Chapter Seventy Three
Chapter Seventy Three
"Murdered? You are... you are most certain of this fact?" Luna finally managed to ask. The idea of such an act occurring within the palace, was just too unexpected to be immediately comprehended. It was just so... wrong, and in so many ways; on so many levels, as some would say.
"Absolutely certain, Your Majesty," the guard replied. There was simply no way of mistaking what they'd discovered when performing their morning duty rounds; not with the evidence that was at the scene. Matters like this were one of the things they were trained to deal with, and to recognize, should such a situation ever arise.
"Sister..." Luna spoke slowly as she turned to face Celestia, slowly pushing herself up from the table. "How... how exactly do we proceed in this? I do not know what we are to do," she pointed out. Being banished for a thousand years would leave anypony woefully out of date on what proper procedure was for being alerted to a murder taking place within the palace. And especially herself, as it was one area in which she hadn't yet thought to refamiliarize herself with; at least not yet anyway.
She'd been far more focused on everything else that was far more commonplace. And now, as Ulquiorra Cifer might say, her shortsightedness was coming back to bite her square in the ass.
"The first order of business is alerting all of the guards of this development, and implementing lock down procedures for the entire palace," Celestia stated. If the murderer was still present on palace grounds, she didn't want them having the chance at escaping. The gates that lead to the outside of the palace walls would be immediately shut. Anyone found outside in the courtyard would be brought back inside the palace immediately. All doors and windows were to be sealed, with force fields put into place in front of, and behind them, and the anti-teleportation charms weaved throughout and into the construction of the palace would be activated. No individuals would be allowed inside or outside, until this matter had been resolved. That was the procedure that had been put into place long ago, just in case such a situation were ever to occur.
There was an old saying that those who extensively prepared for an eventuality occurring, would never have to face that eventuality. So either the saying was wrong, or they simply hadn't prepared extensively enough.
"Have the crime scene secured, don't let anyone disturb it. Meanwhile I'll send out word for the coroner to come to the palace immediately. We'll need to corroborate not only the method of death, but also the time of death, so we can begin determining who might be responsible for this act, and eliminating them from the list of possible suspects, in order to better focus on the others," she continued.
"What of Ulquiorra Cifer? Would he be of any benefit in this matter?" Luna asked.
Celestia paused momentarily, thinking over the question, and wondering if there were any talents Ulquiorra possessed, that might somehow make him useful in this matter. The answer to that question came not long after she started thinking over it, and remembering what she'd experienced.
"Yes, I believe he would be," she replied, before turning back to face the guard, still standing in his original position as he awaited further instruction. "Make sure the guards understand that their orders to secure the palace, don't include barring the coroner from entry. And once he's here, have Ulquiorra found, brief him, and have him report to the dungeons for further instructions. I want them both present before we proceed too far on this matter, and potentially miss something vital," she explained.
"At once, Your Majesty," the guard saluted, before turning around, and quickly taking his leave from the dining hall, leaving the two standing in silence.
"Sister? May I... may I be absent from this investigation?" Luna asked hesitantly.
There were a lot of things that had Celestia's mind going right now, and all of them needing to be balanced against others, when it came to ranking their importance. But right now she was struck with a great deal of curiosity by Luna's question. Usually she was seeking inclusion into matters that amounted to royal duties. So why now was she seeking exclusion? This was hardly the first dead body they'd ever had to deal with in their time, so surely that couldn't be it.
Before she could ask about what reasons Luna might have for asking to be excused, her sister was already talking again.
"There is something not right about all this. The timing is... it feels wrong. I wish to ensure Rainbow Dash's safety, until we have a better grasp of understanding on what the situation entails," she explained.
Celestia would admit, she hadn't considered that as being a possibility. But now that the information had been put out there, she had no way of thinking otherwise.
"A wise idea," she replied. If Thrush's death was truly a murder, and had occurred while he was in custody -their custody no less- then it was a distinct -but remote- possibility that their guards would be inadequate at opposing whatever had been responsible.
But then again that would hardly be surprising to her, given the facts of the matter. What most ponies failed to realize, was the fact that their guards weren't necessarily meant to provide them with security, but rather to everypony else within the palace; and even then, only against mortal-type threats. Their purpose was to safeguard what amounted to the upkeep involved in managing the daily goings on in the palace, and maintain the infrastructure. They were there for petitioners, and visiting dignitaries from foreign lands, who might realistically be targets for either assassination, or foalnapping.
And if this was something that could bypass them, then stronger countermeasures would to be involved to address such facts.
