The Mare With The Black Eye

by Orchid241

Rating: mature
Tags: Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Death, Alternate Universe, Mayor Mare, Drama, Original Character, Profanity, Discord, Violence, Princess Celestia
Length: 13186

A "new" pony in town causes quite the frightening disturbance.

Orchid is the not so new and yet a not so familiar face in Ponyville. A recluse, and a really closed off kind of mare. However, she isn't unkind. At least not all the time...

A few days after she visits town, a rather intense series of events occurs, and no one can tell what is going on... until someone tries to question Orchid.

Published 2022-11-15 15:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2023-12-13 19:02:29 UTC

A "Normal" Day

Orchid had woken up a bit earlier than usual today. With a bright smile and a big stretch, she sat up from her bed and yawned. The sun was not yet up to greet her, but it was slowly rising over the hills in the far distance. The faint sound of crickets could still be heard as her senses became fully aware.

"Hm, it's still quite dark. I suppose I shouldn't go to the market until later." She quietly mentioned to herself. With that, she hopped out of bed and trotted towards the door of her bedroom before she paused, blinked, and looked behind her. Whenever she blinked, her left eye, which was completely black, would never close completely. Some had tried to ask about it, but they never got a reason.

"Sorry, didn't mean to." She said to seemingly no one before exiting her room and into the main hall. Her house was rather large, basically a smallmansion. Orchid quietly hummed a little tune as she walked downstairs, the rest of the house being dark and quiet, say for the sound of hooves and her little song. The oddly cheerful pony soon made it to the kitchen. She examined what it was she'd need to get from the market that day, and in the middle of said analysis, she perked up and her ear twitched. After a few seconds of stiffness and silence, she nodded and smiled again.

"You got it!" Orchid declared with such confidence, all she had to do now, was wait for the sun to rise so that the shops in the nearby town would open. In the meantime, she looked around to see what she could do for the morning. Perhaps reorganize something? Or maybe just clean up the room? Regardless, she'd find something to do soon.

After some time, the sun had finally rose. Orchid had added to her list, grabbed a basket, and now had a pouch of bits to bring with her to the market. She locked the door after she had stepped out of the house and began following the "path" outside of the property gate. It was quite worn away, but Orchid could still follow it perfectly. She hummed as she passed under the dark trees and listened to the sounds of the forest.

Despite the fact Orchid was a unicorn, she never used magic for anything. No one exactly took note of it, and those few who did just thought she was taking a break from using magic. Orchid smiled when she eventually saw the clearing and saw Ponyville through the last of the branches in the canopy. It was still a decent distance away, but it was at least in view.

Orchid's smile remained as she entered the town and looked around. Everything seemed "Normal". The usual town hustle and bustle was going on as it did every time Orchid had come in to do her shopping. Daisy and her friends were selling beautiful and colorful flowers, the little ones were making their way to school, the usual strangers were passing by.

However, a sudden change in the normal occurred. A loud scream from down the street made everyone stop in their tracks. Orchid perked up and her ear twitched as she turned towards where the shriek came from.

In the nearby distance, a pony had discovered a stallion who was, upon viewing and closer examination, dead. It was hard to describe accurately, but many ponies who saw the gruesome sight and weren't screaming or possibly going mad, said it looked like he was drained of all blood and then thrown in the desert to dry. It was horrifying apparently. Orchid however, as well as just a few other ponies avoided the scene all together while a crowd began to gather around the building the stallion was found in.

His name was Golden Flash. He had a gold yellow coat, long midnight black hair, and at least HAD a charming smile and attitude. It's said his eyes shimmered like bits. And though he was a Pegasus, he lived on the ground and had quite a lot of mixed reputations depending on who you asked. However, he wasn't viewed as shady according to the majority who knew him. His features that once received swoons and admiration, had now been lost. A few ponies had already begun to spread out and search for help. While a few looked for help from Mayor Mare, the rest of the crowd who had run off, began banging against the door of the golden oaks library like their lives depended on them getting inside.

Twilight Sparkle had been catching up on one of her favorite books once again. It was quite nice to take a day off and read a story she adored, especially since, Spike was with Rarity while she went gem hunting for a new line of clothing. However, her peace and quiet was interrupted by the loud banging and panicked yells from the new crowd at her door. While she did sense the urgency, she couldn't help but be just a little annoyed since she WAS interrupted in the middle of reading. Twilight used her magic to place a bookmark on the page she had stopped on before she got up and made her way to the front door, steering clear of the direct front as a small handful of ponies toppled on top of each other when the door opened.

"Woah- Everypony! Settle down! What is going on with you?" She asked while helping the ponies up. As expected, everyone began talking at once and she couldn't hear a thing. "ONE AT A TIME!" She yelled over the crowd. Eventually the group had quieted down, but they still were clearly on edge. "Now, you," she gestured to a pony near the front and center of the crowd. "What's all this panic about?"

"A-A pony is dead! A-And it sure as Celestia isn't from a normal cause!" the mare stuttered as she spoke. Twilight's eyes widened at the thought. A murder? But- crimes like that hadn't happened in so long from what she heard! Worried, and realizing she could get the news to someone who would be much more helpful in this situation, Twilight decided to investigate and confirm if this was true. And if it was, get a note to Celestia. With that in mind, Twilight grew a more serious expression and demanded to be brought to the scene, grabbing a scroll and quill to alert the princess as she was quickly led back to the house where the first scream emerged.

Orchid thanked the shopkeeper of the vegetable stand. Her basket now full of fruit, a few vegetables, and some supplies. Her pouch was now hanging onto the side of the basket, only filled with two remaining bits. She began to hum again as she trotted away with a light bounce in her step before she suddenly stopped. She soon kept moving, but she was silent, her smile had faded, and her gaze was... off. After a couple moments of almost robotic movements, Orchid smiled and giggled. With that, she had made her way out of town. Ignoring the crowd still at that house or the groups of ponies running back with the Mayor and Twilight. Soon enough, Orchid was on her way back to the path in the nearby forest that led to her home.

Mayor Mare began to work on crowd control while Twilight made her way into the house to examine what happened. She immediately regretted it as a wave of nausea hit her like a bunch of bricks. She put a hoof over her mouth, dropped her scroll and quill, and dashed back out to the side of the house just in time for her breakfast to resurface. The body inside was horrifying. Golden's coat was dull and close to gray, his eyes were rolled back, and his face was stretched into a terrifying scream of pure fear. His body in general looked like he was nothing but skin and bones, rough and dry. Truly a disgusting sight for all of them, but this also raised plenty of questions. How did this happen? Who did this? And probably the biggest question on everyone's mind, why?

