//------------------------------// // The Journal of Twilight Sparkle - 4th Week // Story: The Curious Case of the Unicorn Twilight Sparkle // by The Rising Tide of Night //------------------------------// June 2, 3 LR Oh, Celestia, not again. Someone else is gone. They found Junebug’s body this morning. Torn up on the edge of the Everfree. The crime scene looked too much like Fluttershy’s to be anything but the same killer. At least the rest of the police force finally believes that Fluttershy wasn’t killed by an animal anymore. Her friends are as broken-up as we were, so I’ve been trying to comfort them as best I could. At least Rainbow Dash apologized for accusing her of killing Fluttershy, though to be fair, I think she accused everypony in town. Lyra and Bonbon said that she couldn’t have had any enemies. She was such a nice pony, and no one could find any real faults with her, at least nothing worth killing over. I did ask them if she had said anything odd before she was killed, and the only thing they could think of was that she hadn’t been sleeping well. Something about being woken up by giggling June 4, 3 LR I didn’t sleep much last night. I’ve got so much on my mind right now, it’s driving me crazy. Spike keeps asking me if I’m ok. I’m doing my best to assure him that I am, but I’m not sure he’s buying it. I think it was after I had re-shelved the same stack of books three times that he finally got me to get out of the library and try to relax. Unfortunately, all I ended up doing was wandering town restlessly until I ran into Applejack in the marketplace. She offered to talk with me about what had happened, and apologized for chasing me away the other day. We decided to head to Sugarcube Corners to talk with Pinkie at the same time. I’ll confess an ulterior motive to seeing her as well, since I want to confirm what I saw. Overall, the talk went well, even with Pinkie’s somewhat distracting presence. I didn’t mention any of my suspicions, but I was able to ask Pinkie what she was doing out last night. She was surprised at my question, and denied being anywhere last night. Even Applejack seemed to take her statement at face value, so I had to accept what she said. At least we were both able to get out some of our concerns and feelings. I feel a little bit better after that. I’ll feel even better if I can get Rainbow Dash and Rarity to open up to me as well. June 5, 3 LR I spent last night patrolling the town again. I had to wait until Spike was asleep before I could go out. I really don’t want him following me around at night right now. I started out around Lyra’s house. I didn’t want to alert anypony, so I did my best to keep to the shadows and move quietly. It’s amazing how much easier it is to be stealthy when you don’t have a grumpy dragon and a bouncing party pony following you around. Fortunately, there weren’t many ponies around. I’ll bet they’re all nervous and keeping inside. I didn’t see much, aside from the occasional policepony. There were a couple of times I could have sworn I heard giggling, but it turned out to be nothing. I feel so on edge right now. It’s like I’m waiting for the other horseshoe to drop. I think I’m going to go see Rarity today after Junebug’s memorial and see if there’s anything I can do to calm myself down. Well, at least I feel more relaxed. Not necessarily calm, but I’m physically relaxed at least. Rarity’s solution (like usual) was a day at the spa. It also allowed her to relax enough to open up more and talk about how she was feeling. I did my best to stay awake and listen to her. I nearly fell asleep during the mud bath; it was so warm and comfortably compressing. I wonder if I’m not overdoing it. I mean, the police are out looking for the killer, right? Do I really need to go out on the prowl like some predator, keeping myself going night after night? No, I need to do this. For Fluttershy and Junebug, I need to find out who committed these atrocities. I will push myself as hard as I can to do what must be done. I’m going out again tonight. June 6, 3 LR Just got back a little while ago from an eventful night. I almost had them! I decided to change up my patrol a little bit, and started from a different part of town. I even checked in her window on the way over to see if anything was amiss. She was there as far as I could tell. I headed over by Lyra’s house after that, and definitely heard some giggling. It definitely didn’t sound like I had expected it to. Giggling should sound like… fun. Like little fillies playing, or parties, or jokes. This giggle was just… wrong. It sounded like… cruelty, hatred, suffering. Almost familiar No wonder everypony who heard that giggling couldn’t sleep. I was able to get close enough to see somepony standing outside Lyra’s window, peering in. I couldn’t make out any distinctive features aside from a long mane and tail. I knew that I needed to get closer to figure out who this pony was, so I tried to be a silent as I could. Unfortunately, either this pony had extremely exceptional hearing or happened to look in the right direction at the wrong time, for I was spotted and the pony took off into the night. I chased them as best as I could, but I lost them outside of town in the darkness of Sweet Apple Acres. I never did get a clear look at them. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the sound of that giggling, though. It chilled me to the bone. Right now I need to rest. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep soundly for a Door. Finish later. By the sun and the moon, no. It can’t be true. Applejack June 7, 3 LR They came for me yesterday morning to tell me what had happened. Big Macintosh and Applebloom. Apparently Applejack had gone out in the middle of the night for some reason. They woke up to find her room empty and the front door standing open. Applejack’s a tough pony. No one thought too much about it until Big Mac had to go into the apple cellar to prepare room for the day’s harvest. That’s when he When he found her. He said it was bad. Worst thing he’s ever seen and he’s seen farm accidents before. The entire cellar was coated in blood and… things. Even her hat had been shredded. I asked him if anything odd had happened the last few days. Nope. I can’t think about What if I have to stop them.