Chapter 2 - Scars

"Everypony has their little secrets."

The Tragic Turnabout

June 17th - 7:34 PM
Ponyville
Train Station

The sun was beginning to set by the time the train arrived in Ponyville, turning the sky a beautiful shade of orange, pink, and purple. Usually Equtiy would be gazing in awe at the skyline, but when I checked, I saw that she was still sleeping on her bench. She had fallen asleep not too long after the train took off from the station. I guess that's what happens when you stay up all night and waste all of your energy during the following day. Luckily, no one bothered her during the trip, or she might've gotten a little cranky, and trust me, nopony wants to see that.

The train pulled into the station, hitting the brakes at a speed fast enough to throw Equtiy onto the floor. The thud echoed throughout the train car, turning ponies' gaze to the source. I thought she'd wake up at that moment, but nope. She just kept on snoozing. It wasn't until the train whistle blew that her eyes finally shot open.

"Huh? What? Where am I?" She asked as soon as she was awake. There were a few snickers from behind that stopped as soon as Equity stood up to see who it was. I shook my head and got up from my seat. "Hey, where are you going, Credo?"

"Umm, into town?" I replied, grabbing my suitcase from under the seat. "Haven't you noticed where we are?" Equity checked outside the window on my side of the train.

"Oh wow, we're here already? I guess time really flies when you're taking a nap." I'm pretty sure naps don't last four hours, but whatever. "So...I guess this is goodbye then." I paused upon hearing that, really thinking about it. This was goodbye, like, for real. Well, not forever, but still, this was the moment. The first time my sister and I will be apart. Eighteen years of sibling love, hate, and everything in between is a lot interaction to just casually leave behind. I'm not much of a hugger, but after thinking things through, I just couldn't resist pulling Equity into one.

"Yes, it is." I finally answered. Equity returned the gesture and the two of us stood there for a good minute or so before breaking apart. "It's not like we're never going to see each other again though, right? I'm sure we'll both have chances to visit each other." Equity nodded. She then thought for a second before exploding again.

"Oh, I have an idea! How about we write letters to each other about our experiences? That way, we'll each be able to know everything that the other has done and learned." I thought about that and couldn't help but offer my consent. After offering each other a final farewell, the two of us parted ways, promising to see each other again soon. With luggage in tow, and a deep breath, I took my first step into Ponyville.

After passing through the train station, I paused in front of the building to take a look at the immediate surroundings. Ponies were talking as they passed by, businesses were closing up shop, and Princess Twilight's castle stood proudly in the distance. The castle in particular had caught my attention. I'd seen it in pictures before, but seeing it in real life was even more incredible. It put me in such a trance, that I didn't even notice the pony racing towards me.

*CRASH*

Before I even knew what was happening, both the other pony and myself were on the ground. My luggage had been flung everywhere due to the sudden impact. I was dazed for a few seconds, unable to comprehend what just happened.

When I finally figured out what had occurred and managed to regain control of myself, I did my best to ignore the pain I felt and get up off the ground. As I was doing so, I turned my head to see who it was that bumped into me. The other pony was a blue pegasus mare with a rainbow-colored mane and tail and a cutie mark that depicted a lightning bolt sporting the primary colors shooting out from a cloud.

"Oh, sorry about that." She said as she stood up on her hooves. It took me a second to register exactly who it was that I was looking at, and once I did, I was too shocked to say anything. The pegasus seemed to take notice of the various pieces of my luggage lying around us in disarray. "Here, uh, let me help you." There was a sudden blur of chaotic rainbow shooting across my field of vision. It moved quickly from one luggage piece to the next, picking each one up as it did. Before long (about ten seconds, I'd say), my luggage was all back in my suitcase. Disorganized, but all together regardless. "There." She presented her completed work by extending her hoof towards the luggage while sheepishly smiling. I would've thanked her, but I still couldn't comprehend who it was that I was looking at.

The pegasus mare, sensing the awkwardness of the sitatuion, retracted her hoof and turned her attention away from me. She began looking around the area very closely, as if she was searing for something.

"Argh! Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?" Her search quickly turned frantic, sweat beginning to run down her face. I took my eye off of her for a second to look at my suitcase again. I noticed a white envelope poking out of my suitcase that I didn't recognize. Was this what she was looking for?

"Uh...excuse me?" I said, trying to get her attention. She stopped and looked in my direction. Using my magic, I pulled the envelope out of the suitcase and presented it to her. "Is this, by any chance, what you're looking for?" She snatched the envelope from my magical field with her hoof and looked at it very closely.

