//------------------------------// // Theories Formed From Broken Lives // Story: Blood Moon // by Zanem-Ji //------------------------------// It was raining. And for the first time in centuries, the weather team had nothing to do with it. It was as if Equestria itself was weeping over the loss of Shimmer Blitz. Pinkie slowly trotted up to the onyx colored coffin, her mane deflated from the rain and her own sorrow. She delicately placed a rainbow dyed rose onto the coffin. Dash looked on with dead eyes, as she mechanically unfurled a wing to wrap it around the broken composure of Fluttershy, who hadn’t said a word since the priest had given his speech earlier. Pinkie walked away, making fleeting eye contact with Dash. She plopped down in front of her nuzzled her muzzle against her friend’s cheek. “I’m so…so sorry Dashie.” Pinkie started, in a soft tone that was unnatural to her. “Shimmer’s death wasn’t a loss just for you, but for all of us…” Dash’s gaze dropped to the grass, “Thank you, Pinkie Pie.” She dryly replied. She swallowed the lump in her throat and made her way to the podium, leaving Fluttershy in the care of Pinkie and Applejack. She cleared her throat a feeble attempt to rid the lump as all eyes fell on her. “Thank you all for coming today.” Dash started in a voice far raspier than normal. “It’s great to know that so many of you are here with us in this time of sadness. And I know that Shimmer Blitz would be honored right now.” Her eyes started to focus on the gradient textures in the podium, “For those that knew my daughter, she was quite an interesting character.” A tiny smile made its way to her lips, “I mean, come on, she was a combo of Flutters and I, and we know how weird that is.” There was a small group of soft chuckles. She continued, “I remember how Shimmer could fly before she could walk. How…how her favorite toy was a stuffed Wonderbolt version of myself, for when I went on long trips. I told Flutters not to get it, but she insisted that Shimmer have her ‘Daddy’ with her at all times.” Dash lightly shook her head, “She was too young to actually understand that I was a Wonderbolt, and thought that the masked, rainbow maned Pegasus was almost some kind of awesome superhero. When she found out it was me, she nearly lost her mind, to say the least. Another round of quiet laughter echoed out. After that, the true flying lessons began.” Her gaze turned to the sky, “When she broke her leg, Flutters wanted to destroy me. I only managed to live because I could get Shimmer to the hospital faster than she could. Shimmer didn’t even cry. She just bit her lip and tried to stay tough for me. She made me proud that day.” Tears started building up behind dark magenta eyes. “My relationship with Fluttershy has never been supported by the entire community. And that’s fine. However, it seemed that the ‘non-supporters’ had a few words with our daughter. Words hat those ponies had no right to say to her. She felt like…she…” sad eyes turned angry, “She felt like she was a monster, because she had two mares for parents!” her hoof slammed the podium, “She felt like she didn’t belong because of that simple little opinion! For those ponies, you had no right to pull my daughter into your close-minded misery!” her voice got quieter, “She felt like she shouldn’t be alive…” she sniffled and suppressed her anger. This was her daughter’s day, and she would not spend it like this, “Shimmer Blitz was, and still is, the best daughter we could’ve ever asked for. She will always hold a place in my wife and I’s hearts…” Dash stepped down from the podium and thanked Applejack for staying with Fluttershy. Applejack nodded and slid to the side, making room Dash to be by Fluttershy’s side. Everyone rose as four stallions approached the coffin. Heads bowed in respect as the coffin was lowered by the stallions. Attendees began to toss roses into the hole. Fluttershy’s eyes widened as the reality of the situation slammed onto her, “NOOOOO! SHIMMER BLITZ!!” It took even Dash a moment to realize that Fluttershy had ripped away from her and leapt to the edge of the hole. The emotional damn that had kept her tears at bay broke open, as she watched her wife dive into the hole. “MY BABY!!” Dash followed and wrapped her forelegs around her, “Fluttershy, stop, please!!” “NO!!” Fluttershy shrieked as sobs snatched themselves from her throat. “My baby girl is dead!” Dash started to lift her out of the hole. For once, Fluttershy was proving to be a bit stronger than her. She was mother in mourning, and not much could stop that. Applejack, seeing the struggle, leapt to her hooves and moved in to help. She was soon followed by Pinkie and Rarity. They all wept as they pulled the distraught Pegasus from her daughter’s resting place. they didn’t care if the others wanted to stay, it was time to take Fluttershy back home. -MLP- A few days later… Twilight gently knocked on the front door of Dash and Fluttershy’s home. She had found something out, something big, since the funeral. She would’ve waited under normal circumstances, giving the parents time to grieve. But, this simply couldn’t wait. She almost almost bounced with nervous energy until her heard the door click. Dash peeked her head out, bloodshot and black-rimmed eyes settling on the Princess. “Come in…” she offered in a drained tone. She stepped aside to let the Alicorn inside. Twilight took in Dash’s form, noting that she would need to bring ready-made meals to the couple, assuming Fluttershy looked probably looked as bad, if not worse. As she stepped towards the living room, she noticed the absolute silence and lack of animals. Even the less sentient creatures knew to leave them be. “How are you feeling?” Twilight carefully put a hoof on Dash’s shoulder. Dash looked at her with bitter, tired eyes. “How do you think I feel? Our kid just died…” Twilight bit her lip, self-chastising herself for asking such a stupid question. “Not to be a dick, but why are you here? You usually have a ton of shit to do…” Twilight cleared her throat, “I found out something about Shimmer’s death, and-” Dash cut her off when she gripped her shoulders, “You can tell us what happened?!” she started to shake her, “Tell me!” “Rainbow, please!” she grabbed Dash’s wrists, “Calm down!” Dash blinked herself back to normal and backed away, “I’m sorry…” “Its