//------------------------------// // III // Story: Twilight Sparkle: Death Note // by Nyancatinator //------------------------------// A pony can shorten his/her own life by using the note. Somewhere within Canterlot Castle, a certain princess of the night was frantically sifting through Equestria's criminal records. "Hm, twenty five criminals all died of heart attacks at the same time yesterday... yet before, the deaths would happen in quick succession of each other, but not simultaneously. This leads me to wonder if perhaps our killer was just experimenting before, as the deaths were even further apart before that. Are you getting all of this, Lucky Quill?" The navy blue alicorn asked, her etheral mane looking scraggly from neglect. "Y-yes your majesty. U-uhm I don't mean to interrupt your work, but might I suggest a-a break? Perhaps some sleep?" The unicorn known as Lucky Quill suggested meekly. "Sleep? How can thou think of sleep at a time like this? We are making such great progress on this case. We hath already discovered which town our killer resides in." Luna announced with a confident smile. "Wait, we have? I mean, uh, of course, your majesty." Lucky Quill stuttered out. "Indeed. The culprit currently resides in Ponyville. Did We forget to tell this to thee? Our mistake. Yes, it was much simpler than We had originally thought. Dost thou remember when We told you our culprit most likely receives thine information through the newspaper?" Lucky Quill nodded his head. "This gave Us an idea. We released information about certain criminals to only Ponyville's local newspaper, and all of those criminals died from heart attacks within an hour of when it was released. There would not have been time for somepony to deliver it to the culprit in another town, as Ponyville is quite far from any other city. We had planned to do similar with other towns, but it was pure luck that the first town We tried was the correct one." Luna explained. "I see... But how do you intend to find the culprit? N-no offense, but that town is the epitome of weird. It seems like every Saturday something strange happens there. How are we to find the killer amid all that?" The white unicorn asked. "That is where thou come in, dear Lucky Quill. You see, We hath already comprised a list of suspects, and We would like thee to go along with a special task force to investigate them. We understand this is thine special talent, so it should be no problem for thee to help narrow down the list." Luna told him, levitating a folder filled with files over to him. "These are all the suspects. Thou will be assigned one to investigate, and report back thine findings." "Understood, Princess. You can count on me!" He exclaimed, flipping through the files excitedly. "Oh, and one more thing before you go," She began, causing Lucky Quill to glance up, "We art sure thou already know this, but no one can know about this investigation. Not even Our dear sister Celestia." "W-what? B-but she's a princess! I mean you're a princess too, but she's-" The panicked unicorn was cut off by a cave of Luna's hoof. "We understand it is a lot to ask, but we fear Our sister may be biased against some of the suspects, and demand we cease investigating them. Thou know as well as Us that we cannot let that happen." Luna explained. "B-but how will you keep it hidden from her? I mean, she's Princess Celestia!" He exclaimed. "Calm thyself. We hath already figured it out. I will go under the simple alias "L," as I have done in the past. Not even Tia knows L's true identity." Lucky Quill looked shocked. "You're L? Sweet Celestia, L is like, legendary! You're Equestria's greatest detective? I feel so honored to be working with you, princess. I mean, not that I wasn't already, but like... I'll just stop before I make that sound worse..." Luna chuckled at his response. "That would be best. Now, pack thine things, you leave in the morning." The Death Note will be rendered useless if the victim's name is misspelled four times. "Twilight, darling, you look absolutely dreadful! Have you not been sleeping well?" An alabaster unicorn asked, to which Twilight nodded her head. "I really haven't. I've just had so much on my mind lately." Twilight responded with a yawn. The purple unicorn had been spending every spare moment when she wasn't using the Death Note thinking about other inventive ways she could use it. "Is it because of the essay the princess asked you to write? The one about Kira?" Rarity asked. Twilight nodded her head. "Yes. Whoever they are, this pony kills his or her victims by giving them heart attacks. However, they only kill criminals, thus the name 'Kira' derived from the Neighpanese word 'killer.' So the princess wants me to write about whether I think it is right or wrong." The unicorn explained. Twilight honestly didn't like the name the public had given her. To think it was derived from killer made her seem so cruel. It wasn't like she killed innocent ponies. She brought justice to those who harmed others. "Whether this 'Kira' pony thinks what they're doing is right or wrong, it's still murder. Our justice system works fine as is, thank you very much." Rarity huffed, and Twilight almost externally sighed. How could she expect someone else to understand? It didn't matter then anyway. Once Rarity realized the good Twilight was doing for the world, she'd be sure to change her mind. "Well, anyways, thank you for coming and helping me, Twilight. Even with Spike's help, things can still get pretty hectic here." "It was no problem, really. Now I better get going, I've still got to reorganize the library." Twilight responded, taking her leave from Carousel Boutique. "Sweet Celestia, I didn't think she'd ever stop talking. How do you deal with it, Twilight?" Discord whined as he flew behind her. "Well unlike you, I actually like my friends. Now would you kindly be quiet? I don't want anypony to see me talking to myself." The unicorn replied as they made their way back to the library. "Oh, but I have something you might want to hear." He said, which got him an irritated sigh from Twilight. "I thought I should make it clear that I'm not on your side, nor am I against you. I'm more of an innocent bystander, you might say." "I don't think innocent is very accurate." Twilight muttered, but Discord ignored the comment and continued on. "However, there's something that has been bugging me for quite some time now. For the past two days now, actually." Discord said, twisting around to glance behind. Twilight raised an eye, and Discord continued. "Look, I wasn't going to say anything, but there's somepony following you. I know he can't see me, but I still get the feeling I'm being watched. I'd be very happy if you'd do something about it." Twilght's eyes widened in realization. "B-but... How can they already suspect me? Gah- I can't let it get to me now. At the moment, my main focus is looking as least suspicious as possible." Twilight replied in a hushed voice. "I can't kill him now. It'll make me look incredibly suspicous. No, I'll just have to wait until I'm cleared." "Fine, fine. Oh, and Twilight? You're out of chocolate milk. I reccomend getting more, or I might start having withdraws, and nopony wants that. Twilight? Are you listening to me? You know I hate being ignored. Twilight!" Twilight could only smirk as the draconequuis went on a tangent. So, I'm already being investigated, huh? That's fine, I knew it'd come to this at some point. Now I'll be able to make an example out of those who go against Kira. Twilight thought, glancing behind to see a stallion watching from about fifteen meters away, who quickly looked away when he saw her watching him. I know exactly what I'll do about you. All I need to do is to ask Princess Celestia to allow me to help with the investigation, and I'll be able to get easier access to criminal records, and I'll be able to find out the names of those after me. Yes, the dawn of the new world is upon us, and I pity the fool who tries to stop it.