//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: The Ashes Call My Name // Story: Chorus of Lament: The Embrace // by Timbre Tone //------------------------------// Deep in the forest, the trio of ponies trot. Their desperate task persisted as they moved between the dark foliage, lit only by a modest strap mount flashlight upon each of their foreheads. The trees were still. The wind was gone. The silence was absolute and nopony dared break it. With light so scarce, sound was the only ally they had under the canopy. It warned of creatures, warned of guards, warned of their runaway friend. Speaking was out of the question, listening was all that mattered. There wasn't much to say, anyway. Even the normally chatter-bug Pinkie Pie seemed to understand this. There had been what sounded like a distant group of guardponies about half a mile prior. The three quickly switched off their flashlights and waited motionless in the blackness for them to move on. This was the only encounter the mares had so far on their journey, and this was as much a relief as it was problematic. Fluttershy might not have wished to stumble into a timber wolf, manticore, or who knows what else, but Twilight's plan to pinpoint Rainbow Dash relied almost entirely on her rapport with animals to work. In spite of their importance to their plan, the forest's wildlife was nowhere to be found. The ponies soldiered on regardless, commitment to their task managing to overcome their fear and uncertainty. But then the silence was shattered. Pinkie Pie felt it crawling up her hooves. Slowly it surged forth like a thousand snakes under her skin, slithering into her chest and exploding outward in a flurry of overwhelming sensations. Her tail lashed out and her eyelids rejected her command. She sunk to her knees and her neck seized so harshly that her head locked upward, gazing into the tangled brier above her. "What'n tarnation?!" Applejack exclaimed as she whipped around and beamed her headlamp on her friend. She witnessed Pinkie's fit, her eyes widened. "A-are ya ok!?" Fluttershy shrieked as she turned to see the pink pony's body convulsing as she struggled to stand under the weight of the invisible pile driver it looked like she was being crushed under. Pinkie gasped and began to force a cheery voice through her firmly clenched teeth. "D-doozy! Yeah! Uh-huh! Definitely a doozy!" She struggled out arduously, her eyes still blasted into the leaf-entangled night sky. Suddenly her voice surged with pain as she began tear up. "No. Please." Pinkie uttered, remorse spawned from nowhere. "I didn't know!" Before her friends could even respond to the odd remark, the seizing mare pushed out a labored grunt that souring into a howl of pain. Then it left her as suddenly as it came. She slumped listlessly on to the forest floor with an earthy thud. Gasping, Applejack rushed next to her and immediately tried to prop the overwhelmed mare up off the ground. "Pinkie?! Can ya hear me?" AJ hollered frantically as Fluttershy swooped in from the opposite side and tried to help. "Com'on! Get up!" "Oh Celestia!" Fluttershy cried quickly as she moved in closer and felt in front of Pinkie's muzzle. "She's not breathing! Applejack, she isn't breathing!" "Hang in there Pinkie!" Applejack called as her eyes widened and she quickly redoubled her efforts to rouse her friend. "You're gonna be okay!" Applejack was strong, but the limp weight of the pink pony resisted all efforts to be righted. Heart pounding as precious seconds ticked away, Applejack cussed as Pinkie's form slid from her flank and fell to ground a second time. A low and phlegmy choking sound erupted forth from Pinkie's throat. A rush of damp air forced through her lungs as she gasped, the precious oxygen flowed in only to be expelled with a vicious coughing fit. Pinkie locked eyes with Applejack once she recovered, wearing an expression Applejack couldn't place at first. It looked so unfamiliar on her. Pinkie Pie was horrified. "Applejack..." Pinkie mustered slowly, tears now rolling down her devastated face. "I'm so sorry." "Eh, it's ok Pinkie, no need t'pologize." The farmpony responded awkwardly but supportingly. "You just had one of your Pinkie-sence fits, is all. Ah know ya don't have any control ov'rit." Pinkie stood up quickly, her mane falling from it's usual poof into long straight lengths, her face contorted with sorrow. Applejack felt the chill of anxiety run up her spine as she observed her friend's sudden change of manestyle, an indicator she'd known Pinkie Pie far too long not to recognize. Something was wrong. "No Applejack, you don't understand." Pinkie cried back as she took a step closer. "You need to leave!" "Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked, unable to recognize this panicked pony as the friend she'd known for years. "What's wrong?" "Go back to Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack!" Pinkie cried out again as she closed her eyes and tried to find elusive words. Her hair continuing to fall straight, masking her eyes as the overwhelming sensation of impending doom filled her guts. "You don't need to see this." "See what?" Applejack asked, her throat quivering as she felt goosebumps spawn under her fur. "Please listen to me!" She pleaded, now turning to Fluttershy for some kind of support on the matter. "Applejack needs to leave right now!" Fluttershy stared back in silence, trembling in fear. "Keep yer voice down!" Applejack fired back in an agitated whisper, locking eyes with Pinkie. "What's happening? What did yur Pinkie-sence tell you? Why do ah gotta leave?" "Leave?" Pinkie asked, suddenly sounding chipper again. "We haven't found Rainbow Dash yet, silly! Let's get a move on!" With an almost audible fwoop, Pinkie's mane shot back up into it's usual poof of pink fuzz and she continued to trot merrily along, passing Applejack and taking the lead, seemingly oblivious to the last seventy-eight seconds of her life. Applejack needed only turn to see the disbelief on Fluttershy's face to confirm that no, she hadn't imagined the preceding. "I've never seen her have an episode that severe before." Fluttershy spoke her unsettled mind. "You think she's okay?" "Honestly, ah don't know." Applejack responded, sounding unbelievably tired. "This whole mess has gotten to everypony. Nothing makes sense no more." "It's not just the ponies, either." Fluttershy added anxiously. "I've never seen the forest so empty of animals before. I feel like they're avoiding us, like something has them scared." "Well all ah know iz'at Twilight is counting on us, and I'm not leaving this forest 'til we find some trace of Rainbow Dash." Applejack asserted firmly. "Keep your eyes and ears open for critters." Fluttershy nodded meekly and continued her vigil. She managed to put one hoof in front of the other again, but found herself unable to focus on her task for very long. Something was different about the forest that night, but the specifics seem elude her. Nopony could ever make heads or tails of Pinkie's sixth sense. Back in the day, Twilight had tried her best to, but no scientific or even magical explanation held water. Everypony in Ponyville had their theories, and eventually just accepted that Pinkie was different. But one thing all of Ponyville agreed on about Pinkie Pie was that her Pinkie-sence never lied. Whatever it was Pinkie felt, whatever hint of horror so foul that the pink mare had to eject it from her mind still lay ahead. Fluttershy watched Applejack closely. Applejack watched Pinkie Pie closely. Pinkie Pie took point, merrily bouncing a good four lengths in the lead like it was all a relaxing hike. --------------------------------------------- The night air rested still and the rustling mummers of Everfree's trees ceased, as if shocked into silence at the gruesome scene that played out in the clearing deep within the forest. Fighter Flight narrowed his eyes, looking over the ravaged body of his soon-to-be childe. Her rainbow mane contained a disproportionate amount of red, stained from the grotesque wound torn from her throat by the now-eviscerated Willow Wisp. "You can turn around now." The amber-furred pegasus called out to Scootaloo. The quivering filly slowly turned her head back toward him, her attention darting instantly to the fallen mare. She quickly galloped over to Rainbow's corpse, her eyes re-watering. "D-did it work?" She asked desperately and she approached, fearing the answer. "She- S-She's..." "It worked." Fighter affirmed. "It takes time though." Scootaloo frowned slowly toward him, her hope clearly hanging by a thread. "How much time?" She pressed, half angry, half crying. "Longer then we can wait here." He responded quickly. "It's time to go, kid. It'll be dawn soon." "Ahh motherfucker!" Came a loud and pained