"Scar, hold up, we don't even know if this whole Death is a force not to be reckoned with theory is even real. I mean, it probably isn't. We shouldn't just barge into Principal Cinch's house and scare her for no reason." Shadow said as they trailed Scarlet through her house.

As soon as the three of them put the pieces together about Cinch being next and that she was going to be dead soon, Scarlet was already on her hooves, leaving her bedroom to hurry to Cliff's, making it perfectly clear what she intended to do. She just hoped she wouldn't be too late.

"Eberron. Not Death. Remember?" Candy corrected, before agreeing. "And Shadow's right. I mean…what would we even say? Eberron is coming after you and we have to…to read some sign, so we know how you're going to die so we can stop it but…but we have no clue as to what that sign could be because it could be anything."

"Yeah, well it's something. And how can it not be true? Two survivors dead within three days of each other? You really think that's a coincidence? And besides, do you seriously wanna take that risk with Cinch's life on the line?" Scarlet asked right before barging into Cliff's room, leaving her two friends to silently, and reluctantly, agree.

Again, he practically jumped six feet, before glaring at Scarlet, quickly hiding a magazine under his pillow. He was about to get after Scarlet when he saw the determined yet panicked look on her face. "Scarlet, is something wrong? What is it?"

"I need Principal Cinch's address," Scarlet demanded firmly, levitating a piece of paper and a quill over to her brother. "Now."

Cliff blinked, looking at the paper before looking back at his little sis. "That mare and I never liked each other. In fact, I think she full on hated me. Why would I have–"

"You faked an armed robbery at her house in the middle of the night for your damn senior prank. And nearly gave the mare a heart attack in the process. Now, what's her address? Don't make me ask again."

Cliff was about to refuse. This couldn't be healthy for Scarlet and he just wanted to help his sister move on from this tragedy as much as possible. But as he watched his sister, something about Scarlet's look, and the look of the two mares behind her, made dread well up in him. He hesitated, watching her closely, before relenting with a heavy sigh.

He grabbed the quill with his magic and wrote the address on the piece of paper, which was still held in Scarlet's magic, before giving the quill back to her. Scarlet dismissed the quill by turning away, glancing at the paper before the three of them rushed to the door.

"Hey, Scar, wait!" Cliff called. Scarlet skidded to a stop, turning to her brother, wishing he'd just hurry up, but immediately felt guilty when she saw the concerned and worried look on his face. "What are you three up to?"

Scarlet hesitated before finally answering as honestly as she could. "With a little bit of luck? Saving somepony's life."

Principal Cinch sighed as she finished wrapping one of her vases in paper and setting it in the box. She closed the box and sighed, softly closing her eyes. She was so tired. Ever since that day, she's hardly been able to sleep. She gasped as Melody Note's body flashed before her mind, her eyes snapping open. Whenever she closed her eyes, whether it was to fall asleep or even just blinking sometimes, she'd see Melody Note.

She knew she just had to get the fuck out of town. As soon as possible too. This place…it once brought her so much happiness. She loved her job, she loved her students, even if it didn't seem like that most of the time, but now…now it'd only bring her pain. She didn't belong here anymore. The guilt of sending that teacher, Professor Tally, back onto the airship would overwhelm her until she felt like she would drown in it. Sometimes, in the silence of the day, out of nowhere…she'd hear the sound of her voice in her head…hear the words she said to him, insisting he get back on the airship.

Everything reminded her of that day if felt. The school, the cafe, the store. Everywhere she went, she was bombarded with memories. She just couldn't escape it and it was dragging her down. Melody's words rang through her head: "They died! And we lived! Get over it. Because right now, it feels like we've died right along with them."

Melody was right. They were letting this airship explosion dictate their lives, and it was time they moved on, time they lived their life to the fullest. And Principal Cinch knew that the only way she was going to do that was by leaving this town and that day behind her. She hoped a change would help her with that.

Sighing heavily, Principal Cinched walked over to her living room window, looking out of it onto her front yard. It was just that…it was hard. She lived here her whole life. She loved this place. Before, everywhere she looked, all she saw were great memories. But now all she saw was Tally and those seniors, dying before her very eyes after she swore to protect them. To educate them, teach them, and make sure they entered the world as smart and responsible young adults, ready to face their whole lives. But, now those lives were cut short. Even just looking out at her own front yard, even right now, made her feel nothing but fear. Fear that their ghosts would be standing out there on her front lawn, accusing her of failing them in the worst way possible.

