No One's Star

Chapters

The Signal
The Nightfall
The Contact
The Help
Final Broadcast

The Signal

Twilight wandered back into the library, tired after her day. She had tried to study, only to be picked up by Rarity for tea and discussion at Sugarcube Corner. After that, Pinkie had spotted her and asked her to help her taste-test some of the cakes she was making. Applejack had stopped by to drop off a shipment of apples and had waylaid her all the way back to Sweet Apple Acres for help with a problem in the well that only a unicorn could easily fix. Rainbow Dash had stopped by to show off some tricks to her and Applejack just because she wanted an audience, and once that had been done, Fluttershy had caught her on the road home to ask her if she knew of any good books about badger dating tips. She had some, so she had brought Fluttershy back to the library and that had devolved into having tea together, and she had just now gotten some time to herself! She was exhausted.

She turned on her radio, flipping through the frequencies until she found something interesting. It had picked up a lot of good channels in Canterlot, but most of them were classical or other types of things Unicorns really liked. She’d been hoping there was something fun out here in Ponyville, but many of the ponies here didn’t even know what a radio was. The only pony who was even into the sort of knowledge to do with radios was a silent white unicorn named DJ-Pon3? She was strange, and the conversations were always incredibly one-sided. She was knowledgeable, but it didn’t seem to be going anywhere whenever they talked.

Twilight rolled the knob back and forth, scratching through static for most of it, only to hit the single country music channel. She groaned and kept going.

“*KSHHHHH*-today we celebrate-*FZZZZZZZZZ*-no one knows-*HSSSSST*-murder Lily tonight-*NYEEEEEE*-grab yer partner by the ears-“ the radio buzzed. Wait, murder Lily? Wasn’t that one of the flower sisters she saw in the market all the time? Twilight spun the knob back to where she heard the comment about murder.

“-listens to me. There’s nopony else out there like me, and the ponies that do live around this Celestia-forsaken place are as empty-headed as you can find. There’s a group of them that ponies keep calling the elements of harmony now? Who believes that garbage. I’ll tell you who: Sheep!

“You can put sheep in a field and they’ll graze wherever they please, as long as it’s within sight of another sheep! They won’t go alone. They can’t be alone. It’s not in their natures. They simply can’t do it. You separate one, and it’ll live life like it wants, but give it any other sheep and it’ll join the flock faster than you can say you’ve never seen a sheep before.

“Out on Sweet Apple Acres you can find sheep and you can watch ‘em. Verify this for yourself if you want. One time, I tested my theory by stealing one and putting her alone in the Everfree. Poor thing didn’t last longer than a day away from her flock, let me tell you. She had a tough time, screaming and yelling while I was carrying her away, but she tried to get back to the rest as soon as I let her go.

“Anyway, if there were such a thing as an element of Harmony, wouldn’t ponies have heard about it before now? Wouldn’t there have been elements of harmony protecting us all these years? What about the floods on the coastline? The earthquakes? The mudslides, the forest fires. All those natural disasters? Where were these elements then to protect us?”

This pony sounded crazy, but Twilight couldn’t stop listening. A pony with access to a radio and the time and inclination to just ramble on about anything he wanted to anypony who would listen. It was like a train wreck she couldn’t look away from!

“Twilight, what is that you’re listening to?” Spike asked, looking up from his basket.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Spike. Did I wake you up?” Twilight said.

“Yeah, is that a Ponyville radio station?”

“It is. I’m not sure who it is, but the pony seems to be having some trouble with himself. He’s… disgruntled with life, I would say.”

Spike yawned. “Well turn it down, would ya? Some of us are trying to sleep.”

“Sorry, Spike. I’ll turn it down.” Twilight turned the volume down and kept listening to the rambling pony.

“-should be a way to make everypony sit up and listen. With element of harmony that are just supposed to magically make our lives better, the ruler of this land of Equestria, Princess Celestia herself, is trying to tell us that nothing is wrong, or if something is wrong, then the elements will magically fix it.

“Now, that would be really nice, but I have a hard time swallowing this tripe. To that end, I’m going to conduct an experiment every week, to test if the elements of harmony really exist. I’ll be honest, I would be happy to be proven wrong. If something does exist that can make life better for everypony here in Ponyville, I would be delighted to see it prove itself. We were asked to believe that the elements of harmony stopped Nightmare Moon from returning, but was anypony witness to the event? No. Nopony was. We’re supposed to take six pony’s words for it, along with Princess Celestia. While she is the princess, I still take her words with a grain of salt.”

Twilight was aghast. Did this pony, whoever he was, truly think that Princess Celestia would lie to everypony just to make them happy? Did he really not think the elements of harmony existed? Twilight and her friends got together to use it to stop Nightmare Moon! The night that was supposed to last forever had been stopped in its tracks because of her, her friends, and the elements of harmony. How could anypony not believe it?

The late-night radio host droned on. “The experiment will be one of murder.”

Twilight couldn’t hold back a gasp. She glanced over at Spike, but he was sound asleep, curled up in his basket.

“I will murder one pony from Ponyville every week, starting with Lily, because I cannot think of anything more disharmonious than killing somepony. It stops their life in its tracks, harms their loved ones, and brings chaos, fear, and distrust to the community. It sows fear, foments chaos, and pushes ponies to desperation in order to protect themselves. If anypony is listening, I encourage you to alert the elements of harmony to me and my actions, and we shall see if this amazing power is able to stop me from doing what I plan to. If ever there was going to be a magical, evil-stopping force, let it find me. Lost Sun Radio, signing off, Ponyville. Goodnight and good morning.”

The signal disappeared, and static issued from the device. Twilight powered off the radio and set it aside, staring at the wall as she realized what she had just listened to. This pony on the radio, no matter who it was, claimed to be preparing to murder somepony. He (she assumed the voice was a stallion) was planning on killing Lily! But when? How? Tonight? Tomorrow?

Twilight couldn’t just barge into somepony’s house this early in the morning and tell them they were going to be murdered. That was crazy! She had no proof! Nothing except a radio signal that was long since gone. She’d wake somepony up, alert them, then what? What if the attempt was never made? Everypony would think she was crying wolf, and she’d be pegged as crazy.

Twilight jumped off her bed and went downstairs. Her hooves tapped on the wood of the library as she wandered in small circles around the table in the middle of the tree. She pondered what she had heard and tried to make sense of it somehow.

What did she know? She knew there was a pony, who went by the moniker of the Lost Sun, who had a radio station, who broadcast for short periods of time during the night, to talk about… what? Murder? This was the first time she’d ever found the radio station. Had it been going for a long time?

Twilight grinned. That was her first goal! Research! She needed to find out if this radio station existed before, or if this pony had only started talking when she and her friends became the elements of harmony!

With renewed vigor, Twilight dove into her books. She lit a small candle and began searching through them for something about Ponyville’s radio history, trying to find out when they had first acquired a radio station nearby, and how many ponies had radios in the village in the first place. She wasn’t expecting much, but she needed to gather something. Maybe a list of them.

The night went on, early into the morning hours, with Twilight reading, a stack of books growing near her as she read.

Unfortunately for Twilight, her library didn’t have much on the subject. The amount of information on Ponyville-specific radios was contained in a single volume, and only listed stations up until six years ago. Lost Sun Radio was not one of them, so this was a radio personality that had begun recently, and certainly hadn’t begun murdering.

Twilight yawned, eyes heavy, and looked out a window. The sun had risen while she read, and she hadn’t had a lick of sleep. She wanted to figure out what was going on with this radio station, but she had allowed herself to be distracted.

Spike pulled himself out of his bed and looked down at her from the top of the stairs. “Twilight? What are you doing? Did you not sleep?”

Twilight smiled a tired smile up at him. “No, unfortunately.”

“Why not?”

“You remember that radio station that woke you up in the middle of the night?”

Spike shook his head.

“Well, it claimed the host was going to murder Lily, but it didn’t mention when or where, and I was trying to discover more about it.”

“Twilight, it was a late-night radio show. It was probably just a joke to bring in viewers.”

Twilight hadn’t considered that it was all an act. He had sounded so sincere. “Oh… I hadn’t thought of that.”

“It’s late night stuff. You read about it in comics all the time. It’s shock value.”

“You… might be right.”

“Come on, Twilight. Get some rest. I’ll clean up, and you can maybe go talk to Lily or somepony when you’re feeling more alert.”

“Okay, you’re right. I’ll talk to Mayor Mare about radio stations here in Ponyville as well. She’d know more than I would, and maybe she’ll have a registry I can look at.”

