16
*Snatch*
The borrower of a Death Note will not be followed by a God of Death. A shinigami will generally stay with the rightful owner of the Note, regardless of who is holding it at the time.
The morning couldn't come quickly enough for Twilight. As soon as the first rays of the sun peeked through her window her eyes cracked open. The sight of Fluttershy fast asleep in her spare bed quickly roused her. She pulled herself up and winced. Having not had the chance to remove it last night, she’d had to sleep with the miniaturized Death Note still hidden within the fibres of her tail. It had gotten caught in a knot as she’d tossed and turned in her sleep and was pinching her painfully as she stretched. Quietly adjusting it and rubbing sleep from her eyes, the unicorn got to her hooves and out of habit ran a comb through her disheveled mane. Byuk and Mer were nowhere to be seen. Taking advantage of this, Twilight quickly crossed over to her desk and picked up Geldus' Death Note from where she had left it last night. She opened the hidden compartment inside the drawer and slid it inside, filling the space normally occupied by her own notebook. Then she closed it up silently and walked back to Fluttershy, poking her gently to wake her up.
"Twilight?" Fluttershy opened her eyes slowly, letting out a sleepy yawn. She smiled at the sight of her marefriend standing over her. "I'm so happy," she mumbled. "I was worried that last night was just a dream." She stretched and started to pull herself into a sitting position. "Would you like me to cook breakfast?"
"No time for that," Twilight said, lifting the covers off of the pegasus. "The sun's already up. You need to get going."
“Oh... okay.” Still bleary-eyed, Fluttershy raised herself up and hopped down to the floor. She brushed closely against Twilight’s side, then, to the unicorn’s mounting horror, nuzzled playfully against her neck. “I did dream about you, though,” the pegasus whispered, stretching a wing across her shoulders.
“Don’t touch me!” Twilight pushed the startled mare away, stiffening up. “Don’t think that just because I let you stay here it means you can do whatever you want.”
“But...” Fluttershy took a step forward, wavering uncertainly. “I thought... since we’re marefriends now...”
“In name only,” Twilight said forcefully. “Fluttershy, we are not dating. I’ll act like we are around other ponies to justify you fawning over me, but beyond that this is purely a working relationship.”
Fluttershy lowered her head and looked up at Twilight with big, quivering eyes. It didn’t work; in those pretty blue irises Twilight could only see the limp body of Sweetie Belle falling to the ground, again and again. “I understand,” Fluttershy said. “But is it okay if we...” She gulped, wondering how far to push her luck. “Hug? Sometimes?”
Twilight turned away and habitually began remaking the spare bed. “Maybe,” she answered vaguely. “If you earn it. You’ve got a lot of making up to do. After all...” She turned and gave Fluttershy a hard stare. “I don’t usually let murderers live.”
Fluttershy winced. Her face creased up as though she was about to cry, but she kept it contained. Twilight turned away to hide the hint of a smile growing on her face, which just as quickly turned to a hint of a frown. She doesn’t need to know about Sunny Days, she decided. Or Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Besides, those situations were completely different! She glanced back at the pegasus, feeling a spike of anger well up in her. I did those things because L backed me into a corner. I had no choice! Fluttershy had a choice! She killed those ponies just because she wanted to! If I didn’t need her alive...
This final thought served to calm the unicorn down somewhat. Grudgingly, she extended a foreleg towards the distraught pegasus. Fluttershy looked at it in delight and, tentatively smiling, accepted it. Hoof in hoof, the two ponies made their way downstairs.
At the bottom of the stairs, Twilight gave the delighted pegasus a quick pat down to make sure the magic band around her jaw was holding. "Just hurry straight home," she instructed her, ushering her towards the door. "Tell Mer to meet me here tomorrow night. I'll tell her what to do about L then. We won’t be able to see each other for awhile, not so soon after your broadcast. I’ll let you know when it’s safe, maybe in a week or two. Think you can last that long?” Hesitantly, Fluttershy nodded. “Good. For now, just make sure that nopony sees-" Twilight opened the door and her heart leaped into her mouth. "-you..." she finished weakly.
A mint green pony stood just outside the library, her hoof raised to knock. Her horn had once again vanished to somewhere inside her head and she wore a slightly puzzled expression on her face. "Good morning, Twilight," L said. "And... to your friend, as well."
It was as if Twilight’s mind had hit a wall. She physically felt her plan shatter into pieces around her, leaving her in a suffocating mental void. She grasped for words, keenly aware of how every second of silence was making the situation worse. “Um,” she started. Feeling slightly absurd, she tried to feign nonchalance, though a tremor was evident in her voice. “Fluttershy, this is... this is Harpy Chords. She visits the library sometimes. Harpy, this is my friend Fluttershy.” Friend. Just friend. For now.
"P-pleased to meet you," Fluttershy said shyly. She was also blushing, though for a different reason than Twilight. As she extended a hoof in greeting, her eyes flicked upwards. Harpy Chords? she wondered. Her eyes burned. The glowing lights above the strange pony's head shone down at her. But... that's different than the name I'm seeing...
"Lovely to meet you, Fluttershy." L happily shook the pegasus' hoof and gave her a friendly smile. "Any friend of Twilight's is a friend of mine."
Twilight held her breath as Fluttershy and her nemesis shook hooves. When they released each other and stepped back, she found herself almost disappointed. Is that it? Hurriedly she scanned the detective’s face, but to her growing annoyance could detect nothing in her eyes. You can’t think nothing of this. Me having a friend over the night after the second Kira revealed herself should be setting off all kinds of alarms. Are you really going to just let this go? She coughed. "Anyways, Fluttershy, shouldn't you be getting home? You've got a big day ahead of you, I'm sure."
"Oh... of course. See you later, Twilight." With a worried smile, Fluttershy brushed past the strange pony and trotted outside, breaking into a canter as soon as the mare's eyes were off her.
"So, um..." Twilight smiled awkwardly. She tried to release the tightness in her chest, but couldn’t quite manage it. "Do you want to come in?"
"I'd love to." L walked inside, letting the door swing shut behind her. Instantly, her demeanor changed. The warm smile faded from her face and her body stiffened, coming closer to the cold informality Twilight was more used to. "How are you, Twilight?" she asked, her voice dropping noticeably in pitch.
"I'm, um, fine." The unicorn shuffled nervously. What are you up to? If I were in your shoes, I would have had us both arrested by now. Amidst the panic, a thought started to form. Unless...
"Really? That's good to hear." L was scanning the shelves near the door, as if searching for something. "I'm glad that you're handling the deaths of your close friends so well. Most ponies would be completely laid up for days, if not weeks."
Twilight flinched. "I'm... trying not to think about it," she admitted. "This investigation is what's most important to me. So long as I focus on that, I'm okay."
"Is that so? That's nice." L's eyes finally focused on a box on a shelf near the floor. Her eyes lit up. "You have Battleskies!?"
"Um... yes." Before Twilight could say anything else, L had yanked the board game off of the shelf and removed the lid. "I don't play it often. It just came with the library, like everything else."
L turned to her and smiled, apparently a genuine smile this time. "Would you like to play?" she asked.
Twilight examined her opponent's face. Is she serious? she wondered. She just caught her number one suspect in possibly the most compromising situation imaginable... and she wants to play a board game? A few seconds passed, in which L's expression didn't shift in the slightest. "Right now?" Twilight asked. "Are you sure?"
