Day 5
I can’t believe it… Fluttershy was attacked last night!
She’s still alive, thank goodness, it would seem the killer didn’t stick about to make sure she died and she was able to save herself. Well, she was able to use the medical equipment she keeps in her home to patch herself up, it was apparently a messy job but it kept her alive until she was found this morning.
When I heard the news circulating around town, that Fluttershy was the latest victim of the serial killer, I rushed straight to her house. Rainbow Dash was already on the scene with her team, it seemed she was the one who found Fluttershy as she went to check on her this morning. She wouldn’t let me in to see her, but promised me that she was alive and they were doing everything they could to keep it that way.
I was still worried since two medical professionals had already been killed, but it seems that despite only having a small clinic, Ponyville has a few more nurses and another doctor besides Fluttershy. Beyond that, Rainbow Dash is apparently trained in first aid, so I’m satisfied that Fluttershy will get the care she needs. Since this was the first victim to survive Rainbow told me that she wasn’t about to attend some stupid town meeting when she had more important work to do, I could definitely respect that, so she asked me to relay the latest developments in her place.
All that I was able to tell everypony was that Fluttershy was targeted, she was in critical condition, and as of yet the sheriff hasn’t got a chance to ask her about who attacked her. Nothing very significant happened at the meeting, no more executions at least, with the majority of the town investigative force absent there wasn’t much to discuss without jumping into random accusation territory. When it was all over I tried to go back to Fluttershy’s cottage, but I ran into the Canterlot Investigator on the way and he advised me not to, that they needed peace and quiet to work.
Reluctantly I agreed, but I still felt like I needed to help in some way, I had already carried out one task for Rainbow Dash and it seemed to get me in the mind set. I went over to the Sheriff’s office where Fleetfoot was, apparently she wasn’t needed at Fluttershy’s place anymore so she came back to write up the situation. We talked for a bit, and she told me that she was being tasked with bringing in members of the town each night to question them, a bit like what she did with me the other night.
She said they had taken in a guy called Shining Armour last night, a war veteran who moved to Ponyville after he was injured and couldn’t serve anymore. He was apparently adamant in his opposition to both the serial killer and the ‘mafia’ as he called them; Fleetfoot gave him the benefit of the doubt and let him go in the morning. I asked who she was planning on arresting tonight but she was tight lipped about it, she said it was nothing against me, but that the fewer ponies who knew the less chance there was of it getting out and the pony in question having time to start practicing their alibis.
I asked if there was anything I could do to help; she just said that if in the future there was another public trial, I should vote alongside her and Rainbow Dash. That disturbed me a bit, so I quickly said my goodbyes. With nothing else to do I went back to the flat, I’ve been here all evening and I can’t get Fluttershy out of my head. There’s a picture above the fireplace showing her alongside Rainbow Dash, Fleetfoot, Soarin, Thunderlane and an orange mare I’ve never seen before. I’ve been sitting staring at it for what feels like hours, thinking about the kind mare who took care of me and gave me a place to stay, thinking about the terrible thing that happened to her.
I can’t help but imagine her lying in a pool of her own blood, covered in stab wounds while a dark figure looms over her raising the knife, ready to plunge it down one final time… I can’t get the images out of my head, and the more I think about it the stronger that itching in the back of my skull becomes. I know she’s in safe hooves, but I’m going to visit her tomorrow morning just to be sure, and I don’t care if Rainbow Dash won’t allow me to, I’ll fight my way to see her if I have to.
Diary of Spike
Saturday 12th November
A survivor…
The fourth victim, the one I suspected of being the killer no less, managed to survive the killer’s attack where three other ponies had failed. I know it’s not fair to still suspect Fluttershy after what happened to her, I mean there’s no doubt that those wounds weren't self-inflicted, but still, pretty miraculous how it all worked out.
Rainbow Dash allowed me to sit in while she was being questioned, although rather reluctantly. This was pretty late in the day after she was finally awake and well enough, saying that she was still in a pretty terrible state, Rainbow Dash was surprisingly gentle with her. She couldn’t tell us much, which is where the lingering suspicion comes in, she claims that she got up to investigate why the animals outside were causing a racket. She says the killer struck from behind as she went to the front door, they were apparently already in the house and hiding in the shadows as she claims.
