoying the company of other ponies doesn’t make you gay.” Envoy laughed.

“I don’t know.” He stopped to collect his thoughts, and then continued to elaborate, “I’ve arrested the wrong pony before. I just said, “My bad; you’ll get over it” and told them to trot on.” He explained.

“You probably didn’t have a relationship with those ponies’ friends.” Envoy pointed out.

“No, I didn’t.” Scroot nodded. A smile flashed across his face, “And also, they usually had convinced me that they were guilty of something else that they hadn’t got caught for. They were piece of shit ponies that would get hemmed up for stumbling on the body of their dealer or shit like that.” Scroot dabbed the cigarette on the ash tray and extinguished it before continuing, “They wouldn’t have been falsely accused if it weren’t for their bad intentions in the first place.” He gave pause and shook his head again, “But Rainbow Dash was totally innocent."

“She will forgive you eventually.” Envoy assured.

“I’m sure, but I doubt she wants anything to do with me right now.” Scroot shrugged, “I can let Celestia do it.”

Envoy raised a brow at Scroot, “So, have the princess issue the release because you’re afraid of seeing Rainbow Dash and admitting that you were wrong?”

Scroot flashed an angry glare at Envoy. He worked his jaw and said, “What the fuck is with everypony insistent on taking me down a peg or two?”

Envoy sat back in her chair and cocked her head. She shrugged slowly and turned her fore-hooves up, “I’m just pointing out what appears to be going on. If that’s not what’s happening, feel free to correct me.”

Scroot’s eyes squinted and his lips pursed together. His face became rosy before he stood abruptly which rocked the table and spilled his coffee. She sat in surprise at his outburst and stared wide-eyed while trying to comprehend the source of his tantrum. He had never acted this way towards her. The cabin was silent for a moment while the two ponies just stared at each other, and the tension grew heavier and heavier with each passing second.

“Fuck you, Envoy.” He growled as he stomped his way out of the cabin. Envoy was left dumbstruck in the silent house with nothing but the light patter of Scroot’s coffee dripping on the floor.

* * *

After lying in bed for hours without any sleep, Rarity got up and went to her wardrobe. She pulled open the double doors with her magic and viewed the contents to piece together an outfit that may catch a certain somepony's eye. She needed something that would complement a hat which was certainly required to hide her restless features. A little make-up does go a long way, but if she tried to cover her sleeplessness, she'd look like a clown; thus, a nice outfit should take the attention off her puffy, tired eyes.

Magically encompassed foundation pads, mascara brushes, and shadow pens floated around her as if in automation while she layered her “go outside face” under her eyes and on her cheeks. She levitated a cerise cloche and affixed it to her head while pushing her ears through it. She shook her head, and she carelessly tossed the hat back into the closet. She lowered a black banded boater over her left ear, but rejected it as well.

She settled on a simple, wide brimmed amethyst sun hat accented with a braided, lemon-colored yarn cord around the torso of the crown. It was a perfect match to her dull canary chiffon scarf laid casually around her neck and secured with a shiny, gold and violet sapphire brooch. She doubted that Scroot would notice purple and yellow aren't in season for another month. Besides, it gave her a chance to finally wear her plum alligator-leather clutch with the gold cross-body chain.

Rarity bounced down the stairs to her living room that was adjacent to the kitchen where Sweetie Belle was creating a culinary mystery and filling the home with a smoky smell.

“Sweetie Belle, dear, what is it that you're trying to make?” Rarity inquired.

“Pancakes, Sis! You want one?” Sweetie Belle answered with a spatula in her mouth.

Rarity sauntered to the stove where her little sister was "cooking" and looked over the lumps of brown batter, “No, I don't think so.”

“More for me!” Sweetie Belle declared. She lifted a “pancake” from the pan and took a bite. She glanced over to Rarity with a pained look and struggled to maintain her smile, “Are you sure you don't want any?”

“I'm sure, thank you.” Rarity smiled.

“Why are you all dressed up?” Sweetie Belle asked, and then she forced herself to swallow the dry, burned batter ball.

“The girls and I are going to Canterlot to get Rainbow out of...” Rarity attempted to quickly think of something vague to say, “Um… well... Rainbow is coming back to Ponyville, and we’re meeting with her in Canterlot.”

“That's good.” Sweetie Belle said passively as she turned off the stove and removed her creations from the heat.

Rarity levitated a stack of bits from her bag and placed it on the counter, “Whenever you’re done trying to burn down the house, you can go to the cafe with your friends for some real food.”

“Oh.” Sweetie Belle looked disappointed, “I was just getting warmed up. The Crusaders are coming over so we can get our chef cutie marks!”

Rarity shook her head, “Not in my house.”

Sweetie belle stepped down from the stove with a defeated sigh, “Fine.”

“Well, I'm off. And please, Sweetie Belle, don't burn the house down.” Rarity said as she tugged open the front door with her magic and departed from her home.

She cantered north through Ponyville and watched the bustling ponies in the main square. The carts squealed with rickety whines as they traversed the dirt paths, and the indistinct words of stern bargaining contributed to the dull roar of the town’s early morning crowd. She nodded to the towns-ponies that passed her, many of whom she knew personally, and they returned the gesture.

Out of so many familiar faces, Scroot’s angered brow and dark mane stood out as Rarity spotted him walking right toward her. She quickly adjusted her hat and chiffon, struck a mild pose, and waved daintily at him with a bright smile. Scroot’s cigarette was clenched in his teeth as he stomped his way right past Rarity without a word.

She followed him with her eyes and her smile quickly fading into a sort of frown, “How rude!” Rarity called.

Scroot stamped in a sudden halt and prepared to verbally destroy her before realizing who she was. He choked back his anger and greeted, “Oh. Hey.”

“I was waving at you.” Rarity said as she mimicked her previous movement.

He stepped closer, dropped his cigarette, and crushed it, “I’m sorry, Rarity. I’m having a rough morning.”

“I’m quite sorry, dear. What is the matter?” She asked politely.

“Just a little lover’s quarrel.” He said and gave a tiny shrug.

Rarity’s heart sank and she immediately began to feel stupid in her bright colors while everypony else was fashionably dressed in appropriate spring pastels. “What, um...” She stuttered. “Who?”

“Envoy was...” He paused and shook the words from his mouth, “It’s nothing.”

“You and Envoy...” Rarity sighed quietly.

“Am I an asshole?" Scroot asked without a trace of sarcasm in his voice.

“Well...” She gave pause and tried to come up with something that wasn’t mean spirited. She mostly felt angry at herself for not realizing why he treated Envoy differently than other ponies. Despite that, she couldn't help but feel like it was Scroot's fault for not declaring that he and Envoy was an item. She barely suppressed her embarrassment and finally answered, “I wouldn’t use that exact word.”

“What word would you use? Applejack said I was a curmudgeon.” He said.

“Applejack did?” Rarity focused on her surprise of the work-pony’s vernacular to deflect her internal conflict of which Scroot seemed to be ignorant.

He's doing this on purpose, Rarity thought. Scroot had a look about his face that was similar to when they had their conversation in his cabin. She couldn't quite place why she liked the particular way his tiny frown and large eyes were when he was feeling that way, and she thought that it must be his compassion showing. Although, it appeared to be more than that.

The ponies around them went about their day without regard for the two of them that stood in the middle of the market place. As if Rarity and Scroot were rocks in a stream, the shoppers were the rushing waters that fluidly diverted their paths around them. Rarity felt like she was obviously in emotional peril, and the fact that neither Scroot nor the ponies around her could see her pain made the experience much more hurtful.

She fought hard against herself to come up with something to redirect her feelings, but she failed and suddenly blurted, “How long have you and Envoy been together?”

Scroot cocked his head like he was trying to decode the question, “You mean as a partner of the office?" He asked slowly.

Rarity then cocked her head at him and answered slowly, "No."

"What are you asking me, then?" Scroot let out a stifled laugh.

"You and Envoy?" Rarity said like she was pointing out the relationship between the moon and Princess Luna. "How recent had your relationship with Envoy become romantic?"

"No, no, no." Scroot shook his head and smiled, "She and I aren't dating. We're partners in the office."

"I assume you've forbade office romance." Rarity said and tried her best to keep her grin under wraps. It came across as a strange, twisted smirk.

"You could say that, but it was a mutual agreement." Scroot's haughty brow rose as the suspicion that the conversation was much less about Envoy than himself. "She thinks I'm too old, and I think she's a little self-centered brat. We work well together, and that's about it."

Rarity chuckled uncomfortably, “Oh! I thought... you just said, "Lover’s quarrel" and I thought...”

Scroot smiled bigger, “No. We had an argument that was stupid. That’s what I meant by a "lover's quarrel"."

Rarity brushed her bangs with a hoof and laughed, “Okay. I see.”

Scroot’s quizzical smile didn’t falter, “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I... I just...” Rarity continued to struggle to form words and nothing came out except a jumble of unintelligible syllables.

He nodded and said, "Mm Hmm." while he reached up to adjust his hat with a hoof, but he grabbed nothing but the air. He frowned and attempted to see his own head where his hat always was.

Rarity jumped on the opportunity to divert the subject, “You don’t have your hat on.”

"Yeah, I don't." He felt his chest and was slightly shocked that he had left home without his jacket as well.

“I think that just the shirt and tie is nice, Scroot.” Rarity assured.

He shrugged, “I guess, but I can’t go to Canterlot like this.”

A light puzzled smile tugged at Rarity’s lips, “And why not?”

“I’m going to talk to the Princess, and I want the goons at the gate to take me seriously.” He dreaded the thought of returning to the cabin and facing Envoy after his unwarranted emotional outbreak. No matter what he did at that point, he’d have to admit that he was wrong to somepony. At least, if went to Canterlot, he could still get the Princess to be his proxy.

“I could go with you.” Rarity suggested. “I’m in casual dress, and the Princess and I are in cahoots. I’m sure that will make it okay.”

Scroot shrugged and blew a raspberry, “That’s a good idea.” He nodded and continued, "Are you ready? You want to catch the first train out?"

Rarity tried to contain her glee. She was proud of herself that she had stayed cool and made her plan come to fruition. Despite nearly losing it, a train ride together and alone was exactly the environment for which she was aiming to make the tiniest of confessions.

* * *

The farm was a massive area of rocks where a winding gravel drive led to a modest wooden cabin with a straw roof and gray brick chimney. The house was settled in the center of the farm, next to a silo and a windmill, and the yard was fenced in with two-by-four cedar posts. The square kilometers of dirt, dotted with large boulders across the entire region, was outlined with dead trees.

Pinkie Pie trotted down the drive with her small saddlebag bouncing on her back. The light clattering of her notepad, quill, and pocket watch accented her steady hoof-beat over which she hummed as she cantered.

Her parents had done nothing with the house since she was a filly which brought back not-so-fond memories of when she and her sisters were barred from talking and smiling while they worked the fields.

Pinkie knocked on the door and stood silently while listening to her father's heavy hooves clop against the wood floor inside. The door opened and revealed her father with his eyes slant and his mouth curved downward.

“Hello, Pinkimena. It's nice of you to drop by.” He said without emotion.

His golden eyes were penetrating, but they were offset by his dull gray mane which extended into long, bushy sideburns. His short cropped tail matched the grey band on his Stetson along with his pearl snap button down shirt. His short black tie was knotted in a boring double Windsor, and his brilliant orange-brown coat did little make his appearance livelier.

“Hi, Dad, how are you?” Pinkie hugged him, although the action wasn't reciprocated. Ever.

“Igneous, who's at the door?” Pinkie’s mother, Cloudy Quartz, called from the dining room. She was crocheting again. That's good.

“It's Pinkimena.” He stated flatly.

“Oh, that's nice.” Cloudy said without looking up.

A salty odor floated in the air and wasn't pleasant, but Pinkie knew her parents too well, “What's cookin'?” She asked.

“It's lilac chili.” Igneous Rock answered while moving aside and gesturing for Pinkie to enter.

“Ooh! It smells good.” Pinkie commented politely as she approached her mother and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Hi, Mom.”

Pinkie had Cloudy's eyes. Her brilliant blues looked up from her project, and with the same lifeless temperament as Igneous, she greeted, “Hello, Pinkimena. I hope you’re feeling better.” She said as she placed the folded yarn on the table, removed the needles, and stuck them in her dark bluish-grey mane. She looked older than she was due to her grey coat and gold framed crescent eye-glasses that worked negatively against her wrinkled brow. Her black and white plaid blouse was pinned by a gold brooch that had a large emerald set into it.

“I’m glad that you visited. I was worried about you. Losing a friend is tough.” Cloudy said.

Pinkie sat down at the table with her mother, “Thanks, Mom, but I'm actually not here to visit.”

Her father walked to the stove and stirred the chili passively, “What are you here for then?”

“I need to ask you a few questions about a previous employee that you employed.” Pinkie said as she retrieved her notepad and quill.

“Who would that be?” Cloudy asked. To anypony else, she would have sounded cynical and impartial, but Pinkie could hear the subtle nuances in her mother’s voice that indicated her perked interest.

“Trixie.” Pinkie said. “Did she come back by anytime recently?”

Igneous ladled the reddish brown soupy chili into a trio of bowls, “Yes.” He answered, “We told her that we were not interested in her work.”

“When was that?” Pinkie asked while noting the answer on her notepad. Igneous put a bowl of chili in front of Cloudy.

“Three days ago. She asked if we needed help again. We weren’t enthused by her previous work with us, so we told her to seek employment elsewhere.” Pinkie’s father reported.

“Do you know where she went after that?” Pinkie asked while continuing to record their answers.

Igneous set two bowls at the head of the table, and slid one with a hoof to Pinkie whom didn’t notice. Igneous answered, “She was angry and didn’t say much. She just said that she’d come back with a vengeance, and that we would rue the day that we rejected the Great and Powerful Trixie.”

Pinkie stopped writing and looked at her parents and felt a pang of unsettling fear. Sweat beaded and clung onto the fine hairs of her nape. She felt that Trixie may actually carry out her threat in light of Twilight’s murder. Her father watched her sink into trepidation through the rising steam of his chili.

“Are you okay, Pinkamena?” Igneous asked with barely noticeable concern.

“I’m not sure if you’re safe here.” Pinkie said.

“Why is that?” Cloudy asked inactively.

“I don’t know if Trixie is making an empty threat, Mom. I have reason to believe she may be serious about trying to harm you.” Pinkie wrote down what her father had quoted from Trixie on the notepad. “I think we need to put you somewhere safe.”

Her father shook his head, “No. She may try what she likes, but I’m sure she knows better.”

Pinkie gestured to him, “Dad, you don’t understand. She killed Twilight. I can’t let you take that risk. I couldn’t sleep at night knowing my parents are in danger.” Her voice grew louder and more vehement as her father consistently shooed away every one of her words with a dismissive wave of his hoof. “I can’t lose any more of my family! Be reasonable!” She yelled and slammed her hoof on the table with wetness growing in her eyes.

Cloudy and Igneous appeared to intentionally disregard Pinkie’s demand as they passively sipped the soup and chewed the chunks of flora. Igneous swallowed and set a stern gaze upon Pinkie, “We’re not going anywhere, Pinkamena. That’s final. I assure you that we will be okay. Trixie has seen me demolish boulders with my bare hooves, and I am sure that she knows I will do the same to her skull if she returns with malicious intent.”

Pinkie gathered her things and shoved them into her saddlebag. She stood and began stomping her way to the exit with frustration weighing her steps.

She was stopped at the door by her father’s voice, “Pinkamena. Please, don’t be angry.”

Pinkie Pie looked back and shifted her fearful gaze from her mother to her father. “I’m not angry. I’m scared, and obviously there is no way to tell you that in a way that you will understand. I’m going back to Ponyville to search for another lead because when I find Trixie, I know you’ll be safe.”

With that, Pinkie Pie departed in a determined canter to Scroot's cabin to turn in her report. The growing fear of losing her parents reflected in her speed as she gradually accelerated into a sprint. The possibility that Trixie was laughing, giggling, or even smiling at that moment propelled Pinkie faster. The idea that anypony would be even speaking to Trixie made her run harder. Trixie was going to pay; she was going to hurt, and she was going to fear exactly the way that Pinkie did right then.