groan as Wind Shear emerged from the long grass, blown clear across to the opposite side of the clearing by Willow's powerful strike. "Fucking bitch broke my ribs!" Startled, Scootaloo swung around quickly to face the emerging mare, her violet and pink mane a mess with twigs and leaves. She was struggling to stand. "Patch yourself up." Flight ordered unsympathetically. "We're leaving." "What?" Wind's eyes perked up. "What did you..." The pegasus mare's eye found the ashen pile that was once Willow Wisp and the rainbow-maned assailant torn and bloody beside her partner and her questions were answered. "Oh." She sighed, finally getting to her hooves even as her shattered ribs audibly shifted in her chest. "Looks like I missed the fun part." "Just hurry up!" Fighter barked, scowling at her. "We're gonna need to fly hard to make it back to the railway tunnel before sun up." "Yeah yeah." Wind responded dismissively as she closed her eyes and concentrated. "I've got enough left to put myself back together, but don't get on my case if I wake up tomorrow night in a bad mood." The mare was motionless a moment longer, concentrating on her body and feeling the smooth warmth of the Blood surge into her chest, knitting her bones and righting her organs. She let out a deep relieved sigh as the process finished before quickly finding her knife in the dirt and returning it to the scabbard under her wing. Meanwhile, Fighter retrieved a small sized wooden box from the pocket of his black flightsuit. Flipping the latch and opening the lid revealed that the container was empty. He placed it down into Willow's ashes and scooped no more the a hoofful of the soot into it before closing it tightly once more. He unceremoniously brushed the remaining remains soiling his hoof onto his clothes and returned the box to his pocket. Scootaloo stayed next to Rainbow's body as the bounty hunters went about their business. She couldn't take her eyes off her fallen idol. Watching her body closely for the slightest of movements, her sobbing subdued but the tears still flowing. "Ok, we're ready to go." Fighter Flight announced as he turned back toward the young filly. "Scootaloo, how fast can you fly?" "Uh..." Scootaloo hesitated. "Wait, what are you doing?!" Wind Shear interrupted loudly. "She can't come back with us to Canterlot anymore! What do you think Rosery will do to her when she finds out we dusted her sire?" "I assure you, she won't lay a hoof on Scootaloo." Flight responded adamantly, looking briefly at the young filly who returned an anxious and confused stare. "She might not have a sire but she will have somepony to look after her. That should be enough to satisfy the Prince's requirements." "And who the hell is that gonna be?" Wind snapped. "And don't you fucking dare look at me for this." Fighter stifled a chuckled. "No. Not you." "Good." She grumbled back. "But if anything I think matters, I say it's kinder if we just painlessly put her out of her misery." Scootaloo's eyes flared in fright. "Luna`s light!" Fighter growled, exasperated. "Wind, she's a Daeva! Don't you have any desire to help one of your own clan?" "In case you forgot, I just helped track down and murder one of my own clan. Besides, you say that like I sired her!" Wind Shear pressed. "She's not my problem! Fuck, she's not even your problem!" "She's one of us." Fighter reminded firmly. "The safety of our own kind is always our problem." Wind pushed a hoof into her face as she remembered she was talking to a brick wall. "I still can't figure out if you're an idiot or not. Whatever." She dismissed. "It's just weird watching you play goody four-horseshoes with a fledgling who ain't yours. Are you really prepared to look after one, Fighter?" The stallion had no response. "If you wanted one so bad, why didn't you just sire one of your own?" Wind Shear followed up. "Maybe one who isn't a little kid?" "Yeah." Fighter responded slowly, looking over his shoulder at Rainbow's corpse. "About that." Wind Shear's jaw fell open, disbelief washing over her. "Oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me." "Hey!" Fighter Flight blurted out. "I never said I was going to be looking after Scootaloo!" "Are you serious, though?" Wind uttered, bewildered. "You can't just Embrace that crazy bitch! You have no idea who she is!" "I know she cared about Scootaloo enough to sacrifice everything to try and protect her." Fighter returned. "But the kid was terrified of her!" Wind countered. "She screamed and ran away when that punk showed up!" "N-no I didn't! I would never!" Scootaloo objected quickly and angrily before suddenly stopping and thinking a moment. "Wait I... don't remember. Did I?" "Look, we can all talk about this once we get to the tunnel, ok?" Fighter asked them both, agitated. Without waiting for a response he turned to address the filly. "Come on. Get airborne, it's time to go." Scootaloo frowned, gnawing her bottom lip and twitching her wings nervously. "I- I can't fly." She muttered almost inaudibly. "Oh." Fighter said, taken very clearly off-guard by this sudden dilemma. "Uhh. Yet or ever?" "Wow." Wind cooed, disingenuously impressed. "You're an asshole, Fighter. Have you even spoken to a kid before?" The stallion grit his teeth as Wind Shear approached the filly. Wind was smiling for what must have been the first time that night. "It's fine, I can carry you." Wind said, a soft and friendly tone bubbling up from somewhere deep. She extended a hoof, ready to scoop up the filly, flaring her wings in preparation to lift off. "I'm Wind Shear by the way. Come on, let's go." Scootaloo stared back at the mare, timid and listless. Her gaze dropped to her out-stretched hoof, then to the ground. She remained still, blinking messy tears from the wet fur around her eyes. "Scootaloo, we had a deal." Fighter reminded firmly starting to sound impatient. "I know!" Scootaloo snapped back, frustration swelling in her blood. "You help Rainbow Dash, and I come with you. It's just..." She trailed off, barely able to put her feelings to words. "Can't I at least say goodbye to Ponyville? Can I tell them where I'm going? Am I ever coming back?" She murmured hopelessly. "Out of the question." Fighter blurted out bluntly. Scootaloo's heart sunk deeper. "But... my friends." There was a silence, broken by an oddly nostalgic sounding chuckle from Wind Shear "I'm getting flashbacks here." She said, still smiling. "I'd forgotten just how hard my Embrace was for me. It's been so long, ya'know?" The motionless filly perked her ears, if nothing else. "Look kid, one way or another, the Kindred are always born in violence." Wind continued, her smile fading as she spoke. "It follows us wherever we go and in case you haven't figured it out, you're one of us now. That means you have to be very careful." "If you go back to your old life, even for a moment, you risk bringing that violence with you. It's inevitable. You'll put everypony you care about back home at risk." Fighter added gruffly. "On top of that, you'd be putting us at risk too. Kindred who are Embraced at your age are a huge threat to the Masquerade." "The what now?" Scootaloo asked, crooking her head. "I know you want answers, kid. You definitely deserve them after what you've been through, but we need to find shelter before the sun comes up." Fighter spoke trotting over to the throatless pony next to them. Crouching down next to Rainbow Dash's still-motionless body, Fighter slowly and gingerly worked his hooves underneath her. With a rather startling lack of effort, he opened his wings and lifted off, pulling the fully grown dead mare's form into his arms, cradling her head into his chest, hovering a foot off the ground with even and steady flaps. "Believe it or not, you're pretty lucky, Scootaloo." Wind chimed in. The filly scowled at Wind Shear, not buying it. "What I mean is." She clarified. "Most Kindred really don't give a damn about anything other then their next meal. Apathy just naturally starts to set in after you've lived a few centuries." Scootaloo crooked her head, still not quite seeing it. "Uhh." "I'll admit. I'm kinda like that myself. But Fighter Flight." Wind stopped and pointed to the stallion, still airborne with Rainbow Dash carried securely in his hooves. "He isn't. I'll never understand why, and I don't think I even care anymore, but he's just different. I would have killed to have somepony like him on my side when I was a fledgeling. Maybe things would have gone different for me if I did." The filly gazed up at the airborne stallion, he returned an unsure stare. "You don't ever have to trust me if you don't want to, Scootaloo." Wind continued. "If anything, it would be good practice if you didn't. But please, try and trust Fighter. He might be the only Kindred in Equestria that