Equestrian Chronicles: The Sparkle Experiment

Chapters

I: Tango Facade
III: The Talk
IV: The Plan
V: Wouldn’t Hurt a Fly
VI: Rotten Apple
VII: The Conspiracy
II: The Case Begins

I: Tango Facade

My name is Tango Facade. But did I really need to tell you that? I’m the most famous detective there is. I’ve solved countless cases, and the police arrested whoever’s responsible. Simple as that. Well, not really simple. In fact there couldn’t be anything harder. Other than being an Element of Harmony. But they’re gone now. By that I mean the elements themselves, not the actual ponies. That’s excluding Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight Sparkle was the Element of Magic, and the Princess of Friendship. She played a very important role in our society. She has done many things, but one day, she vanished. And so did her brother, mother and father. And no one knew why. That is, until a picture was leaked. It was... disturbing to say the least. It was a simple page. Doesn’t sound like much, does it? But it was much. Very much. The page contained details of a supposed arrest, and even an... experiment. That’s where EXP#209 comes in. EXP#209 is named this because a system was introduced that made naming experiments more simple. The Sparkle Experiment was the 209th experiment performed by ESF (The Equestrian Science Foundation), and the most notorious.

Let me tell you something. Experiments here are usually things like what you would see in a classroom. There were a few experiments that might have gone way too far up the scale. But this. This took the cake. This was absolutely horrendous. The picture looked legitimate. It was posted by a retired scientist that worked with ESF. All the evidence was pointing to this being true. But it was too much.

People began to get sceptical after a while. Some even made claims in debunking the entire picture. Well, there was no way to debunk it. And there was a problem. The ESF Seal of Approval.

It was never released to the internet. This could not have been edited.

I sat back in my chair. Beer in hoof, cigar in the other. I couldn’t bear another investigation. I was getting too old. My mane was even starting to turn grey. I was old. No doubt about it. I thought about resigning, but that’s when my mind turns to the people. I’m the only one to solve this many cases. What if a filly got murdered before she could even grow up? Who would solve that? What if it was a very organised murder? No one else had ever solved organised murders!

That’s when I heard a knock at the door. I stood up on all fours, and trotted over to the door. I opened it to see the exact stallion who had leaked the picture. My heart stopped. If he was coming to me, I knew it was something bad. Frozen in fear, I asked, “What are you doing here at this hour?”

He simply said to me, “Let me in. There’s something important I need to tell you. You won’t like it.”

Now I really was petrified. It wasn’t something I haven’t heard before, but the way he said it. It was so... dark, in a way. I don’t know how to explain it. I sat down in my chair, and he sat down in the one opposite from me, next to the fireplace. He had a small bag with him. It was a brown leather bag with a strap. It had golden coloured zippers and the name Rarity was under it, on a small golden oval. That was one of the elements, wasn’t it? For a pony, it wasn’t exactly the most comfortable bag. It was more for people who were wealthy, or just liked the look of it. That’s when I realised that I had been staring at his bag for ages. He gave me a glance, and my eyes went back to him. He put the bag on his lap, and slowly unzipped it. He pulled out a piece of paper. I could tell that it was the very sheet that he had leaked on the internet the week before. The strange stallion handed me the paper. I turned it over, and sure enough, it was the ‘experiment’ page. With that damn seal of approval.

I read the entire thing down, and it was the same. I investigated the entire page. It was all the same. Lastly, I looked at the seal of approval. For those who don’t know about the seal, it has a certain shiny effect to it to confirm its legitimacy. Sure enough, I held it up to the small lamp on my table. There was that shine. Never have I been so scared to see it.

“So, what do you think?” I looked up to see that the stallion was talking to me. “Is it real or not?”

I was shaking. He could see it. That’s why he was asking. I stammered in my words, and finally pushed out one single word.

“Yes.”

The stallion tensed up. He cleaned his throat, took a sip of beer, and said, “I used to be a part of the ESF. You probably already know that. Well, I left after EXP#208, where I was told that EXP#209 would be started soon. That’s when one of the scientists handed me this paper. I hadn’t been part of ESF long enough to know if this was real, or if it was a prank. Now that you say it’s real, I want you to find out something else.”

I looked up and simply asked him, “What do you need me to find out now? Haven’t I already confirmed it’s legitimate?” I sat there in silence for a moment, taking a long smoke break before continuing. “Okay, fine. But I swear to Celestia, if it’s not worth my time, you will be leaving my house with cigar burns all over your flank.”

