Author's Note

Hello there readers!

Just a heads up, this chapter will contain depictions of Sexual (Physical and verbal) harassment. If you're uncomfortable with this, either proceed with caution, or skip the second part.
Also! Sorry, this took so long and was kind of short- I've been pretty busy lately and couldn't exactly figure out all of the parts I wrote for a while. I still hope you like it regardless. I'll be working on the next part hopefully very soon. Until the next chapter!

The Investigation Continues

Caramel Star was brought into the station as soon as the royal guards had heard his loud sobs. Upon seeing the gruesome state of his ex-wife's corpse, they brought him to a holding cell for the night so that he could be questioned in the morning, and to try and prevent him from being the next victim of the night. And as the sun rose over Canterlot, many detectives and guards were at the scene to investigate, and some were there to keep other ponies away.

Gossip in Canterlot is absolutely unavoidable, so word spread quickly that someone had been attacked and many assumed it was the same pony who attacked Golden Dash in Ponyville. Of course, there were some deniers or those who believed it might've been a new killer, but no one could be sure as no information about this latest attack had been made public yet.

Cheerilee sat in the interrogation room, across from the detective who still hadn't said anything about his name. She wasn't that nervous, she had nothing to hide, but this detective was intimidating; not on purpose, it was just a general feeling around him.

"So, Cheerilee." The detective began. "A previous suspect has informed me that you have had an interaction with this stallion once before?" He showed her the picture and gave her a minute to look it over. Cheerilee looked down at the photo and immediately grew a little annoyed.

"Yes, I have." She spoke politely, but it was clear she was not happy to think about him.

"Would you mind telling me what happened?"

"He was quite nice and charming at first. We met at the Ponyville Days festival a few months ago. And though he was kind and offered to dance with me, he grew rather inappropriate close to the end of the night."

"I need you to elaborate just a little more, if you can, Miss. It's very important we get all details we can." The detective replied as he wrote down what she said. Cheerilee sighed and soon continued.

"He kept getting too close, I told him he was in my personal space and to please take a step back or two. Every time I did, he seemed to grow a little irritated. I finally told him I had enough when he tried to put his hoof around me and made a rather... gross, attempt at a pickup line. I finally yelled at him to leave me alone and went home. He didn't say anything, but he did look mad. I couldn't care less." Cheerilee folded her arms and seemed a bit irritated having to talk about him. Golden Dash had really ruined her good mood at that party, and she definitely thought he was a creep. When she had learned he was dead, she was surprised but she would be lying if she said she at least wasn't glad he couldn't bother her again.

The detective nodded and thanked her for explaining it more. He asked if they had any other encounters after the night at the festival, and Cherilee denied it. However, they couldn't be too sure. They'd keep an eye on her for sure... But soon enough, she was let go for now and they brought in the next suspect Rarity had talked about during her interrogation. Roma was brought in next, and she shared a similar story that happened while she was at work.

"And he wouldn't stop flirting. So, I told him, 'Look buddy, if you don't move over for the forming line, I'm going to have to move you myself. Now either buy something or leave.' And at that point, he was pretty annoyed and finally gave up thanks to a bunch of other ponies telling him to move it." Roma folded her arms and watched the detective finish his notes.

"And that's all that happened? He didn't come back later?" The detective asked her, to which she shook her head and with that, he finished his notes. Roma was let go soon enough as well. The detectives were easily able to see the pattern that Golden Dash was acting inappropriately towards mares all over town, specifically Earth Ponies. The one major problem was... this didn't exactly help them narrow down any suspects. Rarity was questioned again later that day and told the detective that she knew nothing else about any other mares Golden Dash preyed on. She also, said that she hadn't been a victim of his attempted charms during the one time he was a customer.

"So basically, this guy was a creep towards earth pony mares and each of his victims are still considered suspects?" Onyx Sparks asked as he used his magic to bring his coffee cup to his mouth and take a sip. The detective, who had released Rarity from the station the previous night, rejoined the group and nodded, confirming the description of the problem. Onyx was an earth pony had a light gray coat with a dark black mane and bright yellow eyes.

"That's at least what it seems to be. Can't believe ponies like that are really going around and treating others like that. It makes me sick." The pegasus growled quietly and placed his notes on his desk. A third detective, Midnight Breeze, entered the room and joined in on the conversation. Midnight was a Unicorn that had a deep purple coat and pitch-black mane. His silver eyes peered around at the pair he had run into, Onyx filled him in on the situation.

"I take it this only helped create a motive?" He asked, the others nodded, and Midnight sighed, disappointed.

"We haven't figured out any sort of clue that could lead us to an actual culprit. Only a motive and some extra needed background on the stallion." The trio was interrupted by a knock at the door across the room. When answered, a mail-pony had brought a letter from the Canterlot police station, informing them of the second murder of the same kind. Their hearts sunk as they read what it said and realized what happened.

The day passed rather slowly today, but for a certain pale unicorn, everything was going well. Orchid had just finished cleaning her dishes from dinner. She dried off her hooves with a hand towel and let out a yawn. Ready for bed, she turned off the light of the kitchen and made her way through the house, which was slowly getting darker, and to the stairs. The sound of her hoofs making contact with the ground quietly echoed around the building. Once upstairs, Orchid rubbed her eye as she went to the bathroom just past her room.

After brushing her teeth and mane, she finally went into her bedroom. Orchid looked to her dresser and contemplated wearing pajamas for the night. Eventually deciding to forgo them for tonight and just get into bed. Somehow exhausted from a day with very little activity, she flopped into bed and crawled under the covers. It didn't take long for her to get comfortable and eventually, the young mare dozed off and succumbed to slumber.

It was only an hour or so after she had fallen into a deep sleep that her eyes opened once again. Something about them was definitely different. The mare slowly lifted herself up from the pillow and glanced around the room. It was very dark tonight, as the moon was in its waning crescent phase and wasn't giving off much light. The pale mare moved carefully off the bed, doing her best to not make noise as she left the room. Occasionally, she glanced behind her before continuing to the stairs, then to the foyer, and then, she was outside again. The gentle chirp of crickets, the occasional hoot of an owl, along with the faint sound of wind blowing against the leaves in the trees, were the only sound she could hear.

She trod carefully and made her way down the path through the dark forest. No animals that happened to be up at this time came near her, and even if they did, she didn't pay any attention to them. Soon enough, the canopy had opened and Ponyville could be seen. But instead of approaching the town, she diverted from the path and began walking a completely different direction.

By the time the sun was about to rise the next morning, she had returned home and crawled back into bed.