"Very well then. You tend to Rainbow Dash, I'll tend to the rest," she stated. She then watched as Luna nodded, before levitating her plate of waffles -and a good portion of the rest of her present breakfast- up from the tables, and hastily took her leave. Why the breakfast, she didn't understand. But she'd ask for clarification later on, when they weren't facing a potential crisis.
As extensive as the palace library proved itself to be, there was an undeniable fact that Ulquiorra had to face; there were no books that detailed -or for that matter, even referenced- the phenomenon known as Spontaneous Unicorn Disintegration. Or at the very least, there were none mentioned in the library's index.
He had been meticulous in picking through each and every one of the index cards that were present, reading over each of them to try and find anything that might lead him to the new wave of answers he was looking for. But for his investment of time and effort, he'd been met with no return at all.
This turn of events lead him to two possibilities for explanation of this development. The first -and the simplest- theory was that Spontaneous Unicorn Disintegration was a relatively new term, and the assembled records hadn't been updated to take such facts into account. It was entirely possible that the information he was looking for was indeed present, but simply under a name -or even categorization- that he wasn't readily familiar with.
The second theory was that the term under which it was categorized was irrelevant, and the information was truly here, but it was all held in the restricted section that he had no access to; not even the table of contents as to what was held there. This theory was equally possible, and made about as much sense, if not even more so to him. He could realistically see this information being withheld from the general public, considering the potential panic and fallout that might be had if it were disseminated amongst the general populace. Approximately one third of the population was of unicorn heritage, give or take. Considering the fact that each of them had the potential of experiencing a Chernobyl-type incident at any given time, it would make sense to restrict that information. If it ever got out, unicorns would most likely be ostracized for fear of decimating any towns they tried to move to. It could quite possibly even lead to a civil war between the three tribes; just as had been experienced prior to the formation of Equestria. And that would -supposedly- just open a much bigger can of worms, if their history was to actually be believed.
These ponies were easily frightened. There was no way of getting around that fact. Fear was a primary -if not the primary- response they had to the unfamiliar. And the amount of fear that would be experienced if they were to learn about these facts would be significant, regardless of how unlikely a disintegration was to occur.
Those thoughts were all focused on the perspective of the outside ponies, however. He didn't even know where to begin his speculation when it came to the unicorns themselves, who were -most likely- blissfully ignorant of such facts, and possessing no knowledge of the fact that they could die at any moment through incontinence of their own cores.
Between the two theories, he suspected it was the second one that was currently in play here. That would make far more sense to him, than the notion of the term simply changing without notice, or documentation, and all without it being contained in the royal archives. He knew that bureaucracy didn't always run smoothly, and that paperwork had a habit of getting lost at the most inopportune times. But he just couldn't see that feasibly occurring under these circumstances; not with everything that could be at stake.
There was also a third theory as to why there was a lack of records. It was entirely possible that, if a number of specific circumstances were met, that S.U.D-type events weren't widely known about, and regarded as more a matter of junk science than anything else. It would certainly require a lot of specific circumstances to be met, and in a specific order, but it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities for this world, if a high-level cover up of the facts was being orchestrated by the diarchy.
Princess Celestia had spoken about how speculation and theories regarding the phenomenon were numerous. Taken at face value, that would suggest knowledge of the phenomenon was fairly widespread. But she had never specifically stated just who was speculating and theorizing on the matter, leaving it open for interpretation. Perhaps the speculation was on the part of various doctors, scientists, and other high-ranking officials who were aware of what was being faced, and trying to come up with working solutions. However that would be more closely related to the second theory than the third.
Back to the third possible theory. As he had considered last night, remote location might be a determining factor as to how the phenomenon might not be widely known about. Far out of the sight of others, in a world filled with other -and more well known- dangers, any pony that went missing could be explained away as victim of a manticore, cockatrice, or any number of other wild animals. It was an explanation that was quick, simple, and certainly wouldn't be questioned if there was a lack of physical remains that could be readily identified. And those that succumbed to slow burn disintegration could be written off as victims of a forest fire, or any number of other natural disasters, considering what damage was known to occur to the area.
Perhaps his investigation into the matter would yield better results, if he expanded his search query to include industrial accidents, forest fires, lightning strikes, meteorite impacts, and various other natural events that might theoretically explain the damage that could occur in a populated area.
