Day 10, 11:47

Of all the thoughts that were running through Pinkie’s mind right now, as she lay with her back against the pillar, the body of her friend laid out before her, why was the most prominent one…

Fluttershy smells nice.

Maybe she was finally beginning to snap, if in this situation she was sniffing her friend’s mane while she clung to her and sobbed into her chest. Pinkie absent mindedly stroked Fluttershy’s hair, occasionally glancing around the others. Maud was comforting a quietly sobbing Rarity by the wall, Soarin was watching over Rainbow who had her back to everypony else, then Fleetfoot, Shining, Fleur and Octavia just stood around displaying varying degrees of shock at seeing Applejack’s dead body.

Pinkie had just collapsed upon seeing her friend; her legs simply giving out beneath her, her sister cradled her as tears trickled down her cheeks. Shining was the first to arrive on scene, and did the best he could in raising Applejack up and laying her out on the floor, removing the noose from around her neck.

I know I said I’d mourn when everypony was safe, but you won’t hold it against me if I give in just a little bit, will you Applejack?

“Who did this?” a hoarse voice said.

Pinkie looked up, seeing Rainbow’s shoulders shaking.

“Who did this?” she repeated, turning her head slightly so Pinkie could see one of her bloodshot eyes.

“I don’t know,” Pinkie whispered in a dry voice, unable to express any emotion.

“You don’t know?!” Rainbow snapped, spinning around to face Pinkie, her wings flaring out. “You always know! You’re the one who figures this stuff out, so figure it out. Who did it?!”

“I can’t just guess,” Pinkie replied. “I need to investigate.”

“Well what’s stopping you?!” Rainbow demanded.

“Rainbow Dash, that’s enough!” Maud snapped, her eyes suddenly sharp.

“It’s alright Maud,” Pinkie whispered.

She eased Fluttershy off her, who only let go reluctantly. Then once she was free she got shakily to her hooves.

“Pinkie, you don’t have to do this,” Maud said, slightly desperately. “We can take care of it.”

Octavia nodded in agreement.

“No, I have to,” Pinkie muttered, walking over to Applejack’s body. “I promised I’d get everyone home safely, this is the least I can do for breaking that promise.”

Pinkie crouched down beside Applejack, her hair bobbles had come off at some point, so her mane and tail hung freely. Pinkie’s mouth twitched into something resembling a smile, appreciating Applejack’s natural beauty. Her neck was twisted, broken most likely from when she was pushed out the window. Her entire throat was sliced up from the rope cutting into her, but it wasn’t where all the blood was coming from, no that was in her stomach.

Unbuttoning Applejack’s formal suit, she opened it to reveal a large gash sweeping across her midriff. Pinkie didn’t need to be a doctor to see how deep it was, and to know she would easily have died from the injury alone, clearly the killer just wanted to be sure.

“She died when she was pushed out the window,” Pinkie reported. “The fall broke her neck, but before that she was cut with something, it probably happened in the middle of the room, which would explain this trail of blood.”

“How about something we don’t know,” Fleetfoot muttered darkly, Pinkie just sighed, no energy for fighting.

“Maud, what did you do with that rope you had yesterday?” Pinkie asked, looking over at her sister.

“Rope?” Maud repeated, confused. “What rope?”

“When Applejack was telling us that she saw Rarity stealing food,” Pinkie began, ignoring Rarity breaking into another fit of tears, “you came by carrying a length of rope you found.”

“Pinkie, I wasn’t even awake until I heard Shining running around looking for Rarity,” Maud replied, shaking her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Pinkie groaned, standing up and walking away from the body, her eyes scanning the floor. The pool of blood was just next to the red carpet, the trail leading from it to the pillar and space next to the window. However Pinkie noticed a few stray drops of blood leading towards the throne. Walking over, she began looking around, quickly finding the jewel encrusted hilt of a knife. Pinkie picked up the blood soaked sacrificial blade and walked back over to the group.

“Shining,” Pinkie began, her voice dry, already knowing where this was going. “Do you remember coming to see me last night?”

Shining just raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“That’s what I thought,” Pinkie muttered. “Last night Shining Armour came to my room offering to translate the runes on this blade… and like an idiot I gave it to him.”

“But… that never happened,” Shining insisted.

“There seems to be a theme of that going around,” Pinkie murmured, walking back over to the body.

“But… why was Applejack even here?” Rarity asked, her voice croaky. “If this happened this morning, why was she here at all?”

“Didn’t Pinkie ask her to be here?” Fleur asked, confused.