She paused when something caught her eye. A silhouette. No, three. Three she recognized very distinctly. Scarlet Flare, the death bringer and two of the survivors.

Her heart began to race as panic set in. She had to tell Captain Armor. He had told her if she saw anything out of the ordinary, to send for him right away. She hurried to a desk, grabbed a piece of parchment and quill and ink, and quickly wrote the Captain a letter. She quickly rolled it up, tied it to the leg of the bird Shining Armor gave her so she could send a letter quickly, and released it out through her kitchen window. She then went back to the living room again, waiting with bated breath, hoping the guard would come soon.

"Okay, fan out. Look for anything that could be a sign." Scarlet instructed as she, Candy, and Shadow stood on the front lawn of Principal Cinch's house.

"Umm…yeah, but…what…what are we looking for exactly?"

"Anything that's out of the ordinary," Scarlet answered. "Anything that seems too coincidental to be…well, a coincidence. Something that sticks out like a sore hoof."

The two mares were silent for a moment before Shadow finally said, "Uh…maybe it could help if you gave us an example of what a sign from the Lord of Death looks like."

"Eberron, remember." Candy corrected again before she turned to Scarlet. "But she's right. How…how did you know Blue was going to…you know?"

"I didn't…" Scarlet said simply, looking away.

When she looked at her friends again, the look they were giving her told her to stop acting stupid because she knew exactly what they meant. How did Scarlet know something bad was going to happen to Midnight Blue?

Scarlet sighed before she reluctantly explained the whole thing. How she was looking at the article about the memorial in the newspaper, but then she tried to distract herself by reading a fashion magazine. How an owl ran into the window so she threw the magazine at the window, but it got caught in the fan, and pieces of paper from the magazine pages went everywhere, and a specific one landed right on top of Midnight's picture with Midnight Blue's name. How she had that feeling, the same one she had on the airship.

When she was done, they both stared at her in silence for a moment. It was Candy who spoke first. "Oh. So…so that's what you meant by it being a little too coincidental."

"Right. Well…we should probably fan out then. Now that we kind of know what we're looking for." Shadow said with finality.

The three of them nodded before fanning out, Shadow going to the backyard since she could fly over the fence that wrapped around it, Candy going to the sides of the house, and Scarlet staying in the front yard.

As Scarlet wandered, looking for anything that could be…well…deadly, she heard hoofsteps and the sounds of a carriage. At first, she didn't think anything of it. This was Manehatten after all. Sure, it was the middle of the night, but the streets were always busy. Perhaps not in neighborhoods, but there was no reason to be alarmed.

Until she heard, "Scarlet Flare!"

Scarlet froze. She knew that voice. In the last month or so, she's become quite familiar with that voice. Scarlet stood up and slowly turned around. She was in the process of checking the front windows, seeing if any of them were loose in case somepony were to break in or if they were at risk of being broken. She knew how it looked. She wasn't stupid.

"What are you doing here?" Shining Armor asked, giving Scarlet an irritated look.

Scarlet bit her lip. "Um…checking the windows?"

Suddenly, Shadow and Candy came to the front of the house. "I didn't find anything in the…" Shadow trailed off when she saw the guards and stopped in her tracks. Candy did the same.

"Get in the carriage. All three of you. You're coming with me." Captain Armor stated bluntly.

Sighing heavily, the three of them walked to the carriage, glancing at each other as they did so, Scarlet flashing Candy and Shadow an apologetic look, Shadow glaring at her. Scarlet hesitated before she entered the carriage, looking back at the house to see Principal Cinch watching them through the window. The very same window Scarlet was inspecting.

Principal Cinch watched the three mares be put in the carriage by the two guards, feeling a tad bit guilty, but she knew she did the right thing. Wherever that mare went, only death followed in her wake, and while Principal Cinch felt immense and crushing guilt for the students who died and the teacher she sent back on the airship, she was not ready to die herself yet.

Once the carriage was out of sight, she sighed heavily and turned away, walking back farther into her house, to continue packing. She heard something that sounded like a wind blowing in from the window she was just looking out of. She paused, turning to look at the window, which she knew for a fact was closed.

She shook her head. She was just getting paranoid. This mare was getting in her head, just by her presence alone. She walked to her kitchen.

