Five Ponies
“Patient’s name: Ruby Berryshine Pinch. Type: unicorn. Age: nine. Coat colour: pink. Mane colour: rose, two-tone. Cutie mark: three gems…” The doctor put the dictaphone down and levitated a scalpel. “Okay, Ruby,” he said, looking at the filly lying on the table in front of him. The pale, unnatural light was making her look even smaller. “Let’s see what happened to you…”
Diamond Tiara examined the knife carefully, looking for any irregularities of the blade. For a while, she was staring at her reflection in the stainless steel, before she took a cloth and began wiping it.
She put a knife back into the drawer and took another one – a small paring knife. She turned it in her hooves, fascinated by how well-balanced it was. Easy to conceal, yet sharp and, in the right hooves, deadly.
The cook Filthy Rich had hired definitely knew his knives. Each of the blades was perfect. Diamond Tiara thought about Silver Spoon; her friend was always interested in cutlery. Whenever somepony shown even the slightest hint of being interested in the topic, she was getting crazy over it. She could talk for hours about her collection of rare spoons, meanwhile boring the hapless listener to death.
Well, Diamond Tiara thought, running her hoof down the handle of the knife, looking for any dents. Her rambling is still less deadly than I am…
She stood up and stretched her hooves. Then she wrapped herself in a blanket and left the kitchen, whistling some merry tune through the gritted teeth.
“Diamond?” She heard her father’s tired voice behind her. “What were you doing in the kitchen?”
“Just taking a walk,” she replied, sighing. “I’m so bored…”
“Don’t worry, Diamond.” Filthy Rich approached her and patted her head. “Doctor Shift said that there’s a hospital in Trottingham for fillies with… problems. Once the school year is over, you’ll go there and–”
“I don’t want to go…” said Diamond Tiara glumly. “I’m not crazy…”
“I know that you aren’t,” Filthy Rich replied. “You’re my beloved little daughter… I don’t want to lose you.”
“But I don’t want to go there… alone…” Diamond Tiara sobbed.
“I’ll visit you as often as I can. And I think Silver won’t leave you too…”
“Yeah… probably…” Diamond Tiara wiped her tears and trotted to her room. She lay on her bed, knowing far too well that it wouldn’t help her.
It was even worse since Ruby died. Every time Diamond Tiara tried to close her eyes, she was seeing the betrayed look on her face. She could almost hear her “why?” just before the water closed above her head.
Diamond turned in her bed. Her vision started to blur, but even when she closed her eyes, her mind still wasn’t able to drift away.
She lay on her back. Her eyes shot open, staring at the ceiling. Her blank expression slowly turned into a mischievous grin when she clenched her hoof around the small paring knife.
Berry Punch banged her hoof against the wall, smearing blood on the wallpaper. Her whole body was trembling uncontrollably. She collapsed on the floor panting heavily. Her heart was pounding against her chest, almost cracking her ribs. She rolled on her back, not caring about the shards of glass from broken bottles scattered around the floor. Crying, she slowly rose to her hooves, only to collapse again. She started to scratch her hoof vigorously, trying to get rid of the feeling that something was crawling through her fur.
She looked around the room. It was almost empty, save from a few broken bottles and pieces of destroyed furniture.
“Ruby…” Her whisper was barely audible due to her dry throat. She stood up shakily, tremors almost making her fall again. She inhaled deeply, filling her nostrils with the smell of spilled vodka and stale urine.
It was hours… or days since she was told that her daughter was dead. She barely remembered that moment – she was just nodding off in the cell where she’d landed after a bar brawl, when a guard came to her and told her the news. Since then, everything was a one, continuous blur of pain, tremors and smashed glass.
Somepony knocked at the door. She tried to walk only to fall, face first, on the floor. She heard whispers; she wasn’t sure whether they belonged to ponies behind the door, or were they the creation of her own mind.
The lock clicked. Berry looked at it and saw the door engulfed in blue magic. It opened swiftly and four ponies came in.
“Sweet Celestia…” Lyra muttered, looking around the room. Octavia hesitated, hit by the stench. Minuette and Bon Bon, however, entered Berry’s house without wincing.
Light from the outside blinded Berry. She could only hear hoofsteps when Minuette approached her.
“Is she drunk?” Octavia’s voice was muffled as if it was coming from the great distance. However, it was enough to make Berry’s head spin.
“No, I don’t think so,” Minuette replied. Berry blinked and saw her face close above her. “I think she’s sober for the first time in a while…”
Bon Bon looked at Berry and tried to lift her. She thrashed, screaming and kicking. Bon Bon jumped back, sliding on the puddle of vodka.