The stallion hesitated a bit and then gulped, took a deep breath, and said, “I need you to find out what those bastards were doing, and why our beloved princess is gone.”

III: The Talk

It was funny to think that, for an old stallion, he felt like a kid. Easily excitable. This might be the first time he genuinely enjoyed a case. It was the first time it wasn’t even official. I guess it was probably the danger that made it so much more interesting.

Sure enough, I heard a knock at the door a couple of hours later after arriving at home. I knew who it was. I opened the door to see five mares, a little dragon and the strange stallion I had met before. I led them into my house, making sure to shut the door tight behind me. This wasn’t something I could just let out to the general public, after all.

Most of them had to sit on the floor, as I only had two chairs. One of them used to belong to my wife. We would always sit opposite each other, smoking and drinking as we talked about our day. I might have been an investigator, but I certainly was not expecting the day I would receive the news over the phone that my wife had been stabbed to death by a gang of teenage ponies in Canterlot. I cried that day. Since I was fifteen years old, that was the first day I had ever cried. I kept it there as a memoir. A memoir of the greatest mare to ever grace this earth.

I gulped down some whiskey, and cleared my throat, and then I spoke. Finally.

“Did Applejack explain to you why you are all here?” I asked. The rest looked at the farmer, in confusion mostly, but also in curiosity.

“Nah. I thought that since we were walking in public, I shouldn’t say anything. Just bein’ cautious. Some people did give us looks though. Not long ones, just... looks.” She replied.

I was starting to get a little worried that people already knew what I was up to. Not wanting to make this visit a long one, I simply handed the ponies the sheet. As they read it, their expressions went from curious to... disturbed. Applejack already knew what was going on, but she shared her friends’ expressions. They handed me back the sheet.

“But Tango, what does this all mean? This is insanity!” Rarity exclaimed. She was always the one to go overboard. Well, at least this time there was reason to go overboard.

I started to explain the situation. “It means that we have been lied to. Worse, you’ve all been lied to by Celestia, your friend and your princess. That’s why I’m choosing to help out this stallion-“

“Tango. There’s something I need to tell you. All of you actually.” I was interrupted by the stallion.

“My name is...” There was a long pause.

“Shining Armour.”

I couldn’t believe it. I actually couldn’t believe it. One of the subjects, one of the victims of this experiment, was sitting in front of me the whole time. That’s when I noticed that his cutie mark, a test tube, looked... odd. He noticed that I was looking at the mark, and so he peeled it off with his hoof. There it was, Shining’s cutie mark.

That damn shield.

“But-but how? How did you...” I stammered with my words. I could not believe it. But that was his cutie mark. I took a step over, and touched the cutie mark. It was real, alright. I even poured water on it. Nothing. This was him.

“I don’t know where they are. All I know is that one day, I broke out of my chamber where they kept me. I tried to save the rest, but I heard the guards. They told me to go on without them. I didn’t want to make a scene. So I did so. But I made one final promise, that I was coming back for them. That’s what I need help with. And I need you all to help me.” Shining spoke confidently.

The Mane Five and Spike were still in complete shock. Rarity looked like she was about to faint. I turned around to them and said, “So, what do you think?”

Rainbow Dash stood foward from the crowd of shocked ponies that was in the corner of my living room. “Of course. If Celestia’s doing something to Twilight, I’ll do anything to save he- no, WE will do anything to save her!” She was very confident, and so were the other ponies. This was happening.

I realised how important this actually was. I needed to do this. I needed to prove myself. I needed to help Shining Armour, or I couldn’t consider myself the best detective anymore. I was not only doing this for myself, I was doing this for Equestria.

We’ve been under the rule of a tyrannical, manipulative leader for thousands of years, and for the entire time, no one knew.

“So, when’s this happenin’, Tango?” Applejack asked.

“Meet me back here at 8pm tomorrow, we will make plans.” I had a plan in mind, but, once again, I did not want a long visit. The mares and Spike left, but Shining didn’t.

“Uh.. actually... Tango? Can I stay here for the night? I broke out of a testing chamber, for crying out loud! So yeah, I’m thinking about returning to the Crystal Empire, but that would be a massive risk.”

“Of course. Why not? But first, there’s something I need to ask you.”

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“How can I tell if you’re actually Shining Armour?”

That’s when he pulled out a locket. A very small heart-shaped locket. He opened it, and inside was a picture of him, Cadence and their baby, Flurry Heart. And then he turned it around. Engraved in it was the message “From your dear wife, Cadence.”