"I believe that uh…that Principal Cinch is…is next," Scarlet said hesitantly. She knew exactly how she sounded, but what else could she say? She was found outside Principal Cinch's house, checking her window. She had the choice of looking like a grieving teenager who was trying to make sense of the situation she was in by coming up with random crazy theories…or looking like a criminal. The first one typically didn't get arrested.

"Next?" Shining Armor asked. They were at a police station, in an interrogation room, which looked similar to the spare room they were using at the docks that day when they were interviewing the survivors. Shining Armor sat on one side of the table while Scarlet sat across from him.

Scarlet was silent for a moment. "Y-yeah, next cause…um…there's this…this pattern that's occurring.

Shining leaned in. "Yeah. Right. A pattern. You noticed that too, kid?" He asked sarcastically. Scarlet simply looked down. She didn't expect him to believe it. She just wanted to get the hell outta there before it was too late.

Cinch looked through her closet, turning on the light and looking through the small boxes on the floor, hoping to keep her moving boxes as neat and orderly as possible. Optimal organization.

That was when she saw a vinyl record and smiled softly to herself. It was her mother's favorite. She had beautiful memories that came with the songs on the record, memories that luckily weren't yet tainted.

She stood up, grabbed it in her hoof, and walked over to the record player she kept in the living room. She put the record on the flat surface, carefully put the needle on the record, and pressed play. Slowly, the disc began spinning in a circle and, soon, music began to fill the air. Don Henver. Her mother's favorite country singer. His voice still soothed her soul.

A small, genuine smile began to form, the first one seen on her face since the accident.

"So what about this pattern, Scarlet?" Private Spearpoint asked. "Did you see it in one of your 'visions'? Did you read it in the stars? A lucky horseshoe, maybe?"

Scarlet sighed heavily, flashing a glare at Spearpoint. She knew these guards wouldn't believe her. Hell, she barely believed it herself. It wasn't like she was drowning in evidence. She didn't even have enough evidence to fill a kitchen sink. All she had was a feeling, a vision, and a zebra's old superstition.

"You know, I never asked for what happened on the airship. I never wanted it. You guys are going to sit there and make fun of me? Whatever. It's fine. I'm used to it. But I saved eight lives on that ship. Eight lives, and instead of thanking me, or just staying quiet and being grateful for another chance at life, everypony…thinks I'm a freak. Now, I'm not suffering from post-traumatic stress. I don't have a narcissistic deity complex. I'm not going Hayhmer on you guys. This just is. There is a pattern for us all. And that's a fact. There is a pattern for you. There is a design for everypony, and I don't know how yet…but I'm going to break this one."

The two guards were silent for a moment after Scarlet's speech, just staring at her before looking at each other. There seemed to be some kind of silent communication between the two of them before they looked back at Scarlet and she could see in their eyes they didn't believe anything she just said.

As Don Henver's music filled the air, Cinch grabbed a tea kettle off the stove with her mouth, walked over to the kitchen sink, and filled it with water. When she saw water had gotten on the outside of it, she took a towel and began wiping the kettle. However, as she did so, she saw a black shadowy blob in the reflection of the metal.

Her heart stopping, she turned around, only to see nothing there behind her. She continued standing where she was, just staring behind her, waiting for something, anything really, but the hall and kitchen behind her was void of anypony or blobbed shadows.

Slowly, she turned back around to finish wiping the kettle, completely unaware of the force that was lurking around her. Once she was done, she walked to the stove, dropped the towel she was using over the knife rack she kept next to the stove, and set the kettle on top of the burner. She turned on the gas, only for the flame to be blown out just as it was forming.

Confused, she picked up a small cardboard pack and lit a match, slowly putting the lit end into the burner to jumpstart the flame. The flame came to life and stayed that way.

Captain Armor sighed heavily, looking down at his notebook before looking back up at the young mare that reminded him so much of his little sister. He wanted to help this mare, really he did, he just didn't know how. "Look, Scarlet, you came to our attention…because you were under suspicion in this airship explosion. Now…I know you didn't blow up the plane. It was a complete accident and coincidence. Alright? We were ready to move on…but…then the other survivors started to die. First, Midnight Blue…then Melody Note, while you were at the scene. And tonight, we pick you up at Cinch's house."

