Snow-Covered Casesby DashkieChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 1Spreading our holiday cheer is something that is supposed to be taken lightly. Nobody wants to see you screaming down the street with angry holiday songs. We were always such a happy, joyful cheer. Now whenever December comes round we always revert back into our homes quietly and enjoy our family’s company. I remember when Christmas was the best time of the year. Now, it’s the time of the year that everybody dreads. Why is that, you ask? The snow-covered cases ruined Christmas. The reason why I am writing a recording of these cases is because I want our future to know of why nobody likes Christmas anymore. I really wish that it would all go back to normal, and maybe someday it will, but for now and for a while, we will all despise Christmas. If you are reading this, I want you to know that this is not a novel or a fiction series. These stories really happened, and I’m writing this mostly about Rainbow Dash. I would like to give thanks to Rainbow Dash for her help discovering who the serial killer was behind these cases. Even after Rainbow’s death (how tragic that was) we all still remember her strong and valiant fights and wits. Her statue in the center of Ponyville will be awed at by all tourists and new generations. By the time you’re reading this, I may be dead for several reasons of which I wish not to reveal. Even though this murderer is still out there, somewhere of which we do not know and possibly under a new identity, she could always come back. I am Twilight Sparkle, and don’t ever forget that even the shyest and quietest person could be the deadliest person you’ll ever meet. Angel had hopped violently on top of Fluttershy’s bed, trying to wake the tired young girl. Her head was pulled up a little, her long rose colored hair flowing over her shoulders. “Angel…?” She asked as she rubbed her eyes. “Oh sweetie, go back to bed…um…please.” Her bunny did not listen to Fluttershy’s plea. “Oh…o-okay…” Getting up and pulling the covers off, she got dressed in a soft, yellow blouse and tight fitting dark blue jeans. Her hair was brushed and she had already fed Angel. She picked up her basket and went to the door. “Now…Angel, please...um…be good.” The door opened and swung shut. Snow was falling lightly from Cloudsdale, the town of the angelic-like people. Amongst those people was Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy had wings as well, but she didn’t fly much. Young children were playing around in the snow. The girl walked through the snow taking a cold breath. Her list was prominent, very specific. As she waltzed into town, Rainbow Dash saw her and zoomed in next to Fluttershy. Her rainbow long hair rested on her shoulders while she wore a sky-blue t-shirt, her breasts a little too big for the shirt. She wore white jeans and black combat boots along with a light sweater. “Hey Fluttershy!” She said brightly in her sketchy voice. “O-oh…hi Rainbow Dash. Are you going grocery shopping too?” The athletic girl shook her head. “No way bro! Some of the people in Cloudsdale are helping out with the higher part of the towns Christmas tree. I’m one of em’, obviously. You should help too!” Fluttershy considered this thought for perhaps a second, but she had other plans underway. “Oh, I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, I’m kind of…um…busy.” Rainbow Dash looked at her surprisingly. “Busy? With what? Maybe I could help? I like to-“ “No!” Squealed Fluttershy. Rainbow stood there motionless, surprised and unsure of how to react. “I mean um…no thank you…excuse me.” She walked around Rainbow and walked off into town, hunched over. “Hmmm…she must be having a bad day I guess.” And then she walked away off to the set-up area for the tree. Under the large tree that was on its side, Rarity fondled around with the glistening decorations. She wore a small little Santa suit that she had designed herself. The hood had covered her curly and wavy, luscious violet locks, strands falling from the soft hood. She grumbled to herself, trying to find a certain ornament. Her black leather boots squeaked as she took a step around the large box of decorations. Her curvy, sexy body formed with the red, silk dress. The cut of the dress went across her breasts, showing just enough cleavage to grab someone’s attention and keep it. She wore black leather gloves to match her boots. She leaned over and picked up a green ornament with silver swirls. “Now that is truly divine.” Rainbow Dash walked over and started going through. “Hey Rarity, how’s the decorating going?” Rarity’s smile was soft yet lustrous. “Fantastic I believe. My certain job is to search through the decorations to see which will make the cut on the tree and the ones that are horrific. Oh dear who would even show anyone this…” while she threw a red flannel colored ornament to the side. “Cool! Are we putting up the tree soon?” The sexy fashionista walked over to the tree, her boots clicking as she took each step. “I think we were supposed to wait for more fliers. If they think I’m going to even touch this dirty thing they are clearly mista-“ Her sentence was stopped with a loud shriek from behind Pinkie Pie’s bakery. Another shriek was heard. “Whoa! What the hell was that?!” Asked Rainbow as she ran off to the bakery. Rarity followed behind quite slow, considering her boots. “Wait for me Rainbow dear!” She shuffled along through the snow. Rainbow bursted into the bakery with shock written into her powdered pink eyes. There inside of the bakery was the first crime scene of the snow-covered cases. On the wall of the bakery Ms. Cherilee was pinned on to the wall in a violent act. Her hands were nailed and tied to the wall in a v-formation, tied to the shoes she was wearing. She was stripped of her clothes, her naked body looking almost blue and pale with the shadow of death and dripped blood, stained with red. Her pink and white hair was matted with old blood, no longer fresh and red but brown and dry. Two red ornaments were punctured through her eyes, cheeks, chin, and ears. On her body though there were many different colored ornaments all punctured into her soft and pale skin. The odd thing was that Ms. Cherilee smelled like a fir tree. It was almost as if someone had sprayed her with a scent of fir tree. Pinkie Pie stood there shooken up next to her register, her pink curly hair in pigtails as she wore a lovely pink flowing dress and heels. Rainbow Dash stood at the door, unsure of how to attack this. “Pinkie Pie…what in the hell…is that…Ms. Cherilee?!” The pink-covered baker nodded. “I just walked in from the back after making some cupcakes and there she was! No one was here, I knew it! Well, Fluttershy was looking around but its Fluttershy, she’s afraid of her own shadow! And loved Ms. Cherilee!” Rainbow Dash took a few steps forward and studied the body of the young teacher. Finally Rarity made it to the door and gasped in utter shock and fright. “Oh my lord, is that…Ms. Cherilee?” Her voice trembled with disgust and felt as if she would be sick. She almost lost balance and sat down in the nearest chair, holding a hand over her mouth to cover it. “How…did this happen?” “No one’s sure yet Rarity. Don’t worry, I’ll find out who did this, don’t worry.” At that notion she walked out of the bakery and left the crime scene to the police. Later that week, Rainbow Dash had held a special meeting of the harmonies to get further into the first scene of these cases. I had gone to this meeting and little did anyone know that the actual serial killer was at this meeting. If you haven’t found out quite yet who is the killer, now this will give you a clue; she is one of the harmonies. I wish I would’ve known this before the killings continued, but unfortunately I did not, even though I tried so hard, there was just something that Rainbow Dash had that I just didn’t. There was a round table and there everyone sat except for Rainbow Dash, who was standing at the front of the table. All of the harmonies remained there, and Princess Celestia was on a live feed connected to the room where the meeting was held. She began. “I know this may be hard to hear, but with this kind of dramatic homicide, there will be more victims. Pinkie Pie…did you hear anything inside of your shop while you were baking?” “No, I didn’t. If I did I probably would’ve gone out there to help them! I didn’t even see Ms. Cherilee before I came out.” The leader nodded. “So then my theory is correct; Ms. Cherilee was drugged before she was killed so that no one would hear any screams and come out, I suppose the murderer was silent as a mouse. Fluttershy, did you see Ms. Cherilee at all today?” The rose haired girl shook her head and folded some strands behind her ear. “No, I didn’t…I came in to the bakery to talk to Pinkie Pie a little and then left.” Rainbow nodded. Rarity decided to speak up out of annoyance; she had a busy schedule and didn’t want anyone to interfere with it. “Dear Rainbow Dash, I don’t understand why we are all here. I have a busy schedule for today and I need to get back to the tree! Even if all eyes are on the case. Are you considering us all as suspects?!” She exclaimed, standing up. “I’m just trying to get some help Rarity. The fact you want to get out of here as soon as possible is making me assume you’re a suspect of this; who knows how long you were out there ‘sorting out decorations’!” Rarity gasped and then glared at Rainbow. “How DARE you! I will not stand here and be accused of a crime. Plus, that scene was all messy and dirty, it’s revolting.” With that she walked out of the room, her heels