It had been a restless night for Twilight. She tossed and turned in bed, thinking about what she found in her books and what her friends said. Could Rainbow, Spike and Fluttershy be right? Was she just being paranoid and there really was some psycho out there? Either way, half of the Elements of Harmony were gone now.

Breakfast that morning didn't help. If anything, it made her a little more sick to her stomach than she already was. Her nerves were shot and she felt like she could throw up at any time, so she decided not to eat much. Even Spike, who was normally quite the pig when it came to food of any kind, quietly nibbled on a serving that would leave Angel hungry.

After they had eaten, Twilight left Spike to clean up while she headed out to go see how Fluttershy was doing. She did tell her friends that she would stop by the next day, after all. She was hurting as much as they were, but that wouldn't be an excuse for breaking her word to them.

When she arrived at the quaint little cottage, it was abnormally quiet. Usually there were the sounds of the forest around and in Fluttershy's home: birds singing, squirrels and chipmunks running around, otters swimming, the usual. It was almost creepy to the lavender unicorn after what had been happening recently to her friends. She came up to the door and found Angel balled up in front of it, shaking like a leaf, and almost whiter than he normally was. He was staring vacantly at nothing and didn't even notice Twilight standing there.

"Hey Angel. Is Fluttershy home?" she asked.

Her voice snapped him out of his stupor and got his attention. He looked at the door knowingly and started tearing up. After a moment of waiting for a response, Twilight shrugged and stepped up to the door to knock. Angel grabbed her leg and shook his head nervously, as if to say that she shouldn't go in.

Twilight had seen the condition Angel was in before. Spike and Sweetie Belle looked just the same after the police had arrived at Rarity's the day before. It was a look filled with sorrow and shock. A hundred things flashed through Twilight's mind. She had to go inside now, even if she saw something she didn't like. She opened the door slightly and peeked inside.

"Fluttershy? You here?"

She gasped when she saw all the pieces, both internal and external, of the shy pegasus sprawled out on the couch and on the floor surrounding it. She only saw Fluttershy for a few seconds and felt the contents of her stomach racing up her throat. She dove back outside beside Angel and threw up in the bushes. After her stomach emptied itself, causing her eyes to water due to all the stress her body was going through all at once, she looked back toward the door and teared up further. After a moment, she sprinted off to the police station, needing to see Private Eye immediately.

"So, what do we got, P.E.?" his partner, Gumshoe, asked.

"Nothing," Private Eye said, angrily tossing the paperwork on his desk. "No witnesses. No prints, hoof, snout or what not. No feathers. No traces of magic. Nothing."

"So what's our next move?"

Private Eye thought for a moment, trying to come up with an answer that would make sense. These things had a procedure. They would find evidence of some kind that would point them in the right direction that would lead them to solving the case. Everything they had been looking into here was resulted in one dead end after another. He shook his head and shrugged.

Twilight kicked in the door of the police station and darted up to the secretary. She was panting heavily thanks to galloping most of the way there and from seeing what happened to Fluttershy.

"Miss Sparkle? What can I do for you?"

"I need to see Private Eye right away!" Twilight said between breaths.

"I'm sorry, he's busy at- "

"Fluttershy's dead!" she cut off the secretary.

"There's been another murder? Follow me then." She led Twilight to the door to the detective's office and stepped inside. "Sir, Miss Twilight Sparkle is here to see you."

Her visit surprised the detectives. Maybe she had some new information they could use. Celestia knows they needed all the help they could get with this case. "Send her in."

Twilight thanked the secretary as she closed the door behind them. She sat down and hung her head low. "Thanks for seeing me. I'll get right to the point. It's.. it's Fluttershy. I found her this morning and.. " she started to weep, "and she's dead."

Private Eye and Gumshoe sighed defeatedly. Twilight continued, "It was horrible. I had her and Rainbow Dash stop by my home last night and talked with them. I told them I'd check on them this morning to see if they were OK. She.. she was in pieces!" She put her hooves to her eyes and sobbed.

"Have you seen Rainbow Dash yet this morning?"

