> C.S. Pie
>  by DecadantHandshake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Briefing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	My name is Inkie Pie. I'm a writer. This is my second story ever, I hope I do good at it. I live here with my sisters Maud and Blinkie. This story is about Blinkie though. She had a case a couple weeks ago, and she got back last week. What she never realized the whole time she was there was that at any moment, she could have ended up just like the pegasus. This needs some explaining.
My sister is a detective. She got a case a couple weeks ago that sent her to Ponyville. There she spent an entire week standing guard over the dead body of a pegasus photographer. She was also supposed to look for clues and see if she could figure out who did it, but since Ponyville doesn't have any of those forensics labs, she had to hold off on trying to pin point the murderer. Why would they need a forensics team so bad you might ask? It's because the poor pegasus was raped. He was left on the cobblestone alleyway, cum leaking from his bum. So you see, a forensics team would make finding the killer much easier. Well, things didn't go so well.




Me and Chief Victus sat in a pegasus pulled chariot. We could have taken the train, but time was necessary. The police stood out as guards, and I was supposed to be there posing as a normal citizen of Ponyville: we wanted to lure out the killer, see if he would try and hide the body. The chief gave me a good briefing on the way there.



"It's a pleasure to see you on this case, Miss Pie." Victus said. He was a total prick, flirting with me whenever he got the chance.  Well, he levitated over a manilla folder from his saddlebag. When it rested itself against the bronze plated floor of the pegasus chariot, I opened it and grimaced a bit at what I saw. Pictures from different angles of the dead body on the ground. He was missing his left hoof, it had been mangled right off of him. His rear end was coated in dried semen, the base of his tail was crusted in blood. There were also pictures of his Camera lying beside him. His face was bruised, and the camera had blood on it so I concluded that it was used to shut him up.
"Shit... Do we know the species?" He shook his head.
"I'm afraid not, Blinks." Fucking prick. "It would seem Ponyville is lacking a forensics lab, it being a relatively new village and all. We need to have one shipped in from Canterlot." I sighed inwardly. This problem had occurred earlier with Ponyville. I had hoped they would have fixed it, but it would seem not.
"Well then, how long will I have to investigate the scene before they arrive? I'd like to collect as much as I can for them before they get there." He hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Actually, Blinky, we have a method we would like you to exercise to help draw out the killer."
"Hm? Explain."
"Well this is a relatively new village, as you know, and so the authority has not actually been fully established. All the new guards are still being trained before being sent over." That was the stupidest thing I've ever heard, by the way. "So to make up for the lack of muscle, I would like you to pose as a civilian of Ponyville, and keep an eye on the scene. If we are lucky, the killer will return to the scene and attempt to remove the body. Then you can apprehend them." I thought about what he had told me. As stupid as it sounded, if this 'lack of muscle' problem was a reality, then blending in was indeed my best method of locating the killer. There was a problem however.
"I'm just one mare though." I said.
"Hm?"
"I'm just a mare. If it's a fully grown stallion, or even a group of ponies, how will I take them down?" He chuckled softly to himself. I wished he would just swallow a bug right then. I'm sorry sis, but I cannot tell you what a dick this guy has been to me all the time I have known him.
"I'm glad you asked." He tapped the poles holding our chariot to the pegasi. "These gentlemen are actually well trained officers. They will be posing as chariot pullers during their time in Ponyville. When we land, an 'accident'  will occur, and the chariot will sustain some damage. I'll book a train out of Ponyville, and you will remain. Do you know anyone in Ponyville?" I looked at the chariot with worry.
"Accident?"
"Yes. It's rigged to collapse in a number of areas when we land. We will make a scene of it, and then go on our way." I nodded.
"How will it break?" 
"Leave those things to me, these things are my responsibility." I sighed and nodded silently. Ponyville was coming into view. I was worried about this, what if the murderer is prepared for us I wondered. I did my best to suppress these worries as we approached the moderately sized village. "So do you know anyone in Ponyville?" Victus gestured to the town we were nearing.
"No... I don't think I know anyone there." He hmmed to himself.
