Twister couldn't remember a time when something had been THAT easy.
The fake doctor had been relatively easy to kill. Twister only regretted letting the assistant see something that gruesome. Her scream made Twister suspect she hadn't known what the phony had been up to, and probably didn't need that kind of drama in her life. She would probably be taken into custody for questioning, after the police found out what had been in the syringe. Twister himself wondered what led the assistant to trust the fake doctor, if she had never seen him before.
Twister felt bad for any patients in the hospital who could fall victim to invading criminals. Twister hadn't seen a group of worse guards since his showdown with the Captain of the Guard at Canterlot.
And that pegasus...what was her name? Rainbow Dash? Rainbow Dash didn't seem to know what was going on, but Twister didn't blame her for attacking him. The situation didn't look good for him. She could have made a good fighter; she definitely had the strength for it. But she was far too cocky. She jumped right into the action, not bothering to get her facts straight, and expected to win? Never. Twisters hooves DID ache from the fight, but then, since when did they ever NOT ache?
The Everfree forest didn't seem as menacing as the legends led Twister to believe. With the...what did the Unicorn call them? Gorgons? With the Gorgons no longer chasing him, Twister actually found the Everfree quite peaceful.
FOCUS! Twister shook his head; he can't let his guard down. Perking his ears up, Twister continued onward through the forest, paying attention to his surroundings.
The forest was as he remembered it from the chase; Long, winding, with a thick tree canopy no pegasi could fly through safely. Not that I can fly anyways... Twister sighed. He hadn't quite wrapped his head around the fact that he'll never fly again. He told the mares who were with him that it was nothing, but he had been thinking painful-wise. If that's even the way to put it. He hadn't exactly thought about never flying again, and now that he did, Twister felt anger seep into him.
These bastards took everything from him. His grandmother, his friends, and now his ability to fly. What else did he have that they could take? The Key Shards. Twister remembered being given the sky-blue crystal clear diamond, as was written in his grandmother's will. Some treasure she had gained on one of her adventures in her youth, along with her inheritance money and old home. Twister knew his grandmother was rich because of all the treasures she discovered, but the money he was left with would've lasted him three lifetimes.
When Twister entered his Grandmother's home, he was automatically left with clues to a hidden secret. She left him a note, greeting him to her home, where everything was, whatnot. This was Twister's first clue. He practically grew up in that home; he knew where everything was, he didn't need a note explaining it to him. Then Twister noticed the misspellings. His grandmother was especially picky about improper spelling and grammar, something that greatly annoyed Twister. But the note had so many misspelled words, it could'v blinded him. This was his second clue.
Twister remembered the thousands of codes and ciphers his grandmother taught him. This was a rather simple one, but could be easily overlooked due to being written by a dying old mare. The way the code worked was that the first letter of every word that came before each misspelled word was a part of the hidden message.
After about 10 minutes of deciphering, Twister was left with this. FALSE PANEL. Twister spent another 10 minutes trying to find this 'FALSE PANEL', in both wardrobes, desks, and drawers. He finally found the false panel when he checked the floor of the drawer in his grandmother's work desk. Behind the false panel was a map and a note.
FOCUS!!! Twister nearly twisted his ankle stepping into a ditch. He got back up, shaking his injured hoof. Twister pulled out his map, the same one that was hidden behind the false panel. A hastily drawn X was marked over the castle in the Everfree, along with a date and time. 6 hours left... Twister was going to have to hurry, or he'll have to wait another month for the light of the moon.
Twister looked at his surroundings, finally able to properly observe them. He had to hurry; the hospital guards would be here for him soon. Let's see...Twister has to cross a river, and then a bridge hanging over a chasm. He should check the ground around him, to see if the earth is fertile. Wet earth and worms in the ground would mean a river was nearby. He would then have to listen for the clear sound of running water.
Twister started digging into the ground, and he grinned when he eventually scooped out mud and a worm. Twister started off, listening intently for the sound of running water.