"No time like the present. Everypony else is asleep or busy, and..." For a second Twilight thought she detected a hint of sadness in the detective's voice, though she would later pass it off as her imagination. "And nopony ever wants to play," L finished.
"Well..." Something clicked. This is an interrogation, isn’t it? She’s going to get the information out of me right here. After all, I’m sure she didn’t become the greatest detective in the world by jumping to conclusions. She’ll want to talk to both of us before making any arrests. But... As Twilight pretended to consider L’s offer, a warm glow filled her chest. All the tension started to drain out from her, leaving only a bubbly, tingly elation. But there’s one thing you overlooked, L. Something you had no way of knowing about.
Fluttershy saw your name.
Twilight smiled, genuinely this time. "Sure. I'm always up for a challenge." She levitated up the game box and led the way towards the kitchen. If I teleport, I can easily reach Fluttershy before you do. After that, I can write down your name without Mer’s help after all. Even if you arrest one of us, you’ll die by my hoof in a few days anyway, and nopony will be any the wiser. All I have to do is last one conversation without arousing your suspicions. Wordlessly, Twilight laid out both the game boards on the kitchen table and sat down at one side. L took the seat opposite. The unicorn gave a lasting stare across the table before reaching for her game pieces. “Are you ready, L?”
The mint pony nodded and raised a hoof towards her own board. “Let’s play.”
---
The origin of the game of Battleskies is generally attributed, incorrectly, to the pegasi. It is well known that it was initially developed during times of civil unrest, specifically the period of confrontation between General Cyclone and General Typhoon in the post-classical era, as a mental exercise for generals before battles. The setting of the lower stratosphere and overall violent nature of the original game certainly gives the impression of a game of pegasus design. However, the first board was in fact created by the unicorn Bright Idea as an exercise in defense against a possible pegasus attack. With that in mind, it’s much easier to see how the battle was meant to be played out on the grid: each turn, a unicorn would shoot a lance of light into the air, destroying one square of protective cloud, and the pegasi would move one of their soldiers one square in any direction. If the unicorns were too predictable in their guesswork they could easily be avoided, but if the pegasi were incautious they would soon end up trapped.
Even after the unrest between the pegasi was resolved peacefully, the game of Battleskies remained popular among the unicorn elites for years to come. It was universally praised, even by the two Princesses, for forcing the players to consider the roles of both attacker and defender. A watered-down version was eventually created and marketed as a game for foals, only the name hinting at its darker origins. Twilight had studied the history and theories of the game in her fourth year at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and had even had the honor of losing a game to Brilliant Idea, the many times over great-granddaughter of Bright Idea herself. The game was often heralded as the greatest test of wits between two ponies, so the young unicorn had dived eagerly into its study and practice.
And she had never once, in all her years, met anypony who was so unbelievably bad at it.
If not for L’s obvious enthusiasm, Twilight would have guessed that the disguised unicorn wasn’t even trying. Her attacks on Twilight’s board were neither the deceptive patterns of an advanced player nor the random guesses of a newcomer, instead progressing in a predictable spiral that the lavender mare’s pieces were able to evade easily. She also declined the chance to move her own forces each turn, claiming that they were “already in the optimal positions.” Twilight begged to differ; using a basic variant of Red Feather’s guessing algorithm she’d already captured three of L’s pieces, and was poised to quickly root out the other two.
This has to be some kind of trick, Twilight thought as she watched the detective stare at the board in deep concentration. Her face was lit up like a foal discovering a new toy. There’s no way the world’s greatest detective could be so terrible at a simple guessing game... could she? She winced as L made yet another completely inaccurate guess. “Miss,” she answered, then fired off another guess of her own. No... she has to be doing this intentionally. But why?
Am I supposed to be going easy on her? Twilight wondered as the green mare pushed another blue token onto her board. Is that it? Does she think that only Kira would try to crush her completely, while Twilight Sparkle would give her a fighting chance? No... Twilight would think that L would want her to play at no less than her best. She started to nod to herself, but then frowned. Or is that what she thinks Kira would think!? Would Twilight not worry about having to prove herself, while Kira would cover her intentions up? Or maybe-
“Twilight,” L interrupted, breaking into her thoughts. “I’m surprised at you.”
“You are?” Twilight gasped. She quickly took a deep breath and steadied herself. “I mean, I’m sorry. I’m sort of out of practice, and I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”
“What? Oh, no, your playing is fine. I was more surprised by your choice of companion earlier. I must confess, I did not think that you would have an interest in pegasi.”
The unicorn opened her mouth, then closed it. Her eyes widened as several thoughts struck her at once. For all her fussing over the second Kira, she’d neglected to consider the other possibly compromising implications of the situation. A pair of mares rushing out of the house in the early morning? Her own look of fear and embarrassment at being “caught”? Fluttershy’s blushing, her hair still tousled from a night of restless sleep...
Twilight turned beet red. "It was just a sleepover!" she gasped, fighting unsuccessfully to control her blushing. "We're just friends! It's something friends do!"
"With those eyes she was giving you? No, I do not think so. I would be most surprised if you thought so, either." The detective chuckled dryly. "You don't have to be embarrassed, Twilight. I share my bed with an earth pony, after all. I just expected, given your natural magical talent, that you would end up with a unicorn like yourself, or even another far-flung relative of the Princesses. Sky eight."
"Oh... um, miss." Twilight bit her lip and levitated another blue marker onto her board. Guess I don’t have a choice. "It's one-sided," she admitted. "Fluttershy admitted her feelings for me, and... I just don't want to hurt her. I don't feel the same way about her, and she knows that. It’s not ideal, but she’s willing to try to make it work, so... I think it’s worth a shot. And we're not... sharing beds." She blushed again. "We're not that close. Farm four."
"You found my eagle." L removed one of her two remaining pieces from her board. "How long have you been seeing each other?"
“Oh, um... not long.” A familiar tremble returned. Oh, curse my inability to lie! Come on, I just have to fudge it a little. “She says she's had these feelings for awhile, but it's only become official during... the past couple of days.” No, that’s too convenient...
“Interesting,” L noted as the unicorn floundered. “So soon after the deaths of her friends?”
Twilight had to suppress a smile. L, you genius! “I think that’s what actually made her decide,” she improvised. “When somepony loses a close friend, it makes them value their remaining friendships all the more closely. They start to think about what life would be like without the friends they have left, and they realize they have to act on those connections or risk losing them forever. I probably wouldn’t have agreed to try if I hadn’t been thinking something similar.” She looked up thoughtfully. “Actually, that would make a good report for the Princess. I’ll have to write that down. Swamp six.”
"Miss." L stroked her chin. "So she is the one who approached you? And her feelings are not fully reciprocated?"
"That's right," Twilight responded, nervousness rising. “Is that... bad?”
“No. On the contrary, it will make this easier.”
Twilight waited for L to elaborate, but the green mare seemed to have fallen silent. I guess it’s official, then, she realized. I’m dating Fluttershy. Oh Celestia, I’m dating Fluttershy... Groaning inwardly, the unicorn ran a hoof through her mane and decided to broach the main issue. Well, they say the best defense is a good offense. Who said that? Sunny Stew? I’ll have to read up on that later. "Look, I know how this must look..."