Author's Note

(Illustration coming soon)

I'm all about ties

Chapter 8 - Confessions

Envoy had just cleaned up the coffee from the floor when Fluttershy and Applejack invited themselves into the cabin. Fluttershy eyed Envoy's brew of coffee and turned to ask if she could have some, but she noticed that it appeared that Envoy had been crying and remained mute.

Applejack wasn't as observant, "Y'all mind if I get me some of this coffee? It's been a hell of a couple of days."

"Have at it." Envoy said, "Pinkie told me yesterday that she would go to her parent's house this morning for an interview on Trixie's previous employment there."

Fluttershy interrupted, "Are you alright?"

Envoy gave a pained smile, "I'm fine, Fluttershy." She said, and went back to speaking to both of them, "Now that we're looking for somepony specific, we can take a more targeted approach to witnesses and interviews..." Envoy trailed off while Fluttershy slowly closed the gap between them and gave her a hug.

"Did Scroot hurt your feelings?" Fluttershy asked, her voice was soft and sincere.

"Every once in a while, he gets to me. Today was one of those days. I’ll just pretend that it didn't happen." Envoy explained, and then, just as she opened her mouth to continue about the case, Fluttershy clutched her tighter.

"It's okay if you want to talk about it. That's what friends are for." Fluttershy said.

Applejack smacked her lips, "That's damn good coffee." She said to herself.

"Are either of you listening to me?" Envoy asked while pushing Fluttershy off of her.

“I'm listenin', Sugarcube. Maybe we can go to Colgate's office and match the teeth. Does that help?” Applejack said before taking another sip of coffee.

“That's a start, but I'm thinking interviewing witnesses specifically.” Envoy said. The sound of distant hoof-beats suddenly struck her ear. She looked at the front door and listened to them approaching the house.

“What about those two colts that fawned over Trixie?” Fluttershy asked.

Pinkie galloped up the steps and ran into the house. She panted hard and was unable to get out a single word. A sheen of sweat dripped from her face. She took a deep breath to speak, but collapsed onto the floor in front of the main desk.

“Are you okay, Pinkie?” Fluttershy called in a panic. She flew over the desk and landed at Pinkie's side.

“I'm...” Pinkie gasped, “Good...”

“What happened?” Applejack asked while putting her mug on the table and moving to Pinkie's other side.

“I... went and talked... to my parents.” Pinkie panted.

“And?” Envoy said.

“Trixie threatened them.” Pinkie cried. “They won't listen to me.” She took a breath, “They don't want to be protected.”

Envoy nodded, “So, what are you going to do?”

“Maybe you can talk to them?” Pinkie said.

“No, we need to talk to those colts. We won't need to relocate them if we find Trixie.” Envoy explained. She tried her best to sound reasonable.

“Colts? Trixie's little friends?” Pinkie asked as if a lightbulb went off above her head, “Snips and Snails! Envoy, you're a genius!”

Fluttershy raised a hoof, “That was actually-”

“Let's go to the Schoolhouse and interrogate the little bastards!” Pinkie declared with a second wind.

Before Envoy could protest that the girls come with her, Pinkie was out the door and galloping hard for the school. Envoy, Applejack, and Fluttershy were close behind as they did their best to follow the surprisingly athletic Pinkie. Envoy's words for her to stop were thrown in the wind and either unheard by Pinkie or ignored.

* * *

They had become deaf to the muffled clicking and clacking of the train’s wheels against the rail ties. Rarity had not said anything, and neither had Scroot, as she waited on him to break the ice. She figured an investigator with the experiences and wisdom that he had would enjoy talking about it, but she found that he appeared to enjoy the silence. Their bodies rhythmically swayed next to each other slightly as the train bounced between the tracks against the nearly imperceptibly uneven rails.

Rarity finally said something, “Are you okay, Scroot?”

He sighed and nodded slowly, “Trains just make me nervous, and I left my smokes at home.”

“We could’ve gotten in a smoking coach if you had preferred.” Rarity sympathized.

“You wanted first class.” He said simply. “I’m okay with that. We’ll be in Canterlot in a bit. It’s really not a big deal.”

Rarity smiled at him, “You really are sweet.”

He peered at her without moving, “What? Two days ago, you said that I was incapable of being considerate.”

“You’re a bit rough around the edges, but I can see you have a heart.” Rarity said as she rested a hoof on his. She wasn’t trying to be comforting or apologetic. She was, more or less, testing him to see how he would react to her touch. He didn’t shoo her hoof away nor did he move himself away from her. He just allowed her to touch him.

He smiled and looked at her, “Everypony has a heart, Rarity, and I’m not referring anatomically.”

“Not like yours, Scroot. Yours is one softened by the experience and ache of aged wisdom.” She slowly slid her hoof over his and allowed their forelegs to cross over one another.

He didn’t say anything, but he wore a warm smile.

“Can I ask you a question?” Rarity asked.

“Sure.” Scroot said and he absent-mindedly toyed with the fine hair at the end of her hoof.

She gave pause because she wasn’t certain that her question would go over well, but she muscled past her apprehension and continued, “Have you dated since your wife passed?”

“No.” He said with a light chuckle. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, honey, but I don’t get along very well with other ponies. My wife just fell onto my back all of those years ago, and I decided to keep her around.”

“You haven’t even tried since then?” Rarity asked with a raised brow.

He shook his head. “I didn’t try before her either. Like I said, she barged into my life, was convinced that I was the one, and she chased me.”

“So, you don’t date?” She removed her hoof and put it back to her lap with disappointment.

He studied her face as she looked away, “Rarity, what are you getting at?”

She glanced at him, but couldn’t maintain eye contact in her embarrassment, “I like you, Scroot. I don’t know why, but I find your vulgarity to be strangely charming. You’re seasoned, you’re honest, and your weathered appearance works for you.”

He cocked his head, “Thanks?”

She laughed and fell onto him, “That’s a good thing.”

Scroot accepted her collapse and held them upright while wrapping a hoof around her. They smiled to each other for a moment with Scroot’s expressive eyes displaying his flattery.

“Sweetie, I like you, too.” He said.

She wanted a reason, but she didn’t want to ruin the moment with a stupid question like, “Why do you like me?” So, she simply rested against him and enjoyed herself in his strong embrace.

“Applejack said she thinks of me as an enemy because of Rainbow. I assume you don’t feel the same way.” He said softly.

She pressed onto his chest to pick herself up, “At first, I was angry at you, yes, but I realize that you were simply mistaken and mistakes happen during the course of investigations, I’m sure.”

He nodded, “If it makes you feel better, I do feel bad for having her arrested.”

“You don’t have to console me.” She said with a smile as she returned to her own seat, “Applejack is much like you in that she has an unfiltered honesty, although you are much more profane.”

The train attendant announced their arrival in Canterlot while a light pull affected the passengers as the train came to a halt in the station. “I'll try to be better than that, Rarity; for you.” Scroot said as he led Rarity off the train car, and they made their way to the arrival terminal.

Taxis lined the cobblestone streets just outside the main entrance of the Canterlot train terminal. The old white buildings that stippled the mountainside held the image of the city’s pristine royal importance and never failed to take Rarity’s breath away.

They approached a taxi coach, and Scroot asked the driver, “Are you accepting fares?”

The brown earth pony nodded with too much enthusiasm, “Yes, sir, where can I take you this fine afternoon?!”

“The castle.” Scroot growled. The driver’s ridiculously bright smile was infuriating for some reason. Scroot didn’t figure that anypony could be this happy about pulling jackass tourists around all day. I seriously need a cigarette, he thought.

Rarity nudged Scroot, “Be nice.” She whispered.

Scroot took a deep breath and nodded, “Can you take us to the castle, sir?”

The driver spoke as if he was a crier on a street corner which was irritating as fuck, “Absolutely sir, and milady. I’ll have you there as fast as I can!”

Scroot and Rarity climbed into the cart and the driver began toward the castle over the rough cobblestone road. The shock absorbers on the coach were certainly put to the test, but it was a surprisingly smooth ride. Rarity chattered about her aspirations in the fashion industry, and Scroot simply listened and enjoyed her company while combating his continuously growing anxiety of being without his smokes.

As the coach stopped at the front gate of the castle, the driver declared, “Thank you for your patronage, sir. We hope you ride with us again!”

Rarity took the payment from her clutch and levitated them to the driver, “Thank you, sir.”

The driver nodded and said, “If you take a left down the path right before you get to the guard shack, the gift shop is in that building next to the fountain.”

“You’re an idiot.” Scroot said flatly. Rarity gave Scroot a scolding raised brow, and he cleared his throat before continuing, “...sir.” and Scroot set off in a canter toward the guard shack.

Rarity apologized for Scroot and hastily followed him to the small outpost where a unicorn royal guard read a magazine behind a marble desk. The pegasus guard in the rear corner bounced a red rubber ball off the concrete wall by slapping it back and forth with his right hoof. The consistent pounding was immediately offensive to Scroot’s ears, but Rarity didn’t seem to notice.

“Investigators to see the Princess.” Scroot said and he placed his P.I. identification on the desk while watching the pegasus continue his obnoxious passing of time.

“Do you have an appointment?” The unicorn guard asked without looking up.

“No, but it’s important.” Scroot said. He felt like he had to talk over the light squeak emitted by the ball as it collided against the wall and against the pegasus’ hoof.

“Likely story.” The unicorn answered. “How about I take a message, and we’ll get back to you?”

“Hey.” Scroot called to the pegasus. “Knock it off for a second.”

The pegasus didn’t look away from the ball as he tracked it and hit it again, “You’ll be alright.”

Rarity said, “Please, sir. We have an important matter that we are trying to work out.”

“So?” The pegasus shrugged and bounced the ball again.

Scroot cocked his head and furrowed his brow, “So, I’ll bounce your head off that wall if you don’t quit.”

The pegasus snatched the ball out of the air with his forelegs, shot a deadly glare at Scroot, and gave a sinister smile, “You should be careful with threats like that. I’d pick you up and beat somepony else’s ass with your head.”

Rarity put a hoof on Scroot’s shoulder and whispered, “Applejack is half his size, and she beat you up. Just let him bounce his ball.”

“I need to speak with the Princess, right now.” Scroot said firmly.

The pegasus laughed sardonically, “And she wants to see you, of all ponies, today?”

“Trust me. She does.” Scroot assured. “Tell her these exact words.”

* * *

The schoolhouse was a small building with a single classroom. It was a red clapboard structure with white supports, a bell inside the spire on the roof, and the property was surrounded by a rustic white-washed fence. The gravel drive that led to the front door was beaten hard by Pinkie’s hooves as she galloped past the school’s flagpole.

Envoy was close behind and she used every bit of strength she had to leap forward, grab a mouthful of Pinkie's tail, and pull them both to a stop. They fell onto their bellies, and Applejack stopped next to them.

“Wait a minute, Pinkie!” Envoy panted through the hair of Pinkie's tail.

“What are we waiting for? We ask them where she went. If they say they don't know, we make them give us answers!” Pinkie said as she stood.

“No, they're colts. This has to be done carefully, and believe it or not, Scroot is actually very good at this kind of thing. We need to get him.” Envoy said as she released Pinkie's tail.

“Where is he, then?” Applejack asked while nudging Envoy to her hooves.

“He probably went to Canterlot without me.” Envoy said. “They're not going anywhere; there's no reason why we have to do this right now.”

Pinkie shook her head and began shouting, “Are your parents' lives hanging in the balance?!”

“My parents are dead.” Envoy said matter-of-factly.

“Join the club.” Applejack interjected snidely. “Envoy, if you don't want to do this, you don't have to. But if you ain't, we're goin' without you.”

Envoy drew in a deep breath and began to understand what Scroot felt like when he wasn't getting his way, and she reluctantly nodded.

A deep pink mare with light pink and rose colored mane poked her head out of the school's front door, “Excuse me, but our class is in session, and you're distracting my students.”

Pinkie took a breath, but was quickly shushed by Envoy.

“Ma'am,” Envoy began as she approached the teacher, “I'm Majesty Envoy with Investigator Whinny's office.”

“That curmudgeon?” The teacher asked with disgust.

“I said the same thing, Ms. Cheerilee.” Applejack nodded.

Envoy levitated her badge from her breast pocket, “Unfortunately, our investigation has led us here, and we need to speak with a pair of your students.”

“What's this about?” Cheerilee asked, “Is it about Twilight?”

“Yes.” Envoy answered simply.

Cheerilee blew air, and started to decline as she would rather have the colt’s parents present for questioning, but figured that the gravity of the situation should grant the investigator access to the minors. She nodded, went into the school, and returned with two colts. The tall orange one with the greenish-blue mane was protesting while the short, chubby blue one with orange mane simply hung his head in shame as they exited the school.

Cheerilee gently pushed the Schoolhouse door closed, much to the dismay of the class-mates, “They’re not in any trouble, are they?” She asked while sternly glaring at the colts.

“No, ma’am.” Envoy said, “We just want to ask them a few questions.”

“Alright, then. Go ahead.” Cheerilee nodded again to the investigator.

“Come on, AJ.” Snips pleaded. “We didn’t do anything. Honest!”

“Yeah, we put the carrots back!” Snails said.

Applejack gave them a hard look, “Just you listen to Ms. Envoy here and answer her questions, understood?”

“Okay.” The colts said in unison.

Envoy stopped in front of the two unicorn colts, “You’re Snips and Snails?”

They nodded shamefully, believing that they were still in trouble.

Envoy lowered her head to the young ponies’ level. She had never questioned anypony on her own before, so she tried to follow Scroot’s lead, “How are you guys doing?”

They exchanged a look before simultaneously answering, “Scared.”

“Don’t be. We’re just going to ask you some questions about somepony you know.” Envoy answered in a soft voice.

They nodded.

“Do you colts know who Trixie is?” Envoy asked while giving a notepad to Pinkie Pie.

“The great and powerful?” Snips asked.

Applejack winced, “Great and Powerful.” She scoffed under her breath.

Envoy split her face in a forced grin, “The one and only.”

Snails spoke up with his throaty, slow voice, “Oh, we don’t know The One and Only Trixie. We only know The Great and Powerful Trixie.”

“Funny all these ponies would start copying her.” Snips noted.

“All these ponies?” Envoy repeated with a raised brow.

“Well, that’s only the second one we heard of.” Snails said.

“Who’s the first?” Envoy asked. Pinkie Pie watched the questioning and remained poised to jot down information.

Snips shrugged, “We thought we were following Trixie to see some amazing magic, but it turned out that that it wasn’t her. She wasn’t great or powerful.”

“What made you think she was Trixie?” Envoy pressed.

“She looked like her except her mane was black.” Snips explained. “We figured she dyed her mane for a magic show or something.”

“And she wasn’t wearing a hat either.” Snails added.

“So, why do you say this pony was a copyist? Just because they looked alike?” Envoy asked and sat on her haunches after beginning to feel a tightening in her neck. Their stupidity was unnerving enough to wear on Envoy’s professionalism.

Snails shook his head, “Not alike. They looked exactly the same, but her mane was different.”

“Did you catch her name?” Envoy leaned closer to try to possibly transmit a few I.Q. points in their direction.

“The Benign and Negligible Frisky.” Snips answered with disappointment.

“Yeah. We thought Trixie was trying to keep a really awesome magic trick a secret with the fake name or something. So, we got on the train with her. But, when she couldn’t even give the coach attendant her ticket with her magic, we knew she wasn’t Trixie.” Snails said.

“Where were you headed?” Envoy asked while gesturing to Pinkie Pie to write down the answer.

“To see some cool magic!” Snails answered with a bright smile.

“What city was the train heading for?” Cheerilee explicated. She had noticed that Envoy was becoming annoyed.

“Manehattan.” Snips said.

“Yeah,” Snails began, “She said that because she was so benign and negligible, she didn’t perform magic, and so she was going to work at a theatre.”

Snips rubbed his chin, “I think she said it was Carneighie Hall.”

