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1 - A Stormy Night2,525 words
2 - A Tense Morning2,903 words
3 - A Worrying Afternoon3,647 words
4 - An Exhausting Evening4,086 words

3 - A Worrying Afternoon

Starlight was in complete panic mode. Pacing back and forth in her office, she kept replaying her conversation with Twilight in her head. How much did her mentor know about Trixie's murder? And does Twilight know Starlight was involved, somehow? Why didn't she arrest her here and then? Is Twilight fine with letting a murder accomplice run her School of Friendship?

Forcing herself to take a deep breath, Starlight closed her eyes and focused on the here and now. The situation was already bad enough as is, adding more panic into the mix wouldn't help. Evidently, Twilight knew more about the situation than Starlight did... But why remain so nonchalant about it, then? Perhaps Twilight only knew about Trixie's actions and not Starlight's... But then, why did Twilight not tell her as well, instead of vaguely threatening Trixie and leaving things at that? But how could Twilight know what Starlight had done last night?

Then, Starlight remembered what she told Twilight earlier. Her memories replayed, in a painful number of details, a specific snippet of their conversation.

"Hmm. And do you know where she was last night?"

"Oh, uh, last night? She was... She was with me, practicing for one of her tricks. We stayed up until pretty late in the night before she headed to bed, in her wagon."

"Really? How late did you two stay up?"

"I'm... Not really sure. It was pretty late in the night."

Starlight felt her heart rate increase. If Twilight knew that Trixie committed murder, then Starlight's fake alibi only helped her in incriminating herself. Violently facehoofing herself, she groaned. Trying to think of a way to alter her story for it to still make sense, Starlight suddenly figured out what was bothering her earlier, the thing she knew she was forgetting. Something that broke her alibi even more. Last night, the weather team had organized a planned storm. There was simply no way Starlight and Trixie practiced magic tricks outside, during the night, as it rained cats and dogs.

Starlight groaned once more. "Great, I completely blew my own cover in two sentences. Twilight must know I'm involved, then. What do I do, then? Why didn't Twilight arrest me on the spot, or at least, interrogate me?"

Starlight searched for an answer, sitting at her desk and staring at yet another cup of coffee. Right next to it stood the large pile of documents she was supposed to go over and file to finalize her taking over the school. Starlight sighed and stood up, heading toward the window when something popped up in her mind.

Twilight must be testing her.

Her eyes going wide, Starlight gasped. That must be it, she thought. Somehow, Twilight is aware of Trixie's actions and of Starlight's involvement. Twilight must've seen this whole mess as a way to truly test Starlight's abilities and morals. That must be it, she whispered to herself. One last friendship lesson before Starlight can become a true headmare. Looking through her office's window, Starlight rubbed her chin.

"Alright, then... What should I do? What would Twilight do?" Starlight hummed. "... She'd obviously protect her friend, right? If Pinkie Pie committed a murder, for example, Twilight certainly wouldn't turn her back on her and order her arrest, surely. She'd get to the bottom of this and... And find a way to absolve Pinkie of her crime. Yes, of course! That's exactly what Twilight would do, obviously!"

Feeling sure of herself, Starlight managed to calm down a little. She just had to see this mess as another friendship problem... One that involved a corpse. A corpse whose identity is still unknown. Thinking about what her next step should be, Starlight decided on a plan of action.

Since she was granted the rest of the day off, she would be able to check on the grave much earlier than initially planned. Since it's at the edge of the Everfree forest, Starlight knew that there was almost no chance for her to meet anypony there, unless they somehow already knew about the grave site and came to investigate themselves. Still, though, it would probably be wiser to be sneaky about it, she thought. And quick, too. Once the deceased pony's identity was determined, she would have a much greater chance of figuring out what had happened. All in all, if she hurried, Starlight estimated this could be done in less than an hour.

Her next step would largely be dependent on the corpse's identity, though she believed it would be wise to go to the spa, just like Twilight advised her to do. Not only would it help her relax and clean herself of the mud and dirt she'd no doubt get on herself after digging up a grave, it would also be a great opportunity to speak with Rarity about the altercation outside of her boutique last night.

It would also be nice to relax for a little bit. For the past twelve hours or so, Starlight felt like her body was forty percent panic, fifty percent stress and ten percent pure caffeine. And so, with one last deep breath to steel herself, Starlight headed outside of her desk, looking for a shovel.

Starlight was sweating heavily. As she slowly lurked toward the edge of Ponyville, she repeatedly looked to her left, then her right, then above. If anypony saw her going toward the Everfree with a shovel, she'd be found out instantly, especially given the fact Starlight is keeping low to the ground, stepping slowly and keeping to the shadows. The only way for her to look even more suspicious than she was right now, was by carrying a sign that said 'Hey, I'm going to dig up a body right now'.