The signature was exact. As if she had engraved it herself. This was Shining.

“Okay, now I’ve answered your questions, now you need to answer mine.”

I looked up, and he stared at me. Dead in the eyes.

“I need you to find the son of a bitch who killed my beautiful wife. I don’t know who it is, and I don’t care. All I care is that they die a horrible and painful death. I want to see them die. She was my everything Tango. You don’t understand pain like that!”

I took a deep breath, and I embraced him. I said, “Trust me Shining... I do.” He broke the embrace and looked at me. Still dead in the eyes. “She was taken from me a few years ago. I was relaxing, waiting for her to come home. That’s when I got a phone call. Someone described to me the gory details of my wife’s murder. You ever heard of the Supremacy Stallions?” Shining nodded. Everyone knew who the Supremacy Stallions were. They were a sick, sexist, neo-nazi group of teenage stallions who never turned down the opportunity of killing a minority or anyone else. Their initials were even SS. “They killed my wife. They didn’t do it because she was a minority. They did it because she was my wife. I had arrested their leader, or at least I was responsible for it. They wanted revenge, so they stabbed my wife, tortured her. I even heard rumours of some kind of sexual assault, but I don’t like to think about that. I don’t like to think about the entire situation as a whole.” Shining looked at me, sympathy in his face. “She meant a lot to me, more than Cadence might have meant to you, but I know that’s not true.”

That’s when Shining hugged me back. He bawled into my shoulder. I wasn’t the best with comforting others, but it was enough for him.

“I just need a beer. Anything to forget. I can’t deal with this now. Not whilst I’m trying to save what family I have left.”

Equestria was a horrible place after hours. I’ve known that my entire life, but I haven’t thought about it to quite this extent before.

IV: The Plan

I didn’t know what was stranger. The entire situation itself or the sight of one of the test subjects getting himself dazed off my whiskey, in front of my own eyes. He was really chugging at it too. He really wanted to forget. I couldn’t let him get too drunk though, otherwise he’d have a hangover the next morning, and I didn’t want to have to deal with that. He was still crying. I could see it. I didn’t want him to waste all my alcohol, so I just handed him a cigar. Shining was really mellowed out for the rest of the night.

I told him he could use the guest room. I wasn’t having someone sleep in the same bed as me, especially if they have been in a testing chamber for three years. I never had so much trouble with sleeping in my entire life than I had sleeping that night. Not even the night of my wife’s death. I didn’t know why I couldn’t sleep. Maybe it was because I had so much to think about? At this point the plan in my head had started to fade away. I had drank some whiskey too, so it was understandable. I realised the mistake I had made. I ran to the bathroom and let out my stomach contents. Guess I had more than I thought. I kept going at it until there was no more. And that’s when I finally collapsed.

I woke up on the bathroom floor, vomit dripping from my mouth. My head was pounding. I couldn’t tell if I had a hangover or if I just banged my head on the toilet seat. As I got my bearings, I heard Shining get up in the other room. I slowly pushed myself up onto my hooves, and then proceeded to wash up. I noticed in the bathroom mirror that I was bleeding from my head throughout the night. My muzzle was almost completely red from an additional nosebleed. I washed the dry blood off my face and the vomit off my mouth. What a disgusting taste. I rummaged around in the medicine cabinet and found an antiseptic wipe and a pack of plasters. I wiped the deep cut and then applied a plaster to my head. That should keep it clean. I flushed the toilet, still full of yesterday’s dinner, and knocked on the guest room door.

Shining opened the door, bags under his eyes.

“Hey, you get any sleep?” I said in a croaky voice, my head still ringing constantly.

“Uh.. not rea- Wait, what happened to your head?” He exclaimed, putting his hoof against my forehead.

“Just fell over and knocked myself out or something like that. Should be fine. Just need to sit down and take some painkillers. Speaking of which, where are those bloody things?” I said as I walked back into the bathroom. Having another scavenge through the medicine cabinet didn’t help. “Crap. Guess I’ll just have to get some m-“ I was interrupted by a knock at my door.

“I’ll go get it. You just sit down.” Shining said as he walked over to the door. I staggered over to the recliner and fell into it. Head still pounding. At least the chair cushioned it, slightly at least. I looked at the door and the five mares walked in, along with Spike.

“I thought I told you to come back here late at night!” I exclaimed. They hadn’t followed the instructions.

“Uh. Does it really matter? It’s five o’clock in the mornin’...” Applejack replied, pointing her hoof at the clock.

“Fine, come in.”

