The story of a new life

I woke up at three in the morning, it was dark and quiet in the library. I could hear Twilight's light breathing coming from upstairs. I tried to go back to sleep but the very small size of the beg got the best of me. So I sat down again and this time, I took a book from the library, I wasn't a particularly good reader nor did I like books that much, but it was the only thing I could think of doing in this place... I asked my self if Twilight would be angry with me touching her books, but It wasn't really snooping, I was collecting information for the case, and besides, I needed to learn more about this world full of talking ponies if I wanted to have a chance to solve the case.

I got up, observed the shelves for a few seconds and I took the first book that seemed interesting. It was entitled : "The story of Equestria". I read the first pages and then jumped to the most important chapters. In about an hour of intense reading, I had already learned a lot : apparently, princess Celestia and her younger sister, princess Luna ruled Equestria by raising the sun and the moon, they were responsible of maintaining the harmony in all Equestria.

After browsing through a few other books, I had learned that there was three types of ponies in Equestria, just like Twilight told me. There were the earth ponies with no horn or wings, they were the hard workers of Equestria and spend a lot of time to grow and gather most of the food produced. They had natural physical strength. Then, there were the unicorns, the ponies with a horn, just like Twilight. They were able to canalize magic, producing more or less powerful spells depending on their 'level'. The book didn't explain how that magic was created or how it worked, and I'm glad it didn't... And finally, there was the pegasi. They had wings and therefore could fly, they were apparently responsible for controlling the weather in Ponyville... somehow.

This was actually really interesting. I also found some maps of Equestria, and I discovered different places : there was Ponyville (where I was), Cloudsdale (which was a city built out of clouds that only pegasi could access... yes this world was getting crazier and crazier), Manehattan, Canterlot and other interesting regions. I also found a book entitled "The Elements Of Harmony" it was on one of the top shelves and so I couldn't reach it. I would ask Twilight about this when she woke up, as I had been attracted to the bright colours and ornaments of the book. And the last volume I found was something that seemed to be an archive : all the known creatures in Equestria were listed. There was their name, occupation, habits and all other types of information. In it, I found Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash.

Speaking of Rainbow Dash, she was a very really beautiful creature : her skin was of a very bright blue, she had dark pink eyes and had a rainbow coloured mane and tail. I also noticed she was a pegasus as he had a pair of blue wings. She also had a symbol representing a white cloud and a lightning bolt coming out of it. The lighting was rainbow coloured too. This symbol was on the same spot than Twilight's and I saw a bunch of other ponies with a weird drawing on their flanks too. Gotta add that to the "questions to ask Twilight later" list. I was going through more of the archive book when a familiar voice made me jump :

"Hmm... what are you doing snooping like this ?" Twilight said

"Oh no no, I...I was just looking around... and I... I found this book... on... on the floor so..."

Twilight laughed :

"I was just joking, it's ok. I was observing you since you picked up that first book". She said

"You...you were spying on me ?" I asked

"N... no, I just appear to be awake at that time, I often wake up in the middle of the night. Then I heard you getting up so I looked at what you were doing, you see, I am not use to have a human guest here." She answered

Yea, right...

"I see you want to get an early lead on the case, great decision! The books you chose are perfect to get you started on Equestria". Twilight said

"Yes, I know, I already learned so much, like the different type of ponies and the different places in Equestria. It is truly interesting. And then I found this book, is it an archive ?" I asked, pointing at the heavy book on my knees.

"Yes, I borrowed it from princess Celestia, there are a lot of books in the Canterlot libraries."

Canterlot must be the royal town or something.

Twilight continued :

"This book contains every pony and every creature that was ever encountered in Equestria. I thought I would need it for the case if we hadn't found any qualified detective. There is some really interesting information that will surely come in handy so you can keep it if you want." She added

"Thank you. But I also have one more question." I said

"Yes ?"