Shining Armor sighed again, hoping he could just talk some sense into this mare. "I know you want to believe that you can save the ponies you already saved by finding out some mysterious pony's design about how their all going to die but…nopony has control over life and death…unless they are taking lives and causing death." Shining Armor paused before continuing, looking Scarlet in the eyes with a pleading look. "Can you promise me nopony else is going to die?"

Scarlet was silent for a moment. She wanted to make that promise, really, she did, even if it was just to get out of here and help Cinch, but that wasn't a promise she could, in good conscience, make. It'd be a lie. Because she, and only she, had the means to find Eberron's design and stop it. Only she was given the signs, only she could decode them. And as long as she was in here and not out there looking for them, she knew without a shadow of a doubt, that Cinch was going to die. And it'd be sooner than later.

"No. I can't. I'm sorry. As long as I'm in here, it's out of my control." She said simply, looking away, making it clear she was done with this conversation. There was no point and it was going nowhere.

The two guards looked at each other, seeming to silently communicate again before Shining turned back to Scarlet. "Alright. Fine. Go. Get out of here."

Scarlet's eyes widened, but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. She jumped up, quickly thanking the guards before hurrying out of the room, and running out of the building. She didn't know how much time she had left, especially with all that time wasted, but she just hoped she had enough.

When she burst through the station's doors, she saw Candy and Shadow waiting outside. When they heard the doors open, they turned around, both of them looking very relieved. Candy hurried up and hugged her, thanking Celestia she was okay. Shadow gave Scarlet a small rare smile, but that was all she needed to know that Shadow cared for her.

Before the explosion, the three of them hadn't even spoken a word to each other. This whole experience, the last couple of days, had all brought them closer together. They were friends now, and they knew they always would be. How could they not, after everything that happened?

"We need to get back to Cinch's house. Now." Scarlet said firmly when Candy was done hugging her.

"Why? Did you see another sign? Have a premonition?" Shadow asked, worry filling her voice.

Scarlet shook her head. "No. But I have that same feeling. The one I always have right before something bad happens."

The two mares were silent for a moment before Shadow sighed. "Fine. Whatever. Let's go. Just to prove this theory you have, is a bunch of bull."

As they ran, Scarlet saw little glowing dots floating around in the air. She reached up for one, but when she grabbed it, it singed her hoof a little. She realized they were embers. She looked at her friends and she could tell they saw them too.

They looked around and saw an old stallion raking leaves on his front porch into a pile, which was on fire, humming a tune to himself. They watched him, a feeling of dread building in each of their stomachs.

As they watched, they saw the embers floating in the small summer breeze. The embers wandered in a small thin trail in the direction of Cinch's house before burning off into nothing. They stared with wide eyes, at the trail of embers, knowing exactly what that meant.

"Is…is that the kind of…of sign we're looking for?"Candy asked, her voiceshaking tremendously.

Scarlet could only silently nod, speechless. With one more glance at each other, they bolted off, knowing they didn't have anymore time to waste. There wasn't a whole lot of time between the moment Scarlet saw the sign and when the death actually happened. They needed to book it to Cinch's house before it was too late. Scarlet just prayed that wasn't already the case.

The tea kettle whistled as though it was singing right along with the new Don Henver song that was playing. Cinch grabbed its handle and poured the hot water into her mug, setting it back down on the burner and putting a teabag in her mug.

As she picked up the mug, she was just about to blow on it so she could take a sip, when she saw her old school's logo on its side, making her jump, startled, and accidentally throw the water out of the mug as a barrage of memories of that day played through her head. She sighed heavily as she tried to push them back.

So much for a cup of tea to clear her mind.

"Stop this. You have to stop this. It was just a stupid mug." She said to herself, hoping that by saying it out loud, it would calm her racing heart and banish her fear. It didn't, obviously, but she still hoped. "You're outta here. Soon, you'll be gone."

She stood there for a moment. Yeah, self-help speeches weren't gonna do shit. She needed something stronger. She reached into the freezer and pulled out the tequila she kept stored there for…necessary occasions and some ice cubes. She dropped the ice in the mug and poured the ice-cold tequila, the mug cracking at the bottom from the sudden temperature change, unbeknownst to her.

As she poured, the liquid inside slowly leaked through the crack on the bottom, making a small ring around the mug on the counter. Cinch set the bottle down and picked up her mug, walking out of the kitchen. As she walked, completely oblivious, and sipped on her drink, the mug continued to drip drops of alcohol onto her hardwood floor. She got to her desk in the living room and resumed her packing, setting the mug on the desk.

