[[NOTE: This chapter is told from several point of views.]]

I was sitting quietly on a bench in town square, pony-watching. It wasn't a very exciting day, there were a lot of ponies wondering around aimlessly. They seemed more at ease after Luna's speech last night. To the left, I saw in one of my eyes a large blue colt approaching me. I turned my head to him and smiled politely, trying to keep at least one eye on him.

The colt was obviously taken a-back by my lazy eye, but he didn't say anything. "Hello ma'am," he said. "I was looking for Spike the dragon. Do you know where he might be?"

I blinked. "Why do you want to find Spike?" I asked.

The colt glanced around, then leaned close to me. "Listen," he whispered. "I have reason to believe that he is the one killing ponies. I have a warrant to search him and take him into custody if I have to." he leaned back a bit. "Can you tell me what you know about him?"

I began to feel nervous. If this colt is looking for the killer... he might find out who it is, and that I'm helping! Shoot... i thought. I'll have to get rid of him somehow. Or stop him from searching. "All I know about Spike is that he's very nice and he stays with Twilight Sparkle in the library. If you want to find him, however, I can show you where he is now, mister... um..." I can't believe I'm doing this...

"Cobalt." he answered me. "And I'd be very grateful if you showed me to his whereabouts." He took a step back. I could see in the way he moved he was very high class, probably not used to fighting for himself. He probably has never been in a fight in his life. I was in a good share of fights when I was young and full of anger and angst, when people talked bad about my eyes. I'm sure to take him down easily.

I bit back a groan. In the last few weeks I have seen -and heard- many murders. I even helped with one. Being a pegasus, it was quite easy for me to get that pony all tied up and on the ceiling. But I had never thought that I would have to commit my own murder all on my own. If I mess up, I am completely screwed. Our police force is not the best, but they certainly aren't the worst. I'll have to do this where no pony would go, so I can't be found. I stood up and nodded my head, gesturing for him to follow. Clumsily, I made my way to the western side of Ponyville, towards the Everfree Forest. Very, very few ponies go in there. Zecora wouldn't dare rat me out, I have some heavy blackmail on her. It turns out not only are her practices... 'Not exactly legal' but her spells sometimes call for a certain type of sacrifice.

As we got nearer the forest, Cobalt began to get nervous. "U-um, why are we going to the forest?" he stuttered.

He's clearly not the bravest of detectives. This should be pretty easy. "Spike is here collecting herbs for a experiment Twilight is doing. I know because he asked me to help earlier. I said no, I'm not quite fond of the forest. But anything to help stop the murders of ponies, of course." I turned to him. "I'd hate to see another one go."

Cobalt smiled nervously. "S-sure, that makes sense. Do you think he's um, uh, really deep... in the... forest?" as he squeaked the last word out, it greatly reminded me of when I had to tie up that yellow pony. She was very quiet, and didn't scream a lot. She seemed to be expect that somepony would come and save her if she just waited it out. She made quiet squeaking noises that calmed the animals that tried to attack us, which I thought was odd. But the boss just said to ignore it. For a single moment, I felt sort of sad. That pony will never hold one of her bunnies again, never say hello to her friends. She probably never confessed her love to that purple pony in that picture that she held close to her as she died, either.

That was only a single moment, however. I quickly turned my thoughts away from the yellow pony and focused on now. The boss told me that whenever you start to feel horrible or sad, just focus on something better or more important. It's better to not think about it too much, that's when you start to feel suicidal.

"Not too deep." I answered, turning off the path into the more dense bushes. Cobalt whimpered behind me, stepping daintily through the undergrowth. We soon reached a small clearing. "We're here," I turned around and looked him in the eye, silently planning out the murder in my mind.

I am Cobalt, of the Gem family. We were not raised to go trekking around in forests. This odd pony seems to be hiding something, and I plan of finding out what. After I find Spike and question him, of course.

I don't know why even a dragon would want to go this far off the path. Well... anything for Rarity's safety. Oh, the other ponies of Ponyville too. But mostly my niece Rarity.