“There you go! Thinking more clearly already!” Spike hopped down the steps and began cleaning up books, picking them up and filing them on the shelves.

The Nightfall

It was when Twilight woke up later in the afternoon and traveled into town to see Mayor Mare that she heard the news.

Lily was dead.

She had been stabbed in her sleep by an unknown assailant. There were signs of forced entry on her home, but there was no weapon and no hoofprints to be found. Twilight was aghast as she spoke to Mayor Mare.

“Wait, Lily, you said?” Twilight asked, jaw open in alarm.

Mayor Mare nodded. “It’s a tragedy indeed. Murder! In Ponyville! Such a thing is nearly unheard of.” She stamped a form and scribbled on another. “I’ll need to mobilize a proper police force for the town, I think. Volunteers at first, but…” Mayor Mare trailed off, looking down at the papers in front of her.

Twilight wondered if she should bring up the radio station from last night. She decided against it, though. She could say it, but what if the station didn’t come on again? Everypony would pin the blame on her, because who better to murder someone without leaving a trail than a unicorn? Especially one just come from outside town? No, she needed more evidence, and for that, she was going to have to do research!

“Mayor Mare, I realize this may be a bad time, but I need to research radio stations here in Ponyville. Do you have a list of the ones you have here in Ponyville over the past decades?”

Mayor Mare stared down at her papers for a moment, then looked up, confused. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“A list of registered radio stations in Ponyville over the past few years. Do you have one?”

“Oh, yes. Give me a moment.” She stood up and walked over to a wall of filing cabinets. She began to shuffle through them until she found something she was looking for. She pulled out a folder and dropped it on the desk in front of Twilight.

Twilight grabbed it and opened it. She looked at the dates to see that all the information was as up-to-date as it was going to get. It contained all information on registered radio stations up to last year, and their operating hours. Twilight flipped through it all, hunting for station 606 AM. Unfortunately, it wasn’t listed. He had called himself the Lost Sun Radio, but there was nothing here.

“Damn. Nothing at all,” Twilight said. She passed the folder back to Mayor Mare, who took it and put it next to her on the desk. She smiled a small smile for Twilight and nodded.

“I’m sorry it didn’t help you find what you were looking for. I hope your day goes well, Twilight.”

“I hope so as well. Would it be too forward of me to attend the funeral?”

“Not at all. You’re new here, but I don’t think anypony would mind. You are one of the elements of harmony after all.”

“Yeah… yeah that’s right. Thank you again, Mayor.”

Twilight gave a little bow to the mayor and excused herself from the office. It was late afternoon and she had a few more errands to do before it was going to be too late for any shops to be open. She rushed about, buying herself groceries and talking to ponies about things here and there, but her thoughts were always on her goal that night, when she would listen to Lost Sun Radio again, hoping to hear what he had to say about the murder. It was likely going to be her best bet to stop him.

When night fell, Twilight was in her room, sitting up with her radio next to her and Spike tucked into his basket nearby. She kept the volume low, pulled her blanket up over her head, lit her horn, tuned in, and waited.

There was hissing static for quite some time, and Twilight entertained herself with a book, but eventually, a voice came over the radio. “Well, Ponyville. I did it. The first step toward us having a better tomorrow with proof instead of nothing more than conjecture and the word of our Princess to go on. I wasn’t stopped, and I’m sure many of you are questioning if I’ll do it again. Well, the answer is yes.

“I wasn’t stopped, and that’s fine. That was expected. You can’t start a good epic tale without blindsiding the characters with some information they may not be willing to hear. There’s a whole lot going on, and you can’t expect them to know what’s happening before it happens. No. This was the prelude. This was the start of our story, and it was a taste of things yet to come.

“I wanted to make them aware that something is going on, and I’ve done that. Murder hasn’t happened in Ponyville for decades, and I’m setting up a new trend, or bringing an old one back, depending on how you look at it. Ponyville’s a small place, and so the last murders were done by a pony by the name of Placid Waters back in the early days. Lived by the river, he did, and would take to drowning ponies because he liked to watch them struggle. Said it made him feel alive.

“Well, I’m not placid waters, and I don’t kill for the fun of it. This is an exercise in awareness, ponies! I’m waking you up, whether you like it or not! Don’t take everything you hear at face value! Not even me! I’m not talking to you because I think you’re stupid, I’m talking to you because I think you’re unaware. Unaware of what the princess is doing, and unaware what you’re doing!”

Twilight listened in morbid fascination. The pony on the radio, Lost Sun, she decided she would call him, was trying to make ponies question their leaders. It was interesting, and as a scholar, she was fascinated by it. As a pony with new friends, however, she was horrified. He was killing to try to make ponies question what they heard, and specifically to question the princess’s claims that the elements of harmony had returned. While it was true that the last instance of the elements existing was one-thousand years ago when Celestia had banished Nightmare Moon, there was no reason to believe they didn’t still exist. They were well-documented, in text and in art.

“So, to wake you all up, I’m going to continue with the distasteful quest of mine. I know none of you want this, and if it were up to you I’d stop, but it’s not up to you. Or it is, but only as far as you bring out the elements of harmony to stop me. Go out, find them, question them, ask them for help, and get them to stop me. Twisty Pop, if you’re listening or anypony who knows you is listening, you’re next.

“I’d be lying if I weren’t making some of this personal. You’re making those awful noises with those stupid balloons day in and day out, and I’ll admit that I’m tired of it. You make foals happy, however, and so the loss of you will be noticed by young and old alike. If you hear this, and if you know Twisty Pop, please tell the elements of harmony and help him out, alright? It’ll be coming soon. Lost Sun Radio, out.”

The radio devolved into static, and Twilight was left alone under the blankets with her thoughts. They were whirling to and fro and she wasn’t sure what to make of it, but she knew it would eventually be up to her and her new friends.

Unfortunately, she didn’t know this pony. This “Twisty Pop”. He made balloons? Awful noises, so he made balloon animals? Twilight hadn’t ever met him. She was still fresh to the town so she barely knew any of them. But she couldn’t just leave it!

Twilight sat for a moment, then slapped a hoof onto the bed. She threw off the covers, raced downstairs and out the door. She didn’t know the pony herself, but surely she could alert somepony and have them check on him! The town didn’t have police, but surely Mayor Mare had some volunteers by now, and they could find him and check up on him.

Twilight went to the mayor’s office and pounded on the door. She didn’t know where Mayor Mare might live on her own, but she was hoping that there would be somepony available at the office she could talk to.

Much to her dismay, there was not. It was well past midnight, and the office was closed and locked up tight. The windows were shuttered and there were no lights on save the lamp out in front of the office, giving her very little light on its own. Her horn was aglow, but it didn’t help with her current predicament. She thought about pounding on a door nearby and just asking for help from a random pony, but what were the chances she would find somepony who knew where Twisty Pop lived? She would come across as awful and annoying, and ponies might even accuse her of doing it! Who would know somepony was going to be murdered ahead of time except for the murderer themselves!

Twilight paced back and forth in front of the office for some time until she finally was forced to admit defeat just before dawn. She didn’t know where he was, where to find him, or who to talk to. She’d been beat. She hung her head and returned home.

“Twilight, where have you been?” Spike called when she came back inside. He hurried down the stairs to her, concern plain on his face. “You woke me up when you ran off, then didn’t come back for hours! Where did you go?”

“It’s… a long story, Spike,” Twilight said. “But I think I know who died tonight, just like Lily died last night.”

Spike covered his mouth in alarm. “You know who did it?”

“You remember that radio station from the night before?”

“Yeah. I don’t remember what all was said, but I remember you were listening to it.”

“I think the radio host is the one doing the killing.”

“What? How do you know?”

“Because he talks about it. Yesterday he was talking about Lily being the one to die, and this time he mentioned somepony named Twisty Pop. I knew Lily, she offered me flowers when I arrived, but Twisty Pop I don’t. I went outside to try and warn him, but there’s no police force in Ponyville, and the Mayor’s office was closed!” She covered her face with a hoof and groaned.

“So if he dies today, then…”

“Then I was right! And I couldn’t help!”

“But why is he doing it?”

“He says he wants to prove the elements of harmony really exist.”

“Stopping Nightmare Moon wasn’t enough?”

“Nopony saw that! He mentioned that, and he was right! We stopped Nightmare Moon in the Castle of the Two Sisters, with the only witnesses being me and my friends, and the Princesses!”

“So he wants you to prove it in public?”