L raised an eyebrow. “Look?” she said, an edge of coldness creeping back into her voice. “Believe me, Twilight, I could not possibly be more aware of how this looks.”
A chill ran down the lavender mare’s spine, but she ignored it. “Right. So you’re probably not going to like this, and I’ll completely understand if you don’t agree. But... for Fluttershy’s sake, is it possible that you could not tell anypony about this?” Somehow, L managed to raise her eyebrow even higher. Twilight winced. “I know it sounds bad, and if you can’t because it gets in the way of the investigation, that’s fine. But Fluttershy’s been through a lot lately, and I don’t know exactly how things are going to work out between us yet, so I don’t want anypony to get the wrong idea about her if it’s not absolutely necessary.”
L continued to stare for several long, agonizing seconds before slowly nodding. “I understand, Twilight,” she said. “I am no stranger to keeping secrets. I can’t promise that it won’t come up, but if I can, I won’t tell anypony about your relationship.”
A faint lightness seemed to fill Twilight’s chest. “I... thank you, L,” she breathed. “Thank you so much.” Hook, line and sinker. Maybe I’d make a good marefriend after all.
“Think nothing of it. Farm seven.” L leaned forward again and smiled thinly. “Although, I suspect I will not have to keep this a secret if you continue to quake like a schoolfilly every time you two are seen together.”
“Yeah... it’s going to take some getting used to. Miss.” That shot had come fairly close to two of her pieces. Twilight moved her weather pony one square to the left. “Mostly I think it was just seeing you. I mean, the stories say you never let anypony see your face. Isn’t it dangerous to keep coming out in public like this?”
L chuckled. “Another myth I like to propagate. I’ve spent a great deal of time around Ponyville, usually under Bon Bon’s supervision. After all, a familiar face is far less suspicious than an unfamiliar one, even without a name attached.”
Twilight considered this. “That makes sense,” she admitted. “But even so, this is the third time you’ve walked all the way across Ponyville to meet me here. Isn’t that unnecessary?”
Now it was the detective’s turn to pause. “In a sense, yes,” she said slowly. “I could have sent any one of the others to update you on the situation. But speaking to you personally is, I feel, well worth the inconvenience. After all,” she gestured to the boards between them, “if I hadn’t, we wouldn’t be playing this game.”
Twilight looked down at the game. “I guess,” she said, unsatisfied. “Farm seven.”
“Miss.” Inwardly, Twilight groaned in frustration. “But there’s one other thing,” L continued. “Something one has to get close to a pony to understand. You see, Twilight...” The detective’s voice dropped, and for a moment something else could be heard in her flat tone. “I want you to trust me.”
“Huh?” Twilight put her head to the side. “I do trust you, L.”
“No, you don’t. Not yet. Not completely.” L bit her lip and stared with a strange intensity at the game in front of them. “You still look at me as an opposite, not an equal. We find ourselves on opposing sides of the board when we should be working together. If you truly do believe in bringing justice to Equestria, then it’s going to mean working with bravery and unity...” She looked up. “And for everypony to truly be who they claim to be.”
Twilight breathed in. Something familiar and half-forgotten floated across her heart. “L...”
“In any case,” the detective continued, her voice returning to normal, “even without my earth pony disguise, you are the only one not in residence at our base who knows that I am connected to the investigation. Presently barring Spike, of course.” They both glanced upwards. On the top floor, the little dragon was no doubt still fast asleep. “Accordingly, I’ve taken the necessary precautions. If I should die in the next few days, I’ve left instructions that you are to be held accountable. You understand, of course. Cloud two.”
Twilight nodded weakly. “Of course,” she echoed. She probably thinks she’s securing her safety. But it won’t make a difference. Once I reach Fluttershy I can start the countdown at five days, or ten, or the whole twenty-three. Even if I have to wait a little longer, I’ll still win. “Miss. Sky one.”
“Miss.”
The pair fell silent for a few seconds as the detective looked over the board. The purple unicorn shuffled in her seat. “Look... L.” Twilight breathed in. Everything hinged on the outcome of these next few sentences. “I want you to trust me too. And I know you have a lot of reasons not to trust me, so I think it’s important that we get this out of the way.” She looked to the side. “You’ve been good about not bringing this up, directly at least, but, you know... me, of all ponies, getting a new marefriend around the same time you discovered there was a second Kira. I’m sure it hasn’t helped your suspicions of me.” She hung her head. “In fact, if I was in your shoes, I’d say that to call it suspicious would be an understatement.”
“The thought... had crossed my mind.” L paused a little longer before shaking her head. “You are correct, Twilight. The timing is unfortunate, and I am not the type to dismiss such an event as mere coincidence. However... while I cannot claim to know Kira’s mind completely, I do not think that he would take such an unnecessary risk when there are other means of communication that would put him in a far less compromising position. This particular brand of deception is, basically, not his style. It is possible that he is attempting to trick me, but I see no reason to shoehorn him into the equation when a better, simpler answer is waiting in the wings. Cloud eleven.”
Twilight gave a small sigh of relief, and, internally, a much larger one. “Thanks, L. That means a lot to me.” She tried to give the detective a friendly smile, but L had returned to staring at the game board. Twilight looked down as well and frowned. “Um, L? The board only goes up to ten.”
"Does it?" The detective peered down at the painted squares. "Oh, yes. Sometimes I forget. Cloud ten, then. However...” she added, straightening up a little. “As to that other solution I mentioned, I think you’ll find it to be both good and bad news for you. You see, Twilight, while I trust both you and Kira to be clever and discreet, I am not sure that the second Kira has the same capacity for subtlety."
Twilight took a moment to register this, then choked. "You don’t mean..."
"Hit or miss, Twilight?"
"I... um..." The lavender unicorn looked down at the board. "Oh. You... you stung my bumblebee. Well done." She chuckled nervously and removed the piece from the board. "But... is this because of me?"
“Twilight.” The detective’s voice was now stone cold. “It’s time to earn that trust. How much did you tell Fluttershy about the investigation?”
“Nothing! Well...” L’s eyes seemed to pierce through her. “Only that I’m attached to it, and that there’s a pony code named L involved. That’s all.”
“Did she know more than an average citizen would? Is she aware that I am in Ponyville?”
“No! I mean, I don’t think so.”
“Did she seem interested in the case? Did she press you for information?”
“She didn’t! I only told her as much as I did so she would know why we couldn’t spend much time together.” Twilight was now visibly trembling. “L, you’re scaring me. What does Fluttershy have to do with any of this?”
“The crystals, Twilight. The ones that were sent to the Ponyville hub station.” L sat back and folded her forelegs in front of her. “You remember them, don’t you?”
“Of... of course.” Twilight nodded. “Spike gave them to Colgate after I picked him up yesterday.” She felt the tightness begin to return to her chest. “Why? Did you find something on them?”
"No. There were partial hoof and tooth marks, but they could each be traced back to the station manager and his assistant. However, that’s not the interesting part. You see, after you left yesterday, Derpy started to feel better and remembered that she'd delivered a number of packages to the hub station in the week leading up to the broadcast. With her help, we were able to locate the original packages that the two crystals arrived in."
