The Fashion of Evil

Ponyville Hospital, 3:21 P.N. (4:12 PM)

The Mane Six group walked down the hallways of the Ponyville Hospital with Dr. Stable.

“How is she, Doctor?” Twilight asked as she followed the unicorn doctor (who treated Rainbow Dash for a broken wing a few years ago) down the hall.

“I’ll tell you right now, not good. We’ve manage to stabilize her, however, her magic readings are no less than disturbing. We’ve also confirmed she is in a coma, Celestia knows how long she’ll be comatose for. I speculate she should wake up within a week or two, after her horn’s healed and the magic in her body stabilized. We’re going to keep Rarity in intensive care while the magic in her body stabilizes.”

“Any other injuries? Like burns, or smoke inhalation?”

“Actually none, the pony medics found her safely outside the Boutique.”

Twilight recalled Bon Bon and Lyra saying they dragged Rarity to safety. She only asked to see if she’d get a different story from the doctor.

“Ah, here we are,” the doc said, opening the door to the room Rarity was in.

There was Rarity, tucked in bed. Twilight saw that her horn was bandaged up.

“Any idea how she was hurt?” Twilight asked.

“Considering she was nearly fried, she had taken more than she could handle. Her horn was nearly destroyed, her nervous system shot, and nearly all of her muscles have become extremely stiff, to the point she can hardly breathe. I believe she had been using magic too intensively, and too long, and eventually she lost control of it.”

Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash all nodded and listened as Dr. Stable summarized his reports. Rarity lay unconscious in bed, hooked up to a pile of equipment which included an oxygen tank, feeding tube, heart rate monitor and magic monitor. The machines beeped in unison, producing a four note tune that repeated continuously.

Dr. Stable continued speaking. “Her blood sugar levels are extremely low, too close to the minimum safe limit, which is why we’re administering a special formula via the feeding tube. Magic levels are stabilizing, although somewhat erratic at the moment. Her brain is swollen, muscles extremely tense. When Rarity gets out, she will need to undergo rehabilitation to get her strength back. The most serious damage, however, is her horn. She received too much magic and it has been overloaded. The entire horn has been fractured, and we’re not yet sure it will hold while the bone structure heals. If the tissues in her horn break down, the magic glands produce uncontrolled amounts of magic which could kill her. In addition, the naturally occurring solution which contains the magic could potentially leak into her bloodstream. If that happens, her chances of survival will basically drop to zero. Any questions?”

Pinkie Pie’s eyes widened with tears and terror. “You mean...you mean she’s gonna die????”

Pinkie had already seen the fire that destroyed the Carousel Boutique, and that re-ignited some old bad memories.

“Pinkie Pie, simmer down. Rarity isn’t gonna die,” Applejack assured her.

“Yes,Doc,” Twilight replied, “you said she is in a coma. How long do you think that could last?”

The unicorn doctor shrugged. “It all depends on her recovery. The coma is mostly attributed to the magic damage she sustained externally and internally. Her brain has allocated much of her body’s resources and energy to dealing with the damage. If and when the horn has been sufficiently healed and the magic-brain barrier fully restored, her brain will divert energy back to it’s usual pattern of usage, hence, the patient will be conscious and coherent again. I assure you, we have given Rarity everything she needs: oxygen, a feeding formula, a white blood cell transfusion, stem cells, magic absorbent drugs, anti-inflammatories, and such. The rest is up to her. She is in Celestia’s wings now, all you can do to help her is pray.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Twilight said, not taking her eyes off Rarity.

“I must go tend to the other patients now. Don’t stay too long, the patient needs her rest.” Dr. Stable said as he trotted out of the room.

“Rarity,” Pinkie said, leaning close to her, “You’re one of my best friends in the whole wide world! Please don’t die, please!”

Applejack gently nudged her away. “Enough of the water works, Pinkie, she’ll be fine, you’ll see.”

On the other side of the bed, Rainbow Dash was fuming with rage. All she could think about was revenge.

“Just wait till I get my hooves on the pony who did this. When I find out who he is, that pony’s going to be bucking dead.”