Pinkie looked up, raising an eyebrow, although really it was more of a formality at this point to look surprised or confused.

“I was in the study this morning with Applejack when Pinkie came in and asked her to come up here,” Fleur explained. “Am I to take it you never did this either?”

“I did not,” Pinkie answered.

“This is just getting ridiculous!” Fleetfoot shouted in frustration.

“I agree,” Soarin chipped in, nodding.

“Oh screw you Soarin!” Fleetfoot retorted.

“Hey! What did I do?!” Soarin demanded.

“Yeah, watch it or I’ll knock your teeth in!” Rainbow snapped at Fleetfoot.

“Everyone is against me!” Fleetfoot declared, practically steaming. “Well forget you all!”

Fleetfoot spread her wings and swooped out of the room.

“Rainbow…” Fleur began.

“Ah who needs her?!” Rainbow spat.

Fluttershy squeaked upon observing this, and cowered closer to the pillar.

“That’s enough Rainbow!” Rarity scolded. “You’re terrifying Fluttershy. You’ve caused her quite enough harm.”

“Excuse me?!” Rainbow bellowed, moving up into Rarity’s face. “Like you’re one to talk about doing harm to others. You stole that food from Applejack, she was your friend and you betrayed her!”

“I did no such thing!” Rarity screamed.

“And then you tried to poison us!” Rainbow declared.

“I didn’t,” Rarity shot back. “If anypony is to blame for that it’s Pinkie! She’s the one who gave me those damn pills.”

Pinkie just sighed and bowed her head.

“Would you all calm down?!” Maud interrupted.

“Hey, don’t think you’re out of the clear,” Shining cut in, glaring at Maud. “We all saw you with that rope; you pretty much had the murder weapon.”

“Coming from the stallion who took that knife off Pinkie,” Maud bit back in a rare show of anger.

“If you’re just going to stand around arguing then I’m going to find the killer myself,” Fleur stated, marching out of the room.

“Like we needed you anyway,” Rainbow muttered. “Or any of you! I’ll find which one of you killed Applejack, then I’ll kill you myself!”

Rainbow sped out the broken window.

“Rainbow, come back!” Soarin called, trying to follow after her.

“I won’t stand around and be accused of things I didn’t commit!” Rarity declared, stomping off.

Shining Armour quickly followed without uttering another word. Leaving only Pinkie, Maud, Fluttershy and Octavia in a painful silence.

“So this is how it ends,” Pinkie whispered. “Harmony fails, and a murderer will be the only one left standing.”

“Pinkie…” Maud began, but didn’t get any further.

Octavia stormed over to Pinkie, forced her head up so she was looking directly at her, then slapped her with all her might.

Pinkie stumbled, her head buzzing, her cheek stinging. She heard Fluttershy scream, heard Maud shout, but they were just noise, the only thing she made out was Octavia.

“Don’t you dare give up!” she scolded, her voice low but filled with raw power. “After everything you’ve done, everything you’ve been through, don’t you dare give up here!”

Pinkie looked up at Octavia, still stunned. Octavia’s eyes, normally so cold and empty, were now alive with a fire Pinkie had never seen before… only felt.

“Because it’s not just you playing,” Octavia continued. “We’re still here, your friends, your own sister! The princess are trapped outside, the inhabitants of Canterlot are on the line, the dead…”

Octavia stopped, taking a breath.

“Don’t you dare give up Pinkie Pie,” she ordered. “Because we never gave up on you!”

The throne room was held in absolute silence, Pinkie staring at Octavia, Octavia glaring at Pinkie, Fluttershy and Maud glancing between the two of them. Then, Pinkie stood up straight, her eyes moving from Octavia to the body of Applejack, feeling something spark to life in her chest, growing warmer and warmer.

“Thank you Octavia,” Pinkie murmured, before looking back to the others and raising her voice. “Now let’s rally the others and find that killer.”

Maud smirked, Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief, standing up and whipping her eyes. Octavia just let out a deep breath.

“Whoa, lost my cool there for a second,” she said, coughing slightly, attempting to regain her composure.

Pinkie smiled.

Day 10, 13:04

“Rarity,” Pinkie announced, stepping into the chapel, seeing her friend standing by the altar, gazing up at the rose window.

“Are you here to get me back for throwing you under the bus?” Rarity asked, sniffling slightly, not turning to face Pinkie.

“No, I don’t blame you for accusing me,” Pinkie said, walking up the aisle towards the altar. “I just wanted to talk to you.”

“Well I have nothing to say,” Rarity snapped slightly before recoiling. “Rainbow made it clear how you all see me.”