Twilight soon had stopped losing her recent meal and took a minute to catch her breath and wait for the burning pain in her throat to die down. She didn't reply to any questions from the crowd and just breathed heavily as she clutched her side with one hoof as the other held her up. Hundreds, if not thousands of questions filled her mind as she tried to get rid of the vision of the body from her mind. The mayor even tried to talk to her, but Twilight didn't respond until minutes after. Once Twilight finally felt calm enough and was able to tolerate the pain, she took a deep breath, wiped her mouth, and turned to the Mayor.

"I'll alert Princess Celestia immediately. Keep everyone else away from the body and keep it blocked until she arrives." Mayor Mare nodded and continued to help keep everyone at bay while Twilight quickly got to writing a letter to the princess. However, she found it rather difficult to figure out what to say for some reason. Perhaps it's just HOW she was supposed to write it? I mean, how exactly do you tell the princess, or just about anyone, that you just saw probably the most disturbing death scenes in your entire life?

Twilight tried a few times to sound professional with the situation but soon she finally decided too just be blunt.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
~~There has been a rather disturbing occurrence in Ponyville and~~
~~Something horrible has happened and~~
We require your immediate assistance in Ponyville. Something Terrible has happened; I'll explain when you get here. We await your arrival.
-Twilight Sparkle"

Ignoring her usual signature, Twilight just needed to send it now... Shit, Spike was with Rarity. Well, at least they were away from this scene, if Spike saw any of this he'd probably be traumatized to the point where he couldn't sleep. In no time at all she remembered where Spike had gone and raced towards the outskirts of town. Rarity was almost finished with her gem collecting with Spike when she saw Twilight speeding towards them."

"Twilight?" Rarity turned towards her and smiled as her friend slowed to a stop. Out of breath and out of shape, Twilight was panting as she glanced around for Spike. Hearing Rarity say her name, Spike peaked out from the hole he had dug and hopped out once he saw Twilight.

"Twilight, what are you doing here? Jeez how far did you run?" He helped steady her as she looked like she was about to collapse. Still not able to really speak at the moment, she held the note out to spike with her magic. He got the hint and nodded before grabbing the letter, taking a deep breath, and sending it off to Princess Celestia.

"Is everything alright darling? I don't think you've ever been in such a rush to send the Princess a letter. Or at least not in a good while." She pursed her lips for a minute as she recalled what happened when she was late to send the princess a friendship letter... Twilight shook her head and finally caught her breath.

"Something really bad has happened. I need you to either bring Spike to the library or just keep him with you at the boutique for a while... But stay away from the crowd in town. Trust me, it would be best if you didn't see what was there." Twilight sounded serious, and they could tell she was being honest. Rarity nodded to her friend's request and looked at her wagon of gems, it was pretty full, surely the rest could wait if she needed more later.

"I suppose we have enough for today. I'll bring Spike back to the boutique. You just be careful too, Twilight." Rarity ushered Spike to follow her. He looked concerned but instead of asking, just hugged Twilight, reminded her to be safe, and then proceeded towards the boutique aside Rarity. Twilight nodded and took a deep breath before trying to teleport closer to town in order to make it back before Princess Celestia arrived. Once back with the Mayor, she paced nervously while awaiting her mentor's arrival, however she didn't think much would be found out about this crime for a short while... And that made her worry. She tried to calm herself down. She just had to wait for the princess and then they could get to work on figuring out what happened.

Orchid finally saw her home in the distance, she hummed a little melody as she trotted to the front door. She set down her basket, reached under the doormat, and lifted the key with her mouth and unlocked it before slipping the key back under the mat and heading inside.

"I wonder what happened in town today." She thought out loud while setting the basket on the kitchen counter. She went quiet for a moment and looked behind her before a slight frown appeared on her face. "Well, you don't have to sound so rude about it, I was just curious." With that, she turned back to her basket and began putting her groceries away. All while being completely oblivious to the grim scene back in Ponyville. The house was silent except for the movements she made.

Once she finally finished putting everything away, Orchid moved over to her couch and hopped on before sighing and flopping onto her stomach. She felt tired for some reason, perhaps a little nap wouldn't hurt. I mean, she got her chore done for the day, may as well rest before having some more fun around the house later on. Using her mouth, she pulled a pillow closer to her and got more comfortable after resting her head on it. Within seconds her eye closed while the other remained halfway open. Orchid let out a yawn before letting sleep overtake her.

Author's Note

this is my very first fanfiction- and it includes an insert with my own OC. I hope you end up enjoying it and want to learn more about her and see more of the story. Also, sorry this part was kind of short- I was just testing the waters a bit with this.

The Next Step?

Author's Note

I'll be working on art for this hopefully soon- Hope you enjoyed this chapter. sorry it took so long to write.

TW
Just a small warning, this chapter contains content related to domestic abuse. I recommend proceeding with caution or only reading until it gets to Canterlot.

The Next Step?

While what they say and how they would go about the news was up for debate for a while, Mayor mare, Twilight, and Princess Celestia had finally come up with a way to go about handling the unfortunate event. First, the Princess publicly addressed the situation, while of course leaving out a decent number of details thanks to the little ones who she noticed were brought along, and for those who have light stomachs. The panic and worry still came as she expected but she continued anyway.

Next, she spread the word to neighboring towns around Ponyville and Canterlot. Then, she set up a few new rules for each to follow for the next few weeks. A curfew was established, as well as royal guards being stationed in certain areas to try and protect ponies or at least try to catch who was doing this. After all of this, Celestia took some time to try and think about what should happen now. As much as she didn't like the idea of waiting during this time of crisis, it would take a while to figure out how this happened and who did it. Still... What was the next step?

Orchid awoke a couple hours after she started her mid-day rest. With a cat like stretch, she sat up and looked around the still empty room. Nothing had changed from before aside from lighting due to the passage of time. She sighed calmly and hopped off the couch before heading towards a set of double doors that led to the study. Once inside, she skipped towards the desk and sat down before she opened a drawer and took out a pencil and some paper. Pencil in her mouth, she began to draw. She kept quiet while doodling and only occasionally paused before continuing to draw. Once finished, she smiled brightly and looked behind her.

"Look! I drew us!" She looked back at the paper with a hopeful grin, like a child presenting a picture to their parent. After a minute of silence, her smile loosened, and she put the paper aside. "I thought you'd like it a little more but at least you didn't mock it!" With that, she began to draw something else. This time it was just some random doodles. Rainbows, food, and a few stars.