"There is a book up there, 'The Elements Of Harmony' and I couldn't reach it, but was very curious about what it could be." I told her

her horn illuminated and slowly, the book slipped from the shelves, and in a few seconds, it was in her hoofs. She sat down and explained :

"Alright, since you are so curious, I will tell you the story of the elements of harmony : They are a powerful magic that was used by princess Celestia at the time to protect her kingdom. Once, her sister Luna and her got in an argument that ended up in a fight. Luna didn't want to lower the moon any more, as she wanted the ponies to be as happy as they were the day at night. She got so angry that she threatened to plunge Equestria into eternal darkness." Twilight said

"Having no other choices, Princess Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to banish her sister on the moon. A few years ago, Luna freed herself one night, and try to finish what she had started. My friends and I found the elements of harmony and manage to destroy the evil inside of her."

"You see, the Elements of Harmony are composed of six elements : loyalty, honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity and magic. We also call them the Elements of Friendship, as it is them who brought me and my friends together, and that is keeping us connected. When those six elements are combined, they unleash an unmatched devastating magic that had proven to keep dangers away from Ponyville many times. Now, the Elements Of Harmony are no longer guarded in Canterlot, as Princess Celestia cannot use them any more : the true elements were born. And there are represented by six ponies." Twilight continued

"You have one of them in front of you." Twilight said, proudly

"I represent the element of magic. It's always been my passion and it is my destiny. The other five elements are represented by my five best friends, you'll get a chance to meet them during the interrogations."

"Well there you go, that is the story of the Elements Of Harmony. This book will only tell the same thing, with a bit more detail and historical facts."

Well, finally something that isn't to complicated !

"Ok, Twilight, thank you for explaining this to me, the more I know here, the better for the case. Now, I would like to start interrogating. I'll start by asking you some questions about Rainbow dash and the poisoning". I said

"I am ready." She replied

"Very well, let's start : how do you know Rainbow Dash and what is your relationship with her ?" I asked

"Well, I met her the first time I came to Ponyville. I had moved from Canterlot to here because of my studies. At that time, I didn't know anything about friendship. When I met her, I clearly saw she had that bombastic attitude in her. She is a warrior, she never gives up but isn't the kind of pony that is very modest... After discovering the Elements Of Harmony, we became best friends just like with the four other ponies that I'll present to you later. Oh, and Rainbow Dash represents the element of Loyalty."

"Good, next question, when and where exactly did the crime occur, and where were you at that time ?" I asked her

"Dash got poisoned two days ago at five AM. We don't know much about the crime except that Rainbow Dash's body was found near the Everfree forest by one of my friends. We don't know why she was there in the first place, or when she got poisoned exactly."

"What do you mean ? she can't tell us what happened, is he in a coma ?" I asked, worrying

"Well... it's not really a coma, but apparently, the substance that was used on her had a serious amnesia effect. she can't even remember why he was in that forest in the first place. But we will visit her as soon as we are finish with those questions." She answered

"Oh god...ok... So where were you at that very exact time, when her body was found ?" I asked

"Well at that time, I was with Rarity and Pinky pie... Oh, those are two of my other best friends. You see, Pinky Pie is an earth pony and she asked rarity who is a unicorn and me to help her with one of her parties. She really likes parties. You'll understand this better when you meet them. So I was with them from three AM the day of the crime to six AM that same day. We were alerted only when her body was in the hospital."

Good, I'll be able to confirm her alibi with these two ponies.

"Very well, last question : would you have any suspicions on who might have done it, I couldn't really think of anyone, since I am kinda new here...?" I asked

"Hmm... Those are only theories but I might have a few ideas..."

*10 minutes later*

After some packing up (Twilight took a bag that she carried on her back but I didn't see what she put in it) and finishing the conversation with Twilight, we headed towards the hospital, our next goal was interrogating Rainbow Dash. It was the first time I was out of Twilight's house and I must say, I wasn't to unhappy to feel the fresh air of the morning again. Ponyville was not very busy but that was probably because it was very early in the morning.