"Really?” Twilight struggled to connect this new information. As she often did when she was stressed, she covered up her panic with logical analysis. “I guess that means you could trace them back to where they came from."
"We did so. The package was mailed from Cloudsdale. Swamp eight."
"Oh. That would point to a pegasus, then." Twilight put a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. "Or maybe that's a misdirection. It could have been a unicorn who knows a cloudwalking spell, or an earth pony who knows a unicorn." She looked at the board again. “Wow. You found my eagle. Lucky.”
“Very.” L nodded. "We considered the implications of a cloud city at first. But you see, the address isn't the crucial part. We analyzed the tape holding the package together and found several different types of animal hair clinging to it. The level of diversity directed us to the home of your friend Fluttershy, where we found matches for every one. Sky two."
Twilight trembled. That... idiot! I should have known she'd mess up somewhere! "You rained on my cumulus," she said weakly, removing another piece from the board. "So you mean... you really think... it was Fluttershy who sent those crystals?"
L nodded. "It would certainly seem that way. Either she is the second Kira, or she was being manipulated by the second Kira into helping him or her. The fact that she approached you suggests the former. I’m sorry that you had to find out this way. City seven."
"You... you zapped my thunderbolt." That means... you must suspect me. Say it. Why won't you say it? "You mean..."
"Yes. I believe she may have been getting close to you in order to infiltrate this group and gain access to me.” L put on a strange half-smile. “Had she waited a little longer, I might have believed she was attempting to connect with the first Kira. However, there was only a very brief window between the broadcast of Fluttershy’s message and her arrival here, during which Rainbow Dash and Colgate reported no signs of you signalling any secret identity. I am convinced that Spike will uphold this testimony. It is more likely that she learned or surmised that you were part of this investigation, and was clumsily attempting to infiltrate it. She possibly connected you to Spike after he famously recovered the recording crystals yesterday, or perhaps simply assumed you would be involved based on your intelligence and standing. Either way, it’s likely that you were being manipulated.”
Twilight gulped. “Fluttershy wouldn’t do that,” she said quietly, disguising her discomfort as horror of a different kind. “She... she wouldn’t.”
The detective continued talking. "We searched her home last night, but Fluttershy herself was nowhere to be found. Now we know why." L chuckled humorlessly again, not looking up from the board. "Not to worry. Bon Bon and Jazz are waiting on the path leading up to her cottage. Based on the speed at which she left this building, they should be apprehending her as we speak. Cloud nine."
"You're going to... arrest her?"
"Yes. I'm sorry, Twilight. I know this must be painful for you to hear. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you not to come to the base for a few days. No matter how good your intentions, we cannot allow for any conflict of interest to interfere with this investigation. I have made a similar request to Rainbow Dash. Spike, unfortunately, cannot be excluded, as we need him for rapid communication with Canterlot." L finally looked Twilight in the eyes. "Cloud nine."
"You... you got my weather pony." Twilight sat back and stared. "H-how did you do that?"
"Oh, it's easy once you start really learning how to play." L swung herself off her seat and landed on all four hooves. "This was fun, Twilight, despite the circumstances. We should play again sometime." She started to trot away, an unusual lightness in her step. “Please send Spike our way as soon as he wakes up. I’ll expect him before lunch.” Without another word she vanished out the doorway.
Twilight sat. She twitched. Her left ear fluttered rapidly, then stopped. As carefully as if she were holding a hooffull of eggs, she stretched a foreleg across the table and turned L’s Battleskies board towards her. The detective’s final piece, her lightning bolt, was positioned one square above and to the right of the very center. Under Red Feather’s standard formula, assuming the opponent never moved, this would be the absolute last section of the board to be reached.
Twilight blinked. Her legs tensed up with energy. She felt a very strong urge to scream, to run, to rear up and smash that tiny cardboard lightning bolt into powder. Instead she put her face in her hooves and sat, completely and utterly defeated.
---
It took a long time for Sunny Days to wake up.
For a pony accustomed to rising at the crack of dawn, sleeping in so late felt unnatural. But as the first rays of the sun had peered over the tops of the roofs outside and brushed their way over the filly's face, she’d stayed perfectly still. She’d had no reason to set her alarm that morning; the hub station was temporarily closed while Crew Cut arranged repairs to the building, and, everypony suspected, to his damaged ego. Despite her insistence on sleeping in Sunny had found herself automatically rousing, her body insisting that now was the time to get up. In response she’d lain still, her breathing regular as she drifted in and out of consciousness. Without work to motivate her, she felt no compelling reason to get out of bed. She still hadn’t finished the homework Cheerilee had given her, but that could wait. Everything could wait. For once, the sun began its day without her.
Time passed. Sunny Days was marginally aware of her sister Peachy Pie getting up at her usual time, rolling out of the lower bunk on the bed the two sisters shared. Sunny felt her sibling stare up at her for what seemed like several long minutes before silently leaving the room. After that, all was quiet. Hours drifted by in what felt like seconds. Gradually she felt the faint ache in her stomach grow into a roaring hunger, her body loudly protesting at having missed breakfast. Still she did not move. Somehow, finding food didn’t seem all that important.
Nothing seemed all that important any more.
Some time yet later - it was about a quarter to noon, though she had no way of knowing this - the bedroom door opened again. The noise brought Sunny Days back to consciousness, though she kept her eyes closed. She felt herself tensing up, preparing for a verbal lashing from one of her parents for lazing the day away in bed, but none came. Instead the hoofsteps that clopped slowly into the room were softer, lighter, the sound of her little sister. Peachy Pie stood at the bottom of the bed for several seconds before climbing up the ladder separating them. A shadow passed in front of the sun, and Sunny Days cracked one eye open. Her sister's face loomed over her, uncomfortably close. They stayed that way for what seemed a long time.
Finally, Peachy Pie spoke. Her voice was a whisper, and a faint tremor hung on every word. "Why are you still alive?"
Sunny Days opened her eye fully and gaped. She tried to respond but coughed instead, her dry throat catching her words before they could reach her lips. "Uh?" she managed.
"Why are you still alive?" Peachy Pie repeated, a little more forcefully. She climbed fully onto the bunk and sat looking down at her sister, her face showing poorly-hidden sorrow and confusion. She was an inch taller than most fillies her age, almost keeping up with her older sister, so she easily towered over the prone pony. "You were supposed to die. Kira always kills who he wants to kill. Why didn't you die?"
Sunny swallowed painfully and choked out an answer. "I don't know," she wheezed. She tried to think of a guess or an explanation, but her sleep-addled brain couldn’t come up with anything. "I just don't know."
Peachy Pie shook her head. "Why are you alive... when Pineapple is dead?"
"Him?" Sunny Days pushed herself up to her knees, stumbling a little as the sheets fell away from her. "Peachy, he was bad for you. Mom says you're better without him."
"Shut up!" the younger sister snapped, looking away. "Mom never understood. She thought he should have died. She's the one who should have died." The filly's breath quickened and she looked back at her sister, a burning glare now fixed to her face. "You're the one who should have died."
Sunny sniffed and shuffled backwards. "Peachy, don't talk like that," she whimpered.
The younger filly's hoof stomped down onto the mattress beside her. "How did you do it?" she demanded. "Why should you get to live, when Pineapple died?"