Of course, she thought about going the opposite route: walking with confidence in plain sight without a care in the world. She would have looked a little bit odd, sure, but she'd be a lot less prone to raising suspicion. However, Starlight preferred making sure nopony could see her on her trip toward the Everfree. After all, there was somepony else in town threatening Trixie. If Starlight was seen with a shovel, she'd draw the ire of that mysterious mare...

Her trip to the edge of the Everfree was thus much longer than she'd originally planned, having quite a few close calls near the school. Thankfully, nopony had seen her — or, at least, she hoped so. Unfortunately, her lack of sleep caused her to completely miss the small group not too far from her, heading in the same direction though through a more direct path. As she went further away from the center of Ponyville, these close calls became increasingly less frequent, allowing her to let her guard down ever so slightly. With a relieved sigh, Starlight whispered to herself. "C'mon, I'm almost there..."

Slowly reaching the tree line, Starlight's worries flooded back in an instant. Though nopony was near, coming back to the burial site caused a surge of stress to overtake her body. Deep down, she understood why: she feared what she was about to find. After all, a corpse was waiting for her a few dozen steps away. She had no idea who she'd find and in what state they'll be in. Trembling with fear, her pace slowed to a crawl as Starlight hesitated to turn away and run. However, she knew she had no choice: she had to know who had died before everypony else. She needed to figure out what happened to save Trixie.

And so, finally reaching the spot of dirt she stood at roughly twelve hours ago, Starlight took a moment to brace herself before making the shovel float above her head with her magic. Then, with a resolute look in her eyes, she plunged the shovel deep in the dirt. And just as the spade impacted the ground, a voice surged from behind her.

"Hi Starlight! What're you doing here?"

Starlight yelped as the sudden call caused her to jump in the air, startled, before slipping and falling face down in the mud. Her mind quickly scrambled to figure out who was behind her, the sudden fear and panic obstructing her senses. Slowly rising up from the ground, face covered in mud and heart beating fast, Starlight fearfully turned her head toward the pony behind her. Right there in front of her, bouncing up and down as if standing on a trampoline, Pinkie Pie beamed a smile at her.

"...Pinkie?" Starlight asked, already sweating bullets. Did she see her about to dig up a body?

"Yup, it's me! What're you doing here, Starlight? I thought you'd be at the school," Pinkie Pie replied all the while excitedly bouncing around Starlight. Before the startled unicorn could answer, Pinkie noticed the shovel standing upright. She eyed it curiously. "And what's up with that?"

"Uh, I was, uh..." Starlight stammered before shaking her head, trying to focus back on the mare in front of her. That's when Starlight noticed the group of confused-looking students staring at their headmare, all whispering to each other. A sudden wave of cold sweat hit Starlight. "Twilight told me to take the day off, so I thought I'd... Go take a walk... In the Everfree... With a shovel?"

Starlight knew she sounded extremely suspicious, but the confused looks she received from every pony and creature in front of her certainly didn't help. Resisting the urge to slam her forehead as hard as she could with her hoof, she forced a wavering smile. "... Anyhow! What, uh, are you all doing out there?"

Pinkie Pie tilted her head. "Whaddya mean? I'm filling in for Fluttershy, remember? I'm taking her class for a short trip in nature! You're the one who asked me to," Pinkie's tone remained cheerful, but Starlight knew there was a hint of worry in her voice.

Scratching the back of her head, Starlight stammered. "Oh... Did I? I, uh..." she started, before suddenly remembering the events from that morning. After Fluttershy's request to leave early, Starlight did indeed look for ponies to replace the pegasus. She vaguely remembered asking Pinkie Pie to fill in, though her mind was in such an anxious haze that she didn't bother checking what Fluttershy had planned for her class on that day.

Apparently, it was a field trip.

"... Oh, dear," Starlight said as the realization hit her.

"Are you alright, Starlight? You don't look so good. Want me to throw you a 'get better soon' party?!" Pinkie excitedly said as her eyes began to twinkle with excitement. Evidently, she wasn't going to wait for Starlight's answer.

"That... That won't be necessary," Starlight replied in vain. "Anyway, don't mind me! I'm sure you've got a busy schedule ahead!"

One of the students, a crimson colt, raised a hoof. "Uh, miss? What were you doing with that shovel anyways?"

"Noneofyourbusiness!" Starlight promptly retorted, before immediately regretting it. Her nerves were getting the better of her. The students stared at their headmare in bewilderment and were about to ask more questions, before Pinkie Pie suddenly gasped.