Still, I could see ponies preparing for their work, waving hooves at their loved one, or fillies hoping around, on their way to school. Some things were similar to my world, at least. The roads I saw were not for cars as I first thought, but actually for some kind of pony driven coach... Yes, ponies would pull others for transport... What a weird world.

I was still confused and feeling a bit homesick, but there was no turning back now. I would have to give it all I got to solve this case. It felt good to feel like someone important for once...

Each time I passed close to a pony, this one would stare at me while I walked away... Have they never seen a human before ? Hmm, probably not. After a few minutes of walking, we arrived at the Ponyville hospital. It was just like any normal hospital : a big white building with a few rectangle windows. Instead of the red cross symbol I could find on the hospitals of the human world, here, there was a huge drawing on one of the walls. It represented two unicorn ponies' head, smiling. They both had a white hat and a mask over their mouth. But apart from that, I couldn't see much more from the outside. We entered. I saw lots of corridors leading to different doors, and in the centre, a big reception. We walked towards the pony that was managing the ponies entering. Twilight asked for the authorization to visit Rainbow Dash. After a phone call, he told us that we could go and as we walked away, I noticed that the pony was looking at me nervously...

We then walked down long hallways of numbered rooms before arriving : room 13. I wasn't superstitious but come on... We entered and I saw Rainbow Dash, my heart almost skipped a beat. She wasn't the Rainbow Dash I saw in the archives, it just couldn't be... The pony that was in the hospital bed had a very dark tint of green skin, her nose was filled with yellow liquid dripping on her blanket. Her eyes were half-closed and covered with brown crusts. I could see that her mane had been rainbow coloured, but it had lost most of it's colours... She seemed a hundred years old with wrinkles all over her face. Her wing's feathers were all over the room and her fur was filled with things I couldn't even identify. I could also see a big of transparent tube attached to her nose and mouth. It was connected to a complex device near the hospital bed.

I now understood that this was very, very serious and that the criminal I would have to deal with, was not going to go easy on us. But if he wanted Rainbow Dash dead this fast, then why bother asking for money ? Twilight noticed my disgust and told me with a sign of her hoof to approach. I didn't know if this was contagious but if it was, they would probably not allow visitors in. I approached the bed and looked at the poor pony... Twilight spoke with a heavy voice :

"Well... This is what that.... that monster did to her."

She paused, and took a long breath to calm her self.

"We found her body near the entrance of the Everfree forest. There is no trace of needles or any kind of injecting device mark on her body, so she must have drank it or taken it another way. But what was she doing there anyway ?" Twilight continued

At that moment, a pony nurse came in. She was wearing a surgical mask and was levitating a sheet just in front of her.

"Miss Sparkle, could I talk with you ?" She said

"Yes ?"

There was a pause. The nurse was watching me nervously. When twilight noticed, she said :

"Oh, don't worry, he is with me. He is the detective charged of the case."

"I see..." The nurse said, still watching me

"We did everything we could... We tried to use magic, electro-therapy, internal injections... The parasite that was injected in Rainbow Dash is a mega-bacteria that is still unknown to us... It will resist to everything, growing bigger and bigger, affecting the muscles in the wings and legs first, then, the nervous system and finally, the brain and the heart... My scientists and surgeons are currently searching the Everfree forest to find this unidentified bacteria, because if there is one place that is still a mystery to ponies, it is that forest. But... I doubt we will be able to find it in time... I am so sorry." The nurse said, sadly

There was another pause and after a few seconds of silence, she left us with Rainbow Dash. I was really concerned but it was nothing compared to Twilight. Rainbow Dash was her best friend, and now, she was on the verge of death... I could see that Twilight was trying to hold back her tears. But I had to keep it together, I had to interrogate Rainbow Dash before it was too late. I approached the bed and spoke clearly :

"Rainbow Dash, do you hear me ?"