"Well, in that case I will escort you to the Hay & Stay hotel. I've stayed there before and it is really a nice place. Also, it is near enough to the scene that it will make for a good base of operations. The two gentlemen will also be renting a room while they get this chariot repaired." I nodded to myself, this plan seemed well thought out. Another question came to mind though.
"What am I supposed to be doing to blend in?" Victus paused for a moment before answering.
"That's a bit more case specific than we had time to be. You will need to find something to do. I don't think creating an alternate persona will be necessary if no one knows you here." With that question answered, I stared impassively at the now fast approaching village, anxiety starting to bubble up in me.
	
> Arrival
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Just a note, they arrive on Monday.

As we began our descent, Victus’ horn lit up a dull green and I could hear a chinking noise inside the chariot. I looked from him, to the chariot, then back again. Flying always made me uneasy. As our wheels graced the road with deep thuds, and we trailed small markings wherever we hit the ground, I could feel the pieces of the chariot being shaken loose. The buildings going past us were a blur as we started to lose speed. Suddenly, a bolt in one of our wheels popped out. Another. Another. The rest suddenly popped out in unison and our right wheel went off on its own journey. 
“Ahh!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. After some hesitation, Victus started giving off what sounded like a forced, scripted shout.
“Ah…” The Pegasi struggled not to crash into anything until we came to a wider area of road with fewer ponies on it. We spun around a few times and then the drivers just fell to the ground in exhaustion.
“Well… Time to put on an act.” He and the drivers were shouting their heads off for about three minutes, garnering the attention of numerous citizens of Ponyville. In the end, they faked an arrangement that the drivers would reimburse us for the trouble, and that they would pay for our tickets to continue on to our destination? I really have no clue, I was pretty disoriented from all the spinning. You don’t get that kind of excitement on the rock farm. 
When our party was done arguing, we split into different directions. We were heading towards the crime scene, while the drivers were moving for the Hay & Stay. They would secure a room for the three of us, Victus would escort me there after I gather a lay of the scene, and then he would go off to catch a train out of here.

“Sweet Celestia…” I muttered. “What is that smell?” There was an obvious stench in the air. It didn’t smell… bad exactly. It just smelled powerful. Like, very overpowering.
“Hmm… I assume that would be the musk…” I forgot, this was a rape… I thought to myself.
“Well, let’s get a closer look then.” As I was about to walk into the alley where the body was, he caught me with a hoof.
“We can’t just walk straight up to a dead body. Don’t you think someone would notice? Stumble upon it later, alright?” I sighed. This was way too much trouble for me. He walked me around the area where the body was, but not one did I get a glimpse of it. I guess I did get a good lay out of it thought. There was this short little area that looks like it would ordinarily be active, but activity seemed to die down due to the presence of a body. It made sharp turns at both ends, one end going away from this general area of the body, the other making the preparation to make a full circle around the alleyway with the body. All along this path there were shops, and on the other side of the alley this road diverged to a three way intersection. One path turned perpendicular to the path, and the other kept going straight forward. All in all, it was a half circle around an alley with a body in it. Thinking about it, it sort of resembles a horseshoe. We went down the path perpendicular to the horseshoe and into what seemed to be a large that people could walk through. There was an odd building that stuck out, Sugar Cube Corner. It was one of those buildings with strange architecture in Ponyville, there are a few of those. I don’t much care for sweet things though, so I didn’t think I would be paying that place a visit.
Next door to this location was the Hay & Stay Hotel, a large building where I would be spending a large portion of the week planning out my time in Ponyville. We walked in and I got my key. Floor 12, Room 21.
“Well, Miss Pie, I suppose this is where I will take my leave of your company.” He took out two manila envelopes and levitates them over to me. “These contain some information we have collected that should hopefully prove useful to you. It’s information on the area and its residents.” I nodded silently and took the folders into my apartment with me. I made it a point not to say goodbye to Victus, but to just close the door while he was talking. Feel familiar? I thought.