"Starlight! You just gave me the best, greatest idea ever! We should totally try and look for buried treasure while we're in the Everfree! Can we borrow your shovel?"

Feeling a drop of sweat slowly make its way down her face, Starlight hesitantly nodded. Arguing to keep the shovel would make her even more suspicious, she reckoned. Besides, Starlight really hoped that Pinkie Pie and her students would leave the area soon, in fear they'd accidentally stumble upon the buried body. "... Alright," she said, "but please be careful. The Everfree is a dangerous place."

"Don't worry, Starlight! We'll be super-duper careful, that's a Pinkie Promise! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Pinkie sang all the while pulling out a cupcake out of her mane before jabbing it in one of her eyes. "Okay, c'mon everycreature! We've got a treasure to find!"

The students, half confused and half excited, cheered before following their teacher as Pinkie grabbed the shovel in her mouth and began trotting toward the Everfree. Starlight stood still for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief. She thanked her lucky stars that Pinkie didn't seem to care about her acting suspicious, and that her contagious carefree attitude was enough for the students to focus on something else. After all, somepony standing near a forest in the middle of the day with a shovel wasn't the strangest thing they had seen in Ponyville.

Looking downwards at the spot where the body was, Starlight groaned. With Pinkie's group this close and without a shovel, digging up that bag would be a difficult operation, especially if one of the students saw her. Reluctantly, Starlight decided that she'd need to come back later, after Pinkie's group finished their activities. Besides, while they should still be in the same general area as the grave site, they shouldn't be coming here to dig up treasure.

In the meanwhile, now was as good a time as any to go to the spa and talk with Rarity to try and get more info on what happened outside her boutique last night, Starlight thought. Feeling some of the mud on her face slowly sliding down her cheeks, she also reasoned a good bath would be a great way to help her calm down a little.

As Pinkie led her group through the Everfree, excitedly giving them tasks while keeping a close eye on them, her mind went back to Starlight. Her friend was a complete mess and Pinkie clearly understood that whatever Starlight was doing, it was something important to her. That's why she quickly changed the topic of discussion to get her students focused on something else. However, Starlight's state worried Pinkie a lot.

So, she began forming a plan in her head. Cheering up ponies was her specialty, after all. Obviously, she'd have to throw a party for Starlight. The question was, when should that party happen, Pinkie reasoned. And given Starlight giving off the impression that she was about to pass out from the stress, there was only one answer in Pinkie's mind.

Nothing better than a surprise party in Starlight's home in the evening. Already, Pinkie mentally planned everything she'd need to do to surprise her friend after sunset.

When Starlight stepped through the door to the spa, she immediately felt a wave of relaxation wash over her body. Although the day had been utterly exhausting so far, and despite the fact that things weren't especially looking up for her investigation, she finally had the opportunity to wind down for an hour or two. She knew she'd work much better with a clear mind.

Thankfully, few ponies were inside the spa at that time of day which allowed Starlight to enjoy the facilities directly. After a quick bath, she headed inside the massage room, where she knew Rarity had been spending her day so far. As Starlight laid down on one of the massage tables, she glanced at Rarity relaxing not too far from her, cucumber slices atop her eyes. Taking a deep breath, Starlight spoke up, pulling Rarity out of her nap.

"Hey, Rarity," she simply said.

"Starlight, darling, is that you?" Rarity asked while using her magic to lift one of the cucumber slices. Upon seeing Starlight weakly smile at her, Rarity levitated both slices away from her face. "Well, what a surprise," she continued. "I thought you were working today?"

"Well, I did... Or I do, I suppose, but I decided to take the day off. The... Past few days have been rough," Starlight said just as one of the spa ponies began massaging her. Fighting the urge to let out a moan as her body began to melt in comfort, she closed her eyes for a moment.

"Oh, dear, your workload must be simply brutal. How has it been, so far, taking over the School of Friendship?" Rarity asked while observing Starlight. The fashionista saw clear as day the accumulated worry and stress on her friend's face.

"It's a lot of work, but it's worth it. Besides, I don't want to disappoint Twilight."

"Don't worry, darling, I'm sure you'll do a wonderful job as headmare. Just remember to take breaks, sometimes, alright?"

"I will, I promise... A-Anyways, I wanted to ask you about something. I've heard from Twilight that you apparently had a rough night as well?" Starlight asked, already wondering if saying 'as well' was a mistake. She worryingly glanced at Rarity but failed to see any specific reaction to her slip-up.

"Oh, don't even get me started on that... I mean, who would be so uncivilized as to have an altercation just outside my boutique?"

"When... When did that happen, exactly?"