clicking away. I decided it was time to speak up, to defend Rarity. “Rainbow Dash, she wouldn’t make such a mess of the scene. If anything she wouldn’t even want to touch or look at it, remember? You’re making accusations out of pure adrenaline and anger. You need to calm down.” Apple Jack wasn’t at the meeting, considering she was far too busy making all of the Christmas apple deserts. Pinkie Pie took advantage of this. “Apple Jack isn’t here, maybe she’s connected to this; maybe she wanted all of her deserts to win out Christmas so she made a mess in the bakery so I can’t work!” Rainbow considered this notion but disregarded it by shaking her head. “If Apple Jack didn’t want you around to sell then she would’ve killed you, not Ms. Cherilee.” We all calmed down and sat in our chairs, confused, misunderstood, and clueless. Fluttershy decided to give us some input. “Sorry for um…speaking out of turn but…shouldn’t we worry about preventing another killing then accusing…?” She was right, bickering wouldn’t solve anything, and we would’ve started to try and prevent another killing if it weren’t for the fact that no one would know even where to start. Ms. Cherliee was the first victim of the snow-covered cases, and if anyone would’ve paid attention to the deeper clues then perhaps we could’ve prevented a second killing but you know what they say; fright and anger makes us do crazy things. Chapter 2After the first murder of these cases of which I recorded, I was always curious about one thing that I knew bugged Rainbow Dash like nuts; why Ms. Cherilee? Was it a message to students that education is not important? Or maybe the killer just didn’t like Ms. Cherilee. I had a feeling that it had to be something complicated because usually things like this weren’t so easy. Even after the first case people still wanted to enjoy their holiday spirit, even I did. And so in this case, we all continued on through Christmas. After the first case, the bakery was being used as evidence and Rainbow Dash was the lead detective so she rarely had time to enjoy the seasons. To be nice to Pinkie Pie, I allow her to bake and sell in my house until the bakery is ready for her again. The students went onto an early winter break so the mayor could find a new school teacher. I know Princess Celestia has been going nuts, wondering who in the world was so horrid? Well, I guess we’ll have to wait and find out, but I know when you find out that you will be surprised with shock and disgust, because I was. “Yeeee-haaa!” Exclaimed Apple Jack as she rode through the apple orchids on their new horse. The horse was of a chestnut color with a soft, young mane. Apple Jack was wearing her flannel top with a translucent white undershirt, and not a bra was to be found. She wore blue jeans and brown cowboy boots that banged against the horse, giving it more power. The cowgirl stopped the horse in front of the barn and hopped off, brushing some sandy blonde hair out of her mandarin colored eyes. She remembered that Twilight wanted to talk to her about something that had happened yesterday. Or at least she thought it was Twilight, it was her voice but it didn’t really sound like she was talking. “She’s probably still all shooken up about the case, poor shug.” She waved off Granny Smith, Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom. In town, everyone was trying to work hard on the set-up of the tree to keep their minds off of the murder from yesterday. Rarity was setting up bows on the branches and I was putting up ornaments. It felt like word vomit, to have to talk about the death of Ms. Cherilee, but I had to, to get it out of my system. “Hey Rarity, when do you think people will have in the time to work on the funeral?” Rarity’s face turned into a scowl. Today she was wearing a blue sapphire covered Santa suit with royal blue silk instead of red. “I’d rather not talk of such grotesqueness.” The miss claimed plainly. I nodded in understanding. Soon enough we saw Apple Jack running down the street, her hair bouncing with each step in its loose ponytail. “Twilight!” She ran up to Rarity and I, seeming exhausted from getting into town from Sweet Apple Acres so quick. “I heard from Big Macintosh that you wanted to talk to me about the case?” I was surprised, I hadn’t even seen Big Macintosh in a while, and all of the apples were at the acres. “I haven’t even seen Big Macintosh; no one has as long as we’ve seen you. Although it is nice to see you.” I thought it was just a misunderstanding of Big Mac’s non-talkative voice. Apple Jack stood there confused. “Hmm…Big Macintosh…oh well, the ol’ guy is probably loosin’ his marbles. How’s the tree comin’?” Rarity grinned nicely and put another bow on the tree. “Oh it’s going just lovely, I think. These bows I made for the tree are looking so wonderful.” I smiled as I looked for another ornament. Apple Jack looked at the tree. “Wow, how fancy. Well I’m gonna go back to my work.” Just as she was turning, she ran right into Fluttershy, who seemed completely dazed, like she was thinking about something. Since the meeting, everyone forgot about the accusations, except for Rainbow Dash. No one was accusing anyone of abnormal behavior, even though we should’ve been on our toes all the time. “O-oh, sorry Apple Jack…I just came here to talk to um…Twilight…” she said quietly in her shy, sweet voice. Apple Jack clamped onto Fluttershy’s shoulder, shocking the girl. “Oh don’t worry honey, no damage done.” And she let go, hurrying back off to the acres. I stepped forward to hear what Fluttershy had to say. Fluttershy blushed a bit; having eyes on her made her feel uneasy. “Um….I-I just wanted to um…tell you I think I know who the next victim will be…” Rarity turned over from the tree and we both wanted to hear what she had to say. “I think that the serial killer might go after…Sweetie Belle.” Rarity gasped. “Oh my, no! Not my little sister! I must go to protect her!” As she said this, she hurried off to her boutique, her boots clicking away with each step. I decided to go help Rarity. “I’ll help her. Thanks Fluttershy, you saved her life!” As I ran off to join with Rarity. Apple Bloom came running into town a few hours later, her red hair bouncing with its waving tendrils. She wore a yellow sundress a matching scarf. She stopped in the middle of the town. “TWILIGHT! RAINBOW DASH! ANYONE!” I and Rarity ran out of the boutique, Sweetie Belle following wearing a mini-version of Rarity’s Santa suit. “Apple Bloom, what’s wrong dear?” Asked Rarity, a little scared of what might’ve happened. Apple Bloom stuttered, her words were inaudible. Finally she found the words to speak. “Apple Jack was the next victim! She’s dead! I-I don’t know what to do!!” We all looked at her with utter shock. Fluttershy said that Sweetie Belle was the next victim…was she lying? Or just was wrong…oh well, we left it to Rainbow Dash to find out. We all ran as fast as we could to Sweet Apple Acres to find that the whole town was already there, including Rainbow Dash. Apple Bloom directed us to the barn, assuming that’s where the crime scene was. Inside was Apple Jack pinned to the wall exactly how Ms. Cherilee was except there were a few slight differences; in the first crime scene there were 36 ornaments and decorations pinned into Ms. Cherilee, but on Apple Jack there were only 30. Already there was a pattern, so we went over to Rainbow Dash to see how far she had gotten. The rainbow haired detective looked over, wearing black sunglasses. “There’s a pattern in these murders. If my theory is correct, there will not only be one more killing but four more. You see,” She walked over to Apple Jack’s body. Apple Bloom couldn’t stand to see the sight of her sister’s corpse so she ran out of the barn, most likely to get into Big Mac’s comfort. Rainbow Dash started pointing out the decorations. “Ms. Cherilee’s body had 36 all together, Apple Jack has 30. Every murder will have 6 less decorations, the last murder having only 6 decorations. A possible fifth murder could be put in the equations without any decorations. I think what the killer is trying to portray is a hate or fear of Christmas, a bad connection with it, considering all of the corpses are decorated like Christmas trees.” We were surprised at this deduction. Rarity made a sickened face and turned away. “Well, these are the most revolting Christmas trees I’ve ever seen.” Rarity turned around and headed back out, knowing Sweetie Belle was waiting for her outside of the barn in tears. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have a little sister to comfort.” As she walked out, Rarity almost sounded angry with these serial killings. Of course who wouldn’t be angry that someone was killing the people she cared about. Rainbow Dash slammed her fist against the wall of the barn, angry. “Why can’t I help this…why?!” The only way to help her would be to comfort her, so I tried to help her by giving her a hug. “It’s not easy, but I have complete faith that you’ll stop the murders reaching to number 6. We all do.” I smiled warmly as we both walked out of the barn, finding Rarity and Sweetie Belle hugging. Rainbow cracked her knuckles. “Alright, it looks like we need to get everyone back together. This time the accusations will get more strict.” Fluttershy came out of the barn looking very pale like she was going to be sick. After an hour of opening the second case, Rainbow Dash growled at everyone. “I’m extremely disappointed. Disappointed in the fact that I allowed a second killing to happen! No accusations have been made, and I’m getting to the point where there need to be suspects for the case to continue. Now we have lost Apple Jack, a dear friend to all of us, and it just disgusts me that everyone seems like they don’t care! Christmas this, Christmas that, people are dying here!” Fluttershy looked down, feeling upset that someone was yelling so loudly, considering her shy personality. “Um…can you calm down…please…I mean, if you want…” The athletic detective glared at her. “You would want me to calm down Fluttershy, wouldn’t you?! Maybe you’re afraid of one of us accusing you…maybe you’re afraid of getting caught!” Fluttershy sniffled and sobbed quietly to not disturb anyone else. Rarity got up to go comfort Fluttershy. “Rainbow Dash, you’re just being down right mean rather than using evidence to find suspects. Now you’re hurting a friend of yours. Perhaps we should appoint someone else to take care of this case rather than a brute.” Rainbow Dash scoffed and glared at Rarity. “Oh yeah, sure, so you can protect Fluttershy…or maybe yourself!” “Rainbow Dash, stop making wild accusations. If we look at all the evidence correctly, we can make liable people suspects and start questioning. We’re losing valuable time that we need to keep.” Pinkie Pie had agreed with me. “Yeah! What she said!” The detective sighed and sat down in her chair at the head of the table. Looking over the evidence laid out in front of her, she seemed like she was ready to list a few suspects. “I have five suspects I want to point out and to begin questioning immediately. My list of suspects is not in any order whatsoever. Twilight, you never liked Ms. Cherilee and are booksmart, you would know how to cover up a murder. Pinkie Pie, the autopsy confirmed Ms. Cherilee was not drugged and you were at the bakery the whole time. Rarity, you’re particular about ornaments and decorations and you could’ve framed Pinkie Pie since she was taking all of the business. The mayor, who doesn’t like too many people in PonyVille could be trying to shrink the population. The fifth suspect is put into the equation to assume that the killer could not be a resident of PonyVille. Those who are on my list of suspects excluding the non-resident will be questioned by me starting tomorrow. I suggest you guys get good lawyers because I’m not gonna play nice anymore.” Chapter 3Hi, Twilight Sparkle is back. Unfortunately, part of my notes that I had taken about the 3rd murder case were lost. The good news is only the beginning was lost. In other words, a riddle I had created to be your last clue as to who the killer is has been lost as well. Considering I had promised myself I wouldn’t give you anymore hints, I cannot tell you anymore about the killer. You must deduct your own theory of who the killer is until it is revealed in the end. Luckily I remember where I had left off in the notes. I was being interrogated by Rainbow Dash, although she had let me go. The next one to go in to be questioned was Rarity. I will start from there. Again, I apologize. As I walked out of the meeting room Rainbow was using for the interrogations, Rarity stood up and took a deep breath, preparing herself. That day she wasn’t wearing a Santa suit like any other day of this month; she wanted to seem a bit more professional so she had worn a thigh-high, black leather skirt and a tight white blouse. The blue sequins from her bra were showing through just slightly but were more covered by her black tie. She had worn black matching heels, satin, not leather. “I suppose it’s my turn, is it?” I nodded. “It’s okay though Rarity. The interrogations only should matter to you if you’re the killer, and I know you’re not. “Rarity smiled nervously. “You’re right, Twilight. I haven’t a single thing to be afraid of. “And with the end of that sentence, she had walked gracefully into the room and closed the door quietly behind her. At the other end of the single table in the middle of the room was the detective; Rainbow. “You can sit, Rarity.” Rainbow Dash was much more lenient with me because she knew for an ultimate fact I am not the killer, though she didn’t feel this away about all of those being questioned. If she gave everyone the same treatment she did me (which needs to remain as a secret for protective purposes), then the murderer could just easily step right in and she wouldn’t even notice it. This time, she had to turn against her friends; of course, for the sake of Ponyville. Rainbow leaned on the table, her hands banged against the hard metal. “I said, sit, Rarity.” She put rough emphasis on Rarity’s name. Rarity had quickly sat down; her ponytail of several curls had bounced slightly with her movement. “Rainbow, dear, you don’t have to be so rough with me, you know I’m not the murderer. I mean honestly, those bodies are just so grotesque-“ “Shut up Rarity.” She said; her voice cold. The prepped up lady looked at her with shock written on her face. She was not used to be spoken like this. “R-Rainbow Dash…” The detective scoffed at what she interpreted as an ‘innocent act’. “You’re going to answer all of my questions truthfully, and if I find out you lied about any of them there will be facing dire consequences, even if you may or may not be the murderer. Do you understand the terms?” Rarity sat there quietly, stunned at how mean she was being. Rainbow Dash raised her voice. “I said, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” She shook her head silently. The detective calmed down. “Alright. What were you doing during Ms. Cherilee’s murder as well as Apple Jack’s?” “The first murder I was picking out ornaments for the large tree in town the whole day, I hadn’t left for any reason at all. I hadn’t even seen Ms. Cherilee that day until we went into the bakery.” The ‘we’ had caught Rainbow off guard. “ ‘We’? Who was with you?” “Twilight.” Stories were straight, at least she got that threw her head that she knew Twilight wasn’t lying, even though she knew Twilight hadn’t lied at all. It was more of a double-check to make sure she herself wasn’t going crazy…or too soft. “Okay, and what about Apple Jack’s?” “That day Twilight was helping me. Fluttershy had come to me to warn the two of us that Sweetie Belle might be the next victim. After she told us, we went to go protect Sweetie Belle in my shop. After we heard screaming in town we hurried to Sweet Apple Acres and found the atrocity.” Rainbow glared a little at the table; nothing people have told her that day was helping her in any ways whatsoever. Just as she was about to ask the next question, the door had busted open. Fluttershy and Twilight were standing in the threshold. Rainbow grunted and stood up. “What part of ‘private questioning’ do you not understand? Anyways, is Pinkie Pie ready for when I’m done with Rarity?” Fluttershy started to tear up again; she had just recovered from crying too. I tried to keep my composure, though it wasn’t easy. “That’s the problem! Pinkie Pie was the next victim! She’s dead! Fluttershy and I had found her in her bed!” A bed? That was an unusual spot for a tree. Then again, that wasn’t the issue. The fact that Pinkie Pie was dead meant that she had to narrow down her list of suspects; obviously Pinkie Pie is ruled out. She slammed her fist on the table; angry at how she couldn’t prevent a third murder, and even angrier at how she deducted wrong with her suspect list. “Damn it…” she whispered under her breath. Rarity started to cry, holding a hand over her eyes so that no one could see. We all had hurried out of the building and were soon enough at Pinkie Pie’s bakery. Rainbow ran into the area and in her bedroom. There Pinkie Pie was, looking as if she were killed in her sleep; although the brutality of the massacre was too much to bear. She was dressed like all of the other victims: naked, ornaments pinned into her body, and the entire room smelled of a fir tree. At least she knew her theory of how many victims there were was correct; there were only 24 ornaments left. She still had at least three murders to stop, and she was messing around way too much. “Block off the area! The only people I want in here are Twilight and I.” Only one person hid out of the room, it seemed they weren’t taking into consideration how angry Rainbow Dash could be. She opened her mouth to yell as I tried to step in and save the people. “You might want to leave now…” I said quietly as everyone rushed out of the room quickly. Rainbow sighed. “Thank you.” I was confused at her previous command. She had told everyone to leave except for the two of us. But here’s the question; why me? Did she want my help on figuring out the case? I had always assumed she wouldn’t require assistance; she was great all on her own. Perhaps she wanted my help to speed up the process and to get the murderer behind bars, although I wasn’t sure what help I would be to her at all. I was book smart, not forensic smart (although I could be.) I walked over to her quietly. “Rainbow Dash…why did you want me to stay?” I asked nicely. “Because, I know that you’re smart, I could use someone like you…to be my ninja.” I raised an eyebrow. “A ninja? Do you mean some sort of secret agent? Or assassin?” Rainbow had to think this over for a short bit. “Just…look out for me, I guess. Report in daily while I work in Cloudsdale. You still have the spell to grow wings, right?” “Well I-“ “Then it’s settled; you’ll help me and we’ll catch this bastard!” I sighed and nodded. I didn’t quite agree to it, then again, I felt like it was just a bit too late to deny it. Anyways, I could always learn some things about forensics. Chapter 4Already the losses have been far too much for any of us to handle. Everyone was slowly losing their minds and focusing all on the murders and the killer. Rainbow