The picture she had just drawn was a pair of stick-ponies. It wasn't that good, but she was proud of it regardless. It was of her, and next to her was a darkened, pony-shaped figure. It was shaded in and even was smudged a little to give it that hazy effect. As the afternoon turned to the night, she finished her drawings and made her way to the kitchen. As she got out some ingredients, she glanced behind her and nodded.

"Yea, that would probably be a safer approach. You're a better cook anyway." She giggled and sat on the nearest chair before taking a deep breath. Her smile faded as her body suddenly went limp and almost fell out of the chair. When she opened her eyes again, she didn't smile or even speak. Instead, she got out of the chair and slowly made her way to the counter before using magic to get out the pots and pans she'd need. Once finished gathering everything, she began cutting some vegetables she had bought earlier that day while also preparing water for a soup.

A few days had passed, and detectives were still hard at work trying to figure out ANYTHING to explain this murder. They only deduced a few basic ideas about the culprit. They ruled out the possibility of poison as none that were currently made could do anything like this, and no poison was detected in the body when examined. The house didn't appear to have been broken into.

So, the culprit more than likely was let in or teleported inside; so basically, they suspected it must've been a unicorn. They also took a guess that this was just one pony. However, there was a chance it could be 2 at least. Surprisingly, they didn't find any fur or hair at the scene either, and they really did search. There also weren't any hoof prints on the scene or nearby. This crook was smart and knew how to hide or cover their tracks pretty well, that was certain.

However, this only made it harder to try and figure out a motive and method of killing this mysterious pony had used. Without much to go on, the detectives soon turned to asking around town, to see if anyone who knew him could've been responsible for this gruesome death. This guy could've traveled to so many places! Who knows how long it would take to call in everyone who knew him? At least regarding unicorns... Well, regardless of how "Impossible" It sounded, they began in Ponyville. One of the first few unicorns called in for questioning, was Lyra Heartstrings.

Lyra was sat on the cold chair in the interrogation room. Patiently, she waited for the detective to come inside. She glanced around the small room for anything that could distract her for a moment but found nothing. Thankfully though, she soon heard hoof-steps coming from down the hall. She perked up and watched the door as it opened. A tall pegasus stallion with a beige coat, dark brown or black mane, and a magnifying glass cutie mark, stepped into the room. He had files tucked under his right wing and had a rather serious but calm expression. With that, he closed the door and sat across the green unicorn and placed the files on the table.

"Good day Miss..." He waited for her to reply with her name.

"Lyra Heartstrings." He gave a small nod before opening one of the files and pushing it a bit closer. There was a picture of Golden Dash along with a few papers which were likely an autopsy report. He placed a hoof on the top of the picture as if pointing to it.

"Do you know this stallion?" He asked bluntly. Lyra shook her head.

"I've only seen him a couple of times around town, but I don't ever really talk to him."

"And why is that?" He raised a brow and she shrugged.

"I just didn't really want to talk with him, I guess. I'm not the most social pony, heh." She awkwardly cleared her throat after her little chuckle and looked back at the pegasus, she didn't get why, but he was pretty intimidating.

"Where exactly have you seen him? And who have you seen him with?" The detective continued after writing down what he heard.

Lyra admitted she had almost always either seen him alone, or on rare occasion, talking with some mare on the street. However, he never approached her, so she never felt a need to strike up conversation. And though the detective tried to push on hearing anything she picked up from his discussions with said mares, Lyra was unhelpful, to the detective's dissatisfaction. However, it was just a lack of knowledge as opposed to her not being compliant. Afterwards he began asking about where she was the night the whole incident took place. Lyra couldn't help but blush a little as she remembered the night out her and Bon-Bon, or Sweetie Drops, had shared that night. A little bit of confirmation later on from Bon-Bon and the waiter who served them that night, helped clear their names. And so, the detective moved on to the next.

It was getting close to the last hour of the day before curfew as Rarity made her way to the interrogation room. She was promised it would be quick so took time to make it to the station before it would be too late. All around her she saw a few other detectives in rooms with other unicorn suspects, plenty of them were familiar faces. No doubt it would look the same with the Canterlot station after the possibility of it being a unicorn was proposed. And it was no surprise that Rarity's attention to detail would have her go under suspicion for being able to clean up so well. Many of the unicorns had to cut the detectives a break on these, they didn't have much to go on. Even Twilight had been brought in under the suspicion of being behind the attack, but it was quickly cleared after an alibi from Spike.

Rarity sat at the table and waited patiently for the detective to enter the room. She adjusted her mane just a little as she looked around the kind of dark room. Once the pegasus from Lyra's interrogation entered, he began with the same line of questioning as he did with the green unicorn. However, there was one major difference between her and the Lyra's responses to one of the questions.

"Where have you seen him? And who have you seen him with?" He asked, tired already of asking this question and believing he would get no answer again.

"I haven't seen him with too many, but I've seen him with a couple mares before, he did talk to me once when he came to pick up an order but that was it. I believe I once saw him, talking to Junebug. And Roma, one of the shop keepers at the market. And... oh! Are you familiar with Cherilee?" She listed off the three mares easily. He seemed to almost smile with this new information. While it opened up new suspects, this would be important for the case.

Not long after this, with an alibi from her sister and parents being brought up to clear her own name, the pegasus let Rarity leave and quickly presented the new information to his team. They were only happy to have a new lead after so many dead ends that day. (No pun intended) Seems like they'd have a lot to look over now, they quickly began looking over similarities between the mares and making sure they'd be ready to bring them into the station for questioning the next day. With that, the detectives and other staff began to clean up and get ready to shut down for the night.

Meanwhile in Canterlot, the sun was about to set, most ponies were already at home and bracing for the night. Shops were closed by now and some places were even boarded up. Some ponies decided to ignore this or didn't even believe it, however, the guards ensured they still went home. It wasn't just in Canterlot, all around, the news of the first murder in centuries was met with 4 responses. General fear, denial, paranoia, and the skepticism.

Things had been tense around everyone regardless of how they viewed the situation, and though reluctantly for some, they still followed the rules. Nothing new had happened in the case aside from the information that was gathered from Rarity. And while Canterlot detectives were working on having a discussion with suspects, nothing new had happened or been discovered with their side of the investigation.

Sapphire Sorbet was removing her fake lashes and untying her mane and tail. The long day at work had not been too easy on her and she was so glad she was finally able to toss aside her "professional" look and just lay back. The exhausted mare groaned loudly before heading into the living room and collapsing on the couch. She yelled out for her husband once she had gotten fed up with the silence.

"Caramel Star!"

"Yes dear?" A timid looking unicorn with caramel brown fur, cream like mane, and dark brown eyes peaked into the room from the kitchen.

"Dinner ready yet?" She impatiently glared a little at him. He shuddered and shook his head.

