"My... friends?" Twilight's eyes widened even further. "As in the other Elements of Harmony?"

The Royal Guard gave her a strange look before answering. "Of course. Who else would visit you while you're in the dungeons?"

Twilight rubbed her foreleg in embarassment. "I g-guess nopony else."

"Indeed. I suggest you get some rest for tomorrow morning, as it's already quite late. Your friends will be escorted here for their visit, so fear not."

Twilight nodded, watching as the armored guard turned around and left. The sound of a heavy door being slammed shut echoed throughout the desolate dungeon wing soon after, leaving Twilight to bask in complete silence.

Sunlight filtered into the cell through the narrow slits carved into the wall, intended to be replacements for proper windows. Twilight rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before slowly getting to her hooves, her gaze instinctively traveling over to the deserted corridor outside as she mentally replayed the brief conversation she'd shared with the Royal Guard last night. If her sense of time was still reliable enough, then that meant that her friends would be there in a few minutes.

She dreaded it.

What would her friends say when she saw here there, imprisoned in a dark jail cell? Would they believe that she was a cold-blooded murderer? Were they supportive of her death sentence?

Many thoughts raced throughout her head, some crushing her hopes of pleading her innocence and some raising it yet again. It was an endless cycle, one that would repeat second by second...

Just like the sun and the moon every day.

Twilight swallowed, her thoughts shifting to the Royal Sisters. She couldn't believe that Equestria was so intent on blaming her for the death of her own mentor. She'd been Princess Celestia's personal protégé for many years, sharing so many memorable experiences with her! How could she be the one to kill the pony she loved with all her heart?

Suddenly, a bunch of faint hoofsteps from nearby aroused her attention. One pair of them sounded heavier than the rest, which meant it could only be a Royal Guard due to their armor weighing quite a lot. The hoofsteps grew louder and louder until they stopped, the door to the dungeon wing opening once more before closing.

"My, oh my, this is quite the disaster. No wonder these are called dungeons," Rarity's voice could be heard as she expressed her displeasure of the place.

"Whoa, check this out! This entire place looks totally awesome, just like in the Daring Do books!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, presumably now investigating all the other cells to satisfy her sense of adventure.

Applejack snorted. "All ya ever think 'bout is Darin' Do, Rainbow. Take a break, will ya?"

Although Twilight couldn't see it physically, she was pretty sure Rainbow was rolling her eyes at that. "How could I not think about Daring Do? She's like the most awesomest pony ever! Well, besides me, of course."

The group slowly approached Twilight's cell, chattering all the way, until at last they came to a halt in front of the rusty bars. All noise immediately ceased to exist as they gazed in horror upon the broken alicorn. Only the Royal Guard that had escorted them there made any sounds as he stayed behind, carefully supervising them in case something undesired occurred.

"T-Twilight?" Fluttershy's meek voice asked, which prompted said mare to glance up from where she had just been staring at the floor in shame.

"H-Hi, girls," Twilight greeted weakly, waving a hoof.

"Hi, Twiliiiiiight! Are you okay in there? It sure doesn't look that comfy to me!" Pinkie Pie teased, still managing to maintain her humor even in the worst of times.

Twilight cracked a slight smile. "Yeah, living down here definitely doesn't offer you a lot of opportunities."

She paused when she noticed that they were all shuffling awkwardly, clearly uncertain of what to say. She couldn't really blame them; it wasn't every day that they visited a friend who'd apparently been thrown in the dungeons for a major crime.

"Look, Twi," Applejack finally said, breaking the tense silence that'd descended upon them, "Ah really don't wanna believe that yer the one who killed the Princesses, but at this point, Ah'm not that sure anymore."

Twilight remained quiet, her eyes downcast as she waited for the farmpony to continue.

"So, Ah guess what Ah'm tryin' to say is that... did ya really kill them?" Applejack stared straight into Twilight's eyes, trying to scour for any sort of deception.

"Do you think I killed them?" Twilight answered, her voice barely audible.

"What'd ya say? Ah didn' really hear ya, Twi."

"Do you think I killed them, Applejack?"

Applejack – truth be told – flinched at the sheer force in those words, but nonetheless gulped as she tried to think of a proper response. "Ah... uh..."

"Do you think I'm guilty?" Twilight pressed on. "Tell me, Applejack. Honestly, after everything that's happened to me after the Princesses' deaths, nothing surprises me anymore, so I wouldn't be surprised if you say yes."

"Ah don't... Ah don't really know anymore," Applejack admitted. "Yer one of my best friends, and Princess Celestia was yer own mentor, so of course Ah doubt ya bein' the murderer. But on the other hand, there really isn't any other pony better suited for the job of murderin' all three Princesses than ya. Ah guess ya can say it's how powerful yer magic is an' the fact that yer an alicorn now."

Twilight pursed her lips. "You just said it yourself how I could not be the murderer. And quite frankly, since there are more reasons for me not being the murderer than reasons for me being the murderer, do you still think that I'm the one who killed all three Princesses?"

Applejack averted her gaze. "No... not really when ya put it like that."

Twilight nodded before turning to the other four. "So, girls, do you think that I'm the one who apparently murdered all three Princesses in cold blood, with one of the victims being my own mentor?"

Three nos and one yes sounded in response.

Author's Note

I'm so sorry about the delay! I've actually had this chapter in the works for a while now, but I didn't really get the inspiration to complete it until now. Hope you enjoy!