The older sister bristled. "Peachy, Pineapple was a bad pony! He hit you!"
"Shut up!" Before she knew what she was doing, Peachy Pie's hoof shot out and slapped her sister across the face. She felt something inside her twinge, but didn't back down. "That never happened! That was just lies! Lies!" The filly's face crinkled, and she started to weep. "Pineapple was perfect! He loved me, and we were happy together! Why did you have to ruin that? Why are you still alive!?"
"But-"
"Shut up! Just... just shut up!" Now fully sobbing, Peachy Pie swung her hooves at her sister again, striking her ineffectually around the head and the shoulders. Sunny fell backwards, more out of surprise and exhaustion than from her little sister's feeble blows, and Peachy Pie leaped on top of her, screeching. "You! Should! Be! Dead!" she screamed, thrashing about with her eyes closed.
By sheer luck a stray hoof struck Sunny Days smartly across the nose, sending a rush of real pain through her and fully waking her up to the situation. She began to struggle as well, raising her forelegs to try to block the smaller filly's wild flailings. "Get off of me!" she cried, giving her sister a frightened shove. The little pony was rolled away, landed sharply on the railing at the edge of the bed, and then tumbled off the bunk to the floor below.
There was a loud thump.
For a second Sunny Days froze, then pushed the last corners of the covers off of her and stuck her head over the edge of the bed. “Peachy, are y-”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Peachy Pie lay sprawled on the floor, bawling. Sunny Days bit her lip and tried to call down again. “Peachy, I’m sorry!”
“I hate you!” the younger filly shouted back, dragging herself onto her hooves. “I h-hate you! Why didn’t you just die?” She turned and sprinted out of the room, still sobbing and noticeably limping on one of her hind legs.
“Sis, wait!” Spurred into action, Sunny Days clambered down the bunk bed’s ladder and chased after her sister. Led on by the sounds of pained wailing, she ran downstairs and did a panicked circuit of the lower rooms before being interrupted by a polite knock at the door.
The sound of the knock made Sunny stop cold. Between home, school and work she’d grown up with a wide variety of knocks, and had learned to recognize what they entailed. Loud knocks were from friends and relatives, ponies who would bring cheer and joy to the room. Even louder knocks came almost exclusively from Crew Cut, either from excitement or anger - and with him, the two were often interchangeable. The best kinds of knocks were the ones that didn't need to be there at all, from ponies who were so close or so eager to share good news that to have to announce their presence would be redundant.
But quiet knocks never brought anything good. A pony who felt the need to knock quietly or politely was one who didn't want to be there, who was afraid, or who brought terrible news. When Grandma Sunshine had died, Mom had knocked quietly on the bedroom door before coming in to tell them. When Peachy Pie had her first fight with Pineapple, she'd knocked quietly on the door when she'd come back home. So as Sunny Days walked in an almost trance-like state to answer this soft, polite tapping at their front door, she was filled with an unnameable, nightmarish sense of dread.
Waiting outside as Sunny cracked the door open were two blue ponies. Both wore somber expressions, though they tried to force friendly smiles as the filly looked up at them. The first, an earth pony with a snowy white mane, had raised her hoof to knock again and lowered it awkwardly. "Sunny Days?" she asked with a faint catch in her voice.
Sunny tried to keep up a calm appearance. "That's me."
The second stranger, a unicorn wearing a pair of thin saddlebags, stepped forward and raised her hoof in greeting. "I'm Colgate," she said in a more confident voice. "This is Locket. We're here representing Ponyville's police agency. If you have the time, is it all right if we talk to you for a minute?"
The filly seemed to relax a little, though she still seemed uncertain. "I saw you on the news yesterday," she said to Colgate. She opened the door fully and tentatively shook the proffered hoof. "Is this... is this about what happened then?"
"Sort of." Colgate looked around. "Is it all right if we step inside?"
"Um..." Sunny Days glanced behind her. Her sister was still wailing somewhere in the background, but she was nowhere to be seen. "I guess."
The two blue ponies entered. Locket took a long look around. The home was fairly large by Ponyville standards, and well-furnished. Paintings hung on nearly every wall, and the furniture was primarily made from polished oak. It was to be expected, she supposed; the adults of the family were both experts in their fields, and their children had landed high-paying jobs before they were out of elementary school. The sight filled her with a familiar sense of frustration that she tried to suppress. "Where are your parents?" she asked, snapping a little more than she intended to.
The yellow filly had to stop and think about the answer. "I guess they're at work," she said, shrugging it off. Part of her had expected that they would have stayed to comfort their children after yesterday's events, but they were both notably busy ponies. Besides, after getting jobs of their own she and her sister had often insisted that their parents not treat them like foals.
"Huh," Locket added, but said nothing more. Colgate gave her a sideways glance, but also said nothing.
The trio made their way into the living room and sat down on the plush sofas. All the seats were angled towards an enormous stratoscreen in the corner of the room, so with the filly's permission Colgate magically moved some of the seats around so that they could face each other while they spoke. All the while Locket continued to glance around, seemingly ill at ease. By now both of them could hear Peachy Pie, who, while her sobbing had lessened at the sound of the visitors, was still clearly audible as she wept in a far corner of the house. Colgate cleared her throat. “Is that your sister?” she asked, motioning to the hallway. “Does she want to-”
“She’s fine,” Sunny Days interrupted. “She doesn’t want to talk right now.”
The unicorn frowned. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Colgate looked the filly up and down. She did some mental arithmetic and came up short. She knew that Peachy Pie was barely a year older than the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and Sunny Days just starting her final year of elementary school. They’re so young, she mourned. No girls their age should have to deal with things like this. The strain was certainly showing. Unlike the bubbly, energetic Sunny Days she was used to seeing on the news, this young pony seemed strangely subdued. She sat stiffly, staring down at the table separating them. Colgate nodded slowly and tried to begin. "Sunny-"
"Miss Colgate?" the filly cut in.
"Yes?"
"Why am I still alive?"
In the pause that followed, Colgate shifted and started again. "That's what we're interested in finding out," she said carefully. "Nopony else has been able to escape whatever magic Kira uses. That makes you special. If we can find out what kept you safe, that might give us some important clues to help us catch him."
Sunny Days looked down. "Okay," she said quietly.
"So." Colgate went over her mental checklist of questions. With some suggestions from L she'd managed to put together a fairly comprehensive list of possible causes for the filly's survival. She pulled a notebook and pencil from her saddlebags and levitated them in front of her. "I'm just going to start asking questions. If anything stands out as seeming important or unusual, let me know. Do you think you can do that?"
“Okay.”
“Right.” Colgate cleared her throat and looked down at her notebook. “Have you or anypony you know been having any unusual dreams lately?”
“No.”
In the background, Peachy Pie’s sobbing grew a little louder. Locket’s ear twitched. “On average, how many hours of sleep do you get in a night?” Colgate continued.
“Um... nine.”
Locket’s ear twitched again. Every time the unseen filly made a noise, it would provoke another slight movement from her. Colgate glanced at her but tried to ignore it. “Have you met anypony new or unusual in the past month?”
“I meet a lot of ponies at work.”
“Did any of them stand out to you in any way?”
“No.”
Locket was now audibly grinding her teeth. Colgate looked at her, inwardly considering asking her to step outside. “What does your daily diet consist of?”