But whatever the reason behind it all was, he was still out the hours of time he'd invested into looking for answers, and was no closer to having them. He was beginning to suspect that if he wanted to know anything of significance, and not engage in countless hours of unguided speculation of his own, he would have to ask Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, to brief him on everything they knew about the phenomenon. Whether or not they actually saw fit to tell him the whole truth on the matter would be another story. But it was another story that would be best reserved for another time, when they weren't facing an ongoing crisis of their own. The subject of Spontaneous Unicorn Disintegration was better suited for when they weren't facing the threat of an unidentified entity trying to conquer -or otherwise outright destroy- all of Equestria.
"What is it?"
The guard that had entered the library, and had been in the process of approaching him, had audibly faltered at suddenly being addressed, despite the fact he hadn't been seen. These ponies never seemed to learn that he didn't need to see -or even hear- them, to be aware of their presence, as well as their location to his general vicinity.
"Um... Her Majesty requires your presence in the dungeon, sir, she says it's urgent," the guard replied.
"What exactly does this matter pertain to?" Ulquiorra asked as he turned to face the guard. Saying that something was urgent, did nothing to clarify any of the relevant details that would be needed for making a proper determination of facts.
The guard paused, uncertain of just how to respond. His instructions had been to bring Ulquiorra to the dungeons; not to brief him on what had been unfolding. But right now he really doubted that simply reinforcing how the matter was urgent, would do anything to hurry him along. This was likely one of those infamous "need to know" type of situations.
"... Thrush was found dead in his cell this morning, sir, he was murdered," he explained, doing his best to keep from growing anxious by the delays that were being experienced.
Well now... that was an interesting turn of events, Ulquiorra noted. He certainly hadn't seen this development occurring.
"She said it's urgent that you be there," the guard stressed.
"And how is my presence beneficial in this case?" Ulquiorra asked, curious as to how exactly he was expected to help in this endeavor.
"Oh, would you just come on already!?" the guard yelled, finally losing what little patience he had left after everything that had happened up to this point. It'd already been a hard enough morning as it was, without playing twenty questions. He was the one who'd discovered the murder, he was the one who had to go and alert the other guards to initiate emergency lock down procedures, he was the one who had to hunt down the Espada himself -because nopony had thought to tell him just where the biped was- and he was the one who would be dealing with the largest share of paperwork at the end of the day. And on top of all that, it wasn't even close to the noon hour yet! He didn't need the pale biped quizzing him right now. "Her Majesty said to bring you to the dungeons, now move your flank!" he barked.
Ulquiorra was... caught off guard by that outburst. He really hadn't been expecting one of these ponies to actually have the backbone to stand up to him like that. But unexpected or not, it had indeed happened. He'd attribute it to being a sign that the matter was being treated with the seriousness that it actually deserved.
"Very well then..."
Blood. Urine. Excrement.
These were the three scents that were still hanging heavily in the air, by the time Ulquiorra had made his way to the dungeon cells. And although it wasn't as readily detectable as the others, he was still aware of a somewhat minty smell being in the background, as he entered the hallway that lead to Thrush's cell. If he were to hazard a guess, he would speculate that it was whatever the coroner on duty -based on the reiatsu pattern he was detecting, it was the same coroner who had been tasked with the autopsy of Chrysalis- would use to shield his nostrils from the odors related to death.
And as he approached the others that were assembled at the end of the hallway, and talking amongst themselves outside of the open cell, he would speculate that Princess Celestia, and the two present guards, had all partaken of the same odor guard to shield themselves from the foul air, as the dungeons positively reeked! He wasn't exactly vulnerable to bad smells -he'd strolled right through a dragon's sulfur breath without even batting an eye- but that didn't mean he was incapable of smelling.
Smell or no smell, however, there were more important things to address right now; like how exactly his presence was supposed to be beneficial here, seeing as the coroner was already present.
"Your Majesty!" the guard behind him announced as they approached, bringing Princess Celestia's attention -and the attention of the others- to their current position. "As you ordered, I've found him," he stated and saluted.
"Thank you, guard, that will be all," Celestia replied and nodded, before shifting her focus to Ulquiorra.
"What happened?"
However he still managed to get the first word in. Oh well, there were more important matters to deal with right now.
"That's exactly what we're attempting to piece together right now," she stated. Although truthfully, they hadn't even gotten started on the determining part just yet, as they'd been waiting for Ulquiorra to arrive. But now that he was here, maybe they could actually get somewhere. "You remember Doctor Challons, correct? I'd like you to work with him on this case," she explained and gestured to the unicorn at her side with her wing.
"With all due respect to you, and your rule, Your Highness," Challons paused and looked at Ulquiorra for a moment, remembering the last time they'd met. He had a tendency to be very accurate, but very blunt in his manner of speaking. He could be quite off-putting to experience, when it came to the art of telling an informative story. But he wouldn't hold it against him... assuming it was a him to even begin with. "I'm not certain how... this individual... could be beneficial to the investigation."