* * *

Princess Celestia shuffled through papers in her small private office in an attempt to find something worthwhile of her decree. The gray stone walls were in stark contrast to the extravagant throne at which she normally did business, but she couldn’t bring herself to face public scrutiny with the death of her most promising student still fresh in her mind. Every time she thought about it, anger and frustration would take hold of her usually elegant and poised presence. The ordinances and legislation she skimmed were simple concerns of infinitesimal details and miniscule issues. It was working down her patience more than usual.

Celestia upheld the image of a princess without effort, and she had grown tired of everypony walking on eggshells around her as if one false move would earn them a lifetime in a dungeon. Conversely, the most irritating ponies were the ones which would assume that a few passing conversations would earn them some sort of special privilege. That attitude was especially displayed by municipalities lead by some jackass whom wanted regulation on the stupidest of things; for instance, what direction somepony could walk on certain days of the week.

A knock at the door caught Celestia’s attention before a muffled voice came from behind the door, “Princess. You have a stubborn and foul mouthed earth pony with a unicorn saying he wants to see you as soon as possible. He said it was concerning with Rainbow Dash.”

It wouldn’t have been the first pony to demand entry using Rainbow Dash as a fulcrum. When the news broke of the Wonderbolt hopeful being arrested, at least three ponies a day would send a Royal Guard to her office with that same message.

Princess Celestia gestured pointlessly to the disembodied voice behind the door, “Please ask them to come back another time.” She said it the same way she had a dozen times before.

“Your majesty, please don’t take this the wrong way, but the earth pony said you would say that, and told me to tell you something that I’m not entirely comfortable with.” The guard said.

She raised a brow and opened the door with her magic. “And that is?” She asked.

“That you’re... um... a bitch, your majesty.” The Royal Unicorn Guard said with an upward inflection as if asking a question.

Celestia stood unmoving for a moment while she gave pause to Scroot’s dry sense of humor. She said casually, “Send him in.”

The unicorn guard recoiled in surprise, bowed, and left to retrieve Scroot and Rarity.

A few minutes passed as Rarity and Scroot made their way to the Princess’s office. Upon entry, Rarity bowed while Scroot remained upright. He approached Celestia with a haughty brow raised in her majestic and powerful presence.

“You get my message?” Scroot asked her.

The princess smiled, “Do you think you’re funny?”

Scroot returned the smile, “Oh, I know I’m funny. You’re the killjoy in this hell-hole you call a kingdom.”

Rarity froze in her bow and didn’t look up. She simply affixed her eyes on the rug below her hooves in surprise that Scroot was acting as if he was talking with an old bar buddy.

“You may rise, Rarity.” Princess Celestia said.

Rarity lifted her head slowly while shifting her eyes from Scroot to Celestia. She expected, at any moment, for the Princess’s horn to flash a laser which would obliterate Scroot into a fine pink cloud. Rarity cleared her throat nervously and continued, “Princess, we’re here with sufficient evidence to exonerate Rainbow Dash.”

Celestia nodded, “I had a feeling you were.”

“Look at that. You’re still all insightful and shit.” Scroot chuckled.

Celestia raised a brow at him and gave a tiny smile, “If you think for a second that I won’t call that Royal Guard back here to stuff you in a trash can specifically for my amusement, you’re about to be sorely mistaken.”

Scroot laughed, “I believe you.” He bowed briefly, “How are you, Celestia?”

The princess blew air and considered her situation, “I've seen better days.”

“I understand.” Scroot nodded. “Can you issue the release to the jail?”

“I deputized you in my authority over that situation. Why haven't you gone?” Celestia asked.

“Because...” He gave pause to remember Envoy's words, “I just think it'd be better that I wasn't the first pony that Dash saw.”

Celestia's face twisted into a smirk. She knew Scroot too well to believe he was that considerate, “I agree.” She turned to Rarity, “Please, have one of my guards escort you to the jail with this message.” She said while floating a sealed parchment into Rarity's bag.

“Yes, Princess.” Rarity nodded. Princess Celestia gave Rarity a dismissing nod, and Rarity left with the royal unicorn that was outside the door.

Celestia raised a brow at Scroot again. “What is this really about?”

“What do you mean?” Scroot returned her quizzical look.

“Are you afraid to admit you were wrong?” She said.

Scroot shrugged, “I was wrong. I'm not afraid to admit that.”

“But facing Rainbow Dash?” Celestia sat on her haunches and cocked her head in his direction.

He sighed and shook his head. “I've never been good at this kind of thing.”

“Scroot, I've known you for a long time, and you haven't changed. I'll have you know, that letter instructs Rainbow Dash to come here upon release.” She said.

He lowered his head shamefully, “Somehow, that doesn't surprise me.”

Celestia's magic flickered under his chin and picked his head up, “I'm sorry, but I can't let you hide from her.”

Scroot sighed and shook her magic from his face, “It seems so obvious now that Rainbow Dash didn't do it.” He said under his breath.

Celestia stood, “Retrospect is always clearer.”

Silence fell upon them as Scroot contemplated the words he would use to apologize to Rainbow Dash. He walked to the small privacy window that looked over the south-west. Ponyville appeared as a dull tan grid amongst the green grass in the distance.

Scroot sighed and shook his head again, “Why didn't things work out between us?”

She gave him a light-hearted scoff, “Scroot, there wasn't an us.”

“There wasn't?” He smiled, “You bailed a lonely earth-pony out of a gambling debt just from the goodness of your heart?”

“Yes.” She answered simply.

“My ass.” He turned to face her. “You wanted my body, but politics kept you from having it.”

Celestia rolled her eyes, “I don't allow my perception of public opinion affect my decisions, and you know that.”

“Right. That's why you let me arrest Rainbow Dash when you knew she was innocent.” Scroot said.

Celestia raised a brow at him with slight offense, “You were unbiased in your findings, and you have proven yourself to be trustworthy. I allowed that to happen because I trust you, Scroot.”

“Then why can't I go back to Ponyville, and let this thing blow over without me?” He asked in a nearly desperate whine.

Celestia laughed, “Because I believe she needs to hear it from you. Being detained is not an easy experience, and she will need the closure.”

Scroot shook his head, “What do we do in the meantime? Stand here awkwardly and talk about the weather?”

She smiled, “We can, but you may go where you like. You know this castle fairly well.”

He thought for a moment. The library sounded like a nice quiet place, and the Castle Cafe had quite the selection, but he didn't really want to leave Celestia. They hadn't spoken in over a hundred years, and although Scroot had aged quite a bit, Celestia still looked as if she wasn't a day over 500.

Scroot watched the world through the window and tried to affix himself on the fact the Earth would continue spinning if Rainbow Dash decided to hate him. He also tried to remain optimistic that he could have a relationship with Rarity despite Rainbow Dash's hatred for him. Facing Rainbow and groveling for her forgiveness might help that, but there was no way to be sure.

His wife's death had left him alone and bitter. He didn't want Rainbow Dash to hate him, and he didn't want to be alone anymore. Dash's forgiveness would solve both of those problems.

Scroot realized that he was lost in thought and staring right at Celestia, “I think I'll stick around.”

“I knew that you would.” Celestia smiled and returned to her paperwork which left Scroot in the silence to script the impending conversation the best that he could.

Chapter 9 - To The Hall and Back

The jail was much bigger than Rarity expected, and it wasn’t nearly as dark as she imagined a jail would be. For some reason, Rarity believed that as they approached the jail, dense clouds would convene above them and lightning would crawl across the sky, but the only difference between the jail and its environ was that the design was rectangular despite the organically shaped buildings surrounding it.

Rarity was let into the front lobby by the Royal Guard, and he immediately trotted to the very small, skinny mare behind the lobby desk. They were clearly familiar with one another, and the Royal Guard appeared to be trying very hard to make her laugh. Rarity found it strange because the Royal Guard was hulking and powerful, and the mare he was wooing was so incredibly frail looking. A strange image made its way into Rarity’s mind as she tried to come up with a method in which the Royal Guard wouldn't crush the tiny mare to death during intercourse.

“Ms. Rarity?” The Royal Guard called loudly as if it wasn’t the first time he had addressed her.

“Oh, I’m quite sorry, dear.” Rarity chuckled nervously, “I was, as they say, zoning.”

The Royal Guard nodded and made a small gesture toward the scroll which Rarity had in her magic grip. Rarity looked up to the paper and saw that his magic was attempting to take it from her. She released it and chuckled again, “I’m sorry, sir.”

Celestia’s message floated to the tiny mare, and the Royal Guard immediately returned to flirting with her. The little guard stamped the page, placed it on the desk, and called for a clerk all while smiling at the Royal Guard as if he had her in a happy trance. Rarity checked her make up in her reflection on the floor while thinking that she should approach the two courting ponies to remedy her boredom, but she resisted because she felt it would be intrusive, so Rarity thought about what Rainbow Dash would say upon taking her first steps, as a free pony, in four days.

Rarity had seen movies where little timid mares were changed after going to prison. She wondered if Rainbow Dash had been incarcerated long enough to have been institutionalized or if she would be her same old loud-mouthed self. Rarity didn’t like being alone with her thoughts because she tended to overthink; so, she loudly cleared her throat and held up a hoof to the others.

“So, what’s happening now?” Rarity asked the lobby guard. She wasn’t sure if she had interrupted the Royal Guard when she spoke, but his glare told her that she may have.

The lobby guard began in her squeaky voice, “The court clerk is coming down here to file this withdrawal, and then I’ll issue the release downrange.”

The Royal Guard pointed curtly to a chair against the west wall of the lobby under a portrait of the district attorney after which the jail was named, “Just have a seat and get comfortable. It’s going to be a minute.”

The lobby guard whispered, “Rain!”

The Royal Guard’s gaze snapped to the lobby guard in a fashion similar to a foal that had been scolded by his mother. Rain rolled his eyes and looked back at Rarity, “I’m sorry for being rude, ma’am.” He said with very convincing feigned consideration.

“It’s alright, sir. I apologize for bothering you, but I’m very nervous for my friend. How long does it take for somepony to be released?” Rarity asked while peering at the lobby guard’s name plate, “Sweet Rejoice, is it?”

“Yes, and it varies so much that I couldn’t really say with any amount of accuracy.” The little guard answered with a sympathetic smile.

“I can imagine it would be pretty quick with a withdrawal directly from the Princess. Is there anything else that we can help you with?” Rain said quickly. His inflection indicated his continued desire for Rarity’s dismissal.

Sweet Rejoice touched Rain’s hoof and held up Celestia’s scroll to him, “Perhaps you should take this to operations.”

Rain’s mouth fell open and his brow furrowed at Rarity. He slightly shook his head, his horn lit up, and he took the paper from the little mare, “I’ll be back in a little bit with…” He paused while he read the name on the page, “…Rainbow Dash.” And then he departed down the hallway to the left of the front desk.

Rarity watched him trot down the hall for a moment and then she looked back at Sweet Rejoice, “I’m sorry for interrupting.”

“Don’t apologize.” Rejoice laughed. “I should thank you for that. He’s been chasing my flank for weeks. Every chance he gets, he comes up here and talks to me. It's pretty irritating.”

"Have you talked to him about it?" Rarity asked.

Rejoice shrugged, "Didn't matter. He's convinced he can change my mind." She did a tiny jazz-hoof gesture to punctuate the futility of his efforts.

“Well, then, why haven’t you filed a complaint?” Rarity asked.

Rejoice shrugged, “Because he strokes my ego. And although he’s not funny… he’s funny, if that makes any sense.”

Rarity nodded with a knowing smirk, “He’s no comedian, but you sure laugh at him a lot. I know a young boy whom I have the same relationship with.”

“It’s kind of sad.” Rejoice said. She made it out like she was joking, but a hint of honesty caught Rarity’s ear. “I’m not leading him on or anything. I’ve told him, flat out, he and I will never be anything to each other.”

Rejoice continued rattling away, and Rarity couldn’t bring herself to care about a stranger’s problems despite her boredom. After years of being friends with Pinkie Pie, Rarity had gotten very good at pretending to listen. She found that it was all about maintaining intermittent eye-contact, infrequent nodding, and an acknowledgment that they are still speaking when they pause. Rarity could hear that Rejoice was speaking while her mind shuffled through her projections of Rainbow Dash’s thoughts.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash weren’t exactly friends. Rarity’s idea of weeknight fun was enjoying a novel and a crisp wine while Rainbow liked to treat every day like the weekend. They spent very little time together alone. It would be more appropriate to label them as good acquaintances because, if they hadn’t had the same friends between them, it was unlikely that they would have ever met.

The air was suddenly dead with only the rhythmic squeak of the slowly rotating fan above them, and Rarity realized that Rejoice had stopped speaking. They stared at each other for a very long time until Rarity gave a light smile and said, “Yes…?”

Rejoice suddenly burst into an awful cackle. What that Royal Guard saw in this mare was beyond Rarity’s comprehension, but Rejoice started off in another barrage as if the pause had not taken place, and Rarity still couldn’t bring herself to listen.

* * *

“We need a plan.” Envoy told them while leading Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy to the train station, “We don’t know if Trixie is there or not.”

“It ain’t been that long,” Applejack interjected, “Why wouldn’t she be there still?”

“If Trixie went to Carneighie Hall, we couldn’t guarantee that she was hired, or even went to Manehattan in the first place.” Envoy said.

Pinkie Pie fired a karate chop at an imaginary foe, “I say we get in there and kick some flanks!”

“Why?” Envoy asked as the group stopped outside the ticket office. “I’m pretty sure that anypony we talk to will be willing to help.”

“Um…” Fluttershy began, “I really just want to go to Canterlot and see Rainbow Dash.”

“Well then, you go right ahead. I’m going to Manehattan to kick Trixie’s horn off her head.” Applejack said firmly.

Pinkie Pie rubbed her fore hooves together, “Her blood’s going to bleed when I’m done with her.”

“Don’t get worked up, fillies. I’m going to Manehattan alone.” Envoy said.

“Ah’right and why’s that?” Applejack asked with anger wrinkling her brow.

“If anypony says the wrong thing to anypony that we question, we could lose our lead and Trixie would be on the run again.” Envoy said while levitating a stack of bits to the ticket master in the booth. “You three go to Canterlot and enjoy your friend’s return to the free world. Tell Scroot where I am and he’ll come help me.”

“That’s bullshit! We’re detectives, too!” Pinkie shrieked.

“Don’t cut us out, Envoy. We brought you this lead.” Applejack agreed.

“Um… I like Envoy’s idea.” Fluttershy said quietly.

“Listen up.” Envoy barked. “I’m going alone. This is where the case gets really sensitive, and one wrong move could put us back at square one. I’m sorry fillies, but I cannot use your help in Manehattan.”

Applejack looked at Pinkie Pie and then back at Envoy to continue protesting, but she just shook her head and lowered her gaze. Applejack and her friends had gone hoof to claw with a full grown dragon and many other creatures far more daunting than a single pony, but their foes had never been actively evading them which required tedious investigation.

“Dammit.” Applejack cursed. “I guess we’ll send Scroot your way when we see him. I just hope y’all don’t get in any trouble down yonder. I’d feel just plain terrible if anything happened to y’all.”

“You’re serious?” Pinkie Pie stamped. “You’re just going to leave this up to somepony we didn’t know existed last week?”

Applejack tilted her Stetson down and shook her head, “We ain’t got a choice, Pinkie.”

Pinkie scoffed and poised a hoof toward Envoy while taking a breath in preparation to unleash on her, but deflated into a wordless sigh. She shook her head and set her hoof back down. Her face twisted in disapproval, but couldn’t find the grounds to protest further.

Envoy floated tickets to Canterlot in front of her three companions, “I’ll see you back here in Ponyville when this is all over.”

* * *

Rainbow Dash strode into the front lobby of the jail with the Royal Guard close behind. Dash burst through the doors and declared in her loudest voice, “I’m free!”

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity called while jogging from the desk and leaving Rejoice in mid-sentence, “I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you!”

The two grabbed each other in a strong embrace and held each other for a moment. Rainbow Dash pulled away, “It’s totally great to finally see my friends again.” She craned to look around the lobby, “But where is everypony?”