“What’s got you so grumpy today, Tango?”

“My head bloody hurts like hell. Now can everyone sit down? Shining, get the whiteboard in my room.” I demanded.

Shining gave me a confused look, then went into my room. Five seconds later, he came back pushing a whiteboard on a stand with wheels into the living room. I slowly got up out of my seat, and took the pen from the whiteboard. At the top I wrote “Plan” and underlined it.

“Alright, what ideas do we have?” I asked everyone. Most of them scratched the back of their necks. They hadn’t thought of anything was my first guess.

“None of you thought of anything?” Everyone shook their heads. “Well, consider yourselves lucky. I hatched a plan, and I can remember most of it, despite knocking myself out.” I picked up the pen and began to explain my plan. “The ESF facility is located in Canterlot in a disclosed location. Good thing is, I know this location. It’s directly beneath the castle. I say we use a little manipulation ourselves to get in. I need one of you to convince Celestia that she is needed somewhere. Most of her guards will leave with her to prevent any type of assassination or attack. Some guards will stay behind though... and here’s the thing...”

“What’s that then?” Rarity asked. Everyone else made agreeing gestures.

I gulped and then proceeded to speak. “Considering this, there is a very high chance that it is required to... kill some guards. I’m not sure if you’re comfortable wi-“

“KILL? MURDER? ARE YOU INSANE? That’s totally out of the question.” Fluttershy yelled. This was the first time she had spoke in ages.

“Yes. But we’re already going to be committing treason anyway, and it’s for the greater good. I’ve killed many myself. It’s not that I want to, it’s if I need to, and in this case, it’s necessary.” I explained. It still didn’t get through to her.

“NO. I COULD NEVER LIVE WITH MYSELF IF I KILLED EVEN A FLY.”

“Well, sorry, but is it Twilight and her parents, or a few guards?” After saying this, Shining really gave Fluttershy a death stare. Pure madness in his eyes.

The room went silent. I decided to quickly drop the subject and continue with the plan. “Once we have got past the guards, I will lead you all to the room in which the facility can be accessed. I’m not sure what to do from there.” I wrote all the necessary details on the board, and repeated it many times so everyone remembered it. “Remember, come back here tomorrow in the morning, and we’ll go from there.”

I looked at everyone in the room, and that’s when I noticed Fluttershy had disappeared. Suddenly, I felt a hoof buck me in the back of the head. Hard. I collapsed onto the floor, my nose bleeding profusely. Fluttershy had bucked me in the back of the head.

“Well I won’t let you, you sick bastard!” Fluttershy screamed. She was mad. Very.

“Well now you’re just a hypocrite, thought you said you wouldn’t hurt a fly?” I teased her. I must have really gotten to her, because she ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife.

V: Wouldn’t Hurt a Fly

She ran at me, screaming, knife in hoof. She was ready to end my life, exactly how my wife’s life was ended. By the blade of a knife. I dodged, still bleeding from the nose. She attempted to swing at me again, and made a cut in my side. I screamed, tearing at the eyes as my blood poured out onto the floor. Rainbow Dash got up and attempted to hold Fluttershy back, but that ended up with her stabbing her hoof. Rainbow cried as her hoof bled profusely down her leg. She took a slash at me again, but I managed to stumble into the kitchen. I knew it was somewhere.

Her knife smashed through the kitchen cupboards as I tried to crawl through the kitchen whilst avoiding her. Where was it? I remembered. It was behind the washing machine. I got up on all fours, not caring about the pain, and charged into the laundry room. She took a swing, making a small cut on my flank. It stung like hell. I scrambled into the room, and tugged the washing machine. There it was, my trusty revolver. I grabbed it, and attempted to load it when she almost slashed my throat. I collapsed, bleeding on the ground from the side of my neck. I fumbled around with the bullets. It was loaded. One bullet was enough. As she was about to stab my chest, I pointed the gun at her head.

I pulled the trigger.

A loud bang shook the house as blood, brains and other gore splattered around my house, and even on myself. I was so shocked by the ringing in my ears that I couldn’t even hear the knife drop to the ground. My laundry room looked like a slaughterhouse. I had shot her. A seemingly innocent mare. My window even slightly cracked from the shock. I finally looked into the living room. Everyone was screaming. Rarity wasn’t crying, but tears were streaming down her face. I pushed the remains of Fluttershy off me and got up. I finally gained my bearings. The house was a mess, but there was something worse.

I heard commotion outside.