Ulquiorra considered what -if any- response would be appropriate to give. If he were petty and vindictive, he could point out how he'd experienced far more death than the coroner would've ever dared to dream of. Or he could even explain how he could still detect the traces of reiatsu from whichever pegasus pony he'd been with last night; especially since it was a reiatsu texture he remembered encountering at least once before. But he'd rather not exercise crudeness under these circumstances, even if it would get the point across. Something simpler would be far more appropriate.
"Your skills will tell us the how, and the when, of Doctor Thrush's death. My skills will tell us the who. Putting them together will tell us what we need to know," he stated simply. With the magic-negating nature of the dungeon cells being a constant in the equation, ranged attacks would be an impossibility. And considering the positioning of the body in relation to the bars, the murder most likely had to occur within the cell itself, which meant a key -or a lockpick- had to be involved; meaning a breech in security had occurred somewhere, and would need to be addressed. This also meant that whoever the murderer was, would have left reiatsu traces all over the body. Which in turn meant that the murderer would still possess traces of Doctor Thrush's reiatsu on their own body, and that would be impossible to hide.
And then there was a previous thought that bore mentioning.
"There's also the fact that the medical skills you possess, that are contingent upon your magical aptitude, will be moot once you enter the cell. You'll need assistance in handling your instruments," he pointed out.
"... That's a fair point," Challons admitted, having not factored in that possibility. He'd question the whole "my skills will tell us the who" later on. Right now there were other matters worth addressing. "To work then, I guess."
Telekinesis, despite what many thought, was more of an art, than anything resembling a hard science. Simply because one levitated an object didn't mean it remained perfectly static in place where it was lifted. Rather, its position tended to fluctuate, and sometimes needed to be corrected, and maintained actively; meaning it wasn't something to engage in absentmindedly. So walking down the hallway towards Rainbow Dash's quarters, without clattering from all the dishes in tow, wasn't the easiest thing to do. But she managed regardless, with some conscious effort, and stopped at the doorway.
Last night's conversation had hurt. And even after everything that'd happened since last night, it still hurt to think of just how poor of a friend she was. Rainbow Dash had every reason to be angry with her, and she had no presentable defense to turn to. The only hope she had right now, was that she could somehow apologize enough for what was said, that it would ease what her friend was experiencing because of her poorly chosen words.
Stopping at the doorway, and returning the salute given to her by the guards of her sister's division, she listened and heard the sound of continuous grunting coming from inside the room. Stepping over quietly, she peered in, and saw that Rainbow Dash was currently awake, and doing her best to engage in a series of wingtip push ups. but while she was certainly doing her best at them, Luna could tell that she was struggling to not collapse under her own weight. She could only assume it was a side effect of not having flown in some time, what with the numerous restrictions in place during the watch.
And then she did collapse against the floor, her wings slipping out from underneath her, before she could get her forelegs out and catch herself.
"Fuck..."
To Luna, now seemed like the opportune time to make her presence known, seeing as Rainbow Dash couldn't slip and fall a second time while she was still on the ground.
"Good morning, Rainbow Dash," she announced as she stepped into the room, the dishes trailing behind her as she worked to avoid letting them collide with the doorway.
Rainbow Dash turned her head to look at her, as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. And as she did, she frowned in discontent.
"What do you want?" she asked simply.
"I have come to apologize for last night," Luna explained. Rainbow Dash said nothing, and simply continued to frown at her. "And... to bring you breakfast," she continued as she started bringing the dishes forward.
"One more. I swear, if I see so much as one more bowl of oatmeal, I'm gonna-"
Rainbow Dash's statement, however, was interrupted as Luna levitated the plate into her view, revealing a stack of golden brown waffles. Immediately all protest died down, as the steam and aroma rose up to be inhaled. The scene before her was soon enhanced by the inclusion of bowls holding assorted fruits, such as blueberries and strawberries, a small pitcher of syrup, a plate of butter, and even a bowl containing... Rainbow Dash had to stop and rub her eyes in disbelief. Sitting right there in the last bowl was actually whipped cream. There was even a complete set of cutlery wrapped daintily in a cloth napkin, all laid out before her.
Actual metal cutlery. She hadn't seen anything besides a dull wooden spoon in so long when it came to food. This was really hard to believe.