Of course she went down then and there, but the killer didn’t stop, they continued to stab intermittently, taking their time. Again, all the wounds lined up with the previous victims. I asked Fluttershy if she could identify the killer, but she couldn’t, apparently they were very careful not to get into her direct line of sight, and any glimpses she did catch they appeared to be covered in some dark clothing. That annoyed me, why would the killer try to stay hidden from their victim after they’ve already injured them enough that they couldn’t call for help or escape?
I wanted to press her but Rainbow Dash was content to continue on and not let me get a word in. Fluttershy then told us that when the killer was done they simply left. At that point I was ready to stand up and declare bollocks on the whole thing, why the hell would the killer leave before she was even dead? I know those injuries were bad, but that was a huge risk to take, as they’ve just shown. And am I expected to believe that any pony who sets out with the intention to kill others, would be satisfied enough to leave without watching them die first?
The entire thing stinks to me, Fluttershy becomes my only suspect, and suddenly she is ‘almost’ killed and her story ends up raising more questions than it answers. Whatever is going on here, I don’t like it one bit. Earlier in the day while we were still waiting on Fluttershy to wake up, Rainbow Dash mentioned that they arrested a pony called Shining Armour last night. She told me he was a war veteran, something most ponies in the town knew, but that got me thinking.
A soldier could very well have taken lives before, they might know better than most where to cut if they want to ensure death. So while the town meeting was going on, which we hadn’t bothered to attend since we were too busy dealing with Fluttershy, I went over to his house and did a little snooping. When somepony keeps weapons, that raises question marks, but when somepony keeps weapons hidden in a trunk under the floorboards of their bedroom, that raises alarm bells.
The guy was packing tonnes of stuff, rifles, pistols, ammunition and several different blades, god knows how he managed to smuggle all that after he was let go. They all looked to be cleaned and maintained regularly, you know, like you would do if you wanted to hide any evidence of usage. With the exception of one little detail, I was about ready to call in an armed squad from Canterlot and have this guy arrested for the murder of three ponies and the attempted murder of another. That tiny detail was that he couldn’t have been the one to attack Fluttershy as he was in jail all night.
It’s clear from the precision of the wounds that Fluttershy was injured by the same pony who carried out the last three murders, which throws a spanner into that line of investigation. Still, that’s a lot of weapons he’s keeping illegally, I have a feeling I’ll still be having him arrested when this is all over regardless of whether he is the killer or not.
Diary of Applejack
Saturday 12th November
It’s been a strange day. Good, but strange.
The fourth victim was discovered today… alive. Fluttershy, a doctor and a vet, one of Rainbow Dash’s friends, nice girl. From what we’ve heard, from the newcomer with no memories for some reason, she managed to save herself after being attacked and then Dash discovered her this morning and was able to get her proper treatment. By the looks of it, this case won’t last much longer once the girl wakes up and tells us all who the killer really is, although that won’t be necessary as it would appear we’ve already found out who they are.
When I asked Applebloom to sleuth about I had my hopes, but what she told me today was more than I could have hoped for. The clever girl noticed the dragon sneaking out of Shining Armour’s house, at great risk which I did have to reprimand her for; she went in herself to see what he was up to. Turns out the local veteran has been keeping an arsenal of weapons hidden away in his bedroom, including a neat collection of blades that could fit the bill for the murder weapon.
Course the investigator probably found those as well, no doubt there’ll be an armed unit marching into the town and surrounding his house by tomorrow morning, but that won’t do. I can’t have this killer being hauled off to the Canterlot dungeons, no; he needs to know what happens to murderers in our town. As such, Big Mac has gone off tonight to carry out the deed. If that response team does come here tomorrow, they’ll find his body flayed and strung up in front of town hall, there won’t be the slightest doubt in anypony’s mind what we do to killers.
Speaking of Mac, his little visit to Filthy Rich last night didn’t pan out like we had planned. Mac searched, but either he had scarpered or he was hiding pretty thoroughly, either way he’s still alive and walking about. I noticed him at the town meeting today; if he did know what we tried to do he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut about it. Ordinarily I would send Mac back to get the job done right, but since we know who the actual killer is I can let it slide.
It looks like things are finally getting back on track, tomorrow we’ll be rid of this serial killer, the investigator will return to Canterlot and I can focus my efforts on keeping Dash out of our business. I may even give Bloom another job after all this, maybe I’ve been sheltering her too much, she might end up being fit for this line of work after all.
Diary of Rainbow Dash
Saturday 12th November
It’s days like this that make me believe that there’s a god up there.
