TWILIGHT SPARKLE FOUND DEAD

DISCOVERED AT BASE OF CLIFF; MODE OF DEATH CURRENTLY UNKNOWN

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Ponyville, Oct. 4--Twilight Sparkle, hero of the Canterlot wedding fiasco, leader of efforts against the release of Discord, and personal protege of Princess Celestia, was found dead outside Ponyville early last morning.

Early reports indicate Twilight has suffered major lacerations and other injuries from a fall taken from a cliff outside the city limits in Ponyville. Formal autopsies have been postponed due to interference from Celestia as she overtakes the case personally with the Canterlot Royal Protectional Agency (CRPA).

The Ponyville Police Department reports signs of "possible foul play involved" as Twilight's house show signs of a struggle, including her front door, which was damaged and found open upon investigation.

Possible suspects and witnesses from around the town have been brought in from around the town, including Twilight's personal assistant at the time Spike, and the other Elements of Harmony at the time.

As of right now, this of course now begs the question. What will happen to the Elements of Harmony in the future now that the current Magic element has sadly passed? What does this say about the future of Equestia as a whole? Who will protect us from the forces that Celestia and Luna are unable to grapple with?

and most importantly:

Who is responsible for this?

Night Light slowly placed the paper onto the table.

Calmly, incredibly calmly, he clenched his jaw. He didn't hear his coffee cup fall from his grip. He didn't hear the smash against the floor, or the sudden knock at the door. What immediately grabbed his attention was the abrupt sound of teleportation right behind him. In a fit of rage, fear, and self-preservation, he whipped around and fired a flare from his horn. It burned, almost, letting loose so much so quickly, but it was quickly quashed when he saw who was in front of him.

The flare harmlessly bounced off Celestia's instinctive shield she had put up, and blasted into a picture onto a wall. The family portrait burnt into two pieces as it fell to the ground. Neither noticed it.

"P-princess?" Night Light timidly voiced.

"Mr. Sparkle, we need to talk."

...while witnesses at the scene describe the body as "bloody, broken, and morbidly disfigured."

Twilight's body was reportedly rushed to the Ponyville Hospital, where doctors did everything they could, but soon found out they were unable to save her. She was pronounced dead at 9:36 AM.

Celestia then made eye contact with the paper on the kitchen table. She took a step back. "You've read the paper..."

Night Light paused. He turned back toward the table, and read the headline again. Then he read it a second time. He payed attention to those three little words at the top, written in large, bold print, that sold the edition to the publishers. There, at that moment, on top of black and white tile, in a kitchen in a lonely flat in Canterlot, Night Light felt his heart shatter.

He fell onto his hind legs, and looked at the floor. He didn't cry, he didn't whimper, he didn't speak. He just sat there in absolute despair.

Celestia uneasily broke the silence. "I... I am so sorry."

For about 15 seconds, not an additional event occurred. The entire room froze, and Celestia wondered if Twilight's father had gone catatonic. Then he mumbled something under his breath.

"Excuse me?"

You don't get to cry first.

She took a deep breath, and reiterated herself. "I'm afraid I can't understand you."

Night Light stood up and all at once fired another flare at Celestia. This one took her by surprise, she side-stepped and looked back at him.

"YOU DON'T GET TO CRY FIRST!" he bellowed.

...coming at a most inopportune time, as, allegedly, Twilight was expected to make a second appearance at this years Grand Galloping Gala...

"I must be dreaming. This can't be true by baby, my sweet little girl is gone. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. NO!" he slammed his head onto a table. It splintered a little. "Wake up, please, just let me wake up, please just let this all be a DREAM! PLEASE!" he continued for a few more times before Celestia gathered herself enough to restrain Night Light from further hurting himself.

"Mr. Sparkle please, were all hurt from this but you need to calm down and—"

"DON'T USE THAT NAME! YOU. DO. NOT. USE. HER NAME." he screamed. He struggled vainly to escape his bindings but slowed his pace a little. He lessened his voice. "You are to blame! You understand me?! This is your fault!"

...possibly as a result from stress relating her current position as personal apprentice to Princess Celestia. Celestia has neglected to comment on these accusations or...

Celestia fell to her knees. She flashed back to the first thirty seconds of the news.

Anger, fear, and guilt.

This really is all pinned on me, isn't it? I did my best, didn't I?

She remembered several of the events that Twilight had lived through leading up to this. She winced.

What have I done?! WHAT HAVE I DONE?!

She pulled herself back to the present. That was something she would deal with at a later date. She needed to help this broken colt in front of her before fixing herself.

...we are, as of now, unable to locate Twilight's parents for comments at this time, and we are unaware of their feelings about the claims made by some witnesses...

Finally, Celestia recognized the situation in front of her.

"Why do you get to know first? When I have to find out from the fucking trade papers?! You get called down to the site of her death, and over the course of a day didn't bother to let her parents know what happened before the press did?!"

Celestia stopped. She dropped Night Light and remained still.

He's right.

She did her best to formulate a response. "I-I'm sorry. I, I just. I couldn't think straight, a-and I just needed to find out what happened, and I wasn't thinking and..."

Celestia sat down. This was the first time in centuries she had truly felt overwhelmed. It was not a pleasant feeling to return to.

"Does Shining Armor at least know?"

Celestia was reluctant to give an answer. Another tear streamed down her face.

"How many people did you think to tell before us?"

...Celestia has reportedly formed a personnel composed of 40 members to investigate this under special permission from the CRPS council...

He interrupted himself. "Velvet. Velvet's going to see this before I can get to her. She's going to see the headline and everyone at work is going to try to talk to her about it, and she's going to panic, and I'm not there to help her..."

...found dead...

"What are we going to do? What am I going to tell her?!"

...found dead...

"How am I going to tell Shining? Will he be able to do his job after this?!"

...found dead...

Night Light slowly turned back toward Celestia. "What are we going to do?!"

...FOUND DEAD...

"...I don't know..."

Author's Note

-DATA CORRUPTED-

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