Blue

Rainbow stared at Vinyl in disbelief.

"That's it?" she asked. "No trial? No proof? Seriously? Somepony tries to murder even you, and they didn't even look into it?"

"You didn't pay attention, Spectrum," Trixie chuckled. Rainbow found it less amusing. "She said 'a bubble around her head.' That should be a force-field thingamajig that made the sound non-lethal to her! And of course, Throat did it to have the perfect alibi! But the brave and smart guards of Equestria foiled her evil plan!"

"Did you really...?" Dash asked.

Vinyl waved a hoof dismissively. "Of course not. She's just restating the stuff I figured out yesterday, after I was brought here. Y'know, I was thinking out loud," she added, blushing. "I think you've figured it out by now, but she's a bit... broken. Something must've happened when she was brought in."

"Oh no, Gobbles is not broken!" Trixie replied. "She's merely...cracked! Yes, that is it. A few dents here and there, but nothing broke! Well, she is see-through in a place, though." she admitted.

"See-through?" Rainbow could not push the disturbing implications aside.

"Oh yes!" the showmare said, winking at her. "Gobbles did not accept the kind director's offer of being beaten only half to death, and tried to escape! So what could poor head warden have done? He staked Gobbles!"

"Staked?" The pegasus got goosebumps.

"Yes, yes. A brand new invention in criminal-catching technology! You shoot it at the escaping suspect, and they will not run away again. Ever."

She raised her front right hoof, the one she was limping on. Rainbow noticed that it was covered in a blue bandge, similar to the hue of the unicorn. Leaning closer, she noticed two red circles on it, on diagonally opposite sides. She shivered.

Whatever hit it, seemed to have left through Trixie's hoof.

Vinyl tried to change the subject. "So...uh, why are you in, dudette?"

The cyan mare explained her situation, leaving out Shining Armor's hidden signs. Trixie began to laugh.

"Wow, Spectrum, way to take rejection badly! So what, some of the audience didn't cheer loud enough, so you slaughter their little fillies? What a hero!"

Rainbow screamed, and jumped at the unicorn, pinning her to the wall. "You know nothing! NOTHING!"

Trixie smiled, then without a warning, she headbutted her. While the pegasus recoiled from it, she put two well-placed punches in her stomach, and one on her wings. Rainbow was now screaming from pain, but the onslaught didn't stop there, the showmare knocked her off her hooves, and stepped on her, placing a hoof on her neck. Trixie seemed awfully calm, while she spoke up softly, still smiling.

"And now, Spectrum, calm yourself, or there will be no good-night kisses." Rainbow struggled to get free, but the showmare held her down with frightening force.

"Both of you, stop!" Vinyl cried, her voice teetering on the edge of hysteria. "You start fighting when we should stick together?"

"With her?" Rainbow spat.

"Keep on annoying Gobbles, and she will give you back to Plumpy and Dumby!" the showmare threatened.

"We have to," Vinyl said quietly. "After all, we are all blue."

Rainbow blinked. "Huh?"

"Didn't you notice?" Vinyl asked, with a hint of sadness in her voice. "Those two when you arrived, the untrusting glances of the others, the mocking comments on your color? Everypony here despises blue ponies, even though they're criminals, too. Hell, I was took to detention, because nopony would let me in their cell, out of fear that I would hurt them!"

Trixie got off of Rainbow. "Gobbles told you that she would welcome you here."

"Uh, yeah, well I don't know you, pal."

"But you just said Gobbles is your pal!" Trixie argued.

"No, I mean... bah, forget it!"

The pegasus paid them no mind. She tried to grasp their reason. She couldn't. "Why?" she suddenly asked. "Why do they hate us for being blue? How did this start?"

"I don't know," Vinyl admitted. "But I suspect it has somehow been brought in with the wardens, and their demeanor somehow rubbed off on the inmates."

"You want to know why they hate you, Thoat? It's easy. They hate you, because you are terrible murderers!"

Rainbow looked at her angrily. "Then what did you do?"

Trixie chuckled. "Gobbles is charged with leading an Ursa Major into three settlements, completely wiping them out."

Rainbow looked at her with disgust. "You're more of a criminal I'll ever be."

"No-no, Spectrum. I'm exactly as guilty as you are," the unicorn corrected her patiently.

Their conversation was interrupted by four heavily armed wardens coming into their cell.

"You three, with us."

They were led through the prison block, to a place with a reinforced, old-looking door. Nearing it, Rainbow heard voices from inside. They seemed to be arguing.

"I do not care what customs you or your predecessors have kept here, chief warden. As the captain of the Royal Guard, it is my duty to gather any possible clues to a threat against Canterlot. Let that be enough for authority."