"No, I came straight here."

"Gumshoe, go send a couple of the stallions to check on Rainbow Dash. You know where she lives. Make sure they talk with her, get any information they can, if there is any. Afterwards, have them escort her to Miss Sparkle's place and to stay there until further notice. I want eyes and ears on that place at all times from here on out," Private Eye instructed. His partner nodded and was on his way. When the door to the office closed, Private Eye slammed his hoof on his desk and sighed, frustrated at recent events. After a moment, he looked up at Twilight, who had remained lost in thought, still shocked at the condition she found Fluttershy in.

"You said they were at your house last night. What happened?" Private Eye asked. Another interview. They were starting to get boring. Almost.

"The three of us and Spike talked about what was going on really. I.. I told them that I think I may have an idea what's happening."

The detective's ears perked up. What Twilight may tell could finally be a break in the case. "What do you think's going on? Anything you have will be great."

Twilight rubbed her leg uncertainly. She almost didn't want to say for fear of being thought of as losing her mind. "I think it's.. Pinkie Pie."

"Your friend who was killed several days ago at Sweet Apple Acres? What do you mean?"

"I-I saw Mr. and Mrs. Cake's twins singing about Pinkie after the funeral, and again when I spoke to you at Rarity's. It sounded like they were implying she was.. mad at us. I know it sounds crazy, but- "

"Miss Sparkle," Private Eye cut her off with a raised hoof, "Pinkie is gone. You know that. The dead can't do anything."

Twilight sighed, "That's what Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash said."

The detective calmly put his hooves together in front of him. "Miss Sparkle, I understand that you're going through a lot. If you need to talk to somepony.."

"No!" she snapped. "No, I.. I didn't think you'd believe me." She looked away embarrassed. Maybe she really was going insane.

"Listen, Miss Sparkle, even if it were true, I'd need to be able to prove it, show evidence. How would I be able to?" Private Eye inquired. She opened her mouth to respond but couldn't come up with anything. She looked away, defeated.

"You've told me you're a student of Princess Celestia's, is that right?" he asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Have you spoken to her at all since Pinkie's funeral?"

"No. I probably should have contacted her after Applejack died, but it seemed like it was just a freak accident," Twilight said. She mentally kicked herself for not thinking of the idea sooner. "After what happened to Rarity, I.. I.. "

"It's OK, Miss Sparkle. You've been through a lot. I know you told me she's away on official business. I'd like to get some Royal Guards watching you too. I don't know if we could afford any more stallions at the moment. We're stretched thin as it is," he explained. "Do you think you could convince her to come back? The Elements of Harmony are dying one after the other here, and foul play is obviously involved. I'd like to think she'd want to look into this personally, and I wouldn't mind talking with her myself. See if she has any information that you don't know."

Twilight thought briefly, "I can try. Asking her to drop royal business may not sit well with her."

"She'll get over it," Private Eye said. "I'll have a couple of stallions escort you home and wait with you until your friend arrives. I'll have them come back to the station afterwards. Nopony is to go in or out of your home until her Guards show up, if she allows them to help us, that is. If they're unavailable, I'll send over two more stallions of ours. It'd be the best I can do. They'd accompany you everywhere you went. I'm not taking any chances."

She nodded, wiping her wet eyes, "Thank you, Private Eye. I'll get Spike to send her a letter as soon as I get home. What about Fluttershy?"

"I'm going over there after we're finished up here."

The detective stood up and motioned Twilight to the office door, escorting her to meet with some of the officers in the station and explain to them what was needed.

Twilight and her escort arrived at the library and found Rainbow Dash and her pair of police waiting for them. Only about fifteen minutes had passed between the two parties coming together. Rainbow's bravado had been withering away as the last few days passed. Now with Fluttershy dead, Rainbow's mask completely evaporated. She had paced nervously the entire time she waited for Twilight, constantly looking all around for anything her troubled mind may deem as unusual or out of place.

"H-hey Twilight," Rainbow stuttered, "where've you been? Been waiting for you for, like, ever."

"Sorry, Rainbow. How you holding up?"