I considered going straight to bed, but decided it was best to look over the information first. It was just a light skim really. I found something of interest though. A nearby resident, Twilight Sparkle, is conducting an experiment involving a potentially dangerous predator. I considered that this would perhaps provide a suspect, but thinking back to the corpse I recalled that it wasn’t eaten or anything, so this probably wasn’t predation. 
I wanted to look for information about the victim, but it would seem I hadn’t been told his name. Well… Balls! I guess that’s something I’d need to find out tomorrow. I was sure someone would know something about our unfortunate Pegasus.
My dream that night was an odd one. I was investigating a crime scene, but when I touched the body the entire world fell apart.

> Day 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	So glad to get back too writing. Last time, we left off with Blinkie settling into her apartment. Let’s see how her first day turns out.
There’s a reason I never left the rock farm, sis. I don’t like lots of people. I especially don’t like the stupid decorations everyone puts up. Dumb flowers in a vase, an ugly picture of fruit, or the stupid and unnecessary craft work on the legs of a table. I mean, it’s a table, it doesn’t need to be fancy to work! Whatever… Anyway, I woke up and was irritated with my environment within the first half hour. I got out of the hotel as fast as I could and head straight down to the area of the crime scene. I didn’t actually care about looking suspicious, so I just walked straight into the area. The scene was unsettling.
Turns out he had his face pressed against a wall. He probably had his rear sticking into the air when he died, but he was lying on his side now. What did he die of anyway? Blood loss? Trauma? I walked up to get a closer look at him. His coat and mane were different shades of brown, as was his tail. I took much closer looks, and saw that his ass was full of dried blood. Internal bleeding maybe? I was wondering what his name was right then, when I got the sense to look at his cutie mark. It was an hourglass. So his talent was time? Maybe… he has a good sense of time? I looked down both sides of the alley, looking for signs that maybe he got dragged here. From the way things looked, it seemed as if he were here willingly. Didn’t know it was time to get the hell out it would seem.
I heard some chatting down at one end of the alleyway, and panicked for a moment. I needed a cover. The idea I came up with was, I was a person who randomly stumbled on this body, and now I was panicking. With this in mind, I plastered a fake expression of fear on my face and rushed down to where I heard the chatting. It was a couple of girls who looked like they were from the eighties. They had these dumb glasses and ugly clothes. I should have expected their bitchy attitudes the moment I saw them.
“H-hey! There’s a body in here!” I shouted. “Someone’s been murdered!” They looked at me with annoyance. One of them was blue, the other was pink.
“Do you mind moving back? You’re in my personal space.” I clenched my teeth. Oh god, not one of these…
“lol omg, that is so like twenty minutes ago. Everyone knows Time Turner was like, totally killed in there and junk.” I wanted to just walk away, but I felt it was wise to play the role of someone who just figured this out.
“O-oh? Well… Why aren't there any police there?”
“You think I, like, know that stuff? Wow, get a life!” they both started laughing and walking away.  Why couldn't it be them? I know, I’m awful for thinking of that, I really don’t care…
I spent about an hour looking around the area, looking for anything out of place. I did find a bloody rock at one end of the alleyway, and I saw that a number of them were missing along the path from the side of the alley opposite to where the two ponies I met were on. They had passed by that way, as the street loops around this alley, which acts as a shortcut, bypassing a bunch of shops. I had tried to look normal, but I think their noses were too far up their asses for them to even notice me.
I left the area, looped around, and came back to see if anyone had entered. No one was there. Actually, those two ponies were the only ones I saw all day. A majority of the shops remained closed all day. I guess they felt uncomfortable with a murder recently having taken place. I stayed there till late in the night, when I could hardly keep my lids up. Then two stallions started walking down the way towards me. It was the chariot pullers. I was startled, and didn't realize it was them at first. One of them spoke, he had a funny accent.
"Sorry I wasn't here to watch, yeah? I'll be here tomorrow though, bright and early. Aaren here's gonna stay the night watch, I'll take you back to the hotel, eh?" I've learned a long time ago to respect strange accents, some ponies can be sensitive about them. I nodded dully, and the puller, whose name I had not gotten, escorted my tired self back to the hotel. That was it for my first day.