“I guess so,” She climbed upstairs and flopped into bed, exhausted.

“Can’t you just get your friends together and do some magic or something?”

“I don’t think we can just turn it on like that. I know next to nothing about the elements besides me and my friends being able to use them. I don’t know what to do.”

“You’ll think of something. You always do.”

The Contact

Twilight slept, far too late yet again, but she slept and when she awoke it was to an unhappy Spike carrying the latest Ponyville news. Twisty Pop had been killed. Dead, just as Lost Sun said he would be, having been smothered in his sleep. Twilight’s heart sank. She had tried to help, but without knowing everypony in Ponyville there was little she could do. She’d tried, though.

It was late afternoon, but Twilight needed to do something about this. She returned to the Mayor’s office and tried to speak with Mayor Mare again.

“But I need to talk to you! This is important!”

“Twilight, please. I know you’re concerned about the murders, but everypony is! There’s far too much work to be done to try and mitigate panic. I have the volunteers that need trained, the princess in Canterlot to contact.” She turned to look at Twilight. “If you wanted to do that, that would be appreciated.” She turned back to her papers. “I know you were sent by the princess herself, so we would appreciate your help, but I can’t talk about the radio station right now.”

“But it knows the murders before they happen!”

“Then I will assign somepony to listen to it for clues, but I need to ensure Ponyville’s protection first and foremost. We haven’t had something like this happen in decades, and the citizens are my first concern. Leave me a note with the radio’s frequency and the time of the broadcast, but please, let me work!”

Twilight was escorted out of Mayor Mare’s office and given a quill and paper to write her information on. She made sure to get the names and addresses of the volunteer guards, but all she could do after that was leave for home. Night fell around her sooner than she would have liked, but that was the price she paid for staying up so late.

She returned home and paced, thinking about what she could do. Since the mayor wasn’t going to help her, she might have to take the problems into her own hooves. Vigilantism wasn’t high on her list of activities she wanted to take part in, but if that’s what it took to protect Ponyville, she would do it. It’s what he wanted, and she couldn’t help but feel like it was some sort of trap, but what other options did she have?

Twilight rummaged through her boxes she had brought from Canterlot and not yet unpacked. She hunted through the boxes for her radio equipment, trying to locate her antenna. She found it, but to her dismay it had been bent quite a bit during the move.

“Dammit. Royal guards don’t know anything about shipping delicate equipment. It even had ‘fragile’ written on the side,” she grumbled as she started trying to fix it. She worked well into the night, Spike bringing her things she might need and food to eat. He even brought her the radio before turning in for the night.

“Don’t stay up too late, Twilight. If you can’t hunt him down, you need to take care of yourself instead,” Spike said. She waved a hoof and he went to sleep, leaving her alone in her library with the static issuing from the radio.

She tuned in to the right channel and waited. She had the antenna mostly bent back into shape and had connected it to the rest of her equipment. It was hopefully working the way she needed it to work, and she was prepared with a quill and parchment to triangulate the location it came from. She just hoped Lost Sun was a unicorn like herself, because then she might be able to pinpoint the magic he was using, if he was powering his equipment with his horn like she was.

Twilight was rewarded when the radio came on, and Lost Sun played the opening ditty to his horrible little show. He sounded tired and a little frustrated.

“Well, good evening and good morning, Ponyville. It’s been a day since last we talked and I can finally see you waking up around me. It’s good to know that you’re receiving my message loud and clear, and we’re communicating on a level that only good friends communicate on. I speak, you listen, and you react accordingly. This is how it should be.

“But we’re still not communicating as well as we could be. You see, I happened to see the Princess’s protégé in town, and although I couldn’t hear the conversation, she was talking to Mayor Mare about something.”

Twilight felt a chill go down her spine. He had seen her? That meant he had been there at city hall when she was, at the exact same time! She tried to remember all the ponies that had been there, all the stallions, specifically, but there were so many! Which one was he? She didn’t know any of them, and she hadn’t paid any attention to them!

“Mayor Mare, I know you mean well. You’re creating a police force because murders are happening, and you’re doing your very best, but I happen to know that the librarian, Twilight Sparkle, is an important pony for our dear princess. She’s one of the elements of harmony, you see. How do I know? Well, information is the name of the game, and since this is a topic so close to my heart, I make it my business to know who I’m expecting to come stop me. If Twilight wants to mobilize and help out, then you really need to let her. To that end, I’ll make this next one a contest between the two of them.”

Twilight panicked when she realized she hadn’t been tracking him this whole time! She’d been so engrossed in his impassioned speech that she had been listening instead of working! Hurriedly, she tried to triangulate where the signal was coming from while he finished. She kept one ear trained on the radio to try and hear what contest she was being volunteered for.

“My next target will be somepony rather unpopular, but who will still be missed if he is missing. That disgusting pony who enjoys his jelly just a little too much. Him and his jars are a mockery of good taste and propriety. Hughbert Jellius will be next pony to pass if the elements of harmony do not come to stop me. This I promise. If Mayor Mare can stop me with her volunteer police, that should prove there is no need for the elements of harmony. If Twilight manages to stop me, well, then we’re right back where we started, aren’t we, and she’s proven herself. Either way, good luck to both of you.”

The radio descended into static and Twilight checked her equipment. She hadn’t had nearly enough time to target him, and so her triangulation didn’t provide her with anything other than, “West Ponyville somewhere,” which wasn’t nearly enough. Twilight didn’t know where Hughbert lived, so she couldn’t make any assumptions as to how far Lost Sun would be ranging afield, but she knew she had to do something.

Twilight grabbed a map and a quill, then dashed out the door. If Lost Sun was going to be hunting somepony, she would try to be there to stop him. If the last two days were any indication, he performed the murder immediately after his broadcast, so she had very little time. She followed the map to the area she had circled and began hunting.

The area was larger than she had been expecting. She was used to portions of Canterlot being bigger than they looked on a map, but Ponyville was still a mystery. Everything was much smaller in scale, but on hoof it was still a daunting task to try and get around. She raced from building to building, looking for anypony out and about, skulking in the shadows.

It was while she was doing her own skulking that she happened to run into an earth pony stallion. He was whistling as he walked down the streets, twirling a truncheon on a hoof, and sporting one of the Mayor’s nice new badges on his chest next to his tie. He spotted her and frowned, pointing his truncheon at her.

“You there! What are you doing?”

Twilight groaned and stepped into the middle of the street. “Good evening. Look, I’m just—”

He cut her off with a sweep of his hoof. “It’s 3:27 in the morning, what are you doing running about out here?”

“There’s… a murder about to happen!”

“Oh, is there? And how do you know? How would you know unless you were planning to commit it!”

“What? No!”

“Mayor Mare made it clear that anypony that wasn’t part of the volunteer force should stay off the street unescorted,” he said. “I’m sorry, miss, but for your safety and everypony else’s, I’m afraid you’re going to have to come with me.”

Twilight gaped in shock. “No! No, no! Hughbert is in trouble!”

“Ma’am, please be silent and come with me.” He advanced on her, truncheon at the ready.

“No, please! Hughbert Jellius! He’s in trouble! I don’t know where he lives, but he’s in trouble, please!” Twilight pointed at her map and held it out in her magic. “Does he live around here? He’s going to be attacked! He’s the next target!”

The stallion looked at the map, then looked at her and narrowed his eyes. “You seem to know a lot about the city for being so new. You’re the new librarian, right? Sent by the princess herself?”

Twilight smiled a panicked smile and nodded. “Yes, that’s me!”

“You don’t know where he lives, but you’ve circled the area he lives in? How did you find that much out if you don’t know him?”

“I don’t know him! This is the area the—” She trailed off in frustration on how to explain it. “—the killer radio station was broadcasting from!” she finished lamely.

“Killer radio station? Now I really think you need to come back with me. We’re going to need to ask you some questions.”

She stamped a hoof. “No! Hughbert Jellius! He is in danger! Check on him first!”

“Ma’am, I can’t leave you here alone, and everything you’ve said sounds incredibly suspicious. I’m going to need to call for somepony else first, okay? I’m certainly not taking you to his house so you’ll know where he lives.”

“Please!” Twilight begged, but the stallion just reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a walkie-talkie.

“Hey, can I get a pony to investigate Hughbert Jellius’ house, and somepony to come help me on the corner of Belt and 8th? I have a unicorn mare here, the new librarian. Claims she knows which pony is going to die tonight.”

