The library grew quiet for a moment. Despite silence being the normal state for the building, or at least the preferred one, this hush drew nothing but concern from the six friends in the lobby. Rarity, who had been approaching the newspaper that fell to Fluttershy, stopped upon hearing the bashful voice's words. Everypony sat, with just the revelation of whose photos were in the article enough to solidify them with unease.

"Okay, we know it's something to do with Rainbow Dash's parents right?" The purple dragon shattered the almost painful silence. "That's enough. Let's just put the paper back in the stack, and we can send them back later."

Twilight glared at her assistant. "Spike, I'm not sending this back without reading it." She watched Spike shrug in defeat and levitated the paper back to herself.

"Don't this seem like somethin' a bit too personal to be meddlin' in? Ah reckon it's in the papers because it's big, not because it's not private."

Twilight didn't even seem to hear Applejack's latest objection. She carefully unfolded the paper and held it in midair. Fluttershy made another quiet objection as well, but it fell on inattentive ears. Twilight had a habit of holding onto ideas until they either had no life left in them, or they bore the results she desired. Nothing was going to pull this quest for immediate knowledge from her vice grip of a mind now.

Pinkie, either unaware of the coming information or attempting to put on a courageous face, appeared with a blur, seated in front of Twilight with a large tub of popcorn. She looked around and saw Rarity and Applejack deliver very displeased looks. With a pout she tossed the popcorn aside, landing it on a table without spilling any. She then stared at Twilight with very overstated anticipation.

Twilight cleared her throat and began reading. At first, she read in a tone that radiated her self-recognized genius. However, as the reading continued, her voice dimmed as she finally grasped the weight of the words on the page.

"Break in 8-year cold case, suspect arrested…

"The Royal Guard in Canterlot has announced that thanks to continued efforts and new information, the case of a missing Pegasus may finally come to a close after eight years. Chroma, mother of one, disappeared almost a decade ago. After interviewing her family, the Royal Guard determined that the disappearance was very suspicious, but could find no other leads.

"New information from an anonymous source has led to further investigation of the missing Pegasus's husband, Perfection Dash. The anonymous tip reveals the two could be heard arguing loudly before Chroma's disappearance. Acting upon other information in the tip, the Royal Guard found sufficient evidence to justify arresting Perfection Dash.

"The Royal Guard has stated that they have not yet found Chroma, but based on the information they have found and the amount of time she has been missing, they state that it is very unlikely Chroma is still alive."

Twilight set the paper down on the floor and dropped to her flank. Her wide eyes and narrow pupils conveyed that this was far worse than anything she expected to read. Fluttershy wept by the furthest bookshelf, and Rarity stood with a very unladylike expression of shock.

"H-how… How could anypony do such a dreadful thing?" Rarity gasped, without even bothering to remove the expression she would normally chide others for wearing.

"This has to be a mistake, right?" Spike tugged at Twilight's mane. "Ponies don't kill each other, right?"

Twilight couldn't speak. She had heard that thousands of years ago, ponies weren't always so friendly to each other. Still, even in the darkest history books she had read, murder was uncommon. Today, it was almost unheard of. Twilight had only heard of a few ponies accused of even accidentally killing another as long as she could remember. Any suspicious deaths usually turned out to be natural or completely accidental, and only coincidentally shrouded by dodgy circumstances.

"They… they didn't say she was… was dead… they just said… they didn't think they were… going to…" Fluttershy's attempt to comfort the dragon failed as she lost the ability to speak. She certainly didn't believe what she was trying to say.

"That… is… HORRIBLE!" Pinkie shouted and shook her head. "That can't be true! That is a very bad story and I can't believe I wanted to hear it!" She ran to the table that held the platter of cupcakes she brought, grabbed one, and took it over to Fluttershy. "Here, this'll put a smile back on your face!" When Fluttershy didn't respond, Pinkie lightly tapped her. "C'mon, come help me finish setting up Dashie's party. I know that was a super-sad story, but you don't have to listen anymore. Let's go."

Fluttershy looked up at Pinkie Pie and then back at the cupcake. "M-maybe helping you will get this off my mind." She feebly stood and walked to the door. Pinkie pointed her nose at the cupcake offering. "N-no offense, Pinkie, but I… I really don't want a cupcake right now."

Pinkie stared at the cupcake for a moment. Despite everypony and a dragon expecting her to eat it herself, she instead took it back over to the platter she took it from and set it back down. "I'll see all of you at the party, then. And Twilight… try not to be all gloomy or pouty." She turned and lead Fluttershy out, talking about what they were going to bake and how they would finish decorating, but with a rare lack of elation in her voice.

After a moment, Rarity cleared her throat and spoke. "I believe I should be going as well. I must make progress on my new designs before I attend the party. I'm already falling behind." She pushed the door open with her magic, and left unceremoniously.

Finally, only Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike remained in the library lobby. Twilight looked at Applejack and saw an angered glance returned to her. "You're right. I should have listened."

"Now, Twi, ah ain't gonna make any excuses. Ah know you meant well, but dang it, all you did was make us all uncomfortable." Applejack glared. "Ah'm gonna head out now and get mah mind offa this mess, and ah think it would be a good idea for you to think about something else for a while. Rainbow's gonna be fine. If you're worried, the best thing to do is show support."

"You're right, Applejack. We all need to be at the party to show Rainbow how much we care. And it won't be much of a party if all any of us can think of is… that."

"Exactly." Applejack turned to leave. "Again, ah don't mean to be rude or nothin', but ah gotta get somethin' else on mah mind. Ah'll see both y'all at the party."

As Applejack left, Twilight stood staring at the stack of newspapers. She lifted the next paper in the stack, revealing the same two pictures of Rainbow Dash's parents on the cover of the paper beneath it, and the headline "Confession in Missing Pegasus Case, Body Found". She immediately set the paper back down, and set the remaining newspapers back on top. She tied the twine that still lay beneath the stack to re-secure the bundle and turned to Spike. "Send them back."

"No note?"

"I'll send one later," she sighed as she wandered to the platter Pinkie left. She levitated a randomly selected treat and took a bite out of it. "Right now, I'm going to go read something. I'm thinking fiction, for a change."