And Then There Were Five

Twilight and Rainbow cried for what seemed like days as the detective stood there, not knowing what to say. Rainbow eventually ran out of tears to shed. She went over to Twilight to comfort her.

"We'll get whoever did this!" Rainbow said with a raised voice.

"Get?" the detective asked.

"You know get, crush, destroy, end, demolish, take your pick."

"Oh, I see," the detective responded almost under his breath but still audible. Silence returned. Twilight, still lying on the ground, finally ran out of her own tears after awhile longer.

"Get up Twi, we can't stay here forever," Rainbow said gently, hugging Twilight.

"Okay, yeah, you're right," Twilight responded, getting up for the first time since she began crying.

"Let's go to my lab to examine the body, it's opposite my office," The detective said beginning to teleport them.

"Wait!" Twilight said, "I need to walk, might as well go there on hoof."

"Why?" the detective asked.

"Because she's hasn't stood in who knows how long, genius," Rainbow responded for her.

"Oh, of course," the detective acknowledged "I suppose I'll go with you."

"No need," Rainbow responded "seriously leave us alone, you didn't know Pinkie, you don't understand what we're going through!"

"I suppose I don't, but that doesn't mean you couldn't use the protection of my magic."

"Get out of here!" Rainbow screamed as loudly as she could muster.

"As you wish," the detective responded shaking his head before teleporting away along with Pinkie's body.

"One less problem," Rainbow said as they began walking to Canterlot.

"You need to stop feuding with him, how else will we find who did this?" Twilight asked.

"Just because we need him right now doesn't mean we need to be friends."

"Just try to stop, for me... and Pinkie."

Rainbow spat to her right, "no promises." Suddenly ten timberwolves appeared. Twilight blasted each of them, one-shotting all of them.

"Good thing I haven't exhausted my magic like last time," Twilight said, "now let's get out of here before they reassemble." With that they flew out of the Everfree Forrest, landing near Fluttershy's Cottage.

"Looks like they're still looking for Pinkie since Fluttershy isn't back," Rainbow speculated, "should we look for them?"

"They could be anywhere right now and it's probably best if we examine Pinkie right away."

"Alright," Rainbow responded. They now reached Ponyville.

"Good evening, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash," said an unfamiliar voice coming from a cloaked mare.

"Who are you?" Twilight asked.

"I have to withhold that information at this time."

"Okay then, what do you want?"

"To give you information about what happened to your friend. I saw somepony give Pinkie Pie a letter. I have reason to believe that it contained a note claiming to be her brother. He asked to meet her in the Everfree Forrest. I presume that's why you went there. The pony who gave her the letter was a yellow Pegasus named Mail Runner. Maybe he knows who sent the letter."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Again, I cannot reveal that information for the time being. That's all the information I have, good day to you both," she revealed a pink horn and used it to teleport away.

"That was weird," Rainbow said.

"Agreed, but that information could be helpful. Now let's get back to Canterlot," Twilight said resuming course.

"Twilight!" Minuette blurted out as Twilight and Rainbow entered Canterlot, "I thought I was supposed to visit you next."

"It's great to see yo-"

"It's great to see you too Twilight!" Minuette quickly embraced her friend.

"But, I have business to attend to," Twilight finished sternly.

"Oh, okay, see you later," Minuette responded in a less perky voice. Twilight and Rainbow reached the detective's lab.

"Good to see you made it here safely. I've already begun the autopsy," the detective opened the door as soon as they arrived.

"What have you found so far?" Twilight asked.

"It appears that she was struck by magic twice. If you look through this microscope, you'll see magic burns all over her body. Interestingly the burns are darker near her heart which suggests magic was used on her entire body once then a more direct spell was used on her heart as well."

"Twilight, what are magic burns?" Rainbow asked.

"They're marks on a pony's flesh whenever magic is used on them. These burns aren't only created by offensive magic, simply being levitated could cause them. They're almost always invisible to the naked eye, but thanks to this microscope we can easily identify them." Twilight informed her.

"So what spells were used on her?"

"My theory is magic was first used to hold her down, then a much more powerful spell was used to stop her heart," the detective answered.

"I wasn't asking you, but whatever."

"Rainbow, you're not even trying!" Twilight scolded.

"Don't worry about it Twilight, I can't assist you any further anyway," the detective said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rainbow asked loudly.

"I mean what I said, I can't help you find out who did this. I helped you find Pinkie, for free might I add, but I didn't sign up for this. I will not help you seek vengeance on whomever did this."

"Isn't that your job!?"

"It is, but as I said, I'm doing this for free. I don't have to help you do anything I'm uncomfortable with since this is my free time rather than a job."

"Uncomfortable? I'll make you more than that if you don't help us find the scumbag who did this!" Rainbow said pointing at Pinkie.

"Threats won't get you very far in life, Ms. Dash. I got the impression you didn't want my help anyway, why do you want me now?"

"I don't want you! I nee...," Rainbow stopped herself, "look, I don't want revenge anyway."

"Coming from the mare who just threatened me to find the culprit, and outright told me you wanted to 'get whoever did this', that's the least convincing lie I've ever heard."

"Is there anything we can do to change your mind?" Twilight asked.