“Rainbow is upset, we all are,” Pinkie reminded her. “But Fluttershy is talking to her now, then she’ll apologise for what she said.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Rarity replied bitterly. “It won’t change anything, Applejack is gone, and the last thing she ever thought of me was that I had betrayed her.”

“She didn’t really believe that,” Pinkie stated flatly, causing Rarity to glance around at her. “Applejack was angry when she accused you, but she knew deep down that you would never have down that.”

“I…” Rarity began, turning away once more. “I just wish I could have heard her say that, to know before it was too late that we were still, and always would be, best friends.”

“I know, but Applejack’s gone,” Pinkie continued sadly, stepping up beside her friend. “We can’t change that… but we can avenge her, together. Do her one final justice.”

Rarity sniffed, wiping her eyes with her foreleg.

“And she’d want us to do it together,” Pinkie finished. “As friends.”

“You’re right Pinkie,” Rarity mumbled, “She wouldn’t want us fighting like this.”

“So you’ll help?” Pinkie asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

“Of course,” Rarity said, giving a weak smile. “What sort of friend would I be if I didn’t?”

Pinkie offered Rarity a light hug which she accepted gratefully.

“Come on,” Pinkie said after pulling away. “Let’s find the others and figure this out.”

Rarity nodded and together the pair walked out of the chapel, entering the corridor just as Octavia and Maud came walking towards them.

“Is everything alright?” Maud asked upon seeing Rarity.

“Yes, I’m sorry for walking out on you earlier,” Rarity answered.

“It’s quite alright,” Octavia replied coolly before turning to Pinkie. “We found Rainbow and Soarin in the courtyard, everything seemed to work out.”

“Alright,” Pinkie acknowledged, “let’s head there now.”

Day 10, 13:28

Soarin was leaning against the castle gates as the group descended the entrance hall stairs. Upon seeing them, he smiled at Pinkie and nodded out to the courtyard where Rainbow and Fluttershy appeared to be having an emotional reunion.

“So it’s alright?” Pinkie said, relieved.

“Yeah, I knew she was having regrets the moment she flew out,” Soarin informed her. “Fluttershy was exactly the pony she needed to talk to.”

“Well now that we’re all together again we can start investigating properly,” Pinkie explained.

“How will we do that?” Maud asked.

“We should go back to the crime scene,” Pinkie stated. “Look at it with a fresh perspective.”

“Good idea,” Soarin said nodding. “Although we did find something interesting here before you girls showed up.”

“Really?” Octavia replied. “What like?”

Soarin gestured with his head before leading the way out to the courtyard. Pinkie and the others followed him to the statue of Celestia. Standing before it, Soarin pointed up towards the statue. Pinkie’s eyes followed his hoof to where some black mark had sprouted over Celestia’s torso.

“What is that?” Rarity asked curiously, eyeing the stain.

“We’re not sure,” Soarin answered. “It looks sort of like a scorch mark.”

“You mean like somepony blasted it?” Maud queried.

“It does look a bit like it was hit by something,” Pinkie noted. “Possibly a spell.”

“Who would shoot a spell at the princess?” Rarity asked bewildered. “They’re who we’re trying to save.”

“It could have been a misfire,” Octavia proposed, “or perhaps whoever did it thought they could break Princess Celestia out by force.”

“Whatever it is, it’s done no damage to the statue itself,” Soarin pointed out. “If you ignore the burn mark, the stone itself is completely undamaged.”

“Interesting, then it would seem whatever the reason behind hitting it,” Octavia continued, “the perpetrator discovered it had no effect.”

Pinkie hummed thoughtfully to herself, pondering this, but was interrupted when she heard approaching hoofsteps. Turning around she saw Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash walking over, both their faces streaked with tears, and the latter looking thoroughly ashamed of herself.

“Hey guys,” Rainbow began. “I’m really sorry for flying off like that… and all the stuff I said, especially to you Rarity.”

“It’s alright dear,” Rarity replied, sounding touched. “Pinkie reminded me that this is difficult on all of us, I don’t hold it against you.”

“Alright,” Rainbow said, her voice picking up slightly. “So now that we’re working together, how are we gonna get this guy?”

“We’re going to go back to the crime scene,” Pinkie informed her. “See if there was anything we missed. Is that alright?”

“Yeah, I’ll be alright,” Rainbow answered, having turned noticeably pale at the mention of returning.

Nodding, Pinkie turned from the statue of Celestia and led the group back into the castle, glancing briefly at the large clock face over the gate as she did.