No one had come to check the house. It had been three hours since I blowed Fluttershy’s brains out in my laundry room. Everyone was silent. Even I was. I was thinking of what to do. What were the police going to say about this? I heard a knock at the door, followed by “Police! Open up!”

I looked around the house, to see if there was anything I could use. Then I looked down at my hooves. I was wearing leather gloves. Thank god for my sense of style. I opened the door, making a half-fake expression of shock. The police were clearly suspicious of the blood covering myself, and proceeded to yell at me to put my hands up. Then they recognised me.

“Tango Facade? What’s happened here? Ponies are saying they heard gunshots.”

I made up the best lie I could. “It-it’s horrible. I-I was simply interviewing these ponies when suddenly one of them pulled out a revolver and s-sh-shot themselves. I tried to get them to stop, but they wouldn’t listen.” The police entered my home, passing the others, and almost threw up at the sight. Luckily, they weren’t as smart as me, and since ponies didn’t have fingerprints like dragons or other beings, they didn’t have enough proof to arrest me. “Alright, we’ll need you to leave the premises. All of you.” Then we proceeded to leave.

That’s when I remembered I left the whiteboard in there.

I charged back as fast as possible, and snuck inside. They were still looking at the body. I took the eraser for the board and wiped away the evidence. The two cops came back round to see me in the house.

“What are you doing back here, Tango?”

“I-I needed to tell you something important. She also tried to... attack us. I’ve got a cut in my side. Should probably go now.” And then I left, catching up with the group. Making that excuse reminded me of my injuries, and Rainbow Dash was still covering her hoof, tear marks streaming down her face.

We reached Sweet Apple Acres. No one was home but Big Mac.

“What are you doing? We can’t let him know!” I whispered to Applejack.

“We’re gonna have to. You’re injured and so is Dash. Besides, he’s very quite.”

Applejack approached Big Mac and explained the entire situation to him, whilst Shining Armour and Rarity helped me and Dash with patching ourselves up. Looking over to Big Mac, I noticed he seemed... unphased. He walked over to me, slowly. I thought I was about to get into some more action, when he said to me, in a very angry voice,

“I knew those bitches were doing this the entire time.”

“What? How could you possibly know?” I asked. I don’t think it’s normal for a member of the public to know about why the ESF were up to behind the scenes.

“I was part of EXP#209. I didn’t even know it was an experiment on Twilight and her parents. I don’t know much about it. I had to erase most of my memory with some... strange device. I didn’t want to, but I needed to keep my family safe. I will help you with this. You get that? Because... because...”

Applejack even looked confused. Same as I.

“Because... what?” Applejack asked.

“Because... they took my life. They took it many years ago. You’re probably wondering how I’m still here. I can tell you that I am. I’m not a ghost. Ghosts and ghouls and that other bullcrap, they ain’t real. But the ESF have found ways to revive people. They revived me, raised me as a part of their disgusting organisation. I escaped. Erased most of my memory, forgot about the rest. I don’t remember my past life. All I remember is that I was part of the Apple family before I died. That’s why they were completely unphased when I came back.”

I looked at him, completely shocked. That’s when he got even closer, and said something that would completely change my perspective on the situation.

“I wouldn’t hurt a fly, but I would hurt a member of the ESF.”

This was getting crazier as the days went on.

VI: Rotten Apple

I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t bloody believe it. Of all the ponies in Equestria, Big Macintosh was the one with answers. But why him? He didn’t seem the type of stallion to have this information. Was this why he was always so quiet? No wonder. I wasn’t the only one to be shocked either. Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, even Shining were sharing the same expression as me. Especially Applejack. This was obviously something she didn’t know about. Who knows what was going through her head at that moment...

“Ah’m mighty sorry I alarmed y’all, but it’s true. I was part of the ESF. I will never forgive myself for being part of that sick corpora-“ Big Mac was cut off when he noticed that Applejack had just slammed the barn door behind him. Almost as if she was infuriated. She was heard running into the house, and another door slammed. More loud hoofsteps thundered up the stairs, and finally...

SLAM

I turned to Big Macintosh, who seemed to be extremely worried and confused at the same time.

“It’s a lot for her to take in. Not just for her, also for us. Maybe even for you.” I tried reassuring him. This only caused him to storm out of the barn and after Applejack. I couldn’t help but follow him inside. Neither could the rest. As I trotted up the stairs, I could hear various cries, shouting and thudding from Applejack’s room.

