“Okay, first things first. We need to make a list of all the ponies who were at Flurry Heart’s funeral.” Twilight set a notepad onto the crystal table around which she and her friends sans Rarity sat.
 
“Ugh, a list? Why can’t we just go to the Crystal Empire and start kicking butts and taking names?” Rainbow Dash asked, slouching in her seat.
 
“Because we’d be wasting time! We need a concise list of ponies so that we know who to question.” Twilight scolded. She grasped a quill in her magic and pulled the note pad towards her. “Now, who was at the funeral besides us?”
 
Fluttershy raised her hoof. “King Shining Armor and Queen Cadence.”
 
Twilight frowned and raised an eyebrow. “Yes my brother and Cadence were there, besides them.”
 
“Wait, why can’t we include your brother? He’s a stallion!” Rainbow Dash said in an accusing tone, flying up above the other ponies.
 
“Woah there Dash, we can’t jump to conclusions like that.” Applejack said, fidgeting with her hat. Dash looked to her and pouted, but flew back to her seat nonetheless.
 
Twilight sighed. “I’ll include everyone, it’s only fair.” She jotted down the king and queen’s names. “Who else?”
 
About an hour later the ponies had composed a list of all the ponies that were at Flurry Heart’s funeral.
 
“Well we can eliminate the mares.” Applejack crossed her forelimbs and sat back in her seat.
 
“And Shining Armor, he was with us almost the whole night.” Fluttershy added.
 
“Almost?” Rainbow Dash asked, skeptical.
 
“Well when he wasn’t with us, he was at his daughter’s casket.” Apple Jack deadpanned. Pinkie Pie stifled an inappropriate giggle. Being the element of laughter could really be a pain sometimes.
 
“We can take out Nightlight! I don’t think Twilight’s father could do something so icky. Besides, he was with his wife the entire night, eating all the horderves.” Pinkie Pie pointed out.
 
“My father eats when he’s anxious.” Twilight blushed, embarrassed for her dad.
 
“I bet it was that slimy Blue Blood.” Applejack clapped her hooves together. “He and Rarity never saw eye to eye.”
 
“What was that about ‘jumping to conclusions?’” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “There are a bunch other ponies it could have been, heck, it could have been more than one pony!” Rainbow threw her hooves up in defeat. “What if we never find out who did it? What if he strikes again? We could all be in danger!”
 
“Oh no, you’re right!” Fluttershy curled in on herself. “We ARE in danger, the monster could be anywhere!”
 
“Calm down girls!” Twilight stood up. We’re the Elements of Harmony, we’ve faced much scarier monsters than a rapist.” The others looked at her, then each other.
 
“I guess you’re right.” Applejack relented. “But it just don’t sit right with me, this whole deal feels…just plain icky.” She pulled her hat down over her eyes and Pinkie Pie nodded in agreement.
 
“We just have to start at the beginning.” Twilight sat back down and held the notepad up to her with her magic. “We have seven suspects, let’s question them one by one and nicely, keyword nicely ask them where they were and what they were doing at the funeral. If we hit a wall, we’ll question the mares.” The girls looked to Twilight for a moment, then nodded.
 
“But what about Rarity?” Pinkie asked.
 
“What about Rarity? Twilight raised an eyebrow.
 
Pinkie Pie winced at her friends tone. “She’ll be all alone?” She asked, frowning.
 
“Oh.” Twilight placed a hoof on her chin in thought. “You can stay with her. And Flutterhy.” Twilight smiled.
 
“But what about being detectives?!” Pinkie Pie whined.
 
“Keeping Rarity company while she goes through this is more important. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and I will question the suspects.” Twilight declared.
 
“What about Spike?” Fluttershy suddenly asked.
 
“Yeah, where IS Spike?” Applejack looked confused.
 
“He wasn’t at the funeral.” Said Pinkie Pie.
 
“He’s in his room right now. He’s uh, going through a tough time.” Twilight looked away.
 
“Tough time HOW?” Rainbow Dash asked.
 
Twilight signed audibly. She leaned in close to the others. “He’s shedding his skin.” She whispered.
 
“Eeeew!” Rainbow cringed and stuck out her tongue.
 
“Oh my, is it his first time?” Fluttershy asked, her hooves over her mouth.
 
“Yeah, and he’s really sensitive right now. Ember told me that dragons had to be left alone when this happens, it’s a privacy thing. Don’t worry though, he has half the kitchen in the room with him.” Twilight chuckled and smiled at her friends.
 
“Whhooeeey! I hope the poor little feller is doin’ all right. But if it’s a ‘private dragon thing’ then we’ll stay out of it. Don’t know if I could hold my lunch if I saw it anyways.” Applejack swallowed a lump in her throat and cringed as well.
 
“Gummy doesn’t shed his skin, but he sure got testy when his teeth started coming in!” Pinkie Pie giggled.
 
“Okay girls, let’s focus. Our friend is in the hospital right now being psychologically evaluated. We should get back to finding the pony who put her there.” Twilight said firmly.
 
“Right, let’s go back to the Crystal Empire and ask…who again?” Rainbow Dash frowned, at a loss. Twilight reviewed her list.
 
“Sugar Glass. He used to make Flurry’s favorite sugar cookies.” Twilight read aloud.
 
“Then let’s go interrogate Sugar Glass!” Rainbow Dash flew into the air above the table. “Come on girls, we have a train to catch!”
 
“The trains don’t run after 12 AM.” Fluttershy spoke. Rainbow Dash slumped and slowly flew back to her chair.
 
“Oh.” She mumbled.
 
“We’ll take the first train leaving tomorrow.” Twilight announced. “I want to see you and AJ at the train station at dawn. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, you two should spend time with Rarity in the hospital until we come back.”
 
“Rodger Doger!” Pinkie said, saluting.
 
“Of course.” Said Fluttershy, smiling.
 
“Does it HAVE to be dawn?” Rainbow whined.
 
“Yall want ta find Rarity’s rapist don’t you?” Applejack asked, angry at Rainbow Dash’s laziness. Rainbow perked up.
 
She sat up in her chair. “Of course! Dawn it is!”