"Almost done, Sapphire." He called out as he retreated behind the safety of the wall. He was indeed almost finished cooking, but Sapphire clearly didn't like that answer.

"You better hurry up... I'm hungry." She crossed her "arms" and looked at the ceiling.

"I understand honey. It'll be ready soon." He tried to reassure. Thankfully for Caramel, she didn't reply. Once he finished cooking, he called to Sapphire, and got a bowl of the soup he made ready for her.

"About time." She grumbled as she got off the couch and went over to the table, taking a seat and examining the soup she was handed. She raised a brow and lifted it with her magic to sniff it. It smelled fine and looked good enough. She tried a small spoonful and gave her husband a glare, which made him flinch. "Give me the salt." He nodded and quickly obliged to her demand, grabbing the small container from the cabinets before holding it out with his magic for his impatient wife. Sapphire took it and added some to the soup before mixing it a little and trying it.

She sighed contently and set both the bowl and salt container down. Caramel breathed a quiet sigh of relief at his wife's satisfaction.

"That's better." She smiled a little as she ate the next bite. Caramel smiled a little as well before getting his own bowl for his own serving. Afterwards, he joined her at the table and began eating it as well. Dinner was silent for the first few minutes until Sapphire loudly cleared her throat and glared once again at Caramel. He seemed confused for a second before perking up.

"O-Oh right- Uh... how was work today?" Though it was clear Sapphire was miserable, she wanted an excuse to rant about it and Caramel Star usually asked on his own but tonight he figured she didn't need to? But, with Sapphire, that wasn't the case.

"Miserable as always." And so began her near hour long rant about her shitty day at work.

A couple hours later, the two were settling down for bed. Unfortunately, Caramel Star was forced to sleep on the couch once again. He did his best to get comfortable as his wife was already dozing off with a sleeping mask over her eyes. Neither of them noticed the figure making its way towards the bedroom window. Caramel Star frowned to himself as he adjusted his pillow and position once again to no avail.

He glanced at the wall and stared at the photo of his wedding day with Sapphire. She looked so beautiful... and happy that day. What had changed? Oh, that's right, she lost her job and had to cut back her spending budget. Not that Caramel wasn't working as well, but with them now working smaller jobs, it meant they had to be more careful with their money. And unfortunately for him, Sapphire was NOT happy about this.

Quite a few years of displeasure with their financial situation, as well as the decreasing feeling of love between the two put further and further strain on them. By the second year, Sapphire had gotten rather aggressive about their situation... and often lashed out because of it. Verbally and eventually physically. Caramel never spoke up about it, suffering in silence for years all from the mare he once loved.

Despite his changed feelings towards her, he still jumped up to come to her aid when the sound of her screams arose from the bedroom upstairs. However, he had failed to make it in time, as he was greeted with the lifeless, stiff, and bloodless corpse of his wife. He stared in horror at her, then the open window, then back at her. With tears in his eyes, he backed out of the room a little before letting out a scream of pure fear.

The Investigation Continues

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.

A problem That Can't Be Ignored

Author's Note

About time the main 6 got involved right? lol.

Anyway, this chapter is all safe to read- I hope you all like this chapter and look forward to the next! Also YEESH this book needs a cover art page. I'll work on making that- Promise.

Constructive feedback is always appreciated!

A problem That Can't Be Ignored

Twilight was in the library with the rest of the main 6. Pinkie Pie was zipping along the room, scanning for book titles that could possibly lead to anything related to what they were looking for; but despite her unusual, yet convenient, ability to find whatever she needed at rapid speed, she was unsuccessful in her search.

Rarity and Twilight were quickly skimming through books as fast as possible to try and find something. But just like Pinkie Pie, they had no luck. Rainbow was passing books to Fluttershy and Applejack, who were also helping with reading but neither of them were finding anything useful either.

"Come on Fluttershy, ya need to keep on reading so we can get through these books. If we don't find an answer soon..." Applejack attempted to hurry Fluttershy along, as she had only completed her search through 5 books while Apple Jack had gotten through 20. Rainbow Dash only added more to the pile still waiting for them. Twilight was clearly stressed as she paced and muttered while skimming her books.

"I- I'm trying, AJ. I'm sorry, I just am having a hard time focusing." The shy pony's reply came, and she sounded sad. Sad or scared, either way, she was clearly not happy.

"We all are darling, it's alright to feel that way, but we still need to try to push through if we ever want hope of finding out what is causing this... Ahem, problem." Rarity chimed in, looking upset as well but otherwise keeping her composure. Fluttershy adjusted the pillow she was sitting on and got back to reading, with Rarity continuing her search as well.

Rainbow Dash huffed as she set down another stack of books.

"Any luck over there Pinkie Pie?" She asked while taking a quick minute to relax and rest her wings, she hadn't anticipated on some of Twilight's books to be so heavy. The pink party pony shook her head with a frown.

"Nope. Nothing yet. It's weird, usually I'd find something by now." She sounded concerned.

"Not that this search would be more than helpful if we actually found something, but I don't think we will find anything if we haven't yet." Rainbow sighed with her reply.

"As much as I hate to agree, I think you're right. So far nothing like this has ever happened before. Or at least not on record. And if we can't find anything, it means we'll just have a harder and harder time finding out a way to stop whatever is going on." Twilight placed down the book she had just finished and groaned as she sat down and hung her head. "If only the detectives would make some of the information public... It might make things a bit easier on us."

Pinkie Pie attempted to smile and look for a bright side.

"Well, if this really is a new threat, then I guess it's good that we still have these!" She showed them the picture of the Elements of Harmony in one of the books she found during her search. The others did agree, it was good that they had those still. If worse comes to worst, it was their best means of defense.

"You're right. But there's still an issue that remains, we have no idea WHO is doing this." Twilight pointed out. Fluttershy remained tense and the others seemed to be thinking; All of them also seemed to have temporarily dropped their search to ponder more.

"Got any suspicious figures you've noticed Pinkie?" Applejack asked, the pink mare knew everyone in town, so it made sense to ask her. Pinkie shook her head.

"Nope. But there are some faces I haven't seen recently thanks to many deciding to hide in their homes more often." Fluttershy was definitely one of those less seen faces. It took a lot of convincing to come to the library, being one of the ponies who became more of a recluse and hid inside for fear of whatever was haunting the streets at night. It took a few escorts to get her over to the library to help, but she felt safer once back inside and with her friends.

"Well, that makes sense. Come on Pinkie, you can't tell me that your Pinkie sense isn't telling you ANYTHING about this." Rainbow Dash pitched in again while sitting on top of one of the empty shelves. Pinkie tried to really think and focus, but she frowned and sighed.