Suddenly a massive thud shook the house. Silence. I pressed my ear up to the door. I could hear what sounded like Big Mac groaning, as if Applejack had struck him. Silence once again. Then I started hearing some cabinet doors being moved. This was followed by some rather familiar clicking sounds. They sounded as if it was coming from a-

BANG

I grabbed my ear and cried in pain as I felt warm blood trickle down the side of my head. I staggered and fell down the stairs, not helping my already excruciating pain. Rarity raced down the stairs towards me, making sure I was OK, whilst Rainbow Dash entered the room the bang had come from.

She froze.

“Come... here... now...”

I was stunned. “What do you me-“

“NOW!”

I struggled to get up the stairs, but when I finally reached the top, I met a gruesome sight. Big Mac was bleeding from his right ear, tears pouring from his eyes as he slowly manoeuvred himself away from the corner with whatever strength he had left at that moment. Then I turned to look at the corner.

In all my years of being a detective, I had seen some gruesome sights. But this... this was...

I broke down. I didn’t care how weak it made me look. I just couldn’t take the sight.

It was real. It was so real.

I wanted to believe the blood that splattered the cupboards was fake. I wanted to believe the brains were fake. I wanted to believe Applejack’s lifeless corpse was fake.

It had been six hours since we had ran away from the barn. We were in the middle of nowhere. But at least it was better than being in a jail cell for the rest of our lives. I was getting tired. So were the others. I wish I stayed at the barn. But I knew well enough that another suicide in the same day would be too coincidental, especially considering the fact that both of the victims were elements. We sat down next to a small tree. The others were either eating or comforting each other. I was just contemplating the last six hours. Why was I here?

SIX HOURS EARLIER

All I heard were screams. Loud screams mixed in with tears. I didn't want to stare at Applejack, but I couldn't take my eyes away. The blood slowly trickled down her muzzle, and down her chest. She was barely recognisable. I felt sick to my stomach. With the strength I had left in my vocal cords, I yelled for everyone to get downstairs. Still shaking and crying, they all stumbled downstairs. I followed, not without looking at the mess one last time. It was funny. Of course it wouldn't be the last time.

"Sit down. All of you." I demanded. They followed my orders, still clearly shocked.

"Right. Two of us are already dead. They both died today. They are both elements. Once the police discover Applejack, they'll be on our asses."

"SO YOU'RE SAYING INSTEAD OF GIVING HER A RESPECTFUL BURIAL, YOU'RE SAYING WE SHOULD HIDE HER?" Big Mac yelled, getting up from his seat.

"I didn't mean that at all!" I replied.

"Then what did you mean?"

I sat back down. "We're going to have to run away from Ponyville altogether."

Everyone's eyes widened. "Bu-but we can't leave! I have to take care of Applebloom! Rarity needs to take care of Sweetie Belle! And I already told you, the ESF facility is here!" Big Mac argued.

"No, you said it was behind Celestia's castle. But then again, Canterlot is far too close. Also, can't Granny Smith take care of Applebloom?"

Big Mac sat back down. His head drooped. I could see he was frowning.

"What? What did I say?"

Big Mac looked up, tears beginning to form again. "She's dead, now tell me how we're gonna get away or you'll end up just like my sister." Everyone slightly moved away from him.

I gulped. "Well, we're gonna have to head to a clothes store, a barber shop and then we'll head to Manehatten. We'll go on from there, but we'll have to end up in Canterlot at some point."

Shining rose up. "We have only a week. I escaped a week ago. I remember hearing through the speaker that next week, we would all be released. But I don't trust him."

Big Mac chimed in. "Yeah, 'released' is basically the code word for 'killed' at the ESP."

"You're really not helping, Mac."

Rarity then stood up. "WAIT! If we went to the barber, wouldn't they inform the police about us?"

I'm such an idiot. Why didn't I think of that?

"Well, aren't ya a barber?" Big Mac asked.

"WHAT? NO! I'M A FASHIONISTA! But, I do know one thing or two about... YES! I COULD DO IT!"

I looked at the clock. "Well, you better get started then."

VII: The Conspiracy

Author's Note

Since the last chapter was very unexpected and seemed a little pointless, I thought I'd explain everything. This will hopefully clear up any questions for the last chapter or any other previous chapters.

VII: The Conspiracy

Nothing made sense. Everyone was dying so quickly. It might never end. Why did Fluttershy go so mad? I thought Applejack had a very strong mind. She was one of the elements, after all. That just goes to show how fragile the mind is. It made me shiver just thinking about it.

Something told me deep down inside that there was a far more sinister reason to these deaths.