deserves it." Wind Shear returned her outstretched hoof toward Scootaloo, awaiting her. Scootaloo lingered, but in time she found the strength to take hold. She took Wind's forelimb closely and felt her small form scooped and hoisted into the night air. The illusion of flight still managed to make her smile, albeit weakly. She'd never been carried in-flight by anypony else but Rainbow Dash before. Fighter watched carefully as the two took off. He followed closely behind, carrying with him his own precious cargo. He quickly caught up with Wind Shear as their altitude leveled off. They veered toward the mountains. Toward Canterlot. The cold air rushed through fur and feather and the filly soon looked out upon the forest canopy as she was lifted beyond it. In the distance were the modest lights of Ponyville. They quickly grew faint, before disappearing in the forming fog. "Thanks." Fighter called out to Wind. "Try and keep up, slowpoke!" Wind called back playfully, taking the lead. ----------- The Golden Oak library wore the facade of peace on its exterior, but within lay restless turmoil. Spike had once again been left alone. He was pretty sure he would never get used to solitude. Even during the best of times he found it difficult being separated from Twilight. While he considered the other ponies of Ponyville very much so his friends, she was the closest thing the young dragon had to a family, the first thing he saw when he hatched, his mother for all intents and purposes. But she wasn't his mother, the dragon tried to remind himself. He was her assistant and he had to follow her orders, even if it ment staying home alone filled with crippling worry while she went off and did something dangerous. The small handful of chores that needed doing did not keep Spike's troubled mind distracted for long, and when time came to go to bed he felt Twilight's absence even harder. Trying to sleep knowing she wasn't home, that she was out there putting herself at risk, the dragon had a better chance of getting a peaceful night's slumber out in the middle of a hailstorm. He thrashed about in his tiny pet basket of a bed, tangling his sheet around his limbs as he pushed his face into the pillow over and over at various angles to see if a specific one would magically knock him unconscious. It might have been ten minutes, it might have been an hour, but eventually pure exhaustion overrode all else and he drifted off, visions of Twilight in peril slowly evaporating as his lids closed. The burst of magical violet light flashed into every corner of the dark bedroom. It was enough to drag Spike back into awareness, with the alarmed calls that followed bolting him awake completely. "Spike! Spike where are you!?" A frantic, raincoat-clad Twilight Sparkle called out immediately as the teleportation spell completed. "Here! I'm here!" Spike gasped, choking on his tongue in fright as he sat up in his bed. She was already standing over him, a visage of pure panic upon her face. "I need you to do something for me! It's an emergency!" The unicorn blurted out, coat flapping as she quickly swung around and levitated a blank sheet parchment from her desk across the room and lay it on the ground before her. "W-What's wrong!?" Spike stammered nervously as he rolled hastily out of bed and quickly took up position next to Twilight. She focused her magic once again and cast the second stage of the photographic memory spell. A thin beam of light traversed the parchment and etched out a copy of the mysterious message found in Keen Eye's strongbox onto the surface. "Keen Eye isn't with the royal guard." She uttered grimly. "What?!" Spike barked, aghast. "He's an imposter, Spike! Look at this!" Twilight said, floating the recreated message up into Spike's grasp. "This is a copy of a message I found in Keen's strongbox. He's taking orders from somepony else, part of some kind of secret organization." The dragon's eyes danced over the page, widening progressively as he took in its cryptic contents. "W-what do we do?" Spike asked desperately, "Tell the other guards?" "No, Spike!" Twilight exclaimed. "We can't let Keen know we're on to him, he might be dangerous. He might already know I broke into his tent. We don't have much time!" "What do you mean?" Spike asked fearfully as he watched Twilight hastily scoop a bundle of parchment, ink, and quills into her saddlebag. "I need you to show this message to the girls." Twilight ordered firmly as she draped her saddlebag onto her back. "They need to know that Keen Eye is not to be trusted." "Wait, where are you going?" Spike inquired with tension, clutching the parchments firmly, realizing he was once again about to be left alone. "Canterlot." Twilight responded quickly. "Right now!?" Spike pressed as he watched Twilight flip through the Ponyville train schedule. "Right now." She affirmed as she tossed the pamphlet on to her desk. "If I can make it to the train station in the next thirty seconds, I should be able to catch the early morning express train." Spike could only stare. It was all happening so fast. He had so many questions, but he knew Twilight didn't have the answers. "I'll be back soon, I promise." She reassured. "There's something I need to do. Just get that message to the girls and make sure Keen Eye doesn't find out we know. I don't know what he'll do if he realizes his cover is blown." Spike nodded, though his overwhelmed expression seemed to contradict his signal of understanding. "Just be safe." He murmured, clutching the parchment in his claws hard. "You too, Spike." She said yanking him into a brief hug. "No matter what, you have stay away from Keen Eye." Spike nodded and the unicorn closed her eyes, quickly summoning forth another teleportation spell. Her mind traced the outline of Ponyville's modest train station behind her eyelids and after a few seconds she was gone, vanishing in another bright flash of violet light. It took Spike a moment before his logial self to returned to him. The whirlwind rendezvous with Twilight left him fearful and confused and it was a while until the true gravitas of the situation sunk in. He quickly folded the parchment into a small square and clutched it his claws as he made for the door. Odds were Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack were still out in the forest, so he'd go to Rarity first. Spike opened the door to exit the library but couldn't hold back a terrified gasp from escaping him. "Oh I'm sorry." Keen Eye apologized as the door opened. "I didn't mean to scare you just then." ________ "Oh no!" Fluttershy whimpered loudly as she shined her headlamp into an animal den dug beneath one of Everfree's innumerable trees. "'Nother empty one?" AJ grumbled, growing tired of disappointment. "No no no! This makes no sense!" Fluttershy responded in a panic, suddenly reaching into the burrow with both her hooves. "Whoa!" Applejack said, her eyes widening. "Hold on a minute—" Fluttershy dragged out a tangled mess of twigs, feathers, and leaves. It was a nest, and within lay two pearly white eggs covered in green speckles. The gentle mare carefully rotated the nest and felt her eyes water as she spotted garish and unmistakably fatal cracks running along the surface of each. "What happened to their mother?" Fluttershy spoke, barely composed. "W-What's happening to this forest?" "We outta jus' move on." The farmpony urged. "Applejack, these are cockatrice eggs." Fluttershy turned, gritting her teeth. "This nest was made no more then a day or two ago." "Umm." AJ paused. "Ah don't think ah follow ya." "They have no natural predators! Why in Equestria is this nest abandoned? Something is very very wrong!" Fluttershy snapped angrily. "Do you follow me yet!?" "Look, ah know this is frustratin' for ya." Applejack fired back, her anger escalating. "But we gotta laundry list of mysteries pilin' up and ah just don't think ah got any more room to care about 'nother one! We're just gonna hafta find Rainbow the ol' fashioned way." "Fine! Then I'm leaving!" Fluttershy said as she began to beat her wings and hover off the ground. "Like hay you are!" Applejack shouted. "Forget about the darn critters for a second! We gotta find Rainbow Dash! Twilight is counting on us!" Fluttershy paused in mid-air and looked furiously back down at her land-locked companion below. "You know what!? These animals are my friends too, Applejack! I don't care if you think it's unimportant! It's important to me! They're all important to me!" Fluttershy ranted back, angrier then Applejack had ever seen her in her life. "I know Rainbow Dash is in trouble, but so are they! I just know it!" Without even waiting for Applejack's reply, the pegasus ascended beyond the canopy and vanished out of sight. "Fine then! Pinkie and ah will be able to cover more ground