I picked my way through the hideous growth and bush underneath my hooves. The mare I had followed -I still never got her name- stopped in a clearing. She turned to me, a slightly pained and unsure look on her face, one eye focused and the other looking to the right, but there was also a sort of... evil glint in her eye. It made me worried.

"We're here." she stated coldly.

I looked around. "I don't see a dragon..." I mumbled, confused.

"Oh," she started after a few moments of silence. "Spike is unavailable, sorry."

First, I felt confused. Then annoyed. Then furious. "Then why the hay would you take me this far into the forest? You stupid, insolent, cloud-headed mare! It's got something to do with your eyes, doesn't it? You're that "Derpy Hooves" that some ponies talk about. Why don't you go eat your fatty muffins and think about how you'll never find a lover with your hideous face. Hmf!" I brought out all of the anger I had been building up over the past few weeks on the innocent pony. I breathed in deeply, realizing that this isn't how a gentlecolt acts.

"I am so sorry, miss. I've just been horribly frustrated with work for the past few weeks, and--"

"No, that's quite alright." she cut me off. "My name is Ditzy, actually."

"Well, Miss Ditzy, could you please tell me the next time I could contact Spike?"

Ditzy grinned a sort of loony, wide grin. "Oh yes. The next time you two will meet... will probably be never."

"I... what?" I took a step back as the mare drew closer to me, her brow furrowed and her eyes were as close to completely focused I've seen yet.

Suddenly, she leaped at me, wings spread open wide. In one swift movement, she brought out what seemed like a letter opener that she had kept in her tucked in wings and slashed at my windpipe. My eyes shot open wide at the pain that rippled throughout my upper body. Warm, thick liquid dripped down my neck and torso. I tried to scream out for help, but only throaty whisper escaped me. The vibration of the whisper on my cut windpipe sent even more stabs of pain into my body. I panicked. I can't scream, but I can't not scream.

Before I could overcome the shock, Ditzy had me pinned to the ground, the thorns digging into my back. She was breathing heavily, Sweat trickled down the side of her face. Or was it a tear? I was in too much pain to care or tell.

"I-I'm sorry," she mumbled around the dagger in her mouth. "I just... I have to."

I shook my head back and forth. I tried to say something, but it came out as a painful, gurgled grunt that could not be understood.

Rearing back onto her hind legs, Ditzy raised her head high and brought the dagger down on my chest with such a force, I felt a rib crackle under the weight. It pierced my heart and filled my body for a split second with searing, burning pain. I stared up at her, tears blurring my vision as I passed on.

"Wh- why...?" I whispered painfully through the cut in my windpipe. A single tear rolled down her eyes and fell onto my face as I slipped into cold blackness. The last noise I heard was her soft sobbing filling the silent wood.

"Cutie Mark Crusader hikers YAY!" I squealed along with my two best friends as we gleefully entered the Everfree Forest. With our capes on and confidence high, we began to trek along the path. It was barely worn, not many ponies come into the forest. I glanced around, remembering the last time we ventured into these parts. I mentally shook myself. I'm a big pony, I don't need to be afraid!

The sun was just above the tree tops, bathing the forest in a red-yellow glow. It was very beautiful, like the Sweet Apple Acres at sunset. Shadows crisscrossed the path, their ragged shaped giving them an evil looking feel.

We walked quietly for a while, only the sounds of breaking twigs or a pony going "Ooh, that flower looks cool." breaking the silence.

"Um... girls..." I heard Sweetie Belle murmur in her soft voice as the woods grew darker. "I'm scared..."

"Aw, c'mon!" said Scootaloo. "We just got here! If we're gonna be real hikers, we gotta go off the path!" She turned around. "Don't be so worried all the time."

"Ah'm not scared!" I protested, taking a step towards Scoot. "Ah'm a brave pony! You're the one's that chicken!"

She sneered at me. "Well, if you're so brave, then you can clear the bushes for us." She held her hoof out to where the bushes blocked the edge of the path.