Ten hours in the burning rays of Celestia's sun weren't the best thing for us. Rarity had dressed us up so much you could barely recognise us. At least there was one less thing to worry about. At this point I couldn't tell how close to Manehatten we even were. We had already gone through half of our water, and of course one certain mare was very picky about food, even in this situation.

I couldn't take this. None of us could. But we had to keep walking. It was the only way we could save Twilight, and turning ourselves in would be cowardly. I also wanted to save her, she was a dear friend of mine, and the others too.

"LOOK!" Dash shouted, pointing her hoof in another direction. It was a cabin. A rotten old cabin. It looked like it could fall at any moment. I was surprised it was still standing considering the wind in this area.

"What? You want me to go in there?" Rarity cried.

"Well, yes. We may not have a CHOICE!" Dash cried back. Rarity stayed quiet.

We looked around for anything that could possibly be useful to us. Pinkie found a few bottles of water and Rarity found a broken compass. Luckily it was only cracked and still slightly readable. It was at that moment that we realised how dark it was outside. We would have to stay at the cabin.

We sorted out rooms. Rarity, Dash and Pinkie would sleep in the living room, whilst us three stallions would sleep in the bedroom. It wasn't exactly fair, and we did have a little quarrel about it, but we finally decided that it didn't matter much anyway. I walked into the bedroom to find Big Mac writing in his diary. I assumed it was about his sister. He glanced at me and slid it behind his back.

"You can't fool me, you know." I said jokingly. He smirked, and then proceeded to leave the room, still holding the diary. Suddenly Pinkie crashed into him. He dropped the diary. I looked at it. I wasn't one to invade other ponies' privacy, but something didn't seem right.

I swept it up and threw it behind me. He got up, brushing himself off, and then looked at the floor.

"Goddammit. Where'd it go?" He sighed as he scanned the floor. I slowly trotted backwards. I grabbed the diary and flipped to the first page. It was basic diary stuff. Embarrassing secrets and basic daily life. I actually smiled. He had a fun life, unlike me. My childhood was full of abuse and underage drinking. Then I flipped to the last page. My heart stopped.

Dear Diary,

I'm starting to think I should give this up. It's stupidly dangerous. Of course I'm not talking about the adventure here. I've been deceiving my friends. I am a proud member of the ESF, and always will be. I don't want Tango to get in that facility. That's why I lied about the location. I slipped up at one point, but he didn't seem to notice much. At least I don't think so. It's also why I got Shining Armour to mind control those two dumb mares. One of them was my sister, but I don't care. Praise be the ESF.

Big Mac

I couldn't bloody believe it. Those bastards. They tricked me. They tricked everyone. Big Mac had lied to me. He killed Fluttershy, and even his own sister! I couldn't believe Shining Armour would even assist him! That's when I realised Big Mac was looking right at me.

"That's not yours to look at Tango." He said, trotting over to me, malice in his eyes.

"You son of a bitch. Both of you." I said.

"Oh. I guess you read the last page. Well, you see, I can't let you win. The ESF are very important you see, and we can't let simpletons like you in our facility."

I got mad. Very mad. "I'VE BEEN IN THAT FACILITY MULTIPLE TIMES!" I yelled.

"Then why couldn't you remember where it was? I had to tell you, and you believed me." Big Mac stated. I froze. He was right. I didn't remember where it was. But it didn't make what he was doing right.

"I won't let you or Shining Armour get away with this... this... conspiracy!" I yelled, tearing up slightly. The others cowered in the corner in shock and terror. "YOU KILLED YOUR OWN SISTER BECAUSE OF SCIENCE!"

"No, Shining killed her. Isn't that right?" He looked over to Shining, who was beginning to sweat heavily.

"Yes. Yes, I did. But that doesn't make things any b-" Big Mac bucked him right in the face. A tooth skipped across the floorboards. He clattered to the ground, almost breaking the floorboards underneath his limp body.

"Shut up. Peasant. As for you, Tango." He pounced on me. Surely enough, he tackled me to the floor, splinters from the floorboards sinking into my flesh. He bucked my chest. Then he trotted over to the other ponies. He dealt them all blows to the head, and the last thing I saw was his blood soaked hoof approaching my muzzle, before everything went black.

This was clearly a bigger deal than I ever imagined. I just found out one of the most mute stallions in Equestria is actually a mad stallion hellbent of preventing my plans to save Twilight. Little did I know that this rabbit hole of conspiracies went much, much deeper. Deeper than ever before. Deeper than any mind could ever imagine.

