The policeponies, one earth and one unicorn, that Private Eye had requested watch over Rainbow Dash and Twilight stood outside the front door to the library. The two assigned pegasus Royal Guards positioned themselves on the highest balconies on opposite ends of the tree. Nopony would get past their sights.

A cry for help broke the silence of the quiet evening. It was coming from inside the library, in the main room downstairs. The policeponies heard the commotion and grabbed the doorknob, but it refused to turn. The unicorn officer surrounded the door with his magic, trying to throw it open, but no matter how hard he tried, it still wouldn't budge. It almost felt like something was forcefully preventing him from magicking it open. They looked at each other perplexed and called for the help of the guards. The earth pony jumped to the window when they landed.

His mouth fell open when he saw what was happening inside. Rainbow was darting around the room uncontrollably, banging into everything. Even as she crashed into various bookshelves and the roof, she wasn't showing any signs of being in pain. Red drops and lines painted the floor and suddenly splotched onto the window in front of him. The thick liquid ran down the glasses slowly, and he was immediately aware that he was seeing blood.

The Royal Guards pulled at the knob on the door as their companions did to no avail. When it wouldn't open, one spun around and bucked at the door. He held back as much as he could so as not to potentially careen any of it into the occupants inside.

A moment later there was a loud shriek. The pony at the window gasped and his eyes shrank to pinhead size.

The earth pony leapt in front of the door and bucked it as hard as he could. It splintered into pieces and they tore the door apart. Rainbow's destroyed body laid on the floor in front of them. The gruesome scenario left them all frozen in shock and completely speechless.

Twilight and Spike were curled up in each other's grasp in front of what was left of the speed demon, shaking in horror at what just happened to the last of their friends.

All four of her guards stayed inside with her the rest of the morning. As soon as day broke, the earth pony excused himself to rush back to the station and inform Private Eye what happened earlier that night. He had seen firsthand what happened to Rainbow Dash and wanted to give the detective the news. The reports of the incident were going to look a bit incongruous and an eyewitness may help give it some credence, as outlandish as it may sound.

Twilight and Spike didn't move from where they were found, nor did they say a word. Their empty, traumatized gazes never left Rainbow's corpse. The guards had wanted to move Twilight and Spike away from the scene, as they couldn't disturb it without ruining any possible evidence chain, and ask them what happened, but neither of them acknowledged anything else in the room other than their friend. The entire world could have been exploding around them and they wouldn't have cared. For all intents and purposes, it was.

About an hour later, Private Eye arrived at the entrance to the library. He ran a gray hoof through his dark brown mane slowly, his recent frustrations at the case growing stronger with each passing day. At this rate, his mane was going to be as gray as the rest of him by the end of the week. He saw the pair on the floor, in the same position as they were when Rainbow suddenly burst at the seams, and went over to them. He saw spots of dried blood still on their coat and scales.

He rested a hoof on Twilight's shoulder and opened his mouth to voice his apologies but nothing came out. He had already said it to them twice before after the incidents with Rarity and Fluttershy. What more could he say at this point? He hung his head and grimaced, disappointed with himself that he had been unable to keep her friends safe after telling her he would.

"Miss Sparkle, Spike.. if you need anything at all.. " Private Eye tried to say. He wasn't sure if they heard a word, as they didn't respond in the least.

He went over to one of the officers looking over the room for any signs of whoever could have been there. The policepony who spoke with him at the station earlier told him everything he witnessed from the window. There wasn't any reason for him to lie to the detective, but the story seemed over the top and bizarre. Ponies don't just do what Rainbow did. There had to be some detail that was missed.

Private Eye interrupted his unicorn coworker's investigation and whispered in his ear. Twilight and Spike were a mess. He asked the officer to take them upstairs and clean them both up. Hopefully a quick shower will snap them out of their stupor, and staring at Rainbow wasn't going to help matters in that regard.

"Miss Sparkle," Private Eye said, approaching the grieving pair, "we'll get you cleaned up. The both of you." He laid a hoof on her shoulder. She didn't respond. The two police looked at each other with heavy eyes. Private Eye lifted Twilight to her hooves and his colleague picked up Spike. The little dragon came to slightly and dug his claws into his carrier's neck and sobbed. Twilight's hooves dragged as Private Eye brought her up the stairs to the bathroom for a shower.

Private Eye stayed to help Twilight scrub off the blood and sweat that spotted her coat. He had originally intended to leave her be to take care of things herself, but reconsidered after having to physically lift each of her legs into the tub for her. She obviously wasn't in the right frame of mind at the moment, and leaving her to her own devices after such a horrific turn of events downstairs could have resulted in finding another body in the bathroom if he had returned to his work.

The hot water cascading down her body broke through the numbness, even if it was only a little. She hung her head slowly and silently let tears fall from her eyes, masked by the water falling onto her face.

