Murder on the Friendship Express!

by Shahrazad

End of the Line

The door to the engine room crashed open. Pinkie darted in, follow by the rest of the group, minus Whistle Stop. Inside, sweltering heat greeted them with almost physical force. A massive pile of coal sat on one side of the car, while a dark silhouette of a pony shoveled coal into a roaring furnace. The heat felt almost unbearable. The fire became a dull roar when the pony slipped the shovel into the pile of coal and shut the furnace door.

“Hey! Mr. Engineer, we need to help Whistle Stop. He’s been poisoned,” Pinkie called out to him with a smile on her face. She looked like she was about to eat a cupcake. The rest of the ponies stared with a mixture of awe and horror. Only Slate stood by Pinkie stoically.

“Well…” the engineer said as he turned. His body and face were still mostly hidden, backlit by the furnace, but Pinkie could see the pony a bit better now. An earth pony or a unicorn, she assumed, since he had no wings. A striped hat covered his brow and most of his mane. His uniform, a set of blue overalls, was crisp and nicely pressed, just like Whistle Stop’s uniform. He spoke quietly. “That’s a problem. We’re almost to the next stop, can it wait until then?”

Pinkie shook her head. “No way! I need to get the medical kit and give him something for his heart, pronto! Did you know Whistle Stop has a heart condition?” Pinkie asked, while blowing a bubble on her pipe.

“Uh, no, I didn't. That’s a real bummer for him. The medical kit is in the storage car. Um, what are all these ponies doing in here?” The engineer pointed a hoof at the group standing behind Pinkie.

“Oh, not a big deal. They’re just here to help catch a murderer,” Pinkie said, matter-of-factly. The engineer made a sound in his throat like he had choked.

“Okay, lets get that med kit,” Slate commanded. He turned to the engineer and barked, “and you’re coming with us! You might be the killer!”

“W-what?” The engineer stammered. “Th-there’s no way I’m the killer! I've been in here all day shoveling coal! I've never left this room!”

Pinkie rolled her eyes while Slate asked, “Never? Not even to go to the bathroom?”

“I… uh… haven’t needed to go yet. I’d really like to get to the next stop so I can take a break.”

Slate took a step towards the engineer, but Pinkie clamped down on his tail and bounced away. “We gotta git the med kit,” she said through clenched teeth. “He’sh not the killer anyway.”

“B-but,” Slate stammered. He dug his hooves into the floor, but it did nothing to slow Pinkie down as she dragged him by the tail, back down the train. “HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT?!”

~~~~~

The group returned to the employees' sleeping car, where Whistle Stop hadn't moved. If his chest hadn't risen with each shallow breath, Pinkie might have thought him dead already. The group returned, Pinkie holding the medical kit in her mouth. The entire group had to troop back to the storage car to find it. Hopefully, it would have what they needed to cure Whistle Stop.

Pinkie dug into the kit. “Wow, this is a super-duper good one! It’s got all kinds of chemicals. Let’s see…” Pinkie pulled out bottle after bottle of clear liquids with labels that most ponies couldn't read, much less pronounce. She selected a half-dozen, and snatched an empty glass sitting on the rim of the sink. She poured a mixture of chemicals into the glass and swirled it around. She wafted the resulting vapors into her nose and nodded with a small smile.

“Um, do you know what you’re doing? Are you sure you’re not going to kill him?” Ol’ Bitty asked.

“Oh yeah, I've got lots of experience with first aid. You’d be surprised how fast a shattered leg can ruin a party, or how much a little extra in the punch can help—” Pinkie blushed and quickly looked for another bottle.

Tiny raised one brow and asked, “What, exactly, do you put into punch to help get a party going?”

Pinkie swallowed as she plunged a syringe needle into the bottle through the cork. “Sugar. I hope this helps Whistle Stop, because if I’m right, that means he was poisoned, and I know exactly with what.”

“Oh, um, and what if you’re wrong?” Ol’ Bitty asked.

“Then he might die,” Pinkie replied. She swiftly stood, and stuck Whistle Stop with the needle.

“Holy…! Wh-what if you’re wrong?” Ignis asked.

Pinkie smiled as she turned her head to Ignis. Somehow, she had the hat, mustache, and pipe again. “I don’t think I am. I've got PROOF!”

“You do?” Hot Shot asked with crossed eyes. “How? What? Where? WHO?”

Whistle Stop gasped and his eyes fluttered open. “Oh, I don’t feel so good. What happened?”

Pinkie nodded with a huge grin. “Somepony slipped you diazepam instead of your nitroglycerin. But I got you some from the med kit. You should be okay now, but I’d lie down anyway.”

Whistle Stop yawned and replied, “Yeah, I feel so sleepy. Uh… diaza-what?”

“Don’t worry about it, Whistle Stop. I know you didn't really like Felix because he made you late, but is that really a reason to kill him?”

Whistle Stop looked dead-tired, but he still managed to reply, “I didn't kill him. I swear.”

“I know,” Pinkie chirped. “Making you late? That’s a weak motive. Plus, if you did it, why would you drug yourself? No, the guilty party drugged you.”

Slate stomped a hoof. “How? When? Why?”

Pinkie took up another syringe and filled it with the mixture in the glass. “THIS will reveal the meanie-mcmeanie-pants!”

Hot Shot tilted his head. “Heart medicine? How is that—”

“Oh this isn't nitroglycerin,” Pinkie chirped while bouncing up and down. “This is luminol; it reveals trace amounts of blood and other stuff. For today, we need it to find a little blood.”

Several ponies gasped. Slate stared, wide-eyed, at the syringe. “If you could have done that earlier, why didn't you?”

Pinkie adjusted her mustache and replied, “Because I only have one dose, and I needed to know who to test.”

Everypony froze, staring at Pinkie.

“And the guilty pony is…”

Author's Note:

I hope you're enjoying the story so far, because...

There are THREE endings!

The next three chapters follow this chapter, "End of the Line." If your theory doesn't match the next chapter, don't worry. You have two more chances!

Comments

[TheInvincibleIronBrony]

You bastard! I need to know how thus ends, god dammit!

[Shahrazad]

4946625

Careful what you wish for...

Time to post the next chapter...