“They’re in Ponyville helping Envoy.” Rarity said while moving for another hug, but Dash put a hoof on her chest.

“They couldn’t take ten seconds to see me out? Seriously?” Rainbow Dash asked with disappointment weighing down her ears.

“I’m sorry, dear. The last I heard is that they were looking into a big break as to where to find Trixie.” Rarity said.

“Trixie?” Rainbow Dash recoiled. “Why Trixie?”

Rarity shifted on her hooves, “Oh, dear. I forget that you haven’t been there for the investigation.”

Rainbow’s eyes grew to the size of saucers and she swiftly grabbed Rarity’s face, “Wait! Trixie killed Twilight?!”

Rarity squinted through the unforgiving pressure of Rainbow Dash’s hooves on her cheeks, “The evidence certainly makes it look that way.”

“That… that piece of… why that…” Rainbow Dash became more and more panicked and angry. She collapsed onto her haunches and resisted the urge to simply scream. She worked her jaw harshly and ran a hoof through her mane. She tried to bite back her tears, but they failed to heed her mental commands to stay put.

“Does it matter that it was Trixie and not somepony else?” Rarity asked.

Rainbow Dash tried to answer, but she stayed silent because she knew that the only vocalization she was capable of at the moment was heaving sobs. She simply nodded and squeezed her eyes shut. Her blue face was becoming more and more pink by the second.

Rarity rubbed Dash’s shoulder, “Breathe, honey. It’s going to be okay.”

Rainbow took a deep, sharp breath and let it out slowly. She took another sharp breath and appeared as if she was trying to say something, but she just let out her breath again.

The Royal Guard cleared his throat, “Dash, I have instructions to escort you to the princess.” He held up a hoof toward the door, giving permission for Rarity and Rainbow to lead the way, but they just sat still in the middle of the lobby. Rarity laid her head on Rainbow's shoulder and curled her fore-hooves around her. Rainbow clenched her eyes shut while trying to catch her breath, but each gasp for air was crowded by crying.

Rarity, despite her sympathetic sadness, didn’t feel like crying. So many tears had already been shed over the entire ordeal that she didn't have the strength. She simply held her friend and allowed her fur to soak up Rainbow's tears.

"Rainbow," Rarity whispered softly. "Let's go out and get some air, okay?"

Rainbow Dash nodded again, “Okay.” She sniffled, “Outside sounds nice.”

* * *

Celestia watched Scroot talk to himself while he played out different possible scenarios in his mind. Scroot was a fickle pony. He acted like he wanted everypony to hate him, and he appeared to hate the idea of having friends, but he wasn’t always like that. When he was younger, he was so full of life and pride. She couldn’t help but think that Scroot would be such a sweetheart if he wasn’t so profane and crass.

Scroot sighed hard and rubbed his face on a hoof while he quietly cursed himself.

“Is there something you’d like to talk about, Scroot?” Celestia finally asked.

“No.” He snarled, “I can figure this out. I just need the right angle.”

“Maybe I can help you.” Celestia said.

He sighed again and turned towards her, “I’m fine, Celestia.”

She walked slowly to him and sat on her haunches next to him. She nudged his shoulder and said, “You’re angrier than when I last saw you. What changed?”

“The last time you saw me was at my wife’s funeral.” Scroot gave a light chuckle, “I was sadder, by a lot, at that time.”

“You know what I mean, Scroot.” Celestia said.

Scroot nodded, “I do.” He frowned and shrugged, “There’s only so much ass-fucking you can take before you don’t let anypony in anymore.”

Celestia cocked her head, “And... What do you mean by that?”

Scroot stretched his back, stood up on two legs, and put both fore-hooves on his face, “I don’t even know.” He set back down and shook his head, “I’m scared of anypony becoming attached to me. I’m afraid of becoming attached to anypony. Caring just sets you up for heartache.”

“That makes the heart stronger.” Celestia said.

Scroot smiled and shook his head, “No, it doesn’t.

“Sure, it does. The issues that you resolve with your friends make you stronger. The more problems that you work through together than the stronger your relationship will be.” Celestia explained.

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall, Princess. Everypony will let you down eventually.” Scroot said as he returned to staring out the window.

“If they let you down, you work through it.” Celestia said. Her ears perked at the sound of hoof-steps outside the office.

“You say that like betrayal is easy. A thousand years ago, you banished your sister, and you're trying to tell me that you and Princess Luna are stronger now because of that?” Scroot said and looked over to the doors of the office as they opened to reveal Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and the Royal Guard entering.

“We are.” Celestia said to Scroot quietly, and then she stood and nodded to the Royal Guard, “Your services are no longer required and you may return to your post.”

“As you wish, Princess.” The Royal Guard bowed, left the office, and closed the door behind him.

Rainbow Dash's red, puffy eyes glared at Scroot, and then she punched Rarity’s shoulder, hard, “You didn't tell me he was here.”

All of Scroot's scripting became murky, and he suddenly didn't know what to say. He took a deep breath and got straight to the point. “I'm sorry, Dash.”

Rainbow Dash looked at Celestia, “What is this?”

Rarity rubbed her shoulder and cleared her throat, “Scroot has something he needs to tell you. I think it would help if you heard him out.”

“Help who?” Rainbow Dash growled, “If it's to serve your self-centered, egotistical conscience, than count me out. I don't care about your feelings.”

Scroot took a few steps closer, “I know you're mad...”

Rainbow Dash interrupted and began stalking to Scroot, “Four days, Scroot. It felt like an eternity, and not to mention the scuff on my image. I spent four days in a cage because you had to rush. You didn't care about us, and you didn't care about Twilight. You just wanted to be done and over with us as soon possible. You're wrong, Scroot. I'm beyond mad.”

Celestia stepped forward, “I think we all need to calm down and take things one at a time.”

Rainbow Dash’s hateful gaze shifted to the princess. Celestia’s soft features and loving eyes calmed her a bit. Rainbow groaned and nodded slowly, “Okay. What do you want to say?”

They all looked to the door as it opened again. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie galloped into the officer and surrounded Rainbow Dash.

“Omigosh!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, “Rainbow Dash we're so happy to see you! I'm so glad that you're okay!”

“How're y'all holding up, Sugar Cube?” Applejack smiled.

“We're sorry we didn't see you out!” Fluttershy gave Rainbow a hug.

“I'm just glad to be with you guys. You're awesome.” Rainbow Dash held out her hooves and invited her friends to join in the embrace.

They all convened, squeezed each other, and silently enjoyed their reunion.

Scroot rubbed his head. “Girls...” he began, but he fell short on how to continue. He cleared his throat, but remained mute.

The girls all looked at him and waited, but his eyes just darted on the floor as if a clue for what he should say next was just below the wood. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth, but still was silent.

“Go ahead, Scroot.” Applejack urged. “Just tell her what you told me.”

Scroot met Rainbow's gaze and finally said, “I screwed up. I can't give you the last four days of your life back, and I know that is a hard place to be, but I really can't convey to you the amount of desire I feel for you to...” He stopped, shook his head, and continued, “I really don't want you to hate me.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head, “What is it that you want from me? To just let this all go like it didn't happen?”

Scroot gave a half chuckle and half scoff, “If I knew that was possible, I'd love that.”

Rainbow Dash sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes, “Yeah, if only it were that easy, sure.”

Applejack gave Rainbow a nudge, “Y'all need some time to get through this, but for right now, we should get down to brass tacks.”

“Would you like to help us out, Rainbow?” Scroot asked hopefully. “You ponies met Trixie; you know what she looks like, and all of that which provides an advantage. I could use your help finding her.”

“Help you find Trixie?” Rainbow Dash raised a brow and her face twisted with skepticism, “How do you know Trixie actually did it?”

Scroot shrugged, “It was your friends that put it together.”

“Pretty much all by ourselves, too!” Pinkie declared.

“Good ol' fashioned detective work, Rainbow Dash.” Applejack said, “Come with us to Manehattan and put this to a close. What do ya say?”

Rainbow Dash looked down and nodded lightly, “I'm in.”

“I'll arrange for a royal escort to fly you there.” Celestia said.

Scroot shook his head, “Actually, Celestia, just give me two guards, and we’ll take the train. We need to do this low-profile.”

“Of course.” Celestia agreed and her magic teleported a paper that detailed her orders to the stallions outside the office.

“Hey, wait a minute.” Scroot glanced around the room, “Where is Envoy? She didn't already go, did she?”

“Yessir.” Applejack nodded.

Scroot immediately started out of the office, “Let's go, now. You can brief me the specifics on the way.”

* * *

Manehattan was Equestria's largest metro with more ponies in a square kilometer than any other city in the kingdom. Residences were filed into tiny apartments and crammed together in high rise buildings, and it was one of the few cities that had black asphalt streets. The city was constantly going, twenty-four-seven, and the fluid movement of traffic was more important there than anywhere else in Equestria. A delay for any reason destroyed opportunities and disrupted lives. There was no such thing as a minor inconvenience in Manehattan.

Envoy got off the trans-continental train, purchased a Manehattan transit card, and boarded an L -train. She kept to herself as the train whisked through buildings and then dropped underground. When the train was underground, it was easily going over 60 knots, and that made Envoy nervous. The other ponies on the train stared out and watched the lights of the tunnels zooming past the windows without a single thought of their lives coming to a fiery death if the track was off by even a few centimeters.

The train rose above the streets again and stopped over 57th street, a block away from Envoy's destination. She could see the enormous towers on the north-east and the south-west that made up the corners of Carneighie Hall. She trotted off the L and made her way down the stairs to street level. A pony with a saxophone and its case on the ground next to him disrupted the unnatural hum of carriages' tires on the street. So many ponies were cantering on the sidewalk and road that there was simply the drone of hooves beating the ground among the baritone melody of the saxophone.

Four poles at each corner of the intersection were joined by thick wires from which a traffic signal hung. On the pole across the street from Envoy was a light that read Don't Trot. There was no button to call for the sign to change that she could find, but while she was searching, the light changed to Trot. She started across the street, but quickly retreated to the sidewalk as it then flashed Don't Trot for several seconds before remaining steady in its command. She waited for the sign to change again, and then galloped to the other side.

Envoy had earned many looks from other pedestrians that simply said you don't belong here. She nodded nervously to them, kept on her way to Carneighie Hall, and thought that she should wait for Scroot to arrive before continuing. She disregarded the idea and trotted into the open entry door on the south face of the building.

She involuntarily gasped at the lobby interior which was a gorgeous cube of white and red. The east and west walls were covered in black and white photographs of the most famous performers that had been there, and they were framed with dim lights and velvet curtains. The floor was a beautiful scarlet carpet, and the ivory columns at each corner of the lobby curled over into the transom of the entrance and exit doors on either side of the reception desk against the north wall.

A young pegasus with a bad haircut between a Mohawk and a Caesar sat behind the desk. He didn't hear Envoy enter the building nor approach the desk due to his nose being nearly buried entirely in his book on the desk.

“Sir,” Envoy asked, “Can I speak with your manager?”

The young pegasus jumped and looked at Envoy as if she were robbing him, “M- Maybe I can help?”

“No, I need to lodge a complaint against an employee.” She said.

“Is it me? I know I'm not supposed to read on the job. I didn't see you, I'm sorry!” He pleaded.

Envoy gave him a warm smile, “It's not you.” She touched his hoof, “It’s Trixie.”

He appeared relieved, but he cocked his head, “Who?”

Envoy sighed and figured that Trixie wasn't there, but she still wanted to talk with the manager in case he spoke with her suspect, “Can I just talk to your manager, please?”

The young pegasus nodded, put his book in the desk, and trotted through the entry doors to the right of the desk. A few moments later, he returned with a tall, handsome green unicorn with short white hair swept to the right behind his horn.

The manager gave a smile that quickly twisted from friendly encounter to something inappropriate before he asked, “Can I help you,” He paused and then put on a hard inflection, “Miss?”

She thought he was prompting her for her name, “Majesty Envoy, and I need to ask you about one of your employees or somepony that may have sought employment here. Do you have an office where we can talk in private?” Envoy said as she levitated her badge from her breast pocket. As soon as she finished speaking she realized that his stress on the word was to inspire correction should Envoy be a missus.

He raised a brow with a naughty smile, “Absolutely. Follow me.”

He led the way and Envoy followed as they went through the entry door and made their way into a small corridor of offices on the right side of the room before the main performance hall. They entered his office, a small room with an artistic mahogany desk in the middle and several pictures of him with famous performers. He took a seat behind the desk and gestured to one of the smoking chairs in front of him across the desk.

“Can I get you a drink?” The green unicorn asked as he levitated a bottle of whiskey and two old-fashioned glasses from his desk.

She sat down and shook her head, “Do you have an employee by the name of Trixie?”

“My name is Green Berry.” He said as he poured the drinks anyway.

“Alright, Berry.” She smiled uncomfortably. He must believe that she's flirting with him because he was coming on very strong for somepony that she had just met, especially in a professional setting.

“Most ponies call me Green.” He said and leaned on the desk while sliding one of the whiskey glasses to Envoy's side of the desk.

“Okay.” She shifted her eyes, but continued to smile, “I don't drink, Mr. Green.”

“I assume you're looking for the job.” He said while dipping his head and trying to explicate some kind of subtext, but Envoy didn't get it.

“No.” She said firmly. His apparent fantasy for some office action seemed to include Envoy at that point, and that had to be shut down immediately.

“Are you sure?” He asked softly, and he ran his tongue along his upper lip.

She cleared her throat, shook her head, and sat up, “Look, I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm just here to get some information. This is important.”

He shrugged, “I'd be willing to talk in exchange.”

Her eyes narrowed, “You're a special kind of stupid, aren't you?”

Green let out a disturbing chuckle, “You're not from around here, and I knew that from the second I put my eyes on that perfectly toned body of yours.” He stood with his front hooves on the desk. ”Just have a drink, and we can talk.”

Envoy glanced at the drink and noted to herself that he hadn't taken a drink of his own. “Do you know Trixie or don’t you?”

“Maybe,” He shrugged, and then nodded toward the drink again.

Envoy eyed it for a moment and then picked it up with her magic. She watched him anticipate her drinking as she touched the glass to her lips. She discretely casted a spell over the top of the glass and held the liquid inside while pretending to sip.

She put it back on the desk and shook her head, “I don’t like whiskey, Mr. Berry.”

He shook his head and pointed at it, “That’s bourbon.”

“I don’t really care.” Envoy shrugged, “Can we talk about this now?”

“I think we should let a little bit of time pass first,” He smiled. “Where are you from?”

“I’m not interested in me, or you for that matter, I need to talk about Trixie.” Envoy explained.

“I want to know who I’m talking to.” Green shrugged passively, “So, tell me about yourself.”

“Are you going to help me or not?” Envoy asked.

Green Berry grinned as his horn glowed, opening a drawer on the desk, and levitated a pair of fuzzy green hoof-cuffs, “Absolutely. What do you want to know?”

She eyed the cuffs and shook her head, “Do employ a unicorn named Trixie?” They were safety cuffs. They had a small lever on the outside so that the wearer could free themselves with their rear hooves. “She will only have been working here for a couple of days. You would have hired this pony recently.” Envoy explained as she shooed away the floating cuffs that were trying to affix themselves to her hooves. She slapped the cuffs with a hoof and said, “Cut it out.”

Green chuckled and made his way around the desk to her side and stood uncomfortably close to her. “I've only interviewed one mare in the last few days. Her name was Frisky. There were few more words involved, but I don't remember them.”

“You didn’t hire her?” Envoy asked while trying to lose her tone and pretend that it wasn’t happening. The urge to leave was strong, but she decided to put up with his shit if it got her the necessary information.

“No, and that was upsetting because she was so damned good looking. Nothing like you, but worthy of a strip joint.” He shared a laugh with himself while putting a fore-hoof on one of the armrests of Envoy’s chair. “I'll bet that's where she got the idea.”

“What do you mean? She went to work at a strip club?” She asked. She hadn’t realized that she had retreated to the farthest part of the chair away from him. At that time, it dawned on her just how close he was getting, “Can you stop this? Back off.” She commanded.

