An odd silence reigned over the Elements as the group made their way towards Ponyville General. Amidst the quiet midday gossip of surrounding townsfolk, (the hospital is closed down and the princesses have come for a visit?! Surely that can't be a coincidence!) the unusually quiet ensemble of Ponyville's most famous residents stood out like a bent feather.

"So, who's the villain of the week this time around?" The prismatic mare loudly declared, partially to boast partially to lift the spirits of the group.

"Huh? Wha'cha mean, Dashie?" Pinkie Pie, here enthusiasm unaffected by the happenings around her, skipped and jumped along her friends.

"Come on, it's obvious! The Princess are here in Ponyville, and they want us all in one place? I bet my next daily nap some kind of jerk is causing trouble again, and we'll have to kick their butt!"

"Hmm..." Pinkie rubbed her chin mid-jump, accumulating a little too much airtime that should've been possible. "My Pinkie Sense has been acting odd lately! Like something really mean is coming our way!" A shiver went down her spine, whether or not it was her sense, she didn't know.

"It's probably Discord." Rainbow frowned, remembering her last encounter with the spirit of chaos. "That guy's always up to no good, reformed or not."

"Rainbow!" Fluttershy's unusually vocal complained startled everypony, more due to her firm tone of voice. "I'll have you know, Discord's been such a gentlecolt during our tuesday tea get-togethers! He even said he'd try not to mess with the weather patterns this week!"

The group, sans Twilight and Applejack, both deep in thought, shared disbelieving glances.

"Pardon me, darling, but isn't being chaotic his gimmick? If anything, him acting orderly is more suspicious!" Rarity wasn't going to admit she found the spirit of chaos quite rude, downright beastly, even, it wasn't the right time for such a conversation.

"Wha'cha think, Applejack? Can Discord be up to something, or are we jumping to conclusions?" Pinkie tried to bring her friend into the conversation, only to be met with silence. The farm mare was out of it, a shudder shaking her body when Pinkie laid her hoof on Applejack's shoulder. "A bit for your thoughts?"

"Yer not gonna like 'em." A grim expression that wasn't focused of anything in particular met Pinkie.

"Come on, Aj, what's with the long face?" Rainbow flew closer to the farm mare, giving her a once-over. "You and Twi are being really moody right now? Did you make a mess of her library and had to clean it up or something?"

"We've all made a mess, I reckon. And it's high time we paid for it." Rainbow rolled her eyes at the cryptic answer.

"Geez, I expected that from Twi, not from you, Aj." She dashed towards the alicorn, given up on questioning the downtrodden farm mare. "Hey Twi, mind clearing things up?"

"I'm sure it's just one big misunderstanding." She didn't sound so sure to Rainbow. "The princess will clear everything up."

The others exchanged worried glances as Ponyville General came into view.

Princess Celestia stood paralysed in the hospital's morgue, the cold air around her seeping into her bones, sapping the sun goddess of warmth. A body, covered by a thin sheet of fabric laid on the metal table, a very unsure stallion standing beside it. In this moment, Celestia felt remarkably unsure, her heart beating wildly in her chest, the flow of blood deafening in her ears.

Luna, her fear and grief overshadowed by turbulent fury and determination to see things through, took things into her own hooves, approaching the pathologist.

"Speak thine name and trade." She cooly commanded, her voice booking no quarter.

"S-swift Scalpel, forensic pathologist, Your Highness!" The stallion would later tell his grandfoals that he almost didn't flinch when confronted by the diarch.

"Very well. We've heard the autopsy had been performed, correct?"

"Yes, Your Grace! The body was delivered to Ponyville General 7 PM yesterday by Applejack Apple. I was called and made haste from Grainsville to here and performed the autopsy myself, the report was delivered to Princess Twilight Sparkle this morning." He fell silent for a moment, whether to gather his thoughts or take a breath, was unclear. "I suspect severe malnourishment and continuous mistreatment lead-"

"That is enough, Dr.Swift." Luna knew he wasn't to blame, but her voice came out authoritative and cold, the stallion standing ramrod straight at her words. "Relay our orders to the staff: nopony is allowed inside without our say so. After that, you are dismissed." Scalpel gulped, but obeyed.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Scalpel hurried towards the stairs, stopping momentarily as he came face to face with Celestia. He looked unsure for a moment, before shaking his head. "For what it's worth, Princess, I'm sorry for your loss."

"We haven't asked for your opinion, have we?" Luna's stern but calm voice left the stallion wondering wether or not he made the right move, when the Celestia spoke.

"Thank you, Dr. Swift." A small, reserved smile grace the Princess' lips, for but a moment. "It means more to me than you can imagine."

The stallion nodded, making his exit and leaving the two sister in silence, not a living soul remaining in the room, barring the alicorns. Celestia's steps were slow and deliberate, her approach leading to great pain, but also closure. She was convinced that once she confronted the reality of the situation, it'd be easier for her to make the necessary decisions.

She stood before the ritualistic table, a thin veil of ignorance concealing her sacrifice for Harmony. All she had to do to preserve the status quo was to leave the veil be, forget Jason Wright ever existed and move on with her life. She could do that, and her ponies wouldn't have to face the grim reality, and neither would she.

But who would that benefit?

Her ponies? Certainly not. They wouldn't learn this lesson, and the few directly responcible would too, even after her 'scolding'. Herself? Celestia had accumilated enough regrets over her long life, and she wouldn't want to add another one, especially where a fresh one was already festering. She'd no doubt internalise the issue, and she knew very well where that road led. Jason? Nothing could help him now, but the least she could do was honor his memory by punishing those responcible and revealing the cruel mistreatment to the world.