> Day 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Here is the first day I met him. The strange creature in that experiment. He was... odd. He had a strange way of talking. He would drag the last word of each sentence out and then just rumble a little. Kinda like a cat, but a more quiet and deep purr. He was extremely tall, more than twice my height. He towered over me in a very intimidating way when he stood, but when he talked he sort of pulled me in: made me forget he wasn't even a pony. I'll tell you about it.
So nothing happened in the morning, my usual morning suckiness dulled my mind to any thinking. I didn't wait up for the assistant that brought me home, I wanted to be alone for a little while. You know how I get. Well, I got hungry and thought of going back to the hotel for some food, but I realized they don't serve food in the hotel. But there is a bakery right next to the Hay & Stay, and so that is where I went.
The prominent color in there was brown.  All sorts of shades of it. There were cupcakes and cookies and all kinds of things. What I wanted was some flat bread. The ugly blue pony there with pink hair who was also fat and probably cheats on her husband to told me that they were all out of flat bread. Like everyone else in her life, I was disappointed. 
I got some normal bread and put it in my saddle bag. I left for the alley and sat down at the end where the two ponies walked by. I didn't think much about trying to appear normal. About six ponies walked through the area before nine hit. Three of them stopped by, two colts and a young filly, and for a couple hours they sat across the street from me just chatting. I listened every once in a while, and I thought I heard one of the colts dare the other to run into the alley and touch the body. He declined at first, but the two ponies egged him on. He was about to enter the alley while I was snacking on some bread, but I called out to him.
"Hold on!" I said, wanting to finish eating my mouthful of bread before talking. He stopped and looked at me with mild annoyance. "You shouldn't go in there."
"How come!" He said, probably not liking some random adult bossing them around.
"Cuz if you do, the guards are gonna be mad at you." I said, trying to talk in a way that would sound normal to him.
"No they wont." Shouted the girl after him. "They aren't even here anyway."
"Are you a police pony?" The boy asked. I shook my head.
"I'm just a window washer. But my boss isn't here today so I gotta sit around and wait for him." That bullshit lie wouldn't have worked on an adult, but you know kids... Well, the other boy was smart enough to look at my cutie mark. It's a magnifying glass, for the ponies reading.
"Oh! No you aren't! You're an investigator!" Dammit shut up! My face went completely serious for a moment, and he just stared back wide eyed at me. I tried to play it off with a laugh to calm him down.
"Hahah! No I'm not silly! I'm a... Magnifying glass... maker. I work with glass. This window washing thing is just a... side job until my place gets built."
"Your place?" The girl asked.
"Yeah, heh. It's going to be a big new... place here to make money for Ponyville. I'm going to make super cool magnifying glasses for... the school! You're in school, right?" They all shook their heads.
"Were out of school now. Now we need to find our talents and get jobs in a couple years." I was confused.
"Really? You kids look a lot younger than that." They gave no reply. The kid was about to keep walking, but I shook my head at him.
"Come on! They wont know."
"I'll tell a police pony, or investigator pony. When they get here, they will be super mad..." I trailed my voice up higher as I ended that, and went back to stuffing a piece of bread in my face and watching the sky.
"Hello everypony, it's a pleasure to see you all." Said a deep, bass voice. I didn't need to lower my eyes far, as the figure stood practically six feet tall. He was huge! You really should have seen him, he was like a timber wolf on two legs, and not made of wood. He wore this beautiful green cloak, it shimmered in the sun. I could see these two massive feet, hairier than most of his body, except his head.  His cloak had two clasps, which were unclasped, granting me full view of his underbelly. It was mostly bare, though his chest had some light hair from what I could see. It was all dark brown. As for his face, it kinda looked like a lion, except with alot less hair. His eyes were big and dark brown. They looked very sad though. His mouth was creased into a deep frown, wrinkles of worry running up his cheeks. His two hands were held behind his back and his chest was extended forward. His neck arched down to look back and forth between the four of us ponies. Well, needless to say I felt rather intimidated in his presence, especially being in such a feeble position on the ground. I gasped for breath for a moment, and then let out a weak hello.