"I am not foalish enough to believe that this absolves me of my wrongdoings last night. That, I am afraid, will require far more effort on my part. That is, if you will allow me the opportunity to try," Luna explained as best she could, hoping the gesture wouldn't be rejected outright due to anger. She knew well about Rainbow Dash's reluctance to eat certain meals that were served, and the toll it was taking on her in the process. She could hear when her stomach growled in protest at remaining empty. Hopefully the promise of something different -even if it was less nutritious than what she needed right now- would do the trick.
"... I'm listening," Rainbow Dash eventually stated, in the process of trying to be subtle as she gripped her abdomen, also in the process of trying to subdue the growling that was coming from her stomach, and its position on the matter.
"That is all that I ask. I just wish what I had to say, would sound more eloquent than it likely will," Luna replied, before sitting down on her haunches before her. Had she been in a better state of mind, she would've had time to rehearse this in her head a few times, and refine it greatly. Instead she was going to have to wing it, and hope for best results. "The truth of the matter, however, is that words utterly fail me at the moment. I simply do not know just what is appropriate to say on the matter," she stated.
Across the small distance, on the other side of the room, Rainbow Dash eyed her skeptically, one eyebrow partially cocked, and not saying a word. And it was that silence, that Luna found to be most unnerving. She'd been fully prepared for a response of some sort, even if it was nothing but angered yelling over the lack of an answer. But this... this was much worse than any hurtful statement that could be made to her.
"Rainbow Dash, please... say something, anything," she pleaded, her voice starting to take on a desperate tone. "I cannot take the silence. I feel like I am staring into the eyes of a sphinx right now. Yell at me if you wish, just... just please say something already!"
Despite the plea, Rainbow Dash continued to maintain her silence on the matter, not speaking up one way or the other on all of it. And for Luna, that was just making it all the worse.
"So you can't tell me why you said that? Why you made it sound like it's my fault I'm like this?" Rainbow Dash finally asked her, her tone of voice not entirely neutral as she spoke up.
"I cannot," Luna admitted and shook her head, before turning her gaze forward again. "But it was certainly not what was meant. It was... it was a miscommunication on my part. And while I can make no guarantees about future behavior, I will certainly make every attempt to not do the same in the future."
"... Okay," Rainbow Dash eventually replied and shrugged. "That's good enough for me."
Luna blinked in response, caught off guard by the sudden acceptance. She'd been anticipating something much more involved than just that. She'd been figuring on the need to grovel at Rainbow Dash's hooves. So it went without saying that she was left confused about this development.
"Just... just like that?" she asked, wondering if it might've been a trick of some sort. Maybe this was Discord in disguise?
"Just like that," Rainbow Dash repeated. "Being mad at you and everypony else isn't gonna get me any better, any quicker. All it's doing is turning me into a... a..." she paused, trying to think of what the appropriate word was to describe just what she saw herself being.
"An asshole?" Luna offered up. However she was met with a blink, and a blank stare in response.
"What's an asshole?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"If I remember the explanation correctly, it's a term from Ulquiorra Cifer's world used to describe a highly unpleasant, or otherwise annoying, individual," Luna explained as best she could. She'd forgotten that not everypony was as well-versed in the Espada's native terminology as she and Twilight Sparkle were. But then again, not everypony was a linguist either.
That reminded her, she needed to get back on that list she was compiling.
"It is... also used to refer to a specific part of the anatomy located just below the tail..." she continued. Although she hoped the honesty wouldn't come back and bite her when the two were put together.
"Oh..." Rainbow Dash eventually replied, before giving a nod of understanding. "Yeah, that sounds about right for me."
Silence soon overtook the room, neither one of them certain of what to say at this point. And it didn't take long for the silence to soon grow uncomfortable between them, as they each began to find something about the floor that was positively intriguing.
"I'm sorry..."
That was, until Rainbow Dash finally decided to go ahead, and break the silence herself. Luna looked up from the floor, and saw the gesture was slowly being returned.
"About last night. I never should've snapped at you like that, you were just trying to help me out. And what did I do? I was terrible for no good reason. That needs to stop; that and a whole lot more. Big time," Rainbow Dash stated. She knew that things had to change, she just didn't know how to go about doing that yet.
"... May I inquire as to what brought this about?" Luna asked, tilting her head to one side in the process, trying to figure out what had caused this sudden change in demeanor to occur.
"Let's just say that last night, I got some advice from someone, and after mulling it over for a long while -and cursing out their very existence- it started to make some sense. Things need to change if I'm ever gonna get back to my old self," Rainbow Dash explained, keeping the details of it all simple. She really didn't want to go into what happened with Ulquiorra last night, and for so many reasons. But chiefly it was because she didn't know just what to say about it all. She was confused and conflicted right now. "I just... don't know how to do that..." she admitted.