There was a crackled affirmative response and he shoved the radio back into his bag. He kept his truncheon at the ready and pointed her toward the side of a building. Twilight could have easily stopped him and teleported away, but that would be even more suspicious, and she wouldn’t be helping Hughbert at all that way. She waited as patiently as she could, awaiting news from his fellow volunteers.

The stallion kept an eye on her until somepony else showed up, and they began escorting her somewhere. They talked among themselves, and she was loath to interrupt, until they mentioned the possibility of somepony else dying tonight.

“Has anypony checked on Hughbert yet?” she asked.

They both looked at her, the second pony, a mare, looked alarmed. “She’s the one asking about Hughbert?” the mare asked the stallion, ignoring Twilight completely.

“That’s why we’re taking her in. I sent some ponies to go investigate, but she’s so adamant about investigating it, so I thought we ought to treat this seriously,” he said.

The mare gave Twilight a dark look, then turned back to the stallion. “No matter what, I think she could get the full punishment. We can’t treat jokes or false alarms with a soft hoof with everypony so panicked.”

“No, I would agree. We need to treat this seriously. We’ll see what the rest think.”

They stopped talking and Twilight hung her head as she was led along the streets of Ponyville. Eventually, a crackling sound came from them both as their radios received a message.

“All ponies, we have a situation here. As per Turner’s tip I checked out the Jellius residence. There were signs of a break-in, we have a body. I repeat; we have a body.”

Twilight went cold. She had been right, Lost Sun hadn’t lied, and now these ponies knew she was trying to get to the house where a murder had just recently taken place.

Her mind raced with possible ways this could play out, and none looked good. She might be just telling them about her plan so she could try to look innocent, throwing them off her trail. But she was a unicorn, and a unicorn had been thought to be the killer.

She remained silent as they glowered at her, taking her back to wherever their temporary headquarters were. She didn’t know the place, but it was a shop of some kind. Likely volunteered for their use because of its location in the center of town. Twilight was flanked by two earth ponies and a unicorn, trapped against a wall as they circled her. An older earth pony with a bushy moustache approached her, and she guessed he must be in charge as all the others seemed to be waiting for him to speak.

“Mind tellin’ us how you knew Hughbert was goin’ t’be a victim? Because as it stands, the fact that you’re the only pony who seemed to know is mighty suspicious,” the stallion said. His voice was deep and smooth, and probably would have sounded comforting if she weren’t being interrogated.

“I…” Twilight began. She sighed and spilled the whole story, telling them all about Lost Sun Radio.

“So this fella on the radio is the one committing the murders, you’re telling us?”

“Yes! He announces who he’s going to kill, then immediately goes out to do it! It wasn’t even a half hour after his announcement tonight!”

“And he’s doing this because…?” the stallion asked.

“Because he wants the elements of harmony to prove they exist,” Twilight said.

“So, if you and your friends just came out and did your harmony thing, this would all be over? Ain’t you all these elements? Just prove it. Simple as that.”

“We can’t just… fire off a rainbow or whatever. It needs to stop something supernatural. Like Nightmare Moon!”

The stallion folded his hooves and frowned. “Mighty convenient, that. Sounds to me like this fella’s got a point. We’re just expected to believe what you and the princess shove down our throats? Nopony saw Nightmare Moon be defeated.”

“What about her appearance in the town hall and Celestia’s disappearance!”

“Both were alicorns, and Celestia controls the sun. Not hard to just drop it for a moment. Mighty convenient, yet again.”

Some of the ponies surrounding them started muttering, and Twilight’s heart sank. This was what Lost Sun wanted to begin with! He wanted ponies to start questioning everything! She would have agreed, but to murder ponies over something like this was monstrous!

“She’s not expecting anything from you when it comes to the elements! Why does it matter?”

The stallion sighed and relaxed. “Look, miss… Twilight Sparkle, was it? Everypony’s heard about you. You came from Canterlot, favored student of the princess, and you were sent here to check on the summer sun celebration, right?” he smiled a condescending smile at Twilight.

“Yes, so?” Twilight was getting fed up with all this and would have liked nothing more than to just go home.

“So, you’re conveniently sent here, the princess gets kidnapped, you make some friends and go save her, using some mystical elements of harmony. Because of all this, you’re expected to stay out here in Ponyville, far away from the princess, and come into your own, right?”

Twilight didn’t like where this was going. “And…?”

“The princess is trying to get her protégé to stand on her own four hooves, and she’s expecting you to rule Ponyville. Like a nice little kingdom all your own.” He grinned at her. It was not a nice grin.

She also noticed his accent was gone.

Twilight gasped and looked up at him. He was grinning that shit-eating grin, and she wanted nothing more than to zap him to oblivion, but there were too many ponies around. He was Lost Sun, she was sure of it! That voice, without the crackling of the AM frequency, was Lost Sun!

“Now, Miss Twilight, if we could have you please return to your home, we have another casualty to deal with. We might be stopping by to check on you sometime in case we have any more questions, but I don’t believe you have the wherewithal to murder anypony, wouldn’t you ponies agree?” the stallion said.

There was muttered agreement from the surrounding group, some of the ponies she knew in passing, others were strangers, but Twilight didn’t say anything. She stood up and let the stallion who had discovered her lead her back to the library. He didn’t speak, and neither did she, he just left her alone to think while they walked.

She was certain that stallion in charge of the volunteer group was the killer. He was Lost Sun. She had no proof other than his voice, but she’d listened to him rant long enough that she was more than passingly familiar with it. He didn’t look like she had imagined, but if she made assumptions about a pony willing to murder, he fit a lot of her criteria.

What would be the best way to deflect doubt about you? Join the volunteer group hunting you down! In fact, since he was in charge of it, he was probably the pony who had offered to set it up for Mayor Mare! That would explain how he had encountered her and seen her during her trip to the mayor’s office to ask about the radio stations! He hadn’t been stalking her, it had all just been a coincidence! A strange coincidence, to be sure, but just a coincidence. Unfortunately for Twilight, it had put him in a position of power over others, better able to keep them from ever discovering what was really going on. It also helped him cast doubt on Twilight, making other ponies treat her like a spoiled unicorn from the city.

She had come from a position of wealth and influence, for sure, but she wasn’t stupid. She’d had different experiences and she was willing to put her money where her mouth was and fix this, by hook or by crook! The elements of harmony weren’t necessary to stop a murderer, she could do that herself! She just had to outsmart him, and outplan him!

She slammed the door to the library in the stallion’s face before he could even offer her a “good night” and went right to work, fixing her radio equipment so she would be prepared for tomorrow night. It was all quite bulky, but she could modify it a bit so she could carry it with her. She got some headphones so she could listen while she walked, but it was important that she be able to follow the signal while she listened.

Lost Sun broadcast his intent, then immediately went out to kill, wasting no time. Ponyville wasn’t huge like Canterlot, but it was still big. The fact that he had completed the murder within half an hour of broadcasting either meant that Lost Sun had picked these out a long time ago and was just waiting for an excuse, or he followed them during the day and broadcast nearby before the murder. Twilight was leaning more toward the former, because during his speeches, Lost Sun got quite heated, and anypony nearby might hear it. Yelling about murder isn’t the best way to make friends or influence ponies.

So that meant that he had planned this ahead of time, and he had to be broadcasting from somewhere near the murders. She didn’t know where Lily or Twisty Pop lived, but she could find out from Mayor Mare in the morning. She could go get a census and just hope that it was still accurate.

Twilight stopped and tapped a hoof against her chin.

She couldn’t go to the Mayor’s office. At least, not without arousing suspicion from any of the ponies who had seen her last night. Not to mention, Lost Sun might be at the office and he might overhear. She couldn’t alert him to her continued work any more than she already had. He was way ahead of the game and had premeditated all of this, just waiting for a reason or a scapegoat. If she went to the office and let him see her plans any more than he already had, she wouldn’t catch him in the act, and he would get away with what he had done.

Twilight began pacing, trotting back and forth around the library while she pondered what she could do about the problem. She was still pacing when Spike woke up and found her.

“Twilight, did you stay up all night again?”

“Sorry, Spike. I found out what the murderer looks like, and he’s in charge of the volunteer police force!”

“He’s what?”

“Mayor Mare set up a police force. Well, not a full one, just volunteers, and it wasn’t really her idea because the pony who is doing the murders and is on the radio, Lost Sun Radio? I call him Lost Sun, well he’s in charge of the police force because I think it was his idea in order to put himself in a position where he can influence ponies who might be trying to stop him so that he can keep murdering!” Twilight gasped at the end, hooves waving in the air.