II: The Case Begins

I staggered back a bit, despite sitting in a chair. I was shocked. Did this random ass guy just tell me to break the law, and figure out what was going on behind the scenes of the ESF? I’m already in enough beef with them. I used to work there when I was 26. It was only for a year. I was fired after I caused an experiment to go wrong. But since I was very passionate about this job, I learned everything. But now this guy was telling me to figure everything out.

No. I couldn’t. Could I? No. That would be treason. At least I think it is. But technically I would be doing it for the greater good, wouldn’t I? But I would still be going against Celestia!

My brain fought against itself as I tried to think rationally. But how the hell was I supposed to think rationally if this guy just asked me to infiltrate the ESF? I tried to shut my brain off as I thought of an answer. These thoughts wouldn’t help me jump to my conclusion. What could I do? What should I do?

“I’ll think about it.” I suddenly choked out. Somehow I just came up with an answer out of nowhere. How strange. At least it would buy me some time to think about it. Hell, I’m already thinking about it right now. The stallion got up, trotted over to the door, not even looking at me. At least, I don’t think so. As he opened the door, he turned his head round back over to me. He pulled out a small piece of paper and dropped it on my doormat. He then said to me, flatly, “Thanks for the help Tango. Make sure to call this number once you’ve made your decision.”

He left the house, slamming the door behind him.

This was the biggest case I’ve ever had, and I was still unsure whether or not I should turn it down. But I remembered, this is the case I had been wanting to solve for years. Ever since I first heard about it. Ever since the Princess disappeared. Now it was my chance. But now I wasn’t so sure.

I thought for a moment.

There’s five mares I should talk to first.

I lived in Ponyville, where Twilight had met all of her friends, so it wasn’t hard to find them. Especially since I lived very close to Sweet Apple Acres, where Ponyville’s cider is made and where Applejack, the Element of Honesty, lived.

I trotted up to the barn. It was shining a new shade of red, as if they had just painted it. I knocked on the barn door, and sure enough, Applejack answered.

“Well, howdy there, Tango! What brings you here?” The farmer said in a slightly shaky voice, as if she was intimidated by me.

“Applejack, I need to ask you something. You are not in any sort of trouble, I just really need to ask you something. I need to make sure we’re alone. It’s a very secretive matter.” I explained the basic situation to her without spilling much of the secrets right at her front door.

“What’s this all about, Tango?” Applejack said, in a very quite whisper.

I came back with a whisper. Only this time she wasn’t left shocked afterwards.

“Twilight.”

It was around half an hour later when finally I followed Applejack to a specific point in the fields. She said that no one should be able to hear the two from the barn, or anywhere else for that matter. She lifted up her hat a bit, and then spoke.

“So, why did you bring Twi up again, Tango? Is there somethin’ wrong? Did you find ‘er body?”

At this point, Applejack was seemingly worried. I reassured her that I did not find the mangled remains of her friend.

“No I didn’t find her. But I’m trying. What I mean by that is... some stallion came up to my house, handed me a page from the ESF. It was a page of details about an experiment involving Twilight and other family members. It also says they committed the murder of Princess Cadence, and they were all in on it. Honestly I find it hard to believe. They didn’t present any forensic evidence at the trial. But the reason why this seems strange is because one day... the four of them vanished from their cells. The guards apparently didn’t even question it. It was all so strange. Th-“

I was cut off by Applejack. She was shaking, and managed to say, “I think this is a bit too much to take in at once. Before you continue, is there anyone else that needs to hear this?”

I nodded, and said, “I will need Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy to hear this. I’m also considering that maybe I should fit Twilight’s assistant Spike in there.”

“Well can’t ya just group us up? It’ll be much more simple that way! Maybe I could send a message to the rest of ‘em so ya don’t have to break your back trotting around Ponyville!”

I had to agree with Applejack, as I said, I was getting old. “Okay, that seems fair. Once you have grouped everyone up, head to my residence. I shall be waiting. Make sure to get Spike, and also, there might be a guest you won’t expect.”

Applejack, was confused by this, but then nodded and headed off to group up the rest of the Elements.

But I had a phone call to make.

I dialled in the number, and called it. Sure enough, the stallion picked up.

“Is this Tango?” He asked, still sounding as he did when he left.

“Yes. I would like to investigate the ESF. I will do it without them knowing, and I will figure out the whereabouts of Twilight and the others. But first, I need you to come back to my home. I’ve got a few mares I need to speak with.”

I ended the call. The case had begun.

It’s time for the truth to come out.