without you whimpering over a few scrambled eggs anyway!" Applejack shouted through grit teeth up into the leaves. "Comon' Pinkie Pie, let's go!" "Pinkie Pie?" AJ turned to where Pinkie Pie had been standing when they had stopped to investigate the animal den and quickly noticed a distinct lack of Pinkie Pie. The farmpony's eyes darted all around her as she tried to locate her, and breathed a quick sigh of relief as she spotted the light of Pinkie Pie's headlamp in a clearing only a short distance up ahead. Pushing through the shrubs, AJ reached the lightly wooded patch and approached the pink earth pony. She was sitting in the long grass, nothing more. The final hours of moonlight illuminated the two friends. "Ya'll really shouldn't go wanderin' off like that." Applejack said as she trot up beside her. "Oh! Hey Applejack!" Pinkie Pie looked over her shoulder and smiled before raising a brow, noticing she was alone. "Where's Fluttershy?" "She went home, ah think." AJ sighing, overwhelmed as she sat down next to her. "Ah'm starting to think maybe we should do the same. We got into a bit'ova spat and she flew off. This whole trip into the forest has been a huge waste a'time." "Ohh. That's too bad." Pinkie said, crestfallen as she pulled Rainbow Dash's lightning bolt emblazoned saddlebag up from the long grass beside her and dangled it front of her. "I was gonna give her this in case she's friends with any of those dogs that can track ponies by scent." Applejack's eyes bolted open so hard, her hat slid off. "Land's sake!" Applejack blurted out. "Where did you find that!?" "Right here in this clearing. I sat on it by accident." Pinkie stated plainly. "Oh wait. I guess that means my scent is on it now too." "Was their anything inside!?" Applejack pressed, returning her hat to her head. "These!" Pinkie answered, placing the bag on the ground, opening it and pulling out a small corked vial and a larger jar, both empty. "Thank goodness they didn't break when I sat on them. The last thing this night needs is a flank full of broken glass." Applejack quickly took the containers from Pinkie and examined them hastily in the light beam of her headlamp, trying to acquire some insight. She uncorked the vial and wrinkled her nose, immediately resealing it. "Ugh!" Applejack grunted. "Whatever was in this one smelt really weird." "Oh no!" Pinkie's said as her ears drooped. "That's gonna throw the dogs off even more!" "Forget about the dogs!" AJ scolded as she returned the jars to the bag and slung it over her back. "We need to take a look around! Rainbow was probably here! There could be more clues." "I'm on it!" Pinkie barked, springing to her hooves and pushing her muzzle to the ground, sniffing vigorously as she began to sweep over the clearing. It seemed she didn't feel like forgetting about the dogs just yet. Applejack rolled her eyes and began to search as well, shuffling her hooves around the long grass near where the saddlebag was found while Pinkie sniffed her way over to the opposite end of the clearing. Time passed as the pair combed through the bushes and dirt. Applejack took the time to address the other issue laying heavy on her mind. "Pinkie?" Applejack called out as she continued her investigation. "Yes?" She responded, lifting her now dirt covered muzzle up from the ground and looking toward her. "About earlier. Your Pinkie-sence. That fit you had?" AJ started to ask. "Oh yeah! That was a big one, wasn't it?" She spoke in an awkwardly cheery tone. "My legs are still sore from all the writhing!" "Uh huh." The farmpony said, somewhat unsettled by the remark. "Ah was just wonderin' if y'all were ok. This one seemed a might bit more violent then your last few. Have they ever made you faint like that before tonight?" "I don't remember fainting." Pinkie stated, not at all concerned. "I also don't seem to remember waking up really scared and urging you to go home either." "But... uhh... Come again?" The reply left Applejack scratching her head. "You're still here, so it doesn't really matter now anyways." Pinked followed up frankly before returning her muzzle to the forest floor and continuing to sniff around diligently. After years of knowing her, Applejack had always operated under the belief that the workings of that whimsical pink mare's brain were beyond her comprehension. That belief had always given her a sort of dismissive comfort before. Now, not so much. Her abominable positive attitude through all this adversity, was as much a sanctuary as it was a fortress, and Applejack was starting to grow curious what was transpiring behind those thick stone walls. Maybe it was this feeling that drove Twilight nearly insane trying to figure the pink-maned mystery out. Maybe it would be best to just leave her alone. "Ugh!", There was a sudden loud eruption of coughing and choking from Pinkie Pie that derailed the farmpony's train of thought. She snapped her head toward her friend and began to gallop toward her. "Pinkie?!" AJ called out in concern. "Are ya having another one?" Pinkie Pie continued to cough and sputter as Applejack closed in, frantically wiping her muzzle clean of the pitch black substance now staining the fur around her nose. "Who leaves a giant pile of ashes out in the middle of a forest!?" Pinkie Pie shouted in outrage, her nostrils burning and her throat soiled with the anomalous soot. "What'n tarnation?" Applejack queried, brushing a hoof through the pile. "Campfire maybe? Wait, no. This couldn'tve been a fire, the grass underneath ain't burned." "I wonder where it came from then." Pinkie cooed, tilting her head and peering deeply into the pile, being careful not to inhale it this time. Applejack wracked her brain but came up blank. Detective stuff was more Twilight's shtick anyways. She offered up a weary shrug and made special note of the mysterious ash. "Well, we might notta found Rainbow, but we've got some clues at least." Applejack affirmed. "Let's do one more sweep just to be sure we haven't missed anything and head back to show Twilight what we found." The two earth ponies nodded to one another and began to comb through clearing a final time. Applejack had been prepared to call the entire evening a waste, but as the night stretched into its finale , it felt like some degree of hope was salvaged. Applejack was only paying half attention to Pinkie Pie now. She was too preoccupied with the promise of clues and the sleep she was going to have when she finally got home. Her face was buried in the long grass as Pinkie's mane began to slowly and silently fall straight across her eyes. The pink mare looked fearfully along the outside of the perimeter of the clearing. It was close. It was like a shadow of a sword dangling overhead. Some horrid, unchangeable truth stowed away like a time bomb. Try as she might, Pinkie couldn't ignore it. Her eyes focused in unabashed terror as she looked out into an unassuming patch of the forest just outside the clearing. There! ~~~~~ Well, there it is. You might as well go over and take a look, Pinkie. Applejack will find it eventually. You know she will. "Maybe we should both just head back now." Pinkie called out, her voice starting to quiver as she half-heartedly pretended to investigate the grass. "Ah jus wanna do a quick sweep 'round the outside of the clearing, Pinkie." AJ responded quickly. "Won't take too long." Careful now, Pinkie. The passenger isn't suppose to drive. "But she's my friend." Pinkie responded faintly to nopony. "I want to protect her." You can't protect her from this. You're just gonna make yourself more miserable. "S-shut up." She uttered bitterly. You know you can't stop this. Pinkie clenched her teeth and paced toward the edge of the clearing, each hooffall gradual and labored like it were fighting against the rising tide. "Why?" She pleaded softly, resigned. "Why show it to me if I can't change it?" You can't know that yet. But don't worry, you'll be the first to find out. You always are. ~~~~~ "Y'all say somethin'?" Applejack questioned as she looked out across the clearing, seeing Pinkie slowly ambling off. "Pinkie?" Turning briskly, Applejack galloped though the grass alongside her silent friend, apprehension cresting in her heart as she came close enough to see Pinkie's mane once again deflated down the back of her neck. "It's this way." She uttered, her monotone a far cry from her sprightly norm. "W-what is?" Applejack responded, unable to hide her swelling dread. She considered for a moment if this was what Pinkie had warned her about earlier. "I don't know." Pinkie answered plainly. "Probably." "Do ya still want me'da leave?" Applejack offered up, not quite realizing what had just happened. "It doesn't matter anymore." She relinquished as she approached the thick underbrush at the base of the