Dash won’t talk to anyone anymore unless it’s related to the serial killer. Rarity has started to see a psychological therapist since she won’t let go of Sweetie Belle’s side. Fluttershy only takes care of her animals, but no one has seen her smile in so long. It’s hard for me to help any other person when I’m the one who really needs the help. For these past few days, I have not left my home. I believe Spike has gone off to help out Rarity, which is just fine, because I need to be alone. Books are everywhere…I can’t figure out this case! I apologize for my loss of sanity, but unfortunately it cannot be helped. Rainbow Dash usually comes over to give me a new theory of who the killer might be or their motivation, or even how to decide who the next victim will be, but every time there isn’t enough information to back up her theories. She decided questioning is just slowing down the process of her work. Today she was going to come by again so we could work some more, but a part of me right now just wants to give up. We’re not getting anywhere, people keep dying, and I can’t do anything about it. Who knows who will be killed next? We’ve already tried to put the town under lockdown, but still, no one felt safe, so we discontinued the program. I had nothing to report to Rainbow Dash, so her visit later today will make everything so much worse. I sat in the corner of the library, thinking hard about our next move. I considered visiting the crime scenes with Rainbow to find any clues or links to each of the victims. As I finished this thought, Rainbow came in. She wore a white undershirt and some jeans with a leather coat. Her hair was messier than normal, and the bags under her opalescent eyes were getting bigger and bigger. I can imagine I didn’t look too much better. “I found a link.” She said at first quietly. I didn’t quite understand what she meant; either she was joking or she really thought she was onto something. I remained hesitant to answer. “I found a link Twilight! Between the victims!” She exclaimed, louder this time. I stood up quickly and ran up to her. “Oh my god, Rainbow! What, what is it?!” Rainbow Dash grasped onto my shoulders and looked at me deep in the eyes. “Location.” I looked at her, slightly disappointed. “Location.” I repeated, looking at her skeptically. After all this time, how could they have come to such a simple deduction? Rainbow shook me a little, trying to get me to hold onto this theory, but it wasn’t working so well. “No, no, hear me out Twilight. Okay…um…” she stuttered a little. “Let me show you the diagram I drew.” She walked over to the empty wall space I usually used for presentations. The messenger bag she had was swung around to her front side as she pulled out a large diagramed paper that looked like blueprints, except it was white, and the paper was slightly translucent as she pinned it to the wall. The paper had shown the map of Ponyville with each of the houses named of their owners. Then, she pulled out another page, this one with no maps but just markings, made in red felt pen. This page was transparent, except for the felt marks. All I could make out were scribbles, a few words, circles, lines, arrows, dashed lines; almost like a kid who got a hold of a template wanted to draw. After she put that one up on top of the map she pulled out a third paper, but this one with calculations and what seemed to be a million sketches. This one was a simple column that she had put up next to her mapping. She set down her messenger bag and pulled out a black felt pen, similar to the red one with all the markings. My eyes were wide with amazement and awe at how she figured this entire thing out. The biggest drawing she had pointed out on the column that seemed to overlap on the other papers was of a clock. The clock was a little weird though; the only numbers on there were divisible by 12: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12. “The link between the victims and future victims is the time of the approximated death, meaning the average time between the time deducted by the initial death and when the body was first found. Whoever this killer is, they are elaborate.” She uncapped her black felt pen and re-circled Ms. Cherilee’s home. “Ms. Cherilee was the first victim and the approximated death of her was 1pm with 36 ornaments. The second victim, Apple Jack, had an approximate death of 2pm with 30 ornaments.” She circled over Apple Jack’s home as well. Finally, she circled Pinkie Pie’s. “And then Pinkie Pie, the third victim, died at 3pm with 24 ornaments. My theory works if there are only six victims, which are more likely than seven since we deducted this, is about the trees.” She pointed to her drawn clock and the times she had written down. “The fourth victim will be killed at 4pm, the fifth at 6pm, and then the sixth at 12am or the following 12pm. I could’ve divided these times by 6, but that would only give me 5 times, so I had to up the ante.” I marveled at amazement and then conducted the theory over and over in my head. This really could work, this could REALLY be the link! “Rainbow Dash...this is incredible!” Rainbow Dash held up a finger for a moment as I quieted down. There was obviously more, and hopefully whatever she was about to show me was going to answer a few of my questions on this theory. She put away the black felt pen and then stepped off to the side to showcase the map and all of her markings. She pointed to the three houses of each of the victims. “I have drawn a larger clock as scale as I have been able to. As you can see...” she traced the circle of Ms. Cherilee’s home with her finger. A 1 was drawn through it. “Ms. Cherilee was murdered at approximately 1, and on the clock I have drawn pointing north, it’s at that number. The same is with Apple Jacks home; at the number 2, along with Pinkie Pies at 3. The only problem is no matter how hard I try, there is no link to how many days!” Instinctively, I looked up at the clock and my eyes widened; it was 4:15pm. “Rainbow, look at the time!” She looked up at the clock at the same time. “Crap! We need to get out into PonyVille and stay there for at least an hour.” I agreed so she left her mapping on my wall as we left my house and hurried over more into town. Already we noticed the square was empty, all except for Rarity’s boutique. People were piling out of the store, all seeing what happened. “Oh no, not Rarity!” Rainbow ran over to the boutique as I followed. Tears began to well up in my eyes, but I shouldn’t be the one upset; I knew Rainbow Dash always had a thing for Rarity, then again...Rarity is beautiful! So who wouldn’t? Although, once we pushed our way through the crowds, we had found out that it wasn’t Rarity who was the next victim; it was Sweetie Belle. Rarity was being pulled away from here inspiration room, screaming and crying. “No! How dare you handle me like this?! Sweetie Belle!!” Several police officers were holding her back so she wouldn’t try to get in the way of things. We got into the inspiration room, and I automatically felt sick to the stomach. Now the question is, why is this any different? Shouldn’t I be used to seeing a corpse mangled up like this by now? Yes, I should, but not a child’s one. One police officer was looking hard at the corpse and writing things down, so I went to see what was found while Rainbow Dash tried her best to comfort Rarity. “Officer...did something different happen?” He nodded and then studied the corpse for a minute, trying to find the words. “Signs of penetration...only vaginally.” This didn’t help my nausea at all. I took a step back, unsure if I could handle all of this. “So...she was raped, and then killed?” “Or the other way around...we're not sure yet.” I scowled at the thought and tried my best to shake it out of my head. “What kind of sick creature are we dealing with here...” I left the area and went over to Rainbow Dash, but I had to pull her away first, I didn’t want Rarity to hear this. We walked over near the door where not so many people were so we could have a bit more privacy. “Something different happened, although it’s nothing too severe to alter our theory.” She tilted her head and leaned in a little. “Like...?” I sighed; now I know how hard it was for the officer to project the thought into phrases. “Sweetie Belle...was not only killed but they found signs of vaginal penetration...either before or after she was killed.” Rainbow held a hand over her mouth, her face turned pale like she was to be sick. We left the crime scene and hurried back to my house in hopes of finding out who would be the next victim and put them into safety immediately. For all we know the next killing could be tomorrow. We looked at the number 6 that was on the mapped clock. Number 6 was my house...” Oh no...” Rainbow grasped both of my shoulders and looked me dead in the eye with all of the seriousness in the world. “Look Twilight, I will do whatever I can in my abilities to keep you safe. You’ll stay with me, and I won’t let you leave me side, no matter what happens. If this killer thinks they’ll hurt you, they’ve got another thing coming. The best part about you being targeted next is that if you’re with me, we can catch the killer a lot easier. I hope jail is ready, because this...this thing will be there for the rest of its pathetic life.” At that moment, I felt a complete wave of safety from everything; insanity, sleeplessness, anger, sadness, all of these feelings that could not be replaced. I went to go to Rainbow Dash’s home to stay with her and plan how we were going to attack the killer and get him behind bars. I felt relaxed after weeks and weeks of stress and anxiety for once.