“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack snapped, “Mind yer’ tongue, will ya. Yer’ in the hospital for apple’s sake!”

“Why not? I’m gonna pound the living snot out of that pony! I’m gonna break off his hooves, shove them up his butt, rip his eyeballs out and shove ‘em down his throat, then I’m gonna bring down ten thousand lightning bolts right to his acorn sack, and then I’m gonna sonic rainboom his flank straight to hell. He’ll be begging me for mercy, and then I’m gonna-”

“Shhhh!” Applejack hissed, with a hoof to her mouth, “RD, yer’ scarin’ the other patients. Simmer yer saddle already.”

Rainbow Dash turned around and saw two other patients lying in their beds. They all looked at her with angst in their eyes.

“Heh, sorry you guys- hey, weren’t you in here before?”

The others looked and saw it was the pony named Hard Knocks. She had been in here back when Rainbow Dash was hospitalized following a real bad flying crash.

Nurse Redheart appeared at the door.

“Excuse me, but I think it’s best you go and let Rarity and the other patients rest.”

“Will do,” Applejack said as she trotted past the door, “Come along, Pinkie. Rarity will be just fine and dandy. You’ll see,” she assured Pinkie Pie with a nudge. “Twilight, Ah’m gonna go get Sweetie Belle from school and bring her home with me. She can stay at the farm ‘til we all sort this big mess out.”

“That’s a great idea,” Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash followed Applejack and Pinkie. She was too pissed off to say anything.

“Twilight?” the nurse beckoned, “That means you too.” Twilight didn’t respond, she just sat perched at the end of Rarity’s bed, looking at her.

“Twilight?” Nurse Redheart said, bringing Twilight out of her deep thoughts.

“Um, yes?”

“I need to ask you to leave. Rarity needs her rest, and your friends are waiting outside for you.”

“Oh-, uh, right, I’ll be out in a minute.”

The nurse pony nodded and walked down the hall.

After she was gone, Twilight closed the door, and removed two of the blank crystals from her saddle pouch, and went to work.

Using her hooves, she carefully pried open Rarity’s mouth, and saw that the oxygen tube went down her throat. Twilight slipped a crystal into her friend’s mouth and let it close. The crystal flashed, and Twilight tensed. Any outside magic could cause a lethal reaction to Rarity, but Twilight had to do this. She had to know who did this to her. After about ten minutes, the crystal echoed a muffled beep, and Twilight carefully removed it. Then she began the most delicate task- obtaining a magic sample from Rarity’s severely damaged horn.

Twilight briefly prayed to Celestia, then carefully and slowly removed the bandages from the horn. The horn was red and purple, the hairs around its base singed black. Twilight gently placed the blank crystal next to the horn and waited, hoping nopony would enter the room.

After another ten minutes, Twilight put both crystals away and re-bandaged Rarity’s horn. Rarity didn’t wake up at all. With a last look, Twilight exited the room and left the hospital.

She would have extracted Rarity's memory but she didn't want to risk killing her. Twilight would have to wait until or if Rarity woke up.

• + +

Ponyville School. 3:38 P.N. (4:22 PM)

At the Ponyville School, Sweetie Belle was not allowed to leave when the other fillies went home. Of course she knew why. Everypony could see the black column of smoke rising from where the Carousel Boutique used to be. When the fire first began, the flames were visible from the school.

She was being held in detention and it wasn’t even her fault.

“It’s about time that shop burnt to the ground,” Diamond Tiara had said earlier that afternoon.

Sweetie recalled the conversation.

“Why would you say that? I know you hate me because I’m a blank flank, but why do you hate my sister and our home so much?” Sweetie protested.

“Ugh, it’s more than you can even understand,” Silver Spoons sneered.

“Definitely,” Diamond continued, “Your mom, er- I mean ‘sister,’ is just a pathetic wannabe and a loser. The dresses she makes are horrible, and so is everything else she ever made. My daddy says she’s an embarrassment to all ponies who design fashion. Look on the bright side, Orphan Belle, whoever burnt down your mother’s shop did everypony a favor, including you.”