treeline where the Everfree forest continued. She wrapped her hoof around a few low hanging branches. "It's not gonna change what's on the other side of this." Pinkie passed back under the canopy, vanishing behind the thick brush as the branches swung back in place behind her, swaying apathetically. Applejack remained, feeling the sudden and horrendous weight of her hooves, her brain alive and frantic. It had been a long time since she had felt a consuming fear like this. She had always promised herself she would be strong. She had a family that needed her to be, Friends that needed her to be. Whatever this is. You're strong. Remember that. It was enough of a reminder to finally lift those agonizingly heavy hooves of hers. She began to reach out to those same swaying branches as weeping breaths slipped between their leaves. Behind them sat Pinkie. Her head whipped around, tear-filled eyes obscured by her wilted mane. They fell upon her dear friend. "No. Please." Pinkie uttered, remorsefully. "I didn't know!" "Pinkie jus' calm down." Applejack spoke, desperately maintaining control of her own bewildered mind as she paced closer. "You're gonna be ok. Ah'm gonna take you home." A horrid fear spawned in Pinkie's eyes as she saw Applejack approach, shaking her head in a dire and wordless objection. The pink mare bolted away in full gallop. Headlamp extinguished, she swiftly disappeared into the trees. "W-wait!" Applejack called out. But the light from AJ's own lamp landed where her friend had been waiting for her a moment ago. Where she had been lead to. An icy dagger twisted into the farmpony's guts. She lay, her tiny body propped against a tree as if in repose. She looked almost peaceful. Limbs tucked neatly against her sides. Sparkless eyes half-closed. Unblinking even as the beam of light passed over her motionless face. Applejack approached her sister, her spasming lungs failing to acquire the oxygen she needed to scream out in mutilated awe. She felt magma roiling in her stomach Her vision tunneled as she found herself next to little Apple Bloom. She pushed a trembling hoof through her mane. Her skull, caved in. Blood caked. Body stiff. Rigor Mortis. Why? Oh, Celestia and Luna and all who came before. Why? ----------------------------- Keen Eye looked down toward the young dragon, standing just outside the doorway. The tall and musclar ash grey unicorn certainly had the physique to be in the royal guard. The armour he wore certainly looked authentic. The spear slung across his back appeared standard issue. However there was something he wore in that moment unlike anything possessed by the other guards, an ominous scowl. "Spike, Right?" Keen inquired as he casually let himself in. "Awfully early in the morning to be heading out. The sun isn't even up yet." Spike couldn't stop him, his focus had fallen entirely on inconspicuously balling up the parchment in his claws. "Y-yeah." Spike responded slowly, his heart concussing painfully in his chest. "Just uh- getting an early start on some of my errands. W-what are you doing here?" "Miss Sparkle, where is she?" Keen fired back instantly. "T-twilight? I haven't seen her all night." Spike managed to muster, sounding what he felt was pretty convincing. Keen Eye frowned at him. "Ahh. I see." The stallion responded as he continued to look around the interior of the library. "Uhh. If I see her I'll let her know you're looking for her." Spike offered, trying to remain calm. "Magic's quite an interesting thing, Spike." Keen Eye spoke plainly. Spike couldn't respond. His eyes remained fixed on Keen Eye as he continued to pace abount the room, casually observing something beyond the dragon's perception "Every unicorn has a sort of unique magical signature, traces that get left behind whenever they cast a spell." Keen Eye exposited. "Twilight studied a lot of magic. Did she ever tell you that?" "I uh-" Spike tried and failed to respond. "Simple spells barely leave behind anything, but the stronger the spell is the more traces of magic get left behind." Keen Eye continued, an unmistakeable menace in his tone. Spike gulped as he considered running through the open door. He wouldn't make it very far. His eyes landed upon the spear Keen carried on his back. "Something like- oh let's just use teleportation as an example." Keen chuckled briefly. "Why that's like a big magical bomb going off. Leaves behind a lot of clues." Spike began to backpedal towards the door, dread beginning to surge into his veins. "How rude of me." Keen Eye said apologetically as his horn ignited, library door slamming shut in an instant. Spike flinched. "Looking for clues is my job, Spike." Keen Eye said as he turned toward the dragon and began to approach him, his voice cracking into something distantly sinister. "You know that, right?" "Y-yeah." Spike uttered, viably trembling. "So I'm going to ask you this exactly one more time, and you should probably think very carefully before you lie to me again." The stallion said as he lowered his head within inches of Spike's face, each word punctuated by an intimidating grunt. "Where is Twilight Sparkle?" "She uh-" Spike choked out, tears forming. "S-she isn't- I mean, she wasn't-" "Careful now." Keen scathed threateningly as a he began to pull the spear from his back, wrapping his forelimb around the shaft and brandishing it conspicuously. "I've been watching Twilight for a while now. She really does rely on you. I really don't think she can take of herself on her own." With a swift whoosh of tempered steel, Spike yelped and froze up only to feel the lightest of feather taps from the razored spearhead land atop his snout, hovering threateningly. "You wouldn't want to leave her on her own, would you?" Keen asked in a dark curiosity. Spike closed his eyes as the pretender loomed over him. He twisted his head away from his assailant, desperately wanting to believe that he was still asleep in his bed, that he would wake up and Twilight would be there to comfort him. But he felt it on the hot breath of Keen Eye only inches away from him. This was a nightmare he wouldn't be awakening from. "Lieutenant!?" a distance voice cried out. Keen Eye's gaze bolted quickly to the windows, then the door. The call repeated, louder this time, as the sound of galloping approached from outside the library. In a flash, Keen stood up straight and slung the spear across his back, backing up a few paces. Like the flip of a hyperactive switch he was back to his tightly coiled professional facade peering at the door attentively as an earth pony guardstallion burst through it, panting and perspiring from what must have been a long run. "Lieutenant Keen Eye! Sir!" The winded earth pony saluted briefly. "The body of a filly has been found in the Everfree Forest!" "Ah, Scootaloo's remains then?" Keen nodded somberly. "Take me to them." "Negative, sir." The guard corrected quickly. "It's somepony else." Both Spike and Keen Eye's jaws fell open in unison, struck identically speechless. "Sir, the mare who discovered the body is at town hall." The guard pony reported. "Sargent Arrowshaft has already begun questioning her." "What about the body?" Keen pressed quickly. "It's been taken to the morgue at Ponyville Hospital." The guard responded. "The coroner has already performed a preliminary examination on it and has asked to speak to the pony in charge of the investigation immediately." "Why wasn't I informed of this sooner!" Keen Eye barked, sounding as angry as he seemed baffled. "I told the entire squad if a body was found, I was to be shown it before it was moved!" "Uh." The guardpony stalled, trying to broach the topic with his commanding officer carefully "Nopony could find you, sir. I've myself have been looking for you for nearly half an hour." Keen Eye was silent, opting not to follow up. "Sir." The guardstallion decided he would. "You told the team searching the forest for Dash that you'd be staying behind in the command tent, and told the units at the command tent that you'd be going into the forest." "You're getting a bit lippy for your rank, corporal." Keen Eye warned as the earth pony reflexively threw up a nervous salute. "Sorry, sir." He quickly offered. His eyes falling curiously to the terrified looking dragon in the corner of the room. "Just take me to the morgue." Keen Eye commanded the soldier as he too cast down a threatening look to the dragon below as he left. The library door latched shut as the two made haste, leaving Spike alone in his home once more. He gasped for air, relief pouring over him as he face remained unskewered and Twilight's location remained unknown to the treacherous unicorn. But as he collected himself, he realized he had only the expiry of somepony to thank for it. "Somepony died?" He murmured to himself as he flattened