It was raining heavily as Aaron Crop's body was lowered into the muddy earth. Nopony had been able to see the body due to its incredibly damaged state, not that there were that many ponies at the funeral to begin with. The only ponies to attend the funeral were Twilight, the Princesses, the Mayor (who was in charge of the funeral), Thunder Storm, Joan, Spike, Brutus, and a couple others. It was no surprise to Twilight that nopony was interested in coming out of their homes. The hole was soon filled in and the guests slowly made their way back to their respective homes. Twilight remained, looking down at the fresh mound that now represented Aaron's permanent residence.

"You okay, Twilight?" Spike asked as he knocked the rain away with his umbrella.

"I'll be fine, Spike," she replied sadly.

"I'm going to go ahead and head back to the library. Are you coming?"

"I won't be long."

Spike nodded and headed off into the drenched town. The gray sky and depressing atmosphere made everything seem darker than it really was, even though it was ten in the morning. Twilight looked as Joan approached her.

"Hey there," he said.

"How are Stormflower and Irena?" she asked.

"Irena's going to be released from the hospital tomorrow. Stormflower, on the other hand, has not yet woken up."

Twilight looked past Joan and saw Thunder Storm standing several yards away. He looked at Aaron's grave, sighed, and walked away.

Joan noticed that Twilight was looking at Thunder Storm and said, "He came to pay respects because Aaron died attempting to find Rainbow Dash's true killer."

"I can understand that," Twilight responded.

"What are you going to do now?"

"I'm really not sure. We keep finding new horrors, ponies are still being murdered, and yet the killer is still walking free. Things are not good."

"Are you going to quit the investigation?"

An image of Rainbow Dash appeared in Twilight's mind. An emptiness began boiling inside of her.

"At times I want to, seeing as how it keeps getting ponies hurt and killed, but then I think of Rainbow Dash and I'm reminded of the fact that ponies are going to keep getting hurt and killed unless the killer is finally found. I want to stop at times...but I know that I can't. I have to keep pressing on. For me, for Rainbow Dash, for Aaron, and for everypony else. Those victims deserve justice. The killer deserves judgment."

Joan nodded and looked out upon the rain-sodden town.

"Do you realize that today it's been exactly a week since Rainbow Dash's funeral?"

"Yeah...I do."

The two ponies fell silent. Twilight noticed the Princesses each give her a polite nod before walking away.

"Do you think it's safe for them to be here, the Princesses?"

"The killer's not going to go after them. You'd have to be a complete idiot as well as a psychopath to go after them."

"I guess you're right."

Silence fell among them again. Brutus walked up and stared at them for a moment.

"Is there something that you want to say, Brutus?" Twilight asked. Brutus simply shook his head and walked away.

"Doesn't have that much to say today, does he?" Joan asked. "I remember him blabbing on and on at the hospital yesterday about how he's going to find the killer and bring him or her to justice. I personally think it's all talk."

"I think he's trying. He's not as truly determined as Aaron but he's trying."

"Do or do not. There is no try."

"Where did that come from?"

"Some science fiction book I read a while back. I don't remember the exact book but I remember that a really wise character said that line and it's always stuck with me."

"Interesting."

Twilight turned away from Joan to see Sunkick walking towards them.

"Hey, Twilight. Hey, Joan," he said. Twilight could definitely tell that something was on his mind.

"What's up?" Joan asked. Sunkick lifted his head and stared at Twilight.

"Is something wrong?" Twilight asked. The pegasus remained silent. He looked as if he wanted to say something and yet did not have the strength to do so.

"I...I gotta go," he said. And with that, Sunkick took off into the clouded sky.

"What was that about?" Joan asked as he watched Sunkick disappear into the clouds. Twilight got a familiar pain in her skull. The image of Pinkie Pie appeared in her mind again.

"He's accepted it, egghead," said the ghostly voice of Rainbow Dash. "Why haven't you?"

"I don't know," Twilight said, confused about whether she was responding to Joan or the Rainbow Dash within her mind. "I just don't know."

Meanwhile, Scootaloo was sitting against the windowsill of her bedroom at the orphanage watching the raindrops slowly glide down the exterior of the glass. There was a knock at the door and the head of the orphanage, a unicorn named Judith, entered.

"Scootaloo, you've got a visitor waiting for you down in the entrance room," she said. Scootaloo turned around to face Judith.

"I'll be right down," she replied. Judith nodded and retreated out of the room.

Scootaloo thought about Sunkick as she made her way down to the entrance room. She hoped that it was he who was visiting her on that dull, rainy morning. A wave of fear instantly rolled over her as she saw not Sunkick but Pinkie Pie smiling at her from a nearby chair.

"Morning, Scootaloo!" she said happily as she skipped over to her. A basket dangled from her mouth and an incredibly baggy, yellow parka covered her body.

"Pinkie Pie...what a surprise," Scootaloo said awkwardly. She knew something was off about Pinkie Pie but Sunkick had forgotten to give her all of the details. He had said that he would tell her later. Scootaloo looked to see that a somewhat-large, cardboard box was sitting next to the chair that Pinkie had previously been sitting in. "What's in the box?"

"Pastries! Mrs. Cake has me going throughout Ponyville and giving ponies free pastry samples to cheer them up!"

"That sounds nice."

Scootaloo suddenly felt a cold chill rush up her spine. She looked around to see that she and Pinkie were completely alone in the room.

"Would you like to try one?!"

"I...I guess."

"Oh goodie!"

Pinkie placed the basket on the ground and reached into the folds. She then pulled something out and presented it to the young filly. Scootaloo found herself staring at a delectable, chocolate cupcake.