"Oh yes. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" The mare took off and did a flipping loop before coming back down again. I'm gonna guess that's a 'yes.' When she finally calmed down, she gave me her attention one last time. "Uh...sorry again for bumping into you, but I don't have time to chat. Got a train to catch. Later!" With that hasty goodbye, the pegasus sped off into the train station.

I stood still for the next minute, trying to process what just happened.

'That...that was Rainbow Dash, right? One of the six ponies on the Council of Friendship? Like, I'm not crazy, am I? That was the Rainbow Dash I just ran into, right?'

Those thoughts continued circulating through my head as I stood in front of the train station. After standing dumbfoundedly for I don't even know how long, I decided to just forget about the whole thing and begin touring my new home.

June 17th - 9:57 PM
Ponyville
Ponyville Library

My personal tour around town took me to all kinds of great and potentially interesting places (I say 'potentially' because two of the places I went didnt allow me to experience them fully): Sugar Cube Corner, where I enjoyed a delectably delicious dessert made by Pinkie Pie herself, though I was unfortunately unable to give my compliments to the chef due to her lack of presence; Princess Twilight's castle, which I wasn't allowed to tour due to both the Princess's and Spike's absence; and lastly, the heart of Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres, where I was greeted by a yellow earth pony with a red mane and tail named Applebloom who told me that Applejack and her brother (Big Macintosh I think was his name) were currently away at the moment so she was currently running the farm by herself, meaning that I had to go so that she could finish her work.

I would've toured more, but it was starting to get late, so that would have to wait for tomorrow. I had somewhere I needed to be before it was closed, after all. I took out the note my mother had given me and looked it over again.

Ponyville Library.
Ask for Midnight Brilliance.
Tell her I sent you.

After a bit of asking around town, I finally found the place my mother had suggested. Luckily, it hadn't closed yet. I opened the double doors with my magic and headed inside.

The library was quiet, as expected, and empty, also as expected at this hour. Inside was a circular reception desk in the center of the room surrounded by seven large, wooden bookcases, leaving a clear path from the entrance to the desk. I also noticed three other bookshelves; one in the back and one on both sides of the room that were large enough to reach the ceiling. There was also a staircase leading up in the back right corner of the library. Every single shelf was filled with books from one side to the other; it was nothing short of a bookworm's heaven.

"May I help you, sir?" Asked the dark purple unicorn at the reception desk. Her black mane and tail were both decorated with eye-catching white spots; her cutie mark showed a single, white star shining through blackness that faded into the mare's fur.

"Yes." I answered as I walked towards her. "I'm looking for somepony named Midnight Brilliance."

"That would be me," She replied. "What can I help you with?"

"Oh," I was a bit taken back, not expecting to immediately speak with Midnight herself, but I quickly recovered. "My name is Credo. I just moved to Ponyville today and I was told by my mother, Vindicate, that you would be willing to accommodate me until I can find a place to live." Midnight seemed shocked by the news, as one should be if they were asked to accommodate another.

"Vindicate's...son?" Okay, that wasn't the part you were supposed to be shocked about. She thought to herself for a moment before speaking again.

"I do still owe Vindicate a favor so I...suppose you could live with us for a short while." I grew a look of confusion on my face.

"Us?"

"My daughter lives here with me too." Midnight quickly informed. "I'm sure she won't mind you, though. She prefers to stay secluded in her room anyway." What? Her daughter? You mean she doesn't live alone?

"Oh, uh, my apologies." I started backing out of the room. "I was under the impression that you were living alone. I don't think I should be intruding on you and your family. I can find find a hotel to stay in for the time being." I was almost at the door when suddenly Midnight teleported in front of me.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous." She said as she floated a key from the now far off desk. She used it to lock the front door, the clock having struck 10:00 PM; I guess that would be the library's closing time. "We have more than enough extra space for you upstairs. Come on." She returned the key to the reception desk and walked on ahead. Seeing how insistent she was (and the fact that the door was now locked), I decided to follow her. Picking up my suitcase, I trailed behind Midnight, looking around the library more as I did. There wasn't really anything that caught my eye, except for a strange, metal door located at the end of the bookshelf on the left side of the room. The door gave off a chilling vibe. It didn't really seem like it belonged there, but seeing as how it's purpose wasn't really any of my business, I just ignored it and continued following Midnight up the stairs on the opposite side of the room.

The flight of stairs led to a large hallway that was easily five pony-lengths across. Two doors lined each side, and at the end of the (very long) hallway was another room that appeared to be a kitchen.

"Before you get settled in," Midnight began. "You should probably meet my daughter, Aura Sensory, first." After hearing me agree, Midnight led me to the room on the far left side of the hall. She knocked twice and called out her daughter's name.