As she packed, the alcohol that had dripped onto the counter slowly began to travel in the direction of the burner she forgot to turn off. It dripped and fell onto the flames, causing them to grow bigger and bigger.

Cinch could smell smoke and ran into her kitchen just in time for the burner to explode, causing a well-aimed piece of glass from the vodka bottle to fly at her and cut her throat deeply. She stumbled back from the explosion, falling back into the counter behind her, her hoof immediately finding her throat. She tried to take a step forward as she gasped and wheezed for breath, but her vision began to blur and she began to feel lightheaded. She tripped over her own hooves and fell to the floor, right beneath the counter by the stove.

She tried to breathe, but every time she did, the blood gushing out of her throat would be forced back up and would bubble out of her mouth. She could feel the heat of the fire as it threatened to burn her, but she knew that wasn't the most pressing concern. She was losing to much blood and she knew she had to get the bleeding under control first if she was going to live. If she didn't do that soon, she was either going to die of blood loss or drowning on it, whichever came first, and she could feel herself slowly slipping away.

She looked up and saw the towel she had put on the knife rack earlier when she was wiping the water off the outside of the tea kettle. Wheezing for breath, she weakly reached up for the towel so she could press it against her throat. She was barely able to reach it, but fortunately was able to grab it with the tip of her hoof.

She pulled it down, slowly, however, the end got caught on the handle of one of the knives, and as she slowly tugged the towel down, she accidentally tipped over the whole knife rack she set the towel on earlier. It fell on its side, dumping out all of the knives it held.

All of them missed her, except for one, which landed smack in the middle of her stomach, sharp end down, causing her to scream out in pain, even as she felt herself fading.

Scarlet, CJ, and Shadow were outside Cinch's house when they heard a scream from within. Without hesitation, Scarlet bolted for the front door, knocking down the locked door with her magic, and barging inside. With only a moment's hesitation and a glance at each other, Shadow and Candy followed Scarlet inside.

"Principal Cinch!" Scarlet called once she was in the house.

She twirled around in a circle in the living room, trying to find some sign of where Cinch might be. But the smoke was so thick, it was hard to see where it was coming from, and where Cinch was. She tried to listen for Cinch's voice, but the smoke detector was screeching so loud, she could barely even hear herself think.

"Over there!" Candy yelled, standing right next to Scarlet, pointing a hoof in the direction of what looked like the kitchen. They hurried in that direction, but skidded to a stop when they got there.

"Dear sweet Celestia," Shadow muttered with wide eyes as they saw the scene before them.

The stove was on fire. Their eyes widened in horror when they saw their former principal on the floor, bleeding profusely out of her neck, a knife sticking handle up out of her stomach. But they could see she was alive. She was alive for now and that was all that mattered.

Scarlet skirted around the kitchen table and dropped to the floor next to Cinch. It wasn't too late. As long as Cinch was drawing breath, there was still time to save her. "It's okay. You're gonna be okay. Alright, just…just…just stay still, okay?"

As Scarlet was trying to figure out what to do, a small wind blew, spreading the fire from the stove onto the counter. The fire weakened the wood of the cabinets until they fell from the wall that was holding them up, also dumping the contents that were within.

"Scarlet, look out!" Candy yelled just as the cabinets began to fall and dump the contents within.

Scarlet looked up and quickly grabbed the contents of the cabinet and the cabinet itself with her magic, breathing a premature sigh of relief. However, it wasn't Scarlet or the cabinet they had to be worried about. A small explosion of smoke and fire blew the three mares back, causing them to slide on the floor. The kitchen chair blew back from the force of the explosion, tipping over and landing right on top of Principal Cinch and the knife that was buried in her stomach, sinking it in deeper.

Scarlet, without thinking, sat back up and crawled to Cinch, quickly moving the chair off of her and grabbing the handle of the knife with her magic, pulling it out, just wanting to save her. As she pulled out the knife, she stood up, and looked down at Cinch. Her eyes were half-lidded as she stared blankly up at the ceiling. Her breathing had come to a stop and now her whole body was unnaturally still as the life left her body.

Tears filled Scarlet's eyes as they were all silent, staring at her body, one question running through all of their minds.

What was the point of seeing all these signs if they couldn't use them to save the ponies they loved?

Author's Note

Well…you know what they say about tequila.