The policeponies were finished a couple hours later after scouring the library from top to bottom, looking for anything that could help the investigation. Like at Carousel Boutique and Fluttershy's cottage, there were nothing but dead ends. They took Rainbow's body away and cleaned up what they could when they were finished looking for evidence.

Private Eye sat Twilight and Spike down near the window where the bed would normally be. They slouched and stared at the floor. "Miss Sparkle, is there anything you can tell me about what happened earlier?" he asked.

Nothing.

The detective frowned and caressed her foreleg, "Listen, it's not typical procedure but I'm going to let you be for now. I need to get back to headquarters and go over what we know. If you need anything, you know where to find me, OK?"

Nothing.

He sighed and headed downstairs where his compatriots were waiting. "Alright guys, let's head back. There's nothing more we can do here." Twilight's four guards were asked to accompany Private Eye back to the station to fill out some reports and then return to their post.

Spike and Twilight sat together against the wall for a few minutes after the door closed. The agonizing silence was broken by the devastated sobs of a brokenhearted mare.

Spike had gotten something to eat after a while. He was as distraught as Twilight, but he needed to get something in his stomach. Despite everything, he was still a growing dragon. His mentor hadn't moved from her spot, hunger or exhaustion be damned.

He returned upstairs with his plate of food and sat beside her. He offered her something to eat, but she just shook her head and thanked him anyway. It was the first thing she had said since Rainbow left them. She put her leg around Spike and cuddled him closely, kissing him on his head. A small smile graced his lips.

"Twilight.. let's say I believe you with this whole Pinkie thing. What are we supposed to do?"

"I.. I don't know, Spike," she looked away fearfully. "I guess I look through whatever I can get my hooves on and try to find an answer. I didn't bother looking earlier to see if there was a solution to the problem. I was more interested in what the problem itself was. I know Celestia will be here tomorrow and she may have some ideas, but I can't wait. I'd really appreciate it if you helped me with this. There's so much to go through."

"I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but I'm exhausted. I don't suppose I could rest a bit first?"

Twilight realized they hadn't slept all night and it was already close to noon, thanks to all the police activity that morning. The idea of sleep made her blink heavily, but she shook her head violently, trying desperately not to succumb to the sandman. Spike had never pulled an all-nighter like she had before and she knew, even though they had both just experienced a waking nightmare, he did need some rest.

"For a little while, sure. Just.. when you're up, can I ask a favor from you?"

"Sure, anything."

"Please make sure I don't fall asleep until the Princess arrives. Do whatever it takes, OK? Promise?" Twilight begged.

"Two straight days without sleep?" the baby dragon asked.

"Please?"

He knew the futility in arguing with her and sighed. "OK. I promise," he said softly.

She smiled sweetly, "Thanks, Spike. I should be alright as long as I keep my mind distracted. With all these texts I need to go through, that should be easy enough." She didn't want to admit being scared out of her mind was also going to help keep her awake. She suspected her assistant was aware of her fear though, based on his obvious look of concern.

She was the only family he had ever known. All of their best friends were now gone, and he didn't want to lose her too. His short life would have been completely destroyed if that were to happen. Hearing her panicky questions made his stomach knot.

The morning became afternoon, and the afternoon became night. Spike had slept a few hours before Twilight woke him up. She was beginning to slip and wanted him awake, just in case she needed a good slap in the face or something.

She had scattered books all over the library floor, and had come across the same articles from the previous night referencing the afterlife several times. Unfortunately, none of them had more than a description of such events. Answers on how to deal with such things weren't to be found. Perhaps the authors or ponies referenced in the script didn't have any issues like what they had gone through.

Spike helped go through more of the texts that remained on the shelf and sat beside Twilight the entire time, making sure to keep an eye on her current state. She had large, sagging rings under her eyes and her mane had become straggly over the course of the day. She hadn't had anything to eat either, despite Spike trying to convince her to keep her strength up.

"I'm going to go grab a little something from the fridge. You're sure I can't get you anything?" Spike asked.

"I'm sure, thanks," Twilight replied. As Spike got up to head to the kitchen, Twilight pulled him close, nuzzling him with her cheek and tearing up. "I'm sorry you've had to go through this. You've been so strong through all this for a pony your age. I just want you to know that no matter what happens, I love you, Spike."

He returned the hug and smiled, "I love you too, Twilight."

She released him with a kiss and he went inside. She turned back to her book after he went out of sight. As her eyes ran over the words on the pages, her head started to droop. She snapped herself back to attention, shook her head and continued reading. Her eyes slowly closed again and pulled her head back down with them. When it fell as far as her neck would allow, she jolted herself awake again. She slapped herself in the face and rubbed her eyes hard.

She glanced out the window and saw Luna's beautiful glowing moon and twinkling stars illuminating the otherwise dark night. The beautiful peace and serenity made her smile. A big yawn, long stretch and deep breath later, she blinked her half closed eyes a few times in succession. A familiar voice called out in the darkness.

"Hey, Twilight."