Instead, he heard a scuffling noise. Distinctly the sound of hooves. Twister knew he was being followed. I'll wait. If he pretended to have no idea, then he could corner his stalkers in the castle. There, his stalkers would have no chance at escape, due to less space and more walls. Twister would be able to interrogate them, maybe finally figure out his true enemy.
Twister continued on, closing his eyes as he listening more closely to his surroundings. Other than the scuffling of his followers, he could hear birds, mice, the sound of an owl catching it's prey...water. He heard water.
Twister ran off towards the sound, his excitement getting the better of him. He pushed past the ferns, and found himself face-to-face with a riverbank.
Twister allowed himself a grin as he pulled off his vest, preparing for his swim. He started to swing his hoof, making sure he would use enough strength and timing to toss his equipment over the river. Aaaaand.... he released his equipment, watching it fly off towards the opposite riverbank. His equipment landed with a clatter, and Twister pumped his hoof. "And he sticks the landing!" Twister approached the river, shivering as he waded through it. He reached the deep end of the river, and started swimming his way over to the riverbank.
He stepped out of the river, shaking water out of his mane and tail like a wet dog. He put his vest back on as he shivered from the cold. It probably wasn't a good idea to go swimming at night. Twister was surprised by his sudden violent shivering. He put his old safari hat back on his head as he continued his trek.
Twister lifted his ear up, listening for the sound of his stalker's hooves. He didn't hear the usual scuffling, but instead heard the sound of wings flapping. Pegasus wings... Twister guessed there were two. There was force being put into them, as if they were too heavy for their wings to carry them.
Twister continued on, determined to find out more about his hidden pursuers at the castle. But first, Twister would have to find the bridge crossing the chasm.
Twister licked his hoof and held it in the air, detecting the direction the wind was blowing. He felt two blowing winds. One was normal, coming from the north, but the other felt....irregular. It came from the west. Twister started off, hoping that he'd find the chasm. As he continued his hike, Twister listened more closely, to see if his stalkers were still nearby.
He could hear the sound of scuffling hooves again, louder than the first time. Something wasn't right here. Twister could always tell if he was being followed, but his past stalkers were trained to sneak. At the very least, they were more careful than this. These followers may not work for his enemies.
Suddenly, Twister stopped himself before falling into the sudden drop that appeared in front of him. He reached the chasm, and almost fell in because he hadn't been paying attention. I'll never learn... Twister shook his head. He looked to his left, seeking the rope bridge. Just an empty chasm, nothing to the left. He turned to the right, and saw through the mist that a rope bridge dangled over the chasm from his cliff to the other.
Twister galloped towards the rope bridge, his heart leaping as he bounded. These six months of travel on hoof would finally be worth it. He reached the rope bridge, and carefully placed his good hoof on it. It held his weight. Twister placed his other hoof on the bridge, still holding back to see if it could still hold. It held on.
Twister slowly stepped through the creaky rope bridge, being very careful where he stepped. After about 5 minutes of careful movement, Twister's hoof broke one of the rotting planks. He pulled himself back, watching as the rotten wood fell into the deep chasm. "Damn..." Twister carefully stepped over the empty space that held the old plank, and continued on to the Castle.
Finally, after another ten minutes of careful movement, he finally reached the Castle. Thank Celestia! Now Twister knew why earth ponies kissed the ground.
The castle was still and dark as night. Twister approached it's doors with a small hop to his step. Stop skipping like a schoolfilly! Twister bottled his excitement. He still hasn't reached his goal. Not completely.
As Twister opened the doors, he observed the cold, still room. It was open and plain, hardly any furniture to be seen. The walls and floor had a thick coat of dust over them, to show nopony had been in the castle for a long time. Twister approached the wall nearest him, and knocked his hoof against each brick and leaned his head onto the wall to listen.
Nothing...nothing...nothing... Twister carefully listened for his stalkers between each knock. He heard the scuffling of their hooves, but something was off. From what Twister could gather, they must be observing him. If so, then why would they let themselves get close enough for him to hear? They weren't properly trained. Twister's enemies wouldn't hire amateurs.