Day 10, 13:51

The throne room was empty when they arrived, Pinkie briefly wondered where the others had disappeared to, having seen none of them since they all left. As they entered the room, they began spreading out, Rarity and Maud approaching the throne, Rainbow and Octavia examining the broken window, Soarin and Fluttershy inspecting Applejack’s body, and Pinkie stood over the trail of blood.

“So what do we know so far?” Pinkie asked loudly for all to hear.

“Applejack was lured here this morning by somepony pretending to be you,” Soarin answered.

“Probably the same one who’s been pretending to be all of us these past couple of days,” Rainbow added angrily.

“Alright,” Pinkie continued, pacing around. “Once here, what do we suspect happened?”

“Well, surely the killer stabbed Applejack with the dagger they took from you,” Fluttershy pointed out. “Before dragging her over here and…”

Fluttershy’s voice trailed off.

“Are you sure about that?” Pinkie asked. “Why would the killer bother with the hanging when they could have simply finished Applejack off with the knife?”

“Simple,” Rarity chipped in. “The knife was found hidden over here, with spots of blood leading to it. Obviously after the initial attack, Applejack fought back, disarming the killer and throwing the knife aside.”

“I bet Applejack fought tooth nail against that freak,” Rainbow added. “The only way they could ever have got her in the first place was if they took her by surprise, the coward!”

“Alright, good,” Pinkie said, impressed so far. “So after luring Applejack here, the killer got a surprise attack in before Applejack reacted and fought back, disarming them.”

“So then they dragged her over to be hung?” Maud queried.

“Maybe so…” Pinkie began, just as Fluttershy spoke up.

“Actually,” she said quickly, “There’s an awful lot of blood on Applejack’s forehooves.”

“And if you look closely at the trail,” Pinkie continued, “you can see faint hoof prints dragged through it.”

“So after Applejack fought back,” Octavia summed up, “she then tried to drag herself to safety?”

“It would seem that was the case,” Pinkie agreed.

“I don’t know,” Soarin cut in, causing them all to turn to him as he crouched by the body. “This wound would have been fatal on its own; Applejack would have known that, she would have known there was no ‘safety’ to drag herself to.”

“A natural reaction no doubt,” Fluttershy suggested. “Even if it seems hopeless, you’d still try to preserve your own life.”

“I guess so,” Soarin relented standing up and walking over to them.

“That sucked,” Rainbow said in dismay. “I thought we’d figure something useful out.”

“Are you kidding?” Pinkie asked, shocked. “That was incredibly impressive how you all managed to work together to deduce what we just learnt.”

“But it still doesn’t tell us who is responsible,” Rarity pointed out.

“Not yet,” Pinkie admitted, “but every little bit of information is important, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time.”

“So what do we do now?” Fluttershy asked.

“Now we source the murder weapon,” Pinkie explained.

“You mean the dagger?” Maud asked. “I thought you said Shining Armour took it off you.”

“But the knife isn’t what killed Applejack,” Pinkie reminded her. “The rope did.”

Day 10, 14:17

“Where did you say you found the rope again?” Soarin asked Maud, turning to face her as they walked down the corridor.

“I didn’t,” Maud replied, giving him a withering look.

“Oh yeah, sorry,” Soarin muttered, looking sheepish.

“When we saw Maud,” Pinkie cut in, “she said she found the rope in the storeroom.”

That was where they were heading now, the group trailing down past the kitchen, arriving at the wooden door that was tight shut. Reaching forward, Pinkie turned the handle and swung it open. Everypony twisted their heads back and gagged as they were hit with a rotten stench.

“Did something die in there?!” Rainbow muttered, clutching her nose.

“It’s not nearly that bad,” Pinkie replied, her own nose wrinkled in disgust.

Stepping forward, she reluctantly entered the room. The dark, confined space felt heavy and warm, the incessant sound of flies somewhere further in. Stepping to the side, Pinkie allowed Rarity to walk ahead, her horn aglow. Pinkie and Rarity marched further into the room, scanning for the source of the smell, the others waiting anxiously out in the hall. Reaching the end of the room, Rarity shone her light over a stack of coal bags, illuminating the source of the smell.

“We found the food that went missing,” Pinkie announced, grimacing at the rotting pile, flies swarming over them.

“Seriously?!” Rainbow called out, charging in, apparently forgetting the smell.

“Whoever stole it must have disposed of it here,” Pinkie pointed out.

“But…” Rainbow began, staring in disgust at the pile. “There’s so much here, they mustn’t have eaten any of it!”

