“N-Nothing. She doesn’t know anything,” Dash said. She tried not to look at Twilight. “I mean why would she? Not that Pinkie’s dumb or anything.” She chuckled and put up a fake smile.
“Don’t play dumb with me Dash. Not this time,” Twilight said. She walked closer to Dash, still giving a death stare. “Don’t think I’m not on to you. I know all about what you were doing this morning.”
That was the sentence Dash feared. She paused for a second. “Y-Yeah...and what was that?” Dash said.
“What you always do when you’re with Pinkie,” Twilight said. She raised her voice. “You were pranking. Not like that isn’t common knowledge by now though.”
“Yeah?” Dash screamed. She searched the deepest parts of her brain for a defense. Surely there was a way out of this? She had to think of something fast—even a clever comeback would’ve been good enough.
“You…got any proof?” Dash said. She facehoofed at her own retort.
Twilight shook her head. Her horn glowed and a newspaper appeared on top of her out of thin air. She held it up with her magic and brought it closer to Dash. The front page read: “Local Pranksters Replace Mayor’s Mane Dye with Eel Potion. Record Broken as Mayor is Only Pranked Eight Times This Week,” followed by a picture of Dash and Pinkie running away from two stallions in security uniforms. "That proof enough for you?" Dash knocked the paper to the ground with her wing.
“So I was pranking? So what? That doesn’t automatically make me the one who pranked Princess Celestia,” she said.
Twilight smiled menacingly. “Alright. I'll play your game,” A table poofed next to them, and Dash found herself sitting on a chair.
“What the?” Dash said. The ground rumbled and black energy walls came up out of the ground in every direction. The walls enclosed the two ponies. A final wall on top trapped them in darkness. A single light turned on from the ceiling. It wasn’t that bright, but now in total darkness it may as well have been the sun itself for Dash. A purple hoof directed it at her.
A purple aura surrounded Dash’s chair. The chair streaked towards the table, pressing her stomach against it. Hoofsteps came from behind her. Twilight walked around the table with a serious yet emotionless expression on her face. She kept her eyes in front of her, staring at nothing in particular, and away from Dash. “Alright, I’ll start with an easy one. Explain why you were so late to Sugarcube Corner.”
Dash didn’t struggle or try to escape. “I already told you; I was training. I’m an athlete; it’s what I do.”
Twilight laughed. “How convenient. Especially after I came to remind you and Pinkie of how late you two were.” She stopped beside Dash and brought her face closer to hers. “But I guess training’s just that important to you.”
Dash sat unable to respond. It was obvious Twilight was being sarcastic, but it wasn’t like Dash had any response or comeback to use against her. All she could do was play Twilight’s game and try to wake up from this never ending nightmare. Dash opened her mouth. “…Ye-.”
Twilight rushed towards the table. Her friend's head shot back. “Then why weren’t you sweating or even a little out of breath when you finally came? I thought training is supposed to be hard,” Twilight said.
Dash’s mind went into overdrive. “It was…an active recovery workout.” She smiled. “Yeah, active recovery. Not like you would know what that is though.” Dash sat back and relaxed. Twilight was all but done for.
Twilight stood still for a moment. She cleared her throat. “Active recovery: Noun. Exercise of a diminished intensity used to facilitate lactate and metabolic waste removal by removal by maintaining blood flow in muscles during recovery. Synonyms: Cool down, tapering off.”
Dash’s jaw dropped. It was over. There really was no way for her to win. Twilight was simply unbeatable.
Dash put her head down and didn’t even try to think of a response. It was pointless. And if even if she did and through some miracle beat Twilight, Pinkie still knew everything. “Pinkie…” Dash said to herself. A light bulb went off in her head. “Pinkie Pie,” she screamed. “It could’ve been her. She was with me all morning. And it’s not like I’m the only pony who loves a good prank you know.” Dash smiled and waited for Twilight’s response.
“Not likely,” Twilight said. Dash’s smile came crashing down. “The prank in question doesn’t strike me as something Pinkie would do. And besides, if it was her she probably would’ve confessed by now. We all know how emotional she can get.”
“Like you would know,” Dash said to herself.
“Based on all the available evidence I can only conclude that the most likely culprit is YOU,” Twilight said, pointing at Dash. "Now you can either admit it or keep on playing, either way's fine by me." She stepped closer, her hoof still up. "Just know that if you do confess though I will defend you and try to get your punishment reduced. And no, this is nothing like what Fluttershy did with Philomena."
Dash shook in her chair. Twilight’s hoof was like a knife pointed at her face. She powered up her brain. There had to have been something she could say, could do, to save herself. She threw away every counterargument she thought of—if she could rip them apart then Twilight would have no problem doing the same. If there was one thing Dash was sure of it was that she wasn’t going to win this with logic and reason.
Dash got up. She walked up to within an inch of Twilight’s face and stood still without saying a word. Twilight’s face was the only thing in her field of vision and hers the only thing in Twilight’s. She took a deep breath. “Look Twilight, I don’t care if you believe me or not. I’m innocent this time, no matter what the evidence says, and if you were really my friend you’d trust me. So, are you my friend? Or not?” She kept her gaze at Twilight and crossed her hooves.
Twilight's serious face disappeared. She once again looked like the pony Dash considered her friend. "Okay. I believe you," Twilight said in her normal voice. She put her head down and frowned. "Sorry for blaming you so quickly. Shows what kind of friend I am." The energy walls dissipated into a glowing dust. The table and chair vanished.
Dash was on the verge of rainbooming with joy. She had won. It was finally over.
She raised her hooves and flew up. "Score one for Dash," she said to herself. Twilight faced the other way, her head still down. Dash shot to her and wrapped her hoof around her friend. She smiled, as if the whole situation had just been a bad dream from years ago. "Ah forget about it. We all make mistakes. We're still cool."
Twilight picked up her head. "You're right." She put on a confident smile, one Dash hadn't seen since the last time they all fought a villain. "You not being the criminal just makes my job all the more easier since I now have a major suspect crossed out. And I'd rather not have you be the one I have to arrest." She chuckled.
"J-Job?"
"Oh yeah, I didn't tell you." Twilight closed her eyes and smiled. "Princess Celestia made me in charge of the investigation to find the criminal. Isn't that great?"
Dash froze. The game was still on.