Got it! Twister's hoof finally knocked on the right brick, found by a slightly hollow ring that an untrained ear would never have noticed. Twister pulled out his switchblade, a tool he himself crafted during his foalhood, and stuck it in between the bricks. He made sure the blade was secured, and began to push against it, forcing the brick to fall out.
In the brick's place was a hollow, curved groove. Twister reached into his satchel and pulled out his crystal-blue Key Shard, and placed it in the groove. It was a perfect fit.
The Key shard shimmered, and the wall behind Twister suddenly started folding itself into the ground, and Twister simply stared in awe as a stairway leading downwards revealed itself.
Now's my chance! Twister quickly placed the Key Shard in his satchel as he ran down the stairway, careful not to put as much pressure on his bad hoof as he did during the escape. He had to trick his stalkers into the small space, and he would charge into them from the shadows. He knew they weren't working for his enemies, but they might be working with the police force in Ponyville. If so, he'll be able to send them off with a warning to the force. Maybe then, they'll leave him alone.
Twister finally reached the bottom of the stairway, and found himself face-to-face with five different hallways. Let's see... Twister memorized what he had read in the note. The first is the worst... Twister crossed out the first hallway in his mind. The third is better than the second.... He put a plus sign above the third. The second is worse than the fourth... Twister gave the second a minus sign. And the fifth is better than the truth. Twister gave the fifth a plus sign as well. So...the hallway leading to the treasure is the fourth! Twister ran towards the fourth hallway, careful of any traps in case he was wrong.
Twister hid behind the hallway's turn and waited. He knew his stalkers would turn around the bend, ignorant of his trap. He could hear their hoofsteps, and he poised himself to strike. Wait for it.... He could hear them whispering to each other. They were mares. Wait for it.... They were coming right up to the hallway. Aaaaaaannnnnddd.....
Twister leaped out, like a cobra hiding in a hole, and tackled the first of his stalkers and held her against the wall, leaning his front knee against her throat. WAIT! Twister recognized those magenta eyes! "YOU!!!" Twister couldn't hold back his sudden anger.
"Let me go!" Rainbow Dash snapped at Twister, struggling to escape his death grip. Twister turned his head, seeing his stalkers were the four mares from the hospital. "Put 'er down!" Applejack's face was squinted in a scowl and poised in an offensive position. Twilight's horn glowed with a purplish hue, preparing to cast an offensive spell, and Fluttershy was hovering a few feet behind, her green eyes wide with fear.
Twister scowled as he released Rainbow Dash, using a great amount of self-control to NOT simply buck her in the head. "Why did you follow me!?!" Twister couldn't believe he had let innocents follow him this far. If it was his enemies, yes. The police, maybe. But innocent's?!
"We were trying to find out what you were up to! What are you doing here, and why did you attack us?" Twilight answered. Her horn had stopped glowing, but she hadn't changed her offensive position. "None of your business! Do you have ANY idea how badly you're bucking things up for the both of us!?!?"" Twister felt something he hadn't felt for a long time; panic. The last time innocent's got involved....
"W-what do you mean?" Fluttershy asked timidly. She had moved closer to the group, but kept a wary eye on Twister the entire time. She obviously didn't want to follow him in the first place. Smart filly. She must've been pressured into it by her friends.
"If I told you that, then you'd be in twice the amount of trouble you're already in." Twister calmed his tone. Something told Twister that using an angry tone on her wouldn't help him. "You need to hurry and get out of here!"
"What's gonna make us?" Rainbow Dash challenged Twister. Ballsy move, especially considering their tussle a few seconds ago. "ME." Twister straightened his back, tensed his muscles, and bared his teeth. Twister knew he could be intimidating when he wanted to be, and his scars from the chase only helped that.