She felt a wing draped over her withers, and turned to see her sister, a sympathetic, but firm expression on her face.

"You don' have to do this alone, sister. We will see this matter to the end, together." Celestia nodded.

"Together."

Celestia took a deep breath, the smell of antiseptic flooding her lungs as her magic flared, the thin sheet of fabric tugged away by the combined magic of the Royal Sisters.

The face was the first thing that attracted one's gaze. If eyes were he window of the soul, then by looking into Jason's eyes, one could see nothing but the absense of existence. The lack of being, the loss of consciousness, the absense of though that lead to the nonexistance of am. The primal fear of many cultures around the world, reflected back at the viewer.

Heavy, dark bags were covered by long, tangled hair that hadn't been washed in ages, a wild beard covering the lower part of his face, bits and pieces of Lord knows what stuck in it. His neck, twice the normal size, was broken and crooked, an angry red mark hugging his neck.

A body that spoke of countless beatings, old hoof imprints and fresh hematomes, all paled in comparison to the angry spiderweb of burn that spanned the right part of his body.

Celestia almost couldn't recognise the bright young man that she unwittingly sent to his doom three years ago.

By the time the Elements arrived, the hospital was nearly empty. Non-Rainbow Dash related traumatic incidents were a rarity in Ponyville, so the staff didn't protest all too much when they were notified of the change in schedule. They were getting jumpy anyway, what with the two Princesses clearly not in good moods sticking around. Upon entering the building proper, they were greeted by an intimidating sight: The Diarchs of Equestria, their expressions devoid of any goodwill.

Celestia spoke before anypony else could, focusing the attention on her.

"Twilight Sparkle, I see you've been successful in gathering the Elements." The mare in question fidgeted in place at the mention of her name, but stopped herself from speaking up. "Come, we will converse on our way."

The ponies did as instructed, Twilight and Applejack not sparing the action a thought, while the others shared a look. Rainbow was getting fed up with the tight-lipped attitude everypony seemed to favour as of late. She respected the Princesses, of course, but she felt entitled to some answers.

"Princess Celestia, who's the bad guy this time?" The only indication the Princess heard her was the swish of her tail. "Is it Discord? Cryssalis? Sombra? Cuz I'm itching to kick-"

"It's you." Celestia's voice was calm, but hit Rainbow like a truck. "It's all of us, really."

"What?"

"Everypony in this room are responcible, in one way or another, for the death of an innocent person." It took the girls, barring two exceptions, to take the sentence in.

"Hey, I didn't do anything!" Rainbow objected, her feathers ruffled.

"Y-yes, I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding of some sort." Rarity concured, wracking her brain around what exactly Celestia meant.

"That's not funny, Princess." Pinkie replied, struggling to keep her twitchy Pinkie sense at bay.

Fluttershy simply hid herself behind her mane, a quiet 'eep' unheard by anypony else.

"Do any of you remember a human named Jason Wright?" Celestia's calmness had an opposite effect, unnerving the ponies as she ignored their rebuttals.

"OH, that thing!" Rainbow, oblivious as ever, missed the daggers sent her way by Luna. "Yeah, I ran him outta town with a storm cloud a couple of times. Why, is he back?"

"I believe he caused quite a ruckus that one time he showed up to my boutique. Oh, I couldn't get the smell out for hours!" Rarity went on, too caught up in her own drama to see the wince on Applejack's face.

"He scares me" Fluttershy, the most observant of her friends, chose to remain as small as physically possible in this situation.

"Jason Wright... Nope, doesn't ring a bell!" Pinkie's cheery facade was barely holding under the avalanche of warning signs her sense was throwing at her. "Are we gonna meet him? I'd love throw him a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party!"

An unexpected silence fell over the group, as if somepony who should've spoken up - didn't.

"I'm afraid it's too late for that Pinkie Pie."

"Why? Is hw leaving already-" The party mare's question was cut short with deadly percision.

"Jason Wright is dead. He was driven to suicide by the town of Ponyville, but primarily - you six." Celestia's tone was so devoid of any warmth or care, it almost sounded like an out of season April fools joke.

It took the ponies a moment to digest the information, the first to recover being Rainbow Dash, no doubt due to a lack of digestion going on.

"He did what? No way, he's way too tough for that! Everything that lives in the Everfree's gotta be tough, right?"

Celestia stopped dead in her tracks, her mane catching fire, solar flares whipping at the air around her, trying to get to the prismatic mare. The Solar Diarch craned her neck to see Rainbow, the latter beginning to suspect it wasn't going to be just another adventure.

"Do you need to see the body, Rainbow Dash? Will I have to pinpoint the lightning pattern of scars on his body to convince you? Do I have to force you to peer into his blank, dead eyes until you admit to what you've done?" With each word, the wonderbolt shrunk, until all that remained was a very confused and unsettled mare.

"Because wether you like it or not, you'll have to face the consequences of your mistakes." She sighed, stopping before the doors of their final destination. "All of us will."

Without another word, she opened the doors and prepared to unveil the reason for their arrival.

The operating table was empty, the thin veil of fabric laying flat on the cold, tile floor.

Author's Note

Man, things just aren't going the main 6's way, huh?

Oh well, it's gonna get worse before either gets better.