“Um... cereal, carrots, leftovers.”
“Have you eaten-”
Peachy Pie coughed loudly. In one quick movement Locket rose up and bared her teeth, glaring in the direction of a filly she couldn’t see. "Will you stop making that noise!" she yelled towards the far corner of the house.
The crying stopped. Locket sat down slowly. Sunny Days stared up at her with a mix of awe and fear. Beside her Colgate closed her eyes and held her breath for several seconds before standing up as well. "It's a nice day out," she announced. "Why don't we go to..." She almost said 'Sugarcube Corner,' but caught herself just in time. "To the park? I think some sunshine would do us all a lot of good."
"Okay," Sunny Days whimpered. She stood up and took a few steps, then stopped. “Um... can Peachy Pie come with us?”
Colgate nodded. “Of course she can, Sunny,” she said, rising to her own hooves. “We’ll be waiting outside. Let us know when you’re ready.” With a pointed look towards Locket, she led the way to the front door while Sunny Days crept quietly in the other direction.
Now that she’d stopped moving, Peachy Pie wasn’t difficult to find. She’d laid herself down in the corner of the kitchen and was weeping silently, her face inches away from the cupboard beside her. Sunny Days approached cautiously and stopped several feet away. “Peachy?” she began. There was no response. “Colgate’s taking me to the park. Do you want to come with us?”
“Go away,” her sister grunted back.
Sunny waited a few seconds more, then turned and trudged back to the front of the house. As she approached the front door, she stopped and listened to the voices coming from outside.
“...the hay was that, Linky?”
“Was what?”
“Was that! You can’t just shout at little girls, especially not now!”
“But-”
“But nothing! Lives are at stake! Don’t you see that?”
There was a sound which, had she been closer, Sunny Days would have recognized as a strangled whimper. “I’m sorry,” the pony who may or may not have been named Locket mumbled. “Sometimes I just get... frustrated...”
Colgate sighed. “Forget it. Let’s just get Sunny to the park and get this over with.”
“We’re taking her to the base?”
“No. Just to the park. She’s been through a lot, and I think she’ll open up more if we take her someplace cheerful.”
The two ponies stopped talking, and Sunny Days decided that she had tarried long enough. She pushed open the door and joined the others, not bothering to fake a smile for them. “I’m ready,” she said flatly.
The journey to the park was uneventful. The streets of Ponyville were almost empty, a common occurrence after a crisis. Colgate kept up her questioning throughout, though she disguised it as conversation. “So, what’s it like being a news anchor?” she asked. “Is it a lot of fun?”
Sunny Days turned slightly to look her way as she walked, but didn’t meet her gaze. “It’s okay.”
Colgate remained unwaveringly chipper. “Do you get to meet a lot of interesting ponies?”
“I guess.”
“What’s the schedule like? It must be hard keeping up with school with such demanding work.”
“It’s all right. Cheerilee sends work home, and Peachy helps me.”
Encouraged, Colgate kept up this line of questioning all the way to the park. There didn’t seem to be any useful information, but the filly became a little more talkative as she delved into the specifics of her daily life. Her mother was a successful photographer, and her father performed a duty at the hospital that few ponies could pronounce, let alone describe. It turned out that it had been Crew Cut who was responsible for getting her and her sister jobs at the news station. The higher-ups had initially rejected them because of their youth and inexperience, but, as the station manager had pointed out, when it came to a year-old technology everypony was inexperienced. Against the advice of his superiors he’d successfully launched both their careers, providing a shooting schedule that allowed them to attend school some afternoons. Combining both work and education left little free time, but the sisters had never thought of it as an issue; they both loved their jobs and considered time at the station as much play as it was work. At least, they had until recently.
To Colgate’s delight, other ponies filled the park as they entered it; a few families were taking advantage of the sunshine and had set up picnic blankets on the nearby hills, and a group of colts were playing a game of hoofball. Better yet, an enterprising pony had set up an ice cream stand in the shade of some trees. “Ice cream!” Colgate declared happily. “I think we could all use that right now. Sunny, what’s your favorite flavor?”
A hint of a smile appeared on the filly’s face, but it almost instantly fell through. “No thank you,” she said, looking away.
Colgate’s expression started to look slightly strained. “You sure?”
“I’m fine.”
“Well, I’m getting something. I love the caramel swirls. Let me know if you change your mind, okay?” The unicorn turned to the other adult pony of the group. “Locket, you want anything?”
“Um... a small vanilla, please,” Locket answered, mostly out of politeness. “In a cup!” she added as Colgate galloped away. She turned to Sunny Days, who was staring at the forest in the distance. “Unicorns sometimes forget we can’t hold cones like they do,” she explained. The filly didn’t look her way. As seconds of silence ticked by Locket’s ears drooped. “Sunny?” she said more quietly. “I’m sorry I shouted at your sister.”
“It’s okay,” the filly muttered back. “Everypony gets mad sometimes.”
“It’s not okay. I’m not okay.” Locket gulped. Her eyes flicked to Colgate; the unicorn was still talking to the ice cream vendor. “See, I haven’t told any of my... of my friends yet, but...” Her ear twitched. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“Listen.” The pair listened. The sound the older pony had heard, though faint, was getting louder. It was a low, drawn-out scraping noise, like a prolonged crunching or grinding, along with a series of rapid thuds like heavy hoofsteps. At the same time, the ground beneath their hooves began to tremble. “Sunny,” Locket said coldly, “get behind me.”
The filly obediently leaped to the mare’s side, though it seemed pointless; the rumbling seemed to come from every direction at once. “What’s happening?” she asked, glancing around rapidly.
“I don’t know,” Locket answered. “Just stick close.” She looked around warily and tensed up her legs, trying to get a feel for the direction of the vibrations. Other ponies in the park were starting to notice. Some of the parents on the hills were beginning to stand up, and the foals in the field had stopped their game and were looking around in confusion, as though waiting for somepony to tell them what to do. The noise grew to the level of a passing heavy cart, then stopped. A hush fell over the park.
It took a few moments for Locket to fully register what happened next. One instant she was standing guard over a frightened filly. The next she was sprawled on the grass with the wind knocked out of her as clods of earth rained down on her from above. She looked up, gasping, as a pair of giant brown hands erupted from the ground, one instantly enveloping the equally stunned Sunny Days, the other pushing downwards to lift the rest of the massive creature up. The earth ripped and tore, leaving no sign of where it ended and the creature began - save for a glowing emerald larger than a pony’s head that seemed to stare menacingly down at Locket as it rose.
Sunny Days finally came to her senses and let out a piercing scream, which seemed to be the signal for everypony else to do the same. Ponies scattered in all directions, leaving their possessions behind. Colgate reappeared beside Locket, having cleared the distance between the ice cream stall and her faster than she would have thought possible. “Go get help,” she hissed at the downed mare as the golem continued to rise. “Get everypony you can. I’ll hold it off.”
“M-Mama Lillywhite used to tell me stories,” the earth pony babbled.