But Rainbow Dash only matched his stance, staring him right in the eye. "If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you got." She growled through her bared teeth, her nostrils flaring. She's braver than I thought... Twister was surprised by her undaunted attitude. Surprised, not intimidated. Twister didn't want to have to actually hurt her, but he would if it could scare them off.
"WAIT!" Fluttershy suddenly stepped between Twister and Dash. "W-we're the ones asking for trouble. We're the ones who followed him and made things harder for him. Yet he's offering to let us go on our own accord. That's more than we deserve. Why should we continue this?" Twister was surprised by the pegasus' sudden assertiveness. He bowed his head to her. "THANK you. At least one of you has the grey-matter to understand that." He glared at the other mares, Rainbow Dash in particular.
"He killed that doctor! Why should we trust him?" Rainbow protested. Twister did his first physical face-hoof since his foalhood.. "Because I'M not trying to kill you instead. Trust me; in my line of work, most ponies would'v already done so." Rainbow looked at him with surprise, and then changed it to suspicion. "Then why didn't you?" "Because I'm not a monster." Twister realized he was revealing more than he should be. "Listen to your friend. It's the smarter move." Twister was going to have to be more careful about what he said.
"He's tellin' the truth." Applejack spoke up. Twister didn't know why, but the other mares nodded, seeming to accept this. "Now GO. Before-" Twister was interrupted by the sound of slithering scales. He knew that noise too well. He looked to the mares and mouthed RUN and pointed down the hall. As the four ran down the hallway, the slithering was followed by a terrible hiss for a voice that sent chills up Twister's spine. "I know you're here!" Twister followed the four down the hall, desperate ideas popping in and out of his head. This was normal; Twister's mind had been both born and trained to act this way when his adrenaline was pumping.
He continued his train of thought as he escaped, trying desperately to figure out an escape plan. It doesn't look good... Twister's only known exit and entrance was blocked by the approaching Gorgon, and it was too much to hope for the Gorgon to be stupid and take the wrong Hall. She relies on all five sense; she would easily be able to tell where he and the others went. And after the crash, Twister wasn't keen on getting too close to her.
Suddenly, the Hallway split into two paths. A fork in the road, if you will. What did the note say, now? Hmm... In turns, What's right is left, and what's left is right? Yeah, that's it! Twister was a master at word games. He knew that in another sense, it was talking about who was correct, not which direction. He just needed to be right, so, the left path it is!
"This way!" Twister whispered to the confused mares, who had been trying to decide where to go. Twister galloped down the left hall, no tripwires within his sight. Twister could still hear the Gorgon's slithering, and their pause didn't help the escape.
"Go, go, go!" Twister rushed the mares. Applejack broke from a run to a gallop, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy jumped into flight. Twilight was still the only mare who was having trouble speeding up, so Twister waited behind, letting her go in front. He followed behind when she passed, so that if the Gorgon attacked, she would attack Twister first.
As the group continued along the hall, Twister noticed it was becoming more and more narrow, and the turns were starting to get curvy. It's changing...we must be getting close. Twister was having mixed feelings about his situation. On one hoof, he was only a few hoofsteps away from finally getting what had been taking him six months to reach, but on the OTHER hoof, he was being chased by an angry Gorgon who he might end up leading it to.
Just great. Twister continued coming up with different ideas of how to deal with the Gorgon. I could send one of the mares down the wrong hall....NO. Not acceptable.They're innocent. I'm no better than my enemies if I did such a thing. Twister berated himself for even THINKING of doing something like that. What if I left behind something to throw her off...? Twister checked his old vest. It was tattered and stained. It didn't hold any sentimental value, and it wasn't good for protection. The ideal item.
Twister quickly took off his vest, and put it over his shoulder to continue his run. Twister waited anxiously for the next split. Come on, come on... The group eventually turned around a corner, and they were faced with another fork in the road. While the mares groaned, Twister quickly grabbed his vest with his mouth and launched it down the right pathway. "Come on!" Twister knew that it wouldn't misdirect the Gorgon for long, just long enough to give them time. Twister could only hope she'd run into a trap.