"OK, I guess," Rainbow lied. Twilight's escort nodded to Rainbow's and headed back to the station.

The last two elements stood there silently for a few moments, contemplating what to do now. One of the policeponies cleared his throat and opened the library door for them. "Oh, right," Twilight said with a heavy sigh. "I do need to contact the Princess. Spike?" she called out as she entered.

The dragon came down the stairs. "Hey, Twilight. How're you doing?"

Twilight and Rainbow looked at each other with sad eyes before turning back to Spike. "Fluttershy's dead," the unicorn said bluntly.

His mouth fell open at the news. He tried to speak but found no words. His eyes watered and his claws found his face as he sobbed uncontrollably.

"I need you to take a letter, Spike. We have to tell the Princess what's going on. I should have done so before, but I wasn't thinking clearly," Twilight said softly. He wiped his tears away as best he could, nodded, and grabbed a parchment and quill.

It was most of the day before they received a response from the Princess. She had been busy with her duties and was unable to read Twilight's letter right away. Once she had, she spoke to the griffon rulers and pleaded her case successfully. In approximately two days, she will have returned, but she had also sent word ahead to Shining Armor that he was to send two pairs of their best Royal Guards, one pair for the day and the other for the night, as quickly as possible to watch over them. As she read the letter, Twilight could feel Celestia's sorrow across the distance just through her words alone.

For Rainbow, being stuck inside and unable to leave on its own would have been dreadfully boring, and she would have let a pony know about it. However, she had been uncharacteristically quiet today, but Twilight understood. She also knew that, even though Rainbow was devastated by yet another one of their friends passing, the pegasus wasn't going to talk about it. Talking about what was bothering her, even if it was something ultimately trivial, was something Rainbow just didn't do.

The three of them stuck close to each other during the day, but few words were said. What else could be said at this point? A few times, Twilight had caught Rainbow on her side on the floor of the library, claiming to be napping, but the unicorn heard quiet sobbing coming from her friend. When it was mentioned, Rainbow would put up her usual tough front and deny it, claiming she was just snoring or holding back a sneeze or something else Twilight knew was a lie. She sighed heavily every time Rainbow dropped the subject, wishing the pegasus would just open up about it. She and Spike were feeling the same way and now was no time for her to act like she was on her own.

As the night approached, Twilight moved her bed downstairs so as not to be by a window. If there really was somepony after them, being next to a window, even if it were locked, was one of the last places she wanted them to be. She moved Spike's basket as well, in case whoever it was would try and use him against them in some way.

Rainbow started quietly getting ready for bed. Spike had already turned in a while ago, and the pegasus didn't want to disturb him. Twilight suggested they share her bed that night. If somepony was after them and somehow managed to sneak in, they'd have the both of them to deal with at once instead of just one at a time.

As Rainbow lifted up the covers, she paused and sat back down. "Twilight? Just in case, I.. I just want you to know that I'm really glad to have known you."

"Rainbow, don't talk like that."

"I'm sorry, it's.. you never heard it, but.. I'm scared, is all," the pegasus said, starting to cry.

Twilight, tearing up at her friend's sincerity, hugged Rainbow tightly, "It's OK. We all are. For what it's worth, I'm happy to have known you too." They smiled at each other and Rainbow crawled into bed, sniffling and wiping her eyes clear.

The unicorn went to the bookshelves looking for some more reference material about the afterlife and spirits. After Fluttershy and Rainbow had left the night before, she had immediately put her books away, figuring her friends were probably right and that Pinkie wasn't a part of this, what with being dead. Despite this, she still felt there was more to look over, just in case.

Rainbow hadn't closed her eyes just yet and saw Twilight pulling a few books out. "Still got a few things to read, huh?" she yawned.

"Yeah. I know you didn't believe me last night about Pinkie, and I don't blame you, but I never finished checking some things. I shouldn't be too long. I hope."

"It's OK, Twilight. I'm just happy to know you're here," Rainbow smiled.

The unicorn returned the grin, "You too."

"G'night Egghead."

Twilight chuckled, "G'night."