"That is why you have friends helping you on this matter, Rainbow Dash. If the task is too difficult to face on your own, then they will step in to help you however necessary," Luna replied. Although at the moment, she really wasn't sure how much good she could be in this situation. Simply because she was Rainbow Dash's friend, didn't mean that she would be of any use here. All she could do right now was try her best, for better or worse.
"Yeah. About that..." Rainbow Dash started slowly, before turning her gaze back to Luna to look her in the face. "I know that I've probably got no business doing it, especially not right now, but could I ask you a favor? Sort of a big one?"
"That may depend? How big are we talking?" Luna asked, curious at the turn this had taken. From where she was sitting, Rainbow Dash was looking nervous, and that left her seriously confused. What was it about this question, that was having such a drastic effect on the pegasus?
"I... I wanna go back to Ponyville. To see the others. I... I need to know if I can do it, if I can look at them, and think about them, without getting so angry that I just wanna kill them. I-" Rainbow Dash stopped talking, trying to not let herself lose control. She could already feel herself getting riled up, just by entertaining the thought about returning to Ponyville. And if she kept talking about it, she didn't know what the results were going to be. So instead she had to stay focused on a specific goal, and not get distracted by other matters.
"You indeed ask a favor of significant size," Luna replied slowly, utterly surprised by what Rainbow Dash wanted to do. She had seen the poor mare's nightmares for so many nights, and knew them with a loathed intimacy. She knew how she felt about the others, as she still wrestled with the fake memories that demanded they be recognized as real. And she still wanted to go back to Ponyville, and see them once again?
She didn't know whether this was a good thing, or a bad thing. There were just so many ways that this could be interpreted, and she didn't have all of the relevant facts right now. For all she knew, it was a very bad idea, and she simply hadn't caught onto it yet. "I am afraid that I cannot fulfill this favor. Not on my own at least."
"Oh..." Rainbow Dash slowly replied and hung her head. She'd known even before she asked that it would be a long shot for such a crazy notion to be accepted, and given the go ahead. But regardless of the odds against her, she still had to at least try.
"I will, however, speak with my sister about the matter later on. Perhaps it is possible that something can be arranged," Luna explained. Simply because she couldn't grant a pass under these circumstances, didn't mean the request itself was unreasonable. It certainly couldn't hurt to ask Celestia about it; once everything else going on was properly addressed. She hadn't forgotten about the murder that had taken place, or the investigation that was currently going on elsewhere. She was simply addressing another -and equally important- matter as she kept an eye on Rainbow Dash. But simply because she was merely keeping an eye on her, didn't mean she couldn't attempt to address matters that were in need of her attention.
"But that will come later. The first order of the day is breakfast! If you are to be making any journey's beyond the palace, then you will need the proper fortification!" she stated, hoping that her displayed enthusiasm would whip Rainbow Dash's spirits into a more desirable shape.
From outside the dungeon cell, Celestia watched as Ulquiorra and Challons examined Thrush's body. She understood that what they were doing, was all based on what their world knew about determining time of death. But that didn't mean she had a proper understanding of just what everything involved. She didn't know how checking bruises would be beneficial, or what could be learned from sticking a thermometer up the corpse's butt; that just seemed... perverse.
She'd heard terms like livor mortis, rigor mortis, and algor mortis, being tossed about between them as they performed specific tasks, but that didn't do her any good when she had no context to apply to them; they might as well have been speaking neighponese right now. This reminded her a lot of when Ulquiorra and Malar were reviewing the hospital notes concerning Rainbow Dash; she didn't understand what they were saying then, either, until they clarified it for her.
But regardless of her own lack of understanding, they both appeared to know full well what they were doing. It wasn't her place to second guess them; even if it did seem strange that Ulquiorra seemed so knowledgeable about what he was doing. Where exactly did he get all of his knowledge anyway? There was only so much that could be learned from reading about something in a book -a point she'd made to Twilight many, many times in the past- before one actually had to actually get physically involved.
Or perhaps she was simply thinking far too much on the matter, in an unconscious effort to try and distract herself from the unpleasantries that went with everything currently going on.
Finally, however, the matter seemed to be sufficiently addressed, as the two were now packing up the equipment, and making their way out of the cell.
"We've-" Challons started to say, only to stop and shudder as if someone had just tickled the base of his ear.
