• Published 17th Apr 2012
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You Have Six Days - cinematic_is_horses



Spectrum Analysis and the mane six must stop a serial killer

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Acknowledgments and Prologue

Before I start the story, I just want to say thanks to my editor and friend Tom, who helped me creatively with this story and also threatened me, er, I mean motivated me to work on this fiction. I also want to thank any of the other editors who helped me from r/mylittlepony and r/mylitttlefanfic. This is not easy to do, and it will be a while until the story is fully complete (don’t worry, I know what I’m doing plot wise, I have a plan!), but all of these people make my life easier and faster when it comes to writing this.
Thanks to Lauren Faust as well, (even though she will probably never read this) and all of the writing staff of FiM for making one of my favorite shows and giving birth to one of the best online and offline communities.
And of course, thank you for taking time out of your day to read my fan fiction. I put lots of love into this story, and I hope you enjoy it. And for reading the acknowledgments. I promise you the chapters will be much longer than this prologue!
And yes, this is my first MLP fiction, but I have written other fics before (although I wrote them when I was much younger and I’d like to move on)
Without further delay, our feature presentation!

You Have Six Days

Prologue

Dear Twilight Sparkle

Since you normally write the letters, I decided it would be a nice change if I wrote to you, with my lessons of friendship. Well, they aren’t so much about lessons, and they aren’t necessarily about friendship. I write to you more to check in and tell you how I’m doing. But before I continue about me, I want to ask how your friends are doing. I heard recently that Rarity launched a line of clothes that are flying off the racks, and Rainbow Dash got to fly with the Wonderbolts! I am sorry, however, to hear that she wasn’t offered the job. I am confident in her skills and sure that Soarin’ and Spitfire will come to their senses. Please send everypony else my regards!
Things here have not been going quite as swimmingly as they were the last time you wrote. As you may have heard, I raised the taxes by a small margin to compensate for security spendings and public services. Ponies have been coming by and telling me this tax is hard on them, blaming me for their debt. I tried to explain that I’m doing this to benefit all of Equestria and that their money goes to good use, but I look into their eyes and I can see that they truly believe it doesn’t. I would revoke the tax, but it honestly is for the best and the tax is necessary! What do you think, Twilight? Am I worrying too much? They could be just a handful of ponies in a population of many that feel this way. Maybe I should just try to accept that you can’t please everypony, and that is especially true if you are a princess!
I won’t drag on much longer about my problems, as they are not for you to worry about. If you do have a chance, however, please come and visit. I could use somepony to keep me company, and I will even arrange for you to stay in your old quarters! At the very least, make sure to write to me when you find the time, otherwise I just might send you back to Magic Kindergarten!

Your Mentor
Princess Celestia

********************


Sun was nowhere to be found in Ponyville, with clouds rolling in and the pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the rooftops, filling the ears of everypony. All in a rush to shelter themselves from the rain, ponies started bumping into each other and dropping groceries into mud puddles. Amongst the chaos, Snips and Snails were perusing the town with not a single care in the world.

“I never saw the big deal about the rain,” Snips said.

“Yeah, we get to jump in the mud and splash all around!” Snails gleefully shouted. Snails began to bounce around, unknowingly covering ponies passing by in thick, gooey mud. “Sorry!” Snails cried, as the filthy ponies pouted and walked away. Snails hung his head down in shame, his mane dripping from the rain.

“Hey Snails, come check this out!” Snips excitedly called from a distance. Snails perked up. He wasn’t entirely sure what Snips was getting so worked up over. Ponyville had been quiet and rather boring lately. Everypony was inside, so Snails’s curiosity got the better of him and he decided to check out what Snips was hollering about.

“What is it Snips?” questioned Snails.

“Look at the door to the town hall! Isn’t that your cutie mark, Snails?”

Snails stared blankly at the picture, only to glance back occasionally at his flank. Snails was caught in this cycle for a while, darting his eyes between the picture and his flank, while Snips was thinking about what could possibly be going through Snails’s head. After what felt like an eternity, Snips just had enough of this.

“WELL IS IT YOUR CUTIE MARK OR WHAT?!?!?!” Snips shrieked in a fit of rage. Startled, Snails jumped and landed square on his back. Snails looked at Snips, who was now puffing smoke.

“Um....” Snails slowly started to drift back into space, and Snips splashed some mud onto him. “YES, YES, YES IT IS!!!”

“Well that’s weird. What is your cutie mark doing on the door to the town hall?” asked Snips. They both stood there for about a minute thinking, then looked at each other and simply shrugged.

“Whatever it is,” Snips replied, “it’s probably not important. But who knows, maybe I won an award! Maybe I’m pony of the week! Maybe I’m the next mayor!” Snails’s eyes started to glimmer as his smile widened with hope. Snips smacked him with his tail to bring him back to reality. “Oh yeah, it’s probably not important.”

The two walked away in the rain, looking for something else that might interest them on this dull day. The bizarre cutie mark photo started to peel off the door, and landed in the mud, now unrecognizable.