It was close to midnight when Stormflower's train finally pulled into the Ponyville station. She trudged onto the platform and began making her way towards Rainbow Dash's house. She would have flown there but she found herself too tired to fly so she just stuck with walking. Ponyville was quiet now. The moon shone brightly in the sky and the streets of the town were illuminated by either the dim lights from single windows or the burning lampposts that bordered the sides of the streets. Stormflower looked up at the moon just in time to see Princess Luna flying through the sky with her fellow soldiers to keep watch over her nightly dominion. Stars twinkled happily in the sky as Stormflower made her way down a long, dark alleyway. The sound of giggling began emanating from the darkness and Stormflower gulped.

"Is anypony there?" she called out. The giggling stopped and two ponies emerged from the darkness. One was a green unicorn mare and the other was a cream-colored earth pony mare.

"I told you to wait until we got home!" snapped the earth pony.

"Sorry," said the unicorn. "Wait a sec. I know you!"

Stormflower took another look at the two mares. She had indeed seen them somewhere before.

"You were at the funeral," she breathed. The two mares looked at each other and then turned back to Stormflower.

"I'm Bon-Bon, and this is my...uh...friend, Lyra," said the earth pony.

"You're Rainbow Dash's sister right?" Lyra asked. The three mares fell silent. Stormflower sighed and nodded. "Stormflower is it?"

"That's right," Stormflower replied.

"I'm really sorry about what happened to Rainbow Dash. I didn't know her that well but she was a pretty cool pony. She helped me out of a few jams here and there."

"How's the rest of the family holding up? Your parents and brother are here as well, aren't they?" Bon-Bon asked. Stormflower nodded.

"They're...fine. We're all healing from what happened," Stormflower replied. She then let out a loud yawn and scratched her head.

"Well you seem tired. We all best be heading back to our houses. It's not safe to be out this late with a murderer on the loose."

"Then why are you two doing out so late?"

Stormflower gave a snarky smirk and Bon-Bon blushed.

"She got you there, Bon-Bon," Lyra laughed.

"Oh shut up!" Bon-Bon replied. The two mares then passed by Stormflower and disappeared into the darkness. Stormflower made her way out of the alleyway and began walking towards the street that led to Rainbow Dash's house.

It wasn't long until Stormflower came across another pair of mares. Luckily, she knew this pair quite well. Fluttershy and Irena were standing under a lamppost, Angel was sleeping on Fluttershy's back.

"Been helping out Zecora again?" Irena asked.

"Yes. I lost track of time. I best be getting Angel back home," said Fluttershy.

"Hey girls," Stormflower yawned.

"Stormflower," said Irena as she turned to face the other pegasus. "You're back."

"Where did you go?" Fluttershy asked.

"Canterlot. I had a...specific errand to run," Stormflower replied.

"So your train came in late?"

"Yeah."

"How are my parents doing?" Irena asked. An awkward silence fell among the mares. Stormflower cleared her throat.

"They're doing fine. Everything seemed to be in tip-top shape at the farm."

"That's good. I haven't visited them in a while. I really should visit them; me and Pinkie Pie."

A knot formed in Stormflower's stomach. The name of Pinkie Pie was becoming darker and darker to Stormflower with every passing day.

"Where is Pinkie Pie at the moment?" Stormflower asked.

"Sleeping probably," Irena replied.

"So...what exactly are you two doing out at this time of night?"

"I was busy helping Zecora with Angel, but I accidentally lost track of time. I was just on my way home when I bumped into Irena," Fluttershy explained.

"I've been having trouble sleeping recently. Nowadays I just go out for midnight strolls to pass the time," Irena replied.

"It's really dangerous to be out at this time, Irena. Especially with a killer on the loose," said Stormflower.

"I know."

"You're lucky that you were found by Fluttershy and me. If Aaron or one of his investigators had found you then you'd have a lot of suspicions drawn to you."

Fluttershy and Irena sighed sadly at the same time.

"You didn't hear about it?" Fluttershy asked.

"About what?"

"Aaron was murdered two days ago," Irena replied sadly.

"What?!"

"Applejack found his butchered body in the barn, that's where he was working. He had been examining a piece of evidence that could have potentially revealed the identity of Rainbow Dash's killer. I guess the killer got to him before he could reveal his findings."

"That's not all," said Fluttershy as she turned towards Irena. "You heard about what Twilight, Applejack, and Sunkick found this evening right?" Irena nodded as Fluttershy turned back to face Stormflower. "They found a box containing the remains of a young filly named Twist."

"You're kidding!" Stormflower gasped.

"Sadly, I'm not. Sunkick is positive that there are more bodies to be discovered."

"I guess we've found the killer's dumping ground, Sweet Apple Acres."

"Poor Applejack. By tomorrow morning, half the town's gonna think that either she or one of her family members is the killer," Irena sighed.

"I know Applejack isn't the killer. My suspicions are drawing towards another certain pony."

"Who would that be?"

Stormflower gulped again. She couldn't tell Irena that she suspected Pinkie Pie, her younger sister, of being the killer.

"I'll tell you later."

Stormflower walked past Fluttershy and began making her way down the road.

"Where are you off to now?" Fluttershy asked.

"Home. I really need some sleep. I bet that I'm also going to need to do a lot of apologizing to Sunkick and Joan tomorrow for disappearing out of the blue," Stormflower replied with a smirk.

"I guess I'll see you later then," Irena said awkwardly. Stormflower nodded and turned away from the two mares. What happened next was something that none of the three mares was prepared for.

A dark shadow jumped from a nearby alleyway and charged at Stormflower. Stormflower turned to see a pony wearing a black jumpsuit and black mask running towards her. Something shiny hung from the pony's mouth. By the time Stormflower figured out what the object was it was too late. There was a swift motion and Stormflower felt a sharp pain emanate from her neck. Fluttershy and Irena screamed as Stormflower fell to the ground; a river of blood was spewing out of the gash in her neck. The attacker stood over Stormflower triumphantly. Miraculously, the neck wound wasn't fatal. It was painful and bloody but Stormflower was still able to hold onto life with a firm grip. The attacker prepared to make their final strike.

"NOOOOOO!" screamed Irena as she charged at the pony. Irena jumped between the attacker and Stormflower just as the knife came down. There was a soft thud and Irena found the knife buried deep into the right side of her chest. Irena grabbed onto the killer and managed to punch them square in the nose. "No more death! No...more...death!"

Irena then fell to the ground as she coughed up a huge blob of blood. The killer looked at Stormflower and Irena, looked up at Fluttershy, turned away, and disappeared into the darkness. Fluttershy ran up to Stormflower and Irena and did her best to stop the bleeding. She needed to get help but she couldn't leave them. Angel, now awake, examined the scene and then turned to Fluttershy.

The rabbit's look seemed to say something along the lines of: If there was a time to scream your fucking head off, now's the perfect opportunity!

Fluttershy focused all of her fear and anxiety into her vocal cords and screamed.

"HELP! SOMEPONY HELP! THERE'S BEEN A STABBING! THEY'RE ABOUT TO DIE! SOMEPONY HELP!" she yelled into the night. It didn't take long for the ponies in the nearby buildings to come out and examine the bloody scene. Both Stormflower and Irena lost consciousness as the nurse ponies arrived to take them to the hospital.