Celestia tried not to grin in amusement. Challons' reaction upon exiting the cell, was one that spoke of utter relief; like he'd been putting up with a thorn in the underside of his hoof for an unbearable amount of time, and had finally gotten it removed, and was no longer in pain. That tended to be the default response of any unicorn that spent a significant amount of time in one of the cells for the first time, as they felt their magical connection coming back upon exiting. But she said nothing, as he soon recovered, and went right back to business.
"As I was saying," he said after clearing his throat, "we've concluded the preliminary investigation. This is officially a homicide, just as the guards believed it to be. Based on what we've gathered from studying the lividity, current status of rigor, and core temperature, I'm going to place the time of death between ten and twelve hours ago," he explained.
Ten to twelve hours ago, Celestia noted to herself. That meant that whatever had happened, had taken place at, ironically, between ten and midnight of last night. That gave them a window of time to begin their investigation when it came to questioning everyone that was still present; both to determine where they were at the time, and if they might've seen anything that could be considered unusual.
"And what about cause of death? What have you learned about how Thrush was killed?" she asked.
"Brutally. During our investigation, we found numerous deep contusions, as well as bone fractures, that are consistent with somepony being stomped while they're on the ground; all seemingly delivered pre-mortem, going by the amount of tissue swelling and inflammation present. And all delivered with shod hooves; likely to maximize damage and suffering. Whoever murdered Thrush, I'd hazard a guess and say they wanted him to suffer greatly, before finally finishing him off. They even went through the trouble of cracking his horn, also pre-mortem, which would've resulted in unimaginable agony," Challons stated. Being a coroner, he'd seen his fair share of death in his line of work. But rarely did it ever approach what he'd seen inside that cell. Death was one thing, but excessive brutality was something else.
"Cause of death appears to be shock from rapid blood loss," Ulquiorra stated simply as he wiped his hands down. He'd let Doctor Challons fill her in on the details so far, before finally deciding to cut through the wordiness of it all. "The killing blow was a single, deep puncture wound delivered straight to the right kidney, causing internal bleeding to occur, with the majority of the blood flooding into the abdominal cavity, and the rest seeping out of the wound, and following the flow of gravity down to the left side of the body, and onto the floor, before finally reaching the cell's central drain area. Factoring in both the average heart rate, and the amount of blood for a pony, death would've occurred in less than two minutes from this type of injury," he explained, before pausing to note how the cleaning wipe he'd been provided, was in the process of disintegrating on its own. It was an interesting concept to observe in practice, and one he could certainly see the benefit of. However there were bound to be shortcomings of such as well, but he'd ponder on them later.
"And... what about the one who committed the murder? Was there enough evidence for you to determine just who in responsible for this act?" Celestia asked as she turned her attention to Ulquiorra. She remembered how he'd said that he could detect the mana of whoever was responsible. But to the best of her knowledge, that was dependent upon how much mana was present. That was why she wanted the two to work together, in case they had to compile information for a more positive verdict.
"Indeed. Even now, there's still an ample amount of reiatsu left to examine, due to the degree of brutality involved. There was even a cross-contamination that took place; while Thrush's body is covered in traces of reiatsu from whoever committed the murder, the murderer likewise became covered in the reiatsu of Thrush. There will even be minute traces of blood on the guilty party, considering the extensive damage that was done," Ulquiorra explained. Whoever had been responsible for this act, had left a substantial amount of evidence behind; evidence that would lead them to the guilty party in short order.
If it proved to be necessary, he'd even send word to Ponyville, to inform Twilight Sparkle that they had need of her UV lantern, just so they could pick up on those microscopic traces of blood. Not that it truly would be necessary for the investigation; it would simply be soul crushing to the guilty party, when confronted with the details of just how they'd screwed up in their efforts to conceal the facts of their actions.
He was half-tempted to send word to Ponyville, simply for that specific reason.
"Is there enough present, that you'd be able to track down the guilty party?" Celestia asked him. If they didn't need to question everyone present in the palace, and corroborate alibis, then that would certainly streamline everything they had to deal with right now.
"More than enough," Ulquiorra replied. If the guilty party was still present within the palace, for whatever reason, locating them would be a trivial matter, now that he had two specific reiatsu signatures to home in on, and both in the same location. They might as well have the responsible party's name, face, and cutie mark all on file, as that was how exact of a match they would be making.
"Then let us waste no more time with pointless talking. Let's find the one responsible for this act, so we can proceed accordingly," Celestia stated firmly.
It was certainly no secret that she had no love for Thrush, after what all he'd done; not just to Rainbow Dash, but also to countless other ponies. But regardless of what actions he'd taken, he was still one of her subjects. And regardless of whatever actions one of her subjects might have taken -no matter how much she might detest what they did- she would never condone them being murdered. She would not tolerate this occurring, no matter who the recipient of such actions had been, or what they had done.