Spike blinked.

“I… think I followed some of that. But Twilight, I know this is bad, and you want to help, but you really need to sleep. You can’t save anypony if you’re tired.”

Twilight stamped a hoof in frustration. “No! I can’t let him get any further ahead of me! He’s planned this out, I can plan this out better than him! It’s what I’m best at!”

“Twilight…”

“No, Spike! Today will be a day of hard work! Prepare me some breakfast and get me some coffee. Lots of coffee!”

Spike sighed. “Yes, Twilight.”

The Help

Twilight worked. She finished setting up her radio in her saddlebags with the antenna. Spike prepared her coffee and meals and helped her with any other menial tasks she needed, keeping her work going.

Since she knew she couldn’t go to town hall or the mayor’s office without risking Lost Sun seeing her and overhearing her plans, she stayed inside. She was the owner of the library, after all, and that meant she had older documents. While they weren’t perfect or as up-to-date as the ones the town hall would have, she could still make use of them. She found all the maps she could and marked them for the brief triangulation she had gotten from last night. She didn’t know where Twisty Pop or Lily lived, but she had to the location of Hughbert. She didn’t think he could travel very far in such a short time, unless Hughbert was the only one who lived close to where Lost Sun broadcast from…

“Dammit. I need to know where Lily and Twisty Pop lived,” Twilight muttered.

“Why do you need to know that?” Spike asked. He was sitting on her radio nearby, chewing on a gemstone.

“Because Hughbert was killed within a half hour of the end of the broadcast. He did it so quickly, I barely had time to gallop over there. That leads me to believe he lives or broadcasts from somewhere near that location. My triangulation came from somewhere around there, too.”

“That sounds a bit difficult.”

“It does! I’m not sure how he does it!” Twilight rubbed a cheek. “Like, how can you say you’re going to kill someone, then immediately do it? What if they’re not there? What if they’re with somepony? You can’t plan for every eventuality like that, can you?”

“You’re right, that’s really strange.”

“I need to figure out where the broadcast is coming from, and to help with that, I need to know where Twisty Pop and Lily lived.” She wrung her hooves. “But I can’t go to the town hall because he might see me there and figure out what I’m doing!”

Twilight mussed her mane with her hooves, agonizing over her predicament. She rolled around on the ground for a moment, then stopped and opened her eyes in realization. She knew a way to find out where they lived: Pinkie Pie.

“Spike! Pack me a lunch, I need to go out!”

“Right now? I thought you couldn’t go see the mayor.”

“I can’t, but I know a way to find out where those ponies lived without her. There’s a pony who lives in town and seems to know everypony to the point where she can detect a stranger in a heartbeat.” Twilight grinned. “She’s even one of the elements of harmony: Pinkie Pie.”

Spike packed her a dandelion sandwich and stuffed it in her spare saddlebags. She put in a few books and some parchment and quills, then slung it all over her back.

“I’ll be back soon, Spike. Have more coffee ready.”

Spike saluted, and Twilight stepped out the doors, glancing around before she fully left the library. She couldn’t’ take chances that he might be watching her, and she intended to keep her movements a secret until the very last moment. She didn’t know how her conversation with Pinkie Pie would go, and she could ill afford to be seen.

Twilight slunk through the streets on her way to Sugarcube Corner. She remembered Lost Sun’s face from last night, but she didn’t know how far his disguise went. Was it merely a vocal disguise, covering for his misdeeds by hiding in plain sight, with a full moustache and a hat? Were those part of it, and he had been keeping himself disguised in his daily life only so that he could commit atrocities at night? Surely that would have fallen apart after long enough, wouldn’t it? He appeared to be well-liked by the ponies in town, and they listened to him when he spoke, so she doubted it was that. Still, she had to be careful, so she watched for anypony following her or paying her too much attention.

When she arrived at Sugarcube Corner she stepped inside, and went right up to the counter, pushing past other ponies, much to their annoyance. She looked over their faces to make sure they weren’t Lost Sun, or at least didn’t look like him, and tapped at the bell on the counter.

Pinkie turned from her current customer and smiled a small smile at Twilight. “Twilight, I’m right here, but you’ll have to wait your turn.”

Twilight blinked, then shook her head. How had she missed Pinkie at the counter? She really was tired, but she had a job to do! “This can’t wait, Pinkie, it’s urgent!”

“So’s filling out baking orders. I’m sad too, but life goes on. I have to help ponies who are still here.”

“It’s about that, Pinkie. I need your help with that.”

Pinkie Pie blinked, then sighed. Her mane wasn’t as bouncy as it usually was. She removed her apron and yelled into the back. “Mrs. Cake, you need to take the counter. I… need a break.”

“I’ll handle it, Pinkie. You take care of yourself,” the chubby mare called from the back.

“I always do, Mrs. Cake.”

Pinkie Pie led Twilight over to a table, but Twilight stopped her with a hoof on her withers. “No, can we go upstairs, Pinkie? I want this to be as private as possible. We can discuss it in your room.”

“Alright, follow me,” Pinkie said as she led the way up the stairs. Her steps weren’t nearly as bouncy as they usually were as she led the way into her room. The room was pink and decorated in a festive manner, but it was still a bit messy owing to Pinkie’s nigh-irrepressible energetic spirit. She sat on the edge of her bed and gave Twilight a tired smile. “So what’s going on, Twilight? What do you want to talk about?”

Twilight plopped down in front of Pinkie and hemmed and hawed about what she would actually divulge to the party pony. She couldn’t tell her everything because that might get too confusing, but she could at least ask for the information she needed.

“Okay, I don’t want to bring up bad news, Pinkie, but I need your help.” Twilight pulled the map of Ponyville out of her bags and point to the spot she had circled where Hughbert had lived. “This is where Hughbert lived. I need to know where Twisty Pop and Lily lived. Can you circle their houses?” Twilight held the quill out in her magic toward Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie said nothing, but Twilight could see her eyes were much moister than usual and her bottom lip was trembling. She was trying not to cry, but she grabbed the quill, circled a smaller area inside the circle Twilight had drawn outlining a single house, then circled another one much further away, and one on the other side of town from it. She even wrote their names underneath, one for Twisty and one for Lily, complete with little hearts and stars, then rubbed her face with a hoof.

When she was done Twilight turned the map back to face her and looked at it. All three of the ponies were located on separate sides of the map, meaning that one area was not where Lost Sun was broadcasting from. Twilight furrowed her brow in confusion.

“But… that’s impossible. He would never be able to make it to those locations from here fast enough?”

“Wh-who wouldn’t?” Pinkie stuttered through her tears.

“Oh, uh…”

“Twilight, I’m excitable, not stupid. You’re hunting the murderer, aren’t you?”

“…yes.”

“Then you’ll need help. I’m going to help.” She pulled a handkerchief from her mane and blew her nose in it, then put it back. Twilight cringed.

Twilight worked her jaw for a moment as if she would say no, but just sighed. “Okay. I suppose I can’t stop you. What I’m confused about is that the murderer, who I call Lost Sun, was broadcasting from over here—” She pointed to the spot Hughbert had died. “—But managed to kill Lily and Twisty Pop way over here.” She pointed at the other two circles Pinkie had made. “Now Spike brought up an important point that there is no way he would be able to plan for something like them being with somepony else or not being at home, so that leads me to believe he is killing first and broadcasting after, or he is carrying all his equipment with him. I can’t figure out which it is.”

“Broadcasting what?”

“Oh, he announces the pony he is going to murder over the radio before he does it, but I’m not sure how he can say that with such certainty. He would have to know everything about them, like where they live and where they’re going to be. It’s too convenient and it leaves confusing holes in the message that don’t make sense. How can he announce it like that?”

“It takes me about twenty minutes to hop from one side of Ponyville to the other if I’m doing it casually. Now, taking into account that I’m a bit faster than other ponies, it might take an average pony forty minutes, or a half hour if they’re especially fit and trotting at a good clip. But, if you factor in my need for multiple parties or something when two ponies have their birthdays on the same day, I could cover the distance in five or less when I’m trying really hard.” Pinkie’s mane got a bit fluffier as she explained, interested in stopping Lost Sun as much as Twilight. “Now if an average pony were to do that, they would have to be traveling at quite a clip, meaning they would have somewhere they really needed to be. I don’t know of many ponies like that except maybe Rarity, but she wouldn’t run that fast because she wouldn’t want to get sweaty, but! If there were a pony who really really REALLY needed to be somewhere over here and they lived over here.” She poked Hughbert’s circle and then Lily’s circle on the opposite side. “That meanie, stinky pony would have to be galloping WAY too fast and be completely unencumbered, OR they would have to have their ugly radio equipment with them, which would mean he wouldn’t be able to run away!” Pinkie looked up from the map with an oddly serious expression on her face. “Twilight, this meany-pants did the murders before the broadcast. The only pony who could cross Ponyville that fast and with such certainty is me, and I do. Not. Murder.” Pinkie leaned in and stared at Twilight with scarily intense eyes.