Fluttershy is alive, she’s alive and she’s gonna be okay according to the doc. I swear, it was personal when the killer got Thunderlane, but this is… REALLY personal. Spike probably thinks he’s going to jail once we catch him, but after what he did to Fluttershy I’m going to make sure he swings from those gallows.
Not much else to say today, Fleetfoot questioned Shining Armour last night, but she gave him the all clear. The new girl was pretty devastated when she found out about Fluttershy, I was sure she was going to trample me down to see her, I’m really starting to like her, it’ll be good when this is all over and we can hang out like normal ponies. She also seems eager to help with the investigation, and while I can’t really let her in too much I did let her take the meeting today in my place, there wasn’t much to report and from what I heard from Scoots it didn’t even last long.
No news today from Scootaloo or Soarin, although Soarin seemed pretty… glum? Uncomfortable? It’s probably just because of what happened to Shy, he did take what happened to Thunderlane pretty badly too. Fleetfoot took care of the office work today while I stayed why Shy, she’s getting ready to jail the town bicycle tonight, who knows what dirty little secrets she’s heard through pillow talk.
When Fluttershy was awake and ready, I asked her a few questions about what happened to her, hoping she was able to identify the killer. Spike asked to sit in, I said he could as long as he let me ask the questions, not that that stopped him from butting in occasionally. I don’t know what his problem is, maybe he doesn’t like Fluttershy or something, but his bedside manner sucks. Unfortunately she wasn’t able to give us any useful information, the killer was apparently pretty careful to stay hidden, remaining out of her sight and wearing something obscuring.
One thing I picked up on was that Fluttershy said the killer was already in the house when she got up. While the doc was treating her I looked about, there were no signs of forced entry, just like all the other victims. It would appear that they just used the front door, you’d think at a time like this ponies wouldn’t leave their doors unlocked. I’ll have to make some kind of announcement tomorrow to make sure everypony takes basic precautions.
Soarin’s out again tonight, he hasn’t had a night off in like a week, and I know he isn’t getting much sleep during the day. Since we have nopony in particular on our radars he’s still under orders to cover as much ground as possible. I hope this ends soon, the distance between us is getting more and more pronounced, how did I let things get this bad between us? Only a guy like Soarin could have remained as loyal as he has this whole time.
Diary of Filthy Rich
Saturday 12th November
They must be on to me! The Apple whore sent her lumbering goon to my house last night; no doubt they’ve discovered my intentions and plan to silence me. Luckily I was able to hide from the oaf, but I won’t be able to keep this up forever. I need to strike soon; I need to cripple her before she can act against me. That mad pony who works in the bakery, Pinkie Pie, she was foolish enough to show her hand to me, she’s revealed her hand and now I have my target.
It only took a little research at the library to find that the Pies and Apples are not so distant relatives; of course she would be a member of the Family, probably quite a high ranking member considering how much they tend to favour those who share their blood. The little tart has been speaking out quite a lot, throwing blame around and drawing attention to herself. It won’t take much to convince the town that she’s doing this because she has been the killer all along.
Applejack will try to defend her, but the sheep outnumber the wolves in this town, if I’m loud enough our votes can drown out theirs. When that pink menace is hanging by her neck, the Apples will be weakened, struck to their very core. I won’t have to take many more steps after that before Applejack is joining her dear cousin in hell, then I shall finally have my revenge.
Diary of Applebloom
Saturday 12th November
Today has been great; things are finally starting to look up around here. The killers still about, but their latest victim managed to survive! It was that nice pegasus, Fluttershy, who looks after the animals, she’s apparently a doctor too which is probably why she was able to save herself. I think Scootaloo knows her pretty well, so I’m sure she’s delighted.
To make things better, we think we might have finally found out who the killer is, and I was the one to have found it out! Applejack was so proud of me when I told her. During the town meeting today, there were quite a few ponies missing, the new mare told everypony that the Sheriff and her partners were too busy with Fluttershy to attend. Applejack whispered to me to scoot on down to her cottage and see what the deal was.
I never did get as far as that, but Applejack wasn’t disappointed, cause when I was on my way I spotted that detective from Canterlot climbing out of the window of somepony’s house. My first thought was he was secretly a burglar, but then I thought, what if he was following a lead and that house was the killers? I took my chances and went in the way he came out, the house belonged to that grumpy old stallion who apparently used to be a soldier.