out the crumpled parchment in his grasp He watched Keen Eye and the other guard gallop off into lampless streets through the windows. Eventually the dragon carefully slipped out the back way and toward Carousel Boutique. ~~~~~~~~~~ The narrow passage deep within the railway tunnel filled Scootaloo's mind with nightmarish thoughts of claustrophobic entrapment as she struggled to press her form through the rocks and into the sheltered alcove. Once again, the ramshackle set-up was lit only by a small lantern between the two dilapidated beds. No flame, but brimming with fireflies. Scootaloo frowned as she made her way inside and took in their accommodations as Fighter Flight and Wind Shear entered behind her, forcing her farther into the room. Fighter Flight quickly carried Rainbow Dash to one of the beds and lay her carefully down on the mattress. Wind Shear paced disinterestedly to the single other unoccupied bed. Beside it, she wrestled herself out of her flightsuit, her cutie mark exposed as a cloud diced and separated into three sections by two thin slashes. She flopped down on the bed without a word, tail twitching as she relaxed. "Is this where you guys live?" Scootaloo asked tenuously, watching Fighter's actions with Dash very carefully. "This is just a safe house to spend the day in if we stray too far from Canterlot." Fighter explained as he tore a few strips of fabric off of the worn sheets. "It's dark and it's hidden, and that's all that matters for now." "She still hasn't moved?" Scootaloo probed as she came along beside him. Fighter shook his head and began to restrain Rainbow Dash. Using long strands of fabric twisted into rope to tie each of her limbs to a post of the bed frame, as well as thread a length of the fabric rope between her teeth. "What are you doing?" She asked uneasily. "A fledgling Kindred awakening for the first time is going to be three things." Fighter explained as he worked away. "Scared, confused, and hungry. This is just a precaution." "If I woke up tied up I don't see how that's gonna make me any less scared or confused." Scootaloo returned disapprovingly. "Honestly, you'll get used to the first two." Fighter uttered in a somewhat cheeky tone. "Its the third one that's really the problem." The filly dwelled on the statement. "I'll have to do it too, won't I?" She asked, scowling sadly. "I have to drink blood, like what Willow did to Rainbow." "You have to drink blood, yes. But listen to me Scootaloo. This is important." Fighter Flight affirmed before clutching the young one's eyes with an intense gaze. "You don't have to be like Willow Wisp. No matter happens between now and well- forever, remember that." Scootaloo nodded slowly, still just a bit too overwhelmed by all that's happened to completely understand what he meant. "Still, it's a shame we don't have time to go out and feed before sun up. We've all had a rough night." Fighter grunted through the cloth in his mouth as he tightened the last binding on one of Rainbow's hind legs and stepping back to check his knots. "Wind had to put her ribcage back together, I'm nearing empty after performing the Embrace. How about you? Did Willow Wisp at least keep you topped up?" Scootaloo shrugged. "Well I can't imagine the menu was all that good out in the Everfree Forest. There's a reason you don't find many Kindred away from big cities." Fighter Flight continued, nearly chuckling. "Do you remember anything yet?" "Not really." Scootaloo admitted. "Whenever I try all I can seem to think about is... Willow's face. Just her being there, and me really liking the feeling. I don't know why." "She must have had quite a hold on you, then." Fighter Flight responded, crossing his forelimbs. "Now that she's dust, your memory will come back in time if you focus on it." "What did she do to me exactly?" The filly asked in a tired curiosity. "Aside from killing you and your friend here?" Fighter said with no hesitance or sympathy. Wind Shear rolled over in her bed, well within earshot, looking at Fighter with inquisitive brow but otherwise pretending to not listen. Scootaloo was painfully stung for a moment but could feel a clarity begin to build in her mind. "One of the best ways the deal with the aftereffect of a strong Vinculum is focus on the truth. Focus on remembering what it was your former-regnant took from you." Fighter calmly explained himself. "What are you saying?" Scootaloo pleaded, feeling the weight of emotion in her eyelids. "Short answer, Scootaloo. You were brainwashed, but I honestly wish it were just that simple." Fighter spoke, sitting down next to the filly. "Willow Wisp had you under the effect of a Vinculum. She fed you her own Blood, didn't she?" The filly's pupils dilated and a heavy breath left her lungs. Some unnatural desire violently twisted in her core. She felt it in her mouth. The coppery taste. The texture of the ambrosia across her touge. The feeling of Willow's fur against her muzzle as she sunk her fangs into her. Scootaloo stared into nowhere as she began to understand she would never feel it again. She nodded to Fighter, unable to stop herself from feeling remorse that the source of the wonderful crimson was no more. "She... did..." The filly muttered. "Kindred drink the blood of mortal creatures." Fighter continued. "But a Kindred's own Vitae is very different from regular blood. The Vinculum is just one example of the kind of stuff that starts to happen when a Kindred drinks the Blood of their own kind." Scootaloo continued to stare into oblivion, struggling to find words. "It- It felt like... I- I-" "-loved her." Fighter Flight finished as he to began to wrestle out of his flightsuit, his own cutie mark visible, a diagonal spear with white feathered wings erupting forth from either side of the shaft. He sat down next to Scootaloo. "I know, kid. That's what the Vinculum is. It wasn't real. Nothing you felt toward her was. It's one of the Blood's more disturbing characteristics." Scootaloo's tearful eyes locked unfocused on Rainbow Dash, tied down on the bed. "She hated her." Scootaloo explained, melancholy. "I don't remember why. Willow told me so many horrible things about her. All of them were lies but I believed her. I didn't even question it." Fighter Flight sighed, closing his eyes as he listened. Scootaloo clenched her teeth, gasping in air as her mind continued to return to her. "She was trying to take me away from her." Scootaloo uttered as a burgeoning fury boiled in her words. "She taught me to be afraid of her, to hate her, just like she did! Why?!" The filly turned and lunged toward Fighter Fight, the Beast making an introduction in her soul as the stallion reached out and caught her shoulder, holding her at limb's length as she snapped her now-exposed fangs toward the older Kindred's snout. "Why did she do this to me!? Why did she take my entire future away!?" Scootaloo roared out in savagery. The filly suddenly became aware of herself, retreating and sitting back down, eyes darting away in wordless apology. She pulled her hind legs into her torso and buried her snout out of sight, breaking down into tears for what must have been the seventh time that night. Fighter Flight chewed his bottom lip as he looked toward Wind Shear. The mare met his gaze, but she rolled her eyes dismissively, rolling over in the bed away from the two. Fighter gingerly raised his hoof and extended it slowly toward Scootaloo, but quickly pulled it back to his side and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry." He offered tentatively. "Willow Wisp- she took something from you that no form of justice will ever be able to give back. You can understand why we had to stop her." "I'm glad you killed her." Scootaloo snarled into her hooves. Fighter narrowed his eyes toward the filly, frowning slightly for a moment before letting his gaze soften. "Of course you are." He said, nearly chuckling. Scootaloo emerged from her hooves just enough to lay herself down on the cold stone of the cavern floor. "Here." Fighter Flight said as he carefully tugged the last few scraps of sheets off the bed and draped them over her, as well as providing her with a rather pathetic looking pillow. "Your body still probably thinks it needs heat. I'll stay up and keep an eye on Dash." "Thanks." She nodded to the stallion. She took the thread bare, flattened, and slightly damp pillow and pushed the dirty old thing under her head, desperate in that moment for comfort in any form. ------------------------- The Ponyville Hospital wasn't a large facility. It's morgue had storage for only nine cadavers, and for years now had only required to be staffed by one pony, the coroner, a burly and grim faced dark brown earth pony stallion by the name of Post Mortem. He'd long accepted that this job occasionally asked