“What? What the hay, Diamond Tiara! And she's not my mother. She's my sister, and she's in the hospital! She could have died!”

Diamond and Silver Spoons both scoffed and chuckled.

“Well, she deserves it, and she’s so stuck up. She thinks she is all that. My cousin would smash her head in with his hooves if she ever showed up in his town,” Silver Spoons chaffed.

“Oh yeah?” Sweetie Belle snapped back, “Well, my cousin Babs Seed would smash both your heads in for talking like that about anypony!”

"Well, Silver Spoon scoffed, "she’s in Manehattan so what’s she going to do about it?”

“Think of it this way,” Diamond Tiara said, placing a hoof around Sweetie Belle’s shoulders, “She’ll probably die, well everypony hopes she will, and you will be free of her forever. Don’t think we don’t know what she says about you. She doesn’t even care about you. Rarity always thought you were a burden. Perhaps that is why her, ahem, ‘line of work’ has gone down the ditch. Ever since you were born, she had to focus on keeping you alive, so thanks to you, she is a failure.”

Sweetie Belle started tearing up. She tried to hold it back. She knew deep down, Diamond Tiara, a manipulative, coercive, conniving spoiled princess, was right.

“Look on the bright side,” Diamond continued, “If you’re lucky, you might get adopted by the Apple Family. You’ll probably be useful shoveling manure and bucking the apples out of their trees. That’s probably all you’ll be good for. Then of course, if the Apples don't want you, then you just might ending up living with, ew, Derpy Hooves!"

And with that and a laugh, she and Silver Spoons walked out of the school building.

Sweetie Belle sat at her desk, with her head down, crying silently. Cherilee sat behind her teacher’s desk reading paperwork.

Sweetie did not want to live at the Apple farm. They had endless chores day and night, and when fillies worked too slow, Applejack shouted at them. That’s all she, Scootaloo, and Dinky Doo did when the four of them went to spend nights, weekends, and holidays with the Apple family. Sometimes, they had likened Sweet Apple Acres to a labor camp.

She thought about sneaking out. She thought about living with Scootaloo and her family. The Loo’s were really nice and welcoming, for her anyway. She decided she would go live with the Loo’s. The clock ticked loudly, and Cheerilee hummed to herself.

Two other foals sat at their desks, saying nothing. Sweetie Belle looked at the clock. 3:44 P.N. or post noon (4:27 PM). It had been 45 minutes since the rest of the class got out.

Sweetie slowly got up, careful not to make a noise. She tip-hoofed her way to the cubby area, then near the door, which was open. Problem was, it was next to Cherilee’s desk.

But her hopes of escaping quickly evaporated, as Applejack showed up.

“Howdy, Miss Cherilee,” She greeted her in her loud southern voice.

“Good afternoon. You’re here to pick up Sweetie Belle?”

“You betcha,”

Sweetie Belle hid behind one of the display boards. She desperately hoped not to get noticed-

“Sweetie Belle! Come on out!” Applejack barked.

Sweetie’s heart sank, and she slowly stepped out from behind the display board.

“What’cha doin’ hidin’ behind that there wheeler wall thing?” Applejack demanded.

Sweetie Belle just looked down at the floor, “I...I was just looking for a snack I brought...”

Applejack walked up to her, and gave her the look.

“What have I told you about lyin’ to yer’ Auntie Applejack?”

“I’m...sorry....”

“An’ don’t go telling me you don’t like stayin’ on the farm. The fresh air and all them chores is good fer’ you. Speaking of which, we best get on home, Grab yer’ bag and come along now.”

Once they were outside the school, Sweetie asked, “Is Rarity okay?”

“Oh yeah, she’s fine,” Applejack replied, “She’s jus’ in the hospital, sleepin’ it off. She’ll need to sleep fer’ definitely a few days, hun. The doc said we won’t be allowed to visit her for at least a week.

“Oh...” Sweetie Belle murmured as she walked with Applejack back to the farm.