“Good thing we talked Vinyl out of coming here with us…” Lyra said. “Who knows what Berry would do if she saw her…”
“Nothing wise, I’m afraid.” Minuette sighed. “Okay, girls, we need to get her out of here…”
She aimed her horn at Berry, who cowered on the floor.
“Don’t worry, Berry, we’re going to help you…” Minuette said, sitting next to Berry and patting her mane. “It won’t hurt a bit… Here, let me help you, okay?”
Berry nodded, trying to contain the shaking of her legs. She looked around and uttered one word, “Rats.”
“Rats?” Octavia looked around the room, panicked. “Where?”
“It’s withdrawal,” Minuette said and aimed her horn at Berry once more. “Okay, Berry, I’ll count to three… one, two…”
The blue aura engulfed Berry, who closed her eyes and stopped shaking, hanging limply in Minuette’s hooves.
“Okay…” Minuette said. “Now, let’s get her to the hospital…”
Silver Spoon was hiding.
She poked her head from behind the corner, making sure that nopony was in sight. Then she trotted quickly on the other side of the street and hid in the shadow of the house. She crept as close to the wall as possible and disappeared in the nook.
She sighed with relief. Nopony was going to see her there.
Silver Spoon was never a sociable pony. She preferred to be alone or with Diamond Tiara. She could only stand other ponies because Diamond Tiara liked to shine.
In fact, Silver Spoon was afraid of crowds, even if they consisted of ponies as friendly as the inhabitants of Ponyville.
Not to mention now. Since Ruby died, the inhabitants of Ponyville weren’t friendly anymore. So far, nopony attacked her directly, but whispers and meaningful looks were even worse. The gossip spread quickly through the small town; everypony knew how she and Diamond Tiara were teasing Ruby. It was quickly assumed that they and Berry Punch were responsible for her death.
Silver Spoon shuddered. It’d all be easier if Diamond Tiara was by her side. Too bad, Diamond Tiara was rarely coming to school recently – the school year was almost over and, from what Silver Spoon knew, her friend was preparing to leave Ponyville and go to Trottingham.
Silver Spoon trotted down the nook, not looking to the sides. She thought about the irony of the situation – she, who preferred books over the company of other ponies, wasn’t sure how she’d survive the Summer alone.
She stopped. In front of her, there was the market. It was early morning, so there were only a couple of ponies there, but it was enough for her to feel shiver running down her spine. She didn’t want to trot right through it and make herself visible.
Silver Spoon sighed. She’d be late for school, but it didn’t matter for her. She trotted back and walked alongside the wall, looking for the way around the market. Finally, she found the right backstreet – it was narrow and dirty, with old houses with mansard roofs on both sides, but it allowed her to remain unseen. She relaxed a bit and stepped on a sidewalk.
“Hey, you!” She heard a voice behind her back and froze. She turned her head to see Scootaloo walking behind her. She didn’t like her expression; Scootaloo wasn’t even looking at her, as if she was appalled just by seeing her.
“Yes, you…” Scootaloo approached her. “You tried with me…” Her wings twitched slightly, but she didn’t notice that. “And you just had to do that to Ruby!”
Silver Spoon took a step backwards. Scootaloo was close. Too close.
“Are you happy now?” Scootaloo asked. “Or are you already planning who’ll be next?”
Silver Spoon said nothing. She was trying not to cry, but every Scootaloo’s word was like a stab in the heart. She stared at her hooves, trying desperately to shrink, to disappear…
“You’re not so brave when you’re alone, are you?” Scootaloo asked, pushing her at the wall. “And don’t tell me that Diamond made you laugh at her…” She grabbed Silver’s neck. The string of Silver’s necklace snapped and the pearls spilled on the pavement. Scootaloo released her from her grip and took a step backwards. Her wings snapped open; she was glaring furiously at Silver Spoon, who was standing there, shivering, with her eyes closed.
The punch threw Silver Spoon backwards at the wall. She fell on the pavement and cowered, whimpering. She was awaiting next punches and kicks, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes. One of the lenses in her glasses was shattered. She could also feel the blood running down her face from the place where the bent frame had hit her brow ridge. She blinked, stunned by the hit, and saw Scootaloo standing above her. Her eyes were widened; she was covering her mouth with her hoof.
“I’m sorry,” Scootaloo whispered. “I’m so sorry, Silver…”
Silver Spoon didn’t hear that – she got up and ran away quickly. She could barely see anything and she wasn’t used to running, but she didn’t care. She wanted only to crawl somewhere where nopony would find her and stay there forever.
