//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: The Interrogations // Story: Marked // by Eisen //------------------------------// Twilight found the jail house along one of the side streets of the empire. It was a fairly small building, likely only capable of holding ten or twenty prisoners, although jails were rarely very large in Equestria, the only major exception being the Canterlot Prisons. Thoughts aside, Twilight trotted in formally, the sound of the door grabbing the attention of the guard on duty, who was quite obviously just dozing off before she came in, though he was decent at playing it off. "I have orders directly from Shining Armor to be here," she said professionally, sliding the orders to him across the front desk. He read over it quickly, his eyes darting along the paper before he looked back up and nodded in response, stamping the paper right next to Shining's signature. "Show this to the warden in the back," he said, his voice surprisingly deep. Given his silence during her entry, she had briefly entertained the thought that he might have a higher pitched vocal pattern, although she wasn't quite sure why. She glanced at his Mark for a moment, not sure what she hoped to find. It was a badge and a pen... pretty standard. "Thank you," she said with a nod, levitating the paper and heading straight to the back. She was moving through a gray crystalline hallway until she reached a door labeled "Warden" in very plain letters. After knocking on the door and briefly showing him the orders, he led her across the fairly short hallway to the interrogation room. She entered through the door on the right side and closed it behind her, sitting down in the interrogator's seat. Behind her was a mirrored crystal window, and on the left side of the room was another door for the prisoners. After a few moments a female jail officer came in and placed a small clipboard in front of her, smiling as she did so. "Here you are princess!" she said kindly, bowing slightly and backing up. "Thank you!" Twilight replied, looking briefly at the papers. It detailed the names, crimes, and other information on the thugs in question, which would make the interrogations much easier. "I'll start bringing them in in just a moment," the officer told her, bowing once more as she exited through the left door. Twilight took a moment to relax and exhale. She needed to be as serious as possible for these interviews if she was to learn who was coming after her. Looking down at the clip board, she read the first name: "Gravel, Grey." Locked up for assault of royalty, but also for numerous counts of petty theft and mild bursts of violence here and there. Evidently he was the leader of the thugs, and this was not his first time in the jail. Looking up at the sound of the door opening, Gray walked in with a smug smile on his face, even as the door shut behind him. He sat down and relaxed, his body language showing his brazen, unafraid disposition. "You're wasting your time," he said with a smile, staring her in the eyes. "You're not getting anything out of old Gray Gravel here!" She kept her face perfectly blank. "Where is the fifth pony?" She asked in a flat tone. "I told you, I'm as solid as a rock!" he laughed. He continued to laugh as her horn glowed and the doors locked. "Hah, I know your scare tactics, they won't work! You can't--" His pride disappeared in an instant as she levitated him and slammed his back up against the semi-flat ceiling, eliciting a loud cough from the pony. "Where is the Fifth Pony?" the princess asked, tone still flat, but more annoyed now. Gravel's big bold facade was gone now, easily shattered by that one simple display of force. "Alright, alright look, just put me down okay?" he stammered out as he was lowered back into his seat, his new body language indicating nervousness. How easily he broke as his sense of security disappeared. "Look, I don't know where he went, honest I don't!" "Who was he?" She asked simply but sternly, her horn briefly glowing. "I don't know! Look, see he just showed up a few days after I received an envelope full of bits, it said that somebody had a job for us... said that we'd make a lot of cash. There was no return address... and I had to burn it afterwards," he explained, shifting around uneasily in his seat. Her horn glowed once more. "Tell me everything," she demanded, monotone. He scooted back a little in his chair. "That's all I know about the guy! Look, it was his idea to rob you in the first place, he said that we'd all get handsomely paid for the job, so we went along with it. So he had us hide in the alley and gave us the signal to attack!" She raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You thought it was a good idea to attack a princess?" Her question was serious and dry. "Look, we were thinking maybe it would be some bigwig, and we hesitated when we saw you were royalty, but, dude was creepy... Gave me this stern look... so we went through with it. That's all I know!" He was very clearly out of information. Somebody from a higher level had used him as a cover for the hit. But who? "That will be all," she told him, unlocking the doors. "Wait, don't I get like bail or something for confessing?" he asked as the officer came back in and escorted him out, shutting the door behind them. Twilight took a look at the next name on the clipboard. "Crystal, Ruby," arrested for assault on royalty, and brought in on numerous accounts of suspicion of theft, but they could rarely pin her for actually stealing. The mare was brought in moments later, wearing a bored expression, and said nothing. Her eyes rolled