"Aura? Can you come out for a second?" There was a bit of shuffling from within the room, but soon, the door slowly opened, revealing a small portion of the yellow unicorn inside. "Aura, I'd like you to meet Credo. He's going to be staying with us for a while." Aura remained silent, looking at me stoically.

"Hello," I greeted in conjunction with waving my hoof. "Nice to meet you." There was a bit of an awkward silence that lingered in the air as I waited for her reply.

"N-Nice to meet you, too..." She finally said, following it up by slowly closing the door. Afterwards, I stood there speechless, unsure of how to respond. Midnight seemed to have expected this though, because she quickly apologized for her daughter.

"I'm sorry about her; she's really shy."

"It's fine." I reassured her. "I'm sure she'll warm up to me eventually." Midnight nodded and began leading me back the way we came.

"You're free to stay in this room here." As she said that, Midnight gestured towards the first room on the right side of the hall.

"Thank you." I replied as I opened the door and took a step inside. The room was extremely tidy, as if it hadn't been used since the day it was built, but was still cleaned regularly. There was a toy chest on the left side of the room next to what appeared to be a closet, a desk under the window in the center of the far back wall with a clock right above it, and a bed on the right side of the room with the entrance to the bathroom located at its end. Everything was resting on top of a red rug that was spread across the entire room. As I walked around, I noticed a small, framed picture displayed on the desk. I picked it up with my magic and took a closer look.

The picture depicted five unicorns of varying ages standing together in what appeared to be a hospital. There was a sky blue stallion with a dark grey mane and tail that had a flask filled with green liquid for a cutie mark standing to the right of a hospital bed, a violet filly whose mane and tail were dark red and cutie mark was a magnifying glass standing to the left of the hospital bed with a white colt, who seemed only slightly older than the filly, who had a mane and tail of a slightly darker shade of blue than the stallion's fur and a cutie mark of gold justice scales, and a yellow foal with a black mane and tail being held by the mare who was in said hospital bed, a mare that I immediately recognized.

"Hey, Mrs. Brilliance?" I called out to which I instantly got a response.

"You want to know about that picture, don't you?" She asked, walking right up next to me. I nodded in response.

"It's a picture of your family, right?" I moved the picture closer to her, but she instantly turned away from it. The question and image seemed to make her upset. I wanted to apologize for asking, but, just as I was about to, she stopped me.

"No, you should probably know if you're planning on staying here." She said, after collecting herself enough to speak clearly. I wasn't entirely sure why she felt the need to tell me anything, but I couldn't stop her, so instead, I just listened.

"You're right." She began, grabbing the picture with her own magic. "This is a picture of my family. It was taken a little over twenty years ago, on the day that Aura was born. I'm obviously the one holding her in the hospital bed. The light blue stallion standing to my right is my husband, Sky Shadow, and the two ponies on my left are my son and first daughter, Semper Light and Visionary." Midnight was beginning to tear up as she stared at the picture. "This was probably one of the happiest days of our lives. The next year was filled with nothing but joyful times like this one, but then...well, I'm...sure you know what happened." My face contorted in confusion.

"Why would I know what happened?" Midnight looked away from the framed picture and towards me.

"Vindicate hasn't told you?"

"Told me what?"

"About the CS-4 Incident." My heart skipped a beat when I heard those words. It didn't take me long to piece together what Mrs. Brilliance was trying to say.

"Y-You mean..." The mare nodded.

"Yes." She said, confirming what I wanted to ask before I could even form the question. "The CS-4 Incident took place right here, in this very building. The victim was...my husband and the one who was arrested and tried for his murder was my son."

"WHAT!?" Even though I was expecting it, I still let out a burst of shock. "You...you're not serious, are you?"

"Does this seem like a matter one typically jokes about?" Her cross manner and tone told me more than the words she spoke.

"Well, no, but," I took a second to collect myself before apologizing. "I'm sorry. It's just that...I've heard both of my parents speak of the CS-4 Incident, but neither have told me anything about it." Midnight was a bit surprised by that revelation. "I... I never expected to ever come across anyone involved in the case. So to hear that you and your family were the subject of that tragedy..."

"Vindicate never told you about the CS-4 Incident?" Midnight interrupted. She seemed more focused on that fact than anything else I was saying.

"N-No, she didn't." I quickly answered, abandoning my attempted apology. "I think she and my father were just trying to keep my sister and I from getting involved." Midnight thought about that for a second.

"So your mother keeps any and all information about the CS-4 Incident from you, but when you decide to move to Ponyville, she throws you right into the heart of the entire case?" It took me a second to process what Midnight just said. "Doesn't that seem a bit...contradictory to you?" She had a point. My mother's actions did seem contradictory.