As the trio entered through the door, surrounded by the trigger-happy wardens, they arrived in a rather large room, only furnished with a desk and four chairs; also, they noticed the source of the voices. To Rainbow's great surprise, Shining Armor came back, for whatever purpose. The other was Strong Walls, looking very displeased. The captain turned to the pegasus. "Miss Dash, I believe there is somepony waiting outside, wanting to talk to you. While you oblige her wishes, I will conduct my interrogation here with Miss..."

"Vinyl Scratch," the DJ said, noticing his gaze.

"Right, Miss Scratch, and...?" Shining looked at Trixie expectantly.

"What?" Trixie returned his stare.

"What is your name, Miss?" Shining asked impatiently.

"Gobbles will never tell you her name, handsome devil, because Gobbles can keep it a secret." She paused, realising something. "Oh, dragon dung. Be a dear, Throat," she turned to Vinyl, "and murder them to death for Gobbles, will you? 'Xcept the white one. He has quite fine hindquarters."

Vinyl rolled her eyes at her mock-name, but smirked heavily by the time Trixie finished her monologue. Shining turned to Strong Walls, deciding to speed things up.

"Head warden, what is her name?"

"Trixie Lulamoon. Brought 'er in last week. The mare's bonkers."

"Gobbles is not Bonkers!" Trixie objected. "Gobbles is Gobbles! It has 100 percent more 'B' in it!"

Shining paid her no mind.

"Falling Feather, escort Miss Dash to her visitor. Everypony else, except the suspects, please leave the room. I need to take their testimony without outside influences."

"Now you want testimonies?" Rainbow thought, as she was led further away from her cell, through dimly lit, narrow corridors, into a small room, that had a wall separating it's halves. The wall was half glass, and it's lower half looked like it was made from bricks. Some chairs were set there, and the dividing wall itself was separated into smaller, cabin-like segments. Currently it was empty, save for one, where her visitor sat, waiting for her.

"Rarity?!" Rainbow's heart jumped with joy. Then she remembered Applejack's and Twilight's reaction, and she recalled Sweetie Belle was injured. "How is...?"

"She will survive." the unicorn replied. "Not unscatched, but unbroken. She's already awake. Rainbow, I need to talk to you."

The pegasus' ears drooped. "I'm so sorry, Rarity, I-"

"No, darling, " Rarity interrupted her, "I did not come here to blame you or expect an apology. I'm here about something on a much more... grandiose scale."

"But what?" Rainbow unintentionally leaned closer. Rarity glanced around, as if to ascertain they were truly alone.

"Rainbow, I know you're innocent."

The cyan mare gasped. She felt her heart fill with warmth, and wanted to hug the unicorn more than anything, even if it meant making herself eternally uncool in the eyes of every being in existence. She knew her friends would not abandon her! "How?" she finally managed to ask.

"As you very well know, I was in the crowd watching you. I was using my opera spyglass to see you better. Everypony was bedazzled by you talent, dear. But when you reached the highest point of your flight, I sensed something odd. Rainbow, I believe I felt a strong spell, that knocked you out, and took control of your unconscious body!"

The pegasus gasped. "But how could you tell?" Rarity sighed.

"After the changeling attack on Canterlot, I decided to study mind control, and similar spells. I felt responsible, not noticing anything of the whole ordeal! I take pride in my attention to detail, and I still ignored Twilight's suspicions. Since then, I decided to listen to my friends, and be wary for any kinds of impostors or those who would manipulate others. It was a terrible feeling, not noticing anything the whole time!"

"Notice? Rarity, Twilight didn't notice the fact they were changelings disguised as ponies! And she is Element of Magic!"

"Well, yes, dear, but detection is my speciality, you could say. The spell I use to find gems is practically a detection spell with a very specialized target. It was no problem learning the original spell. It's not widely used, because it just gives a lot of random impressions to the user if it is not modified to resonate with a certain target. For example, sensing magic from objects or ponies is quite possible with it. And that, darling, is exactly what I did back there."

"Wait, there's something I don't understand. Why didn't Twilight notice anything? Using that much magic, that she always does, she should've gotten at least a hunch!"

Rarity seemed embarassed. "Well, yes, this is the other reason I can't blame you; I feel partially responsible."

Rainbow gulped nervously. "Why?"

"You see," the unicorn replied, "Twilight was not there, because I asked her to get some refreshments earlier. If I only were less demanding, she would have been sitting there, watching you, and maybe catch you before you land, averting this whole horrible mess!"

"Rarity," the pegasus spoke, her voice full of unexpected warmth for her usual tomboyish behaviour, "nopony on the world could blame you. You couldn't have known, and I'm sure Twilight thinks so, too. She could have had to go to the little fillies' room, or anything. If anything, I'm to blame for being the murder weapon."