He said nothing, and she stared at him with such hatred and distain that it was unmistakable, but he almost seemed to enjoy that more. For several seconds, he just stood there and watched her hate him.

“Alright, asshole, I’m out of here.” She said as she began to get up and leave.

Green suddenly put both fore-hooves on her elbows, held her down, and his magic clicked the cuffs around Envoy's fore legs. She struggled against his force for a moment, but he was too heavy to move out from under him. She stopped herself and calmed down before she freaked out and ended up hurt.

“I’m not playing this fucking game. You hear me?” Envoy said slowly and concisely.

“Stay chill, baby.” He said as he kissed Envoy’s neck, and ran his tongue up the left side of her jaw which made her skin crawl. Green’s magic flicked the seat's recline release and leaned Envoy on her back as his sweaty body forced itself on top of her. Anger grew in her chest, and she gritted her teeth. She began to think that he'd done this many, many times before. She tried to keep cool just long enough to see an opening to escape. His horn pulsed and the buttons on her shirt popped off, one by one.

She looked around the office for something heavy that she could lift with her magic, something that she could smash into his skull while he was busy kissing her body. She recoiled as he wrapped his lips around hers with his corroded slimy tongue sliding across her teeth. She pushed back on his chest hard, but got nowhere.

He let his entire body weight rest on her hooves so she couldn’t move, ran his hoof down the side of her face, and whispered in her ear, “I haven't had a good lay in a while. Don’t worry, this won't last long.”

“Stop.” Envoy gasped and tried to spit out the taste of his mouth while she pushed against him again. She felt like she could vomit. “Please, just let me go, and I’ll leave and say nothing.” Envoy pleaded, and then she saw the whiskey bottle that was still on the desk behind him.

“That's not the way this is going to work.” He said while he gave a sinister smile. “I'll get mine. You might as well pretend to enjoy it.”

“I said stop, mother fucker!” She demanded as her magic picked up the bottle. She also lit up the cuffs so that Green would believe that they were all she had in her magic grip.

A disgusting smirk split his face as he used his magic to rub her genitals, and then the whiskey bottle slammed into the back of his head, but it was much more durable than Envoy thought. A hard hollow ding sounded as it bounced off of his skull and tore his scalp. He let out a surprised yelp, sat up with a fore-hoof on her chest, and the other hoof involuntarily making its way to his head to investigate the damage.

She swiped her free hoof to the right which knocked his front leg out from under him. She threw her head forward as he fell and her horn smashed into his eye while her forehead delivered a devastating blow to his chin. He grabbed at the air and tried to catch himself as he fell backward onto the desk. The bottle shattered on the floor, and the glasses broke under him. She kicked the cuffs from her hooves, flipped over, and bucked his soft organs with her rear hooves. He gasped hard, but no screaming came out.

She turned, leaped on top of him, and put her hoof on his throat. The glass stabbed deep into the small of his back under their weight, and he fought against each centimeter that split his hide. His rear hooves tried to find leverage, but he was trapped. His split lip poured blood onto the wood below his head and his right eye was already beginning to swell shut.

“Where is Frisky?!” She screamed and released his neck just enough to allow him to speak.

“Fuck you!” He shouted. She cut off his air again, brought her other hoof down, and gashed his eyebrow. She tried to hit him again, but he caught her hoof with his magic.

Envoy hopped her back legs onto the chair and put all of her weight into crushing his throat. Panic filled his eyes and his magic faded from her hoof as he began to lose consciousness, and then she beat his face several times in an attempt to break a few teeth from his face. She let up on his neck, and he violently came back to cognizance in a coughing fit.

“Where is Frisky?!” She screamed. “Tell me you filthy piece of shit or I'll break off your horn and fuck you in the neck with it!”

“The Plot!” He whined over and over. “Please, don’t hurt me anymore!” He gasped for a breath that wasn’t crowded by his bleeding lips and broken teeth, and he tried to put his head back to get clear air, but he had started crying so hard that his body was involuntarily heaving him upward.

Envoy grabbed his horn with her magic, turned his head, and she leaned in close to his ear, “If you're lying to me,” She growled, “I will be back. Am I absolutely fucking clear?”

Green nodded vehemently and sobbed, “She's there. I promise I'm not lying!”

“You’d better not be.” Envoy snarled, and then she galloped out of the room and left Green Berry choking on his own blood.

Author's Note

(Illustration to be completed soon)

Chapter 10 - Gone Clubbing

I should just say I forgive him. Fake it until you make it, right? Rainbow Dash thought to herself as Pinkie Pie rattled case “details” which was the same few places and names over and over. Scroot patiently listened to Pinkie’s loud and repetitive briefing as if she was providing new information that he’d never heard before, and her chatter seemed to be wearing on Rainbow’s nerves more than his. She began to think that maybe they had just gotten off on the wrong hoof and that they met under circumstances that had simply evolved from bad to worse.

The brakes squealed as the train slowed to a halt and the passenger car doors released the occupants. A voice on the intercom announced their arrival in Manehattan’s south train terminal while many of the ponies were filing out of the car and a few were boarding.

“So, do we go trotting into Carneighie Hall, 8 ponies deep, or… what’s the plan here?” Applejack asked as they followed Scroot off the train and into the Manehattan station. The royal guards landed shortly after they had arrived, in their full formal pegasus amour, which earned a lot of attention from other ponies in the main courtyard of the station.

“Well, I think we should set up a place to meet.” Scroot said while nodding toward a coffee shop in the food court to the west of the courtyard. “I think you ponies should sit tight there, I’ll go to Carneighie Hall with the royal guards.”

“I thought you wanted my help.” Rainbow Dash protested. “Sitting in a coffee shop doesn’t sound very productive.”

“I’ll go get us a table.” Fluttershy said quietly and began toward the shop.

“Wait,” Pinkie put a fore-hoof on Fluttershy’s chest to stop her, “We’re not going unless you Pinkie Promise to come and get us before you do anything with Trixie.”

Scroot rolled his eyes, “Sure, whatever.”

“Pinkie Promise!” The little pink pony squealed.

“Don’t agree unless you mean it.” Rarity warned, “A Pinkie Promise is serious business.”

Scroot slowly turned to Rarity with his brow furrowed and said, “What?”

Rarity nodded confidently, “I know what it sounds like, but trust me.”

Scroot smiled, gave her a wink, and then turned back to Pinkie, “I cross my heart.”

“…and?” Pinkie said while leaning toward him.

“And what?” Scroot shrugged, “I Pinkie Promise that I won’t do anything to Trixie. I will only observe and report.”

Rarity whispered in Scroot’s ear. He rolled his eyes and repeated what she had said, “Cross my heart. Hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Pinkie’s eye brow slowly crawled up her forehead until it reached maximum extension, “Do you mean it?”

Scroot groaned, turned to the royal guards, and said, “Guys, you’re with me.”

“Yes, sir.” They acknowledged in unison.

Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack trotted away to the coffee shop while Pinkie stared down Scroot for a few moments before joining her friends. Rarity watched Scroot walk with the guards and had a sickening feeling in her stomach. Her face tingled with the fear that Scroot may run into trouble and that she may not see him again. Even though they were after only one pony, Trixie had proven that she was capable of being very dangerous, and that made Rarity tense. She called his name and galloped after him.

Scroot stopped just outside the building under the L-train’s catwalk and turned to her as she neared them, “What’s wrong, Rarity?”

“I want you to know that I am going to worry.” Rarity said as she stopped just in front of him.

Scroot laughed, “This isn’t my first rodeo, hon. I’ll be okay. I promise.”

“Well, I don’t like it.” Rarity said firmly. “I recognize that you know what you’re doing, but that doesn’t help. I am going to be scared for you while you’re gone, and I will need you to return to me unharmed, is that clear?”

“I will.” Scroot smiled, “For you.”

“Right, then…” Rarity hesitated for a moment, but cast inhibitions aside and suddenly kissed Scroot. The kiss was light, yet deep and emotional. She didn’t let it go on for too long, and she pulled away from him quickly which caused a sharp pop from their lips. She gave him a tiny smile and then cantered back to the coffee shop without another word.

* * *

Envoy’s fur felt disgusting. Her own mane repulsed her, and the feeling of her own skin simply made her feel dirty. It was a level of violation that she had only feared from her worst nightmares, and it required a significant amount of effort to refuse the urge to collapse on the sidewalk, curl up, and cry her eyes out.

Ponies shouted and screamed as Envoy trotted into traffic without even attempting to use the crosswalk. She said nothing back to them as her tunnel vision directed her to the L-train to leave Manehattan with the intention of never returning. She pushed past the saxophone player as she made her way up the stairs and ignored his cursing at her. She was shoving ponies side to side as she forced her way toward the train, and the saxophone player was just behind her and shouting obscenities. She was so focused that she didn’t even notice pushing Scroot aside as he got off the train.

Scroot grabbed her tail with his mouth after he had called her name for the fourth time, and Envoy snapped a fast buck with her right rear hoof which caught Scroot just under his left eye. Both royal guards blocked Envoy’s entry, and she walked into their torsos as if they were a brick wall. She looked up at them, realized who they were and turned to see who she had kicked. Scroot was still rubbing his face with a hoof and shaking his head.

“Is this the suspect?” One of the guards asked.

“No, this is my partner. She’s okay.” Scroot explained.

“Your partner? She just kicked you in the face.” The guard said with a raised brow.

Scroot pressed his mouth into a thin line, “Thank you for pointing that out, sir. I hadn’t noticed.” Scroot patted Envoy on the back, “Look, we have an interesting relationship. That’s all.”

“She’s not at-” Envoy began quietly, but stopped speaking over the saxophone player shouting at the royal guards that Envoy had assaulted him.

One guard nodded to the street performer, “We’ve got this under control, sir. Please move along.”

The player turned his attention to Envoy while continuing to shout and carry on. The guard stepped closer the pony and stood over him, “Shut your mouth and walk away.” His voice was soft, and yet his presence was intense.

The street performer became silent as he sized up the guard, whom was a giant compared to him, and then he simply shook his head and made his way back down to the street while grumbling profanity at them.

Envoy continued, “She’s not at Carneighie Hall, Scroot. Can we please get out of here?”

Scroot opened his mouth to ask her about the interview, but stopped and took a moment to study Envoy’s face as she spoke. The corners of her mouth quivered downward with each syllable, and the inside of her eyebrows were intensely pointing to her horn. He nodded to her and spoke softly, “Yeah, we’ll head back to the station and figure out where to go from there, okay?”

Envoy didn’t say anything, but she took the nearest seat by the door they were standing in. Scroot sat next to her and the guards sat across from them. Many ponies that Envoy had shoved past were on the train, but they appeared indifferent to her impatience upon boarding.

The train began its journey back to the main station, and quite a while had passed before Scroot asked, “You want to talk about it?”

Envoy continued to stare into the floor and didn’t respond. She briefly scratched behind her ear with her right fore-hoof and returned it to the bench as she hunched over. She swore that she could smell the attacker on her body, and she almost wanted to skin herself alive to rid herself of the stench.

“What happened to your shirt?” Scroot asked quietly.

“Shut the fuck up, Scroot.” Envoy whispered.

Scroot nodded and remained mute until the train arrived at the south station. The guards and investigators made their way off the train and trotted into the coffee shop where they found the other ponies in the north-east corner. Rarity and Fluttershy were on a red loveseat which was across from Pinkie Pie and Applejack who were on a matching couch that rested against the east wall. Rainbow Dash was settled in a recliner against the north wall between the loveseat and couch at the head of a low and long oak table that spanned the length of the couch. Envoy sat down in a round chair to the right of the loveseat and rested her face on her fore-hooves. Scroot joined them next to Applejack on the furthest cushion of the couch while the royal guards chose to stand.

“Are you okay, Envoy?” Fluttershy asked, but was ignored.

A tan pegasus that was sitting on a small brown stool just behind their loveseat tapped Rarity and asked, “Why are they escorted by Royal Guards? Are they in a band or something?”

Scroot simply said, “No autographs, please.”

The pegasus smiled big, “Oh, wow! Who are you, guys?”

“We’re on official business, and we can’t discuss it.” Rarity explained curtly and then turned back to Scroot and gave him a smile.

The pegasus recoiled from Rarity’s brash dismissal, and then scoffed while returning to his attention to his own space.

“So, what did you find out?” Pinkie Pie asked Envoy, and she was ignored as well.

The group stared at Envoy who had given into her brain’s commands to be overcome with weeping. Envoy strained hard to stop herself from sobbing further and lifted her head while sucking in a large breath. She stared at the ceiling for a moment and flapped a hoof over her face to dry the tears.

She let out her breath slowly and began, “A… witness…” She growled, cleared her throat, and then continued in her usual gentle voice, “Said that Trixie is a dancer at a strip club called The Plot. We just need to find out where that is.”

“I know that place,” Scroot said. “Prostitution was pretty rampant there back in the day.”

“Envoy, please tell us what’s wrong.” Fluttershy pressed.

Envoy blew air and shook her head. She looked at Fluttershy and began, “The witness… the manager of the Carneighie Hall…” and then she stopped. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything more. She had just calmed herself down, and the words felt heavy like they were going to rip her composure right out from under her, “Look, I need a new shirt, and to be left alone about it until much later than right now.”

“So, you are okay?” Fluttershy asked again.

Envoy sighed and nodded weakly, “I’m about as okay as I’m going to be right now, but really I don’t want to talk about it.”

Applejack nodded, “Alright, I’m sure that y’all are tired of hearing this from me, but what’s the plan here?”

Scroot began, “We’ll all go on the train to 3rd Avenue where the club is. Envoy and I will go inside and see if we can find her.”

“And if you can’t?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Envoy and I will have to do some interviews with the dancers. Discreetly though because, as you can imagine, the management there isn’t too friendly to police officers asking questions. The strippers can be nice regular folks, but the security assholes are something completely different.” Scroot said.

“So, if you’re trying to do this discreetly, why are we parading around royal guards in full armor?” Rainbow Dash asked while pointing a hoof at the guards.

“I thought of that,” Scroot said, “Rarity, I need you to come up with something that will make them look like club security. We need them to look at lot less clean cut. The bouncers at The Plot are like a revolving door of sociopaths, so they likely won’t notice if a couple more stallions are standing around in there.”

Rarity nodded to Scroot and then to the guards, “Sirs, if you will follow me to the little shop across the street, I will get you outfitted.”

They silently agreed to follow her request as she led the way out of the coffee shop.

“Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy,” Scroot said, “It probably hasn’t changed a lot since much of their income was under the table. Anyway, it’s a shotgun building like a trailer, but the front entrance is on the narrow east side, and the back door is the west side. I need each of you to standby at each entrance so if Trixie is there, and she manages to escape us, you can follow her from the sky so we won’t lose her.”

As the pegasi acknowledged their assignment, Scroot continued, “Pinkie, I need you at the back entrance to watch from the ground while Fluttershy will be waiting to give chase from the air.”

“Got it.” Pinkie said with a nod.

Scroot briefly put his hoof on Applejack’s shoulder. “And same thing with you, but at the front entrance with Rainbow Dash.”

“Alright, then we’re ‘bout ready to get to it?” Applejack asked.

“As soon as Rarity gets back, we’ll head out.” Scroot nodded.

“I hope she comes my way.” Pinkie Pie grumbled to herself, but loud enough for everypony to hear her. “Seriously, I almost hope she gets away, comes out that back door, and I get the chance to hurt her.”

Fluttershy looked over Pinkie with concern for her friend’s mental health while Applejack put a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder and said, “I understand how y’all feel, sugar cube, but I really just want this to go well. I hope none of us get hurt, and we do it all clean like.”

Pinkie gave a chuckle, “I don’t think you get how badly I want to make Trixie bleed.”

“I’m… um… I’m going to get another macchiato. Do you want anything?” Fluttershy asked.

Applejack briefly looked around the company and then back to Fluttershy, “I think we’re all good, but thanks, sugar cube.”

Fluttershy nodded and then she stepped off the loveseat and cantered to the service counter.

“Well, Rainbow.” Applejack started while holding her coffee between her fore-legs to take a sip, “What was bein’ in the slammer like?”