fine…I understand.” Twilight looked around, “Where’s Fluttershy?” “She’s in Shimmer’s bedroom. Been in there since the funeral.” Dash rubbed her temples, “She won’t come out, no matter what I do or say…” Twilight focused back on her, “Then I’ll tell you. You can pass the information on to her.” “What information?” “I made a few discoveries in Shimmer’s bedroom, while the funeral was taking place-” Dash gave her a hard shove, “Are you fucking kidding me?! Y-you teleported into our fucking house t-to…play detective, when you should’ve been there?!” she swung at her, hitting Twilight on the shoulder, “My gods Twilight, what the actual fuck?!” “Rainbow, please, let me finish!” she pleaded, blocking the flail of hooves, despite being able to magically dominate her if she wished to do so. “I swear, I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t believe something was going on! And I didn’t want to barge in here asking to look around, knowing you both with be in such fragile states!” Dash breathed in hard, ragged gulps of air, her blows slowing down. She knew that Twilight never did anything without some kind of reason behind it. She regained her composure and looked into Twilight’s eyes. “Fine…but dammit, don’t do some crazy shit like that again. Not in a situation like this.” Dash warned. “I pray I wont have to…” Twilight replied. “Look, I’ll try to keep this as simple as possible. But please, let me know if it starts getting too complicated.” She slid off the couch and began a slow pace across the living room. “See, the world around us is full of atoms. And those atoms, have microscopic traces of a matter called ‘Stonus Philosopher’, which allows the atoms around us be molded into whatever is needed when combined with mana.” “What?” Dash simply asked in mental fatigue. Everything in the world has something called ‘Philosopher’s Stone’, and is the main component in magic.” She continued, her pace slightly going faster as the scientific part of her mind began to take hold, “Now, all ponies contain ‘white matter’, and the level that we have access to is what allows us to perform whatever level of magic we’re capable of doing. For example, Alicorns and Unicorns tend to have the highest amounts of mana, and our conduit to use our mana is in our horns. And with different combinations of mana and Philosopher’s Stone, different types of magic can be performed. When you combine them, there is an initial ‘clash’ so to speak. A disturbance in the atmosphere around us. This disturbance is essentially a ‘signature’ for whatever magic is being performed, and each spell has its own signature. For example, using magic to hold a book causes one type of disturbance signature, while creating light will make another.” “So each time you guys do a spell, you’re changing the atoms around us?” Dash repeated, seeking confirmation that she understood everything so far. “That’s correct. But this applies to the magic that you, and Earth Ponies do as well.” Twilight focused on the floor for a moment, “When Unicorns go through magic academy, we’re taught how to feel these disturbances, so that we can tell what type of spell is being used. Alicorns however…” she stopped pacing and sat on her haunches. “They can naturally feel these disturbances, and on a greater scale.” She looked up at the staircase, towards Shimmer’s bedroom. “And I felt a disturbance from that night…” her eyes fell back to the ground. “The signature that it gave off, was unlike any spell that I have ever felt. It initially felt like a spell that’s used to alter the mind. But then…it felt like a sleeping spell, but on a far more intense level. As if something was being put under for a surgery, but with no intention to wake them up…” Dash’s eye twitched, “Are you saying…that our daughter was murdered?” Twilight only stared deep into her eyes, now too scared to continue. Dash began to hyperventilate, her eyes searching for something unknown in the room. She needed to break something, to kill something. She jumped off the couch and bucked it, sending it flying across the room. She bucked and jumped, desperate to rid her body of this rage. Her eyes settle back on Twilight with a focused fury. She stomped up to her, “Who killed my daughter.” Dash wasn’t asking. If Twilight knew the answer, she’d better fucking give it to her. “I believe that it was the pony you saw in your dreams.” Dash blinked, surprise overpowering rage, if but for a moment. “You mean the Guider?” Twilight nodded. Dash shook her head, “That’s impossible. She gave us the opportunity to let us see our parents again. How could someone who gave us something like that kill someone?” Twilight shook her head, “Think about it, Rainbow. When your parents got mentioned, you were suddenly put in a state of psychological weakness. AJ was the worst out of you three. When she tried to leave with her parents, she almost died. The only thing that saved her was an external force that didn’t involve any magic from us.” She cupped the Pegasus’ cheeks, “By messing with AJ’s head, she started shutting her body down. We almost lost her.” “So what do we do now?” Dash asked. “None of this brings Shimmer back…” “You’re right, it doesn’t…” Twilight moved her hooves to Dash’s shoulders. “But we can stop this. We can bring this madmare to justice, and keep this from happening ever again.” She turned away from her, “I didn’t want to tell Celestia until I told you, because she was your daughter. But, now that I have my theory, we can go to her. She may be able to do something to stop this, or at least help us figure it out…” “Then let’s go and do something!” Dash declared. She started to make her way to the door. “Wait, what about Fluttershy?” Dash looked back at her, “She’s not going anywhere. I can’t even get her to come out of Shimmer’s room.” “I think you should let her know at least. Focus on her, I’ll let the others know.” She started to head for the door, before turning and giving Dash a hug, “I love you both, you know that, don’t you?” Dash nodded and returned the embrace, “I know you do Twi…” “I’m sorry I didn’t attend…” “I know you are.” Dash trotted to the door, “Now show me. Go let Celestia know what’s going on.” Without another word, Twilight stepped outside and flew off. She needed to get the info out quickly, less they lose another soul to the Guider…