bizarre hours of him. He worked when there was work to be done. When he had learned that the corpse of Apple Bloom, a filly he'd seen happily playing in the streets last week, had been brought in dead from the Everfree Forest, he knew there was plenty of work to be done. The florescent lights buzzed as he hovered beside the whiteboard next to his desk, rolling the latex covers off his hooves and disposing of them carefully in the bio-hazardous waste bin. He raised a marker against the board and began to stroke the ink against the clean plastic with a flurry of squeaks, adding to his notes from the preliminary examination of the cadaver. NO DECOMPOSITION - DEATH >8 HOURS AGO LARGE OBJECT LOW VELOCITY IMPACT - SEVERE BUT NO CRANIAL PENETRATION NO EXTERIOR EVIDENCE OF INJURY BEYOND HEAD WOUND CoD: BRAIN DAMAGE? SHOCK? BLOOD LOSS? "You work pretty quickly." Keen Eye spoke as he approached the open door into the small but well ventilated room, looking over the coroner's notes as he let himself in. "The Apples are well-liked ponies here in Ponyville." Post Mortem spoke in a low and humorless voice. "If they're willing to donate a barrel of apples every year to the hospital food drive, then the least I can do for them is make the information regarding the death of their youngest available to them in a timely manner." Keen Eye processed the statement for a moment. "You wanted to see me?" Post turned away from the whiteboard, apron swinging as he faced the royal guard with a scowl. "What I wanted was not to be cutting open a dead kid. I figured you and the guards were here so I wouldn't have to, but here we are." Keen's gaze began to cut against the earth pony's eyes. "Since you guys were nice enough to haul one in for me." Post Mortem continued sardonically. "I need you to bring this poor girl's sister in here to identify her. I heard you have her in custody." Keen frowned. "You already know who she is." "Yes, but unlike you and your guards who seems to be losing track of more fillies then finding them, I do my job properly." The coroner scathed. "This is a formal inquest, which means she needs to be officially identified by next-of-kin in my presence. I also need consent from a legal guardian to perform an autopsy on a minor. Their parents are long gone, you've already got her brother arrested, and good luck managing to get Granny Smith down here." The coroner turned away again, opting to take in the dark but glowing pre-dawn morning sky through the small office's window. The faux-Lieutenant grimaced but he swallowed the earth pony's words. "I'll bring you Applejack." Keen Eye agreed, sounding cool and professional. "After the autopsy I expect a full report from you. Anything you learn should be considered confidential to the investigation. What can you tell me so far?" "Not much." The coroner co-operated. "She recived a nasty bash to the head, but from what I can determine without opening her up, I don't believe it's what killed her." "That's it?" Keen Eye pressed, turning to look at the filly-shaped lump under the sheet on the exam table in the corner of the room. "For now." Post Mortem replied quietly. "The sooner you get Applejack here, the sooner I can start." --------------------- "Why were you in the Everfree Forest?" The dark blue pegasus guard-Sargent known as Arrowshaft asked in a clam and even voice, sitting opposite a blonde haired earth pony who appeared to be Applejack. She sat catatonic, staring with bleary eyes unfocused into the center of the table that divided the small and poorly lit interrogation room buried in the corridors of town hall. "Why were you in possession of this." Sargent Arrowshaft asked again, calmly, placing Rainbow Dash's saddlebag onto the centre of the table where Applejack's thousand yard stare was burning a hole. She closed her eyes, but continued her silence. "Did you witness what happened to the filly in the forest." The Sargent continued in the same tone, unwavering. Applejack's eyes locked with her interrogator, but her vacant expression remained unchanged, lips unmoving. A knock came from the door. Keen Eye's snout emerged from the windowed door. "A moment, Sargent?" The commanding officer beckoned Arrowshaft to him. Without delay the burly pegasi left the table and met with Keen Eye in the hallway outside. "What do we know so far?" Keen asked hastily. "Almost nothing." Arrowshaft admitted. "A group of guards searching for Rainbow Dash in Everfree said they heard screaming, and found her clinging on to her sister's body completely hysterical. It took three guards to pull her off of it." Keen Eye watched Applejack carefully from outside. "She hasn't said a word to anypony since we brought her in." The sargent continued. "The coroner needs her at the mourge immediately." Keen cut to the point. "With all due respect, sir." Sargent Arrowshaft spoke freely, earnest concern in his voice as he looked back in on the mare inside. "I don't know if she's in any state to see her sister's corpse again. She's pretty messed up." "We can start worrying about her feelings once she starts telling us what we need to know." Keen Eye decreeded bluntly. "Once I come back with her, I want you to keep questioning her." "Are we actually charging her with anything, sir?" The Sargent inquired, raising a brow at his CO's apathetic tone. "We can't just keep her here forever." "You found her with Dash's saddlebag, right? Until she co-operates, hold her on suspicion of conspiring with her." Keen Eye ordered, "I'll file the charges myself once I come back." Arrowshaft looked unhappy, but nodded and saluted his superior, opening the door and entering the interrogation room along side him. "Applejack. Come with me, please. You're needed at the morgue." Keen Eye said as he trot in, more commanding her then requesting. Applejack looked over her shoulder and stared listlessly at Keen Eye. She recognized him. He was the one who arrested Big Mac. She got out of her seat without a word and followed him through the hallways until they were both outside. ----------------------- It would have been hard to describe what Scootaloo was experiencing that night as sleep. Her body was still, she could feel her senses begin to dull, and an unnerving wave of pins and needles had washed over her. Her mind felt hyperactive, vivid pictures swirling behind her eyes. They flickered into sight and then bled away like a slideshow. It felt more like being paralized and drugged more then anything resembling the sleep she used to understand. More and more images surfaced, faded, half-remembered fragments crystallizing into reality. Her mind was trying to reassemble itself after Willow Wisp had scrambled it. She saw Apple Bloom. The clubhouse. When was this? Earlier tonight? A familiar voice entered her ears. ~~~~~ "Remember Scootaloo. We have to deceive our prey in order to survive." "Show mother you've learned that and she'll give you more of her Blood." "Make it a friend. Someone you want to spend a long time with." ~~~~~ Scootaloo felt her body return to her as a rush of horrid realization wormed into her veins. She emerged, eyes wide open as Fighter Flight turned toward her from his vigil over Rainbow Dash's body. "Yeah." Fighter Flight spoke, content he knew what ailed the young vampire. "You can experience some pretty intense visions when you're in torpor. The undead mind is a strange place. You'll get used to it. Some days are better then others." "I killed her." Scootaloo murmured in devastation, her face twisted and mortified. "I'm pretty sure Willow Wisp killed Rainbow Dash, kid." The stallion replied, trying to sound rational and calming for the filly. Still believing he understood. "I was there." "Willow Wisp told me to choose one of my friends." The filly begin to recount. Every ounce of calm understanding drained from Fighter Flight's face in a split second, his eye's widening and wings flaring. "W-what?" He asked, fearfully confounded. "She told me lure her into the forest." Scootaloo struggled to explain, raising her hooves to her eyes as she lost comprehension of herself, panicking fully. "N-no! I killed her! I killed Apple Bloom! She told me to and I did it!" Horrid bile filled her throat as her mind crippled against the memory. The rock slipping into the water. Willow retrieving her body. Lovingly praising her success. It was real. "Another filly?" Fighter Flight asked deserately, his eyes demanding an answer immediatly. He only observed Scootaloo long enough to see her nod in confirmation before he quickly forced his hooves into the pockets of his discarded flightsuit. He hastily pulled out his pocket watch and held it next to the firefly lantern. No time. Luna forgive me. There's not enough time. ----------------------------------------- The path back to the hospital lead