“Maybe they only stole it to sow discontent among us,” Rarity proposed, Pinkie nodding in agreement.

“Still, not to eat any of it,” Rainbow insisted. “Who does that?”

After quickly concluding there was nothing more of interest in the storeroom, they all departed and gratefully slammed the door shut once more.

“At least this clarifies one thing,” Pinkie said, spitting on the stone floor. “Whoever took that rope was probably the same one who stole the food, and I’d bet they’re also responsible for the crazy stuff that’s been happening these past couple days.”

“So where to now?” Octavia asked.

“Who has the knife?” Pinkie asked.

“I do,” Maud answered, pulling the dagger from her saddlebags, the blood covering the blade now dry.

“We should probably translate this,” Pinkie suggested. “It will probably use the same system the book had.”

“The notes are still in the study,” Maud informed her.

“Alright,” Pinkie said nodding. “I’m going to go deal with this then, I need the rest of you to fan out and find the others. Find out where they are, where they’ve been and what they know.”

They all nodded, setting off down either direction, until only Pinkie and Fluttershy remained.

“Are you sure you don’t want some company?” Fluttershy asked tentatively.

“I’ll be fine,” Pinkie assured her. “You should help the others.”

“Oh… of course,” Fluttershy said, sounding a little disappointed.

Once she too had left, Pinkie made her own way to the study, entering to find it empty. Approaching the coffee table she found their notes scattered about haphazardly. Presumably someone else had been looking through them after Pinkie was here last, as she was sure they had been stacked neatly this morning.

Sitting down, Pinkie pulled Maud’s sheet of notes towards herself along with another book for reference. Setting the knife down, Pinkie began comparing the runes on the blade to the ones listed in front of her.

They’re definitely enchantments of some sort…

As Pinkie began working, something began nagging at the back of her mind, a weight in her bags. Turning her attention from the knife, she glanced at the door, listening for anypony approaching. Sure that she would be left alone, she reached around, opening her saddlebags and reaching in. It didn’t take her long to wrap her hoof around the familiar cold, heavy metal. Pulling back out, she held the revolver out before herself.

She had never really thought on the gun after the last game, willingly handing it over to the guards as evidence once the investigation begun. She supposed it had to have been locked away somewhere in Canterlot, although she imagined some dreary evidence locker in a labelled plastic bag, not on a pedestal in the highest security vault in the castle.

But then, the highest security vault in the castle isn’t supposed to open when you say the name of unicorn you once knew.

Thinking back to the first time she had ever seen the gun, Pinkie reached out and pushed the pin jutting out the front just below the barrel. The loading chamber swung out to the side, pointing the barrel to the floor, Pinkie peered down into the holes of the cylinder, seeing the golden glint of five bullets loaded into it.

Snapping it shut, Pinkie pointed the gun forward, cocking back the trigger at the top. It was pointless she knew, unless she could pull the trigger, the gun could do no harm. They were griffon weapons after all, usable only by unicorns due to their magic, although it was possible for an earth pony to fire one with the help of a…

Pinkie froze, sudden realisation hitting her. Holding the revolver in her right hoof, she brought the butt down hard on the casing of her hoof computer, the impact causing the two prongs to spring out once again. Pinkie didn’t dare breathe as she slid the gun into position, one prong holding it in place, the other fitting snugly around the trigger.

That was it, she had a gun gauntlet, she now held the power of the firearm in her own hooves. All it would take was one twitch of her muscles to pull back the prong, pulling the trigger, and firing the bullet…

“Attention everypony,” the Mastermind announced, causing Pinkie to jump out of surprise, completely forgetting the deadly weapon in her grip. “The third trial is about to commence, please make your way to the courtyard so that we may begin.”

Pinkie sighed; relieved the gun hadn’t gone off. Reaching out, she gently removed it from the prongs, which she snapped back into the metal casing of her computer before making the revolver safe once more and returning it to her bags. Looking back down at the knife lying on the table in front of her, she remembered what she was supposed to be doing. Silently cursing to herself, she scooped up the knife along with Maud’s notes, packing them away in the other compartment, before exiting the room.

As soon as she stepped from the study, she looked up, surprised to be standing face to face with Fleetfoot. Pinkie opened her mouth to speak, but she never got any words out. The only thing she saw was the pale blue hoof speeding towards her face, followed by bright lights and blinding pain, then only darkness as she slipped out consciousness.

Author's Notes:

Oh snap!
Well you know the drill, comment or PM your theories, anyone who guesses correctly gets the amazing prize of feeling slightly chuffed about themselves for a brief period of time.