"H-Hi?" My eyes lockedon his, but he just gazed passively at us all, like we were all just one pony.
"Mmm... Yes, it's my pleasure to meet all of you. My name is Herbert Dashwood." His formal tone was conflicting strongly with the picture my mind was already painting of him, a frightening creature that could pick me up and throw me into the floor. But when he said the words 'all of you', I recognized my responsibility as the adult in a group of children to address this. I tried to put some nerve into my voice, but I think it failed.
"What do you want?" He seemed to freeze for a moment, then he raised an eyebrow and arched his neck down to get a close look at me. His right eye was focusing on me in my entirety, looking me up and down. He pulled his head back and responded, an apology.
"I'm sorry if I'm intimidating the four of you, I suppose I do look a bit... unkempt. But I assure you, I am entirely benign to ponies." He walked to the other side of the entrance on the same side of the street I was on: across from the children. I just stared at him, but he was now actively looking back and forth between the all of us. Then he leaned his head over to look down the alley at the dead body. Then he looked back at me.
"Odd... You would think the guard should be here by now, right? Guarding the body? I've got to-"
"Hey everyone, what's up?" Me and the creature turned our heads to look down the alley in shock. There, I was relieved to find my escort, whose name I had not received once. He walked out into our little group, and sat beside me. It was comforting to have a stallion around when there was a predator nearby. Though, I doubt he would have been a match for that thing. "So what are you all talking about?" I didn't need to explain, Herbert Dashwood did it first.
"I was just asking about the body down there. Seems odd, it not being guarded. Unless..."
"Yeah, it seems funny." The puller interjected: who I think we can address from here on as Jiggles. I nodded in agreement. The kids just sat there, obvious to some passive aggression in the air between us and him. I didn't once make eye contact with him from then on. "I mean, what if the killer came and snatched that body right up? No one would be around to stop him."
"Or her..." Herbert muttered. I think I heard him sigh softly. Some time passed, Jiggles clopped his forehooves as time passed. The kids fell to discussing who knows what. Scenes were running through my mind of this creature killing that pony. I could just see him jumping up into the air and dragging that poor pegasus to the ground. I could see the horrible scenes in front of me, and I was going to cry.
"Investigator?" I flinched, and looked over at Herbert.
"Wha?"
"You are an investigator? I suppose you must be here for the body." Shit! He knows I'm on to him! He's gonna rape me! I was crying in my mind.
"I-" I was about to fumble for words, but the kids saved me.
"No she's not." Said the girl.
"Yah, she makes magnifying glasses."
"Mhm. She has a place here." The boy pulled out a spoon of yogurt from a little bowl that I hadn't noticed till now. The thing looked at my cutie mark. I really don't like those eyes on my flank... I shuddered a bit.
"Then why are you hanging around near a dead body?"
"Why are you hanging around a body? Looking for a meal?!" I spat at him with venom. I really didn't mean to, but the way he was talking me annoyed me, and I was afraid... Well, my partner, the children, and Herbert all stared at me in shock. Then he got this hurt look on his face.
"How dare you!" He shouted. I pushed myself up to the comforting side of my companion, but he pulled away from me, disapproval emanating. "That's..." He started hyperventilating. He jumped to his feet and shouted at me... I just sat there, terrified. The kids pulled back to the wall. When I looked up, his face was red like a crayon and he was panting, He had started shouting things that didn't really make sense to me. He then quieted down, and walked away without another word. As a matter of fact, the rest of my day was spent in silence. My companion had not said a single word to me. I went to my hotel room alone, and passed by the other chariot puller. Let's call him Quackles... No wait, he had a name. It was... Aaren! Right. I passed him, and he tried to talk to me, but I just said goodnight and went to bed.
> Day 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	You won't believe who I met this day. It was... fantastic, seeing her again. But we will get to that soon.
I felt awful about how I treated Dashwood that day. If I had another chance to see him, I would have apologised.