"I'm not getting anything Rainbow." Pinkie said, sadly.

"Ya don't think that whatever's doing this is messing with her Pinkie sense, do you?" Applejack decided to question. Pinkie seemed to consider the thought, but Twilight pitched in.

"It couldn't be. I doubt any known magic could do this. Unless... Hold on... what's one creature we've all faced before that could flat out remove our sources of magic and more than likely cancelled out Pinkie's mysterious ability before?" Twilight looked to the group. Fluttershy became horrified at what she was suggesting, and Rainbow seemed to catch on the fastest.

"Wait wait wait, look Twilight, Discord is a pretty reasonable suspect in this, but he's been turned back to stone again. How could he be behind this?" Applejack questioned her friend, letting Twilight explain her reasoning behind the accusation.

"Well, he randomly got out when he first escaped. Who knows if he did it again and is secretly behind this whole thing?" Everypony shuddered and seemed to think about it, Applejack even began to consider it. None of them knew how he actually escaped the first time, so they just slapped a "random cause" label on it for now.

Rarity set down the book she had been holding with her magic and walked closer to Twilight, sitting next to her as the conversation continued.

"I mean, it's not completely impossible darling, but what happens if we assume, find out Discord hasn't been doing anything, and then just end up actually releasing him and making the situation even worse?"
Fluttershy clung tightly onto Applejack, shaking like a leaf in the strongest autumn breeze and whimpering. The poor pegasus was on the verge of tears and more than likely a panic attack at the idea. Pinkie and the others noticed, and she attempted to comfort the mare while Applejack tried to not get her ribcage crushed. For as physically weak as Fluttershy could be, she had an iron grip.

"It's at least worth looking into... Princess Celestia has no clues yet as to who it would be because otherwise, she would tell me. And with what I saw at the crime scene myself... we could be dealing with a very powerful enemy. And at the moment, Discord is the only one who comes to mind as to who could be behind this." Twilight tensed and shuddered.

Rainbow Dash sat up and looked down at Twilight.

"Hang on, as much as I'd love to jump out at the chance to punch some sense into that Draconequus, I don't think Celestia ever mentioned him doing something like this." Rarity was about to reply but paused and thought about it. Rainbow Dash was right.

"It was probably to help us remain less scared of him so we could actually turn him back into stone." Applejack replied as she sighed and held Fluttershy close. Spike walked into the room with some freshly baked muffins and 6 glasses of lemonade.

"You guys have been working so hard. Take a break, I made us a tasty treat for lunch!" He smiled proudly as he held out the baked goods. Though Spike was also afraid of this threat, he wanted to try and remain optimistic for the sake and sanity of himself and his friends. Rarity did smile a little as the smell filled the room and she thanked the purple dragon with a gentle pat on the head before taking a bite.

"Spike, once we're done eating, I need you to take a note, please." Twilight spoke as she brought over a muffin and glass to herself with her magic. Spike nodded and placed the tray down on the table before running to go get a quill and paper.

Princess Celestia was pacing in the throne room. She was lost in thought, using up her free time to try and figure out a way to help more than she could to help calm the panicked citizens and catch whoever was murdering her subjects. She stopped in her tracks as she saw the letter from Twilight form in front of her. She quickly opened it and began reading.

Dear Princess Celestia,

My friends and I believe that we have come up with a possible suspect for this whole situation. We feel it is best for us to come to Canterlot and if not retrieve, at least check on the Elements of Harmony. We suspect Discord may have something to do with all of this and, with your permission, we want to come and have a talk with him. Or at least check on his current state in his stone imprisonment. We await your response.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle

Celestia was about to ponder this, but her train of thought was interrupted when a pegasus guard entered the room in a hurry.

"Your Highness! I'm so sorry to rush but a message has arrived from Cloudsdale!" The princess perked up and made her way over to him, he held out the note for her with his wing.
Her magic coated the letter as she unfolded it and brought it closer to read. Her eyes slowly widened, and her face became an expression of horror.

"Send a group of guards with detectives from the Canterlot Police station to Cloudsdale immediately." Her order was quick and to the point, the guard nodded and ran off to gather some other pegasus guards. While he did that, Celestia teleported to her room and found a scroll along with a quill to write a response to Twilight and inform her about the situation.

She felt she could trust Twilight with this information... She didn't have many others to share her concerns with, especially since her sister was often asleep whenever she was having these issues. Yes, they had talked about it before, but poor Luna was already having trouble sleeping as it is. The last thing her dear sister needed was for Celestia to wake her up and do nothing but talk.

Orchid awoke that morning and felt a little more tired than usual. She sat up and paced around her room to get her body up and awake. Orchid did as she usually did, heading downstairs to make breakfast, and then figuring out what to do that day. She didn't exactly have to go shopping yet, but she had nothing better to do for now. After grabbing her basket and pouch of coins, she went outside and made her way to Ponyville.

As she entered the town, she noticed a group of 6 mares, accompanied by a small purple dragon on the back of the purple unicorn. A certain pink pony seemed to temporarily lock eyes with her for a moment. Everything seemed to go slow for a few seconds as their heads turned to look at each other as Pinkie and the rest of her friends passed the mare with the black eye. No one else paid attention to Orchid, so, after a short while, Orchid just shrugged and continued on her way to make her usual purchases in the market. Pinkie Pie didn't mention Orchid to her friends for a while as they all continued on their way to the Friendship Express.

The group was soon enough, on the train and waiting for it to start moving. Applejack seemed lost in thought, as did Twilight. Rainbow Dash sat by herself and was impatiently tapping her hoof against the seat since she wasn't allowed to pace around the cart yet. Fluttershy was a shivering mess who was being comforted in the arms of the pink party pony. Rarity was attempting to distract herself but to no avail. Everypony was silent, aside from the occasional groan or sigh from frustration; or whimper if you count the very faint sounds from Fluttershy.

The conductor soon shut the door and the train jerked a little as it started. Rarity watched the window, while sitting next to Spike, as the town passed them and soon became nothing but plains. Spike was nervous. Not exactly because of being next to Rarity, but also because he was concerned about this whole situation as well. A short while into the ride, Spike took a deep breath and decided to break the silence with a question.

"So, what do we do if it actually IS Discord?" he seemed a bit hesitant to ask as it snapped a somewhat frustrated Twilight from her thoughts.