"Ah'll show ya, Ah'm the bravest pony in Ponyville! I reckon clearing bushes ain't so hard. Ah'll just take this here stick an..." I trailed off as I saw hoof prints in the dirt. They lead to a crudely cleared path through the undergrowth.

"Wh-what is it, Apple Bloom?" Sweetie Belle came up behind me, worry in her voice.

"it's hoof prints!" I shouted. "Somepony was out here earlier. Let's see just where they go..." I held my head low to the ground, following the path. Scootaloo snorted behind me.

"Oh course you found hoof prints. I knew you couldn't clear a path."

I turned and glared at her. "Now hush! There might be somepony lost out here an' we'd be just silly to not go an' look for 'em! Applejack told me to never not help a pony when they need help! Now quit ya complaining and come on." I turned and continued to follow the prints. We all trekked in silence for a while. I heard Scoot mumble a few angry curses behind me, but Sweetie Belle and I ignored her.

Soon, we reached the entrance to a clearing. I followed the track with my eyes to the center, where I saw something. It was blue and red and lumpy. "What's this here?" I asked aloud.

Sweetie Belle took a step back. "I-I think w-we should g-g-go..." she whimpered.

"No way!" said Scoot, pushing her forward a step. "What is that thing?"

I shrugged. "Uh.... I reckon we better go see if we wanna find out what it is an' all..." I took a careful step forward, but curiosity took the better of me and I quickly trotted up to whatever the thing was.

I stared at the bloody lump before me. At first, I had no idea what it was or how to react, but slowly it dawned on me. As the reality hit me like a bucket of apples, vomit rocketed suddenly from my stomach, pouring out onto the grass in front of me. I coughed, backing away from the thing. "It's a pony," I choked, my throat dry.

"What?" Scootaloo asked, doubt in her voice. "Whaddya mean, it's a pony? Are they sleeping?"

I turned to her. "I mean, IT'S A PONY! An' no he ain't sleepin! He's dead!" I burst out into tears and stumbled away from the blue lump, towards the path.

Scoot's eyes became wide. She shook violently in fear, and I saw the insides of her legs become wet with her own urine.

Sweetie Belle shrunk down, keeping her eyes away from the body. Even though she hadn't even seen it, tears pooled at her eyes and ran down her face, leaving rivers of grey stained on her cheeks.

Anger welled up inside of me. "What are y'all DOIN'? We gotta tell somepony!" I raced toward the original path, the others behind me. I sprinted into Ponyville, the now blood-red forest behind me, screaming "HELP HELP! SOMEPONY HELP!"

Twilight heard me first. "Girls!" she said, holding out her hoof to stop us. "What's going on? It's almost sunset, you should be inside."

"Pony! In the woods!" I started.

"There's a pony in the woods?" Repeated Twilight, confused. "Who?"

"We don't know!" Wailed Scootaloo.

Twilight glanced at us, starting to become worried. "What's going on, girls?"

Sweetie Belle was shaking in her horseshoes. "They're... they're dead..." she whispered. Her strong singer's voice burst out of her, "THEY'RE DEAD!" she screamed.

Twilight took a startled step back. "D-dead?" she repeated. "Oh, dear Celestia, not more! You girls go home right now and get safe with your parents." She turned and raced toward the police station, holding back worried tears. Ponyville had been peaceful for a week... and now it was starting all over again.

I sat and sobbed loudly, holding my hooves to my face. "Apple... Applejack. I want Applejack. But... she's..." the horror and sadness that I had kept at bay since my sister passed bubbled over. I cried and sobbed curled up in the street for who knows how long. Eventually, I cried myself to sleep. When I woke up, Big Mac was carrying me home on his back.

"B-big brother, is that you?" I whispered.

"Eeyup."

"Big Mac, I... I wish Applejack was home."

He got quiet for a second. "I do too, Apple Bloom. We all do."

I sniffled, burring my face into his warm, safe fur. "Don't ever leave me."

"I would never leave you." His voice sounded very sad.

"Promise?"

"Promise."