I saw him at the town meeting so I knew he wouldn’t catch me. I searched around for a bit but didn’t find anything out in the open, so I started thinking about things that could be hidden. I remembered an old trick me and the crusaders used to do, where we would hide stuff beneath the floorboards of the clubhouse. I noticed there was a particularly creaky one in his bedroom so I popped it open and voila!
I was actually pretty shocked when I saw all the weapons inside, I put the board back as quickly as possible and got out of there. I waited here for Applejack to get back from the meeting, and when she did I told her everything. She was angry about me breaking in but she quickly forgot about that when I told her what I found. She was thrilled, told me I did an amazing job and said she would take it from there. I’m not sure what’ll happen now, I imagine Applejack will report him to the authorities, but then she’d probably consider this to be a Family matter.
I hope they don’t try to hang him tomorrow like they did to Mr Flim, I know he’s a killer but he should just go to prison. It looks like this whole ordeal will be over soon, then maybe things can get back to normal. Hopefully the girls will go back to their usual selves, they’ve seemed really off with me these last few days, I hope they’re not mad at me for something.
Diary of Soarin
Saturday 12th November
Fluttershy almost died, my heart stopped dead in my chest at the thought of how she almost went the same was as Thunderlane. But she’s alive, the killer must have slipped up or something but she’s alive. I thought for a while she would be able to tell us who did it, but Rainbow told me she didn’t know anything. Apparently the killer wears dark clothing in order to hide their identity; I’ll have to look out for that during my patrol.
I can’t believe I missed them last night, I know I can’t watch all of Ponyville at all times, but I still feel like I could have prevented this if I’d been in the right place at the right time. I didn’t visit Rarity last night, after our last time together it’s clear I have to break things off. The things she said… she sounded deranged. That’s not love, that’s obsession, and it’s dangerous. I need to buck up and tell her the truth before she does anything foolish.
She deserves to know that I never felt the same way for her, that I really saw the whole thing as just a fling… that lasted a little longer than it was ever meant to. She’s going to be devastated with me, furious I imagine, and I can’t blame her, I pretty much used her, maybe if I’d been clearer from the start things wouldn’t have escalated this way. I’ll do it tomorrow during the day though; I can’t afford to sneak off anymore while on duty.
To think that if I did and Fleetfoot or even Rainbow Dash was attacked, I would have nopony to blame but myself. Rainbow doesn’t have any leads for me to follow up on tonight, she just told me to continue sweeping the town and keep my eyes peeled for the serial killer or the Family’s agents. She really is obsessed, she has been for a long time, if I’d been half the man she thinks I am I would have stuck by her side and helped her overcome her obsession. But could an obsession so deeply rooted even be brought to an end?
Diary of Cloudchaser
Saturday 12th November
Wonderful news, I was at the spa with Rarity today and she told me that she finally confessed her feelings outright to Soarin and told him to ditch that blind as a bat sheriff. Oh it makes me feel giddy to think that someday I could be a bride’s maid at the wedding of Soarin and Rarity… and hey, even if he dumps her she might give me permission to have a go with him, he’s clearly a bit of a cad going with Rarity for so long behind Rainbow Dash’s back.
Nothing makes me quite as warm inside as flashing Dashie a grin that says ‘I know something you don’t know’. Well almost nothing, speaking of which I had a ‘chance’ encounter with that handsome stallion, Caballeron, last night, the one who covered the bill for our lunch the other day. Despite having only been in town for a few days, he stuck about to claim a prize for his chivalry. Of course Rarity sent him my way, she never was one to put out for a free meal… not recently anyway.
Of course he was under the impression that it would make us eve, but after a few glasses of wine I quickly made him tip the scales in my favour, by the time the sun rose this morning he owed me quite a bit of money. Of course he wasn’t happy about paying, but once I reminded him of all the things he told me about his involvement with the Apple Family, he was suddenly a little more giving. He even looked a little queasy at the thought of me spilling my guts to the town sheriff about him dabbling in identity theft; I think the fates of the Flim and Flam brothers were still fresh in his mind.
On that thought, I haven’t heard any more from Applejack, I was half expecting some nice stallions to come around and break my legs for refusing her offer… assuming I couldn’t bed them first. She’s probably waiting until this whole serial killer business dies down, which shouldn’t be long considering the killer left their latest victim alive. I might have to look into booking a vacation to Canterlot soon, just to get off Applejack’s radar. I suppose I could take her advice and pay a visit to the nice investigator from Canterlot, a few nights with him and he might even let me go home with him.