Scroot watched Rainbow Dash to see her reaction while she had done the same to him. He downcast his eyes and pretended like he wasn’t paying attention.

“Dude, it’s cool.” Dash said to Scroot, “It’s not an elephant in the room or whatever. I can talk about it and it’s whatever.”

Scroot gave her a smile, “Thanks.”

“It’s not for you. It’s just easier on everypony else, you know?” Dash chuckled, and then she turned to Applejack, “It was cold in there, AJ.”

“Kept you in a freezer, did they?” Applejack said as put her drink back on the table.

Rainbow Dash nodded while swirling her coffee with her wing, “For real. And the food was just awful. I mean it wasn’t like bad quality food with maggots and mold growing on it or anything, but it was bland and tasteless.”

“You at least make any friends?” Applejack asked with a smile.

Dash started to answer, but just smiled and shook her head. She watched Pinkie Pie glare into the floor as the pink pony imagined herself in hoof-to-hoof combat with Trixie.

She nudged Pinkie’s shoulder, “I missed you.”

Pinkie looked up and gave Dash a smile, “I missed you, too, Dashie. It’s been a rough few days on all of us.”

“You got that right.” Applejack said while trying to get a few more drops of coffee from her empty cup.

Pinkie continued, “It’s like my whole life completely turned into a different thing, all at once. One minute, I’ve got all my friends around, and we’re putting together another big project, and then… three of them were gone, just like that.” She concluded with a clap of her fore-hooves.

“I know what you mean.” Rainbow Dash said, “Like a nightmare that won’t end.”

“Right.” Pinkie agreed, “I’m just so pissed about this whole thing, and I want it to be over so I can begin to adjust to our new normal.”

“So, what do you think?” Rarity announced her return with an exaggerated wave of her hoof to the royal guards that were standing at her side. She had given them black t-shirts that fit tightly over their swollen muscles, baseball caps to conceal their faces, and black low-profile saddlebags that covered their cutie marks. She had even used her make up to create convincing looking scars on their faces and bodies.

“These boys look tough.” Applejack said, “I think you did great.”

“Why thank you, darling.” Rarity said as she inconspicuously placed a black button up shirt on Envoy’s lap.

“Thank you so much.” Envoy said and gave a pained smile. She slipped off her blouse and put on the new shirt while her magic removed the tags and buttoned it up. The old shirt floated away in Envoy’s magic and stuffed itself into a trashcan by the counter.

Fluttershy returned from the counter with a small coffee cup in her wing and looked over the guards, “Wow, they’re so incognito.”

“So, are we ready to go or what?” Pinkie asked loudly.

“Yes, we’re ready.” Scroot nodded to Pinkie as he stood and began to make his way back to the train. The others followed close behind him, and the royal guards brought up the rear. They trotted up the stairs and filed onto the boarding platform just as the northbound train stopped in to load and drop off passengers. They boarded the train silently as everypony else did, and they rode silently as everypony else did as well. They appeared to be just another group of commuters simply going about their lives. As the L arrived over the intersection of Cantle Road and 3rd Avenue, Scroot pointed out the club that could be seen from the train platform. The ponies got off the train and followed Scroot and Envoy down the Avenue to the club.

The Plot was a narrow building but fairly decent in size. The 900 square meter concrete and stone building used to be an office which had windows surrounding the exterior, but the entire outside surface of the structure was painted a deep black and the windows were covered in an expanding powder coat rubber that made them completely opaque. The front entrance had an awning that covered a cheap wooden ramp which led to a black steel double door. A purple neon tube curved and looped to spell out The Plot on the transom, and the ramp was lined with dark red velvet ropes which were connected by aluminum posts that were poorly painted gold.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash took their positions in front of the entrance ramp, and Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie started around the rear of the building.

Scroot, Rarity, and Envoy entered the first room of the club. It was extremely small, and could only fit two average sized ponies in front of the cover window. The stallion in the window simply stated that the cover charge was 10 bits, and didn’t check for their identifications or any proof whatsoever that they were of age. The disguised royal guards were close behind the investigators as they entered the main room of The Plot.

The room was narrow and had a bar with servers dressed in lingerie along the east wall. The west wall had two small, circular stages in the north and south corners and both had chrome poles coming from the center of the circle and rising into the ceiling. The main stage in the center of the west wall was rectangular and had two poles about a meter from each corner of the stage edge. The south wall had three doors; one was a male restroom, another was a female restroom, and the one farthest to the east was a bead door that had the letters “VIP” above it. Bisecting the room long-ways was a series of booth seating for customers.

The seats were simply pillows on the floor in front of a half-circle back rest. Twelve seating crescents faced west and were back to back with a symmetrical, east facing set of seats. These areas had no tables and the ponies that occupied the space simply placed their drinks on the floor in front of them.

A unicorn stallion with slicked back green mane was in a sound booth between the south and center stage. He bobbed his head with the punching beat of the electronic music as he moved sliders on the soundboard, changed vinyl records on the turntables, and seamlessly blended one driving, bass-heavy song into another.

The first thing Scroot noticed was that the royal guards were much larger than the security ponies working in the club. He thought, so much so that every bouncer in the building could try to fight them, and the royal guards would probably come out on top.

The royal guards took positions at the north and south end of the bar while Scroot, Envoy, and Rarity wandered to one of the unoccupied booths between the bar and the stage and sat down with Rarity between the investigators. They blended in well with the surrounding customers being that their clothing matched the casually-formal style. The stallions around them were tossing bits onto the stages to compliment the mares’ perversely sexualized dances, and the waitresses were strutting with an attention grabbing sway while navigating through the gawking males.

Although it wasn’t out of the ordinary for ponies to go nude in public, it was crass for a mare to flaunt her genitals openly and just as equally tactless for a stallion to show-off an erection. Additionally, to call attention to somepony that was exposed, especially somepony that one didn’t know, was considered indecent and extremely rude. In The Plot, though, the entire idea was to get the naked ponies together and blatantly ignore all of those societal rules. It was certainly laughable that they created the club with the expectation that prostitution wasn’t going to happen.

A dark red pegasus mare with brilliant long gold mane stopped by their booth and, without warning, sat in between Scroot’s legs. She scooted her butt between his legs while she looked back at him. Rarity swelled with anger, but Scroot appeared nonplussed and disinterested with the display so she attempted to calm herself.

“Can I get you something to loosen you up, babe?” The server asked, and she softly touched Scroot’s chest with her wing.

“A soda, two light beers, and a pack of full-flavor 100s.” Scroot said simply, “And I’m not tipping you, so fetch us those drinks, and leave the show out of the service, alright?”

The server stood quickly and draped her tail over his head, “I don’t need a tip, baby. I do this for fun.”

Scroot was surprised by the sudden assault of her genitalia being inches from his nose, and he had heard nothing she had said over the music, but she left them and was headed toward the bar, so Scroot assumed that she had heard him correctly. He glanced over to Rarity and she was surprisingly smiling at him.

Rarity looked at all of the different styles negligees and thought to herself that there were so many missed opportunities to use the frames for very pretty dresses. She admired some of the dancer’s hard bodies and color coordination with their minimal clothing. Rarity had never been in a strip club before, and she shared a quiet chuckle with herself because, in a society where ponies were nude in public all the time, the dancers put on clothes just for the purpose of taking them off again. Funny, she thought.

But, Envoy felt as if she had placed herself willingly into the stocks of Tartarus as she watched mares placing their flanks willingly into the crotches of strangers. She felt like it was a slap in the face to any female with self-respect. They were taking these stallions’ money and allowing them to treat them as objects as if they were owned property being rented for a short time. She moved over on the seating to be closer to Scroot while her effort in concealing her anger caused her face to twist into a hard glare. She couldn’t stop thinking of Carneighie Hall and how badly she wanted to keep that strange pony from touching her, but she couldn’t. She just could not see why any mare would subject herself to such voluntary torture.

Rarity leaned over, “Are you alright, darling?” She almost had to shout over the music which caught Scroot’s attention.

“I’m not okay.” Envoy said. “This is just… awful and disgusting.”

Scroot leaned forward to join the conversation, “These girls want money, and these guys want pussy in their face. It sounds like an even trade.”

“Listen, at Carneighie Hall, the manager was a stallion named Green Berry.” Envoy said. She scowled her attackers name as if she had stepped on a rusty nail while she said it.

“A well-dressed asshole with white mane?” Scroot asked.

“That’s the one.” Envoy said with a suspicion that Scroot knew him.

“I’m surprised he could get hired at a respectable establishment like the Hall. He’s a creeper that we picked up a few times for sexual battery, but he’d…” Scroot paused as Envoy frowned hard and nodded slowly as if to silently say that makes sense. “Did he-?”

“Oh, my gosh, Envoy. That’s terrible!” Rarity exclaimed and touched Envoy’s hoof, “It’s no wonder, dear. My goodness, do you want to get out of here?”

“I’ll be okay, Rarity. I’d actually prefer we just pretend it didn’t happen.” Envoy said.

“You want me to send the guards back there to pick him up?” Scroot asked.

“No.” Envoy said and she waved her hoof, “I’d really just like for it to go away.” Envoy said, “It’s over and done with. It’s… It’s just… these stupid girls have no idea what kind of bullshit they’re inviting on themselves. That’s all I’m trying to say.”

The server returned with two draft beers, a soda, and a pack of cigarettes, “That’ll be 13 bits, and all we have are shorts, honey.”

Scroot gave the server a hard glare and said, “If there was even a slight chance you were getting a tip before, you can forget it now.”

The pegasus gave a cute giggle because she thought he was joking, but his stone features and cold stare as he gave her 13 bits exactly told her that he was not. She frowned at the money, and then frowned at Scroot. “You’re a fuckin’ asshole, you know that?”

“I know, I know.” Scroot said while lighting his cigarette on Envoy’s horn.

The server scoffed and started to say something else, but cleared her throat, reeled back her anger, and stood up straight with her eyes closed. She let out a slow breath and then gave Scroot a lighthearted smile, “Okay, if you need anything, just let me know, sir.”

Scroot didn’t look at her, “Okay.” He leaned back against the seat and let out the smoke as the server left them.

“So, I don’t see Trixie.” Rarity said nonchalantly while taking a sip of the soda.

“Envoy doesn’t drink, babe.” Scroot told Rarity.

Rarity glanced at the cup and then Envoy, “Oh, I’m sorry dear. You don’t mind my cooties, do you?” She said while putting the soda back onto the floor in front of them.

“Babe?” Envoy parroted while casually scanning the room.

“Don’t make me explain it right now.” Scroot said while looking around to all the dancers in the room. Trying to see a blue pony in the strobe lights, lasers, and multi-colored LEDs was proving difficult.

“What, are you two banging now?” Envoy asked.

“Not right this second.” Scroot smirked.

Rarity rolled her eyes playfully, “No, we are not ‘banging’ as you may call it, but we are exploring some feelings at the moment.” Rarity explained while taking a swig of her beer, “Scroot, this tastes like urine.”

“Well, you’ve learned your first fact about your new special somepony: He likes old gelding beer.” Envoy chuckled and then she nudged Scroot, “What now… babe?”

“We’ll start talking to the dancers. You have any bits?” Scroot said, and Rarity gave him a hard look.

Envoy cocked her head, “You want me to invite strangers into my personal space to get case information? Did I not tell you what happened today?”

“You don’t have to get dances, but we will have to tip them if we want them to talk to us.” Scroot explained while leaning into the walkway between the bench seats on which they were sitting and the main stage to their left and waved at a white mare that was sitting at a table by herself.

Rarity raised a brow at Scroot, “Sure, you’re going to invite young mares into your lap solely for the investigation.”

“Scroot, I don’t know about this.” Envoy said nervously. “I’ve never seen you… you know…”

“Come on, don’t make this weird, and try to act natural, okay?” Scroot said while accepting a wink from the mare. She nodded and waved to two other dancers that were coming from the bar, and the three of them trotted to their booth.

“Hey, honey.” The white earth-pony mare greeted. She brushed her short scarlet hair that was parted in the middle and framed her face, “I’m Sparkle, and these are my friends; Ruby and Ace.”

Ruby was a thickly built unicorn mare with a smooth green coat and bright orange mane which was spiked into a lazy looking mohawk, and Ace was a slender but muscular yellow pegasus with a long black mane that had the back of his head shaved.

Scroot looked at his partner and gave a tiny nod toward the two dancers that Sparkle had brought with her. Envoy took a deep breath, act natural. She thought to herself.

“Sparkle, why don’t you have a seat next to me?” Scroot offered while sliding 5 bits from his bag toward her.

The white earth pony chuckled as she took a few steps closer, made a point to put her rear-end close to his face, and then she sat on her haunches on Scroot’s right which forced Rarity away from him.

Envoy nodded to Ace, gave a clearly insincere smile, and patted the seat on her right. Ace took the invitation and sat uncomfortably close to her with his chest against her right shoulder. Act natural, Envoy.

“There’s room for you, too.” Scroot said to Ruby while he pointed to the seat on his left. As she joined them, Scroot put a hoof on each mare’s back, “Can I ask you ladies some questions?”

“Is that it?” Ruby said. “I was really hoping to shake my butt for you.”

“Well, my wife and I are celebrating 10 years today.” Scroot lied as he pointed to Envoy with his head.

Ace ran his hoof down Envoy’s back and scooted closer to her, “Oh, congratulations!”

“That’s awesome.” Sparkle said while leaning onto Scroot’s chest. Rarity watched them touching her stallion and felt like they were stealing from her. She remained silent in her effort to contain her anger.

“This is my anniversary present; coming here to get revved up.” Scroot continued. Envoy stared at him and hoped that he wasn’t asking her to say anything. She wasn’t confident in adlibbing, and the dancers appeared to be buying his story.

“So, who is this?” Ruby asked giving a brisk nod to Rarity.

“Her marefriend.” Scroot said simply.

Ruby gave a smile and looked over Rarity as if she was a Las Pegasus all-you-can-eat buffet and slowly said, “Nice.”

“You want me to rev you up, baby?” Ace whispered in Envoy’s ear.

She lost her fake smile and pushed lightly against Ace’s chest, “No, thank you. This is for him, really.”

Ace backed off and allowed Envoy her own space, “Alright, but I do hope you change your mind.”

Envoy levitated 5 bits from Scroot’s bag and put it in front of Ace, “I won’t.”

Rarity watched Scroot flirting heavily with the two mares and recognized that her frustration was misplaced and unreasonable, but she blurted anyway, “Scroot, is there something you wanted to ask these fillies?”

Scroot gave Rarity a look. He tried his best to mutely say, let me work my magic and do the job right, but he gave up on trying to telepathically communicate, nodded to her, and then turned his attention back to the dancers, “I’m really enjoying myself so far, but I am having a small issue.” He told the mares.

Ruby rubbed his shoulders and nibbled his ear, “Anything I can help you with, baby?”

“Well, you ladies are very nice, but I’m looking for one unicorn in particular. I heard incredible things about her, and I wanted to… well, you know… take her for a spin.” Scroot said while tipping Ruby one bit at a time.

“Who is she? Maybe we can share you with her.” Sparkle suggested.

Scroot gave a chuckle, “Well, she is new here, and-”

“Scroot!” Rarity quietly called.

“Rarity, seriously, chill out.” Scroot growled, but his angry glare was deflected by Rarity staring with wide eyes at the center stage.

The loud hiss of fog machines ejecting a thick white cloud which rose from the center stage caught Scroot’s attention. The stallion in the sound booth lowered the music and brought a microphone up from his table to announce the dancer that was making her way to the stage as a cornflower unicorn mare with jet black mane strutted from the smoke and struck a confident pose. Her purple cloak draped over her body was wrapped around her neck and held together by her magic like a transparent brooch in the center of her chest. The sparkling pink magic separated and slowly pulled the front of the cloak open and back as if to dramatically reveal her body, but all Scroot saw was the healing, and yet suspiciously fresh, bite mark on the dancer’s leg.

Author's Note

I'll get illustrations done eventually, but this chapter did not cooperate with me for the longest time.