She ran through the street, almost getting hit by a cart. Not hearing a pony yelling at her, she tripped over a flower stand, yet she continued to run blindly, panting heavily.
She bumped into someone and fell down, losing her mangled glasses.
“What the–”
“Please, don’t hurt me!” she screamed, addressing the white and blue blur in front of her.
“Why would I want to do that?” The pony looked at her. “Oh dear… What happened to you, kid?”
She recognized that voice. She heard it every day on the radio.
“Ms. Scratch!” she exclaimed, getting up quickly and picking up the sorry remains of her glasses. “I… I tripped and fell…”
“On somepony’s hoof…” Vinyl muttered.
“Don’t worry, I’m okay,” Silver Spoon said quickly. “I… I think I’ll go home…”
“Listen, girl, you’re talking to a pony whose sweet sixteen ended in the emergency department.” Vinyl pointed at Silver Spoon’s brow ridge. “This needs stitches.”
“N-no, thanks… I… I deserved that…” Silver Spoon muttered.
“It doesn’t matter, you still need stitches,” Vinyl said. “Besides… don’t ever let somepony make you believe that it’s your fault. One filly already died because of that…”
Silver Spoon shuddered. “No… it wasn’t my mom… I…”
“Yeah, you tripped and fell,” Vinyl deadpanned. “Anyway, I’m just going to the hospital to visit… some friend of mine. You like it or not, you’re going there with me.”
Silver Spoon froze. On one hoof, her wound was still bleeding and she started to feel dizzy. On the other, last thing she wanted was to talk with someone about Ruby. Or worse, meet Berry Punch.
“Don’t worry, girl,” Vinyl said, leaning to her and stroking her mane. “Everything will be all right.”
Silver Spoon thought otherwise, but anyway she trotted behind Vinyl, wiping tears from her eyes.
The Royal Guard station in Ponyville looked like any other such building in Equestria. Cheap furniture, the Princesses smiling from the posters, photos of wives, marefriends and foals on the walls, and ubiquitous smell of old papers, coffee and cigarettes. Riot Control entered the room and sat in his chair.
When he was a young colt, he often dreamed about working in the Princess Celestia’s palace in Canterlot. Now all he dreamed of was another guard to help them.
Usually, two guards were enough for Ponyville. But recently, after a nine-year-old colt was murdered, his classmate committed suicide, and then the drunk mother of said classmate beat another mare, they suddenly had a lot of work to do.
Luckily the other guard, called Front Kick, still was young and ambitious enough to work hard to solve those cases. A minute after Riot Control entered the office, Front Kick was there too, levitating a file. He dropped it on the desk. Riot Control looked at it and saw a photo of a filly with a large cut in her chest, making the internal organs visible. He winced. It wasn’t for the photo – after many years of service, he was used to such views. However, when he saw it, he immediately imagined his granddaughter lying on the autopsy table.
He looked at the framed photo he kept on his desk, depicting a small, ginger filly wearing a scout uniform and smiling at the camera.
“I talked to doctor Tulp,” said Front Kick. “Guess what was the cause of death, boss.”
“Drowning?” Riot Control asked.
“Yeah… Not surprising at all.” Front Kick sighed. “However, I took a walk up the river. About a mile from the dam, there’s a steep bank. Somepony walked through those bushes recently…”
“So? Probably lots of kids play there…” Riot Control shook his head. Front Kick was surely enthusiastic, but he still lacked experience.
“That’s not everything,” Front Kick said. “Our victim has a large abrasion on the side, as if she slid off the slippery slope before falling into the water. Doctor Tulp even found some sand in the wound… Probably there was more in her fur, but water–”
“To the point, Front Kick…” Riot Control interrupted him. He thought that he was too old for that.
“I took a look at that bank. About two yards above the surface of water there’s a place where soil looks a bit moved, as if something heavy bounced off of it recently and fell into the water…”
Riot Control looked carefully at the younger guard. “So, you found a place where that poor filly had jumped to the river. We don’t have time to examine the suicides… The guy who murdered that colt two weeks ago is still running free.”
“Well, after I found that place, I examined the bushes and I found this…” Front Kick opened the file and levitated a photo of something carefully packed into a ziploc bag.
“It’s a hair.” Riot Control took his glasses and looked at the photo more carefully. “It could be hers…”
“It’s not,” Front Kick said. “It’s violet, not rose. Do you remember where we last found a violet hair, boss?”
Riot Control froze. He looked at the photo of his granddaughter again and imagined her lying in the morgue.
