Twilight didn't even notice the trip to the palace, being led by two guards. She was still in total shock from what had happened. By the time she finally did enter, she was aware enough to see Shining Armor panicked and running up for a hug. She embraced him back, and after a moment, they broke.
"Twilight... I'm so glad you're safe. Rest a moment here, I will be right back, I just have to check with the guards on the situation," he said slowly, eliciting a nod from the shocked Twilight.
Then, when the door shut, she was finally alone in the dining hall. I'm such an idiot... she thought to herself. She had been so overwhelmed, so caught off guard by his burst of speed, but she should have DONE something. I could have blasted his back leg, or I could have levitated him back to me. Why was I so stupid? she mentally lamented.
Of course, when he had sprinted, she had long since passed fatigue, in fact it was miraculous that she had enough energy to even shoot him through the wall, let alone walk all the way back here. Yet, she couldn't help blame herself.
But what of the events leading up to it? "I should have brought a guard along with us..." she muttered, but then paused, and thought a moment.
No... telling a guard to come with would be trouble. Without knowing who's behind it all, nobody unproven can be trusted. Besides, a guard wouldn't have been able to do anything to help anyways. Maybe just another body... She shook her head at this thought.
Her mind was clearing slightly with all these ideas. This was what she needed: time to think. She wandered to the topic of Arrow's death. His killer had been just so cold and efficient. He had clearly heard everything they'd said, so how could he just be unfeeling? Even Tierek, the most violent villain she could think of, never outright killed anyone. Enslaved and drained yes, but not murdered. What could drive a pony to be so cold?
Her brow furrowed as she mulled over the subject himself. He willingly jumped into the fire. In fact, he seemed triumphant, elated even to do so, but why?
Her eyes shifted over to the door, as her thinking was interrupted by Shining Armor returning to the room, followed directly by a concerned looking Cadence. Shining sat calmly across from her, while Cadence wrapped her arm around Twilight's shoulders, in what was meant to be a comforting gesture. Cadence's arm felt unusually heavy, and rather than warmth, a slight chill graced Twilight's spine.
"Twily... what happened?" Shining asked, still very concerned. She sighed, reorganizing her thoughts and calmed down, gently rubbing the bandage on her arm.
"The gray pegasus was found at the hideout of the thugs. He jumped us and... killed an innocent civilian. His name was Straight Arrow," she explained, her voice quiet when mentioning his name.
Shining's white face somehow became even paler, draining of color at those words. Murder cases were extremely rare, in fact, it was seldom that they ever happened in modern times. The closest he could think was some medical malpractice cases and a few "adventuring gone wrong" tales, but a flat-out murder? Such a concept terrified Armor to the core.
He cleared his throat and piped up. "Straight Arrow? He was one of the original thugs, wasn't he?"
"I assure you he was innocent... I can personally vouch that he was a good pony with good intentions... and a bad decision. I don't want his good name tarnished, he was only there for a friend gone astray," she told him, her voice shaky but stern, so he dared not question her, at least, not anytime soon.
"Right... I understand. So, why were you at that hideout in the first place?" he asked, keeping his tone gentle and calm.
"Arrow and I were looking for clues. He felt guilty for the incident and offered to help me, and I needed answers, so we searched together," Twilight told him.
At this, Cadence chimed in, her tone soothing, but with a hint of maternal scrutiny. "Twilight, why didn't you notify the royal guard? They would have investigated the place and looked for clues."
Twilight began to speak but hesitated, earning her a searching look from Cadence. She couldn't tell her that she didn't trust the royal guard, and that Arrow would have gone alone either way. So, she chose her words and spoke very carefully. "You know how meticulous I am... I had to be absolutely, positively, thoroughly sure of everything," Twilight said.
Thankfully, her reputation worked in her favor, and it seemed that Cadence believed her on this. And why wouldn't she? She'd borne witness to Twilight's OCD and strict attention to detail since she was a little filly.
Shining took this chance to step back in, drawing Twilight's attention back to him. "What exactly happened in the fight? It's clear there was one, a guard saw blasts in the sky and gathered a group to come to the rescue."
Twilight winced a little as she remembered the dark energy she has channeled through her hatred and fury. She decided it would be too much to mention that right now, and kept it simple. "After he killed Arrow, I attempted to completely incapacitate him. He was a very capable fighter, with an abnormally high pain tolerance, able to fight on with a critically broken wing," she explained.
Shining appeared to be taking notes, and she hesitated with the last bit. "Also... after he had been beaten, and the guards were arriving, he... he jumped into the flames," she recounted, and briefly glancing to Cadence, saw that she had completely paled at this fact.
At all of this information, Shining looked angry. "We can't just let this go! We need to do something about it!" he shouted. Twilight was getting a lightened feeling in her chest. Could she finally get some dependable help?
He continued. "I pledge to you Twilight, I, no, WE will do everything in our power to--" he stopped, and as he stopped, Twilight felt a slight shift in the weight of Cadence's arm on her shoulder, but when she looked to Cadence, the face appeared blank. She clearly signaled him somehow, but why?
Shining, in a slightly calmer tone drew her attention back to him. "We will do everything we can to... help." He had uttered help a little quieter, and looked down as he said so, gritting his teeth slightly. I am not blind, something's amiss. Twilight thought to herself, but she just didn't know what yet. "In the meantime, I think you should get some sleep," he said quickly, and she knew her brother well enough to know that he had more to say, but didn't want to. Or coundn't, she thought darkly.
However, she nodded, and received a pat on the back from Cadence as she got up and left, but not before Shining stopped her.
"I'm so glad you're safe, I just need you to know that," he said, seriously.
It was a bad habit, staying up late, but she couldn't just sleep, so she decided to reorganize every bit of information she had learned so far. After laying out her papers, she read through the notes and reorganized them together in one.
•Cutie Marks act as a driving force upon the subject. Regardless of if the person is capable of the talent, they will be driven to attempt whatever it depicts.
•Cutie Marks are separable from their subject, but will return as long as unimpeded.
•Losing a Cutie Mark significantly weakens the subject, thus resulting in both suppressed abilities and a much duller personality.
•Marks are never mentioned in reference to pre-equestrian ponies.
•The Mark of King Sombra was never written down, depicted, or even mentioned. "Blank?" written as a note.
•Early textbooks talk a lot about the three founders of Equestria, but they stop being mentioned shortly after the foundation period. Unexplained.
•Short phrase in one of the oldest textbooks, near the very end:
"Thus our ancestors formed our society, long before the modern age of the Branded peoples of this great land."
•The murderer was Markless, completely blank.
That last note she jotted in seemed to fit in with her Sombra theory. Could Marks prevent violent tendencies? she wondered, sealing everything in her bag. She sighed and felt a lot better about herself as she lay in bed, closing her eyes. She was prepared for sleep this time.