"Well, it started sometime around midnight. I had just gotten to bed when I heard a loud crashing noise near the back. It woke up Sweetie Belle as well. The poor thing was terrified by the whole ordeal!"

"I'm... Really sorry to hear that, Rarity. Did you see who was fighting?"

"Not really, no," Rarity sighed. "I remained far from any windows. I would have gone outside to tell these ruffians a piece of my mind, but my dear little sister was afraid I'd get hurt. I stayed upstairs with her to console her, but by the time she was feeling better, they had left already."

"Did you hear their voices? Were they stallions, mares?"

"Well, it was honestly a bit difficult to hear what exactly was going on, what with Sweetie Belle begging me not to go, but I did manage to pick up on one of the voices. It was a mare's. It seemed like she was trying to keep her voice down, however, but it was clear she was trading blows with whoever else was with her."

"So, there were only two of them?"

"I can't be sure, darling. By the time they were gone, it had already started to rain, and I certainly did not want to risk wetting my mane just before going to bed just to see tracks in the mud. Instead, I managed to put Sweetie Belle back to bed before closing the boutique's windows and going to sleep as well."

Silence fell over the massage room. Rarity blankly stared at the ceiling while Starlight was going over everything she knew about the previous night's events. Tentatively, Starlight asked a question. "Did... Did you check if anything was stolen?"

"Stolen?"

"Well, it was just outside your boutique, and... Some of your windows were open. Did you notice anything missing?"

"Well, I can't say for sure. I must admit, the thought didn't cross my mind... Since today was a day off, I didn't really check my inventory. But why would some uncivilized ruffians steal from my boutique?"

"Well, maybe—"

Rarity, suddenly getting up from her seat, gasped. "Sweet Celestia! They might have stolen something! I must go and check immediately. I was working on— Oh, my! I'm really sorry, darling, but it seems that I have to leave. Thank you for your insight, Starlight."

"Wait, you're leaving now?"

"Well, of course! I must make sure that nothing was stolen!"

"L... Let me go with you. Maybe I can help you see if..."

"Are you sure, Starlight? I don't want you to worry about me and to stop treating yourself... I mean, by Celestia, it really looks like you need it. Uh, no offense."

Starlight chuckled nervously. "None taken. But no, this is more important. I'll come with you."

With one grateful nod, Rarity began to quickly head out of the spa. Starlight, reluctantly getting off the massage table with a sorry smile for the spa pony, followed close behind. While she wanted to make sure nothing had been stolen from Rarity's boutique, she also wanted to know as soon as possible whether or not this was something Trixie was also involved with... Though the few clues Starlight had gotten so far all seemed to point in that direction.

As the two mares quickly ran through Ponyville, the afternoon coming to a close and the sun already slowly setting, Starlight stopped dead in her tracks. Further away, crossing the street without a care in the world, stood Trixie. Starlight felt her heart rate quicken and her breath becoming faster and shallower. What was she doing here, and so... Openly outside, she thought.

Rarity soon stopped as well upon noticing that Starlight wasn't following her anymore. "Dear, are you alright?" Rarity asked.

"Huh? Oh, y-yeah! I'm fine, perfectly fine! I, uh, forgot that I left my... stove on?" Starlight quickly replied, heavy drops of sweat already forming on her face.

"Oh... Well, then, don't worry about me. I can go check on my boutique alone. Thank you for offering to help, darling," she said. Starlight simply nodded before heading toward Trixie, which caused Rarity to speak up again. "...Uhm, Starlight, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't your house the other way?"

"It's... It's... It's a camping stove I... Forgot outside of town! Yes, that's it, absolutely nothing else that would warrant your suspicion!" Starlight replied while forcing herself to laugh, making herself appear completely unhinged. Near her breaking point, Starlight was about to collapse due to the sudden surge of stress and anxiety, a much higher peak than everything she had experienced for a long while.

Rarity took a few steps backward, her ears flattening against her head. "... Alright, dear, I'll... See you soon, then—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Starlight was already gone. Rarity gave a last worried look toward her friend, before shaking her head. Something was clearly wrong with Starlight, and she needed to talk to the rest of her friends about it. Heading toward her house, Rarity quickly met up with Pinkie Pie...

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quadnary

quadnary #1 · Oct 19th, 2023 · 3 · ·

Before she could finish her sentence, Starlight was already gone. Rarity gave a last worried look toward her friend, before shaking her head. Something was clearly wrong with Twilight, and she needed to talk to the rest of her friends about it. Heading toward her house, Rarity quickly met up with Pinkie Pie...

Twilight? I thought Starlight was the one rousing all the suspicion...