Twilight leaned away from Pinkie. “I… believe you, Pinkie. But that still leaves us confused on how to stop him or find him.”

Pinkie leaned back, still staring with wide-eyed intensity. “We do it the only way I know how, Twilight…” She lifted a hoof and stuck her chin out, then shook the hoof at Twilight. “With friendship!”

Pinkie grabbed Twilight by the hoof and started dragging her downstairs. Twilight hurried to grab her map and other items with her magic, shoving them into her saddlebags while she was ponyhandled back down to Sugarcube Corner proper, where Pinkie shoved her to the side and reached into her mane. She pulled out a megaphone and pointed it at the gathered customers.

“ATTENTION PONIES! I DON’T MEAN TO ALARM YOU, BUT THERE IS A MURDERER ON THE LOOSE! PLEASE NEVER SPEND ANY LENGTH OF TIME ALONE IF YOU CAN AVOID IT UNTIL THE MAYOR ANNOUNCES THIS MEANIE HAS BEEN CAUGHT! IF YOU NEED A FRIEND TO SPEND TIME WITH YOU AND DON’T HAVE ONE, PLEASE COME SEE ME AND I WILL MATCH YOU UP!”

The gathered group had their hooves over their ears and slowly removed them when Pinkie stopped speaking. Pinkie turned to Twilight, her mane more angular than rounded and an angry frown on her face. “If this pony wants to play hardball, Pinkie’s a pro.” She pulled a piece of parchment out of her mane and passed it to Twilight. “Here’s a list of ponies and their addresses that live inside the circle you had on your map.”

“When did you have time to write this?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie ignored the question. “Go warn Applejack and Fluttershy. They live outside town, but they need to be warned, too.”

“But—!”

Pinkie pushed Twilight out the door. “No buts! They’re your friends, Twilight!” Pinkie started trotting off in another direction, megaphone held high. “I’ll meet you tonight, Twilight!” Then she was gone, shouting at every pony she passed about the murderer in Ponyville.

Twilight wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad result of her letting somepony else know about what she’d discovered, but there was no changing it now. If Mayor Mare had created a police force, Pinkie was telling ponies how to take care of themselves, and that was important. Maybe it would make it harder for Lost Sun to kill anypony.

…Or it would let him kill two at once.

Twilight shook her head and followed Pinkie’s advice, heading out to Fluttershy’s cabin first. Fluttershy had her animal friends, so she didn’t see Fluttershy as being a target, but with a murderer it was best not to make assumptions, and Pinkie Pie was right: She needed to be made aware, no matter how much she didn’t like it.

Twilight dragged her hooves down the path, her exhaustion taking its toll on her. Her hooves felt heavy, but she couldn’t quit now. She had a job to do! She knocked on the door and waited until she hear a small voice come from behind and above her.

“Um… hello?”

Twilight started, hooves scrabbling at the doormat as she whipped around. “Gah!”

Fluttershy squeaked and flew up to her roof, hiding. She eventually poked her head over the edge and peered down. “C-can I help you, Twilight?”

Twilight gripped her heart and panted, wide awake now. “I just came to warn you about the murders, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy ducked back behind the edge of the roof again. “Ohhh, I heard about those! I haven’t been into town since the first one! I have Harry watching the cottage, and Angel’s prepared, too.” A bear’s paw came out of the bush right next to the door and gave a little wave. Twilight jumped.

“Ack! Well! I guess you have it under control, I just wanted to let you know to not be alone. Pinkie and I should have it fixed within a day or so, if my plan goes well.”

Fluttershy perked up at that. “You know who it is! Then hold on!” Fluttershy flew down and opened the door to her cottage. She swept inside and came back holding her rabbit, Angel. The rabbit was dressed in a small suit of armor with a little knife against his side. “Angel hates ponies like that. He’ll help. I’ll stay here with Harry.”

“Uh… thanks?” Twilight held out a hoof and Angel jumped onto it, crawling onto her saddlebags where he sat down.

“I won’t come out until you come tell me it’s okay, Twilight. I promise.” Fluttershy shut the door, not waiting for a response.

“Uh… okay,” Twilight said. She scratched her head with a hoof, then looked back at Angel. He was facing backward, watching her back, she supposed, with a paw near his little knife.

Twilight shrugged and trotted away, heading down the road toward Sweet Apple Acres. Again, she doubted Lost Sun would get out this way, but it was better safe than sorry. A family of earth ponies against a unicorn wouldn’t stand a chance if he was good enough, and she wasn’t willing to take chances with anypony’s life anymore. She knocked on the door of the farm house and Granny Smith answered.

“Hello, yung’un. Lookin’ fer Applejack?”

“Anypony, really. I just needed to let you know about the murders happening in Ponyville, and that you should be on the lookout for any suspicious unicorns,” Twilight said in her most professional tone.

Granny scratched her chin and sniffed. “I don’t like any o’ those, ponies, and if I see any, I’ll give ‘em a good wallopin’ for bein’ such an awful sort. We’re aware, missy, and we ain’t leavin’ anypony alone. Big Mac is with me, and Applebloom is with Applejack out in the field. T’ain’t nopony alone here.”

Twilight nodded and gave a small smile. “I’m glad to hear that. You’re far away from town, but I was still concerned. Pinkie Pie demanded I come and warn you, telling you to stay with another pony at all times until we tell you it’s okay.”

“That’s all well and good, but what the hay are you doing walking around alone, then?” Applejack’s voice came from behind her.

Twilight gave a little start but turned to look at the approaching farmer. “Applejack! You startled me!”

Applejack frowned. “No wonder. You look like you haven’t slept. Not gettin’ much rest with the killer on the loose?”

“No, not at all. I’ve actually been trying to solve it,” Twilight said.

“Solve it? By yerself?” Applejack scoffed.

“Well… not entirely by myself. I asked Pinkie for her help, and this was her idea. She’s alerting ponies all about town.”

“Oh, yeah? And here you are walking along an EMPTY ROAD out to Sweet Apple Acres. And who’s with Pinkie Pie?”

“Uh…”

“That’s what ah thought. Your idea was sound, Twahlight, but you didn’t follow it for yourself. Alright, I’ll come with you back to Ponyville and help you sort this mess out,” Applejack said as she moved closer to Twilight. “Applebloom, stay with Big Mac. Big Mac, stay with Granny. Wherever you all go, stick together, okay?”

“Gotcha sis!” Applebloom piped up.

“Wotcher, Applejack. You take care in town, now!” Granny said.

“Eeyup,” Big mac said from somewhere inside.

“Good. We can finish up the harvest, later.” She turned to Twilight. “Now, come on, Twahlight. If I know Rarity, I know she’s too wrapped up in her work to hear Pinkie Pie, and her boutique is fulla things you could kill a pony with. We gotta warn her, too.” She started marching back down the empty road toward Ponyville, the sun low in the sky.

“Oh… uh… okay? See you all later.” Twilight waved and turned to follow Applejack. Angel sat on her saddlebags and glared as they left the farm.

They made their way back, Twilight’s hooves dragging in the dirt as she stumbled gamely alongside Applejack. Applejack looked but didn’t comment. She already knew what was causing it, though she didn’t have the full story. She just kept pace with Twilight until they reached Rarity’s Carousel boutique. Applejack knocked on the door while Twilight swayed nearby, and they waited until they heard hooves coming up to it. The door swung open by magic to reveal the blue-maned fashionista herself.

“Applejack! Twilight! What a surprise and a pleasure! To what do I owe thanks for this visit?” Rarity said.

“Not here for pleasure, Rarity,” Applejack said.

“Unfortunately, Rarity, this is a very discouraging visit. We’re here to warn you about the killer on the loose,” Twilight added.

Rarity’s face fell into a frown. “Oh. That whole mess. Do you want to come in and talk about it, then?”

“We’d love to, Rarity, but Twahlight here’s been up all last night and all day trying to get everypony organized and protected. We just wanted to make sure you had somepony else you can rely on for help if’n it comes down to it.”