Me and Jiggles decided one of us should sit at opposite sides of the alleyway. I tried to talk to him, but I think he thinks I'm a total bitch now... I guess I kinda am. It was a silent day, no kids showed up. But someone did though. Heres how it went.
I heard a loud boingy noise, like a spring. It came from the other side of the alley. I listened to Jiggles talk to a girl with a high pitched voice. They only talked for a short while, then the bouncing noise continued. I sighed, knowing whatever it was would be approaching me soon. It came around the round corner and I had only seen her out of the corner of my eye, but it was enough to draw my complete attention. Pinkie! She had a determined, serious look on her face, but when she saw me it all melted.
"Blinkie!" She shouted as she soared through the air and toppled on top of me. She wrapped me in a big hug, and I returned it as best I could.
"Pinkie, I didn't know you were here."
"I didn't know you were here either! I'm too busy reading TMJ, I couldn't read C.S. Pie! Sorry..."
"It's alright." Whatever it is you're talking about... "What do you do here in Ponyville?"
"I'm a baker!"
"Baker huh? I thought you would be a party thrower... Seems more of your way to make a living."
"Well I throw lots of parties, but I make them free so everypony can come. It would be no fun if not everyone could come. So why are you here?"
"Well... I don't know, I probably shouldn't tell you."
"I could Pinkie Promise not to share if that would help." I stalled at first, but said okay. She did that little chant we made up as kids, then I told her.
"I'm here to guard the body." I motioned down the alley. She gasped.
"Ohh! That reminds me! I'm supposed to find someone..." She looked all around the place. "But I don't see her anywhere."
"Who are you looking for?" 
"My friend Herbert got his feelings hurt yesterday. I tricked him into telling me where and who did it" Oh... Crap...
"Pinkie... That pony who hurt his feelings was me." She looked at me for a moment, then laughed.
"Oh don't be silly, he said the pony who did it was mean. You're not mean! Now help me find them." Why do you need to be so... difficult Pinkie?
"Did he describe her?" She nodded.
"He said she has whitish grey hair, kinda like yours, and she has a stoney purple coat, like yours, and yellow eyes, just like yours!"
"...And?"
"Well I know he described you, but I don't want it to be you so I'm just going to keep lying to myself and say its not you. Now help me find the..." She stopped her cheery attitude. In fact, she stopped talking all together. 
"Uhh... Pinkie?"
"Why were you mean to my friend?" There is no excuse for my behavior... Am I racist? I considered maybe I was just a racist against other races? I don't think so though, since I had that one griffon fuck budy. 
"I... I don't... I was scared?" She just looked at me
"That's it? Why? What were you even scared of?"
"I... I think he killed that pegasus?"
"You what? Well..." She was silent for a bit as she seemed to be thinking about something. "Oh! That explains  what happens in that other chapter. I guess I shouldn't skip so far ahead. It really gets confusing when you do that." Pinkie... Why do you always do that?
"Well... I still want you to apologize to him, okay?"
"...Okay, yes. I want to but... Can you bring him here? I should stay around the body." She shook her head.
"No, that would interfere with the rest of the story. I'm not supposed to see him again for months, maybe years ." Don't question it. Don't question it.
"Well... Okay then..."
"But would you please do me a favor?"
"Hm?"
"Come visit me at sugar cube corner on Friday. Please?"
"But... I can't leave the body."
"Oh please?! That guy down there is pretty strong on his own... he can do it alone for just a day right?" She looked so pleading... Why did she want me to come with... No, I knew why. She missed me, and I missed her. Not as much as Maud has been missing her, but we all still miss her alot. She still doesn't know about what happened to daddy... Maybe that would be a good time to tell her.
"Okay Pinkie. I'll come to Sugar Cube Corner tomorrow. I promise." She looked so happy, I almost didn't feel bad about what I knew would follow. She went on her way, and so the rest of the day was spent turning away small kids who were probably wanting to see the body.
> Day 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I made arrangements with Aaren for him to watch over the body with Jiggles. I would watch the body at night.