• +

Of course, Applejack didn’t let Sweetie Belle off for lying to her at school, and she set her and Applebloom to work cleaning manure out of the pig pens. To Applebloom, this wasn’t punishment. The fillies knew Applejack was big on corporal punishment, and they always behaved good and worked hard to avoid getting a ‘hoof-beat’n.’

The two worked quietly but slowly as the day wore down. After moving all the manure to the compost pit, Applejack put them in the wash tub with lots of soap. After that they were put to work making supper. Granny Smith rambled on about Apple family tradition while they cooked the food, and snapped at them for making errors. Granny Smith had become too frail to work in the kitchen. She was on her way out.

After eating and cleaning the dishes, the two fillies worked on their school work, then it was off to bed.

“‘An don’t let me catch you complaining’ about bein’ on this here farm,” Applejack said to her before closing the door. As Sweetie tried to sleep, she couldn’t keep Diamond Tiara’s words from echoing back and forth through her mind. She cried silently. Diamond Tiara's words felt like a knife through her heart.

• + +

Golden Oaks Library, 5:81 P.N. (around 8 PM)

The Sun was slowly setting, bathing Ponyville and the surrounding county with a golden stream of amber.

Safely secluded in her basement lab below the Golden Oaks Library (her home and work place), Twilight Sparkle set to work the minute she got home.

Twilight placed both crystals into a machine she called a magic analyzer. She had become interested in magic forensics and built this machine from a design she saw in a magazine. The machine would identify the magic signature, much like a DNA signature, via the altered molecular patterns in the crystals’ semi-fluid crystalline interiors.

After an hour, she came back down to her basement lab and checked the results: the magic signatures from both crystals she used on Rarity added up, but did not match the magic signature from the crystal she used on the burnt wreckage of the Boutique. Now she was pursuing two enemies.

Twilight put together a report, and galloped to the Town Guardhouse as fast as she could with her findings.

• + +

Ponyville Town Guard House, 6:51 P.N.

“I have identified the magic signatures of two unicorn suspects,” Twilight explained to the members of the Ponyville Town Guard in the small meeting room at the guardhouse. She had given them a paper with details of the magic crystals to pass around.

“...the burning of the Boutique and the assault on Rarity were two separate attacks.”

“Is that all?” Chief Tibbs grunted as he reached for his coffee.

“Well, that’s what I have so far. I would like to check these magic signatures against the national unicorn database in Canterlot, and find out who did this. But...I need a permit from the Canterlot Royal Guard to go there.”

“Well, that’s just great,” Tibbs grunted with displeasure, “Now we got two dangerous unicorns lurking around Ponyville. One burns down the Boutique, the other fries up Rarity with magic, and of course nopony witnessed the whole thing. Well, Lyra and Bon Bon saw what happened, and they ain’t talking.”

The other guard ponies, dressed in their blue uniforms muttered to one another.

“Sparkle, what say I have the bucks grab Lyra and Bon Bon and bring those two in? Because right now, you don’t even have a suspect, and the rest of us all think Lyra had something to do with it. I mean how exactly does Lyra, a unicorn, have a...skip in her memory? One minute she and Bon Bon are having their leisurely stroll along the river, the next minute they see the whole Carousel Boutique up in flames.”

The town guard officers grunted in agreement.

Twilight sighed. “Chief, lots of ponies who witnessed the start of the fire said the same thing. It was probably a spell of some sort to conceal the fire as it began-”

“And,” the chief interrupted her, “Lyra is a unicorn. Lyra is crazy. She’s got a few oats missing of you know what I mean. Imagine that, Lyra Heartstrings, serial arsonist, burnin’ down all of Ponyville.”

“Ugh,” Twilight grunted in frustration, “You want to bring her in for questioning, fine. Bring them both in. I’ll make them talk.”

“You heard her, Timbit and John Bull. You and three other guys get out there and bring me those two. If they put up a fight, tenderize them.”

“Yes, sir,” Timbit and John Bull both barked. Three other guys joined them and they quickly exited the room.

“Now then,” Chief Tibbs grunted, “Any new witness reports?”