"Well, uh... I suppose we'll have to just use the elements of harmony to turn him back to stone again. Or... perhaps Celestia will have a better containment spell for him. I'm not too sure." Twilight replied. Almost as if on cue, Spike felt rise in his throat as Celestia's reply had been sent. Twilight quickly opened the letter and read it silently to herself. Thankfully, because of so few ponies wanting to, or not being allowed to travel in certain areas, nopony else was in the cart, so Twilight was free to share what the princess had said.

My faithful student,

I have just received news that another victim was found this morning in Cloudsdale. If this really is Discord, as you and your friends believe, it is urgent that we figure out a stronger spell to contain him. I believe I have a solution and have more to share regarding this situation. I hope that you and your friends have a safe journey to Canterlot, we have a lot to discuss.

Yours, Princess Celestia

Twilight sighed and closed the letter. The others were still quiet, except for the occasional grumble from Rainbow Dash. No one was sure what to say at this point.

"Is... -" Applejack tried to speak but she couldn't find the rest of her words. She folded her arms and stared at the floor, her body slightly shaking. She couldn't tell if it was fear or just the train. Rarity hesitantly rubbed her arm and occasionally looked at the others with concern but said nothing. Pinkie Pie was quietly comforting Fluttershy who was now even more terrified than before. Rainbow Dash was angry. She paced around the train with a huff as she thought about what happened in Cloudsdale. They really began to ponder hearing all of this... So far, this creature had gone after, well- just about anypony. But none of them knew why. And there could definitely be more victims, but they hadn't heard any word of it. It must've been from outside of Ponyville no doubt. Perhaps Celestia could reveal more when they saw her.

After however long it takes to get to Canterlot, the six mares stepped off the train and trotted towards the palace while Rainbow Dash flew, and Spike rode on Twilight's back. They were silent as they made their way to the palace in the center of the city and once inside, a guard led them to Princess Celestia who was waiting for them patiently.

"Your Highness, Twilight Sparkle and her friends are here to see you." The guard called out. Celestia gave him a nod, before he opened the door wider for the group to enter. Spike hopped off of Twilight's back but stuck close to her, not wanting to speak yet either.

"Twilight, I'm very glad you all are here. I thought a little more about what you told me in your letter. I'm beginning to suspect you may be right. However, a thought came to me about what we should do IF Discord isn't guilty like we think"

"What did you have in mind, Princess?" Twilight asked as she took a step closer, curious about what she had in mind.

"Discord is extremely powerful and can find out much that we ourselves don't know with just the snap of a claw. I think that if he isn't behind this, he could be the one we need to find out how to stop this." She was completely serious, all of them seemed to look to each other before nodding and looking back to the Princess.

"It seems we all agree with the idea, Princess." Twilight spoke for the rest and Celestia nodded, leading them to where the elements of Harmony were kept.

Once the door was unlocked, she took out the chest that contained the enchanted necklaces and crown and passed them out to the correspondent wearer with her magic.

"Discord is in a different location this time. Meet me in the Castle Sculpture Garden. We can have a discussion with him there. I'll be there with you in case he decides to be uncooperative." With that, Celestia began to walk away from the group, nonverbally telling them that they needed to make their way to the garden.

"Come on ya'll. Hopefully we'll get some answers soon..." Applejack spoke up and the group nodded before following her outside. Twilight was hesitant but soon followed them outside as well. Hoping that this would all be over soon...

Another Dead End.

Celestia took a deep breath as she entered the darkened area in the cell Discord's stone statue was now contained in. The princess figured it would be better to keep him in a more secure, yet isolated space. She sighed calmly and instructed the guards who followed her, to help her transfer the statue out to the gardens. They carefully helped levitate the statue from the firm base and brought it outside, Celestia dismissed them after it was placed in front of the main six. Once they were alone, and Celestia had set up every precaution, she looked to Twilight and nodded.

Twilight nodded back and took a deep breath herself before igniting her horn and performing the necessary spell. Twilight's element began to glow, as did the others. A rainbow connected each element finally uniting at Twilight's and soon a beam of colors shot at Discord's statue. The stone began to crack and break, before soon, Discord completely broke free and began stretching and shaking. Groaning a little as his stiff joints were moved again.

"Well, it's about time!" He said with an exaggerated dramatic pose.

"No fooling around Discord. I have a few things I need to ask you." Celestia firmly spoke, Discord raised a brow but continued to stretch, seeming bored already, although he did listen. "A series of horribly cruel crimes have been committed in three major areas in Equestria. And-"

"Oh, let me guess," Discord interrupted, arching backwards and looking at Celestia from an upside-down position. "You think I'M the one doing it? I've been trapped in that uncomfortable prison since my last time out and about. And I wasn't able to perform any magic while previously contained, so what makes you think I could've done it now?" He chuckled and snapped his fingers. With a flash of light, a hat appeared on Princess Celestia's head, it was a white cone shaped hat with the word "Dumb-Dumb" written on it. The others glared while Celestia looked unamused. She tilted her head and the hat fell off while Discord merely giggled.

"Quit fooling around discord! T-" Twilight demanded before Rainbow Dash cut her off.

"Yea! You've got a LOT of nerve considering what the Princess is doing for you!"

"Aside from them being right, Discord, I have a little proposition for you." Celestia intervened, capturing the attention of everyone else. She took a step closer to Discord and looked him right in the eyes. "We all know how much you don't want to be turned into stone again. And aside from the fact I already wanted to have these 6 to reform you someday," the girls were still a bit surprised by that but didn't have much time to dwell on it as Celestia continued. "I want you to assist us in capturing whoever is causing this disturbing course of events. And in exchange, you will have a chance at being set free on the condition that you'll also be reformed. Refuse and you'll once again be turned to stone. How does that sound?"

Twilight was speechless, as were a good amount of the others. Rainbow was going to speak but Applejack stopped her. Discord on the other hand was... intrigued by this. Capturing the culprit was easy enough, but it wouldn't take much for him to be free and never be threatened by the elements again... Granted, it would take being "nice" and some time and all but it seemed easy enough. Discord raised a brow and for a few solid seconds, he looked like he was genuinely pondering the suggestion. Eventually, he grinned and extended his clawed hand forward.

"Deal." Was all he said, but it was all Celestia needed to hear. With that, she moved her hoof to shake his hand and with that, officially sealed the deal.

The main six were still unsure about this but they couldn't argue with the princess. Even Rainbow Dash couldn't object to her but she was on her guard. Twilight snapped out of her thoughts first and shook her head quickly. "P-Princess, you are absolutely sure this will-"
Celestia looked to her student and leaned down a little to get more eyelevel with her. Her expression was gentle and she attempted to look reassuring.