"Are you saying that my mom had a reason other than free hospitality to send me to you?"

"Credo, why did you choose to come to Ponyville of all places?" Midnight asked, completely ignoring my question. "Was it because of Vindicate's suggestion, or was that just an afterthought on her part after hearing where you wanted to go?"

"Well, originally I was going to rent a room at the Hay and Stay Hotel, but then my mom directed me to you after I informed her of where I was going to stay."

"So it was just an afterthought then?" Midnight asked once again.

"Well, sort of. I mean, the only reason I decided to move to Ponyville at all was because...my mother...suggested...it..." The words that left my mouth grew further and further apart as the realization that my mother had manipulated me into coming here dawned on me. Midnight sighed deeply upon hearing my answer.

"It seems," she said. "That the CS-4 Incident is about to show its ugly face again in the near future."

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Brilliance." I quickly tried to seal the wounds that I had clearly opened. "I didn't mean to dredge up any bad memories."

"It's not your fault, Credo." Midnight assured. "If anything, it's Vindicate's for sending you here in the first place."

"But...she just wants to find the truth behind the case. She's probably just hoping that I can find something conclusive during my time here." Midnight's demeanor showed that my attempts at sealing those wounds were failing, but not because my words weren't good enough, rather, it was because the wounds she bore were hardly just wounds; they were deep, deep scars. "Don't you want to know?" I continued trying to console her, even though I knew it would do no good. "Don't you want to find the pony who killed your husband?" Midnight didn't answer. Instead, she closed her eyes and sighed deeply once more.

"Let me tell you something that I've learned over the years, Credo." Midnight placed the picture back on the desk and turned towards the door leading back into the hallway. "Ponies are not always who they say they are. That goes for strangers as well as family." My apologetic look quickly turned into a perplexed one when she said that.

"What's that supposed to mean?" There was a moment of silence as I waited to hear an answer.

"Nevermind." She said, leaving my curiousity in a state of withdrawal. "It's late. Why don't you get some sleep? We can talk about this tomorrow."

"O-Ok." I watched in silence as Midnight left the room and shut the door behind her. I stood in front of the desk in silence, listening to the sound of hoofsteps on the wooden floor grow quieter and quieter as Midnight walked away.

I spent the next half hour getting ready for bed and thinking about my current situation.

'My mom has sent me here to find some information about the CS-4 Incident.' That thought kept circulating through my mind until a new thought finally sprouted from it. 'Wait a second... If mom wanted to find something more relating to the CS-4 Incident, then why didn't she just come here herself? Mrs. Brilliance seems nice enough. I'm sure she wouldn't object to letting my mother poke around, especially since her husband's killer is the one my mom is trying to find.' My mother said that Midnight had grown cold and distant, but she seemed pretty accepting of me. So why...?

My mind ground to a halt, exhausted from all the thinking it was doing on such low energy. It was nearly 11:00 at night according to the clock in the room I was staying in. Midnight was right, I needed some sleep. I finished washing up and climbed into bed. I don't remember when I fell asleep, but I don't really care either. I just wanted to recover from everything that happened today.

June 18th - 4:23 AM
Ponyville
Ponyville Library

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A familiar voice rang throughout the building, startling me awake. I was so startled that I immediately dropped to the floor upon waking up, my body caught in the sheets. As I began to disentangle myself, I heard hoofsteps outside my door. They were quick hoofsteps, as if somepony, or someone, was running down the hallway. I checked the clock above the desk to get a sense of what was what was happening.

The time was 4:23 AM. Wait, what!? It's almost 4:30 in the morning!? What the hay is going on!? It took me a good minute or two to fully break free from the bedsheets, at which point I quickly left my room and made my way into the hallway.

The scream sounded like it came from the library, so that's where I went. As I was heading down the stairs, the sound of someone crying began to fill my ears. Once I was in the library, I found the source of that crying. Across the room, in the doorway of that strange, metal door, was Aura, bent over and shedding her tears on top of...something.

"Aura." I said as I slowly approached Midnight's daughter. "What's wro--" The question hadn't even fully left my mouth before it was answered. Blood was pooling from the thing Aura was crying over. That 'thing' was a pony; a silent, unmoving, and undeniably dead pony.

It was already tragic enough that we were looking at the dead body of a pony, but this body didn't belong to just anypony. The one who was laying dead before us...was Aura's mother, Midnight Brilliance.

To be continued...

Author's Note

The wife of the victim of a case 20 years old is dead. Who was responisble?
The Tragic Turnabout has begun.