A old buck, sporting a brownish-grey coat with a whitened green mane, raised a hoof.

“What is it, Beef Oates?”

Beef Oates cleared his throat. “My boys and I have spoken to numerous ponies in the north east quarter. Ponies don’t like to talk, but give a few words of convincing and praise to the foals, and they’ll tell you anything you ask. Quite a number of them fillies told me they spotted Photo Finish trotting around town these last few days. As you all know, Photo Finish is a fashion celebrity, and quite the number of ponies flock around her when she’s in town. They think they’re around a deity or something like that. A few ponies reported seeing Photo Finish enter the Carousel Boutique, along with her retinue of bodyguards, shortly before the place lit up.”

Twilight’s ears perked up at the information. She didn’t believe Lyra would have it in her to set a building on fire, but also didn’t expect the likes of Photo Finish being added to the suspect or ‘ponies of interest’ list either. Of course, she knew Photo Finish was an earth pony.

“How many others with her?” Tibbs demanded.

“Five. According to witness statements, they forcefully entered the Boutique at 2:86 P.N. 3:51 PM , broke down the door and disappeared. Right after the break-in, three stallions, dressed up all fancy-like in suits, exited the building and ran around the back. Our witnesses then said they saw the door appear fully intact, and many believed it was an illusion spell.”

Chief Tibbs nodded with satisfaction. He recalled first pony running to the guard house reporting the break in arriving at before 3:00 past noon 4:00 PM . He sent half the troops lounging around the guardhouse out to the Boutique to apprehend the criminals. By the time they got there, the place was ablaze.

The culprits had gotten away.

“Oates,” the chief grunted, “Are any of these ponies unicorns?”

“One witness counted two of them.”

“I have a question, Mr. Oates,” Twilight asked,”Did any of your witnesses say anything about why Photo Finish and her crew barged into the Carousel Boutique?”

Beef Oates stroked his beard with a hoof. “Ah, that’s right. Them witnesses said a yellow pegasus ran into the Boutique about five minutes earlier. They said she had a cutie mark with butterflies and an orange mane...or was it a pink mane? I’m not sure. Nopony really paid attention until they hoof kicked the door down.”

Twilight’s ears perked and her eyes widened. Fluttershy.

“...umm, thank you, Mr. Oates.”

Chief Tibbs turned to Twilight and said, “Well, Sparkle, there’s your lead,” then he turned to the crowd: “Everypony, thanks for your information. Any new witness reports, write them down and put ‘em in my inbox and I’ll have Sparkle look ‘em over. As of now, she here is officially with the town guard, as the main investigator of this case. You will take up any and all concerns with her, and you will obey all her requests for assistance on related matters. Due to the nature of this case, all further investigation will be confidential and is not to be discussed anywhere anytime unless it’s directly with Sparkle in private. In addition, Sparkle now has full access to the Guardhouse, and any ponies we bring in. All you daytimers, go home and get some shut eye. All you night’ers get out there and get to work. Dismissed!”

The guard ponies filed out of the room. Twilight remained in her seat and drank some water.

“Welcome to the guard,” Chief Tibbs said, tossing Twilight a badge, surprising her.

“Me? You actually want me on the force?”

“How the hay are you going to do your job we treat you like a normal citizen? You did alot for the town guard already. you cleaned out our backlog of old cases, and helped us keep everypony in line. I’d be stupid not to hire a bright mind like yours, Sparkle. I think I told you before that I really don’t like the idea of some crazy unicorn burning down the whole town. You know how dry it’s been these last few weeks. Ponyville is a powder box. If it weren’t for the pegasi and their rain clouds, them embers from the Boutique would have lit this whole town up like the Sun Celebration fireworks.”

There was a knock on the door.

“What is it?” Tibbs barked at the officer pony.

“Chief Tibbs, We have the suspects Lyra and Bon Bon in custody. They’ve just been booked and are in the detention cells.”

“Thank you, Zip. On your way. They’re all yours Sparkle. If you want, you can use some more of those fancy memory crystals.”

“Thank you sir.”

+  +  +