“Well, I have Sweetie Belle here with me. I’ve been keeping her inside because of it all.”

“I don’t think Sweetie Belle can properly help defend you from a killer.”

“Well… Opalescence is here as well.” Rarity’s cat looked up briefly from her spot on a bolt of cloth across the room, then laid her head back down.

“Rarity, I don’t mean to be picky, but Opal is a cat.”

“She does a perfect job of defending the house! She can’t stand muddy hooves, and she’ll scratch anypony who dares enter with filth on them!” Rarity stuck her nose up in the air.

Applejack rubbed her face with a hoof. “Twahlight, I’ll stay here with Rarity, and you can go home with Spike and Angel, alright? I suspect Rainbow is fine up in her house in the clouds, so we don’t need t’worry about her, alright?”

Twilight nodded. She was having difficulty following the conversation as it was.

“Perfect! We’ll come fetch ya when the night starts getting’ deep, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you, Applejack. Thank you, Rarity.”

“For what, darling?”

Twilight tottered around and began shuffling home to her library. Her hooves felt like lead, and when she arrived she took her saddlebags off, dropped them to the floor along with Angel, who hopped to the side and stamped his foot while he glared at her.

“Oh, sorry, Angel. I forgot you were there.”

His face softened a small amount at her clear exhaustion. He hopped to the side and took up a post near the door, standing at attention, while Spike came running up.

“Twilight! Are you okay? How did it go? Do you need anything?” he asked.

“No, thank you, Spike. I’m just really tired. I need a bit of rest before the broadcast tonight, okay? Can you prepare me something for when I wake up? Don’t let me sleep past midnight, okay?”

“Gotcha, Twilight!” He saluted and dashed off, leaving Twilight to collapse into her bed.

Final Broadcast

Her eyes closed and within moments she was asleep. When she opened them again, it was to a weight on her bed and a pony’s face looking down at her. She tried to sit up, but ropes were holding her down. She attempted to light her horn, but something blocked that as well! She struggled for a moment, then yelled.

“Spike! Angel! Help!”

“Seriously? You expect a rabbit and a baby to help you? Celestia, no wonder it took you three nights to figure things out.”

Twilight tried to lift her head and get a better look, but the surge of light on the horn in front of her and the pressure on her skull told her she wasn’t going to be able to move without her own magic or some intervention. She took several deep breaths and tried to calm herself.

“Are… are they okay?” Twilight asked.

“They? You mean your pets? They’re alive, if that’s what you’re asking.” He paused. “Well… the dragon is. The rabbit I don’t know. He was limping away last I saw. He may not be.”

Twilight squinted, trying to get a better look at Lost Sun. The voice was the same, but his face wasn’t. Even in the darkness of her library she could see just enough to tell her that he was different from when she had seen him working with the police force. He didn’t appear to have facial hair, though she couldn’t be sure it wasn’t just a trick of the light.

“Why did you wake me up, why didn’t you just murder me in my sleep like the others?”

“Asking a smart question! Good! You really are the princess’s protégé!” He said mockingly. Twilight heard a groaning from downstairs, which sounded like Spike. “Because I want you to try to prove you have an element of harmony! The princess said you have one! We were all told to just accept that you and your happy friends have them, but I need proof! I’m not some sheep, ready to dive into a pen when asked!” Some spittle flew from his lips and landed on her cheek.

He turned away and marched back and forth beside her bed, horn glowing the entire time. “You see, Twilight Sparkle, I know your type. From the city and a position of privilege. For you, everything falls neatly into place. You and yours have the means, the influence, and the bits.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s easy!”

“I never said it was! But your problems pale in comparison to ours. You never worried where your next meal was going to come from, did you?”

“No?” Twilight said, confused.

“Ah, there you go.” There was a click, and Twilight saw him lift something up to his mouth with magic. “I should really be saying this on the radio. Ponies need to hear.” He cleared his throat, then began speaking.

“Out here in Ponyville, it’s less likely somepony will starve, because there’s always a job here or there that needs doing. We make our own food, build our own houses, share our trials and tribulations, and we make the best of it. We help each other, knowing that it’s the community that makes us all strong. Letting your neighbor get by with less is unconscionable, because it would be like stabbing yourself in the hoof. If he prospers, you prosper.

“Nevertheless, ponies in bigger cities don’t understand that. I can’t claim to know where they think their food comes from, but it comes from here. We work hard until we have a surplus, and then we ask the city for items we don’t have in exchange. Bits change hands, but it’s in their best interests to keep us happy or they’ll have to get food from somewhere else. That’s where ponies like our little Twilight Sparkle and her friends come into play.”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Lost Sun sealed her lips shut with magic before she could say anything and shook his head, a cocky smile on his face.

“See, when Princess Celestia comes down from on high to hold the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville, it’s a gesture of goodwill. She thinks we matter and wants to show that to us. But then, suddenly, an evil myth attacks! Nightmare Moon returns on the day of the celebration, ushering in permanent night! The horror! The shock! The terror!”

Lost Sun turned and spat on her library floor. Twilight grunted at him but he ignored her.

“It would seem all was lost, but then who should show up, but the protégé of the princess herself! She’s decided to live here in Ponyville from now on, working at the local library, and lo and behold, it turns out that she was the one who should be able to banish the eternal darkness and stop Nightmare Moon in her tracks! And then!” he stomped a hoof and barked a quick laugh, then flopped down on top of Twilight on her bed, She grunted in pain, coughing from the impact. “I’ll tell you right now, folks, it would seem so fortunate, and magnanimous, I might add, that Twilight Sparkle herself has decided to set down roots here, staying with us and her friends.

“The elements of harmony! It seems too good to be true, all living here in Ponyville! Which, I should add, is the main source of food for Canterlot, but that has nothing to do with it, right? It’s just Twilight and her friends living here, with direct connections to the princess and the castle, ensuring that Ponyville is well taken care of!” Lost Sun nodded, even though no one could see him do it.

“Now, I’m sure Twilight Sparkle and the other elements of harmony would say otherwise, but it seems a little too convenient to me, and I’ve never been anyone to take something at face value. The claims made are that they are all an element of harmony, from some ancient magic lost in the Everfree Forest. If there is a reason for her to be settling down here, and it is a magical defense reason, I want to see it! It shouldn’t be that much to ask, right? A little magic show and I’ll leave off! Simple as that! What do you say, Twilight Sparkle?”

The magic holding her mouth closed disappeared and he moved the microphone closer. Twilight worked her jaw a moment, then shouted.

“Help! Somepony, I’m at the—” she was muffled before she could finish speaking, Lost Sun’s magic holding her mouth closed. She grunted as loud as she could, but he pulled the microphone away.

“Oh dear. It would seem our guest isn’t really willing to show us what she can do. A shame really. It would have been so easy, you could have just given me a little sample of some of that harmony and you would have lived through the night. But as it stands, I should announce that you, Twilight Sparkle, are going to be my next victim. If anything is going to bring out the harmony inside, it will be the threat of imminent death, am I right!” Lost Sun laughed a wicked laugh.

“Now, Twilight Sparkle, protégé of the princess, how much will it take to get you to show me some of that harmony you are supposed to have?” he pulled a wicked-looking curved knife from a bag he had on the floor and leaned in close, waving it in front of her face. “What form does this magic of harmony take, hmm? Is it a beam? An aura? An item of some kind?”

Twilight’s eyes involuntarily flicked to where she was keeping the crown. She looked back at him immediately, but he had been too close, staring right into her eyes. He turned to glance where her eyes had gone.

“I checked the building before I came up here. Is somepony there? Some ‘thing’ there?” he stabbed the knife into her right foreleg. Twilight squealed in pain through her sealed lips and writhed on her bed. He left the knife there and went over to investigate.

He looked over the shelf, trying to find something odd enough to garner Twilight’s attention. He stood in front of one shelf, looking over at Twilight, but she was too absorbed in the knife stuck into her thigh, trying to get it out while she grunted in pain.

“Something caught your attention. I know it.” He began tossing books off the shelves, looking for anything out of place.

He threw books off the railing downstairs to pile up in the main room of the library. He pushed at the shelves behind them, trying to find some secret, until he finally found the little box in which she had been keeping her crown of magic. He yanked it open, snapping the flimsy latch, and pulled it out.

“This thing?” He trotted back over to Twilight and waved the crown in front of her face. She was panting through her nose, shaking her limb to try and dislodge the knife which had caught in the muscle.

