It was an accident!

A few days later Ponyville woke up to a truly dreadful headline in the morning paper: Mare’s body found floating in the lake, guards still searching for her missing foal.

Rainbow Dash cringed at the headline, she took a sip of her coffee and looked around the café for a distraction.

“It’s absolutely horrifying, isn’t it?” Rarity said, taking a dainty sip of her own coffee. “What kind’ve brute would do such a thing to such a sweet mare like Derpy?”

“How do you know it was foul play?” Dash asked.

“If you read a bit further, darling, it explains that several of her bones were broken,” Another sip. “Simply falling into the lake and drowning would not do that, the guards believe it was a murder.”

“This is awful,” Dash sighed, she looked out the window beside them at the pristine streets of Canterlot. She finally found an adequate distraction as she watched raindrops slide down the window, she pretended in her mind that they were racing.

“You worked with her, didn’t you?” Rarity asked.

“I used to, though a couple of months ago she started working as a mail pony. She wasn’t very good at weather patrol due to her crossed eyes,” Dash wiped condensation from the window with a hoof, so that she could better see the outside world.

“What a tragedy. I’m glad that you were here in Canterlot with me when it happened, I don’t know what I would’ve done if the killer had gotten you too,” Rarity placed her hoof on Dash’s.

“They know w-when she was murdered?” Dash gulped.

“Not exactly, no. But they think it was around a couple of days ago due to the, er, decomposition,” Rarity gagged.

“Oh…” Rainbow Dash felt ill. “Can we change the topic, please? This is making me really uncomfortable.”

“Of course darling, I do believe a change of topic is in order.”

Rainbow Dash had flown straight to Canterlot after she killed Dinky, she knew it would be the perfect place to vacation because Rarity was already there for the week. So now Dash had an alibi, so if the guards were to question her, Rarity could back her up.

When the two of them arrived in Ponyville a couple of days later, neither of them were surprised to see double the amount of guards around town. As they walked towards Rarity’s boutique, they were approached by a pair of guards in matching golden armor.

“Miss Rarity, Miss Rainbow Dash?” One of the guards asked.

“Yes?” Rarity answered.

“We need to ask you a couple of questions, we’re sure you’ve heard of the murder that recently took place here in Ponyville?”

“Why yes, of course, a truly heartbreaking ordeal. I do hope Miss Derpy’s family get’s closure,” Rarity responded, placing her hoof on her chest.

“Right, if you’ll just follow us to the town hall we’ll begin questioning you, in a different room of course. It won’t take long.”

The two mares followed the guards to the town hall, upon entering they noticed that several other ponies were waiting to be questioned as well.

Rainbow Dash was taken into the interrogation room first, where she sat at the table with a paper cup of water.

“Miss Dash, we’re aware that you attended a party possibly the same day that miss Whooves was murdered. We don’t know exactly what day the crime took place, but we must question you anyways, just in case.”

“Yeah, I went to Pinkie Pie’s party right before I left for Canterlot. I wanted to tell her myself that I was going on vacation, but I ended up just leaving a note on my fridge. My friends check on me in my house sometimes, so it would be easy for them to see the message.”

“We’re aware that you were acting strange at the party, before you suddenly left in a hurry?”

“Pinkie Pie spiked the punch with vodka, she said it herself. I had too much, so I had to go home because I felt unwell. I didn’t wanna puke in the middle of the party, so that’s why I rushed out.”

“We understand, several other ponies recounted that they also remembered Pinkie saying she’d spiked the punch. We’ve already questioned her, and she swore she didn’t add that much. What are your thoughts on that?”

“Between you and me, Pinkie Pie is kind’ve an alcoholic. I wouldn’t be surprised if she thought a whole bottle of vodka was ‘not too much’. And I’m one of her best friends, so I don’t mean any hate toward her.”

“And did you see anyone else acting suspicious at the party?”

Dash gulped. “Dinky Whooves was there, actually. I was kinda worried about Pinkie letting foals around spiked punch, but she’s a good pony so I assumed she’d keep them away from it. But Dinky did seem a little tipsy, come to think of it. Oh gosh, I hope she’s okay!”

The guard grimaced. “The whereabouts of little Dinky Whooves are currently unknown, thank you for cooperating, you are free to go now.”

When Dash exited the room she saw Rarity trotting up to her.

“How did it go?” Rarity asked.

“Okay, I guess. I’ve never been interrogated before, so it was certainly new.”

“Yes, they questioned me at the same time, I think they were satisfied with my answers,” Rarity smiled at her friend. “Say, Dash? Let’s go to Sugarcube Corner, I think after that we deserve to treat ourselves!”

Both girls giggled at Rarity’s pun, before they turned and left the town hall.