Colgate cursed internally as the golem managed to lift a leg out of the ground, pushing itself fully up onto the surface. This one was a little smaller than the one she’d seen in the Everfree a few nights ago, but aside from the emerald that adorned its face they seemed virtually identical. It’s okay, she tried to reassure herself. I know these things aren't invincible, and they're smart enough to know when they're outmatched. Somepony will raise the alarm soon, and then we'll be able to stop it. I just have to keep it here long enough for enough ponies to arrive. She braced herself as the clay creature shook the last traces of grass off its shoulders and began to move. It tilted its torso to look down at the pair before it, then started to move to the side.
Colgate leaped around Locket as the golem tried to pass by them, keeping herself between it and the distant forest. Whichever way it turned, she moved to follow it, staring it down. "Now hear this," she shouted over Sunny Days' persistent screaming as the golem planted its feet. "My name is Colgate, chief of Ponyville police, and in the name of Celestia I order you to- whuuu!" In one quick motion a three-fingered hand slapped the unicorn in the side, lifting her off her hooves and sending her tumbling across the grass. Without pausing, the golem took long, loping strides across the field, carrying the kidnapped filly towards the forest.
"Colgate!" Locket cried, breaking out of her trance. She scrambled up and rushed over to the downed unicorn in panic. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"Ow." Colgate shook her head and tried to leap to her hooves, only to stumble and land back on the dirt. “Sunny!” she yelled towards the retreating golem, extending a hoof desperately. A scream was the only response.
Locket tried to help the unicorn up. Colgate shrugged her off and pushed herself up, wincing slightly. "I'm fine. It got me by surprise, that's all. It could have hit me a lot harder." She got to her hooves and stared in dismay across the park. Already the golem had almost reached the treeline. "Nothing that big should move that fast," she muttered.
"So what do we do?" Locket couldn't seem to keep still, bouncing from hoof to hoof to alleviate her trembling. "Do we go after it?"
"No." There was a loud crash as the golem reached the Everfree, knocking trees aside to make its way through. Even this noise rapidly faded into the distance. "Last time it took more than fifty ponies to scare one of those things away. By the time we get a big enough group together we'll never be able to catch up. It looks like it should be easy to track, though." She frowned and looked towards a certain grove of trees. "We need to inform L."
"What about the Mayor?"
"The other ponies will be doing that already. We have to let L know what's happened. If anypony will have a plan to get Sunny Days back, it's her." Still shaking, Locket nodded. Together they turned and galloped towards the hidden trapdoor.
Two minutes later Rainbow Dash arrived, but by then the park was empty.
---
Words started to spill out of Locket as soon as she entered the base. "Sunny Days was just foalnapped by a golem!" she yelled across the central chamber.
Spike and Derpy were the only ones to react to this news. They rushed over to the blue duo, leaving L going over a sheet of statistics on her own. Jazz stood in his usual spot by the abacus with a bemused expression, and Bon Bon was nowhere to be seen. "A golem?" Derpy gasped, fluttering over Locket. "A scary one?"
"Huge and scary!" the earth pony confirmed, nodding her head with her eyes wide. "It tunneled right through the ground and came up beneath us! Then it grabbed Sunny and it ran away before we could stop it!"
Spike gasped. "So that's what that noise was!" he exclaimed. "The whole base was shaking so hard, I thought the place was going to fall apart!"
"It's all right," Colgate said. "Nopony was hurt, and it's only got a few minutes head start on us. If we work quickly, we can get Sunny Days back." She turned to the far table. "Right, L?"
L looked down. She shuffled around some of the pages in front of her, sighing. "I was afraid of this," she said. "Sunny Days not only survived after the second Kira predicted her death, but did so during a widely covered media event. It makes sense that groups other than our own would want to know how she managed to escape Kira's curse." She looked up towards Colgate. "She was taken by a golem, you say?"
“Yes. It vanished into the Everfree Forest. I’m guessing that’s where it came from, as well.”
“What did it look like?” Derpy asked, her eyes wide with fear and wonder.
"Huge!" Locket yelled. She waved her front hooves in the air for emphasis. "It was big and brown and had arms and hands and a big green eye!"
"Emerald," Colgate corrected.
"It's an eye," Locket insisted in the same frantic tone. "It's an eye and a heart and a dream all in one. Mama Lillywhite used to tell me stories..."
Colgate looked at her. "You know the stories of the golems?" she asked. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"Of course I know them!" Locket snapped. "The legend of the Earthen King and his dolls of clay and stone. I thought every foal knew them!" She looked around at the others. They were all giving her blank or confused expressions. "Just earth ponies, huh?"
"I know them," L said. "When I was younger, Bon Bon used to tell me old legends to help me sleep." She motioned again to Colgate. "At any rate, were you able to get any information out of Sunny Days before she was carried off?"
"Well... I... no," Colgate stammered. She felt around in her saddlebags and produced her notebook. "She claimed she didn't know how she'd survived. I took some notes about her recent life and schedule, but nothing stood out as being unusual." For a second a doubting fear gripped her. "Why do you need to know now? We can find out more when we get her back. We're going after her, right?"
"No. We are not." L turned back to her papers. "Going after the filly would be a waste of time and energy. For now, we should devote our efforts to seeking Kira directly."
Colgate's heart seemed to stop. The others fell silent behind her. "How can you say that?" she breathed. "How can you just write her off like that?"
"I am not writing her off, Colgate," L said, continuing to scan the documents in front of her. "I am simply being realistic. An individual or organization with the power to create or resurrect golems is one that we do not have the time or the resources to go after. They are no doubt more powerful and well-prepared than we are, and their intentions are more than likely less noble than our own."
"Then that's all the more reason we should go after them!" Colgate shouted. "If they're really all that great and terrible, how can you live with letting an innocent filly fall into their hooves?"
Derpy rubbed her hooves together anxiously. "You shouldn't fight," she said, but the unicorns ignored her.
L sighed again. "Colgate, as I'm sure I've explained before, this is not simply a matter of us and them. There are other forces at play."
"Like what?" Colgate snarled. "Like Kira? Like your precious game?" She advanced on the table and glared up at L, who was still looking over the lists of times and notes. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Colgate screeched. She reared up and kicked over the table, sending papers flying. “Is this all that matters to you? Catching Kira? No matter how many lives you ruin, no matter how many ponies you hurt in the process?” She trembled furiously. “Tell me, greatest detective who ever lived, do all of your cases end with a trail of bodies?”
L rubbed her forehead. For the first time since Colgate had known her, a hint of frustration appeared on her face. “Colgate, think,” the detective said. “We are an investigative team, not a tactical squad. The Princesses know this. News of Sunny Days’ capture will soon reach them, and when it does, they will assemble a team of guards to go after her. There is no need for us to risk our lives in such an endeavor when a larger, better trained and better equipped team will soon be making that journey in our stead. Do you understand now?”
Colgate backed away. Her face fell as the reality of the detective’s words sank in, her anger deepening to a dark weight in the pit of her stomach. Of course there would be other ponies more qualified to look for Sunny Days; it didn’t make sense for their tiny group to be responsible for every bad thing to happen in Ponyville. Feeling the stares of the others boring into her back, Colgate suddenly felt very, very foolish. “I-I’m sorry,” she stammered. L looked on impassively. The policemare gulped. She magically righted the table and picked up as many fallen pages as she could, laying them down in no particular order. “What were you reading?” she asked, eager to change the subject.
“Notes on our current suspect. Speaking of which, now seems an appropriate moment to check on her.” L wheeled herself over to the nearby desk and pushed one of the buttons on a microphone set up in front of a screen. “Sideline, have you completed your examination?”