Chapter 1Spreading our holiday cheer is something that is supposed to be taken lightly. Nobody wants to see you screaming down the street with angry holiday songs. We were always such a happy, joyful cheer. Now whenever December comes round we always revert back into our homes quietly and enjoy our family’s company. I remember when Christmas was the best time of the year. Now, it’s the time of the year that everybody dreads. Why is that, you ask? The snow-covered cases ruined Christmas. The reason why I am writing a recording of these cases is because I want our future to know of why nobody likes Christmas anymore. I really wish that it would all go back to normal, and maybe someday it will, but for now and for a while, we will all despise Christmas. If you are reading this, I want you to know that this is not a novel or a fiction series. These stories really happened, and I’m writing this mostly about Rainbow Dash. I would like to give thanks to Rainbow Dash for her help discovering who the serial killer was behind these cases. Even after Rainbow’s death (how tragic that was) we all still remember her strong and valiant fights and wits. Her statue in the center of Ponyville will be awed at by all tourists and new generations. By the time you’re reading this, I may be dead for several reasons of which I wish not to reveal. Even though this murderer is still out there, somewhere of which we do not know and possibly under a new identity, she could always come back. I am Twilight Sparkle, and don’t ever forget that even the shyest and quietest person could be the deadliest person you’ll ever meet. Angel had hopped violently on top of Fluttershy’s bed, trying to wake the tired young girl. Her head was pulled up a little, her long rose colored hair flowing over her shoulders. “Angel…?” She asked as she rubbed her eyes. “Oh sweetie, go back to bed…um…please.” Her bunny did not listen to Fluttershy’s plea. “Oh…o-okay…” Getting up and pulling the covers off, she got dressed in a soft, yellow blouse and tight fitting dark blue jeans. Her hair was brushed and she had already fed Angel. She picked up her basket and went to the door. “Now…Angel, please...um…be good.” The door opened and swung shut. Snow was falling lightly from Cloudsdale, the town of the angelic-like people. Amongst those people was Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy had wings as well, but she didn’t fly much. Young children were playing around in the snow. The girl walked through the snow taking a cold breath. Her list was prominent, very specific. As she waltzed into town, Rainbow Dash saw her and zoomed in next to Fluttershy. Her rainbow long hair rested on her shoulders while she wore a sky-blue t-shirt, her breasts a little too big for the shirt. She wore white jeans and black combat boots along with a light sweater. “Hey Fluttershy!” She said brightly in her sketchy voice. “O-oh…hi Rainbow Dash. Are you going grocery shopping too?” The athletic girl shook her head. “No way bro! Some of the people in Cloudsdale are helping out with the higher part of the towns Christmas tree. I’m one of em’, obviously. You should help too!” Fluttershy considered this thought for perhaps a second, but she had other plans underway. “Oh, I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, I’m kind of…um…busy.” Rainbow Dash looked at her surprisingly. “Busy? With what? Maybe I could help? I like to-“ “No!” Squealed Fluttershy. Rainbow stood there motionless, surprised and unsure of how to react. “I mean um…no thank you…excuse me.” She walked around Rainbow and walked off into town, hunched over. “Hmmm…she must be having a bad day I guess.” And then she walked away off to the set-up area for the tree. Under the large tree that was on its side, Rarity fondled around with the glistening decorations. She wore a small little Santa suit that she had designed herself. The hood had covered her curly and wavy, luscious violet locks, strands falling from the soft hood. She grumbled to herself, trying to find a certain ornament. Her black leather boots squeaked as she took a step around the large box of decorations. Her curvy, sexy body formed with the red, silk dress. The cut of the dress went across her breasts, showing just enough cleavage to grab someone’s attention and keep it. She wore black leather gloves to match her boots. She leaned over and picked up a green ornament with silver swirls. “Now that is truly divine.” Rainbow Dash walked over and started going through. “Hey Rarity, how’s the decorating going?” Rarity’s smile was soft yet lustrous. “Fantastic I believe. My certain job is to search through the decorations to see which will make the cut on the tree and the ones that are horrific. Oh dear who would even show anyone this…” while she threw a red flannel colored ornament to the side. “Cool! Are we putting up the tree soon?” The sexy fashionista walked over to the tree, her boots clicking as she took each step. “I think we were supposed to wait for more fliers. If they think I’m going to even touch this dirty thing they are clearly mista-“ Her sentence was stopped with a loud shriek from behind Pinkie Pie’s bakery. Another shriek was heard. “Whoa! What the hell was that?!” Asked Rainbow as she ran off to the bakery. Rarity followed behind quite slow, considering her boots. “Wait for me Rainbow dear!” She shuffled along through the snow. Rainbow bursted into the bakery with shock written into her powdered pink eyes. There inside of the bakery was the first crime scene of the snow-covered cases. On the wall of the bakery Ms. Cherilee was pinned on to the wall in a violent act. Her hands were nailed and tied to the wall in a v-formation, tied to the shoes she was wearing. She was stripped of her clothes, her naked body looking almost blue and pale with the shadow of death and dripped blood, stained with red. Her pink and white hair was matted with old blood, no longer fresh and red but brown and dry. Two red ornaments were punctured through her eyes, cheeks, chin, and ears. On her body though there were many different colored ornaments all punctured into her soft and pale skin. The odd thing was that Ms. Cherilee smelled like a fir tree. It was almost as if someone had sprayed her with a scent of fir tree. Pinkie Pie stood there shooken up next to her register, her pink curly hair in pigtails as she wore a lovely pink flowing dress and heels. Rainbow Dash stood at the door, unsure of how to attack this. “Pinkie Pie…what in the hell…is that…Ms. Cherilee?!” The pink-covered baker nodded. “I just walked in from the back after making some cupcakes and there she was! No one was here, I knew it! Well, Fluttershy was looking around but its Fluttershy, she’s afraid of her own shadow! And loved Ms. Cherilee!” Rainbow Dash took a few steps forward and studied the body of the young teacher. Finally Rarity made it to the door and gasped in utter shock and fright. “Oh my lord, is that…Ms. Cherilee?” Her voice trembled with disgust and felt as if she would be sick. She almost lost balance and sat down in the nearest chair, holding a hand over her mouth to cover it. “How…did this happen?” “No one’s sure yet Rarity. Don’t worry, I’ll find out who did this, don’t worry.” At that notion she walked out of the bakery and left the crime scene to the police. Later that week, Rainbow Dash had held a special meeting of the harmonies to get further into the first scene of these cases. I had gone to this meeting and little did anyone know that the actual serial killer was at this meeting. If you haven’t found out quite yet who is the killer, now this will give you a clue; she is one of the harmonies. I wish I would’ve known this before the killings continued, but unfortunately I did not, even though I tried so hard, there was just something that Rainbow Dash had that I just didn’t. There was a round table and there everyone sat except for Rainbow Dash, who was standing at the front of the table. All of the harmonies remained there, and Princess Celestia was on a live feed connected to the room where the meeting was held. She began. “I know this may be hard to hear, but with this kind of dramatic homicide, there will be more victims. Pinkie Pie…did you hear anything inside of your shop while you were baking?” “No, I didn’t. If I did I probably would’ve gone out there to help them! I didn’t even see Ms. Cherilee before I came out.” The leader nodded. “So then my theory is correct; Ms. Cherilee was drugged before she was killed so that no one would hear any screams and come out, I suppose the murderer was silent as a mouse. Fluttershy, did you see Ms. Cherilee at all today?” The rose haired girl shook her head and folded some strands behind her ear. “No, I didn’t…I came in to the bakery to talk to Pinkie Pie a little and then left.” Rainbow nodded. Rarity decided to speak up out of annoyance; she had a busy schedule and didn’t want anyone to interfere with it. “Dear Rainbow Dash, I don’t understand why we are all here. I have a busy schedule for today and I need to get back to the tree! Even if all eyes are on the case. Are you considering us all as suspects?!” She exclaimed, standing up. “I’m just trying to get some help Rarity. The fact you want to get out of here as soon as possible is making me assume you’re a suspect of this; who knows how long you were out there ‘sorting out decorations’!” Rarity gasped and then glared at Rainbow. “How DARE you! I will not stand here and be accused of a crime. Plus, that scene was all messy and dirty, it’s revolting.” With that she walked out of the room, her heels clicking away. I decided it was time to speak up, to defend Rarity. “Rainbow Dash, she wouldn’t make such a mess of the scene. If anything she wouldn’t even want to touch or look at it, remember? You’re making accusations out of pure adrenaline and anger. You need to calm down.” Apple Jack wasn’t at the meeting, considering she was far too busy making all of the Christmas apple deserts. Pinkie Pie took advantage of this. “Apple Jack isn’t here, maybe she’s connected to this; maybe she wanted all of her deserts to win out Christmas so she made a mess in the bakery so I can’t work!” Rainbow considered this notion but disregarded it by shaking her head. “If Apple Jack didn’t want you around to sell then she would’ve killed you, not Ms. Cherilee.” We all calmed down and sat in our chairs, confused, misunderstood, and clueless. Fluttershy decided to give us some input. “Sorry for um…speaking out of turn but…shouldn’t we worry about preventing another killing then accusing…?” She was right, bickering wouldn’t solve anything, and we would’ve started to try and prevent another killing if it weren’t for the fact that no one would know even where to start. Ms. Cherliee was the first victim of the snow-covered cases, and if anyone would’ve paid attention to the deeper clues then perhaps we could’ve prevented a second killing but you know what they say; fright and anger makes us do crazy things.