"Either pay me or convince me neither of you will seek revenge on whoever did this."

"How can we convince you of that?"

"Well, there is a place called revenge temple. Only those with pure hearts can pass its challenges. Pass them and I'll help you."

"Where's it located?"

"Deep inside the Everfree Forest."

"Could you be a LITTLE more specific?" Rainbow asked annoyed. The detective gave them a map that looked ancient. Twilight teleported Rainbow and herself to the Forest.

"Here we go again," Twilight said. She used her illumination spell to light up the unusually dark forest. They followed the map to the best of their ability, but it was in less than pristine condition. The ink was smudged making it very difficult to follow. They spent a couple of hours trying to follow it until it got really late. "We should probably get to shelter to sleep," Twilight attempted to teleport them back to Ponyville; however, the spell failed. "My magic!" Twilight was concerned.

"What happened?"

"I'm running low on magic, I guess we'll need to find somewhere near here to sleep. I should probably conserve what's left of my magic." Twilight stopped using her illumination spell. They looked around in the dark forest until they found a cave to sleep in. Twilight and Rainbow tried to fall asleep, but then they started hearing scratching noises. "Wha... what's that?" Twilight asked.

"Beats me, but don't worry, if it's something dangerous we can take it down!" Rainbow said. The scratching turned to howling.

"With my magic, sure, but without it..."

"We'll be fine," Rainbow responded. The howling got louder and soon even more noises joined it. At least five different creatures were making vicious noises at this point.

"We're fine, there's no problem, nope, none at all. I'm sure it's just the wind. Yes! The wind, of course what else could make so much noise!" Twilight rocked back and forth freaking out.

"Whoa, calm down Twilight," Rainbow said as compassionately as she could.

Steps could now be heard.

They grew louder and louder.

Every second, they came closer and closer.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed.

Twilight focused all her remaining magical energy into making a magical beam that she shot at the light.

"ARRGGGHHH!" Screeched a unicorn mare about ten yards away from the entrance of the cave.

"Sweet Celestia, I'm so sorry!" Twilight grimaced. The unicorn didn't move. Eventually Twilight noticed the colt standing over the mare in shock and horror.

"She's dead, you killed my mother!" the colt screamed at Twilight. He then ran off.

"Wait, maybe I can help!" Twilight ran over to the mare, "no, no this can't be happening!"

"Twilight..." Rainbow didn't know what to say. Twilight checked her heartbeat. There wasn't one.

"I'm... a murderer."

"No, you're not. You didn't mean to kill her."

"I intended to shoot whoever caused that flash of light. She did, so I intended to kill her."

"That's not how it works, Twilight!"

"Yes, it is. I was careless and she payed for it."

"..."

"..." Twilight went back to the cave and Rainbow followed. "Stay away from me, Rainbow. I'm no better than whoever killed Pinkie."

"You're crazy!"

"Yes, a sociopathic murderer."

"Sociopathic? If you were a sociopath, you wouldn't be feeling so bad about this. You clearly regret it!"

"Whatever."

"No, not whatever! You're still the same charitable, compassionate, and devoted pony you were when you got those wings!"

"Maybe, you're right. Maybe, I've always been a disgrace to ponykind. Maybe, Celestia was wrong about me."

"You know that's not what I meant and you know that isn't true!"

"It may not be what you meant, but it is true."

"Twilight, you made a mista-"

"Yes, a mistake that costed a pony her life! A mistake that costed a child his mother!"

"Twilight, I..." Rainbow was at a loss for words.

"You want me to feel better. I appreciate it. You're a good friend, but I don't deserve it."

"You do deserve it, Twilight. You're a better friend than you'll ever understand. Now stop feeling sorry for yourself, so I can stop this gushy stuff."

"We should give up on this quest of ours, I can't pass the test anymore. I want revenge now, on myself."

"How about we get some sleep before making any final decisions?"

"Alright," Twilight said. They once again tried to fall asleep. This time they heard nothing. No scratches. No howls. All was quiet. Well, everything but Twilight's conscience. Rainbow fell asleep easily. Twilight had trouble, but after a significant period of time, she fell asleep as well.

Boom! A rock near Twilight's head exploded. "What was that!?" Twilight was shocked.

"You're going to pay for what you did to my mother!" yelled the colt from earlier as he shot a magical blast from his horn. Twilight's magic was somewhat restored from before, so she could easily defend with a magical shield.

"Huh, what's going on?" Rainbow woke up but was far from fully awake.

"It's the colt from earlier. He's powerful for being so young." Twilight said right before he fired another blast this time it barely missed Rainbow.

"What are we supposed to do. I can't beat up a kid!" Rainbow said.

"Maybe I should just give him what he wants," Twilight recommended.

"Let him kill you? Not happening," Rainbow responded quickly.

"What else can we do?" Twilight said weakly.

"I hate to say it, but RUN!" Rainbow took off and Twilight shortly joined in. It was still dark, but they got away fairly easily. "I think we put enough distance between him and us," Rainbow speculated. They landed near another cave. "Sleeping take two," Rainbow said before immediately falling asleep again. Again Twilight took a little longer, but eventually she was able to pass out from fatigue.

WAABOOOOOM!!!