Rarity sniffed, then produced a small kerchief, wiping her tears. "Rainbow Dash, you are a most wonderful friend, and as Celestia is my witness, I'm going to get you out of here!"

"Great!... Sooo... am I free to go upon your testimony?"

"Not yet." The pristine white mare shook her head. "My testimony could indeed clear your name... if I can prove it true against a hundred eyewitnesses. For that end, I asked the help of the Princesses, and they are preparing the Ultimate Memory spell."

"Uh... I have no idea what that is." Rainbow admitted.

"It is a spell that will help me recall the whole scene, in a rather... lively manner. My memories will come alive, replaying the events contained within my memory; every little detail as I saw, heard, or felt it. It's called 'Ultimate' because it can even show tiny bits of information; even those you don't recall, or could not place at the time. For example, the source of the body-control spell could be identified, even though I only sensed that somepony from the general direction of the crowd cast it."

"That's... great news!" Rainbow said excitedly. "Rarity, there are no words... but thank you."

"Think nothing of it, dear. It's the least I could do after all this ordeal... somepony makes you a scapegoat! Bah!"

Rarity leaned back, revealing a small clock that was not visible for Rainbow until then, and glanced at it.

"Darling, I'm afraid I have to leave now, visiting hours'll be over soon. When you return to Shining Armor, tell him everything he wants to know, he is leading the investigation about these... strange murders; not to mention the increasing colorism in the country. Sadly, he can't do much about the latter, because he is a soldier, not a spy; he has no information. Trust him. Goodbye, Rainbow."

She raised a hoof to the glass, waited until Rainbow did the same, and left.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Shining Armor waited until everypony left the room, then gestured the two mares to take seats. They complied, and he sat down too, on the opposite side of the desk. In front of him, there were some dossiers, a notebook, a quill, and some ink.

"All right ladies, let's begin." He motioned a hoof towards Vinyl. "Please tell me what happened on the day of the murders, Miss Scratch."

Vinyl told him everything, not leaving a single impression out. The captain took some notes, but otherwise did not interrupt her. When she finished, he scratched his head.

"Who were the ponies who knew about this gathering?"

"Only the musicians involved, their staff, who moved their instruments, and the company that brought my equipment there."

"I see. I will now read the list of victims found on the scene. I do not expect to catch the murderer this way, but if he or she was present, we could get a lead. Tell me if somepony who should have been there, but is exempt from this list."

Vinyl nodded. "All right."

"Octavia Fulminea," Shining began, "Loud Trumpet, Clyde Orchestro, Noteworthy, Lyra Heartstrings. Also found at the scene two ponies in the Opera's uniform."

Tears fell from Vinyl'seyes, and she shook her head. "No, that's all. Nopony else was present." She paused. "Although, it was a bit suspicious to me that I didn't see a driver for the van parked there."

"Then let us examine further this shipping company. The van was unmarked, with no license plate. What was the company's name?"

"Foxy Boxes."

Shining blinked. "It is a quite... unusual name."

"I dunno, seemed right to me at the time."

"Whom did you speak with?"

"The manager, Tight Space."

Shining raised an eyebrow. "That is obviously a fake name."

"I didn't know, okay? I just assumed he can pack many things into tight spaces."

"He? So it was a male voice?"

"Yes." Vinyl confirmed. Shining wrote something down, and was lost deep in his thoughts. A minute later he looked at Vinyl, and smiled.

"Thank you, Miss Scratch, we will investigate these guys. Now, Miss..." he took a glance at his notes, "Lulamoon?"

No reaction.

"Miss Lulamoon?"

Still nothing.

"Um, Cap'n, I don't think she likes that name." interjected Vinyl.

"Really? Is there a reason?"

To his great surprise, the azure mare began to sing in a low tone, looking at the wall behind him.

"My name it means nothing, my fortune is less."

Shining cleared his throat. "Well, it doesn't really matter. It says here that you were a travelling showmare, correct?"

"I have dealt in mysteries, and trickery of life to entertain, looked into the abyss, called it by it's name."

"Miss... Trixie, do you realize you are charged with very serious crimes?"

"Destruction of the empty spaces is my one and only crime."

Shining Armor was getting impatient. Her singing started to get on his nerves.

"So you feel completely innocent, then?"

"I must have dreamed a thousand dreams, they're haunted by a million screams."

Is she going to play like that? He noticed that she seemed to sing something relevant to the questions. So, if she follows that pattern, he just has to decode her songs.

"Could you tell me what happened during the Ursa attacks?" he asked, looking at Trixie expectantly. The answer came quick and cold.

"No."

The stallion lost his composure. "I am trying to help you!"