“So, it means that…”
“I believe those cases are connected,” Front Kick said. “Somepony in Ponyville murders foals…”
“But who?” Riot Control asked. “Many ponies have violet manes… We need to be careful. We can’t let that motherfucker escape...”
“Exactly,” Front Kick looked at the photo lying on the top of the small pile of papers – the one showing Ruby Pinch’s exposed organs. “We’d better keep this a secret. We don’t want ponies to panic…”
What? A chapter where no one dies? Impossible... 
Trivia: Dr. Tulp, the pathologist and pegasi wing anatomy expert working in Ponyville Hospital is probably my most ubiquitous OC: he made his first appearance in Tools, then appeared in its sequel, and was later mentioned in A Kingdom Divided.
Stats
Page generated in 0.02 seconds
Total duration
1,068 users online
1,950,978 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Can't wait for chapter 4
Vinyl is going to get framed!
This story never fails to get me super excited when I see a new chapter has been added.
Also...
This is very promising... I have a feeling I know who's going to be next. A certain orange pegasus who messed with a certain friend of Diamond's...
4622358
Given that it's Ponyville, she'll probably have an angry mob at her doorstep before anyone bothers to frame her. Zecora is lucky they were too afraid of her to lynch her.
So ponies don't have DNA test. I wonder what kid of technology the police will use for the investigation.
4622573 You win the Internet just for that Persona reference. I applaud you.
4623064
Also that she is the only DJ in the town, perhaps in Equestria, it would be like lynching a movie star. It would bring bad press to Ponyville and also more Royal Guards to make sure no more lynching happen. But right now, the Royal Guard would be looking for a Pony with a purple mane, so they might look at Vinyl, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity and all others with Purple manes or with purple in their manes.
4623284
Other than some sort of forensic magic, I suppose they could pull out the ole microscope and compare found hairs vs. a suspect's hair. Hair can be fairly distinct depending on any number of factors.
Also, I look forward to the police finding out that Rarity dyes her hair.
I'm starting to get worried about Diamond and Silver. Especially Diamond as I wonder what is causing her to unconsciously murder poor foals. I don't it's sleep deprivation either.
I also forgot to mention... IT'S TIME TO GET CRIMINAL MINDS UP IN THIS BITCH!
4625385
Our unsub is most likely a nine-year old mare...
(I'd describe more, but it would be too long. I'm a major fan of Criminal Minds.)
4626180
The unsub has light purple hair... The unsub may be close to the two victims, but not i a friendly way... We believe the unsub i killing those he or she picks on, making the unsub a complete sadist with sociopathic behavior.
4623284
4624335
DNA can be obtained only from hair that have follicles (though I've heard about a method of obtaining DNA from only a piece of hair, without a follicle. But I don't know how developed it is).
Generally, I wonder about the technological level in Equestria, especially when it comes to medical procedures. From the ones mentioned in the second chapter, ECG and EEG are around since the beginning of the 20th century, while first commercial CT scanner was made at the beginning of the 70s. DNA was first used to identify a criminal in 1986. I'm going to stick to the hair comparison since Diamond Tiara is rather generous with evidence, especially in case of Pipsqueak.
4622378
Diamond Tiara's gonna open Equestria's first KFC...
4625375
Yeah, sleep deprivation is usually a symptom of something bigger...
4626222
We're going to need to check with forensics about that.
Unsub seems to be disorganized, using any means available to kill victims. This also suggests that they aren't very strong, using the element of surprise to overcome their victims. Seems to show signs of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and possibly Insomnia. Look for fillies that have a history of bullying others. Likely has few friends but many "followers", giving her a wide access victims with ease. Unsub may go serial if we don't find her soon.
Damn, I love stories analyzing minds.
So far, so very good.
again, only one complaint.
this sentence need to be reworded.
"Usually, two guards were enough for Ponyville. But recently, after a nine-year-old colt was murdered, then his classmate committed suicide, and then the drunk mother of said classmate beat another mare, they suddenly had a lot of work to do."
either take out the thens. or take out the after, add a period after mare, and add a now before they. having them both in makes it a double negative. when using the word after, you describe a event. then is used to signal something more out of an event. each is a subordinating conjuction used to start a clause.
this is phrased as a list, so the items, weather it be the verb or subject, its one full clause.
"a nine year old colt was murdered, his classmate committed suicide, and the drunk mother of said classmate beat another mare,"
this entire list is one clause. you can't use then and after as only one subordinating conjuction is aloud per clause.
sorry if I sound like a teacher, I just what you to take me seriously.
Not enough murder for my taste, but still dark enough... for now.