Lost Sun sighed and ripped the knife out, taking a chunk of flesh with it. “Come on, little miss spoiled. Is this the thing?”

Twilight’s eyes rolled in her head from the pain, and he had to cuff her across the face to get her to focus. In her delirium, she only nodded stupidly.

“Really? So the harmony is an item? Well that’s stupid. Couldn’t just anybody use it then?” He put the crown on his head. It didn’t quite fit and tilted to one side. “Thing is uncomfortable as fuck. How do I make it work?”

Twilight shook her head at him. He stabbed the knife into her thigh, then carved some flesh out of it, tossing the chunk of meat onto her chest. She squealed and twisted, trying to get the horrifying piece of herself off herself.

“Come on, Twilight. You’re wasting my time. This is research, plain and simple. I’d have killed you already if you weren’t the focus of this entire thing. How does it work?” Lost Sun said. His horn flashed brighter a moment, and Twilight felt an impact in her newly-sliced wound, then the binding was gone from her mouth.

“Ahhhhhh! Oh, Celestia, why!? What is wrong with you!?” Twilight screeched the moment her mouth was her own. She felt an impact on her cheek and her head twisted to the side as he cuffed her in the head.

“Shut up! Just tell me how it works!”

Twilight grunted between breaths. Her cheeks flared as she struggled in vain, pain burning in her wounds. “It doesn’t! Not for somepony like you!”

“Oh, come on! You don’t expect me to believe that an item is attached to a pony, do you? Anypony can be harmonious. I’ll admit that I am not, so I’m not super surprised, but just tell me anyway: How. Does. It. Work.” He stabbed the knife into her side and twisted. Twilight tried to grit her teeth and bear it, but she let out a whimper despite her efforts.

“You need… friends.” Twilight huffed. “Friends to represent every *gasp* element of harmony.”

“Seriously?” He laughed scornfully. “You can’t even do it yourself? You have to have your friends with you? What happens when one dies, then? Is the whole thing useless? Do you replace them? What a stupid magical item!”

Lost Sun laughed. He took the crown off his head and placed it on Twilight’s. He kissed her messily on the mouth, then took the knife out of her side and wiped it on her mane. “We kissed, we’re best friends now. But actually I think I’m going to kill you just to see what happens when one of the elements is gone. How will it ever recover?”

Twilight coughed and tried to light her horn again, but something on it was blocking her channeling of magic. She gasped in pain and looked at him through vision blurred by pain. “Of course it will… I’ll die, and then, then… then somepony else will become the element of magic. I’ll just… be dead.” Twilight sighed and winced. “Death is… in keeping with harmony.”

“Harmony shmarmony. Why do you need friends to make it work? That’s stupid. It should be like unicorn magic or some of those magic tools I’ve heard of. Anypony should be able to use it when they get their hooves on it.”

Twilight let out a pained chuckle. “Of course you wouldn’t understand. Let me tell you about my friends.” She coughed and tasted something coppery in the back of her mouth. “We are six, two unicorns, two pegasi, and two earth ponies. Two of each race that keeps Equestria in motion.”

Lost Sun grimaced. “Seriously? Two of each make up the harmonious harmony that allows you to defend Equestria from danger?” He waved a hoof dismissively. “So why can’t you just get a group of six ponies like that together each time? Why do you have to be friends?”

“Because… together we shared big adventures and had tons of fun. My friends each have beautiful hearts and are faithful and strong in different ways. They shared kindness with me which is no easy feat, seeing as how I’m a stranger, but what completes it is friendship, because friendship is—”

“—Magic!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she crashed through the window next to Twilight’s bed. A splintering of wood could be heard from downstairs as Rainbow Tackled Lost Sun, shoving him away from Twilight. His knife scraped across her face as he was blown backward, taking a chunk of her muzzle with it.

“Twahlight, are you okay?” Applejack called from downstairs.

Twilight still couldn’t use magic, but she was able to move. Lost Sun’s binding spell had been broken. She reached up and tried to pull the thing on her horn off, but her legs hurt too much and moving was painful. She instead just called down, letting them know she was okay. “I’m o—”

Twilight was interrupted by a burst of magic. Crackling lightning filled the library downstairs and she could hear all of her friends cry out in pain, there was the sound of fighting, and meaty thuds indicating hooves were impacting flesh. She dragged herself over to the edge in time to lean over and see Lost Sun down on the ground, hogtied with a hoof on his horn.

Fluttershy had been floating about the fight and she was the first to see Twilight. “Oh! Twilight, my goodness! You’re hurt!” she said as she flew up to the balcony. She had brought a first-aid kit and pulled it open, bandaging Twilight’s injuries.

“Thank you, Fluttershy. Spike is hurt too, have you found him?” Twilight said.

“I did, dearie. He’s fine, just a little embarrassed,” Rarity said. Spike was standing next to her, a little bruised, but otherwise appearing fine.

“Sorry, Twilight,” Spike said, head hung low.

“It’s alright, Spike. None of us could have known. I thought he was going to continue to show off, not target us directly,” Twilight said.

“You give me too little credit, Sparkle,” Lost Sun said. “And too much. I just wanted to see the elements of harmony for myself.”

Fluttershy pulled the magic-neutralizing device from Twilight’s horn, and she immediately lit it, standing up straight despite the pain of her wounds. “I don’t know what your name is, sir, and I don’t care to know. As the protector of Ponyville, I want you to know that most of your concerns are legitimate, but you do not deserve to have them addressed.”

“Didn’t think I’d get to see the elements of harmony work without causing it. Guess I was right. A demonstration is too much for you, eh?” Lost Sun spat, a dollop of blood flying from his mouth onto a book on her shelves. Twilight narrowed her eyes.

“Unfortunately for everypony involved, Ponyville does not have the capacity, for some reson, to harbor criminals. Nor do we have a proper judicial system, which are all things I am going to talk to Mayor Mare about.” Twilight felt a surge of pain from her thigh and had to shift to favor that side of her flank.

“Unfortunately for you most of all, sir. You attacked me directly and have scared Ponyville beyond the point it needed to be scared. Pinkie, do you recognize this pony?”

Pinkie Pie saluted. “Never seen him before, Twilight! Which means he has no friends whatsoever!”

Twilight gave Lost Sun a sympathetic look. “No friends at all? That’s very sad. No wonder you were acting out, why don’t we let you go home and think about what you’ve done?”

Everypony stared at Twilight like she had gone crazy.

“Wait, what?” Applejack looked confused.

“Why would you do that?” Rarity demanded.

“Is… is that safe?” Fluttershy asked.

“The elements of harmony are safe, we know what he looks like, and he knows he won’t get any further answers from murdering ponies. I think he’s learned his lesson,” Twilight said.

“I don’t believe that fer a second, Twilight!” Applejack said.

“He’s a great big meanie-pants! We can’t let him get away with it!” Pinkie said.

“We aren’t. He knows he won’t get anything more from us, or Ponyville,” Twilight said.

Lost Sun looked just as confused as the others. “Wait, you’re just letting me go?”

“You know all the answers you need. Are you satisfied?”

“What? No!”

Twilight shrugged. She lifted the horn ring with her magic and floated it down over Lost Sun’s horn. “Wear this until you’re out of sight of my library, or I will blast you clear to Canterlot, understood?”

Lost Sun didn’t respond for a moment, then slowly nodded. “Understood.”

Twilight smiled magnanimously and motioned for her friends to let him up. He stood, looked around with a hateful glare, then limped out of the library.

Every one of the ponies gave him a glare of anger at his flank as he left, and Twilight collapsed to the ground. Every one of her friends swarmed around her, making sure she was okay, but none of them saw the glance and slight nod she shared with Angel.

His paw was bandaged, but he nodded back with a glare and disappeared out the door after Lost Sun.

There was only one more murder in Ponyville before they stopped. A lonely pony nopony knew, found in a backstreet on the west side of Ponyville, dead from an excess of stab wounds. Curiously, the stab wounds were in the shape of a rainbow across the torso.

Although Twilight was certain the body found was Lost Sun, she still tuned her radio every night to the channel Lost Sun Radio had been on. She’d listen for a short while before turning it off, and usually there was nothing. But every so often she could swear she had heard a name, and the next day a pony would turn up dead. None were ever ruled as murders, but it was disconcerting nonetheless. She shared it with her friends, but they heard nothing.

She still keeps the radio on when she goes to bed at night, the hiss being a comforting sort of sound as she sleeps. The names a quiet lullaby, hidden in the static.

The end.