and she huffed at the princess, who tried her best to maintain a professional expression and posture. "Where is the fifth pony?" she asked the thug firmly. "Dunno," the mare responded with an uncaring shrug. "I was only half-conscious when the guy got up and walked out of my field of view. Beyond that, I don't care," she told her plainly. No charade to break with this one... But her utter apathy was annoying. "Who was he?" Twilight asked directly. "No idea. Some friend of Gray's or something, I guess. Didn't really care enough to listen, I just wanted the cash. It was his idea to rob you, and hey, it was worth a shot," she explained. She was neither disappointed with her defeat, nor afraid of Twilight for defeating her, but she also felt no need to lie. "Can I go now?" the mare asked impatiently, resulting in a furrowed brow from Twilight. The princess sighed and opened the left door, letting the officer in to take her away. That wasn't very helpful... As the door shut, she again looked down at her clipboard. "Two down, two to go..." she muttered to herself with a sigh. Reading over the next one, she slipped back into a focused mindset. Name: "Arrow, Straight" , and according to the report, this was his first time committing a crime. He was actually a prized archer in the Empire, not quite a celebrity, but if you mentioned his name in a crowded room, chances were that two or three ponies might know him. The stallion escorted in had a pale blue coat and was very nervous, looking around anxiously as the door shut. He was the first one that she had knocked out, the one who had tried grabbing her leg. Twilight maintained a flat expression and told him to sit down, and he did, pulling the chair up to the interrogation table. Before she had a chance to say anything, he spoke up in a shaky tone. "I'll answer anything, anything! But you've gotta help me!" As he spoke, his eyes darted about. Twilight was surprised, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. "What's going on?" she inquired, letting just a tinge of concern slip into her voice. "Look... I'm sorry about that alley business... But Ruby told me it would be some easy money or something... I don't normally do this stuff but... I couldn't let her know that. I met her a while back and kinda hit it off but... Now I know it was a mistake," he explained very apologetically. She thought it over for a moment, then spoke calmly, coolly. "I may consider pardoning you... provided that you tell me everything you know about that bald pegasus that was with you. He nodded quickly. "Yeah! Uh, I never heard his name, but he came by the hideout after the boss got some money mailed to him. He rarely spoke, and spent most of his time in our hideout working out. He organized the raid against you, and on the night of, he was the one who gave the signal to go. I also saw him open some letter once when I got up one night in the hideout... I don't think he saw me. I couldn't read the letter from there though... sorry," he elaborated sincerely. She mulled over the information thoroughly. Looks like the leader really was telling the truth... "I really am sorry, your highness..." he apologized again, looking down at the table. She put on a small smile, tilting his chin up to her with a hoof. "Hey, It's alright, we all make mistakes. I've forgiven people who have done far worse... and you know what, they turned out alright," she said, thinking back to Discord and Shimmer. He smiled back, his eyes getting a little misty, but he cleared that up quickly, hoping to face the other prisoners with confidence rather than cowardice. "Thank you!" he said simply, very happy. "There's hope for you yet, Arrow," she told him, unlocking the door and allowing the officer to escort her out. She nodded at him one last time, eliciting a warm smile from him before the door shut, and she sighed once more. "One more to go..." she muttered to herself, glancing subtly and briefly at the one-way crystal mirror. I wonder if anyone's watching this... and what they think... Twilight thought it over for a moment, then continued reading. The last profile was a little difficult to understand. Apparently his name was simply "Sieve" and the only crime listed was "assault on royalty", but unlike the others, there were no notes on him, nothing special. The green pony came in with an unnerving smile, and kept gently scratching at his hind leg. He sat down calmly, and scooted forward so that only his arms and shoulders were visible. Laying one elbow on the table, he listened for her to begin. She began to speak once more. "What do you know abou--" "You wanna know where the bald guy went, dont'cha?" he asked, smirking wildly. He leaned in eerily. He eyed the wall like he was being watched and didn't want anyone else to hear. "C'mere, I'll tell ya..." he offered smoothly, and she wasn't sure why, but she did actually lean in slowly... The blade cut a gash across her right shoulder, forcing her to instinctively jump back and blast him with a paralyzing shot, leaving his body motionless. She heard scrambling in the room behind her, and she backed up against the wall. As she looked him over, she saw a gash in his lower leg, around the calf area, dripping blood. He stashed a knife under his skin! she realized in horror. She watched as the officers and the warden came in, carrying off the laughing maniac, but his final words rang in her ears long after the door had shut. "You're not safe! You'll never be safe! Nowhere, no way, they'll get'cha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he had yelled at her. "You can't hide! In fact, you can't even run!"