Chapter 2After the first murder of these cases of which I recorded, I was always curious about one thing that I knew bugged Rainbow Dash like nuts; why Ms. Cherilee? Was it a message to students that education is not important? Or maybe the killer just didn’t like Ms. Cherilee. I had a feeling that it had to be something complicated because usually things like this weren’t so easy. Even after the first case people still wanted to enjoy their holiday spirit, even I did. And so in this case, we all continued on through Christmas. After the first case, the bakery was being used as evidence and Rainbow Dash was the lead detective so she rarely had time to enjoy the seasons. To be nice to Pinkie Pie, I allow her to bake and sell in my house until the bakery is ready for her again. The students went onto an early winter break so the mayor could find a new school teacher. I know Princess Celestia has been going nuts, wondering who in the world was so horrid? Well, I guess we’ll have to wait and find out, but I know when you find out that you will be surprised with shock and disgust, because I was. “Yeeee-haaa!” Exclaimed Apple Jack as she rode through the apple orchids on their new horse. The horse was of a chestnut color with a soft, young mane. Apple Jack was wearing her flannel top with a translucent white undershirt, and not a bra was to be found. She wore blue jeans and brown cowboy boots that banged against the horse, giving it more power. The cowgirl stopped the horse in front of the barn and hopped off, brushing some sandy blonde hair out of her mandarin colored eyes. She remembered that Twilight wanted to talk to her about something that had happened yesterday. Or at least she thought it was Twilight, it was her voice but it didn’t really sound like she was talking. “She’s probably still all shooken up about the case, poor shug.” She waved off Granny Smith, Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom. In town, everyone was trying to work hard on the set-up of the tree to keep their minds off of the murder from yesterday. Rarity was setting up bows on the branches and I was putting up ornaments. It felt like word vomit, to have to talk about the death of Ms. Cherilee, but I had to, to get it out of my system. “Hey Rarity, when do you think people will have in the time to work on the funeral?” Rarity’s face turned into a scowl. Today she was wearing a blue sapphire covered Santa suit with royal blue silk instead of red. “I’d rather not talk of such grotesqueness.” The miss claimed plainly. I nodded in understanding. Soon enough we saw Apple Jack running down the street, her hair bouncing with each step in its loose ponytail. “Twilight!” She ran up to Rarity and I, seeming exhausted from getting into town from Sweet Apple Acres so quick. “I heard from Big Macintosh that you wanted to talk to me about the case?” I was surprised, I hadn’t even seen Big Macintosh in a while, and all of the apples were at the acres. “I haven’t even seen Big Macintosh; no one has as long as we’ve seen you. Although it is nice to see you.” I thought it was just a misunderstanding of Big Mac’s non-talkative voice. Apple Jack stood there confused. “Hmm…Big Macintosh…oh well, the ol’ guy is probably loosin’ his marbles. How’s the tree comin’?” Rarity grinned nicely and put another bow on the tree. “Oh it’s going just lovely, I think. These bows I made for the tree are looking so wonderful.” I smiled as I looked for another ornament. Apple Jack looked at the tree. “Wow, how fancy. Well I’m gonna go back to my work.” Just as she was turning, she ran right into Fluttershy, who seemed completely dazed, like she was thinking about something. Since the meeting, everyone forgot about the accusations, except for Rainbow Dash. No one was accusing anyone of abnormal behavior, even though we should’ve been on our toes all the time. “O-oh, sorry Apple Jack…I just came here to talk to um…Twilight…” she said quietly in her shy, sweet voice. Apple Jack clamped onto Fluttershy’s shoulder, shocking the girl. “Oh don’t worry honey, no damage done.” And she let go, hurrying back off to the acres. I stepped forward to hear what Fluttershy had to say. Fluttershy blushed a bit; having eyes on her made her feel uneasy. “Um….I-I just wanted to um…tell you I think I know who the next victim will be…” Rarity turned over from the tree and we both wanted to hear what she had to say. “I think that the serial killer might go after…Sweetie Belle.” Rarity gasped. “Oh my, no! Not my little sister! I must go to protect her!” As she said this, she hurried off to her boutique, her boots clicking away with each step. I decided to go help Rarity. “I’ll help her. Thanks Fluttershy, you saved her life!” As I ran off to join with Rarity. Apple Bloom came running into town a few hours later, her red hair bouncing with its waving tendrils. She wore a yellow sundress a matching scarf. She stopped in the middle of the town. “TWILIGHT! RAINBOW DASH! ANYONE!” I and Rarity ran out of the boutique, Sweetie Belle following wearing a mini-version of Rarity’s Santa suit. “Apple Bloom, what’s wrong dear?” Asked Rarity, a little scared of what might’ve happened. Apple Bloom stuttered, her words were inaudible. Finally she found the words to speak. “Apple Jack was the next victim! She’s dead! I-I don’t know what to do!!” We all looked at her with utter shock. Fluttershy said that Sweetie Belle was the next victim…was she lying? Or just was wrong…oh well, we left it to Rainbow Dash to find out. We all ran as fast as we could to Sweet Apple Acres to find that the whole town was already there, including Rainbow Dash. Apple Bloom directed us to the barn, assuming that’s where the crime scene was. Inside was Apple Jack pinned to the wall exactly how Ms. Cherilee was except there were a few slight differences; in the first crime scene there were 36 ornaments and decorations pinned into Ms. Cherilee, but on Apple Jack there were only 30. Already there was a pattern, so we went over to Rainbow Dash to see how far she had gotten. The rainbow haired detective looked over, wearing black sunglasses. “There’s a pattern in these murders. If my theory is correct, there will not only be one more killing but four more. You see,” She walked over to Apple Jack’s body. Apple Bloom couldn’t stand to see the sight of her sister’s corpse so she ran out of the barn, most likely to get into Big Mac’s comfort. Rainbow Dash started pointing out the decorations. “Ms. Cherilee’s body had 36 all together, Apple Jack has 30. Every murder will have 6 less decorations, the last murder having only 6 decorations. A possible fifth murder could be put in the equations without any decorations. I think what the killer is trying to portray is a hate or fear of Christmas, a bad connection with it, considering all of the corpses are decorated like Christmas trees.” We were surprised at this deduction. Rarity made a sickened face and turned away. “Well, these are the most revolting Christmas trees I’ve ever seen.” Rarity turned around and headed back out, knowing Sweetie Belle was waiting for her outside of the barn in tears. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have a little sister to comfort.” As she walked out, Rarity almost sounded angry with these serial killings. Of course who wouldn’t be angry that someone was killing the people she cared about. Rainbow Dash slammed her fist against the wall of the barn, angry. “Why can’t I help this…why?!” The only way to help her would be to comfort her, so I tried to help her by giving her a hug. “It’s not easy, but I have complete faith that you’ll stop the murders reaching to number 6. We all do.” I smiled warmly as we both walked out of the barn, finding Rarity and Sweetie Belle hugging. Rainbow cracked her knuckles. “Alright, it looks like we need to get everyone back together. This time the accusations will get more strict.” Fluttershy came out of the barn looking very pale like she was going to be sick. After an hour of opening the second case, Rainbow Dash growled at everyone. “I’m extremely disappointed. Disappointed in the fact that I allowed a second killing to happen! No accusations have been made, and I’m getting to the point where there need to be suspects for the case to continue. Now we have lost Apple Jack, a dear friend to all of us, and it just disgusts me that everyone seems like they don’t care! Christmas this, Christmas that, people are dying here!” Fluttershy looked down, feeling upset that someone was yelling so loudly, considering her shy personality. “Um…can you calm down…please…I mean, if you want…” The athletic detective glared at her. “You would want me to calm down Fluttershy, wouldn’t you?! Maybe you’re afraid of one of us accusing you…maybe you’re afraid of getting caught!” Fluttershy sniffled and sobbed quietly to not disturb anyone else. Rarity got up to go comfort Fluttershy. “Rainbow Dash, you’re just being down right mean rather than using evidence to find suspects. Now you’re hurting a friend of yours. Perhaps we should appoint someone else to take care of this case rather than a brute.” Rainbow Dash scoffed and glared at Rarity. “Oh yeah, sure, so you can protect Fluttershy…or maybe yourself!” “Rainbow Dash, stop making wild accusations. If we look at all the evidence correctly, we can make liable people suspects and start questioning. We’re losing valuable time that we need to keep.” Pinkie Pie had agreed with me. “Yeah! What she said!” The detective sighed and sat down in her chair at the head of the table. Looking over the evidence laid out in front of her, she seemed like she was ready to list a few suspects. “I have five suspects I want to point out and to begin questioning immediately. My list of suspects is not in any order whatsoever. Twilight, you never liked Ms. Cherilee and are booksmart, you would know how to cover up a murder. Pinkie Pie, the autopsy confirmed Ms. Cherilee was not drugged and you were at the bakery the whole time. Rarity, you’re particular about ornaments and decorations and you could’ve framed Pinkie Pie since she was taking all of the business. The mayor, who doesn’t like too many people in PonyVille could be trying to shrink the population. The fifth suspect is put into the equation to assume that the killer could not be a resident of PonyVille. Those who are on my list of suspects excluding the non-resident will be questioned by me starting tomorrow. I suggest you guys get good lawyers because I’m not gonna play nice anymore.”
Chapter 3Hi, Twilight Sparkle is back. Unfortunately, part of my notes that I had taken about the 3rd murder case were lost. The good news is only the beginning was lost. In other words, a riddle I had created to be your last clue as to who the killer is has been lost as well. Considering I had promised myself I wouldn’t give you anymore hints, I cannot tell you anymore about the killer. You must deduct your own theory of who the killer is until it is revealed in the end. Luckily I remember where I had left off in the notes. I was being interrogated by Rainbow Dash, although she had let me go. The next one to go in to be questioned was Rarity. I will start from there. Again, I apologize. As I walked out of the meeting room Rainbow was using for the interrogations, Rarity stood up and took a deep breath, preparing herself. That day she wasn’t wearing a Santa suit like any other day of this month; she wanted to seem a bit more professional so she had worn a thigh-high, black leather skirt and a tight white blouse. The blue sequins from her bra were showing through just slightly but were more covered by her black tie. She had worn black matching heels, satin, not leather. “I suppose it’s my turn, is it?” I nodded. “It’s okay though Rarity. The interrogations only should matter to you if you’re the killer, and I know you’re not. “Rarity smiled nervously. “You’re right, Twilight. I haven’t a single thing to be afraid of. “And with the end of that sentence, she had walked gracefully into the room and closed the door quietly behind her. At the other end of the single table in the middle of the room was the detective; Rainbow. “You can sit, Rarity.” Rainbow Dash was much more lenient with me because she knew for an ultimate fact I am not the killer, though she didn’t feel this away about all of those being questioned. If she gave everyone the same treatment she did me (which needs to remain as a secret for protective purposes), then the murderer could just easily step right in and she wouldn’t even notice it. This time, she had to turn against her friends; of course, for the sake of Ponyville. Rainbow leaned on the table, her hands banged against the hard metal. “I said, sit, Rarity.” She put rough emphasis on Rarity’s name. Rarity had quickly sat down; her ponytail of several curls had bounced slightly with her movement. “Rainbow, dear, you don’t have to be so rough with me, you know I’m not the murderer. I mean honestly, those bodies are just so grotesque-“ “Shut up Rarity.” She said; her voice cold. The prepped up lady looked at her with shock written on her face. She was not used to be spoken like this. “R-Rainbow Dash…” The detective scoffed at what she interpreted as an ‘innocent act’. “You’re going to answer all of my questions truthfully, and if I find out you lied about any of them there will be facing dire consequences, even if you may or may not be the murderer. Do you understand the terms?” Rarity sat there quietly, stunned at how mean she was being. Rainbow Dash raised her voice. “I said, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” She shook her head silently. The detective calmed down. “Alright. What were you doing during Ms. Cherilee’s murder as well as Apple Jack’s?” “The first murder I was picking out ornaments for the large tree in town the whole day, I hadn’t left for any reason at all. I hadn’t even seen Ms. Cherilee that day until we went into the bakery.” The ‘we’ had caught Rainbow off guard. “ ‘We’? Who was with you?” “Twilight.” Stories were straight, at least she got that threw her head that she knew Twilight wasn’t lying, even though she knew Twilight hadn’t lied at all. It was more of a double-check to make sure she herself wasn’t going crazy…or too soft. “Okay, and what about Apple Jack’s?” “That day Twilight was helping me. Fluttershy had come to me to warn the two of us that Sweetie Belle might be the next victim. After she told us, we went to go protect Sweetie Belle in my shop. After we heard screaming in town we hurried to Sweet Apple Acres and found the atrocity.” Rainbow glared a little at the table; nothing people have told her that day was helping her in any ways whatsoever. Just as she was about to ask the next question, the door had busted open. Fluttershy and Twilight were standing in the threshold. Rainbow grunted and stood up. “What part of ‘private questioning’ do you not understand? Anyways, is Pinkie Pie ready for when I’m done with Rarity?” Fluttershy started to tear up again; she had just recovered from crying too. I tried to keep my composure, though it wasn’t easy. “That’s the problem! Pinkie Pie was the next victim! She’s dead! Fluttershy and I had found her in her bed!” A bed? That was an unusual spot for a tree. Then again, that wasn’t the issue. The fact that Pinkie Pie was dead meant that she had to narrow down her list of suspects; obviously Pinkie Pie is ruled out. She slammed her fist on the table; angry at how she couldn’t prevent a third murder, and even angrier at how she deducted wrong with her suspect list. “Damn it…” she whispered under her breath. Rarity started to cry, holding a hand over her eyes so that no one could see. We all had hurried out of the building and were soon enough at Pinkie Pie’s bakery. Rainbow ran into the area and in her bedroom. There Pinkie Pie was, looking as if she were killed in her sleep; although the brutality of the massacre was too much to bear. She was dressed like all of the other victims: naked, ornaments pinned into her body, and the entire room smelled of a fir tree. At least she knew her theory of how many victims there were was correct; there were only 24 ornaments left. She still had at least three murders to stop, and she was messing around way too much. “Block off the area! The only people I want in here are Twilight and I.” Only one person hid out of the room, it seemed they weren’t taking into consideration how angry Rainbow Dash could be. She opened her mouth to yell as I tried to step in and save the people. “You might want to leave now…” I said quietly as everyone rushed out of the room quickly. Rainbow sighed. “Thank you.” I was confused at her previous command. She had told everyone to leave except for the two of us. But here’s the question; why me? Did she want my help on figuring out the case? I had always assumed she wouldn’t require assistance; she was great all on her own. Perhaps she wanted my help to speed up the process and to get the murderer behind bars, although I wasn’t sure what help I would be to her at all. I was book smart, not forensic smart (although I could be.) I walked over to her quietly. “Rainbow Dash…why did you want me to stay?” I asked nicely. “Because, I know that you’re smart, I could use someone like you…to be my ninja.” I raised an eyebrow. “A ninja? Do you mean some sort of secret agent? Or assassin?” Rainbow had to think this over for a short bit. “Just…look out for me, I guess. Report in daily while I work in Cloudsdale. You still have the spell to grow wings, right?” “Well I-“ “Then it’s settled; you’ll help me and we’ll catch this bastard!” I sighed and nodded. I didn’t quite agree to it, then again, I felt like it was just a bit too late to deny it. Anyways, I could always learn some things about forensics.