He galloped down the left pathway, and the mares followed. The hall lost it's gray paving and turned into cave stone. The pathway must have been built into the cave centuries ago. Twister wondered how the cave hadn't collapsed from the inwards construction, and even more about how old age still hadn't done that afterwards.
After a few more minutes of running, Twister found himself in a small cave-room. It was in the general shape of a circle, and in the center was a small pedestal. But that's not what was caught his eye; the ceiling was several hundred feet in the air, and a small hole was in it's center. Connected to the walls were dozens of large magnifying glasses about three feet in diameter, each sending a small amount of moonlight to each other, the trail of light becoming thinner and more focused after each glass.
"What the...what are these for?" Twilight approached the nearest of the magnifying glasses, examining it with awe. Twister ignored her and stepped towards the pedestal. He pulled out his blue Key Shard, and, with his heart beating louder than a drum, placed it on the small pedestal. The blue shard had one flat end that allowed it to stand up on it's own, and Twister knew this was the reason why.
He pulled out his map, and checked the date and time written on it, quickly checking his watch afterwards. 2 minutes... Twister couldn't believe how close he was. Just those two minutes stood between him and his next clue.
Twister's heart leaped into his throat when he heard a ghastly screech. The Gorgon must have fallen for my trick! Things were finally looking up for once! "W-what was that?" Fluttershy's eyes were wide, and she crept closer to her friends. "That was the Gorgon. She must have been dumber than I thought." Twister chuckled.
Twister looked up at the ceiling's hole, seeing that the moon was almost completely centered. 30 more seconds... Twister couldn't help but give a quick hoof-pump. All his hard work was finally paying off!
"So the Gorgon's dead?" Rainbow Dash looked at Twister expectantly. "I hope so. You can never tell with magic, these days." Twister hadn't been paying full attention to Rainbow's question. He was busy finding that the moon was just a few centimeters away from being fully centered. The moonlight trail was becoming more focused, and it moved towards the Key Shard. 10 more seconds... Twister felt like doing a back flip in the air. He probably would have, if he could still fly.
5...4...3...2... Twister watched the moonlight trail hit the Key Shard, and the blue crystal suddenly shone with the brilliance of the sun. Twister shielded his eyes, and soon, the light died down as the Key shard's light focused onto the wall in front of him. Twilight's attention turned from the magnifying glass to the light, along with the other three, and...well, Twister couldn't believe his eyes.
On the wall was a map of Equestria, weaved out of moonlight and focused by the Key Shard. It was beautiful sight that took Twister's breath away. But Twister knew it was so much more than a map. On the map was a single, yellow speck of light, shining like a star on the map.
"The next Key Shard is in the Mild West!" Twister scribbled the location onto his map, careful to ensure that it was on the exact spot as shown on the moon map. "What? What's a Key Shard?" Rainbow Dash suddenly spoke up next to Twister. I said that out loud?!?...ah, buck. Twister already told them too much, they didn't need the word 'Key Shard' in their heads.
"Ah...nothing." Twister waved his hoof dismissively, hoping this would make it seem like it was a pointless detail. A fruitless attempt. "Didn't sound like 'nothing' when you shouted it." Rainbow glared at Twister suspiciously. "Uh...g-guys?" Twister barely heard Fluttershy's voice. Twilight was too busy admiring the moon map too notice (or care), and Applejack had joined Rainbow Dash in questioning Twister. "Now, wha's this 'bout Key Shards?" Applejack looked at Twister with genuine curiosity in her eyes, unlike the accusing stare being sent from Rainbow Dash.
"G-g-guys!" Fluttershy had panic in her voice now. Twister took the opportunity to change the subject by turning to the yellow pegasus. "What?" Twister's heart plummeted into his stomach when he saw what.
Standing at the doorway was the Gorgon; alive and angry. She had a long spear impaling her stomach, but she didn't seem to notice. The fiend opened her mouth, only five words coming out in her sinister, drawling hiss. "Give me the Key Shard!"