A voice crackled back. “I have.” The screen flickered to life, and Colgate had the rare experience of feeling her heart stop twice in as many minutes.
In a room with padded walls somewhere within the base, Fluttershy had been tied down to a chair. Thick clasps secured her legs in a sitting position, and her wings were bound to her sides. Even now she struggled faintly against her bonds, but it was clear that she was completely immobilized. A heavy black mask had been tied over her head, covering her eyes but leaving her mouth and nose free. This camera showed her from the front, but within the frame bright lights and other cameras could be seen pointing at her from all directions. Bon Bon was partly visible in the corner of the screen, disguised by her black Sideline cloak. “For the most part she is healthy,” the mare said, apparently speaking into another microphone. “However, I have made some unusual observations.”
“Continue,” L instructed. The others gathered behind L and watched the screen, minus Colgate, who stood where she was with her mouth hanging open.
“Fluttershy’s jaw has been broken recently,” Bon Bon reported. “Not badly, and most likely sometime in the past couple of days. It was patched up with magic soon afterwards, so I can’t say exactly when or how it happened. The internal casting is obviously amateur, but it’s good enough to cover up the injury until it heals properly. She’s also a little sore in the joints of one of her wings, but she’s trying not to show it.”
“Was she attacked?”
“Hard to say. There’s nothing on her hooves or teeth to indicate that she’s been fighting.” Bon Bon looked back and forth before continuing. “There’s one more thing, but... it might be just me.”
Needlessly, L nodded. “What is it?”
“Well... I can’t be sure, but...” The disguised mare’s voice dropped to a whisper. “The air in here feels a little colder than it should be.”
For some reason, it was this sentence that snapped Colgate out of her stupor. She blinked several times and stomped up to L, pushing the others aside. She reached past the detective and shut the microphone off. “L, what is this?” she hissed, gesturing at the screen. “What... what the hay is this?”
L gave her a sideways glance. “This morning you approved the motion to apprehend Fluttershy.”
“To question her, not to tie her up!”
“Precautions. The evidence we gathered in the packages and at the cottage strongly links Fluttershy to the second Kira. Having shown none of the subtlety or self-restraint of the the first, it is likely that when cornered she will begin to use her powers indiscriminately. Without knowing how it is that she attacks her victims, we can’t allow her any degree of freedom or countless lives may be at risk.”
Colgate stared at the trapped pegasus. Though she wasn’t in any pain, Fluttershy’s face was twisted in a mask of terror, and tiny mewls of fear could be heard through the screen. The unicorn swallowed and turned to face the others in the room. “You... you can’t tell me you agree with this,” she said desperately.
There was a mass shuffling of hooves and feet. Spike answered first. “I was against it at first,” he admitted. “But... L’s right. The evidence against her is really strong, and if she really is the second Kira, then we can’t take any chances.”
“But what if she’s not?” Colgate argued, feeling the situation slipping away from her. “Come on, you guys! This is Fluttershy! Do you really think she’s capable of murder?”
Locket nodded. “I’ve seen her when she’s angry. I don’t think there’s anything she isn’t capable of.”
"But... but..." Colgate gestured to the screen again. "But her eyes are covered! She's tied up! That's not safety, that's torture! What level of danger could justify this?"
Surprisingly, it was Derpy who spoke next. "I saw Fluttershy stare at a bullfrog once," she said. "It was scary. I don't want her to stare at me." The pegasus shuddered and looked down.
L put a hoof on Colgate's shoulder. "My dear Colgate, we've already had this debate several times over in your absence. I've already had to convince Spike and Derpy that this was the correct course of action. Believe me, it's for the best. Besides... there are worse places for her to have ended up." The detective looked away. “Believe me, I know.”
Colgate couldn’t muster the energy to puzzle that statement out. She turned to her friends and looked from face to face. There was no anger anywhere, only concern. Nopony was happy about this. Suddenly she'd found herself on the losing side of a battle with no one to argue against. She reached for a chair and pulled herself into it, hanging her head in frustration. "I think I need a lie down. Or a drink." This train of thought seemed to distract her for a moment, leading to her blushing. "On second thought, just a lie down."
"In a minute," L soothed. "There's something I want you to be here for." She turned back to the microphone and turned it back on, flipping another switch as she did so. "Fluttershy," she said. This time her artificial voice could be heard filling up the chamber where Fluttershy was held, echoing eerily through the screen. "Can you hear me?"
Fluttershy didn't respond. She did, however, twist her head as far as she could to the side and struggled harder against her bonds. L seemed to take this as an answer in the positive. "Fluttershy, do you know why you are here?"
Abruptly, the pegasus seemed to run out of energy. She went limp and hung her head, breathing heavily. She sniffed sharply and let out a tiny sob, then whispered two words too quiet to be caught by the camera.
"Fluttershy," L repeated herself. "Do you know why you have been brought here?"
Fluttershy raised her head a little. She spoke the words again, a little louder. Everypony craned forward to hear what she said.
"Kill me."
L frowned. "Fluttershy, you are not in any danger. We are only interested in answers."
"Kill me."
"Fluttershy, who was it who broke-"
"Please, kill me!" Fluttershy shouted.
"-your jaw?" L finished. She sat back, staring at the screen with an unreadable expression.
"Why won't you do it?" the pegasus continued, her voice growing steadily louder. Her neck twisted back and forth in its bindings, as though she was looking for something. "I know you can do it! Please, I'm begging you, you have to kill me before... before I..." She stopped. Her throat clenched, letting out small squeaks of terror. "Please," she whispered. Tears started to leak out from around the edges of the mask. "Please."
A few seconds passed. L reached for her microphone again. Just as she touched it, however, Fluttershy started to wail. Her deafening cries filled the room, far louder than L's synthetic voice. The detective pressed a different button on the microphone and lowered the volume on the screen. "That will be all, Sideline," she said. "You may leave miss Fluttershy alone."
"Very well, L," a voice came back. The black figure vanished from the corner of the screen, and amongst the continuing howls there was the sound of a heavy door opening and closing.
Derpy brushed away the tears building up at the corners of her own eyes. "That was awful," she said. Abruptly she turned and wrapped her forelegs around Locket, who awkwardly tried to return the hug. Spike looked at them with a degree of envy, inwardly insisting that he didn't need a hug himself.
L nodded. "Awful but informative. Something we will all have to get used to in the coming days." She turned away from the screen and looked over her disturbed and trembling force. "Brace yourselves, my little ponies," she said. "It's only going to get harder from here."
---
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I was faced with one of the many ways that loss can affect a friendship. Losing two of my best friends so suddenly and so painfully has changed all of my existing relationships in ways that would take a lifetime to number. But despite the sadness, I’ve found there are still ways to make some good out of what’s happened. When somepony loses a close friend, it makes them value their remaining friendships all the more closely. Realizing that our friends might not always be there for us helps us treasure the moments we do have together, and brings us closer than we’ve ever been. But even so, this closeness comes at the cost of fear. Growing tighter to my friends has made me all the more terrified of losing those connections for good, one way or another. If another of my friends were to be taken away from me for any reason right now, I don’t think that I would be able to stand it.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.
Next episode: Paperwork!