"Hmm... y...yes." She responded in a very weak voice, barely opening her eyes.

"Who...who are y...you ?" She continued

Twilight then talked to her :

"Rainbow Dash it... it's me, Twilight Sparkle, do you remember me, Rainbow Dash ?"

"Tw...Twilight is th... that you ?" Said Rainbow Dash

It seemed like she was trying to sit down, but couldn't, she let out a moan of pain as she let herself fall on the bed once more. We could clearly see that she was in extremely bad conditions...

"Yes, and I am here with the person I told you about, you remember ? I promise you I would summon him and I did. He is a human but he... he is very talented, we are going to get you out of there... Rainbow Dash, ok ? You just have to hold it together. Please..." Twilight said as her voice was getting heavy again.

Rainbow Dash didn't answer.

I spoke again :

"Rainbow Dash I know that you are in very bad shape but I really need to ask you some question, just do your best to try and talk to me an remember what happened ." I said

"O...OK" She responded.

"Rainbow Dash, why were you in the Everfree forest two days ago ?"

It seemed like she was thinking.

"I...I can't remember anything..." She said

"Ok, let's look at he situation from a different angle : what is the last thing you remember ?" I asked

"The...the last thing I saw... hmm... Oh that's right, the last thing I remember was... Cloudsdale..." She smiled

"Yea I was there just... just hanging there, it is my favourite place to go, I had just received a letter from the mail pony *cough* But that's it, I can't remember any of what was inside the letter or anything after this *cough*" She answered

"OK, good, now, where is this letter ?" I asked

It was Twilight who answered me, still with this expressionless voice :

"I remember... the Ponyville police told me about this letter. They found it with her body when it was found. They took it to the police station, I already tried to get it back but since I wasn't a professional detective or a police officer, they didn't let me in... so it must still be there..."

"sigh... Ok, Rainbow Dash, do you remember something else, anything ?..." I asked

At that moment, her body started twitching and her heart beat increased drastically.

"No... NO... GET AWAY FROM ME... NO... NOT THIS VIDEO... NOOOOOOOOOOO... I WON'T LET YOU..."

Not long after a team of three pony doctors pushed us away and took the bed to the emergency room while Rainbow Dash was still screaming out in terror... Twilight and I were still standing there, shocked. I saw a tear drop from her eye onto her cheek and heard her sobbing... I could understand that seeing her best friend like this must hurt a lot. Although I knew I was suppose to comfort her, I didn't... I didn't really know how and I was still feeling uneasy about all those ponies. We both left the hospital in silence. Once outside, I told Twilight :

"Listen, Twilight, I am going to do everything I can do solve this case and save Rainbow dash, I promise."

At that moment, I realised what I had done. I had fully committed to this case, and I couldn't back down now. I had officially reached the 'no return' point, but deep inside of me, it didn't bother me, no, I had never been so excited in my life! Twilight wiped her eyes and looked at me with a small, timid smile on her face.

"Thank you so much, Christopher, I really appreciate that you are willing to give so much time and effort for a somepony you just met. Let's not wait another minute and let's meet my other friends so we can get some more information! " She said

She had got her perseverance back and I was happy about that. We were ready to continue. We started walking when Twilight stopped.

"Oh, I almost forgot to give you this, it might help" Twilight said

She levitated a piece of paper out of her bag and gave it to me. Here what was written on the dirty paper :

To whoever will find this letter, Rainbow Dash have been administered a powerful and deadly venom. No cure can be found or created in Equestria. However, to obtain the antidote, leave a magi-check containing one million bits. Depose the money on the eastern clearing of the Everfree forest. No police officers or guards will be there when I pick up the money, or you won't have the antidote. If there is the correct amount, I will then place the cure at the same spot one hour later in the form of an injection. You have a delay of five days, after which, if she hasn't got any cure, Rainbow Dash will die.

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