Chapter 11 - Chagrin

“She looks nervous.” Ruby said while resting her head on Scroot’s shoulder and watching Trixie wiggle her hips at the audience. Envoy and Rarity both looked at Scroot and waited for him to return eye contact, but he appeared to be strategizing.

The stage was about a meter from the floor, and there was a doorway leading to the back room where the dancers prepare for their performance. Two sets of steps led up to the rear of the stage where dancers were making their way up on the left and down on the right. Onlookers were surrounding the stage as Trixie would focus her moves on a particular stallion and then make her way around to each of them. They would hold out coins in their teeth, then Trixie would turn her rump toward them, and then she would sit on their face for a moment after which the stallion would emerge from her behind without the bit in his mouth. Scroot couldn't help but be impressed by the little party trick.

“Scroot!” Envoy loudly whispered and caught everypony in the booth's attention.

“Are you getting a little jealous?” Ace laughed while giving Envoy a little shove, “She's not even that good.” He commented while his physical reaction was much less neutral.

“How do you want to play this out?” Envoy called to Scroot over the music.

“Don't fight please. We're having such a good time.” Sparkle lightheartedly told Envoy.

Scroot finally looked at Rarity and pointed his hoof at her, “Can you get our friends and tell them north and south stairs, please?” He then pointed at Envoy and hooked his hoof toward the bar.

Envoy simply nodded and immediately left the booth. Rarity lowered her brow, cocked her head at Scroot, and then she looked over the stage. She saw the steps on the back wall, quickly nodded to Scroot and then made her way out of the booth toward the royal guards that were still posted at the north and south ends of the bar.

“She's pissed at you, dude.” Ace chuckled as he watched Scroot's companions trot away.

“They'll be okay.” Scroot absent mindedly responded while watching each of the royal guards discreetly walk down to the stage.

Sparkle perked at the sight of the guards trot into position, "Huh, I've never seen them before." and she gave a confused look to Ruby, “Who are they?”

Ruby just shrugged and went back to pandering for further tips from Scroot.

Rarity cantered back to their seat and whispered in Scroot’s ear, “Should I get out of here?”

“Yeah,” He said casually. “Go let the party know that she’s here, please.”

“Okay,” She started and then stopped herself while she tried to come up with something casual to say around the dancers, “Don’t have too much fun… or… um, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do...” She smiled nervously while Scroot just turned his head slowly and made eye contact with her. They stared at each other for a long time, but it wasn’t a warm gaze; He gave a cold stare that clearly told her to leave immediately.

“I’ll leave you to it then.” Rarity said and then set off for the front exit.

Envoy returned, gave Scroot a nod, and he nodded back.

“What-” Sparkle sat up straight and she studied Envoy, and then Scroot, and then Envoy again. She had a slight smile that was torn between remaining playful and being suspicious, “What was that?”

Scroot tried to look calm at Sparkle, “Nothing. I’ve got some friends here that want to see Frisky as well.”

Sparkle shook her head lightly at Scroot just as he looked at the guards. She turned to see the guards more clearly, and saw them nod toward Scroot. She snapped back to Scroot, “I saw that. Are you fucking cops or something?”

Ruby sat up and scooted away from him, “What the fuck? You'd better not be.” She exclaimed.

“Honey,” Scroot gave an uncomfortable chortle, “I'm not a cop.”

Ruby didn't look convinced, “Fuck this, guys. I'm out of here.” She jumped to her hooves and began to hastily leave the booth.

“We're not worried about what you.” Envoy attempted to reconcile, but Scroot's glare told her that it was a bad move, and Ruby broke into a gallop from them which caught the attention from The Plot security. Three of them watched the dancer running, noticed Sparkle's displeased expression, and then started toward their booth to investigate.

Sparkle gave Envoy a hard look, “Then, who are you worried about?”

Scroot watched the security guards closing in on them, “Envoy, we have to move now.” He glanced up to the stage and locked eyes with Trixie who had stopped dancing and was just watching their booth. Scroot pushed Sparkle away from him, "Envoy, go now!"

Both Envoy and Scroot simultaneously made a break for the stage. Ace tried to stop Envoy, but just as fast, he collapsed after Envoy struck him twice in the face with each of her fore-hooves. Sparkle moved from Scroot's path as he climbed onto the stage, and Envoy followed close behind him.

Trixie backed away from the approaching investigators for a moment, and then tore away for the back room but was headed off by the royal guards. She anxiously looked left and then right, but the sides of the stage were blocking her escape due to the crowd of ponies gathering to watch the events unfold on the stage. She nervously turned back toward Scroot and Envoy.

The music suddenly cut off and the DJs voice came over the loudspeakers, “Hey, assholes. We got a show going on here. Get off the stage!” and then the only sound left was the murmuring of onlookers.

Scroot gave a dark smile and showed his badge, “Hey, Trixie. I've been looking everywhere for you.” His voice echoed as the room fell silent except for the club security pushing toward the stage from the north and south sides of the room.

“I am no longer the Great and Powerful Trixie.” Trixie said in what sounded like a fake accent with rolled consonants and strangely placed stresses on odd syllables as if she were announcing her own entrance, “I am now Benign and Negligible.”

“Whatever,” Scroot said while putting away his badge and moving toward her, “You're coming with us either way.”

A voice from the crowd protested to the club security shoving them, “Hey, they're cops, bro. Leave them alone.” And another voice from the other side, “Hold up, let them do what they need to do.”

"No." Trixie said as backed into the royal guards. They immediately wrapped their wings and fore-hooves around her and Envoy's magic held Trixie's hooves to the floor, “You cannot take the Great and P-” She paused and anger swelled in her chest, "Frisky refuses to let it end this way."

The sound of blows landing as the crowd around them began fighting the club security echoed through the building and while Trixie's horn began to glow a powerful pink. Scroot frantically looked around the room for what object would be lit up the same color. He swiveled his head quickly, and then his blood ran cold upon observing the stage light rig above them glowing pink and being pulled from the ceiling.

“Move!” Scroot screamed at the guards just as Trixie threw her head back, and was barely missed by the falling steel which caught the guards on top of their heads. The collapsing rig crushed them, and Envoy's magic vanished from Trixie's hooves as the investigators shielded their faces from the shower of blood.

When Scroot looked up again, he saw Trixie leap over the crowd toward the front exit. She landed atop a few ponies and they tumbled to the floor. They remained on the floor in a daze while Trixie scrambled to her hooves. He shouted at Envoy to follow him, but his voice was tossed into the mix of screams from horrified patrons.

Scroot leaped over the front of the stage, landed poorly, and flopped onto his side. He rolled to his hooves and attempted to gallop after Trixie, but a sharp stabbing shot through his left fore-hoof and he collapsed onto the floor again. He looked at his ankle which rested at a very unnatural angle, "Envoy, go after her!"

"Scroot!" Envoy called over the chaos that escalated into a riot of patrons versus security.

"Go, Envoy!" Scroot called as he watched Trixie burst through the front door.

* * *

Rainbow Dash hovered above the entrance of the club, turned to see how Fluttershy was holding up. Not well it seemed as the yellow pegasus stared at the back door with such intensity that she was bound to burn a hole in it eventually. She also had a clear inability to hover smoothly in the trepidation that she would have to give chase.

“Rainbow!” Applejack shouted from below.

Dash looked down to see a light blue pony with black mane galloping from under the awning and leaving what looked like a trail of bits behind her. Applejack moved to intercept and head-butted the fleeing pony in the belly which took Trixie completely off the ground. She recovered quickly and began punching and kicking Applejack in a desperate attempt to get away.

Dash fired down toward them just as Applejack grabbed Trixie around her head with her fore-hooves and tried to pull her from her hooves. Rainbow Dash landed hard on her rump with all four hooves, and a deep fleshy crack sounded as flesh and bone exploded from Trixie's right rear leg.

Trixie screamed over and over and couldn't get a full breath of air from her uncontrollable cries of pain as she collapsed on the ground. Trixie began pitifully and desperately crawling from them and dragged her broken rear behind her. Applejack shot a hard buck into the side of Trixie's head, caught her in the jaw, and then there was silence except for the gelatin like percussion of her head bouncing off the concrete as she fell into unconsciousness.

“You okay?” Rainbow Dash panted.

Applejack felt her cheek and saw blood on her hoof from where Trixie must have gotten a good shot. “I'm good, Rainbow. Had worse cuts on my eyeballs.”

“Good job, Dash!” Scroot called as he limped to them despite Envoy's assistance.

“For what?” Rainbow Dash said.

“That take-down. A little extreme, but it was good.” Scroot explained.

“Nah, it wasn't.” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I was aiming for her skull.”

* * *

The life threatening injuries Trixie sustained during her apprehension put her in the hospital instead of the jail. Despite the compound fracture of her leg that had severed an artery where she had lost a lot of blood, it was Applejack's head-butt which was attempting to take her life with internal hemorrhaging and a ruptured pancreas. The first major system to fail was her kidneys, the second was her lungs, and then Trixie fell into a coma under mechanical ventilation as her liver began to lose function.

Several weeks went by, and a petition was started, and backed, by a large following to unplug the murderer from life support. It had gathered such an approval from the public and so many signatures that Celestia was forced to issue a response in a long winded, emotional address to Equestria that Trixie was to stand trial should she recover from her injuries and that nopony was to act in such a way that may prevent that from happening.

Following the denial that Trixie be allowed to die, crowds of ponies stood silently outside the hospital both in vigil for Twilight and in protest that Trixie was receiving medical care. The demonstrators, despite being peaceful, would not allow anypony to leave or enter the facility without their say. It took an entire day for them to be separated enough to allow an endocrinologist into the hospital.

After 6 weeks of being comatose, Trixie awoke and it was reported that she was going to make a full recovery. When that news went public, there were several attempts on her life such as armed assassins trying to storm past the guards and stab her to death, poisoning her food which she wasn't eating anyway due to the pancreatic injury, and trying to lace her IV fluids with a lethal dose of painkillers, but their efforts were thwarted by tight security measures every time. After 7 attacks, and 5 weeks of Trixie out of a coma, she was moved to the hospital basement so that the location could be more easily secured and that royal guards could be posted at a set of linear security checkpoints.

Rarity, Scroot, and Envoy were escorted by royal guards from the Canterlot train station to Canterlot General Hospital. The chief liaison with the Sheriff's Office led the detectives to the hospital elevator, took them to the basement level where they were patted down, and they were allowed access to Trixie's room.

“What if she doesn't tell you anything?” Rarity asked while she presented her identification and was given a visitor pass by the deputy at the door. She clipped the little red rectangular badge to her clutch.

“It won't matter.” Scroot said and allowed Envoy to put his red badge on his shirt. “If we can get a confession, it's good for us, but it won't matter if she doesn't.”

“Interviewing her at this point is a formality. I think we have enough evidence to remove all doubt with a jury, but we really need a confession to seal the deal.” Envoy explained while putting her own badge on.

“I must say that I'm morbidly curious myself. I want to hear it from her.” Rarity admitted.

Scroot gave her a nod, “I understand, but that may not give you the emotional result that you're looking for.”

“Maybe not right now, but in the long run, I'm sure that it will remove all doubt.” Rarity explained. “You must understand that while Trixie wasn't a friend per se, she was on good terms with us. The betrayal involved with this whole ordeal is nearly surreal, and I can't help but doubt that she actually did it.”

“Hopefully, she will oblige you.” Scroot shrugged. He raised his brows and spoke clearly, “It's extremely important that you say nothing. Convincing her to seal her own fate may be difficult, and I want to remain in control the entire time.”

“I promise.” Rarity said while touching Scroot's shoulder.

Scroot led the way into the bare white room where Trixie lie in a bed perpendicular to the north wall. She stared out into space away from the door and didn't look to see who was coming into the room. A small stack of books sat on an end table next to a Canterlot Deputy who was watching the heart monitor intently.

The earth pony deputy looked up, “Detective! Long time; no see.”

“Deputy Coal.” Scroot smiled, “How are things?”

“A bit of the same old thing here.” He said and then stood to shake hooves with Scroot.

“I hope that's a good thing. Anyway, we're here to relieve you for a moment to do an interview.” Scroot said while shaking Coal's hoof.

Coal smiled big, “By Celestia's mercy! I was bored out of my mind in here.” He started out of the room, “I'm going to the cafe to grab me a bite. Send for me whenever you need me back.”

“Alright, Coal. We'll see you around.” Scroot said as the deputy left the room.

Rarity remained by the door and silence filled the room while Scroot approached the hospital bed with Envoy at his side. She prepared to record a transcript on a levitated notepad and gave Scroot a nod to notify him that she was ready. Trixie slowly turned her head and looked them over while knowing who Scroot was but trying to place where she had seen Envoy before. She didn't appear to notice Rarity by the door.

“Trixie.” Scroot started, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford a council, you will be appointed one. Do you understand these rights?”

Trixie exercised the first right and simply looked away from the investigators again.

“You have dozens of witnesses that saw you kill two Royal Guards, Trixie. We're here to ask you a few questions and see if we can get you some help.” Scroot explained and was met with further silence.

Rarity mutely shook her head and restrained her emotional response to scoff.

“We're going to try and get you a plea deal.” Scroot continued, “A guilty plea and a sincere apology, recognizing that what you did was wrong, showing the world that you're not a psychopath, can get you a bargain, and you may just keep out of Tartarus.”

“Tartarus?” Trixie whispered fearfully while still looking away.

“Yeah, Tartarus. A literal hell on Earth. The place where the demons of the world are imprisoned. I mean, there aren't many ponies that can survive there for long.” Scroot shared a dark chuckle with himself, “I don't know why Equestria has no death penalty. Sending ponies to Tartarus, even unicorns, just means that they'll be tortured for weeks until they die."

Scroot sighed and saw that scaring her into talking wasn't going anywhere, so he began on a different approach, "I got to say though... you did good on Twilight.” Scroot said.

Rarity let out a sharp breath, but refused her urges to ask him what he meant by that.

He continued, "Yeah, you did really well. You had me thrown for a loop, and I'm not even the one who hoofed you for it."

Trixie looked back to Scroot, but then between the investigators and made eye contact with Rarity. They simply looked at each other for a moment, and then they both looked down. Trixie adjusted in the bed and sat up carefully being mindful of the tubes and monitors attached to her body.

Wetness swelled in Trixie's eyes, but refused to let go as it clung to her eye lashes, “Trixie is sorry, Rarity.” She closed her eyes which squeezed the moisture down her cheeks, and she dropped her head into her hooves crying. “She is so sorry that she did those things.”

Scroot had an urge to pat her shoulder and feign compassion over the weeping, but stopped himself and instead spoke with a consoling tone, “Why did you do it?”

Trixie began through her hooves, “The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't know why she did it for certain. She was mad at Twilight for making her look stupid in front of all those ponies. She hated her after Twilight made her look stupid again when the Greater and More Powerfuller Trixie returned to Ponyville with the Alicorn Amulet.”

Trixie looked up at the ceiling and dropped her hooves into her lap. She shook her head and tried to stay quiet. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to continue, but she silenced herself. She looked between the investigators at Rarity again, “Trixie was so angry that she felt like she had lost control. She knew it was wrong, even while she was doing it, but she couldn't stop herself."

“What happened?” Scroot asked softly and genuinely.

Trixie sniffled, she looked at Scroot, and the words flowed from her almost involuntarily, “She went into the house when Twilight was asleep and strangled the owl with her magic. He didn't last very long, and it felt so good to watch his life fade from his large eyes. He was taken to the Everfree Forest where nopony found him for a few days, and this made Trixie think she could do it. Made her think she could get away with it.”

She looked down into the bedsheets and fiddled with her hooves, “Trixie went back to the house with everything that reminded her of Twilight like the fake amulet that Trixie was fooled with. Trixie was going to erase Twilight from the world by ridding it of her and everything associated with her. But, she didn't know how to kill a dragon quickly because she feared that choking him wouldn't work. They're so strong. So, Trixie made a poison and used magic to inject him with it. She watched him die. It looked painful... and for some reason, that made Trixie feel very good.”