"Help Gobbles by sating her burning desire. Give her a kiss." the mare replied, looking uninterested, even though she suggested it. Shining Armor frowned.

"I'm married. And I meant helping to clear your name by uncovering what happened."

"Then you are wasting your time." the bitter answer came.

"Tell me something! Anything! This says here that you sustained injury while being captured. How did that happen?"

Trixie, for the first time, looked at Shining Armor. A glint appeared in her eyes, and her voice became abnormally happy. A disturbing smile slowly crept up on her place.

"Oh, that is easy. During the chase, Strong Walls pleaded Gobbles at lengths, so that she would surrender quietly, reminding her many times the gentleness he was going to utilize if she obliged. But Gobbles did not listen to him, no, she went ahead and shot herself in the hoof with their capturing weapon! Then she proceeded to hit his hoof repeatedly with her muzzle, teeth and stomach."

Shining stared at Trixie. She returned his stare, without a blink. Her grin was more like a predator's toothy warning than a smile.

"He hurt you after you were already apprehended? Why didn't you tell somepony?"

The answer came with a dead look, coated with the purest of spleen. "Whom?"

Shining was about to ask something, when the door opened, and Rainbow entered. She shot him a warm smile. "I spoke with Rarity."

"I did, too. I will be protecting her tomorrow while she's going to testify. I hope we can sort this mess out."

"Can I ask something? What is all this discrimination against blue ponies?"

"It seems to originate from a certain booklet. Informants say it contains alleged proof that ponies with the color blue have some kind of... inborn tendency to commit crimes. I do not know how long have they been spreading around, but everypony agrees that they have been around for more than a month, and they are spread throughout the countryside secretly. Sadly, I have not been able to get my hooves on one of them, therefore we are fighting shadows." He sighed. "We're not a step closer to the one distributing them. Maybe your cases' reinvestigation will bring some evidence. I will not question you any further today. Your testimony would mean little at this point, because Miss Rarity's is more accurate, and contains everything you might've said."

Rainbow nodded. "Okay. Tell Cadence I said hi. And I know this stuff's crazy, but you can solve it, right?"

"I will, and yes, I won't betray your trust. It seems something big is going on, but I can't place my hoof on it yet. These three murder cases, in such short succession... my guts tell me that you are innocent. Even Trixie." He motioned towards the unmoving mare. "But I have absolutely no idea who would profit from it. Miss Rarity is the key here."

He looked at the clock. "I'm afraid I have to leave you now, but I promise to come back tomorrow. Your cases might be connected; maybe not the perpetrators, but the mastermind is the same, I'm convinced. I'd like to press further, but the city is a panicking mess. Colorism seems to have spread into our fair city too, I'm afraid. There might be an uprising, or an attack from outsiders, using the confusion to their advantage. I will leave now. Good night."

Vinyl and Rainbow said their their goodbyes, Trixie simply nodded. However, when Shining Armor was out of earshot, she started singing again, in a sad tone.

"He's searching for the answer now. It's something that he's managed to avoid, up till now. The convinction that he craves, he needs to find the answer sooner or later."

Rainbow looked at her, surprised.

"Why are you singing?"

"Because otherwise Gobbles would cry."

_______________________________________________________________________________

They were quickly hauled back to their cell. Vinyl looked upon a bedsheet, and sighed.

"It seems I'll stay here. Nopony would let me in anywhere else, anyway."

"Wonderful!" Trixie clapped. "Gobbles will take good care of you!"

"Can't say I'm looking forward to it." the DJ replied, less than enthuasistic.

They went to have a shower. Rainbow noticed that all the inmates they encountered there kept a large distance from Trixie, who didn't seem to care about anything in the world. Nevertheless, the showering passed without further ado.

"Back to your cells, motherbuckin' bastards!" a voice crackled from the speakers on the walls, presumably Strong Walls', "Curfew's on."

They trotted back to their cell, Rainbow and Vinyl immediately jumping on their bed, but Trixie sat before the mirror, combing her mane. She was clearly bad at it, maybe on the account of using her hooves, not her magic. To the tired pegasus, it seemed that with every stroke, her mane became more and more unkempt. Soon the showmare got tired of it, and put up a spare sheet on the cell door, blocking out most of the incoming lights. Then she made her way to Rainbow, and leaned over her. Rainbow's heart skipped a beat. Oh hay, this mare is going to do... things to her? She saw her silhouette closing in, pursing her lips... then she felt the unicorn give a peck on her face. She was dumbfounded.

"G'night, Spectrum." Trixie whispered, and left.

Rainbow heard a smooch coming from the direction of Vinyl. The DJ giggled, and wished good night too. Rainbow lightened up, and let her consciousness slowly fade away. Tomorrow, everything will be different.