Chapter 4Already the losses have been far too much for any of us to handle. Everyone was slowly losing their minds and focusing all on the murders and the killer. Rainbow Dash won’t talk to anyone anymore unless it’s related to the serial killer. Rarity has started to see a psychological therapist since she won’t let go of Sweetie Belle’s side. Fluttershy only takes care of her animals, but no one has seen her smile in so long. It’s hard for me to help any other person when I’m the one who really needs the help. For these past few days, I have not left my home. I believe Spike has gone off to help out Rarity, which is just fine, because I need to be alone. Books are everywhere…I can’t figure out this case! I apologize for my loss of sanity, but unfortunately it cannot be helped. Rainbow Dash usually comes over to give me a new theory of who the killer might be or their motivation, or even how to decide who the next victim will be, but every time there isn’t enough information to back up her theories. She decided questioning is just slowing down the process of her work. Today she was going to come by again so we could work some more, but a part of me right now just wants to give up. We’re not getting anywhere, people keep dying, and I can’t do anything about it. Who knows who will be killed next? We’ve already tried to put the town under lockdown, but still, no one felt safe, so we discontinued the program. I had nothing to report to Rainbow Dash, so her visit later today will make everything so much worse. I sat in the corner of the library, thinking hard about our next move. I considered visiting the crime scenes with Rainbow to find any clues or links to each of the victims. As I finished this thought, Rainbow came in. She wore a white undershirt and some jeans with a leather coat. Her hair was messier than normal, and the bags under her opalescent eyes were getting bigger and bigger. I can imagine I didn’t look too much better. “I found a link.” She said at first quietly. I didn’t quite understand what she meant; either she was joking or she really thought she was onto something. I remained hesitant to answer. “I found a link Twilight! Between the victims!” She exclaimed, louder this time. I stood up quickly and ran up to her. “Oh my god, Rainbow! What, what is it?!” Rainbow Dash grasped onto my shoulders and looked at me deep in the eyes. “Location.” I looked at her, slightly disappointed. “Location.” I repeated, looking at her skeptically. After all this time, how could they have come to such a simple deduction? Rainbow shook me a little, trying to get me to hold onto this theory, but it wasn’t working so well. “No, no, hear me out Twilight. Okay…um…” she stuttered a little. “Let me show you the diagram I drew.” She walked over to the empty wall space I usually used for presentations. The messenger bag she had was swung around to her front side as she pulled out a large diagramed paper that looked like blueprints, except it was white, and the paper was slightly translucent as she pinned it to the wall. The paper had shown the map of Ponyville with each of the houses named of their owners. Then, she pulled out another page, this one with no maps but just markings, made in red felt pen. This page was transparent, except for the felt marks. All I could make out were scribbles, a few words, circles, lines, arrows, dashed lines; almost like a kid who got a hold of a template wanted to draw. After she put that one up on top of the map she pulled out a third paper, but this one with calculations and what seemed to be a million sketches. This one was a simple column that she had put up next to her mapping. She set down her messenger bag and pulled out a black felt pen, similar to the red one with all the markings. My eyes were wide with amazement and awe at how she figured this entire thing out. The biggest drawing she had pointed out on the column that seemed to overlap on the other papers was of a clock. The clock was a little weird though; the only numbers on there were divisible by 12: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12. “The link between the victims and future victims is the time of the approximated death, meaning the average time between the time deducted by the initial death and when the body was first found. Whoever this killer is, they are elaborate.” She uncapped her black felt pen and re-circled Ms. Cherilee’s home. “Ms. Cherilee was the first victim and the approximated death of her was 1pm with 36 ornaments. The second victim, Apple Jack, had an approximate death of 2pm with 30 ornaments.” She circled over Apple Jack’s home as well. Finally, she circled Pinkie Pie’s. “And then Pinkie Pie, the third victim, died at 3pm with 24 ornaments. My theory works if there are only six victims, which are more likely than seven since we deducted this, is about the trees.” She pointed to her drawn clock and the times she had written down. “The fourth victim will be killed at 4pm, the fifth at 6pm, and then the sixth at 12am or the following 12pm. I could’ve divided these times by 6, but that would only give me 5 times, so I had to up the ante.” I marveled at amazement and then conducted the theory over and over in my head. This really could work, this could REALLY be the link! “Rainbow Dash...this is incredible!” Rainbow Dash held up a finger for a moment as I quieted down. There was obviously more, and hopefully whatever she was about to show me was going to answer a few of my questions on this theory. She put away the black felt pen and then stepped off to the side to showcase the map and all of her markings. She pointed to the three houses of each of the victims. “I have drawn a larger clock as scale as I have been able to. As you can see...” she traced the circle of Ms. Cherilee’s home with her finger. A 1 was drawn through it. “Ms. Cherilee was murdered at approximately 1, and on the clock I have drawn pointing north, it’s at that number. The same is with Apple Jacks home; at the number 2, along with Pinkie Pies at 3. The only problem is no matter how hard I try, there is no link to how many days!” Instinctively, I looked up at the clock and my eyes widened; it was 4:15pm. “Rainbow, look at the time!” She looked up at the clock at the same time. “Crap! We need to get out into PonyVille and stay there for at least an hour.” I agreed so she left her mapping on my wall as we left my house and hurried over more into town. Already we noticed the square was empty, all except for Rarity’s boutique. People were piling out of the store, all seeing what happened. “Oh no, not Rarity!” Rainbow ran over to the boutique as I followed. Tears began to well up in my eyes, but I shouldn’t be the one upset; I knew Rainbow Dash always had a thing for Rarity, then again...Rarity is beautiful! So who wouldn’t? Although, once we pushed our way through the crowds, we had found out that it wasn’t Rarity who was the next victim; it was Sweetie Belle. Rarity was being pulled away from here inspiration room, screaming and crying. “No! How dare you handle me like this?! Sweetie Belle!!” Several police officers were holding her back so she wouldn’t try to get in the way of things. We got into the inspiration room, and I automatically felt sick to the stomach. Now the question is, why is this any different? Shouldn’t I be used to seeing a corpse mangled up like this by now? Yes, I should, but not a child’s one. One police officer was looking hard at the corpse and writing things down, so I went to see what was found while Rainbow Dash tried her best to comfort Rarity. “Officer...did something different happen?” He nodded and then studied the corpse for a minute, trying to find the words. “Signs of penetration...only vaginally.” This didn’t help my nausea at all. I took a step back, unsure if I could handle all of this. “So...she was raped, and then killed?” “Or the other way around...we're not sure yet.” I scowled at the thought and tried my best to shake it out of my head. “What kind of sick creature are we dealing with here...” I left the area and went over to Rainbow Dash, but I had to pull her away first, I didn’t want Rarity to hear this. We walked over near the door where not so many people were so we could have a bit more privacy. “Something different happened, although it’s nothing too severe to alter our theory.” She tilted her head and leaned in a little. “Like...?” I sighed; now I know how hard it was for the officer to project the thought into phrases. “Sweetie Belle...was not only killed but they found signs of vaginal penetration...either before or after she was killed.” Rainbow held a hand over her mouth, her face turned pale like she was to be sick. We left the crime scene and hurried back to my house in hopes of finding out who would be the next victim and put them into safety immediately. For all we know the next killing could be tomorrow. We looked at the number 6 that was on the mapped clock. Number 6 was my house...” Oh no...” Rainbow grasped both of my shoulders and looked me dead in the eye with all of the seriousness in the world. “Look Twilight, I will do whatever I can in my abilities to keep you safe. You’ll stay with me, and I won’t let you leave me side, no matter what happens. If this killer thinks they’ll hurt you, they’ve got another thing coming. The best part about you being targeted next is that if you’re with me, we can catch the killer a lot easier. I hope jail is ready, because this...this thing will be there for the rest of its pathetic life.” At that moment, I felt a complete wave of safety from everything; insanity, sleeplessness, anger, sadness, all of these feelings that could not be replaced. I went to go to Rainbow Dash’s home to stay with her and plan how we were going to attack the killer and get him behind bars. I felt relaxed after weeks and weeks of stress and anxiety for once.