"Twilight, I have my reasons for asking this of him. We've already sealed the deal, so all you need to do now, is keep your elements on you until Discord has been reformed. I'm very confident you all have the capability of doing so."
Discord couldn't help but let out a snicker, finding it pathetic that they really thought this. Not knowing certain events would lead him to actually being reformed after some time experiencing friendship with a certain pegasus with a rosy, pink mane. The main six stuck close to each other, none of them trusting Discord one bit, but still trusting Celestia enough to continue. Celestia turned back to Discord.

"Now, first, bring forth the monster who has been killing my subjects." Celestia, though calmly, demanded. Discord folded his arms and leaned back in the air as he snapped his fingers. Fully confident that the culprit would appear, but nothing came with the flash of light. All of them, especially Discord was confused. He tried again, and again, and again. Each attempt in vain as nothing came of it.

"Quit fooling around Discord! Bring them forth already!" Rainbow Dash yelled. Discord looked at her, genuinely confused, not exactly scared but definitely wondering what's going on.

"What do you think I'm doing?" He snapped back as he tried one more time. Nothing came. Needless to say, everypony was now even more nervous, or scared, than before...

Back in Ponyville, Orchid had just finished her shopping for the day and was trotting through town, basket handle in her mouth. She hummed a little song as she went through the surprisingly empty town. There were still a very small set of ponies who weren't aware of the murders going on, Orchid being one of them while most of the rest were children. Hence why she wasn't afraid to walk around and socialize even though all she did was wave as she walked by. Most ponies shied away but a couple politely waved back.

"I wonder why ponies are acting like this today." Orchid said, her voice basically intelligible thanks to the basket handle making some of her words sound funny. She saw some nearby butterflies and smiled as she got closer. The little bugs were settling on some flowers nearby and drinking nectar. Until a certain "presence" made them alert. They saw a pony approaching but something about her was off. immediately, they took flight once again and tried to fly a little higher than normal to avoid her.

Orchid not realizing their reaction was from a more genuine fear and not just getting out of the way or shock from seeing her, merely laughed a little before moving along. The butterflies decided to not stick around any longer and flew off before Orchid could even try to go after them again.

Author's Note

I am so sorry this was so short. I've been really busy and facing a LOT of writer's block lately- should I continue this orrr- like- Idk. What do you think?

IS there any stopping this?

About a week passed, Discord still held up his end of the bargain and did TRY to be redeemed, having now formed a friendship with the element of kindness herself. However, he was still unsure of what was causing this whole thing and had no luck trying to summon forth the culprit of the crimes committed; the same misfortune met him if he tried to teleport to them. Still, he occasionally came around Ponyville as per the request of the princess and Fluttershy. Speaking of the Princess, she was slowly driving herself mad trying hard to figure out what was going on. Luna sadly wasn't doing any better and had a hard time trying to comfort and reassure her sister as time passed.

It was another bleak morning and Celestia was laying in front of her fireplace, wide awake but her eyes feeling droopy as she stared into the bright dancing flame. Luna knocked on her door a few times, she had finished her dream duties for the night and went to check on her sister as it was her time to raise the sun. Celestia did not reply so Luna carefully opened the door and peaked inside.

"Tia?" Luna called out before she saw her sister laying on the ground. She sighed and approached her. "You didn't sleep again, did you...?" She frowned as she crouched down and nudged her sister with her muzzle. Celestia merely turned away from the fire and buried her face in her pillow. "You can't keep doing this, sister." Luna spoke once again, Celestia used her magic to lift the pillow and looked at Luna with a scowl.

"And what do you expect I do instead? Sleep peacefully and have "Happy little dreams" while my subjects are being murdered?!" She exaggerated in a silly high-pitched voice before she sighed and flopped back down onto the pillow, letting the one that covered her face fall back onto her head.

Luna cut her sister some slack for the attitude... She knew all too well how ponies acted when they hadn't slept. This is likely what many of their subjects were dealing with over the past couple months. So, she didn't get angry with her, and once Celestia laid back down she carefully snuggled close to her, nuzzling her dear sister gently and letting Celestia have her moment.

"I don't, Tia. But what I do expect you to do is get at least a little sleep because you need it. Our subjects need it. You're more than allowed to have your moments of stress, but we still have our duties to fulfill. And even ignoring conferences you need to attend; the one thing you CAN'T cancel would be raising the sun." She hoped her sister would at least get up and do that. But she was more than happy to comfort Celestia all she needed that day. Even if she was tired. Celestia sighed, a good amount of annoyance in her tone. But eventually, she got up and walked over to her balcony, Luna quickly joined her as she finished letting the moon set.

Celestia took a deep breath of the fresh morning air, and her horn began to glow with a yellow aura surrounding it. The sun began to move above the horizon as the moon and stars faded with the growing light. Soon enough, the bright sun was up, and the sky grew bluer by the minute. Luna smiled a little at her sister, but Celestia did not look to her. Instead, she looked out to the land below her. A sad, and pondering expression now overtook her face as she wondered how her subjects felt and if there was going to be another victim this morning. However, knowing how things have been over the past few days especially, she had very little hope of things going better today.

Twilight was also rather... disturbed, to say the least. After Discord was unsuccessful in figuring out who was behind this, she could NOT stop pacing around the library until she tired herself out. Spike was, needless to say, also terrified of this and refused to go anywhere alone. Heck, he had to move his bed closer to Twilight's and for once, double AND triple checked if everything was locked on his own. Which kind of surprised yet also pleased Twilight as she knew she would probably forget a window or two, but Spike would remember to check...

The night after Discord's release, none of them felt comfortable sleeping alone and so, on the train ride home, they discussed who would spend the night with who, and they had been keeping up with this buddy system throughout the week.

{Flashback}

Rarity stepped up to the landing where Twilight's bed was located, wearing her rather comfortable and warm robe. Behind her were a couple of cups of water, being levitated with a coat of bright blue magic. The purple unicorn was finishing setting up their beds, having brought out the guest bed and putting it right next to her own so they had their own space but were still closer to each other. Spike also setting up his own spot on the far side of Twilight's bed as he did not have the courage to curl up in his own after seeing Discord fail to do something everypony had expected him to be able to complete. Spike was also in his pajamas and stretched as he got comfortable.

"I see everything is almost ready?" Rarity questioned as she placed the cups on the nearby nightstand. She glanced to the window where a magenta pink lightly tinted the color of the night sky. Twilight had put up a forcefield earlier that day once they got home, wanting to guarantee with absolute certainty that nothing would get in while they slept. Opal, Rarity’s beloved albeit feisty pet cat, was already sleeping nearby in her cat carrier. Even though Rarity knew Opal could take care of herself and would be more than find staying in the boutique alone, she didn’t want to risk anything bad happening to her pet.