Trixie continued, “She thought about using her magic to stab Twilight, but Trixie wanted to feel her die. She wanted to feel the blood on her face. Trixie hated her so much. And so, she stabbed her in the neck with the knife in her teeth. It was a bit surprising hot the blood was when it got on Trixie's face. The taste was a little unnerving, but she didn't care right then because Twilight woke up and fought her faster and harder than she thought she would. She bit Trixie on her leg very hard, and it hurt so bad that Trixie panicked and just kept stabbing her until she stopped moving.”

“Twilight...” Trixie stopped herself from sobbing again, “...she made very strange sounds... like she was trying to scream.” She ran a hoof over her disorganized mane and then dropped it in her lap again, “That sound has haunted her. She couldn't stop hearing it for a long time.” Trixie gave pause and buried her face in her hooves.

Scroot sat on his haunches, “What happened next, Trixie?”

Trixie had begun sobbing so hard that it was almost difficult to understand her, “She pulled her from the bed with her magic, and put Twilight and Spike onto the sled. She pulled them to the Everfree Forest, but they were so heavy and ponies kept trying to see what Trixie was doing. The dragon... Trixie was surprised because he was so much heavier than Twilight.” She stopped herself again, wiped her nose, and shook her head. She couldn't believe that she was telling them so much, but she had kept it a secret for so long that she was almost relieved to be telling anypony.

She continued, “Trixie dumped Spike, and the sled was easier to pull with just Twilight on it. She went to Ghastly Gorge and put Twilight on the edge of the cliff. At that moment, Trixie realized what she had done. She became scared of what would happen if she got caught, but was also sad that she was capable what she had done. She felt... scared of herself.”

“But then, she looked at the fake amulet again and thought of her humiliation. It made her angry, and she lost control again. She took it and shoved the amulet in Twilight's mouth, and she tried to get it as deep in her throat as she could. She was so angry that she beat Twilight for a long time until she was too tired to continue. That was when The Great and Powerful Trixie covered Twilight with the rug again, pushed her off the cliff, and watched Twilight fall. Trixie thought about going down to the creek and putting her in the water, but she was scared that somepony would find all of the blood in the library."

Rarity wiped tears from her face and considered leaving the room, but didn't want to disturb them with the sound of the door. Envoy's quill finished the last note and they waited for Trixie to continue, but she simply stared at her hooves and reflected on the events that she recounted.

Scroot nodded and added, “And then you cleaned the crime scene.”

Trixie cleared her cheeks of tears, “Trixie cleaned a lot, but there was so much blood, and it wouldn't come out completely. Trixie only had to leave because Rainbow Dash had knocked on the door, and Trixie went out of the window by Twilight's bed.”

“You almost got caught by Rainbow Dash?” Scroot asked in surprise.

“Yes." She answered and became calm. She continued in a shameful, lethargic drone while continuing to stare down into the bedsheets. “Trixie felt relieved when Rainbow Dash was arrested, and she felt like she had gotten away with it. She was still scared though, so Trixie went to Manehattan to start a new life under a new name. Nopony would hire her, and the pervert manager of the Carneighie Hall suggested The Plot. He said that mares like Trixie make lots of money dancing there. She assumes you found out Trixie was there from him.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny.” Scroot said.

“Trixie is sorry she killed those ponies.” She sobbed, “Trixie is sorrier that she was caught, but nonetheless she is sorry that she killed anypony.” She said, and then swallowed more crying before it came out, and barely retained her composure.

Rarity put a hoof over her mouth because she felt like she was going to be sick, but then she suddenly slammed her hoof on the floor, “You felt like Twilight humiliated you, so you stabbed her to death?” Rarity said in a restrained voice. She clearly was resisting the urge to scream.

Trixie looked at Rarity with a look of genuine shame, “Yes. The Great and Powerful Trixie tried to let it go. She apologized to Twilight to try to make herself feel better about it, and it was well received, but Trixie still was met with scrutiny over the events.” Trixie lowered her gaze and fiddled with her hooves again. “She stewed in hatred for everypony that enjoyed her company. Trixie wanted to take her away from you just like Twilight took her performances away. She felt like Twilight had to die... I...”

Trixie paused in a brief reflection of the words she was about to speak, “I had to kill her.”

Author's Note

I wanted to make the chase scene longer, but I couldn't help but feel it would be pointless. I felt like they had all the bases covered and whatnot. So, I figured a quick capture should be easy enough.

Illustrations will be complete soon enough.

Epilogue - Decapitated Harmony

After 7 months of preliminary appearances, discovery hearings, and jury trial presentations, Trixie Lulamoon was convicted of three counts of murder, attempted murder by poisoning, and cruelty to animals. Celestia gave a public address where she commended Twilight's friends for their assistance in the investigation, formally apologized for the wrongful arrest of Rainbow Dash, and announced that Trixie was sentenced to life in Tartarus bringing the event to an official close.

Trixie was transported back to the maximum security Special Housing Unit of the Canterlot Detention Center on suicide watch as a precaution due to the nature of her conviction and sentence. Her cell was bare and cold with nothing except four concrete walls and a small water fountain/toilet built into the floor of the northwest corner. She sat in the middle of the cell and cried quietly while contemplating her future.

There were rumors that nopony was actually in control of Tartarus. The guardians only prevent escapes while mares like her were being raped to death by any demon which broke free of their chains. Anypony to be sent to Tartarus was destined to a demise of starvation, beatings, or burning within few weeks. She thought she may live longer if a demon takes a liking to her and protects her, but that would likely be to prolong the perpetual raping she would be forced to endure. Trixie trembled, and the first serious idea of suicide to spare herself of the horribly grotesque death that she was doomed to suffer crept into her mind.

She examined the sink from the center of the cell. The hole for bathroom purposes was too small for even her hoof to fit inside. It was on a timer and flushed on its own every hour which removed the need for a button or switch that would certainly be abused and broken by inmates who were troublesome, suicidal, or both. A spout was several centimeters away from the “toilet” and worked on the same timer. So, the toilet flushing would trigger the spout in the floor to dispense 12 fluid ounces of water which, if not drank, would run down the slight funnel into the toilet.

She looked at the fountain closer as a design flaw caught her eye. The half inch thick copper pipe beneath the cylindrical, stainless steel spout was exposed for about a quarter of an inch between the cap and the floor. The cap was about a quarter of an inch wider than the pipe and appeared to be very sturdy. Should a rope be tied around it, Trixie believed that the pipe would support her full weight. Although, since she would be already on the floor, she would have to face away from the spout, lean forward with the rope on her neck, and allow a vascular choke to bring her into unconsciousness. If in the correct position, she wouldn’t collapse completely and she could achieve a horizontal hanging.

The jingle of keys outside the cell rang in her ear as the detention guard peered into her cell, noted her condition on the form taped to the door, and then left her again. They performed a sight check every 15 minutes, on the dot. Trixie thought she could pull her hair out, one strand at a time, and then braid them together to make a rope, but surely they would catch her doing so. That would result in many officers forcing her into a nearby room, holding her down, and shaving her head and tail. She didn’t want to go through that, so she dismissed the thought completely.

Suddenly, a metallic whirring caught her attention as the steel door opened to reveal Princess Celestia entering the cell. Trixie quickly stood and then bowed out of habit.

“Get up.” Celestia commanded curtly.

Trixie stood. Her tears dripped from her chin as she gazed upon the angered face of Celestia. They stared at each other in a moment of silence at the first time Celestia had seen Trixie, face to face, since the murder. Celestia's eyes narrowed and she repressed her primordial urge to smash her into an unrecognizable pulp.

“Princess-” Trixie began.

“Don't speak.” Celestia silenced her.

Trixie noticed she was not accompanied by an entourage of intimidating royal guards, and the detention officers appeared to have been dismissed from their posts. Trixie and Celestia were completely and totally alone to speak in confidence.

“Why-” Trixie started again.

Celestia's horn glowed and her magic squeezed Trixie's mouth shut. “Don't say a word.”

Trixie didn't struggle against the powerful magic grip that held her jaws closed. She simply waited for Celestia to explain her presence.

“You have committed a crime which is unspeakable. As if decapitating harmony, you have broken apart the Elements and left Equestria without its most important means of defense.” Celestia said through gritted teeth. “You will be transported to Tartarus for these crimes where you will live a short life. The burning fires, stabbing rocks, and choking smoke will end you soon if the demons imprisoned there don't eat you alive or use you as hunting game... Or worse.”

Her horn continued to glow as a thin rope slid over the threshold of the cell. Celestia's magic dissipated from the rope just in front of Trixie's hooves. It was braided nylon. Very strong.

Celestia turned to exit the cell. “I can assure you that nopony will bother you until you go to Tartarus in the morning.” Her horn glowed as she began to close the door behind her, “For I am a forgiving princess.”

* * *

Following Trixie's suicide, an investigation was launched against the Canterlot Detention Center. Scroot was named the lead investigator of the case and concluded that he had personally witnessed the versatility of Trixie's vaginal muscles; therefore, no fault could be attributed to anypony unable to find the rope in time to prevent her from taking her own life. He also noted a particularly troublesome inmate whom had probably incurred enough attention from the guards so that proper sight checks were unable to be completed. Additional staffing was added to the unit to remedy the issue.

A few weeks after, Scroot replaced his sign at the front of his home to read, “Office of Investigator Majesty Envoy” officially becoming her partner to her cases. He felt that he served well as an assistant and although he didn't wish to stop working, he thought Envoy had become a better investigator than he was. It also gave him more time away from the office as he and Rarity shared a continued relationship, and they had begun to spend more time together.

Rainbow Dash waited a year after being released from jail before bringing herself to say that she forgave Scroot for the misunderstanding, and actually meant it. That was about the same time Pinkie's mane regained its bubbly and curly appearance. The two of them began playing pranks on Scroot nearly weekly. Mainly because Scroot was very reactive to their shenanigans, but also because he always calmed down eventually and admit that it was funny. He never meant it, but he was trying to be nice.

Fluttershy took Spike in as her new number one assistant. He helped keep after her pets, and helped her with research projects concerning animal rescues. Despite the undertaking of helping Fluttershy, he always made time to research all things science because he felt like it brought Twilight and himself closer together.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna took control of the Elements of Harmony, as they no longer provided defense to the kingdom, and they were placed in the Canterlot Archives in the Starswirl the Bearded Wing along with the other archaic spells and artifacts. Shortly after Trixie’s trial concluded, Princess Luna was left as interim Sun and Moon control while Celestia remained out of the office on sabbatical. Celestia had made many difficult and controversial decisions, so she chose to step out of the civic limelight for a while until things calmed down.

The anniversary of Twilight's death, known as The Day of Twilight, became a dedicatory holiday recognizing the first untimely death of a princess in Equestria. She was buried alongside Owlicious in the Canterlot Memorial Cemetery in a sealed tomb under a statue of her likeness where thousands would gather to remember her every year.

Author's Note

I wanted Trixie to die at the conclusion of the story, but I wanted the trial to happen. Originally, there was a Lee Harvey Oswald style murder of Trixie, but I didn't want anypony to get in trouble for effecting her death. As I re-read it over and over, I became more and more sure of the suicide.

Illustration of Twilight's grave to be added soon enough.

Prologue - National Random Holiday Party Day

Although Pinkie Pie’s eccentricity never took the form of deception, a national holiday purposefully centered on celebrating nothing of any intrinsic value was difficult to believe. Even still, Pinkie was adamant of National Random Holiday Party Day’s continuation through her and her friends. Pinkie gathered her four closest friends at Sugar Cube Corner to discuss preparations. Rainbow Dash, caught up in her latest action-adventure novel, had failed to arrive.

While confusion clouded the conversation throughout, the others eventually agreed to help Pinkie with the festivities. Twilight Sparkle offered the Golden Oak Library as a venue while the other ponies struggled to provide anything of any use due to the obscurity of the topic. Rarity vaguely suggested colorful decorations, Fluttershy elected to provide music of indefinite genre, Applejack afforded the opportunity for party goers to play games with equivocal themes, and Pinkie Pie informed them of the “Secret Punch” which would be provided in abundance.

Content with the rather unclear plan, they began to depart from Sugar Cube Corner when Twilight asked everypony to keep an eye out for Owlowiscious. She told them that her pet owl had flown away during the night and had not returned. Rarity empathetically offered her hope that Owlowiscious would return safe and Fluttershy gave a brief narrative of owl behavior which convinced Twilight not to worry about her feathered friend. Pinkie’s friends left the confectionary and went to their homes to begin their individual contributions to the party.

***

Rainbow Dash was airborne on her way to Sugar Cube Corner. She was hoping that she wasn’t too late for Pinkie’s “super-secret-meeting”. Twilight was entering her home, The Golden Oak Library, when Rainbow spotted her and quickly dove to meet with her. Rainbow Dash called for the recently coroneted alicorn princess’s attention, “Hey, egg-head!”

Twilight stopped in the doorway of the library and gave Rainbow a warm smile, “Hello, Rainbow Dash. We missed you at the meeting.”

Dash rolled her eyes with an entertained look, “I’m sure you did. What was that all about, anyway?”

Twilight searched her head for the right words as she stepped off the porch of the library, “It was about a party… I think… but, I still don’t know what for exactly.”

“So, typical Pinkie Pie stuff.” Dash chuckled at the thought of yet another Pinkie excuse to make cupcakes, mix punch, and hang streamers. That pony seemed to just make up reasons to party.

“More or less.” Twilight agreed with a laugh.

Rainbow Dash grabbed the Daring Do book from her shoulder bag and said through her teeth which were gripping the binder, “Here, you can have this back. The new one comes out tomorrow, and I’m going to be the first pony in Equestria to have it.”

Twilight’s horn began to glow a deep pink and the shimmer encapsulated the book as it levitated away from Rainbow Dash. “Thanks,” Twilight said as she expertly placed the book inside the library, “If you ever need it again, all you have to do is ask.”

Rainbow Dash was relished in the thought of reading the newest addition to the series for a moment when she remembered why she had stopped in the first place, “So, the way I have it figured,” She started, “A. K. Yearling has more than a few fans in Ponyville. If we get to the bookstore a bit earlier that it opens, we could be the first ponies to read the high-flying adventures of Daring Do!”

Twilight flashed a bright smile, “That’s a great idea! We could go together!”

“That’s what I was thinking!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

Twilight raised a brow at the sporty pony, “Can you be here at 5 o’ clock in the morning? I don’t remember you ever getting up that early for anything.” She said with a sardonic inflection.

“Absolutely!” Rainbow paused, “Hold on… I’ve got an incredible idea.”

Twilight remained steadfast in anticipation of Rainbow Dash’s brilliance.

“We could have a sleep-over. I’ll dash back to the Cloudominium and grab some things, and then we can hang out until we go to the bookstore!” Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and hovered in her excitement.

“A sleep-over!” Twilight beamed, “We can spend all night reading dissertations and discussing chemical properties!” Twilight danced lightly as the grin on her face spread to her whole body. “I can’t wait to hear your informed take on the ecological effect of pony presence in the biosphere!”

Rainbow Dash set down on the ground and disapprovingly twisted her face at the proposed activities for the evening, “Well… on second thought…”

Twilight tilted her head, “What’s wrong, Rainbow?”

Rainbow shifted on her hooves, “I’m just thinking I should probably stay home tonight.”

Disappointment faded from Twilight’s demeanor as she recalled the proposal and realized what pony she was talking to. “That doesn’t sound like fun to you?” She laughed.

“Well, you know,” Rainbow began to explain with an enduring feigned interest, “We’ve got to rest the old eyes to be ready to dive into Daring Do tomorrow.” She gave Twilight the best reassuring smile that she could.

Twilight shrugged and chuckled again, “Alright, then I’ll see you here at 5?”

Rainbow Dash wrapped a wing around her friend, and she gave a warm squeeze, “I’ll be here.”

Twilight started toward the library and noted the sun making its way to the horizon, “Okay, let’s get to bed and rest up. I don’t know about you, but I have some serious reading to do in the morning.”

Rainbow Dash beamed and sprang off the ground, “Oh, yeah we do!” She took flight back to her Cloudominium and did all she could to forget the incredible moment of laying her hooves on the book she has anticipated for so many months, if only for a moment, to get a good night’s sleep.

Author's Note