"Move out!"
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oh god, Ita gonna be raInbow, thIs gonna screw her up even worse.
Still want to know who is speaking in Rainbow's head.
Maybe the killer is connected? I hope so anyway as otherwise this would feel like unnecessary padding to the story.
I cannot help but imagine Ulquiorra filling in for Dr. House in the examination scene. Add some snarky lines along with some grim humor and he would be dead ringer for him, minus the suit, occasional smile and pill popping habit. Oh, and don't forget the cane.
Great chapter.
5490284
I doubt it is Rainbow Dash as Ulquiorra would have brought it up already, more so with how he would be rather familiar with RD's mana by now. He did see her set off a huge amount with her rainboom, then the fact she has tried to hit him a fair number of times, and so on. If it is someone he would know off the top of his head he would have just said "There is no need to search, the murderer is -insert name here-." The guy is rather blunt and to the point about giving information he believes is pertinent to a situation.
Hmmm.... So RD, Corners, or someone else that Thrush screwed over. I'm looking forward to the next chapter and finding out if this ties into the main plot or if it's a side arc. Also, who else thought Thrush got what was coming to him?
Part that I loved the most in this chapter was Ulquiorra's sadism breaking through. Shows that no matter how "toe-the-line" he's been acting for Celestia, his predatory nature still hasn't changed all that much.
Below is the only edit I found for this chapter:
*cards that was present, - cards that were present,
So...
Luna?
5490284
5490655
Doubtful on both accounts, mostly because Ulquiorra would have said if it was them.
what if someone framed RD?
would Ulqui put that into consideration?
anyway, keep up the AMAZING work as always
...and i still think that if they find out the mastermind, Ulqui should have a snack...
I'm thinking the murderer is somehow tied to the "minty" smell Ulquiorra detected.
Has "minty" been mentioned at any point earlier in the story? I'm not sure, and I'm too lazy to go back and re-read the previous 72 chapters.
Who ever did it had to have been really pissed off. That level of brutality had a lot of rage behind it.
I'd first guess it was Rainbow Dash, but I have no idea how she'd have gotten out of her room.
A more likely suspect would probably be that orderly Thrush was blackmailing.
5490394 That's exactly how I felt back during the manticore attack on Ponyville
5490908 ...That's a good question
5490908
This makes sense.
Well, obviously it isn't going to be that easy. So I'm guessing the person they find with all of this reiatsu from Thrush on them is actually going to be innocent. My guess is that this unknown being/creature is now trying to discredit Ulquiorra in the eyes of Celestia and Equestria in general.
5490284
Makes one wonder just what sort of favor she asked Ebony for in the last chapter...
5490324
Padding? Perish the thought.
5490386
And thank you for noticing. That's what I've been striving for in this story. Among other things.
5490394
Don't forget the limp.
Also good to see you back.
5490543
That's a very good catch.
5490618
Yeah he's very sadistic when he wants to be. But he's smart enough to know that there's a time and place for everything.
5490867
How would they even go about trying to frame Rainbow Dash in the first place?
5490908
Nope, that's just recognizing a common trend on crime dramas that have the coroners and cops using a rub on chemical under their nose to shield themselves from the smell of decomposition.
And which orderly are you referring to? Corners was hardly his own blackmail victim. He was just the first to meet someone that scared him worse than Thrush.
5491628
That's a rather interesting theory right there.
they could take her magical signature then cover the corpse with it?
5491936
Possible. But how would they go about obtaining it without the guards noticing? And how would they be keeping their own signature off of whatever they used for acquiring Rainbow Dash's signature for the purpose of planting it?
Good
5491740 It is good to be back. Things have been rather hectic fro me in the past couple of weeks.
5492177 Would that not also imply that someone would be aware of Ulquiorra's ability to detect such things? He did not exactly advertise his abilities for it to be common knowledge.
So, do we have a main villain yet?
5505616
No, and I'd give it until chapter 80 to ask again to be honest.
5505840 That's a darn shame. I've made zero progress since my last comment, and my will to keep bothering is getting even weaker, somehow.
I mean, hell, if the villain were finally revealed, I might muster up the will to pick it back up, but he's still hiding? 
5505849
I've taken to referring to him as Carman "Waldo" Sandiago, mostly to myself.
5505874 That got a good chuckle out of me.
But yeah, at this point, I'll just straight up ask Charlie K: When are we gonna see this coward of a villain already? 655k words and still nothing, and we ain't gettin' any younger.