"Yup." Twilight replied as she finished tucking in the blanket on her bed. Afterwards, she turned to a little candle on her nightstand and lit it with her magic. The tiny flame would provide a good amount of light when the main ones were out, and it would hopefully help Spike sleep. Speaking of the little dragon, he was now curling up with his blanket and a stuffed bear Twilight had given him to help him feel a bit safer. Nuzzling into his pillow as he snuggled deeper under the covers. "Thanks for getting the water."

"Oh, it's no problem at all darling! I hope Sweetie Belle and my parents are doing alright..." She commented as she carefully got into bed, Twilight soon doing the same after drinking a few sips from her glass. She yawned as she climbed into bed and turned to face Rarity and the nearby candle when she turned out the lights. She had so many questions on her mind... but it was best to not ask them now as to not unnerve the others anymore. However, she did answer Rarity's concerns in the most comforting way she could.

"I know they'll be alright Rarity, as will we. I know it won't be easy, but we should try to get some sleep..." Twilight put a hoof on her friends and tried to smile, just a little, Rarity had a hard time returning it, but she nodded a little and wished Twilight a goodnight before putting on her sleeping mask. Twilight returned the wish and turned out the lights with her magic, watching the small dancing flame of the candle, and wishing she could find more comfort in its glow. Unfortunately, it didn't stop the questions in her mind, nor did it soothe her worries regarding the safety of her brother and parents.

Rainbow Dash was settling into a sleeping bag on the floor near Applejack's bed, fluffing her pillow and sighing as she thought about Scootaloo. She was just down the hall with Apple Bloom, but still, she had reason to worry and she knew that. Applejack was working on settling in bed, setting her father's hat onto her nightstand and undoing her mane. She sighed and thought about her own family. Not just her granny and siblings, but the rest of her relatives all across Equestria, Goldie Delicious, Braeburn, and far too many more to name. She shuddered, wondering if any of them were hit by... whatever this was.

Similarly, Rainbow was soon wondering about her own parents. It had been a while since she last spoke to them, and considering there was a murder in Cloudsdale, she grew worried about them and the fact that she hadn't said anything to them... as annoying as their constant praise was, she did still love them. They were her parents after all... and they weren't bad, just embarrassing at times. She groaned quietly and shifted in her spot, trying to get comfortable but her still rampant mind was making it a lot more difficult.

"You alright Sugarcube?" Applejack asked her, fully knowing the answer.

"What do you think..?" Rainbow Dash replied, annoyed as she turned over and sighed. Applejack frowned and tried to get comfortable as well.

"I know this is hard for us all... but we need to try and get some rest. It sure ain't gonna be easy, I know that." Applejack sighed and flicked off the light in her room. Rainbow frowned as she was greeted with darkness, only broken thanks to the moonlight creating a gentle glow around the room. "Try to sleep Rainbow, I'll see ya in the morning..." With that, Applejack tried to fall asleep.

"Yea... you too." Rainbow weakly returned the comment and tried to sleep. It sure wouldn't be easy for either of them. In fact, it was probably one of the worst night's sleep they had ever gotten.

Pinkie Pie stuck with Fluttershy, not even joking around during this dark time and finding it hard to smile. But something was bothering her about the mare she had seen when they ran to the train station... Fluttershy, meanwhile, was working on having her animals eat their food and then help her board up the house as she did on nightmare night. Like Rarity, she was also wearing her robe to bed while Pinkie Pie had on her blue and yellow polka dotted onesie. Once everything was locked up, and everything was set up under her bed, Fluttershy was ready to hide until she fell asleep. Harry the bear, as well as many of her smaller critters, including Pinkie's pet alligator, joined her as they walked into the room. Pinkie Pie followed her inside, but she seemed distracted as she just kept staring at the floor. Thankfully not stepping on any of Fluttershy's critters tails or feet.

"Pinkie? A-Aren't you coming?" Fluttershy asked as she noticed her standing back a little. Pinkie Pie perked up and nodded, barely cracking a smile as she crawled under the bed after the timid pegasus. Underneath the bed, there were PLENTY of pillows around them, similar to a nest of sorts say for the bear head peeking through the blanket at far-right corner, and the large number of critters all nestled in with them.

"Are you feeling a bit more comfortable?" Pinkie Pie asked her, pulling one of the blankets they had placed over herself. Fluttershy seemed unsure but she shrugged.

"I guess so... are you? You've seemed rather distracted since we left for home." Fluttershy asked as she too pulled a blanket over herself, shifting only a little to get more comfortable before making sure her critters were also cozy where they were while Pinkie carefully set Gummy onto her tail, to which he, in an almost dog-like fashion, curled up and laid down, feeling quite comfy in the pink pony's fluffy tail.

"Physically yes... Thanks again for letting me and Gummy stay over. I would've left him at Sugarcube Corner, but I could never sleep with the idea of him being hurt or at risk." She frowned as she gently pet the green lump in her tail, which made gummy let out a sound similar to a purr.

"Oh, I don't mind. I do feel at least a little safer with a friend here." Pinkie nodded in agreement and sighed as she snuggled into the blankets, finding this pillow nest surprisingly comfortable.

"Fluttershy... do you ever get that odd feeling when you see somepony, and you just KNOW there's something off about them? I- I know it's mean to think like that, but I got that feeling from this mare we passed in the streets when we left for Canterlot." This caused the yellow Pegasus to pause and think about it, she had gotten scared because of many other ponies' reputations, Zecora being a prime example, but aside from that, it hadn't really happened.

"Not really... who was it?" Fluttershy replied and looked over to her, Pinkie Pie still seemed... lost in her thoughts, but she soon replied.

"It was a unicorn. She had- white fur and a... black eye." She shuddered a little, something was off about that eye. Normally physical appearances didn't stick out much to Pinkie Pie unless it involved a smile, or she recognized someone. But that mare, she didn't recognize her. And when she passed, Pinkie got a chill of sorts.

"O-Oh my... we should probably tell Twilight about this tomorrow morning. If YOU don't recognize this pony, and she lives in or near ponyville, that certainly is suspicious." Fluttershy was a bit unnerved, but she did have a strong feeling that telling the others about this new pony would be pretty crucial. Pinkie Pie nodded in agreement and yawned as she began to doze off.

"Yea... goodnight Fluttershy." She smiled slightly and got cozy under the covers, Fluttershy smiled softly and wished her the same before they drifted off to sleep along with the other critters nestled in with them.

Author's Note

I hope you like this one- we're finally getting close to the end- which is definitely surprising to me-

It should take about- maybe 3 more chapters at the most? I'm not too sure but yea, Enjoy!