Pinkie and I met up at around noon, she was so happy. Her excitement over spend a day with her sister was practically bubbling out of her. I took her to my hotel room so she could take this news in peace. It was time for her to hear about dad.
"Oooh! What do you wanna do first? We can go see my friends! We can go-"
"Actually Pinkie... There's something I need to tell you about..." She calmed down, sensing sorrow in my voice.
"What's wrong?"
"It's... It's about daddy." She was silent. "He's... dead." There was a drawn out pause as Pinkie just sat there taking it in. Finally, she spoke. Her voice quivered.
"Why?" I took a deep breath.
"He won the lottery and... died of a heart attack from excitement." The silence was pregnant. She held a neutral face for quite a time, but it broke. We sat in my room. My ugly, poorly decorated room.  She cried, I just sat there holding my eyes shut I could feel my tears building up, but they just sat there. Long after she had stopped crying, we were just sitting there, holding one another. 
"Want to go eat cupcakes?"
"Nuh Uh." She said. What would Maud say? I wondered. I couldn't think of anything to say to comfort her, so I just sat there with her.
"Will he be having a funeral?"
"Were putting all the lottery money towards it. Daddy deserves the best." We were silent for a little longer.
"When will it be?"
"A couple weeks. We're still getting it all organized. It only happened a few days ago." She asked an odd question this time.
"Why are you still working?"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you, like, take a grieving break when family dies?"
"I can't do that. We need the money to keep us running."
"But... you get paid when your on that kind of break..." Thats... Thats absolutely right! I should be on break right now, my sisters need me with them.
"Well, I'm glad I didn't. I can take you home with me. The forensics team will arrive in Ponyville soon, and then we can have this all wrapped up. You and I will come home. I know the others will be happy to see you. Maud especially." She sniffled.
"Well, I can't come home yet, I need to be around for the next episode, but after that then yeah, I can come." Don't... Question... It...
We had spent a long time there. Then Pinkie took me to meet one of her friends. Twilight Sparkle, the one conducting the experiment with that odd creature. I asked her to deliver my apology to him, I told her how I felt about my behavior. She told me he can be a very forgiving... Odd, she called him a 'forgiving pony'. Well, she gave me good wishes, and then Pinkie took me to sugar cube corner. She had a cupcake. I had bread. The day went by then with a sort of air about it that made conversation feel awkward and forced. The silence was much better, we didn't need to talk. When the time came, the sun was already lowered and I had to go guard the body. By now, I think most ponies had figured we were guarding the body, and knew to stay out of the area. I guess our strategy hadn't turned out as we had hoped.
I gave Pinkie a long hug and left to go to my position. The two stallions looked absolutely drained of energy, and I was feeling the same way. I gave them both a quiet nod and they went off to their hotel rooms. I stayed in that alleyway all night, thinking about Pinkie and how she was holding up. The emotional drain from that talk was too much, I just passed out at somewhere around midnight. I slept in that alley all night.
> Day 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I woke up with back pains shooting up my spine. I was in a very uncomfortable position on the ground. I got up and rubbed my eyes blearily. I looked all around me and then stared in shock at the scene. The body was gone! Taken in the middle of the night. Somepony had come and just snatched it while I slept. But that wasn't all, on the wall, there was a strange object. It was a hoof necklace. It had a string tied through a ripped out hoof, crusty blood on one side of it. 
"I ran to the hotel  and gathered my companions, and we returned to investigate the scene, but we couldn't find any indication of where the body could have been taken to. There were no tracks, nothing. The body just disappeared from existence. I confessed into my partners that I had passed out in the alley. I will probably be punished for that, but thats not relevant. Another thing worth noting. During this day, the predator I had spoken to went missing, and has not been heard from since. I don't know about you, but I don't think that's a mere coincidence. Odd though, why would a predator kill, and not eat it's prey right away? Not a single bite was taken from that pony... I can only wonder. Well... There is a search being conducted for the body now. Pinkie is coming to be with us soon, and then we will be able to hold a proper funeral.

And so that ends my sister's story. We can only wonder what happened behind the scenes. This was Inkie Pie, and I hope to bring you all many more stories in the future!