Keen Eye and Applejack through town square. The royal guard tent complex was a bustle with activity in the otherwise deserted streets. The average Ponyville citizen still had maybe an hour of sweet slumber before they would have to shuffle off to another day of work, or school, or whatever existence claimed them. As they rounded the corner on final approach to the hospital, Keen Eye looked over his shoulder to the broken mare behind him. She put one hoof in front of the other easily enough, but each step was listless and unguided. She realized she was moving, but there was an indelible absence from her spirit. Keen Eye cleared his throat, readying his best attempt at an extension of sympathy. "I can appreciate that you're upset right now Applejack." "Shut up." She grunted dispassionately. "We can't help you if you don't help us." Keen Eye offered, trying to sound reasonable. "Ah said shut the fuck up!" The mare roared as she glared poisonously at the stallion, rage boiling from her muzzle. "Y'all wanted me to go to the morgue with ya and ah'm going to the morgue with ya! Do'ncha say a fucking wordda me!" Her voice echoed off the houses and decayed into the empty streets. Keen Eye held his tongue, though it was clear he had trouble settling on the decision. The pair entered the hospital, passing a single orderly preparing for the end of his shift as they trot to the east wing. The deserted halls filled with echoing steps. The calming interior colours did little to ease either of the two. Keen Eye began to smell something bizarre as they traveled the last corridor. Applejack either hadn't noticed or refused to care. However what had started as a minor oddity became much stronger upon arrival outside the door into the morgue proper. It was an acrid chemical odor of what could only be described as rotting pickles that nether of the ponies had the knowledge to identify. Keen Eye puzzled for a moment. It hadn't smelled like this earlier. The armoured pony rapped a hoof on the door. There was no response. Keen Eye's horn ignited as he gradually opened the door open with a magical push. The rancid air from inside rushed into their nostrils. The stench was a thousand times worse inside. Applejack stood in line behind him. The mare's tortured heart pounded, she breathed deeply in spite of the atrocious taste on the air. She tried with all her might to prepare herself for what she was about to see. Little did she know Keen Eye was doing the same. The two ponies very quickly realized their respective preparation was in vain. The florescent lights illuminated the coroner, Post Mortem, collapsed on his back, face frozen in abject horror, unseeing eyes glazed over in brutal causality. His chest, neck, and face were perforated with dozens of puncture wounds, his vital fluids still visibly escaping him like sauce through a colander of loosened skin. The gore staining his fur and clothing and pooled on the tiles beneath. There was no air available for gasps of shock as the two ponies coughed heavily. The wall of chemicals crashed into their lungs. Their eyes watered and burned, vision blurring and clouding as they both struggled to see into the room. The morgue showed signs of a struggle. The tall shelving unit next to the examination table had fallen over. Smashed bottles of sanitizer, embalming fluid, and who knows what else littered the floor beneath it, their contents now defusing into the air. Keen Eye readied his spear in a swift and practiced motion and moved in next to the fallen stallion, pressing a hoof against his neck. Dead. Applejack's chest seized up as she caught a flicker of movement from behind the toppled shelves in the corner of her eye. Keen Eye's chest seized up as he realized something rather important was missing from the examination table. "There!" Applejack cried out, as she leapt into the room and quickly circled around. Adrenaline pounding in her skull, she was ready to bury her hoof into whatever assailant lay in wait. Keen Eye flanked around to the other side, spear held at the ready, horn shimmering in preparation. The stallion's weapon fell from his hooves and clattered on the ground as he lay his eyes upon her. Applejack felt her sanity contort in her mind like a drowning worm. The fumes. She had to be hallucinating. Apple Bloom sat timidly behind the fallen bookcase, the fur surrounding her muzzle saturated and dripping with fresh blood. It ran down her chest and neck. It covered her hooves. It was everywhere and it wasn't her's. She was trembling in fear as she looked up at her dear sister. "Please sis! Ah'm sorry! Ah'm so sorry!" The little filly cried out from behind ignorantly exposed fangs. She scrambled frantically and buried herself against Applejack in a firm hug, smearing a mess of blood against her golden fur. She cried in traumatic breakdown, gasping for air. "Ah'm didn't mean to hurt 'em! Ah was so scared! Ah don't know what came over me!" The dissonance pierced into Applejack's brain like a migraine, flashes of light and pain from inside. Some cruel and revolting joy tightening around her neck like a twisting rope. It was a violation of her understanding of a fair world with meaning and prepose but she didn't care. She got to hold her sister again. She was happy. Keen Eye backpedaled, stumbling over fallen furniture, wordlessly uttering his denial, shaking his head in ineffectual protest. Applejack extending a trembling hoof, feeling behind her sweet sister's ear. It flicked reflexively to her touch and yet it remained as cold as when she cried screaming into it less than an hour ago. She felt skull fragments shift under her wandering touch, the horrendous injury remained embedded in her. "You're gonna be okay, s-sugarcube." Applejack stammered, logic failing her. The harsh chemicals already had her crying. The older mare gripped the filly closely, the crimson sticking between their fur. Applejack squeezed harder and harder but no matter how hard she held her, she was still cold. "W-what happened to ya!?" Applejack begged, salty tears landing in saltier blood. "What did this to you!?" Apple Bloom remained locked in the bloody embrace, gasping through familiar fur. Weeping against her sister in silence, unable to find an answer. However, one fact couldn't escape her. "Ah found Scootaloo." Apple Bloom murmured. "W-What?" Keen Eye gasped in astonished trepidation as the first finger of morning sunlight slipped through the window. Then came the screaming. The gut-twisting scream of complete agony as she burned. Her cry was deafening, right next to the older sister's own ear. So sudden. So terrible What could Applejack do but grip her even harder? Grip her as her cold flesh scorched and curled as the fire of daylight broke across it like acid. It was over before Applejack could even understand. She felt only ashes. Felt only her sister's form crumble away into dust against her body. Saw her blood stained ribbon rolling into the remaining pile. Applejack's breath raced into hyperventilation as an onslaught of horror stabbed at her. Every neuron in her mind engulfed in torment as a noxious, howling sob overtook her. It rolled up the hallways, echoing and surging as it rose and fell. The screams heaved against the air like Applejack's cheast heaved against the empty space where her sister's shadow once stood. Her eyes widened, flaring with blood curdling madness as she locked eyes with Keen Eye. The armored imposter trembled in his steel plates. "I-I'm sorry." The grey stallion begged apology, his eyes watering as his horn ignited. "This was never meant to involve you." The energy launched from the unicorn. It slammed against Applejack. The concussive force sucking the oxygen from her lungs, ripping the consciousness from her mind as her head kicked back and her hat slipped off, sliding into the blood. The stallion watched as she hit the floor, golden fur now filthy as the ashes of her sister mixed with coroner's blood like a nightmare version of being tarred and feathered. He waited for her to move. She didn't. Keen Eye levitated a scalpel into the air from the various utensils scattered around the upturned room. Turning quickly he hunched down next to the coroner's corpse and held the tool in his magical grasp against one of the dead pony's many wounds. His eyes traced around the two. He considered briefly before closing his eyes and nodding to himself. The blade flipped down against Post Mortem's brutalized body. In a slow and smooth thrust, Keen Eye pushed the point into the corpse, sinking the scalpel halfway into the flesh, retracting it before calmly placing the freshly blooded implement, handle-first into Applejack's mouth. As the room continued to flood with morning light, Keen Eye left the tampered scene. His job just got much more complicated.